Native Teachings

Whenever, in the course of the daily hunt, the hunter comes upon a scene that is strikingly beautiful, or sublime - a black thundercloud with the rainbow’s glowering arch above the mountain, a white waterfall in the heart of a green gorge, a vast prairie tinged with the blood-red of sunset – he pauses for an instant in the attitude of worship. He sees no need for setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, because to him all days are God’s days.

THE SACRED
taken from Chapter 13
'Four Ways and the Circle - The Sacred', from A First Peoples' Primer

The term, religion, does not exist in the languages of native people, but the word, sacred, does. It is used more appropriately because of the meaning it imparts. Words are chosen carefully as Indian people speak, for each word carries great meaning and must be understood.

Speaking of Native religion or even of sacred ways in the abstract is impossible. There is no abstract Native theology. Indian “religion” is not approached in general. The Sacred is specific and happens in the rain, and in the hunt, and in the shaping of pottery. In pre-contact times there existed at least six separate language groups among the original natives of Turtle Island. These language groups were divided into twelve different cultures. These twelve cultures were divided into five hundred different nations. These nations were divided into still more different villages and bands, families, and clans. With all these different people living different lives based on surviving in every environment found on this continent over a period of maybe forty thousand years it becomes clear there never could have been one official Indian “religion.”

There wasn’t one way to walk the Sacred Hoop. There were ancient meso-American priests who sacrificed beating human hearts to hungry sun gods. On the rainbow’s other end there was a Haudenosaunee prophet, named Handsome Lake, who pleaded with the Longhouse People to leave the white traders’ alcohol alone and to return to the ways of their grandparents. There was room for differences.

Man must realize his importance is nothing compared to Nature and that the sacred realities are even much greater than Nature.

These words begin to shed light on the traditional Native belief that serves as the foundation for American Indian Sacred perspectives. Though Native people are as different as people throughout the world certain characteristics of their traditional beliefs are similar. For example, the tie between nature and human beings is a concept difficult for Western people rooted in Judeo-Christian society to understand. Such a connection with nature is not the worship of nature, but the kinship to nature that is experienced as a lifestyle.

Traditional Indian beliefs hold all parts of Creation in the same respect. Traditional thinking says that the essence of life is a shared life. Spirit calls human beings to love the land and every creature that lives on it, that flies above it, or that swims in its water. Wah-kon-tah is the unity of all things in Creation, and because all things are connected in Wah-kon-tah, all Creation is equal. The idea of Wah-kon-tah is the fundamental belief of traditional Indian Sacred paths.

THE CIRCLE AND THE FOUR WAYS
Creation is a Circle. The lives of men and women are seen in the Circle as they travel from birth to death. The seasons also show this connection. The birth of spring gives way to summer. Summer allows, in its time, the harvest of autumn to precede the great rest of winter. That winter rest is broken with the rebirth of spring. The connection with the circle is seen as the flying people build their nests in circles, creating a place where new life enters this world.

Plants rise from the earth. They bear seeds and die and are reclaimed by the soil, bringing back the life they were given. The seeds await the spirit’s rebirth. “To meditate on the idea of the Sacred circle and cycles of time, or to wonder about the stars and one’s relationship to them and to nature, provides a keen sensitivity, a conscious closeness with unseen powers.” It is an opportunity to contemplate all that is Wah-kon-tah.

The power of the world always works in circles …
The east gave peace and light,
The south gave warmth,
The west gave rain,
And the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance.

- Black Elk

This is why traditional culture revolves around the circle. The shape of the inipi, and the central fire within it, along with the ritual movements found in dances and ceremonies, all are part of the circle. It is believed that the power of the people was given by the circle, the Sacred Hoop of the nation, with the flowering tree alive at its center. The four directions all nourished the tree

THE QUESTION OF NAMES

“Names were given, taken, or received during a propitious time in the life of an Indian. The name-giving was generally at birth, puberty, and whenever an individual distinguished himself in the eyes of the tribe.”

Taken from Turtle Island Alphabet:
A Lexicon of Native American Symbols & Culture
by Gerald Hausman / Foreword by N. Scott Momaday

Ho! Ye Hills, Valleys, Rivers, Lakes,
Trees, Grasses, all ye of the earth, I bid You hear me!
Into your midst has come a new life.
Consent ye, I implore!
Make its path smooth, that it may
Reach the brow of the third hill!

From the Omaha Indian song, “Introduction of the Child to the Universe.”

Indian names are special. They are symbols of power given in special ways. Indian names carry stories of how they came to be. They can be passed down. They can be earned. They can come from dreams and visions. Indian names reveal a special relationship to nature and the great Mystery.

One of the most special events in a traditional Native American’s life is the giving of a name. This tradition varied somewhat from tribe to tribe and from individual to individual.

Some nations, such as the Hopi, gave the baby the name that seemed most suited to it. This name came from one of the child’s aunts. Among other nations, and no doubt among the Hopi too, there were certain people who were dreamers, and they could call on their dreams for names of children.

Other nations, such as the Lakota, attached little importance to a child’s first name. It was merely a sound the child would answer to. Later on, the child would be given another name. This name could stick for the rest of the child’s life, or it could change. The name revealed certain aspects of the child’s nature and maybe even a story about the child’s life.

It was also a practice among some of the People to pass on names from old to young. Crazy Horse is an example of this. Crazy Horse, as a small boy, was called “Curly.” The name came from his brown, curly hair. It was a child’s name. When Curly became a man, his father passed the name Crazy Horse to him. His father knew that his son deserved and needed a name of power. Crazy Horse’s father then took the name “Worm.” It was a humble yet proud name for an elder getting ready to return his body to Mother Earth.

A most powerful name was one that came from a dream or vision. Among nearly all Native Americans, a boy was trained from in early life to seek a vision. This was done by fasting from food and water and concentrating on one’s relationship to the Great Mystery. The vision-seeking was a test of sorts, not only of courage, but of the sincerity of one’s heart. Without a vision, an Ojibwa boy could never attain true manhood. He was considered “half a man.” An adult Indian male without a vision to follow or pursue could not be trusted. The vision enabled him to be a positive force within the tribe. It also allowed him true Power, and using it would help his people.

Not all powerful Indian names resulted from vision-seeking, but all true Indian names were earned. An Indian didn’t want to earn a name that would cause him embarrassment. He wanted his enemies to speak his name with fear, his friends and allies to speak it with respect.

Some Indians had as many as three names in their lifetimes. First, there was the one given at birth. Then there was another that was earned by the elders’ observations of the child’s behavior. Finally, there would be the name on the young Indian or one of the elders saw or heard in a vision or great dream.

Indian names linked the People to nature – to the animals, birds, trees or even insects – or to the cosmic entities of Sun, Moon, and Stars. They established a special relationship with one special being. Each one was a name for just one person. If an Indian did not pass his or her name on, it left when he or she died…

From Chapter 4: “Earning an Indian Name” found in The Native American Book of Life by White Deer of Autumn (Gabriel Horn)

By whatever means or ways her baby acquires a name now, it will one day, no doubt, mirror the character and personality, and voice and echo the reputation of that person. A good name at birth can serve as a guiding force on the journey that is this life. A good name can become the source of great strength while living in this great Wheel of Life.

From Chapter 21: “The Rituals of Names” found in The Book of Ceremonies by White Deer of Autumn (Gabriel Horn)

An old man once said,
In the end,
when your name is spoken,
The sentiment evoked by its vibration
Will show how well
You have lived your life.”

From Chapter 22: “She Requests a Name” found in The Book of Ceremonies by White Deer of Autumn (Gabriel Horn)