Northeast Woodland/Northwestcoast Drums

Northeast Woodland/Northwestcoast Drums

Watercolour,
pencil on paper of Ojibwe Ceremonial Drums by Paul Kane (1810-71).
Presented to Royal Ontario Museum by Raymond A. Willis



Painted Frame Drum
Cree/Nehiyaw Hand drum used for personal and social occasions
Rawhide stretched over wooden frame and elaborately laced at back;
painting includes feathers, moon, sun, and animal footprints Padded beater
similar to those used for powwow drum 41.8 cm. long Wood
and tanned hide Purchased in Winnipeg by Elaine Keillor in 1987.



Octagonal Painted Frame Drum
Ojibwe Hand drum used for personal and social occasions
Painting of stylized bird on rawhide head, and other designs usually
triangular in nature; relatively thick wooden frame wrapped on outside
with white rawhide decorated with beading in groups of three.
Unpadded beater 36 cm. long Carved wood Purchased ca. 1984
at Rama Reserve by Elaine Keillor



Butterfly Painted Frame Drum
Butterfly painted frame drum, single membranophone -
Front Tlingit Rawhide skin painted with butterfly design,
over cedar wood frame and complex rawhide lacing at back Hand drum
used for personal and social occasions Padded beater 33.8 cm. long
Made by Odin Lonning, b. 1953. Purchased by Elaine Keillor
in Vancouver, 1990s.



Frame drum, double membranophone - Side view
Ojibwe, Used in Akwesahne ceremony Scraped rawhide used for heads
but haired skin covers wooden frame and provides the lacings
Purchased 1995 near Cape Croker Reserve, Bruce Peninsula,
by Elaine Keillor Circular beater, wound with tanned leather at beating
end 48 cm long. Made by Rohahes Iain Phillips.



Log Drum
Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation shaped from a solid log of red cedar
Used by a team of skilled singers at the potlatch ceremony.
These singers practice for many hours to learn the special songs
that have been composed the Chief's potlatch ceremony.



Raven Wolf Drum
Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation painted raven and wolf design
used by a team of singers at the potlatch ceremony



Halibut Drum
Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation UCC 88-.07.01 painted halibut design
by George Hunt Jr. of the Kwagu'? First Nation in 1988 used by
some singers at a potlatch ceremony drum made by the Sam family
from Ahousaaht, BC



Sculpin Drum
Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation Sculpin design painted by
Eugene A. Hunt used by singers at a potlatch ceremony.



Iroquois Water Drum
The water drum was used to keep time during songs,
it was traditionally made out of birch wood.
The inside of the drum is filled with water



~U-ne-ga-wa-ya~

Eeyou - Eastern Cree : Our Dance Stories

Eeyou - Eastern Cree : Our Dance Stories

by Stan Louttit

Elders of Eeyou Istchee tell us that Eeyou peoples
made beautifully decorated hunting drums from cedar trees
and stretched caribou hide in order to drum,
sing and dance as a way of expressing their love,
gratefulness and happiness to the land and animals
that provided life for the Eeyou. Today, a few Elders
in some Eeyou communities still continue to make hunting drums,
but the drum's spiritual and religious meanings
are largely absent for modern Eeyou hunters.

From Eeyou oral tradition, what we know today
about traditional Eeyou dancing has been passed
down to us from the memories of Eeyou Elders
who heard stories while still in their youth.
These stories were usually told by parents,
grandparents or great-grandparents. One such story
passed down through many generations,
and related by an elderly Eeyou woman from Chisasibi, Quebec,
concerns a young hunter in a teepee who stood up
and began to sing with his small drum,
likely before or after a feast. He sang about
the women in the camp, of his respect and recognition
of the women who performed many difficult
and important duties in the camp.
For it was the women who kept the camp clean
and supplied with water, wood and other forest materials
while the hunters were out hunting.

The women cut wood, collected spruce boughs
for the flooring of the teepee, skinned and prepared the hides
of animals while cooking the meat for all the families to eat.
The young hunter knew this and sang his song to respect
his mother-in-law’s role as a woman, mother and provider.

~U-ne-ga-wa-ya~

Ojibway Culture - Part 3

Ojibway Culture

Most Ojibwe lived in the northern Great Lakes
with a short growing season and poor soil.
They were hunter-gatherers who harvested wild rice
and maple sugar. Woodland Ojibwe had no salt to preserve food
and generally mixed everything with maple syrup as seasoning.
They were skilled hunters and trappers
(useful skills in war and the fur trade). Fishing,
especially for sturgeon, provided much of their diet
and became progressively more important in the northernmost bands.
As a rule, Woodland Ojibwe rarely used horses or hunted buffalo.
Dogs were the only domestic animal and a favorite dish
served at their feasts. The Ojibwe used birchbark
for almost everything: utensils, storage containers, and,
most importantly, canoes. Coming in a variety of sizes
depending on purpose, the birchbark canoe was lighter
than the dugouts used by the Dakota (Sioux)
and other tribes. Birchbark was also used to cover their elliptical,
dome-shaped wigwams. When a family moved,
the covering of the wigwam was rolled up and taken along
leaving only the framework.


(Birchbark Canoe)

Summer clothing was buckskin with fur outer garments added for winter.
The men wore breechcloths, but both sexes wore leggings.
Moccasins were the distinctive puffed seamed style
that gave Ojibwe their name. These were often colored with red,
yellow, blue, and green, dyes made by the women. Long,
cold winters were spent confined inside their wigwams
also allowed time to add intricate quill and moose-hair designs.
The Ojibwe often passed these times and entertained
each other with stories, an art for which they are still renown.
Generally, men and women wore their hair long and braided.
In times of war, men might change to a scalplock. Ojibwe scalped,
but as a rule they killed and did not torture.
Like other Great Lakes warriors, there was ritual cannibalism
of their dead enemies. Polygamy was rare.
Their social organization was based on approximately
15-20 patrilineal clans which extended across band lines
and provided their initial sense of tribal unity.


(Ojibway beads)

According to their tradition,
and from recordings in birch bark scrolls,
they came from the eastern areas of North America,
or Turtle Island, and from along the east coast.
According to the oral history, seven great miigis (radiant)
beings appeared to the peoples in the Waabanakiing
(Land of the Dawn, or Eastern Land) to teach the peoples
of the mide way of life. However, the one of the seven great miigis
beings was too spiritually powerful and killed the peoples
in the Waabanakiing whenever the people were in its presence.
The six great miigis beings remained to teach while
the one returned into the ocean. The six great miigis
beings then established doodem (clans)
for the peoples in the east.


(Turtle island)

Of these doodem, the five original Anishinaabe doodem
were the Wawaazisii (Bullhead), Baswenaazhi (Echo-maker, or Crane),
Aan'aawenh (Pintail Duck), Nooke (Tender, or Bear)
and Moozoonsii (Little Moose), then these six miigis
beings returned into the ocean as well.
If the seventh miigis being stayed,
it would have established the Thunderbird doodem.


(Crest of the Anishinaabe people)

Most Ojibwa, except for the Plains bands,
lived a sedentary lifestyle, engaging in fishing, hunting,
the farming of maize and squash, and the harvesting
of Manoomin (wild rice). Their typical dwelling
was the wiigiwaam (wigwam), built either as a waaginogaan (domed-lodge)
or as a nasawa'ogaan (pointed-lodge), made of birch bark,
juniper bark and willow saplings. They also developed
a form of pictorial writing used in religious rites
of the Midewiwin and recorded on birch bark scrolls
and possibly on rock. The sacred scrolls are complicated
with a lot of historical, geometrical, and mathematical
knowledge communicated through the many complex pictures.
The miigis shell (cowry shell) was also used in ceremonies,
and this shell can only be found from far away coastal areas,
indicating a vast trade network at some time across the continent.
The use and trade of copper across the continent
is also proof of a very large area of trading
that took place thousands of years ago,
as far back as the Hopewell culture.
Certain types of rock used for spear and arrow heads
were also traded over large distances. The use of petroforms,
petroglyphs, and pictographs was common throughout
their traditional territories. Petroforms
and medicine wheels were a way to teach
the important concepts of four directions,
astronomical observations about the seasons,
and as a memorizing tool for certain stories and beliefs.


(Ojibway wigwam)

The Ojibwe people and culture are alive and growing today.
During the summer months, the people attend jiingotamog
for the spiritual and niimi'idimaa for a social gathering (pow-wows)
at various reservations in the Anishinaabe-Aki (Anishinaabe Country).
Many people still follow the traditional ways of harvesting wild rice,
picking berries, hunting, making medicines, and making maple sugar.
Many of the Ojibwa take part in sun dance ceremonies
across the continent. The sacred scrolls are also kept
hidden away until those that are worthy
and respect them are given permission to see them
and then to interpret them properly.

The Ojibwa would bury their dead in a burial mound;
many erect a jiibegamig or a "spirit-house" over each mound.
Instead of a headstone with the deceased's name
inscribed upon it, a traditional burial mound would typically
have a wooden marker, inscribed with the deceased's doodem.
Due to the distinct features of these burials,
Ojibwa graves have been often looted by grave robbers.
In the United States, many Ojibwa communities safe-guard
their burial mounds through the enforcement
of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Several Ojibwa bands in the United States cooperate
in the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission,
which manages their treaty hunting and fishing rights
in the Lake Superior-Lake Michigan areas.
The commission follows the directives of U.S. agencies
to run several wilderness areas. Some Minnesota Ojibwa
tribal councils cooperate in the 1854 Authority,
which manages their treaty hunting
and fishing rights in the Arrowhead Region.

~Whitewolfe~

The Ojibway Indians - Part 2

The Ojibway Indians - Part 2

The Ojibway tribe is scattered throughout the Dominion
and embraces several branches, including the Ojibways proper,
Missisaugas and Saulteaux.

The name of the tribe has been spelled in various ways,
as Achipoes, Outchepoues, Otchipwes, Ojibways,
Ojibwas, Chippewas and Chippeways. The term Ojibway,
signifies "pucker", derived from the peculiar pucker of the moccasin,
or to "roast till puckered up",
reffering to the inhuman method employed by this tribe,
as well as others, of burning the captives taken in war.
Some writers have sought the origin of the Ojibway,
and indeed of numerous Indian tribes,
from the lost tribes of Jewish history,
a solution more satisfactory to their own minds
than to those of their readers.
When the white people first came in contact with the Ojibways,
early in the seventeenth century,
they found them inhabiting the south-eastern
shores of Lake Superior, especially in the vicinity
of Sault Ste. Marie. This does not, however,
appear to have been their original home,
as their traditions assert that,
long before the advent of the white race,
they were living as the salt water in the east,
probably on the St. Lawrence.



Henry Warren, a native Ojibway,
relates a tradition which he heard in a speech
delivered by one of the native priests
wherein their religion is symbolized
in the figure of a sea-shell,
and the migrations of the people recorded.
(from A.F. Chamberlain, "The Mississaugas")

"Our forefathers were living on the great salt water
toward the rising sun, the great Megis (sea shell)
showed itself above the surface of the great water,
and the rays of the sun for a long period
were reflected from its glossy back.
It gave warmth and light to the An-ish-in-aub-ag (red race).
All at once it sank into the deep,
and for a time our ancestors were not blessed with its light.
It rose to the surface and appeared again on the great river,
which drains the water of the Great Lakes,
and again for a long time it gave life to our forefathers
and reflected back the rays of the sun.
Again it dissappeared from sight,
and it rose not till it appeared to the eyes
of the An-ish-in-aub-ag on the shores of the first great lake.
Again it sank from sight, and death daily visited
the wigwams of our forefathers,
till it showed its back and reflected
the rays of the sun once more at Bow-e-ting (Sault Ste Marie).
Here is remained for a long time, but once more,
and for the last time, it disappeared,
and the An-ish-in-aub-ag was left in darkness and misery,
till it floated and once more showed its bright back
at Mo-ning-wun-a-kaun-ing (La Pointe Island),
where it has ever since reflected back the rays of the sun
and blessed our ancestors with life, light and wisdom.
Its rays reach the remotest village of the wide-spread Ojibways.



Mr. Warren relates another tradition reffering to the same matter,
only in another form: "There is another tradition told
by the old men of the Ojibway village of Fond du Lac (Lake Superior)
which tells of their former residence
on the shores of the great salt water. It is, however,
so similar in character to the one I have related
that is introduction here would only occupy unnecessary space.
The only difference between the two traditions is that the otter,
which is emblematical of one of the four Medicine Spirits
who are believed to preside over the Midawe rites,
is used in one in the same figurative manner
as the sea shell is used in the other,
first appearing to the ancient An-ish-in-aub-ag
from the depths of the great salt water:
again on the River St.Lawrence: then on Lake Huron at Sault Ste.Marie:
again at La Pointe: but lasly at Fond du Lac,
or end of Lake Superior, where it is said,
to have forced the sandbank at the mouth of the St.Louis River.
The place is still pointed out by the Indians
where they believe the great otter broke through"



According to tradition,
the Ojibways separated into different bands,
some traveling toward the south and others westward
and northward on the shores of Lake Superior,
while the main body remained in the vicinity of the Sault.
It is evident that a large band of them must have entered Pigeon River,
on the north shore of Lake Superior,
and traveling westward become scattered widely throughout Algoma,
locating at various points in the Thunder Bay
and Rainy River districts, where their descendants still remain.
As they became known as the Bois Forts, the "Hardwood or Timber People",
they must have lived for quite a long period in these districts,
having entered Manitoba and the North-West Territory.

(From the book, Canadian savage folk the native tribes of Canada)

~Whitewolfe~

Simple and honest words......

Simple and honest words......

"The traditional Hopi spiritual elders say
that we have not learned our lessons
in the past from our use of technology.
Technology is now having a world of its own.
We are using technology to accumulate wealth and power.
We are now using technology for the wrong reasons.
Technology is now out of control.

Hopi elders say that developers only see money,
profit and gain from Mother Earth.
For one thousand years the Hopi have grown corn
in the desert and offered eagle feathers
to the spirits giving thanks.
The Hopi say that we come from Mother Earth
and we go back to Mother Earth when we die.

Native Americans have great respect
for Hopi spiritual leaders, because the word Hopi
means peaceful people and Hopi are praying for harmony
and balance Mother Earth. Hopi spiritual elders
believe they are caretakers of Mother Earth
as do most Native Americans who follow their traditions."

I hope you all find this way,
the way of inner balance....

I learned so much from the Hopi,
we can go two ways, both ways are okay,
but one way, the wrong way end soon....

I found for me the right way, and its so easy...
I hope many people starts to think about this simple,
honest words......

AHO
~U-ne-ga-wa-ya~

The Ojibwa or Chippewa - part 1

The Ojibwa or Chippewa
(also Ojibwe, Ojibway, Chippeway) - Part 1

@ first, a little about the Name Ojibway.

The autonym for this group of Anishinaabeg is "Ojibwe".
This name is commonly anglicized as "Ojibwa."
The name "Chippewa" is an anglicized corruption of "Ojibwa."
Although many variations exist in literature,
"Chippewa" is more common in the United States
and "Ojibwa" predominates in Canada,
but both terms do exist in both countries.
The exact meaning of the name "Ojibwe" is not known; however,
three most common explanations on the name derivations are:

* from "ojiibwabwe" meaning
"Those who cook\roast until it puckers,"
referring to their fire-curing of moccasin
seams to make them water-proof,
though some sources instead say this was a method
of torture the Ojibwe implemented upon their enemies.

* from "ozhibii'iwe" meaning
"Those who keep records (of a Vision),"
referring to their form of pictorial writing,
and pictographs used in Midewiwin rites

* from "ojiibwe" meaning
"Those who speak-stiffly" referring to how
the Ojibwe sounded to the Cree.



However,
across many Ojibwa communities across Canada and the U.S.,
the more generalized name of "Anishinaabe(-g)"
is becoming more common.

Their major divisions

10 major divisions of the Ojibwa in the United States,
omitting the Ojibwa located in Michigan,
western Minnesota and westward, and all of Canada;
if major historical bands located in Michigan
and Ontario are added, the count becomes 14:

*Saulteaux (Baawitigowininiwag)
about Sault Ste. Marie

*Boreder Sitters (Biitan-akiing-enabijig)
northern Wisconsin

*Lake Superior Band (Gichi-gamiwininiwag)
south shore of Lake Superior

*Mississippi River Band (Gichi-ziibiwininiwag)
upper Mississippi River in Minnesota

*Rainy Lake Band (Goojiijwininiwag)
Rainy Lake and River, northern Minn.

*Ricing-Rails (Manoomininikeshiinyag)
along headwaters of St.Croix River, Wisc.

*Pillagers (Mekamaadweshiinyag)
Leech Lake, Minnesota

*Mississaugas (Misi-zaagiwininiwag)
north of Lake Erie

*Algonquins (Odishkwaagamiig)
Quebec-Ontario Border, about Lake Nipissing

*Doki`s Band ( ?)
along French River, region Ontario, near Lake Nipissing

*Ottawa Lake or Lac Courte Oreilles Band
(Odaawaa-zaaga`iganiwininwag)
Lac Courte Oreilles, Wisconsin

*Bois Forte Band (Zagaakwaandagowininiwag)
north of Lake Superior

*Torch or Flambeau Band
(Waaswaaganiwininiwag)
head of Wisconsin River

*Muskrat Portage Band
(Wazhashk-Onigaminiwag)
northwest side of Lake Superior



Their country

The extent of territory occupied by the Ojibway nation,
is the largest of any Indian possessions
of which there is any definite knowledge.
When the Champlain traders met them in 1610,
its eastern boundary was marked by the waters
of Lakes Huron and Michigan. The mountain ridge,
lying between Lake Superior and the frozen Bay,
was its northern barrier. On the west, a forest,
beyond which an almost boundless prairie.
On the south, a valley, by Lake Superior,
thence to the southern part of Michigan.
The land within these boundaries has always
been known as the country of the Ojibways.
It comprises some of the most romantic and beautiful scenery.
There are crystal waters flowing over rocky beds,
reflecting the mighty trees that for centuries
have reared their stout branches above them.
There are dense forests which no man has entered,
which have never waked an echo to the woodman`s axe,
or sounded with the sharp report of a sportman`s rifle.
Here are miles of wild flowers whose sweet fragrance,
is borne on every southern breeze,
and which form a carpet of colors as bright and beautiful
as the rainbow that arches Niagara.
The woodland is composed of a great variety of trees,
mostly pine, hemlock, oak, cedar, and maple.
As the traveller approaches the north,
he will meet birch tamarach, spruce, and evergreen.



In going from east to west, along the borders of the lakes,
the scenery is so changing and of such kaleidescope variety
and beauty that description is impossible.
There is room and opportunity for adventure among the bold,
broken, rugged rocks, piled up one upon another
in "charming confusion," on the shores,
along the borders of the silent waters,
or beneath the solid cliffs against which the waters
of Superior break with a force which has polished their rocky surface.
The mountains, rivers, lakes, cliffs, and caverns
of the Ojibway country, impress one with the thought
that Nature has there built a home for Nature`s children.

Tomorrow part 2, about their Lakes and more

AHO

Ojibway spirit

Aaniin ("hello")

Today a post about the Ojibway spirit



Nanabooshoo
(also Nanabush, The Great Hare, Manaboju, The Great Trickster):
This prominent figure in Chippewa oral tradition supposedly taught the
Native Peoples all their chief social functions, including hunting, fishing,
canoe building and face painting.



Kitchi Manito (also Gitchee Manito):
The Supreme Being; the Creator; the Great Spirit.

Matchi Manito:
The Evil Spirit,
who takes the form of a great fish or two-tailed merman,
the Great Lynx or something evil that lives in the lake.

The Winds:
The other four spirits
(four is an important number among the Chippewa)
are the East, West, North and South winds.



THE ORIGINS OF NANABUSH



In the beginning, as the Ojibwa story tellers say,
the world in which we live did not exist.
Kitchi Manitou, the Great Spirit,
had a dream in which he saw a world made of mountains
and valleys, lakes and streams, plants and animals,
and people. In his wisdom Kitchi Manitou realized
that he was to bring these things into being.
He created a world made of four primary elements;
rock, water, fire and wind:

To the sun he gave the power
to heat and light the earth,
To the earth he gave the power
of growth and healing,
To the water he gave purity and renewal,
To the wind he gave music
and the breath of life itself,
After these things Kitchi Manitou
created human kind.
To them he gave the power of dream.

As the world was new,
the Ojibwa people had much to learn
and Kitchi Manitou took pity on them
and sent them a teacher, Nanabush.
Nanabush was the son of a human mother
and the West Wind spirit father.
He was sent to earth to teach his people
about the healing plants, about kindness,
generosity, and honesty.
One of Nanabush's first tasks was to name the trees,
the waters, the mountains, the animals,
the birds and the plants.



Nanabush had powerful magic to give special powers
or attributes to the animals and plants.
Nanabush was also a Trickster,
bent on making humans look silly
(although his own jokes often backfired on him).
As a Trickster, he could change form
and take the shape of an animal.
The one distinguishing feature of Nanabush
when he was in human form, as drawn on rocks
and carved in stone by the Ojibwa,
was his rabbit-like ears.

Miigweech ("thanks")
~U-ne-ga-wa-ya~

I live in Germany ....

I live in Germany ....

Beautiful country, great scenery,

But I posed one question ever and ever again!

Why do I think and feel so different as all Germans?

Years ago I started to thinking,
about the life!, also about my life,
I think the meaning of life !
you've got me right?

Now I am 47 years old, relatively lonely,
Because I am "swim against the upstream
of so-called civilized society" !

I will be evaded and condemned
as a dreamdancers or nutter ....

But one remains forever,
my heart remains a red heart,
and I`am proud of this ........

AHO
~ U-ne-ga-wa-ya ~



Ich lebe in Deutschland....

Schönes Land, tolle Landschaft,

aber eine Frage stelle ich mir immer wieder !

Warum denke und fühle ich so anders
wie alle Deutschen ?

Ich habe vor Jahren angefangen nachzudenken,
über das Leben, auch über mein Leben!
Ich meine den Sinn des Lebens, versteht ihr das?

Nun bin ich 47 Jahre alt, relativ einsam,
weil ich gegen den Strom der sogenannten
zivilisierten Gesellschaft schwimme!

Ich werde gemieden und abgestempelt
als Traumtänzer oder Spinner....

aber eines bleibt auf ewig,
mein Herz bleibt ein rotes Herz
und darauf bin ich stolz........

AHO
~U-ne-ga-wa-ya~

Hopi Message to the World

Greetings:
Here is how you can help spread the Hopi Message to the World.

Step 1. Re-post this post.

Step 2. Add this message to your profile page or as a blog.

Anything you are willing to do will be most appreciated.
Please be sure to let me know so that I may have a record.

Perhaps some of you have a media connection
that would be willing to publish or air this message.

Much Love and good fortune to all of you.

Robert Taylor

His Final Message to Mankind

From Hotevilla, Arizona, USA

Dan Evehema, Eldest Hopi Elder

I am very glad to have this time to send a message to you.
We are celebrating a time in our history
which is both filled with joy and sadness.

I am very glad that our Hindu brothers
have given us this opportunity to share these feelings with you
because we know many of you are having the same troubles.

We Hopi believe that the human race has passed
through three different worlds and life ways since the beginning.
At the end of each prior world,
human life has been purified or punished
by the Great Spirit "Massauu" due mainly to corruption,
greed, and turning away from the Great Spirit's teachings.

The last great destruction was the flood
which destroyed all but a few faithful ones
who asked and received a permission from the Great Spirit
to live with Him in this new land.

The Great Spirit said, "It is up to you,
if you are willing to live my poor, humble,
and simple life way. It is hard but if you agree
to live according to my teachings and instructions,
if you never lose faith in the life I shall give you,
you may come and live with me."

The Hopi and all who were saved from the great flood
made a sacred covenant with the Great Spirit at that time.
We Hopi made an oath that we will never turn away from Him.
For us the Creator's laws never change or break down.
To the Hopi the Great Spirit is all powerful.

He appeared to the first people as a man
and talked with them in the beginning of this creation world.
He taught us how to live, to worship,
where to go and what food to carry,
gave us seeds to plant and harvest.
He gave us a set of sacred stone tablets into which
He breathed all teachings in order
to safeguard his land and life.

In these stone tablets were made,
instructions and prophecies and warnings.
This was done with the help of a Spider woman
and Her two grandsons.
They were wise and powerful helpers of the Great Spirit.

Before the Great Spirit went into hiding,
He and Spider woman put before the leaders
of the different groups of people many colors
and sizes of corn for them to choose their food in this world.
The Hopi was the last to pick
and then choose their food in this world.
The Hopi then chose the smallest ear of corn.

Then Massauu said, "You have shown me you are wise and humble.
For this reason you will be called Hopi (people of peace)
and I will place in your authority all land
and life to guard, protect, and hold trust for Me
until I return to you in later days
for I am the First and the Last."

This why when a Hopi is ordained into the higher religious order,
the earth and all living things are placed upon his hands.
He becomes a parent to all life on earth.
He is entitled to advise
and correct his children in whatever peaceful way he can.
So we can never give up knowing that our message of peace
will reach our children.
Then it is together with the other spiritual leaders
the destiny of our future children is placed.

We are instructed to hold this world in balance within the land
and the many universes with special prayers
and ritual which continue to this day.

It was to the Spider woman's two grandsons
the sacred stone tablets were given.
These two brothers were then instructed to carry them
to a place the Great Spirit had instructed them.
The older brother was to go immediately to the east,
to the rising sun and upon reaching his destination
was instructed to immediately start to look
for his younger brother who shall remain
in the land of the Great Spirit.

The Older brothers mission when he returned was
to help his younger brother (Hopi) bring obout peace,
brotherhood and everlasting life on his return.
Hopi, the younger brother, was instructed to cover all land
and mark it well with footprints
and sacred markings to claim this land
for the Creator and peace on earth.

We established our ceremonials and sacred shrines
to hold this world in balance in accordance
with our first promise to the Creator.
This is how our migration story goes,
until we meet the Creator at Old Oribe
(place that solidifies) over 1000 years ago.

It was at that meeting when he gave to us these prophecies
to give to you now at this closing of the Fourth World of destruction
and the beginning of the Fifth World of peace.
He gave us many prophecies to pass on to you
and all have come to pass.
This is how we know the timing is now to reveal
the last warnings and instructions to mankind.

We were told to settle permanently here in Hopi land
where we met the Great Spirit
and wait for Older Brother who went east to return to us.
When he returns to this land he will place his stone tablets
side by side to show all the world that they are our true brothers.

When the road in the sky has been fulfilled
and when the inventing of something, in Hopi means,
gourd of ashes, a gourd that when drops upon the earth
will boil everything within a large space
and nothing will grow for a very long time.

When the leaders turned to evil ways instead of the Great Spirit
we were told there would be many ways this life may be destroyed.
If human kind does not heed our prophecy
and return to one's original spiritual instructions.

We were told of three helpers who were commissioned by the Great Spirit
to help Hopi bring about the peaceful life on earth would appear
to help us and we should not change our homes,
our ceremonials, our hair,
because the true helpers might not recognize us as the true Hopi.

So we have been waiting all these years.

It is known that our True White Brother, when he comes,
will be all powerful and will wear a red cap or red cloak.
He will be large in population,
belong to no religion but his very own.
He will bring with him the sacred stone tablets.
With him there will be two great ones both very wise and powerful.

One will have a symbol or sign of swastika which represents purity
and is Female, a producer of life.
The third one or the second one of the two helpers
to our True White Brother will have a sign of a symbol of the sun.
He, too, will be many people and very wise and powerful.
We have in our sacred Kachina ceremonies
a gourd rattle which is still in use today
with these symbols of these powerful helpers of our True Brother.

It is also prophesied that if these three fail to fulfill
their mission then the one from the west will come like a big storm.
He will be many, in numbers and unmerciful.
When he comes he will cover the land like the red ants
and over take this land in one day.

If the three helpers chosen by the Creator fulfill
their sacred mission and even if there are only one, two,
or three of the true Hopi remaining holding fast
to the last ancient teaching and instructions the Great Spirit,
Massauu will appear before all and our would will be saved.

The three will lay our a new life plan which leads
to everlasting life and peace.
The earth will become new as it was from the beginning.
Flowers will bloom again,
wild game will return to barren lands
and there will be abundance of food for all.
Those who are saved will share everything equally
and they all will recognize Great Spirit
and speak one language.

We are now faced with great problems,
not only here but throughout the land.
Ancient cultures are being annihilated.
Our people's lands are being taken from them,
leaving them no place to call their own.

Why is this happening?

It is happening because many have given up
or manipulated their original spiritual teachings.
The way of life which the Great Spirit
has given to all its people of the world,
whatever your original instructions are not being honored.
It is because of this great sickness called greed,
which infects every land and country that simple people
are losing what they have kept for thousands of years.

Now we are at the very end of our trail.

Many people no longer recognize the true path of the Great Spirit.
They have, in fact, no respect for the Great Spirit
or for our precious Mother Earth, who gives us all life.
We are instructed in our ancient prophecy that this would occur.

We were told that someone would try to go up to the moon:
that they would bring something back from the moon;
and that after that,
nature would show signs of losing its balance.
Now we see that coming about.

All over the world there are now many signs that nature
is no longer in balance. Floods, drought, earthquakes,
and great storms are occurring and causing much suffering.
We do not want this to occur in our country
and we pray to the Great Spirit to save us from such things.
But there are now signs that this very same thing
might happen very soon on our own land.

Now we must look upon each other as brothers and sisters.
There is no more time for divisions between people.
Today I call upon all of us, from right here at home,
Hotevilla, where we to are guilty of gossiping
and causing divisions even among our own families;
out to the entire world where thievery, war,
and lying goes on every day.
These divisions will not be our salvation.
Wars only bring more wars never peace.

Only by joining together in a Spiritual Peace
with love in our hearts for one another,
love in our hearts for the Great Spirit and Mother Earth,
shall we be saved from the terrible Purification Day
which is just ahead.

There are many of you in this world who are honest people.
We know you spiritually for we are the
"Men's Society Grandfathers" who have been charged
to pray for you and all life on earth never forgetting
anything or any one in our ceremonials.

Our prayer is to have a good happy life,
plenty of soft gentle rain for abundant crops.
We pray for balance on earth to live in peace
and leave a beautiful world to the children yet to come.

We know you have good hearts but good hearts
are not enough to help us out with these great problems.
In the past some of you have tried to help us Hopis,
and we will always be thankful for you efforts.
But now we need your help in the worst way.

We want the people of the world to know
the truth of our situation.
This land which people call the Land of the Freedom
celebrates many days reminding people of the world of these things.
Yet in well over 200 years the original Americans have not seen a free day.

We are suffering the final insult.

Our people are now losing the one thing which give life
and meaning of life -- our ceremonial land,
which is being taken away from us.
Hotevilla is the last holy consecrated,
undisturbed traditional Native American sacred shrine to the Creator.
As the prophecy says,
this sacred shrine must keep its spiritual pathways open.

This village is the spiritual vortex for the Hopi
to guide the many awakening Native Americans
and other true hearts home to their own unique culture.
Hotevilla was established by the last remaining spiritual elders
to maintain peace and balance on this continent
from the tip of South America up to Alaska.
Many of our friends say Hotevilla is a sacred shrine,
a national and world treasure and must be preserved.
We need your help.

Where is the freedom which you all fight for
and sacrifice your children for?

Is it only the Indian people who have lost
or are all Americans losing the very thing
which you original came here to find?

We don't share the freedom of the press
because what gets into the papers
is what the government wants people to believe,
not what is really happening.
We have no freedom of speech,
because we are persecuted by our own people for speaking our beliefs.
We are at the final stages now
and there is a last force
that is about to take away our remaining homeland.

We are still being denied many things
including the rite to be Hopis
and to make our living in accordance with our religious teachings.
The Hopi leaders have warned leaders in the White House
and the leaders in the Glass House but they do not listen.
So as our prophecy says then it must be up to the people
with good pure hearts that will not be afraid
to help us to fulfill our destiny in peace for this world.

We now stand at a cross road whether
to lead ourselves in everlasting life or total destruction.
We believe that human beings spiritual power through prayer
is so strong it decides life on earth.

So many people have come to Hopiland to meet with us.
Some of you we have met on your lands.
Many times people have asked how they can help us.
Now I hope and pray that your help will come.

If you have a way to spread the truth,
through the newspapers, radio, books,
thought meeting with powerful people, tell the truth!
Tell them what you know to be true.
Tell them what you have seen here;
what you have heard us say;
what you have seen with your own eyes.
In this way, if we do fall,
let it be said that we tried, right up to the end,
to hold fast to the path of peace
as we were originally instructed to do by the Great Spirit.

Should you really succeed,
we will all realize our mistakes of the past
and return to the true path-living in harmony
as brothers and sisters, sharing our mother,
the earth with all other living creatures.
In this way we could bring about a new world.
A world which would be led by the great Spirit
and our mother will provide plenty and happiness for all.

God bless you,
each one of you and know our prayers for peace
meet yours as the sun rises and sets.
May the Great Spirit guide you safely into the path of love,
peace freedom and God on this Earth Mother.
May the holy ancestors of love and light
keep you safe in your land and homes.
Pray for God to give you something important
to do in this great work which lies
ahead of us all to bring peace on earth.

We the Hopi still hold the sacred stone tablets
and now await the coming of our True White Brother
and others seriously ready to work
for the Creator's peace on earth.

Be well, my children,
and think good thoughts of peace and togetherness.
Peace for all life on earth
and peace with one another in our homes,
families and countries. We are not so different in the Creator's eyes.
The same great Father Sun shines his love on each of us
daily just as Mother Earth prepares the sustenance for our table,
do they not?

We are one after all.

~Around The Campfire~

Have we lost our way?...

We must return again to the call of nature ...

This call is muted with the hurts around us ...

Destruction of the good and bad ...

We must return, not as aliens,
but as Keepers of all things that are a part of us ...

Some are forever gone ...

Others are crying out in despair ...

Just as our Ancestors kept the faith with all things,
great and small ...

So must we be the guardians of the Sun,
the Moon and the Stars ...

It is because of them,
and our respect for their powers
that we must raise our voices to be heard ...

We are not just the Red Man, we are THE PEOPLE ...

Our fathers before us worshipped all things of nature ...

This is good, for Nature is the Heart of all things ...

All of us spring from Mother Earth
and must return to her bosom ...

If we poison Her, so will our future be poisoned ...

She will rebel against the hurts
and we will be the losers ...

We must return ...



Walk in Balance
~u-ne-ga-wa-ya~

Dedicated to those people who rescue unwanted dogs

Dedicated to those people who rescue unwanted dogs.

A man and his dog were walking along a road.
The man was enjoying the scenery,
when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.
He remembered dying,
and that the dog had been dead for years.

He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while they came to a high,
white stone wall along one side of the road.
It looked like fine marble.
At the top of a long hill it was broken
by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.
When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate
in the arch that looked like mother of pearl,
and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.

He and the dog walked toward the gate,
and as he got closer he saw a man at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough he called out,
"Excuse me, where are we?"
"This is heaven, sir," the man answered.

"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?"
the man asked. "Of course, sir.
Come right in and I'll have some ice water brought right up."
The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

"Can my dog come in too?" the traveler asked.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road
and continued the way he had been going.
After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill,
he came to a dirt road which led through a farm gate
that looked as if it had never been closed.
There was no fence.
As he approached the gate he saw a man inside,
leaning against a tree and reading a book.

"Excuse me" he called to the reader,
"Do you have any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there."
The man pointed to a place
that couldn't be seen from outside the gate.
"Come on in."

"How about my friend here?"
the traveler gestured to the dog.
"There should be a bowl by the pump", was the reply.

They went through the gate and, sure enough,
there was an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.
The traveler filled the bowl
and while the dog enjoyed the fresh water,
took a long drink himself. When they were full,
he and the dog walked back toward the man,
who was standing by then, waiting for them.

"What do you call this place?"
the traveler asked.

"This is heaven," was the answer.

"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said.
"The man down the road said that was heaven too."

"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street
and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

"No. I can see how you might think so,
but we're just happy that they screen out the folks
who'll leave their dogs behind."

AHO

Ani - Yunwiya

Ani - Yunwiya - The real people

The Cherokee, who called themselves Ani - Yunwiya
("the real people" or "the principal people"),
were organized in settlements scattered in fertile bottom lands
among the craggy peaks of the Great Smokey Mountains.
The Cherokees took public opinion so seriously that
they usually split their villages when they became too large
to permit each adult a voice in council.
In the early eighteenth century,
the Cherokee Nation comprised sixty villages in five regions,
with each village controlling its own affairs.
Villages sent delegates to a national council
only in times of national emergency:
The villages averaged three hundred to four hundred persons each;
at about five hundred people, a village usually split in two.

In Cherokee society, each adult was regarded
as an equal in matters of politics.
Leadership titles were few and informal.
When Europeans sought "kings" or "chiefs"
with whom to negotiate treaties,
they usually did not understand that whomever
they were speaking with could not compel allegiance
or obedience of others.

As among the Iroquois,
each Cherokee was a member of a matrilineal clan:
Wolf, Deer, Bird, Blue, Red Paint, Wild Potato, or Twisters.
The clans formed an intervillage kinship system
which linked them in peaceful coexistence.
As in many other confederacies, a clan system cemented the confederacy,
giving it a strength and enduring quality
that prevented a high degree of local autonomy
from degenerating into anarchy.

Wa do
~whitewolfe~

Cheyenne Warrior Woman



E’hyoph’sta of the Southern Cheyenne was born about 1826
and died in August 1915, on the Tongue River Reservation in Montana.
Of all the Plains' manly-hearted women, the most ruthless may have been
E’hyoph’sta, better known as Yellow-Haired Woman. The daughter of
Cheyenne Chief Stands in Timber and the niece of the old Bad Faced Bull.
Unlike most women warriors, she first entered battle intending to die
rather than achieve revenge for a loss. Her husband, Walking Bear,
had been killed by an accidental discharge of his own gun in 1867.

In 1868, during the Southern Plains Campaign, Major George Forsyth
led a volunteer company of fifty-one “Plainsmen” out to find and report
the locations of Indian camps so the they could be found by regular army
units and placed on reservations. E’hyoph’sta’s first battle was an attack
on this force by the Cheyenne. This took place on September 17, 1868,
on the Arickaree Fork of the Republican River in Colorado,
at a low river island later known as “Beecher’s Island”.



After surrounding the scouting party on the low island, warriors of the
Cheyenne Dog Society, (Dog Soldiers, as they were commonly known),
kept the small force under siege for eight days. E’hyoph’sta,
riding a horse her father had given her, joined in the mounted charges
against the scouts.

Four times she charged along with the swirl of warriors toward the small
group of soldiers and civilians on the island. Each time she came back
with more holes in her dress from the near misses of their bullets.
But there was no blood on it. She would not be hurt or die this day,
even though she wished for death. Her husband Walking Bear had been
killed the year before. Now, even her father understood her desire to die,
and he had provided her with the horse she rode into battle.
By the end of that autumn day in 1868, E’hyoph’sta was firmly set upon
the warrior path and on her way to becoming a renowned and respected
member of her husband’s Cheyenne military society.




E’hyoph’sta’s next battle was against the Shoshone on Beaver Creek,
a stream near the Big Horn Mountains in Montana. One account told by
a warrior named Wooden Leg places the action in 1873. Several plains
tribes had gathered for their annual autumn buffalo hunt, which were also
times for major horse raids. Members of the Cheyenne camp and the
nearby Shoshone camp were out raiding when they ran into each other
and fighting began. After one attack, the Cheyenne chased and trapped
a Shoshone war party in a deep ravine. At the end of four days the
Shoshone were either dead or captured. One captured Shoshone warrior
was about to be questioned by the Dog Soldiers when E’hyoph’sta
came up and said she would interrogate him. She raised the Shoshone’s
arm and stabbed him twice in the arm pit, killing him. She then took his
scalp. For this act and two other coups counted during the four days
of fighting, she was admitted to the Dog Soldier Warrior Society.



This information was taken from Journal of Indian Wars,
Volume 1, No. 3, article titled:”Daughters of the Lance:
Native American Women Warriors.”
By Rodney G. Thomas. For more information see:
“The Fighting Cheyenne” by George Bird Grinnell
University of Oklahoma Press, 1915.
Mr. Grinnell interviewed E’hyoph’sta in 1908 and 1912.

AHO
~U-ne-ga-wa-ya~

The word "Wolf" in different North American Native Languages

The word "Wolf" in different North American Native Languages



Algonquin: mahigan
Apache: ba'cho, ba'uchaahi, ma'cho
Athabascan: teekon
Cherokee: wahy'a, wa-ya
Cheyenne: ho'nene; maiyun
Chinook: lelou, leloo
Chipewyan: segolia , nuniye
Choctaw: neshoba
Cree: Mahigan
Greenland-Inuit: amarog
Hopi: kweeuu
Inuktitut: singarti
Inupiat: amaguk
Kiowa: kooy
Lakota: shunkaha
Lakota tanka: suuk manitu
Lenape: mohegan, te-me
Mohawk: mahiingan
Mvskoke: yvhv
Navajo: ma'iitsoh
Nootka: lokwa'
Ojibwe: Maengun
Pawnee: skiri' ki
Seminole: o-ba-ho-she
Seneca: kyiyu
Shawnee: m-weowa
Shoshone: beya ish
Ute: sinapu

AHO
~Whitewolfe

Why we dance?

Why we dance?

To dance is to pray,
to pray is to heal,
to heal is to give,
to give is to live,
to live is to dance.

To the Drum:

The drum - its round form.
Representing the shape of the sacred universe
- emits strong,
steady heartbeats
that bring entrancement through repetition.

To all Dancers:

To all these dancers,
I say "Dance on and on and on
...we need your rhythmic,
heartfelt prayers."

AHO

Snow Woman

White winter winds
shrieking through snow-covered beings.
Standing, silently watching,
As myriads of chilly travelers
seek shelter.

Every hole,every branch, filled,
with life.
Huddling together for warmth,
We Watch.

Northern lights flicker across the sky.
Dancing
Creating shadow images
Whispering
Sleep, Sleep...

Hypnotized
I fold into fetal position
for warmth.
Knowing that I may
not
awaken again.

White Buffalo Calf Woman appears
She dances before me
Handing me my Pipe
She tells me to use it
To dream.

Naked before God
I cry out for the innocence
of my beginnings.

I am blinded
by the cold and by the wind
What am I to do, Grandmother
What am I to do???

It is simple, she says,
Again SHE is the Wind
LISTEN TO ME
HEAR ME
LOOK AT ME
SEE ME!

Help Me, I answer
I am pitiful and I am dense.
Falling into my dream
I find myself
embraced
by the Queen of
Feminine Wisdom.
SHE ENFOLDS ME in
Feathered Warmth
throughout my journey home.
THE NORTH