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This is a letter I received from a person that I have permission to post here. This is a result of a discussion on a group on the net. It was started because a person came on the site and posted a "prophesy" by the Rainbow Tribe. I felt that this man explained things extremely well without attacking as has been happening here. I also feel that because of those attacks that many did not hear what those people were trying to say. I appreciated his points and his effort. That's why I asked if I could share with you here as I feel we all would do well by hearing his words. Not only did he give me permission to do this he wrote more for us here. The title of this is mine not his.. I couldn't think of a better one. *lol* I hope you appriciate his effort. ~mato
Hau,
Here it is... I hope they listen this time.
newt
Hau, and Hello,
My public name is Newton Love, but go by newt. I walk the Red Road in the Lakhota Way, as I learned to from my family. I am mixed blood and have no authority to speak for anyone but myself.
Frequently, there are people who try to play Indian. They are usually white people who seek "enlightenment." Since the 1960s, the numbers of them have increased, and a lot of them have formed a "Rainbow Tribe" of "Rainbow Warriors" who are braves for peace and all that stuff.
They love prophesies and seek prophets to say what they want to hear. They like to root through cultures taking bits and pieces from various nations, and by mixing them together, they make a heady hodge-podge of the over 2,000 Red Nations culture and religions and then try to encode it with Pagan and Wiccan mysticism into the Doctrine and Covenants of their new-age religion. They seek ectasy and visions, so that they would feel that their life has a meaning and purpose.
They say things like:
"The Hodenosaunee, whom the Europeans called Iroquois, consisted of five original tribes. It was their governmental system, designed by Deganawida that formed the basis of the United States Constitution. It was Deganawida’s system of wisdom and social order, based on a matriarchy, that gave our founding fathers the basis for the system. As you can see, this was one of the interesting things, completely plausible, yes?"
That would be a surprise to Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and all the other 1776 Founding Fathers of the USA. I can see how much they believed in matriarchal societies, since the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, giving women the right to vote, took effect on August 26, 1920. Perhaps USA giving women the right to vote came from them looking to other countries that did it before them, and not the Red Nations that they had enslaved on the Rez. Finland (1906) and Norway (1913) were the first European countries to grant woman suffrage. New Zealand granted it in 1893, Australia in 1902, Canada in 1917. The former Soviet Union gave women the vote in 1917.
They say things like:
"This is where the indigenous people will help. In their genetic memory they hold the
knowledge of the original teachings. The Cogi in South America, the Hopi of the
Southwest and other nations that were here before the tragic intrusion of
Columbus, still remember and can teach us. It is only through edification of the
Rainbow Peoples by the Red Nations, that those who feel the Mother's pain as I
do can be helped."
These new-age Rainbow People feel pain for many things. I believe that their tears are real, even if they come from self-inflicted wounds. They have not found solace in the religions of their own people, and so they think that the answers must be found in the religions that they have not yet tried on. They seek to try our Way. They tell themselves that this new Way will work, and foment themselves into a euphoric expectation of how it will be their salvation from sorrow, and bring meaning to their lives.
They say things like:
"I hope for others of the Rainbow People to see the teachings of the Lakota by White Calf Woman and others, and perhaps those of the Lakota who wished to, could look and speak what their heart feels. As a man who seeks the truth, I was hoping for some discussion about many things included in it."
and:
"As one of the rainbow people, I always seek to speak about these stumbling blocks with someone of the Red Nations, to sort through and clarify the many and various things that cloud my path. I have always looked inward to my heart and outward to the Peoples to find where the truth lies."
and:
I hope you can see I do not attempt to change the belief of the Red Nations, but to gain what knowledge I can from the wisdom that has held the People together these past few centuries, since the white man intruded on your lands, and upon your True way of life.
We are all relations. Even so, not all relations can live together.
You try to change our belief that sharing our religion with you would be bad. There are really important reasons why most of the Red Nations resist your attempts to draw near and learn. You think it is because we are selfish, and keep secrets from you. This in not true; it is merely your misinterpretation of our actions. You think, "If I were to behave like that, I would be..." and therein lies your most fundamental mistake: y o u a r e n o t u s . You lack our culture, and so can't possibly understand what motivates us to remain silent. We won't share, because allowing you to mix parts of our Way with other Red Nation Ways, is very likely to cause more harm and pain for you in the future.
To the [DLN]akhota, religion is as private as our sex lives. We do not discuss those topics in an open forum. even so, I will try to explain why we turn you away, in simple terms that perhaps have not been used before. I know this same message has been spoken several times to the Rainbow People, and it has been ignored. Perhaps my simple minded words can explain it in a way that might be heard. I hope so.
Saying that only if the Red Nations open up and teach you our secrets, will you find relief from the pain that you feel about how the world is, how your job is, and everything. You believe that if you conduct a scavenger hunt through the Indian religions, that you will be able to gather enough symbols and rituals to build a pan-universal religion that would unify truth, and bring peace and harmony to your wandering and unhappy spirits.
This shows how your do not understand the Red Road. We cannot provide you with what you seek. Grandfather is the only source. Religion is based on faith, which is a powerful medicine, capable of miracles. Faith must have roots, deep into Grandfather, or what you think is faith is vain hope. Deeply rooted faith is a powerful thing.
That is why we call our priests "medicine men." Please do not insult us by calling them shaman. Shaman means "priest of the Ural-Altaic peoples," probably via German Schamane, from Russian shaman, from Tungus shaman, which is perhaps from Chinese sha men "Buddhist monk," from Prakrit samaya-, from Sanskrit sramana-s "Buddhist ascetic." No Indians in that list at all.
Medicines are made to treat each patient. A doctor might say "Take four pills a day for the first week, then two pills a day for two weeks, then one pill a day for four weeks." This tapered dosage is made to give the right amount of medicine to treat the problem. After you don't have that problem, the doctor and you would not continue to treat you for it. Also, a doctor might prescribe a different strength of medicine for a child than for an adult.
It is with how we Lakhota understand medicine. Grandfather, through his power spirit, and his messengers, the spirit guides, bring the medicine and nutrition needed by a person's spirit, for each moment of their lives. Someone just a few days after a death of a loved one, or just after a messy divorce will be ready to learn some lessons that they were not expecting. Years later, after they have moved through their grief, they may again renew their joy and learn new lessons. The lessons they learned just after the tragedy do not need to be learned again.
So it is with our religion. Each person is their own receptical, to catch and hold the spiritual medicine poured on them. It is medicine made for them, on that day, for that minute/second. It is enough to last until the next prayer, which is only a breath away.
Here again is a fundamental difference. Western European cultures belive that prayer is talking, and asking God for things, or to solve a problem. Hail Mary's and Our Fathers become incantations that are chanted as if they are a magic spell that would control the cosmos. Christians don't use the Catholic prayers, but develop their own ritual phrases that they repeat in voiced patterns that they use only for "praying" so that they to can bind on earth what is bound in heaven. Talk, talk, talk.
Lakhota see prayer as listening, with a little talking. A better explanation would be that if you are cold, and you sit by a fire, you can soak in the warmth. Since the side away from the fire is cold, you turn to warm your back, and all sides, in the warmth of the fire. Lakhota prayer is a time of immersion of our individual being into the presence of Grandfather. Given enough time, saturation occurs, which transforms the individual. That is why we believe that prayer must be continual.
to be continued........
Hau,
Here it is... I hope they listen this time.
newt
Hau, and Hello,
My public name is Newton Love, but go by newt. I walk the Red Road in the Lakhota Way, as I learned to from my family. I am mixed blood and have no authority to speak for anyone but myself.
Frequently, there are people who try to play Indian. They are usually white people who seek "enlightenment." Since the 1960s, the numbers of them have increased, and a lot of them have formed a "Rainbow Tribe" of "Rainbow Warriors" who are braves for peace and all that stuff.
They love prophesies and seek prophets to say what they want to hear. They like to root through cultures taking bits and pieces from various nations, and by mixing them together, they make a heady hodge-podge of the over 2,000 Red Nations culture and religions and then try to encode it with Pagan and Wiccan mysticism into the Doctrine and Covenants of their new-age religion. They seek ectasy and visions, so that they would feel that their life has a meaning and purpose.
They say things like:
"The Hodenosaunee, whom the Europeans called Iroquois, consisted of five original tribes. It was their governmental system, designed by Deganawida that formed the basis of the United States Constitution. It was Deganawida’s system of wisdom and social order, based on a matriarchy, that gave our founding fathers the basis for the system. As you can see, this was one of the interesting things, completely plausible, yes?"
That would be a surprise to Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and all the other 1776 Founding Fathers of the USA. I can see how much they believed in matriarchal societies, since the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, giving women the right to vote, took effect on August 26, 1920. Perhaps USA giving women the right to vote came from them looking to other countries that did it before them, and not the Red Nations that they had enslaved on the Rez. Finland (1906) and Norway (1913) were the first European countries to grant woman suffrage. New Zealand granted it in 1893, Australia in 1902, Canada in 1917. The former Soviet Union gave women the vote in 1917.
They say things like:
"This is where the indigenous people will help. In their genetic memory they hold the
knowledge of the original teachings. The Cogi in South America, the Hopi of the
Southwest and other nations that were here before the tragic intrusion of
Columbus, still remember and can teach us. It is only through edification of the
Rainbow Peoples by the Red Nations, that those who feel the Mother's pain as I
do can be helped."
These new-age Rainbow People feel pain for many things. I believe that their tears are real, even if they come from self-inflicted wounds. They have not found solace in the religions of their own people, and so they think that the answers must be found in the religions that they have not yet tried on. They seek to try our Way. They tell themselves that this new Way will work, and foment themselves into a euphoric expectation of how it will be their salvation from sorrow, and bring meaning to their lives.
They say things like:
"I hope for others of the Rainbow People to see the teachings of the Lakota by White Calf Woman and others, and perhaps those of the Lakota who wished to, could look and speak what their heart feels. As a man who seeks the truth, I was hoping for some discussion about many things included in it."
and:
"As one of the rainbow people, I always seek to speak about these stumbling blocks with someone of the Red Nations, to sort through and clarify the many and various things that cloud my path. I have always looked inward to my heart and outward to the Peoples to find where the truth lies."
and:
I hope you can see I do not attempt to change the belief of the Red Nations, but to gain what knowledge I can from the wisdom that has held the People together these past few centuries, since the white man intruded on your lands, and upon your True way of life.
We are all relations. Even so, not all relations can live together.
You try to change our belief that sharing our religion with you would be bad. There are really important reasons why most of the Red Nations resist your attempts to draw near and learn. You think it is because we are selfish, and keep secrets from you. This in not true; it is merely your misinterpretation of our actions. You think, "If I were to behave like that, I would be..." and therein lies your most fundamental mistake: y o u a r e n o t u s . You lack our culture, and so can't possibly understand what motivates us to remain silent. We won't share, because allowing you to mix parts of our Way with other Red Nation Ways, is very likely to cause more harm and pain for you in the future.
To the [DLN]akhota, religion is as private as our sex lives. We do not discuss those topics in an open forum. even so, I will try to explain why we turn you away, in simple terms that perhaps have not been used before. I know this same message has been spoken several times to the Rainbow People, and it has been ignored. Perhaps my simple minded words can explain it in a way that might be heard. I hope so.
Saying that only if the Red Nations open up and teach you our secrets, will you find relief from the pain that you feel about how the world is, how your job is, and everything. You believe that if you conduct a scavenger hunt through the Indian religions, that you will be able to gather enough symbols and rituals to build a pan-universal religion that would unify truth, and bring peace and harmony to your wandering and unhappy spirits.
This shows how your do not understand the Red Road. We cannot provide you with what you seek. Grandfather is the only source. Religion is based on faith, which is a powerful medicine, capable of miracles. Faith must have roots, deep into Grandfather, or what you think is faith is vain hope. Deeply rooted faith is a powerful thing.
That is why we call our priests "medicine men." Please do not insult us by calling them shaman. Shaman means "priest of the Ural-Altaic peoples," probably via German Schamane, from Russian shaman, from Tungus shaman, which is perhaps from Chinese sha men "Buddhist monk," from Prakrit samaya-, from Sanskrit sramana-s "Buddhist ascetic." No Indians in that list at all.
Medicines are made to treat each patient. A doctor might say "Take four pills a day for the first week, then two pills a day for two weeks, then one pill a day for four weeks." This tapered dosage is made to give the right amount of medicine to treat the problem. After you don't have that problem, the doctor and you would not continue to treat you for it. Also, a doctor might prescribe a different strength of medicine for a child than for an adult.
It is with how we Lakhota understand medicine. Grandfather, through his power spirit, and his messengers, the spirit guides, bring the medicine and nutrition needed by a person's spirit, for each moment of their lives. Someone just a few days after a death of a loved one, or just after a messy divorce will be ready to learn some lessons that they were not expecting. Years later, after they have moved through their grief, they may again renew their joy and learn new lessons. The lessons they learned just after the tragedy do not need to be learned again.
So it is with our religion. Each person is their own receptical, to catch and hold the spiritual medicine poured on them. It is medicine made for them, on that day, for that minute/second. It is enough to last until the next prayer, which is only a breath away.
Here again is a fundamental difference. Western European cultures belive that prayer is talking, and asking God for things, or to solve a problem. Hail Mary's and Our Fathers become incantations that are chanted as if they are a magic spell that would control the cosmos. Christians don't use the Catholic prayers, but develop their own ritual phrases that they repeat in voiced patterns that they use only for "praying" so that they to can bind on earth what is bound in heaven. Talk, talk, talk.
Lakhota see prayer as listening, with a little talking. A better explanation would be that if you are cold, and you sit by a fire, you can soak in the warmth. Since the side away from the fire is cold, you turn to warm your back, and all sides, in the warmth of the fire. Lakhota prayer is a time of immersion of our individual being into the presence of Grandfather. Given enough time, saturation occurs, which transforms the individual. That is why we believe that prayer must be continual.
to be continued........
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