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Chosen Reading- Address to follow

Writer's picture: Sarah Carl GathernSarah Carl Gathern



"Beginning"An ancient Tewa Indian prayer speaks to the mending of the earth and the greening of the mind that reflects the principles found in the Manual for the Peacemaker". Its words are " Within and around the earth, within and around the hills, within and around the mountain, your authority returns to you"To the earth, the hills, the mountain we offer this reflection of a great story" I take hold of it, I embrace it, it is good"This book invites you to participate in a legend about a bringer of peace, a creator of community, a changer of his world. It is one of the richest stories to come out of North America, yet for non- Native Americans, it is one of the least known.It tells of Deganawidah, the man from the north, celebrated even today as the Peacemaker, and his successful campaign to create a peaceful and prosperous society, where previously there had only been long years of violence and intertribal warfare. So potent is its legend, so full of pith and wonder, that it embodies the essence of myth, yet many of its elements are acknowledged as historical truths.For Deganawidah actually lived and worked in ways both mystical and practical. His allies included Jigonhsasee, remembered as the Mother of Nations, and the great orator Hayenwatha, remembered as Hiawatha. Together they created a peaceful democracy among five tribes of Native peoples in the northeastern woodlands, a true democracy that lasted hundreds of years and is still, to a remarkable extent, in force today. European settlers gave this nation the name Iroquois, they call themselves the Haudenosaunee, the People of the Longhouse.The figure of Deganawidah carries archetypal power as a new kind of Peacemaker, his peace embraces what he calls a new mind, a radical change in consciousness that opens itself to a new order of health, justice and sacred power. Thus the peace that he proposes is vigorous and demanding, rigorous and challenging. He does not arrive from on high with answers spelled out and a completed plan, though he knows himself to be a messenger of the Great Spirit,he invites others to help him clarify the message and carry it forward persuasively to kin and kind. As his mission proceeds, so does the peace, becoming feisty and rich! It is peace expressed through dynamic conversation, intensive sharing of ideas, ceremony, and cooperation, peace that appeals to all levels of human experience: physical, psychological, mythic and Morden Spiritualist"Along with the great tree that they planted as the grounding, the rooted basis for all nations to coexist in friendship and harmony and for all parts of ourselves to come together for new ways of being"" I take hold of it, I embrace it, it is good"Song of HiawathaYe who love a nations legends,Love the ballads of a peopleThat like voices from afar offCall to us to pause and listen,Speak in tones so plain and childlike,Scarcely can the ear distinguishWhether they are sung or spoken;Listen to this Indian Legend,To this song of Hiawatha!Gitche Manito, the mighty,The creator of the nations,Looked upon them with compassion,With paternal love and pity;...."Oh my children! my poor children!Listen to the words of wisdom,Listen to the words of warning,From the lips of the Great Spirit,From the Master of Life, who made you!" I have given you lands to hunt in,I have given you streams to fish in,I have given you bear and bisonI have given you roe and reindeer,I have given you brant and beaver,Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl,Filled the rivers full of fishes,Why then are you not contented?Why then will you hunt each other?I am weary of your quarrels,Weary of your wars and bloodshed,Weary of your prayers for vengeance,Of your wranglings and dissensions;All your strength is in your union,All your danger is in discord;Therefore be at peace henceforward,And as brothers live together...."" I take hold of it, I embrace it, It is good"Black Elk said:You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nations, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living centre of the hoop and the circle of the four quarters nourished it.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 enduranceThis knowledge came to us from the other world with our religion. Everything the power of the World does is done in a circle.The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls,birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.The sun comes forth and goes down in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our tepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nations hoop, a nest of many nests , where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children" I take hold of it, I embrace it, it is good"Prayer from the NavahoWith beauty behind me may I walk. (Repeat)With beauty above me may I walk. ( Repeat)With beauty below me may I walk.( Repeat)With beauty all around me may I walk.( Repeat)As one who is long life and happiness may I walk.( Repeat)In beauty it is finished.( Repeat)In beauty it is finished.( Repeat)" I take hold of it, I embrace it, it is good"Carl

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