Carol's
Place
Native American
Page
In the 60's, when I was a teenager, my family and I vacationed in the South. During that
vacation we stopped in Cherokee, NC. While there, we saw a play called "Unto These
Hills" in an outdoor theater.
It left a deep impression on me and showed me that Indians were NOT the bad
guys as always portrayed in the old movies I grew up watching.
You can read all about that story here.
The Trail of Tears
Native Americans are a proud people with a wonderful culture. We could all learn from
them.
Did you ever listen to any of their legends? Did you ever think about their beliefs about
their God?
Have you ever marvelled at the wonderful things they make? Or listened to the beautiful
flute music?
To my knowledge, the Native American peoples throughout this country and possibly the
world were the only ones who lived in harmony with nature. How did the white man live?
For that matter, how does the white man live today? Just watch your local news.
How often is there talk about how something became polluted? How many times do you
hear about an endangered species?
If a Native American killed a buffalo back in the past, he used everything possible from the
animal. What did white man do? He shot the buffalo from train windows for absolutely
no reason but to shoot them. What a waste. I am still learning about their culture and find
it very interesting. If I remember right, some tribes would even thank the spirit of an
animal they killed for food.
Come with me. Try to keep an open mind. Check out some or all of the following links
to Native American sites. Read some of the legends below too. When you look at the
photos and graphics, try to see the heart of the people there.
White man took great advantage of the Native American. Yet, without the Native
Americans white man might not have survived here. For that, we should be thankful. I
know I am.
I hope you all enjoy this page I have created in honor of all the tribes throughout the
world.
As I searched the web for sites and information, I enjoyed some of the legends
so much that I wanted to include some of them here. Following each legend is a link to
the page where I found it.
~A Native American
Legend~
Once upon a time, the colors of the world started to quarrel: all claimed that they were the
best, the most important,the most useful, the favorite.
GREEN said: "Clearly I am the most
important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees,leaves - without
me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the
majority."
BLUE interrupted: "You only think
about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and
drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea.The sky gives space and peace and serenity.
Without my peace, you would all be nothing."
YELLOW chuckled: "You are all so
serious. I bring laughter, gaiety and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is
yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to
smile. Without me, there would be no fun."
ORANGE started next to blow her
trumpet: "I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I
serve the needs of human life.I carry the most vitamins. Think of
carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes,and paw paws. I don't hang around all the time, but
when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another
thought to any of you."
RED could stand it no longer. He
shouted out: "I am the ruler of all of you.I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger
and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me,
the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red
rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."
PURPLE rose up to his full height. He
was very tall and spoke with great pomp: "I am the color of royalty and power. Kings,
chiefs and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom.
People do not question me - they listen and obey."
Finally, INDIGO spoke, much more
quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination: "Think of me. I am the
color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I
represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and
contrast, for prayer and inner peace."
And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority.Their
quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright
lightening, thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors
crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.
In the midst of the clamor, Rain began to speak: "You foolish colors, fighting amongst
yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for
a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."
Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands. The Rain continued: "From
now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a
reminder that you can all live in peace. The rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow."
And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a rainbow appears in the sky,let us
remember to...appreciate one another.
Native
American III
The Great White
Buffalo
In the Autumn time, the harvest was coming to the end and the meat strips were drying in
the sun. Our lodges were ready for winter and soon we would have our great feast. Times
were good, buffalo were as plenty as the stars in the sky. The old medicine man came
down from his latest vision quest in the Black Hills. It was traditional for him to tell
stories as everyone sat by the fire. This time instead of mischievous spirits and wisdon of
the bear, he told of the future. He told of a future with no buffalo. How could this be?
I've stood in the Black Hills myself, where I could not see the green grass, the entir valley
was black with buffalo to the horizon. This is what the buffalo are, herds of plenty. The
great spirit does not mind out taking a few, we give our thanks, we only take what we
need and use all we take-it is nature's way. The old man is crazy.
He went on with his crazy talk. He said the four colors of man, white, black, yellow and
red would come together. Now, everyone thought him mad. What other men? We are
the men, us the Lakota, sure there are others, Iroquois, Creek, Burnt-leg People-bud
(Sious). Cut-finger People(Cherokee).But we are all the same color, the color of
Grandmother Earth in the banks of her rivers,the color of the rising sun. He said, when the
end time was near a white buffalo would be born amongst the few remaining.Again, this
was crazy talk. The Great White Buffalo is of legends,and only appears every hundred
winters. To think it could be born to just a few.What kind of vision is this? It doesn't make
sense -who will listen to this crazy man again?
On August 20, 1994 a white buffalo she-calf was born near Janisville, Wisconsin, again.
Native Americans from all over the country have been making pilgrimages to the site
leaving presents, gifts and totems, for "miracle".
Visio
n of a New Dawn-Frankie's Domain
How Chipmunk Got Her Stripes
There was an old woman who had a granddaughter. Her name was Chipmunk. One day
she told her grandma, "I'm hungry. Give me something to eat. " Her grandma gave her
camas, but she didn't want that. She didn't want dried meat or roots.
She saw a service berry bush, so she ran to that and climbed up. She had a little bag to put
the berries in. The berries were really ripe, so she picked and ate and picked and ate. She
put some in the bag.
All of a sudden she heard someone down by the bush. It was Dirty Face, an animal. Dirty
Face asked her if her family had prayed for the berries to be so ripe. Chipmunk said she
didn't have any family. Dirty Face said, "Come here and I will be your family."
Chipmunk made Dirty Face close his eyes first and then she jumped down. Just as she was
getting on the ground Dirty Face was going to catch her, but he just scratched her back.
He ate her skin under his fingernails. It was so good he was going to kill her and eat
her.
Chipmunk ran to her grandma. "Hide me, hide me. Run run!" she cried. Grandma bid her
in the back of the teepee where the people squat.
Meadowlark told Dirty Face where Chipmunk was.
He went in the teepee and killed her. He put Chipmunk on the fire and grandma started to
cry.
He let grandma have the hind legs, the forelegs, the backbone and the head. He put the
heart in his mouth and ate it. Grandma put the backbone, the legs, and the head together,
but there was no heart. She went out and she looked around and there she saw the
kinni-ki-nic berry. She put it in for a heart. Chipmunk came alive.
The stripes are where the monkey scratched her back, and her heart really is red and round
like a kinni-ki-nic berry.(Inland Northwest - Spokane)
As told by Margaret Adams. Margaret Adams was an Upper Spokane, who moved with
her family to the Coeur d'Alene Reservation according to the Agreement of 1887.
from Children of the Sun - A History of the Spokane Indians by David C.
Wynecoop,Wellpinit, Washington © 1969
Native American
Medicine Bags
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The Legend of the Dream
Catcher
Long ago when the world was young, an old Lokota Spiritual Leader was on a high
mountian and had a vision.In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom,
appeared in the form of a spider. Ikotomi spoke to him in a sacred language. As he spoke,
Iktomi the spider picked up the elder's willow hoop which had feathers, horsehair, beads
and offerings on it, and began to spin a web.
He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life, how we began our lives as infants, move
through childhood and on to adulthood. Finally we come to old age where we must be
taken care of as infants, completing the cycle."But" I ktomi said as he continued to spin
his webm" in each time of life there are many forces, some good and some bad. If you
listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction. But, if you listen to the
bad forces, they'll steer you in the wrong direction and may hurt you. So these forces can
help.or can interfere with the harmoney of Nature. While the spider spoke, he continued to
weave his web.
When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the web and said, "The web is a perfect
circle with a hole in the center. Use the web to help your people reach their goals, making
good use of their ideas, dreams and visions. If you believe in the Great Spirit, the web will
catch your good ideas and the bad ones will go through the hole."
The elder passed on his vision to the people and now many Indian people hang a dream
catcher above their bed to sift their dreams and visions. The good is captured in the web
of life and carried with the people, but the evil in their derams drops through the hole to
the center of the web and are no longer a part of their lives, It's said that the dream catcher
holds the destiny of the future.
Dream
Catcher Legend
from
Welcome to My
World
Below are links to some wonderful Native American Pages. If you have some
time, please don't hesitate to take a look at them. They are full of wonderful pictures,
legends and crafts. I hope to add more in the future.
Teach
Us
This page has wonderful pictures and legends. The whole site it wonderful.
ThunderRolls
Great Flood
These links are two pages from the same site. The first link is to the first page of the site.
It takes you through to many wonderful pages. The second page is one of the legends that
really amazed me. I've heard this story from other cultures besides my Christian one.
Make me wonder about things.
Swifteagle
This page has lots and lots of links to Native American pages.
Aadizookaang-Traditional
Stories, Legends & Myths
This page has many stories from various Native American tribal areas. And it leads to
many other pages with lots of things to tell.
Hummingbird & Cougar
Spirit Homepage
This page has some Native American legends.
First American
Forefathers-Famous Chieftains
This site has an entire page about the many Chiefs we all heard about in
history.
Native
American Recipes
This site has lots of Native American Recipes. My favorite Native American foods so far
are Fry Bread and Buffalo.
Webrings
This links to a page full of many Native American Webrings. You can really investigate
Native American culture, legends, arts, crafts and history with all of the site available
through any one of these Webrings.
Windwalker-Elan
Michaels
Here you will find some MIDIs of Native American music. I got the MIDI you are
currently listening to from here.
I took many of my graphics from Silverhawks Native American Graphics. Please check
on my graphics links page for all of the others graphics sites from which I took
graphics.
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I am proud to display these awards that I received for this page.
Here are the links to my other pages.
Carol's Place Homepage
Carol's Place of Inspiration
page 2
page 3
page4
page 5
Carol's Place Recipes
page 2
Carol's Place Art
Carol's Place Serenity Prayer
Carol's Place The 12 Steps
Graphics Links Page
Here are the links to my Holiday pages.
Carol's Place Christmas
Page
Carol's Place Easter Page
Carol's Place
Halloween Page
Carol's Place
Thanksgiving Page
Carol's Place New
Year Page
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