Tending the Garden
Native American & Environment
"We have not inherited the earth from our fathers.
We are borrowing it from our children."
- NATIVE AMERICAN SAYING~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Memory and Honor to the Red Race and all the Nations of Native Americans, Past, Present and Future Generations now living in an occupied land. A Land that has become the Greatest Nation in the World. I only ask and pray that all Americans keep in their prayers, actions and deeds the needs of all Native Americans.
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"We have been told by the white men, or at least by those who are Christian,
that God sent to men his son, who would restore order and peace upon the earth; and we have been told that Jesus the Christ was crucified, but that he shall come again at the Last Judgment, the end of this world or cycle. This I understand and know that it is true, but the white men should know that for the red people, too, it was the will of Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, that an animal turn itself into a two-legged person in order to bring the most holy pipe to His people; and we too were taught that this White Buffalo Cow Woman who brought our sacred pipe will appear again at the end of this "world", a coming which we Indians know is now not very far off....We Indians know the One true God, and....we pray to Him continually."
Black Elk The Great Sioux Nation~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Sioux Prayer
Grandfather Great Spirit
All over the world the faces of living ones are alike.
With tenderness they have come up out of the ground.
Look upon your children that they may face the winds.
And walk the good road to the Day of the Quiet.
Grandfather Great Spirit Fill us with Light.
Give us the strength to understand, And the eyes to see.
Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives to all that live.This page is dedicated to the Hundreds of Native American Nations
Past, Present and Future Generations.
Nations and their people that were exterminated
and decimated and still held hostage in their land on
"Reservations", by the White Man.
Their struggle for freedom was crushed,
their sacred land has been destroyed
and the question remains,
who had the authority to commit these thefts and murders?
Akta Lakota Museum
http://www.travelsd.com/history/sioux/sioux.htm~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chief Yellow Hawk's Prayer
O Great Spirit, Whose voice I hear in the winds,
and whose breath gives life to all the world,
hear me, I come before you, one of your children.
I am small and weak. I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes
ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made,
my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may know the things you
have taught my people,
the lesson you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength not to be superior to my brothers,
but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself.
Make me ever ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes,
so when life fades as a fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.Chief Yellow Hawk
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God gave man the earth
The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof ...
He gave it to man as a gift of His love
So all men might live as He hoped they would,
Sharing together all things that were good.
But man only destroyed the good earth of God.
He polluted the air and ravished the sod,
He cut down the forests with ruthless disdain.
And the earth's natural beauty he perverted for gain.
And now in an age filled with violent dissent,
Man finds he's imprisoned in his own discontent.
He has taken the earth that God placed in his care
And built his own hell without being aware .
That the future we face was fashioned by man,
Who in ignorance resisted God's beautiful plan;
And what God created to be paradise ,
Became by man's lust and perversion and vice.
A cauldron of chaos in a fog of pollution
To which man can find no cure or solution.
How far man will go to complete his destruction
Is beyond a computer's robot deduction.~ Helen Steiner Rice ~
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My Hometown
BEFORE
AFTER
North Carolina 7/12/00
WHY?
Prayer for Restoration of Our Land
All of Gods creatures that were living in beautiful woods just like the before scene, which is directly across the street, are now scattering hopelessly, looking for a new home in this urban sprawl called progress by growth. This morning, walking at first light, I saw a starving, frail and frightened deer, wandering aimlessly. As I walked in this residential neighborhood, in the city of my birth, I was overcome with sadness as the mighty earthmovers and the mechanized tree removal equipment began belching the black diesel smoke breaking the still of the morning.
What thoughts would the Native Americans have, how many tears are their spirits crying as they look over the destruction of this once pristine and sacred land. As I walked in the morning mist, on this paved cut through street; that once was a dirt road, once a path, a distance of a mile, I saw a disgusting sight, aluminum cans of many types, fast food containers, cups, napkins, straws, cigarette butts, liquor-beer-pop-wine bottles, a discarded welcome mat and hundreds of small pieces of paper of every description. I wept, I know in my heart that God weeps over the GARBAGE DUMP that this great PROMISED LAND has become.
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Genesis 8:16-18
- "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.
- Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you--the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground--so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."
- So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives.
Genesis 9:7
- As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."
This command to be fruitful and increase in number and to increase upon it doesn't say to be fruitful and DESTROY THE LAND. Lord, let it start with me, to walk lightly upon this land, this gift that Thy has bestowed upon us. Let me leave not a trace of destruction.
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When will we ever learn that more is less and that less is more? Why are allowing the attempt to cut down every tree in America? How many more shopping malls and strip centers and parking lots do we need? How many more highways and streets do we need for more and more vehicles that are choking us with pollution and stressful traffic jams? What has happened to the spirit of this land. This ancient land that the Native Americans used for thousands of years with a sacred love and respect for nature? Taking only what they needed for sustenance and never destroying their life sources.. Pure pristine water to drink and unpolluted air to breath. They walked ever so lightly over this great continent leaving barely a trace. Why then do we leave destruction in our wake? Why must we fill the rivers, lakes and oceans with waste and poisons, the air with smoke and man made chemicals and the good earth with garbage and poisons?
Is it asking to much of each citizen, private and corporate to reduce, reuse and recycle? Why do we continue to perpetuate the disposable, throw away and wasteful culture? What will our future generations think and say about their inheritance??? Is it possible that we can return to the "Garden" to live in harmony with God's laws of nature? As the prophet and poet Bob Dylan wrote, "The Answer My Friend is Blowing in the Wind." The answer is also in our Divine hearts. RCH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"Hold On"
A Pueblo Indian Prayer
Hold on to what is good,
Even if it's a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe,
Even if it's a tree that stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do,
Even if it's a long way from here.
Hold on to your life,
Even if it's easier to let go.
Hold on to my hand,
Even if I've gone away from you.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the early days we were close to nature. We judged time, weather conditions, and many things by the elements-the good earth, the blue sky, the flying of geese, and the changing winds. We looked to these for guidance and answers. Our prayers and thanksgiving were said to the four winds-to the East, from whence the new day was born; to the South, which sent the warm breeze which gave a feeling of comfort; to the West, which ended the day and brought rest; and to the North, the Mother of winter whose sharp air awakened a time of preparation for the long days ahead. We lived by God's hand through nature and evaluated the changing winds to tell us or warn us as to what was ahead. Today we are again evaluating the changing winds.
Native American Author Unknown~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
Now they charge people
A Dollar and a half
Just to see them.Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Til it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot!"
Joni Mitchell~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHEROKEE PRAYER BLESSING
May the warm winds of heaven
Blow softly upon your house.
May the Great Spirit
Bless all who enter there.
May your moccasins
Make happy tracks
In many snows,
And may the rainbow
Always touch your shoulder.
Fruit From The Light
by Frank Howell
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