A deep reverence for Mother Earth
lies at the heart of the beliefs
and traditions of the native nations
of North America. Here is a small glimpse
at some of the profound wisdom
from the first, true Americans.



When we show our respect
for other living things,
they respond with respect for us.
Arapaho Proverb




Great Spirit !
You lived first,
and you are older than all need,
older than all prayer.
All things belong to you
the two-legged, the four-legged,
the wings of the air
and all green things that live....
I am sending you a voice,
Great Spirit, my Grandfather,
forgetting nothing you have made,
the stars of the Universe,
and the grasses of the Earth.
Black Elk, Oglala Sioux



Today is a good day to fight -
today is a good day to die.
Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux


Remember that your children
are not your own,
but are leant to you by the Creator.
Mohawk Proverb


What we are told as children
is that people when they walk
on the land leave their breath
wherever they go.
So wherever we walk, that particular spot
on the earth never forgets us,
and when we go back to these places,
we know that the people
who have lived there are
in some way still there,
and that we can actually partake
of their breath and their spirit.
Rina Swentzell, Santa Clara Pueblo




Treachery darkens the chain of friendship,
but truth makes it brighter than ever.
Conestoga Proverb


Life is as the flash of
the firefly in the night,
the breath of buffalo in winter time.
Blackfoot Proverb


Life is not separate from death.
It only looks that way.
Blackfoot Proverb


We stand somewhere
between the mountain
and the ant.
Onondaga Proverb


When you lose the rhythm
of the drumbeat of God,
you are lost from the
peace and rhythm of life.
Cheyenne Proverb






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maintained by RAVEN



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