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I discovered an amazing thing about all people. They are all Human Beings. tolerance begins with understanding each Human is unique and as such only represents themselves and not any group.
You will find people in any group that understand it, and as such hold no feelings against us as individuals for what our ancestors did.
Many First Nation people of the Americas do walk the Red Path and are part of it. Those of us, who are of another life style, can enjoy the Red Path, but it is essential to understand we can not be part of it. A non-Indian can not understand what it is to be Indian. We can only enjoy the effect of it provided we understand we are guests on the Red Path and we do keep the attitude we do not want to be part of it and can not be. We do not want to be anything except our selves and we respect the right for all people to be themselves. When we walk alongside our friends on the Red Path, we need to let them be the guides and let them know it is not our need or desire to take control.
That goes for people of all cultures when they want to see and enjoy the culture of another people. We do not need to understand nor criticize, to walk with friends and share what we mutually enjoy.
Thank you kind friend, I really needed to hear that, so I may seek what is the right red path for me. Cant help my kids if I can not help myself. I really do have a good sense about me, always have carried a great respect for nature, as it is viewed by everyone differently. I do however, believe that I do know what it must feel like to be an Indian/Native American, I feel outnumbered, out-voted now, my customs and culture interrupted by new laws that take from me my everyday freedoms when I go to the woods. My rivers are being diverted for the sole use of selling it to newcommers, and the Homested Act wont protect me, They (education institution and wildlife managers), are killing/culling the herds of Elk and Deer here in the county I live now, they chased them down last winter from helicopters during THE WORST WINTER OF MY LIFETIME IN COLORADO and I am "historic" 51 years experienced, put radio collars on some and cut their antlers off (apparently they were scared they'd get hurt by the animal when they let it up), (and providing those collars dont kill them like the other animals that they have been known to kill) and above all, their mission is to raise the price of hunting and keep the male numbers down so the price gouges can begin on trophy hunts now offered and administered by a Federal Bureau that had no legal right to conduct that "outfitting" of Federal lands accesses. They are comming foks, to take the last of wilderness country of this State, and they have no mercy. I do know in this life how you must have once felt or still feel. I feel helpless to stop it. It is bad enough the millions of dead trees here have comming effects on every living thing near them. I try to see what to prepare for, when I see something is wrong. I will continue to care, and to give warning to those who need to know, danger is near, I cannot describe how I know that, but I just do.
Thank you kind friend, I really needed to hear that, so I may seek what is the right red path for me. Cant help my kids if I can not help myself. I really do have a good sense about me, always have carried a great respect for nature, as it is viewed by everyone differently. I do however, believe that I do know what it must feel like to be an Indian/Native American, I feel outnumbered, out-voted now, my customs and culture interrupted by new laws that take from me my everyday freedoms when I go to the woods. My rivers are being diverted for the sole use of selling it to newcommers, and the Homested Act wont protect me, They (education institution and wildlife managers), are killing/culling the herds of Elk and Deer here in the county I live now, they chased them down last winter from helicopters during THE WORST WINTER OF MY LIFETIME IN COLORADO and I am "historic" 51 years experienced, put radio collars on some and cut their antlers off (apparently they were scared they'd get hurt by the animal when they let it up), (and providing those collars dont kill them like the other animals that they have been known to kill) and above all, their mission is to raise the price of hunting and keep the male numbers down so the price gouges can begin on trophy hunts now offered and administered by a Federal Bureau that had no legal right to conduct that "outfitting" of Federal lands accesses. They are comming foks, to take the last of wilderness country of this State, and they have no mercy. I do know in this life how you must have once felt or still feel. I feel helpless to stop it. It is bad enough the millions of dead trees here have comming effects on every living thing near them. I try to see what to prepare for, when I see something is wrong. I will continue to care, and to give warning to those who need to know, danger is near, I cannot describe how I know that, but I just do.
You are most welcome my friend. I too have seen much destruction of this land over the past 71 years. I was born early enough to see the last of the Salmon come up the Connecticut Rive. I was able to enjoy the tiny trout streams that ran through the gorges of North Central Connecticut and South central Massachusetts. Sadly I have lived long enough to see both long gone. I really doubt if a single Native Trout still lives in the waters of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Replaced by stocked Brouns and Rainbows to meat the demands of the sport fisherman who were not satisfied with the little 9 inch native trout. And the destruction of the woods and streams by housing developments inhabited by people who want to live in the forest, but with city conveniences.
I can cry with my First Nation Friends and I can walk the Red Path alongside them. but I am not NA and have no reason to try to be. I am me and will not change that and my friends are their selves and I will not change that. One need not become another heritage to share common pains and joys.
I recently discovered these lessons on youtube and was pleasantly surprised at what they are. I live in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Southeastern Ohio and I was pleasantly surprised to come across these lessons about the native people that lived in what is now known as the state of Ohio, these are not people of my area but there are very many similarities between us. It gives some real insight of the different tribes and people that lived in this area. I hope you enjoy this and learn something from it, I know I did.
I have found that if you are willing to walk a little ways on his path with a friend from a different culture and different beliefs that you come to realize that we are all connected to the same creator..
Our different paths teach us tolerance and respect of the creator and his creation..
I cannot become who or what my friend is but we can share and learn from each other, just as I believe we should..
This is the reason this Circle has survived and grown, because of the sharing, caring and respect for our differences..
I have found that if you are willing to walk a little ways on his path with a friend from a different culture and different beliefs that you come to realize that we are all connected to the same creator..
Our different paths teach us tolerance and respect of the creator and his creation..
I cannot become who or what my friend is but we can share and learn from each other, just as I believe we should..
This is the reason this Circle has survived and grown, because of the sharing, caring and respect for our differences..
Thank you for those kind and wise words Miss Blue, I am both honored and humbled by all who come and sit with us. This thread has been here for a little over three years and when I first started it I did not expect it to last this long but I am pleasantly surprised that it still continues, I have learned much from all who have come to sit among us, we are people of all races and all different beliefs, but most importantly we are all brothers and sisters of the human family and I hope that a time will come when the world can put aside it's differences and sit down and treat one another as equals.wa-do
There’s been a lot of argument over the historical accuracy of this story. Part of it is because the author was a speech writer for George Wallace and was an avowed racist. But some of what he writes provides insight into the culture of ndn’s in general and Cherokee in particular. Here is an excerpt.
Quote:
There was quail fluttering and jumping in the grass, feeding on the seeds. Then he pointed up toward the icy blue sky. There were no clouds but at first I didn’t see the speck that came over the rim. It grew larger. Facing into the sun, so that the shadow did not go before him, the bird sped down the side of the mountain; a skier on the treetops, wings half-folded … like a brown bullet … faster and faster, toward the quail. Granpa chuckled. “It’s ol’ Tal-con, the hawk.” The quail rose in a rush and sped into the trees—but one was slow. The hawk hit. Feathers flew into the air and then the birds were on the ground, the hawk’s head rising and falling with the death blows. In a moment he rose with the dead quail clutched in his claws, back up the side of the mountain and over the rim. I didn’t cry, but I know I looked sad, because Granpa said, “Don’t feel sad, Little Tree. It is The Way. Tal-con caught the slow and so the slow will raise no children who are also slow. Tal-con eats a thousand ground rats who eat the eggs of the quail—both the quick and the slow eggs—and so Tal-con lives by The Way. He helps the quail.
Granpa dug a sweet root from the ground with his knife and peeled it so that it dripped with its juicy winter cache of life. He cut it in half and handed me the heavy end. “It is The Way,” he said softly. “Take only what ye need. When ye take the deer, do not take the best. Take the smaller and the slower and then the deer will grow stronger and always give you meat. Pa-koh, the panther, knows and so must ye.” And he laughed, “Only Ti-bi, the bee, stores more than he can use … and so he is robbed by the bear, and the coon … and the Cherokee. It is so with people who store and fat themselves with more than their share. They will have it taken from them. And there will be wars over it … and they will make long talks, trying to hold more than their share. They will say a flag stands for their right to do this … and men will die because of the words and the flag … but they will not change the rules of The Way.”
Carter, Forrest; The Education of Little Tree. University of New Mexico Press.
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