posted June 25, 2005 09:26 AM         

I'm not trying to sound corny here, but I feel as if my soul is crying out accross the lands and oceans to be with all of you. Seriously. It's a long story, but I've always felt different, even as a child. I feel like a lone, lost wolf cub; lost and bewildred within strange forests, trying to find the way home.

Whether I am the incarnate soul of a Native Indian, or whether I've learnt the same truths from Spirit and osmosis, does not matter. This is how I feel.

posted June 25, 2005 09:50 AM         

Vision of Indian Guide:

It is not blood that makes an Indian. It is the soul.
Too many with little soul and no vision walk in our skin.
Too many with fire of Indian blood walk ignored.
Do not say I am Apache or Kickapoo.
Say I am of the Mother Tribe
This is the pain of our children.
To return from the stars without a home or country
A tribe lost returns scattered in the wind.
Those who hear must unit and reap the seed of this return

One Tribe
One Earth
One Heart
One People

Those with ears must build a fire and give thanks this night.

Be united.
One Soul
Children come home.
Teachers step forward without fear.
You are real

anon.

I smile when I read your username I Think of it as "being in the world, but not of the world".

In reply to our question, yes, I am of blood and Soul/Spirit.

Blessings,

posted June 25, 2005 10:40 AM         

I love your quote from James Herriot too- I've said that before, I think!

posted June 25, 2005 12:34 PM         

So yeah.

posted June 26, 2005 11:39 AM         

My grandmother was a Native american in one of her past lives.

posted June 26, 2005 12:52 PM         

Really, I'm just your run of the mill American mut .

posted June 26, 2005 01:54 PM         

Not sure if I would have any from my fathers side of the family. They are from the Dominican republic. Maybe I have some taino in me

I am a mutt also. I have indegenous and spaniard blood in me from my mother. She's from Colombia. And I have african, spaniard, english, and celtic blood from my father's side also. And british. They are said to be celts who migrated to england.

Not sure of the taino. To bad the old spaniards practically wiped them all out.

posted June 26, 2005 03:42 PM         

I live on an Indian Reservation in Michigan and am a Tribal Elder - still learning about my roots....

I was not born on the reservation, as it did not exist "officially" (that is...federally recognized until about 10 years ago...)

My mother was a white woman (ancestors from England), and I was raised in the "white man's culture...." as when my father was a child he was sent to a school so that he could "unlearn" his heritage...meaning he was punished for speaking his own language and and made to get a haircut and wear European clothing.......the government tried real hard to make "white men" out of Indians, but some of us are relearning our old ways...*sigh*

posted June 27, 2005 01:52 PM         

My great grandmother was a full Choctaw. I am asked consistenly if I am Native American. I definetely have the physical characteristics- dark hair, skin, and high cheekbones.

I went to a Navajo reservation for a week right out of high school. It was the first time I really felt that I belonged to something. It just felt like home being in the dry heat, desertous terain, and the culture called to me loudly. It was a bit more modernized than I would love, but that is just what it has come down to. It does sadden me.

posted June 27, 2005 02:10 PM         

I am Chiricahua / Mescalero Apache on my father's side and Cherokee on my mother's side.

posted June 27, 2005 04:08 PM         

Hi Rainbow! That's terrible, the way your father was treated! The injustices are far too real! Sometimes I'll feel as if racism and prejudice are mainly in the past, but it was only the last generation that faced some of the more shocking extremities of manUNKIND's negative side!
Just out of interest, are you familiar with the crystal skulls? I've just finished reading this wonderful book, but I need to do some more research to find out how accurate it is, and whether these really are genuine stories past on from Native American ancestry. I suppose some tribes may know more about them than others.

I wish I could be living on a Reservation too. I know it's a different life an a lot of adjustments would need to be made, but I think it would be worth it. I could easily give up TV, and did live without a washing machine for a while.....

Sometimes I sense that I may have a Native American guide too; a very wise old man. Perhaps this is where I'm getting my learning.

I have tryed to regress myself on a number of occasions. It's something I've always wanted to do. I'm really not sure whether my soul has actually had a Native American identity in the past (or future, lol!). I guess it doesn't really matter. But I would still like to book myself in to see a proper regression therapist; I can't resist the curiousity!

'Knowflakes', I enjoyed reading about your ancestry! I want to come and live with you all; you're far more exotic!

Me, I'm plain old British for as far as I can tell; a mixture of Saxon and Celtic blood in physical appearance, and about as pale as you can get! I've always wanted to look darker though, and felt more drawn towards black-haired, brown-eyed tan skinned spirits.

I wish there were at least more New-Age type people around here. There's just no culture around where I live. People just seem to follow the same plain old straight and narrow path 'leave school, get an education or training, get a job, settle down and contribute to this consumerist society.....have no time to ponder or think; no air or space to breathe, to stretch One's wings.....to make creative decisions.

I am much more right-hand side of the brain than left. I am also a very creative soul, but this has been a burden, because it means that I am unable to fit in! I have spent nearly all my young adult years torturing my mind over trying to find the RIGHT career path, but not wanted my soul to get tangled, caught up and trapped! (Because like a poor wild bird in a small cage, it would cause me to pull out my own feathers). Deep down, all I wanted to do was 'be an American Indian' and live in harmony with sweet Mother Nature. But this, of course, was not something I could entertain the idea of or speak of to anyone! What a wild, silly idea! Funny enough, it even gives this very same thing as an example of one of the wildest, most unrealistic ideas in this book designed to help people find the right career path!

Anyway, 'nuff of that!

Crystelle, that's lovely; the feelings you experienced visiting the Navajho Indian Reservation. I've just been reading a little about them. I've got a piece of jewellry, a choker with turquoise and a bear paw that was made there.
I also feel drawn to your land; it's so rich and vast, has such incredible beauty. I've got this documentary about the Kogi Indians and I am amazed by the way that the Sierra Nevada mountain is like the earth in minature; has every climate.

A number of years ago, I got interested in Robert Ghost Wolf's website called 'wollflodge'. I read all the pages about the prophecies, but eventually I stopped visting that site because I wasn't so sure about a few details. Any opinions, if anyone already knows about it?

Anyway, I'll catch you guys later!

Love & Blessings

posted June 27, 2005 04:24 PM         

Many reservations or Tribal lands have casino's, hospitals, high-speed internet cable, satallite dishes..etc..

Part of my work has me meeting with various Tribal authorities and public health officials- they dress and look just like us (and us meaning the universal US and Indians that did not grow up on Tribal Lands)- but different of course. Being true to oneself and keeping the old ways, does not necessarily mean you must live on a reservation or give up TV. It means being close to who you are, where you came from, and being a part of the "way".

Here are some links to Tribes in my state:
http://www.wmat.nsn.us/ (White Mountain Apache Tribe)

San Carlos Apache: http://www.azcommerce.com/doclib/COMMUNE/san%20carlos%20apache.pdf
http://www.arizonalodging.com/nativeland/sancarlos.html

Tohono O'dham tribe: http://www.iobusd40.org/tohonoresources.htm

Arizona Hopi and Navajo tribes:
http://www.osmre.gov/arizonaindex.htm

From that information you will see real life as it is today and where the tribes came from - to where they are going. You can also find information on powwows, rituals, etc....

posted June 27, 2005 04:46 PM         

I suppose what I was really trying to say is that, in this culture, this world, it is very hard to live completely in harmony with Mother Earth. Just being in a house disconnects us quite a bit. The concrete all around us eats her up. I hate having to buy fruit in disposable plastic packages because there's no way else to get it. Then there aren't any nearby facilities to take the plastic to for recycling.

That is why I feel I would like to live somewhere where I wouldn't have to do this. With people who are more spiritually advanced; more evolved (EVOLVE- remember- lexigrams into LOVE EVE).

posted June 27, 2005 07:09 PM         

It is rare that people live OF the Earth, unless they have set out to do so (such as is the case with some communities).

I think it is wonderful that you are embracing the spiritual side of the American Indian - look into Shamanism as well. Also keep in mind though, there is a warring side- a side that also caused pain, there are diseases, there is alcoholism. There are many people, even right here in the US, that have this delusion that just because one is Indian and lives on a reservation, they ride horses, live in Wickiups while chanting around the fire every night.

Yes, there are sweat-lodges, tribal council meetings, feasts and festivals - but the reality is stark and not like what is seen on movies that paint Indians as all wise, all knowing and all peaceful.

The number 1 and 2 killers in the AI culture is Alcoholism and Diabetes. That is why the tribes are working hard to send their children to school - to offer medical scholarships so people come back and work at the Indian Health clinics.

posted June 27, 2005 07:38 PM         

My particular tribe also has a casino, our own government, a Tribal clinic with a physician of Native blood, and a Tribal Police Force.

Not every member of our tribe lives on the reservation....I live here because I choose to...it's peacful and lovely...I am now living on the land where my father was born and raised.....

We have a pow wow coming up next month....we do it annually...

Here is a picture of my granddaughter Tianna, with our Tribal Chief....

and here is a picture of her with Irene Beddard, who was the voice of Pocahontas in the Disney movie (which we all know is the Disney version, but the children love it), and she was also the model for the animated Pocahontas character.

I took these pictures at last year's pow wow.

Most Native Americans of the twenty first century are more or less "westernized" but a lot of the tribes (and there a many, many, here) are living the "old ways"....and many are re-connecting with their heritage....Our tribe also has language classes, so we are relearning and also our very young will have our language to use once again.

We are the "woodland Indians" and not of the west...our people fished, hunted, gathered wild rice and were known as traders, many living along the rivers and great lakes...no buffalo here in the Michigan woods, but plenty of deer (I see them in my back yard all the time)...

Welcome to "Indian country"....you surely are one of us....

posted June 27, 2005 08:51 PM         

Actually I've been in a lot of Old Bisbee! I really like the red rocks with the green foilage.
The other day I tried to get info about apts. for rent in San Carlos...Nada!

posted June 27, 2005 10:22 PM         

I always loved that movie.

posted June 27, 2005 10:51 PM         

Rainbow, your granddaughter is a doll! =)=)

posted June 27, 2005 10:55 PM         

it is by Dana Tiger