Four Winds Foundation, Eagle Speaks, words of wisdom Cananda

...From the 4 Winds They are Coming...Walking Shoulder to Shoulder..

Words of Wisdom From "Canada's" First Nations People"

Louisa Hall is a director & one of the cultural/spiritual advisor of Four Winds Foundation International.
She is Hunkapapa Santee from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, Manitoba, Canada. She was raised to believe in the traditional teachings: which were passed on through generations, by her grandfathers, who have fought to keep Dakota language and culture alive.

She would like to share that there are so many ways that we, as Indigenous people can help maintain Mother Earth and the important role we must do, to remember our way of life that has been passed on for many generations. To begin, "We must remember our elders, and their teachings and to understand where we come from. Our children must be taught these traditional teachings because they are our future leaders.

I ask that you look around you and see the beauty that the Creator has bestowed upon us, and ask yourselves this question "how many more years do we have before we lose all this?" The winds from the four directions are trying to tell us something - look at all the devastation that is happening, the floods, tornadoes, severe storms. In Manitoba the year of 99, our winter was not as cold. Yet this year, we had extreme cold and early heavy snows. We must work together and throw away our prejudice thoughts toward "who is better than the other"...think of our children and their children, for they are the ones who will live in the future, what will we leave as a legacy for them to be proud of?

We forget so easily when there are so many material things to have as our own. We tend to push aside the traditional teachings and our children’s future. The values become lost and we wonder "why" our youth have turned their backs on us as providers.

All the devastation we are experiencing is a cycle and the balance is not there. The sacred medicine wheel holds many answers, but first we must believe and accept the teachings before we find these answers. I speak from the heart as a First Nations woman, who struggled to raise four children on her own and continues this journey of life toward making a better life, not only for my own children, but for the children of the world.

I want to take this opportunity to Thank the people of Australia for taking me into their homes and calling me a sister. I appreciate the teachings from the Aboriginal elders that I met on my journey to this beautiful country. This is where I found my peace and hold my memories in my heart. I learned so much in that short while.

Thank You. May the Creator watch over all my brothers and sisters who are working so hard towards making a difference on our Mother Earth."

All My Relations.

The practices of a culture evolve from the people of that culture and the long history that they have walked. In the modern world of arts and culture, productivity and the grab for the fashionable in the market has led to an imitations of culture, and in many instances, entire cultures and the people involved have been misrepresented and fictionalised.

The competitive culture that represents productivity and success destroys not only cultural integrity, but the people that are part of that culture. People who sell, buy or contribute to cultural imitations rob Indigenous communities of a sustainable future, and offend the spiritual basis on which our Indigenous Culture is based.

Many traditional Indigenous Elders have been saying for some time that the current trends in the modern world of greed and imitation lead to the Unravelling of Culture. The only result of such a trend is Cultural Genocide.

Cultural Imitations include not only products such as arts and artefacts, but also cultural practices. Would it be right for someone to imitate the Pope, and say she/he is a holy person? Would it be right for someone to imitate the style of Michelangelo and say she/he is an Italian artist? No...Why then does Indigenous culture continue to be abused in this way?

Many people feel that they can make, buy or sell a cultural product imitation or train to be a "medicine person", or guru of a particular culture. We cannot buy who we are. We are either born into it or we are not. Cultural arts and traditions provide for the health, harmony and sustainability of entire communities. Cultural Imitations and Imitators of such benefit only themselves in the short term through personal financial gain.

We urge the general public to carefully consider the source of cultural products before purchasing. Who are they made by? We also urge people to check spiritual programs that are based on Indigenous cultural practices-Who is conducting them-Who are they for - And Who do they benefit?

The Global Community has begun to consider some of the basic human values under which we operate. At the very core of these is respect and honour for each other and our Ancestors.

The following words by David Burlingame which is from an article "On Indian Land," sums up this issue:

"What happens is that in order to save the land, to care for it, to love and respect it as many Native Peoples do, many narrow and small-minded outsiders want to be inside, to be " Indian," as if adopting the ways of the Humans is the pathway to enlightenment. What really happens, time and time again and almost without exception, is that the rock that is Native spirituality is constantly being chipped away at by outsiders who think that owning a piece of the rock is as good as owning the whole thing.

They never realize the true nature of the rock, that like all else on this planet, it belongs to all, and is owned by none. All these thoughts chip away at the rock, because the outsiders fail to see that we do not do things to gain some Gods favour. We take care of the land and our People, because in doing so we take care of all of us, including ourselves. And nothing else is more important. Ever.

If non natives ARE GENUINELY CONCERNED about what is being done, they will not ignore the problems of race, what constitutes a wannabe, or a new ager, or an environmentalist, and focus instead on what to do in their own backyards, in their own governments, to affect the change that is so needed. None of us can ever be united, none can hope for a true mending of the circle, if instead of taking action, we sit around discussing and using labels. It is action, and action alone, that will reveal your true nature.

Continue the Journey as the Eagles Speak

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...From the 4 Winds They are Coming...Walking Shoulder to Shoulder..