Native American Wisdom

In 1492, Columbus and his crew, lost, battered, and sick with dysentery, were helped ashore by a people he described as "neither black nor white...fairly tall, good looking and well proportioned." He believed he had landed in the East Indies, thus calling these people Indians. In fact, they were part of a great population that had made their homes on this continent for many centuries.
The inhabitants of this mighty land were not one people. Their customs differed. Their languages differed. Their lifestyles differed. Some tilled the earth; others hunted and picked the abundance of the land around them. They lived in different kinds of housing. They governed themselves by differing rules.
But they shared a common belief that the earth is a spiritual presence that must be honored, not mastered. The Western Europeans that came to the shores of this new country shared a very different belief, however. To them, the entire American continent was a beautiful, but savage land. A land, that it was not only their right, but their duty, to tame and use as they saw fit.
Unlike many other traditions, the spiritual wisdom of the Native American Indian is not found in a set of "scriptural materials." It is, and has always been, a part of the everyday fabric of the Indian's daily life and experience. These people speak quietly. Their words are simple and their voices are soft. We have not heard them because we have not taken the time to listen. Perhaps now is the time for us to open our ears and hearts to the words they have to say.
As the twentieth century draws to a close, Western civilization is facing the inevitable results of their philosophy of dominance. We have gotten out of balance with our earth, and the very future of our existence depends on our ability to restore that balance.
THE WAYS OF THE PEOPLE
From "The Wisdom of the Native Americans" by Kent Nerburn (New World Library, 1999).
Life is an endless cycle of change. We and our world will never remain the same. Every generation has difficulty relating to the previous generation; even the language changes. The child speaks a different language than the parent does. It seems almost miraculous, then, that certain voices, certain books, are able to speak not only to one, but to many generations beyond them. The plays and poems of William Shakespeare are still relevant today – still capable of giving us goosebumps, still entertaining, disturbing, and profound. Shakespeare is the writer who, in the English language, defines the word classic. There are many other writers and thinkers who, for a great many reasons, can be considered classic, for they withstand the test of time.
THE TEACHING OF CHILDREN
… All the customs of our people were held to be divinely instituted, and customs involving the training of children were scrupulously adhered to and transmitted from one generation to another… It is true that we had no schoolhouses, no books, no regular school hours. Our children were trained in the natural way — they kept in close contact with the natural world. In this way, they found themselves and became conscious of their relationship to all of life…
We taught our children by both example and instruction, but with the emphasis on example, because all learning is a dead language to one who gets it secondhand. Our physical training was thorough and intelligent, while as to the moral and spiritual side of our teaching. I am not afraid to compare it with that of any race...
We conceived the art of teaching as, first and foremost, the development of personality; and we considered the fundamentals of education to be love of the Great Mystery, love of nature, and love of people and country...
THE ROLE OF THE ELDERS
… The distinctive work of the grandparents is that of acquainting the children with the traditions and beliefs of the nation. The grandparents are old and wise. They have lived and achieved. They are dedicated to the service of the young, as their teachers and advisers, and the young in turn regard them with love and reverence. In them the Indian recognizes the natural and truest teachers of the child…
A LIFE OF SERVICE
… We are never permitted to forget that we do not live to ourselves alone, but to our tribe and clan. Every child, from the first days of learning, is a public servant in training… The young boy was encouraged to enlist early in the public service, and to develop a wholesome ambition for the honors of a leader and feastmaker, which could never be his unless he proved truthful and generous, a well as brave, and ever mindful of his personal chastity and honor…
THE BEAUTY OF GENEROSITY
… It has always been our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be overcome… Therefore we must early learn the beauty of generosity. As children we are taught to give what we prize most, that we may taste the happiness of giving; at an early age we are made the family giver of alms… Pubic giving is a part of every important ceremony. It properly belongs to the celebration of birth, marriage, and death, and is observed whenever it is desired to do special honor to any person or event… Upon such occasion it is common to literally give away all that one has to relatives, to guests of another tribe or clan, but above all to the poor and the aged, from whom we can hope for no return…
ORDER, ETIQUETTE AND DECORUM
… No one who is at all acquainted with us in our homes can deny that we Indians are a polite people… a low soft voice has always been considered an excellent thing… Even the warrior who inspired the greatest terror in the hearts of his enemies was, as a rule, a man of the most exemplary gentleness... In the presence of a guest, promiscuous laughing or a careless attitude are not permitted. Rigid decorum and respectful silence are observed... The serving of food is always orderly and polite. Guests are offered food at whatever hour of the day they may appear...
THE MORAL STRENGTH OF WOMAN
… In the woman is vested the standard of morals of our people. She is the silent but telling power behind all of life’s activities… She rules undisputed in her own domain. The children belong to her clan… she holds all the family property, and the honor of the house… Possessed of true feminine dignity and modesty, she is expected to be the equal of her mate in physical endurance and skill, and to share equally in the arduous duties of daily life. But she is expected to be superior in spiritual insight…. There is nothing artificial about her person, and very little insincerity in her character… her profoundly religious attitude gives her a strength and poise than cannot be overcome by ordinary misfortune.
SACREDNESS AND HONOR
… A sense of honor pervades all aspects of Indian life. Orphans and the aged are cared for… He sets no price upon either his property or his labor. His generosity is limited only by his strength. He considers it as an honor to be selected for a difficult or dangerous service, and would think it a shame to ask for any other reward… He is always ready to undertake the impossible, or to impoverish himself for the sake of a friend… Where the other person is regarded more than the self, duty is sweeter and more inspiring, patriotism more sacred, and friendship is a pure and eternal bond.
THE MEANING OF DEATH
… Our attitude toward death… is entirely consistent with our character and philosophy… We never doubt the immortal nature of the human soul or spirit, but neither do we care to speculate upon its probable state or condition in a future life… we were content to believe that the spirit which the Great Mystery breathed into us returns to the Creator who gave it and, and that after it is freed from the body it is everywhere and pervades all nature. Thus, death holds no terrors for us… The idea of a "happy hunting ground" is… invented by the white man…

"We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.”
The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh... What are human beings without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, human beings would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts soon happens to all human beings. All things are connected. This we know.
The earth does not belong to human beings; human beings belong to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth. We do not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves."
-(Attributed to) Chief Seattle, Suqwamish and Duwamish
The following are excerpts from Kent Nerburn's book, "The Wisdom of the Native Americans" (New World Library, 1999).
THE GREAT MYSTERY
The attitude of the American Indian toward the Eternal, the Great Mystery that surrounds and embraces us, is as simple as it is exalted. To us it is the supreme conception, bringing with it the fullest measure of joy and satisfaction possible in this life...The worship of the Great Mystery is silent, solitary, free from all self-seeking... It is silent, because all speech is of necessity feeble and imperfect; therefore the souls of our ancestors ascended to God in wordless adoration… Our religion is an attitude of mind, not a dogma.
THE TEMPLE OF NATURE
There are no temples or shrines among us save those of nature. As children of nature, we are intensely poetical. We would deem it sacrilege to build a house for The One who may be met face to face in the mysterious, shadowy aisles of the primeval forest, or on the sunlit bosom of virgin prairies, upon dizzy spires and pinnacles of naked rock, and in the vast jeweled vault of the night sky! A God who enrobed in filmy veils of cloud, there on the rim of the visible world where our Great-grandfather Sun kindles his evening camp-fire; who rides upon the rigorous wind of the north, or breathes forth spirit upon fragrant southern airs, whose war canoe is launched upon majestic rivers and inland seas — such a God needs no lesser cathedral.
THE POWER OF SILENCE
We first Americans mingle with our pride an exceptional humility. Spiritual arrogance is foreign to our nature and teaching. We never claimed that the power of articulate speech is proof of superiority over "dumb creation"; on the other hand, it is to us a perilous gift... We believe profoundly in silence — the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind, and spirit. Those who can preserve their selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence — not a leaf, as it were, astir on the tree; not a ripple upon the shining pool — those, in the mind of the person of nature, possess the ideal attitude and conduct of life… If you ask us, "What is silence?" we will answer, "It is the Great Mystery. The holy silence is God’s voice." …If you ask, "What are the fruits of silence?" we will answer, "They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity, and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of character."
THE PRESENCE OF SPIRIT
Naturally magnanimous and open-minded, we have always preferred to believe that the Spirit of God is not breathed into humans alone, but that the whole created universe shares in the immortal perfection of its Maker… The elements and majestic forces of nature — lighting, wind, water, fire and frost — are regarded with awe as spiritual powers, but always secondary and intermediate in character. We believe that the spirit pervades all creation and that every creature possess a soul in some degree, though not necessarily a soul of conscious itself. The tree, the waterfall, the grizzly bear, each is an embodied Force, and as such an object of reverence.
POVERTY AND SIMPLICITY
We original Americans have generally been despised by our white conquerors of our poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that our religion forbade the accumulation of wealth and the enjoyment of luxury. To us, as to other spiritually-minded people in every age and race, the love of possessions is a snare, and the burdens of a complex society a source of needless peril and temptation… It is simple truth that we Indians did not, so long as our native philosophy held sway over our minds, either envy or desire to imitate the splendid achievements of the white race. In our own thought we rose superior to them! We scorned them, even as a lofty spirit absorbed in its own task rejects the soft beds, the luxurious food, the pleasure-worshipping dalliance of a rich neighbor. It was clear to us that virtue and happiness are independent of these things, if not incompatible with them… Furthermore, it was the rule of our life to share the fruits of our skill and success with our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Thus we kept our spirits free from the clog of pride, avarice, or envy, and carried out, as we believed, the divine decree — a matter of profound importance to us.
NATURE AND SOLITUDE
As children of nature, we have always looked upon the concentration of population as the prolific mother of all evils, moral no less than physical. It was not, then, wholly from ignorance or improvidence that we failed to establish permanent towns and to develop a material civilization. We have always believed that food is good, while surfeit kills; that love is good, but lust destroys; and not less dreaded than the pestilence following upon crowded and unsanitary dwellings is the loss of spiritual power inseparable from too close contact with one’s fellow men.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER
Prayer — the daily recognition of the Unseen and the Eternal — is our one inevitable duty…The spiritual mind is concerned only with the essence of things, and it is this we seek to strengthen by spiritual prayer, during which the body is subdued by fasting and hardship. The second, or physical mind, is lower. It is concerned with all personal or selfish matters, like success in hunting or warfare, relief from sickness, or the sparing of a beloved life. All ceremonies, charms, or other incantations designed to secure a benefit or to avert a danger are recognized as emanating from the physical self.… The rites of this physical worship are wholly symbolic; we may have sundances and other ceremonies, but the Indian no more worships the sun than the Christian worships the cross. In our view, the Sun and Earth are the parents of all organic life. And, it must be admitted, in this our thinking is scientific truth as well as poetic metaphor…. our whole life is prayer because every act of our life is, in a very real sense, a religious act. Our daily devotions are more important to us than food…. We recognize the spirit in all creation, and believe that we draw spiritual power from it…. Thus we see no need for the setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, since to us all days belong to God.