- Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux 1863-1950

Ancient Indian Proverb

You have noticed that everything an Indian does in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything and everything tries to be round.

In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop,
and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north
with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.

Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle.
The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.

The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.

- Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux 1863-1950

Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery, Lakota PrayerEarth

Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery, Lakota Prayer

Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery,
teach me how to trust
my heart,
my mind,
my intuition,
my inner knowing,
the senses of my body,
the blessings of my spirit.
Teach me to trust these things
so that I may enter my Sacred Space
and love beyond my fear,
and thus Walk in Balance
with the passing of each glorious Sun.

- Found on: https://www.sapphyr.net/natam/quotes-nativeamerican.htm

An Ute Prayer

An Ute Prayer

Treat the earth well.
It was not given to you by your parents,
it was loaned to you by your children.
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors,
we borrow it from our Children.

- Found on: https://www.sapphyr.net/natam/quotes-nativeamerican.htmUltrices sagittis orci a scelerisque purus. Faucibus pulvinar elementum integer enim neque volutpat ac tincidunt. Nulla aliquet enim tortor at auctor urna nunc id cursus. Magna ac placerat vestibulum lectus. Non pulvinar neque laoreet suspendisse interdum consectetur. Est ante in nibh mauris cursus mattis molestie a.

- John (Fire) Lame Deer, Sioux Lakota (1903-1976)

A Pueblo Indian Prayer

Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men,
we didn't have any kind of prison. Because of this, we had no delinquents.
Without a prison, there can be no delinquents.
We had no locks nor keys and therefore among us there were no thieves.
When someone was so poor that he couldn't afford a horse, a tent or a blanket,
he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift.
We were too uncivilized to give great importance to private property.
We didn't know any kind of money and consequently, the value of a human being
was not determined by his wealth.
We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians,
therefore we were not able to cheat and swindle one another.
We were really in bad shape before the white men arrived and I don't know
how to explain how we were able to manage without these fundamental things
that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society.

Collection of native prayers

— "Earth Teach Me to Remember," John Yellow Lark, Ute

Earth teach me stillness

as the grasses are stilled with light.

Earth teach me suffering

as old stones suffer with memory.

Earth teach me humility

as blossoms are humble with beginning.

Earth teach me caring

as the mother who secures her young.

Earth teach me courage

as the tree which stands all alone.

Earth teach me limitation

as the ant which crawls on the ground.

Earth teach me freedom

as the eagle which soars in the sky.

Earth teach me resignation

as the leaves which die in the fall.

Earth teach me regeneration

as the seed which rises in the spring.

Earth teach me to forget myself

as melted snow forgets its life.

Earth teach me to remember kindness

as dry fields weep with rain.

— Sioux Prayer

Fill us with the Light.

Give us the strength to understand, and the eyes to see.

Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives to all that live

 

 

 

— Cheyenne Prayer

Let us know peace.

For as long as the moon shall rise,

For as long as the rivers shall flow,

For as long as the sun shall shine,

For as long as the grass shall grow,

Let us know peace.

— Chinook Prayer

May all I say and all I think

be in harmony with Thee,

God within me,

God beyond me,

Maker of the Trees.

 

 

 

 

Walking in Beauty: Closing Prayer from the Navajo Blessing Way Ceremony
https://esl-voices.com/navajo-blessing-prayer-walk-in-beauty/

In beauty I walk
With beauty before me I walk
With beauty behind me I walk
With beauty above me I walk
With beauty around me I walk
It has become beauty again

Today I will walk out, today everything negative will leave me
I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body.
I will have a light body, I will be happy forever, nothing will hinder me.

I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me.
I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty around me. My words will be beautiful.
In beauty all day long may I walk. Through the returning seasons, may I walk.


 

Great Spirit,  Translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887

Great Spirit, I come to you to start my day.

Help me to see the wonderful human being that I truly am.  Let me recall the numerous successes in my life, particularly those where I have been helpful to others.  For this is the truth about me that allows me to build faith. Show me how to treat myself with the same generosity that I show others.

Guide my dad in purpose and intent to be the very best that I can be so that I may be of maximum benefit to those about me.  remind me to pause when my mind wanders astray. Help me to practice love and tolerance toward all.

Let me live in the moment, where you live.  Allow me remembrance of days past, not as a means of beating myself down but as a sign of how far I’ve come. Help me to remember, I am exactly where I should be at this moment in time.

Above all, make me a channel of they peace, an example of a better way of life and let me provide myself the latitude to celebrate everything.

Earth Prayer- Black Elk

Earth Prayer

Hey! Learn to hear my feeble voice.
At the center of the sacred hoop
You have said that I should make the tree to bloom.

With tears running, O Great Spirit, my Grandfather,
With running eyes I must say
The tree has never bloomed.

Here I stand, and the tree is withered.
Again, I recall the great vision you gave me.

It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives.
Nourish it then
That it may leaf
And bloom
And fill with singing birds!

Hear me, that the people may once again
Find the good road
And the shielding tree.

Cherokee Prayer Blessing

Cherokee Prayer Blessing

May the Warm Winds of Heaven
Blow softly upon your house.
May the Great Spirit
Bless all who enter there.
May your Mocassins
Make happy tracks
in many snows,
and may the Rainbow
Always touch your shoulder.

- Found on: https://www.sapphyr.net/natam/quotes-nativeamerican.htm

 

Cherokee Prayer

Cherokee Prayer

Peace and happiness are available in every moment.
Peace is every step. We shall walk hand in hand.
There are no political solutions to spiritual problems.
Remember: If the Creator put it there, it is in the right place.
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.
Tell your people that, since we were promised we should never be moved,
we have been moved five times.

- Found on: https://www.sapphyr.net/natam/quotes-nativeamerican.htm

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