The Symbolic Role of Animals in the Plains Indian Sun Dance, Buffalo, Eagle and Crow

Society & Animals Journal of Human-Animal Studies
	Volume 1, Number 1
The Symbolic Role of Animals in the Plains Indian Sun Dance Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence 1 Tufts University For many tribes of Plains Indians whose bison-hunting culture flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries, the sun dance was the major communal religious ceremony. Generally held in late spring or early summer, the rite celebrates renewal ­ the spiritual rebirth of participants and their relatives a; well as the regeneration of the living earth with all its components. The sun dance reflects relationships with nature that are characteristic of the Plains ethos, and includes symbolic representations of various animal species, particularly the eagle and the buffalo, that once played vital roles in the lives of the people and are still endowed with sacredness and special powers. The ritual, involving sacrifice and supplication to insure harmony between all living beings, continues to be practiced by many contemporary native Americans. For many tribes of Plains Indians whose buffalo-hunting culture flowered during the 18th and 19th centuries, the sun dance was the major communal religious ceremony. Although details of the event differed in various groups, certain elements were common to most tribal traditions. Generally, the annual ceremony was held in late spring or early summer when people from different bands gathered together again following the dispersal that customarily took place in winter. The sun dance, a ritual of sacrifice performed by virtually all of the High Plains peoples, has been described among the Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboin, Bannock, Blackfeet, Blood, Cheyenne, Plains Cree, Crow, Gros Ventre, Hidatsa, Kiowa, Mandans, Ojibway, Omaha, Ponca, Sarsi, Shoshone, Sioux (Dakota), and Ute (Spier, 1921, p. 459; Liberty, 1980, pp. 165-66). Today many of these tribes still carry out the sun dance, sometimes in altered form. The overall significance of the sun dance involves renewal ­ the spiritual renewal of participants and their relatives as well as the renewal of the living earth and all its components. In its broadest aspects, kinships within both the social and natural realms are reaffirmed. This regenerative theme is evidenced by the Cheyenne, for example, through naming the structure in which the ritual takes place the New-Life-Lodge. This term expresses the idea that the sun dance is supposed to "re-create, to re-form, to reanimate the earth, vegetation, [and] animal life" and hence is a "ceremony of rebirth or renaissance" (Dorsey, 1905a, p. 57). Specific reasons for participation vary among individuals and tribes. Motivations for the sacrifice include thankfulness for blessings received, the fulfillment of a vow previously made in return for the beneficial outcome of a certain crisis, and the desire to insure the safety of a person in the armed forces or to obtain a cure for a sick relative. Less specifically, the ordeal may be undertaken to promote the general welfare of the dancers people. Historically, Crows held the dance to seek aid in obtaining vengeance for kin killed in warfare (Lowie, 1935, p. 297). Some tribal traditions include the transfer of sacred medicine bundles in the context of the ceremony. Generally, each sun dance has a sponsor or pledger, usually the main dancer, who bears the expenses of the ceremony. The event ordinarily involves about a week or more of activity consisting of an early private period, during which preparations are made and instruction and prayer take place, followed by the public phase of dancing. Construction of the sun dance lodge is accompanied by complex rituals in which a special tree is cut for use as a center pole, with the dance enclosure erected around it. The entrance faces east, and in some tribes sunrise ceremonies mark each days dawn during the dance. Inside, an altar is constructed, usually featuring a decorated buffalo skull. Dancers fast and abstain from drinking during the three or four days of dancing. While special songs are chanted by drummers near the lodge entrance, each participant moves rhythmically back and forth from the periphery of the lodge to the center pole. Dancers continuously blow on eagle- bone whistles, fixing their eyes on the crotch in the center pole that is typically known as the Thunderbirds Nest or eagles nest. Periods of rest alternate with intervals of dancing. At the end of the sun dance, purification rites are held and the participants may drink water and break their fast. The lodge is then abandoned, its components remaining briefly as a reminder of the ceremony before returning to the elements. In former times, voluntary torture was part of the climax of the sun dance in certain tribes such as the Sioux and Cheyenne. In those cases, the dancers were pierced through the breast or shoulder muscles by skewers which were tied to the center pole, and they danced by pulling back until their flesh tore away. Sometimes the thongs inserted in the sufferers bodies were attached to a varying number of buffalo skulls rather than to the center pole (Spier, 1921, pp. 474-75; Walker, 1917, pp. 116-19; Laubin, 1977, pp. 291- 92). Sun dance participants strive to obtain supernatural aid and personal power through their sacrifice which will not only assure the accomplishment of desired outcomes but which will bring them a richer and more meaningful life as a member of their society. The sacred ritual reaffirms tribal membership and cultural identity and ensures that the people will prosper for another year. Following the sun dance, there is a renewed feeling of social harmony. And because of a world view that includes nature and all living beings within the realm of kinship, that sense of harmony extends beyond human relationships to include the entire creation. As one contemporary native American explains, the sun dance "is the ritual reenactment of the relationship the Plains people see between consecration of the human spirit and Wakan Tanka [God] as manifested as Sun, or Light, and Life-Bestower. Through purification, participation, sacrifice, and supplication, the participants act as instruments or transmitters of increased power and wholeness . . . from Wakan Tanka." The purpose of the ceremony is "to integrate: to fuse the individual with his or her fellows, the community of people with that of the other kingdoms, and this larger communal group with the worlds beyond this one. . . The person sheds the isolated, individual personality and is restored to conscious harmony with the universe." The community "is the bedrock of tribal life" and it "necessarily includes all beings that inhabit the tribe's universe" (Allen, 1986, pp. 61-63). Although many in-depth studies of the sun dance have been made by anthropologists, the inclusion of symbolic animals in the ceremony has received only passing mention. I first became interested in the role of animals in the ritual when attending a Crow Indian sun dance during my field research on the Crow Reservation in June 1980. During that ceremony, everyone in attendance was requested not to kill any animals or birds on or near the grounds where the sun lodge had been erected for the duration of the sun dance. This prohibition was part of the effort to maintain a sense of harmony between people and nature ­ essential to the promotion of healing and regeneration of life that is the central focus of the ceremony. Integration with the rest of creation is expressed throughout the sun dance by symbolic objects that represent attributes of various animal kin. For example, Sioux participants may wear the skins of rabbits on their arms and legs, for "the rabbit represents humility, because he is quiet and soft and not self-asserting ­ a quality we must all possess when we go to the center of the world" (Brown, 1967, p. 85). The wearing of strips of rabbit fur by the Cheyennes who build the sun dance lodge may refer back to the time when the tribe lived in the north and subsisted chiefly on rabbits (Grinnell, 1923, vol. 2, p. 218). The Arapaho sun dance involves a rabbit-tip), whose name originated from the myth in which rabbits conducted the secret ceremonies of the sun dance lodge. Those who still perform the rites are called Rabbit-men (Dorsey, 1903, p. 37). Weasel and otter hides, because they come from "tough little animals", are linked to the Crow sun dance (Vogel, 1984, p. 253), probably conferring endurance. For the Lakota, these two animals are especially "wakan"' meaning akin to sacred (Walker, 1980, pp. 101, 168). Eagle Symbolism The eagle, a highly important sacred animal in Plains belief, plays a major role in the sun dance. Most obviously, the bird partakes of the ritual by having his nest represented at the fork of the lodge. In Arapaho mythology, this nest symbolizes the thunderbird, or eagle, who built his nest in a cottonwood tree. "Just as [these] birds fly about overlooking the earth, so does the Father. He is in the form of a bird" (Dorsey, 1903, p. 114). Some tribes, notably the Crow and Shoshone, fasten an actual mounted golden eagle to the rafter over the entrance or near the nest. Considered "chief of all the creatures of the air," and "powerful in battle," the bird acts as "guardian protecting the people from evil." The eagle is admired for courage, swiftness, and strength. Sometimes identified as the thunderbird, he is distinguished by his extraordinarily high flight, bringing him nearer to the sun and in closer proximity to the Great Mystery than any other creature (Laubin, 1977,pp.279,315;Grinnell,1923,vol. 1, p. 188). "Eagle is the primary servant of the Sun and in his spiritual manifestation takes the form of Thunderbird." Eagle is a bearer of messages from spirit to man, and from man to spirit" (Vogel, 1984, pp. 307-308). Thus, in the sun dance the eagle exerts his power as a facilitator of communication between people and the supernatural forces. Crows shed light on the eagle's symbolic role in the sun dance ritual, explaining: "Thunderbird in his earthly manifestation of eagle epitomizes the dynamism of thunder and lightning. He is the awakener of earth and of its greening; he is the servant of the Sun, the giver of heat and light." The eagle is associated with success, for "prosperity and wealth follow the eagle, who may bestow the gift of curing" (Vogel, 1984, p. 312). Eagles "have sharp eyes and know everything" (Brown, 1967, p. 77). As expressed by a contemporary Sioux medicine man, "in an eagle there is all the wisdom of the world" (Lame Deer and Erdoes, 1972, p. 136). A Crow who is dancing intensely may focus on the eagle at the top of the pole. The eagle may "finally move and show itself to the person," and "may begin to dance alongside one as he 'charges' and dances back from the center pole." The eagle may then accompany that person in a vision, dancing beside him and instructing him about the medicine acquired through the vision. On the second day of the dance, a participant may see the eagle soaring above the lodge. "The eagle is alive with a beauty and strength unmatched anywhere, having been endowed with keen eyesight as well as foresight." The bird carries the Creator's messages and symbolizes forthcoming blessings (Frey, 1987, pp. 108-109, 118). In unison, each dancer constantly blows upon a whistle fashioned from an eagle's wing bone, making sounds like the cry of an eagle, keeping time with the drum. This activity symbolizes the force of prayers which rise high like eagles to reach the Great Mystery. According to Black Elk, the sound made by the whistle "is the voice of the Spotted Eagle; our Grandfather, Wakan-Tanka, always hears this, for ... it is really His own voice" (Brown, 1967, p. 71). The whistle is painted with colored dots and lines to represent the remarkable perception of the eagle. The fluffy down feather at the end of the whistle is blown back and forth, representing breath and life (Mails, 1972, pp. 165, 167; Laubin, 1977, p. 279). The plume is "taken from the breast of the eagle, for this is the place which is nearest to the heart and center of the sacred bird" (Brown, 1967, p. 71). Under certain conditions, when a dancer suffers greatly from thirst, water may come to the eagle-bone whistle (Frey, 1987, p. 140). Because of the eagle's special capacities, his feathers have supernatural and curative functions. An observer recorded that once when the thirst of some Arapaho dancers became intense, a participant used an eagle feather to bring a refreshing rain (Shimkin, 1953, pp. 449-50). During the sun dance, a medicine man may direct his eagle-feather fan toward the bodies of people who seek healing. The feathers are first touched to the center pole and then to the patient, transmitting power from the pole to the sufferer. The sun dance leader brushes away illness with a feather. Fanning motions directed to the body may withdraw and whip away causes of sickness. Feathers are held upward toward the sky to reach the eagle so that the bird may bear the prayers for curing upward to the Creator (Frey, 1987, p. 134; Shimkin, 1953, p. 448; Voget, 1984, p. 240). Buffalo Symbolism It is the buffalo, however, as the very source of life for the Plains tribes, who occupies the central role in the sun dance. From that animal, Plains people once derived not only meat for sustenance, but skins for tipis, fur for robes, and virtually all materials for the tools and objects necessary for everyday living. Crows still commemorate the buffalo's fulfillment of their needs in former times. "Even today, Crows view the buffalo as a provider of good things for living. 'It represents plenty to eat, plenty to wear, and a peaceful wholesome life.'" The buffalo symbolizes the "necessities without which life would be hazardous and wearisome," and "also bestows great curing powers." In the contemporary sun dance, it still "radiates power" (Vogel, 1984, pp. 307, 312). Proximity of buffalo herds as influenced by their migrations indeed determined the time and locality chosen for the great ceremonial (Roe, 1970, p. 664). The preeminent status of the buffalo is illustrated by the fact that in certain tribes, the origin of the sun dance is traced to the buffalo. The inception of the ceremonial involves a visionary encounter between a person and a buffalo emissary with supernatural power. Ute and Shoshone myths, for example, reveal that the buffalo helped the individual who began the tradition, giving him instructions as to how to carry out the dance and revealing the benefits that would follow from proper performance of the ritual (Jorgensen, 1972, p. 26). For the Lakota, it was a deity in the form of a White Buffalo who brought the Sacred Pipe through which all ceremonies and rituals are empowered (Allen, 1986, p. 16). The Cheyenne sun dance was taught by the Creator to a medicine man, later known as Erect-Horns because of the buffalo horn cap he wore. He journeyed to a high peak in the company of a woman and when the couple came forth from the mountain to return home, "the whole earth seemed to become new, and there came forth buffalo that followed them" (Dorsey, 1905, p. 48). Themes relating to the buffalo consistently occur throughout the sun dance. Historically, various ceremonies relating to the animal have taken place as a preliminary to the climactic dancing. A sacred song of the Oglala Sioux that followed certain rituals pertaining to the buffalo skull expresses the participants' desire for blessings and its association with the buffalo's power: Wakan-Tanka be merciful to me. We want to live! That is why we are doing this. They say that a herd of buffalo is coming; Now they are here. The power of the buffalo is coming upon us; It is now here! (Brown, 1953, p. 87) As the Cheyenne sun dance progresses, buffalo songs change in tempo. "The rattle beat becomes slow and ponderous, as if a great herd of buffalo was moving across the prairie." A Cheyenne who was present the first time these buffalo songs were sung in the sun dance lodge related that "as they were chanted, a herd of buffalo bulls ran over the hill and down into the camp" (Powell, 1969, vol. 2, p. 658). Buffalo ceremonies, buffalo dances, and feasts of buffalo flesh were sometimes included as preliminaries to prayers that the Great Mystery would "heed the words of the Buffalo which He will speak that night in commendation of the people." A Sioux shaman dedicated food to "the God of generosity, the Buffalo God." In buffalo dances, participants "imitate the pawing of a buffalo bull in rage or defiance and ... manifest a defiant bravery of the dancers equal to that of the buffalo bull." While dancing, they "gaze continually at the ornamented buffalo head." Those who complete "four periods of this dance become buffalo men" (Walker, 1917, pp. 104, 115). After the tree to be used as the center pole had been chosen, Sioux Buffalo Cult members carried out a ceremony to honor the buffalo and bring his spirit to the dance (Laubin, 1977, p. 279). Flesh of the animal was utilized in various ways. Prior to inserting the center pole into the ground, the Sioux placed buffalo fat into the hole. Before the dancing began, the sacred sun dance pipe was filled and sealed with fat from a buffalo's heart. A buckskin bag containing a piece of buffalo hump, the choicest of all parts, was suspended from the bundle of branches above the pole. A feast of buffalo flesh often followed the termination of the sun dance. Buffalo tongues, as "the most sacred part of the most sacred animal"' were an important feature of the sun dance in many tribes. In preparation for the Blackfoot sun dance, one-hundred tongues were gathered and prepared according to proscribed rituals and consumed as sacramental food during the ceremony. The tongues were "prayed and sung over" and were consecrated to the sun. A feast of buffalo tongues preceded the onset of the dancers fasting among the Lakota and Blackfoot (Laubin, 1977, pp. 278, 282, 283; Frey, 1987, p. 121; Melody, 1976; Harrod, 1987, p. 125; Wissler, 1918, pp. 235-39; McClintock, 1910, p. 305). Formerly the Hidatsas, Arikaras, and Shoshones prepared the head of a buffalo killed in a special hunt so that it looked alive during the sun dance. Today the Shoshones and Crows use a mounted head that is kept from year to year for that purpose. The stuffed buffalo head is tied near the fork of the center pole during the ceremony. Representing the great herds upon which the tribes once depended, it remains as a symbol of abundance (Frey, 1987, p. 105; Laubin, 1977, pp. 313-14). In earlier times, some form of a buffalo calf or its hide was placed at the top of the center pole. The initiator of a Sisseton Sioux sun dance would prepare a life-like stuffed calf or yearling for this purpose which in later years was replaced by a small rawhide buffalo effigy (Skinner, 1919:383). While placing the skin of a young buffalo at the top of the tree, the Oglala pledger would say It is from this buffalo person that our people live; he gives to us our homes, our clothing, our food, everything we need. O buffalo calf, I now give to you a sacred place upon the tip of the tree. This tree will hold you in his hand and will raise you up to Wakan-Tanka. Behold what I am about to do! Through this, all things that move and fly upon the earth and in the heavens will be happy! (Brown, 1967, pp. 78-79) In some tribal sun dances, a pair of rawhide effigies, one in the shape of a buffalo and one in the shape of a man, were suspended from the center pole under its fork. The Oglala offered these figures to the six directions with a prayer stating that the buffalo which had been provided is "the chief of all the four-leggeds upon our sacred Mother; from him the people live, and with him they walk the sacred path. Behold, too, this two-legged, who represents all the people.,' Wakan-Tanka was asked to bestow upon "these two chiefs ... all the favours that they ask for" (Brown, 1967, p. 79). In the ceremony the buffalo represents the people and the universe and should always be treated with respect, for was he not here before the two-legged peoples, and is he not generous in that he gives us our homes and our food? The buffalo is wise in many things, and, thus, we should learn from him and should always be as a relative with him. (Brown, 1967, p. 72) Charles Eastman, a Sioux, states that the man was painted red and the buffalo black. "The paint indicated that the man who was about to give thanks publicly had been potentially dead, but was allowed to live by the mysterious favor and interference of the Giver of Life. The buffalo hung opposite the image of his own body in death, because it was the support of his physical self' (1970, pp. 59-60). In J. R. Walker's account, both the buffalo bull and the man were painted black and were depicted with exaggerated genitals. Incantations were made to impart potency to the figures (1917, p. 108). Formerly, as a preliminary to the Teton Sioux sun dance, warriors shot at the rawhide effigies to represent "the overcoming of enemies and the success of many buffalo hunts" (Laubin, 1977, p. 283). Various parts and products of the buffalo are incorporated into the sun dance. The officiating Sioux priest wore buffalo horns upon his head. He might attach bands of buffalo skin with loosening hair to his ankles and wrists, and his robe came from a buffalo who was shedding. Special power was attributed to the shed hair of the all- important animal (Laubin, 1977, p. 286). The thongs used by the Sioux in the self-torture ritual were made of buffalo rawhide (Brown, 1967, p. 95). Among the Cheyenne "in earlier times, the buffalo rawhide was used as the drum throughout the ceremonies, thus continuing the principle that all essential sacred items in the sun dance are related to the buffalo" (Powell, 1969, vol. 2, p. 660). At a certain point in the Lakota ritual, a dried buffalo penis was placed against the center pole. This was done to "give increased virility to the dancers," so "they could get more children" (Walker, 1917, p. 110; 1980, p. 36). The center pole is viewed as a conductor of life, and therefore leaning the buffalo phallus against it confirms the pole's association with fertility and reinforces the symbolic meaning of the ceremony as a celebration of the generative power of the sun. The cottonwood pole, as "the conduit of life for the dancers and for the people" could be "understood to be the sun's phallus" (Melody, 1976, pp. 454-55). A rattle made of buffalo scrotum once played a role in the Shoshone sun dance ritual (Shimkin, 1953, p. 444). Sioux dancers undergoing the self-torture phase of the ceremony were given buffalo tails for use as fly brushes and fans (Laubin, 1977, p. 291). Ritual burning of buffalo chips was also practiced. After the site for the sun dance lodge had been chosen, buffalo chips were lighted on the sacred spot where the holy tree was to be erected (Laubin, 1977, p. 280). Lakota belief held that smoke from the buffalo chips was "an incense to propitiate the Buffalo God." Pieces of dry buffalo excrement "have a wakanla, or spirit-like of themselves" and this spirit-like is released by burning, as the smoke, and this ascended to the Buffalo God as an intermediary." Prior to the dancing, a fire of buffalo chips on the altar (with sweetgrass incense) insures that "all will be harmonized with the potency of the Buffalo God that should prevail during the ceremony" (Walker, 1980, p. 37; 1917, pp. 101, 113-14). Even objects that are sacred in themselves are molded into the image of the buffalo. On the second day of dancing, Sioux participants sometimes added to the wreathes of sage they wore on their heads "two eagle primary feathers inserted straight up in the wreathes, one on each side of the head." These looked "much like long horns, symbolizing the plenty of Buffaloes and buffalo power" (Laubin, 1977, p. 289). Horns made from the sacred sage adorned the head of a dancer who had vowed to drag four buffalo skulls, and the form of the buffalo was worn on his chest (Brown, 1967, p. 93). The most dramatic representation of the buffalo in the sun dance is the animal's skull. Painted and decorated in various symbolic ways and resting on a bed of sage generally facing toward the east, it becomes a sacred altar during the ceremony. The Oglala directed prayers to Wakan-Tanka indicating the chief of all the four-leggeds is tatanka, the buffalo. Behold his dried skull here; by this we know that we, too, shall become skull and bones, and thus, together we shall all walk the sacred path back to Wakan-Tanka. Here on earth we live together with the buffalo, and we are grateful to him, for it is he who gives us our food, and who makes the people happy. For this reason I now give grass to our relative the buffalo. (Brown, 1967, p. 90) Offerings were then presented: balls of sacred sage were placed in the eye sockets, a bag of tobacco was tied on to one hoary, and a piece of deer hide attached to the other horn to represent a robe for the buffalo. The skull was painted with red lines, signifying "You, O buffalo, are the earth!" (Brown, 1967, pp. 90-91). Oglala belief held that the Buffalo God, or Relative God, resided in the skull (Walker, 1917, pp. 130-31). Similarly, the Cheyenne stuffed the eyes and nasal cavity of the buffalo skull with grass which "represents the earth's vegetation, especially that which grows near the water. Its use continues the prayer that the plants, trees, and grasses will be plentiful, in order to supply the needs of both men and animals" (Powell, 1969, vol. 2, p. 636). Symbols were applied to the skull indicating the road to the spirit world, day and night, and the sun and moon. Offerings were made to the skull along with prayers for favor and protection (Dorsey, 1905a, pp. 96-97, 113-14). The Arapaho, too, saw the buffalo skull on the sun dance altar as "the dwelling-place, during the ceremony, of Man-Above." The "various black and red dots on the skull indicate prayers, while the grass knobs placed in the eye- sockets and in the nasal cavities were said to indicate the times when the Indians used grass garments, before the appearance of the buffalo." The grass balls also represent a deity who owns the rivers and creeks. His body is represented by the water grass, or flat grass, and when these balls of grass are inserted, "the buffalo is then complete, ie., the life is restored," for "the animal lives on grass" (Dorsey, 1903, pp. 118-19). The pipe which was to be used in the Sioux sun dance was first placed upon the buffalo skull, "being careful to have its stem point toward the east." The prayer to Wakan-Tanka which followed linked the pipe with the powerful animal, for the sacred pipe would "soon go to the center of the universe, along with the buffalo, who has helped to make strong the bodies of the people" (Brown, 1967, p. 83). The mentor of an Oglala sun dance candidate decorates the buffalo skull on the altar with "stripes of red paint, one across the forehead and one lengthwise on each side of the skull." At the same time, he paints a red stripe across the forehead of the Candidate. The stripes across the forehead indicate that the Buffalo God has adopted the Candidate as a hunka, or relative by ceremony. The red stripes on the sides of the skull indicate that the Buffalo God will give especial protection to the Candidate. The horns of the skull should be adorned with any ornaments that the Candidate may apply. Then the mentor should fill and light a pipe and he and the Candidate should smoke it in communion, alternately blowing the smoke into the nostril cavities of the skull, thus smoking in communion with the Buffalo God. This should be done in order that the potency of the pipe may harmonize all those communing. (Walker, 1917, pp. 69-70) The candidate must observe many rituals with regard to the altar because "it is a sacred place occupied by the potency of the God, the Buffalo, and should be reverenced as the God is reverenced" (Walker, 1917, p. 70). At the end of the original Sioux sun dance, all objects such as fur, feathers, and wreaths and other symbols used in the ceremony were piled up in the center of the lodge. "These things were too sacred to be kept and should be resumed to the earth. Only the buffalo robes and the eagle-bone whistles were kept.... On top of the pile of sacred things the buffalo skull was placed, for this skull reminds us of death and also helps us to remember that a cycle has been completed" (Brown, 1967, pp. 98-99). The buffalo skull served numerous functions. The Sioux dance leader, when resting, "threw himself prone on the ground, west of the sacred place, pressing his head against the sacred buffalo skull" (Laubin, 1977, p. 288). When a Crow dancer offered a portion of himself during the sun dance by slicing off the tip of a finger, he performed this sacrifice "steadied on a buffalo skull whenever possible" (Vogel, 1984, p. 307). In a much more dramatic way, buffalo skulls were used to implement the supreme sacrifice of the sun dance that was made in the voluntary torture phenomenon enacted in some tribes. The practice resembles and may have originated from procedures in the Mandan "O-Kee-pa" ceremony, as described by the artist, George Catlin, in 1832 (1967, pp. 39-100); it probably spread to the western tribes from that locus (Hultkrantz, 1973, p. 17). In the self-inflicted torture process, participants were suspended from the top of the lodge by thongs attached to skewers passing through back or chest muscles. Additionally, from incisions made in various areas of their bodies, buffalo skulls were hung from skewers. In another form of this sacrifice, instead of being suspended, a man would volunteer to "carry four of his relatives on his back, meaning he would drag four buffalo skulls." An Oglala who made that vow spoke of it as bearing "my closest relatives, the ancient buffalo" (Brown, 1967, pp. 86, 95). Two to eight skulls might be attached, and as the dancer moved, in addition to tearing his flesh by means of the skewers, the skull and especially the horns dug into his body. Meaning of the Buffalo Skull Eastman explains that the buffalo skull that is dragged after the dancer represents "the grave from which he had escaped" (1970, p. 60). It is relevant to the understanding of this practice that "among hunting peoples bones represent the final source of life, both human and animal, the source from which the species is reconstituted at will.... The 'soul, is presumed to reside in the bones and hence the resurrection of the individual from its bones can be expected." For hunters, "bone represents the very source of life. ... To reduce a living being to a skeleton is equivalent to re-entering the womb of this primordial life, that is, to a complete renewal, a mystical rebirth." The idea that "the inexhaustible matrix of life of the species" is found in the animal's bones is characteristic of the "mystical relations between man and his prey" that are "fundamental for hunting societies." Plains tribes such as the Dakota "believe that the bones of those bisons which they have slain and divested of flesh rise again clothed with renewed flesh, and quickened with life, and become fat, and fit for slaughter the succeeding June" (Eliade, 1974, pp. 63, 159, 160-61). Thus the theme of rebirth is expressed through the role of the buffalo skull in the sun dance and this concept of universal regeneration infuses with transcendent meaning the participants' suffering of ritual pain in association with the skull of the sacred animal. Visionary Experience The buffalo plays a significant role in the visionary experience that is sought in the sun dance. A Crow dancer may be guided by a buffalo during a vision. In the contemporary sun dance ceremony, "dancers challenge his [the buffalo's] attention by 'running at it,' suffering and praying that the Buffalo Person will take notice and 'run over them,' bringing a dancer what he desires and perhaps something more ­ the gift of a power to cure" (Vogel, 1984, p. 307). A Crow who is dancing intently may see the buffalo on which he is focusing move. "The buffalo may 'chase' a dancer, knocking him down. When this happens, the dancer is said to have taken a 'hard fall.'" It has come about "with the force of the Buffalo." As a climax, "he realizes he has the ears and horns of the Buffalo; he's looking about through the Buffalo's eyes. He and the Buffalo are one." After relating these events to the medicine man, "he's told of the vision's significance, and cautioned 'never to eat of the buffalo"' (Frey, 1987, pp. 118-21, 125). Ute and Shoshone participants reach a point in the ceremony "where they believe that they are indeed 'knocked down' by Buffalo." When a dancer is unconscious for a short time, it is assumed that "he is afraid of Buffalo and has rejected his power." Elder shamans then shout encouragement, telling him "You can get what you're looking for.... If you want to be a doctor [shaman] you've got to work for it. You've got to take it away from that buffalo. He wants to give it to you, but it isn't going to be easy." The participant usually attempts to dance again, desiring to be one who "made it," who did not "collapse in front of Buffalo and then fail to muster the courage to get up to dance and again to meet Buffalo head on." It is believed that "Buffalo knocks down those who violate customs, or pursue power too fast, or who cannot withstand the hot-dry force." Those who get up and dance again after being knocked down show they "have the courage to withstand Buffalo's jolts of hot-dry power." Fellow participants may catch a falling dancer and "send him back to 'fight Buffalo"' (Jorgensen, 1974, pp. 213-14). Shoshones and Utes believe that the buffalo snorts fire out of his nostrils, that his eyes roll, and that he becomes alive, just like an enraged bull in a bull ring. He challenges those who would accept his power to come and get it. If a person goes down and is knocked unconscious but does not receive a vision, it takes great courage to face Buffalo again. It is believed that, when a person receives his vision, he is "knocked down" as if he were hit by a thunderbolt from above, and it is a foregone conclusion that the dancer will not only dance again but that his dancing will be effortless. (Jorgensen, 1974, p. 214) During a vision, the dancer is usually unconscious for several hours, and in that interval he "may learn new songs, new curing techniques, and a new dance step." He is in the company of the supernatural forces and may talk to the spirits and perhaps to Buffalo. He is instructed about his power and about new aspects and interpretations of the dance. Spectators may "see Buffalo's eyes roll and turn red" when the dancer has been "hit" (Jorgensen, 1974, pp. 214-15). Prophetic visions regarding buffalo may be granted to sun dancers. One Sioux related that he saw "a herd of buffalo heading north. He saw white people killing buffalo until they were all gone. So he knew what was coming, but the things foretold in a vision could not be prevented." Later, during the great drought of 1930, with its disastrous dust storms, a more optimistic vision indicated that "the buffalo had returned to 'hook up the ground"' (Laubin, 1977, p. 293). Animals in the Plains Indian World View Interactions with animals, particularly the eagle and the buffalo, are inextricably interwoven with the sun dance of the Plains Indians. The roles assigned to them relate to the animals place in the world view of the society in which this ritual is a major event, and reflect intimate human relationships with the natural world that differ from those typical of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The animals who share the Plains environment are viewed as wise and powerful. They possess most of the same capacities human beings have and in some ways exceed them. Beliefs about creation indicate that certain animals existed before people did, and were in communication with the Creator. They advised the Creator and helped in bringing humankind and even the earth itself into existence. Animals are intermediaries between human beings and the supernatural forces. All living creatures are part of a single interrelated community. Each one has its own part in this web of life, which is envisioned as a circle rather than as the linear hierarchy with humankind at the top that pervades western thought. Jamake Highwater, a writer of Blackfeet heritage, emphasizes the "sympathetic undertone" of the native Americans' relationship to the world around them, and explains their belief in the solidarity of life as an expression of kinship (1981, p. 69). With this view of animals as relatives, a hunter/gatherer society that places strong valuation on obtaining animals for food generally possesses cultural resources for dealing with the inevitable inconsistencies between an attitude of mutuality and kinship with living beings and the antagonism involved in killing and eating them. In his recent study of Plains Indian religion and morality, Howard Harrod points out that the sun dance ritual is an important factor in the resolution of this conflict. Killing animals violates kinship relations, but the ceremonies of world renewal that focus on the buffalo serve to bring about a symbolic reconciliation. Through the process of elevating the buffalo to a sacred status that is not conferred upon any other animal and by showing it great respect and reverence in the sun dance ritual, the potentially disruptive practice of feeding upon its flesh is somehow mitigated. There is a resultant deepened sense of kinship that helps to restore harmony between people and the buffalo (1987, pp. 116, 133, 165, 171-72). Members of traditional Plains Indian society define themselves not as separate entities, but as part of a whole. They see themselves primarily as partaking of a kinship network, emphasizing their membership in family, clan, and tribe. The contrast between this mode of viewing the self as subordinate to the whole and the strong individualism of modern Western society has been well established (see Leach, 1982, pp. 139-40). In the same way that Plains tribespeople experience their broad communal ties to other human beings, this ingrained way of relating is extended to the wider society, including non-humans (Hughes, 1983, pp. 16-17, 61). Thus land, essential to all life ­ animal and human ­ could not be imagined as individually owned. A sense of reciprocity permeates Plains ideology. Dynamic interrelationships between people and nature require giving as well as taking. Hence the sun dance ritual includes all of nature in its scope, but places an emphasis on those creatures and forces that are most beneficially related to human welfare. The sun lodge represents the whole universe where the drama of cosmic renewal is played out, and all elements of nature ­ including the sun, moon, and stars ­ are praised. The strictly spiritual tie to the eagle is well represented and his ceremonial role is focused upon religious perceptions regarding his conscious awareness, his role as messenger, and his powers of flight. Relationships with the buffalo are more complex and intricate. As the major animal represented in the sun dance, it has both spiritual and physical ties to humankind. It is, quite simply, acknowledged as necessary for bodily existence. Without it, there would be death, or at least an impoverished life. Since humankind has a spirit as well as a body, the buffalo is seen as answering all the needs of people ­ those manifested by the spirit as well as the flesh. When it is stated that "all the good things of Cheyenne existence are fulfilled in the buffalo" (Powell, 1969, vol. 2, p. 635), this assertion includes the full range of human experience. It has been well established that the native ethos does not include a religion separate from other aspects of daily life as in the Western concept, but rather encompasses a world in which all of life is permeated by spiritual forces (Harrod, 1987, p. 6). Through dependence upon the buffalo for food, the animal literally becomes "flesh of our flesh" for the consumers. In this sense, as in many other important ways, the great animal entered the Plains Indians, psyche. Lame Deer extols the power and wisdom of the buffalo and explains We Sioux have a close relationship to the buffalo. He is our brother. We have many legends of buffalo changing themselves into men. And the Indians are built like buffalo, too ­ big shoulders, narrow hips. According to our belief, the Buffalo Woman who brought us the peace pipe, which is at the center of our religion, was a beautiful maiden, and after she had taught our tribes how to worship with the pipe, she changed herself into a white buffalo calf. So the buffalo is very sacred to us. You can't understand about nature, about the feeling we have toward it, unless you understand how close we were to the buffalo. That animal was almost like a part of ourselves, part of our souls. (1972, p. 130) He goes on to point out that without the buffalo, "we were nothing," enumerating the many ways its flesh, skin, horns, organs, and bones were used to benefit people. Further, "his mighty skull, with the pipe leaning against it, was our sacred altar. The name of the greatest Sioux was Tatanka Iyotake ­ Sitting Bull. When you killed off the buffalo, you also killed the Indian ­ the real, natural, 'wild' Indian." The natives, close identification with the buffalo is expressed by Lame Deer's praise of the animal as smart, playful, possessed of a sense of humor, hardy, and well suited to its harsh environment. The buffalo seems specially fashioned for the Indians, because Lame Deer says "White hunters used to call the buffalo stupid because they were easy to shoot, weren't afraid of a gun. But the buffalo was not designed to cope with modern weapons. He was designed to deal with an Indian's arrows" (1972, pp. 13-31). Regarding the buffalo as "the closest of all animals to human beings," Plains Indians saw parallels between the great beast and their own species. "The buffalo evidently had a religion, for they were seen to purify their 'children' by washing them and made 'offerings' of hair when they rubbed against trees" (Hughes, 1983, p. 325). The Sun Dance: Sacrifice, Integration, Reciprocity, and Regeneration A very important consideration in understanding the Indian's perception is that the buffalo is a highly social animal, innately gregarious. That is a trait with which the Plains people could identify, finding similarities to the broad allegiances and communal relationships characteristic of their own social organization. Unlike more solitary species, the buffalo, as a herd animal, is often referred to by the natives as a "tribe" or "nation." And, as mentioned, the movements and whereabouts of that "buffalo nation" influenced Plains Indian tribal structure and location at a given season. Generally, the Plains Indian interactions with buffaloes do not involve personal contact with individual animals, but rather the whole species or population. Calling the animal "Buffalo" always implies reference to the group or at least a member who represents that group. One specific buffalo is rarely, if ever, singled out or named ­ as is often the case in many societies with any animal who is to be eaten. This practice helps in combating the revulsion that may accompany the consumption of flesh from a familiar individual being. Thus communal ritual reconciliation is made with the species as a whole: human society propitiates the buffalo nation. Helping to relieve the guilt resulting from killing and eating sentient creatures, too, is the pervasive belief that animals willingly offer themselves to hunters. This idea is reflected in the observation that "the Plains Indians spoke of their hunt not as 'driving' the buffalo but as 'leading them'; not 'chasing,' but 'calling'" them. Certain men among the Cheyenne and Blackfeet possessed "the power of charming the buffalo into a corral or over a cliff." They accomplished this feat by disguising themselves in buffalo robes and imitating the animals' movements and sounds (Hughes, 1983, p. 30). The conviction that the buffalo voluntarily give themselves to be killed for the benefit of human beings is closely associated with Plains people's sense of identification with the animal and with the force of reciprocal obligations toward it. As expressed by members of one tribe, "Since buffalo allowed themselves to be used in order that the Crow people could live, it seemed fitting . . . to offer a part of themselves to the sun and other spiritual persons" (Vogel, 1984, p. 307). Thus the sacrifice of the dancers through fasting, thirst, and self-inflicted pain reflects the desire to return something of themselves to nature, with special reference to the life- sustaining buffalo, in exchange for past and future benefits. It is relevant that, as mentioned, the Mandan O-kee-pa (Okipa) ceremony, from which elements of the Plains sun dance are almost certainly derived, features the self-torture of participants by means of buffalo skulls. In addition to that practice, there were certain animal-oriented rituals included within the O-kee-pa that shed light on the meaning of the sun dance. For example, Catlin described a bull-dance "to the strict observance of which they [the Mandans] attributed the coming of buffaloes to supply them with food." The colorful event was enacted by men dressed as buffaloes, wearing buffalo head masks, who imitated the motions and behavior of the animals (1967, pp. 54-57). The name Okee-pa means "look alike" and refers to the bull dancers, who were all of the same stature and who were identically dressed and painted (Bowers, 1950, p. 111). Additionally, men disguised as other animals including grizzly bears, eagles, antelopes, swans, rattlesnakes, beavers, vultures, and wolves, imitated the sounds and behaviors of their respective species. In this spectacle, the players enacted interrelationships involving struggle between various forms of life. Animals growled and chased each other and meat-feeding scenarios took place (Catlin, 1967, pp. 54-57). This performance represents the expression of a theme dealing with predator-prey relationships. Evidently, the ambiguities of carnivorous behavior were being explored through ritual. Early in the twentieth century, as a preliminary to the Blackfoot sun dance, similar figures dressed to resemble wolves and grizzly bears interacted with dancers in the guise of buffaloes (McClintock, 1910, p. 300), indicating a preoccupation with the same theme. Such rituals provided an overt expression of the tensions involved in the dilemma of one form of life feeding upon another that underlie the sun dance ceremony. To a greater or lesser degree depending upon the tribe, the sun dance includes the elements of sacrifice and pain on the part of participants. The ultimate gift is the offering of one's own body. In a deep sense, this phenomenon of undergoing physical agony relates the supplicants to the rest of nature; it is an atonement in the true meaning of "at onement," with reference to the unity of the cosmos. For all living creatures are subject to suffering and share a common capacity for pain. According to Oglala tradition, "This truth of the oneness of all things we understand a little better by participating in this rite, and by offering ourselves as a sacrifice" (Brown, 1967, p. 95). Mircea Eliade explains the Mandan O-kee-pa as a rite of "initiatory torture" inflicted for the purpose of "spiritual transmutation of the victim." Death, represented by undergoing torture, signifies that the profane man has been killed and the participant has come to life regenerated in body and soul. The person must "die" through the ordeal of "being cut to pieces" in order to bring about his symbolic resurrection ( 1975, pp. 206, 207, 208). As Eastman analyzes the meaning of the cutting and bleeding of the Sioux dancer who is pierced, the pain that results is "the natural accompaniment of his figurative death" ( 1970, p. 61). The flesh that is tom away when the thong breaks loose "represents ignorance," which "should always be behind us as we face the light of truth which is before us" (Brown, 1967, p. 86). Thus the sun dancer is reborn, mentally and spiritually as well as physically, along with the renewal of the buffalo and the entire universe. The great sun dance ritual establishes the tenet that there is no final death, for all living things can be renewed. Human beings, however, like all their fellow creatures, must cooperate in order to bring about universal regeneration. By feeding grass to the buffalo skull, the cycle of life is symbolically perpetuated. To appease the buffalo who gives so much to people, appreciation and good intentions must be shown, and deferential behavior is mandated. By significant acts like refraining from eating buffalo flesh after the animal has provided a vision, leaving some of the meat to propitiate the animal's spirit after a buffalo is slain, and planting a piece of sacred buffalo tongue back into the ground during the ceremonial feast (Frey, 1987, p. 121; Walker, 1917, p. 130; McClintock, 1910, p. 305), honor is given to the spiritual presence of the buffalo. Because the animal's spirit still remains when the buffalo is killed, death is not final; eternal return is assured for both buffalo and humankind through reciprocal actions that maintain the harmony of the natural world. Thus at the close of the Oglala sun dance, Wakan-Tanka is addressed: "You have taught us our relationship with all ... beings, and for this we give thanks... May we be continually aware of this relationship which exists between the four-leggeds, the two-leggeds, and the wingeds. May we all rejoice and live in peace!" (Brown, 1967, p. 98). Note 1. Direct all correspondence to the author at P.O. Box 35, Adamsville, RI 02801. The author is an anthropologist and veterinarian on the faculty of the Department of Environmental Studies, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. References Allen, P. G. (1986). The sacred hoop. Boston: Beacon Press. Bowers, A. W. (1950). Mandan social and ceremonial organization. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Brown, J. E. (1967). The sacred pipe. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Catlin, G. (1967). In J. C. Ewers (Ed.), O-Kee-Pa: A religious ceremony and other customs of the Mandans. New Haven: Yale University Press. Dorsey, G. A. (1903). The Arapaho sun dance: The ceremony of the offerings lodge. Chicago: Field Columbian Museum Publication 75, Anthropological Series, 4. Dorsey, G. A. (1905). The Cheyenne: I. Ceremonial organization. Chicago: Field Columbian Museum Publication 99, Anthropological Series. 9, 1. Dorsey, G. A. (19O5a). The Cheyenne: II. The sun dance. Chicago: Field Columbian Museum Publication 103, 9, 2. Eastman, C. A. (1970). The soul of the Indian. n. p.: Fenwyn Press. Eliade, M. (1974). Shamanism. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Eliade, M. (1975). Myths, dreams, and mysteries. New York: Harper and Row. Frey, R. (1987). The world of the Crow Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Grinnell, G. B. (1923). The Cheyenne Indians. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1, 2. Harrod, H. L. (1987). Renewing the world. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Highwater, J. (1981). The primal mind. New York: Harper and Row. Hughes, J. D. (1983). American Indian ecology. El Paso: Texas Western Press. Hultkrantz, A. (1973). Prairie and Plains Indians. Iconography of Religions. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 10, 2. Jorgensen, J. G. (1974). The sun dance religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lame Deer, J., & Erdoes R. (1972). Lame Deer: Seeker of visions. New York: Simon and Schuster. Laubin, R. and Laubin, G. (1977). Indian dances of North America. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Leach, E. (1982). Social anthropology. New York: Oxford University Press. Liberty, M. (1980). The sun dance. In W. R. Wood & M. Liberty (Eds.) Anthropology on the Great Plains (pp. 164-178). Lincoln University of Nebraska Press. Lowie, R. H. (1935). The Crow Indians. New York: Farrar and Rinehart. McClintock, W. (1910). The old north trail. London: Macmillan and Co. Mails, T. (1972). The mystic warriors of the Plains. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. Melody, M. E. (1976). The Lakota Sun Dance: A Composite Analysis. South Dakota History, 6, 4, 433-55. Powell, P. J. (1969). Sweet Medicine. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1, 2. Roe, F. G. (1970). The North American buffalo. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Shimkin, D. B. (1953). The Wind River Shoshone sun dance. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology. Anthropological Papers, Washington: Government Printing Office, 41. Skinner, A. (1919). Notes on the sun dance of the Sisseton Dakota. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, 16, 4. Spier, L. (1921). The sun dance of the Plains Indians: Its development and diffusion. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, 16, 7. Voget, F. (1984). The Shoshoni-Crow sun dance. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Walker, J. R. (1917). The sun dance and other ceremonies of the Oglala division of the Teton Dakota. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, 16, 2. Walker, J. R. (1980). Lakota belief and ritual. R. J. DeMallie and E. A. Jahner, (Eds.), Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Wissler, Clark (1918). The sun dance of the Blackfoot Indians. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, 1, 2.

http://www.psyeta.org/sa/sa1.1/lawrence.html
Mail:     Society and Animals Forum
             P.O. Box 1297
             Washington Grove, MD 20880-1297

Telephone/Fax: 301-963-4751

 Email: kshapiro@societyandanimalsforum.org

Become a Society & Animals Forum Supporter!

 

Your support will help make a difference!

• 
  
  Increase the tools to criminal justice and human services personnel for identifying and eliminating animal abuse
  
  
  
• 
  
  Support our workshops across the country with professionals who can help to stop the cycle of abuse
  
  
  
• 
  
  Develop the field of human-animal studies through our journals, (S&A, JAAWS)
  
  
  
• 
  
  Help increase our efforts to End the Cycle of Violence for all non human and human animals
  
  
  
• 
  
  Help increase our efforts to End Animal Abuse in the laboratory and in the classroom
  
  
  

Donate Now

White Buffalo Calf Woman and Rainbow Mother Carol Speak of the Lakota People

Beloved Carol and Lakota Relatives,
Hopefully I have found the right blog and will add this to the blog in question. http://spiritofthelakepeople.blogspot.com/2009/08/letter-to-arvol-looking-horse-from.html

On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 10:59 PM, Carol Rainbow Mother/Sister wrote:
I am shocked and saddened that you have chosen to write such an angry letter to Arvol Looking Horse. Evidently you have no understanding of the spiritual world, which would "announce" or make manifest by many signs who the calf woman is or rather who might be under her influence. Most Elders have the means to know this and there is no reason to declare yourself as such if it were true. Are you also the Virgin Mary? Christ re-incarnated? Those claims are just as ridiculous. Beware of what you claim, lest it claim you and you may not like the responsibilities, such as surrendering your life, that it entails. No wonder so many will not teach or trust many whites. I would be afraid to offend the Creator by making boastful claims. You are under a delusion. I will pray for you to realize how truly misled you are.

From: Twin Deer Mother <whitebuffalocalfwoman@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: White Buffalo Calf Woman
To: "Rainbow Mother Carol "
Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009, 8:46 PM

On Sun, 11/15/09, Twin Deer Mother <whitebuffalocalfwoman@gmail.com> wrote:

Carol,
Thank you for your prayers, and if you are not here for blessings, then you need find another place to go. For there is no letter you have shown me that you speak about your words.  You need bring what you speak about and then you can speak your words.

In the meantime, I will speak my words, for all to hear, for my love will bare all the needs of the world, I bless you to the hills, to be free from your guilt.  And when you rise to sea, the heart that shines for you liberty.

You speak against me, when so many must have spoken against you!  Defend and you are not free, but speak truth, you are set free!

your devoted servant,
white buffalo calf woman, your twin deer mother
elder crystal person, wakan iyeshka or holy interpreter
alightfromwithin.org

ps. Continuing to be White Buffalo Calf Woman, your Wakan Iyeshka or Holy Interpreter.  Come for blessings and you will sea, and all will be delivered for all to sea.  Even Holiness Arvol needs me, and I will speak my heart for all to sea.

 

On Sun, 11/15/09, Twin Deer Mother <whitebuffalocalfwoman@gmail.com> responding to reply from Rainbow Mother Carol On Mon, Nov 16, 2009 at 11:55 AM:



ca (Carol): When I google Whitebuffalocalfwoman I found a site listing a letter to Arvol Looking Horse and mentioning the writer's disappointment with several Lakota people and a few medicine people. The general tone of the letter was anger at not being recognized by these people.

cw (Calf Woman): Beloved Rainbow Mother Carol,
You will have to bring a url and sentences and then I can respond to you.  I will write to you, regarding your complaints. This would help, however, I have written about my experiences with the Lakota, my Relatives. And I am more than disappointed, I am angry to tears, their pain and hate, I do not wish to bare, but the Great Spirits tell me to walk this way and I walk this way, even though, quite frankly there are many frauds out there and I try to help them as I can read all light and all darkness with truth as a Crystal person.  And it seems that I am the only person, who can (speak the star language), even with so many other Crystal people in the world.  This is why you even try to talk with me.  You are a Rainbow Mother, this is why you can talk with me, since we are both from heaven you sea. You are presently in your light phase, which means.  You can get chores done this day.  When in the dark phase, you need be the creator to show you the way!

ca: When I google Whitebuffalocalfwoman I found a site listing a letter to Arvol Looking Horse and mentioning the writer's disappointment with several Lakota people and a few medicine people. The general tone of the letter was anger at not being recognized by these people.

cw.  Spiritofthelakepeople.blogspot.com and white-buffalo-calf-woman.blogspot.com are two of my blogs, however I have hundreds of blogs and many domains, with many other writers who walk with Rainbow Warriors of Prophecy in our hoops, alightfromwithin.org.

cw:  Thank you for talking to me this way, you are trying to teach, and this is love.  However, it was hatred or racism that make them turn away, my love.  When Lakota medicine men, literally try to kill me, in the spirit world, this is real hate.  (This often happens with men who feel threatened, and most of the world is threatened of me returning to the world. Only Medicine men, do this, never does real medicine woman feel the need to retaliate, although, recently I protected a native woman, in the spirit world who attacked me, because she is being beat up at home.  I know this is very common with our warriors down, whether it be native or not.) If it was any other woman, claiming to be White Buffalo Calf Woman, they would have succeeded in killing her, although they are not threatened by them (false women who claim).  This is not love, this is hate.  I know much has happened, but truth about the Lakota need be sent out to the world, when they work for money and not relatives.  They use and abuse the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota, and make them a spectacle, like a side show.  To have respect is to start with self, and Lakota is ordained on the western shore to lead the spirit world, of heaven and earth.  It is curious, why none of our domains came up, as we own whitebuffalocalfwoman.net, org, com and info. As planned before I came around by the Great Spirits, and only by the perfection of God this came to be.

ca: If this is not your letter and posted by others to defame you I apologize. If this is your letter, on your site? you might want to realize that it might not have been hatred or racism that prompted them to turn away, but rather they are still waiting for other signs.

cw. Thank you again, for your love, I can see, you are trying to assist, however it will take anger, when Lakota relatives go to the Chief and he refuses to open his door to receive, at the western shore.  I am a relative and apparently Lakota too, as the Great Spirits tell me and many Rainbow Warriors who validate, like we should for each other.  It will take anger, to motivate the Lakota Mother to take care of her child at the Reservation.  It will take anger, to see that the ones who do not do what is right, in their positions of responsibility, to motivate them.  There are many signs, and not listening, will not beckon the dawning within the people.  If someone is pounding at the door, you listen to them and want them to go away, but often they won't until you open the door and see what they want.  Lakota did not open the door, my own Relatives, because they cannot read truth, for this is my wisdom, TRUTH, as a Crystal person as White buffalo Calf woman (heavenly name), your Twin Deer Mother (earthly tools).

ca: While it is true that the spiritual world is torn apart with gossip, spiritual fighting and politics, we must try to ignore as much of that as possible to be able to help others. Lashing out in the letter left an impression that was not so good.

cw:  I must be the lesson.  The Great Spirits depend on this, for the world. The very treasure of those who need be forgiven.  I will become.  This is the Crystal person, the door into and out of heaven, as it swings both ways.  I cannot nor will not ignore the gossip, spiritual fighting and politics, because this is the very problem.  If we ignore, then we do not solve.  We need bring the problems out into the open and start with law.  The law of love, the Red Road.  All the Natives who say follow the Red Road, do not know this way.  They don't even understand the meaning.  We are united in heart (law of love), first, then we speak.  You were able to forgive me, and you came back.  This is what others need learn to do too! Others will have to forgive me too!  And if you want to critique my letters, I would be happy to have you do so...in fact I would be very happy to have someone assist.  Do you dare, be my hero, my cosmic Rainbow Mother? But you will have to give me urls, this would help a lot.

ca: I do not claim to be at all knowledgeable about any tradition and especially this one. I have only my experiences to guide me and to figure it out on my own, as the Elders frequently expect you to draw your own conclusions.

cw:  We travel a journey, often is what I hear from Natives at pow wows, those who know love.  And then there are those, who simply hate, because no one dare be white buffalo calf woman and they never asking for a blessing.  When I give blessings, I know your heavenly mission, your earthly rainbow colors, your song of your heart, and the truth of all spirit knowledge, because it's written in your book of life.  Elders tell you to draw your own conclusions, because others need go to the flowing of the Great Stream, the crystalline rock river of all, the Oneness, we call God, or the wind that blows through us all.  I often tell others, if you don't believe, try prayer.  But if they cannot come for blessings, nor ask in prayer, their hatred out weighs their love, or heartfelt wishes to be good children of the Great Spirits.

The natives are little children, when speaking of the flesh, but are Soul elders when walking with their hearts.  But when we walk in the world of only flesh (light) right now, as we have not left the last phase of evolution until 2013 when heaven and earth unite, they tend to listen to their bodies and not their hearts.  This is why they need enter ceremonies, to cleanse the heart and the flesh, to be united as the rising sun, the morning star.  You see, I can explain all things, of this world and of the heavenly worlds, because I and only I, white buffalo calf woman, have the mathematical perfection, however it is not the Lakota who will share this with the world, the math (it will be the Jews, ordained on the eastern shore), but the ramification of walking this path of mathematical perfection, called Rainbow Colors of the Clan, the four directions and the four colors of the world will be the Natives People of North America.The nine sacred ceremonies will go to them, the Lakota people, as will the star language that guides the entire existence of evolution, as we enter the third phase of the rolling hill in time, the "Dawning".  It is the Lakota who will teach the Red Road, the Law of Love, but they will need my help as well as dedicated Rainbow Warriors.  Right now, my greatest issue is how to send blankets to them.

ca: I have certainly encountered people and groups that said one thing and did another in the name of Christ, and in the name of "tradition". Corruption of the soul is in all races and in all places. However,one can be used by God whether one fully understands it or not. One can also be misused, tricked, attacked or taught corrupt teachings. It is a very difficult thing to discern. I have nearly paid with my life trusting some who were treacherous to their own people and to me.

cw.  You see, even you have had similar experiences by those who are calling themselves relatives.  True relatives open the door, like my door is always open, whether it be good or bad, I will listen.  I will receive their attacks.  I will take their abuse.  I will walk the course, the Great Spirits gifted to me.  I will always know truth. I will love the people and I will fight for love all the way homeward!

Saying one thing and doing another, is not united Flesh (red road) and Soul (blue road).  Most of the world now knows separation within, and this leads to unhappiness, and terrible sleep too!  How can we become refreshed if not in Spirit of our Souls? Elders, do what they say.  Our moto is "we show up".  In Mountain View, California, where I live, the police hand out my card, then take no responsibility in their own behavior, and now I will have to speak against them, in order for them to take responsibility.  "Real love drags them to the earth, and says, I love you .  Now tell Mother Earth, you have learned to walk humble." Warriors need be trained to assist the many warriors down.  We need truth and justice from those who walk with the Great Spirits.  For they are in charge, and none of us are leaders, we follow them, the Great Spirits.  We are the little children who abide to their calling.

ca: The more I understand the more careful I have become as there are many things known to only a few, that are powerful, real...but the question remains are they in HARMONY with the greatest good, the Creator's will, and helpful for the mother Earth.

cw.  Yes, I think we agree on this, to be in harmony with the Rainbow family and true to Mother Earth.  It's that you don't understand my role, or my methods.  Most don't or don't want to.  Even mothers won't help their own children.  I know this to be true.  And what is the most difficult for me, is they must come towards me, even if they hate me.  This, time will tell.  Evolution waits for no one.  We must learn how to adapt to heavenly ways.  And earthly ways, do not understand heavenly ways.  And all things darkness, need only be blessed to be pure. And only the ceremonies will bring the people home again, before they loose their lives to evolutions calling. (earth flooding, and red star and fire in the sky)

ca: In claiming such a statement, are you not afraid of whether you are going to let someone down, since so many are looking for her return, and whether you will be able to bear what ever the responsibilities are THIS TIME AROUND? Because you can be sure it will involve poverty, surrender, and much suffering.

cw:  Oh my love, I know this. I let everyone down, who don't walk in the law of love.  But I am perfect, and so are you, and when we know it and feel it, it becomes easier to shine the light from within. Presently as Missionaries living in the streets with the homeless, providing housing and whatever else we can, since I went to Holiness Looking Horse's door (about five years now).  I have very little food in my motor home pantry (like many Rainbow Warriors), no generator fuel (no electricity, as this is the last of our fuel as I write to you, no one gives to us, no one opens doors for us, we have to push the doors down, as Long as the Great Spirits stand with us, we will be divine), and we gift everything away, including our lives.  Holiness David Running Eagle (my husband, the Star of David) has shown me true suffering (he has much pain, that I have become too) as I have had my skull broken many times even by doctors, my breath taken away (literally for 18 months, as I slept one hour per day due to a fractured sphenoid bone-center of head, where I walked in vision every moment), and have lost my memory and mind with mercury poisoning (have recovered my memory and mind with metal detoxifying, which took about 8 years).  My flesh has been burned from within and without, like so many others who have suffered at the hands of those who are negligent.  I can never close my jaw again properly until Holiness David is healed (as I must twin his heart).  And only God knows when this will happen.  I have had physicians and lawyers tell me there is nothing wrong with me, even though evidence proves the truth, for it's my great light, that makes them feel threatened.  You know those who have false power. 

I know this, I always say it the wrong way, for sure. To be the lesson or the treasure, this is the life of a Crystal person.  And any gift someone has told me they would send, doesn't ever show up!  Or even worse, they send hate, in the physical world or spirit world.  I bring treasures and gifts to the people that they cannot receive, because their hatred blinds them to the truth.  I have the mathematical perfection.  I can sing anyone's heart.  I can read any image.  I can interpret any sound.  These are no small matters.  None who claim to be White Buffalo Calf Woman, can do these things or offer these gifts.  Only I can.  At first I thought other Crystal people would bring the star language to the people too, but I realized that "they do not realize who they are, nor take their place".  I have taken my place, and all the world of heaven and earth, counts on it, even you!

And since I reported to the Lakota,  and since the Great Spirits demanded it, I only give everything away and refuse to sell anything, teaching others to give away, to ultimately receive the love of others.  I suffer on the streets with the homeless and heal their hearts (we help anyone, who we encounter), and whomever will come towards us.  We have taken our place as Elders. If the Great Spirits walk with us, then you need only pray to know this as truth.  ASK and PRAY to the Great Spirits Mother and Father!  You will feel them in your heart, and if you listen, they will show you the way into my heart. And when my pantry is full, then those who walk with me, will have full pantries too.  It will happen.  All will come to get blessings, when they can. They will start bringing gifts, when they realize the truth. I will wait, but until then, I will continue to sing to the world and speak of evolution and interpret all sounds, all spirit knowledge and read the rainbow colors, as only I can.

Now, the last week has been full of violence physical and emotional, let alone the hatred I get from the world.  At least the last five years (as Missionaries living and working on the streets), have finally gotten the Police to hand out our cards.  It is time to get Churches, Police, Prisons, Governments and Homeless working together locally in the San Francisco Peninsula or Silicon Valley.  My suffering is the whole of the world, but luckily, I do not have to suffer alone, I have Holiness David, who suffers with me.  In fact I know that Holiness David Running Eagle and Holiness Arvol Looking Horse, suffer greatly, even loose their heads, because they do not belong to themselves but to the people.  I know their hearts, my love, like I know yours too.  I suffer for all, I am the Twin Deer Mother (twin-heart of other, deer-journey, mother-law of love), my worldly action.  White (all color and directions) Buffalo (directions in the house of god within and without us all) Calf (the first child born sun, the crystal person, born to the Rainbow Mother from heaven like yourself), Woman (darkness, heaven, soul, leading the third phase of evolution, law of love) is the dream for all the world, again, I belong to all the people.  They need only want me and find their own dream within, to take their place, like I have.  WE have so little time, left (evolution calling).  And I do worry for our Relatives in the heaven, how will they walk into this world, full of hatred? 

ca:  This is not to suggest that you might not be influenced by her spirit as I know that this is possible. I guess that I am shocked by that letter that names people in a negative light.

cw:  I have never had a vision of White Buffalo Calf Woman, as most women who think they are White Buffalo Calf Woman have had visions of such.  I do not carry a pipe, as most women who think they are white buffalo calf woman, think they need carry the pipe. I am not the pipe keeper, this is Holiness job, the lavender people.  Born the year of the Buffalo as this year is too (all things are perfect), I walk because the Great Spirits tell me that the western shore is ordained Lakota, and the eastern shore is ordained Israel's 12 houses.  There are four Holinesses who are Ordained to lead the world, and Holiness Looking Horse is one of them (spirit of the lake people), Holiness Looks Back (only female) (blue lake people), Holiness Running Eagle (House of David) and Holiness Down Below ( House of Dan).  This I stick to, because it's already planned out for them and for me, the crowned ones, that belong to the people, not to ourselves.  If anyone else could say this, I would say it's the Rainbow Mother like yourself, who belongs to her children, the rainbow clan down below!

Shocked by naming people!  Shocked by the way, they have treated me, by saying one thing, then doing another.  They will have to forgive me, then they will have to forgive themselves.  They want to use hatred and separation, then they will get hatred and separation. If they use, love and forgiveness, then they get love and forgiveness.  We are entering a time, when we cannot ignore, but face the truth, as this will set them free.  Usually if one forgives me, then they are not  at all angry for using their names, in fact they are often glad, they were used, to teach the world.  But if they do not forgive me, they will continue to hate me and all I stand for.  Other women who claim to be White Buffalo Calf Woman, will close their doors, eventually, when it get rough or tough, but I do not hide.  I stand for all to throw stones at me, for I know the Great Spirits will take care of me, since they have sent me to the people.  All is perfect, so are you, and so am I, when the people can come to receive blessings, from anyone.  But it is only I, the true white buffalo calf woman, who can read perfection in each heart.  I can speak the star language, who can answer any spirit question asked as your holy interpreter or wakan iyeshka.

I get people from all over the world, who come to me to tell me about their visions of me, white buffalo calf woman.  Always, they speak about their perspective.  Just last week, another lady came with her vision.  Even the President of the United States came to me in spirit.  This was surely curious.  Later I was told he was accepted as a relative by some tribe. It's funny how things work out, and I do understand you when you say, more signs to come.  But the signs have come, but like the world does, ignore the symptoms, until full blown illness has set in, then finally prayer will hit their hearts, like the world is going through right now.

ca: As for myself, I remain a virtual unknown in the world and that is how I like it. There are way too many evil power seeking groups that will come after folks. Beware as it can happen to anyone!

cw:  Yes, thank you I know, they come after me, however I am protected by the entire heavenly bodies who are true.  And those who come to hurt me, I allow.  Because I don't want them hurt any further, than they already are.  I know they need forgive.  And at times, it seems that I do not forgive, however I am way past forgiveness and onto being the warrior, who cares enough to get into their faces. I love them enough to care for their souls.

Yet you remain unknown, because you wear the red robe, this means that you must get frequent lessons.  This happens because you reverberate the colors of others, then once it matches, the reverberation stops.  This is the quality of the Rainbow Mother, who heals the world.  Who teaches us to have fun and know joy in our lives.  You teach us play. But all the children, they don't know their way, and you must always feel what they do and say, then you are left to feel the strife, inside because they do not care for self instead.  They put all the blame on you, because that's what kids do, and like parents who need treat them right, we must offer them the only light. The way to heaven sent is within, like the tide is turning to re-live.  And we are going home this day, just hope we can teach others to pray!

ca: If you have no connection to this letter I profusely apologize as my remarks are about the article regarding Arvol Looking Horse and others.

cw: I still do not have your url or the letter you speak of, however, I write a so much I cannot keep track of it all, and I am trying to use one blog to incorporate all my writings whitebuffalocalfwomandaily.blogspot.com, however, I am having trouble keeping up with it all. Try sending the url, then I will know more specifically. (I am following your heart for now.)

ca:  Bottom line: Be careful what you ask for.Just as Christ was reputed to say "Father, Take this cup."in his meditation in the garden, struggling with the foreknowledge of his impending crucifixion, the White Buffalo Calf Woman may be faced with overwhelming responsibilities,self- sacrifice, and suffering in an indifferent world riddled with hate  and corruption. And it may be a thankless task, as many will turn away from her, failing to honor and recognize her suffering, just like Christ was crucified by the very people that He came to serve.

cw:  Thank you for your warning and concerns.  I did not ask to be White Buffalo Calf Woman, I was asked to be this sun.  Like Yellow Chief says, "I accept this challenge!"  I know, and even the boy who will stab me, will come.  I know.  My son (relative), will turn into a buffalo and leave me.  I know.  So much more I know, that I cannot even speak of these things, but I know.  To know is the life of a Crystal person (christal person) who knows and reads the book of life.  Once my husband drove , with me in the passenger seat, and I saw this man, walking down the hi-way, dragging bags of sand.  It must of been hundreds of pounds.   It was a self torture.  Well about 1 minute later, I started screaming at the top of my lungs for about 20 minutes.  He had to pull over. Well my husband and cat surely knew I have lost my mind.  And they patiently waited until I was done.  The man could not scream, so instead carried sand to feel his pain.  I on the other hand had to feel his pain and express it.  This is who I am.  My pain is your pain, the twin heart who I am with, at the moment, whether physical or spiritual. 

We are all related and I must feel the world, at all times, my love.  I know!  I have no biological children (lost two embryos), because the children of all the world, both heaven and earth are my children, even the Great Spirits, who depend on me, completing my mission on this Earth.  And when I can't go on, I cry or scream or just sing another song, and all is alright again!  I sang for Holiness Arvol tonight, boy did he need the love of Holiness David because he could not receive my song of paradise, when so many are suffering, but joy is the vehicle to the realm of heaven, our darkness.  Tears must flow, either with joy or sorrow, but tears will flow.  It's the way homeward.

ca: Life is not always smooth for avatars.

cw:  An avatar is one who is attempting to seek realization.  When you realize, all becomes the teacher.  The avatar is often the teacher, who is learning himself to be the student. The student is the one who is in realization. I follow the people, I have no choice, it was predestine. I am the student and child.

ca: I am sure that I am not liked by some as on my travels I dealt with a secret group of woman abusing and child abusers. They were well established, powerful and deadly.To protect their image they made a great show of some of them appearing in Church, and they slandered me widely.

cw:  Yes, I understand.  What is right seems wrong!  What is wrong seems right!  This was prophecy proclaimed. Those who are humble and bow to the rainbow, will find the pot of gold, true love, brotherhood and relatives true, will rescue you! I must create an army of God, where the Great Spirits lead us all.  There are few who know of love and fewer who will forgive all.  I know about this abuse, and all that is out there.  I am blinded but now I see, to find the heart of thee.  They too are relatives, who don't know love within.  And I will heal their hearts, if they learn to part, from their hatred and pain, for only gain.  They do not know the way, to eternal living display! This is why the Lakota must take their place to lead them in this race, to find true love again, to find a hope to win.  When winning is for everyone, then we will find the sun, the morning star will rise to greet perfection within them.

ca: Through the prayers of many I survived. I claim no special power as many did prayers for me. But that is what is out there. Peace

cw:  I am sorry for your pain, for woman and child abusers.  I too was a victim of such, as we from heaven never defend ourselves, but we will defend others.  This is our lot.  Little children of the soul, but not of the flesh.  We can walk upright, because, we know the Great law, love.  But what has happened, is this, you were walking alone, as many of the little children of God who are humble have done, but now it's time to return to the family, as we will as true relatives get your back.  I am sorry I could not of protected you then, but I will now.  If you need me, I will come to your rescue.  I will write letters on your behalf, if you ask.  I will go to court and stand with you if you ask.  I will write against those who treated you badly, if you ask.  However, I will always, love all who I approach, like a Mother, who loves her children, and like a Mother, who must scold them. 

You did a good job, but you did not have true relatives who stood with you when you spoke out.  They (unknowing of love) stand together in crimes against others, because they run around in packs.  Now we are going to start running around in packs too, and we have skills, skills they don't have a clue to manage or manipulate, for we have the most powerful tool, LOVE.  It shall protect us.  It shall keep us sacred.  It shall be the vehicle to eternal life.  Another important factor is that we are not renegades anymore, well at least in the next phase of evolution the yellow rolling hill, the third valley of darkness.  We are Warriors of the Rainbow!

your devoted servant,
white buffalo calf woman, your twin deer mother
elder crystal person, wakan iyeshka or holy interpreter
alightfromwithin.org

ps. gift of blessings:
 I bless your daylight, I bless your night.  I bless your heartache, I bless your plight.  I bless your coming, I bless your going.  I bless the sunrise, within that shows.  I bless the springtime.  I bless the fall time.  I bless the silver that runs through the land of thunder.  I bless the will of the sun.  I bless the moon that does fall.  I bless the souls who know all, the ones who pray to tell.  I bless the soles on your feet.  I bless the tears on your cheeks.  I bless the way you come home, for ever and ever do you roam.  I bless the many who are near.  I bless the many who don't know.  I bless the hearts that you heal.  I bless the sacred Rainbow.  I bless the ways of God.  I bless the whole of Earth.  I bless the Heaven's above, to rain down, pure love.  I bless the nighttime that rings, to songs that we all do sing.  I bless the way of the Doves, because they don't have much to hide.  I bless the days that are wrong.  I bless the many nightmares.  I bless the heart of the world, the Lakota who come home, to hear.  I bless the flesh you endure, to bring the children who are near, and I bless the ways you give love, so others can find their way. 

ps. Now ask for your song and rainbow colors, and you will see, how great you can be, and what about your heavenly name, the earthly tools that belong, to the ways of perfection that lie within, to show the world that you live! You cannot hide forever you know, you will have to come out to show the world, that Rainbow Mother has returned to her children who know her!
 
On Friday, 11/20/09, Twin Deer Mother <whitebuffalocalfwoman@gmail.com> wrote:

Beloved Carol and Lakota Relatives,
Have had a few days to think about what was said and I want you to know, that Love is not easy.  Do you think any other person, claiming to be White Buffalo Calf Woman, would speak against Holiness Arvol Looking Horse?  I don't think so, they all support him in all his bad actions, but I do not.  And the reason is, I too wear a celestial crown as a Crystal person, like Holiness Arvol who wears a earthly crown as a Lavender person (not all lavenders or overlays wear the crown).  I bring laws of heaven to earth.  I speak against those who do not follow the laws of heaven.

You said that the Lakota people were waiting for a sign, however, the white calves were the sign.  Also Holiness Looking Horse's name is Looking, that means he is supposed to look for me, white buffalo calf woman.  Horse means the soul journey.  The rest of his name is "Sits on Top of the Mountain".  If one comes to your door, anyone, and says, "I need help", you do the best of your ability to help.  If he could not help, his own people, including me, how can he know his own soul.  You see Lavender people with the crown belong to the people not to themselves. And he is here to help all the people, by being himself. However, it needs someone who cares enough about our King, to get in his face, because I love him and the people.  It will take true love to make others find their way, including the many "warriors down" right now.

Feeding people and getting them blankets are my greatest concerns right now, however like most of the world, the postage seems to be too much.  We need the natives who travel to start carrying goods to each other.  But they are more concerned about themselves, because they do not forgive others.  And I find so many selling sacred ceremonies, which belong to the people freely, like the earth and air.  We need be Mothers, you and I.  You as the Rainbow Mother, and I as Twin Deer Mother need assist our children to find their own hearts.

What can Mothers and Women do?  They bring law of love to the people.  What makes the whitebuffalocalfwomansociety, who assist battered women, think that they don't have to help the men too?  What makes them separate women and children from their men?  This is not love or unity...this is sheer ignorance of the Great Spirits.  Law is here, and I will make sure that it is followed, the LAW of LOVE!  Our warriors down need us to pick them back up, and it's not going to be pretty,  but extremely hard work.  When we as parents punish our children, do we not do so to teach them values?  This is what the Great Spirits do too.  We must teach our family values that continues their lives.  Space is folding, and we need get prepared for heaven, the darkness and to navigate with our Souls, the Song of our Hearts.  Not the hate we have not forgiven.  Law of LOVE, will bring the people home.

What is true is always upon our hearts, if we only trust our own hearts, however most of the world don't trust the spiritual realm or are practicing bad medicine.  For even Medicine Men do not exist, this realm belongs to Woman.  Woman is the Medicine, not men.  Men serve women, this is the law.  Because Women always serve men and will always do so.  So many ceremonies are broken.  So much wisdom is lost all because we do not trust our own hearts, because the simplest form of forgiveness is the fire ceremony.  Walk about the room with some fire daily as a walkabout to cleanse and purify, usually with smudge. But to truly release, we need use bark, the law that unites the sky with the roots of the tree of life.  We need write on paper whom we need forgive and then burn it up with the blessings. This is so simple, yet so distant to the people.

You know the Red Man walked about from native school to native school walking the forgiveness path, but they did not invite the White Man, who needs to forgive just as much.  What are we coming too, that we cannot see our relatives anymore? We used to share our visions, but now we are so afraid to share our dreams with each other.  We need forgive the four directions and four colors, then we have a chance to walk down the trail of tears, to where paradise lives. 

Have had limited internet connection for the last two weeks and there is a shift going on right now, so I apologize that I could not have gotten to you sooner.  But always my door is open.  Always I will help the people.  Always my life belongs to them.  This I cannot change.  I must walk my path, as who I am, White Buffalo Calf Woman, your Twin Deer Mother.  These are the names, the Great Spirits tell me to walk with, and my course is to serve the Great Spirits, for they need us, to be good children.

One more thing, any Woman claiming to be White Buffalo Calf Woman is not her, if they are not born the year of the Buffalo like I am.  And this too is the Buffalo year, like the Great Spirits planned.  If any woman claims to be a pipe carrier, then she is not White buffalo calf woman, because Pipe carriers are usually Violet (high priest/ess) and Lavender people (holiness). This is why Holiness Arvol Looking Horse is carrying the pipe, however, there are two pipes, as Sun Bear offered the second pipe to Holiness Looking Horse and he refused a gift.  My goodness, he refused a gift.  What has he come too?  He does not know how to receive, the vehicle of the soul.  If we care about the Lakota people, we teach them how to receive Love, and to give their arms and homes to the world.  It doesn't matter how many brought hate or suffering to the people, we just forgive them because they do not know their way! And then continue to speak out to them to show them their errors, just like you are trying to do with me. 

Those who come to my door, have hate or love for me, but usually not indifference.  I did not know who I was, until the Great Spirits told me to walk with the western shore (natives) and eastern shore (jews), as I am the Star of David also.  It takes the whole of ONE, to bring the house of God home.  The whole of One, the four directions and four colors to plan a new world, a paradise for all the children, the third phase of evolution, called the "Dawning".  Let us pray for our people and get in their faces to bring law of love home to them, as good parents should. 

Also, there is another thing, you did not have others stand with you, when you spoke out, but now, if you come home to my heart, I will stand with you, and all the ones who remember to pray to the Great Spirits will come home to me too.  Sow many are coming home.  We have all felt like we were walking apart, and now the roots of the tree that separated, have ascended to the heavens, where the Song of the Soul has awakened.

The Rainbow Warriors of Prophecy are what I am concerned for, and how we navigate into the new world of the Dawning.
your devoted servant,
white buffalo calf woman, your twin deer mother
elder wakan iyeshka or holy interpreter
ajoylightfromwithin.org

ps. How did I get www.whitebuffalocalfwoman.org, info, net, com if the Great Spirits didn't plan it this way?  They, Great Spirit Mother, Great Spirit Father and Great Spirit Uncle (the one before the two), we follow as good children.  We obey them, my last name is Aube, which is pronounced obey. The sounds mean "spirit flight", the freedom of the soul, as many of us carry French names, "revolution".  Sounds are the vehicle to everlasting life.  Let us sing to the world, and bring them home, as I have sung, the sacredsongblessings.blogspot.com.  I read the star language, I speak the world of One and interpret all that we need know, about the perfection within us all, the "I am". You love the people remember teach them to pray, not ignore the world around them.  Right now, many are going inward, to become the rising star, then they will be able to walk the Morning Star within them, whole of one, the four directions (the roads blue, red, yellow and finally the whitey visit whitebuffalocalfwoman.net at bottom of page).  I know all my children's heavenly mission, they need the truth, to save their souls!  And to be proud of who they are!

Warriors of the Earth  

Pray With Elders around the World

Hear Your Relatives Perfect Flowing Hearts
Listen to the Blessed Rainbow Colors of the Four Directions

Learn Warrior Skills with the Peaceful Wisdom Prayer!