AFRICAN BUSHMAN CREATION STORY



Tree bought from Florida to Valencia, Spain 500 years ago by Mischa 'Little Bear' Valencia

 The African Bushmen say, “People did not always live on the surface of the Earth. At one time People and animals lived underneath the Earth with Kaang, the Great Master and Lord of Life. The People lived peacefully with animals. No one wanted for anything. It was always light without the Sun. During this time of bliss Kaang began to dream the wonders of the world above.



First, Kaang created a wondrous tree with branches stretching over the entire country. At the base of the tree he dug a hole that reached way down to where the People and the animals lived. He led First Man to the surface. He sat down on the edge of the hole and First Woman came out. All the People came out in awe of the new world. Next Kaang helped the animals out. Some animals excitedly raced out through the roots and branches of the tree. Kaang gathered all the People and animals together, and taught them how to live together in peace. He told the People not to start any fires, or an evil would unleash upon the Earth, then Kaang left them to secretly watch his world.


The People saw the sun set for the first time. It scared them. At night it was black and the People could not see like the animals could, nor did they have fur for the cold. They forgot Kaang’s words and built a fire. The fire scared the animals, and they fled into the caves and mountains. Ever since the two have not been able to communicate with each other. Fear replaced their friendship.


"We Bushmen know animals, plants, rain, Thunder, wind, spring, winter are alive. What we see is only the outside form of body. Inside is a living spirit we cannot see. A woman’s spirit might fly into a leopard, or a man’s spirit fly into a lion’s body!"

Tree with Moon Red Thunder coming into the world. . .

Cherokee Medicine Teachings from a Healer of the Tsalagi

Facebook Gregory E. Woods: Cherokee Medicine Teachings from a Healer of the Tsalagi:

"While there are four major directions the Cherokee believe in the seven sacred directions the seventh of  which is the center and is the sacred fire within a person. The East is red representing victory, power, and new birth and spring. The West is black and represents death or the end of life like autumn. The North represents Failure and disappointment. The South represents Peace and healing and was White (sometimes yellow was used but was supposed to represent white). Yellow represented Above. Below was Brown. And Green was for the direction classified as the Sacred Fire Within." Moon Red Thunder

Native American grandmother Moon Red Thunder

COMMUNITY & TOBACCO

Yairi Sanomaa
...But is it not like sacred tobacco, once used for ceremonies with respect? When the respect was lost, did it not become a dangerous addiction? I admire the ways of the hunter with respect, who practises the dance. I pity the hunter who doesn't know the dance, and I distain the hunter who mocks the dance and the traditions, and kills only for pleasure. My heart is wounded to see a mutilated carcass. I must nevertheless try to forgive all, because something made a creature of God, a human, an upright animal take pleasure in killing. This is not the way. I say this with respect and know in my heart you will agree, that when we hunt, or eat the flesh, we must be mindful of the sacrifice.

My skin is white, and I must call back to ancestors from long ago who also knew the dance. All humans once knew the dance.

I speak with great respect to all people. I must have courage to speak. All plants of the forest and field are sacred. Tobacco grew wild before cultivation and people, the upright animals, knew it was sacred. They began to ... See Morecultivate it, but they kept their respect. In my past I was a tobacco picker, but by then the respect had been lost. The sacred plant was harvested in kilns and shipped to Imperial Tobacco. I had the addiction then, and did not pay respect. I had to learn it.
 
I learned from a friend, another tobacco picker from the Mohawk nation, that tobacco was sacred, not an industrial product. We smoked unpolluted tobacco, from the kiln. Imperial Tobacco poisons the tobacco with chemicals. They make it more dangerous, and addictive. I respect all those who are able to grow their own natural tobacco.

I know communities rely on the trade in tobacco. I respect these communites and will support them, not with the purchase of tobacco, for my addiction is broken, but by my words that I speak openly. I know the people of this land have many unsettled land claims. I know the history of European conquest. And I honour the people of this land and have stood beside them at the barricades in Caledonia, Ontario. Their cause is just. I respect the elders who know and teach the old ways. They know the truth. And I speak with great respect and with a small voice. I do not speak casually in this forum, but with care. If I misspeak, please forgive me, give me time, and teach me. Thank you. Aho.

Moon Red Thunder
The dance is what's important more than where you come from. IT's where you're going and who you are that counts. Such a great day today; enjoying light and blessings.

Gregory E. Woods
“Yairi, your Life has connected with Tobacco, the Hunt, and the Sacredness of those relationships. That relationship holds life, and traditionally held community intact in some tribes like one of mine. Rebuilding community in our lifetimes does reach backward. The Sankofa Bird teaches the value of a historical perspective in decision making, and Children hold us in the present in such a way we find ourselves shaping the future for them with an awareness we had not known lived within us. This circular capacity to create is natural. It is born from an aspect of our wholeness. Our wholeness needs practicality. Without the practicality of the linear approach to living we are outside of the what brings us together as a community. We are all dancing somewhere in the Circle, along the lines, and from within ourselves together, and separately in the present held by the breath of our Ancestors who dreamt of our futures.”