Native Notion - Native American stories, crafts and lore.

It's all working now....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:10:00 +0000

Great, I'm finally resurrecting all of my blogs, now that I have the time and the means.... just about completed www.eternalcamp.com, soon this one will be done as well as the others!

Back from the hospital!! ^_^

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:24:00 +0000

Alright!! I'm back from the hospital, and everything is fine, for the most part.... I got to keep my spleen, anyways. I had apparently bled internally more than a half gallon, and well.... if anyone wants to know all the gory details, y'all can read it by clicking here.

I'm in the middle of preparing the next posts, as I'd like to continue things rolling again. Thanks very much for your patience, you random readers, those from Blog Catalog, Blog Rush, and Entrecard as well.

Seeya all next post!

- Falls-Down-Laughing ^_^

Hospital

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:04:00 +0000

I'm typing for Falls-Down-Laughing.
This is his wife. He is in the hospital because of a ruptured spleen. and will be under observation for one or two weeks.
After that time, he will return to posting to his blogs. he apologizes for the delay.

Thank you.

American Indian Movement....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:54:00 +0000

- American Indian Movement -

Another important organization is the American Indian Movement - this organization strives to right racial wrongs of a wide range - everything from racism in sports and media, to the mistreatments of political prisoners such as Leonard Peltier.

A section of their website also has information on the AIOIC, the American Indian Opportunities Industrialization Center, who strives to "provide training, retraining, employment and economic development opputunities for unemployed and underemployed American Indian People in a culturally conducive atmosphere that addresses the needs of the whole person and families".

The AIM website, http://aimovement.org, also has NA multimedia and webcasts to offer, as well as a lot of other information worth looking into. They even have a nice online store with good products to help raise funds.

Please give that website a vist and check them out - whether you're interested in more information on the plight of the Native American, or wish to donate to/join a cause, or need some information for a college paper, or whatever - it's a very informative site to visit.

That's all for now - have a nice night!

- Falls-Down-Laughing ^_^

- American Indian Movement -

The Native American Rights Fund....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:37:00 +0000

- Support Native Americans -

Hello, people! ^_^

Are you interested in supporting a worthy cause? Today I would like to introduce the Native American Rights Fund. From the front page of their website;

"Celebrating 37 years of standing firm for justice.

Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide.

NARF's practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues.

Our work depends solely upon the generosity of donors like you. Please make a secure online donation today."

This is a very dedicated organization, and they also have wonderful products in their store, to generate income for the cause, such as calendars, sweat shirts, t-shirts and other apparel, as well as art work and publications.

Please give this website a few moments of your reading time by clicking here, and consider supporting the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island (the North American continent).

That's all for today's post - until next time, have a nice night!

- Falls-Down-Laughing ^_^

- Support Native Americans -

The "Bullroarer"....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:43:00 +0000

- musical instruments -

Howdy! ^_^

Today we are going to make something extremely simple, but fun nonetheless. Many people call this the "Bullroarer".

This type of instrument isn't often used in music, but sometimes it is - as a background instrument, it makes a cool sound. Usually however, it is a communication device, used to send out a call. This is used by many "natural peoples", such as Native Americans, Aboriginal Australians, and African tribal peoples as well.

You may have seen one of these in action, if you ever saw the movie, "Crocodile Dundee" - he called it his "telephone", and used it to call some of his aboriginal friends.

Take a piece of wood (or plastic, etc.) that is thin - like about 1/4" or less - it needs to be stiff, and not bendable. Dimensions don't need to fall into anything specific here, it could be around 1-2" wide, and about 10-15" long.

About 3/4" in from one end, make a hole through it. Now, taking a strong piece of string, leather cord, or twine that is around one to two yards long, put one end through the hole and tie it up.

How you make this sound out is fairly simple - you spin it around in circles, and it makes a sound.... but first, there's a little trick to it.

Before you start spinning it around in a wide circle, hold the string and let the wooden piece hang on it - now give that piece a good spin on the string, and then quickly start to whip the whole thing around in circles.

You see, this will only make a sound while you whip this around in circles, IF the main piece is spinning on the string itself at the same time.

Now that you have completed the whole mechanism, go ahead and decorate it with drawing, woodburning, paint, or whatever your heart desires.

This is a wonderful little piece of music making curiosity that children and adults can have fun with. Try it out!

That's it for today's post - have a nice night! ^_^

- musical intruments -

An Eskimo Story....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:34:00 +0000

Okay, here is a story from the Labrador Eskimos.... I hope you all enjoy it! ^_^

Once there was a hunter who lived all alone. One day after being away hunting for a while, he had found that upon his return that his place had apparently been visited, and everything put in order as though a dutiful wife had done so. This happened rather often, after a while, but with no visible signs or tracks that the man could find. Finally one day, he had decided to watch and see who would scrape his skin clothing and boots, hang them out to dry, and cook nice hot food ready to be eaten when he returned.

One day he went away as though going off on a hunt, but secretly hid himself so as to see if anyone would enter his house.

After a while, he saw a fox enter the place. He figured that the fox was after food, so he quietly sneaked up to the house, and upon entering, he saw a most beautiful woman dressed in skin clothing of wondrous creation. Inside the house, on a clothes drying line, hung the skin of a fox.

The man asked the woman if it was she who had done these things. She told him that she was his wife, and it was her duty to do these things, and was hoping that she had done so in a manner that was satisfactory to him.

Well, he was fine with they way everything was, and was delighted to have company and companionship, where before he had none. So, he decided to leave things be, and that they live together. Now, after they had lived together for a little while, the husband had noticed a musky smell about the house, and with a disturbed face, asked her, "Wow.... what is that smell??"

She told him that it was her scent, and that if he didn't like it, she'd leave. Upon saying this, she tossed off her clothes, and taking on the skin of the fox, she quickly and quietly ran away, never to be seen by him again. She also has never been inclined to visit any man ever since.

Now.... what does this story mean? Is there some moral to it? It's a mite hard for me to figure it out myself, but I found it somewhat interesting, so I included it in today's post!

That's all for now - until next time, have a nice night! ^_^

- Falls-Down-Laughing ^_^

Some More Native Humour....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:32:00 +0000

Okay, this here joke isn't very politically correct, as it uses the term "squaw", wich has many controversies around it.... but heck, it *is* a necessary part of this particular joke, so try to lighten' up y'all, and feel free to laugh....

It's also a play on words (the punch-line, that is), of a mathematical nature.... if you never paid attention in geometry class, well then, you ain't gonna get this one LOL.... here we go;

There was this one Indian warrior who had three wives, and each one was pregnant. The first gave birth to a beautiful, cheerful baby boy. He was so excited, that he built her a teepee made of deer hide. A couple days later, the second one gave birth, also to a wonderful baby boy. This warrior was quite happy, so he built her a teepee made of antelope hide. The third wife gave birth a few days later, but the father kept the details a secret. He had built this one a two story teepee, and made out of a hippopotamus hide. The warrior then challenged the tribe to guess what had occurred.

Many tried, many failed.

Finally, one young brave declared that the third wife had given birth to twin boys.

"Absolutely right!" said the proud father. "How the heck did you figure it out, though?"

The young guy answered, "It's easy - the value of the squaw of the hippopotamus is equal to the sons of the squaws of the other two hides."

Get it? :P lol

Seeya next time!

- Falls-Down-Laughing ^_^

Mmmm-mmm! Good Old Native Molasses Bread!

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:31:00 +0000

- recipes -

Try out this nifty bit of Native American cookery.... you'll love it! ^_^

Molasses Bread:

This uses the quick one-rise method, which doesn't require any kneading.

Adding the black strap molasses gives it a hint of sweetness and also makes it more nutritious.

This recipe makes 3 large loaves (about two pounds each).

6 1/4 cups of tepid (slightly warm) water
1 slightly heaping tablespoon salt
2 packets of instant yeast
13 cups whole wheat flour
1 heaping tablespoon molasses
butter or pure vegetable margarine

Have the oven preheated to 400°F.

With the butter (or margarine), go ahead and grease up three large bread loaf baking pans - or cake pans, if you'd rather. Put the flour and salt into a large bowl and add the yeast. Mix gently. Dissolve the molasses in about 1/4 cup of slightly warm (tepid) water. Add this to the flour, then mix in the rest of the water, pouring slowly, a little at a time, in case you don't quite need every last bit of it. The finished mixture needs to be just a little too wet and sticky to leave the sides of the bowl clean - it should feel "slippery" but not completely sloppy. Half fill the pans with the mixture, cover them with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel, and let it rise.

When the loaves have risen to within 1/2 inch of the tops of the pans, toss 'em into the oven.
Bake large loaves for 45 minutes, and small ones for about 35 minutes, or until they are brown and firm to the touch. After taking the loaves out of the loaf pans, set them on a wire rack to cool.

That's all for tonight - until next post, have a nice day! ^_^

- recipes -

Porcupine and Beaver....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:30:00 +0000

- stories -

Here is a story which, like many, takes place some time long ago, when the world was still in its infancy, and still somewhat forming....

Now, Beaver and Porcupine were great friends and went about everywhere together. Porcupine would often visit Beaver's house, but Beaver did not like to have him come over very much, because he always left quills laying about here and there.

One time, when Porcupine said that he wanted to go out to Beaver's house, Beaver said, "All right, I will take you out on my back - hop on." He started off, but instead of going to his house, he took him to an old, long-dead tree stump in the very middle of the lake.

Then he said to him, "Okay, this is my house", left him there on the tree stump, and went back to the shore.

While Porcupine was stuck upon this stump he began singing one of his medicine (magic) songs, "Let it become frozen - Let it become frozen so that I can cross to Wolverine-man's place." He wanted to walk ashore on the ice, so he called it to do so. Soon the surface of the lake froze, and he walked home.

Some few days after this, when the two friends were again playing together, Porcupine said, "You come with me now. It is my turn to carry you on my back." Then Beaver carefully got up on Porcupine's back, and Porcupine took him to the top of a very high tree, after which he came down and left him up there.

For a good, long time Beaver did not know how to get down. Finally, after many long hours, he clumsily climbed down, hap-hazardly clawing and slipping on the way, and soon was on the ground again.

This story explains what gives the broken appearance to tree bark.

Hehe.... pretty cool, huh? ^_~

- stories -

Maple Sugar Goodies....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:19:00 +0000

- recipes -

HEY!! I'M STILL HUNGRY!!

How about a good native treat?

Happy Springtime, everyone! Well, almost - 'nother week or so yet.

Yep, the days have started to get longer!

Thought I'd mention a good old Native American late Winter/early Spring treat.... you remember "sno-cones" from the neighborhood ice-cream truck? Well, that's another NA invention! Those in the New England area, or other parts of America and Canada who do maple sugaring, might know what I'm talking about here.

Probably from as far back as when we first started tapping maple trees and boiling down the sap for syrup and sugar, however many thousands of years ago it was, we had our version of the 'sno-cone'.... a curled-up piece of birch bark (the 'cone'), packed full of freshly fallen snow, and all drizzled over with warm maple sap, that's been boiled down, half-way to syrup.

GOOD STUFF, LEMME TELLYA!

Try it sometime.... you could even pack some snow into a coffee mug, and add some (real) maple syrup, and eat it with a spoon, if so preferred.

By the way.... did you know that maple trees weren't the only trees used for sugaring their sap? We also did this with birch trees as well, but they took a lot more work.

That's all for today's post - see you all next time! ^_^

- recipes -

Native Corn Casserole....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:17:00 +0000

- recipes -

HEY!! I'M HUNGRY!!

Let's try some more native cookin'....

This is served as a main dish, for 4-5 people.

3 cups of sharp cheddar, or Monterey Jack, or similar grated cheese
6 slices or whole wheat bread, ripped up into pieces
1 pound canned cream corn
1 cup of whole kernel corn
3 beaten eggs
1/4 cup hopped onion
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry yellow mustard.
a couple of shakes from a tabasco sauce bottle

Fry up the celery and onion, and in a casserole dish, layer the bread on the bottom - next, the veggies, then the cheese - pour the creamed corn on top of all of this, then the beaten eggs over that. Let it stand for about a half-hour, then bake at 350 for an hour, placed in a pan of hot water.

As a main course dish, this supplies about 40% of the minimum daily requirement of protein.... if you dont mind crunchy stuff in your casserole, you can increase this to well over 50% by adding 3/4 cup of sunflower seeds.

Pretty cool, huh? That's it for today.... see y'all next time! ^_^

- recipes -

A Little About the Old Ways....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:15:00 +0000

- old ways -

Hello, all! ^_^

Today, I'd like to talk a little bit about our dieing culture. Yes, it thrives here and there, but it is not without it's situation of endangerment.

Now, one of the biggest responsibilities for all of us NAs out there, is to keep the old ways from disappearing. While we may be not so few in number, we do face extinction - particularly culturally.

And actually, our numbers are few, relatively. For example, if I remember right, there's maybe one or two of us NAs out of every 300 or so "Americans" - and that isn't only full-bloods.

For another example of looking at things relatively, let's compare with other peoples of the world - we know that the Chinese - now, that's just those within China's borders, mind you - make up a little more than 1/3 of the Earth's population.... that's a mite more than two BILLION people.... compare that to those of us from the Mohawk tribe, for example - including full-bloods, half-bloods, and quarter-bloods, there are only about 10,000 of us.... that's in the US *and* Canada together.

Now, not all of us out there who are Native American actually care much about our culture - and this is a very sad thing indeed. So, while our numbers grow fewer, and our blood gets thinner, our culture also draws very near to becoming extinct.

What's more, is that our culture is becoming polluted - and terribly so.

For instance, we often see books being sold out there that claim to teach "Native American shamanism" (a foreign concept, by the way - the word, I believe, coming from Russia).... most often, if not all the time, these books have some Native American wisdom, mixed in with a lot of "New Age" culture. Another thing, I always notice that these are not written by Native Americans. Sure, some of these autors claim to be "adopted" into one tribe or another, but.... well, this humble one has his doubts.

All the "New Age" crud keeps creeping into it all. Things such as "crystal healing" - [which, by the way, we already had a knowledge of.... stones and shells and objects were often used for meditation and such ("iniskims", in the Blackfoot language) before any European influence, though these objects' meanings to us seem largely different] - or reincarnation creep into our culture and mix things up, changing things all around.

Why??

And that's one of the biggest things that really confuses me. These "past life regression therapists" claim to have "patients" who have been NAs in a past life....

Well, we never had reincarnation!!!!

At least, not like the Hindu-Asian kind. The closest thing to reincarnation that we ever had, was that sometimes - sometimes - if we were a very brave and strong warrior (and sometimes, women as well, were warriors), and if we were still needed after death, then instead of going off to the Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky Kingdom, we would come back again.... as ourselves.

Not as a bird, or a fish, or a cow, or another human being, but as our same selves that we were before.

And according to our culture, this was done through family bloodlines.

But I digress.... my main point is that our culture as well, is becoming vastly watered down.

We all, in my very humble opinion, need very much to grasp hold of the old ways, and to continue to keep them in our present lives. And, if possible, retrieve those ways that have become long lost. And also, not just to live stuck in the past with these old ways, in a way that would stagnate us as a cultural people, but to apply them to our present lives, and to continue to evolve along our cultural path into the future.

We all need to teach our children the ways of our peoples. What is the meaning of the pipe, and where did it come from? Who made us? Is the Earth alive and truly our mother? How did the stars get in the sky? Who are the Manitous? What is the meaning of the four directions? The six powers? The sacred hoop? What is a longhouse, and why is it important? Or about the tepee? Or wicciup? Or hogan? Who are the Kachinas? Who is Iktome? Who is Napi? Who is Glooscap? Who is Manibozo? Or Mendo and Mendoska? Who is Maheo? Eawawonaka? Wakantanka? Shunkwiatason? Who is Coyote Old Man?

Whatever nation(s) of NA we are born into, we need to know these things, and to teach them to our children, each according to his or her nation(s) and tribe(s) - and yes, even some of the ways of our neighboring nations and tribes as well.

We also need to learn, and apply to our lives, the basic truths - for example;

Mitakuye Oyasin; we are all blood relatives.

We Do Not Inherit The Earth From Our Ancestors.... We Borrow The Earth From Our Line Of Future Offspring.

Always walk the path of a True Human Being.

Okay, my eyes are getting screen-shrivelled - until then, have a good night! ^_^

- old ways -

Some Confusing Concerns On My Mind....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:04:00 +0000

- issues -

Hello all! ^_^

Today, I'd like to write about something that's been bothering me quite a bit, for quite a long time. I've tried to discuss this in a NA forum or two before, but either got responses from those who had little or no opinion, or no response at all.

This is about the ongoing project at the Black Hills in South Dakota, the one commemorating the Lakota warchief, Crazy Horse.

Now, the black hills are very sacred, and were promised by treaty to never be touched by the white man - that they would belong to the Native Americans who hold that area sacred forever and ever.

When gold was discovered there, the treaty was naturally broken, and the land-rape began.

To further desecrate these sacred lands, the Mt. Rushmore monument was created, depicting the faces of four presidents - in the eyes of many Native Americans, these were the faces of war criminals that, through the mass killings of many native peoples and nations - men, women and children - and "relocation programs", stole our land and took over the country by force.

Besides all this, there is the factor of carving up the Earth Mother to display these faces, a most sacrilegic act of ego, if nothing else.

Now, let's look at Crazy Horse.... he was a brave warrior, and a very spiritual one as well. On questing for his life's vision, he received help from the spirit world, but was told that as a warrior, and as a person, he should not seek out recognition or reward - for example, he would wear no eagle feathers denoting courageous deeds done on the battlefield.

He never sought out recognition or reward, and kept himself unadorned of war trophies or emblems of courageous deed doing.

Now it seems, to this humble publisher of this blog, that many of us natives have forgotten all of this, our stand on the Earth Mother, Crazy Horse's stance of selfless duty without display, and indeed, ourselves.

There is a project that has been underway for some time now, to sculpt, out of the same sacred Black Hills, in the town of Custer (good grief), 17 miles from Mt. Rushmore. This sculpting project depicts Crazy Horse, on a steed, pointing forward, and wearing an eagle feather.

Now, I am merely a humble Human Being, and not always in touch with other fellow Native Americans (currently, I am in Japan), and I do not pretend to understand everything there is to know about current native thought. But I was raised - and, being fatherless from birth, raised myself - in Native American ways, morals, and spirituality.

Growing up, I listened to the words of my elders, be they through the mouths of those in the pow-wow circuit, in the writings of Native American newspapers, or from the writings of those such as Lame Deer, Black Elk, and others of note, and I try to keep my mind and heart along the lines of those who were long before myself.

These days, it seems to me more and more that we have become complacent and too accepting.

Yes, we Native Americans have heroes too.... but we have kept our heroes, and their deeds, and their teachings alive by word of mouth, educating our children and grandchildren, and, more recently within these last two centuries, with writings, as we always have done, and it works out just fine. I have no bad feelings about remembering those who came before us, nor with the continuance of such memories for future generations to benefit from them. We need them - our heroes and their memories.

But now there is more carving up of the Earth Mother, on sacred lands, to depict this brave man of Native American history.

What is wrong with this?

Here is how I see it;

#1 - It carves up the Earth Mother.... and for egotistical purpose - it serves the Earth Mother no purpose at all.

#2 - Everything is sacred, including all lands and waters and skies and creatures.... but some places are especially sacred. The Black Hills is one of these places.

#3 - Crazy Horse shunned outward displays of pride - he didn't necessarily think they were bad for people to engage in, such as a brave warrior wearing an eagle feather honourabley earned, but such just wasn't for him, and so he never did so. This carving depicts him wearing an eagle feather, and the sculpture itself is already something vastly huge, carved out of the Earth Mother.

#4 - When the Mt. Rushmore monument was starting to be built, Native Americans protested it, saying that it was desecrating the Earth Mother, and sacred lands. Now, while this monument depicting Crazy Horse has been going on for quite some time, none of the native peoples seem to have protested this.... at least, not to this humble one's knowledge (maybe they have? I'm so dreadfully far away here).... in fact, this was proposed by a Native American!!!!

What has happened????

What has happened to us????

If Crazy Horse himself were able to come back to life and see this going on, what do you suppose he would think? What do you suppose he would say? What do you suppose he would do?

How do you suppose he would feel??

Would he be happy?

C'mon, would he?

Really. You know, I could just see him grabbing dust from the ground and throwing it upon himself, weeping heavily.

I wonder how many people thought about that.

Things like this really worry me about the state of morals in today's Native American community - I mean, the fact that a Native American came up with this idea in the first place.... aiyaaaa....

Well, okay, I wrote it all out. I'm sure it does no good other than to vent out my confusion and anger - not that that helps any. Maybe I'll get some angry responses telling me I'm some crazy ignorant bastard - and maybe I am - but I'm only confused.... and concerned.

Anyways, I guess I'll end today's post here. See you all next time.

- issues –

Native American Place Names....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:55:00 +0000

- lore -

Do you realize how many places have Native American names? Here's a few;

Massachusetts - "Place of the big, little-mountains"/"Hilly place".

Delaware - named after the Delaware tribe.

Milwaukee - "The good land"

Utah - named after the Ute tribe.

Lake Webster/Webster Lake, is actually called, in the Nipmuck language, "Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" - this is the world's longest name for a body of water, and as a place name (name of any kind of place, land, sea, etc.), it is the 6th largest in the world. It means, basically, "we fish on our side, you fish on your side, and nobody fish in the middle".

Wow, that was a mouthful and a half!

Alabama - from the Alabama, or Alibamon people, members of the Creek Confederacy.

Alaska - Aleut language; "Mainland".

Connecticut - Algonquian language; "Place of the long river".

Canada - Iroquoian language; "community", or "village".

Arizona - "Place of the small spring".

Dakota - Siouxan (Lakota/Dakota/Nakota) language; "friends/allies".

Manitoba - "Great Spirit's strait".

Oklahoma - Choctaw language; "red people".

Michigan - Algonquian language; "big water".

Quebec - Algonquian language; "place where the river narrows".

Ohio - Iroquoian language; "fine river".

Minnesota - Siouxan (Lakota/Dakota/Nakota) language; "cloudy water".

Mexico - Aztec language; from the city of Metz-xih-co, built on an island in a
lake, the name meaning, "In the center of the waters of the moon".

Ontario - Iroquoian language; "beautiful lake".

Texas - Caddo language; "friends".

Wisconsin - Ojibwa language; "gathering of water".

Poughkeepsie - Algonquian language; "a little reed lodge by a water place".

Wow, that's a lot so far.... and there's quite a lot more, but, well, my typing fingers are gonna fall off! Haha :P Okay, that's it for today.... uhm, I suppose I should have put all of that in some sort of alphabetical order.... oh, well. Please have a nice night, everyone!

Mitakuye oyasin - Lakota; "We are all related".

- Falls-Down-Laughing ^_~

- lore –

Some Cultural Fun At Powwows....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:46:00 +0000

- powwows -

Howdy! ^_^

Here's some information on camping at events known as powwows.

I remember one weekend, my friends, my son and I, were off for a weekend of camping and fun at a Native American inter-tribal powwow.... now, I realize that most of you out there know what I'm talking about here, but if you're someone who is unfamiliar with what a powwow is, I'll give you a brief description;

Basically, it is an event, usually over a weekend (though some big events can last up to five days around a weekend), where there are campers, and day-visitors, who gather to observe, or take part in, the events that ensue - such events include drummers and dancers performing, fancy-dance contests, shawl dances, story tellings, archery, tomohawk throwing, vendors offering hand-made goods; necklaces, beads, leather items, instruments such as drums, rattles, Native American flutes, etc., GOOD FOOD - such as deer and elk hot dogs, buffalo burgers and ribs, and the list of fun happenings, culturally educating experiences and wonderful goodies to be had goes on and on.

One of my favourite things for my children to take part in, is the "candy dance" - the children all go into the dance circle, which, on the ground therein, has been tossed tons of little candy goodies - the children all go in with their dance costumes and regalia, and have belt pouches to put the candy into.... in a sort of "musical chairs" fashion, the drummers play and sing and the children dance - every time the voices and drums stop, the children scatter to pick up some candy until the music starts again, when they resume dancing until it's time to pick up more candy. A very fun participatory event for the children indeed!

For an online directory of where the next inter-tribal cultural event ("pow-wow") will take place near you, please click here.

For other pow-wow calendar websites, use your favourite search engine (I use Yahoo! or Google, mostly, myself), and input, "powwow calendar" (in quotes), and click 'search'.

Now, if you're looking for a wonderful camping experience that is very culturally enriching for you and the whole family, I very much recommend powwows. If you've never been to one before, some things along the lines of etiquette to consider when you attend these events are; never take someone's picture (or video) without first asking their permission - and receiving it - this comes from a cultural belief that when you take someone's picture, you hold a piece of their soul - we NAs hold everything in high respect and view everything as sacred, so please take this into consideration.... also, keep aware, if you are a smoker, of where you toss your cigarette butts - it's best to have a personal ashtray, and clean up after yourself, taking care of Mother Earth.... be mindful of personal trash disposal, 'less-than-clean' language, and be mindful of childrens' behaviour, as you would in any other place. Be as peaceable as you know you can be.

Alchohol (and any other "mind-altering substances") is *strictly forbidden* - no beer, wine, etc. - such things are strictly monitored. These events are exceedingly CHEM-FREE.

You will find that most (if not all) of these events have 'peace keeper' staff - any problems or questions you have will be happily answered and tended to by these kind people.

One other thing you might consider.... and this is by no means necessary, mind you, but is just something I personally like to do - before I go to these events, I take my spending money that I use to buy my buffalo burgers, bead supplies and gifts for myself, family and friends, and I bring it to the bank and exchange it for the "gold" Sacajawea dollar coins.... when I buy things using these, I always get smiles and words of appreciation - we NAs are proud of this ancestor being portrayed so artfully on this commemorative coin, so when vendors receive these in payment for goods, it very often brings a smile to their faces.

ANYWAY, I remember one weekend at a powwow, where we were looking for a place to set up camp. We arrived a bit late in the day on Saturday (many, especially vendors, set up camp the previous Friday late afternoon/evening, to secure a good spot - contact the person in charge of the powwow for permission to do this), and so there were very few good spots left. There were enough places to set up camp to be had for sure, but allow me to describe the situation;

As many of these events do, this one took place on someone's spacious farmland, and everyone camped in a huge, grassy area - this was in the heat of the summer, so some grassy spots were greener, while others were yellow-gold with dry, dead grass. The spots that remained for us to choose from were of the latter variety, and as a result, our camping situation was a very, VERY hot experience.

In many areas like this, where broad open fields of grass grow, where it may be slightly rolly and hilly here and there, there occur tiny little "micro-climates" - those areas where the grass is green, are MUCH COOLER than those other dry-grass areas.... where it is green, it is much moister, below the ground at the grasses' roots, and at the leaves where the circulation of cool moisture rises and swirls with the above air.... the dry-grass areas have no such moisture circulation, and so it is very hot - where we were, you could just sit there, and fry an egg on your forehead. Really. I ain't kiddin' ya. And it was like that for us for the entire weekend. Keep this well in mind when choosing a spot to set up camp in the summertime.

Anyways, enjoy your trip to any of these events, and until next time, have a nice night! ^_^

- powwows –

Some More Native Humour....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:22:00 +0000

Native American jokes -

Hey! Here is a few jokes to tell your friends....

A Mohawk named Two-Feathers was sitting in a chair in an office during a job interview.... the personel manager asks, "Do you know any foreign languages?" to which Two-Feathers said, "Only one - English".

Haha :P

An old Blackfoot woman traveled to the city to visit her grandson. Upon arrival, they had lunch together, chatted a while, then elected to go for a walk together in the city. The grandmother was looking at all the tall buildings and was overwhelmed at how many there were, and how close together they were, in this "concrete jungle", and her eyes lit up when she saw that they arrived at a small park with beautiful trees.

She asked her grandson, "What is this place?", and he said, "This is a park.... a place set aside for city folk to enjoy a little nature."

To this, she sighed and said, "I see.... so they even put trees on reservations, too!"

True, huh?

What did the Lakota woman say, the first time she went to pizza hut?

- "Who threw up on my fry bread??"

^_~

Did you know that "vegitarian" is an Indian word? It means "can't hunt".

O_o

A Northern Cheyenne guy, goes to the general store to buy some toilet paper. The clerk offers him three kinds; Charmin, Scotties, and generic. The guy chose generic, bought it, and went home. About a few days later, he comes back, and tosses the remainder of the unused roll of toilet paper at the store clerk, saying, "I don't want this damned Chuck Norris toilet paper!" - To which, the clerk laughs and says, "That isn't Chuck Norris toilet paper, it's generic!" The Cheyenne guy then says, "You can call it whatever you like, but it's rough and tough and won't take crap from anybody!"

Hehe :P lol ^_~

An Anglo family was visiting an Indian reservation when they came upon an old Indian man laying face down off to the side of the road, with his ear pressed firmly to the pavement.

The father of the family asked the old man, "What are you doing?", and the old man replied, "Woman.... late 30's.... three kids and one barking dog.... all in a late model, four door station wagon.... traveling abouuuut - 65 miles an hour."

Taken by complete awe and amazement by this, the father said, "That's astounding! You can tell all that just by listening to the ground??", to which, the old man replied, "No.... they just ran me over a few minutes ago!"

That's all, folks! Seeya next time! ^_~

- Native American jokes –

Good Eats....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:12:00 +0000

- recipes -

Here is a very popular Native American favourite that I personally like very much - fry bread!! *^_^*

This also, by the way, is very good camp food, if you're very careful with a small pot of cooking oil.... it's certainly nothing you'll want sitting on top of any rickety-old, wobbley grill, so be careful.

FRY BREAD -

You will need;

4 cups of all-purpose flour,

2 teaspoons of baking powder
(not baking soda - there's a very big difference here - remember that),

1 teaspoon of salt, and

2 cups of water.

Take all of your dry ingredients, and mix them all up good in a bowl.

Now, slowly pouring in the water as you mix everything together, keep mixing until it's all nice and soft and not sticking to the sides of the bowl.

Knead it all together (wash your hands first!) on a lightly floured surface, getting it all good and worked up, and then sit it in the bowl again (you might lightly flour the bowl before doing this), cover with a clean, damp cloth, and let it sit for about a half an hour or so.

After the waiting is done, grab little throwing-stone-sized chunks of it, and on a lightly floured surface, roll them out flat to about a half inch thick.

Flip these from hand to hand, like working pizza dough, until it's about 8-10 inches across.

Now, having had a pot of about a couple of inches of cooking oil, or vegetable shortening heating up in it over medium heat, carefully place the dough in, flipping them over half-through, browning them on each side. They should bubble up a mite, also.

Take these out to drain, drizzle melted butter on them, and sprinkle some powdered sugar and cinnamon on them (or anything you like), and there you go! Enjoy! ^_^

There is a variation on this, well known as "Indian Tacos" - both this, and the fry bread above, are often eaten up at powwows quite a bit.... it almost isn't a powwow, without these treats available!

Indian Tacos -

After making the fry bread, try any of these toppings, and fold it up, or roll it up, and eat it like a taco....

FOR SWEET/DESSERT VARIETIES;

Honey and dried fruits.

Maple syrup and crushed walnuts.

Blueberry pie filling (or other such, found in cans).

Strawberry (or other) preserves.

Apple butter and brown sugar.

Whole berry cranberry sauce (not the jellied kind).

Fruit yogurt.

FOR MORE HEARTY/MEAL-TYPE VARIETIES;

Buffalo (or beef) chili and cheese.

Rabbit or venison (or beef) stew.

Mashed potato and elk dogs (or hot dogs) with butter or mushroom gravy.

Rice and beans.

Buffalo burger (or ground beef) and cheese.

Scrambled eggs and sausages.

Roast beef and mushroom gravy.

As you can see, these can be very filling, and quite a crowd pleaser at any campsite, barbeque or picnic. To help preserve used cooking oil, whisk out any dough fragments or crumbs, thinly slice up a large, cored apple, and fry it in the oil. This cleans and preserves the oil for next use, but I wouldn't do it more than two or three times.

Try this recipe out! You'll love it!

Okay, that's it for today's post - until tomorrow, have a nice night! ^_^

- recipes –

The Story of the Two Wolves....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:20:00 +0000

Native American stories -

This is a wonderful story that teaches inner morality. Great for telling around a campfire, especially from parent to child, in a one-on-one situation, but also good for group tellings. This story is not only for children, however - indeed, it is for us all. I hope you all enjoy it.

A grandfather and grandson were out hunting one early morning, and they came upon a ridge on the mountain they were walking on.... over the ridge was a large clearing below, where at a distance, they could see two wolves - a black one, and a white one - fighting furiously.

They watched as the wolves attacked eachother in battle. The grandfather narrowed his eyes, and said slowly, "Ah, yes.... this is the way with all of us Human Beings, within our hearts, each and every day."

The grandson asked, "What do you mean, grandfather?", to which the old one replied;

"Always in our hearts, every day, is a struggling battle, like those two wolves down there.... one is the wolf in us who wishes to do bad things, and the other is the wolf who wishes to do good and honourable things."

The grandson listened more intently now, with a look of slight recognition, and deep concern. The grandfather continued....

"Sometimes, the bad one seems to win.... and other times, the good one seems to take a stronger lead. When we see honourable people who do great deeds, and make great sacrifices for the good of others, we know that the good wolf's spirit is strong within his heart, and is the winning spirit in that Human Being. Each good and honourable deed he does gives this spirit more power within him. This in turn, empowers the Human Being to be more honourable."

The boy smiled, as the grandfather continued to speak....

"But when we see those people who turn to badness, and hatred, doing terrible and dishonourable things, we can know that the bad wolf within him is strong - and each bad and wrongful deed he does, gives the bad wolf more power over him, until it has won, and has utterly consumed him."

The young one's face fell with a look of slight, shuddering inner fear.

So the boy thought long and hard on these things, as he continued to watch the wolves battling below. They both battled fiercely, giving no quarter - neither one backing down. Seeing this, he looked within himself, and saw the truth of his wise grandfather's words, and it made him very concerned for himself with a great, deep fear.

"But grandfather," said the boy, "How will I know which wolf will win within me??"

The grandfather smiled, looked at him with an understanding eye, and after a moment, told him,

" ....the one you FEED."

Now.... do we all know what the grandfather is talking about here? I hope you all enjoyed this story. until next time, have a nice night! ^_^

- Native American stories –

Native American Inventions....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:33:00 +0000

Native American inventions -

Hi, all! ^_^

Today, let's commemorate a couple of Native American inventions with this here post. These two inventions are of a food variety, and have become what is today, two among many of the most popular foods in the world.

The first, is popcorn. Yep, that's right! Among the woodland, corn cultivating tribes, who would harvest corn, the people would peel back the shucks and leaving them in place, using them to braid the ears of corn into long chains, then to be hung from the roofs of the insides of longhouses to dry out. In this way, corn would be stored like this for the winter storage.

This dried-out corn, today often called "Indian corn", was sometimes popped for eating. However, they didn't do it on a stove in the old days, and actually, it was also kind of like a children's game - at least, that's how many children saw it.

To explain, these ears of corn were roasted over coals - whether placed on sticks and stuck into the ground leaning over the coals, tied up above and hanging over the coals, or what have you.... then when the kernels started to pop and jump everywhere, the children would chase them up, maybe try to catch them, and eat them. Sounds like fun, eh?

From countless generations and centuries ago, to the present day, this wonderful treat the world has come to know and love is all thanks to the Native Americans.

Now, the second invention, is the potato chip - yep, that's right!

This is a rather interesting story about a Native American named George Crum - actually, he was originally named George Speck, born in 1822 to Abraham and Catherine Speck.... but he later used the name Crum, as his father also did while working as a jockey.

In 1853, in Saratoga Springs, New York, at a well known and elegant resort, he was employed as a chef at the Moon Lake Lodge's restaurant. On the menu, were French-fried potatoes, made by George himself.

Side note; While these were not invented in France, the thick cut style of these had their roots of popularization planted there, in the 1700s. When Thomas Jefferson visited as an ambassador to France, he enjoyed these very much. Upon bringing the recipe to America, he served them up to guests in Monticello, where they became a popular and serious dinner fare, and the term French-fried potatoes, or, "French-fries", stuck ever since.

But I digress....

One day, one dinner guest (I believe an Englishman - but I could be wrong on that) found these fries, that George had made, too thick for his liking. He rejected the order, saying that they should be thinner. George prepared more of these, slicing them thinner, and presented them to the finicky guest. However, the dinner guest again rejected the order, saying they should be much thinner.

Now, George was a mite peeved, as anyone might be, and out of spite, he made the final order *exceedingly* thin - paper thin - so that this bothersome dinner guest would find it utterly impossible to stick these with a fork.

Working away at these in the kitchen, shaving the slices nearly thin enough to read a newspaper through them, probably mumbling to himself something along the lines of, "This'll show that #$@&! bastard.... ", he deep-fried them all and served them up.

His plan backfired. When the guest received these paper thin, golden-browned tasties, he was ecstatic. Other guests began odering the same delightful treat, and the item became part of the menu's offerings, under the name, "Saratoga Chips".

There's more to the story, but too much for today's post. However, we all know that it eventually ended up a nationwide - and now worldwide - favourite.

Also interesting to note, is the fact that as a worldwide food, potatoes are among the most eaten, second only to rice. A rather huge part of the worldwide potato consumption, the majority thereof, is potato chips.

Now, as I understand it, neither of these two inventions were ever patented, actually. If we, as Native Americans, can now get these ideas patented somehow, the Native American population could have a nifty bit of revenue in the form of royalties - even if a very tiny percentage, it would amount to a huge bit of change to help support Native Americans.

Sure, it may be said that you can't "back-patent" something - but that isn't 100% true in every case. Now, one very important thing to keep in mind, is that when these inventions were made popular, it was before 1924.... as many of you all out there know, we, as Native Americans, were not recognized as American citizens until then. In fact, we were not recognized as citizens of *anywhere*. Plainly, we just were not recognized.... period. And, somewhat, this is so even to this day, in many respects.

It could be argued that we had no way at all to even be eligible, on paper, to even apply for a patent of any kind, on anything, until 1924. Before then, we were considered illegal aliens - can you believe that crap?? Only in 1924 did the American government actually, FINALLY, consider us to be residents, and indeed, citizens of the United States.

It could also be argued, that these inventions actually have indeed yet to be patented - and really ought to be, by their rightful inventors.

What do y'all think? ^_~

That's all for today's post, everyone - until next time, have a nice night! ^_^

- Native American inventions –

The Mouth Bow....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:56:00 +0000

- musical instruments -

Hi, all!! ^_^ Today, let's make an interesting, and easy-to-put-together musical instrument, used by many tribes in the North American continent.... the mouth bow.

Take any kind of wood branch - not too green, as you don't want it to be too easily bent, and not too dead, as you don't want it to be too easily broken.... and make it about the length of your arm. If you've got any whittling skills, that helps. Smooth out all the rough spots, until you get a good, straight (within reason) stick. Any deciduous (non-evergreen) hardwood works best - for wood with few knots, try the shoots or branches of willow.

Now, take some string - some like nylon because it makes a nice sound - I like to use natural fibers.... sinew, or artificial sinew (made from natural fibers) is best, in my humble opinion. Some people like to use hemp cord - I like that stuff too. But you also get a great sound from wire - I use copper, brass, or steel.... experiment with different thicknesses! Guitar strings work as well, but use non-wound strings.

Tie one end tightly around one end of your stick, and then, carefully bending the stick, tie the other end of the string around the other end of the stick.... it should look like a bow when you're done.

That is pretty much all there is to this instrument's construction, besides decoration - but how to play it?

Well, you place one end of the stick to your mouth, resting your open mouth to touch the stick - you can bite down, but you won't hear the same sounds as others do, so try to avoid it. See to it that the string is untouched by any part of your mouth (or anything), so that you do not interfere with the string's vibration. Touching your open mouth onto the part of the string that's wrapped around the stick is fine. Hold the other end of the bow with one hand, and with the other hand, pluck the string - you might even use a guitar pick, a smoothed down piece of bone, or a flat chip of rock, or whatever. You can also tap the string with a stick, or anything you invent for this. With the hand that holds the other end of the bow, by increasing or decreasing the bend in the bow, you can change the pitch and tone of this wonderfully versatile little stringed instrument. You can also change the pitch of the string's tone by sliding something along the string, like a guitar finger slide, a glass bottle, or the back of your camping knife.

Now, this here operates along the same lines as a jaw harp - you know, those twangy ol' thangs that we often hear cowboys play with on those old western shows? Changing the shape of your mouth's opening, and using your tongue to change the volume of the space inside your mouth, changes the sound this makes much in the same way as the good-old jaw harp (also known as a "Jew's harp").

To decorate and personalize your mouth bow, wrap with leather string, tie on some colourful feathers, coloured porcupine quillwork and/or claws, bone hairpipe beads, beads of other types, painting, woodburning, or even whittling - but see to it that you do not cut too far into the body of the instrument, or it will snap to pieces.... any whittling should well be done before you bend the bow for tying on the string - you may also decide to keep any whittling to just the bark layer, creating patterns and designs in that way.

A well made mouth bow can be a beauteous piece of artwork indeed - and a functional one to boot.... it makes music. A good one is one you'll keep for a very, very long time. Great at powwows or camping trips, and around a campfire. Have fun with it.

That's it for today's post, everyone - until tomorrow, have a good night! ^_^

- musical instruments –

Native American Clip Art....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:37:00 +0000

- clip art -

Hey - quick post today - are you Native American, and building a website about your culture? Or are you a dealer in Native American jewelry and/or fine Native American hand-made goods, and building a website for them?

I found a couple of wonderful sites for FREE Native American clip art! Wanna see?

These sites both have background images, icons, and clickable buttons to offer.

For the first one, click here.

For the second one, click here.

You can see that I used some for making the background image for this here blog.... kinda cool, eh? ^_^

Enjoy!

That's it for today's post - see you all next time! ^_^

- clip art –

Indian Humour....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 07:30:00 +0000

- jokes -

Here's a pretty good example of Native American humour - I hope you like it ^_^

A wandering Jesuit missionary was strolling through the wilderness, when he came upon the shore of a murky pond, and three Ojibwa-Cree guys setting about to canoe out onto the pond to do some fishing. So, he figured he'd befriend these people, seeing it a good opportunity to strike up a conversation to spread the "good word", and educate these 'heathens', right proper (yeah, right.... whatever).

These tribesmen were patient and polite enough with this pale intruder, speaking with him while they chose what gear to bring into the canoe with them, and what gear to leave ashore, despite the distraction.

Finally, they told him that they really should get on fishing, and that if he wanted to continue this conversation, quietly, then he could go along with them in the canoe while they fished.

He agreed, and went along.

They all cast off, and paddled out to a certain murky spot not too far off from shore.

The Jesuit started talking about all the miracles performed by Jesus Christ.... turning water into wine, multiplying fishes and loaves, walking on water....

Along about then, hearing this last bit mentioned, one of the fishermen had suddenly realized that he had left his favourite fishing basket ashore.... so, much to the amazement of the priest, he got up, stepped out of the canoe, and walked across the muddy water over to the shore to get it. Upon finding what he had forgotten, he walked back, stepped into the canoe, and sat down.

Just then, another of them had realized that he had left his smoking pipe ashore, and stepped out of the canoe, walked ashore, and came back with it. The Jesuit was slack-jawed with awe.

Finally, the last of the three tribesmen had remembered that he had left his pouch of jerky and berries ashore, walked across the water to get it, got it, and came back across the water and into the canoe.

The missionary had just about all he could stand. Here he was, trying to 'educate' these people about the miracles of the son of God - and there they were, walking on water right in front of him. He figured if these 'Godless heathens' could do it, then he himself certainly could. After all, in the bible, Peter did it too.... with faith.

So he quickly rose right up in the canoe, loudly announced that he was off to take a leak, stepped right out of the canoe, and sunk straight down like a big, heavy rock into the muddy water.

The three guys in the canoe, surprised by this, just looked at eachother confusedly, laughing hard, not knowing why this person suddenly did such a silly, stupid thing.

When the priest came up for air, he was infuriated - he shouted out, "If you heathen fools can walk on water, why in God's name can't I, a man of God?!?!"

One of the others in the canoe looked at him, smiled a big, toothy grin, and said, "There are some large rocks over here that are just under the surface of the water.... you did not step on any of them".

Hehe.... see y'all next time ^_^

- jokes -

Good Eatin'....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:44:00 +0000

- recipes -

She:kon!
(Mohawk language; greeting)

Today, let's make something good to eat! Now this here is an excellent food to bring along when camping, pow-wowing, or hiking, etc. - and it's mighty tasty too! ^_^

Now, if you have a food dehydrator, that's cool - if not, you can use a regular oven set real low like, 125 or so, and leave the oven door open just a mite.... like about an inch or two.

Take some raw beef, and cut it very thin.... about 1/4" thin, or less. Lay it out on the stove racks (or food dehydrator), and leave it for a good long while until it is all dried out and crispy.

See that you remember this - you don't want it chewy.... you want it to be BONE DRY, in order to be able to break it all up to nearly a powdery consistency. Once you've got it all pulverized to somewhere between a granulated and a powdered consistency, take a bowl of small berries, like blueberries for example, and mash them all up real good.

Mix the two together until it's all kind of pasty, and then roll little balls out of this, setting them aside to settle. Two things will happen at the same time - the dry meat will soak up the berry juices and become more chewy as a result, and the soggy berry mash will congeal a bit, and become chewy as well (instead of soupy).

This is what some call 'pemmican', or 'wasna'. It is usually made with meat mixed with berries, fat, or both.

These are very rich in protein, and eating a small handful of these is like eating a 12 oz. steak, not to mention all the vitamins from the berries - quite an excellent bit of feed to bring along on the trail - compact, and full of nutrients, and it'll keep for a good long time.

That's it for today's post.... have a nice night! ^_^

Nia:wen!
(Mohawk language; thank you)

- recipes -

The Story of the Native American Love Flute....

noreply@blogger.com (Falls-Down-Laughing) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:13:00 +0000

- Native American stories -

Hello, all! I have a story to tell.... I am a maker of Native American flutes, and have been since I was about 13 years old. So, I thought the story of how these flutes came to us would be a good subject matter for today.

This is a story about the Native American flutes that I make, and where they originally came from.

Many tribes and nations of us tell this story, each a mite differently, but all with generally the same main pieces.... about Woodpecker, the Elk-Medicine men, the warrior who was poor, the chief's daughter, etc. - this is my own telling of it, the way I've told it to my son.

Y'see, a whole mess of winters ago, many-many before the whites came, perhaps a thousand or more ago, there was this one warrior who was deeply in love with the chief's daughter.

Everyone tried to court her, giving her fine presents, and everyone tried to out-do one another with the presents they would give to her. A great many things were heaped up in her possession, and she could not decide who she should marry.

This one warrior, however, though he was a great hunter and could more than provide for a hungry family with his hunting skills, was otherwise very poor, and had little or nothing to give to her for presents to try to woo her heart his way. She liked him enough, but she would always say, "You are a good hunter, and a good Human Being, but you are poor, and I am a chief's daughter after all.... what can you give me to show me what I am worth to you?"

Though he was a good hunter and provider, he grew up being fatherless, and had no-one to teach him how to make tools other than those to hunt with, nor how to make other things for daily life, nor to teach him good trading sense so that he could acquire good-quality things that are needed in life. Being a good provider of food alone is not enough to get a good wife.

He was heartbroken, and so he took a sweat-bath in the sweat-lodge, and wandered off into the wilderness, and took no food for days, hoping to receive a vision from the spirit world as to what to do about his situation.

After three or four days, he crossed a great distance of the prairie, and came to the edge of where the Great Forests began. It was some time after Morning Star (Venus) came and went, early morning, just after dawn. He went into the woods, and after a long time's walk within, he came to a small clear place with big rocks that were left behind when the Big Ice had moved across the land in the Ancient Days. He sat there, and cried out to the Great Spirit for an answer to his dilemma.

Soon, he heard what he thought sounded like some elk. He looked towards the sound, and in the distance through the trees, he saw elk antlers. Two pairs of them. But their song seemed more like spirit people language. He looked closer and noticed that they were men.... Elk-Medicine men.

He knew since he was a child that if he saw medicine men - or anyone - involved in sacred doings that he was not a part of, that he should stay away.... that he should not even look in their direction, for fear of interfering with their power or defiling whatever was being done, polluting it with his observing mind's presence in it all. But they were looking at him, and sounding their Elk-Medicine music in a way that seemed like they were calling to him to come closer and to follow them, and so that is what he did.

He would call to them and say, "Wait for me! I am trying to keep up with you!", but they would keep the same distance, though making sure he kept on following them, without their losing him.

Soon, they came to a grove of cedar trees. The Elk-Medicine men stopped under one of them, and stood still, looking up the tree. The warrior saw them there, and noticed that they had stopped making their music, and now another music was sounding. It sounded similar to the Elk-Medicine music, but was different somehow. The Elk-Medicine men began to smoke their sacred pipes, and a great amount of smoke came from them, obscuring them from view. When Wind blew his breath and made the smoke disappear, the Elk-Medicine men were gone.

Still, he heard the music.... it would sound, and then stop.... then he would hear a knocking sound.... then the music again.... then the knocking.... then the music.... and so on like this for a little while, and he looked and saw Woodpecker sitting strangely on a hollow branch while Wind was blowing his breath through the deadwood stick. Then after a while, he heard Woodpecker up in the tree call to him, "Brother, come on over here.... I have something for you!"

The warrior looked up into the tree and said, "Woodpecker.... what are you doing??", as he saw that the winged one was working away at a dead branch, rather deeply, but pulling up no bugs for his breakfast.

Woodpecker said, "The Great Spirit told me to show this to you and to gift it to you on his behalf, and to teach you about this wonderful thing.... this is to help you win the heart of the maiden who is your other half-self - the one who is daughter to your chief. The Great Spirit has been watching you, and knows that you are a good Human Being, and that you work hard and are a good provider, and wants you to be the husband of the chief's daughter. He knows that you have grown up poor, and that because of this you have grown to be a compassionate person, and non-materialistic. It is you that he wants, to help lead your tribe as one of it's elders someday."

"How will this piece of tree help me do this?", said the warrior.

"Did you not hear the music? Here.... break this off right here - carefully", the winged one said. "You see, the six-leggeds have hollowed this dead branch out in two places, and The Great Spirit instructed me to put holes through to the hollows, and where to put them." He then sat over the sounding holes and held on tight and said, "You will have to make a piece of wood to go here, near these two special holes, but I will cover them in a certain way myself for now.... now, cover these holes here with your fingers, and blow into
this end of the stick, here."

He did so, and a sharp, but soft piece of music came out of the stick. He was wildly delighted and amazed at it all. "Now open this first hole." He did, and when he blew into it, another piece of music came out, sounding a little different from the first. He smiled almost more than a person can smile.

This went on like this until he learned all about the holes and the sounds each one had made. Then Woodpecker showed him how to make other flutes.... he would have to split a piece of deadwood cedar, hollow out the two places, put it back together with sap, tying the pieces together with leather thongs, and to bore or burn in the fingerholes, and all the other aspects of it's construction.

"Now, you need to know that just making the sounds isn't enough.... you need to know what combinations will turn your woman's heart to you.... you need to learn the Elk-Medicine, and become an Elk-Medicine man.... a Holy Man.... and then you will know how to make the different songs of power. You know how powerful Elk's music is, yes? How all he has to do is call and his women flock to him? It is the same power." Woodpecker knew much about his forest brothers.

Woodpecker used his own voice and whistled a quick combination of notes, and smoke began to appear in one place. When it cleared away, the Elk-Medicine men were there where the smoke had cleared from. They showed him how to leave a smoke offering to the tree he took the branch from, and what songs to sing during the song-stick's construction, and all the knowledge of how the music's different voices (the notes) sit next to eachother in a certain order, and how to find where they live along the song-stick, and all the other things he needed to know about the songs of power, and how to make the right ones for each person who would ask him, based on the person's personality, and the personality of the woman he wished to woo with the music - how to discover the proper song attuned to her personality, to then be used to call to her.

Then Woodpecker then instructed, "Please, remember the way which I covered part of the two special holes that make the sound's power.... right there where on the branch is my roost, place the birch bark nest, and make the wooden bird like me in the way that I sat there, and that will help you to remember, and also to remember this spirit time and how this came to be, after you begin to take food again. Now take the song-stick, and go from here in the direction of sun-goes-down for a time until you arrive again at your village, and eat, and rest, brother.... and remember."

The warrior thanked Woodpecker and the Elk-Medicine men very much, and they gave him an antler headdress to wear, because he was now an Elk-Medicine man himself.

When he arrived at the village, he saw that people began to form a search party for him, thinking that he had been in trouble somehow, or injured, and they saw him coming into the village with elk antlers on his head. He looked starved and tired, yet somehow strong and very wide awake at some high level. They knew he was coming back from a vision quest and had seen the spirit world.

His closest friends were the first to approach him. They asked him what the spirits had told him, and he lifted the song-stick to his lips and blew a short, haunting tune.... all were wide-eyed in amazement - he briefly played another tune, a little longer this time.... some laughed a couple/few syllables of laughter, followed by gasps of wonderment, and others laughed and cried at the same time. This was a sound that no Human Being had ever heard before in this Continent-On-The-Great-Turtle's-Back.

The women throughout the whole village were the most affected.... they came running when they heard the music - they wanted to hear more.... but the chief's daughter came right up to him and wrapped her arms around one of his arms and wouldn't let go.

She shook off the feeling, and tried to walk away, but when he played the song-stick again, she went back to him. She was sticking to him like honey on a bear's nose.

All the men noticed this, and wanted him to make song-sticks for them all. He said he would talk about it the next morning. Then the warrior took a sweat-bath in the sweat-lodge, and ate some wasna (dried meat mixed with berries), and drank a lot of water, and went to sleep.

The next morning, now that he had started to take food again and was well rested, he felt more grounded - more tied to his body - but he still remembered full well all of the past few days' events, and he felt like a renewed person.

All the village's men wanted a song-stick to woo their women - the single ones for their girlfriends, and the married ones for their wives. The warrior would say, "What will you give me in trade?" and the men nearly buried him with great goods - tools, skins, furs, flints, clothing, quillwork items, pieces of micah for mirrors, spears, spearheads, bows with arrows, and even horses, buffalo hide robes and tepees!!

Soon, the warrior was a very rich man, but he had already wooed the chief's daughter's heart his way. And, as is the way of a True Human Being, a man isn't judged rich by what he has, but by what he gives away, so he held a big giveaway party where all ate very well, and great things were given to the poorest people of the village. The next morning, the warrior and the chief's daughter got married, and had another party afterward. The party soon ended, because the men went out to get their song-sticks, and called the women away to them for a night of serenading. This was just fine for the newly married couple.

As time went by, and he and she had children, eventually he taught his oldest son all of the Elk-Medicine he knew and of the making of the song-sticks, and transferred all the knowledge of the songs of power and everything to him. Soon afterwards, he himself became one of the village chiefs, while his son was a very good Elk-Medicine man.

And this is how the Courtship Flute came to the Human Beings - the indigenous peoples of 'Turtle Island' (this continent, North America).

To this day, with a flute of this type, and a modicum of skill, if you blow from softly to sharply (eventually 'overblowing'), with all holes closed, you can mimic an elk's call and even call one out of hiding. With skill, you can also mimic other beings, like Wolf.... or even Woodpecker and others, with smaller flutes of this type.

I hope you all enjoyed this story - I enjoyed telling it. Until tomorrow, have a nice night! ^_^

- Native American stories -