Post by blackcrowheart on Oct 31, 2007 15:10:21 GMT -5
Fifth Moon - The Bear - Arapahoe
In the moon when the ponies shed their shaggy hair [May], we kids were all
playing down by the Little Big Wind River, which ran by the big log building
that was our community hall. Grandpa Iron had been born many years before in
a tipi not too far from the community hall. Of course no one lived in tipis
anymore. They were used only for Native American Church meetings or for
powwows or the Sundance.
Uncle Kail came by, stopping his old beat-up car just off the road. His yell
brought us running. He said that there would soon be a full moon rising and
that Grandpa Iron was getting ready to tell us a story about bears. We all
piled in the car and rode to the small log house.
Grandma was out by the clothesline, taking down some wash that had dried in
the warm May sunshine. Magpies had stolen some of the clothespins, and she
was complaining to Grandpa when we walked up. He just laughed. Grandma
glared at him.
Inside the cabin, we helped Grandma fold the wash and stack it on a shelf
near the beds. Then Grandma started a stew of boiled dry meat with onions
and potatoes. Baking-powder biscuits with butter and coffee made the meal
complete. It was more food than usual for one meal, but I guess Grandpa had
sold some scrap iron in town that day. After supper we did the dishes and
Grandpa Iron smudged us off with cedar smoke. Then we sat on the floor, and
he began his full-moon story.
A long time ago, when our people still lived in caves and walked everywhere,
there was a medicine man called Moves Walking. Moves Walking had bear
medicine power.
At that time, food was getting hard to find, so our people split into
smaller bands, each band going in a different direction. Moves Walking was
the leader of one band. He went into the wilderness to meditate and seek
wisdom so he could take his people in the right direction. While seeking his
vision he saw a family of bears gather in a grove of trees below the hill he
was on. Moves Walking watched them for days. He watched the cubs play with
each other and with their mother and father. He saw the mother bear
discipline her young by cuffing their ears, and the father bear ignore them
when he was tired or had other things on his mind. Moves Walking saw the
roots, plants, and insects that the bears ate, many of which his people had
thought inedible. He learned the roots and plants they ate when they were
ill. After the bears left. Moves Walking went down the hill into their camp
and found the remains of their food and medicine.
When Moves Walking went back to his people, he had a vision for the
direction they should go, and he had the wisdom that the bears had taught
him.
From that time on, his name was Medicine Bear. Grandpa Iron said that the
bear medicine is good for people, too. A bear society was formed whose
members have a great knowledge of healing. They know not only about roots
and herbs for physical healing but also about healing mental conditions.
Grandpa took his hat from the bed and hung it on the wall. Uncle Kail
laughed and waved good-bye as he went out the door and headed for home. The
roar from his old car faded away as Grandma passed water around to each of
us and turned back the covers on the iron beds. Grandpa blew out the
coal-oil lamp after we were all tucked in bed, and the moonlight streamed
through the cracks in the logs.
We slept and dreamed of the bear cubs playing in the trees.
And the Earth stayed young.
Full Moon Written by Eagle Walking Turtle, 1997 - Arapahoe
["When I was a boy I lived with my grandparents on the Northern Arapahoe
Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Grandpa Iron was always happy and full of
life's joy. Grandma Iron was much more serious. They both taught me, along
with my brothers and sisters, that all of nature should be listened to,
loved, and respected. Each time a full moon came, Grandpa Iron would tell us
a story. First he'd burn cedar needles, and we would fan the sweet-smelling
smoke over our heads to purify our bodies before Grandpa's story. He always
took his hat from the wall and placed it on the bed before he began his
telling. I suppose this goes back to the time when warriors hung their
medicine bags on the tipi pole behind them before speaking. The following
stories are among those that Grandpa told us about the love and respect our
people have for our animal brothers and sisters - the four-leggeds, the ones
that fly, the ones that slither in the grasses, and the ones that swim in
the waters." -- Eagle Walking Turtle]
In the moon when the ponies shed their shaggy hair [May], we kids were all
playing down by the Little Big Wind River, which ran by the big log building
that was our community hall. Grandpa Iron had been born many years before in
a tipi not too far from the community hall. Of course no one lived in tipis
anymore. They were used only for Native American Church meetings or for
powwows or the Sundance.
Uncle Kail came by, stopping his old beat-up car just off the road. His yell
brought us running. He said that there would soon be a full moon rising and
that Grandpa Iron was getting ready to tell us a story about bears. We all
piled in the car and rode to the small log house.
Grandma was out by the clothesline, taking down some wash that had dried in
the warm May sunshine. Magpies had stolen some of the clothespins, and she
was complaining to Grandpa when we walked up. He just laughed. Grandma
glared at him.
Inside the cabin, we helped Grandma fold the wash and stack it on a shelf
near the beds. Then Grandma started a stew of boiled dry meat with onions
and potatoes. Baking-powder biscuits with butter and coffee made the meal
complete. It was more food than usual for one meal, but I guess Grandpa had
sold some scrap iron in town that day. After supper we did the dishes and
Grandpa Iron smudged us off with cedar smoke. Then we sat on the floor, and
he began his full-moon story.
A long time ago, when our people still lived in caves and walked everywhere,
there was a medicine man called Moves Walking. Moves Walking had bear
medicine power.
At that time, food was getting hard to find, so our people split into
smaller bands, each band going in a different direction. Moves Walking was
the leader of one band. He went into the wilderness to meditate and seek
wisdom so he could take his people in the right direction. While seeking his
vision he saw a family of bears gather in a grove of trees below the hill he
was on. Moves Walking watched them for days. He watched the cubs play with
each other and with their mother and father. He saw the mother bear
discipline her young by cuffing their ears, and the father bear ignore them
when he was tired or had other things on his mind. Moves Walking saw the
roots, plants, and insects that the bears ate, many of which his people had
thought inedible. He learned the roots and plants they ate when they were
ill. After the bears left. Moves Walking went down the hill into their camp
and found the remains of their food and medicine.
When Moves Walking went back to his people, he had a vision for the
direction they should go, and he had the wisdom that the bears had taught
him.
From that time on, his name was Medicine Bear. Grandpa Iron said that the
bear medicine is good for people, too. A bear society was formed whose
members have a great knowledge of healing. They know not only about roots
and herbs for physical healing but also about healing mental conditions.
Grandpa took his hat from the bed and hung it on the wall. Uncle Kail
laughed and waved good-bye as he went out the door and headed for home. The
roar from his old car faded away as Grandma passed water around to each of
us and turned back the covers on the iron beds. Grandpa blew out the
coal-oil lamp after we were all tucked in bed, and the moonlight streamed
through the cracks in the logs.
We slept and dreamed of the bear cubs playing in the trees.
And the Earth stayed young.
Full Moon Written by Eagle Walking Turtle, 1997 - Arapahoe
["When I was a boy I lived with my grandparents on the Northern Arapahoe
Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Grandpa Iron was always happy and full of
life's joy. Grandma Iron was much more serious. They both taught me, along
with my brothers and sisters, that all of nature should be listened to,
loved, and respected. Each time a full moon came, Grandpa Iron would tell us
a story. First he'd burn cedar needles, and we would fan the sweet-smelling
smoke over our heads to purify our bodies before Grandpa's story. He always
took his hat from the wall and placed it on the bed before he began his
telling. I suppose this goes back to the time when warriors hung their
medicine bags on the tipi pole behind them before speaking. The following
stories are among those that Grandpa told us about the love and respect our
people have for our animal brothers and sisters - the four-leggeds, the ones
that fly, the ones that slither in the grasses, and the ones that swim in
the waters." -- Eagle Walking Turtle]