The Renaissance of Native Spirituality

The Creator, The Journey How do we explain our lives on earth as physical human beings, as we have been put here to fulfill a life given to us by God, as we refer to him as the Creator of all Creation? It is through prayer that we connect to God, and it is with listening that we know our path that has been chosen for us. As spirits, we have come to live as human beings to learn the lessons that have been put before us. Through ceremony we make our connection to the spirits and spirit world and our connection to God. In the Big Drum Ceremony that the Elder Marin conducted, he says, “The men who were speaking in Ojibwe were praying and giving thanks to the Creator and spirit, thanking for sacred things.” We need to reflect and take time to think about God, Janika says she needs to take time to breathe when she is really busy, she doesn’t feel connected. Teela says that the Native Spiritual path “that was so perfect for me and so simple and fulfilling that is the gift of Creator, and it does help a person live a good life.” In the Sundance ceremony I saw a male dancer kneel beside the sacred tree; the symbol of the Creator centered within the middle of the ceremonial grounds; he was in deep prayer. Gabriel, the medicine man from South Dakota speaks about God in the context of the commandments that he made for us to follow, “thy shall not kill, thy shall not steal, thy shalt not covet thy neighbors. God made all of these commandments, and he speaks about world peace coming to this planet, and that world peace is going to come, it’s on its way.” How does Gabriel know and understand that world peace is on its way? He has a connection to God. God informs and tells him, and he listens to God, knowing the ways of our Native people is to know and understand that God is guiding our paths; all we have to do is listen. Geronimo was a holy man in his time, 1823 to 1909; a Chiricahua Apache, a great warrior whose greatness was enhanced by his special abilities as a war shaman (Hollihan 2002: 130). Through eye witness testimony, one of Geronimo’s warriors speaks about his immense medicine powers, since it took three-quarters of the standing American army to capture him. When he was on the warpath, Geronimo fixed it so that morning wouldn’t come too soon. He did it by singing. Once we were going to a certain place, and Geronimo didn’t want it to become light before he reached it. He saw the enemy while they were in a level place, and he didn’t want them to spy on us. He wanted morning to break after we had climbed over a mountain, so that the enemy couldn’t see us. So Geronimo sang, and the night remained for two or three hours longer. I saw this myself (Deloria 2006: 206-207). I speak about Geronimo because he was a great Chief in his time and carried the powers of a medicine man, and with this we can see the connection that some Native people of today have with these gifts to heal, see into the future, and may possess gifts that take their spirit on a spiritual journey. It is the past that meets the present day Native spiritualism of our people through dreams, visions, spiritual experiences and connections to the spirit world and the Creator. In more recent times, I met Betty J. Eadie just outside Chapleau, Ontario at a Native Women’s Gathering. She told us of her near-death experience following her hysterectomy, saying, I reached for the cord near the bed in an attempt to call the nurse. But try as I might, I could not bring myself to move. I felt a terrible sinking sensation, like the very last drops of blood were drained from me. I heard a soft buzzing sound in my head and continued to sink until I felt my body become still and lifeless. Then I felt a surge of energy. It was almost as if I felt a pop or release inside me, and my spirit was suddenly drawn out through my chest and pulled upward, as if by a giant magnet. My first impression was that I was free. There was nothing unnatural about the experience. I was above the bed, hovering near the ceiling. My sense of freedom was limitless, and it seemed as if I had done this forever. I turned and saw a body lying on the bed (Eadie 1992: 37-39). Betty J. Eadie talks about the three men that appeared to her spirit, ancient men that carried great spirituality, knowledge, and wisdom. She said, “They had been with me for eternities,” and she saw death was actually a “rebirth” into a greater life of understanding and knowledge that stretched forward and backward through time”(Eadie 1992: 40).