Traditional’s
Over the years I have spent a lot of time as a political activist. I worked on many issues as far back as the Viet Nam War, Apartheid, Border Patrol Brutality, Environmental and Native American struggles. It was during the last part of my carrier as an activist that I worked on Native Issues, I realized we could not affect change anywhere if we couldn’t do it here in our own backyard. During that time I became quite interested in antiquities and ancient cultural history. I was working with BMLDOC (Big Mountain Legal Defense/Offence Committee) when I finally got tired of the "tourists" as my native friends referred to the non-Indian supporters. I realized after a time there was still a Missionary consciousness "save the Red Man" mentality in a lot of the "tourists". I was working as the Office Manager/Book Keeper at the time when I decided it was time to go out to the reservation and spend some time working on "The Land" as many refer’ d to the Rez. It was in March of 1986 when I did this and had forgotten that Haley’s Comet was on it’s return.
Here, I have to go back to my childhood when I was ten, and recall a night when I promised myself I would not forget to see Halley’s Comet, I would be ready and waiting. Needless to say twenty three years later I was very caught up in my life at the time in 1986 and deep in thought of what was going on around me. I had been herding sheep in a snow storm all day and had the worst snow boots you could imagine. I fought all day to keep my feet warm and at one point the sheep decided to stop and graze a small pasture so I stepped under a large Juniper Tree that had a dry area under it and the snow was blocked by a branch. I built a very small fire and took my boots off, one at a time to warm my feet. As the white out progressed, I stood under this tree wondering "what the hell was I doing out here in this situation?"
That night I slept well in the Hogan and was toasted from the wood stove. It was about 4:00 am when I was awakened by the urge to relieve myself, so in a groggy stupor I arose and stepped out the Hogan door to take a leak. The door of a Hogan always faces east so the People can face the sun in the morning, I believe there is a more deeply spiritual reason for that but I was never privy to it. While I was standing there my attention was drawn to the clear cold night and the brightness of the stars, the like I have never seen again. There above the eastern horizon was the most spectacular site I had ever seen up to that point in my life. Halley’s comet was at first dim then bright and fluctuated back and forth between the two with it’s tail stretching across the horizon also fluctuating from long to short. I stood there for quite a while amazed and awed by this incredible show of the universe.
I had heard that the comet was a disappointment to many and that people were straining in the cities to even see it (no doubt due to the excessive lights), but there on the reservation miles from the nearest lights, on the night of the best viewing the comet had to offer, I saw what many over the centuries had been amazed by.
Then it occurred to me, that the Universe is a mind, and that in it’s great wisdom it never forgets. The ten year old boy was there again and I was reborn (not the last time this would occur) and it came to me "What the Hell I was doing out here in this situation". Perhaps it is best that many no longer live the life of the Traditional Path, but for those of us who seek it and work to understand it, there are great rewards. Even to this day I will always carry the moment and perhaps, that is what the Universe is all about, that persona we call God, a memory beyond any that our minds can fathom. We are mere synapse in the brain of the Universe. Strange how words are, Uni = One and Verse = Song, the celestial song.
From that point on I was determined to learn about the ancient cultures of our continent and home, I knew somewhere in all of this was a purpose. A message in rock writings and silent walls of the ancient ruins, buried waiting to be found and understood.
That’s all for now. This will be an on going topic, there is so much more before it’s end.
