American Indian Commandments
Treat the Earth and all that
dwell thereon with respect.
Remain close to the Great Spirit.
Show great respect for your fellow beings.
Work together for the benefit of all Mankind.
Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.
Do what you know to be right.
Look after the well being of mind and body.
Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good.
Be truthful and honest at all times.
Take full responsibility for your actions.
Cherokee Prayer Blessing
May the warm winds of heaven
Blow softly upon your house.
May the Great Spirit
Bless all who enter there.
May your mocassins
Make happy tracks
In many snows,
And may the rainbow
Always touch your shoulder.
"You have noticed that everything an Indian
does in a circle, and that is because the
Power of the World always works in circles,
and everything and everything tries to be
round. In the old days all our power came to us
from the sacred hoop of the nation and so long
as the hoop was unbroken the people
flourished. The flowering tree was the living center
of the hoop, and the circle of the four
quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light,
the south gave warmth, the west gave rain
and the north with its cold and mighty wind
gave strength and endurance. This knowledge
came to us from the outer world with our
religion. Everything the power of the world
does is done in a circle. The sky is round
and I have heard that the earth is round
like a ball and so are all the stars.
The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
Birds make their nests in circles,
for theirs is the same religion as ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again in a
circle. The moon does the same and both are
round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their
changing and always come back again to where
they were. The life of a man is a circle
from childhood to childhood, and so it is in
everything where power moves. Our teepees were round
like the nests of birds, and these were
always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, a nest of
many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us
to hatch our children."
Black Elk, Oglala Sioux 1863-1950
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