written by Werner John for Native American Heritage Day, Nov. 27, 2009:
| HAIL! FIRST INHABITANTS OF THIS GLORIOUS CONTINENT ON THIS 2ND EVER U.S. NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE DAY. On this day, we give thanks for the great and honorable cultures your ancestors developed over thousands of years inhabiting this Sacred land. We honor the traditions and ceremonies of your peoples, so many of which demonstrate true understanding of the intimate connections between humans and our Earth mother. We honor the miracle of your very survival into the 21st century amidst the devastations of war, disease and continued marginalization. On this day, we pray that the sounds of your plaintive flutes, as they sweep again through the valleys and mountains of this land, might bring with them whispered cries from the ancient human roots in the land, voices of far deeper experience and wisdom which might break through the thrall of massive avarice threatening us all. We take note of the coincidence of this day with Black Friday, named for the powerful God of Profit. We remember Pilgrims, Spaniards and their brethren voyaging to the New World with their most important possessions: guns, body armour, Bibles, contracts. We see this energy all around us today, magnified throughout the ancient homelands, throughout the whole Earth, drilling and sucking on every tender teat with unrelenting metallic force. We know this must stop and it must stop soon for our human presence to continue. We take the opportunity of this day to CALL FORTH THE WISDOM OF YOUR INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCE, THE ANCIENT VOICES OF YOUR CULTURES WHICH STILL REMEMBER BALANCE AND EMBODY DEEP RESPECT FOR THE EVER-RENEWING GIFTS OF EARTH. We ask you humbly to send along with the magic of your flutes the wisdom of your ways. We ask you to take every opportunity to remind us of the true roots of lasting human cultures in respect for their Sacred Mother. May your people thrive, and prosper, and become strong again throughout this land. |