at all times we must remember that we are the dream of the ancestors come to life, the living expression of their seventh generation. We are not placeholders in time but guardians of the future. As such, we have the responsibility for dreaming the next seven generations into being. This dreaming is the work of our lives.

The laws against Native American religious ceremonies and languages remained in place until 1978.

learned to recognize my teacher’s voice and understand the tugging feeling that let me know when she was calling me

Once a person becomes an elder, they have lived long enough to have witnessed at least three generations of elders before them; the elders of their youth, the elders of their adolescence, and the elders of their adult lives. Therefore, they have an extensive amount of knowledge, history, and cultural value to share with the community.

Rituals provide certainty and comfort, and a sense of connection to something larger than one’s self. They are used to alleviate pain and facilitate healing. The rituals that we celebrate around death are a clear example. Death rituals provide structure and order during a time of immense grief. They provide us with a shared experience of expressing

The only question that remains is this: will we exit the planet, or alter our course? We all feel the dis-ease, the pain, the restlessness and urgency. This is the mirror. It is showing us what is wrong; it is telling us where we are in disharmony.

the word for shaman translates to “hollow man” or “hollow being.” It is the same idea as the hollow reed philosophy in Christianity.

Our wounds impact our ability to integrate the lessons that we learn. However, they don’t stop us from acquiring knowledge and passing it on to others.

face the truth of each moment, whether that moment is comfortable or not, without trying to repress it, suppress it, or understand it; to just be there with that raw naked truth and feel it in all of its fullness. If we try to understand it, justify it, or explain it away, we prevent ourselves from allowing it to teach us what we need to know and f