legend


The native North American tribes have many myths of the spirits of the land.
One of the most fearsome is the bokwus.
It is the spirit that you always feel watching you as you move through he deep woods.
Occassionally you may catch a glimpse of his war-painted face as he peeks around a tree.
He appears often near rushing water, using the sound to cover his approach, then when close enough, he pushed the hapless victim into the water. The bokwus also takes the spirits of the drowned to his home in the forest as soon as they are freed from their bodies.
What he does with them there, no one knows.

A group of fairies called the nagumwasuck are well know to the Passamaquoddy indian tribe. These spirits though ugly, are very helpful and create good luck in all of the tribe's activities. They are rarely seen, since their ugly appearance makes them very self-conscious. So whenever there is a human about they quickly dodge out of sight. In the deep subterranean caves of North America there live the outdoors, a race of small tribal people very much like Indians. They have many magical powers which they use to keep certain gigantic earth spirits and demons from emerging and devastating the earth. Among the Algonquin Indians of North Eastern United States and Canada, there is the myth of the Manitou. the Manitou is a stoic race of faerie folk who live in tribes similar to the Indians. They can be recognized by the small horns or antlers on their foreheads. Though neither particularly kind to the tribes in their areas, they were neither as malicious as some of the traditional faeries. They were often depicted as being tricksters. One Manitou whose original name: Wee-sa-kee-jac, has been Europeanized into Whisky-Jack, was said to have the head of the coyotee, and was especially known for his tricks. The Manitou possessed strong magic, which the Indians believed came from their music, produced through drumming.

The Winter When the Stars Fell
It was the Winter when the Stars fell. The white men said it was November 12th, 1833. It was our Month of the Snapping Trees. The evening started quietly; the stars and constellations turning slowly silently overhead. Every now and then a meteor, like a falling star, would streak across the heavens as on any evening. But this was to be no ordinary night. For now there were falling stars everywhere, and then more; thousands every minute. Beyond all counting.
The four-leggeds and the winged ones stirred and moaned and no one slept that night. Our wise men said it was a bad sign, that the falling stars were like the white men falling by the thousands upon our land, coming at first a few at a time, but now coming in great steams, pouring from the east upon the lands promised to us for all time, and still they came. And our wise men were right, for we heard that the white man's president, Andrew Jackson, who was proud of fighting Indians, said that very year, "Those Indian tribes cannot exist near our settlements. They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor a desire for improvement. Established in the midst of our superior race, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear." Could the ashes of the council fires that once stretched across this continent be given the power to speak, what stories they would tell; stories about the time long ago when the world was young, when animals could speak and share their wisdom with us. "The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians: their lands and property shall never be taken from them." U.S. Congress, 1789.
"No white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon, to occupy, or to pass through any portion of this territory without the consent of the Indians." Treaty of 1868 Santanta...Kiowa (who committed suicide while in captivity)
"The soldiers cut down the trees; they kill the buffalo and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting.
Has the white man become a child that he should recklessly kill and not eat?" General Phil Sheridan "The only good Indians I ever saw were dead." Red Jacket, Seneca "We were born naked and have been taught to hunt and live on game. You tell us that we must learn to farm, live in one house and take on your ways. Suppose the people living beyond the great sea should come and tell YOU that you must stop farming, and kill YOUR cattle and take YOUR houses and lands!

What would you do? Would you not fight them?"
Gall, Sioux "They talked and talked for days, but it was just like the wind blowing in the end."
Black Elk, Sioux "Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? We also have a religion, which was given to our forefathers. It teaches us to be thankful for all the gifts we receive and to love each other. We never quarrel about religion. Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion, or take it from you, we only want to follow our own." General John Chivington, who led the Sand Creek Massacre, "Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians! I have come to KILL Indians, and believe it is right and honorable to use any means under God's heaven to kill Indians."


The world has grown older now, bowed with many winter snows. The ground is no longer young. It is the dust and blood of our ancestors. But the stories are like the stars, they never change. The voices pause, there is scarcely any twilight left. The dying fires seem to draw inward a cool night wind from all directions and on that wind come voices. There must always be stories. But now, the wind and voices whisper, their wind song now among the stars. I look upward to the stars, into the fire and beyond. I do not forget the stories, nor the stars. Brookie M. Craig
What is a Warrior?

A Warrior is the protector of his family, clan and his tribe. A Warrior is the guardian, of the old ways so that, they are not forgotten. A Warrior is not motivated by greed, political ambition or fame. A Warrior will not put himself above others in need. And above all, A Warrior is the living spirit of our Grandfathers! anon