by Looks for Buffalo and
SandieLee
European Christmas for Native Americans actually started when the
Europeans came over to America. They taught the Indian about
Christianity, gift-giving, and St. Nicholas. There are actually two
religious types of Indian people in existence. One of these is the
Traditionalist, usually full-blooded Indians that grew up on the
reservations. The second type is the Contemporary Indian that grew up in
an urban area, usually of mixed blood, and brought up with Christian
philosophy.
Traditionalists are raised to respect the Christian Star and the
birth of the first Indian Spiritual Leader. He was a Star Person and
Avatar. His name was Jesus. He was a Hebrew, a Red Man. He received his
education from the wilderness. John the Baptist, Moses, and other
excellent teachers that came before Jesus provided an educational
foundation with the Holistic Method.
Everyday is our Christmas. Every meal is our Christmas. At every meal
we take a little portion of the food we are eating, and we offer it to
the spirit world on behalf of the four legged, and the winged, and the
two legged. We pray--not the way most Christians pray-- but we thank the
Grandfathers, the Spirit, and the Guardian Angel.
The Indian Culture is actually grounded in the traditions of a Roving
Angel. The life-ways of Roving Angels are actually the way Indian People
live. They hold out their hands and help the sick and the needy. They
feed and clothe the poor. We have high respect for the avatar because we
believe that it is in giving that we receive.
We are taught as Traditional children that we have abundance. The
Creator has given us everything: the water, the air we breathe, the
earth as our flesh, and our energy force: our heart. We are thankful
every day. We pray early in the morning, before sunrise, the morning
star, and the evening star. We pray for our relatives who are in the
universe that someday they will come. We also pray that the Great
Spirit's son will live again.
To the Indian People Christmas is everyday and they don't believe in
taking without asking. Herbs are prayed over before being gathered by
asking the plant for permission to take some cuttings. An offer of
tobacco is made to the plant in gratitude. We do not pull the herb out
by its roots, but cut the plant even with the surface of the earth, so
that another generation will be born its place.
It is really important that these ways never be lost. And to this day
we feed the elders, we feed the family on Christmas day, we honor Saint
Nicholas. We explain to the little children that to receive a gift is to
enjoy it, and when the enjoyment is gone, they are pass it on to the
another child, so that they, too, can enjoy it. If a child gets a doll,
that doll will change hands about eight times in a year, from one child
to another.
Everyday is Christmas in Indian Country. Daily living is centered
around the spirit of giving and walking the Red Road. Walking the Red
Road means making everything you do a spiritual act. If your neighbor,
John Running Deer, needs a potato masher; and you have one that you are
not using, you offer him yours in the spirit of giving. It doesn't
matter if it is Christmas or not.
If neighbors or strangers stop over to visit at your house, we offer
them dinner. We bring out the T-Bone steak, not the cabbage. If we don't
have enough, we send someone in the family out to get some more and
mention nothing of the inconvenience to our guests. The more one gives,
the more spiritual we become. The Christ Consciousness, the same spirit
of giving that is present at Christmas, is present everyday in Indian
Country.
Looks for Buffalo is an Oglala Sioux Spiritual Leader, the
full-blood Oglala grandson of Chief Red Cloud and White Cow Killer, and
a Cheyenne Oglala Leader. He saw in a vision that a White Buffalo was
coming to the people and that it would mean world peace. His vision
foretold of the White Buffalo that was born in Janesville, Wisconsin two
years ago. He resides on the Pine Ridge Reservation in SD; but can be
contacted for consulting or healings at (605)867-5762; P.O. Box 150,
Pine Ridge, SD 57770.
Sandie Lee Bohlig, spiritual healer, counsels and teaches around
the globe, but resides in the Twin Cities area: (612)936-9306.