Native Spirit Culture, 1942 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302 (2024)

18/06/2024

𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝙎𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩🔥
Red Shirt (Oglala Lakota: Ógle Šá in Standard Lakota Orthography) (a/k/a "Ogilasa" and "Joseph Red Shirt") (1847-January 4, 1925) was an Oglala Lakota chief, warrior and statesman. Red Shirt is notable in American history as a U.S. Army Native Scout and a progressive Oglala Lakota leader who promoted friendly associations with whites and education for his people. Red Shirt opposed Crazy Horse during the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877 and the Ghost Dance Movement of 1890, and was a Lakota delegate to Washington in 1880. Red Shirt was one of the first Wild Westers with Buffalo Bill's Wild West and a supporter of the Carlisle Native Industrial School. Red Shirt became an international celebrity Wild Westing with Buffalo Bill's Wild West and his 1887 appearance in England captured the attention of Europeans and presented a progressive image of Native Americans.

18/06/2024

Walla Walla – People of Many Waters

A Sahaptin tribe who lived for centuries on the Columbia River Plateau in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington, their name is translated several ways but, most often, as “many waters.” While the people have their own distinct dialect, their language is closely related to the Nez Perce. The tribe included many groups and bands that were often referred to by their village names, such as Wallulapum and Chomnapum.

A hunter-gatherer tribe, they lived in “tents” that were easy to move. However, their lodging differed from many other nomadic tribes, in that it was bigger and covered with tule mats rather than hides. Called a longhouse, it was made out of lodge poles much like a tepee, but was much longer, sometimes as much as 80 feet in length. Resembling a modern-day “A” frame house in appearance, the lodge poles were covered with mats made of tule, a plant that grows freely in the area along waterways. When the tribe moved, the mats were gathered and moved and the lodge poles left behind.

Beginning in the early 1700s the Walla Walla people raised great herds of horses, making their lifestyle much easier as they gathered seasonal plants. They also traveled across the Rocky Mountains to trade dried roots and salmon to the Plains Indians for buffalo meat and hides.

The people were first encountered by white travelers during the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805. The explorers were warmly welcomed by Chief Yellepit, whose village of about 15 lodges, was situated on the Columbia River near the mouth of the Walla Walla River. The communication between the two groups was made between a Shoshone woman who had been captured by the Walla Walla and the expedition’s guide and interpreter, Sacagawea, who was also of the Shoshone tribe. Though Yelleppit extended an offer to the expedition to stay with the village, Lewis and Clark were in a hurry to reach the Pacific Ocean. However, they promised to spend a few days on their return. In April 1806, as the explorers began to make their way back east, the expedition spent several days with the Walla Walla, during which time, gifts were exchanged and goods traded. Two of the items left by the expedition with the tribe was a peace medal engraved with a portrait of Thomas Jefferson and a small American flag. In their documentation, Lewis and Clark estimated the tribe’s numbers as 1,600; however, this probably included other bands now recognized as independent.

The next non-native to encounter the Walla Walla people was a trader by the name of David Thompson of the Canadian-British North West Company, who arrived in 1811. About five miles upriver from Chief Yellepit’s village, he staked a pole with a note claiming the territory for the British Crown and declaring that the North West Company intended to build a trading post at the site. Continuing downriver, Thompson stopped at Yellepit’s village, where he discovered the American “claims” in the form of Yellepit’s flag and medal. Though neither Lewis and Clark or Thompson had much power to actually lay claim to the region, Yellepit was very supportive of the idea of Canadians setting up a trading post nearby.

18/06/2024

Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and a National Board of Review Award.
𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞 : www.giftnativestore.com/tee102
He has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Emmy Awards. Elliott was cast in the musical drama A Star Is Born (2018), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding prizes at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards. He also won a National Board of Review Award. Elliott starred as Shea Brennan in the American drama miniseries 1883 (2021–2022), for which he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie.
Elliott is known for his distinctive lanky physique, full mustache, and deep, sonorous voice. He began his acting career with minor appearances in The Way West (1967), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), season five of Mission: Impossible, and guest-starred on television in the Western Gunsmoke (1972) before landing his first lead film role in Frogs (1972). His film breakthrough was in the drama Lifeguard (1976). Elliott co-starred in the box office hit Mask (1985) and went on to star in several Louis L'Amour adaptations such as The Quick and the Dead (1987) and Conagher (1991), the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. He received his second Golden Globe and first Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Buffalo Girls (1995). His other film credits from the early 1990s include as John Buford in the historical drama Gettysburg (1993) and as Virgil Earp in the Western Tombstone (also 1993). In 1998, he played the Stranger in The Big Lebowski.
In the 2000s, Elliott appeared in supporting roles in the drama We Were Soldiers (2002) and the superhero films Hulk (2003) and Ghost Rider (2007). In 2015, he guest-starred on the series Justified, which earned him a Critics' Choice Television Award, and in 2016 began starring in the Netflix series The Ranch. Elliott subsequently had a lead role in the comedy-drama The Hero.
𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁 ❤️
𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:👉 www.giftnativestore.com/tee102

17/06/2024

Red Cloud (1822-1909) Born in what is now North Platte, Nebraska, Red Cloud spent most of his young life at war.
The Oglala Lakota Sioux leader’s fighting skills made him one of the most formidable opponents of the U.S. Army, and in 1866-1868, he led a victorious campaign, known as Red Cloud’s War, which resulted in his taking control over Wyoming and southern Montana territory. In fact, fellow Lakota leader, Crazy Horse, played an important role in that battle that led to many U.S. casualties.
Red Cloud’s win led to the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868, which gave his tribe ownership of the Black Hills, but these protected expanses of land in South Dakota and Wyoming quickly became encroached upon by white settlers looking for gold. Red Cloud, along with other Native American leaders, traveled to Washington D.C. to persuade President Grant to honor the treaties that were originally agreed upon.
Although he didn’t find a peaceful solution, he did not participate in the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877, which was led by his fellow tribesmen, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Regardless, Red Cloud continued to travel to Washington D.C. to fight for his people and ended up outliving all the major Sioux leaders. In 1909 he died at the age of 87 and was buried at Pine Ridge Reservation.

17/06/2024

“Before I was six years old, my grandparents and my mother had taught me that if all the green things that grow were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the four-legged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all the winged creatures were taken from the earth, there could be no life. If all our relatives who crawl and swim and live within the earth were taken away, there could be no life. But if all the human beings were taken away, life on earth would flourish. That is how insignificant we are.”
Russell Means, Oglala Lakota Nation (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012).

17/06/2024

❤️GRAHAM GREENE - Born June 22, 1952, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ohsweken, Ontario, Mr. Greene is a 68 year old FIRST NATIONS Canadian actor who belongs to the ONEIDA tribe. He has worked on stage, in film, and in TV productions in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his 1990 performance in "Dances with Wolves". Other films you may have seen him in include Thunderheart, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, the Green Mile, and Wind River. Graham Greene graduated from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in 1974 & immediately began performing in professional theatre in Toronto and England, while also working as an audio technician for area rock bands. His TV debut was in 1979 and his screen debut in 1983. His acting career has now spanned over 4 decades & he remains as busy as ever. In addition to the Academy Award nomination for Dance with Wolves, he has been consistently recognized for his work, and also received nominations in 1994, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2016. Graham Greene lives in Toronto, Canada, married since 1994, and has 1 adult daughter.
❤️I think you will be proud to wear this T-shirt 👇
www.giftnativestore.com/tee102

16/06/2024

Why Isn’t This Map in the History Books?
By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. But centuries ago, the land that is now the United States was a very different place. Over 20 million Native Americans dispersed across over 1,000 distinct tribes, bands, and ethnic groups populated the territory.
History is not there for you to like or dislike. It is there for you to learn from it. And if it offends you, even better. Because then you are less likely to repeat it. It’s not yours for you to erase or destroy.
❤️𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱
𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:👉 https://www.giftnativestore.com/poster20

16/06/2024

❤️Well worth reading
Actor, film director, film producer and musician Keanu Charles Reeves (Keanu Charles Reeves),
❤️Get your t-shirt: https://www.giftnativestore.com/tee72
Missed the first 20 minutes of the party dedicated to the end of filming of his new movie at one of the clubs in New York.
He waited patiently in the rain to be let in.
No one recognized him.
The club owner said: “I didn't even know Keanu was standing in the rain waiting to get in - he didn't say anything to anyone.”
"He travels by public transport."
"He easily communicates with homeless people on the streets and helps them."
- He was only 60 years old (September 2, 1964)
- He can only eat hot dogs in the park, sitting among normal people.
- After filming one of the "Matrix", he gave all the stuntmen a new motorcycle - in recognition of their skills.
- He gave up most of the salaries of the costume designers and computer scientists who drew the special effects on "The Matrix" - deciding that their share of the film's budget was assessed short.
- He reduced his salary for the movie "The Devil's Advocate" to have enough money to invite Al Pacino.
- Almost at the same time his best friend passed away; His girlfriend lost a child and soon died in a car accident, and his sister suffered from leukemia.
Keanu didn't fail: he donated $5 million to the clinic that treated his sister, refused to be filmed (to be with her), and founded the Leukemia Foundation, donating significant amounts from each fee for the movie.
You may have been born a man, but stay a man..
Also read about Keanu
❤️Visit the store to support Native American products 👇
https://www.giftnativestore.com/tee72

16/06/2024

Pueblo refers to the settlements and to the Native American tribes of the Pueblo peoples in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlements in the United States, are called pueblos

Spanish explorers of northern New Spain used the term pueblo to refer to permanent Indigenous towns they found in the region, mainly in New Mexico and parts of Arizona, in the former province of Nuevo México. This term continued to be used to describe the communities housed in apartment structures built of stone, adobe, and other local material. The structures were usually multi-storied buildings surrounding an open plaza, with rooms accessible only through ladders raised and lowered by the inhabitants, thus protecting them from break-ins and unwanted guests. Larger pueblos were occupied by hundreds to thousands of Puebloan people.

Several federally recognized tribes have traditionally resided in pueblos of such design. Later Pueblo Deco and modern Pueblo Revival architecture, which mixes elements of traditional Pueblo and Hispano design, has continued to be a popular architectural style in New Mexico.

The term is now part of the proper name of some historical sites, such as Pueblo of Acoma.

Etymology and usage

One teaching simply refers to "pueblo" as a type of adobe house or dwelling place.

The word pueblo is the Spanish word both for "town" or "village" and for "people". It comes from the Latin root word populus meaning "people". Spanish colonials applied the term to their own civic settlements, but to only those Native American settlements having fixed locations and permanent buildings. Less-permanent native settlements (such as those found in California) were often referred to as rancherías, however, the oldest area of Los Angeles was known as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señorala Reina de los Ángeles del Rio de Porciúncula or El Pueblo de Los Angeles for short.

On the central Spanish Meseta the unit of settlement was and is the pueblo; which is to say, the large nucleated village surrounded by its own fields, with no outlying farms, separated from its neighbors by some considerable distance, sometimes as much as ten miles [16 km] or so. The demands of agrarian routine and the need for defense, the simple desire for human society in the vast solitude of, dictated that it should be so. Nowadays the pueblo might have a population running into thousands. Doubtless, they were much smaller in the early middle ages, but we should probably not be far wrong if we think of them as having had populations of some hundreds.

In the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, specifically in the region between Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos, the word "pueblo" defines a "distinct cultural group in the Southwestern United States" and their villages. The Holmes Museum of Anthropology defines this specific group as a "common culture with individual variances [that] connects them.

Pueblo tribes
Of the federally recognized Native American communities in the Southwest, those designated by the King of Spain as pueblo at the time Spain ceded territory to the United States, after the American Revolutionary War, are legally recognized as Pueblo by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Some of the pueblos also came under the jurisdiction of the United States, in its view, by its treaty with Mexico, which had briefly gained rule over territory in the Southwest ceded by Spain after Mexican independence. There are 21 federally recognized Pueblos that are home to Pueblo peoples.

15/06/2024

Sometimes in life we will become lost, if we keep walking we will find our way again. Everything circles around.
Our elders left a great legacy of culture, language, songs, ceremonies for us. Its our responsibility to learn and carry them on.

15/06/2024

❤️Well worth reading
Actor, film director, film producer and musician Keanu Charles Reeves (Keanu Charles Reeves),
❤️Get your t-shirt: https://www.giftnativestore.com/tee67
Missed the first 20 minutes of the party dedicated to the end of filming of his new movie at one of the clubs in New York.
He waited patiently in the rain to be let in.
No one recognized him.
The club owner said: “I didn't even know Keanu was standing in the rain waiting to get in - he didn't say anything to anyone.”
"He travels by public transport."
"He easily communicates with homeless people on the streets and helps them."
- He was only 60 years old (September 2, 1964)
- He can only eat hot dogs in the park, sitting among normal people.
- After filming one of the "Matrix", he gave all the stuntmen a new motorcycle - in recognition of their skills.
- He gave up most of the salaries of the costume designers and computer scientists who drew the special effects on "The Matrix" - deciding that their share of the film's budget was assessed short.
- He reduced his salary for the movie "The Devil's Advocate" to have enough money to invite Al Pacino.
- Almost at the same time his best friend passed away; His girlfriend lost a child and soon died in a car accident, and his sister suffered from leukemia.
Keanu didn't fail: he donated $5 million to the clinic that treated his sister, refused to be filmed (to be with her), and founded the Leukemia Foundation, donating significant amounts from each fee for the movie.
You may have been born a man, but stay a man..
Also read about Keanu
❤️Visit the store to support Native American products 👇
https://www.giftnativestore.com/tee67

15/06/2024

Congratulations The Sioux Chef for this incredible award. Minnesota is so lucky to have Sean, whose innovative dishes and mission to uplift Indigenous foods have already touched so many.
Well deserved, Chef!

14/06/2024

Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone (December 13, 1882 – January 10, 1985) was a Muscogee singer, performer, and Native American activist, born in Eufaula, Oklahoma, within the Muscogee Nation. She was born to Cherokee and Creek parents and stood out from her 9 siblings musically. From 1908 she toured regularly with Charles Wakefield Cadman, a composer and pianist who gave lectures about Native American music that were accompanied by his compositions and her singing. He composed classically based works associated with the Indianist movement. They toured in the United States and Europe.

She collaborated with him and Nelle Richmond Eberhart on the libretto of the opera Shanewis (or "The Robin Woman," 1918), which was based on her semi-autobiographical stories and contemporary issues for Native Americans. It premiered at the Metropolitan Opera. Redfeather sang the title role when the opera was on tour, making her debut when the work was performed in Denver in 1924, and also performing in it in Los Angeles in 1926.

After her performing career, she worked as an activist on Indian education, co-founding the American Indian Education Foundation. She also supported Native American archeology and ethnology, serving on the Board of Managers for the School of American Research founded in Santa Fe by Alice Cunningham Fletcher.

Early life
Tsianina Redfeather was born Florence Tsianina Evans at Eufaula, Muscogee Nation, in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), to Muscogee parents. Her ancestors were forced from their homeland in the Southeast United States and forced to march on the trail of tears. All nine of Tsianina's siblings had musical talent, but she was the best. She began training at the age of 14 in Denver, Colorado, sponsored in part by Alice Robertson. She had earned scholarships in Denver and New York City. While training in Denver, Tsianina became a mezzo-soprano virtuoso and met Charles Cadman, an American pianist, who later became her partner in touring and performing across the globe.

Career
At age 26, Redfeather joined American pianist Charles Wakefield Cadman on tour, giving recitals throughout North America. Cadman, who was white, had studied Native American music from ethnology sources and was lecturing on it, starting in 1908. He also was creating work drawn from Indian music. In the summer of 1909 he went to Nebraska, where he studied Omaha and Winnebago music on the reservations. He also learned to play some traditional instruments.

Beginning in 1908, Cadman conducted lecture tours speaking about American Indian music and performed recitals on the subject, including his own songs, and accompanied by Redfeather as singer. They began touring and performing in the capitals of Europe and the Metropolitan Opera House with most of the major symphony orchestras in the United States. As "Princess Tsianina Redfeather", she performed Cadman's compositions wearing traditional costume, with her hair in long braids. She beaded her own garments and signature headband. Cadman's composition "From The Land of Sky-Blue Water" was written especially for her and became Redfeather's signature song.

She collaborated with Cadman and his librettist Nelle Richmond Eberhart in creating the opera Shanewis (or The Robin Woman). Its contemporary plot was loosely based on Redfeather's semi-autobiographical stories of Native American life, and was set in California and Oklahoma. The work debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1918 and was performed also the next season. Highly popular, it toured the United States. Tsianina sang the lead at some performances on tour, making her opera debut in the role in Denver in 1924. She reprised it in 1926 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

During World War I in 1918, Redfeather was the head of a YMCA-sponsored troupe of Native American entertainers who toured France and Germany, performing for American troops. The title of the show was "The Indian of yesterday and today." She described the others as "twenty Indian boys". She and Cadman debuted Shanewis at the Metropolitan Opera; the cast received 22 curtain calls. Cadman based the opera on Native American stories told by Tsianina. This opera became the first contemporary opera to be performed for a second season at the Met.General John J. Pershing honored her as one of the first women to volunteer to entertain the troops. She was the first woman to cross the Rhine to reach US troops in Germany.

In 1922 Redfeather performed for a group of real estate investors including Dr. D.O. Norton who had built a resort property near Fort Collins. The investors were so moved by her performance they named their mountain village in her honor and gave Indian names to much of the area.

In 1935, Redfeather retired from singing but was still working on Indian issues. She was one of the founders of the American Indian Education Foundation (AIEF). She also served for 30 years on the Board of Managers for the School of American Research in Santa Fe. Intended to promote archeological and ethnological research in the United States related to Native Americans, the institute was founded by ethnologist Alice Cunningham Fletcher.

Amateur archaeologist Edgar Lee Hewett, who had achieved some status and donated substantial money to the school, was made director. Redfeather recounted that upon meeting Hewett, he told her that he admired the shape of her head and hoped to have it for his museum after she died. "He frightened me," she recalled, "and I had a secret fear of having my skull on display for all to see."

14/06/2024

Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa was born on August 1, 1979, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
❤️I think you will be proud to wear this T-shirt 👇
https://www.giftnativestore.com/tee53
He is the son of Coni (Lemke), a photographer, and Joseph Momoa, a painter. His father is of Native Hawaiian and Samoan descent; and his mother, who is from Iowa, is of German, Irish, and Native American ancestry. His interest in biology led him to take classes at a community college in Des Moines, Iowa, before moving to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he waited tables. He later moved to back to Hawaii to reconnect with his father and enrolled in the University of Hawaii’s marine biology program. Japanese-born American international fashion designer Takeo Kobayashi discovered Momoa, then aged 19, and encouraged him to pursue a modeling career. Momoa left the university and worked briefly in that industry before landing his first acting role, as a young lifeguard in the television series Baywatch: Hawaii.
Momoa was cast in his first leading role in a major motion picture in 2010, as the title character in Conan the Barbarian (2011). However, it was his turn as Khal Drogo, the fierce leader of the Dothraki people, during the first two seasons of HBO’s blockbuster television series Game of Thrones (2011–19) that captured the attention of Hollywood directors. In 2014 American director Zack Snyder cast Momoa in the role of Aquaman (a half-human, half-Atlantean being who possesses the powers to manipulate water and communicate with marine animals). Although the film Aquaman was not released until 2018, Momoa appeared in the role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017), two other other Snyder-directed films based on the DC Comics franchise. He was later cast as the legendary swordsman Duncan Idaho in Canadian film director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune (2021). During the same period, Momoa continued to act in television series: he played the ex-convict Phillip Kopus in The Red Road (2014–15), the fur-trading outlaw Declan Harp in Frontier (2016–18), and Baba Voss, the chief of the Alkenny, in See (2019– ).
❤️I think you will be proud to wear this T-shirt 👇
https://www.giftnativestore.com/tee53

14/06/2024

Our Ancestors endured so much to preserve our way of life. We are here because, through it all, they never gave up. Their sacrifices demand our appreciation.
Make the choice today to live in a way that honors them and their sacrifices. When you feel like giving up, remember the same greatness that was in them is in us, even if we have not discovered it yet.
Our ancestors didn't live for themselves but for the seven generations ahead. Let us walk in that same spirit. You can't give up because you are laying the foundation for those that will walk after us

13/06/2024

The Custer Massacre Sheridan, Wyoming Burlington Route. Date: 1900-1910. A Native American (Crow) man poses on the edge of a river as part of the reenactment of the Battle of Little Bighorn near Sheridan, Wyoming. He holds a staff with a bayonet and wears leggings, armbands, a beaded vest, bead necklaces, and a warbonnet feather headdress. (White Man Runs Him).

13/06/2024

❤️GRAHAM GREENE - Born June 22, 1952, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ohsweken, Ontario, Mr. Greene is a 68 year old FIRST NATIONS Canadian actor who belongs to the ONEIDA tribe. He has worked on stage, in film, and in TV productions in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his 1990 performance in "Dances with Wolves". Other films you may have seen him in include Thunderheart, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, the Green Mile, and Wind River. Graham Greene graduated from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in 1974 & immediately began performing in professional theatre in Toronto and England, while also working as an audio technician for area rock bands. His TV debut was in 1979 and his screen debut in 1983. His acting career has now spanned over 4 decades & he remains as busy as ever. In addition to the Academy Award nomination for Dance with Wolves, he has been consistently recognized for his work, and also received nominations in 1994, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2016. Graham Greene lives in Toronto, Canada, married since 1994, and has 1 adult daughter.
❤️I think you will be proud to wear this T-shirt 👇
https://www.giftnativestore.com/tee89

12/06/2024

𝗔 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗟𝗬 𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗
𝗟𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗬 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗪𝗟 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘
Many, many years ago when the Earth was still quite new, there was a beautiful butterfly who lost her mate in battle. To show her grief, she took off her beautiful wings and wrapped herself in a drab cocoon. In her sadness, she could not eat and she could not sleep and her relatives kept coming to her lodge to see if she was okay.
Of course she wasn't, but she didn't want to be a burden on her people so she packed up her wings and her medicine bundle and took off on a long journey. She wandered about for many days and months, until finally she had gone all around the world.
On her journey she kept her eyes downcast and stepped on each stone she came to as she crossed fields and creeks and streams. Finally, one day as she was looking down, she happened to notice the stone beneath her feet, and it was so beautiful that it healed her sorrow.
She then cast aside her cocoon, shook the dust from her wings, and donned them once more. She was so happy she began to dance to give thanks for another chance to begin her life anew. Then she went home and told The People about her long journey and how it had healed her.
To this day,The People dance this dance as an expression of renewal, and to give thanks for new seasons, new life, and new beginnings.
The shawl in the Fancy Shawl Dance represents the butterfly's wings, the fancy steps and twirls represent the butterfly's style of flight. This is another reason you will sometimes hear the Fancy Shawl Competition Dance referred to as " the butterfly dance."

12/06/2024

John Fire Lame Deer (Lakota: Tȟáȟča Hušté; March 17, 1903 – December 14, 1976), also known as Lame Deer, John Fire and John (Fire) Lame Deer, was a Lakota medicine man. He was from the Miniconjou band of the Lakota tribe. His grandfather was the Mincionjou leader Lame Deer, and his son was Archie Fire Lame Deer.

When he was sixteen, he had his first hanblechia, or "vision-seeking", a Lakota ceremony that is a quest for a vision. Lame Deer named himself after his grandfather after seeing him in a vision.

Birth
Lame Deer was born on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. His father was Silas Fire Let-Them-Have-Enough. His mother was Sally Red Blanket. He lived with his grandparents until he was 6 or 7, and then he was placed in a day school until he was fourteen. He was sent to a boarding school run by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. The boarding school tried to assimilate Native Americans to be more like white people. Lame Deer's mother died of tuberculosis in 1920. His father then moved north to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. He left Lame Deer with land and livestock, which Lame Deer quickly sold.

Youth
Lame Deer's young days were rough and wild. He worked in rodeos as a rider and as a rodeo clown. He spent time as a heyoka, a sacred clown. He also joined the Native American Church. He was a tribal policeman for a short time. He drank alcohol, gambled, and stole cars. He learned English in saloons, prison, and the U.S. Army.

He made his home at the Pine Ridge Reservation. Lame Deer became known to the Lakota and the American public. He performed pipe ceremonies. He went to American Indian Movement events, including sit-ins at the Black Hills, which are a sacred place for the Lakota people. It was taken by the United States government after the discovery of gold in the area.

Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions
In 1972, Richard Erdoes published the book Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions. The book is a collection of interviews with Lame Deer. Lame Deer talks about Lakota culture and his life as a teacher and a healer.

Native Spirit Culture

18/06/2024

18/06/2024

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