Lessons From the Forest

Main >> Cultures & Beliefs >> Native American

LESSONS FROM THE FOREST - NvWaTiYi

Place of Good Medicine

Join me at my fire here in the forest. Sit on a log or spread out a blanket here by the fire. It's a woman's fire, you know, so there's always coffee and food.

Please,help yourself.

"The Fire has burned as long as the People have existed....That fire is the breath of life, it is the manifestation of pure mind, it is the clear light of things in their essential truth.. a symbol of the wisdom fire....the stirring of thought into action....That Fire of Clear Mind is in everyone and to remove any obscuration of its clarity is the duty of all people...that each may remember and find our way again to the source of our being."

From Voices of Our Ancestors, by Ven Ulisi Dhyani Ywahoo/Cherokee

I am Anita Atsila Galisgisgia.

I am Bird Clan Mother of my Cherokee people here in Texas and a Grandmother Guardian of this land, but mostly, well..I'm just a student in Life's journey

Osda, osda dv.

It is good to sit together.

It is good to share stories.

I'm glad you're here. Hayv!

Look around you you're smack dab in the middle of all five sacred elements: earth, air,

fire, water, and sacred sound. Now, that's something, isn't it?!

You know, living here in this magic forest I've learned to live with the seasons; without

the modern conveneinces of air conditioning, electricity or running water. What I once

thought was unbearable (temperatures ranging from 113F to 30F) now are just part of

life's beautiful rhythms. I have expereiced the joy of smoldering pine neeedles that turn

into the first sparks of carefully nurtured fire in spite of the rain. I came to understand

refelctions held in each drop of much needed water. Fire and water; different, yet the

same. Both have the power to tear apart or bring together. Both have the power to

cleanse and to heal. They can bring comfort and joy or devestation. Fire and water; a

reflection of the human nature.

When my sister and I first walked this land there were no birds, nor any other sign of nature's chldren, except for the intricate web of a funnel spider situated on the bank of a dry run-off, two box turtle shells, and the nest of a vulture made in an abandoned deer stand. You see, for a long time it had been leased to hunters; consequently, the animals had abandoned this killing ground. So, the first thing we did was to make prayers and offerings including cookies and tobacco for the Little People.

After I began living on the land, it became my habit to end each day walking its pathways as I sang my prayers. In turn, the children of this land starting coming back. As they did, they began to teach me.

First the birds began to return: the crows, woodpeckers, hummingbirds (they're partial to the well),hawks, cardinals, bluebirds and of course the whipporwills. Today the forest is filled with bird song.

Before long I met my first possum, a juvenile, and we began a freindly battle of wits that was resolved into a compromise that allowed each of us to get our needs met. That is until little possum became big guy possum. The truce was broken when he slipped into our tent one evening leaving it looking like he and the Tasmanian Devil had celebrated Mardi Gras in there. But the real corker was he took my jar of M&Ms! Well, that really did it. Disgusted with the whole mess, Tsali (my spouse) grabbed the slop jar and threw its contents down the possum hole telling Mister Possum, "You mess up my place. I'll mess up yours!" With boundaries firmly reestablished, peace was restored. Well, ya gotta admit, with a name like White Dog, it made a kind of sense.

Next was brother racoon. Though I have yet to meet him up close and personal, he has stopped tearing into things and dragging off my slippers and socks; however, it cost me my favorite rattle that I used in the evening songs. That rattle now lies somewhere in his den. Call me imaginative, but there are times when I am singing using my new rattle, when I hear the same sound and rhythm echo back at me. Brother Coon? Little People?

Life now abounds at Nvwatiyi. Even the deer have returned, giving us brief glimses from time to time as they eat from the tubs of deer corn we put out. Many evenings we are honored with the ceremonial songs of the coyotes. They sing of the da no la we ga, the time of the coming together. They are songs full of mystery and moonbeams.

Until Tsali moved out to the land, I was the only full-time resident. People used to ask me if I was afraid to live out here alone. I walked the forest in the moonlight. I sang and I prayed. Fear? NO. I respect all my relatives. They are teaching me their nature and their ways. I know my heart and my intent. I know they see into my soul and know these things as well. If my intent was different, or if I did not heed their lessons, then yes, I should be afraid. But then too, did I truly live alone?

I lived then, as I do now in the midst of life, its rhythms and its magic: the lessons of life and of death. After I had been given a reminder of my own mortality in the form of Heart Failure (a story of miracles for another time) I have cherished each day even more. I have come to realize that even though as our people say, tla ya chi 'ska ha, I am not afraid (to die), I am also not afraid to live.

There were many times I would be in my tent drumming or writing to the rhythm of the rain. Have you ever noticed that the rhythm of the rain and the rhythm of ones heart beat combines to create the same music that we,as native people dance to? I think it is the universal music; the first music.

The rain, the mud (mud's o.k. it washes off), the trees, the songs, the critters: I just love this way of life. Living a traditional life, especially one so seemingly primitive is definetely NOT Burger King; you know, where you can have it your way. Yet when we open our hearts to all that is being offered, its really a grand feast.

Here. Have some bean bread. Now that's real Cherokee food!

Una tla nv hi

I send a voice...a prayer...as I greet the day.

FOR OUR ELDERS; they are the keepers of all that we have been.

May they always feel and may we always show

the respect and care that is their due.

FOR THE MEN NATION; they are the backbone of the People.

May they once again wear the mantle of strength sewn with wisdom

the white robe of the Peacekeepers.

FOR THE WOMENS NATION; they are the heart of the People.

May they know and walk in beauty

remembering that true strength lies in gentleness of spirit.

FOR THE RAINBOW NATION; they are our relatives.

May they renew their relationship with Mother Earth in an embrace of healing,

and in that embrace receive tomorrow.

FOR THE CHILDREN; they are the keepers of all that we might become.

May they have the sacred fire of spirit and the understanding

to keep alive from the past all that is good

the wisdom to discard from the present all that destroys

and the vision to choose for the future that which builds.