INDIAN SPEECHES

THE INDIANS HELD SPEECHES FOR THE WHITE MEN.
1. THEY SAID THAT THEY WERE VERY PEACEFUL.
2. THEY RECITED THE INDIAN'S LAND HERITAGE.
3. THEY HAD CHARITIES EXTENDED TOWARD THE WHITES.
4. INDIANS GAVE CONCESSIONS TO THE ADVANCING WHITES.
5. THEY VOICED THEIR HOPES THAT SUCH A PROCESS WOULD BE PERMANENTLY ARRESTED
6. THEY EXPRESSED PEACE AND AMITY.

BLACK ELK - SHAMAN OF THE OGLALA SIOUX IN THE BLACK HILLS IN 1912 HELD A SACRED PIPE BEFORE HIM IN HIS RIGHT HAND AND SANG HIS SONG TO WAKAN TANKA, HIS CREATOR.
TODAY I SEND A VOICE FOR A PEOPLE IN DESPAIR. YOU HAVE GIVEN ME A SACRED PIPE, AND THROUGH THIS I SHOULD MAKE MY OFFERING.

FROM THE WEST YOU HAVE GIVEN ME THE CUP OF LIVING WATER AND THE SACRED BOW, THE POWER TO MAKE LIFE AND TO DESTROY IT. YOU'VE GIVEN ME THE SACRED WIND AND THE HERB FROM WHERE THE WHITE GIANT LIVES - THE CLEANSING POWER AND THE HEALING. THE DAYBREAK STAR AND THE PIPE, YOU HAVE GIVEN ME FROM THE EAST; AND FROM THE SOUTH THE NATION'S SACRED HOOP AND THE TREE THAT WAS TO BLOOM. TO THE CENTER OF THE WORLD YOU HAVE TAKEN ME AND SHOWED THE GOODNESS AND THE BEAUTY AND THE STRANGENESS OF THE GREENING EARTH, THE ONLY MOTHER, AND THERE THE SPIRIT-SHAPES OF THINGS, AS THEY SHOULD BE, YOU HAVE SHOWN ME, AND I HAVE SEEN.

WITH TEARS RUNNING, O GREAT SPIRIT, MY GRANDFATHER - WITH RUNNING EYES I MUST SAY NOW THAT THE TREE HAS NEVER BLOOMED. I HAVE FALLEN AWAY AND DONE NOTHING. HERE AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD WHERE YOU TOOK WHEN I WAS YOUNG AND TAUGHT ME HERE OLD I STAND, AND A TREE IS WITHERED, MY GRANDFATHER. I RECALL THE GREAT VISION YOU SENT ME. IT MAY BE THAT SOME LITTLE ROOT OF THE SACRED TREE STILL LIVES. NOURISH IT , THEN, THAT IT MAY LEAF AND BLOOM AND FILL WITH STINGING BIRDS. HEAR ME THAT MY SACRED PEOPLE MAY ONCE MORE GO BACK INTO THE SACRED HOOP AND FIND THE GOOD ROAD AND THE SHIELDING TREE.

VIRGINIA ARMSTRONG