NAVAJO CHANT
======================================================
Teach your children
What we have taught our children---
That the earth is our mother.
Whatever befalls the earth
Befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
If men spit upon the ground,
They spit upon themselves.

This we know.
The earth does not belong to us;
We belong to the earth.
This we know.
All things are connected
Like the blood which unites one family.
All things are connected.

Whatever befalls the earth
Befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
We did not weave the web of life;
We are merely a strand in it.
Whatever we do to the web,
We do to ourselves….

CHIEF SEATTLE
======================================================
Earth mother, star mother,
You who are called by
A thousand names,
May all remember
We are cells in your body
And dance together>
You are the grain
And the loaf
That sustains each day,
And as you are patient
with our struggles to learn
So shall we be patient
With ourselves and each other.
We are radiant light
And sacred dark
--the balance—
You are the embrace that heartens
And the freedom beyond fear.
Within you we are born
We grow, live, and die---
You bring us around the circle
To rebirth,Within us you dance
Forever.

STARHAWK
======================================================
I was born part of this earth.
My Grandmother Earth.
I was born part of this earth.
My Mother, all living beings.
I was born part of this earth.
My Grandfather, the sky.
I was born part of this earth.
My Father, all creatures of the earth.
The eight Grandfathers.
I was born part of this earth.
The four corners of the earth.
I was born part of this earth.
The great wind giant of the North.
I was born part of this earth.
The red road of the dead.
I was born part of this earth.
The blue and black road of destruction.
I was born part of this earth.
The old ones say
The old way’s gone,
The old ones say.
Still,
I was born part of this earth.

DANIEL WESTERN
======================================================
We live by the sun
We feel by the moon
We move by the stars

We live in all things
All things live in us

We eat from the earth
We drink from the rain
We breathe of the air

We live in all things
All things live in us

We call to each other
We listen to each other
Our hearts deepen with love and compassion

We live in all things
All things live in us

We depend on the trees and animals
We depend on the earth
Our minds open with wisdom and insight

We live in all things
All things live in us

We dedicate our practice to others
We include all forms of life
We celebrate the joy of living-dying

We live in all things
All things live in us
We are full of life
We are full of death
We are grateful for all beings and companions

STEPHANIE KAZA, GREEN GULCH FARM
======================================================

The great sea has set me in motion
Set me adrift,
And I move as a weed in the river.

The arch of sky
And mightiness of storms
Encompasses me,
And I am left
Trembling with joy.

ESKIMO SONG
======================================================
Now Talking God
With your feet I walk
I walk with your limbs
I carry forth your body
For me your mind thinks
Your voice speaks for me
Beauty is before me
And beauty is behind me
Above and below me hovers the beautiful
I am surrounded by it
I am immersed in it
In my youth I am aware of it
And in old age I shall walk quietly
The beautiful trail.

NATIVE AMERICAN PRAYER
======================================================
And I thought over again
My small adventures
As with a shore-wind I drifted out
In my kayak
And thought I was in danger,

My fears,
Those small ones
That I thought so big
For all the vital things
I had to get and to reach.

And yet, there is only
One great thing,
The only thing:
To live to see in huts and on journeys
The great day that dawns,
And the light that fills the world.

INUIT SONG
======================================================
The beauty of the trees,
The softness of the air,
The fragrance of the grass,
Speaks to me.

The summit of the mountain,
The thunder of the sky,
The rhythm of the sea,
Speaks to me.

The faintness of the stars,
The freshness of the morning,
The dewdrop of the flower,
Speaks to me.

The strength of fire,
The taste of salmon,
The trail of the sun,
And the life that never goes away,
They speak to me.

And my heart soars.

CHIEF DAN GEORGE
======================================================
Hey! Lean to hear my feeble voice.
At the center of the sacred hoop
You have said I should make the tree bloom.
With tears running, O Great Spirit, my
Grandfather,
With running eyes I must say
The tree has never bloomed
Here I stand, and the tree is withered.
Again, I recall the great vision you gave 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 singing birds!
Hear me, that the people may once again
Find the good road
And the shielding tree.

BLACK ELK
======================================================
When the animals come to us,
Asking for our help,
Will we know what they are saying?

When the plants speak to us
In their delicate, beautiful language,
Will we be able to answer them?

When the planet herself
Sings to us in our dreams,
Will we be able to wake ourselves, and act?

GARY LAWLESS
======================================================
Grandfather,
Look at our brokenness.

We know that in all creation
Only the human family
Has strayed from the Sacred Way.

We know that we are the ones
Who are divided
And we are the ones
Who must come back together
To walk in the Sacred Way.

Grandfather,
Sacred One,
Teach us love, compassion, and honor
That we may heal the earth
And heal each other.

OJIBWAY PRAYER
======================================================
We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring heights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it:

Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the mountains, the Cascades and the Olympics, the high green valleys and the meadows filled with wild flowers, the snows that never melt, the summits of intense silence, and we ask that they:

Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon,
That flow in our rivers and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields, and we ask that they:

Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields, the abundant gardens and orchards, and we ask that they:

Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the forest, the great trees reaching strongly to the sky with earth in their roots and the heavens in their branches, the fir and the pine and the cedar, and we ask them to:

Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the creatures of the fields and the forest and the seas, our brothers and sisters the wolves and deer, the eagle and dove, the great whales and the dolphin, the beautiful Orca and salmon who share our Northwest home, and we ask them to:

Teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our ancestors and our friends, who dreamed the best for future generations, and upon whose lives our lives are built, and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to:

Teach us, and show us the way.

And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the presence and power of the Great Spirit of love and truth which flows through all the universe…to be with us to:

Teach us and show us the way.

CHINOOK BLESSING LITANY
======================================================
House made of dawn.
House made of evening light.
House made of the dark cloud.
House made of male rain.
House made of dark mist.
House made of female rain.
House made of pollen.
House made of grasshoppers.

Dark cloud is at the door.
The trail out of it is dark cloud.
The zigzag lightning stands high upon it.
An offering I make.
Restore my feet for me.
Restore my legs for me.
Restore my body for me.
Restore my mind for me.
Restore my voice for me.
This very day take out your spell for me.

Happily I recover.
Happily my interior becomes cool.
Happily I go forth.
My interior feeling cool, may I walk.
No longer sore, may I walk.
Impervious to pain, may I walk.
With lively feelings may I walk.
As it used to be long ago, may I walk.

Happily may I walk.
Happily, with abundant dark clouds, may I walk.
Happily, with abundant showers, may I walk.
Happily, with abundant plants, may I walk.
Happily, on a trail of pollen, may I walk.
Happily may I walk.
Being as it used to be long ago, may I walk.

May it be beautiful before me.
May it be beautiful behind me.
May it be beautiful below me.
May it be beautiful above me.
May it be beautiful all around me.
In beauty it is finished.
In beauty it is finished.

NAVAJO CHANT
======================================================
Hear, O Humankind, the prayer of my heart

For are we not one, have we not one desire
To heal our Mother Earth and bind her wounds
To hear again from dark forest and flashing rivers
the varied ever changing Song of Creation?

O humankind, are not all brothers and sisters,
Are we not the grandchildren of the Great Mystery?
Do we not all want to love and be loved, to work and to play, to sing and dance together?

But we live with fear. Fear that is hate, fear that is mistrust,
Envy, greed, vanity, fear that is ambition, competition, aggression, fear that is loneliness, anger, bitterness, cruelty… and yet,
Fear is only twisted love, love turned back on itself, love that was denied, love that was rejected… and love…

Love is life—creation, seed and leaf and blossom and fruit and seed, love is growth and search and reach and touch and dance.
Love is nurture and succor and feed and pleasure,
Love is pleasuring ourselves pleasuring each other,
Love is life believing in itself.
And life….
Life is the Sacred Mystery singing to itself, dancing
To its drum, telling tales, improvising, playing
And we are all that Spirit, Our stories all
But one cosmic story that we are love indeed,
That perfect love in me seeks the love in you,
And if our eyes could ever meet without fear
We would recognize each other and rejoice,
For love is life believing in itself.

MANITONGQUAT
======================================================
O our mother the earth, O our father the sky,
Your children are we, and with tired backs
We bring you gifts that you love.
Then weave for us a garment of brightness;
May the wrap be the light of the morning,
May the weft be the red light of the evening,
May the fringes be the falling rain,
May the border be the standing rainbow.
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
O our mother, O our father the sky!

TEWA PUEBLO PRAYER
======================================================
My words are tied in one
With the great mountains,
With the great rocks,
With the great trees,
In one with my body
And my heart.

Do you all help me
With supernatural power,
And you, Day
And you, Night!
All of you see me
One with this world!

YOKUTS INDIAN PRAYER
======================================================
Listen to the air.
You can hear it, feel it,
Smell it, taste it.
Woniya wakan, the holy air,
Which renews all by its breath.
Woniya wakan, spirit life, breath,renewal,
It means all that.
We sit together,don’t touch,
But something is there,
We feel it between us,
As a presence.
A good way to start thinking about nature,
Talk about it.
Rather talk to it,
Talk to the rivers, to the lakes, to the winds,
As to our relatives.

JOHN LAME DEER
======================================================
Sometimes
I go about pitying myself
While I am carried by
The wind
Across the sky

CHIPPEWA SONG
======================================================
It was the wind that gave them life.
It is the wind that comes out of our mouths now
That gives us life.
When this ceases to blow we die.
In the skin at the tips of our fingers
We see the trail of the wind;
It shows us the wind blew
When our ancestors were created.

NAVAJO CHANT
======================================================
Cover my earth mother four times with many flowers.
Let the heavens be covered with the banked-up clouds.
Let the earth be covered with fog, cover the earth with rains.
Great waters, rains, cover the earth. Lightning cover the earth.
Let thunder be heard over the earth; let thunder be heard;
Let thunder be heard over the six regions of earth.

ZUNI PRAYER
======================================================
White floating clouds,
Clouds like the plains,
Come and water the earth.
Sun embrace the earth
That she may be fruitful.
Moon, lion of the north,
Bear of the west,
Badger of the south,
Wolf of the east,
Eagle of the heavens,
Shrew of the earth,
Elder war hero,
Intercede with the cloud people for us
That they may water the earth.

SIA INDIAN PRAYER
======================================================
Ice mountain melted
Ages ago
And made this ridge,
This place of changes.

Now we are rooted in it,
We of the old ones,
We of the new ones afar;
Oatgrass meadow, douglas fir thicket,
We are rooted in the ridge of changes in the time of
Changes.

The winds carry strange smells, this is a day of change.

Great ones above and below, bless us!

O shining one above, feed us with your light!
O soft ones, sky darkeners, wash us with your raindrops!
O powers above us, bless us with your gifts,
For we reach up to you,
Branching wood and sap.

O Earthmother from whom we grow,
Sandy gravel into whom our roots branch wood
And sap deep down,
Bless us in our night-sleep, in our death and decay.

Bless us, dark as we give back
That which we have received
As we make a forest of blessing a ridge of blessing
For the future to grow upon.

CHINOOK PSALTER
======================================================
Beseeching the breath of the divine one,
His life giving breath,
His breath of old age,
His breath of waters,
His breath of seeds,
His breath of riches,
His breath of fecundity,
His breath of power
His breath of all good fortune,
Asking for his breath
And into my warm body drawing his breath,
I add to your breath
That happily you may always live.

ZUNI CHANT
======================================================
Earth teach me stillness
As the grasses are stilled with light.
Earth teach me suffering
As old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility
As blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring
As the mother who secures her young.
Earth teach me courage
As the tree which stand all alone.
Earth teach me limitation
As the ant which crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom
As the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation
As the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration
As the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself
As melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness
As dry fields weep with rain.

UTE PRAYER
======================================================
This is what I want to happen: that our earth mother
May be clothed in ground corn four times over,
That frost flowers cover her over entirely;
That the mountain pines far away over there
May stand close to each other in the cold;
That the weight of snow crack some branches!
In order that the country may be this way
I have made my prayer sticks into something alive.

ZUNI PRAYER
======================================================
May the earth continue to live
May the heavens above continue to live
May the rains continue to dampen the land
May the wet forests continue to grow
Then the flowers shall bloom
And we people shall live again.

HAWAIIAN PRAYER
======================================================
Mother, Father, God, Universal Power.
Remind us daily of the sanctity of all life.

Touch our hearts with the glorious oneness
Of all creation,
As we strive to respect all the living beings on this planet.

Penetrate our souls with the beauty of this
Earth,
As we attune ourselves to the rhythm and
Flow of the seasons.

Awaken our minds with the knowledge to
Achieve a world in perfect harmony
And grant us the wisdom to realize that we
Can have heaven on earth.

JO POORE
======================================================
May all I say and all I think
Be in harmony with thee,
God within me, God beyond me,
Maker of the trees.

In me be the windswept truth of shorepine,
Fragrance of balsam and spruce,
The grace of hemlock.
In me the truth of douglas fir, straight, tall,
Strong-trunked land hero of fireproof bark.
Sheltering tree of life, cedar’s truth be mine,
Cypress truth, juniper aroma, strength of yew.

May all I say and all I think
Be in harmony with thee,
God within me, God beyond me,
Maker of the trees.

In me be the truth of streamlover willow
Soil-giving alder
Hazel of sweet nuts, wisdom-branching oak.
In me the joy of crabapple, greatmaple, vine maple,
Cleansing cascara and lovely dogwood.
And the gracious truth of the copper branched arbutus,
Bright with colour and fragrance,
Be with me on the Earth.

May all I say and all I think
Be in harmony with thee,
God within me, God beyond me,
Maker of the trees.

CHINOOK PSALTER
======================================================
Grandfather Great Spirit
All over the world the faces of living ones
Are alike.
With tenderness they have come up out
of the ground.
Look upon your children that they may
Face the winds and walk the good road to
The Day of Quiet.
Grandfather Great Spirit
Fill us with the Light.
Give us the strength to understand,
And the eyes to see.
Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives
To all that live.

SIOUX PRAYER
======================================================
O Great Spirit
Whose voice I hear in the winds,
And whose breath gives life to all the world,
Hear me! I am small and weak, I need your strength
And wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
Ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made
And my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise so that I may understand the things
You have taught my people.

Let me learn the lessons you have hidden in every
Leaf and rock.

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
But to fight my greatest enemy—myself.

Make me always ready to come to you with clean
Hands and straight eyes.

So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
My spirit may come to you without shame.

TRADITIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN PRAYER
======================================================
O our Father, the Sky, hear us
And make us strong.
O our Mother the Earth, hear us
And give us support.
O Spirit of the East,
Send us your Wisdom.
O Spirit of the South,
May we tread your path of life.
O Spirit of the West,
May we always be ready for your long journey.
O Spirit of the North, purify us
With your cleansing winds.

SIOUX PRAYER
======================================================
Remember, remember the circle of the sky
The stars and the brown eagle
The supernatural winds
Breathing night and day
From the four directions

Remember, remember the great life of the sun
Breathing on the earth
It lies upon the earth
To bring out life upon the earth
Life covering the earth

Remember, remember the sacredness of things
Running streams and dwellings
The young within the nest
A hearth for sacred fire
The holy flame of fire

PAWNEE/OSAGE/OMAHA INDIAN SONG
======================================================
Gratitude to Mother Earth, sailing through night and day-
And to her soil: rich, rare, and sweet
In our minds so be it

Gratitude to Plants, the sun-facing light-changing leaf
And fine-root hairs; standing still through wind
And rain, their dance is in the flowing spiral grain
In our minds so be it

Gratitude to Wild Beings, our brothers, teaching secrets,
Freedoms, and ways; who share with us their milk;
self-complete, brave, and aware
In our minds so be it

Gratitude to Water, clouds, lakes, rivers, glaciers;
Holding or releasing; streaming through all
Our bodies salty seas
In our minds so be it

Gratitude to the Sun: blinding pulsing light through
Trunks of trees, through mists, warming caves where
Bears and snakes sleep-he who wakes us-
In our minds so be it

Gratitude to the Great Sky
Who holds billions of stars-and goes yet beyond that-
Beyond all powers, and thoughts
And yet is within us-
Grandfather Space.
The Mind is his Wife.

So be it.

GARY SNYDER (AFTER A MOHAWK PRAYER)
======================================================
We return thanks to our mother, the earth,
Which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams,
Which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs,
Which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the corn, and to her sisters,
The beans and squashes,
Which give us life.
We return thanks to the wind,
which, moving the air
Has banished diseases.
We return thanks to the moon and stars,
Which have given us their light when the sun was gone.
We return thanks to the sun,
That he has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.
Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit,
In whom is embedded all goodness,
And who directs all things for the good of his children.

IROQUOIS PRAYER (ADAPTED)
======================================================
Behold! Our Mother Earth is lying here
Behold! She gives of her fruitfulness.
Truly, her power she gives us.
Give thanks to Mother Earth who lies here.

Behold! On Mother Earth the growing fields!
Behold the promises of her fruitfulness!
Truly, her power she gives us.
Give thanks to Mother Earth who lies here.

Behold on Mother Earth the running streams,
We see the promises of her fruitfulness.
Truly, her power she gives us.
Our thanks to Mother Earth who lies here.

PAWNEE HAKO CEREMONY
======================================================
Out of the earth, I sing for them.
A horse nation, I sing for them.
Out of the earth, I sing for them.
The animals, I sing for them.

TETON SIOUX CHANT
======================================================
You are the last whale,
Washed up on the beach.
The waves are pushing up against you.
Your brothers and sisters are gone.
The light is to bright for your eyes.
You cannot breathe.
Small children are throwing rocks and laughing,
Climbing onto your body.
You die alone, your ears full of wind.

You are the last buffalo.
The sun is setting over the plains.
You stand alone, enormous,
Heavy with fur, lonely.
You are tired of running, tired of running.
All of your friends have gone.
It seems even the earth has turned against you.
There is not one to say goodbye.
You rest, listening to the wind.
When the time is right,
the spirit of the wolf returns.

GARY LAWLESS
======================================================
Little by little
Roads eat away the hearts of the mountains.
Fires burn through, come back in huckleberries,
Trails close in August, too many bears.
Too many bears, now following avalanche chutes,
Glacier lily, early spring
Caribou in old growth spruce,
Lichen,
Banks of snow and fog.
Bear tracks in the mud.

Treat each bear as the last bear.
Each wolf as the last, each caribou.
Each track the last track,
Gone spoor. Gone scat.
There are no more deertrails,
No more flyways.
Treat each animal as sacred,
Each minute our last.
Ghost hooves. Ghost skulls.
Death rattles and
Dry bones.
Each bear walking alone
In warm night air.

GARY LAWLESS
======================================================
I’m filled with joy
When the day dawns quietly
Over the sky.

Life was wonderful
In winter.
But did winter make me happy?
No, I always worried
About hides for boot soles
And for boots;
And if there’d be enough
For all of us.
Yes, I worried constantly.

Life was wonderful
In summer.
But did summer make me happy?
No, I always worried
About reindeer skins and rugs for the platform.
Yes, I worried constantly.

Life was wonderful
When you stood at your fishing-hole
On the ice.
But was I happy waiting at my fishing hole?

No, I was always worried
For my little hook,
In case it never got a bite.
Yes, I worried constantly.

Life was wonderful when you danced in the feasting-house.
But did this make me any happier?
No, I always worried
I’d forget my song
Yes, I worried constantly.

Life was wonderful
And I still feel joy
Each time the day-break
Whitens the dark sky
Each time the sun
Climbs over the roof of the sky.

ESKIMO SONG
======================================================
Over cherry blossoms
White clouds
Over clouds
The deep sky

Over cherry blossoms
Over clouds
Over the sky
I can climb on forever

Once in spring
I with god
Had a quiet talk.

SHUNTARO TANIKAWA
======================================================
Behold, my brothers, the spring has come;
The earth has received the embrace of the sun
And we shall soon see the results of that love!

Every seed is awakened and so has all animal life.
It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being
And we therefore yield to our neighbors,
Even our animal neighbors,
The same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land.

SITTING BULL
======================================================
As my eyes
Search
The prairie
I feel the summer
In the spring

CHIPPEWA SONG
======================================================
The garden is rich with diversity
With plants of a hundred families
In the space between the trees
With all the colours and fragrances.
Basil, mint and lavender,
God keep my remembrance pure,
Raspberry, Apple, Rose,
God fill my heart with love,
Dill, anise, tansy,
Holy winds blow in me.
Rhododendron, zinnia,
May my prayer be beautiful
May my remembrance O God
Be as incense to thee
In the sacred grove of eternity
As I smell and remember
The ancient forest of earth.

CHINOOK PSALTER
======================================================
All winter long
Behind every thunder
Guess what we heard!
--behind every thunder
the song
of a bird,
a trumpeting bird.

All winter long
Beneath every snowing
Guess what we saw!
--beneath every snowing
a thaw
and a growing,
a greening and a growing.

Where did we run
Beyond gate and guardsman?
Guess, if you can!
--all winter long
we ran
to the sun,
the dance of the sun!

NATIVE AMERICAN SONG
======================================================
When you arise in the morning,
Give thanks for the morning light,
For your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food
and the joy of living.

If you see no reason for giving thanks,
The fault lies in yourself.

TECUMSEH
======================================================
Earth our mother, breathe forth life
All night sleeping
Now awaking
In the east
Now see the dawn

Earth our mother, breathe and waken
Leaves are stirring
All things moving
New day coming
Life renewing

Eagle soaring, see the morning
See the new mysterious morning
Something marvelous and sacred
Though it happens every day
Dawn the child of God and Darkness

PAWNEE PRAYER
======================================================
Earth, water air and fire combined to make this food.
Numberless beings have died and labored that we may eat.
May we be nourished that we may nourish life.

OJAI SCHOOL
======================================================
I’m an Indian
I think about common things like this pot.
The bubbling water comes from the rain cloud.
It represents the sky.
The fire comes from the sun
Which warms us all, men, animals, trees.
The meat stands for the four legged creatures,
Our animal brothers,
Who gave of themselves so that we should live.
The stream is living breath.
It was water, now it goes up to the sky,
Becomes a cloud again.
These things are sacred.
Looking at the pot full of good soup,
I am thinking how, in this simple manner,
The great Spirit takes care of me.

JOHN LAME DEER
======================================================
All life is your own,
All fruits of the earth
Are fruits of your womb,
Your union, your dance.
Lady and Lord,
We thank you for blessings and abundance.
Join with us, Feast with us, Enjoy with us!
Blessed be.

STARHAWK
======================================================
Where I sit is holy,
Holy is the ground.
Forest, mountain, river,
Listen to the sound.
Great Spirit circle
All around me.

May it be delightful my house;
From my head may it be delightful;
To my feet may it be delightful;
Where I lay may it be delightful;
All above me may it be delightful;
All around me may it be delightful.

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