Comanche

Comanche Flag

Comanche Indians are nomadic North American Indian group that in the 18th and 19th centuries roved the southern Great Plains.

The Comanche Nation is a Native American group of approximately 10,000 members, about half of whom live in Oklahoma and the remainder concentrated in Texas, California, and New Mexico.

Quanah Parker, the last major chief of the Comanche Indians.

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Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker was born in 1845, near Wichita Falls, Texas and died Feb. 23, 1911, near Fort Sill, Okla.

He was an aggressive Comanche leader who mounted an unsuccessful war against white invaders in southeast Texas (1874-75); he later became the main spokesman and peacetime leader of the Indians in that area, a role he performed for 30 years.

Quanah was the son of Chief Peta Nocone and Cynthia Ann Parker, a white woman captured by the Comanches as a child. Quanah added his mother's surname to his own.

He was a member of the fierce Kwahadi band - particularly bitter enemies of the buffalo hunters who had appropriated their best land on the Texas frontier.

In order to stem the onslaught of Comanche attacks on settlers and travelers, the U.S. government assigned the Indians to reservations in 1867.

Parker and his band, however, refused to cooperate and continued their raids.

In June 1874 Parker gathered some 700 warriors from among the Comanche, Cheyenne, and Kiowa and attacked about 30 white buffalo hunters quartered at Adobe Walls, Texas.

The U.S. military retaliated in force, but Parker's group held out on the Staked Plains for almost a year before he finally surrendered at Fort Sill.

Eventually agreeing to settle on the reservation in southwestern Oklahoma, Parker persuaded other Comanche bands to conform.

During the next three decades he was the main interpreter of white civilization to his people, encouraging education and agriculture and becoming a successful businessman while maintaining his own Indian culture.

There are two accounts of the origin of the name Comanche, which is either a corruption of a Ute term, komants, meaning "those who always fight us," or of the Spanish camino ancho, meaning wide trail.

They were also called Paducah by early French and American explorers, but their own preferred name is Numunuh, meaning "the People." They speak an Uto-Aztecan language, sometimes classified as a Shoshone <shoshone.html>dialect.

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The Comanches emerged as a distinct group shortly before 1700, when they broke off from the Shoshone people living along the upper Platte River in Wyoming. This coincided with their acquisition of the horse, which allowed them greater mobility in their search for better hunting grounds. Their original migration took them to central plains, from where they moved southward into a sweep of territory extending from the Arkansas River to central Texas.

During that time, their population increased dramatically due to the abundance of buffalo, an influx of Shoshone migrants, and the adoption of significant numbers of women and children taken captive from rival groups. Nevertheless, the Comanches never formed a single cohesive tribal unit, and were divided into almost a dozen autonomous groups, which shared the same language and culture, but might have fought among themselves just as often as they cooperated. These groups were very fluid and often joined together or separated, depending on circumstances.

The horse was a key element in the emergence of a distinctive Comanche culture, and there have even been suggestions that it was the search for additional sources of horses among the Mexican settlers to the south (rather than the search for new herds of buffalo) that first led the Comanches to break off the Shoshone. The Comanches may even have been the first group of Plains natives to fully incorporate the horse into their culture, and may have even introduced the animal to the other Plains peoples.

By the mid-nineteenth century, they were also supplying horses to French and American traders and settlers and later to migrants passing through their territory on their way to California Gold Rush. Many of these horses were stolen, and the Comanches earned a reputation as formidable horse and later cattle thieves. Their victims included Spanish and America settlers, as well as the other Plains tribes, often leading to war. They were formidable opponents, who developed entire strategies for fighting on horseback with traditional weapons.

In fact, warfare was a major part of Comanche life. Their emergence around the turn of the eighteenth century and their subsequent migration southward brought them into conflict with the Apaches, who already lived in the region and began migrating themselves to Spanish-dominated Texas and New Mexico.

In an attempt to prevent Apache incursions, the Spanish offered them help in their wars with the Comanches, but these efforts generally failed and the Apaches were finally forced out of the Southern Plains by mid-century. The Comanche now dominated the area surrounding the Texas Panhandle, including western Oklahoma and northeastern New Mexico.

The Comanches maintained an ambiguous relationship with the Europeans and later the Americans attempting to colonize their territory. They were valued as trading partners, but they were also feared for their raids. Similarly, the Comanches were at war at one time or another with virtually every other Native American group living in the Great Plains, leaving opportunities for political maneuvering among the European colonial powers and the United States between the rival groups.

At one point, Sam Houston, president of the newly created Republic of Texas, almost succeeded in reaching a peace treaty with the Comanches, but his efforts were thwarted when the Texas legislature refused to create an official boundary between Texas and the Comancheria. Comancheria

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The Comancheria is the name commonly given to the historical homeland of the Comanche indian tribe. The area was vaguely defined but generally was described as being north and west of a line that stretched from San Antonio, Texas in the south to the Arkansas River in present-day Oklahoma and Kansas in the north.

Geographically, this line is a natural boundary between the rolling Blackland Prairie and river valleys in the east and the drier High Plains in the west. The farms and settlements in the fertile land along this line were natural targets for Comanche raiding parties who would typically raid along the many rivers and creeks that flowed from west to east across this line.

In 1837, a negotiated peace treaty between the Comanches and the new Republic of Texas failed when the Texas Congress refused to officially define the southern and eastern boundaries of the Comancheria. This was primarily because the frontier between Anglo and Comanche land was constantly being pushed westward as land in the east was settled and thus any such definition would be a de facto concession to the Indians and a renunciation of any claim to the land by the Texas government.

Today, this region makes up West Texas, the Llano Estacado, the Texas Panhandle, eastern New Mexico, the Oklahoma Panhandle, the Wichita Mountains, and small portions of Colorado and Kansas.

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While the Comanches managed to maintain their independence and even increase their territory, by the mid-nineteenth century they faced annihilation because of a wave of epidemics introduced by white settlers. Outbreaks of smallpox (1817, 1848) and cholera (1849) took a major toll on the Comanches, whose population dropped from an estimated 20,000 in mid-century to just a few thousand by the 1870s.

Efforts to move the Comanches into reservations began in the late 1860s with the Treaty of Medicine Lodge (1867), which offered them churches, schools, and annuities in return for a vast tract of land totaling over 60,000 miles.

The government promised to stop the buffalo hunters, who were decimating the great herds of the Plains, provided that the Comanches, along with the Apaches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Arapahos, moved to a reservation totaling less than 5,000 miles) of land.

Nevertheless, the government failed to prevent buffalo hunters from slaughtering the herds, which provoked the Comanches under Isa-tai (White Eagle) to attack a group of hunters in the Texas Panhandle in the Second Battle of Adobe Walls (1874).

The attack was a disaster for the Comanches and the army was called in to drive all the remaining Comanche in the area into the reservation. Within just ten years, the buffalo were on the verge of extinction, effectively ending the Comanche way of life as hunters.

Meanwhile, in 1892 the government negotiated the Jerome Agreement, with the Comanches, Kiowas, and Apaches, further reducing their reservation to 480,000 acres at a cost of $1.25 per acre, with an allotment of 160 acres per person per tribe to be held in trust.

New allotments were made in 1906 to all children born after the Jerome Agreement, and the remaining land was opened to white settlement. With this new arrangement, the era of the reservation for the Comanches came to an abrupt end.

The Comanches were ill-prepared for life in a modern economic system, and many of them were defrauded of whatever remained of their land and possessions. During World War II, many Comanches left the traditional tribal lands in Oklahoma in search of financial opportunities in the cities of California and the Southwest.

Today they are among the most highly educated native groups in the United States. About half the Comanche population still lives in Oklahoma, centered around the town of Lawton. This is the site of the annual pow-wow, <powwow.html>when Comanches from across the United States gather to celebrate their heritage and culture.

CHEYENNE INDIANS

Northern Cheyenne Territory

Flag of the northern CheyenneThe Cheyenne are a Native American nation of the Great Plains, closely allied with the Arapaho and loosely allied with the Lakota (Sioux). They are one of the most famous and prominent Plains tribes.

The Cheyenne nation is composed of two united tribes, the Sotaae'o and the Tsitsistas, which translates to "Like Hearted People".

The Cheyenne nation comprised 10 bands, spread all over the Great Plains, from southern Colorado to the Black Hills in South Dakota.

In the early 1800s the tribe split into two factions: the southern band staying near the Platte Rivers and the northern band living near the Black Hills near the Lakota tribes.

The Cheyenne of Montana and Oklahoma both speak the Cheyenne language, with only a handful of vocabulary items different between the two locations. The Cheyenne language is a tonal language and is part of the larger Algonquian language group.

In 1851, the first Cheyenne 'territory' was established in northern Colorado. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 granted this territory.

Today this former territory includes the cities of Fort Collins, Denver and Colorado Springs. Not long after 1851, the Cheyenne had lost this land due to the influx of settlers due to the gold rush.

In the Indian Wars, the Cheyenne were the victims of the Sand Creek Massacre in which the Colorado Militia killed 600 Cheyenne. In the early morning on November 27, 1868 the Battle of Washita River started when United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the 7th U.S. Cavalry in an attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne legally living on reservation land with Chief Black Kettle. 103 Cheyenne were killed, mostly women and children. The Indian Wars

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The Indian Wars were a series of conflicts between the United States and Native American peoples ("Indians") of North America. The wars, which ranged from colonial times to the Wounded Knee massacre and "closing" of the American frontier in 1890, collectively resulted in the conquest of American Indian peoples and their decimation, assimilation, or forced relocation to Indian reservations.

The term Indian Wars is misleading because it groups American Indians under a single heading. American Indians were (and remain) a diverse category of peoples with discrete histories; throughout the wars, they were not a single people any more than Europeans were. Living in societies organized in a variety of ways (the terms tribe or nation are not always accurate), American Indians usually made decisions about war and peace at the local level, though they sometimes fought as part of complex formal alliances such as the Iroquois Confederation, or in temporary confederacies inspired by charismatic leaders such as Tecumseh.

There are other problems with the term Indian Wars. It creates a category which has traditionally been used to relegate the long story of American Indian warfare to a minor footnote in U.S. history. The term also tends to obscure American Indian involvement in other wars. For example, American Indians fought extensively in the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, two wars which had massive consequences for Native Americans, yet these conflicts have not traditionally been labeled as Indian Wars.

To see the Indian wars as a racial war between Indians and European-Americans ("whites") overlooks the complex historical reality of the struggle. Indians and whites often fought alongside each other; Indians often fought against Indians. For example, although the Battle of Horseshoe Bend is often described as an "American victory" over the Creek Indians, the victors were a combined force of Cherokees, Creeks, and Tennessee militia led by Andrew Jackson. From a broad perspective, the Indian wars were about the conquest of Native American peoples by the United States; up close it was rarely quite as simple as that.

Citing figures from a 1894 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, one scholar has noted that the more than 40 Indian wars from 1775 to 1890 reportedly claimed the lives of some 45,000 Indians and 19,000 whites. This rough estimate includes women and children, since noncombatants were often killed in frontier warfare. Read More <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Wars>

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Sand Creek Massacre

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The Sand Creek Massacre refers to an infamous incident in the Indian Wars of the United States that occurred on November 29, 1864 when Colorado Militia troops in the Colorado Territory massacred an undefended village of Cheyenne and Arapaho encamped on the territory's eastern plains. The attack was initially reported in the press as a victory against a bravely-fought defense by the Cheyenne. Within weeks, however, eyewitnesses came forward offering conflicting testimony, leading to a military investigation and two Congressional investigations into the events.

Starting the 1850s, the gold rush in the Rocky Mountains (then part of the western Kansas Territory) had brought a flood of white settlers into the mountains and the surrounding foothills. The sudden immigration came into conflict with the Cheyenne and the Arapaho who inhabited the area, eventually leading to the Colorado War in 1864. The violence between the Native Americans and the miners spread, prompting territorial governor John Evans to send Colonel John Chivington to quiet the Indians.

After a few skirmishes and a decisive warpath on the part of the Indians, the Cheyennes and Arapahos were ready for peace and camped near Fort Lyon on the eastern plains.

Both of the tribes had signed a treaty with the United States just three years before in which they ceded their lands to the United States and agreed to move to the Indian reservation to the south of Sand Creek, demarcated by a line to be run due north from a point on the northern boundary of New Mexico, fifteen miles west of Purgatory River, and extending to the Sandy Fork of the Arkansas River.

Chief Black Kettle, a chief of a group of mostly Southern Cheyennes - and some Arapahoes, some 550 in number, reported to Fort Lyon in an effort to declare peace. After having done so, he and his band camped out at nearby Sand Creek, less than 40 miles north. Having heard the Indians had surrendered, Chivington and his 700 troops of the First Colorado Cavalry, Third Colorado Cavalry and a company of First New Mexico Volunteers marched to their campsite in order to obtain an easy victory.

On the morning of November 29, 1864, the army shot down people as if they were buffalo, killing as many as 150, or about one-quarter of the entire group. The dead were mainly old men, women and children and the cavalry lost only 9 or 10 killed and three dozen wounded.

One man, Silas Soule, a Massachusetts abolitionist, refused to follow Colonel Chivington's orders. He did not allow his cavalry company to fire into the crowd.After the massacre, some tribal members decided to join the Dog Soldiers, a group of Cheyenne who decided there could be no successful negotiations with the white men and were waging war against them.

The nation was shocked by the brutality of the massacre and the army decided to investigate Chivington's role. Silas Soule was extremely willing to testify against him. After he testified, Soule was murdered by Charles W. Squires. It is believed that Chivington had a hand in this murder.

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The Northern Cheyenne also participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which took place on June 25, 1876. The Cheyenne, along with the Lakota and a small band of Arapaho, annihilated George Armstrong Custer and his contingent.

It is estimated that population of the encampment of the Cheyenne, Lakota and Arapaho along the Little Bighorn River was around 10,000; which would make it one of the largest gathering of Native Americans in North America in pre-reservation times. Battle of the Little Bighorn

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The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custer's Last Stand, was an engagement between a Lakota-Northern Cheyenne combined force and the 7th Cavalry of the United States Army, June 25- June 26, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in the eastern Montana Territory. The battle was the most famous incident in the Indian Wars and was a remarkable victory for the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne. The U.S. cavalry detachment commanded by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer was killed to the last man, but overall, the majority of U.S. soldiers survived the fight.

The U.S. forces were sent to attack the Indians based on Indian Inspector's E.C. Watkins report (issued on November 9, 1875) that stated that hundreds of Lakota and Northern Cheyenne associated with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were hostile to the United States. U.S. interest in Indian lands (including the gold-rich Black Hills) also played an important role.

As the larger wing of the troops under Gen. Alfred Terry, Custer's force arrived at an overlook 14 miles east of the Little Bighorn River in what is now the state of Montana, on the night of June 24. The rest of the column was marching toward the mouth of the Little Bighorn, to provide a blocking action by the 26th.

The presence of what was judged a very large encampment of Indians was reported to the general by his Crow Indian scouts. Despite this warning, on June 25, Custer divided his regiment into four commands and moved forward to attack the encamped Indians, who were expected to flee at the first sign of attack. The first battalion to attack was commanded by Major Marcus Reno and preceded by about a dozen Arikara and friendly Sioux scouts.

His orders, given by Custer without accurate knowledge of the village's size, location, or propensity to stand and fight, were to pursue the Indians and "bring them to battle." However, Custer did promise to "support...[Reno] with the whole outfit." Reno's force crossed the Little Bighorn at the mouth of what is today called Reno Creek, and immediately realized that the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne were present "in force and ...not running away."

Sending a message to Custer, but hearing nothing in return, Reno launched its offensive northward. He stopped a few hundred yards short of the village, however, and dismounted, unwilling to attack the enormous village with his roughly 125 men. In about 20 minutes of long distance firing, he had taken only one casualty, but the odds against him had become more obvious, and Custer had not reinforced him.

Reno ordered a retreat to nearby woods, and then made a disorderly retreat to the river and up to the top of the bluffs on the other side, suffering heavy casualties along the way. Reno was at the head of this movement and called it a charge; no bugle calls were heard, and a number of men were left in the woods. The river crossing was unguarded, and a number of men died there.

At the top of the bluffs, Reno's force was met by a battalion commanded by Captain Frederick Benteen This force had been on a lateral scouting mission, and had been summoned by Custer to "Come on...big village, be quick...bring pacs..." Benteen's coincidental arrival on the bluffs was just in time to save Reno's men from annihilation. This combined force was then reinforced by a smaller command escorting the expedition's pack train. Benteen did not continue on towards Custer for at least an hour, in spite of the fact that heavy gunfire was heard from the north. Benteen's inactivity prompted later criticism that he had failed to follow orders to "march to the sound of the guns."

The gunfire heard on the bluffs (by everyone except Reno and Benteen) was from Custer's fight. His 210 men engaged the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne (or had been engaged by them) some 3.5 miles to the north. Having driven Reno's force if not into oblivion, at least into chaos, the warriors were free to pursue Custer. The route taken by Custer to his "Last Stand" has been a subject of debate. It does seem clear that after ordering Reno to charge, Custer continued down Reno Creek to within about a half mile of the Little Bighorn, but then turned north, and climbed up the bluffs, reaching the same spot to which Reno would soon retreat. From this point, he could see Reno, on the other side of the river, charging the village.

Custer then rode north along the bluffs, and descended into a drainage called Medicine Tail Coulee, which led to the river. Some historians believe that part of Custer's force descended the coulee, going west to the river and attempting unsucessfully to cross into the village. Other authorities believe that Custer never approached the river, but rather continued north across the coulee and up the other side, where he gradually came under attack. By the time Custer realized he was badly outnumbered by the Indians who came from the Reno fight, according to this theory, it was too late to break through back to the south, where Reno and Benteen could have provided reinforcement.

Within about 2 hours, Custer's battalion was annihilated to the last man. Only two men from the U.S. side later claimed to have seen Custer engage the Indians: a young Crow whose name translated as Curley, and a trooper named Peter Thompson, who had fallen behind Custer's column.

Accounts of the last moments of Custer's forces vary, but all agree that Crazy Horse personally led one of the large groups of Lakota who overwhelmed the cavalrymen. While exact numbers are difficult to determine, it is clear that the Northern Cheyenne and Lakota outnumbered the U.S. force by approximately 3:1, a ratio which was extended to 5:1 during the piecemeal parts of the battle. In addition, some of the Indians were armed with repeating Sharps and Winchester rifles, while the U.S. forces carried single-shot carbines, which had a slow rate of fire, tended to jam, and were difficult to operate from horseback.

After their fight with Custer was finished, the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne came back to attack the remaining US forces under Benteen and Reno, who had finally ventured toward the audible firing of the Custer fight. For 24 hours the outcome of this struggle was in doubt, but Benteen's leadership secured the US lines. At this point, the US forces under Terry approached from the North, and the Indians drew off to the south. The Indian dead had mostly been removed from the field.

The U. S. dead were given hasty burials, and the wounded were given what treatment was available at that time; six would later die of their wounds. Custer was found to have been shot in the temple and in the left chest; either wound would have been fatal. He may also have been shot in the arm. He was found near the top of the hill where the large obelisk now stands, inscribed with the names of the U.S. dead. Most of the dead had been stripped of their clothing, mutilated, and were in an advanced state of deterioration, such that identification of many of the bodies was impossible.

From the evidence, it was impossible to determine what exactly had transpired, but there was not much evidence of prolonged organized resistance. Several days after the battle, the young Crow scout Curly gave an account of the battle which indicated that Custer had attacked the village after crossing the river at the mouth of Medicine Tail Coulee, and had been driven back across the river, retreating up the slope to the hill where his body was later found. This scenario seemed compatible with Custer's aggressive style of warfare, and with some of the evidence found on the ground, and formed the basis for many of the popular accounts of the battle.

Of the U.S. forces killed at Little Bighorn, 210 died with Custer while another 52 died serving under Reno. Six men died later as a result of wounds. Casualty figures on the Indian side included perhaps 40 killed.

The battle was the subject of an army Court of Inquiry in 1879 in which Reno's conduct was scrutinized. Some testimony was presented suggesting that he was drunk, and a coward, but since none of this came from army officers, Reno was not officially condemned. Other factors have been identified which may have contributed to the outcome of the fight: it is apparent that a number of the U.S. troopers were inexperienced and poorly trained. Benteen has been criticized for "dawdling" on the first day of the fight, and disobeying Custer's order. Both Reno and Benteen were heavy drinkers whose subsequent careers were truncated. Terry has been criticized for his tardy arrival on the scene.

Custer's contributions to the U.S. defeat were, at least, faulty intelligence and poor communication, which resulted in an uncoordinated attack against a larger force. For years a debate raged as to whether Custer himself had disobeyed Terry's order not to attack the village until reinforcements arrived. Finally, almost a hundred years after the fight, a document surfaced which indicated that Terry actually had given Custer considerable freedom to do as he saw fit. Custer's widow actively affected the historiography of the battle by suppressing criticism of her husband.

A number of participants decided to wait for her death before disclosing what they knew... however, she outlived almost all of them. As a result, the event was recreated along tragic Victorian lines in numerous books, films and other media. The story of Custer's purported heroic attack across the river, however, was undermined by the account of participant Gall, who told Lieutenant Edward S. Godfrey that Custer never came near the river. Godfrey incorporated this into his important publication in 1892 in The Century Magazine.

In spite of this, however, Custer's legend was embedded in the American imagination as a heroic American officer fighting valiantly against savage forces. By the end of the 20th century, the general recognition of the mistreatment of the various Native American nations in the conquest of the American west, and the perception of Custer's role in it, have changed the image of the battle and of Custer.

The Little Bighorn is now popularly viewed as the confrontation between a reckless and ambitious agent of U.S. expansion against courageous warriors defending their land and way of life. It should be noted that most of the occupants of the large village attacked by Custer were non-combatants.

The memorials to U.S. troops have now been supplemented by markers celebrating the Indians who fought there. Many of the Native Americans in the fight including Crazy Horse played a leading role in this battle and the Battle of Rosebud one week before. On Memorial Day 1999 the first of five red granite markers denoting where warriors fell during the battle were placed on the battlefield for Cheyenne warriors, Lame White Man and Noisy Walking The warrior markers dot the ravines and hillsides like the white marble markers representing where soldiers fell. Since then, markers have been added for the Sans Arc Lakota warrior, Long Road and the Minniconjou Lakota, Dog's Back Bone.

On June 25, 2003 an unknown Lakota warrior marker was placed on Wooden Leg Hill, east of Last Stand Hill to honor a warrior who was killed during the battle as witnessed by the Northern Cheyenne warrior, Wooden Leg. The first Indian Memorial was dedicated on June 25, 2003.

The bill that changed the name of the battlefield from Custer Battlefield National Monument to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument also called for an Indian Memorial to be built near Last Stand Hill. President George H. W. Bush signed the bill into law on December 10, 1991. The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is located in southeastern Montana near Crow Agency, Montana and administered by the National Park Service.

- Read More <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn>

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Following the Battle of the Little Bighorn, attempts by the U.S. Army to capture and escort the Cheyenne intensified.

A group of 972 Cheyenne were escorted to Indian Territory in Oklahoma in 1877.

There the conditions were dire, the Northern Cheyenne were not used to the climate and soon many became ill with malaria. In 1878, the two principal Chiefs, Little Wolf and Morning Star (Dull Knife) pressed for the release of the Cheyenne so they could travel back north. That same year a group of an estimated 350 Cheyenne left Indian Territory to travel back north.

This group was led by Chiefs Little Wolf and Morning Star. The Army and other civilian volunteers were in hot pursuit of the Cheyenne as they traveled north. It is estimated that a total of 13,000 Army soldiers and volunteers were sent to pursue the Cheyenne. The band soon split.

One group was led by Little Wolf, and the other by Morning Star. Little Wolf and his band made it back to Montana. Morning Star and his band were captured and escorted to Ft. Robinson, Nebraska. There Morning Star and his band were sequestered.

They were ordered to return to Oklahoma but they refused.

Conditions at the fort grew tense through the end of 1878 and soon the Cheyenne were confined to barracks with no food, water or heat.

In January of 1879, Morning Star and his group broke out of Ft. Robinson. Most of the group was gunned down as they ran away from the fort.

It is estimated that only approximately 50 survived the breakout to reunite with the other Northern Cheyenne in Montana.

Through determination and sacrifice, the Northern Cheyenne had earned their right to remain in the north near the Black Hills.

In 1884, by Executive Order, a reservation, the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation was established in southeast Montana. This reservation was expanded in 1890, the current western border is the Crow Indian Reservation and the eastern border is the Tongue River.

For 400 years, the Cheyenne have gone through 4 stages of culture. First they lived in the Eastern Woodlands and were a sedentary/agricultural people, planting corn, and beans.

Next they lived in present day Minnesota/South Dakota and continued their farming tradition and also started hunting the bison of the Great Plains.

During the third stage the Cheyenne abandoned their sedentary/farming lifestyle and became a full-fledged Plains horse culture tribe.

The fourth stage is the reservation phase. Spiritual Practices

Cheyenne religion recognized two principal deities, the Wise One Above and a God who lived beneath the ground. In addition, four spirits lived at the points of the compass.

The Cheyenne were among the Plains tribes who performed the sun dance <sundance.html> in its most elaborate form. They placed heavy emphasis on visions in which an animal spirit adopted the individual and bestowed special powers upon him so long as he observed some prescribed law or practice.

Their most venerated objects, contained in a sacred bundle, were a hat made from the skin and hair of a buffalo cow and four arrows - two painted for hunting and two for battle. These objects were carried in war to insure success over the enemy.

The Cheyenne practiced shamanism - dance, medicine.

APACHE NATION

The word "Apache" comes from the Yuma word for "fighting-men". It also comes from a Zuni word meaning "enemy". The Zuni name for Navajo was called "Apachis de Nabaju" by the earliest Spaniards exploring New Mexico. They called themselves Inde, or Nide "the people".

Apache is the collective name given to several culturally related tribes of Native Americans, aboriginal inhabitants of North America, who speak an Southern Athabaskan language. The modern term excludes the related Navajo people. The Apache peoples migrated from the Northern Plains into the Southwest relatively recently. Noted leaders have included Cochise, Mangas Coloradas, and Geronimo. The U.S. Army found them to be fierce warriors and skillful strategists.

They are composed of six regional groups:

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Jicarilla - Tinde - an Apache people currently living in New Mexico and to the Southern Athabaskan language they speak. The term jicarilla comes from Mexican Spanish meaning 'little basket'. During their zenith in the SouthWest, two divisions of the Jicarilla Apache were known: the Llanero, or "plains people," and the Hoyero, the "mountain people." They roamed from central and eastern Colorado into western Oklahoma, and as far south as Estancia, New Mexico. As a result of their eastern contacts, the Jicarilla adopted certain cultural traits of the Plains Indians, as did the Mescalero who also ranged the eastern plains. The Jicarilla of northeastern New Mexico hunted buffalo in the plains, and planted corn in the mountains. Mescalero - Faraon - Native American tribe of Southern Athabaskan stock currently living on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in southcentral New Mexico where they live with other Chiricahua and Lipan Apaches. The Reorganization Act of 1936 consolidated the tribes onto this reservation, which currently has an Apache population of approximately 4,000. The population is integrated with the rest of Lincoln county, which includes ranching and tourism as major sources of income.

The Mescalero to the south were originally hunter-gatherers who developed an appetite for the roasted heads of wild mescal plants. The Mescalero band consisted of followers and a headman. They had no formal leader such as a tribal chief, or council, nor a decision making process. The core of the band was a "relative group", predominantly--but not necessarily kinsmen. They were named by the Spanish for the mescal cactus the Apaches used for food, drink, and fiber.

They moved freely, wintering on the Rio Grande or farther south, ranging the buffalo plains in the summer, always following the sun and the food supply. They owned nothing and everything. They did as they pleased and bowed to no man. Their women were chaste. Their leaders kept their promises. They were mighty warriors who depended on success in raiding for wealth and honor. To their families they were kind and gentle, but they could be unbelievably cruel to their enemies - fierce and revengeful when they felt that they had been betrayed.

Chiricahua <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiricahua> - southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, and adjacent Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora. They were the fiercest of all tribal groups, raided along the Mexican border. The band was the informal political unit, consisting of followers and a headman. They had no formal leader such as a tribal chief, or council, nor a decision making process. The core of the band was a "relative group," predominantly, but not nessarily, kinsmen. Named by the Spanish for the mescal cactus the Apaches used for food, drink, and fiber. The basic shelter of the Chiricahua was the domeshaped wickiup made of brush. Similar the Navajo, they also regarded coyotes, insects, and birds as having been human beings; the human race, then, but following in the tracks of those who have gone before. Lipan - Lipan Apache are also known as Nide buffalo hunters, called by anthropologists and historians for many years as Eastern Apache, Apache de los Llanos, Lipan, Ipande, and other names. Today it is known that the Cuelgahen Nde Lipan Apache of Texas comprise the descendents of the Tall Grass People known as Lipan Apache - Apache following Chiefs Cuelga de Castro, John Castro, and Ramon Castro. Lipan Apache is also an Southern Athabaskan language spoken by Meredith Begay, Ted Rodriguez, and others on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. The general consensus of the Lipan Apache Committee on the same reservation is that linguistic and anthropological considerations of their cultural extinction are mistaken and incorrect. Kiowa - Gataka Nation of Native Americans who lived mostly in the plains of west Texas, Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico at the time of the arrival of Europeans. Currently the Kiowa Nation is a registered tribe, with about 6000 members living in southwestern Oklahoma in 1989. The Kiowas originated in the northern basin of the Missouri River, but migrated south to the Black Hills around 1650 and lived there with the Crow. Pushed southward by the invading Cheyennes and Sioux who were being pushed out of their lands in the great lake regions by the Objiwe tribes, the Kiowas moved down the Platte River basin to the Arkansas River area. There they fought with the Comanches, who already occupied the land. Around 1790, the two groups made an alliance and agreed to share the area. From that time on, the Comanches and Kiowas formed a deep bond; the peoples hunted, travelled, and made war together. An additional group, the Plains Apache (also called Kiowa-Apache), also affiliated with the Kiowas at this time.The Kiowas lived a not atypical Plains Indian lifestyle. Mostly nomadic, they survived on buffalo meat and gathered vegetables, living in tipis, and depended on their horses for hunting and military uses. The Kiowa were notorious for long-distance raids as far north as Canada and south into Mexico. After 1840 the Kiowas joined forces with their former enemies, the Cheyennes, as well as the Comanches and the Apaches, to fight and raid the Eastern natives then moving into the Indian Territory. The United States military intervened, and in the Treaty of Medicine Lodge of 1867 the Kiowa agreed to settle on a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma. Some bands of Kiowas remained at large until 1875. On August 6, 1901 Kiowa land in Oklahoma was opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation. While each Kiowa head of household was alloted 80 acres, the only land remaining in Kiowa tribal ownership today is what was the scattered parcels of 'grass land' which had been leased to the white settlers for grazing before the reservation was opened for settlement. Western Apache - Pinal Coyotero <http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/apache/pinalcoyotero.htm>- most of eastern Arizona which include the White Mountain, Cibuecue, San Carlos, and Northern and Southern Tonto bands. They are reputed by tradition to have been the first of the Apache to have penetrated below the Little Colorado among the Pueblo peoples, with whom they intermarried (Bourke in Jour. Am. Folklore, III, 112, 1890). They possessed the country from San Francisco mountains to the Gila until they were subdued by Gen. Crook in 1873. Since then they have peaceably tilled their land at San Carlos.

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The Apaches are well-known for their superior skills in warfare strategy and inexhaustible endurance. Continuous wars among other tribes and invaders from Mexico followed the Apaches' growing reputation of warlike character. When they confronted Coronado in 1540, they lived in eastern New Mexico, and reached Arizona in the 1600s. The Apache are described as a gentel people; faithful in their friendship.

HISTORYEarly Apache inhabitants of the southwestern United States were a nomadic people; some groups roamed as far south as Mexico. They were primarily hunters of buffalo but they also practiced limited farming. For centuries they were fierce warriors, adept in desert survival, who carried out raids on those who encroached on their territory.

The primitive Apache was a true nomad, a wandering child of Nature, whose birthright was a craving for the warpath with courage and endurance probably exceeded by no other people and with cunning beyond reckoning. Although his character is a strong mixture of courage and ferocity, the Apache is gentle and affectionate toward those with his own flesh and blood, particularly his children.

The Apache people (including the Navajo) came from the Far North to settle the Plains and Southwest around A.D. 850. They settled in three desert regions, the Great Basin, the Sonoran, and the Chihuachuan.

They were always known as 'wild" Indians, and indeed their early warfare with all neighboring tribes as well as their recent persistent hostility toward our Government, which precipitated a "war of extermination," bear out the appropriateness of the designation.

The first intruders were the Spanish, who penetrated Apache territory in the late 1500s. The Spanish drive northward disrupted ancient Apache trade connections with neighboring tribes.

When New Mexico became a Spanish colony in 1598, hostilities increased between Spaniards and Apaches. An influx of Comanche into traditional Apache territory in the early 1700s forced the Lipan and other Apaches to move south of their main food source, the buffalo. These displaced Apaches began raiding for food.

Apache raids on settlers accompanied the American westward movement and the United States acquisition of New Mexico in 1848. The Native Americans and the United States military authorities engaged in fierce wars until all Apache tribes were eventually placed on reservations.

Most of the tribes were subdued by 1868, except for the Chiricahua, who continued their attacks until 1872, when their chief, Cochise, signed a treaty with the U.S. government and moved with his band to an Apache reservation in Arizona. The last band of Apache raiders, led by the Chief Geronimo, was hunted down in 1886 and was confined in Florida, Alabama, and finally Oklahoma Territory.

Chief Geronimo - Medicine Man - Shaman

June 16, 1829 - February 17, 1909

Geronimo was born in what is now the state of New Mexico and according to the maps of the time was part of Mexico, but which his family considered Bedonkohe Apache land. Geronimo himself was a Chiricahua Apache. He grew up to be a respected medicine man and an accomplished warrior who fought frequently with Mexican troops. Mexican bandits massacred some of his relatives in 1858, and as a result he hated all Mexicans for the rest of his life. His Mexican adversaries gave him the nickname of "Geronimo", the Spanish version of the name "Jerome".

Geronimo fought against ever increasing numbers of both Mexican and United States troops and became famous for his daring exploits and numerous escapes from capture. His forces became the last major force of independent Indian warriors who refused to acknowledge the United States Government in the American West. This came to an end on September 4, 1886, when Geronimo surrendered to United States Army General Nelson A. Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona.

Geronimo was sent in as a prisoner to Fort Pickens, Florida. In 1894 he was moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In his old age Geronimo became something of a celebrity, appearing at fairs and selling souvenirs and photographs of himself, but not allowed to return to the land of his birth. He rode in President Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 inaugural parade. He died of pneumonia at Fort Sill.

Read More <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geronimo> Apache Warriors

The Apache's gorilla war tactics came naturally and were unsurpassed. The name Apache struck fear into the hearts of Pueblo tribes, and in later years the Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American settlers, which they raided for food, and livestock.

The Apache and the Pueblos managed to maintain generally peaceful relations. But the arrival of the Spaniards changed everything. A source of friction was the activity of Spanish slave traders, who hunted down captives to serve as labor in the silver mines of Chihuahua in northern Mexico. The Apache, in turn, raided Spanish settlements to seize cattle, horses, firearms, and captives of their own.

The prowess of the Apache in battle became legend. It was said that an Apache warrior could run 50 miles without stopping and travel more swiftly than a troop of mounted soldiers. Cochise

Cochise (c. 1812June 9, 1874) was a chief of one of the bands of the Chiricahua Apache and the leader of an uprising that began in 1861. Cochise was a chief of central Chiricahua in the southwestern United States. Cochise was the most famous Apache leader to resist intrusions by whites during the 19th century.Cochise was born in the area that now contains the border between Mexico, New Mexico and Arizona. That area had experienced significant tension between the Apache and European settlers from about 1831 until the greater part of the area was annexed by the United States in 1850, which ushered in a time of relative peace. Cochise worked as a woodcutter at the stagecoach station in Apache Pass for the Butterfield Overland line.

The peace was shattered in 1861 when an Apache raiding party drove away a local rancher's cattle and kidnapped his 12-year-old son. Cochise and five others of his band were falsely accused of the incident (which had actually been done by the Coyotero band of Apaches), and were ordered by an inexperienced Army officer (Lt. George Bascom) to report to the fort for questioning. When they went there and maintained their innocence the group was arrested and imprisoned.

The five soon mounted an escape attempt; one was killed and Cochise was shot three times but managed to slip away. He quickly took hostages to use in negotiations to free the other four Chiricahua. However, the plan backfired and both sides killed all their hostages in what was later known as "The Bascom Affair."

Cochise then joined with his father-in-law Mangas Coloradas (Colorado), a Mimbrepache chief, in a long series of retaliatory skirmishes and raids among the settlements. Many were killed on both sides, but the Apaches began to achieve the upper hand, which prompted the United States Army to send an expedition (led by General James Carleton).

At Apache Pass in 1862, Cochise and Colorado, with 500 fighters, held their ground against a force of 3000 California volunteers under Carleton until artillery fire was brought to bear on their position. Colorado was later captured and subsequently killed while imprisoned leaving Cochise in sole command of the insurrection.

He and his men were gradually driven into the Dragoon Mountains but were nevertheless able to use the mountains as cover and as a base to continue significant skirmishes against white settlements from. This was the situation until 1871 when General George Crook assumed command and used other Apaches as scouts and informants and was thereby able to force Cochise's men to surrender. Cochise was taken into custody in September of that year.

The next year the Chiricahua were ordered to Tularosa Reservation in New Mexico but refused to leave their ancestral lands, which were guaranteed to them under treaty. Cochise managed to escape again and renewed raids and skirmishes against settlements through most of 1872. A new treaty was later negotiated by General Oliver O. Howard and Cochise retired to an Arizona reservation where he died of natural causes.

LANGUAGEThe Apache and Navajo (Din驠tribal groups of the American Southwest speak related languages of the language family referred to as 'Athabaskan.' Southern Athabaskan peoples in North America fan out from west-central Canada where some Southern Athabaskan-speaking groups still reside. Linguistic similarities indicate the Navajo and Apache were once a single ethnic group. Archaeological and historical evidence suggests a recent entry of these people into the American Southwest, with substantial numbers not present until the early 1500s.

CLOTHING

The primitive dress of the men was deerskin shirt, leggings, and moccasins. They were never without a loin-cloth. A deerskin cap with attractive symbolic ornamentation was worn. The women wore short deerskin skirts and high boot top moccasins.

DWELLINGS

The Apache dwellings consisted of a dome shaped frame of cottonwood or other poles, thatched with grass. The house itself was termed, "Kowa" and the grass thatch, "Pi".

They pitched tentlike dwellings made of brush or hide, called 'wikiups'. The wickiup was the most common shelter of the Apache. The dome shaped lodge was constructed of wood poles covered with brush, grass, or reed mats. It contained a fire pit and a smoke hole for a chimney. The Jicarillas and Kiowa-Apaches, which roamed the Plains, used buffalo hide tepees. The basic shelter of the Chiricahua was the domeshaped wickiup made of brush.

RELIGION - CEREMONIESThe ceremonies are invariably called "dances. Among these are the rain dance, a puberty right, a harvest and good crop dance, and a spirit dance.

The Apache are devoutly religious and pray on many occasions and in various ways. Recreated in the human form, Apache spirits are supposed to dwell in a land of peace and plenty, where there is neither disease or death.

To celebrate each noted event a feast and dance is given. The music for our dance is sung by the warriors, and accompanied by beating the esadadedne (buck-skin-on-a-hoop). No words are sung - only the tones. When the feasting and dancing are over they have horse races, foot races, wrestling, jumping, and all sorts of games (gambling),

There are no formal churches, no religious organizations, no sabbath day, no holidays, and yet they worship. Sometimes the whole tribe assembles to sing and pray; sometimes a smaller number, perhaps only two or three. The songs have a few words, but are not formal. The singer will occasionally put in such words as he wished instead of the usual tone sound. Sometimes they prayed in silence; sometimes each one prays aloud; sometimes an aged person prays for all of us. At other times they rise and speak to us of our duties to each other and to Usen. The services are short.

When disease or pestilence abound we assemble and are questioned by our leaders to ascertain what evil we had done, and how Usen - a god - could be satisfied. Sometimes sacrifice is deemed necessary. Sometimes the offending one is punished.

If an Apache has allowed his aged parents to suffer for food or shelter, if he has neglected or abused the sick, if he has profaned our religion, or has been unfaithful, he can be banished from the tribe.

The Apaches have no prisons as white men have. Instead of sending their criminals into prison they send them out of their tribe. These faithless, cruel, lazy, or cowardly members of the tribe are excluded in such a manner that they cannot join any other tribe. Neither can they have any protection from our unwritten tribal laws.

Frequently these outlaw Indians band together and commit depredations which were charged against the regular tribe. However, the life of an outlaw Indian is a hard lot, and their bands never become very large; besides, these bands frequently provoke the wrath of the tribe and secured their own destruction.

FOODThe Apaches were nomadic hunter-gatherers - hunting of wild game and gathering of cactus fruits and other wild plant foods. . They chased any wild game located within their territory, especially deer and rabbits. When necessary, they lived off the land by gathering wild berries, roots, cactus fruit and seeds of the mesquite tree. They planted some corn, beans, and squash as crops. They were extremely hardy prior to the arrival of European diseases, and could live practically naked in zero temperature.

Hunting is a part of daily life - for food, clothing, shelter, blankets. Apache hunted deer, wild turkeys, rabbits, buffalo, bears, mountain lions. There was no fishing. Eagles were hunted for their feathers.

They exchanged buffalo hides, tallow and meat, bones that could be worked into needles and scrapers for hides, and salt from the desert with the Pueblos for pottery, cotton, blankets, turquoise, corn and other goods. But at times they simply saw what they wanted and took it. They became known among the Pueblo villages by another name, Apachu, "the enemy".

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

The Apache regarded coyotes, insects, and birds as having been human beings. The human race, then, but following in the tracks of those who have gone before.

The Apache lived in extended family groups, all loosely related through the female line - matriarcial society. Each group operated independently under a respected family leader....settling its own disputes, answering to no higher human authority.

The main exception to this occurred during wartime, when neighboring groups banded together to fight a common enemy. Unlike ordinary raiding, where the main object was to acquire food and possessions, war meant lethal business. An act of vengeance for the deaths of band members in earlier raids or battles.

Leaders of the local family groups would meet in council to elect a war chief, who led the campaign. But if any one group preferred to follow its own war chief, it was free to do so.

Apache bands that roamed the same area admitted to a loose cultural kinship.

The more peaceble Western Apache of Arizona spent part of each year farming.

A strict code of conduct governed Apache life, based on strong family loyalties.

Each Apache group was composed of extended families or clans.

Basic social, economic, and political units based on female inherited leadership. The most important bond led from an Apache mother to her children and on to her children.

When the son married his obligations from then on were to his mother-in-law's family.

Apache Bride

Beyond this code of propriety and family obligations, the Apache shared a rich oral history of myths and legends and a legacy of intense religious devotion that touched virtually every aspect of their lives. Medicine Men presided over religious ceremonies. They believed in many supernatural beings including Usen, the Giver of Life, to be the most powerful of them all. The Gans, or Mountain Spirits, were especially important in Apache ceremonies. Males garbed themselves in elaborate costumes to impersonate the Gans in ritual dance, wearing kilts, black masks, tall wooden-slat head-dresses, and body paint carrying wooden swords.

Many Apache bands were so influenced by the tribes they came into contact that they took on many of their customs and practices.

- Encyclopedia Britannica

Cherokee Nation

The Cherokee Nation - largest of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast - is a people of Iroquoian lineage. The Cherokee, who called themselves 'Ani'-Yun' wiya' - 'Principal People' - the 'Keetoowah' - 'People of Kituhwa' - or Tsalagi from their own name for the Cherokee Nation - migrated to the Southeast from the Great Lakes Region. Cherokee Timeline

1450 - First Cherokee enter the state in the vicinity of Traveler's Rest. Tugaloo Old Town is the first major Cherokee village.

1540-1 De Soto "visits" the Cherokee and is supposedly one of the first whites seen by the tribe, although written descriptions of the tribe by the Spanish note the wide range of colors in the tribe, from "negro" (black) to light skinned and "fair," according to Moyano and Pardo.

1650 - Cherokee commanded more than 40,000 square miles in the southern Appalachians by 1650 with a population estimated at 22,500.

1715 - Massive uprising against North and South Carolina

1721 - First treaty with whites - South Carolina

1738 - Smallpox eradicates 25% of the Cherokee Nation. Nancy Ward is born

1753 - Smallpox epidemic

1755 - Battle of Taliwa - Accounts differ on exact events, however, the Creek, who greatly outnumber the Cherokee, attack the Cherokee line five times. During the fifth attack elderly Cherokee leader Kingfisher is slain. His teenage wife picks up his weapon, and chanting a Cherokee war song, Nancy Ward leads the Cherokee to victory, routing the Creek. The battle marked successful expulsion of the Creek from much of North Georgia. The only major remaining Creek settlement was near present Rome, Georgia.

1760-1762 - Cherokee War (SC)

1773 - First cession of Cherokee land in Georgia

1776-1783 - Impressed by the British during the French and Indian War, the Cherokee side with them during the American Revolution. The price for the decision is immense. Beginning at about the time of the American Revolutionary War, divisions over continued accommodation of encroachments by white settlers, despite repeated violations of previous treaties, caused some Cherokee to begin to leave The Cherokee Nation. These dissidents became known as the Chickamauga. Led by Chief Dragging Canoe, the Chickamauga made alliances with the Shawnee and engaged in raids against colonial settlements, aided by the British. Colonel Pickens destroyed Long Swamp village (1782) and forced the Cherokee to cede land to settlers.

1786 Treaty of Hopewell (SC) - The Cherokee thought this would be the end of the settlers' invasion of Cherokee land. Within 3 years bitter fighting had erupted as settlers continued to move into the Cherokee Nation. This treaty is the basis for the term "Talking Leaves." [See below] Cherokee felt that written words were like leaves, when they were no longer of use they withered and died. John Ross is born.

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Ross was an important figure in the history of the Cherokee tribe. His father emigrated from Scotland prior to the Revolutionary War. His mother was a quarter-blood Cherokee woman whose father was also from Scotland. He began his public career in 1809. Still permitted under the Constitution at that time, The Cherokee Nation was founded in 1820, with elected public officials. John Ross became the chief of the tribe in 1828 and remained the chief until his death.

Ross, also known as Kooweskoowe, was a leader of the Cherokee Native American tribe. Ross was born near Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, the son of a Scotsman who had gone to live among the Cherokee during the American Revolution. John Ross's mother was 3/4 Scottish as well.

At the age of twenty, after having completed his education, he was appointed as Indian agent to the western Cherokee and sent to Arkansas. He served as an adjutant in a Cherokee regiment during the War of 1812 and participated in fighting at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend against the British-allied Creek tribe.

Ross relocated to Georgia and was chosen as a member of the Cherokee national council in 1817, becoming its president two years later and serving in that capacity for seven years. After this he became assistant chief of the eastern Cherokee, becoming principal chief the following year and serving as such until 1839, participating in the drafting of the Cherokee constitution in 1827.

During his tenure as chief he opposed displacement of the tribe from its native lands, a policy of the United States government known as Indian Removal. However, Ross's political rival Major Ridge signed an unauthorized removal treaty with the U.S. in 1836. Ross unsuccessfully lobbied against enforcement of the treaty, but those Cherokees who did not emigrate to the "Indian Territory" by 1838 were forced to do so by General Winfield Scott, an episode that came to be known as the Trail of Tears. <trailoftears.html> Accepting defeat, Ross convinced General Scott to have supervision of much of the removal process turned over to Ross.

In the Indian Territory, Ross helped draft a constitution for the entire Cherokee nation in 1839, and was chosen as chief of the nation. He would remain chief until his death.

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1791 Treaty of Holston-Cherokee cede land in eastern Tennessee in exchange for President Washington's guarantee that the Cherokee Nation will never again be invaded by settlers. This treaty forces Americans to obtain passports to enter Cherokee lands, and granted Cherokee the right to evict settlers.

1792 The town of Hightower moves from the vicinity of Rome, Georgia to present-day Cartersville, further east on the Etowah River after a brutal attack on the village by Tennessee governor John Sevier.

1799-1804 Building of the Augusta to Nashville Road, later known as the Federal Road.

1801 Return J. Meigs appointed "indian agent." Morovians start mission at Spring Place.

1802 President Thomas Jefferson agrees with the state of Georgia to removal of all American Indians in exchange for the state's claim of western lands.

1804 Cherokee cede Wafford's Tract.

1806 Start of a complex series of events known as Revolt of the Young Chiefs

1811 New Madrid earthquake. Actually 3 separate earthquakes with an epicenter near the town of New Madrid, Missouri in the southeastern border with Kentucky. The quakes were felt throughout the Cherokee Nation and sparked what is best described as a religious revival among the Cherokee. Writer James Mooney would call this movement the "Ghost Dance," after a similar Western Indian revival.

1812 Shawnee warrior Tecumseh agitates American Indians on the frontier to rise up and destroy the settlers. A faction of the Creek Indians, the "Red Sticks," revolt, attacking Fort Mims, Alabama and massacre 250 men, women and children.

1 813-1814 Cherokee warriors fight alongside future president Andrew Jackson during two campaigns (5 major battles) against the Red Sticks, saving both his army and his life in separate battles.

1814 Jackson demands cessions of 2.2 million acres from the Cherokee.

1817 Cession of land east of the Unicoi Turnpike. (Treaty of Turkey Town, instead of the 2.2 million acres demanded by Jackson.)

1819 Final cession of land in Georgia, and part of a much larger cession, the Cherokee give up claims to all land east of the Chattahoochee River.

1821 Cherokee warrior Sequoyah finishes his work on a written language (syllabary) for the tribe. Within six months more than 25% of the Cherokee Nation learns how to read and write.

1822 Georgia begins press for cession of remaining Cherokee lands, citing Jefferson's

1802 commitment to the state.

1828 Gold discovered in Georgia. This discovery was on Cherokee land ceded to the U. S. in 1817 (Duke's Creek), however, gold was soon found inside the Cherokee Nation; Publication of the Cherokee Phoenix begins with Elias Boudinot, editor.

1830 - Cherokees were displaced from their ancestral lands in North Georgia and the Carolinas primarily as a result of the Gold Rush around Dahlonega, Georgia in the 1830's. Cherokee evict encroachers in Beaver Dam on Cedar Creek, a few miles south of present-day Rome, Georgia. Passage of the Indian Removal Act.

1831 Chief Justice John Marshall rules that the Cherokee have no standing to file suit in the United States in Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia. He then instructs attorney William Wirt on how to correctly file; Samuel Worcester and others arrested for violation of Georgia law requiring whites to get permits to work in the Cherokee territory.

1832 The Supreme Court of the United States declares the Cherokee Nation to be sovereign (Worcester vs. Georgia). This has constitutional implications, disallowing the state of Georgia from passing any law governing the Cherokee; Elias Boudinot resigns as publisher of the Cherokee Phoenix under pressure from John Ross because of his editorial support for removal;Georgia's sixth land lottery and the gold lottery.

1834 The Georgia Guard destroys the printing press in the offices of The Cherokee Phoenix.

1835 Ross and John Howard Payne, in Red Clay, Tennessee, are illegally detained by the Georgia Guard. Dec. 29 Treaty of New Echota signed in Elias Boudinot's home by members of the Treaty Party.

1838 Deadline for voluntary removal. Georgia Guard had begun round-up 5 days earlier. U. S. forces under command of Winfield Scott begin roundup in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina. Cherokee are herded into "forts," gradually making their way north to the Cherokee Agency in southeastern Tennessee.

Once the Cherokees reached Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), tensions ran high and the suspension of the Cherokee Blood Law was ignored. On June 22, 1839, after the adjournment of a tribal meeting, some of the prominent signers of the Treaty of New Echota were assassinated, including the drafter of the Blood Law, Major Ridge, along with John Ridge and Elias Boudinot. This started 15 years of civil war amongst the Cherokees. One of the notable survivors was Stand Watie, who became a Confederate general during the American Civil War. The Cherokees were one of the five "civilized tribes" that concluded treaties with, and were recognized, by the Confederate States of America.

In 1848 a group of Cherokee set out on an expedition to California looking for new settlement lands. The expedition followed the Arkansas River upstream to Rocky Mountains in present-day Colorado, then followed the base of mountains northward into present-day Wyoming before turning westward. The route become known as the Cherokee Trail. The group, which undertook gold prospecting in California, returned along the same route the following year, noticing placer gold deposits in tributaries of the South Platte. The discovery went unnoticed for a decade but eventually became of the primary sources of the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859.

Other Cherokees in western North Carolina served as part of Thomas' Legion, a unit of approximately 1,100 men of both Cherokee and white origin, fighting primarily in Virginia, where their battle record was outstanding. Thomas' Legion was the last Confederate unit to surrender in North Carolina, at Waynesville, North Carolina on May 9, 1865.

The Cherokee Nation citizens lost their right to elect their own chief in 1907 when Oklahoma became a state. Various chiefs were appointed by the Presidents until 1970 when the Cherokees regained their right to elect their own government via a Congressional Act signed by President Nixon. W. W. Keeler was the first elected chief of The Cherokee Nation. Keeler, who was also the President of Phillips Petroleum was succeeded by Ross Swimmer, Wilma Mankiller, Joe Byrd and Chad Smith who is currently the chief of The Cherokee Nation Clans

The Cherokee were divided into seven clans. People in a clan had to marry outside of his or her clan. Then, the male lived with his wife's family (matriarchial). Homes

Before the Europeans came over, they lived together in square houses made of bark, wood, earth, and clay. Later, they lived in log cabins. Economy

Their economy consisted of the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash. Also, hunting and slash-and-burn agriculture was a large part of their economy. Their only domesticated animal was the dog, until the Europeans brought horses over. Ceremonies

The Cherokees held many ceremonies. One of their ceremonies marked the changing of rulers between the Red and White Organization. Another ceremony consisted of nightlong dancing before going to war. After war, they had rituals of purification before they returned to their daily routine. Recreation

For leisure, the Cherokees played a game with rackets and a ball. Ritual fasting and bleeding was associated with the game. Along with this they had ceremonies called harvest feast and an observance of the new year. Life and Culture

Cherokee life and culture greatly resembled that of the Creek and other Indians of the Southeast. The Cherokee nation was composed of a confederacy of red (war) and white (peace) towns. The chiefs of the red towns were subordinated to a supreme war chief, while the officials of the white towns were under the supreme peace chief. The white towns provided sanctuary for wrongdoers; war ceremonies were conducted in red towns.

When first encountered by Europeans in the mid-16th century, the Cherokee possessed a variety of stone implements including knives, axes, and chisels. They wove baskets, made pottery, and cultivated corn (maize), beans, and squash. Deer, bear, and elk furnished meat and clothing. Cherokee dwellings were windowless log cabins roofed with bark, with one door and a smokehole in the roof. A typical Cherokee town had between 30 and 60 such houses and a council house where general meetings were held and the sacred fire burned. An important religious ceremony was the Busk, or Green Corn, festival, a first-fruits and new-fires rite. Wars and Treaties

The Cherokee wars and treaties, a series of battles and agreements around the period of the U.S. War of Independence, effectively reduced Cherokee power and landholdings in Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and western North and South Carolina, freeing this territory for speculation and settlement by the white man. Numbering about 22,000 tribesmen in 200 villages throughout the area, the Cherokee had since the beginning of the 18th century remained friendly to the British in both trading and military affairs.

In 1773 the Treaty of Augusta, concluded at the request of both Cherokee and Creek Indians, ceded more than 2,000,000 tribal acres in Georgia to relieve a seemingly hopeless Indian indebtedness to white traders. In 1775 the Overhill Cherokee were persuaded at the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals to sell an enormous tract of land in central Kentucky.

Although this agreement with the Transylvania Land Company violated British law, it nevertheless became the basis for the white takeover of that area. Threatened by colonial encroachment upon their hunting grounds, the Cherokee announced at the beginning of the American Revolution their determination to support the crown.

Despite British attempts to restrain them, in July 1776 a force of 700 Cherokee under Chief Dragging-canoe attacked two U.S.-held forts in North Carolina: Eaton's Station and Ft. Watauga. Both assaults failed, and the tribe retreated in disgrace. These raids set off a series of attacks by Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw on frontier towns, eliciting a vigorous response by militia and regulars of the Southern states during September and October.

At the end of this time, Cherokee power was broken, crops and villages destroyed, and warriors dispersed. The humiliated Indians could win peace only by surrendering vast tracts of territory in North and South Carolina at the Treaty of DeWitt's Corner (May 20, 1777) and the Treaty of Long Island of Holston (July 20, 1777). As a result, peace reigned on this frontier for the next two years.

When Cherokee raids flared up again in 1780 during American preoccupation with British armed forces elsewhere, punitive action led by Col. Arthur Campbell and Col. John Sevier soon brought them to terms again. At the second Treaty of Long Island of Holston (July 26, 1781), previous land cessions were confirmed and additional territory yielded.

After 1800 the Cherokee were remarkable for their assimilation of white culture. The Cherokee formed a government modelled on that of the U.S. Under Chief Junaluska they aided Andrew Jackson against the Creek (see Creek War), particularly in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. They adopted white methods of farming, weaving, and home building. Language

Perhaps most remarkable of all was the syllabary of the Cherokee language, developed in 1821 by Sequoyah, a half-blooded Cherokee who had served with the U.S. Army in the Creek War. The syllabary - a system of writing in which each symbol represents a syllable--was so successful that almost the entire tribe became literate within a short time. For years, many people wrote transliterated Cherokee on the Internet or used poorly intercompatible fonts to type out the syllabary. However, since the fairly recent addition of the Cherokee syllables to Unicode, the Cherokee language is experiencing a renaissance in its use on the Internet. Cherokee Code Talkers <codetalkers.html>

Sequoyah <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoyah>

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The exact place and date of Sequoyah's birth are unknown, as no written record exists. Speculation and guess-work by historians place his birth at some point between 1760 and 1776. As for the location, speculation places it in either Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama or South Carolina. James Mooney, a prominent anthropologist and historian of the Cherokee people, quotes a cousin in saying that Sequoyah and his mother spent his early years in the village of Tuskegee in Tennessee.

The name Seqouyah or Sikway is believed to be derived from the Cherokee word Sikway meaning 'pig'. Possibly this is a reference to a child-hood deformity or a later injury that left Sequoyah crippled. Again, scholars agree that he was crippled but the reason is disputed.

Of his mother, it is known that she was a Cherokee and belonged to the Paint Clan and Mooney states that she was the niece of a Cherokee chief. His father was either white or part white and part Native American. Again, sources differ as to the exact identity of Sequoyah's father, but many (including Mooney) suggest that he was possibly a fur trader or the son of Christopher Gist, a scout for George Washington.

There is some indication, however, that Sequoyah and his mother were abandoned by his father, this may be indicated by the fact that Sequoyah did not speak English. At some point before 1809, Seuqoyah moved to the Wills Valley in Alabama. There he established his trade as a silversmith. He may have fought in the Creek War between 1813 and 1814 against the Red Sticks. Of course if he was crippled, likely he would not have fought, but historians speculate that he may have been wounded in battle, thus leaving him crippled.

"Talking Leaves" and a syllabary

As a silversmith, Sequoyah dealt regularly with white people who had settled in the area. Often, the Native Americans were impressed by their writing, referring to their correspondence as "talking leaves." Around 1809, Sequoyah began work to create a system of writing for the Cherokee language.

After attempting to create a character for each word, Sequoyah decided to divide each word into syllables and create a character for each syllable. Utilizing the Roman alphabet and quite possibly the Cyrillic alphabet, he created 85 characters to respresent the various syllables. This work would take Sequoyah 12 years to complete.

There was some doubt amongst his fellow Cherokee as to the worthiness of his alphabet. In order to prove his creation, Sequoyah taught his daughter Ah-yo-ka how to read and write in Cherokee. After amazing locals with his new writing, Sequoyah attempted to display his feat to tribal medicine men only to be rebuffed by them for being possessed by evil spirits. Sequoyah finally proved his feat to a gathering of Chickamaugan warriors. Quickly news of the syllabary spread and the Cherokee were filling schools in order to learn the new language. By 1823 the syllabary was in full use by the The Cherokee Nation. The language was made the official language of the Cherokee Nation in 1825.

After the acceptance of his syllabary by the nation in 1825, Sequoyah moved to the new Cherokee territory in Arkansas. There he set up a blacksmith shop and a salt works. He continued to teach the syllabary to anyone who came to him. In 1828, Sequoyah journeyed to Washington, D.C. as part of a delegation to make a treaty for land in Oklahoma.

His trip brought him into contact with representatives from other tribes of Native Americans around the nation. With these meetings he decided to create a syllabary for universal use among all Native American tribes. With this in mind, Sequoyah began to journey to areas of present day Arizona and New Mexico seking tribes there.

In addition, Sequoyah dreamed to see the splintered Cherokee Nation re-united. It was on a trip seeking Cherokees who had moved to Mexico that he died in the summer of 1843.

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Famous Cherokee There were several famous Cherokees in American history, including Sequoyah, who invented the Cherokee writing system. Sequoyah may be the only known person in history to invent a written language single handedly. Sequoyah never learned to speak, read or write the English language. Another famous person with Cherokee ancestry was the humorist Will Rogers. Today, Wes Studi is a well-known actor. Famous Cherokee politicians include Chad 'Corntassel' Smith, Wilma Mankiller and Ross Swimmer. The American blues-rock guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, was of Cherokee descent via his paternal grandmother, Nora Rose Moore. Oral Roberts, a Pentecostal evangelist in the 1950's through the 1990's, is also of Cherokee descent. Journalist and writer Sarah Vowell also has Cherokee ancestors. Constitution

A written constitution was adopted, and religious literature flourished, including translations from the Christian scriptures. An Indian newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, the first of its kind, began publication in February 1828.

But the Cherokee's rapid acquisition of white culture did not protect them against the land hunger of the settlers. When gold was discovered on Cherokee land in Georgia, agitation for the removal of the Indians increased. In December 1835 the Treaty of New Echota, signed by a small minority of the Cherokee, ceded to the U.S. all their land east of the Mississippi River for $5,000,000. The overwhelming majority of Cherokees repudiated the treaty and took their case to the Supreme Court of the United States. The court rendered a decision favourable to the Indians, declaring that Georgia had no jurisdiction over the Cherokees and no claim to their lands.

Georgia officials ignored the court's decision, and Pres. Andrew Jackson refused to enforce it. As a result, the Cherokees were evicted under the Indian Removal Act of 1830 by 7,000 troops commanded by Gen. Winfield Scott. Some 15,000 Cherokees were first gathered into camps while their homes were plundered and burned by local residents. Then the Indians were sent west in groups of about 1,000, most on foot.

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Trail of Tears <trailoftears.html>

 

Mythology

Grandmother Spider Steals The Sun

In the beginning there was only blackness, and nobody could see anything. People kept bumping into each other and groping blindly.

They said, "What this world needs is light."

Fox said he knew some people on the other side of the world who had plenty of light, but they were too greedy to share it with others.

Possum said he would be glad to steal a little of it. "I have a bushy tail. I can hide the light inside all my fur."

Then he set out for the other side of the world. There he found the sun hanging in a tree and lighting everything up.

He snuck over to the sun, picked out a tiny piece of light, and stuffed it into his tail. But the light was hot and burned all the fur off.

The people discovered his theft and took back the light, and ever since, Possum's tail has been bald.

"Let me try," said Buzzard.

"I know better than to hide a piece of stolen light in my tail. I'll put it on my head."

He flew to the other side of the world and, diving straight into the sun, seized it in his claws.

He put it on his head, but it burned his head feathers off.

The people grabbed the sun away from him, and ever since that time Buzzard's head has remained bald.

Then Grandmother Spider said, "Let me try!"

First she made a thickwalled pot out of clay.

Next she spun a web reaching all the way to the other side of the world.

She was so small that none of the people there noticed her coming.

Quickly Grandmother Spider snatched up the sun, put it in the bowl of clay, and scrambled back home along one of the strands of her web.

Now her side of the world had light, and everyone rejoiced.

Spider Woman brought not only the sun to the Cherokee, but fire with it.

And besides that, she taught the Cherokee people the art of pottery making.

Spider Women <spiderwoman.html>

 

The Cherokee venerated the horned serpent Sint Holo, who appeared to extremely intelligent and resourceful male youths, as well as Tsul 'Kalu, a god of the hunt and Oonawieh Unggi ("the oldest wind"), a wind god. The Ani Yuntikwalaski were people of thunder and lightning; they caused fires in trees (usually hollow sycamore). Asgaya Gigagei was a thunderstorm spirit, also called Asagaya Gigaei.

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Sint Holo is a mystical, invisible, horned serpent which appeared to males who were extremely wise in the mythologies of many Native Americans. Sequoyah, the inventor of the Cherokee alphabet, was said to have seen Sint Holo. He brought rain and made a noise similar to (but not the same as) thunder.He may have origins in Maya mythology or Aztec mythology. Sint Holo was venerated, in various forms, by the Cherokee, Chippewa, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Catawba

Bear Symbology - Clans

In shamanism bears are totem animals <totemanimals.html>or power animals. <poweranimals.html> This takes us to the very source of 'nature in motion' - the summer solstice - shaminism - the rhythm of drumming - sweat lodges and cleansing - as we meditate - initiate - and activate our DNA to uncover our lost wisdom and soul's purpose. White Bear Medicine Woman

There is a Pawnee <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnee> legend about White Bear Medicine Woman. She was born with the spirit of a bear, after her father killed a bear while she was in her mother's womb. She is the origin of the Bear Medicine Ceremony invoking healing powers by actions of a bear based on her narrative myth.

White Bear Medicine Woman is connected to the wheel - circles.

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Medicine Wheels <medicinewheel.html>- the Big Bear Medicine Wheel <http://www.teton-rainbows.com/bigbear.html>

Wheel of Time - Karma - Cycles of Life

Alchemy Wheel of Creation <12around1.html>

Dream Catchers <dreamcatcher.html>

Swastika <swastika.html>- 4 elements - seasons

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As you sit there ... close your eyes. Take 2 slow deep breaths. Relax. If White Bear Medicine Woman is part if your journey - ask her to come to you with a message. Wait for her! Record what is shown and told. If you wish to do this with drumming music - please click the power animal link above. Bear Symbology

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Bears hibernate in the winter, which may explain their association with "dreaming the Great Spirit" or retrospection. The symbolism of the Bear's cave reflects returning to the womb of Mother Earth. [A cave is an archetype for the mind - sleep - returning/flying/spiraling to higher consciousness.] This also suggests a strong feminine aspect, one of nurturing and protection. Bear cubs, born in the early spring, can spend as many as seven years with their mother before reaching maturity. People with Bear Medicine are considered by many as self-sufficient, and would rather stand on their own two feet than rely on others. They are sometimes considered dreamers. Many have developed the skill of visualizing new things, but as a result can get caught up in the dreaming, making little progress in waking reality. Bear's medicine includes introspection, healing, solitude, wisdom, change, communication with Spirit, death and rebirth, transformation, astral travel, creature of dreams, shamans and mystics.

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Bear Medicine

With Bear Medicine we find this website <http://www.birdclan.org/bear.html>...

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The Bear is the keeper of the dream time, and stores the teachings of dreams until the dreamer wakes up to them. Many tribes have called this space of inner-knowing the Dream Lodge, where the death of the illusion of physical reality overlays the expansiveness of eternity. It is in the Dream Lodge that our ancestors sit in Council and advise us regarding alternative pathways that lead to our goals.

If you like bears, you should maybe look into some books on interpreting dreams; especially if you're a heavy dreamer. If you need a lot of sleep, it may be Bear working. This female receptive energy, for centuries has allowed visionaries, mystics, and shamans to prophesy.

The strength of Bear medicine is the power of introspection. Bear is not one to make snap decisions, nor one to ramrod or force into any position. Bear takes in all available information, takes it into his quiet place, studies that information carefully, gives it careful thought for a while, and then reaches his own informed decisions based on the facts at hand. Bear is the one who says, "I have to think about this. I'll be in touch later." You can rely on opinions coming from a Bear person as being well thought out and thorough, and based on the facts given. To accomplish the goals and dreams that we carry, the art of introspection is necessary.

Bear is a fierce warrior, especially when protecting their young. They appear to be lumbering and slow, but can have lightning speed when threatened. They love fish when they can get it, but they also eat berries, honey, etc. Bear people like home and shelter, and like to be warm and cozy.

With Bear Medicine, the power of knowing has invited you to enter the silence and become acquainted with the Dream Lodge, so that your goals may become concrete realities. This is the strength of Bear.

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Bears in Mythology

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There is some evidence for prehistoric bear worship, see Arctic, Arcturus, Great Bear, Berserker, Kalevala.

The bear is a national emblem of Russia.

Numerous cities around the world have adopted the bear as a symbol, notably the Swiss capital Bern, which takes its name from the German for bear, bar. The bear is also the name-emblem of Berlin.

Bears are a common symbol of heraldry. In the arms of the bishopric of Freising the bear is the dangerous totem animal tamed by Saint Corbinian and made to carry his civilized baggage over the mountains: the allegory of the civilizing influence of Christianity is inescapable.

The bear is also the name-emblem of Berlin.

Bears are a common symbol of heraldry. In the arms of the bishopric of Freising the bear is the dangerous totem animal tamed by Saint Corbinian and made to carry his civilized baggage over the mountains: the allegory of the civilizing influence of Christianity is inescapable. Read More ... <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bears>

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Bear Clan Origin Myth

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The Bear Clan (Hundj Hik'ik'Სdjera) is a large clan of the Lower or Earth Moiety, and in contemporary Wisconsin, it is now the largest clan. The Bear Clan had to be consulted on all matters pertaining to the earth (such as land transfers), just as the Waterspirit Clan was in charge of matters pertaining to water, and the Thunderbird Clan to matters aerial. Read More... <http://hotcakencyclopedia.com/ho.BearClanOriginMyth.html>

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Bear Constellation - Ursa Major

Big Dipper Stars in Summer Sky <http://www.space.com/spacewatch/050610_big_dipper.html> Space.com - June 10, 2005

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Ursa Major is a constellation visible throughout the year in the northern hemisphere. Its name means Great Bear in Latin, and is associated with the legend of Callisto.

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Zeus fell in love with a mortal woman named Callisto, who was a far-traveler and a huntress. His wife Hera became jealous, and changed Callisto into a large bear. When Callisto failed to return after a long journey, her son Arcas set out to find her, and in a forest one day met a huge bear. To his horror, the bear started to run toward him. Not perceiving it was his mother, Arcas fitted an arrow to his bow and was about to slay the bear, when Zeus, to avert the impending tragedy, changed Arcas into a smaller bear. Zeus could not undo Hera's spell. Then Zeus grabbed both bears by the tails, swung them around (thus stretching their tails out), and hurled them into the sky where they would be safe and immortal. However, Hera had the last word, moving them to the portion of the sky that never sets, so that until the end of the world Callisto and Arcas must endure weariness without rest.

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The seven brightest stars of Ursa Major form a famous asterism known in the United Kingdom as the Plough, and was formerly called by the old name Charles's Wain ("wain" meaning "wagon") as it still is in Scandinavia, Karlavagnen. This common Germanic name originally meant the men's wagon (churls' wagon) in contrast to the women's wagon (Ursa Minor). There is also a theory that it was named after Charlemagne. In North America it is commonly known as the Big Dipper, because the major stars can be seen to follow the rough outline of a large ladle, or dipper; this is recognized as a grouping of stars in many cultures throughout the eras. In Hindu astronomy, it is referred to as Sapta Rishi meaning "The Seven Sages". Read More ... <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursa_Major>

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Asterism derives from the Greek word for 'star', 'aster'. In astronomy, an asterism is a recognized pattern of stars seen in Earth's sky which is neither an official constellation nor a true star cluster. Asterisms are considered to be distinct from constellations, although the origin of most constellations is also a recognizable pattern of stars. An asterism might be a part of a constellation, a pattern composed of stars from two or more constellations, or a smaller distinctive pattern of stars which are not physically associated and are therefore not classified as a cluster. Examples of Asterisms <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterism_%28astronomy%29> Aster - in reference to a planet, or to a particular configuration of planets or a conjunction of planets and stars - might be implicit in Matthew's description of the Star (aster) of Bethlehem which, if it was not an angelic or supernatural phenomenon, need not have been a single star. Aster is also associated with Zoroaster. <z.html> The 3 Magi were Zoroastrian priests. Bears Today

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In our current timeline - with environmental changes - bears - as well as other forest animals - often find food scarce. Their food sources become displaced as housing expands. As a result, many bears come down from the mountains and wander into people's yards and homes in search of food. This is an increasing pattern - as reported by friends, clients, and the media. Learning how to cope with this situation is most important so as not to endanger local residents and their pets. Here in NY state - many friends have found hungry bears lurking on their property, rummaging through garbage.

Some people report bear sightings in patterns - meaning bears come into a neighborhood - stay a few days - then return 3 weeks later - or whatever the pattern is - as if on cue!

ShapeShifter          ©Diana E. Stanley The burning of herbs or incense is a practice held sacred by many traditional cultures and is frequently called "Smudging". Smudging takes many forms. Sometimes herbs are tied in a bundle called a "smudge stick" and allowed to dry. Some herbs lend themselves to braiding. In olden times, the end of the smudge stick or braid was lit from the central or cooking fire. Today, however, a candle is recommended as it takes some time to get the stick smoking. Loose dried herbs may also be placed directly onto the burning wood in an indoor fireplace or crumbled between the fingers over a piece of charcoal. The container used for the charcoal and herbs needs to be fireproof. Ceramic or glass bowls with a layer of sand or salt work well. Especially nice is an abalone shell with a layer of colored sand in the bottom. Remember that the container may be come warm enough to scorch a surface or burn your hand. When burning a smudge stick or braid, they will eventually go out on their own, but should you need to put them out quickly, you can tamp the end out in sand or soil, shaking off the excess. Using water is messy and not generally recommended. The idea behind burning herbs is to release their energy and fragrance, not to fill the room or your lungs with smoke. Burning excessive amounts can lead to respiratory distress or problems (and may also set off your smoke alarm). Show consideration for other people when smudging. Avoid smudging in the room when infants, pregnant persons, asthmatic or allergy-prone people are present. Smudging is not recommended during pregnancy! Never leave your smudge sticks, candles or charcoal unattended to avoid fire hazards. There are many cultures and belief systems. Not everyone views the practice of smudging in the same way and different herbs may be used for different purposes. Generally, Sage, Sweet Grass, and Cedar (also known as Cypress and Juniper) are burned to purify and protect one's living area, self and sacred tools. Bay leaf is traditionally used to protect against colds and flu. Epazote is helpful in establishing healthy boundaries and often used in combination with Fennel and one of the protective herbs (Sage, Sweet Grass or Cedar). Fennel is effective in repelling negative energies and calms the nerves. Mints are both uplifting and cleansing and are particularly good when used in combination with Sage or Cedar. Mugwort is used for healing, divination and to stimulate dreams and visions. It can be burned during rituals or before sleeping. However as some people find it to be slightly mind-altering, avoid its use before driving. UNSAFE DURING PREGNANCY! Mullien is an effective herb for healing emotional trauma that originates from relationships with other people and it provides protection when beginning a new project. Most people find the smoke to be very grounding and calming. It is often used at the end of a ritual in which Mugwort has been burned at the beginning. Orris root when burned with Celery seeds increases psychic gifts and concentration. Pine, Fir, Hemlock, and Spruce are burnt for their purifying and cleansing effect. They are most effective in combination with other herbs. Resin, Balsam, Gum, and Sap are obtained from a variety of sources. Some examples are sweet gum, birch, acacia, benzoin, copal, dragon's blood, myrrh and frankincense. Resins represent the four elements (water, earth, air and fire) when burned. The connection to all creation is affirmed when using the Sacred Smoke of your chosen resin. Uvi Ursi was traditionally mixed with tobacco and used for smoking during peace pipe ceremonies. The fragrance and energy when burned are very calming and grounding. Yerba Santa has many uses medicinally. Burn it to nurture and protect that which is ancient, sacred and wild within yourself. Use it when you need encouragement or courage. Any action, undertaken with intention and belief can become a ritual. It grows powerful through repetition and connection. The repetition can be personal~during this life time or over many life times. It can be cultural (such as celebrating Christmas) or ancestral (as in sacred dances passed down through the generations). Finding your own personal ritual can be a very healing experience. All rituals have a beginning point. Many begin as dreams or visions. Sometimes direction comes from your spirit helpers. It is possible that Spirit will instruct you if you ask and open your heart. An important way rituals evolve is by paying attention to your feelings when you attempt to make sacred or healing actions. The right actions feel good. A sense of well being and connection~of magick~comes into your soul. Some people experience this quickly and for others it evolves slowly. Patience and commitment is required as with any new endeavor. Let the searching flow through your heart, let it be spontaneous. There is no exact recipe, but with time, you will find your own personal smudging ritual. Lighting the smudge and offering it to the four directions is a common practice. Then fan the smoke over your body, first bringing it to your heart, then over your head and down to your feet. When used for cleansing, purifying and protecting, fan the smoke through the room, around yourself and draw your sacred tools through the smoke. If desired, you can incant some type of prayer as you do this, releasing your intent to Spirit. The burning of herbs is also used during healing work and prayer. This helps connect you to your spirit assistants and carries your intentions out to both the physical and spirit worlds. During healing work, the smoke may be fanned over the person either by your hand or with feathers. This clears out unhealthy energies and brings in the special attributes of the herbs. Invite the Spirit of the Herb(s) to join you and guide you in your sacred work. Whether you speak silently through your heart and soul, or aloud, is up to you. Do whatever makes the process seem real and feels right to you. Use respect, kindness and affection. Consider having the intention to form a lasting friendship and partnership with the Spirit of the Herb. Your intention will be known. If you merely wish to use the herbs rather than form a partnership, their magick may not be as effective. Part of the spiritual work of the Plant is to work with human spirits~when you have the intention to be partners, it enables them to work actively with you and much more of their magic manifests in your life. Oh Great Spirit! Hear me as I light the sacred herbs in fellowship with my Plant brothers. Honor and blessings to all. Guide and protect me on my journey. Honor and blessings to the North. Direct my steps to places that balance the physical. Honor and blessings to the East. Guide me in my journey to knowledge and wisdom. Honor and blessings to the South. Lead me to spiritual strength and courage. Honor and blessings to the West. Teach me the gentle ways of emotional balance. Be with me all, protecting and guiding me in my search for true wisdom in Spirit's love and light. Oh Great Spirit, thank you for your guidance, blessings and protection. Thank you Plant brothers for joining me and sharing your energies and blessings with me. Go with my blessings, Spirits of the North. My thanks for your help now and to come in empowering my physical life. Go with my blessings, Spirits of the East. My thanks for your help now and to come in empowering my mental life. Go with my blessings, Spirits of the South. My thanks for your help now and to come in empowering my spiritual life. Go with my blessings, Spirits of the West. My thanks for your help now and to come in empowering my emotional life. In SPIRIT's name, love and blessings to all spirits and creatures of the worlds. My thanks for blessing, guiding and protecting me on my sacred journey. So be it

Bearers Of Wisdom
The Elderly

In tribal cultures, the elderly play an important role. They are the keepers of the tribe's memories and the holders of wisdom. As such, the elderly are honored and respected members of tribes. In many modern cultures, however, this is often not the case. Many elderly people say that they feel ignored, left out, and disrespected. This is a sad commentary on modernization, but it doesn't have to be this way. We can change this situation by taking the time to examine our attitudes about the elderly and taking action.

Modern societies tend to be obsessed with the ideas of newness, youth, and progress. Scientific studies tell us how to do everything - from the way we should raise our kids to what we need to eat for breakfast. As a result, the wisdom that is passed down from older generations is often disregarded. Of course, grandparents and retired persons have more than information to offer the world. Their maturity and experience allows for a larger perspective of life, and we can learn a lot from talking to elderly people. It's a shame that society doesn't do more to allow our older population to continue to feel productive for the rest of their lives, but you can help to make change. Perhaps you could help facilitate a mentorship program that would allow children to be tutored by the elderly in retirement homes. The elderly make wonderful storytellers, and creating programs where they could share their real life experiences with others is another way to educate and inspire other genera! tions.

Take stock of your relationships with the elderly population. Maybe you don't really listen to them because you hold the belief that their time has passed and they are too old to understand what you are going through. You may even realize that you don't have any relationships with older people. Try to understand why and how our cultural perception of the elderly influences the way you perceive them. Look around you and reach out to someone who is elderly - even if you are just saying hello and making small talk. Resolve to be more aware of the elderly. They are our mentors, wise folk, and the pioneers that came before us and paved the way for our future.