The Great Spirit

The Earth Mother

"Stirrings of the Heart" by Lee Bogel
Understanding the Beliefs of Our Ancestors

Our Earth Mother represents the spirit of life or nature as we know it. Through her bounty all creatures are fed and nourished and life is sustained. The People held great respect for the Earth and viewed her as a living being, much the way we've come to understand it to be a living planet. The People knew that all things were connected and when one link was broken every living thing was affected. We are children of the Earth and to her we will return when our breath stops and our hearts beat no more.

The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us, and healing plants she gives us likewise. If we are wounded, we go to or mother and seek to lay the wounded part against her, to be healed. Animals too, do thus, they lay their wounds to the earth.

Big Thunder (Bedagi)
Wakanakis Nation

You ask me to plow the ground. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother's breast? Then when I die she will not take me to her bosom to rest.

You ask me to dig for stones. Shall I dig under her skin for her bones? Then when I die I cannot enter her body to be born again.

You ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it and to be rich like white men. But how dare I cut off my mother's hair?

Smohalla
Sokulk of the Nez Perce Nation

The White people never cared for land or deer or bear. When we Indians kill meat, we eat it all up. When we dig roots we make little holes. When we build houses, we make little holes. When we burn grass for grasshoppers, we don't ruin things. We shake down acorns and pinenuts. We don't chop down the trees. We only use dead wood. But the White people plow up the ground, pull down the trees, kill everything. The tree says, "Don't. I am sore. Don't hurt me." But they chop it down and cut it up. The spirit of the land hates them. They blast out trees and stir it up to its depths. They saw up the trees. That hurts them. The Indians never hurt anything, but the White people destroy all. They blast rocks and scatter them on the ground. The rocks say, "Don't. You are hurting me." But the White people pay no attention. When the Indians use rocks, they take little round ones for their cooking....How can the spirit of the earth like the White man? Everywhere the White man has touched, it is sore.

Spoken by an old Wintu holy woman.

Mother Earth was and is cherished by the People. Visit The Green Earth Pages to learn what is happening to our precious planet and things you can do to help preserve it for our children and our future. These pages were created by Jade and offer her wisdom and insight on environmental issues.

Spirit Voices Logo