CHRISTMAS THROUGH INDIAN EYES

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Everyday is our Christmas.
Every meal is our Christmas.
At every meal we take a little portion of the food
we are eating, and we offer it to the spirit world on behalf
 of the four legged, and the winged, and the two legged.
We pray - not the way most Christians pray -
but we thank the Grandfathers, the Spirit,
and the Guardian Angel.
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The Indian Culture is actually grounded
in the traditions of a Roving Angel.
The life-ways of Roving Angels are actually
the way Indian People live. They hold out their hands and
 help the sick and the needy. They feed and clothe the poor.
We have high respect for the avatar because we believe
 that it is in giving that we receive.
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We are taught as Traditional children
that we have abundance. The Creator has given us
everything: the water, the air we breathe,
the earth as our flesh, and our energy force: our heart.
We are thankful every day. We pray early in the morning,
before sunrise, to the morning star, and the evening star.
We pray for our relatives who are in the universe
that someday they will come.
We also pray that the Great Spirit's son will live again.
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Looks for Buffalo, Oglala Sioux Spiritual Leader
From the AAA Native Arts website
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As I sit quietly on this December 25th,
a day so holy to all of Christendom,
I reflect sadly on the memories of the ancestors, elders,
brothers and sisters who perished in the cold winter winds
and snows of the past; the victims of white diseases,
 of gunshots and swords, of starvation and exposure.
 My heart is heavy with their loss.
The words, "Peace On Earth, Good Will To Men,"
 have always,  and still are today, meant only for the chosen few.
Will it ever change? I pray to the Creator,
and to the God-Spirit of every person alive
 by whatever name it is called,
that peace and good will enter the heart of each
while there are still two-leggeds to walk the earth.
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Julia White
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A Native American Christmas Prayer In The Form Of A Poem

O Great Spirit, Grandfather, God of the Holy book.
Like the Hebrew children to Thee we pray, we look.
As a man I have troubles, my people many sorrows.
Sins of yesterday, have tainted even our tomorrows.
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For a redeemer I pray, a great messiah our people need.
Send Him to my heart first, my soul desires to be freed.
Is the Christmas manger where the savior laid His head?
Is the child from Bethlehem He who rose from the dead?
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Did God include the red man when His only Son He gave?
Can Jesus not only my soul heal, can He my people save?
I can find no other hope when I walk through a barren land.
So to this Christmas Jesus I will lift a trembling weary hand..
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" Let not your heart be troubled you believe in God.
 Believe also in me"....Jesus Christ
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Wesley Jones
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