The old Lakota knew that man's heart away from Nature becomes hard.

"The old Lakota was wise. He knew that man's heart away from Nature becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans too. So he kept his youth close to its softening influence."

Luther Standing Bear
Oglala Lakota

Photos: (Top) Willow flowers and Vedauwoo Rocks, Vedauwoo Recreation Area, WY, May 4, 2015; (Middle) Rainbow, Lory State Park, CO, April 30, 2015; (Bottom) Cottonwood catkins and the Cache la Poudre River, CO, May 9, 2015

"Civilization" has not added one whit to my love for truth, honesty, and generosity . . .

"Regarding the 'civilization' that has been thrust upon me since the days of the reservation, it has not added one whit to my sense of justice; to my reverence for the rights of life; to my love for truth, honesty, and generosity; nor to my faith in Wakan Tanka - God of the Lakotas . . .

 "For after all the great religions have been preached and expounded, or have been revealed by brilliant scholars, or have been written in books and embellished in fine language with finer covers, man - all man - is still confronted with the Great Mystery."

Luther Standing Bear
Oglala Lakota

Photos: (Top) Western Wallflower and Vedauwoo Rocks, Vedauwoo National Recreation Area, Medicine Bow National Forest, WY, May 4, 2015; (Second) Pasqueflowers and cascade, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, April 27, 2015; (Third) Cows and colorful rock formations, near Red Mountain Open Space, Larimer County, CO, April 25, 2015; (Bottom) Luther Standing Bear

Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, the mark of respect.

"For the traditional Lakota, conversation was never begun in a hurried manner. No one was quick with a question, no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer. A pause giving time for thought was the truly courteous way of beginning and conducting a conversation. Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, the mark of respect. More powerful than words was silence."

Luther Standing Bear,
Oglala Lakota

Photos: (Top) Wild Plum, Cottonwoods, and ruddy sandstone cliffs, Lory State Park, CO; (Middle) Wood carving near Loveland, CO; (Right) Pasqueflowers and The Twin Owls, Lumpy Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. These photos were taken on April 27-29, 2015

Silence was meaningful with the Lakota . . .

"Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and his granting a space of silence before talking was done in the practice of true politeness and regardful of the rule that 'thought comes before speech' . . . Strict observance of this tenet of good behavior was the reason, no doubt, for his being given the false characterization by the white man of being a stoic."

Luther Standing Bear,
Oglala Lakota chief

Photo: Subalpine Fir trees, with Andrews Peak looming in the background, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 31, 2015

The old Lakota knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard.

"The old Lakota was wise.  He knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard; he knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to lack of respect for humans, too."

Luther Standing Bear,
Oglala Lakota chief

Photos: (Top) Carving, near Loveland, CO; (Middle) Maple trees flaming, with foothills in the background; a half-mile from my house in Larimer County, CO; (Bottom) Willow trees in the snow, near Loveland, CO.  All three photos were taken on November 10, 2014

The old Lakota knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard.

 

"The Lakota loved the earth and all things of the earth, the attachment growing with age.  The old people came literally to love the soil and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of being close to a mothering power.  It was good for the skin to touch the earth and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with bare feet on the sacred earth . . . The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing.  That is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from its life-giving forces.  For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly; he can see more clearly into the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him.  The old Lakota was wise.  He knew that man's heart away from nature becomes hard . . . So he kept his youth close to its softening influence."

Luther Standing Bear,
Lakota chief

Photo: Wildflower clump and butte at sunset; Pawnee Buttes, Weld County, CO; June 19, 2013

For the Lakota, granting a space of silence before speaking was regardful of the rule that "thought comes before speech."

"Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and his granting a space of silence before talking was . . . regardful of the rule that 'thought comes before speech' . . . Silence was the mark of respect.  More powerful than words was silence with the Lakota . . . Silence meant what it meant to Disraeli when he said, 'Silence is the mother of truth,' for the silent man was ever to be trusted, while the man ever ready with speech was never taken seriously . . . Conversation was never begun at once, or in a hurried manner.  No one was quick with a question, no matter how important, and no one was pressed for an answer.  A pause giving time for thought was the truly courteous way of beginning and conducting a conversation . . . As a little child, it was instilled into me to be silent and reticent.  This was one of the most important traits to form the character of the Indian 

. . . It was considered absolutely necessary, and was thought to lay the foundations of patience and self-control."

Chief Luther Standing Bear

Teton Lakota

Photo: Late light sculpts a snowfield and a peak of the Medicine Bow Range, near Montgomery Pass, CO; March 16, 2012

Man's Heart Away from Nature Becomes Hard

 

"The old Lakota was wise.  He knew that man's heart away from Nature becomes hard."

Luther Standing Bear

Photo:  View from Ohio Pass, near Crested Butte, CO, October 2, 2011