All days are God's.

"We see no need for setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, since to us all days are God's."

Ohiyesa
Santee Dakota

Photo: Limber Pine Cones and waterfall, Gem Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, May 8, 2015

As children of nature, we have always looked upon the concentration of population as the prolific mother of all evils.

"As children of nature, we have always looked upon the concentration of population as the prolific mother of all evils . . . [There] is the loss of spiritual power inseparable from too close contact with one's fellow man. All who have lived much out of doors, whether Indian or otherwise, know that there is a magnetic and powerful force that accumulates in solitude but is quickly dissipated by life in a crowd. Even our enemies have recognized that for a certain innate power and self-poise, wholly independent of circumstances, the American Indian is unsurpassed among the races."

Ohiyesa,
Santee Dakota sage

Photo: Limber Pine cone in the snow, with The Twin Owls looming in the background, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, January 5, 2015

Silence is the cornerstone of character.

"We believe profoundly in silence - the sign of a perfect equilibrium.  Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind, and spirit.  Those who can preserve their selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence - not a leaf, as it were, astir on the tree; not a ripple upon the shining pool - those, in the mind of the person of nature, possess the ideal attitude and conduct of life.  If you ask us, 'What is silence?' we will answer, 'It is the Great Mystery.  The holy silence is God's voice.'  If you ask, 'What are the fruits of silence?' we will answer, 'They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity, and reverence.  Silence is the cornerstone of character.' "

Ohiyesa
Santee Dakota Nation

Photo: Beartooth Butte reflected in Beartooth Lake; Beartooth Mts., WY; August 4, 2013

Every Creature Possesses a Soul

 

"We believe that the spirit pervades all creation and that every creature possesses a soul in some degree, though not necessarily a soul conscious of itself.  The tree, the waterfall, the grizzly bear, each is an embodied Force, and as such an object of reverence."

Ohiyesa, Santee Dakota writer

Photo: Subalpine fir and Notchtop Mountain, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, March 9, 2012

Silence is God's Voice

 

"If you ask us, 'What is silence?' we will answer, 'It is the Great Mystery.  The holy silence is God's voice.'  If you ask, 'What are the fruits of silence?' we will answer, 'They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity and reverence.  Silence is the cornerstone of character.' "

Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman); Elder, Dakota Nation

Photo: The Never Summer Mountains at sunset, near Gould, CO, October 21, 2011