I don‘t know if our Native Americans were exceptionally eloquent, but I do know that their language was earthy. Literally earthy. Many of their phrases and metaphors are born of the forests, rivers, plains, mountains, and seasons. So if you love the outdoors, you’ll love the manner in which they expressed themselves.
Black Elk, a Lakota (Sioux) holy man who had lived through the waning days of the Lakota nation in the 1870s and 80s, described a day from his youth when he challenged an older man to a horse race. His opponent taunted him by saying, “only crows and coyotes think your horse is better than mine.” Apparently crows and coyotes (the garbage collectors of our natural world) were not highly esteemed by the Lakota.
You’ve probably heard of the phrases in the old treaties which promised that the Indians could keep their land, unmolested by settlers and the army, “for as long as the grass grows and the water flows.” Those were words any Native American could understand. Many years after the Lakota had lost their land, Black Elk offered this wry observation, “You can see that it is not the grass and the water that have forgotten.” He also explained that trying to hold on to their homeland had been like “melting snow held in our hands.”
Black Elk tried to explain a life-changing vision from his youth but had trouble describing it: “When the part of me that talks would try to make words for the meaning, it would be like fog and get away from me.” What a great image to describe the problem we’ve all had of trying to describe the indescribable. Many years later he added,” I did not have to remember these things; they have remembered themselves all these years.”
In describing a council meeting in which nothing was resolved, he said, “They talked for days, but in the end it was just like wind blowing.” I doubt that Black Elk was familiar with the book of Ecclesiastes, so it’s interesting that his metaphor is similar to Solomon’s idea of fruitless labor being like “chasing after the wind.” And of course, Bob Dylan had some thoughts on answers blowing in the wind. Great minds think alike.
Animals, grass, fog, snow, rivers, wind. They described life in metaphors that sprang from the natural world. But they were more than poetic. The Native Americans were also insightful.
People have difficulty looking at their own society objectively. We tend to be blinded by the present, by our own way of doing things, so we can gain some insight into our own strengths and frailties by listening to the words of outsiders.
For example, the Cherokee and the Lakota described gold as “the yellow metal that they [whites] worship” and “that makes them crazy.” Of course, we’d all deny that we worship gold, but how else could an outsider interpret what he saw? Gold rush, gold craze, gold worship. And haven’t I read somewhere of a calf made of gold? Sure, you and I may just think of gold as a sign of love or commitment, but the gold has to come from somewhere, often at a very high price – a people’s way of life.
One of the most telling Native American quotes I’ve ever run across came from the Cherokee chief Yonaguska, probably during the 1830s. A missionary read a bit of the New Testament to him. After listening politely, he made a classic statement: “It seems to be a good book. Strange the white man isn’t better after having had it for so long.” Ouch!
Sure, we can quibble about the validity of judging an entire society or race based on the actions of a few. We can question whether those that Yonaguska had encountered were patterning their lives after the Bible. We can pick nits, or we can admit that Yonaguska was on to something. Undoubtedly, virtually every white person the Cherokee had encountered in the previous 100 years would claim to be a Christian, a believer in the Bible, even if they’d never read it. This was the early 1800s, when America was as thoroughly a “Christian nation” as it would ever be. And yet it was a nation that killed the native people with reckless abandon, while thanking God for providing an unoccupied, open wilderness for His New Jerusalem to be established by His new, chosen people. It’s a great story… if you love irony and hypocrisy, not to mention murder, deception, and greed.
The language of the oppressed often speaks the truth. It’s even better when it is spoken in such colorful language.
Black Elk, a Lakota (Sioux) holy man who had lived through the waning days of the Lakota nation in the 1870s and 80s, described a day from his youth when he challenged an older man to a horse race. His opponent taunted him by saying, “only crows and coyotes think your horse is better than mine.” Apparently crows and coyotes (the garbage collectors of our natural world) were not highly esteemed by the Lakota.
You’ve probably heard of the phrases in the old treaties which promised that the Indians could keep their land, unmolested by settlers and the army, “for as long as the grass grows and the water flows.” Those were words any Native American could understand. Many years after the Lakota had lost their land, Black Elk offered this wry observation, “You can see that it is not the grass and the water that have forgotten.” He also explained that trying to hold on to their homeland had been like “melting snow held in our hands.”
Black Elk tried to explain a life-changing vision from his youth but had trouble describing it: “When the part of me that talks would try to make words for the meaning, it would be like fog and get away from me.” What a great image to describe the problem we’ve all had of trying to describe the indescribable. Many years later he added,” I did not have to remember these things; they have remembered themselves all these years.”
In describing a council meeting in which nothing was resolved, he said, “They talked for days, but in the end it was just like wind blowing.” I doubt that Black Elk was familiar with the book of Ecclesiastes, so it’s interesting that his metaphor is similar to Solomon’s idea of fruitless labor being like “chasing after the wind.” And of course, Bob Dylan had some thoughts on answers blowing in the wind. Great minds think alike.
Animals, grass, fog, snow, rivers, wind. They described life in metaphors that sprang from the natural world. But they were more than poetic. The Native Americans were also insightful.
People have difficulty looking at their own society objectively. We tend to be blinded by the present, by our own way of doing things, so we can gain some insight into our own strengths and frailties by listening to the words of outsiders.
For example, the Cherokee and the Lakota described gold as “the yellow metal that they [whites] worship” and “that makes them crazy.” Of course, we’d all deny that we worship gold, but how else could an outsider interpret what he saw? Gold rush, gold craze, gold worship. And haven’t I read somewhere of a calf made of gold? Sure, you and I may just think of gold as a sign of love or commitment, but the gold has to come from somewhere, often at a very high price – a people’s way of life.
One of the most telling Native American quotes I’ve ever run across came from the Cherokee chief Yonaguska, probably during the 1830s. A missionary read a bit of the New Testament to him. After listening politely, he made a classic statement: “It seems to be a good book. Strange the white man isn’t better after having had it for so long.” Ouch!
Sure, we can quibble about the validity of judging an entire society or race based on the actions of a few. We can question whether those that Yonaguska had encountered were patterning their lives after the Bible. We can pick nits, or we can admit that Yonaguska was on to something. Undoubtedly, virtually every white person the Cherokee had encountered in the previous 100 years would claim to be a Christian, a believer in the Bible, even if they’d never read it. This was the early 1800s, when America was as thoroughly a “Christian nation” as it would ever be. And yet it was a nation that killed the native people with reckless abandon, while thanking God for providing an unoccupied, open wilderness for His New Jerusalem to be established by His new, chosen people. It’s a great story… if you love irony and hypocrisy, not to mention murder, deception, and greed.
The language of the oppressed often speaks the truth. It’s even better when it is spoken in such colorful language.
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