TheWilderness Guide

Program

Teaching Drum Outdoor School7124 Military Road

Three Lakes, WI 54562-9333715-546-2944

www.teachingdrum.org

TO JOIN THE WILDERNESS GUIDE PROGRAM

1 Check out our website at www.teachingdrum.org toget better acquainted with the Teaching Drum. Then readTamaracks book, Journey to the Ancestral Self. Wesell the book for $15 + $3.50 shipping. We also have thebook available in audio cassette for $32 + $3.50 shipping.Tamaracks other writings are available as well, see website.

2 Call the office in advance to arrange a visit for a weekor so, so that you may gain a firsthand feel for the Course. We request tuition of $200 for the week to cover yourmeals and miscellaneous costs.

3 If during your visit you and Tamarack decide theWilderness Guide Course is right for you, youll beinvited to fill out an application.

WILDERNESS GUIDE PROGRAM TUITION POLICY

$1,000 Deposit due with Application (includes $100 processing fee)$500 deposit reimbursement with cancellation after acceptance and before beginning of program

Tuition: $6,200 ($200 discount if paid by cash, check or money order )Half Balance due April 1, remainder due April 15

Reimbursement Schedule

If drop out within Reimbursement

Month 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . 40%

Month 2 . . . . . . . . . . . 20%

Month 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . 10%

Month 4 end . . . . . . . . 0%

Reminder: In order to be fully present and not have financial distractions during the

Program, it is important that you meet tuition deadlines. If you have

difficulties in this regard, please call us immediately.

ARE YOU READY TO RETURN TO CREATION?

You have learned some Native skills; have you ever dreamedof living them? It is a privilege hardly possible

in this day. And yet it is necessary in order to really learn the skills. You have to live like a Native in order to

know what a Native knows. There are no shortcuts.

There is a place where you can go into the Wilderness tolearn by doing, just as would a Native Person. You don't

learn skills there, you live them. It is not a class, it is not aworkshop. It is one-on-one, you and The Earth,

you and your Guide.

Nor is it a survival skills or nature awareness program. It is an actual Wilderness Native living experience.

The approach is deeply intelligent, deeply feeling, deeplyspiritual, deeply healing. And deeply hands-on.

Will your greatest struggle be with cold, with hunger, with Mosquitoes?

No, it will be with demons. Your own inner demons.

You will gain skills that you may not know exist - how tomake a tinderless fire, how to track animals without having

to study the track, how to drink safely from a Lake orStream the same way wild animals do. You will learn how to

live in a Clan, the way your Ancestors once did. You will find out how strong and wise you really are.

Do you just sign up and pay your tuition? It takes more thanmoney. You need to come and spend a week as a guest inthe Program. It's the only way to gain a real feel for it, and

for us to get to know each other. Then, if we decide togetherthat this experience could be right for you, you will be invited to submit an application.

TO BE A NATIVE

Imagine you are sitting with your comrades in a circlearound a warming fire at the edge of a wilderness meadow. A ring of tall Fir trees surrounds, their silhouettes standing

out against the Northern Lights dancing across the night sky. You have just finished a meal of venison, nettles, milkweed,wild leeks, and two big freshly caught Bass are roasting inthe coals for an early morning breakfast. Youre grateful

that your just finished buckskins are keeping the chill off theback as your Circle reminisces about the teaching and

adventures of the day the Wolf tracks that were spottedand followed going down the Deer trail to the Elder Pine

grove, the new patch of ripening blueberries that was comeacross while portaging over to the next lake for Clams, andyou pass around and admire the beautiful Willow gatheringbasket that was just finished before the meal. Someone

mentions the rising Moon and comments that she is almostfull time to begin preparations for the Sweat Lodge

ceremony youve all been anxiously awaiting. All the time you were sharing you were practicing the Nativeshadowing exercises that are training you senses to become

ever keener and you eyes and ears to be ever more observant.

The yawns start spreading from person to person as youfinish talking about plans for tomorrow an early morning

swim and check of the fish traps, then getting together withthe camp across the lake to split out a wind-fallen Ash for

bow stays, then in the afternoon a couple of us are going totrack the two Bears we saw grazing yesterday in the highMeadow across the lake, and the rest of us are going tofollow individual pursuits while someone else plans onburning out a new bowl and another is going to go and sit quietly in a neighboring tree to see what the Osprey

nestlings have to teach her. But now it is time to seek sleep in our Birchbark wigwams and listen to

the voice of our Dreams.

This could be you.

WILDERNESS GUIDE PROGRAM

Have you ever wished that you could live by your wits in the wilderness for awhole year? Would you like to learn skills within the actual context of NativeLifeway rather than in a class-workshop format? Would you like to go beyondthe popular skills (hide tanning, fire making, etc) and learn what it takes toactually live the life of a Native? Would you like to learn to track intuitivelylike an Aborigine, rather than by the military style that is popular today?Have you yearned to experience the thresholds to wilderness attunement andhave the opportunity to break through them? Are you willing to live and trustin the Native commandments that you must give in order to receive, andthat the Earth Mother provides for all the needs of Her children, includingyou? Would you like to have an instructor with the wisdom of experience whocan regularly sit down and talk one-on-one with? How about a program thatrealistically and sensitively immerses you in Native clan and spiritual life? Andone so well rounded that it speaks to women as well as men?

The Wilderness Guide program, as you may have already gathered, is one-of-a-kind. Tamarack takes only 10 students per year at his wilderness camp,where you live and learn in an actual primitive living situation just as would aNative person. Tamarack teaches skills that take you beyond survival, heguides you to the level of comfort and plenty. Heres a sampling of what youcould learn:

Infallible direction finding without map, compass, or GPS. How to recognize and prepare hundreds of wild edibles Weather forecasting How to make and wear buckskin clothing Ways to tap into your Ancestral memories To eat a Native diet Bark, thatch, and earth lodge building How to dry and store wild foods for winter The ritual ways and awarenesses of a Native How to awaken you senses, mental and intuitive abilities A Native language and the mysteries it holds How to become a Native canoeist Native first aid and hygiene Primitive trapping and fishing techniques How to discover culinary insect delights How to face your inner self How to become a Truthspeaker, the power of sacred speech, and the

blessings of the Talking Circle To experience a culture based on the concepts of honor and respect and so much more

Instructor: Tamarack Song, noted author and Native Lifeway guide, who haslearned from Wolves and traveled the continent years ago to apprentice toremaining Natives still living the Old Ways.

Course Duration: 1 full year, beginning with the Melting of the Snows(approx. May 1 )st

1The Three Thresholds to Wilderness Attunement(Unedited tape transcript)

Why is it that some of us feel fairly comfortable in the Woods for a few days, then justhave to leave, while others of us can get by for a week or so, then also feel compelled to goback? And still others of us can stick it out for several weeks, until we feel we just cant takeanymore, and then have to pack out also. The reason is that there are three thresholds that wemeet and need to transcend, one before the other, before we reach a place of comfort andacceptance before we can feel at home in the Wilderness. I call these thresholds thePsychological, the Tolerating, and the Gifting.

The Psychological Threshold is arrived at in about three days. The doubts and the fearsand the regrets and the relationship turmoil and the other unfinished business that we bringwith us into the Wilderness all of a sudden have no easy distraction. There is nothing else butus and our thoughts and feelings. They can completely possess us its all we think about,theres no diversion, no way to get away from them or drown them out. Where is the serenitywe came to find? By around the third day we have either found some peace with our demonsor we have given in to them and gone home to either deal with them or dance around them.

The Tolerating Threshold is reached at around a week. Most of us can put up with ageneral level of physical discomfort for about that period of time. You know, the nights-are-cold and-I-dont-have-a heavy-enough-sleeping-bag, its-been-raining-continuously-and-I-havent-been-able-to-get-out-much, I-ran-out-of-peanut-butter, I-havent-found-any-berries, the-fish-arent-biting-and-Im-eating-the-same-food-every-day stuff. Sure we could go on if it were a life-and-death matter, but we are bored and miserable and no longer have a point to prove. So wequickly pack our gear and make a bee-line for the comforts of home.

If we have evolved adequate shelter, are at peace with the weather, and have foundsustaining food, we will then coast through the Second Threshold and be pacing our way to thethird the Gifting Threshold. I also call it the Feast and Famine Threshold, because when weare in the Outback for a longer period we experience the up-and-down cycles of the naturalway of things hot and cold, wet and dry, bounty and scarcity. We who understand thesecycles know that if it is raining for several days it will eventually stop and Sun will again shine.We know that if our sleeping bag is wet we will eventually be able to dry it out. If the Fisharent biting today they eventually will, or perhaps well find some Clams or a Marsh full ofCattail roots over the next hill.

I could also have called this the Lucky Threshold, because we are often getting by onlittle more than that. Most of us can tolerate this for but a few weeks at most. A moon (month)is usually the limit; by then we have lost a good deal of weight, we are dirty and probably havean infected wound or two, and we have come to dread facing another day. Feast and faminewill sustain us no longer. Luck has its limit and weve reached it.

However, if we have found our Balance with the cycles of the Wilds, we will ridethrough this threshold as though it didnt exist and enter what I call the Gifting Way. It will nolonger be Man against Nature a struggle to find food and stay warm and dry or hope/trustthat we will stumble upon something to eat. It will be as though we are being given what we

2need, as though our mother is watching over and providing for us. For that is exactly what ishappening.

We have grown into the Awareness that brings trust and the Attunement that bringsthe gifts of trust. We are now comfortable and warm and dry and well-fed, for that is theGifting to those who know Balance. Now we can dwell in the Wilderness indefinitely. We haveour feet firmly on the the Path of our Ancestors and we are walking side by side with ourNative kin of all the Relations the Human, the Finned, the Furred, the Feathered, theRooted. We are now just as comfortable as we are in our living room, just as well-fed as at arestaurant. If we choose to leave the Bush we can return at any time, knowing we have a placethere.

OK, many of you are now saying, how do I learn to grow through these thresholdsso that I will be accepted by The Mother-Wilderness? That is the subject matter of many ofthe articles in this magazine. Keep reading and studying and practicing. Keep paying attention toyour growth as an individual. Go out in the Wilderness for progressively longer periods of timewithout pushing yourself to the point where you have to face a threshold. As with all skills, ittakes practice, and as with all awarenesses, it takes exposure.

These thresholds actually apply to all of life, whether it be a job, a lifestyle, or arelationship. So it is not coincidental that those who have found the way to Balance in theirpersonal lives are also likely to find Balance in the Wilds.

Work Ethic (Threshold Addition)(unedited tape transcript)

We come from a culture in which we are trained to be single-minded, to be single offocus, Put your nose to the grindstone, Keep your mind on the task, Be goal oriented,Finish one job before you start another, and so on. This works in Civilized environs becausein isolating ourselves from the natural realm we have eliminated all variables and can thus focuson one particular task. It cannot work in the natural realm because life is an interplay.

For example, if I would like to make a bow, I would first need to gather my materials,some of which have their season, and some of which would be available to me as the result ofother endeavors. Sinew would be gifted me from the hunt, perhaps by a Deer or a Caribou.Glue would come from the hide scraps. The bow stave might come from a lightening shatteredTree that I come across on my winter trap line, and so on. As you can see, it might take someamount of time before I gather all the materials needed to make a bow. I might, in fact, startthe bow with materials I have at hand, then let the project sit until the next materials comealong that I need and pick it up again.

If I were focused on one project, this bow, Im sure you can see how attempting tocomplete the bow could get pretty frustrating as I might have long periods of wait betweenprocuring the materials that I need. So, I might have a number of projects going at once, at anyparticular time working on the specific project for which the season is right and I have thenecessary materials. In this way, I am continually making progress and living in balance with thegifts and energies of the seasons.

My gathering and hunting trips are also as multi-dimensional. For example, if Im going

3out to pick Blueberries, on the way I might notice some Deer tracks that tell me there is an olddoe who is lame and therefore might be one to hunt. Perhaps Ill see some new Hazelnutshoots that Id like to come back and gather later for arrow shafts. At the base of the ridgewhere Blueberries are growing, Ill see that a Spruce Tree was blown down by last weeksstorm. Ill make note of that so on the way back from picking berries, I will pull up some of theroots to use for lashings on the Birchbark canoe I plan on making the following spring. As Impulling up the Spruce root, Ill see that theres a healthy patch of Golden Thread which I will tellmy Mother about so that she may come by to gather some of the root for medicine.

As you can see from this example, what may initially appear to be a single-focusgathering foray is actually quite multi-dimensional. This fits hand in hand with the use of thematerials that are gained in the gathering. Herein lies the dilemma for the person newlyreturning to Native Ways. He wants to be productive, he needs to accomplish certain tasks,but he is frustrated because he cannot focus on one task at a time and bring it to completion asis his accustomed way. He is facing a threshold.

Threshold Addition

In our civilized lives we are accustomed to gaining emotional gratification inconcentrated doses that are not necessarily part of the flow of our lives. This may take theform of movies, books, sporting events, workshops, dates, ceremonies, parties. Whatever theevent, the scenario is the same. The preparation, which involves detachment from ones regularlife. The anticipation, which creates expectations. The peak event, which usually includesintense emotional involvement and release. The let-down, many find themselves in a state ofdepression, low self-esteem, self-questioning. Boredom, we resign ourselves to what weconsider our normal humdrum lives and re-integrate ourselves into it, our normal humdrumlife. Preparation, we make plans for the next emotional high, which future-projects us out ofour boredom.

We become locked in an endless cycle of emotional high and depression. The highbecomes an addiction.

Heres an example. A man who is a month-long into the year-long wilderness livingexperience that I conduct, felt this intense need to leave for a weekend to participate in a bow-making workshop. He came back, telling us all about the intense emotional high he experiencedthere. He said that it was such an intense, beautiful experience that people in the workshopwere drawn to tears. Then, he woke up the morning after he got back and he crashed.

He felt depressed, he started questioning if he should be involved in this year-longexperience, and then he looked for another emotional high to try to recapture the one he hadover the weekend. He hadnt been able to start a fire by friction yet, so he pulled out his bow-making kit, achieved a fire, and experienced an intense emotional high.

That evening, when we talked about the experience, I guided him to an awareness ofthe cycle he was trapped in. He asked how to break the cycle, and I replied that he was alreadydoing it. By connecting with the means and ends of his existence, he would find emotional

4nourishment in all aspects of his life, as opposed to settling into a stale, everyday existence andliving for periodic emotional highs.

He came to realize that the bowmaking class experience could not sustain him. It was anisolated experience, it was not a part of his life. Had he gotten to know the trees, their spiritsand qualities, and then had respectfully gathered the wood for his bow, used the tools he hadgrown to know and developed relationships with, and then made his bow in the context of thelifeway in which he would use it, and taking the time and the energy to come to know the waysof the animals he would be hunting, and the sacred way of the hunt, he realized that his makingof the bow might not have occurred on that particular weekend and when it did happen, itwould be part of a greater, sustaining, emotional experience that was an integral and long-termpart of his life.

He realized that to respond to his impulses for instant emotional gratification wasreinforcing the addictive pattern, and that he had to, first of all, accept his emotional patterns,secondly, to not suppress the feelings but to allow them to come up and have their playbecause otherwise they would boil up in other ways, and then to give himself the time, dedicatethe energy to cultivating a rich and sustaining emotional climate around himself that was basedupon real life, the life he was living, and to change that life if it was not emotionally fulfillingrather than to try to supplement it with emotional fixes. He knew that this could take sometime, as old habits die hard. He had already learned that giving is receiving, that he would haveto have the wherewithal to invest if he was to expect change. By this point, he had also cometo know that it actually takes less effort to heal then to maintain dysfunctional ways.

This transformation is actually easier than it might sound, because what we are doing istransforming into our natural selves. As a species, we evolved in a climate of sustainedemotional nourishment. This is how we are biologically programmed to function best. So, oncewe start our evolution, which is actually an evolution into our real natural selves, it gets easierand easier with each step.

A Native doesnt work, he moves according to inspiration and guidance.

When we reach the _____ Threshold we encounter a change in work habits/attitudes.In our regular lives we worked by the clock, worked for an abstract reward (money), workedbecause of an ethic, worked for a nebulous future. In other words we worked because wedidnt have to. Now, as those reasons for working evaporate, we find it hard to motivateourselves. We worked for so long when there was a sketchy connection between our workand our real life that now, with those secondary reasons for work evaporated, we not only seeno reason to work, but develop a distaste for it.

Yet there is a reason to workone we are not yet attuned to. Instead of the clock thereis the turning seasons and the spawnings and ripenings. Instead of money there is warmth andfood, instead of an ethic there is ones place in the Circle of life, instead of a nebulous futurethere is the very real present, the now. But these things mean little to one who is notaccustomed to them.

So we find ourselves adrift between the fading past and the fuzzy future. We feel

5unmotivated, lethargic, even angry with ourselves.Then one cold morning we gather some firewood and bask in its warmth and something

clicksI gathered firewood, therefore I am warm! I am connected to the means and ends of myexistence! Its that simpleGiving is receiving. We have crossed the threshold. Work is nolonger work, but direct involvement in our lives. No free lunches, no labor for no visible lunchor to fill someone elses lunchbucket. Just a sweet berry if you pick one, hunger if you dont.Anxiety lifts, anger dissipates, the concept of work transforms into a lust to be involved in a lifethat makes sense!

Get more specific with thresholds? I can only speak in generalities because thethreshold experiences are different for everyone.

After a while (the time varies widely from individual to individual) we start doubtingourself. We no longer trust our decisions, we have trouble believing things are as we perceivethem. We grow disillusioned with ourself, some of us will get frustrated and angry with ourself.We are accustomed to a black and white world, where cause and effect are the modusoperandi. We see things, process garnered information, make decisions based upon theinformation, and then act. Usually our actions produce desired results. If not, we usuallyunderstand why.

Not so in the natural realm. What we perceive is usually much more complex than whatwe are accustomed to in our civilized life. And sometimes what affects us were not able toperceive. There is no one person or event or object or agenda item to relate exclusively with. To trust in any one of them is erroneous, because it could be just a piece of a greater puzzle.Or it may be just an illusion created by our ego in its struggle to fit unfamiliar information intoan old paradigm.

Even more confusing it is a doorway to a greater perception. When we are not awarethat it is a doorway, we tried to quantify it, make something of it. We end up hanging on to thedoorway rather than stepping over the threshold.

The scenario usually goes something like this: We feel first reveal disoriented, sometimes depressed. We wonder what is wrong with us,or we may externalize and start doubting someone else. Nothing changes, so soon we become self-critical and questioning of our beliefs and the decisions weve made. Our ego looks elsewhere for the problem, blaming or accusing the environment or other individuals.

This brings us to a threshold: By not being able to trust our feelings and perceptions, we disconnect ourself from our Heart-of-Hearts. In doing so we have worked ourselves into acorner of isolation we have created a personal crisis. We need to be functional, we need tofeel sane, and we cannot do either when we cannot trust.

What causes this dilemma? Inexperience. We are used to trusting ourself makingour own decisions, ruling our own destiny. And we are used to trusting others they makingour decisions and ruling our destiny. When this construct begins to crumble (and crumble it

6must, for it is just an illusion bought into by the ego), we the go into crisis. We no longer havean operating system, so in desperation we lash out. We either take it out on ourself or poundup somebody else. Our operating construct tells us that when things dont go the right way (i.e.our way), someone/thing is to blame. And, to justify our feelings, that someone/thing is also toshame.

What is the way out? More appropriately, we should be asking, What is the way in?. If we were to draw an image of ourself as a functioning being, we would probably depictourself with a large head, a tiny stick-figure body, and a little dot for a heart. Is it any wonderthat we would have difficulty in relating with the immense, complex and beautiful Web of Life?

The way in is getting caught in the Web. Its scary, because well no longer havecontrol.The Web is powerful much stronger than the ego. And the Web is all-encompassing farmore intimate than our construct. Is it worth embracing our fear to do it? Go and askSparrow, ask any Flower, ask a Rock. Anyone who lives the Old Way will tell you that the Blissof Communion is the Unending Orgasm of Life. Can you imagine anyone trading that in for theillusion of control?

1The 4 Threshold to Wilderness Attunementth

(rough draft)

(This threshold gets separate coverage because is in a class by itself.) The fourththreshold differs from the first three in that they are personal thresholds whereas the fourth issocial. The fourth carries us into the interactive realm of our relations, thus it here getsseparate coverage. So in that sense this could be considered the first threshold of another levelbecause crossing over it allows us to join the Circle of Life, to be a functioning organ within theorganism, to be accepted and embraced as a true child of the Mother.

We are social beings. Like the Wolf, who has a social structure similar to us, we reachthe full potential of our intendedness the full ability to develop and share the special gift ofself which makes us unique amongst all others only when we are in our social circle. I came tosee this first in Wolves during the time I lived with them in my early adulthood. I noticed thateach had a unique personality and temperament, each had a talent different from the others.For example, Dushum Nashak Earth-Thunderer, the biggest male in the pack had a sweet,easy-going disposition. He was the baby-sitter and doting uncle to the pups. They would crawlall over him, bite his tail, pounce on him, disturb his naps, and he would take it all goodhumoredly. He acted as though his sole purpose in life was to give those pups caring attentionand nourishment. His name obviously reflected his size (he weighed nearly as much as me)more so that his temperament.

Wolfie was the leader. Only two thirds of Deshum Nashaks size he was still packleader. It was not because of his superior strength and tenacity as some would have you believeconstitutes Wolf leadership but rather because of his ability at maintaining perspective andcoordinating the gifts and abilities of each individual within the pack. He gained respect from thepack for this ability and was thus afforded leadership role. This does not mean that at times hedid not have to assert his leadership, but when he did it was for the good of the pack andtherefore by consent of the pack.

Yet Wolfie was pack leader only in the political sense. Around the den his mate, SimbutMeaxtkao (Silver Wolf), or Simbut for short, guided the flow of energy, and Deshum Nashakran the nursery and elementary school. So is the leader is to some degree a matter ofperspective and to some degree a matter of what of at what particular time and how intimatelyone observes the pack. With our cultures bias towards external structure and the politicalarena we tend to label the political leader as pack leader. This interactiveness of abilities andthe respect of each for the abilities of the others is the social pattern we break into when wecross the fourth threshold. The hierarchical structure which we came from does not work onThe Mothers Bosom. When we try to impose it, we must either dominate, i.e. destroy TheEarth in order to force it to fit our model, or we must remain alone in order to maintain ourillusion.

But to remain alone is a virtual impossibility for social animals. We are not designed tofulfill all of our own needs and wants, so we end up existing rather than living. And usually notfor long at that. An organ cannot live long outside the organism, but such be the fate of onethat tries to dominate the rest. We almost always go crazy when we are alone for long periods

2of time. We start hearing voices and having strange irrational thoughts and compulsions. Theydestroy us from the inside; we become the victim of a weeding out process that helps to keepbalance amongst The Mothers children.

On average it takes an individual about three Moons (months) to reach the point wherethe I-Me-Mine centered existence becomes an obvious sham. Anger starts to well up,sometimes turns to rage. One starts to fill phoney, like hes never really been himself. He feelslike hes never had a real friend. It becomes hard to focus on a project, or follow a train ofthought. He gets frustrated that he cannot remember from one moment to the next. Hethoughts become fuzzy. The world out there that he came from feels distant, unfamiliar.

He, that is the I-Me-Mine part of him, is struggling for control. He defines himself by hisego, his mind. That worked in the artificial construct of the mind know as Civil Society, buther amidst the Mothers children the illusion only goes as far and last as long as does strengthof will. We are not designed to be dominated by our rational mind, we did not evolve tofunction that way. To think that we do (and only the rational mind thinks that we do, becauseit is the self-appointed king of our consciousness) is just as ludicrous as imagining Wolfie beingthe actual leader of the pack. Our rational mind is the last part of our brain to come intobeing. It evolved as an adjunct to our mind, to serve it, and not for us to be enslaved to it.

We are feeling beings. Our feelings nourish us, motivate us, heal and cleanse us. Ourmind helps us to live, our feelings tell us we are alive.

Our minds will keep us alive as long as our feelings give us the motivation to live. Forthat we need the support, acceptance, and trust of our community. In order to get over thisthreshold the gap between ego and community we need to do two things. We need toallow our feelings all of our feelings, and we need to accept those feelings without prejudiceor denial. All feelings are legitimate. There are no good or bad feelings, proper or improperfeelings, they just are.

To deny or suppress a feeling is not only to deny some of the force of life; it is futile. Afeeling remains unexpressed only for so long. If it is not spontaneously allowed the light of dayit will eventually surface in another form. Thus loneliness becomes envy, fear becomes anger,and love becomes hate.

The anger that I mentioned above as symptomatic of a person facing this threshold, isthe result of suppressed, unexpressable emotion. Suppression often turns anger into rage.Suppression turns loneliness into aloneness. We come to realize that we feel alone not justlonely, but alone. This is because we tenaciously cling to our illusions, even though it gives usno nourishment, no sense of community.

When, often in desperation, we break through this threshold by letting feelings flow(often in a great release of emotion), we wake up one day realizing we no longer feel lonelyeven though we may be alone. Thats because we have had an opening, we know intrinsically,deep in our gut, that we are a dancing ripple of feeling within the flow of the greater river offeeling. We have come to know humility as the shroud of our pride has rotted away fromaround it. Our tears have cleansed the stench of pride from it and our resignation to ourfeeling self has allowed us to emerge walking in honor and respect.

Now we can experience communion, now we can feel as peers, as brother and sister to

3all of the relations. We are no longer taking or giving, no longer controlling or being controlled.For that only occurs from the I-Me-Mine perspective. Now our place is to be, to be in sharingcommunion, and our role is to experience to experience the feeling of being, of being incommunion. The Natives of my area have term for this experience of being; they call itNikaanagana, which as closely as I can translate it means All my Relations. It literally meansall the Winged, and the Furred, and the Scaled, and the Leafed, and the Mineral Beings, andthe Wind. This term is uttered when entering or leaving a sacred lodge or a ceremony becauseit acknowledges the Oneness with all of life, the sharedness of Spirit. The Amen of the Judeo-Christian tradition and the Om of the Hindu tradition are intended to express the sameutterers recognition of the Balance within the Oneness of All.

Fourth Threshold additions

There is something I learned from a Blackfoot Elder years ago - we become what wesurround ourselves with. If we want to change, we surround ourselves with the people wewould most like to be like. If we stay in the surroundings that formed our state of being, thatwill be further reinforced. I know those old surroundings keep drawing you back. You expressfeelings of isolation when you are not there. Thats understandable, and quite common. Forsome reason our psyche does not allow us full immersion in the natural community until wecan create some space by releasing ourselves from the civilized construct. I know its hard - Iwitness it all the time with so many people. Going over that threshold is a big part of the year-long program here, and just about everyone else who comes here experiences it also. It tookme ten years to walk through that threshold. I was so distraught over it that I once held a knifeto my chest, ready to plunge it in. It was the greatest crisis in my life, and it brought perhapsthe greatest gift. I have been lifted from bondage; I can now walk amongst my former captorsas a free man.

Group consciousness needs interaction to develop. Not sharing a meal, not talking, butdoing things together. We, like other social animals, evolved our social capacity so that we cando/function as a unit. This is true with Human people as well as with the non-Human people inour circle.

The Fourth Threshold to Wilderness Attunement1 3 personal thresholdsst

really 1 threshold because allows us to join Circle of life, to be a functioning st

organ with the organismaccepted, embraced as a Child of Mother. social animalsgo crazy alonestart hearing voices

4Takes about three Moons to reach point where I-me-mine-centered existence becomes anobvious sham

anger starts to well upfeel phonyfeel like never had real friendhard to focus, rememberthoughts become fuzzyfamiliar world out there becomes distant mind controlsnot designed toevolved last, to serve, not for us to be a slave towe feeling beingsneed support, acceptance trust of community to get over thresholdneed to allow feelingsall feelingsneed to accept feelings

When break through this threshold no longer lonely, even when alone, because canthen experience communion/sharing with people of all the realms.

1Native Lifeway The Circle Way

An except from Tamaracks upcoming book:

Spirit Fire: A Course on Kindling the Flame of Vision and the Voice of the Ancestors

2Introduction

The rituals and relationships we are about to immerse ourselves in, spring from a way ofliving with Earth Mother and Sky Father that is quite different from that of the CivilizedLifeway. Perhaps it would be easier see the difference if we were to think of Civilized Lifewayas a lens through which we have been taught to view The Mother and The Father. Many of usare not aware that the lens exists. If we cannot recognize it, we cannot look around it. It thenkeeps us blind to the intense beauty and profound teachings of our Intrinsic Lifeway.

In this section we will peek over the lens, so that we may come to know some of thebasic precepts of Native Lifeway. Perhaps the most alienating distortion that the lens causes isthe view that material and spiritual existence can be separated from each other. This allows us tothink that Native spirituality can be practiced, like a Civilized religion, outside the context ofNative Lifeway.

As you will see, the spiritual basis of Native Lifeway manifests itself in everyday life asmuch as it does in ceremony and ritual. In actuality there is no distinction between spiritual andsecular life. To the Native, all is related life is ceremony and ceremony is life. This is theCircular way of things; it is the essence of the Old Way. Any approach to the Old Way needs tobegin with an awareness of the Circular view of life, which is shared by all Native People. Youll see it emerging continually throughout this book, boldly in places like the Sweat LodgeCeremony and Passing Over, and subtly just about everywhere else.

The following is only a brief introduction to a way of life that would take not only alifetime, but access to many lifetimes of memory, to know. Yet I trust that these words canprovide a clear view around the lens, if not actually shattering it. Then you will be able to muchmore easily connect with the adventure of discovery that awaits you... The Old Way and how we lost it

I refer to the way of living which is common to the Indigenous Peoples of The Earth asthe Old Way. It is old only in the sense that the vast majority of Humans no longer live it. Yet itis alive and well, as it is also the way of all things natural every brother and sister, whetherthey be furred or feathered or scaled, whether they be of Stone or Fire or Air or Water. In fact, itis the way of the Cosmos. Only those few but unfortunate plants and animals the CivilizedPeople have domesticated, no longer live the Old Way.

The Old Way is the Circle Way the way of interdependence. Honoring comes easy inthe Circle, because everybody faces everybody, and everybody touches, and is touched, byeverybody. Our Ancestors who lived the Old Way of hunting, fishing and foraging, left us averdant legacy pleasing to the eye and to the soul. The Streams ran clear, the Rain fell clean, andthe seed grew of itself and died and grew again.

And then a few of our Ancestors chose to sow the seed themselves, and agriculture thebasis of Civilization was born. They sought to control and regiment The Mothersbenevolence. They traded Earth sufficiency for self sufficiency, and in doing so foundthemselves moving from a life of interdependence to one of dependence.

With agriculture came the necessary support structures of ownership and hierarchy. TheEarth became property a secularized, inanimate commodity. A resource. A food factory. An investment. An inheritance. From this basis grew the society we have today, complete with

3concentration of wealth and power, predatory trade and warfare, and the enslavement of Humans(nobody works voluntarily) and animals (Chickens have no choice), and plants (nor do House orGarden plants), and Water (nor do dammed Rivers or pumped Groundwater), and minerals.

The Old Way economy, which is based on the flow of foraging, cannot support the above-mentioned Civilized traits. Instead, its small interactive groups, which share in spirit, strife, andpleasure, encourage a more personally involved, less structured lifeway.

Structure is not needed when there is Balance. When Keewaydinoquay, my belovedElder, still Walked amongst us, she was fond of saying:

Blessings and BalanceBalance and Blessingsfor out of Balance flows all Blessings

She repeated it often, I believe so that we could reflect upon the wisdom therein... The term Balance at first glance appears to be linear, as in balancing the two sides of a

scale, or balancing work and family time. A Native Person knows Balance in a different way, as a characteristic of flow rather than

as a comparative measurement. For her, Balance is Lifes rhythm and spiral. For example, shewill watch the plants grow, die, and grow again... in a continual spiral, in rhythm with theSeasons. The Civilized Person will plant seeds, then harvest the plants. Period. If he does notplant again, there are no more plants.

The major difference between the two Balances is that Civilized Balance is controlled bythe individual, and Native Balance dwells outside the self. More specifically, it resides in theGreater Circle. The Native can feel this Balance, she is the Balance, in the same way that theFlower is the Meadow and the Meadow is the Flower. In this place of Balance, she breathes andis breathed in, she has two hands and two thousand hands, she has talons and fins and a brow ofclouds. Like the Flower, she has no bounds. She is the Circle, and the Circle is her.

Chapter One The Native Commandments: Life in the Web

In Civilized cultures, Balance is achieved by means of religious and political laws. Themanner of Old Way living renders governance, redundant. Balance is maintained by Honoringthe Circle. The only laws in the Old Way are natural laws. These laws (or more accurately,Awarenesses) are no more than observations of the Circular nature of things.

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the primary laws governing individual and socialbehavior are called Commandments rules for living commanded by God. There is sanctionto punish those who would break the Commandments. This relationship of law to life reflectsthe pyramidal structure of Civilization a small group sets the terms of the majoritysexistence.

In Native Lifeway, seldom does anyone command someone else to do something. Because natural laws are neither directives nor ideals to be lived up to, there is no metedpunishment for not following them. They are simply the way life is. They are as intrinsic to lifeas breath itself one can hardly help but follow them. Life goes on in endless Balance whenthe Awarenesses are Honored. When People attempt to deny them and live by others which theyhave created, they cease to live in Native (Circular) Balance and begin to live in Civilized(linear) Balance. Some who Walk the Old Way, say that those who lead linear lives are no

4longer living. At best, perhaps they merely exist. In exchange for control, the Civilized Way hastraded a long-term Life of Balance for its short-term existence.

In many ways the Native Commandments, the Balance Awarenesses, are Honored byNative People, both consciously and in spirit. The Awarenesses reflect throughout their everydaylives. In rituals, the Awarenesses play central roles, and they are echoed daily whenever Thanksis Given for Blessings received. This active voicing of the Awarenesses keeps the Peoplemindful of them and helps keep them from being the taken for granted.

The First Awareness: The Great Mother provides all that is needed within ones Circle ofExistence.

A Native Person walks literally on the breast of his mother. He knows The Earth Motheras a living being who provides all of his needs food, clothing, shelter, comfort, and warmth, aswell as emotional and spiritual sustenance. He trusts implicitly in this, just as when he was ababe and trusted in his birth mother to provide these things. He knows that he will always be achild of The Mother, and thus be provided for until his last breath and beyond. He does not fearhunger or cold or loneliness, because his Mother is always with him.

He knows that he does not belong to his birth mother, that she was but a surrogate, caringfor him in The Great Mothers name until he was ready to be presented back to Her.

This is the basis of his Respect for all Life. Every being every Two-Legged, andWinged and Scaled and Leafed is his sibling. To unnecessarily hurt one of them would be todraw grief upon their Mother-in-common. To take more than he needed would amount toplucking from the mouth of his brothers and sisters. To dig wantonly into the Earth would be torip into the skin of his Mother, causing her to wail in anguish.

The Second Awareness: Giving is Receiving.

The common belief is that when you give, you lose, and when you receive, you gain. Youkeep first for yourself, to assure that you and yours are taken care of. That is linear Balance.

From the perspective of Circle Balance, there is no difference between giving andreceiving they each nourish both the individual and the Circle. Let me illustrate...

Imagine you are one of your bodys organs, lets say the liver. You take care of thewastes from the rest of the body and you store energy for it for the heart, the lungs, themuscles, and so on. In turn, they provide you, the liver, with blood, oxygen, mobility, and soforth.

It may appear that the liver is giving only in order that it might receive the same oldcause-and-effect Civilized Way of getting things done. In actuality there is a sharing of energiesgoing on that is so complex that giving and receiving cannot be distinguished from each other. As the liver, you are just a link in a Circle, Walking your intended Path by allowing to flowthrough you what you are being given by the Circle. Is that functioning as a distinct entity,primarily concerned for you and yours?

Lets look at it in another way... In a linear sense, a gift that I receive is mine. In theCircle Way, I receive the gift in order that it may be gifted again. And again... Only from egoperspective is a gift for receiving; most Natives know that a gift is for giving. In order to Honorthe Journey of a gift, Natives harbor no expectations over where a gift is to eventually go or howit is to be used.

5Nor do they have expectations about receiving in return. Yes, things come to us, but thatdoes not necessarily mean that they are coming because we have given. We receive because weare children of The Mother and the beneficiaries of Her Love. And we give because we are afacet of The Mothers Giving Flow.

This form of giving cannot necessarily be called generosity, because we have no choicebut to give. Nor do we need to receive with graciousness, because we have no choice but toreceive. Whether or not we are consciously involved in the giving and receiving, we are givingand receiving.

To help you gain a feel for this form of giving and receiving, imagine it to be more of aWeb than a Circle. Most of you are familiar with the circular giving-receiving concept Whatgoes around, comes around, Give unto others as you would have them give unto you, and theconcepts of karma and redemption through reincarnation. A Web has many interconnectedstrands which come and go in myriad directions, and create a plethora of varied forms andshapes. Which strand comes and which strand goes, or from where to where it goes, is nearlyimpossible to decipher. Many strands support a single strand, and a single strand supports many. All co-mingle in a complex, symbiotic relationship. Every strand functions as a giving-receivingorgan within the greater organism the Web. The Web is then a giving-receiving organ within aneven greater organism, and so on.

As you can probably now see, there is no real distinction between giving and receiving,no matter which way you look at the web. The concept of giving and receiving is an artificialconstruct. In reality, sources, directions, and intentions are near-impossible to identify, much lesstrace. Without the ability to separate giving from receiving, the sources of gifts and thedirections of their flow seem to blend together and lose their distinction. Thats why giving isreceiving.

The concept of giving and receiving is based upon another artificial construct theconcept of surplus and want. It seems to fit that if I have surplus, I give, and if I have want, Ireceive. Our Ancestors who became agriculturalists developed these constructs in an effort tofind Balance with agricultures perennial boom and bust cycle.

A Native has no use for surplus; it bogs her down. The wealth a Native has use for, thewealth that makes sense in her life, is that of character and Vision. Material wealth gets in theway of that, so material things in and of themselves hold no value. Their value is in theirsharing.

Material goods are shared with those in need, whether or not they are surplus. TheNative does not give out of some altruistic sense to provide for the needy. She gives for herself,because it is her nature. It is the nature of all things. She is like Wolf, who leaves what he doesnot need of his kill, for Raven and Fox and Chickadee to feast upon. Like Wolf, the Native does not need to herd animals ( i.e., give) in order to have them available

to eat ( i.e., receive). The Mother takes care of those particulars (the first Awareness TheMother provides). Here we can see how the two Awarenesses are so related that they are

actually reflections of each other. They form a Circle. That is how a Native might describe therelationship if he even distinguished one from the other! For him, Walking the Awarenessesin his life is innate behavior, so he might, as I sometimes do, merely explain them as the Circle

Way.

6Chapter Two Honor and Respect

Reared through childhood in interdependence with all their Relations, Native Peoplegrow up naturally Honoring that Circle, and naturally Respectful of all who dwell within it. Thisincludes showing Honor and Respect for themselves. Because of the circular nature of NativeLifeway, it is near impossible to Honor and Respect others and not self, or vice versa.

These principles are so intrinsic that when they are breached, the shame experienced, andthe self-imposed retribution, are often so intense that any disciplinary action would pale incomparison. The worst punishment for such a socially conscious people as Natives are, isostracization, and that is usually also self-imposed. This universal regard permeates the fabric of their lives and reflects in their everydayactivities. Id like to show this by using the example of a Native meal. In particular, note themanner in which Guardians (mistakenly called Warriors by Civilized People) help to maintainthe traditions of Honor and Respect through their behavior:

In Native bands of my knowing, Honor is given to Elders at mealtime by serving themfirst. This is out of Respect for the wisdom of their years and their esteemed place in the Kinship Circle.

There is also a practical consideration: Elders are the carriers of the Clan Knowledge the lessons of experience that have been passed down through the generations. This gives Elders an indispensable role in the survival and longevity of the Clan. In times of privation, they are least expendable, so all effort is made to ensure their survival. The passing on of the Clanknowledge, rather than the survival of the Elders per se, becomes the reason for their eminentconsideration. Were it not for the Clan knowledge, good arguments could be made to prioritizethe survival of other Clan members over Elders.

Visitors are served directly after the Elders. If the meal be a Feast and there be Guests ofHonor, such as couples being Wed or someone being Honored for special service, they are alsoserved directly after the Elders. It is customary that Visitors and Guests of Honor be given thebest of everything, including the place of Honor beside the Elders. (Mealtime or not, and whetheror not there is enough food to go around, Visitors are Honored by being offered food.)

The Women are served next, along with their Nurslings, for together they are theprogenitors of the coming generations. If there be scarcity, Women, the Unborn, and the VeryYoung are first in need of steady nourishment.

Next come the Men. They give Honor to the Women by following them and, by beingbetween the Women and Children, are in good position to be a help to both.

The Children gain their food following the Men. This usually includes Toddlers, as theyare often under the care of their older siblings. Children practice patience and exercise humilityby waiting until after Elders, Guests, Women and Men have their fare. In this way they also giveRespect. The objective consideration is that if there be shortage, Children can better do with lessthan their Elders or Mothers. And in dire straits as heartless as it may sound children aremore expendable.

Last are the Guardians. If food is in short supply, they sit in pride and contentment, even

7with empty bowls. Forgoing their share gives them great Honor and good feeling, because indoing so they fulfill their calling to serve their People by guarding their welfare and assuring theirwell-being.

They are the Clan members who can best take care of themselves; they are in primecondition, having been trained to thrive on little and creatively gain what they need from diverseand uncommon sources. If need be, they can quickly secure food for themselves after thecommunal meal. Or they can just as easily Fast and gain strength from their giving (whereasFasting might weaken others).

When it comes time for the Guardian to fill his bowl, he assesses how much food will beleft for others. He will check to see who may wish for another serving, and if there is anyonewho is infirm or otherwise not present and may arrive hungry later. He will also take intoaccount the unexpected later Visitor and the possibility of carry-along food being needed bythose going out to hunt or forage. If he is eating alone, he will still exercise the sameconsiderations.

When he can confirm that everyone is provided for, he will then take a share. He willstill will not take the last of something, because he has been trained to be as a question inthis case to take into account the possibly that someone may have escaped his attention.

If in kindness he is still offered the last of the food, he may yet take only half. In this wayhe Honors the gesture, and at the same time allows for the possibility that the offer was anexpression of selflessness and Honoring more so than because there was food enough for him.

Such caring and generosity of spirit, which the Guardian is particularly trained toexemplify, is typical of Old Way Peoples in general. To carry the well-being of your Peopleuppermost in your heart is the epitome of Circle Attunement.

Chapter ThreeThe Cradleboard: First Step in Awareness

Awareness brings perspective; Attunement brings focus. The Circle Way is to approachAttunement within the context of Awareness. This is essential for the Journey of Knowing thatyou are undertaking. It will allow you, once you reconnect with yourself, to live in Balance withyour surroundings.

We Walk our Journey not so much to find lifes meaning as to find its richness. This isthe gift of Attunement. To become Attuned is to become fully awake, shimmeringly vibrant, andcompletely absorbed in the experience of the Now. Without this Attunement, our relationshipwith The Mother is destined to be drab and mechanical.

Attunement is achieved through mental, physical, and spiritual reawakening. The Nativegrows in Attunement through sensory development exercises, mental skill development, andritual.

Awareness is the cradle of Attunement. For the Native Person, Awareness begins,literally, in the Cradle.

I can tell whether or not a young Child spent his first Moons riding upon his Mother in aCradleboard (a Native backpack for carrying a Baby) or Baby sling (Rebozo in Spanish) by theway he responds when he enters a new room. The uncradled Child will go immediately to thethings that attract him, and explore them. The cradled Child will go first to the center of theroom to observe and gain perspective.

The uncradled Child may be well-suited to a Civilized life; her ability to quickly key-in

8and focus on a particular object is a skill she will need for the singular tasks typical of Civilizedexistence. The cradled Child will likely be better adapted to Native living; his ability to surveyhis surroundings and see a diversity of things could serve him well in his expansive World.

Why is there such a difference between the Native and the Civilized Child? For theanswer, lets look at each Childs yearnings...

Shortly after birth, the Civilized Babe is often placed in a stationary Cradle, isolated fromher Mother. Mom comes and goes; the Babe remains put. She is literally a prisoner of place,totally dependent upon her Mother to come to her and meet her needs and desires. Because Mother is not connected enough with the Child to read her needs and wants, it is entirely up toher to get her Mothers attention if she wants to have them met.

She soon finds that her normal language a facial expression, whimper or chortle does not work over distance. She has to cry to get Moms attention. The Babes constant effortsto be recognized, tended to, and touched, followed by delayed gratification, create a yearningwithin her that becomes chronic. She learns early that contentment is only temporary, thatMothers leaving is inevitable. She becomes chronically starved.

She ends up developing a hard, pragmatic outlook: what she can grasp, she can rely on; what is beyond her reach, she mistrusts. It is fleeting and unreliable, so she cannot risk puttingfaith in it. In the extreme, she may even deny its existence.

Her outlook is reinforced by encouragement to crawl and walk as soon a she is possiblyable, and to explore as much as she can. This suits her well; it offers her an escape from prison! Finally she has her own way of getting her needs met! Now she can satisfy her chronic yearnings by trusting in the one constant in her life herself.

In getting her needs met in the only way she knows, shes often perceived by others asclingy, whiny, and getting into everything. In reality, she is getting her needs met in the way thatshe has been trained. Because she is literally starving for constancy and connection in her life, noamount of discipline seems to sway her from her course.

The Native Child spends his first turn of the seasons or so in a portable Cradle. He goeswherever his Mother goes, which is easily accomplished because, like a backpack, he can beslipped on and off at will. On her back (or front, when nursing) he feels secure in her presence. He smells her and hears her voice and feels the rhythm of her movements. At the same time herarms are free to tend to her tasks.

His merest expression can be sensed by her, and she is able to respond immediately. Because of that, he grows to feel secure and trusting. His Mothers feet are his feet, his Mothersworld is his world. He is ever a part of her Circle. When she rests or is otherwise occupied, sheplaces the Cradleboard close beside her or hangs it from a nearby branch, so that he can watchand remain connected. Whatever the situation, she makes sure that he is involved and receivesattention.

So nourished, he grows content within himself. He has little need to grab or cling tosomething for fear it might otherwise disappear. He does not know the chronic sickness ofrelentless yearning, because he is blessed to continually dwell in the Circle of Life and Love.

Now, back to the entering-a-room scenario: because of the Cradleboard/Rebozoexperience, the Native Child is accustomed to gaining perspective before interacting. He canafford the time for it because he is content. Calm is his natural state, because he has not had toresort to frenetic gorging to get his needs met in limited time. And he has the patience to gainperspective, because he is centered within himself. He has not been driven to impatience byendless waiting.

9He is naturally autonomous because he ventures forth from a foundation of lovingpresence, and he knows he has that foundation to return to. He is naturally Respectful andwilling to serve, because his needs have been Respected and served. From before his first breath,he has been included and granted Respect as a full member of the Circle.

The integrity of the Native and his ability to perform feats of both character and strength,are born of his early days in the portable Cradle. Many of the neuroses of Civilized cultures,from dysfunctional relationships to conspicuous consumption, can be traced back to earlypatterns cast in the stationary, isolated Cradle.

I raised my child, Wabineshi, the Cradleboard way while we were living in a Cabin. Itcan be done virtually anywhere, because it is the way, not the trappings, that make the difference.

In the tradition of my Elders, I made his Cradleboard at the time of his Birth. Theteachings of the Cradleboard are so personal and fundamental to the Babes development thattradition suggests the Cradleboard be used only by the Babe it was made for.

Raising a child the Cradleboard way does not mean that she always has to be in theCradleboard. When not traveling or outdoors, the Cradleboard may not be necessary. Theimportant element is Honoring her presence by considering her immobility and keeping herinvolved in the moments activity.

Occasionally we would use the Cradleboard indoors. I have pictures of times when wehung Wabineshi-in-Cradleboard on the living room wall... or was it off the wall? I rememberone time when Wabineshi was agitated and we couldnt figure out why. His unsettled state wenton for most of the morning, and it was starting to wear on our nerves. We were indoors at theCabin, where we seldom used the Cradleboard. Knowing how contented he usually was in theCradleboard, we decided to lace him in and set him down the middle of our activity. Hisfidgetiness left him immediately and a rosy smile spread over his face!

The important element of raising a child in the Cradleboard way is that she be kept in thecenter of activity and be regularly and promptly tended to. Wabineshi was nearly always withone or both of his parents he was a part of our daily activities, and he was nursed and sleptwith us until his fourth Winter.

Before that time he did not know a baby-sitter or the pain of separation. His first partingfrom us, shortly after he quit nursing, was laced with tears. However, the courage to ventureforth alone followed soon behind the tears. We waited until that time so that he would be secureenough to risk the unknown and old enough to understand that he was not being abandoned. Hecould then personally manifest his Circle Attunement.

Chapter FourCircle-direction and Self-direction

Circle Attunement requires stepping beyond self. Unfortunately, much of the CivilizedWay is preoccupied with stepping more into self. The trend is going ever more toward definingthe self as distinct from the Circle separate from Sky, Earth, and the Relations. The anthem ofthe day self-fulfillment, self-healing, self-development, personal power, assertiveness saturates the media and rolls in unison from millions of tongues.

Once The Circle is broken once self is separated from other the Walking is seen asseparate from the goal. It is then possible to wage peace and imagine it to be different fromwaging war. Or even to kill for peace (or country or Earth or God), and then condemn others

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who kill for the same reasons. Self-fulfillment... can we actually fulfill ourselves? Self-healing... is that really what is

happening? Self-development... how are we able to develop ourselves? Is assertiveness ournatural way of being? Can peace really come from war? We are on a personal Journey; does thatmean we are on a Journey for self?

When we ask, Am I depressed? Am I content? Am I healing? Am I growingspiritually? we are looking for answers that relate to self. A Native may ask similar questions. The difference between hers and a Civilized Persons is that she would probably be asking onbehalf of her People.

To dichotomize for the sake of illustration: The Civilized focus is primarily on receiving;in the Old Way, giving is receiving. Therefore, when I attend to the healing of the Circle, I amalso healed; when I feed the Elders and Children, I am also fed.

From Circle perspective, focus on the individual is in Balance when it is within thecontext of the People. One reason Civilized People lose that context and find it hard to progressbeyond me, is their culturally-inspired goal to feel good. Thats why a Civilized person willoften try to immerse himself in the Old Way by assembling a personal collection of ritualexperiences and craft skills me experiences. If he had Circle perspective, he would be moredrawn to the ways of Honor and Respect.

Ask yourself these questions if youd like to know whether your life is Circle-directed orself-directed: Are my first thoughts of the morning on how I might Walk the Day in Honor? When I consider the effect of my actions, do the Ancestors and the Unborn come to mind? Or is my main consideration for how I might benefit?

A Woman once asked me for advice on whether or not she should look for a new job. Isuggested that she could answer her own question by asking herself whether her considerationswere for the Greater Good or to serve herself. Usually, when we are considering choices, we areself-serving; when we are listening to Guiding Voices, we are serving the Greater Circle.

Another way of knowing whether or not we are Circle-directed is by determining if weare living in the moment or for the moment. To live for today is to live for the moment. To be inthe moment is to live as though there is no specific point in time no moment to grab. We are then rooted not in time but in flow. We invest less in timely product and more in agelessprocess. Life becomes less a series of events and more like continual, endlessly varied waves ofunfolding.

Someone who lives this un-relationship with time could find himself feeling like a Hawkyanked out of the Sky, when he comes in contact with the self-directed World. Its oftentimescaused not by the big differences in how life is approached, but by the affairs of everyday life. One example is commemorative celebrations such as birthdays and anniversaries. The differenceis not in how they are celebrated, but in whether or not they are even recognized. Natives, notbeing inclined to capture the moment, do not to keep track of the dates of significant events. Infact, they dont know what calendar dates are! Many, if not most, could not tell you their age. When life is a continuum, there is little reason to keep track of time, and much reason not to.

If a Native were asked to chronicle the passage of his life, he would probably do so inmuch the way that I would describe the unfolding of a Flower, from tender shoot to bud, toblossom, and then to withered bloom and seed. For the Native, these unfoldings from one phase to another of his life would be marked by Rites of Passage (which are the subject matter of PartIV of this book). They, rather than abstract dates, are the story of his life.

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Those who lead self-serving lives are often perplexed by this way of life that to them doesnot make rational sense. It is as though the Native walks to the beat of a different Drum. Andindeed he does. Because it cannot be heard by them, they tend to wonder if her unexplainablebehavior might be because of lack of motivation or because she is deficient in some way. In theextreme, they might attribute her unorthodox behavior to demons that must be possessing her. No wonder Circle-directed People are often at best tolerated, and more often persecuted!

Chapter FiveCircle Attunement in Communication

Another prime example of the difference between Circle direction and self direction isseen when a Native person and a Civilized person engage in conversation. Civilized People aretaught that in order to hold someones attention and convey sincerity, you should stand directly infront of him and look him in the eye. In the Natural Realm, such conduct would be taken as asign of dominance. The behavior is also similar to a predators when stalking prey.

Understandably then, animals can get nervous when theyre stared at! In fact, they willdo practically anything to break the gaze bolt, submit, or counter-attack. I used to play a gamewith the Wolves I lived with: we would stare each other in the eye until one of us broke the gaze. Being trained in the Civilized Way, I could quite easily win.

The game being so against their natures, they Honored me by trusting me enough to playit with me. And yet it was usually hard to catch their gaze in order that we could play it. I mostoften initiated the game, but once in a while I would catch one of them looking intently atsomething on my body that caught their attention, and the game was on!

Once we made eye contact, I could feel the tension steadily build, until they couldnt takeit anymore. Sometimes they would just turn their heads, as though something else got theirattention. At other times they would whine and whimper from the stress, and occasionally theywould lunge or snap and me. Fortunately for me, it was not malicious it was just their way ofsaying Enough!

The more we played the game, the more I recognized that I was feeling the stress also. The Wolves were my mirror; they were helping me get back in touch with my innate ways. Inmy youth I lived between two worlds, so I never fully acculturated to the Civilized Way. Yet Iwas conditioned enough to think that being able to look someone in the eye was a positive trait. Still I had trouble practicing it, which left me feeling guilty and inadequate. I give Honor to mysister and brother Wolves for guiding me back to Balance. Were it not for them, I might still bestruggling with alien ways of communication.

We have the innate ability to feel when we are being gazed upon, even though we dontknow by whom. Have you ever felt that you were being stared at? Have the hairs on the back ofyour neck ever stood up because you sensed an unknown presence? This is a survival trait,evolved over the eons in response to being stalked. As with the gaze game the Wolves and Iused to play, the animal being stalked becomes increasingly agitated and wants to break eyecontact. Out of sight, out of consideration for dinner.

A Deer wants so desperately to know what she is up against that she will stomp and snortin an effort to entice the stalker to charge, or at least to show himself. Without knowing thewhereabouts of her stalker, she would run the risk of bounding right into him if she were to bolt.

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We Humans would naturally respond in the same way become agitated, then go intodefense-escape mode. So why do Civilized Humans do exactly the opposite and return the stare? Because assertiveness rules. Dominance is everything.

Old Way People come together in a Circle, where there is room for everybody. CivilizedPeople form a pyramid, where theres little room on the top and a lot of room on the bottom. This creates an artificial competitive environment, where the dominance game is playedaccording to civilized rules.

One of the game strategies is assertiveness. Proponents of assertiveness claim than itgives Honor and Respect to self and other. From my perspective, its still about winning andlosing. Stripped of its positive communication technique veneer, it shows itself to me as moreof a survival technique a bloodless enactment of the prey-predator drama. Professional liars(read:predators) know this. They train to be able to look someone in the eye while they are lying,which gives their lie better odds of passing for truth. An accepted lie means they win, theydominate.

While a Native might feel edgy sitting before a Civilized Person who has locked her inhis gaze, the Civilized Person could feel disregarded, because she doesnt think she has hisattention. Even though he might be listening intently, it may not seem so to her, because hissenses (including sight) are also attuned to the Greater Circle.

Why the disparity in the twos perceptions? The Civilized cultural ideal is not to bepresent, but to be on top. The way to the top is to focus. Conquer a Mountain focus, besuccessful in your career focus, get to Heaven focus.

From the earliest age, those of the Civilized Way are trained to focus. Mass mediaseduces you to focus, mass education forces you to focus. Keep your nose to the grindstone...Keep your eyes on the road... Sit at your desk and dont look around... Finish one thing at atime... Choose a major, choose a career, choose a religion... The litany is endless. Whether it beschool or work, play or pray, the message is focus.

This goes against Human nature. Thats why so many struggle with distraction toddlers wandering, children fidgeting, talking, and laughing at inappropriate times, teachersstruggling to keep first-time students at their desks. Nor are adults immune; there is a reasonThe Grass is greener on the other side of the fence is a popular saying. Like breaking a Horseso that she will accept a rider, Humans need to be broken in order to accept focus.

The focus on focus serves Civilized People well. In Civilization, one can be single ofpurpose, because life is one-dimensional. Variables have been largely controlled or eliminated,and what is left of life has been efficiently cubbyholed.

In the Old Way, that would spell death. One could not afford to have his nose up againsta Tree and ignore the Forest. There is a fourth dimension in the Hoop of Life flow. Unlikethe directional flow of a River, this flow is an intermingling of energies in a constant state oftransformation. Picture billiard balls bouncing one into the other, off of cushions, and then backinto each other. They are constantly changing speed and direction, sitting still for a moment, then moving again, faster, slower, in one direction, then another.

Someone could not survive on that billiard table without being continuously aware of this intricate interplay, and of how it might affect you at any given moment. The instant someonewould focus himself exclusively on something, he would become vulnerable.

Deer remains constantly alert, even when browsing or drinking. She will take a bitemouthful of Grass, then raise her head to chew it. Wolf keeps alert even when napping. Flockand herd animals plant sentinels at their perimeters, who act as the eyes and ears for the rest of

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the group. The Native Man who has caused the Civilized Woman to feel disregarded, is doing the

same thing as Deer and Wolf and the herd sentinels. Like them, he keeps watch not only forhimself, but for her. Unbeknownst to her, he is acting as her Guardian.

She is not trained to keep perspective; he does so because he hasnt been trained not to. He is merely enacting instinctual behavior. If she knew that, if she were in touch with herintrinsic beingness, she would undoubtedly be thankful and Honor him for his diligence. Insteadshe grows frustrated, perhaps even angry, over what she assumes to be his inattentiveness.

Understandable. Trained to be focused and self-directed, she has learned to recognize herego as her center. Her world is the world according to her ego. She cant help but be blind to hisawareness. So rather than viewing his actions from Circle perspective, she will judge himaccording to how he is relating to her ego.

He, on the other hand, knows himself to be but a voice in a Circle-chorus of many voices. He would probably feel uncomfortable, even embarrassed, if anothers focus were exclusively onhim. On the other hand, he would most assuredly consider it an Honor to be recognized as avoice in the Chorus.

Chapter SixDaily Living

To see how the Circle Way is lived on a Day-to-Day basis, Id like to take you inside a Native community. There Ill show you its Circle rootedness, and how the Peoples relationshipwith Lodge, hearth, material possessions, and work, sings of a Lifeway in Balance with All theRelations.

Community in Balance

Our Ancestors, along with the foraging-hunting Peoples of this day, did /do not seethemselves as living in communities. To them, the term Native community is an oxymoron. They live in encampments minimalist shelter clusters which are as fluid in movement anddetached from place as are the Waters they paddle and the Animals they hunt. The communitythey see themselves as part of is the Hoop of Life.

They often live in extended family groups called Clans, which are guided by a GuardianAnimal, or Dodem (which you will learn more about in Part IV of this book). A Clan iscomprised of up to 25 People, which is about the maximum number a Human is biologicallycapable of knowing well enough to love and trust.

Clan membership is stable, because it is based upon bonds of blood and spirit. Natives feel related also with the non-Human Kin of their community, and celebrate that relationship in amyriad of ways. A few examples are the Respectful way in which they Hunt, the holding ofHonor Feasts for their Dodems, and the joining of their spirits with those of the Plants andAnimals they eat and wear.

They recognize their community as having been there long before them, and as likelygoing to continue long after their departure. They see themselves as part of the continuum of thatcommunity, flowing through the Rocks and Plants to the Animals, then back again to the Soiland Grasses. Their political and economic systems already exist in their community, and areself-maintaining. Without the need to construct, maintain, or operate those systems, they have

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considerable free time and energy for the more qualitative aspects of life. The loving, trusting relationship within a Clan precludes the need for judicial or social

structures to help assure equality and fairness. In fact, equality as Civilized People know it, doesnot exist in the Natural Realm. In place of equality, the Native practices Honor; in place ofdemocracy, the Native practices Respect.

Those of a Native camp function as organs within an organism, with each having theirown Honored role and place. As with organs, their individual roles are not equal to each others;they are complementary. The heart, stomach, and liver each give and receive in different ways,yet each plays a unique, valued and vital role in their Dance of Relationship. With such inherentsynchronicity, a mutual cherishing evolves that pales, even shames, the concept of equality.

So it is with a Native Clan. As with the organs, no one is distinguished as having specialrank or privilege, because everyone does. Its not that there are no leaders; its more thateveryone is a leader. For example, on a typical Day the Medicine Woman is usuallyindistinguishable from the rest of her Clan members. She carries on her daily activities just aswould anyone else. Until her healing touch is needed. Then she is Healing Chief everyoneHonors her position and Respects her judgement. The same is true of the Canoe Builder, theChild, the Elder, the Midwife...

Are the kidneys more important than the lungs? Without either, the organism dies. In thesame way, the Child cannot function without the Elder. And vice versa. Because each and everyperson in the Clan, without exception, has a critically important role to play, each has anHonored place. This way of being with each other and with the Relations is often called theGifting Way or the Blessing Way.

These roles change as a person Walks his Hoop of Life the Journey from Birth toDeath and around to Birth again. In the same way that every individual is Honored for his valuedrole, each individual is Honored for his time of life. There is no high or low point on the Hoop,no point in life that is more or less important than another. The Hoop spins smoothly only whenit is completely round, because only then is it in Balance.

A feel for the turn of the Hoop can give precious insight into Clan ways. I would be Honored to take you on a walk through the seven realms, or worlds, of the Hoop:

As with all Circles, the Hoop of Life has no real beginning or end. Yet we need to joinwith the Hoop somewhere, so lets do it at the time of dwelling in the womb what isoften referred to as the first world of the Hoop. Were we of a Native Clan, we wouldalready be Honored in the womb. The unborn, and those who have Walked On, sit in theClan Circle right along with Children, Parents, and Elders. When decisions are made,mindful consideration is given to generations past and to come. This is not a special Honoring; it is a natural consideration from someone whose center istheir Heart-of-Hearts that place within where senses, intuition, intellect, feeling, andAncestral Wisdom join to form the seat of Balance. It is known to other Peoples by variousnames, such as the voice of soul, the Buddha within, the seat of consciousness, and apersons center. So whenever Natives speak or act, they strive to speak from their Heart-of-Hearts. Then their voices naturally reflect the needs and desires of their People, past,present, and to come.

The second world of the Hoop of Life is the prepubescent years, which run from birthuntil the Child reaches10 or12 Winters. Here we discover and develop our senses, and

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become acquainted with the world beyond us. We transition from being the center of theworld to realizing there is no center. We are naturally Truthspeakers we dwell in the nowand speak the moments truth. We spontaneously express our feelings regardless as to howthey might be perceived or judged by another. We are natural Sages and Guides, even as weare guided. We are constant reminders of the guidance of the Wise Ones to be as littleChildren. In these ways we of the second world contribute immeasurably to our Clan mates.

The time of adolescence is the third world. This gradual blossoming into the fullness ofadulthood continues for several Turns of the Seasons, sometimes until our 15th Winter orbeyond. Known to some Natives as the Thundering Years, puberty can cause us to feel asthough we are breaking out of our skin. And we are! It is a time of extremes; in short order, feelings can swing from titanic fear toastronomical delight. We feel compelled to test and challenge things. We end updiscovering the same things all over again, except this time it is as though they exist in anentirely new dimension. From Civilized perspective, this may appear to be a time ofreceiving. With all the space, understanding, and support we need, it could easily appearthat our People are giving to us, rather than we to them. As with our infancy and youth, wegive significantly during adolescence also. This is the time during which we seek our Vision our reason for being. Here we discover our uniqueness the special talent or missionwe have been given that distinguishes us from all the rest of Humankind. It is this Gift thatwe will develop in the Walking of our life, in order that one day we may gift it back to ourPeople.

Sometimes tentatively, sometimes boldly, even recklessly, we leave the third world toventure into the fourth, the time of our Personal Journey. We take the newfoundawarenesses of puberty and try them out in the world. It is time to see how we fit, andwhere we fit. We are now the Seeker; we search for new places, experiences, and People. We becomesure of things, only to fall flat on our faces and realize how unsure we are. Yet we get upand try again, and again and again. Our egos are powerful they want a black and whiteworld, in order to more easily assure us that we are Walking in a purposeful direction. Ofcourse they do not find that. This cycle of confidence-unsuredness can continue throughout the fourth world. Forsome of us, it will not be until around our 40th Winter that we find Balance with our egos. There is no way I know of that the sort of complementarity and Honoring that we are herediscussing, can be made to occur in Civilized communities. In fact, most Civilized Peopledo not complete the entire Hoop before their time of Passing Over. Most get stuck here inthe fourth world, a few progress to the fifth. Those who get stuck in this world often create illusions of surety (usually with belief systems), so that they dont have to keep falling flaton their faces. Sometimes the illusions last a lifetime. In our fourth world, what we sought was centered in the self. Our value to our Clan laidin our Personal Journey. Now, in the fifth world, which occurs roughly from our 30th to our45th Winter, we begin to yearn for the knowledge beyond self. Again it appears to be areceiving time, so it might seem as though we are yet caught up in our egos, continuing the

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Quest for self which began at puberty. Then our Gift was what we gathered on our inwardJourney. After that, in the outward Journey of our fourth world, we gifted our People withthe new friends, the new ways of doing things, and the visions of new places, that wegained. In our fifth world, we now transition from that place of personal knowledge to knowledgebeyond self. We begin to function more as an organ within an organism. Now that we areno longer wild with energy for growth and discovery, we become more curious about thehows than the whats. We naturally begin to understand the deeper nuances of Humility andHonoring. We grow sensitive to the differences between looking and seeing, betweenhearing and listening, between touching and feeling. Along with having sex, we can nowalso be Lovers. We can act with more a sense of serving. When in this world, we provide an invaluable service to our Kin group by acting as atransition between those in the Receiving Time of the Hoop the first half of life, andthose in the Giving Time the second half of life. This helps break down the disparitybetween the younger and the older, which in turn helps the Hoop turn more smoothly. That sense of continuum is largely missing in Civilized communities. Because of that,Civilized People in the fifth world often experience midlife crises. They lament the passingof youth and try to hang on to it in a variety of ways that tend to run the gamut fromdelusional to damaging.

The sixth world begins around our 45thWinter and takes us to about our 60th. This is ourtime of service. Weve now Walked beyond the bounds of our biological self and our egoself, and into the realm of Oneness the realm of the Greater Self. The state of Lovebecomes fully known. The concept of selflessness resonates. In fact, it no longer feelscomfortable to be of service to just the self. In this world, the Guardian Warrior, theArtisan, the Healer, and the Grandparent come into the fullness of their service. This is the manifesting of our biological programming. We understand deep in our coresthat giving is receiving, and that it is the Honor Way. Those in the earlier worlds do also,but being intensely involved in their Journeys of Discovery, it is just not their time toexpress it. Because of that, we in the sixth world provide valued example for them of thespirit of giving. Our example is valued because it is relevant we can still resonate withthem because we have just left their worlds.

The passage to the seventh world, our time to serve as Elders, usually it begins at around50 or 60 Winters. It is often so gradual that we are not aware of it. We might notice thatPeople are coming to us more and more for counsel. They will be looking for guidanceregarding matters of heart and spirit more so than for practical advice. Those in the sixthworld, the one we just left, will now be helping the younger canoebuilders and hidetanners;we will be asked mo