 |
 |
 |
| Osiyo, tsi lu gi |
| Welcome to Tsalagi, that is, Cherokee. |
 |
 |
| First, we smoke. The pipe was not only for peace, but anything between men that needed to be sanctified. The smoke was seen by the Native Americans as a prayer to the Great Spirit, for His blessing. While they wrote no sacred scrolls, nor built any cathedrals, their lives were centered around a belief in a Great Creator, who was a constant companion, and a priority in all the aspects of their existence. Perhaps we could learn a thing or two from them. |
| The Dreamcatcher was seen as a filter of sorts. It caught all the bad dreams and only let the good dreams through. So the one who slept under it only had good dreams. What a concept!! |
 |
 |
 |
| Becky Ann Is An Indian, the song you`re hearing, was written for a young woman I met. She had been married, divorced, and was trying to raise a 14 year old boy on her own. She had had a rough life, but she kept on going. She was half Cherokee. I started writing it for her. |
| But I began to think of how the Native Americans had embraced the Europeans as they came here. How they had attempted to co-exist. Then, when it was too late they realized the white men didn`t wish co-existence, they wanted it all. And the Indians were taken from their homes and put on reservations. If they resisted, they were killed, or imprisoned, by these people whom they had welcomed with open arms. Treaties were made, broken, remade, and broken again. For as long as the grass grows and the water flows, the white men would say. But that was never for very long. So my song became two-fold. A memorial to Becky Ann, and a tribute to the Native Americans, who have been so mistreated in this great land that was theirs, long before it was ever ours. Of all the minorities in America today, none have more right to complain than these -- Native Americans. |
| Think about it. Dohiya |
| One more small item, the one thing that branded the Indians as savages, was a practice invented by the white man. It was called Scalping. During the French and Indian War, the English required the Indians bring back scalps to prove that the enemy had been killed. And paid them for it. Isn`t that ironic? |
| The Native Americans were conservationists before there ever was such a word. They took what they needed from the land; no more , no less. They killed for food, not sport. And every portion of the kill was used for something. Clothing, tools, sewing needles. Nothing was wasted. |
| Becky Ann Is An Indian, copyrighted, to Danny Owen, 2002 |
 |
 |