The Official Web Site of the Blackfoot Nation: "Honor the earth and all that exists. Be strong in this belief and practice it throughout your life because it makes for a world of kindness that binds all the good things of life together in a circle of harmony.
Be humble but not timid. To be humble is to connect yourself to the stars and the entire universe and makes you aware there is something unique about life that is to be enjoyed without fear. We are people from the stars and because of it we are sacred.
Help others realize that life is a dream . . . . A beautiful dream. Dreamers are the butterflies of life and help others to realize their dreams.
Be humorous and help others to enjoy life and the life of others. Humor makes you attractive. The humorous person has many guests and the one who is invited everywhere because of the joy they bring to the gathering.
Never be afraid to talk matters over with those you disagree with or those you love. The gift of language is a miracle and it is meant to be used to live a life of harmony, joy, love, and respect. Use it well and use it often.
What is described here is leadership and happiness in the broadest sense. These are the qualities that make for a great father, grandmother, mother, teacher, grandfather, lover, traditional leader, friend and a great human being. Best of all you can add to this list.
I give these to you in honor and respect: Long Standing Bear Chief, Blackfoot"
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Official Web Site of the Blackfoot Nation
The Official Web Site of the Blackfoot Nation: "Give honor and respect to others regardless of age and situation in life. This quality makes you and others worthy of honor and respect, which makes others, feel worthwhile and fulfilled. Honor and respect empowers others so they can win the day. They will return it to you fourfold."
The Official Web Site of the Blackfoot Nation
The Official Web Site of the Blackfoot Nation: "Live a life of truth and honesty. This makes you a person of quality and dignity. Truth and honesty are the kind of leadership qualities that attracts others."
The Official Web Site of the Blackfoot Nation
The Official Web Site of the Blackfoot Nation: "Believe in the beauty and strength our your own being. Forget the foolish belief that you and your fellow human beings were born evil. Those who would control you all the days of your life on earth perpetuate the belief iihtsipaitapiiyo?pa (Source of Life) made things to have a bad spirit."
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The Meaning of the Blue Butterfly
The butterfly, or APANII, has a good deal of meaning in our culture and is used sumbolically in many ways as an expression of our beliefs and view of life.
The BLUE BUTTERFLY, Ootskwiinatsinum, is the being that brings us good dreams and visions of a beautiful future. This is why just about every Blackfoot tipi has a butterfly up high on the back of each one. It appears to be a cross but is not. Rather it is a stylized way of depicting APANI, the Butterfly, which carries you to the dream world, or Apahtopi.
The gift of the symbol of BUTTERFLY is a way of wishing the person in your life a beautiful life of happiness and good health.
Today the image of the Blue Butterfly on a rising sun has come to be a symbol of persons who invite all others to join in supporting and voting as a group in elections for political offices that give rise to indigenous peoples quest for justice, which indirectly includes all peoples since we are all the children of the Source of Life.
The Rising Sun is the symbol of the power and renewal of all life each day. The Blue Butterfly represents that which brings us harmony and peace and our visions for a better future in honor and respect of all people. Life is always changing as does the Butterfly during its lifetime, so we seek to emulate its quiet and beautiful nature.
The seven dots on the upper wing represent the Big Dipper and the five dots on the lower wing represent the constellation Pleiades which you see on the smoke flaps of every Blackfoot Tipi. These represent stories from the Blackfoot culture but in this instance they also represent the fact we are people from the stars and for this reason we are sacred. We are all a people of the universe.
The color Blue is significant because it is the color of water, which brings us all together as male and female. Water is the element into and out of which we are born; water is the commonality that makes us all relatives and which make us related to all things.
By Long Standing Bear Chief, Blackfoot
The BLUE BUTTERFLY, Ootskwiinatsinum, is the being that brings us good dreams and visions of a beautiful future. This is why just about every Blackfoot tipi has a butterfly up high on the back of each one. It appears to be a cross but is not. Rather it is a stylized way of depicting APANI, the Butterfly, which carries you to the dream world, or Apahtopi.
The gift of the symbol of BUTTERFLY is a way of wishing the person in your life a beautiful life of happiness and good health.
Today the image of the Blue Butterfly on a rising sun has come to be a symbol of persons who invite all others to join in supporting and voting as a group in elections for political offices that give rise to indigenous peoples quest for justice, which indirectly includes all peoples since we are all the children of the Source of Life.
The Rising Sun is the symbol of the power and renewal of all life each day. The Blue Butterfly represents that which brings us harmony and peace and our visions for a better future in honor and respect of all people. Life is always changing as does the Butterfly during its lifetime, so we seek to emulate its quiet and beautiful nature.
The seven dots on the upper wing represent the Big Dipper and the five dots on the lower wing represent the constellation Pleiades which you see on the smoke flaps of every Blackfoot Tipi. These represent stories from the Blackfoot culture but in this instance they also represent the fact we are people from the stars and for this reason we are sacred. We are all a people of the universe.
The color Blue is significant because it is the color of water, which brings us all together as male and female. Water is the element into and out of which we are born; water is the commonality that makes us all relatives and which make us related to all things.
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