April 2010

Hau kola na tiyospaye (Hello friends & extended family),

Welcome to all new Circle members! Each section of the Circle of Nations newsletter is written 'facing' one of the four sacred winds, beginning with the east, then the south, west and finally the north. This is to honor the old ways. It is to teach and to help us to focus and find the center. I have designed the Native Circle website in the same spirit. I welcome you all to the Circle....

EAST - Wiyohinyanpata - Yellow (Four Winds)
Time with Elders....
Today was a day for me to sit with my family Elders and listen. We rose early this morning and hit the road for a two hour trek to the home of my 78 year old Sioux Grandfather, Bob. Grandpa Bob is a fascinating man, and I consider myself lucky to sit and listen to the words of a man who has spent nearly 8 decades gathering knowledge and wisdom. Now, just for the sake of clarity, let me make it clear that Bob would never claim to be a ‘wise man’. Maybe a ‘wise guy’, but never a wise man! He is unassuming, humble and soft spoken. He is not the Indian man you remember seeing at the powwow. In fact, the camera people at the powwows usually pass on by Grandpa Bob so they can photograph the Fancy Dancers. Never mind that Bob’s regalia consists of authentic articles, some over 100 years old! Nah, the camera folks don’t care about that, they just want the colorful feathers. Looks better in the paper. After all, a 100 year old breastplate made from hair-pipe created by rolling up the brown commodity food wax paper used on the reservation in the 1890s isn’t flashy enough for a photo op. Wow, I am starting to sound like Grandpa Bob! Bob does a lot of complaining and lamenting about what was. He wonders out loud if Indian “kids” today are losing the wisdom of our old ways. Perhaps I am lamenting as well. Bob is an Elder with a tremendous amount of wisdom. We left him today with an awful lot of food for thought. And he concluded by apologizing for talking too much! Ah well, such is the humility of real Indian Elders....
Two hours drive back home, and we find ourselves in the presence of yet another family Elder, Mama Carley. I have spent over 15 years learning from this incredible Matriarch. She is strong, gentle, kind and gracious. She is also highly intelligent, with wisdom I doubt she even realizes she possesses. I would be remiss if I did not also mention that she can be feisty and even a bit stubborn! And yet this is all part of the multi-colored character of a woman who has lived long enough to know what she wants, what she loves, what she feels and what she cares passionately about. She is having to accept more help these days from others. Not easy for a woman who has such an independent nature. I admire her resolve as much as I admire her surrender. She is an incredible woman, and Elder. I have gained profound wisdom from just being around her, and even more from listening....
Reach out to the Elders in your life. Seek them out. Spend time with them. Listen to them. Their wisdom will give you perspective, and draw you closer to the simple truths that matter most in this life.
I realize this section hasn’t been ‘lofty’ or ‘poetic’, but I hope it has meant something to you. The truth is, the wisdom that Grandpa Bob and Carley impart is pretty straight forward stuff. But hey, words don’t need to be fancy to carry a powerful message of truth and wisdom. They just need to be spoken - and heard....


SOUTH - Itokagata - Red (Red Earth)
A word from Peggy....

I decided to take up the South Section today to talk about our Retreats. The south is the place of passion and the retreats have for many of us in the Circle of Nations been our passion. People ask me all the time to explain the retreats and I do my best, but each retreat has a life of it’s own so it is like putting spirituality in a religion box. Our retreats refuse to be boxed in. The only constant is that they are changing and evolving. I can, however, give you more of the concepts and the skeleton of each retreat.

In April we hold the Creative Expressions Retreat. We used to call it the Artists Retreat. The name was changed because each one of us is a creative force and some people don’t feel they are an “artist”. We all have plans and dreams for our life. Your plan may be to meet the love of your life, a soul mate. Your plan may be to be a professional athlete, a teacher, a chef, a writer, a mom, an accountant. Each quest is a creative expression. Your relationships are creative expressions. The way you dress, write, believe. We spend the weekend creating beauty. In the past we have painted a tipi, designed a medicine garden, created prayer flags, written poetry.As a whole we create, but also as individuals. I have seen people embrace their creative selves and go on to run successful businesses or to just find balance and pleasure in the creative process of their daily lives. We discover the deep beauty and profound meaning of our inner selves, the child who wants to paint outside the lines is welcome as well as the child who loves to paint within the lines. The creative expressions retreat is the third weekend in April in Eureka Springs Arkansas. It is a small retreat with 12 to 14 in attendance.

The Women of Wisdom Retreat is held in late June in Eureka Springs, however this year we have opened up 3 new retreats in Dayton Ohio The men’s retreat, the women’s retreat, and the flute discovery retreat.As women we share a sacred bond, a sisterhood. The women’s retreat is about healing and discovery. It is about laughter and connecting. We play, we cry, we write, we create, we sing, we grow and we do what women do best, we communicate.
The Men of Honor Retreat is held on the same weekend and I wish I could tell you more about that, but you will have to refer to John for his explanation of that weekend… but I know it is awesome. The Women and Men’s retreat in Ohio will be held the middle of May

The Flute Discovery Retreat is a weekend led by John Two-Hawks. He helps those who love the flute and those who are barely acquainted with Native flute, to learn the deep ways of this healing instrument. There are many hidden truths in the music of the flute and in the wonderful cultures that the flute has come to us from. The weekend is full of music and stories. A time to experience a richness in the gifts of the American Indian Cedar flute, its wisdom and mystery. This retreat will be held outside Dayton Ohio in May and in Eureka Springs Arkansas in mid September.

The Mending Medicine Retreat... We hold 2 of these retreats a year. One in Dayton Ohio at the end of July beginning of August and one in Eureka Springs Arkansas the third weekend in October. This is our main retreat. We hold it as a three day retreat in Ohio and as a four day retreat in Arkansas. The Circle of Nations Global Community has been born of this retreat. All who attend become members of this group, if they so choose and are added to our membership to receive our e-mails and other considerations. This retreat is based on the ancient teachings of the Medicine Wheel and the wisdom and mystery that this symbol teaches us. We explore Lakota spirituality as well as many other indigenous cultures from around the world. We experience the profound simplicity of these teachings and the healing nature of the wisdom therein. It is a time of healing, laughter, connection and life enhancing change. We enjoy music, laughter, good fun and make some life long friendships. This is a larger retreat, we can take up to 30 people at each location.
The cost of most of our retreats includes lodging and meals. You will find that we are the lowest priced retreats out there, because we have always made a commitment to leave the door open to all who would want to attend. We charge a little over the cost of lodging, food and supplies.
For more information or if you have questions or want to register call 888-790-9091

We have the incredible 'Earth ~ Fire ~ Water ~ Wind' T-shirts
available in larger sizes for 2x and 3x sizes. Call 888-790-9091



John will be performing with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra on April 10th
and he is doing a FREE Earth ~ Fire ~ Water ~ Wind concert on April 11th at the First-Centenary United Methodist Church!
Don’t miss the Earth ~ Fire ~ Water ~ Wind concert in Rogers AR on April 24th
Mothers Day Earth ~ Fire ~ Water ~ Wind concert FREE for moms on Mothers Day May 9th
We will be in Hannibal Missouri on May 1st for a CD and Book signing, In-store Meet & Greet event

Check our Schedule for all our new concerts and events!
Hope to see many of you at concerts and retreats… come and say hi!


WEST - Wiyohpeyata - Black or Blue (We are STILL Here!)
“Answers”
The way of the western world is to explain everything. All questions must be answered. If there is no answer, then something must be wrong, or there needs to be more research to find it. Often, if a suitable answer is not found, one will be fabricated. This is how fixated western society is on having answers. For Indigenous cultures, the focus has never been on answers, but rather on questions. For Native people it has always been perfectly acceptable to not always have an answer. In fact, ‘not knowing’ is part of the fabric of Indigenous spiritual culture and tradition. It is understood by Native society that there has always been - and will always be - mystery in this world. No matter how high tech western science gets, and regardless of how smart western society’s great thinkers become, there will always be questions that cannot be answered. There will always be mystery. Mystery keeps us humble. Humility leads to wisdom. Wisdom leads to healing. And healing leads to peace. On the other hand, knowledge makes us proud. Pride can lead to arrogance. Arrogance leads to conflict. And conflict leads to destruction. So.... Allow me to assert that ‘answers’ are far overrated. Not having all of them is okay, because it causes us to lean on the Spirit, and each other. Accept mystery in this life, and wisdom will offer herself to you in the humble spaces. For when high technology and lofty intelligence find that they have failed to come up with the ‘answers’ to the world’s problems, old grandmother wisdom will be there waiting to soothe them, and show them the way....


NORTH - Waziyata - White (Words of Wisdom)
Some thoughts from my contemplations....

The spiritual power of a tipi is greater than any castle....

Silence and Listening are both requirements of wisdom....

Authenticity is only experienced up close....

Truth and Knowledge are not always the same thing....


May Wakantanka encircle you and yours with faith to believe, hope for the future, and love for all....

As always, in the spirit of mending the sacred hoop of the nations of the world
Your Oglala Lakota friend and brother,
John Two-Hawks
http://www.nativecircle.com
http://www.johntwohawks.com
Reprinting of this Circle of Nations newsletter is encouraged! All I ask is that it be printed in its entirety, with no changes, and that I be given proper credit, unless I have otherwise okayed it. Wopila (great thanks)!