Bear's Den: "The Creator is is one thing... you can take to the bank"

Umm... the Half Moon. The sun rises early now in weta´kathaki (the east) and bursts forth in a fabulous explosion of golden yellow bloom. Melo´kami is busy with new life emerging everywhere. I´ve daily marveled at the survival of my ni-wa (wife) from leukemia. I ponder much while I watch the wild ones here on the Rez. I am, daily, so appreciative of the goodness of the Master of Life; and I wonder... at His divine creation and mercy. Yeah... there may be many things in life that are chancy but the wonder that is God... is one that any two-legged... can take to the bank.

Now the phrase "you can take that to the bank" goes back to the days following the Civil War in this land. After the war, many folks had Confederate currency that no U.S. bank would accept. Although it was not counterfeit, it wasn´t legal U.S. tender and, thus, it was valueless. So, the saying "you can take it to the bank" means something is an absolute – it is indisputably bona fide, it is valid, it is truth. The Creator is such.

Sure, and melo´kami (spring) is watched over by the grandfather who sits where the sun rises. It is he who first listens to the prayers of the grandchildren in this time of year when prayers and new life shine brightest. Sure, and while all prayerful days are good, spring has some of the most excellent of all praying days. It´s because so much of the Earth Mother is alive with fresh awakening. The dogwood are in bloom, their white blossoms signifying the best time to cut this tree for use in shaping and making a bow. Many other waskon´atoeyen (flowers) are blooming; frogs are croaking their first songs, while wiskilo-thas (birds) are building their nests. And yet, per the Great Mystery´s design... life can be fleeting, as well.

We have porch swings at the front and back of the cabin´s wrap-around porch, and, whenever tolerable, I sit on them to say my morning prayers. Two weeks ago, I sat in the one at the front and watched a kitati (otter) cut a trek across the lake. He swam by a myriad of ducks and geese, his manner happily excited at the recently ice-freed water. As he passed the dock, he spooked several newly awakened frogs and they hopped into the shallows. One began swimming away but was suddenly snatched from the surface, with a violent splash, by a marauding fish from below. He was gone... in a flash. Um-hmm, and the other day, as I sat in the back porch swing, whispering my prayers in a warm spring breeze, I observed a flurry in the yard; it floated downward in a lazy blizzard but it wasn´t koona (snow), it was a gentle spill of morning dove feathers. I left the swing in a hurry and ran out, looking up at the sky as feathers floated down all around me. But the action of nature that had precipitated the flurry was over and done. Still, I figured what had happened, eh – I surely did. That morning, and the two previous mornings I´d spent there in prayer, I´d been watching a mature pele'thi (eagle). The shining ebony body and stark white head and tail of the bald eagle were magnificent to view as it sailed the currents above searching for prey. I had little doubt but that the pele'thi had nailed the dove in midair; and so... it is. Life is new yet it is fleeting, and I innately understood that this was all the Creator´s doing.

Yes´sir, and to question why one frog perishes while others do not is akin to pondering why one dove survives while another goes to the eagle. Uh-huh, and we can construct answers ranging from survival of the fittest to ka-tet (fate). But in truth, folks... the answer is much easier than that. Yeah, that´s because, simply put, it is just that these things are beyond a mere two-legged´s need to know – period. Though we like to think otherwise because of our bi-peddling and opposable thumbs and modicum of extra intelligence, we are really no different than the frog or dove. I am sure that these critters never question these things, because they rely on the Creator´s design – innately knowing that this... is His will. Oh, they will try to avoid death, if they can, just like we two-leggeds do. But ultimately, the Creator makes this decision and not any of us.

All creatures upon the Earth Mother – regardless of whether we admit it or not – are governed by the Great Good Spirit – they just are. He does as He sees fit for all, including two-leggeds. Yep, and if we are... even a tenth as smart as we think we are, and if we´re even a tad savvy... to all... that is around us... then we know innately, too, that He always knows what is best. So, there´s nothing chancy for us if we put our love, trust and faith in the Master of Life. That´s because the Creator is the absolute – indisputably bono fide, He is valid, He is truth. Yes´um, and this magnificent wonder is something any two-legged... ´can take to the bank´.

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David Walks-As-Bear is an Inter-Tribal Elder and Kispoko Shawnee Indian. He works as a private game warden and detective and is a novelist and syndicated newspaper columnist living in Northwest Michigan. Contact him at The White Lake Beacon: 231-894-5356 or visit his website at: www.Walks-As-Bear.com