"It is the general belief of the Indians that after a person dies the spirit is somewhere on the earth or in the sky, we do not know exactly where, but we are sure that the spirit still lives .... So it is with Wakantanka (The Great Spirit). We believe that Wakantanka is everywhere, yet Wakantanka is to us as the spirits of our friends, whose voices we cannot hear."

Chased-By-Bears (1843-1915)
Santee-Yanktonai Sioux

"There is no death. Only a change of worlds."

Seattle (1786-1866)

"It is good to have a reminder of death before us, for it helps us to understand the impermanence of life on this earth, and this understanding may aid us in preparing for our own death."

Black Elk
Oglala Sioux

No one knows where the Spirit World is.
The ancient people said that it is beyond the pines.
The pine trees are at the edge of the world,
and beyond them is the path of the winds.
The Spirit Way begins there at the edge of the world
among the stars, and the winds will tell the spirits of people where to find it.

What is Life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow that runs across the grass
and loses itself in the sunset.

Paul Goble
Beyond The Ridge Plains
Indian Tradition
Bradbury Press, 1989

<< Previous   Printer-friendly copy   Table of Contents   Next >>