Q: How many Native American languages are there, and how many people speak them?

A: There are about 150 Native American languages in Canada and the United States, and another 600-700 languages in Central and South America. We don't know exactly how many languages there are because not everyone agrees on which languages are unique. If two languages are similar enough that speakers can usually understand each other, they are called dialects of the same language. For example, American English and British English are dialects. On the other hand, English and German are different languages, because even though they are related, an English speaker can't necessarily understand a German speaker. However, sometimes there are borderline cases. For example, Spanish and Italian speakers can often understand each other. And sometimes speakers of two dialects of English can hardly understand each other at all (especially when they're talking quickly!) So although most linguists consider East Cree and Plains Cree to be dialects of the same Cree language, some people believe they should count as two languages because Cree speakers can't always understand each other. So depending on how you count them, there are between 750-850 indigenous languages spoken in North, Central, and South America. There are about half a million speakers of indigenous languages in Canada and the US, and as many as 25 million speakers in Central and South America.

---> http://www.native-languages.org/kidfaq.htm#2

I would like to share with you, from Chief Frank Fools Crow, on: "Calling Persons Of The Four Directions" (Acknowledging & Giving Respect To the Four Directions). It is one of my favorites, of what a prayer should be like:

"Person of the East, hear me.....
Talk to me about thanksgiving.... Talk to me about wisdom.......
Talk to me about understanding.......
I thank you for the past.., present.., and future........
I thank you for my friends [of the Mingle2 Forum]........
Who are here to share this with me.......

Person of the South, hear me.....
Talk to me about rebirth.... Talk to me about new life...
Talk to me about my destiny........
Put the past behind me.... Give me freedom of fear......

Person of the West, hear me......
Talk to me about purification.... Talk to me about renewal.....
Talk to me about thunder......
Put the past behind me..... Give me freedom from weariness......

Person of the North, hear me.....
I am looking at the buffalo.....
Talk to me about fertility.... Talk to me about health.....
Talk to me about self-control.......
Enable me..., to create good things....., for all people......"

---Fools Crow: Power & Wisdom -- Thomas Mails

PRAYER FOR THE EGO

Great Spirit.....
I ask that we all.... Learn to be less selfish.....
That we learn to embrace all forms of life..., With the love and respect......,
That we wish for ourselves.....

And for ourselves...., That we will love and care for.....,
In the same magnitude.....

Let us turn our eyes....., Our ears.......,
Our minds... Around......
In a great circle of awareness......, And in understanding........,
That all of creation, is different....., yet the same...

But..., that we all share this existence....., In the Oneness.....
...Of the same creation.......

Thank you.., Great Spirit...!
Thank you.., Great Spirit...!
Thank you.., Great Spirit...!
Thank you.., Great Spirit...!

-- (one of my own)

(The following excerpts are from: "Fools Crow: Power & Wisdom" (Thomas Mails) . This book was completely authorized and approved by Fools Crow, as he spent many days together with Thomas Mails in Bear Butte, with Dallas Chief Eagle there for most of it. For your interest, Black Elk is Fools Crow's Uncle.)

"Grandpa with his peace of mind knew the ultimate contentment that spells happiness. He knew of the prophecies and the wisoms of our people, an that is the way he lived his life. Grandpa Fools Crow was not what PEOPLE called a "Traditional Indian"; he was not what they called a "Patriot" and definitely was not a "Medicine Man". He was simply an Oglala Ikce Wicasa (ordinary man)."

----Russell Means, an Oglala Lakota Patriot - April 8th 2001 (Introduction)

(Now... some words from Fools Crows dictation to Thomas Mails)

"The power and ways ." Fools Crow said, "are given to us to be passed on to others. To think or do anything else is pure selfishness.

We only keep them and get more by giving them away, and if we do not give them away, we lose them." (Fools Crows words: page 11)

..."It was his opinion that special gifts are given to each individual for use during their lifetime. Yet they can, at any time they feel they should or that Wakan-Tanka wants them to, retire from medicine work and pass it on any or all of these gifts to a person or people they consider worth to receive them..." (page 16)

"In January 1890, Leonard Crow Dog's great-grandfather, Jerome Crow Dog, surrendered to the U.S. Army; he was the last of the ghost dancers, who brought a "new way of praying, of relating to the spirits."

Ninety-three years later, Leonard Crow Dog revived the ghost dance at Wounded Knee. From childhood he was destined to be a medicine man; he recounts family history through four generations?Jerome was the first Native American to win a case in the Supreme Court; Leonard's father, Henry, introduced peyote to the Lakota Sioux. He details tribal ceremonies and their meanings.

By 1971, Leonard Crow Dog had become spiritual leader of the American Indian Movement. In that role and also as medicine man, he was present at the 1972 march on Washington and the siege of Wounded Knee in 1973.

With Richard Erdoes (Lakota Woman), he gives a stirring account of both events a horror story of government brutality and vindictiveness, of prejudice and injustice. Here he offers an illuminating introduction to Sioux culture. "

---- Crow Dog: Four Generations of Sioux Medicine Men (Paperback)

Everyone, has some "right" answers.... Everyone, has some "wrong" answers....
......................No one, has "all the answers"............

Unfortunately, there are many fakes & impostors, in ALL religions & spiritualities; in ALL races of people:

The television evangelist, who preaches for love & understanding, then steals money from his own collection plate & cheats on his wife; the psuedo- medicine man, who demands money for healing work & other spiritual gifts, when he/she is just a vessel for the real healer above to work through; the priest who does sermons on abstinence & morality, then corrupts young boys & girls under the guise of his/her position, while using large amounts of alcohol..... and the list goes on & on & on...
.......through past, present (& future).

Then..., there are the good people:

The volunteer aide worker, who gives most of his/her money to a worthy cause & travels to other countries to help others in need; the wise Elder, who counsels many of the youth, in the hope of a better future for his/her own community; the animal rights activists, who don't involve themselves in violent & destructive behavior, but seek out injured animals to nurture & give love to; ....and this list also, goes on & on & on..... through past. present (& future)....

I don't think that any of us can change the world, but maybe..., we can change ourselves... and maybe... that example will trickle down to someone else.., and so on..., and so on.... (like the movie: "Pay It Forward"..)...

There are people with good intentions, and others with bad ones. This is in EVERY walk of life.

What was that saying? ....."Don't judge someone, until you have walked a mile in their moccasins". ...

My intentions are good.... How are yours..?

CHI MIIGWETCH!

COLD WINTER

The Blackfeet asked their Chief in autumn, if the winter was going to be cold or not. Not really knowing the answer, the chief replied that the winter was going to be cold and that the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared.

Being a good leader, he then went to the nearest phone booth and called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is this winter going to be cold?"

The man on the phone responded, "This winter is going to be quite cold indeed."

So the Chief went back to speed up his people to collect even more wood to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again, "Is it going to be a very cold winter?"

"Yes," the man replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter."

So the Chief goes back to his people and orders them to go and find every scrap of wood they can find.

Two weeks later he calls the National Weather Service again and asks "Are you absolutely sure, that the winter is going to be very cold?"

"Absolutely" the man replies, "the Blackfeet are collecting wood like crazy!"

-- UNKNOWN

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD..?

SOVEREIGN INDIAN: This is the Chickens inherent right as he is indigenous to this land!!!

MILITANT INDIAN: That chicken should block the road, not cross the road!!!

GRASSROOT INDIAN: If the darn chickens need to get across the road, let 'em cross the darn road!

COLONIZED INDIAN: Chiggens should never cross the roads that white men built before the great white father crosses it first. If the white father crosses it, it is good. We must then follow.

AMERICANIZED INDIAN: We must have roads. We must cross the roads that the white man built for us.
We have to be thankful to the white man for this. I don't know why you Indians are always complaining. You embarrass us. Chickens are good for us.

REPUBLICAN INDIAN: It's true that that white man built those roads for us. We are merely chickens. We will always be chickens until we learn to build those roads ourselves - for profit.

DEMOCRATIC INDIAN: The chicken crossed the road because he didn't have enough funding.

TRADITIONAL INDIAN: Those chiggens weren't traditional because they were supposed to be on it - not crossing it!

INDIAN GRANDPA: I think he was runnin' away from rezidential school.

URBAN INDIAN: That chicken crossed the road 'cause it was a city, man. You know what I mean?

NEW AGE INDIAN: It was basically because of Jungian dream therapy, drumming, sweatlodges, my shaman, and long walks on the beach, near my beach house.

POW WOW INDIAN That chicken must have been heading to a 49!

EDUCATED INDIAN: I think it has to do with Einstein's theory which basically posits: "Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move beneath the chicken?"

REZ INDIAN: Whats a chicken?

IHS INDIAN: I really don't care why he crossed that road. We still aren't paying for no stinkin hospital bills.

BIA INDIAN: They crossed it because of CFR 49, Section 11299, gives them the authority to do so,
under Department of Interior regulations, in the Executive Branch. They wrote a grant and we funded them. We are very proud of them.

KFC INDIAN: I'll take a leg, a thigh, with corn and potatoes. Extra Crispy, please.

And finally....................

TRIBAL INDIAN COUNCIL: The chicken crossed the road without our approval! Fire his family!!!

from --> http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/donna/jokes.htm

Pow-Wow Snag

Oh, I saw her hit the pow-wow grounds
In a one-eyed rusty ford
Muffler dragging, smoke was blowing
She can't make it, help me Lord
And when she finally parked
About 100 skins got out
And all the boys were staring
It just made me wanna pout

Chorus:

She said she wants corn soup
I got frybread in a bag
Won't you come and be
My one and only pow-wow snag

Oh she got dirty pow-wow ankles
All the way up to her knees
She's standing alone
Her friends going bathroom in the trees
And I'm sticking out my chest
cause I know that she can see
And if I had my way
She'd be snagging up with me

(Chorus)

Well she finally said alright
'Cuz I offered her some cheese
And I'm sticking out my lips
Saying kiss me baby please
And we're sitting in her teepee
And I say you're so pretty
She just looks at me
And all she said was AYE

(Chorus)

--- Darryl Tonemah

"....��If you talk to the animals they will talk with you...
.......and you will know each other......

If you do not talk to them.....
you will not know them,........

..... and what you do not know.....
you will fear. ......

What one fears... one destroys..."

- Chief Dan George

(..and I think we could say the same thing about humans..? )

QUOTES FROM GERONIMO (Goyathlay)

...."I was no chief and never had been, but because I had been more deeply wronged than others, this honor was conferred upon me, and I resolved to prove worthy of the trust."...

...."While living I want to live well."....

...."I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say."....

...."I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes. I was living peaceably when people began to speak bad of me. Now I can eat well, sleep well and be glad. I can go everywhere with a good feeling."....

...."The soldiers never explained to the government when an Indian was wronged, but reported the misdeeds of the Indians."....

...."I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures."....

There are many things to be shared with the Four Colors of humanity in our
common destiny as one with our Mother the Earth. It is this sharing that must
be considered with great care by the Elders and the medicine people who
carry the Sacred Trusts, so that no harm may come to people through
ignorance and misuse of these powerful forces.

- Resolution of the Fifth Annual Meetings of the Traditional Elders Circle, 1980

The people who are living on this planet need to break with the narrow
concept of human liberation, and begin to see liberation as something that
needs to be extended to the whole of the natural world. What is needed
is the liberation of all things that support life--the air, the water, the trees--
all the things which support the sacred web of life.

- Haudenosaunee address to the western world, 1977

Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come
back again to where they were. The life of a person is a circle from
childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.

- Black Elk

Training began with children who were taught to sit still and enjoy it.
They were taught to use their organs of smell, to look where there was
apparently nothing to see, and to listen intently when all seemingly was
quiet. A child who cannot sit still is a half-developed child.

- Luther Standing Bear

Every step you take should be a prayer. And if every step you take is a prayer,
then you will always be walking in a sacred manner.

- Oglala Lakota Holyman

Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you
by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors; we borrow it from our Children.

- Ancient Native American Proverb

Humankind must be a steward of the Earth;
Caretakers for all that dwells upon it;
To be of one heart with all things.

Human beings must learn to share the
tears of every living thing,
To feel in our hearts the pain
of the wounded animal,
each crushed blade of grass;

Mother Earth is our flesh;
the rocks, our bones;
The rivers are the blood of our veins.

We are all children of God.
Traditions are open to anyone
who wants to learn.

- Huichol Holy Man

When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.

- Chief Apumut

"One does not sell the land people walk on." ...

- Crazy Horse, Sept. 23, 1875