Good Morning, or afternoon (or evening)!

I’ll be traveling to Arizona in March to an RWA meeting, where I’ll be speaking, and thinking of Arizona reminded me of — well, I guess it’s a ghost story or maybe a treasure hunt story — a true one — one whose drama took place in the superstitious mountains.  It was this very true story by the way, that served as the inspiration for one of my books, LONE ARROW’S PRIDE.

Here’s the original art work that was done for this book — originally published by AVON/HarperCollins Publishers.  Now, my husband and my brother-in-law were at one time miners, and when they told me this story, I knew it would find it’s way into a book — and it did.  The story of LONE ARROW’S PRIDE doesn’t take place in Arizona, however.  I brought the story instead to the Wyoming/Montana area — to the Bighorn Mountains and to America’s “Stonehedge,” which sets up atop a 10,000 foot mountain.  But back to the true story of the Superstitious Mountains.

As I’m sure you know, in Arizona there is a mountain range called the Superstitious Mountains, which sits just outside of Phoenix.  Some of you might be familiar with the legend of the Lost Dutchman’s gold mine.  Some may not.  But bear with me.

There are many, many miners who go into the Superstitious Mountains today, hunting for the Lost Dutchman gold mine.  Many years ago stones were found, upon which was written some hieroglyphics thought to be part of a map.  Many of these stones were discovered all over the Superstitious Mountains and all of them were thought to be part of a map that would lead others to the Lost Dutchman’s gold mine.  Today those stones are on display in a bank where all can see them and try to discern where the gold mine is.

What is not generally known, however, is that many hundreds of years previous, there were Jesuit priests in these mountains.  They befriended the Indians, and managed to get the Indians to bring them gold from these mountains, whereupon the Jesuit priests made artifacts out of the gold.  Many, many artifacts.

There priests were recalled to Spain.  Most of them refused to go and so Spain sent an army into the Southwest to drive the priests home.  The priests got word of the oncoming army and, deciding not to let the army get their gold, nor take the gold back to Spain where it would most likely be claimed by the king, they hid their treasure. It was the Jesuit priests who etched the map on the stones in hieroglyphics and left these stones in fairly inconspicuous places, thinking to come back and collect the gold at a later date, perhaps.

Recently miners have found, after using the stones on display, and digging about twenty-two feet deep in these mountain, two crosses with more hieroglyphics on them.

To date, neither the Lost Dutchman’s mine, nor the stash of gold from the Jesuit priests has been found.  Added to this is the fact that the Indians believed that the Thunder God lived in the Superstitious Mountains and in fact, up until the late nineteenth century, no one was able to go into the mountains and mine the gold without great risk to their lives.  Any white person found in the mountains was at once killed.

Another interesting fact is that earlier on, two brothers got word of the mines in those mountains and were mining one that they had found.  They made two succesful trips into the mountains and obtained a great deal of gold.  On the third trip they were discovered by the Indians.  And so the brothers loaded up all of their gold and put it into bags, which they tied onto their mules.

Of course, these two brothers were found and killed by the Indians, but the mules were let go, still carrying the bags of gold.  The last bag of gold to be found was in the 1920′s or 30′s (I forget which), and contained gold to the amount of approximately $12,000 at that time — today the find would have been close to half a million dollars.

So the question is:  Has anyone ever found the Lost Dutchman’s Mine?  Not to my knowledge.

Has anyone discovered the gold that was hidden by the Jesuit priests?  Not that we know of.  But I would have to ask you this question.  If you were there and you found it, would you tell anyone?

I’m not too certain that I would.  Would you?

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of the new ebooks, LAKOTA SURRENDER and LAKOTA PRINCESS at:  http://www.samhainpublishing.com/retro-romance.htm

It’s November, a time when we tend to cuddle up and look ahead to the holidays.  It’s a time of Thanksgiving.

I’m sure all of you know that our Thanksgiving comes from the Eastern Indians, and in particular Squanto — and if you didn’t know about Squanto, I would highly recommend the movie, Squanto, starring a young and dreamy Adam Beach.  Sigh…

But what was this festival called Thanksgiving?  Did it happen just this one time?  Was it due to the Indians’ wishing to acknowledge the newcomers, as I was often taught in school?  Was there more to it?  Well, I do believe that there was … is.  So do read on.

Thanksgiving was one of several festivals amongst the Eastern Indians — in particular I’m talking about the Iroquois.  However, these ceremonies were common to all the Eastern tribes.  There were many festivals throughout the year, and they tended to follow the seasons.

The Iroquois celebrated six festivals, wherein they gave thanks to the Creator for all they had.  These festivals would open with speeches by leaders, teacher, etc.  And of course there was much dancing, which was done not only for the fun of simply dancing, but it was also a sense of worship.  It was thought that the Creator needed some sort of amusement, thus He gave the people dancing.

In spring — early March — it was time to collect together tree bark and sap – this was needed to repair houses and other things, such as canoes, bowls, etc.   Spring was also the time for planting.  This was the maple festival.  Next was the Planting festival.  Here prayers were sent to the Creator to bless their seed.

The Iroquois’ main food source was corn, beans and squash (the three sisters).  Family gardens were separated by borders that were broad and grassy — they would even camp on these borders and sometimes they were raise watch towers.

The next festival of the Iroquois was the Strawberry Festival.  This is where the people gave thanks to the Creator for their many fruits (like strawberries).  It was summertime.  The women gathered wild nuts and other foods, while the men hunted, fished and provided various meats for cooking.  Again, each festival was greeted with much dancing and merriment.  Did you know that the some Iroquois believed the way to the Creator was paved with strawberries?

The next fesitval was the Green Corn Fesitval.  Again, the Creator was thanked for the bounty of food that had been raised all through the summer.  Dancers danced to please the Creator and musicians sang and beat the drum.  Again there were many speeches to honor the people and the Creator.  There were team sports.  Lacrosse was the game that was most admired and it was played with great abandon by the men.  Women played games, too and often their games were as competitive as the men’s.

The next season festival was…are you ready?  Thanksgiving — or the Harvest Thanksgiving.  By this time the women had harvested the corn, beans and squash.  Much of it would be dried.  Much went to feed families.  Husks were made into many different items.  Dolls, rugs, mats.  Did you know that the dolls didn’t have faces?  Now was the time to gather more nuts and berries.  Men were busy, too, hunting far away.  Bear, moose, beaver were all sought after and hunted.  Again, there was much celebration.  Dancing, speeches, prayer.  And of course — food.  It was this particular festival that was shared with the newcomers to this continent.

Can you guess what the next festival was?  Although this is a Christmas tree, it was not a celebration of Christmas — but if you guessed this, you were very close.  The next and last festival of the year was New Year’s.  At this time, a white dog was sacrificed as a gift to the Creator.  This was also a time for renewing the mind and body.  (Does that not remind you of our New Year’s resolutions?)  At this time, the False Face Society members would wear masks to help others to cleanse themselves of their bad minds and restore only their good minds.  There was again much celebration, much dancing, much merriment and enjoyment as each person would settle in for the long winter ahead of them.

The First Americans indeed did give this country very much, not only its festivals which we still remember to this day, but also it gave to this nation a fighting spirit for freedom.  In these times when there seems to be uncertainty ahead of us, there is still much for us to be thankful for.  I know I am thankful for my family and my husband and daughters and my new granddaughter.  I’m thankful to be able to travel this beautiful country.  I’m thankful to be able to voice my opinions and for living in a country where I am still able to be who I am.

How about you?  What are you thankful for?  What has influenced your life for the better?  And what will you be doing for Thanksgiving this year?

I may be away from the computer and on the road tomorrow — I hope so — as I return home hopefully in time for Thanksgiving with family.

But before I leave you today, let me share a link with you — this link has two wonderful (and sexy) excerpts from LAKOTA PRINCESS and PROUD WOLF’S WOMAN:  http://sweetnsexydivas.blogspot.com/2011/11/sweet-n-sexy-soulful-quotes.html?zx=ee5d0e72a526e020  Please take the time to go over and have a look.

NEWS ALERT!!!!   LAKOTA SURRENDER goes on sale in just a few short weeks — first time ever in e-books.  Pick up your copy today! If you preorder, it’s on sale!  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/lakota-surrender-p-6643.html

Howdy!

I hope you will bear with me today as I post an older blog, one which I particularly like, and I’ve changed it a little to bring it up to date, but I really needed to fall back on something today because I got hit with some very bad news today.  A very good friend of mine, Jim Bird, was killed early this morning in an accident on the road.  He was a good friend and we had many adventures with each other because we both loved the Blackfeet people and so we often found ourselves trying to help them…together.  So please forgive me for the repeat — but it’s a much older blog and one I really love for its beauty.  So please do enjoy!

As I sit here looking through my many books, I am struck by the beauty of the American Indian style of dress.  But before I begin, I’d like to let you know that once again, I’ll be giving out a free book to some lucky blogger.  Please note that this offer is for those in the greater 50 United States or Canada and void where prohibited.

Okay, all that aside, I thought I’d start with Plains Indian dress, since this is probably what we are the most familiar with.  I might also call this post, a tour of George Catlin and Karl Bodner’s paintings.  The time period in which they worked was in the 1830?s — mostly around 1834.  Off to the left is a painting by George Catlin.  Note that the dress does not hide the natural curve of the animal that it is made from.  Notice too the intricate painting and or beading/quill work on the dress.  All tribes were different, which made it a little easier for the men of the tribe to read trails (they could tell by the mere indentation of a moccasin what tribe had passed that way.)

Note in all of these painting the robe or shawl that encircles the woman.  Both men and women favored the robe.  Most were again intricately beaded or painted or decorated.  To this day, the shawl still survives in women’s dress.  When one goes to a pow-wow and wishes to dance, one wraps a shawl around oneself before entering into the circle.

Many Plains women favored the two-skin dress.  Originally, the skirt with a poncho made of skin was the favored dress.  But by the time the white man arrived in Indian country, the two-skin dress was popular.  Later, still, a three skin dress became popular.  Depending on the tribe, the yoke of the dress was either decorated with beads, quills or with many rows of elk’s teeth.  The bottom of the ankle-length dress could be left in the same shape as the animal, although sometimes the hem was fringed.

Women also traditionally wore knee-length leggings that were laced at the front or the inside.  These were often painted and designed with quill work.   Off to the side here are two Blackfeet men.  Note the fringe on their sleeves.  Not also the robe (or cape) around their shoulders.  This man on the left has his face painted black and there are many, many feathers attached to his head.  This man was a chief and the “buttons” on his shirt are brass and the designs are made of blue glass.   This painting is one of Karl Bodner’s.

The picture off to the right is of a Blackfeet Indian on horseback.  Notice the fringed shirt and fringed saddle, as well as the feather tied to the horse’s mane.  Notice, too, the painted designs on his leggings.  The Blackfeet man’s basic dress was breechcloth, shirt, leggings, moccasins and the ever present robe.  This man’s shirt comes almost to his knees as he is sitting.  And note that the hemline keeps the same shape of the animal that the clothes were made from.  This is a beautiful drawing and shows the richness of a people who, while owning no money, had all the comforts and necessities of life.

I’m showing these two pictures together because both come from the Mandan tribe.  The Mandans were a tribe that traded goods from both southern and northern and western tribes.  They had permanent villages.  The painting on the left is of a man named Flying War Eagle, who was one of their best warriors.  Note the hair-bows on each side of his face, the feathers, the necklace, the earrings.  I would like to point out that those earrings are not feminine at all.  Now around his neck are bear claws.  This means that he had killed a bear.  Note also the wolf tails that are attached to his moccasins.  On the right is the same warrior, but with another man, the one in the foreground, who was an Indian artist.  Note the robe thrown around their shoulders.  They lived in a cold climate.

This next picture is of a Hidasta Indian — the Hidasta were another tribe that had settled in permanent villages, right along the Missouri River.  This man’s name was Black Raven.  Note the elaborate peace pipe, the bear necklace, the hair-bow and single feather.  Note also the beautiful designs on his leggings and moccasins.  This is another Karl Bodner painting.  I have these picture in a larger book at home — that’s how I’m able to see much of the detail.

And here off to the left is my favorite.  The man is Assiniboine, which is a tribe that is related to the Lakota or Sioux.  Note the two hair beads that hang from locks in front.  Note also the hair that is made to come down directly on his nose.  Note that his costume has again kept the shape of the animal at the hemline.  This man’s robe looks very much like a cape.  On his shield is attached his medicine bundle.  Many a warrior would not go to war without that medicine bundle.  I have studied this painting long and often and in great detail.   This is a handsome man in anybody’s culture.  Tall, firm of limb, proud bearing, yet gentle spirit.  Ah…

The painting below is one that I found on the Republic of Lakotah website.  I was particularly taken with it.  While it doesn’t show the manner of dress necessarily, it does show the strength of spirit of not only the man, but the eagle.  It’s a magnificent painting.

Where this painting takes place I don’t know.  Perhaps in the woodlands of the Dakota people — it’s only that I know of very few places in the West where there are strands of dicidious trees as isshown here.  The title of this picture is “Red Road.”

Well, I didn’t get very far today in discussing dress.  Mostly I’m afraid I got engrossed in the handsome pictures of these very beautiful people.  Now off to the left here is the cover of BLACK EAGLE, my latest novel that is still in the bookstores.  Off to the right is the cover of PROUD WOLF’S WOMAN, for the first time in ebook form, which is due to released in February 2012.  If you’d like to read an excerpt of this book, please visit my site at www.novels-by-KarenKay.com.

Off to the right here is the new cover for the new ebook of LAKOTA PRINCESS, which is due out in January 2012.

Well, that’s all for today’s post.  Hope you’ve enjoyed these pictures as much as I do.  So please come on in and leave a comment.  What do you think?  Are these clothes as pretty as the English clothes of the same period?  Remember that at this time period, one’s “betters” dressed differently than the common folk (which was not true in Native America).  Come on in and leave a message.

Hi!  Han!  or Oki!  (Depending on the tribe.)  The second is Lakota and the third “hello” is Blackfeet.

I love a good mystery. Do you?  I hope so because I’m about to tell you a story that is true, but it’s also a mystery – it’s about a people that the tribe of Salish people call “the mystery people.”

I thought it might be fun to try to guess who these people were — remember that the Salish people are in the northern part of this country and farther west than even the Blackfeet.  So they are not too far away from the Pacific.  Here we go:  This is the story of the mystery people.

In the days of long ago — what would be our grandfather’s grandfathers, a mystery people came to Flathead lake.  They were a small, fine featured people, and they brought with them their wives and children who had flattened their heads, which was the style of the coastal Indians at this time.  These strange people came in strong canoes and they came from the direction of what the Salish people called the Great Salt Water (most likely the Pacific Ocean).

They were very few people and they troubled no one.  The Grandfathers say that they were neither white nor Indian.  Their skin color was as dark as an Indian’s, but their features were not those of the American Indian — and they were much smaller in size and structure from the American Indian.

These mystery people — the men — didn’t flatten their heads — only their wives and children did, again, which was the style of different Pacific Coast Indians.  When these people went west, they were gone a very long time, usually, and when they returned, they brought with them dried salmon, which was much prized amongst the Salish.

These people were skilled in the healing arts and knew how to use roots and different barks and teas to cure many illnesses.  They once helped the natives along the coast when illness struck them by telling them not to use the sweat baths and then plunge into cold water — they said that this would kill them.  They saved a great many people by their wise words.

Who were these people?  The only clues given were that these people came from a land beyond the Great Salt Water and that strong winds had blown them so far off course that they were lost.  Finally they saw the lake and land and came toward it, but another storm broke their great canoe.  The Indians along the shore treated them kindly and they lived with them.  Who were these people?

Here’s a little more about them — they were the same color as the Indians but not Indian.  They were a kind people — kind to women and children and they loved to laugh and to play.  They knew many things that they taught the people — one was about fire — they taught the people the exact right stones to use to get dry kindle to light.  What happened to them?

There weren’t many of them and their sons and daughters eventually married Salish people and over time the mystery people vanished.  Who were they?

I honestly don’t know, but I’m willing to make a guess.  The legend says that they were smaller and fine-feathered — but it says nothing about their eye-shape not their difference in color of skin — so I would rule out the orient.  This was long before the white man ever came to Flathead country.  (The picture to the right, by the way is of Flathead Lake — where the mystery people came to live.)

My guess would be Malaysian or perhaps even India Indians.  Because the Malaysians were close to the water, it’s possible that they might have been blown off course.  But I could be very far off.

Do you have a guess?

Dont’ forget that soon…very soon…Lakota Surrender will see it’s first printing in ebooks.  Look for it in December.  Oh, and off to the right here is a picture of 3 generations — myself, my two daughter’s and my new grandbaby. 

So come on in an let’s make a guess about this together.  By the way all those who guess will be eligible to win a free copy of the book, THE LAST WARRIOR — drawing will be done either late Tuesday evening or early Wednesday.

Do come on in — leave a comment and let’s chat!

Good Morning (or afternnon or evening)!

My family is currently in the middle of what I’m beginning to call the “horrendous move of the century.”  I’m sure that’s probably not true, but it’s seeming like that to me at the moment — we are 18 days into it and are still in boxes…

But one of the good things about the move is that I’ve had to look at most every book I have as I put them back onto bookshelves and I ran across a book called “Land of Enchantment,” which are the memoirs of Marian Russell — along the Santa Fe Trail.  One of my books, THE ANGEL AND THE WARRIOR, was set on the Santa Fe Trail and so I had the opportunity to research it — and to go there and travel it just a little.    To this end, I thought I’d write a little of her memoirs from this book, as I found them very impressionable.  Imagine yourself back in the 1850′s — traveling the Santa Fe Trail:

“Minute impressions flash before me; the sun-bonnetted women, the woolen-trousered men, little mother in her flounced gingham, brother Will walking in long strides by our driver, voices of the lonely and homeless singing around blazing campfires.  Because I was the youngest, I may today be the only onen left of that band to tell of the old, old, trail that, like a rainbow, led us westward.

Picture on the right is of Montana, but it is also a picture of the prairie — there wouldn’t be any snow-covered mountains in Kansas, Oklahoma areas.  But let’s continue with Marian Russell’s impressions:

“Our trail often led among herds of buffalo so numerous that at times we were afraid.  The vast open country that is gone from us forever rippled like a silver sea in the sunshine.  Tunning across that sea of grass were the buffalo trails; narrow parths worn deep into the earth.  They were seldom more than eight inches across, and always ran north and south.  A buffalo is a wise animal and knows instinctively that water flows eastward away from the Rocky Mountains and that the nearest way to running water was always north or south..”

Doesn’t it make you feel like you’re there?  When I was doing research for THE ANGEL AND THE WARRIOR, I read and reread this book.  Let’s read a little more:

“Scattered along the buffalo trails were the buffalo wallows, small lagoons of rain water.  They were like turquoise beads strung on the dark-brown string.  The buffalo wallows, they told us, were made by buffalo bulls fighting.  They would put their heads together and slowly walk round and round making a depression that caught the rain water.”

And before I leave the subject, here’s another passage:  “I remember so clearly the beauty of the earth, and how, as we bore westward, the deer and the antelope bounded away from us.  There were miles and miles of buffalo grass, blue lagoons and blood-red sunsets and, once in a while, a little sod house on the lonely prairie — home of some hunter or trapper.”

Doesn’t it make you feel as though you are there?

And now for another subject.  LAKOTA SURRENDER is being re-released in e-books for the first time ever from Samhain Publishing.  Here’s the new cover.  Isn’t it a honey?

And here’s a little bit about the book, LAKOTA SURRENDER, my first published book:

As she heads west to join her cavalry officer father at hisKansasoutpost, Kristina Bogard eagerly anticipates new adventures—and her first glimpse of wild Indians. She has long dreamed of flashing black eyes, skin-covered lodges and buckskin and leather. 

What she finds inFortLeavenworth, though, is a far cry from her Indian nanny’s thrilling stories. What few natives are left are crushed, brokenhearted shadows of their proud past. Except for one, a handsome warrior who stirs up a whole new set of dreams.

 Tahiska can’t take his eyes off the green-eyed beauty whose graceful hands are fluent in his native sign language. Except he can’t afford to let anything distract him from avenging his father, who was killed by two white soldiers.

 Though anger fills his mind, Kristina steals into his heart, igniting a wildfire passion that must remain their desperate secret. For soon comes the day of reckoning, when justice will be served…or a travesty will shatter their love.

Coming soon — December 11, 2011 from Samhain Publishing.

Well, I’m off to unpack more boxes — and more boxes…and more boxes…  So come on in and let’s talk — about the book, about moving — your thoughts — or about the beautiful prairie — did it come alive for you?

I couldn’t let another day go by as we rush into fall without showing off my new “stand alone” short stories.  Let me tell you why I’m so excited about these stories.

First of all, I love to read and write short stories as well as novels.  In today’s world, short stories are growing increasingly popular because they can be finished in one sitting, usually. Publishing by Rebecca J. Vickery, and her imprints, Western Trail Blazer and Victory Tales Press, have been a fantastic source of anthologies and “stand alone” short stories in today’s growing market.

The anthologies are themed anthologies, based upon a season or holiday. The stories that are contracted for those anthologies cannot be reprinted anywhere else for six months. But, when their “time” is up, a contract may be put in place to continue to sell them in the anthologies and to also offer them as “single sell” .99 offerings, as well.

I just had three of my stories come up for that option this past month: ALWAYS AND FOREVER, which first appeared in A HALLOWEEN COLLECTION last year; THE LAST OF HER KIND, which came out in A MYSTERY/SUSPENSE COLLECTION; and A HEART FOR A HEART, which was first offered in A VALENTINE COLLECTION.

This growing short story market has been a great way for readers to sample different authors in sub-genres they love, or take a chance on an author that maybe they’ve never read before in a sub-genre they wouldn’t normally read—because the price is right.  At just .99 a story, you really can’t go wrong.

All of my short stories are available on Nook, through Barnes and Noble, and on Kindle, through Amazon.   Here are some covers and blurbs for the latest short stories of mine that have come out this past month as single sell offerings. 

If you enjoy Native American heroes, you will find them in two of my newest single sell offerings, featured below, A HEART FOR A HEART and ALWAYS AND FOREVER. (And it never hurts to have Jimmy Thomas on the cover, either.) <G>

I hope you enjoy!

THE LAST OF HER KIND (paranormal suspense):

An old Victrola is the cherished possession of Cassie’s grandmother.  Her father also seems oddly attached to the antique phonograph, but her new stepmother detests it and wants it gone.  Grandmother is sick, probably dying, and Cassie will be the only one left in the house who sees through Trish as Cassie’s brothers no longer live with them. 

 Then Cassie discovers a wonderful, yet frightening secret.  Will her new knowledge save her family or destroy it?

 ALWAYS AND FOREVER (contemporary “2^nd chance at love”):

At a children’s Halloween carnival, a Gypsy fortuneteller predicts a new love for both Cindy and Gage.  When the two meet over a poorly carved pumpkin, love flickers to life and the stars begin to align.

But the odds of finding a new love later in life seem insurmountable and the prophecy seems too good to be true.  After all, Gage has been burned before and Cindy doesn’t believe in fortunes or second chances. 

Will doubt overshadow their attraction or has love already been set in motion?  Can the star-crossed pair put their faith in the love that was foretold? Can they believe in each other? 

A HEART FOR A HEART (sweet romance):

 Kiera is all set to welcome Cory into her home as a foster child.  Orphaned and with a learning disability, Cory is looking forward to living with his tutor.  Until his uncle shows up… 

Sam Tiger returns from military duty to find his deceased brother’s son being taken in by a stranger.  The boy needs his family and Sam is it.  He never expects the tutor to stand up to him and want to keep Cory.  Then the worst happens—he finds himself attracted to Kiera. 

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL CHERYL’S WORK, CLICK HERE:

Good Morning (or afternoon or evening)!

In my writing of the American Indian way of life, I’m often struck by the fact that the men of all tribes of American Indians (save those in the far-far north) wore breechcloths.  Really…  Now, I don’t know about you, but I find the breechcloth quite sexy, so I thought I’d talk about just what the heck they were…or are.

A breechcloth generally looked like this.  They were a style of clothing worn by all American Indian men (and sometimes very young girls until they were of an age to wear dresses).  The breechcloth didn’t just hang down in front and in back like some people might like to believe — they hung over the belt then dipped down on the other side of the belt, and up again in back and again hung over the belt in back, so that if a flap were pulled up, a man would look as though he were wearing underwear.

Off to the right here is another drawing of a man wearing a breechcloth, but this time it’s being worn with leggings –  leggings were a sort of “pant” which were usually made from some soft, yet durable material, like buckskin.  Often the seam that sewed the legs of the pant together were decorated with a fine line of fring or beadwork.  But the breechcloth was a garment that was worn primarily and almost continually.   Often in summer the breechcloth was worn without leggings, which would look something like this picture off to the left.

I guess it might be easy to understand why the Europeans who first came here and met the Indians might have thought they wore too little — and vice versa — to the Indian the sun was a source of food (which it actually is — vitamin D3) and so to cover the body while in the sun seemed mighty foolish to the Native American.  It’s perhaps stating the obvious that many a feminine eye (when no one was looking of course) might have been studying that breechcloth.

The picture off to the right here is one I particularly like — it is of a Lakota chief, Big Eagle.  I have this picture in my files, but I must admit that the picture that I have is a little more stunning than this one is.  But you can clearly see the breechcloth.  Now to the Amerian Indian woman looking at the men — the wearing of  a breechcloth – even if only worn alone – was as common a sight to see as we might think of looking at a man in jeans.  Of course there are men wearing jeans…and then there are men wearing…JEANS.  Probably the same would have gone back then. 

Here to the left is another picture of a breechcloth.  Briefly, for those interested, to make the breechcloth wasn’t too difficult.  The breechcloth was made from a long piece of skin or cloth.  It was about 10 or more inches wide and could be as long as about 5 feet.  The clothing usually fell, depending on the style of the tribe, to about a hands width above the knees.  The material, if a skin, was softly tanned, and it became the standard piece of clothing that a man wore almost always.  If leggings were worn, as in the picture here, they were usually made from single skins, were usually form fitting and had a seam that ran along the seam of the leg of the animal used.  They were cut so that the hip portion was higher and slanting toward the crotch for comfort and for a good fit.  The upper part of the legging was tied to the belt and oftentimes another garter was used to hold the leggings to the front, so that it didn’t slip.

And here are some of my favorite pictures of the breechcloths on men.  This picture to the right is from the movie, Dances With Wolves.  I’ve always liked this picture — to me it says alot — including the study of these men, watching of the buffalo.

I’m not certain what movie this picture was from — but I do like it alot.  Although this picture is of Native American actors of today, it has all the flavor of the past.  It is, indeed, one of my favorites.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this rather intriguing discussion (picture-wise) of breechcloths.  So tell me, if it were you and you were seeing a man wearing a breechcloth  for the first time, do you think you would have stared?  Now be honest.

Once when I went to a pow-wow long, long ago, there was a man who was dressed in breechcloth and little more.  I must admit that it was hard not to watch him — and, indeed, he had quite a few ladies following him at that pow-wow.  A friend of mine, Michael Badnarik, tells a story of being at an art show and a fellow showed up in breechcloth and leggings.  Michael remarked that he’d never seen so many women stare at a man.  Is there any wonder why?

But to the American  Indian it was nothing more than the standard way in which a man dressed, especially considering that the sun was considered in the same light as food.  What do you think your reaction would have been…if any?

So come on in and let’s chat.

Also, stay tuned.  On December 11th, LAKOTA SURRENDER, my first novel, will be being released from Samhain publishing in eb0ok format.  It will be the first time the book is back in print in many, many years.  I’ll keep you informed of the progress…

I was working on a different blog for this month. But after reading Karen Kay’s beautiful post about Native American sayings, I remembered a story my neighbor gave me a few months ago. In the same spirit, I want to share it with you

First a disclaimer. I have no idea whether this is an authentic Native American tale or just a story somebody made up. If anyone out there knows where it came from I’d love to hear. If it isn’t really Native American I’ll be disappointed – but either way, the lesson is worth remembering. Another disclaimer – the story was given to me on a piece of paper I’ve since lost. So I’ll be retelling it in my own words, with a few embellishments. Please feel free to share this version.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 An old chief and his small grandson sat by the fire, gazing into the flames. From deep in the forest, a wolf call echoed through the dark night. “There is something I want you to remember,” the chief said. “Inside each person there are two wolves.”

“Do I have two wolves inside me, Grandfather?” the boy asked.

“We all do. And the two wolves are always fighting.”

“Why do they fight, Grandfather?”

“One wolf is good. The other wolf is bad. And they both want to win.

“The good wolf is love, hope, kindness, fairness, generosity, courage, unselfishness, gentleness, cheerfulness, wisdom, respect, honesty and responsibility.

“The bad wolf is anger, hatred, prejudice, cowardice, discouragement, laziness, jealously, selfishness, greed, dishonesty, disrespect, carelessness and cruelty. Every day of your life those two wolves will fight inside you.”

“And which wolf will win?” the boy asked.

The old chief replied, “The wolf you feed.”

Good Morning or Afternoon/Evening!

Hope you all had a good Labor Day weekend.  Mine was very busy as is becoming much too frequent for me of late.  Upon wondering what to blog about today, I decided that it might be fun to spread around some wisdom straight from the mouths of various American Indian tribes.  Many of these wisdoms come from the book, The Soul Would Have No Rainbow if the Eyes Had No Tears by Guy A Zona.

Interestingly, long before bad foods, war, treachery and other forms of treason came about, the First Americans were commented by the Europeans who met them, to be a physically beautiful people.  But there was more.  Europeans who cared to listen found that there was also much wisdom to be found in our native cultures.  Benjamin Franklin was one such individual, but there were many, many others.  So I thought we might delve into a little bit of that wisdom today.  I’ll tell you the quote and then what tribe that it comes from, okay?

Here’s one that I’d love to post on every government building — “The mark of shame does not wash away.”  That’s from the Omaha tribe.  Or how about his one from the Crow tribe:  “One has to face fear or forever run from it.”

Another man said it in a different way — I don’t know the exact words, but L. Ron Hubbard once said something along the line of, “There comes a time when one must turn and face the demons that pursue one.”  Probably not exact, but in these modern times, I think it’s a good piece of wisdom.

Here’s a piece of wisdom that I like from the Fox:  “When you have learned about love, you have learned about God.”  And another one from the Lakota that I also think is very pertinent to today’s world — especially there in Washington DC of late, “There is a hole at the end of the theif’s path.”

Here’s one I particularly like from the Hopi: “A shady lane breeds mud.”  Don’t you love the imagery with that one?

This next one is from the Cheyenne, and I think it is quite aesthetic:  “When you lose the rhythm of the drumbeat of God, you are lost from the peace and rhythm of life.”  Isn’t that beautiful?

And here’s another one that really touches my heart:  “Never part from the chiefs’ path, no matter how short or beautiful the byway may be.”  This is from the Seneca.

Here’s one from my adopted tribe, the Blackfeet:  “Those that lie down with dogs get up with fleas.”  I love the analogy in all of these little bits of wisdom.

The Seneca were part of the Iroquois Confederation and here’s a little piece of wisdom from another one of the tribes in that Confederation, The Tuscarora, “Man has responsibility, not power.”

Now that’s an interesting one, I think.  Again very appropriate for today’s age, I think.  Now here’s a quote from the Shawnee that shines light on a very deep American principle:  “Trouble no man about his religion — respect him in his views and demand that he respect yours.”  Wise.  Wise…

How about this one from the Lumbee:  “Seek wisdom, not knowledge.  Knowledge is of the past, wisdom is of the future.”

I really love this one too, for all of us who have children.  This comes from the Sioux.  “Before you choose a counselor, watch him with his neighbor’s children.” 

Here’s a couple that I love:  “When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, strike first.” That’s from the Navaho.  And now from the Iroquois, “The greatest strength is gentleness.”

Oh, and don’t you love this one from the Shawnee:  “Show respect for all men, but grovel to none.”  I love that one.  Doesn’t it remind you of THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS when Hawkeye turns to the British soldier and says:  “I don’t consider myself subject to much at all.”  Or something to that effect — that’s probably not an exact quote.

Now, this from the Sioux is astute, I think:  “Guard your tongue in youth, and in age you may mature a thought that will be of service to your people.”

Okay, this is probably too long a post already, so I’ll leave you with a couple of sayings that touched me:  This first one is from the Twanas tribe:  “Never see an old person going to carry water without getting a bucket and going in their stead.”  Also from the Navaho, “Always assume your guest is tired, cold, and hungry, and act accordingly.”

And last, but not least, “We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog today.  Please come on in and tell me some of your favorite wisdoms.  I look forward to hearing from you today.  By the way, stay tuned with me.  I will be republishing nine of my earlier works that have been out of print for years and years now.  They’ll be coming out again in the form of ebooks and the publisher is Samhain.  So stay tuned.  By the way, many of those books, I don’t even have copies of anymore…