Earth People Philosophy

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Wallace Black Elk, in 'Black Elk - The Sacred Ways of a Lakota' by Wallace Black Elk and William S. Lyon, says:
"But we are the Earth People. We are steadfast and honest. We are true to our commitment, and we stay right in there. So the spirit comes to us.

"So with me it's entirely different. Grandmother, she gave us this fire, and she gave us this rock, and she gave us this water, the rivers, lakes, and oceans, and she gave us all the green. She gave us a birth and a life. She put enough food here on this table [land], and she even put food inside the water. So those people that live in the water, they own that water. So they have the right to live there and eat the green. They breathe also.

"When this Earth Man goes to a bubbling brook, he just sits there and drinks and admires. He listens to that wind whistling through the green and talks about the beautiful philosophy of the Earth People. But if a scientist goes to that same place, the first thing he will think of is how to make that 'damn' water work for him. He'll want to put a dam there and a high-turbine generator. But the Earth Man will just sit there and listen to that bubbling brook and the wind. So that is our philosophy.

"The basis of the knowledge is the fire, rock, water, and green. But when that power was given to man, he used it to twist his own mind. Tunkashila gave man just one drop of that wisdom. But when you look up and see the power of Tunkashila, it's huge. It's immense. He wears a blue robe, and it?s a huge robe. In the centre of the heart of Tunkashila is that sun sitting up there. It's sacred. It's holy. We know he's the director of the universe of universes, and everything is a circle. So we know that everything was a circle from the beginning. We also know that the power was placed here for man, but man twisted his mind and took that [fire/nuclear] power into his own hands. That was like a naughty kid, so Tunkashila is going to spank him for that.

"So man was given one drop of wisdom, one drop of knowledge, one drop of power, and one drop of gift or love (or talent). Tunkashila is the wisdom in itself. The knowledge is a woman, and we call it the Earth. We call it fire, rock, water, and green. So the basis of the knowledge is the fire. In our language we speak of the peta wicoicage ? the ?fire generation.? All the shapes and forms of life originate from the fire. In your scientific language you call it the atom. The rock we call maka. Maka is the Earth. So we have Grandfather who is the wisdom and Grandmother who is the knowledge. But the wisdom and the knowledge are really one." (P. 36-37.)

From the Glossary:

Earth People. Black Elk's term for all human beings who live the fundamental, spirit/nature-based philosophy (his ?Earth People philosophy?) exemplified in earlier Native American cultures. Black Elk refers to himself as an ?Earth Man?.

Wisdom, knowledge, power, and gift. In the Earth People philosophy, the successive operational levels of cosmic forces that give rise to all that exists. For example, the ?rules of nature? would be included here as well as the ?ways of the Creator.? Black Elk also uses the words love and talent as synonyms for gift. (As humans, we receive only one drop of each.)?

Courage, patience, endurance, and alertness. In the Earth People philosophy, the four main personal virtues one must have in order to be able to handle the Chanunpa.

Fire, rock, water, and green. In the Earth People philosophy, the four basic constituents that go to form everything in existence.

Inipi. The Lakota sweat-lodge (or stone-people-lodge) ceremony.

Stone-people-lodge. Black Elk's preferred term for the Lakota sweat-lodge purification ceremony."