…. everything on the earth has a purpose, every disease an herb
to cure it, and every person a mission.
This is the Indian theory of existance.

In the beginning all of things, wisdom and knowledge were with the animals,
for Tirawa, the One Above, did not speak directly with man.
He sent certain animals to tell me that he showed himself
through the beasts, and that from them, and from the stars
and the sun and the moon should man learn ….
all things tell of Tirawa.

We had no churches, no religious organizations, no sabbath day, no holidays, and yet we worshipped.
Sometimes the whole tribe would assemble and sing and pray;
sometimes a smaller number, perhaps only two or three.
The songs had few words, but were not formal. the singer would occasionally put in
such words as he wished instead of the usual tone sound.
Sometimes we prayed in silence; sometimes each prayed aload;
sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us. At other times one would rise and speak
to us of our duties to each other and to Usen.
Our services were short.

… I hope the Great Heavenly Father, who will look down upon us,
will give all the tribes His Blessing, that we may go forth in peace,
and live in peace all our days, and that He will look down upon our children
and finally lift us far above this earth; and that our Heavenly Father will look upon our children as His children,
that all the tribes may be His children, and as we shake hands to-day upon this broad plain,
we may foreverlive in peace.

All things in the world are two.
In our minds we are two – good and evil. With our eyes we see two things – things that are
fair and things that are ugly … We have the right hand that strikes and makes for evil, and
the left hand full of kindness, near the heart. One foot may lead us to an evil way, the
other foot may lead to a good. So are all things two, all two.

We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything,
and that he never forgets; that hereafter he will give every man a spirit-home
accoding to his deserts…. This I believe, and all my people believe the same.

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle,
and that is because the Power of the Worls always works in circles, and everything tries to be round…..
The sky is round, and i have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are the stars.
the wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make thier nests in circles, for thiers is the same religion as ours….
Even the seasons form a great circle in thier changing, and always come back againto wher the were.
the life of a man is a cycle from childhood to childhood, and so is everything where power moves.

The American Indian is of the soil,
whether it be the region of forests, plains, pueblos oe mesas.
He fits into the landscape, for the hand that fashioned the contient also fashioned the man for his surroundings.
He once grew as natually as the wild sunflowers; he belongs
just as the buffalo belonged….