- There would come a time when the Earth would be ravaged of it's resources, the sea blackened, the streams poisoned, the deer dropping dead in their tracks.— with Atarangi Muru and 40 others.
Just before it was too late, the Indian would regain his spirit and te...ach the white man reverence for the Earth, banding together with him to become Warriors of the Rainbow.
There was an old lady, from the Cree tribe, named "Eyes of Fire", who prophesied that one day, because of the white mans' or Yo-ne-gis' greed, there would come a time, when the fish would die in the streams, the birds would fall from the air, the waters would be blackened, and the trees would no longer be, mankind as we would know it would all but cease to exist.
There would come a time when the "keepers of the legend, stories, culture rituals, and myths, and all the Ancient Tribal Customs" would be needed to restore us to health. They would be mankind's' key to survival, they were the "Warriors of the Rainbow". There would come a day of awakening when all the peoples of all the tribes would form a New World of Justice, Peace, Freedom and recognition of the Great Spirit.
The "Warriors of the Rainbow" would spread these messages and teach all peoples of the Earth or "Elohi". They would teach them how to live the "Way of the Great Spirit".
They would tell them of how the world today has turned away from the Great Spirit and that is why our Earth is "Sick".
The "Warriors of the Rainbow" would show the peoples that this "Ancient Being" (the Great Spirit), is full of love and understanding, and teach them how to make the Earth (Elohi) beautiful again. These Warriors would give the people principles or rules to follow to make their path right with the world. These principles would be those of the Ancient Tribes. The Warriors of the Rainbow would teach the people of the ancient practices of Unity, Love and Understanding.
They would teach of Harmony among people in all four comers of the Earth.
Like the Ancient Tribes, they would teach the peoples how to pray to the Great Spirit with love that flows like the beautiful mountain stream, and flows along the path to the ocean of life. Once again, they would be able to feel joy in solitude and in councils. They would be free of petty jealousies and love all mankind as their brothers, regardless of color, race or religion. They would feel happiness enter their hearts, and become as one with the entire human race.
Their hearts would be pure and radiate warmth, understanding and respect for all mankind, Nature, and the Great Spirit. They would once again fill their minds, hearts, souls, and deeds with the purest of thoughts. They would seek the beauty of the Master of Life - the Great Spirit! They would find strength and beauty in prayer and the solitudes of life.
Their children would once again be able to run free and enjoy the treasures of Nature and Mother Earth. Free from the fears of toxins and destruction, wrought by the Yo-ne-gi and his practices of greed. The rivers would again run clear, the forests be abundant and beautiful, the animals and birds would be replenished. The powers of the plants and animals would again be respected and conservation of all that is beautiful would become a way of life.
The poor, sick and needy would be cared for by their brothers and sisters of the Earth. These practices would again become a part of their daily lives.
The leaders of the people would be chosen in the old way - not by their political party, or who could speak the loudest, boast the most, or by name calling or mud slinging, but by those whose actions spoke the loudest. Those who demonstrated their love, wisdom, and courage and those who showed that they could and did work for the good of all, would be chosen as the leaders or Chiefs.
They would be chosen by their "quality" and not the amount of money they had obtained. Like the thoughtful and devoted "Ancient Chiefs", they would understand the people with love, and see that their young were educated with the love and wisdom of their surroundings. They would show them that miracles can be accomplished to heal this world of its ills, and restore it to health and beauty.
The tasks of these "Warriors of the Rainbow" are many and great. There will be terrifying mountains of ignorance to conquer and they shall find prejudice and hatred. They must be dedicated, unwavering in their strength, and strong of heart. They will find willing hearts and minds that will follow them on this road of returning "Mother Earth" to beauty and plenty - once more.
The day will come, it is not far away. The day that we shall see how we owe our very existence to the people of all tribes that have maintained their culture and heritage. Those that have kept the rituals, stories, legends, and myths alive. It will be with this knowledge, the knowledge that they have preserved, that we shall once again return to "harmony" with Nature, Mother Earth, and mankind. It will be with this knowledge that we shall find our "Key to our Survival".
This is the story of the "Warriors of the Rainbow"See More
Monday, July 30, 2012
A Cree Legend - "Warriors of the Rainbow"
Sunday, July 29, 2012
"Heart Song" CD by Elk Whistle Bill Neal Reviewed with Year 2000 Biography
by Bill Neal
[Ed. note: This was written in the year 2000 - a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.Some information such as the email address given in the article are no longer valid. - BN 7/29/2012]
White Path Music offers "Heart Song" by Elk Whistle. With solo Native American
flute music and sounds of the natural world to which the instrument is so
closely akin (birds, wind, crickets, wolf calls), "Heart Song" is a powerful CD
with strong reviews: "Heart Song" by Bill Neal (Elk Whistle) is an excellent
example of traditionally-rooted Native American flute music performed by an
artist of exceptional technical ability, inspired by the power of
spirit."
"Heart Song" was released nationally in June 1998, with cover
art by acclaimed Oklahoma Cherokee artist Dorothy Sullivan and liner notes by
teacher and guide Billie Nave Masters, Oklahoma Cherokee and Sac & Fox.
Elk Whistle (Mah-na-che-a-shun), also known as Bill Neal, is a performer
on the Native American flute, a recording artist, storyteller, teacher, and the
director of the Elk Whistle Ensemble. Neal, whose native ancestry is Cherokee,
plays the plains-style cedar flutes of the Lakota, Kiowa, and Comanche Nations
and the river cane flutes of the Choctaw and the Cherokee. He was honored in a
naming ceremony when the Tongva tribe (called "Gabrieleno" by the Spanish), the
original people of the Greater Los Angeles area, gave him the name
"Mah-na-che-a-shun". In the Tongva language, "Mah-na-che-a-shun" means "He Sings
With His Heart". He was also honored to sing for a number of years with the Red
Spirit Singers, a northern traditional powwow drum group which was based in
Southern California before moving back to Oklahoma.
Elk Whistle first heard his songs in the forest and mountains listening to the songs of the birds,
the whispers of the wind in the trees and across the land, and the voices of the
many-legged. The traditional songs of the drum gave him the phrasing and
vocalizations of his flute songs. He has no formal music training, he plays only
the songs he hears from within. He has been spoken of as the 'Keeper of Songs'.
He considers the music a gift given him by Creator, the Great Mystery, to
strengthen his connection and those of his listeners with Mother Earth/Father
Sky and the Universal Circle of Life.
For 22 years Bill Neal did professional environmental work, including 10 years with the U.S. Forest
Service, teaching forestry and natural resource management at Mt. San Antonio
College, and consulting in alternative energy and urban forestry, waste
management, and composting and recycling. He has worked with a variety of youth
programs. He co-led survival therapy expeditions for a program based in Northern
California that took incarcerated youth into the wilderness for 30-day treks. He
has been a field naturalist for an outdoor science education program for the
Orange County Unified School District in Southern California. He has fulfilled
leadership, supervisory and teaching roles for the California Conservation
Corps, the Young Adult Conservation Corps, and the CETA Youth Program.
All of this work came out of his realization as a young man of the
interconnectedness of all life and his conviction that the two-leggeds must
change their relationship to the natural world to which they belong.
Today Elk Whistle/Bill Neal performs about 300 times per year offering
concerts and educational programs to major performing arts venues. As a solo
performer and as director of the Elk Whistle Ensemble, he has been featured at
major theaters such as the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the John Anson Ford
Amphitheater in Los Angeles, the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa
Mesa, the Martha Knoeble Dance Theater at California State University at Long
Beach, and KCET Public Television in Los Angeles. Elk Whistle has been a
featured performer in successive years at music festivals such as the Millpond
Traditional Music Festival in Bishop, California, and the Idyllwild Native
American Cowboy Jubilee in Idyllwild.
Elk Whistle has returned year after year to perform at museums such as the Autry Museum of Western Heritage
and the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles and the Museum of Man in San Diego, at
county fairs such as the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa and the National
Orange Show in San Bernardino, and at festivals such as the Swallows Festival at
the San Juan Capistrano Mission.
Since 1997 the Elk Whistle programs have been offered to schoolchildren through the "From the Center" program at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Since 1998 the Elk Whistle family program
has been offered to parents and their children at the Los Angeles County Public
Libraries.
The Elk Whistle Ensemble is listed by the Public Corporation for the Arts as one of the 100 cultural organizations in the City of Long Beach in their "Arts 100" program and in September 2000, Elk Whistle began performing
in a Laguna Playhouse production of "The Sign of the Beaver" from the book of
the same name by Elizabeth George Speare that has toured to many of the schools
in Southern California.
Elk Whistle has been a special guest performer at innumerable Native American gatherings such as the Sherman Indian High School Powwow in Riverside, California, the UCLA Powwow, and the Southern California
Indian Center Powwow in Costa Mesa, the largest Native American gathering in
California. He is particularly pleased to participate in the gatherings of the
California Indian people who are still custodians of their ancestral land.
He performs in correctional facilities where he shares the medicine of
the flute with his incarcerated Native American brothers. He is frequently
called upon to participate in weddings and other important private family
ceremonies. He offers his time and his talent to support environmental, social
and economic justice and programs that combat racism, violence, and elder and
substance abuse.
Since 1994, Bill Neal has been featured on a number of American Indian television programs in the Southern California area as well as on the "California's Gold" program with host Huell Houser, shown on all the
public television stations and in all the schools in California. He has
performed in a national satellite television broadcast to benefit the American
Red Cross Earthquake Relief Fund after the Northridge, California, earthquake in
1994. He provided original compositions for the soundtracks of exhibits on
Native American basketry and weaving for the Museum of Man in San Diego in 1995.
The Elk Whistle music is currently broadcast on a variety of radio stations such
as 90.7 KPFK-FM public radio in Los Angeles and WMPG in Portland, Maine, radio
stations in Portugal and Russia, and the World Music Radio Society that
broadcasts on the internet.
Most recently, Elk Whistle was very pleased with the opportunity and the honor to have participated in the 1999 World
Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles with the Dalai Lama. He has been
featured in the documentary film produced from this event which has aired
repeatedly on Los Angeles PBS television. He was included in a two-CD
compilation of music from the festival. (Both the documentary video and the
two-CD set are available to the public. Sales benefit the Tibetan refugees who
cannot go home to their sacred mountains. Contact Bill Neal at
elkwhistle@whitepathmusic.com to order.)
The first recording by Elk Whistle, titled "Songs from Turtle Island", was made live under the oak trees
using the power of the Sun. It is one of the very first solar-powered recordings
available anywhere. His third recording, "Beyond Time" has been completed in
collaboration with Elk Thunder (a student of Rolling Thunder who was a
well-known and well-respected native doctor).
Others have said: "A few months ago I was fortunate enough to catch Bill "Elk Whistle" Neal at a
performance.......Bill was utterly amazing, both as a person with a full heart
and a story to tell, and as a Native American flutist. One characteristic of his
playing technique is the most incredible breath control. His bending and shaping
of notes and vibrato are truly beautiful."
"I usually go to the Orange County Fair most every year, but this was the first year that I heard
you.......I greatly enjoyed your performance. Even on stage, you come across as
a person of high character, with a deep respect for your origin and ancestry.
Since then, I have heard the voice of "Grandfather Stone" talking many
times......."
Awards
As Director of the Elk Whistle Ensemble, Bill Neal was nominated March, 1996, by the Greater Los
Angeles Dance Resource Center for the Lester Horton Dance Award for "Outstanding
Achievement in Staging Traditional Dance" for a performance at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater.
Memberships
American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
International Native American Flute Association
South Coast Storytellers Guild
California Presenters
[Ed. note: This was written in the year 2000 - a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.Some information such as the email address given in the article, memberships, etc., are no longer valid. - BN 7/29/2012]
flute music and sounds of the natural world to which the instrument is so
closely akin (birds, wind, crickets, wolf calls), "Heart Song" is a powerful CD
with strong reviews: "Heart Song" by Bill Neal (Elk Whistle) is an excellent
example of traditionally-rooted Native American flute music performed by an
artist of exceptional technical ability, inspired by the power of
spirit."
"Heart Song" was released nationally in June 1998, with cover
art by acclaimed Oklahoma Cherokee artist Dorothy Sullivan and liner notes by
teacher and guide Billie Nave Masters, Oklahoma Cherokee and Sac & Fox.
Elk Whistle (Mah-na-che-a-shun), also known as Bill Neal, is a performer
on the Native American flute, a recording artist, storyteller, teacher, and the
director of the Elk Whistle Ensemble. Neal, whose native ancestry is Cherokee,
plays the plains-style cedar flutes of the Lakota, Kiowa, and Comanche Nations
and the river cane flutes of the Choctaw and the Cherokee. He was honored in a
naming ceremony when the Tongva tribe (called "Gabrieleno" by the Spanish), the
original people of the Greater Los Angeles area, gave him the name
"Mah-na-che-a-shun". In the Tongva language, "Mah-na-che-a-shun" means "He Sings
With His Heart". He was also honored to sing for a number of years with the Red
Spirit Singers, a northern traditional powwow drum group which was based in
Southern California before moving back to Oklahoma.
Elk Whistle first heard his songs in the forest and mountains listening to the songs of the birds,
the whispers of the wind in the trees and across the land, and the voices of the
many-legged. The traditional songs of the drum gave him the phrasing and
vocalizations of his flute songs. He has no formal music training, he plays only
the songs he hears from within. He has been spoken of as the 'Keeper of Songs'.
He considers the music a gift given him by Creator, the Great Mystery, to
strengthen his connection and those of his listeners with Mother Earth/Father
Sky and the Universal Circle of Life.
For 22 years Bill Neal did professional environmental work, including 10 years with the U.S. Forest
Service, teaching forestry and natural resource management at Mt. San Antonio
College, and consulting in alternative energy and urban forestry, waste
management, and composting and recycling. He has worked with a variety of youth
programs. He co-led survival therapy expeditions for a program based in Northern
California that took incarcerated youth into the wilderness for 30-day treks. He
has been a field naturalist for an outdoor science education program for the
Orange County Unified School District in Southern California. He has fulfilled
leadership, supervisory and teaching roles for the California Conservation
Corps, the Young Adult Conservation Corps, and the CETA Youth Program.
All of this work came out of his realization as a young man of the
interconnectedness of all life and his conviction that the two-leggeds must
change their relationship to the natural world to which they belong.
Today Elk Whistle/Bill Neal performs about 300 times per year offering
concerts and educational programs to major performing arts venues. As a solo
performer and as director of the Elk Whistle Ensemble, he has been featured at
major theaters such as the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the John Anson Ford
Amphitheater in Los Angeles, the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa
Mesa, the Martha Knoeble Dance Theater at California State University at Long
Beach, and KCET Public Television in Los Angeles. Elk Whistle has been a
featured performer in successive years at music festivals such as the Millpond
Traditional Music Festival in Bishop, California, and the Idyllwild Native
American Cowboy Jubilee in Idyllwild.
Elk Whistle has returned year after year to perform at museums such as the Autry Museum of Western Heritage
and the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles and the Museum of Man in San Diego, at
county fairs such as the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa and the National
Orange Show in San Bernardino, and at festivals such as the Swallows Festival at
the San Juan Capistrano Mission.
Since 1997 the Elk Whistle programs have been offered to schoolchildren through the "From the Center" program at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Since 1998 the Elk Whistle family program
has been offered to parents and their children at the Los Angeles County Public
Libraries.
The Elk Whistle Ensemble is listed by the Public Corporation for the Arts as one of the 100 cultural organizations in the City of Long Beach in their "Arts 100" program and in September 2000, Elk Whistle began performing
in a Laguna Playhouse production of "The Sign of the Beaver" from the book of
the same name by Elizabeth George Speare that has toured to many of the schools
in Southern California.
Elk Whistle has been a special guest performer at innumerable Native American gatherings such as the Sherman Indian High School Powwow in Riverside, California, the UCLA Powwow, and the Southern California
Indian Center Powwow in Costa Mesa, the largest Native American gathering in
California. He is particularly pleased to participate in the gatherings of the
California Indian people who are still custodians of their ancestral land.
He performs in correctional facilities where he shares the medicine of
the flute with his incarcerated Native American brothers. He is frequently
called upon to participate in weddings and other important private family
ceremonies. He offers his time and his talent to support environmental, social
and economic justice and programs that combat racism, violence, and elder and
substance abuse.
Since 1994, Bill Neal has been featured on a number of American Indian television programs in the Southern California area as well as on the "California's Gold" program with host Huell Houser, shown on all the
public television stations and in all the schools in California. He has
performed in a national satellite television broadcast to benefit the American
Red Cross Earthquake Relief Fund after the Northridge, California, earthquake in
1994. He provided original compositions for the soundtracks of exhibits on
Native American basketry and weaving for the Museum of Man in San Diego in 1995.
The Elk Whistle music is currently broadcast on a variety of radio stations such
as 90.7 KPFK-FM public radio in Los Angeles and WMPG in Portland, Maine, radio
stations in Portugal and Russia, and the World Music Radio Society that
broadcasts on the internet.
Most recently, Elk Whistle was very pleased with the opportunity and the honor to have participated in the 1999 World
Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles with the Dalai Lama. He has been
featured in the documentary film produced from this event which has aired
repeatedly on Los Angeles PBS television. He was included in a two-CD
compilation of music from the festival. (Both the documentary video and the
two-CD set are available to the public. Sales benefit the Tibetan refugees who
cannot go home to their sacred mountains. Contact Bill Neal at
elkwhistle@whitepathmusic.com to order.)
The first recording by Elk Whistle, titled "Songs from Turtle Island", was made live under the oak trees
using the power of the Sun. It is one of the very first solar-powered recordings
available anywhere. His third recording, "Beyond Time" has been completed in
collaboration with Elk Thunder (a student of Rolling Thunder who was a
well-known and well-respected native doctor).
Others have said: "A few months ago I was fortunate enough to catch Bill "Elk Whistle" Neal at a
performance.......Bill was utterly amazing, both as a person with a full heart
and a story to tell, and as a Native American flutist. One characteristic of his
playing technique is the most incredible breath control. His bending and shaping
of notes and vibrato are truly beautiful."
"I usually go to the Orange County Fair most every year, but this was the first year that I heard
you.......I greatly enjoyed your performance. Even on stage, you come across as
a person of high character, with a deep respect for your origin and ancestry.
Since then, I have heard the voice of "Grandfather Stone" talking many
times......."
Awards
As Director of the Elk Whistle Ensemble, Bill Neal was nominated March, 1996, by the Greater Los
Angeles Dance Resource Center for the Lester Horton Dance Award for "Outstanding
Achievement in Staging Traditional Dance" for a performance at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater.
Memberships
American
Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
International Native American Flute Association
South Coast Storytellers Guild
California Presenters
[Ed. note: This was written in the year 2000 - a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.Some information such as the email address given in the article, memberships, etc., are no longer valid. - BN 7/29/2012]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Well, the waters got higher and higher. Finally everything was flooded except the hill next to the place where the sacred red pipestone quarry lies today. The people climbed up there to save themselves, but it was no use. The water swept over that hill. Waves tumbled the rocks and pinnacles, smashing them down on the people. Everyone was killed, and all the blood jelled, making one big pool.
The blood turned to pipestone and created the pipestone quarry, the grave of those ancient ones. That's why the pipe, made of that red rock, is so sacred to us. Its red bowl is the flesh and blood of our ancestors, its stem is the backbone of those people long dead, the smoke rising from it is their breath. I tell you, that pipe, that *chanunpa*, comes alive when used in a ceremony; you can feel power flowing from it.
Unktehi, the big water monster, was also turned to stone. Maybe Tunkshila, the Grandfather Spirit, punished her for making the flood. Her bones are in the Badlands now. Her back forms a long high ridge, and you can see her vertebrae sticking out in a great row of red and yellow rocks. I have seen them. It scared me when I was on that ridge, for I felt Unktehi. She was moving beneath me, wanting to topple me.
Well, when all the people were killed so many generations ago, one girl survived, a beautiful girl. It happened this way: When the water swept over the hill where they tried to seek refuge, a big spotted eagle, Wanblee Galeshka, swept down and let her grab hold of his feet. With her hanging on, he flew to the top of a tall tree which stood on the highest stone pinnacle in the Black Hills. That was the eagle's home. It became the only spot not covered with water.
If the people had gotten up there, they would have survived, but it was a needle-like rock as smooth and steep as the skyscrapers you got now in the big cities. My grandfather told me that maybe the rock was not in the Black Hills; maybe it was the Devil's Tower, as white men call it , that place in Wyoming.
Both places are sacred. Wanblee kept that beautiful girl with him and made her his wife. There was a closer connection then between people and animals, so he could do it. The eagle's wife became pregnant and bore him twins, a boy and a girl. She was happy, and said:
"Now we will have people again. *Washtay*, it is good."
The children were born right there, on top of that cliff. When the waters finally subsided, Wanblee helped the children and their mother down from his rock and put them on the earth, telling them: Be a nation, become a great Nation – the Lakota Oyate."
The boy and girl grew up. He was the only man on earth, she the only woman of child-bearing age. They married; they had children. A nation was born.
So we are descended from the eagle. We are an eagle nation. That is good, something to be proud of, because the eagle is the wisest of birds. He is the Great Spirit's messenger; he is a great warrior. That is why we always wore the eagle plume, and still wear it. We are a great nation.
It is I, Lame Deer, who said this.
http://www.youtube.com/