Providing Direction
What can we the human beings of today do to provide direction and ensure a future for the young people
of today and tomorrow?
As Anishinabe, it has been our tradition to examine how each decision made will affect the future of seven generations.
Today the future is marked in 24-hour incriments. Today's decisions are made not with this in mind. Today's decisions are based on greed and offer no future, only destruction of the land and the people.
The decisions being made no longer affect just the Red People of Turtle Island; in fact affect the future of all the people of the entire world.
No longer is it the problem of the Red People, but that of the entire world. A return to a world based on the values of the Red People is what is needed when making these decisions.
Our history before the arrival of the light skinned race gives testimony to the truth that our way of life and our values never once polluted one river or lake, making the water unsafe to drink. Not once did our ways pollute the air that we need so desperately to survive. Not once did we cause one species of animal of plant life to be come endangered or extinct.
We cannot expect to provide POSITIVE DIRECTION for the young people if we continue to make the same mistakes of the not so distant past.
Within the land are written the laws by which we the human beings must live our lives.
These laws given to us by spirit are that of Love, honesty, truth, courage, wisdom, humility, and respect.
Grandmother turtle carries the teaching of truth. And the truth is, that if we are to provide direction for the young people of today, we the coinhabitants of the earth must again return to the animal kingdom, the plant world and the earth the respect, honor and thanks deserving. These kingdoms can survive without us, but us not without them.
If there is to be hope for a future for seven more generations, we the present generation need to go back and pick up what was left by the trail. We need to reconnect with our spirits, and again make that alignment between the Creator and our mother the Earth and return to a life based on need not greed.
All things created by the Great Spirit were created with the gift of spirit, therefore created equal.
Only through example can we expect the young to follow this direction.
No longer can the answer be, do as I say not as I do.
Only with equality in mind, living the truth and following the laws within the land can we start the process of removing the separation that divide's us as human beings and once again return to the fulfillment of the vision of the creator.