The Child in Harmony with Mother Earth

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Skywatching, which included solstices and equinoxes as sacred times, was a vital part of Native American life. Certain natural spaces were "cosmocized" as sacred, where, it was believed, the Divine could most easily be approached and honored. The "temple" or "church" was the earth itself.

The deer was hunted in many Native American areas for its skin, meat, brain, bones, sinews and hooves, all of which were turned into use for everyday needs. It was sometimes seen as a messenger of the spiritual world, from where it carried the Divine to earth and gave it support. Prayerful ritual for the animal, which would give its life for them, was held before and after the hunt.

Native people of every era and culture had profound relationships to the natural world. Long before the arrival of Columbus, this spiritual and physical unity of life taught them to see the Creator as a Being above, and, at the same time, at the center of life. We honor this legacy with deepest gratitude.