The Great Spirit

[Thunderfoot]

I am responding to the first post that started this thread. I am actually Native American and operate the Native American Center here in Hawaii since 1991. And we are the cultural resource for the Federal prison system, state prison, child welfare services, etc.... And I can tell you that although your sentiment is good, your intentions were good, the term "Great Spirit " is a great distortion of the truth. The term came from a Lakota term Wakan Tankan it means Great Mystery. It never meant Great Spirit. We do not have God in my culture. We are children of the Mother Earth and Father sky and your proof is when you see the horizon, you see the Mother and Father holding hands. And as you walk toward it, it moves away from you because you are not meant to know that here in this realm. We are creatures of now living on the Mother Earth. She feed, clothes and shelters us. The Great Mysteries got altered to Great Spirit by Christians trying to reconcile the two cultures. Mysteries are just that and cannot in any way equate to the definition of spirit. Also, my culture is oral and it is forbidden to write certain things down. If you want to know certain things you have to walk the road to get it, and earn it before it is given. Books are great but are limited because they are two dimensional and we are three dimensional beings. Plus they do not allow you to question the author for further clarification. Also, they allow for your interpretation and personal opinion to be attached to it. And I was taught by my elders that the truth only remains the truth when it is passed on without your interpretation and personal opinion attached to it. That is how you pass it on, for thousands and thousands of years, by saying it exactly the same way it was said to you. And I have said that exactly like that for many many moons. So, anyway, just had to chime into the conversation to clarify some things from a traditional Native American viewpoint.