{SHCSCDPP.UPD} EASTER 3/29/97 The Legend of The Sacred Pipe ----------------------------- ----------------------------- (story of the Souix) Narrated by "Joshua" Early one morning, very many winters ago, two Lakota were out * hunting with their bows and arrows, and as they were standing on a * hill looking for game, they saw in the distance something coming * towards them in a very strange and wonderful manner. When this * mysterious thing came nearer to them, they saw that it was a very * beautiful woman, dressed in white buckskin, and bearing a bundle * on her back... She took from her back, the bundle and holding it with both * hands in front of the chief said: "Behold this and always love it!" * It is ( lela wakan [very sacred] ), and you must treat it as such. * No impure person should ever be allowed to see it; for within this * bundle there is a sacred pipe. (remove the Sacred Pipe from its pouch) With this you will, during the winters to come, send your * voices to ( Wakan-Takan [your Father and Grandfather] )." After the mysterious woman said this, she took from the bundle a * pipe, and also a small round stone which she placed on the ground. * Holding the pipe up with its stem to the heavens, she said, "With * this sacred pipe you will walk upon the Earth; the Earth is your * Grandmother and Mother, and she is Sacred. Every step that is * taken upon Her should be as a prayer. The bowl of this pipe is of * red stone; it is the Earth. Carved in the stone and facing the * center is the buffalo calf who represents all the four-leggeds who * live upon your Earth Mother. The Stem of the pipe is of wood, and * this represents all that grows upon the Earth. And these twelve * feathers which hang here where the stem fits into the bowl are from * ( Wambli Gale Shka [ the Spotted Eagle; spirit of the * intellect ], and they represent the eagle and all the winged ones * of the air. All these peoples, and all the things of the * universe, are joined to you who smoke the pipe -- all send their * voices to ( Wakan-Tanka [ the Great Spirit ] ). Moving around the lodge in a sun-wise manner, the mysterious * woman left, but after walking a short distance she looked back * towards the people, and sat down. When she rose, the people * were amazed to see that she had become a young red and brown buffalo * calf. Then this calf walked farther, layed down, and rolled, looking back at the people, and when she got up, she was a white * buffalo. Again this white buffalo walked farther, and rolled on * the ground, becoming now a black buffalo. This buffalo then * walked farther away from the people, stopped, and after bowing to * each of the four quarters of the Universe, disappeared over the * hill. Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Souix Recorded and Edited by Joseph Epes Brown. Copyright 1953 by * the University of Oklahoma Press Reprinted in the book: Walk Quietly The Beautiful Trail /pg. 46 Lyrics and Legends of the American Indian Edited by C. Merton Babcock Copyright 1973 Hallmark Press