To some indigenous people, the notion of the “two worlds” dilemma is not valid because “one is indigenous wherever they go.” Although I agree with this sentiment, I also realize that I live in two distinct worlds that are vastly different from each other. On one hand, I live in the world that ninety-nine percent of Americans live in. One that is ruled by federal, state, and local laws. One that defines success in terms of dollar amount earned. One that old rich white men have created and rule over with absolute authority. One that is slowly becoming more and more corrupt and immoral. On the other hand, I live in a world that is free from the negative influences of Western civilization. One where my culture is alive and thriving. One that is the way humans were meant to live with each other and the earth and the cosmos. One that is pure.
The difference between the two is such that the Western world feels blatantly fake whenever I return to it after ceremony. After my return to the Western world, I feel my soul losing touch with the universe. I feel emptiness.
I am making this distinction between the two because I feel that the pure world may no longer exist in my lifetime. The only thing that makes the pure world exist is indigenous language and ceremony, and I can feel it dying. I see it dying with my own two eyes. It’s dying due to a number of factors, but in my opinion it is dying because not enough young people are learning the old ways. Not enough young people realized the power it has. They know the power it has, but they fail to realize it. They do not see it as something valuable enough to save. I must admit that I am also at fault for this.
This past summer I had the privilege of travelling to the Supai Rez in the Grand Canyon, and I remember watching their traditional dances. As I was watching the dance, I noticed that all of the participants were older people, maybe 65+. That is not to say that there were not young Supai people present. There were many young Supai people in attendance, but they chose not to participate in their ceremony. Not only were all of the participants older people, but there were only a five total. Upon realizing this, I quickly came to another realization; this is the last time I am going to see this dance. I felt a deep sadness and longing for a culture that was not yet dead, but dying.
Then, I related this particular experience to the Hopi prophecy of the emerging fifth world. In Hopi lore (history) there were three world’s before the one we are living in now (world can be translated to earth cycles). Each perished because their respective societies became corrupt beyond repair, so, the earth destroyed them in violent catastrophes. The most recent, the third world, was destroyed by a massive flood. Each cycle leaves a few survivors of the catastrophes, whom are pure of heart, to start society again.
Before Europeans came, my Hopi ancestors prophesied nine events that would signal the end of the fourth world. So far, eight have come to pass including a prophecy that foretold of the coming of the first Europeans and the atrocities that they would commit. When the ninth prophecy comes to pass, that will signal the end of Hopi culture, and the end of the world as we know it. This does not mean that the world will end in armageddon, it only means that the world is going to significantly change.
I feel that we are getting close to the time where the fourth world is going to end. World events only confirm this. Society all over the planet is becoming more corrupt, but especially here in the US.
Nonetheless, there is hope. After I watched the Supai dance, there was another dance group, but this one was different. It was comprised of all females, they were all under seven years old, and there were about twenty of them! I got reminded that life happens in cycles. One ends, and another begins. Personally, I have found peace in understanding my place in the fifth world prophecy. I used to be scared, and I used to want to stop the fifth world from emerging. However, I have found wisdom in hours of contemplation; maybe the point isn’t to stop the fifth world from emerging. Maybe the point is to learn everything I can about my culture so that the next cycle starts strong and beautifully with or without me.
To achieve this, I have to make the conscious decision to walk more in the pure world. The Western world is tantalizing with all of its glamour and its promises of riches, but there is no soul in it. How do I get my indigenous siblings to realize this? That answer lies in more contemplation and another blog post.
No comments:
Post a Comment