The First Peace…

 

“The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.”

~ Black Elk Speaks | Painting by Bev Doolittle

A Great Unifying Life Force

“From Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, there came a great unifying life force that flowed in and through all things – the flowers of the plains, blowing winds, rocks, trees, birds, animals – and was the same force that had been breathed into the first man. Thus all things were kindred, and were brought together by the same Great Mystery.” Chief Luther Standing Bear – Oglala Sioux

 

“A Hopi (Moki) Maiden” Portrait accompanying the tale “The Warrior Suitor of Moki.” The Hopi people are descended from the same Ancient Pueblo (Anasazi) people as the Zuñi, but the tribes have had a complex, sometimes strained, sometimes allied interaction.”