The Original Instructions
Reflections of an Elder on the Teachings of the Elders, Adapting Ancient Wisdom to the Twenty-First Century
by
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PROLOGUE
Discovering the True Human Being
Come in, come in. Have a seat anywhere -pick any chair - I’ll take your coat. There’s tea and coffee and cakes on the table. Settle back a bit and just take in the scene through our big French doors there. Such a beautiful winter morning here in our
Before we begin, let us take a moment to get here, to this moment in our lives. First, consider where you are on your journey through your life. What has happened to bring you to this place and this moment, to make your heart and mind what it is now?
And then let us open our hearts and minds further, expand our circle to include not only what we see here, but all that is going on on this small ball we call the Earth. See it in your mind now, as the astronauts do, as a tiny blue dot. What is its story, and how did that affect us and bring us to where we are now? What is happening at this moment all over this world? To the people of this continent, to the people in all the other continents, to the animal and plant relatives that share this world with us. Now, none of us know what will happen in the story of this world. But it is clear that its future is very much in our own hands. It is human beings that have put it in jeopardy and only human beings that can save it. Only human beings. Only me. Only you. We should consider this closely, and learn everything we can about our responsibilities here.
So I’m glad you came. Because there are things I am supposed to tell you, to inform you - to inform anyone who wants to listen. A long time ago I began to hear these things from my elders, from many elders in many of the First Nations of
I am supposed to convey a very important message to you.
Important? Yes, this message was of great importance to the elders from whom I first heard it, and now it is important to me. And I believe it to be of the greatest importance to you as well, to the survival of our species and the continuation of evolution. So more than important: imperative. And urgent.
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About the Book
“Human beings have forgotten their instructions” That is how many of the Native elders responded to Manitonquat when he traveled the continent over forty years ago seeking answers to the questions “What is wrong with people? Why is there war, violence, oppression, greed, injustice, poverty, indifference and destruction of the environment?” Sitting with and listening to many elders of First Nations from all parts of North America, he began to form a clearer idea of what they often called “the Original Instructions”. All of Creation is formed by them – what some refer to as Natural Law, Dharma, or Tao. Those instructions for successful and happy relationships with families and communities and with all life, the Earth and the Cosmos, were passed down through the generations by elders of the indigenous peoples, who lived successfully and happily by them until they were invaded by newer cultures of domination, oppression and greed. These elders are becoming more rare as fewer and fewer young people have access to their wisdom and more and more follow the destructive ways of the dominant culture in materialism and self-centeredness. Manitonquat, a Wampanoag elder now in his 80th year, is a direct link to the old ways of the people. In a culture of domination there is more violence, more fear, more isolation, and less love and happiness than in the old ways of all people at one time, ways of cooperation and equality, of respect and relatedness and thanksgiving. Manitonquat was told by the elders that since he had been taught the skills of communication in the university he was meant to bring their teachings to the world (as they said they were not Indian but Human Being teachings), to any who sought and wished for that knowledge. Doing that in books and talks all over the world, he has acquired added insight into the problems of society today and a unique perspective in bringing circles to many prisons weekly for the past 25 years.
About the Author
Manitonquat (Medicine Story) is an elder, storyteller, and retired ceremonial leader of the Assonet Wampanoag. A former editor of the native liberation journal Heritage and poetry editor of Akwesasne Notes, he is the author of eight subsequent books.
He was a co-founder of the Tribal Healing Council, a member of the North American Indian Spiritual Unity Movement, directs the
Together with his wife, the Swedish actress and playwright Ellika Lindén, Manitonquat creates international family camps in many countries to give the experience of tribal living, working, playing, sharing everything and taking care of the children and elders together. Their dream is to create an international
His newsletter Talking Stick can be found on the Internet at circleway.org.