Nine Tweets from the Presentation by Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Nov 25)

Today, Friday, marks the first Native American Heritage Day, as signed into law in June by President Obama. Did you know that?

On November 25, our Living Room hosted Tiokasin Ghosthorse, from the Cheyenne River Lakota (Sioux) Nation of South Dakota, “First Voices Indigenous Radio” Producer and Host, a storyteller, poet, university lecturer, scholar, essayist, cultural interpreter, and a peace and human rights activist. Find out more about Tiokasin and our event HERE.

To contribute to this first Native American Heritage day in a small personal way, I decided to put together this post with nine morsels of Native American wisdom I have send out on my Twitter account @SamirSelmanovic, during the talking part of his presentation. These are not exact quotes of his words, but pretty close, I trust. I find each of them to be a door to new way of thinking about us, our community, and our land.

Nine tweets report from Tiokasin Ghosthorse (by @SamirSelmanovic):

1. “Everything around us is there to care for us. To learn to appreciate is the meaning of life.”

2. “It does not matter who was here first. What matters is to learn to live in one world.”

3. “Science is merely 4 thousand years old. Wisdom is older.”

4. “Why bomb the moon? What is wrong with water on earth?”

5. “Indigenous people don’t have brain. Our head is integrated with our heart, whole being. Rational means separated/decapitated.”

6. “Lakota language does not have words for belief, death, I, or me. If you would learn my language, you would break free.”

7. “4 countries + US do not recognize indigenous people as human beings. Recognition would force USA to honor the treaties.”

8. “We do not have concept of ownership. We are not souls dwelling in a body. We are bodies dwelling in the Soul. We all belong.”

9. “One word, the deepest one, to teach you as I finish: Relative. Einstein pondered this one. WE ARE ALL RELATIVES.” The End