Freedom
The Concept of Freedom
A Lakota Elder once said, "Freedom means you are never in a hurry." You may be surprised to discover that American Indian people provided early immigrants to this Turtle continent with their first view of real freedom. In most of the countries these European immigrants came from, society was governed by a King or Queen. There was no republic, no democracy, no freedom of religion or freedom of speech. When these newcomers came to this land of ours, they saw in Indigenous cultures the true freedom they had secretly longed for. Our Indigenous societies never had Kings or Queens. There were no Princes or Princesses. There was not one "Chief" who governed the whole community, there were many leaders who worked together with the community to meet the needs of all. Can you imagine waking up in the morning without an alarm? Picture getting on your horse and taking a nice morning ride as the sun rises and paints the sky with an orange and yellow glow. No job to rush off to.... no bills to pay.... no traffic jams.... This, my friends, is real freedom. This way of life is what the early European settlers caught a glimpse of, and wanted badly for themselves. So, in this way, the Indigenous people of this continent gave the United States of America its original concept of freedom.
Are we truly free today? Thinking back to the old ways, the times of real freedom, we would have to say that what America has today is only a distant shadow of the freedom Indigenous people once knew. Still, a great many of the noble ideals of the USA were practiced by the communities of the nearly 1,000 Indigenous First Nations of this land for countless centuries. Those Nations are ancient, and remain here after suffering through the American holocaust only because we remain a people of integrity, strength, resolve, and freedom.
A Lakota Elder once said, "Freedom means you are never in a hurry." You may be surprised to discover that American Indian people provided early immigrants to this Turtle continent with their first view of real freedom. In most of the countries these European immigrants came from, society was governed by a King or Queen. There was no republic, no democracy, no freedom of religion or freedom of speech. When these newcomers came to this land of ours, they saw in Indigenous cultures the true freedom they had secretly longed for. Our Indigenous societies never had Kings or Queens. There were no Princes or Princesses. There was not one "Chief" who governed the whole community, there were many leaders who worked together with the community to meet the needs of all. Can you imagine waking up in the morning without an alarm? Picture getting on your horse and taking a nice morning ride as the sun rises and paints the sky with an orange and yellow glow. No job to rush off to.... no bills to pay.... no traffic jams.... This, my friends, is real freedom. This way of life is what the early European settlers caught a glimpse of, and wanted badly for themselves. So, in this way, the Indigenous people of this continent gave the United States of America its original concept of freedom.
Are we truly free today? Thinking back to the old ways, the times of real freedom, we would have to say that what America has today is only a distant shadow of the freedom Indigenous people once knew. Still, a great many of the noble ideals of the USA were practiced by the communities of the nearly 1,000 Indigenous First Nations of this land for countless centuries. Those Nations are ancient, and remain here after suffering through the American holocaust only because we remain a people of integrity, strength, resolve, and freedom.