To Meet an Elder

For those of you who read this site and do not know, I am also a nurse. I normally do not write "personal" information on this site, as I truly desire it to be one that honors the Native American; however, this time I want to include a wonderful experience that I have recently had.

I had the pleasure of meeting and working with a Native American elder and his wife at my hospital. The second that I looked at him I knew that he was Native American. The hairs on my arms seemed to tingle and come to life when I looked up and saw him and it was as if my inner spirit man knew instantly who I was with. I cannot explain it.

I asked him what tribe he was of. He is of the Navajo tribe and I so throughly enjoyed the pleasure of serving he and his wife and listening to the little tid-bits of wisdom he did share.

I would encourage anyone who is blessed by meeting an elder to listen and learn all they can before the older generations are gone from us all. Once the elders are no longer in physical bodies with us, we will have lost thousands of generations of teachings because we did not take the time to learn them.

Losing the heritage of the ancestors and teachings will cause the "life and spirit" of the Native American to become extinct.... the spirit of the Native way will disappear... even if the physical bloodline exists.

CheyFire