Te Kow Taen, The Blue Star from the Center of the earth
The story of “Te Kow Taen’ the Blue Star, The Blue Healing Star is from Decatur Island, from the people of Thilk-Kenneten, the feeling of the people from far away. This story is from San Juan Island as told by Marianne Cladoosby to Johnny Moses.
This story is of a star that came to the earth in the first world, As it is said in this story that star came to help the people that needed the healing. For powers were being misused, starting to be misused in the ending of the first world. People went into the earth to hide from the fireballs that were being thrown by the evil shamans who had chosen to use their power to hurt people. And the fireballs moved around the earth several times. As they began to move they began to change into many colors and these colors began to reach out to destroy the people. The people were burning in their places; the people were frozen, then burned to death. And the power of this Blue Star awakened. That Star was asleep for a long time in the center of the earth. That star had come to this earth in the beginning of the first world. It began to sing out to the people who could hear, the people of pure heart. And it began to sing. And all over the earth appeared the blue flowers that began to bloom in the middle of winter at a cold time. For the powers of these evil shaman were trying to destroy the rest of the people with their powers. Using their powers to freeze some of the powers. The flowers began to bloom in different areas of the world. There was the Blue Flower named after Te Kow Taen, called Te Kalla Lii ah. Te Kalla Lii ah is a beautiful blue flower that grows way up in the mountains and then Thinna xe xett, Thinna xe xett, is another, a light blue flower that has white specks on it. And these two flowers, as they began to bloom all over, they called out to the people and they said: “come to us my beloved ones, come to us, do not fear the evils ones. We will protect you ‘. And the people were running to these flowers. And the people, some of them were screaming. Some of them were crying because they were so afraid of what happened with the black shamans trying to destroy the families, trying to destroy the knowledge of the “Ancient People”.
And at that time there -, the land began to break apart in many places. They say that the San Juan Islands, the Gulf Islands were one land at one time, and they broke apart. And those people, many of them fell into the earth. And some of them who survived went to these Blue Flowers and the land began to raise, great earthquakes, great changes. And these people found protection with these Blue Flowers. And the flowers spoke out and said: We carry the Star, the Blue Star, Te Kow Taen. We carry it to you. Cover yourself with the Blue Star. Paint your face with the Blue Star. And they looked into the earth and it was red, but spiritually it was blue. And they painted their faces red, all red. And only they could see the blue, spiritually. The evil shamans could not see this blue. And this is how some of these people protected themselves, because the black shamans had ordered everyone who was to follow them to paint their faces red, completely red. And this is how they knew that they were one of them. And this is how the First People at that time survived the great destruction and the Blue Star showed the people how to carry the songs and to use the songs to create the knowledge to become beautiful again. Wherever has been destroyed, wherever has become low intelligence, wherever has become sickly, these people used this power to renew the spirit of those who had suffered. And there they used the power and they began to heal the suffering, the people who still carried the Ancient Knowledge. And the first patients were the black shamans who had destroyed their own families. These people would cry as they would doctor and pray for the black shamans. And the Star said: “now you have done the work, we will return to the center of the earth for 700 years, and we will come back. But all that we leave with you, you must repeat it over and over again to keep the life force alive with the people.” And then they kept the knowledge alive for 700 years.
And in the seven hundredth year, after the destruction of the first world there was an eclipse of “Wxasitsxaeiten Wxathlanixlth” the alignment of the star that the old people called Su Taokten” the star that is dying. It was looked at as an orange star. They would see it in the daytime. In those days it would turn orange and then it would turn red. They knew at that time, in the 700th year after seeing this star appear. It was prophesized that the power of the Blue Star would come back once again to see if the people kept the teachings of the Blue Star alive. And a great civilization, a great knowledge had developed among the people. They would chant, as they would see this Star, The Orange and Red Star. It was starting to fade away now. Leaving, leaving them. They said that this star was with the people for three months and it finally left. And they chanted every morning together as a community, and again in the evening for the star. And as they changed as the star began to leave, the power of the Blue Star said, from this day on you will use the touch of the mother earth. I will show you how to heal with the touch of Mother Earth. And this is when people began to touch people in healing. Because in the healing ceremonies they never touched people. They would only have their hands open, or they would go over them and they would not touch their body. Only in social ways or in ways of a family holding hands of comforting some one. This is where they learned to use the doctoring by laying on of hands on a persons body.
And all the land began to chant. The caves began to chant, the mountains. And the people began to imitate the sounds that they heard of the land vibrating. The old people said that this means a light earthquake. The earth was trembling and that was what the people were hearing. They were saying that the earth was chanting. It was having a light earthquake. And the vibration of the earth and the sounds coming out of the caves, of the mountains, everywhere. People imitated these sounds and that is what they kept alive in the chanting. That was the chant of the caves coming out. And they would chant that over and over again until the earthquake stopped. And then they heard the chanting of the water and great waves came over. Some of these waves swallowed some of the villages and the people knew where to go to find safety. These were the descendants of the people. Descendants of the people 700 years before that survived the great destruction. And they again returned to all the places where the Blue Flowers were blooming again and the same places where their ancestors hid from the darkness, the evil shaman.
And the older people, they always said: This is why; when the people would come into the healing powers they would feel all the vibrations of the earth that have been felt from every generation. The earthquakes of the earth, the chanting, the singing of the earth. It is not the earthquake; it is the singing of the earth. The end.
MSN
White Deer
I’d like to share a little bit about what the ‘White Deer’ is.
The White Deer is a symbol of peace, a symbol of the peacemaker. A symbol of great strength; of fighting with peace without any physical violence, without mental violence of any kind. This was used in the first world-- before the destruction of the first world. The people had developed their mental powers so strongly, that they became greedy and began to use their mental powers to try to control others. Throughout the world, in many ancient cultures, there are stories of civilizations like we live in today. Our civilization is still very primitive, compared to the civilizations that existed before. And I say primitive-- primitive in the sense of ignorance. The ignorance that we have today. We are not so willing to help people. We are not so willing to share in our world today, because this is what we have learned from the system. Not just the system, through our way of life in this world.
There are many, many stories of how the White Deer helped people in different ways and how it was also used as a ‘Spirit power’, a guardian Spirit. We had many elders that came here, who used the White Deer power, to open the ceremonies. They sang White Deer songs. They would give gifts away. We had one elderly lady, named Sara Jack, from Duncan, BC. She used to come here in the 60’s, and she died about 1969. I always remembered her; she would travel here with drums. She was also a drum maker. She’d make drums, and then bring them here, for the opening of the Winter Ceremonies. She’d start singing a song, a White Deer song. And said, "May great wealth come to all of you, and may all the great wealth that’s already in your heart accept the wealth that is coming to you," This is what she used to tell people in English. When she’d talk to everybody she’d talk in her Indian English; and then she’d speak her language. She would hand out these drums, with drumsticks. She’d make drumsticks with her drums. She also used to pass out log drums that she made. She would look at, (I felt sorry for the carvers) whoever was a carver there. She’d say: "you", she’s point at the carver. "You, you carve that design on it now, so that beautiful log drum would be decorated with beautiful designs from everybody. “And it better be done by tomorrow." This is what she did, and she said, "don’t worry, I’ll pay you." She used to pay them $20 or $10 dollars, or give them a drum. That was the way Sara Jack was; that’s how’d she would come to open the ceremonies here. Those Old People had their own different ways of opening the winter, a winter ceremony. It wasn’t just with dancing, that was her power, that’s how she worked with her power, and she had a White Deer power.
She never danced much in public. She said she used like to dance by herself. That way she didn’t worry about anyone making mistakes singing or drumming for her. She had a short temper and knew she would get mad at people for making just a little mistake. She didn’t want to disgrace herself in public that way. That’s what she used to say. She would always talk to us young people, and say: "Never, never make anybody feel disgraced, it is dishonorable; you would not want to feel that way." And she would tell a story about how a lady made her feel one time. The woman said: "Oh you sang my song wrong; what’s the matter with you!?" And she said:. After that experience, though, she felt very hurt about hurting people like that. “You teach them respectfully your song. They make their mistakes, but eventually they will learn your song. Your song will teach them. It’s the song that will teach them, not you. It’s the song." That’s the way she believed. And that’s why we need to be gentle in that way, in that sense. Gentle with the strong power to encourage people, but not to convict people. This is not a prison; this is not a jail. We’re not here to convict people.
I wanted to share the story of Sara Jack and how she worked here, in this house. When she left this house, she’d say "All the dirty rags in the house, I’ll take home, and next time I come, I’ll bring all new rags." Meaning all new altar clothes, anything. If the curtains were dirty, she’d take them. And the different elders would say, "Oho, Oho, she’s taking them." We don’t have a word for stealing, in the Native Language. Stealing is a different kind of thing, when you’re stealing it, you’re doing it in a negative way. She would take the things, and of course we’d never see them again. Some people would say, "Well I made that, why are they taking that?" And she would just laugh and laugh. And she would come back and put all new curtains up. Sometimes it would be months later, you know, and she’d come back with table clothes, but they would all be brand new cloths that she made. That’s the way they used to do things here. We still have old curtains that had been put up there by Auntie Katharine. Nobody has made any new curtains to put up. We don’t have anybody that does that anymore. This is the way this lady was. And that was her power, how her power worked. That was a White Deer Women power. And what she would do with the old cloths--she gave them away, and would pin money on them. She’d say, "You are so blessed that you have a cloth from a medicine house, that will strengthen your family, and I’ll even added money to it to make you feel good. She’d pin a dollar or five dollars. And that’s the way she was in her work. You don’t see a lot of little ceremonies like that anymore. Different villages had different things they did. They would do anything they could to encourage people. Sometimes it was behind the scenes --nobody knew anything about them. This person was quite an amazing person, how she worked here. So I’d like to share a story that she shared here, that I remember. In 1967 she told this story of a White Deer here.
If you are listening say Ke Klell.
Sara Jack was half Cowichin, and half Nouchanalth/ Nootka. Also she was Irish; her father was an Irish man. She was quite an amazing looking lady. She had bright red hair. She had real dark skin, copper skin, and green eyes. She spoke very good English, and several Native Languages.
This story was told by Sara Jack, in 1967 on December the 2nd.
There was this power, This Elderly man went out. He never got any medicine power. He never tried to claim to be anything. He would just try to help, when anybody needed help. If someone was hungry, he would go fishing or hunting, and bring food for the families. Or if someone needed something, anything in his long house, he would just give it away. He didn’t care about any material things. And That was the way his life was. He was from a high class family. A lot of high class people didn’t want their daughters to marry him because he gave everything away. And he didn’t save enough things for a potlatch. All that was left was his house. So he’d give that away and tell the people: “You can use my house as a comminute house. I’ll build another long house”. In the story of this man, his name was ‘Te Kah Tah Ma Siet Teah’, which means, ‘My thoughts when I look at the beach from out in the Ocean--they are waiting for me,at the Edge of the Beach. That was his name.
In this story he is very, very old. He goes out. He says "Oh I must be getting to the end of my years. I’m starting to move slower and slower." As soon as he was out there, he just blacked out, fell down. He heard a buzzing sound, some kind of buzzing sound. This buzzing sound was like a humming sound, kind of like a bee, but not quite, it was very, very loud. He opened his eyes, and there were these people all around him. Very beautiful people. Their bodies were covered with all kinds of flowers and plants. He asked them, "Who are you?" And they just looked at him, and they laughed; they all laughed. He got so angry. He got so angry, he said:,"Don’t be laughing at me. I’m asking who you are, answer me right now.” And they all laughed again. They laughed and laughed. And then he started getting really dizzy. He found his spirit traveling. His spirit was traveling to some place he did not know. They say this is the place of where these people live, the White Deer people. It is a secret place that only White Deer people should now about. So I will not tell you the name of it, because only the White Deer people know about it. I don’t have the White Deer power, so I don’t know anything about it, so I can’t tell you anyway
. As he awakened he says, "This must be the underworld." The people start laughing at him again. They said, "This is not the Underworld, this is under the under the under the world." And he said, "Excuse me, what is it?" It’s the under the under the under the world." "How many underworlds are there?" There are many, many under, under the under the under the under worlds, under the under, under worlds, under all of the underworlds under that, and then there’s the under and then there’s the worlds under that. And then there’s nothing in between the under the under, under the under and the world." They just kept talking like that. In the story it goes for a half and hour. The elders sing this part of the story. Just singing underworld. Under, the under, under, under, under the world, for a half an hour. That is how long he must have been blacked out, it says in the story. That’s why they sang it for half and hour. He awakened, after a half an hour.
Remember that in the stories, in the native stories, there’s not a time, a timing. We didn’t say, "Well this didn’t happen a half an hour ago, or one hour ago." After white men came and brought the clock, the people started timing their stories. And elders would laugh and say: "Oh, this space of time that the white man calls a half an hour”. This is a different way of looking at one of our ancestors, how long they blacked out, listening to under the world. And just to think about that, looking at story through the white man view, was such a different way. Sara Jack, would even bring a clock to give away at the end of the story. When she’d tell the story, she’d have the clock lying on the altar. When she was done with this story, she’d give the clock away to symbolize that part of the story. Before the clock, they used the altar, or a bowl of water, to give away.
At this time he received this power of this White Deer. He said, "I am to old to receive a power. Why do I have to receive it at my age? I cannot move around very fast. I have to walk with a cane now, and even my cane doesn’t like to move very fast”. This cane was made of a two thousand-year-old tree. The two thousand-year-old tree-- they had names for the trees—was called Ta Ka Nin. I guess they’d measure them through the width of the tree. And this is how they know; they measure them with the stories that way. And so they knew this cane was from this tree, it was a branch of the tree. They said. “ this cane is a two thousand-year-old grandchild from the two thousand-year-old grandmother” This man would always find himself walking back to the tree. Because this cane would pull him towards the tree because he wanted to visit his grandmother again. He had to visit this tree, three times every day. As long as he owned that cane, he could not travel very far because wherever he would travel he would have to go back to this tree. He was very impatient even at his old age. So one day, he left the cane there at the tree. "You can stay with your grandmother, and you can visit her all the time now, I have no use for you. I’m tired of visiting your grandmother. You visit her. I cannot stand visiting three times a day."
This part of the story, it’s repeated several times in the story. Why is it repeated several times? The ritual of going back again and again. Going home and going back to where there is knowledge. It is work. You have to work for knowledge. You have to go back and forth, back and forth. You have to study where you walk, wherever you walk. You have to study yourself; you have to feel things. You have to keep that within you heart and humble yourself. It is a lot of work to do that. That’s the meaning of that, going back and forth. He finally got impatient, By doing this he knew his work was done when he left that cane there. In this story of this White Deer, the White Deer makes him do this with everything that he makes with his hands. Everything that he creates, or the Spirit creates. He has to go back and forth, back and forth, several times. The objects are the ones teaching him. This is what this kind of power does to people. So that should give you an idea of whatever kind of power you use. The more powers you acquire, the many, many time you’ll have to travel to many places.
This old man was kind of getting irritated because he’s old and said: "Why at my age do I have to be running around for these Spirit power things." That’s what he said in the story, complaining: "Why do I have to do this, why didn’t this come to me when I was younger, when I could run”. The White Deer said, "We don’t like people to run when they’re learning. If you want to complain, we can make you move slower." He never complained again to his Spirit power. "Three times is not that bad, to go and visit”. It was only three times he had to go back and forth. Three times is not too bad. Actually, you know its better then doing it four times. A lot of people that had Spirit powers, they had to do it four times, five times, seven times. Some people I’ve heard even had to go thirty seven times. "I’m just so fortunate--three times, I have to pray in a ritual way. When they come in a long house, people go around once, before they sit down but only in the wintertime. It would be to irritating to do it all year round. In the rest of the seasons you could go straight to your seat. He would have to go around three times, before he could sit down. He’d have to turn around three times before he sat down. And then he received the White Deer power, the White Deer said; "This is how we learn about peace. Peace moves in the light of Sa Twat Kwan Nin, the speed of light. The speed of light of the orange and white light. And this speed of light is very, very fast. It can make your mind go crazy if you let it. This is why we take our time. And in the speed of light, there’s the peacemaker. The peacemaker is seen every time the sun rises, every time the sun sets. Then you see the peacemaker’s soul. This is teaching us how to cleanse our soul. To wash our soul with peace, to wash our soul with the light of the setting sun and the rising sun. For the White Deer powers are the children of that sun that live on the earth here. This is why you do not see the sun move very fast, to your time, it would burn you up, it would destroy you if it was to move quickly. Quickly, what is quickly, what is fast? There’s no such thing in the time of the spirit. So this is what the elderly man learned in the last years of his life from the White Deer power. Why sometimes we have to wait upon the Spirit, and not rush things.
As he got older he said, "Oh my, what am I going to do with myself." The power says, "We have found you a wife. She had the power of To Kamy Kalata, of the world beyond all the underworlds, beyond all the underworlds, beyond that, beyond more underworlds, beyond more underworlds, beyond even more underworlds, beyond more and more underworlds. Beyond more and beyond more of that, and even more beyond that. We can not continue, because the more beyond underworlds will continue. And they sang that part of the story for one hour. She was more patient than him, I guess. This lady was very beautiful, and had been looking for a husband like this for a long time . She was around the same age. She says, "Ya know why we look this way, cause we’ve been so in a hurry, it’s time to peel our skin off now." They peeled their skin off with their powers. They thought they were really old, They were only in there twenties. This is how impatient people live. They think they are so old. Now all of you know who you are. He says, Oh, I must be fantasizing." She said, "No, you cannot be fantasizing, under the fantasizing, over the fantasizing, under the fantasizing, over the fantasizing, under the fantasizing, over the fantasizing. Over that and under that. fantasizing, over fantasizing, under fantasizing. Fantasizing over and under, and over and under, and beyond that”. She sang for a whole hour. This is how she would give advice. Nobody ever asked her for advice. They would try to run away from her, but the White Deer power makes people freeze and move slower. She would just follow them wherever they would go for a whole hour, and advise them. They say, the White Deer people began to travel more back into the underworld, or the other worlds. Because people did not ask advise anymore. People were not as patient, as the White Deer people. Imagine a Spirit dance of a White Deer person. When they danced the spirit dance, they would dance for a long time. If someone does make a mistake in their song, and (the person that has acquired the White Deer power) complains about it--even if it’s just one minute they must dance one minute, one minute, one minute, one minute, one minute, at a time, one minuet, one minute for a whole half an hour. And that’s how they get their power. If it is an hour, it was for a whole hour of that minute.
It ‘s very similar to the Clown powers, but not quite, not quite, not quite, not under, not over, not before, not after. Not under the world, but not quite. And this is sung for an hour, and it’s the wife of this man who is singing it. They have a child, and their child is a Clown person. Time is fast or slow. It measures in the time the soul is awake, and when it’s asleep. So the Clown power does the opposite. If the person had slept, if they acquired the spirit power, in a half an hour, the Clown powers will chant and sing the words for twenty-three and half-hours. Some people say the White Deer power and the Clowns invented death. But that’s a secret, I can’t tell you, or it wouldn’t be a secret.
As time goes on this elderly man begins to heal many people through his beautiful songs, his gentleness, and the peace he has in his heart. And his wife sings the songs for a whole hour, every time. They say at the end, close to the end of this elderly man life, he said, "I have seen myself as old before I got my Spirit power. Now I see myself as young, that I have my Spirit power. And I have a wife that reminds me for a whole hour, and a child that reminds me for twenty-three and half-hours. I am so rich. I will never become a memorizer, because I don’t need to be. I am reminded continuously by my family." This man became a great Peacemaker among the people on Vancouver Island. They say in this ancient story, he became one of the first Peacemakers when Vancouver Island was still connected to the mainland. He was the one that predicted the separations of the Islands. It separated during the first world, through the power of the people trying to use their power to control people by categorizing them. In our language, we call that Te Ka Ta Nah, dropping a soul and watching it shatter. Our soul is very delicate like glass. That is just one word we have of describing categorization. In English, they just have one word.
In the story, when she would sing, her tones would change. She was trying to reach out to people that had been lost or their soul were shattered. That’s what a White Deer power does; starts to help people who have been shattered and heal them. That is the job of a Peacemaker. You have to learn patience with yourself, and then with others. Peacemaking job usually comes to people who are impatient. People, who do not want it, receive it. People, who are disgusted with people, make even better Peacemakers if they can live through the conditioning.
When this elderly man finally died, his wife cried for a whole hour. And the child cried for twenty-three and half-hours. He knew his work was done. As his soul traveled. They said he was still mending souls, as he was leaving the world. You know when a Peacemaker dies because it brings all the people who are shattered together, that otherwise would never come together.
And that is all.
There’s allot of teaching in this story. Even in our fast-paced society we live in today we see the Peace making spirits. Even today in our own families, or places we go to, friends that die, or people like relatives we haven’t seen in a long time. When they die and everybody comes, to their funeral. You know, people that can’t stand each other, which we all know as we’ve experienced things like that. Going to family member’s funerals, and weddings, all sorts of things like that. We get people who come together and there’s the Peacemaker spirit that is from the White Deer people they say. They say when a White Deer spirit, discontinues doing it work, that is the end of our known civilization, and the next White Deer spirits come from the Under the world, under the world, under that, under the world, under however long, forever it goes. And that’s the White Deer Women story of this elderly man, who had a White Deer women power.
White Deer Story 2
Here is a story of this White Deer Man, and it is from the people of the Cowichian,
You can say I elth
There lived this young lady. She was blind. She was blinded by the anger of other people. And she did not want to see anybody anymore. She was tired of being tired, and tired of the anger, of being around people who were angry. She just did not want to deal with it anymore so she made herself blind mentally. You can make your body that way. Your body is real amazing. Your body can heal as fast as you want it to, or as slow as you want it to. Or however much time you need. Your soul knows how much time you need to work in this world. And so she knew she could blind herself. So when she was around angry people she would become literally deaf. She could not hear them, she could not smell them, She could not see them. Once in a while she ran into a peaceful person. She was awake for a few hours. And she could see the beautiful colors. But as soon as shed feel the anger everything would become blackened. This is how she lived her life. But they say there is a reason we do not just live in peace loving and beautiful ways. There is a reason for the different forces that live here with us on the earth. Some of them have lived here way before human beings lived here on this earth.
So she was very strong. She was a very strong medicine person already. There her eyes opened again. This young girl was around 11 years old, She was becoming a woman. And when her eyes opened there was this man, a very very handsome man. She says Oh you are so handsome. You are the most peaceful man I have ever seen. And I like your cedar bark dress. It His cedar bark dress. He had only one strip of twined cedar bark around his waist and one strip of cedar bark on the left side. That was his cedar bark dress. He said I am a very peaceful man. I am A White Deer man. She says you must be very wealthy, but you must be very poor with clothes you only have one strip. It is because I give all my clothes away. And I only keep the one strip to remind me; oh this is a material life. Great abundance comes to me when I remember this. And so he said I noticed you have been blinded; you have been blinded by anger and terrible things of this world. Yes, I do not like to see angry people. I do not even like to be around them it makes me very ill. And he asked her why are you so angry then? I am not angry. I only have peaceful loving things in my heart. You have become so blinded you cannot even feel the anger in your soul. Let me help you. She said Oh NO. Soon as she said that her heart opened and she had received the spirit power.
The elders say do not say Oh No when you are on a vision quest you might get any kind of spirit power. When you are on a vision quest say that tree is the one saying oh no, not me. There this young girl did not have that teaching as we know in this story because she said oh no. And she got this power and she said Oh no why me. Why do I have to do this? And the White Deer man said because you said oh no. That is the doorway for all negativity to be free. That is how many people set themselves free by saying that and they open themselves to many things they do not know about until they say yes.
There as she returned home, even her grandmother said Oh No you must have received something peaceful. It is something unidentified we do not know in this world. Because She had been born into a very angry family. And her grandmother was always smiling when she was angry. Uh, it’s so nice that you are here with us with your new vision quest. And its so nice with your white deer man, we are just so happy that your with us we just cant take it any more we just don’t know what to do with this kind of power. We don’t know how long we are going to live, please go on another vision vision quest I just cant stand it. She began to cry and cry because her face was hurting from smiling from this joy and peace that was coming out of her granddaughter and it was going into her grandmother and it was making her feel just gross. They didn’t use the word gross in those days. It was unbearable. And there this joy was so wonderful the grandmother had a heart attack and dropped dead. And she died in peace. For her granddaughter had become a peacemaker. A peacemaker does not always unite people, but sometimes frees them from this world. The granddaughter did not really want to kill her grandmother. That was the only word she knew because she was raised in a dysfunctional angry family. I didn’t mean to kill my grandmother. And the White Deer man said there are other words that used in this world other than kill. Death is change. Change is death. Your grandmother died in a peaceful way and for once in her life she had one real smile before she died. So after that her granddaughter did not feel bad. She became joyful.
She went around. There people that began to die. The part of them that began to die was the part that was smothering. Had smothered their soul. In the story the grandmother comes back to life, but she comes back as a new person. And she’s so new and full of joy her own granddaughter does not recognize her. The White Deer man has to tell her that’s your grandmother. The white deer man power also tells you who you are related to. People who are joyful and peaceful are your relatives. People who are filled with poison are your distant relatives. People who are overdosed with poison are not related to you. And so she continues to learn who her relatives are. She realizes the power has taken her to places where she would have never gone to, because she would say Oh No I don’t want to go there, Oh no I do not want to go here, Oh no why do I have to do this. And of course she would have to go to all those places and do everything that the peaceful spirit would show her.
She would often go off into the forest and she would listen to the water or listen to the rain. And by listening to the water she would learn new songs to give away. Songs of peace, and the songs were the crying, the tears, of the people who did not get to live their life fully. But now they can live fully because they are recognized, because they are listened to by peaceful people. And they say when you are at peace and have a quiet time in the forest you will hear a song and when you share the song with some one you might not remember it after a while. It is because it was some ones song who finally got to be free. Someone listened to them and they are happy they are filled with joy, and so you have done your work. And this is what the older people say the White Deer man had taught them. She would think to herself Oh no why do I have to listen to a bunch of dead people I don’t even know and sing their beautiful songs. I don’t want to learn all these songs.
As she became older she got married. She married this man who was from farther North. He was Klaoose. Klaoose is Cortez Island off of Vancouver Island. And this man she married was very quiet. He was deaf and dumb. She said he’s so peaceful he’s more peaceful than I am but she didn’t realize he was very loud in his sleep. She would always talk to him. His power that he had was “when quena ma hatet”. The power of the voices of the world. The voices would move through his body. That’s how he would communicate with his wife. Just when she was just ready to go to sleep he would say: Hi Honey how are you doing. Why do you have to talk now? I’m just about to go to sleep. Well I only get to talk when the powers move through me. They have their own time I don’t get to choose, but at least I get to talk to you. OUUH Oh no. There her power began to work again to go to peaceful places; to these other worlds that she had never gone to; she never wanted to go to, but she would go to through her husbands voices—the voices coming through him. So she had a very interesting life.
There she began to learn the sign language. They say the sign language she learned from her husband was the movement of time; the time of the peacemaker. When the first people arrived upon the earth they used this kind of sign language. It was the movement of the wind, the movement of trees, and the rain, and everything that moves that is natural and that is pure and that is “tees sa haun” that, we say makes your heart wholesome and full and healthy. This sign language was a touch. Some of the sign language we still use today--the native sign language from the north. Like this (signing) my mind is feeling strong from the earth. This is how they would sign in those days in the first world—with a touch of their body. They would also sign with people who are blind. And some of you who know blind people they also sign with their hands. It is a little bit different though than the way the first world people signed. And this is what this lady learned from the White Deer man —the signing with the touch. Peaceful loving signing. For they were killing, changing all the negative energy even when they were signing. Their language had become so peaceful that it eliminated anything that was negative. They did not have words like that because their language was continuously washing their soul. This was from the White Deer man. So this technique became very, very important to this lady because her husband would talk in his sleep, all these different voices coming through. That’s the only time he would talk; when he was sleeping. So she would use the sign language. May I only hear peaceful quiet words, and all the heavy words will go away. She did that only once. That’s how she learned how to sleep with her husband.
And she used it also when he would snore. But again the White Deer people are from under the under the world, under that world under that world under world, under that world, under that world for a whole hour. The snores from the under world come from beyond the underworld. So she had to learn again, Oh No why do I have to remove negative energy from those worlds snoring sounds that I don’t want to hear. She learned the technique of the touch of movement of respect of watching and learning from the White Deer man. And she finally understood when you do things carefully and when you say things in a precise way when you do it with quality and its filled with the pure love and peace you never have to repeat yourself. That is what they call memory. And a memorizer, the word, some people say it came from the White Deer people under the world under that world under the world under that world under that world under the world under between those worlds and under that that’s what we call memorizing. Over and over and over again. And that why in the stories, the ancient stories, even the epic stories how they are repeated over and over again it always connects back to the peacemaker; the White Deer people, so its another understanding of why things were repeated over and over again. It wasn’t just because people forgot things, it was; we must remember peacemaker, we must remember to be at peace with ourselves. Like the many ancient cultures, the Hindu culture, the Buddhist culture the mantras they have how they repeat the same prayer over and over, even in the Catholic church with the hail marys over and over and over; there’s more meaning to that than just words. So it’s really interesting, I think, of the peacemaker. So in this way the stories told of the peacemaker repeating over and over. And this poor girl who had received this spirit power of the White Deer man. She always would say Oh No why do I have to do this,. Oh no I don’t, and she just opened herself up to more work because the spirits say Oh you said Oh No we like you. And they say that is what this White Deer man or White Deer woman, White Deer power is attracted to. People who say that. So always remember if you are in a vision quest out in the forest don’t say Oh NO. You never know what will come to you.
And that’s the end of that story.
White Deer Story 3
This is a story of this White Deer Woman and her travels. If you’re listening to this story just say In A Weth. It comes from Decatur Island, part of the San Juan Islands.
There, this lady; people would see her in the forest. She would appear to them. People had never seen something like this. The lady had a horn, one horn on her head. There was another kind of power that people would see with one horn. And it was not a good power, it was to let you know you were going to die soon and it was giving you time to prepare for yourself to let everybody know what you needed to let them know. So people were often frightened of this particular power. But this other power was different, it was a peacemaker power and it also had a horn.
And she appeared to this man and she said: why are you out here? Are you hunting? “ He says yes I was hunting I’m hunting for the deer. But I haven’t found any deer. And then he realized he was talking to some one who was not human. He says by the way what is that you are wearing on your head? She says it is my horn,. You like it? It is very interesting. What do you use your horn for? She says I appear to people who are going to become peacemakers,. That is why I have appeared in front of you. Oh, but I only wanted to come out to hunt deer. I am not seeking a power. I already have hunting power that is all I need. I can’t do any more. And you do not say that to the peacemaker, I cannot do any more. That means, Oh you have lots of work to do.
The poor man had gotten very, very depressed. He did not know why he got depressed. And after that depression left him he realized he realized him it was his old self, negative energy leaving his body. That’s what they call depression. It was just leaving; old skin, old spirit that was leaving slowly that was what he was feeling. The peacemaker the White Deer said. Well don’t just sit there and cry around say good-bye to your depression? Oh is that what I am suppose to do. Yes you are a peacemaker. Peacemakers always do that whether they want to or not. As time went on he began to learn this ritual of saying goodbye to depression or what ever would land on him as it would leave him. He learned a song after a while from the peacemaker.
He would sing that song. It was a song to shake hands with people, or a song the people would use as they would come in the longhouse. They would drum and sing. Different ones that would come in they would sing their own song; how they would say hello to everybody. Every family had their own way of shaking hands. So that’s where that came from—going around with the peace that peaceful spirit. Sharing that peaceful spirit with everybody. And this is what he introduced to the people there in Decatur Island and all the islands.
He says well what do you do as a peacemaker when you have a White Deer power. I have no idea what it is. The power waited for him to ask that. Oh I am so glad you asked. You are to visit angry people. That is your job. Wherever there are angry people you will go visit them. Far and near. You will be well known by the angry people. Oh No. he opened his heart again without even knowing it by saying Oh No . Oh he tried to resitst. The more he tried to resist the stronger the power became. Oh why does this have to happen to me. I just wanted to live a quiet life. I didnt want to be bothered by a bunch of people, especially people I dint even know, why me. And the White Deer power was waiting for him to ask that question. It says: that is very good. I will tell you why. But I wont tell you until you visit the angry people.
He was drawn to another island, San Juan Island, Friday harbor. There was an angry family there. And the lady who lived there who was the leader of this family. We all had an angry ancestor at one time. Maybe it was just for a few minutes, a few hours, few days, few years. Anger is not tolerated; the type of anger that she had was destructive. So the peacemaker said go and visit her family now. Oh No; I never go visit that island. I don’t even like going there. It is a good time to start liking it. It is a good time for you are a peacemaker now. Peacemakers like everything, even if they do not know. He was drawn there. He got to the house. It is customary to feed your visitors. The lady was very angry. She took a bowl of water. “Here drink it”. Why is she being so mean to me. And all of this loving kindness came out of him. And he was saying why is she being so mean to me. Makes me feel so sad. But then all of a sudden he just started smiling. (Smilingly said) why is she being so mean to me, why oh just why. Then he couldn’t stop smiling. It was making the lady angier. Why are you smiling at me? People do not smile in my house. Get out of my house with that smile. All these things started leaving her, this energy started leaving her. Then all of a sudden her mouth started to like smile. (Strained smile) get out of my house. Nobodies allowed to smile in my house. Its not allowed. What’s happening; my face. Oh I can’t stand this. Oh no. Soon she just fell over—she passed out because the joy and love was just too overwhelming. She was just drunk with the love and kindness of the peacemaker. As she came to she felt so at peace and she said I don’t know what came over me. Who am I? She had hit her head on a rock. Even the rock they had in this house was an angry rock. All the anger left this house; this whole house was angry. When she hit her head on the rock. By that time the rock was a forgetful rock. There the knowledge of the rock went into her head and she forgot. So she did not know who she was. Who am I? The peacemaker said you are peaceful, you are peaceful, and you are a loving person. Really, really, Oh No. And the poor man he says to his spirit power can I go home now, please.
All right I have pity upon you, but well just have a short stop on the way to Decatur Island. We have to stop at Orcas Island for a little bit. There’s one angry old lady who lives there. She’s so angry. She’s one of those Indian doctors who holds onto peoples souls and she keeps them in baskets. She’s still angry at her husband. She had killed her husband and put his soul into a basket. And she still argues with her husband in the basket. This is not tolerated. You are a peacemaker you must go there so they will both be free. Oh I don’t know how to do that. The spirit power said, I was waiting for you to say that. They journeyed there. And their canoe was full of things. The family was so grateful for the healing they sent people with them to travel with them to guide them. And there as they arrived at Orcas Island the doctoring woman could feel all this love and kindness. She says why is everybody not afraid of me. Half of the village lived in her longhouse in baskets. And the baskets were starting to shake in her house. She said you’re not afraid of me. You must be more afraid shake more. If you do not I’ll put your souls back into your body and you’ll be miserable forever. For she had curse the bodies of these people. In the story it says she had 47 cursed bodies. And these 47 cursed souls did not want to go back to their cursed bodies; they would rather live in the baskets. Shake some more. Dust my house. So with their power—with shaking they dusted her house and the breath of their souls took the dust out of the houses. The poor peacemaker, the man said: Whoa which house are we suppose to go to. He was trying to—like maybe we don’t have to go there. And the power said it is the house—that house there with all the barnacles on it—it is covered with barnacles; that is the house you are to go to. It is the oldest house. Well who lives in that house. OoH a real mean evil doctoring woman who argues with her husband whose soul is stuffed in a basket. She even made him make the basket himself and after he was done she killed him and took the soul out and put it in his own basket. She is a very mean person.
Oh well, oh no. So he was drawn there. As soon as he got to the front of the house, the house started to shake. It was filled with different kinds of powers. His light was so bright as he touched the house he freed the souls in the logs, in the planks of the house, even in the barnacles. The barnacles were happy and they were saying even us we do not have to be possessed by demons. There he heard the moaning of the 47 baskets (various moaning voices) Let me out of here; please help me its dusty and dark in here. She’s mean to us; please help us. I’m tired of living in a basket. And all the baskets were elaborately made. They were very, very beautiful. This old lady looked at the peacemaker and she said. Why do you come to my house with your peaceful spirit and disrupt my house. You must leave. I have an even more beautiful basket for your soul. Do you want the basket? The peacemaker; the spirit power said to the man: tell this old witch that she is the most beautiful peace-loving witch that he has ever met. Oh No I don’t want to. I just want to be a hunter,. I don’t want to do this work. And of course he said Oh No and the power started moving through him. And he just started smiling; he started walking towards her and she said don’t come near me you smell to nice. For she was very ugly, a very, very ugly person and her smell was so strong she literally smelled like shit. It was very old shit. In the story it says it was her fourth ancestors shit/rotting skin that she was wearing. Her dress was covered. It was a beautiful shiny black, but it was all covered with flies. She had a beautiful necklace that was so shiny and beautiful, but it was the living puss of all the souls that she had taken out of the dead bodies and she turned them into beads. She says you are disturbing me. Do not come close to me or you will suffer. But he kept getting closer and closer and the house became very bright with the light and the baskets began to open and these souls began to fly out of the smoke holes of the longhouse. As they flew out the people were so happy. The peacemaker said go back to your bodies they will be new again, they are not rotting, they are not old. As soon as your soul will touch your body you will heal yourself. The old ugly witch was so horrified. She took the basket out she was =going to put his soul into. She was going to curse it. (Curse) she got a board. She drew black paint on the board, his face. She ground up these things that are sharp; ground them up into powered form. She spit at it. She spit four times. And there she cursed him. Curse you that you will rot slowly from inside out, outside in. That your aura will be the rotting smells of people. May you live in pain, slowly. Every time I laugh you will be in pain. She said this over and over and over and he was starting to back away from the old ugly witch, but the peacemaker was standing behind him and pushing him. The more he went away from witch; the peacemaker said oh your loving your beautiful your full of light. You will die if you come close to me. You are so miserable and disgusting; you’re a simple human being. I will curse all of your family. You’ll watch them suffer. You will bury them with what’s left of you. Your arms. You’ll rot from your feet to your legs. He was moving way far from her. At this time the peacemaker said enough is enough now and. She just pushed the man into the witch. He fell on top of the old ugly witch. The peacemaker threw-up. As he threw up it was the curse she had shot into his body. He had threw it up and it went into her face. You are going to dies now. Soon as she said that she said your suffering, you are suffering, you’re just so lovely, you’re so peaceful. Why am I smiling? I have never smiled in my life. You will live forever, you’re so beautiful. She had a big smile on her face. There this light just filled her body and all these horrible things –her body started to come into the form of worms, long white worms, thousands of them started to crawled off her body. It was the four ancestors that were evil that lived on her body. The peacemaker said may all the worms be peaceful and they all went into the ground. Her dress flew away, it was covered with flies. The pus that was dried and made into beads that looked like pearls they began to crawl away back into the bodies where they belonged. After a while all this decayed stuff left the old witch. She was a beautiful lady. And she did not know herself for she was also cursed. What is going on here? Why am I here?
The man said believe it or not you were an old ugly witch and you tried to kill me. Bye. Oh no please do not leave do not leave. Oh I must go now my work is done. And he begged the peacemaker. He said can I go home now. Yes you have done your work. He left that place. The people were freed in that place. When he got back home he began to learn more about his work as a peacemaker. And as time went on—in his later years he would never say oh no again, but he would encourage other people to become peacemakers. The loving spirit that carried his life. They say that wherever he would go to pray for people. People would smell different kinds of flowers. A smell would enter the room; it was so sweet and smelly. Or sometimes they would hear a waterfall or sometimes hear something that was comforting and it would heal their soul and they always knew that the peacemaker the one with the White Deer man would arrive soon because of his loving presence. And that is all. Thank you for listening and thank Scott for opening the way. Encourage to learn these stories to share they are very old stories. And it shows us again how a spirit of peace a spirit that was here before humans were here, that lived and traveled with the time of light, the speed of light and how powerful that is. How much of the universe that lives within the light that we use today. I just encourage you to listen to the stories with your heart.
White Star Story Sammish told 12-29, 98 at Swinomish
This story s from the Sammish people. This is about a doctoring woman who uses a White Star. She uses a different kind of White Star Called Nez Su Siel Quah Nah. Netz Su Siel Qua Nah is a White Star from the north. There are many different kinds of White Stars, maybe hundreds or thousands, I don’t know how many there are. I’ve never tried to count the different star stories. This story is from the Elder, the late Tommy Bob who lived here in Swinomish. It was told to him by his grandmother. They are from the Sammish . Long ago this medicine woman, doctoring woman she prayed and prayed. As they used to go out by themselves, in the olden days, to look for their power, their help. For you would not live very long with out the help, the spirit power. So the young lady went out. As she was praying she looked up at the stars and she would be crying. And the White Star looked down upon her and spoke to her, and said: you do not need to look up and cry for we are with you. No matter if we are far away we are close to you. For many of your ancestors were from many of the places we are from. Older people had names for all these places. In this story they say this lady was from Qwhist ta nuk tk ning ta quisht sauethen which I don’t know how to translate into English. It is the name of this place, this Star world that her ancestors must have been from.
So this old lady came, she came to this earth. And this bright light came shining down. And she appeared in front of this young girl. This girl was kind of scared. And there this grandmother White Stars said to her: :I am your helper from this day on. You will have no other helper. Otherwise you will burn up. Burn up; burning, translated the word she used means like spontaneous combustion, I guess, she would blow up. The power was so particular, didn’t want her to have any other kind of spirit power but her. She was kind of sorry she cried up to the stars. She ended up calling a jealous White Star to her. The grandmother White Star said: I will show you how to heal people who are suffering in their heart, suffering the great pain in their mind. You will learn all the songs I will teach you. If you sing them in the wrong way something might happen. Something will catch on fire in your house. They say that’s what happens to these people who have that kind of power. If they sing the song the wrong way something will start on fire right in the house. That’s why some people in some tribes will tell the young people when you go fasting and praying, don’t be looking up at the stars when you are on your vision quest. Because they were afraid they could get this kind of Star power and would be burning up everything in their house. That’s the way some of them were long ago. I don’t know any people like that today.
The Grandmother would open her hands and say that this is a symbol, a great symbol of the universe of peace, of welcoming, of love, sharing, but it is also what you are suppose to do when you pray over someone. When you are singing the White Star songs always have your hands open for the symbol of peace and healing with the love that I share with you. She learned many, many songs. One of the songs she sang was a song for giving thanks, a worship song. It was for worship. And all the ladies can sing this part. Ning Sa En ehnn. And all the men can sing this part: Nee Nah Yah Quah. It was a worship song. The old lady touched her hands. First she touched the right hand and then the left. The right side when you face East is the grandmother. The left side when you are facing East is the grandfather. These are my grandparents. I touch your hands so you learn to pray the way we do. So every time this White Star healing energy would move through her when she would pray for a lady she would touch them with the right hand and when she would touch them with her left hand. Then she would put her hands together gathering anything that needs to be gathered, any negative energy, and she would throw it away. She learned many things from the Grandmother White Star.
The Grandmother White Star also showed her how to pass on information with the great love so that the knowledge would be very, very clear, crystal clear, like a waterfall. And she would share songs with her. How you are to pass it on with a quality prayer. So she learned how to pass knowledge on this way. And Tommy Bob used to say: “this is why it is important when we pass on anything, you pass it on the way you have received it directly or who ever you learned your teaching from you pass it on the way it was passed on to you. So she did it exactly the way this White Star showed her. And she told the same story as she became older. As she became a mother and grandmother she told the same story to her children and grandchildren the way that White Star Told her the story before she put that medicine, that knowledge on her. She would say the reason why we do this is the respect we have for how we learn the knowledge, even though we didn’t know we were learning anything. That the spirit reminds you how you should learn, how you should carry yourself, and respect yourself, respect your body; have your body clean, your mind clean to receive the teachings.
And she sings many many songs. As she becomes very old, this Medicine woman, the greatest teaching she received from the Grandmother White Star was that the Grandmother passed all the teachings to her in such a loving way. At that time when she was young, the lady was quick to anger, short tempered, very impatient and snotty and bratty. This is why the Grandmother White Star was sent to her, She was the only one that could deal with her. All the people on the earth had =given up on her. And that is all. Lots of teachings in that little story. It is from Tommy Bobs’ family.
I will share one story from East of the mountains. It was told by an elderly lady. Her name was Etta Adams. She is from the Spokane Tribe. A Star story that is from the Spokane people.
Oh, long ago the first people, long ago people could talk to one another with their mind. Not using very many words. The power of their minds,; communicating telepathically.
This lady was looking in the stars; looking up there., and wondering: “Oh, I wonder what those people are like up there” And she went to sleep, this lady. And she went to sleep just from her wishing to go up to this place. That’s where she ended up when she awakened, this land of the White Star people. When she awakened she looked around. There this man said, “Oh, you were wishing to see what it is like here. And I also was looking at the earth and wondering what those people are like down there. I am a White Star, but I am not like the bright shining white star people. Because the bright shining white star people are the pussy face ones the ones; with the puss coming out of the eyes and nose and everything. And that’s what makes them so shiny from a distance. This was a White Star that that was a different kind of White Star—that communicates with the praying people with their mind-their spirit And he said: “ since you had wished for us White star people we will come and visit you”. This is the song she heard when she arrived in this White Star. And all the ladies can sing sing this part. Nee Lee Lemt Th Tha.. Nee Lee Lemt Then Tha is the name of this White Star place. Men can sing this part, Quan Sa Loo. Quan Sa Loo is the name of this White Star man. There as they were singing that’s when she got really sleepy again. She awakened again and she was on the earth. She stood up. There was a bright shiny being. the White Star man had followed her back. Because that’s what she wished for. This is the beginning of the first people.
This White Star was a peacemaker. He was also a changer, changing many different things. He said: “I’m here just for a short time to do this work. I am here to deliver a message”, The message of peace. The people say this messenger also came over to this part of the country. Some people know him as LaHelby. La Helby was also a prophet who lived here in the Skagit country, known as La Helby. As he traveled, he would tell the people it is important that every time you have a table that you share you must tell the food to be medicine for all the loved ones. And he’d sing a song. And he tells them this is how you’re to pray for your food. You sing to receive the message that the spirit will show you. So that’s the way of these people. They would listen to this White Star, this very luminous being, very shiny. And those that did not listen to the message of the White Star, they would become very very confused. So he told them you will do work in other places, other than the world. For the people that will be coming to the earth will not be able to live with people like you. He would change the minds of people. Going around, singing, singing White Star songs. Only use this for good, only to be the peacemaker. I am the peacemaker. We are to use the songs to call the great message, to bless all the ones who come to visit you. This is what he would tell the people.
The lady, the one that called the White Star said: “ what am I suppose to do”? He said you are the mother of the White Star, the mother. You are the spirit of the Mother Earth. Every time you sing this song for a big gathering it will snow. Only sing this song in the wintertime. It is a winter White Star song. ( I am not going to sing it. I don’t want anybody to learn it—I don’t want to be stuck together for several days.) So she learned the song. And she followed the instructions of the peacemaker. The peacemaker would go to many places. And he says I will always come back to the people in the form of Les sput ma. One of the oldest medicines is the rock medicine. As soon as he said that, she had asked him how will you come back and he was a changer so he changed himself, Spokane people call it the White Stars that live in the rock, what you call now the granite. Wherever the White Star traveled he had changed people into the granite. These were the people who refused to listen to him. They were turned into the granite rock. You will be used by the people who are coming here, coming to the earth. They will use you. You will be the helpers.
There the Spirit of the Earth, this lady she cried and cried, oh my. She told her family what she had done. She was the one that had called the white Star to come to the earth. And so from that day on especially among the Spokane people. They would never call the White Star people unless they had a big feast or give away to heal people with the message of peace, the peacemaker’s message. All the people would say if you do not listen to the message you will be the next granite, granite rock for the next generation that will be coming. That is why a lot of them would never wish for the White Stars long ago. They would just thank the White Star for being there. For it was a very, very strong medicine. Some people do not follow the message of peace, the peacemaker’s message. And he transformed himself into the granite. This lady said this is the way it has always been and it is still happening today. With the Star people and the Rock.
What is the Rock? What is the foundation? What kind of foundation is needed for the peacemakers,; for the people that believe in peacemaking?
And that is all.
And that little story. It is a very short story; it has many, many messages in it when you go over it over and over again. The transformers that lived, the prophets that lived. Why would a transformer even change himself here on the earth when he could leave anytime? Leave this world and go back to the star world. There are lots of teachings in that.
I thank every one.
