____Lakota Language____
hey'api,
khuta wasma,
wankan tanka,
han,
In'anjinyo,
wayanka,
he ta'ku hwo?
tate,
maypiya,
hanhepiwi,
wicahpi,
wa,
wanji cet'an,
wanji,
wanji,
sung manitu,
tanka,
khuta wasma,
wiyakas,
hin,
nunpa cantes,
wanji nagi,
khuta wasma
_____ English Translation____
It Is said,
Below Deep Snow,
Great Mysteries,
Yes,
Stand Up,
Look,
What Is That?
Wind,
Cloud,
Sky,
Moon,
Stars,
Yes,
One Hawk,
One Wolf,
Below Deep Snow,
Feathers,
Fur,
Two Hearts,
One Soul,
Below Deep Snow.
~Vickie Thayer~
Categories:
manitu, appreciation, confidence, feelings, life,
Form: Free verse
We dance and sing,
we praise Manitu
our intercessor
with spirits of God.
We don’t call bad spirits,
we only call the good ones.
Bad spirits don’t have powers
for if they had, they wouldn’t be bad.
We call the Spirit of God,
who took our shape.
Disbelievers had killed him,
but we have always believed.
We scud with the Earth heavenward.
We call the spirits of our forefathers,
ancient warriors.
We call them for their intercession for our beings.
May our spirits be mighty,
beautiful and creative,
may they possess great knowledge.
May they have resemblance of God.
Categories:
manitu, spiritual,
Form: Verse
Denali, Denali is Manitu,
Great Spirit he is.
He spoke to our forefathers
on the mountain.
He spoke to them from the cloud.
He told them to honor Mother Earth
and all her inhabitants.
He told them to be brave warriors.
We are one with animals
in this world.
We need them
to sustain our bodies.
And forests and the fields,
trees and flowers.
We are the flowers of Universe,
our minds are as feathers of mighty bird.
Denali, Denali is Manitu.
We dance and sing to honor Great Spirit.
He gave us Covenant to respect
the miracle of life.
Categories:
manitu, blessing,
Form: Verse
Brothers forgive your intruders
for the Holocaust they have caused you.
Another land of Canaan taken forever
and they wanted you to perish
like the great Nation of Phoenicians.
Fortunately you had good prophets:
Dekanawida and others.
You did not listen to Jezebel
and Great Spirit, Manitu led you
to the Holy Spirit and true God.
We stand in front of you,
all Native Tribes –
humble, with heads bend.
Our president, who received Nobel Peace Prize,
had the time to reconcile
the atrocities committed on your people,
by the hostile men,
who had to corrupt their own religion
of one Church of Christ
to justify their terrible deeds!
Categories:
manitu, america,
Form: Verse
On the August of the twelve,
year eighteen thirty tree,
Chicago became city.
First skyscrapers here erected.
Railroad, not the canal
made Chicago metropolis.
In Chicago controlled first
done atomic was reaction.
Fancy zipper from Chicago
made the famous fashion show,
brought convenience to us all.
American native name –
spirit of great Manitu.
Many nations have here home.
Categories:
manitu, america,
Form: Verse
Everything was taken away from you
my brothers –
only Great Spirit
was left abandoned.
So, cling to Great Spirit
with all your might.
Great Spirit is Holy Spirit –
the giver of life.
He comes from God the Father,
the holy, almighty one
and his son – JHS.
Many of us call him Manitu.
Great Spirit will restore all things,
return to you what was taken away.
He makes all things new –
Heaven and Mother Earth.
Categories:
manitu, spiritual,
Form: Verse
This is ritual to honor Mother Earth,
clear water, rivers and streams.
We are dancing, we are chanting –
imitating animals.
We express our pain,
our sorrow, our grief,
caused by the other men.
Hear us Great Spirit, our Manitu.
We dance with tremor.
May Great Spirit find us worthy.
Spin, spin Mother Earth
for distant better is future.
Our dance is about the Universe,
Galaxies and their Black Holes,
stars million times larger than our planet
and their fiery lights.
We dance with tremor,
asking Great Spirit
that on the Judgment day
the Sun does not swallow the Earth.
Categories:
manitu, dance, universe,
Form: Verse
Where is your Baal, land of Canaan?
Where are your people,
smart and courageous?
They discovered an alphabet.
Greeks took it
and also the credit.
Where is your schism Constantinople?
Is it hidden under the minarets?
For Buddhists there is no God,
but we still have our Manitu.
Where is your land,
Indigenous people of America?
People of different religion displaced us.
Talk to us Great Spirit.
“Do not follow Jezebel.
She is a false prophet.”
Categories:
manitu, philosophy,
Form: Verse
Peacemaker of the forgotten days.
He fasted and suffered
for the peaceful relations
of all the people.
“My poor children, listen to the word of wisdom,
listen to the word of warning
from the lips of Great Spirit,
from the author of life”.
Abandon your war-gear
and you will enter the Sky World.
God gave you Guardian Spirit
for protection from evil.
Souls of the Blessed were visiting Hiawatha.
He spoke to good spirits often,
when the pallid moon, the Night- sun was on.
In his visions, he spoke to Manitu.
He devised the written language for his people,
directed them not to bury the dead with earthly possessions
and changed the pagan custom of opening graves
to free the spirits of dead people.
He told his people to accept
pale-faced people who will come
in a great canoe with wings –
so they obeyed, the prophet of God.
Categories:
manitu, wisdom,
Form: Verse
Squanto, Squanto was a servant
of the Great Spirit - Manitu.
Pure Heart Squanto was confounded
by two cultures of colonists and the Natives.
His innocent mind was devastated
when his entire Nation was wiped out by the plague.
He survived for he was kidnapped
and taken to Europe.
In England, he learned the language of colonists
and was almost sold into slavery.
Upon his arrival to his Native land
he negotiated peace between Colonists and the Natives.
Squanto set precedence for native Nations.
He new that to survive meant to assimilate
into the culture of colonists,
without abandoning Native ways.
The Nations should unite,
have one common language –
speak with one voice,
that was Squanto plan.
© A. R. Wielgus 2016
Categories:
manitu, humanity,
Form: Verse