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ENCAMPMENT
VISION pages
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Introduction continued...
What I learned in these visions held me spellbound, but some
of it confused and puzzled me. I am Lakota Sioux, and I did
not understand how my own people, a disadvantaged and oppressed
nation, could become as the magnificent people I saw in vision.
In my early childhood, I lived on reservations surrounded by
my Native people. I experienced the weakening conditions forced
upon us in those days by government agencies and by American
society at large. Our culture was frowned upon, our traditions
denounced and even banned. Families were split apart as children
were forcibly removed. Education was almost non-existent. Literacy
suffered. There were few jobs, if any, to provide self-earned
income, or to improve skills or raise morale and self-esteem.
There was hunger, illness, condemnation and poverty all around
me. I witnessed first hand the breakdown of spirit through destruction
of faith as religious beliefs foreign to us were forced upon
us. I saw many of my people struggle through life with little
hope for better futures. Many, including relatives, friends
and acquaintances, turned to alcohol and drugs for release from
pain. In my parent's struggle to make a better life for their
children, they moved us into the "white world," only to find
that in many ways this created greater challenges. We were not
accepted generally as equals and had to learn to fight for our
physical and emotional survival.
As I matured, I saw very few social improvements put into place
to benefit Native Americans. And I saw very little change in
the Natives themselves. To me they seemed unable or unwilling
to raise themselves from their depressed conditions. Now, I
had been given great visions about them, but I had little faith
in their power to step forward as spiritual leaders to perform
their divine role in God's plan. I could not help but question
God's will and intentions for them. Nor could I help wonder
what his intentions were for me by entrusting me with this knowledge.
During my many travels in the 1990s to share my newly published
book, Embraced By The Light, I included speaking events with
many Native tribes in the United States and Canada. I was anxious
to learn as much as I could about their traditions and spiritual
beliefs, especially those which extended back to a time when
they remained pure and unchanged by history. I spent as much
time as possible visiting with these people and especially with
their leaders. Most of these visits became possible only through
divine guidance, and I am sure they were "meant to be" from
the start. However, during this time I put aside my visions
because I did not know what to do with them. I felt I needed
more confidence in what I knew before I could share with the
strength and conviction necessary for others to accept it. I
was also uncertain of my role, and so I waited. |
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