According to an article published
in Indian Country Today, a previously unknown band of Metykire People
appeared in the town of Brasilia, Brazil this past May seeking refuge.
The 87 men, women and children had been attacked in their Amazon jungle
homes by a group of "white men", probably illegal gold miners or
loggers. Fifteen Metykire were murdered while the rest eluded the blood
thirsty whites until they eventually found civilization.
Distant relatives of these Metykire People were elated to meet long lost
clansmen. It had been thought that this group had been wiped out many
generations ago. It's not known how many other villages of Metykire
still survive in the dense Amazon jungles.
Steps are being taken to protect these People from diseases that they
have no immunity from. Without immunization it won't take long for
foreign diseases to wipe these Metykire People from the face of the
Earth.
What has happened to these People is a tragedy on many levels. Not only
is this a reminder that greed is still on the march, destroying lives
and cultures, but yet another Tribe of People may be in danger of losing
their traditional ceremonies and way of life.
So what?
Well, here's what....In the
Beginning Creator made many tribes of man. Some were quite similar...
Some totally different. He gave each tribe their own Sacred Ceremonies
and Creation Stories and told them that as long as they observed their
Sacred Ceremonies and remembered their Origins, the People would prosper
and this Earth would survive.
But there came a time in history when some men wanted more.......they
wanted it all. The only way these evil, greedy men could conquer the
world was to enslave the People. But as long as the individual tribes
remembered their own stories and did their own ceremonies, they would
not become slaves.
Those men who dreamed the dark dreams of power knew they had to create
their own religion and use it to trap the Good Hearted People. And they
did... And as the conquerors marched around the globe, killing,
capturing and brainwashing the People, the ceremonies began to die out.
And the Earth sank into darkness and despair.
But some of us remain who remember our Ceremonies and continue to do
them - unadulterated by any foreign religions. And as more and more
People wake up and begin again to honor their own ways that Creator gave
just to them, this world can turn around and it can be good again. It is
up to us..........
SIDE NOTE:
A few days after the Metykire People emerged from the jungles, a baby
was born to them. Perhaps this is a sign for all of us.
Perhaps..........
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"Three times Sotuknang has destroyed the world," Lomatewa began. "He
destroyed the First World with fire. He destroyed the Second World with
ice. He destroyed the Third World with flood. Each time he destroyed the
world because his people failed to do what he told them to
do."...........
"Sotuknang destroyed the world because the Hopis forgot to do their
duty. They forgot the songs that must be sung, the pahos that must be
offered., the ceremonials that must be danced. Each time the world
became infected with evil, people quarreled all the time. People became
powaqas, and practiced witchcraft against one another. The Hopis left
the proper Road of Life and only a few were left doing their duty in the
kivas. And each time, Sotuknang gave the Hopis warning. He held back the
rain so his people would know his displeasure. But everybody ignored the
rainless seasons. They kept going after money, and quarreling and
gossiping, and forgetting the way of the Road of Life. And each time
Sotuknang decided that the world had used up its string, and he saved a
few of the best Hopis, and then he destroyed all the rest."
------From "The Dark Wind" by Tony Hillerman |