Dear Family and Friends of the Dance For All People:
— by Clyde Hall
July 2, 2011
I have been moved to write this “open letter” concerning the recent event of JP Hartsong’s untimely death and the reactions of individuals in the circles of communities in which he participated and touched many hearts.
This is a pivotal moment, something horrible has now happened just after our wonderful Wolf Creek Naraya. Something of this magnitude has not happened in the Naraya and Faerie Communities since the untimely passing of Light Eagle who died in a traffic accident in the Fall of 1999— before Facebook, before the Prayer Network. It is a pivotal moment in that it can either fragment us or bring us closer together. There are powerful forces (seen and unseen) now at work that affect us globally and personally. We will either rise to the challenge of change or be swept away like a leaf in the wind; NO ONE will be left untouched. NOW is the time to access the immense power of the Tree of Life and this Dance For All People, this gift of Creator to make the changes we need for our lives.
Sad to say, Suicide is not an uncommon occurrence on Indian reservations, (including my own) mostly among Indian youth, but we Indians have a way of supporting each other during these trying times that is mostly unknown to the rest of American culture, it is an old exercise of shared community grief and support through age-old ritual. My Tribe of People the Shoshone are few, and every life is precious. So the loss of one life and its potential is a loss to all.
It has been amazing to read how Facebook folks of both communities (and others) have rallied together to express their sadness, rage, frustration, and prayers for peace due this untimely event. So many wonderful thoughts, poems, prayers and support of each other extended across the miles in that age-old “Indian fashion of things” that I described above.
Naraya Dancer Michael Reed has eloquently articulated the essential truth, that we all must support each other during these trying times. Says Michael:
“I’m writing this message to name this dis-ease, to honor the many faces I see it taking in my beloved families and to call us to reach out and connect to one another.
Please. Trust your intuition and reach out. If someone occurs to you, comes up in conversation in a way that stands out or ‘happens’ to be sitting on a bench on your way to the store; take a breath, call your guides to you and reach out in love.
We each must continue to take care of our own Self – which doesn’t mean that we have to do it alone. It is vital that we reach out, even when we don’t understand why we’re being moved to make that call or pay that visit, it is Spirit leading you and you may not have a clue what you’ll say to that person who is on your heart; don’t plan it, just do it! Send them a text, give them a call, bring them some peas from your garden, give them a hug …” READ MORE
In this age of instant communication and social networking there is no excuse these days for not reaching out to your fellow brothers and sisters should YOU need help and support. It is exciting to see how folks around the country ARE coming together. There was the Community Heart Circle in Portland at Catherine Ti’s house; Grey Dove & Cowboy Jeff held pipe in New Mexico, as did Benson Lanford in Oregon. A Memorial was held in Grants Pass on July 6, and JP Hartsong’s Mother, Pam, has been watched over. Many, many prayers and rituals are being said and done across the globe not only for JP, but also for close family and friends who are grieving tremendously. Those prayers need to include ourselves. OUR PRAYERS ARE POWERFUL, DEAR PEOPLE!
The Dance For All People is also about family and the slender threads that connect us all. The Dance is not a spectator sport or a giddy theme park thrill ride for a weekend’s entertainment. As has been said many times, Once you do the Naraya, your life is forever changed. In one way or another we are a family forever, a chosen family. We’re not perfect, we do squabble on occasion, but around the Tree of Life we are One Family, of One Heart. But it takes WORK, people, to set aside old ways of doing things to make changes for the good. Take your prayers to the Tree, to the sacred bundles of each community; no matter where you are, you can “reach out” and touch the Sacred. The Great Spirit(s) are listening!
This is the time to grieve our loss and to say our farewells with the help and power of community. In our grief we also must be wary of assigning cause or blame, or even to take personal responsibility for JP’s passing. The what-ifs is a slippery slope and ultimately serves no one. Each and every one of us has our allotted time here on this earth walk, and only the Great Mystery knows what that will be and why things move the way they do.
But once that is done, it is done! The best thing we can do for our brothersister JP Hartsong is to find immense gratitude for the gifts he gave us during his brief visit, and to wish him well on his journey across the “dusty road” to the west, the home of the Spirits. And at the very next Naraya in Montana in August we will have a lovely framed picture of JP Hartsong on the Ancestor altar, and he will dance with us once again in Spirit. To quote another wonderful thought from another Naraya Dancer, Marnie Craig: “I don’t want to be remembered for what I did, what I created or what I said. I want to be remembered for how you felt when you sat next to me in the dark, trekked a mountain trail or floated on the river, or when we laughed and cried together on the journey. To me these are the things that matter most.”
The best thing we can do for OURSELVES is to let the whole range of feelings move through us with the help of our family, friends and communities… and then let it all go back to Mother Earth, making us all the stronger for the experience. This is the power and grace of our Naraya community, and why we Dance.
I leave you with the words of an old Native elder: “The wheel turns… None of us have any control over it’s turning, and therefore we cannot be sad. The purpose is not for us to know, only to know that that there is a purpose and it has been met. The wheel turns just the way it should. Rest easy, and do not be sad. I may grieve if you die before I do, but I will mark the time on the wheel and be glad that I had that time to say hello to a friend. So say I…” The Mad Horse of Sioux Killdeer…
In Spirit with you all
Clyde M. Hall
This is a pivotal moment in that it can either fragment us or bring us closer together. There are powerful forces (seen and unseen) now at work that affect us globally and personally. We will either rise to the challenge of change or be swept away like a leaf in the wind; NO ONE will be left untouched. NOW is the time to access the immense power of the Tree of Life and this Dance For All People, this gift of Creator to make the changes we need for our lives...
