Charles Alexander Eastman: It was our belief that the love of possessions
Photo: Hopi girl and elder ca. 1900
_____________________________
It was our belief that the love of possessions is a weakness to be overcome. . . . Children must early learn the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving. . . . The Indians in their simplicity literally give away all that they have—to relatives, to guests of other tribes or clans, but above all to the poor and the aged, from whom they can hope for no return.
(Charles Alexander Eastman)
(Charles Alexander Eastman)
_____________________________
Recommended reading:
'The Soul of the Indian'
By Charles Alexander (Ohiyesa) Eastman
Purchase Book:
Amazon.com
Amazon.uk
Description:
Raised among the Sioux until the age of 15, Charles Alexander Eastman (1858–1939) was educated at Dartmouth and Boston University medical school. His extensive experience of both Native American and outside cultures makes Eastman ideally suited to interpret them for each other, and in The Soul of the Indian, he defines American Indian religious life as it existed before contact with external influences. Rather than a scientific treatise, Eastman has written a book, "as true as I can make it to my childhood teaching and ancestral ideals, but from the human, not the ethnological standpoint." His discussions of the forms of ceremonial and symbolic worship, the unwritten scriptures, and the spirit world emphasize the universal quality and personal appeal of Native American religion.
'The Soul of the Indian'
By Charles Alexander (Ohiyesa) Eastman
Purchase Book:
Amazon.com
Amazon.uk
Description:
Raised among the Sioux until the age of 15, Charles Alexander Eastman (1858–1939) was educated at Dartmouth and Boston University medical school. His extensive experience of both Native American and outside cultures makes Eastman ideally suited to interpret them for each other, and in The Soul of the Indian, he defines American Indian religious life as it existed before contact with external influences. Rather than a scientific treatise, Eastman has written a book, "as true as I can make it to my childhood teaching and ancestral ideals, but from the human, not the ethnological standpoint." His discussions of the forms of ceremonial and symbolic worship, the unwritten scriptures, and the spirit world emphasize the universal quality and personal appeal of Native American religion.
_____________________________
_____________________________
Leave a comment