I want to clarify what I see with the word ‘sacred,’ as used in our stories. Some people mistakenly think that we worship all things labeled sacred, and that there are multiple gods - not true. My little granddaughter even asked me, “What about the rain god?” I don’t know where she got that idea, but I told her we only have Creator, with lots of different words for that concept, like Mnedo (spirit), Shemendo (great spirit), Mamogosnan (father of us all), God. Sacred, whether Eagle, the four medicines, or others are due the highest respect. We give thanks to them, but we don’t ‘worship’ them, if that distinction makes sense. For example, the drum is sacred; it is blessed with tobacco before being played to welcome the voice and heartbeat of our ancestors. With that in mind, a story about the importance of Eagle (directly from potawatomi.org) Long ago Creator, Mamogosnan (our great father), became angry with mankind because they did not live i...
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