Bear Heart - The Wind Is My Mother

As a child I was taught, Chebon, the way to attain the beauty in life is through harmony. Be in harmony with all things, but most important, be in harmony with yourself first. A lot will go on in your life, some good, some badpeople may argue and some will try to take control of your lifebut that one word, harmony, will neutralize any problems and help your life to become beautiful.

Years later, I have people from all walks of life writing to me, and many of them end up saying, Walk in beauty. I had that early in life, when I first started out. Our people walked in beauty.

Inspiring Bear Heart weaves together anecdotes and philosophy demonstrating that traditional Native American wisdom can be applied in todays world to live a peaceful, balanced life. A charismatic storyteller, Bear Hearts autobiography is rich not only with the amazing accomplishments and wisdom of his life as a medicine man but also with the ages-old legends of his people.

Evolving Woman

Captivating it is as entertaining as the best novel, replete with stories both humorous and heartwarming, along with some fascinating revelations about Native American child-rearing, history and the world of the shaman.

Body, Mind, Spirit

Bear Heart, a Muskogee Creek Indian medicine man, tells his story, including his insights about receiving the power of the Great Spirit through fasting, chanting, and vision quests.

St. Petersburg Times

Bear Heart is both a healer and a road man of the Native American Church. In great demand as a public speaker, he has made numerous television and radio appearances. Bear Heart has an honorary degree in the Humanities from St. Johns University in Louisiana and is an adjunct consultant to Memorial Psychiatric Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bear Heart lives in Albuquerque.

Molly Larkin is a writer whose in-depth tutelage and spiritual practice under Native American elders have given her unique access to Native American perspectives and teachings. Molly lives in Los Angeles, California.

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THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF A

NATIVE AMERICAN SHAMAN

WITH MOLLY LARKIN

BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

This book is lovingly dedicated to my personal hero, who died in the Philippines on May 11, 1964, while in the service of our countrymy son, Marc Nathan Williams.

B.H

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THE WIND IS MY MOTHER

Copyright 1996 by Bear Heart and Molly Larkin.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of nonindent1ed materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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PRINTING HISTORY

Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. edition / March 1996

Berkley trade paperback edition / February 1998

ISBN: 978-1-101-64012-8

I N THE YEARS THAT I VE BEEN ALLOWED TO LIVE ON THIS planet, Ive been most fortunate to have accumulated knowledge from various academic institutions as well as Native American teachings from individuals of various tribes. I also owe much of my knowledge to professional and nonprofessional individuals who are not Native American. If I were to list all the people who I would like to acknowledge, it would take up many pages of this book and I would regret omitting, overlooking, or forgetting someone who has helped me in my endeavors. For this reason, I mention only my immediate family: my wife, Edna; my daughter, Mari; and my five grandchildren, Robert, Stephanie, Angela, Caitlin, and Michelle, whose love and devotion continue to provide the inspiration that keeps me going on in this life. To all my relatives and friends, blood-kin as well as members of my extended family, please accept my love and gratitude for being a part of my life.

Mah-doh! [Thank you!]

B.H.

No goal in life is ever achieved alone. Even an endeavor as solitary as writing is accomplished only with much encouragement and guidance along the way.

First I thank my family for their unconditional love and support, especially during all the side roads I took to get here.

Marshall Thurber, Terry-Cole Whittaker, Jeff Alexander, and Warrior Spirit for teaching me that the only limits are the ones we set for ourselvesand that they are meant to be broken.

Our great agent, Jane Dystel, and wonderful editor, Carol Southern, for seeing the potential and nurturing this project to fruition.

Leonard Felder and Elinor Lenz for handing me the key to the door.

Larry Russ, Laura Stanton, and the partners of Russ, August and Kabat for being progressive employers who graciously tolerated my erratic work schedule while I wrote this book.

Glenn Schiffman, Christopher Gibson, Charles Cameron, Patricia Duncan, Terry Hekker, Patricia Kost, Gary Ruffin, and many, many friends for inspiration and advice.

And last, but far from least, thank you to Bear Heart and his elders before him for teaching me how to live.

M.L.

I N 1987, I WAS READY TO DIE . I N A TWELVE - MONTH PERIOD , I had lost my business to an unscrupulous partner, filed for personal bankruptcy, my lover committed suicide, and, after rebounding into a relationship with an old boyfriend, I was left for a nineteen-year-old receptionist. My life was at its darkest point, and I had gone so far as to make a plan to end it. Then I met Bear Heart.

His words gave me hope, and my work with him since then has dramatically changed my life. It seemed only natural that a book on his teachings could inspire countless others just as he has helped and inspired me.

Looking back, I see my life as one long spiritual quest. My journey began with my wanting to be a nun in the eighth grade and changed course as I declared myself an atheist by my senior year of high school. I experimented with drugs in college, which was followed by twelve years of practicing meditationtwo of them in an ashram. But neither chemicals nor Eastern religion brought me real peace of mind.