Doug Good Feather - Think Indigenous: Native American Spirituality for a Modern World

Copyright 2021 by Doug Good Feather

Published in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.comPublished in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Doug Good Feather Interior design: Nick C. Welch

Credit for image on : Amy Starspeaker

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file at the Library of Congress

Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-4019-5616-5

e-book ISBN: 978-1-4019-5617-2

I wrote this story for you, but when I was writing it, I did not realize that you would be gone before it was finished and your teachings would be such a big part of my writing and life. Cassandra Ann Good FeatherGood Hearted Eagle Woman, my second eldest daughter, diagnosed with leukemia at 21 after she found out she was having a baby, my grandson Zuya Ohitika. As the illness took its usual course and took her life along with that of my grandson, she was brave and strong. Cassie truly was the kindest warrior I have ever known, and her life and sacrifice have shown me what true love really means. As your father, I am grateful that you chose me to be your dad. I want to thank you and honor your life by continuing to live a good life and sharing all that I have learned. Until I see you again.
Your humble father

We have arrived at this place, this spiritual way of life, togetherbut we took very different paths. This is, of course, true of everyone and everything in this life. We all walk our own path, but so often, we come to the very same conclusion. Perhaps you will come to this same conclusion as well.

This book is my way of life. I live these ways. I was raised in these traditional indigenous ways on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, but, growing up all those years, I didnt have a clue what a gift that was. I think about the way I was raised... I was raised to be a warrior. But to be a warrior, I wasnt taught about war. I was taught about love, compassion, generosity, fortitude, and courage. All of the things I needed to know and understand in order to take care of myself and be a warrior of peace and love.

In order to be a part of a community, you have to start with yourself. People benefit from that because they dont have to take care of youyou can take care of them and become the next teacher, passing on the values and virtues that you were raised with. Self-reliance and self-love come first. Thats the first stage.

But as we get older, we go through different stages of life and different rites of passage. In my community, I became a scout, or a sentinel, watching over the camp. If danger came, I was to be a protector. If I didnt have the understanding of self-love and self-reliance, I wouldnt have been able to learn to love the community, to have compassion for the people around me. I had to love myself in order to love and protect others.

Of course, I didnt always remember that. When I returned from war as a combat veteran, I was damaged. Some wounds were visible, and some were unseen. Id been married, but my marriage became further collateral damage from that war. I had to go through my own process of healing. And my community helped heal me. I immersed myself back into our traditional ways to try and find answers, and I reconnected with my elders to help heal and call my spirit back into my body. And I realized how effective this way of life is, this way of working with and helping people. Its more of a natural and nurturing way. I realized how powerful this way of life that I took for granted really is.

Part of realizing the power of walking an indigenous spiritual way of life comes from prayer, from connecting directly with God, or the Creator. Growing up, I went to church, and my community was deeply spiritual, but it wasnt until I left the reservation that I realized I didnt know how to pray. I think a lot of us are like that. We go to church and we recite these prayers, or we listen to our elders pray, but nobody teaches us how to do it for ourselves. And when I left home, I needed to pray. Church was synthetic, and our indigenous ceremonies were organic, and I was raised with one foot in each world... I felt so lost.

And so I just talked to the Creator. It was all I knew how to do. I said, I dont know how to pray, but I hope you hear me. I hope you hear my voice that I send to you as I stand here before you. I ask you to guide me on this journey as I go into the world on my own. Im scared; I feel lost; I dont feel like I belong here, or anywhere. But I trust in you, that you will bring me to where I need to be.

Thats the way I learned to pray, just talking. The more I did it, the more comfortable I felt. And my prayer for you as you read this book is this: that you get comfortable with not knowing the right thing to do. We dont know how to do everything, and we all make mistakes. A lot of times when I made a mistake, I would punish myself. But that is not a good way to live. Life isnt meant to be easy. If it were, we wouldnt need prayer, or spirituality, or healing at all.

I was meant to make my mistakes so that I could grow to be nourished, to learn and become a better person for my family and my community.

As these indigenous ways surrounded me more and more, I realized my purpose was to help people through these ways. It was teaching me to teach others. I learned that I dont carry these ways; these ways carry me. It comes without ego to walk the Red Road because theres no place for ego. It teaches you to see everything and everyone as a relative. Mitkuye Oysi is the word for the oneness of everything that has been created by Wak Tka, the Great Mystery. This is only the beginning, and from here we will journey together to learn and heal... no matter where you are from, whatever language we speak, well learn to see each other as relatives. Its up to all of us to make this life a good one.

The intention for this book is to grow communities. This book teaches the Native American philosophy as a way for people to find their way back to their own natural spirituality and healing. In fact, healing is just the process of finding our way back to our original design. It can help you come to terms with the embarrassing and wounded parts of yourselfand realize exactly who you are meant to be and your purpose on this earth. This book was born out of prophecy. Each message began as a prayer and was answered in ceremony.