*
Chapter Seventeen:
Americanindianland
*
As they walked through the daffodils, everyone felt immensely cheerful.They were chatting away about this and that, when the Scarecrow spottedsmoke signals in the distance. "Look," he said, pointing.
"It must be Americanindianland," said the Tin Woodman excitedly.
"Oh, I'm so looking forward to this," said Dorothy, as the beat of thetom-toms and the chant of the Indians' singing reached her ears. Whenthey reached the camp, they were not surprised to see the traditionalIndian scene of teepees with skins drying and dogs barking and such. Thesquaws and papooses and braves and chiefs were gathered around in a bigcircle in which a group of dancers was singing and chanting.
When Dorothy's party arrived, a beautiful majestic chief motioned themto come and sit by him while the proceedings continued. And what a sightto behold -- chiefs in full head dress from every tribe: Cherokee,Shawnee, Apache, Hopi, Navaho -- every single one. Dancers representingeach tribe were performing their ceremonial dances.
"Dis celebration." said the chief in a deep booming voice, and in whatmust have been the broken English of his time. "Dis celebration," herepeated, as he waved his hand slowly over the dancers, "in your honor.We," he said, placing his fist upon his chest, "know de work dat you do.Indian not like evil. Indian help good people."
As the celebration drew to a close, the chief motioned everyone tofollow. "We have pow-wow," he said. The Indians formed a circle andpassed the Peace Pipe. The low rhythm beat of a drum could be heard inthe distance. "Not all Indian here in happy hunting ground," said thechief. "Not all Indian good. Same as not all white man bad to Indian.
"Many t'ousand years, Indian lived free in his land. When white mancome, Indian give hand in friendship. White man look down on Indian,call him savage, take his land. Torture, murder Indian. Indian suffergreat loss of self-respect -- lose spiritual ways.
"Before white man come, Indian spend many hour each day with GreatSpirit. Indian very close to nature, could cure much disease. White mancall it work of Devil, force Indian into white man's religion. ManyIndians become savages to protect land, women, children. Copy whiteman's ways, do bad t'ings."
Dorothy said, "I really feel bad for all this. My people; my race; theydid these terrible things."
"Do not feel bad, Dorot'y," the chief said. "All t'ings in order. We donot feel revenge. Dis not way of Great Spirit. De Great One do notpunish evil ones, only bring dem to greater understanding. Dey dat doevil to other, do same t'ing to self. Not know it at time, must suffer,before can learn better way. When sick of suffering, will turn face toGreat One. De great sun shine on all de same. When face turn to greatsun, feel warmth from great light. When man listen to heartbeat of GreatSpirit, life energy from Great Spirit make heart strong. Man becomestrong in all t'ings, and de Great Spirit make path for moccasins tofollow. But, if man turn face away from Great Spirit and not listen toheartbeat of Great One, own heart become weak -- moccasins walk incircle. De Great Spirit not want man be lost or to suffer. When man fretand worry, have fears; feel hatred of peoples, his environment; discause much sickness of body and mind. Must learn harmony and inner peacethrough communication with Great One. World is great big schoolroom; allpeoples equal but have different lessons to learn. Do not rebel or runaway from lesson -- will not learn, only make harder. Must be like decorn and bend wit' de wind. Be brave; look for lesson in allexperiences. Learn lesson well; one day you graduate. Much happiness andrejoicing. You become master and teacher. No more suffering, ever.
"Now I take you to Sitting Bull. He find big chief to be your guide. Myname is White Spirit."
"I feel very privileged to know you, White Spirit," said Dorothy.
"T'ank you, my child," said the chief. "But de privilege all mine."
Everyone stood. "Sitting Bull come now," White Spirit said.
Everyone turned to see a most majestic being in their midst. He seemedto come from nowhere. Sitting Bull walked over to Dorothy. He motionedeveryone to be seated again. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here to welcomeyou, Dorothy. But I was required to attend a rather important conferenceon the seventh level of the ANIM world with the master teachers." Seeingthe quizzical look on Dorothy's face, the chief explained, "Where youare now is only one level of our world. There are levels both below andabove the level, and within each level are many divisions -- as you mayalready know. Each level of the ANIM world is made up by the collectiveminds of the inhabitants."
"You mean it's not real?" asked Dorothy with some surprise.
"On the contrary," said Sitting Bull kindly. "Don't you know that mindis all there is? One's present environment is brought into manifestationby mind. Even your dreamworld is very real and solid to you while youare dreaming: It is only when you awake from your dream that you realizeit wasn't your normal reality. But while you are there, it's as real asanywhere; in fact, while you are dreaming you usually have norecollection of your normal waking life, so that dreamworld appears tobe your normal existence. It is only when you awaken that it becomes avague shadow of fragmented memories and experiences which usually don'tmake much sense. After your so-called normal life is over, it too willseem like some vague dream to you. Your real life is yet to be lived;your present mortal world may be likened unto a shadow. The reality ofthe ANIM world is unmistakable in comparison. Look around you on thispresent level." The chief waved his hand. "Every detail is ten timesmore alive than in your world.
"You're so right," said Dorothy. "Kansas is so drab and gray. "ButKansas can be very pretty, especially in the spring."
"Yes, indeed," said Sitting Bull. "It only becomes so drab and gray toyou when compared to the intensity of Oz, for example. Everything isrelative, you see. If you had lived in Oz all your life and, unknown toyou, there was another land ten times as pretty, Oz would look just fineto you until you visited that other land."
"I see what you mean," said Dorothy.
"Now for the business at hand," said Sitting Bull. "The assignment ofyour guide: Let me see," he said, thumbing through a little black book."Ah, yes. I have a fine guide for you. His name is White Feather. He isa Cherokee chief. He will join us soon. Now, young lady," continuedSitting Bull, "I want you to know that I've been aware of you for sometime."
"You have?" replied Dorothy.
"Yes, indeed," said the Chief. "Do you remember studying my life atschool in your history lessons?"
"Yes, I do," replied Dorothy. "I remember very well."
"Well, when you were reading about my murder at the hands of thesoldiers, tears came into your eyes. The great love and compassion youfelt at that moment, I felt immediately and came at once to you. I putmy arms around you to comfort you, and you began to feel better. Ofcourse, you couldn't see or hear me, but nevertheless I was there."
"I did feel something, I did," said Dorothy. "It was like an electriccurrent around me. A sort of vibration."
"I knew you had sensed something," said Sitting Bull. "If you shouldexperience that feeling again, you will know that someone who loves youis near. Many times your guide, White Feather, will visit you in school.He will help you with your schoolwork and will work with your teacher.You may not always sense that he is there, but always be sure to givehim recognition and to ask for his help. He will help you in many ways.You are very lucky to have him, although you have earned that rightthrough your desire to always do the right thing by your fellows, and tolearn and grow and expand in consciousness. I believe that White Featheris here now."
Dorothy turned to see a beautiful Indian chief in a tall headdress ofthe whitest feathers she had ever seen, just tinged ever so delicatelyaround the tips with blue. He did not look that much older than Dorothy.Sitting Bull said, "Perhaps you are wondering how a chief could be soyoung. Well, when White Feather came to the happy hunting ground, he wasquite old. But, since we are not subject to time here as you know it, orthe dying process, we may appear as young or as old as we wish. WhiteFeather chose to
appear as a child so that you may more easily identifywith him." At that, White Feather put his hands on Dorothy's shoulders.
"I, your chief, will spend much time with you. Will have plenty goodtime together. As you grow, I grow. We will learn much together."
"Well, I believe you have a mission to accomplish, young lady," saidSitting Bull. "White Feather will be ready should you need him. I wantto say it has been a great pleasure having you here with us."
"Thank you, Sitting Bull," said Dorothy. I feel so good inside, justbeing here with you all."
Sitting Bull smiled warmly as he shook hands with everyone. "You've beensuch wonderful friends to Dorothy. I'm very proud of all of you."
White Spirit shook hands with everyone, too. He hugged Dorothy and said,"If great beast in path of moccasins, do not fear. Let Great Spiritinside go before moccasins to meet Great Spirit in beast. Harm not cometo you; you and great beast one spirit. Long ago, Indian make circle offire around, before lay down to sleep. Dis give protection from beast.You do same t'ing in mind. Make circle of light around you before sleepat night, and again in morning before moccasins make path. Dis give youprotection from all t'ing of inferior nature."
Dorothy hugged White Spirit. "That was beautiful," she said. "I willkeep that circle of light around me always."
"Do you know what kind of country you headed into?" White Spirit then asked.
"I do not," replied Dorothy.
"Very few travelers have ventured this far," said White Spirit. "You areheaded for UFOland."
"Everyone looked at each other in surprise. "UFOland," repeated theScarecrow. "I have heard of such things as UFOs but I have never seen one."
"What does UFO mean?" asked the Lion.
"Unidentified Flying Object," said the Tin Woodman. "And I've seen one."
"You have?" said everyone in unison.
"Well, it was a flying object and I couldn't identify it. It was ahovering round object which glowed with different colors and then itzigzagged all over the sky. But I have never seen a UFO person."
"Well, you will be seeing some soon," said White Spirit. "It will be avery interesting experience for you all."