COURAGE ~ BEAR
It takes a lot of courage to listen to your heart and to your spirit as it’s telling you what to do even when your mind tells you something else... it takes a lot of courage and that’s why the Bear is there.

The Bear, they say, goes out and hibernates in the winter--- but our people don’t understand it that way. The Bear goes to fast. It’s fasting all winter and this is important for us as a people... the Bear taught us how to fast... how to go on a Vision Quest.. that’s where we got the Vision Quest from.

The Bear fasts for Mother Earth and he fasts all winter because he’s fasting for the Earth. He represents the love and the courage that is needed to show that love of the land and of life.

HONESTY ~ SA-BE (BIGFOOT)
Our great Creator chose the Sa-be (Bigfoot) to represent the spirit of honesty... it is a very hard thing to do to, be honest, so maybe that is why the spirit of Sa-be (Bigfoot) is so elusive. We see it and it’s gone because we have a hard time being honest.

The elders say the best way you could show honesty or honor the spirit of the Sa-be (Bigfoot), is to speak from your heart and listen to your spirit that has given you the inspiration of the words you are to speak. When you are honest with yourself, you are true to the words that you speak.

WISDOM ~ BEAVER
Wisdom is to know that each of us has a gift, a special gift, a unique gift. That gift is to be used to serve life, to serve humanity.

One of the gifts the Beaver has is 2 sharp teeth that he uses to create and build the dams and change the landscape. If that Beaver chose not to use his gift and to lay on the shore while the other beavers were working, his teeth would grow so long that he would not be able to use them and he would die, physically die. If we do not use our gift we will also die or we will become sick, mentally, emotionally or physically.

HUMILITY ~ WOLF
It is the wolf that brings the teachings of humbleness. The first thing that the young child sees as he meets the Wolf is that the Wolf will stop and bow its head, which is a reflection of the Wolf showing its humbleness to the presence of the human being.

The teaching of humility is very important in our life. Much of the division we see in today’s world is because people have not understood the spirit of humility: to understand the spirit of humility is to understand that no one is above another human being. No one is greater than another human being in this life; no one is lesser than another human being.

To be humble is to see us equally in the eyes of the Great Spirit through the unconditional love of the Great Spirit. His love is expressed to all of us in the same way that the sun will shine on us. The sun does not choose to shine on any one person alone or any one race of people, it shines on all.