"I've never killed a man, but I've read many an obituary with a great deal of satisfaction."

So sayeth Mark Twain.

The war on terror isn't over. I feel a bit strange celebrating anyone's death. And nothing happened today to make 3,000 lives that were lost on 9/11 come back.

So why do I feel a certain satisfaction knowing one mass murderer is off the streets?

Well, it might be pretty obvious, but I am satisfied. Whatever that says about my humanity, I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure it says a lot about my American nationality, in any case! I don't buy into vengeance, much, but I'm pretty big on justice.

I hope one of Obama's points wasn't lost, as it was what got me pretty emotional:

"Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores."

I don't think the country has remotely forgotten, and I certainly haven't. I've traveled to both New York City and D.C. this past year, and 9/11 is something that can't be missed. I noted how often, in our NYC tours, the "Before 9/11" and "After 9/11" came up. While it was a turning point for the country, and it's certainly changed the way I travel and what I think of government, it is a daily change for New Yorkers. It is in their face every day. I hope they know the rest of us haven't forgotten.

And in D.C. I went to the Newseum, where they have a section dedicated to 9/11. I wasn't prepared for how emotional I would get there, seeing the twisted antennae, learning of the lost journalists and media workers, and remembering watching from across a continent as the towers fell.

An article on New Yorker's reactions and gathering at Ground Zero.

"Others chanted 'Obama got Osama' in a scene overflowing with patriotism and happiness after President Barack Obama announced the death of the man who planned the terror attacks that scarred this city."


An article on the reaction from some troops.

“You can take a deep sigh of relief and say we can see a tangible result of the war on terror,” he said.

There's no real conclusion to this post - nothing is "over." But a mass murderer is gone, and I hope there can be some satisfaction for the families that, if there loves ones cannot be brought back, at least there is at least a small amount of justice for those lost.

EPA to review Pebble Mine (highlights from Mudflats)

Mudflats had an excellent post about the EPA's involvement in Pebble Mine, and the federal government's involvement with Alaska in general.

It's always amazed me how much Alaskans (and especially Alaskan politicians) can rail against the federal government, yet many, MANY times the involvement of the federal government was neccessary to stop the overreaching of the state and state politicians. In any case, Ms. Muckraker says it much better than I:

In towns with no indoor plumbing, fuel at more than $10 a gallon, and communities where schools can be hundreds of miles apart, it’s understandable that Alaskans find it difficult sometimes to “go with the flow” and let those bureaucrats in DC legislate what we do on the tundra from an office in a white marble building thousands of miles away... What would make us frontier-minded, libertarian, get off my lawn Alaskans actually thank a federal agency?

If the relationship between Alaska and the federal government can be described as misunderstood, the relationship between Alaska Native people and the federal government can only be summed up as, "It's complicated."

Where federal intervention in Native issues was the Big Bad Wolf only a few decades ago, federal intervention is coming to the point of being the best option for some Native issues - like subsistence.

As Muckraker says, we can only wait on what happens with the science, but here's hoping...

Native 8(a)

I've been traveling and am completely exhausted, so won't wax much of an opinion, but this ADN article was pretty thought-provoking regarding Native corporation contracts. Not the most objective ever, but I do hope it's making ALL sides think a little bit about what's going on:


Outside companies share Native contracts
NO-BID: Subcontractors out of state often get bulk of work.

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Lots of Alaska reality

I've been wondering how this show I've been hearing about has been going, Flying Wild Alaska, about the Tweto family. Anonymous Bloggers has a great little summary.

I must admit to being a bit hooked on Ax Men, though, on the History Channel. Especially after their cliffhanger episodes with the missing logger from the town I was born in (I kept looking for my auntie's house.) Though, really, the crazy southern loggers are hugely entertaining.

Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers, innumerable Alaska survival shows... I'm glad we get to show off a state I love living in, but I'm happiest when it's portrayed accurately and honestly. Alaska doesn't need any glitz and glamour thrown in. There's enough beauty, drama, life and death without hauling in some more.

Which shows do you think portray Alaska honestly?

I haven't seen all of them - I want to know!
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Speaking of great ideas from rural Alaska...

Last night I "vocalized some frustration" about not recognizing the good things in and coming from the Alaskan villages - including encouraging the youth toward leadership and building the communities up.

With serendipitous timing, I was forwarded this (also from the Tundra Drums) about a great opportunity some smart, hard-working kids have to go to New York City, and win huge resources for their school... and they're from Kokhanok village. :) Using math, science and creativity, they came up with an idea, a solution to a big problem Alaska is having. The Tundra Drums:

"They answered three questions about how math and science can help the local environment and landed among the top 50 entries from all over the United States...
The next challenge to win that trip to New York and possibly a great deal more in prizes requires getting enough votes."

Most other schools have a leg up on votes simply because they have much larger population to draw from. Which means - go check out the video and VOTE! It's a great, simple idea that could have a huge impact.

Go Kokhanok eighth graders! You make Alaska proud!

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Drum Practice

This has been making the rounds. Very cool, self-described "quirky" Tlingit piece of animation.

Elizabeth Peratrovich Day

So I come out of my frazzled and frustrated writing haze to... well, write. But had to give a little tip of the hat to Elizabeth Peratrovich on Elizabeth Peratrovich Day - or the 65th anniversary of the passing of the Alaskan Anti-Discrimination Bill.

For the most part, I'm just going to repost last year's bit, "What is Elizabeth Peratrovich Day?" I do want to add one GREAT way to celebrate the day (or just get a little culture) is to watch "For the Rights of All" - starring Diane Benson. It tells the story much better than I can!


Far too many Alaskans still don't know what is celebrated on this day, so read up and pass it on!




After a long session of lawmakers debating civil rights in Alaska, one senator posed the question:



"Who are these people, barely out of savagery, who want to associate with us whites with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind us?"



A poised and eloquent Tlingit woman answered him:



"I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentlemen with five thousand years of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights."



Elizabeth Peratrovich, and her husband Roy, were tireless workers in the fight for civil rights in Alaska. They were also pretty darn successful. In part because of this statement, and the rest of Elizabeth Peratrovich's speech, the anti-discrimination law got passed.



The uber-short version from yesterday's Juneau Empire:

It was in 1988 that the Legislature designated Feb. 16 - the anniversary of the signing of Alaska's Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945 - as a holiday honoring Peratrovich. She was instrumental in securing passage of the bill that outlawed racial discrimination in Alaska. The Alaska Act pre-dated passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 by 19 years.

The first time the speech of hers really hit home was a few years ago at the Alaska Native Heritage Center's celebration of the day. Diane Benson did sort of a one-woman performance of the speech, and some "thoughts" of Elizabeth, that was very moving.



At the celebration the Heritage Center was having this year (Saturday,) one of the Heritage Center workers, Loren Anderson, had some pretty inspiring (yet low-key) things to say about the our continued journey:



"Is prejudice gone in Alaska? We know that's not true..."



"Will you take some lumps for speaking up? Sure. But if you see that leadership opportunity, take it."



Today, I had a meeting regarding reconciliation and Alaska Native/non-Natives in Alaska. I couldn't think of a more fitting day to meet, or to begin this new venture. I'm excited!



A few more bits on Elizabeth Peratrovich:



A speech of Fran Ulmer (then Lt. Gov., now U of A chancellor) about Elizabeth Peratrovich.



From the Alaska Native Sisterhood's page on the day.

Time for another talk on subsistence

From Alaska Indigenous:

Early this morning I picked up a piece of news from the Anchorage Daily Newspaper that Sen. Al Kookesh will fight a fishing citation issued by an Alaska State Trooper wildlife officer, on Admiralty Island, Alaska...

Kookesh stated the citation and fine is beside the point of the issue. If Sen. Kookesh follows through with the fight against the citation, then a possible court case might result in a contemporary judicial interpretation or opinion regarding the “rural preference” for subsistence law in the state of Alaska.

From the Anchorage Daily News article:

Megan Peters, a troopers spokeswoman, told the Juneau Empire the party was in possession of 148 sockeye salmon taken with a beach seine net. Each man had a valid subsistence permit allowing them to collectively take a total of 75 sockeye, she said...

Kookesh has a different take. Nine people were at the fishing site, he said. Only four were cited. A 10th person with a permit for an additional 100 fish was delayed.

The net belonged to him, Kookesh said, but it takes seven or eight people to work it. Thirty-eight fish went to the Angoon senior center, he said, and the rest went to 12 different families.

"Every time it goes out it feeds 10 to 15 families," Kookesh said of his net.

I wish the article had a little bit more detail on what is meant between the state and federal management difference. It is an incredibly complicated issue that got reduced to a paragraph or two - though really this needs to be played out in a statewide discussion. A REAL discussion, not the sort of commercial, flier blitz that tends to happen with big issues like this.

Ironic that the fish was going to the same place whether it was the people getting it in the first place, or the fish cops bringing it to them - the Angoon Senior Center. I know of many subsistence nets like this, and fished on them myself this summer, and most of the fish went to elders first, and then various families.

The most frustrating part of all of it is the lopsided management that prevents fish getting to many, many elders and families, for the sake of...? what? Too many trials and studies in which subsistence rights were given up or taken away because that "must be" a big reason fisheries or environmental problems were happening find that is probably not the case. When subsistence was gone, the fisheries or environmental problems got worse or stayed the same. The beluga whale problem right here in Southcentral is a good example of that.

A good day or Alaska... hopefully

In under an hour, Palin will no longer be our governor. Hallelujah.

I have no idea what her plans are after this, and the only way this could be a bad thing is if she decided she still wanted to run for office. If she wants to do some entertainment/newsy thing, go for it - I don't care. It would be easy to turn her off and ignore her - something I can't do while she's making (or, more likely, not making) huge decisions that will affect me and everyone I care about.

This Juneau Empire article did a great job, I think, of explaining some of the "ethical dilemna" Palin faced (or, again, didn't face) and is leaving us with. Basically, a great big mess. It really goes into the ethics complaints issues, and exposes all the PR lies about them from the Palin camp. Ironic that the BULK of the money the state is being made to pay on these "frivolous complaints" is from the complaint Palin filed against herself.

Palin's claims, from the article:

Those claims are contradicted by records released under the Alaska Public Records Law and interviews with administration and other sources. They show a pattern of the Palin administration using public resources and the state's ethics laws in an effort to block and discredit both frivolous and credible charges made against the governor.

Is this the "ethics reform" she was talking about accomplishing?

But as much as, yes, she's abanding the post with tons of unfinished business, and I STILL can't figure out what she was talking about on all her administration's "accomplished," I'm still glad she's leaving. It was pretty likely she was going to leave those things unaccomplished anyways.

From the other big newspapers around the state:

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on the state vs. national access Palin's given, and her "open access" fail.

The Anchorage Daily News pondering some of the questions around why she's leaving. Might be because NOBODY believes the "Why can't you people believe it's totally atruistic?" defense Palin has given.

Palin's (predictable) problems

No exactly shocking today to hear that another of the ethics complaints against Palin have been found to have merit. Interesting, though.



Here's some of my favorite Palin postings of the past few days:



Shannyn Moore with "It's not Sarah's fault... just ask her."

When it comes to taking responsibility for her failures, Sarah Palin is completely unaccountable. Her finger is always pointed at the most convenient scapegoat. Last fall, I said she was George W. Bush with lipstick; nothing is ever her fault. With her resignation, she has set a new bar for blame.

From the Fairbanks Daily News-miner, "State's oil review stalls," about a few of Palin's unfinished projects.

Describing the project, which would cost $5 million and take two to three years to complete, Gov. Palin said, “no such system-wide risk assessment has ever been conducted on this complex system.”

Two years later, as Gov. Palin leaves office early, the risk assessment project is in shambles.

And, for the musical folk, a bit of theater:

Alaska Native view on Palin resignation... and what's next?

All right, so it's only a little bit of a view, but this Indian Country Today article does a pretty good summation of Native issues and Palin.

“To vacate her position early is pretty concerning. It leaves questions about her character – but maybe it will turn out to be a good thing for Alaska Natives.”

But when it comes to Parnell, the soon-to-be governor of Alaska - big ol' question mark. I'm not getting my hopes up that he'll be any better with Native issues, but I've certainly been surprised before.

While I was reading up on this, I spotted another nice little article from a New Mexico Independent blogger taking a vacation in Alaska. It was a pretty interesting view from an outsider looking in on Alaska. If nothing else, I appreciated her setting the record straight on at least one thing:

The people in Wasilla were nice. But as much as I tried, I could not find anyone else who talks all twangy like Gov. Palin. There is no Wasilla accent — that is all her, baby.

All right, all right - there was more substantial observations too. But that accent of hers bugs me. I'VE lived in Alaska all my life, and don't know anyone who talks like that!

I would love it if more media and outside commentators spent even a little time in Alaska before talking about us. From most people I've talked to from down south, and my own brief forays to the Lower 48, it IS a very different place.

Arctic tribute to MJ

Whatever your feelings about Michael Jackson, I believe history will still show him as one of the most influential artists of our time. If you think on nearly all the biggest names of music, painting, literature, etc., there were some incredibly striking personal issues, problems, whatever that history easily forgives and forgets, embracing the body of work. Like it or not, Michael was an icon of our times, and historians a hundred years from now will use him in descriptions of this era, just as Mozart and Van Gogh are used to describe their own era.

Here's a video I saw on the national news coverage of today's services - an Alaskan tribute from Toolik! (And what Alaska tribute would be complete without monster mosquitos?):

Still not sure what to say about Palin

I've been back on dry land for a few days, trying to catch up on the Palin news after my own personal "media blackout." But to be honest, I still don't even know what to think about Palin quitting office.

First reaction, disbelief. Second, glee. Third, WTF?

Despite Palin's claim she "gave her reasons," uh... did you hear any? I mean, I heard a bunch of things thrown out there, but not really. Is she going to run in 2012? No idea (but sure hope not.) Is it because of some looming scandal that's going to break? Wouldn't surprise me.

She spent a lot of time blaming the media, but that's the wierdest part to me. I mean, I know it's been a strategy of hers since the beginning, despite her hypocritical and ironic trashing of Hillary Clinton about "whining" over the media. But quitting because the media is too mean?

Even more ironic, in her rambling statement, people are "naive" to think the media isn't hard on her. Isn't she even more naive to think that doesn't come with the territory? If you think running for Vice President of the United States isn't going to get a million people examining and commenting about every hair on your head, I'm sorry ma'am, YOU'RE very naive. I'm sure it's hard, and I'm sure I'd hate the same, but that's the reason I never ran for PUBLIC OFFICE.

In any case, I suppose I'm with the rest of the country in waiting for her reasons, and seeing what comes next.

And in case you haven't seen it, I thought Shannyn Moore's interview - and their dscussion - on Countdown was excellent. The whole Palin segment was pretty good, including the bit with the Vanity Fair writer. If you haven't seen THAT article, make sure to check it out too!

Palin Resigns, Writing Raven stuck on Ferry.

This special edition brought to you by Writing Ravens mom, as Writing Raven really is stuck on the ferry in Southeast Alaska. She got the shocking news before us and as usual she called and told us to turn on the tv. I managed to see the breaking news live on CNN, as Palin annnouced she will be stepping down as Governor at the end of this month. For more new on this announcement continue check the Alaska Blogs to the right. Writing Raven will update as soon as she gets to dry land.

Fresh snow. Yeah.

My friend was driving through the pass today on the peninsula, and caught this:

She said it was snowing on them up there, raining crazy hard just a few minutes out.

I swear if that snow comes any closer, I'm going to lose it. We all went one year without a summer - no dice on snow this summer. I refuse.

Racking up points in the lifelong Alaskan animal sighting game

So we're driving along, and my friend gets annoyed at the cars lined up on the highway. Construction season? No. She suddenly yells, "BEAR!" and we go into the only instinctual reaction one can go into when you hear that (in the safety of a car) on the Alaska Highway.

"BEAR!" is code for, "Get the camera right now!"

Probably code for that anywhere, but on the Alaska Highway, this can also have some variation like, "Sheep!" (as in Dall) or "Moose!" Though frankly, moose are common enough that that's only if you have a great shot or Outside visitors, and sheep are kind of boring if you don't have a big lens usually.

On the scale of animal sighting imortance, ravens, seagulls, etc. are on the bottom, moose, eagles, dall sheep are somewhere in the middle, and foxes, caribou (to the southcentral folk anyways), and the more shy animals are the highest ranking. "BEAR!" is one of the most valuable roadside attractions -a grizzly like above near top tier, second only to the much more rare wolf sighting (personally, only saw a fleeting glimpse when I was about 10.)

Of course the batteries were out on my camera, and of couse we had to cannibalize some other piece of electronics to get it working. My friend's niece was rudely awakened by her auntie screaming "BEAR!" in her ear - the funny part was, even half-awake, the girl knew the importance of that and was groping around for her camera before actually regaining consciousness.

Fortunately, this was the most relaxed bear ever. Pretty small for a grizzly, about the size of a young black bear, and he was pretty focused on finding something good to eat right on the road side. He stayed put for about 15 minutes as a parade of cars performed a pretty comical merry-go-round between the two turn-outs on either side of him - all to try and get "the shot."

I used to drive the Alaska Highway with my grandparents after spending the summer with them, and I still relish the "count the animals" victory. Of course actually capturing the animals on film is to offer proof - I still can't prove that wolf sighting.

This bear gets to go on my virtual trophy case - maybe not the best speciman ever spotted, but THE best I've personally caught on film... so far.

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Palin's letter to Obama over rural emergency

From Kyle Hopkins over at the ADN rural blog, The Village, on Palin's letter to Obama over rural flooding:

One other passage in Palin's letter caught my attention. On the third page, as she's making the state's case for why the feds should declare a disaster, it says:

"Western Alaska communities have the highest average heating fuel ($7/gallon) and gasoline prices ($6.75/gallon). Most rely on limited seasonal employment ... Residents were choosing between food and fuel even before the floods and several communities affected by the floods had requested state economic disaster declarations."

What it doesn't say is that the state denied those requests.

Emphasis mine. It is a bit frustrating to hear an argument using something long wanted - over a year ago! - by rural Alaska by Palin, when she so long ignored it. Palin came late to the game indeed, to the rural economic emergency, and still has nothing to show for what little she did get involved in. Except, of course, she brought some homemade cookies.

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Nicholas Galanin - meet your new fan

I seem to be running to the artistic world quite a bit lately, not something I'm exactly regretting. Now I'm not regretting checking out the link Grassroots Science sent me earlier - this man is brilliant.

I am not familiar with the work of Nicholas Galanin - but I plan on becoming something of a groupie after this. I spent forever on his Web site, checking out some of the very cerebral, yet... well, freaking COOL works he's done.

Much of what he does is not simply "pretty art." It is really an examination of Native (specifically, Tlingit) culture in the modern world.

One exhibition, "What Have We Become?" presents something I myself have questioned, debated, pondered, gone after for years - and struggle with as a growing writer. From the artist:

In the past, Tlingit culture was preserved orally through story telling, song and visually through art. In researching my cultural history and heritage I have found myself reading western literature, often written from a foreign perspective in which my culture has been digested and recycled back to me. Although literature is important for the retention of culture it raises issues about identity and authenticity that I must confront as a contemporary Tlingit artist. It also presents a dilemma in which old and new, customary and non-customary overlap and collide. It is at this point of collision that a new dynamic and tension is being negotiated.

This very question - and attitude - is a big motivating factor in answering the question, "Why do I write?" So many of even the leading examples of Tlingit culture in fiction or non-fiction are from an outside perspective, from the "stranger's" eyes. The theme, really just a recurring question, in so many short stories of mine has been a bit of literary wrestling with this. For that matter, much of the reason for this BLOG is because of the questions raised above.

Above piece is The Good Book Vol. 15 by Nocholas Galanin.

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Call Senators about Hate Crimes Act

From Bent Alaska -

Sen. Begich targeted by opponents of Hate Crimes Act - Call Our Senators Today
"I just called Senator Begich's office to ask him to "Please SUPPORT THE MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT (S. 909)" which is coming up for a vote in the Senate soon," writes Marsha Buck of Alaskans Together for Equality.

"The aide or intern who took my call said she was surprised to hear that I was asking him to *support* the bill, because they are getting lots of calls today from our opponents asking him to vote against the Matthew Shepherd Act."

"This is a time when we need to raise many, many Alaskan voices to give our senators the support they need to vote with us!"

The House of Representatives passed hate crimes legislation on April 29, with a vote of 249-175. The legislation adds protection for actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability to existing protected categories such as religion, race, and ethnicity. Most law enforcement and civil rights groups support it.

The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S 909) was introduced in the Senate on April 28 "to provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes." The haters are calling it protection for pedophiles.

Judy Shepard, the mother of murdered gay college student Matthew Shepard, made a video appeal for the bill.

Please call both Senator Begich and Senator Murkowski today and ask them to SUPPORT THE MATTHEW SHEPARD ACT (S. 909):

Senator Begich 202-224-3004
Senator Murkowski 202-224-6665

Senator Begich can be contacted by email on his website, and Senator Murkowski can be reached by email on her website. Or send the same message to both senators at the same time, watch the PSA, and find out more about the Matthew Shepard Act, at the HRC Action Center's Hate Crimes Act page.

Alaskans Together for Equality, Inc. advances civil equality for all Alaskans through grass roots organizing and advocacy.

A month of (Native) poetry #6

The last "official" poetry entry for National Poetry Month, while there is just a few hours left in April. I do plan on posting more poetry though - I've found a few poets I'm hooked on, and I have some books on order, still on their way, from the excellent suggestions I received.

The first is from an author I am familiar with, but as a novelist. She has beautiful prose, so it is no surprise that her poetry is also quite beautiful.

The second is a "traditional" Native poem (looks like a song, that was translated), though I don't know much about it. It is quite haunting when spoken though, and it reminded me of a ceremony (though brief) held at my grandfather's memorial/remembrance party.

The Strange People

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The antelope are strange people ... they are beautiful to look at, and yet they are tricky. We do not trust them. They appear and disappear; they are like shadows on the plains. Because of their great beauty, young men sometimes follow the antelope and are lost forever. Even if those foolish ones find themselves and return, they are never again right in their heads.
—Pretty Shield, Medicine Woman of the Crows transcribed and edited by Frank Linderman (1932)
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All night I am the doe, breathing
his name in a frozen field,
the small mist of the word
drifting always before me.
And again he has heard it
and I have gone burning
to meet him, the jacklight
fills my eyes with blue fire;
the heart in my chest
explodes like a hot stone.
Then slung like a sack
in the back of his pickup,
I wipe the death scum
from my mouth, sit up laughing
and shriek in my speeding grave.
Safely shut in the garage,
when he sharpens his knife
and thinks to have me, like that,
I come toward him,
a lean gray witch
through the bullets that enter and dissolve.
I sit in his house
drinking coffee till dawn
and leave as frost reddens on hubcaps,
crawling back into my shadowy body.
All day, asleep in clean grasses,
I dream of the one who could really wound me.
Not with weapons, not with a kiss, not with a look.
Not even with his goodness.
If a man was never to lie to me. Never lie me.
I swear I would never leave him.

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- Louise Erdrich

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A House Made of Dawn

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The Navajo Night Chant

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In Tse'gihi
In the house made of the dawn,
In the house made of the evening twilight,
In the house made of the dark cloud,
In the house made of the he-rain,
In the house made of the dark mist,
In the house made of the she-rain,
In the house made of pollen,
In the house made of grasshoppers,
Where the dark mist curtains the doorway,
The path to which is on the rainbow,
Where the zigzag lightning stands high on top,
Where the he-rain stands high on top,
Oh, male divinity!
With your moccasins of dark cloud, come to us.
With your leggings of dark cloud, come to us.
With your shirt of dark cloud, come to us.
With your head-dress of dark cloud, come to us.
With your mind enveloped in dark cloud, come to us.
With the dark thunder above you, come to us soaring.
With the shapen cloud at your feet, come to us soaring.
With the far darkness made of the dark cloud over your head, come to us soaring.
With the far darkness made of the he-rain over your head, come to us soaring..
With the far darkness made of the dark mist over your head, come to us soaring.
With the far darkness made of the she-rain over your head, come to us soaring.
With the zigzag lightning flung out on high over your head, come to us soaring.
With the rainbow hanging high over your head, come to us soaring.
With the far darkness made of the he-rain on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.
With the far darkness made of the dark mist on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.
With the far darkness made of the she-rain on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.
With the zigzag lightning flung out on high on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.
With the rainbow hanging high on the ends of your wings, come to us soaring.
With the near darkness made of the dark cloud, of the he-rain, of the dark mist and of the she-rain, come to us.
With the darkness of the earth, come to us.
With these I wish the foam floating on the flowing water over the roots of the great corn.
I have made your sacrifice.
I have prepared a smoke for you.
My feet restore for me.
My limbs restore for me.
My body restore for me.
Mt mind restore for me.
My voice restore for me.
Today, take out your spell for me.
Today, take away your spell for me.
Away from me you have taken it.
Far off from me, it is taken.
Far off you have done it.
Happily I recover.
Happily my interior becomes cool.
Happily my eyes regain their power.
Happily my head becomes cool.
Happily my limbs regain their power.
Happily I hear again.
Happily for me is taken off.
Happily I walk.
Impervious to pain, I walk.
Feeling light within, I walk.
With lively feelings, I walk.
Happily abundant dark clouds I desire.
Happily abundant dark mists I desire.
Happily abundant passing showers I desire.
Happily an abundance of vegetation I desire.
Happily an abundance of pollen I desire.
Happily abundant dew I desire.
Happily may fair white corn, to the ends of the earth, come with you.
Happily may fair yellow corn, to the ends of the earth, come with you.
Happily may fair blue corn, to the ends of the earth, come with you.
Happily may fair plants of all kinds, to the ends of the earth, come with you.
Happily may fair goods of all kinds, to the ends of the earth, come with you.
Happily may fair jewels of all kinds, to the ends of the earth, come with you.
With these before you, happily may they come with you.
With these behind you, happily may they come with you.
With these below you, happily may they come with you.
With these abovee you, happily may they come with you.
With these all around you, happily may they come with you.
Thus happily you accomplish your tasks.
Happily the old men will regard you.
Happily the old women will regard you.
Happily the young men will regard you.
Happily the young women will regard you.
Happily the boys will regard you.
Happily the girls will regard you.
Happily the children will regard you.
Happily the chiefs will regard you.
Happily, as they scatter in different directions, they will regard you.
Happily, as they approach their homes, they will regard you.
Happily may their roads back home be on the trail of pollen.
Happily may they all get back.
In beauty I walk.
With beauty before me, I walk.
With beauty behind me, I walk.
With beauty below me, I walk.
With beauty above me, I walk.
With beauty all around me, I walk.
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty,
It is finished in beauty.

_

From Four Masterworks of American Indian Literature edited by John Bierhorst, University of Arizona Press. The text is the translation of Washington Matthews.