Module 1
Belonging: All My Relations
Handouts
Creation Story
Long ago, long before the coming of the great flood, the Cocoon
Man floated in a time beyond measuring. For years without number,
he floated, until finally, he began to become aware of himself.
And as one becomes aware of oneself, one becomes aware of one's
limitations, and so the Cocoon Man began to shrink. As he became
more himself, he grew smaller and smaller, until his skin began
to slough off, and this excess skin became the Land. The Cocoon
Man stepped onto the Land that had once been part of himself,
and felt himself compelled to walk in the direction of the East.
He walked East, until there was no more East to walk, and discovered
an infant. The Cocoon Man did not want to leave the baby alone,
fearing he would die of exposure, so he wove a large basket and
placed the infant in the basket.
Now the Cocoon Man felt a need to go South, and so he walked South,
until there was no more South to walk, where he discovered a little
boy, about four years old. Not wanting to abandon the child, the
Cocoon Man picked the child up and placed him in the basket.
The Cocoon Man now felt a need to go West, so he walked West,
until there was no more West to walk. And here he discovered a
teenage boy. Now he was used to this, and placed the teenager
into the basket.
Now the Cocoon Man felt a need to go North, and so he walked North
until there was no more North to walk. And there he discovered
a young man. And the young man said, "It was I who whispered
into your inner ear and suggested you make this world. It was
I who whispered into your inner ear and suggested you walk to
the East, to the South, to the West, to the North. I was that
Baby, that Child, that Adolescent. And if you don't believe me,
then look inside your basket."
And so the Cocoon Man looked inside his basket. And it was empty.
--Traditional Warm
Springs story
Notes: Can be used to discuss how one's experiences growing up
"whisper into our inner ear," and influence our behaviors.
On another level, those experiences are indeed there, but also
"not there"... the "basket was empty." Sometimes
the burdens we bear we may not have to continue to be carried.
Story of the Seasons
by the
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon
Long, long ago there were many kinds of Seasons. They were very
much like people. They could talk and laugh. They played games.
They even worked.
They had many council meetings. They would meet together and make
many rules. They changed their rules all the time.
When it was time to work, each Season did what he wanted to do.
The Frost would come and all the Earth would freeze. Sometimes
the Snow came and it was cold. Then the Sun would shine and melt
all the Snow away.
Sometimes the Sun was very hot. The Earth would turn brown and
dry up. Everything on the land began to die. This was not good.
"We will make a rule to work together," said the Seasons.
"People will soon be put on this land. We must get ready
for them."
The council meeting started. All the Seasons came together. The
meeting went on for many moons. Many ideas were put forth.
The North Wind, who was powerful, wanted to be the leader. All
the other Winds said, "No!"
"Let us make a big circle so everyone will have a voice and
make an equal stand. We want no beginning or end--just
a big, round circle.
Finally, the Sun, Moon and Stars were called to the big council
fire. "You shall decide for us," said the Seasons. "How
can we be placed in the big circle? We don't want to harm anyone."
The Stars had all the Seasons promise they would never try to
leave their places. That is the way the Seasons were put in order.
But once in awhile, they get out of order. It might Rain, Hail
or Snow in the summertime. Sometimes Frost comes too early, and
you see the Stars moving fast in the sky. The Stars are trying
to keep Frost from coming too soon. The Stars work hard to keep
the Seasons in order.
The Winds help bring Rain, Hail, Snow, Fog and Clouds to the Earth
at different times of the year.
And so it goes. The Sun is still ruler over all the Seasons.
Warm Springs Education Laboratory, "Story of Seasons",
Portland, OR, 1978. Reprinted with Permission.
Spirit Houses
Many tribal communities have a tradition of a specific place to
go for meditation and renewal--this
may be in the form of a Sweat Lodge, a woman's House of Moon time,
a sacred spring, etc. During the time of inward looking and belonging,
participants can choose at any time to go to one of the Spirit
Houses to "take a break" from the formal presentations
and exercises. Participants will be able to sit quietly and process
through their experiences, or since some people think better while
"doing something," the Spirit Houses will have various
materials to make things. Participants can experiment with different
forms of renewal to see what works best.
The Spirit Houses will also be a place for people to work on their
family charts, or come to terms with some of the emotions they
may encounter during the different exercises.
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