Once upon a time there was a beautiful young woman who held such a high opinion of herself that she did not consider any of the young braves in her tribe as being worthy enough to be her husband. Her parents were concerned that she would never find a husband with such haughty opinions of her own value. One day while gathering firewood she was surprised by a man of exceptional strength, beauty and obvious bravery. The young woman decided that she would take this man as her husband, and so she did. After days of celebrating the young woman set off with her new husband for parts unknown to her or her tribe. They walked for days over the plains until they reached a place of his choosing. He built her a shelter and warned her that she was never to leave the shelter during the time between sunrise and sunset. He would return to her the moment the sun set behind the distant mountains. Well, for a time the young woman enjoyed sleeping in, working on her beading, dreaming of the nights she and her handsome husband spent together. But, human beings being what they are, she started to get bored and curious. Why did she have to stay in this shelter all day? Where did he go? What was out there that she couldn’t look at? Maybe just take a quick look? What harm could it do? So, she lifted the flap of the shelter and much to her shock she was surrounded by a vast herd of Buffaloes! And, at the head of the herd was a buffalo of such magnificent stature and strength she knew it was her husband. She had married the King of the Buffalos.
Back at her tribe’s own encampment her father missed his daughter greatly and had set off to see her again and make sure she was settled with her new tribe. After many days of walking Coyote* appeared at his side and asked him, “Where are you going?” The man said, “I’m going to see my daughter, have you seen her?”
“Of course, she passed this way many moons ago with her husband. They were headed towards the big plains, just head for the distant mountains.” The man thanked Coyote and headed on towards the mountains. One late afternoon Crow ** flew over and asked the man, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to see my daughter, I have not seen her for a long time and I am lonely.”
“You are close, if you walk in that direction”, he signaled while flying in a Northerly direction. “You shall find her.”
“Thank you Crow,” he said and began to walk north anticipating a good visit with his daughter.
Back at the watering hole a buffalo raised his head suddenly and sniffed the air. “I smell a human being, let us go and kill him, for he can bring nothing but death to us.” The buffalos gathered together and began to run towards the scent of the human. The ground rumbled with the thundering hoofs of the buffalos. They came over the rise and the stampeding buffalos trampled the man until there was nothing left of him but a small knuckle bone from his hand.
The Buffalo Wife wailed and moaned when she saw what had happened. She pleaded and begged her husband to bring her father back to life.
“Why should I do that? You humans kill us without regard. You eat our flesh, wear our skins, and show no respect for our sacrifice of our lives so that you may survive. You do no ritual, sing no songs. You do not even offer thanks for our generosity. Why should I do this for you kind?”
“We will do anything you ask, just bring my father back to life”, she begged until her husband relented.
“Today the Buffalo Nation and the Human Nation will make a sacred agreement. The Buffalo will agree to die for you in the hunt. We will supply you with meat to eat, skins to wear and cover your teepees, fat for the winter and bones to help make weapons. In return for our sacrifice you must agree to learn our sacred dances and remember our sacred songs that will bring us back from the spirit world to live again on to eat the sweet grass of the great plains”
And so it was.
· * Coyote- archetype of the trickster who represents illusion and disaster.
· ** Crow – Associated with life, mysteries and magic. Brings higher perspectives and insights. Also associated with being a trickster who brings transformation.
Now read the passage from Genesis 12:1-3 and Genesis 17:1-9. (If you do not have a bible available you can find this passage at: www.Bible.com
These two stories, one from the Sioux Lakota nation and the others are from Judaism.
Consider these questions as you read both accounts of ‘covenants’.
· Both are ‘Covenant’ stories. How are they similar?
· What covenant is established in Genesis?
· What covenant is made between the buffaloes and the human beings? (yes, there is the promise to bring the Father back to life, but this is not the point of the story.)
· What is promised between the human beings and the buffaloes that will ensure each of their own survivals?
· There are different representations of ‘the sacred in each story – not necessarily a god as you are familiar with. The Buffalo King may represent the sacred but he isn’t a god – what does he represent?
· How does each sense of the sacred explain each worldview (how does the world work?)
· What kind of power is expressed in each story? Is it absolute power or shared power? Or maybe power is understood differently in each story?
· Both stories are about survival. What/how is ‘survival’
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