The following explanation, transmitted by LeVan Martineau, was provided by the Hotevila faction and approved by the traditionalist Hopi elders:
"In the figure of the Life Plan, (a) represents Maasaw pointing to the earth from which the Hopi emerged. The short lines (b) between his right hand and foot represent the Hopi clans. In recent years, the Hopi added a bow to the right of Maasaw to illustrate his instructions to lay down their weapons and live in peace. With his left hand, he is touching the path of Life Plan (c) which the Hopi are to follow. The circle (d) near his left hand represents the Hopi’s stewardship over Turtle Island.
"Point (e) indicates the time when, as Maasaw predicted, the Hopi would digress from the True Path and follow another trail. The square (f) at this point is supposed to represent Oraibi. The two lines leading from Oraibi mark the split that occurred in 1905 between the progressive Oraibi and traditionalist Hotevila factions. The upper line (g) branching from the square is the false path of the wicked people who strive to dominate Nature and rise above other people without the guidance of God. The three human figures (h) on the false path are the generations of wicked people who walk that way. Hopi elders claim that in recent times, heads were added to the symbols. The lack of heads would represent the punishment of death that will befall the wicked.
"Two zig-zag lines (I) branch from the false path. They represent carelessness and different paths to the final destruction pursued by the wicked people. Each zig and zag is another evil intention that eventually will be exhausted, which is indicated by the drooping symbol for turning around or sagging down (j) at their ends.
"The lower straight line (k) is the true path of life leading to everlasting life (l), symbolized by the masked figure of Maasaw (o). He holds a planting stick in one hand while touching a corn stalk with the other. Maasaw stands waiting at the end of the True Path of Life because, as he says, ‘I am the first and I am the last.’
"The True Path is interrupted in three places by arches (m) which might have been complete circles at some time in the past. These are said to represent gourds, symbolizing three great ‘shakings’ or wars that will rattle humanity before the Life Plan is fulfilled. Hopi elders say the third gourd is the ‘final war of purification in which all evil will be destroyed.’
"Line (n), which also resembles a corn stalk, connects the false path with the true way. It offers a last chance for the wicked to repent and return to the Path of Life. The two dead-end zig-zag trails indicate complete and permanent destruction of body and soul, since they continue for only a short distance beyond the point of no return.
"Symbol (p) is obscured by scratches, but the Hopis claim it is a crucifix, added to the petroglyph after a bloody 17th century encounter with the Spanish. The symbol was at Maasaw’s behest to show that Christianity is incompatible with the Hopi Life Plan, and should not merge with it." (10)
The three figures on the upper path also have been interpreted to mean the white man’s inventions of the wagon and automobile, the train, and the airplane.
Deganawida
Deganawida ("He the Thinker") was a wise prophet of the Iroquois. He lived at the same time as the great chief Hiawatha, circa 1500. At that time the Iroquois nations were at war among themselves. Deganawida was given a vision of a gigantic spruce tree which reached up to the sky to the Elder Brothers, symbolizing the Family of Humanity. Deganawida began to preach a religion of love and harmony, thereby bringing unity to the Iroquois nations, a great confederacy that lasted more than 300 years. In another vision, Deganawida foresaw the destiny of the native Americans. That vision was transmitted orally until Edmund Wilson published it in his Apologies to the Iroquois:
"When Deganawida was leaving the Indians in the Bay of Quinte in Ontario, he told them that they would face a time of great suffering. They would distrust their leaders and the principles of peace of the League, and a great white serpent [Caucasians] was to come upon the Iroquois. For a time, it would intermingle with the Indian people and be accepted by the Indians, who would treat the serpent as a friend. This serpent would in time become so powerful that it would attempt to destroy the Indians; the serpent was described as choking the life’s blood out of the Indian people. Deganawida told the Indians that they would seem to be lost, but when things looked their darkest a red serpent [China] would come from the north and approach the white serpent, which would be terrified; upon seeing the red serpent, he would release the Indian, who would fall to the ground like a helpless child, and the white serpent would turn all its attention to the red serpent.
This bewilderment would cause the white serpent to accept the red serpent momentarily. The white serpent would be stunned and take part of the red serpent and accept him. Then there will be a heated argument and a fight. Then the Indian revives and crawls toward the land of the hilly country where he would assemble his people together and they would renew their faith and the principles of peace that Deganawida had established. There would at the same time exist among the Indians a great love and forgiveness for his brother, and in this gathering would come streams from all over --- not only the Iroquois, but from all over --- and they would gather in the hilly country, and they would renew their friendship. Deganawida said they would remain neutral in this fight between the white serpent and the red serpent.
"At the time they were watching the two serpents locked in this battle, a great message would come to them and make them ever so humble, and when they had become that humble, they will be waiting for a young leader, an Indian boy, possibly in his teens, who would become a choice seer. Nobody knows who he is or where he comes from, but he will be given great power and would be heard by thousands, and he would give them the guidance and the hope to refrain from going back to their land and he would become the accepted leader. Deganaweda said that they will gather in the land of the hilly country between the branches of an elm tree, and they should burn tobacco and call upon Deganawida by name when they are facing their darkest hours, and he will return. Deganawida said that as the choice seer speaks to the Indians, they will notice to south a black serpent [Africans] coming from the sea. He is described as dripping with salt water. And as he stands there, he rests for a spell to get his breath, all the time watching to the north to the land where the white serpent and the red serpent are fighting.
"Deganawida said that the battle between the white and the red serpents would open slowly, then become so violent that the mountains would crack and the rivers would boil and the fish would turn up their bellies. He said that there would be no leaves on the trees in that area. There would be no grass, and strange bugs and beetles would crawl from the ground and attack both serpents. He said that a great heat would cause the stench of death to sicken both serpents. And then, as the boy seer is watching this fight, the red serpent reaches around the back of the white serpent and pulls from him a hair. The hair suddenly turns into a woman, a white woman who tells him strange things that he knows to be true, but he wants to hear them again. When this white woman finished telling these things, he takes her and gently places her on a rock with great love and respect, and then he becomes infuriated at what he has heard, so he makes a beeline for the north, and he enters the battle between the red and white serpents with such speed and anger that he defeats the two serpents who have already become battle-weary.
"When he finishes, he stands on the chest of the white serpent, and he boasts and puts his chest out like he’s the conqueror, and he looks for another serpent to conquer. He looks to the land of the hilly country and then he sees the Indian standing there with his arms folded and looking so noble that he knows that this Indian is not the one that he should fight. The next direction he will face will be eastward, and at that time he will be momentarily blinded by a light that is many times brighter than the sun. The light will be coming from the east to the west over the water, and when the black serpent regains his sight, he becomes terrified and makes a run for the sea. He dips into the sea and swims away in a southerly direction, and shall never again be seen by the Indians.
"The white serpent revives, and he, too, sees this light, and he makes a feeble attempt to gather himself and to go toward that light. A portion of the white serpent refuses to leave, but instead makes its way toward the land of the hilly people. The red serpent would revive and he would shiver with a great fear when he sees that light. He would crawl toward the north and leave a bloody trail, and he would never be seen again by the Indians. Deganawida said that as this light approaches he would be that light, and he would return to his Indian people would be a greater nation than they ever were before." (11)
Crazy Horse
The Teton Sioux Chief Crazy Horse received this vision toward the end of his life:
"He saw his people being driven into spiritual darkness and poverty while the white people prospered in a material way all around them. But even in the darkest times, he saw that the eyes of a few of his people kept the light of dawn and the wisdom of the earth, which they passed on to some of their grandchildren. He saw the coming of automobiles and airplanes, and twice he saw the great darkness and heard the screams and explosions when millions of people died in two great world wars.
"But he saw, after the second great war passed, a time come when his people began to awaken, not all at once, but a few here and there, and then more and more, and he saw that they were dancing in a beautiful light of the Spirit World under the Sacred Tree even while still on Earth. Then he was amazed to see that dancing under the tree were representatives of all races who had become brothers, and he realized that the world would be made new again and in peace and harmony not just by his people, but by members of all races of mankind." (12)
Sioux & Navajo, &c ~
The Oglala Sioux have a myth of the end times:
"At the beginning of Time, a buffalo was placed in the West to stem the flooding waters. Every year this buffalo loses a hair, and during every age, a leg. When he is without hair and legs the waters will flood in, and a world cycle will come to its end. It is said that the buffalo now stands on one leg and is almost bald." (13, 14)
Several other Indian seers, and whole groups of Sun-Dancers, have received visions which deserve notice here. The Seneca Grandfather Moses Shongo (died ca. 1925) foresaw a 25-year period of purification, lasting until the year 2012 or so, during which the Earth will purge itself.
In the late 1980s, while the Blackfeet people were convening their sacred Sun Dance, the skies darkened with black storm clouds that hid the sun. Then there was utter stillness. The clouds withdrew from around the sun, and a white cloud appeared in its place. The cloud drew near, changing its shape until it assumed the form of a man, suspended in mid-air and visible to the people. The being spoke, telling them "Do not be disturbed, but to be patient a little while longer, for He would come again and lead them out of the darkness into the light, and they would not suffer the same way again". Meanwhile, the people were to purify themselves with prayer and sweat lodges. Thus, they would be prepared to receive Him when He returned to live with them and lead them to peace at home.(15)
The oral traditions of the Navajo also warn of the Time of the End. The Navajo expect a New Faith to come to them, like the dawn. At first, only a few people who are prepared and awaiting the event will be aware of it. Then more and more people, and eventually everyone, will see it. The Navajo chants say that there are two signs of the new Spirit. The first is a Nine-pointed Star that will come from the East and unify all races and nations with love. The second sign will be a great chief, also in the east, who will wear a headdress with twelve feathers. Each feather represents a spiritual principle which he will teach. The Navajo Unity Chant says:
"In the Day of Unity you will walk in beauty; the beauty will walk before you; the beauty will walk behind you; you will be surrounded by beauty. Through the beautiful teachings of a new Prophet of God, these meanings will become very clear. Man himself in this Age has found many ways to create beauty. With these beautiful things we must now have beautiful minds. With beautiful minds we will have beautiful hearts. With beautiful hearts we will talk in beauty. The speech of all men will be in beauty... Those who speak with beautiful speech will lead the world to beauty... The center of this beautiful speech comes from a Holy Mountain..."
In May 1996, a 96-year old Navajo woman named Irene Yazzie claimed she was visited by two tribal deities at her hogan near Big Mountain in northeast Arizona. The deities, one of whom was identified as Maasaw, appeared as old men. They warned Yazzie thus:
"Drought, poverty and desolation on the reservation are all proof that the Navajos are in grave danger if they continue to forsake their traditions."
In June 1996, the Star Knowledge Conference and Sun Dance was held on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The gathering was convoked in response to a vision received by Standing Elk, a spiritual leader of the Lakota Sioux. According to the vision (and in fulfillment of Sioux and Hopi prophecies), Native Americans were to share their knowledge about extra-terrestrial Star Nations. Shamans and spokespersons from a dozen tribes came because they too had seen signs which indicated that they were to reveal their secret oral traditions about their tribal origins among the stars, and the return of the Star nations. In his address, Oglala Sioux holy man Floyd Hand said:
"Each Native American tribe has its extra-terrestrial race [ancestors]. The Star People will return in the latter part of the 1990s. Changes will happen as their time draws near. The first sign is floods, fire, and earthquakes. There will be a world Great Drought in 1997-1999. Many will starve. There will be destruction of electrical and sewer lines, loss of cities and many lives. In 1998 White Buffalo Calf Woman is coming back to Turtle Island [North America]. There are four omens. The First Omen was the recent birth of a white buffalo calf on a White ranch, whose hide eventually turned the other colors of the Four Nations (yellow, red and black). The Second Omen was the birth of another white buffalo calf to a Sioux rancher, but it died... The Third Omen was a third white calf, but no one is listening despite human suffering and death. The Fourth Omen will be the Star People coming and visiting in Santa Fe, New Mexico."
The Dakota shaman Wambdi Wicasu (Deer Man) advised the gathering thus:
"The Star Nations are here to help us... We have to help the Earth come back into balance. Time as you know it is coming to an end, and sooner than you think. There will be no more cars or TVs."
Judi Pope Koteen transmitted the following prophecy as it was told to Ghost Wolf, a Lakota pipe carrier and ceremonial leader:
"I will tell you a prophecy given to me by a Grandmother of the Seneca people. She told me we must work with the women to help heal their pain. In these times that are coming, she told me, we must learn to help women regain their power. If the women do not reclaim their power, it is told, the world will be lost. Because the men no longer act like men. They are not noble or proud, and they do not hold the words of the Creator close to their hearts.
"Men have become sick with ego, sick with greed, lost in confusion. They are no longer leaders, so their children do not learn, and the children wander aimlessly through life, without spirit. A human without spirit is like a ship without a sail. All you can do is float around, hoping to find a harbor.
"The Grandmother told me that in these times it will be the women who come to listen to these ways. It is the women who will remember who they are. Because women have lived for many thousands of years now, knowing who they were but never being able to speak the truth through their mouths. When the people left the Good Red Road and began to walk the black ribbon of road, the women were suppressed because the women kept warning the men that they were wandering from the ways...
"Heal the women. Then the women can heal the men, and together they can heal the earth.
"I will speak to you now of another prophecy. In the next decade, the Star People that you call meteorites will come to this earth in answer to the Mother’s call for help. You see, we are all relations. So the Star People are beings, and they are the planets, and the other bodies in the heavens as well.
"The Sacred Mother is screaming for life and the meteorites will hear her cries and answer her call for help. They will hit the earth from the heavens with such force that many internal things will happen as well as external. The earth will move as a result of the impact. This will cause the sacred fire that is the source of all life to the Mother to move through her body. She is like a Great Bird within the egg, trying to crack out...
"The rains will change their fall and the winds will alter their course and what has existed for 300 years will no longer exist. And where there is summer, there will be fall. And where there is fall, there will be winter. And where there is winter, there will be spring.
"The animals and plants will become confused. The animals will think it is spring in the winter, and the cherries will come to blossom, and die in the frost. And in the summer, the winds will come from the North and the blanket of purity will fall and the fruit will die. And the animals that you raise will not be able to graze... These are the changes the Mother will warn us with.
"There will be great plagues that you do not understand. Many of these plagues are born from your scientists whose intentions have gone awry. Your scientists have let these monsters loose upon the land. These plagues will spread through your waters and through your blood and through your food because you have disrupted the natural chain through which your Mother cleanses herself.
"Only those who have learned to live on the land where the waters run pure... will find sanctuary. Go to where the eagles fly, to where the wolf roams, to where the bear lives. Here you will find life because they will always go to where the water is pure and the air can be breathed. Live where the trees, the lungs of this earth, purify the air. Go to where the trees give, from their breath to you, the cleansing and the purity, to where they protect you from the plagues... Snow is the great purifier. Go to where the blanket heals. Learn to live in these places. You will live through the changes... There is a time coming, beyond the weather. The veil between the physical and the spiritual world is thinning; it is coming back to life..." (15)
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