Wisdom from Eagle Rock

Spirit of Eagle Rock: A Native American Cultural and Geologic Interpretation of Eagle Rock by Coyote Short (Professional Geologist of the Paiute and Modoc Tribes); No  Copyright info. Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology, Eagle Rock/Boise Idaho

p. 16 “Having no written language, the Boise Valley tribes used and extensive and highly developed language of stone t store and communicate the information necessary to support a sophisticated culture for many thousands of years.

“In their versatility, stones can represent any type of knowledge: a memory, an event, a duty, a metaphor, a picture, a purpose, or a prayer. A language based on stone is economical while profoundly articulate as it allows knowledge to remain larger than words, keeping the idea and the object as one.

“Native Americans possess the drive to clarify ideas and keep them pure, direct, and consistent. A language of stone supports this by accommodating the storage of concentrated knowledge—knowledge undiluted by words and interpretation. And, by involving the individual directly, through tactile feedback to retrieve the stored information, high fidelity of the original idea is contained.

“A language of stone perfectly addresses the responsibility and obligation felt my Native Americans to be free to speak to The Creator and the unknown, and to acknowledge, trust, and know that all is not contained in human power.”

p. 28 “A raven is a coyote with wings. Since they can fly, the raven can see the big picture. Making a stone in the shape of a raven is a request for insigiht and powers of seeing beyond visual sense.”

p. 30 “To Native Americans, ceremony is kinaesthetic prayer—prayer in motion. It is well understood by Native Americans that the body can absorb an event and remember better than can the mind, which explains the active, physical nature of ceremony."

p. 31 “Ceremony is a way to resonate with The Creator—to connect with spiritual ideals and make them real in our lives. it is a way to take time to process events, to remember, to see principles in real time, to recapture the subtle essence of existence in a pure state.

"Ceremonies mark time and significant events in the lives of the people and acknowledge that our identity is linked to the land we live on.”