MALA SPOTTED EAGLE

 

John LeKay: How did Nanash Shontie come about and can you please explain what this is?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Well back in the late 60s and early 70s my father was quite a well know speaker going out and working for Shoshone peoples indigenous rights, also reaching out and talking to other peoples because he believed in building bridges between cultures, because it was going to take all of us work together. Of course my fathers name was Rolling Thunder.

And what happened is that part of our native customs is that when people go out and speak and talk to others you always invite them to your home. That if they were in the area, they would be welcome to come in share some food and if they needed a place to sleep. that's just part of who we are. Well he started doing that in his talks and we started having a lot of people show up, both native and non native coming to our home. And it was a small community that just grew and we live don the edge of a small town called Carlin.

 

Rolling Thunder

JL; Where was that?

Mala Spotted Eagle:  Carlin Nevada. North Eastern Nevada and what happened is that we lived on the edge of town and our part was called the Indian edge of town where they didn't pave the roads or anything. They had gravel roads around. We started building wikiups and started raising pigs and goats and all kinds of things on the edge of town. Well the town folks started complaining and we realized we needed to have some land. So there's a lot of stories behind that but to go to the quicker edition would be my father found some land. 263 acres that we got for 25 dollars an acre. Desert land. there were no buildings no electricity. no water or anything but we built a whole community there. there were 50 to a hundred people living there. We started it in 1975 and it went through 1985. That when my mother crossed over, my dad, they had been together for 36 years, chooses to no longer continue in those ways. he just wanted to live his life very much more private and reclusive. So we decided to close it down at that time.

But during that time we saw a lot of good that it did or a lot of people and we also saw a lot of good it did for the mother earth in the area we were in.

JL: What kind of people visited?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Well we had people from all over the world but we also had  a delegation of Buddhists that came there,. people from Japan, we had Taoist priests, African people. We had people from allover besides the indigenous people too, And it was all based on native American values and traditions and ways. Living in a community, based on those ways.

 

JL: Was this basically to teach, a place for programs, that kind of thing?

Mala Spotted Eagle : Well the native people, their way of sharing about their way of life is exactly what it means . Way of life.  that you learn by doing. you learn by actually living it. where you live it for a few hours, days weeks months what ever it is. Its hard for us to hold just workshops. We do that but we under stand the true teaching. the true understanding come from the actual experience of it, and to do that is living that experience. And something's take a short time, something's take a very long time and most of the time its up to the individual person and how they are ready to learn. How open they really are. A lot of times we go out saying that we are really open to other things and other ways. But the reality is a vast majority of times, we are only open to it as long as it doesn't seem to different from our understanding, or our culture. When something seems a little too different, sometimes we have a tendency to close up around it and not really be wanting to learn from it to understand it. we have seen that happen a lot because the native people have a very different culture form the western way of life. there's also other kinds of cultures too and we see people take sometimes what they just want, anything that is too different or what they look at as too inconvenient, taking too long to learn or making changes in their life's that are a little too different. they just don't have anything to do with.

Mala Spotted Eagle

 

JL: Can you give an example of that?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Well, a lot of times , a very simple thing that I try and get people to learn is that when you are walking a long a beach, or through a forest and see a shell, stone, or twig or something you want. If you look down at it, it looks nice, don't just pick it up and take it. you nee to sop and make an offering for that. To do something of some kind of value. And when you make an offering, you are actually making a prayer to the spirit that's there. That we believe all things have spirits in it. And when you talk to it, not like its like a rock or stick, but you talk to the spirit of what ever it is you are trying to talk to that it is just as much as a human being standing next to you. that you are talking to a spirit and not to an object. And you explain why you are doing it, why you want it and how you are going to honor it, how you are going to take. Even if its just to bring beauty into your life, every time you look upon it but you explain that to it. By doing that's there is three really important things that you learn. You learn first to think about your actions, before you just take something because too often in this life we are taught to do thing with out really taking responsibility for our actions or really not thinking about it. Another thing is, its teaches you to stop and pray, stop and honor that life that's there. Recognize that there is life in all things. And that is all connected, like the  branch is connected to the tree, the shell is connected to the ocean. There's life in everything. It also teaches you that you have to make a n offering. To give something in return for what you take.  You don't just go on with your life, just taking and taking. You have to give something in return. And there's a lot of things like that, that are simple but very important things. A lot of people just don't want to do that. They say well, they are always in a rush, or something and we need to slow down, we need to take more responsibility, for our actions and think about our actions. And try to make them to where they have  a positive effect on what's all around us.

So that's a part of life that's out there today that its always rush, rush, rush. do things in the shortest time and nor even think too much about our actions. Just do it. We really need to stop doing that. We really need to slow down a little bit, think about our actions, try to find ways that our actions are beneficial for mother earth, beneficial and honoring the life that's around us. And we are not just taking a life but that we are giving back too. And that's just one example, there are a lot of examples we have like that.

 

JL:. Did you get much of this understanding from your father Rolling Thunder, coming from a medicine tradition,  or is that just a part of your culture in general?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Yes it is part of their traditional cultures. There is two things. One is what we call the spiritual way of life. That is what you were supposed to be. If you were  to walk a  medicine path or a healing path, help in other some kind of way. That first off was the kind of first step. The first step is learning the spiritual way of life. That is what Nanish Shontie is about and why we are here, and what we are sharing. We are not here trying to teach people to be healers and things like that. we are not teaching people ceremonies. We are not teaching people and trying to make them Indians.

Path to Nanish Shontie

 

JL: Like for you for example, since your father was a medicine man. Talking you other medicine people usually its in the family and are born in to it and a lot of cases is passed down. Is that how it was passed on to you in anyway or one of your siblings, or is that something you don't talk about?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Well I don't talk about it much but you know my father believed that I was the one that would be carrying it on.

JL: Ok.

Mala Spotted Eagle: And for him and there were others. The thing that they also clearly taught me, because there were other healers, native healers and others around that was around us a lot when we grew up. and another thing they shared is don't ever start getting caught up in titles.

JL: Yes.

Mala Spotted Eagle: If your showing off your a medicine man or a pipe carrier, then its your ego speaking. And they said let how you live and walk in life speak for how you are as a human being. Then  if people feel that you can help them, if you can help them in some way then they will come and ask you, and you will be able to help them in that way. And be humble enough to recognize when you can and when you cant. Because there is no one tat is gifted in all the ways, to help people, that is why everybody is born with different gifts because we are all part of the great circle of life, each one of us has something to offer in some way.

Tobacco plant

 

JL: Do you carry a pipe by the way?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Yes.

JL: What is it about tobacco exactly and the reasons it is used for the prayer offerings?

Mala Spotted Eagle: You see, like I said everything in life, not just people very plant, rock animal, every thing has a gift, and some have many gifts. But tobacco told  our people along time ago, an dim not talking about Shoshone people, im talking about native people, because there are many native people, that use tobacco. So they were told a long time ago that one of the gifts of tobacco is that its very sensitive. It said that when you hold me, I feel every thought, every feeling that you carry within you. An so when we would pray with tobacco and hold tobacco in out hands. We knew we could not lie. We knew we had to speak the truth. Because what ever we said out loud, that tobacco would carry what was really in our hearts. What ever we prayed to whether it was to the creator, to that rock, doing our ceremony. what ever it was. That tobaccos carried exactly what was in our heart and then it would be passed on when we offered it. So that's why in a pipe ceremony, if you've noticed, that usually one of the things they do. right before they light the pipe and its loaded and they are ready to light it. The they say now there can be no lies between us. that was the understanding, that once that tobacco was going around, that every person that held that pipe, that cununpa, that tobacco would carry what their truth was in them and it would go all the away round that way in so, you would know you had to speak the truth.

 

JL: So what would happen if someone has a bad intention, or is not an honest person. What would be the result of that?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Well I've  seen different things happen. when people are doing these ceremonies in the right hear and in the right way, there's a lot of power that comes in as a part of that. the mother earth, nature, our ancestors, the spirits, all come in and work with us when we are doing it in the right way.

And what happens is if you get somebody in there that doesn't have a good heart. I saw one time a guy that there was some medicine being passed around and they would hold it and prey with it and hw they did this one guy took it in his hand and made a prayer with it and passed it on and as soon a she passed it on his hand started swelling and swelling and got bigger and bigger. This was all native people that was in this ceremony. And the guy starts screaming and then saying im sorry im sorry. And he had stolen something the night before from one of the other people. And that hand that he stole with, it started doing that.

There's other things that I've seen happen, I've seen a person tongue swell who was making lies. there's a lot of power and our people know this, out people, sometimes they try to get away with this but there is no way we can trick the spirits, or the mother earth. there is no way we can trick the creator. They know what's in our hearts they see, by out very energy that we carry within us and around us, all the time. It shows who we truly are.

So we only try to fool ourselves, Some times we feel we can fool other people. but we can never fool the medicine or the spirits. 

JL: Who would get to carry a pipe for example. What is the criteria for that, in your tribe?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Well, I can speak from my life experience, I do not want to speak for just my tribe because ive heard things for a lot of years, inter-tribally. and would gave to say there is a basic amongst all tribes that the pipe just didn't come from just one tribe. it came  from many deferent tribes. So I guess what I would say for the way I was taught is that the person would truly have to be walking what we call the red road or a spiritual way of life. that they are committed to that.

And second that it would be shown to a spiritual person, that it was a part of their path. There would be signs that it would be shown, that this person, its time for them to take on this responsibility. Then they would have to have training and understanding what this responsibility is. Learning the sings the ways of the pipe. One of the things for those that take that up is that they are saying they are dedicating to their lives to the way of life and to the people. and part of that dedication is that of nay of your people ever call upon you for help in nay way, that you will do everything possible to help them in that way with out thinking for anything in return. But you give it freely from your heart to help them. Its a very serious dedication and responsibility. and that's one of the things we have been trying to help people understand, is don't be too fast to rush into these things. really learn and understand what it really is about. Don't get into it from the ego. That's a lot of responsibility we take on even just learning the spiritual way of life. Is responsibility because what happens is that if you are walking the spiritual way of life, its like a muscle the more you exercise the more the muscles stronger  it gets.  Well when you walk in spiritual way of life the more you walk in that life the stronger your won spiritual energy becomes. Your thoughts, your words, your deeds all become stronger, they have more force behind them. Because you are increasing that spiritual knowledge and that spiritual energy within you. So you have t be re responsible for your thoughts, words and deeds. So understand how they can effect others.

 

JL: That's very interesting because when you talk this sounds very Buddhist.

Mala Spotted Eagle: I've only followed the native American way, all my life, I've never looked at the bible, I've never bee to church, I've always believed in this way of life, I was bright up in it. But one of the things I learned, since we have has so many experiences from people from all over the mother earth is that one things that holds common is truth. That when you get down to it there is a basic truth. amongst all people. Which is one of the reasons our community Nanish Shontie is open to other people is because we have seen that truth all around the mother earth. That there is a spiritual way of life that is common to all people. We have a certain way of greeting the sunrise. We have a purification ceremony. we follow the moon customs. it was very common all over. Different ways of approach and that was one often reasons we realized, not just through creation, was that there was another teacher that all of us had at one time and that was the mother earth. And she taught us all the different things through the nature how to live more in harmony with ourselves, each other and with her. And that is something which is a common truth, which is certain spiritual laws that go to any spiritual path. A certain way of understanding that belongs anywhere. And that is what we are trying to help people. We don't have all the answers here. For what we do know, we try to share about that understanding. so that people would be better care takers on this mother earth. that they will find the path what's right for them. We give them some tools to start learning that path. And being able to do better because  we need right now all the people we can to be able to be care takers in working together, getting beyond our differences. Because the sickness that's on the mother earth is so powerful now and its getting stronger that it really needs as many people that will be good care takers. because there is a common mistake that's going on out there. We have a lot of people out there that are saying we are really out  there to fight to help the mother earth.  but there are going out there with the same attitude that created the problem in the first place. 

 

JL: Like what?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Like we had a lot of people come to indigenous people, saying we are here to help you, and we have the answer. and they pushed their ways upon us and their ways destroyed us, yet now we are doing that to the mother earth. We are going out there saying we are going to help the mother earth. But no one asked the indigenous people how can we help you. No ones asking the mother earth now. How can we help you. We go out there thinking we have all the answers. because we don't bother to listen to the mother earth. Because we think we are superior to her. we are smarter. We need to learn to listen to the mother earth. We need to learn how to work with her in partnership and not think that we have all the answers. And once we do that then we are care takers, of this mother earth then we can be part of the healing, not part of the hurting.

JL: So are you talking mostly about the environmental issues contamination, pollution etc.

Mala Spotted Eagle: Yes im talking about all those issues. How are we going to help the mother earth if we go out there still thinking we know all the answers. When are we going to start to realize that we need to learn, that we don't have all the answers. Its the thinking that we had all the answers is what created al the mess in the first place.

 

JL: How would you go out solving a problem with the devastation to the environment, the pollution to the water etc.

Mala Spotted Eagle: First changing my way if thinking. Because if I go out to solve a problem like that and im still thinking that I have the right way and I have all the answers then your going to go around creating problems. There is no one right path on this mother earth there are many good paths for the mother earth and the creator. There is no one right path to solve everything. And as soon as you start thinking you have the right path and then there's a problem, We need to go out there and recognize we don't have all the understanding. How can we work with others to solve it, how can we work with the mother earth and see what it is she needs. there are simple ways that people can just do in their every day life to learn how to reconnect to the mother earth. to learn how to open themselves to her voice, to the spiritual voices  that are around them. But people never seem to want to take the time to do it. And that if we are going to help turn things around, we need to turn things around in us first. And once we can do that then our way of thinking changes. Because its not the cars the factories and stuff that cause the pollution. It was our way of thinking that caused it. We created those things from our way of thinking. Taking the short cuts, money,  power, ego. We never stopped to think when we were creating those things how this will effect the next seven generations. How will effect the mother earth and life upon her now.  We wanted the short cut, we wanted power and money. We need to change our way of thinking. We need to start thinking about these other things. and we need to start listening to the mother earth and working with her again. We can do that and when we go out there, we are going to do it a little differently than what we originally thought, because we are truly working in partnership with those and mother earth again.

 

JL: So would you do this through mediation, is their a process that you would do this?

Mala Spotted Eagle: No the native way of life is a very active way of life. There are times you go and you are quite, but most of it is about really interacting with life, not just sitting there, its a very interactive way of life. even with the other earth. and so what we do is try and go out on the mother earth every day, and make a prayer too. To acknowledge her to give thanks for everything she gives to us. Ask her to help guide us. To break down the blocks that are within us. and  help us to learn to listen to her again. Help us to be better care takers, of her again. Help us to be a part of the healing and not part of the hurting. And we try to do this at sunrise, if at all possible, that was the way I as taught. And the reason at sunrise is there is a special energy at sunrise. its not because of the sun rising. its because both the day time and night time energy are both awakened at that time. and they are all there to hear your prayers all there to give you strength to your prayers. And you pray to all creation at that time. And you are asking for guidance.

At first sometimes when you go out there, and you first start doing this and you are making these prayers to the mother earth, you feel a little weird or foolish, because its something very different and unusual. you are actually out there trying to acknowledge the mother earth. and acknowledge creation and all the life around you, within and above you  and below you  and if you do that everyday truly and honestly as often as you could and go out there and acknowledge mother earth and make those offerings to her. What happens a little by little its starts getting a  little more comfortable. And once its starts getting comfortable and becoming more and more from your heart and nor your mind. An when its really starts becoming from your heart then you start breaking down the blocks that you out there, when you were young. start being able to open your self again to the mother earth, to the voices around you, to the spirits. and when that happens, then you will start getting guidance and you will start seeing things actually change around you and you will start having greater awareness around you.

 

This is a simple way of just doing this. that people need to do that. Try and make it at sunrise if that's possible. if not try and get out there everyday and pray to that mother earth. stand upon her and make a prayer with some tobacco and make that offering. And when you are done with it, don't throw it on the mother earth or drop her, bend down and give it to the mother earth . Treat her like your mother. You don't just throw things at your mother. you offer it to her. there's a lot of things like that you know. this is what we are trying to share here at  Nanish Shontie. Trying to help people to understand. how to do these things in a better way and reconnect.

JL: What does Nanish Shontie mean by the way?  What's the translation of the words?

Mala Spotted Eagle: Its the Shoshone language, meaning asking the creator for a blessing. Because we feel right now we need all the blessings and help we can get on our path. Because we have a lot of work to do and a long ways to go.

 

For more info Visit

www.nanish.org