THOUGHTFUL ITEMS FOR SCOUTERS

Thanks to Scouter Jim from Bountiful, Utah, who prepares this section of Baloo for us each month.  You can reach him at bobwhitejonz@juno.com or through the link to write Baloo on www.usscouts.org.   CD

Roundtable Prayer

Dakota Prayer

CS Roundtable Planning Guide

Grandfather, Great Spirit, fill us with the light.  Teach us to walk the soft earth as relatives to all that lives.

An Apache Scout Prayer

"Grandfather of all Scouts...

Teach me to be the eyes of my people. 

Teach me to move like the shadow. 

Allow me to become the winds, the rocks, the soils, and the life force in all it's forms. 

Allow me to suffer for my people
and take away their pain. 

Honor me by allowing me to die for my people. 

For I love my people beyond myself and I will sacrifice my all for my people,  my earth, and for you. 

Test me beyond all hardship and pain. 

Create me as you would forge a tool, and if you find I am worthy, then bless me as your servant -
your Scout."

Beauty Is Before Me

Navajo Prayer

Beauty is before me,

And beauty is behind me,

Above and below me hovers the beautiful,

I am surrounded by it.

I am immersed in it.

In my youth I as aware of it,

And in old age I shall walk quietly

The beautiful Trail

Great Spirit, Great Spirit, my Grandfather, all over the earth the faces of living things are all alike...Look upon these faces of children without number and with children in their arms, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of the quiet. - Black Elk,  Oglala Sioux Holy Man

A Prayer For Eagles

"And he will raise you up on Eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun and,
Hold you in the palm of his hand."

Chief Kanosh – The Peacemaker

Scouter Jim, Bountiful UT

Many Americans have never known any Native American people.  Their only image of what  a Native Americans is, are from movies and old TV programs of the Indians that ate the first Thanksgiving dinner with the Pilgrims.  It is true that We know that Samoset and Squanto help those early Pilgrims survive.  Indian Nations have often been friendly to European settlers, sometime to their own detriment.  Many of our States, rivers, streams, mountain ranges and cities reflect our connection to the Indian Nations that are apart of this “One nation, under God.” 

I would like to introduce here, a noble Native American as this month as we discuss Indian Nations.  Born in the second month of 1821, in the mountains of eastern California, Kanosh migrated with his widowed mother and three brothers to the Corn Creek area of the Utah Territory.   That area now bears forever his name, Kanosh, Utah.  His Indian name meant “willow basket” as a young child, he used to enjoy playing in his mother’s willow basket.

His brother, was the fierce tribal leader Wakara, known as Chief Walker, whose Indian name meant brass. As a result of a argument between some Indians and white settlers in 1853, Walker vowed to exterminate the white settlers.  A war, ,known as the Walker War, ensured for many months.  Many people were killed on both sides as the war raged on.

At a meeting in May 1854, Chief Kanosh, a powerful leader in his own right of a group of 500 people, in a meeting with Brigham Young and many other tribal chiefs and their warriors, convinced his brother, Wakara and the others to smoke the peace pipe and end the war.  The name of Chief Kanosh will forever be connected with peace.  Let us give credit to great Native American leaders who both love the earth and peace as we teach our Cub Scouts about Indian Nations.

Quotations

Quotations contain the wisdom of the ages, and are a great source of inspiration for Cubmaster’s minutes, material for an advancement ceremony or an insightful addition to a Pack Meeting program cover

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."  - Ancient Indian Proverb

The Great Spirit is in all things, he is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us, that which we put into the ground she returns to us....
"Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking." - Big Thunder (Bedagi) Wabanaki Algonquin

Grown men can learn from very little children for the hearts of the little children are pure.
Therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss. - Black Elk Oglala Sioux Holy Man

You have noticed that everything as Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round..... The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.... Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. - Black Elk, Oglala Sioux Holy Man

"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."  - Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator

 “When a man does a piece of work which is admired by all we say that it is wonderful; but when we see the changes of day and night, the sun, the moon, and the stars in the sky, and the changing seasons upon the earth, with their ripening fruits, anyone must realize that it is the work of someone more powerful than man.” - Chased-by-Bears, Santee-Yanktonai Sioux

 “A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.” - Crazy Horse, Sioux Chief

"If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them you will not know them and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys." - Chief Dan George

"The Circle has healing power. In the Circle, we are all equal. When in the Circle, no one is in front of you. No one is behind you. No one is above you. No one is below you. The Sacred Circle is designed to create unity. The Hoop of Life is also a circle. On this hoop there is a place for every species, every race, every tree and every plant. It is this completeness of Life that must be respected in order to bring about health on this planet."  - Dave Chief, Oglala Lakota

"Listen to all the teachers in the woods. Watch the trees, the animals and all the living things--you'll learn more from them than books." - Joe Coyhis

"Our land is everything to us... I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember that our grandfathers paid for it - with their lives." - John Wooden Legs, Cheyenne

"Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood is ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence ... What are the fruits of silence? They are self-control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of character." Ohiyesa, Santee Sioux

"The ground on which we stand is sacred ground. It is the blood of our ancestors." - From Chief Plenty Coups, Crow

"We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees." - Qwatsinas (Hereditary Chief Edward Moody), Nuxalk Nation

I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love. - Red Cloud Makhpiya-luta) , April, 1870

All birds, even those of the same species, are not alike, and it is the same with animals and with human beings. The reason WakanTanka does not make two birds, or animals, or human beings exactly alike is because each is placed here by WakanTanka to be an independent individuality and to rely upon itself. - Shooter Teton Sioux

"We learned to be patient observers like the owl. We learned cleverness from the crow, and courage from the jay, who will attack an owl ten times its size to drive it off its territory. But above all of them ranked the chickadee because of its indomitable spirit." - Tom Brown, Jr., The Tracker

All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. - Chief Seattle[Seatlh],  Suquamish Chief

There is no death. Only a change of worlds.” - Chief Seattle [Seatlh],  Suquamish Chief

"The earth and myself are of one mind." Chief Seattle, [Seatlh],  Suquamish Chief

"I want my people to stay with me here. All the dead men will come to life again. Their spirits will come to their bodies again. We must wait here in the homes of our fathers and be ready to meet them in the bosom of our mother." -  Wovoka, Paiute

"Do right always. It will give you satisfaction in life."  - Wovoka, Paiute

Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view and demand they respect yours. --Chief Tecumsah

Native American Prayers for Peace

Oh Great Spirit of our
Ancestors, I raise
my pipe to you.
To your messengers the four winds, and
to Mother Earth who provides
for your children.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children
to love, to respect, and to be kind
to each other so that they may grow
with peace of mind
Let us learn to share all good things that
you provide for us on this Earth.

Chief Yellow Hawk

O ye people, be ye healed;
Life anew I bring unto ye.
O ye people, be ye healed;
Life anew I bring unto ye

Through the Father over all
Do I thus.
Life anew I bring unto ye."
Unknown

Blessed Are the Cub Scouts

National Capital Area Council

Blessed are the Cub Scouts who are taught to see beauty in all things around them. 

For their world will be a place of grace and wonder.
Blessed are the Cub Scouts who are led with patience and understanding... 

For they will learn the strength of endurance and gift of tolerance.

Blessed are the Cub Scouts who are provided a home where family members dwell in harmony and close communion. –
For they shall become the peacemakers of the world.

Blessed are the Cub Scouts who are taught the value and power of truth...
For they shall search for knowledge and use it with wisdom and discernment.

Blessed are the Cub Scouts who are guided by those with faith in a loving God...
For they will find Him early and will walk with Him through life.

Blessed are the Cub Scouts who are loved and know that they are loved...
For they shall sow seeds of love in the world and reaps joy for themselves and others.  AMEN.

100th Psalm of Scouting

National Capital Area Council

Make a joyful noise unto the world, all ye Scouters;

Serve Scouting with gladness, and join the circle of

Scouting with singing.

Know that Scouting is the way;

Its lessons have made us and we are grateful;

We are its leaders, guiding young Scouts.

Enter its programs with a cheerful spirit, and offer boys your praise.

For Scouting is good!

Its lessons endure forever, and its truths to all generations.

The Native Way

National Capital Area Council

Each morning upon arising and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you and for all life

Treat every person with respect.

Special respect should be given to elders, parents, and teachers.

Never speak unkindly to another person.

Touch nothing that belongs to another.

Respect the privacy of everyone.

Never walk between people when they are conversing.

Never interrupt people, who are conversing,

Speak in a quiet voice.

Never speak unless invited to do so.

Do not speak of others in a negative way.

Treat the Earth as your Mother.

Respect the beliefs of others.

Listen with courtesy when others speak.

Respect the wisdom of people in council.

Thanksgiving Quotes

Baloo’s Archives

"When asked if my cup is half-full or half-empty my only response is that I am thankful I have a cup."       -Sam Lefkowitz

"If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get."                -Frank A. Clark

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."   -Albert Schweitzer

"Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free."   Unk

"Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do that day, which must be done, whether you like it or not."                                                                     -James Russell Lowell

"Things could be a lot worse, the stress of the situation always could be worse, but I am alive and I have a lot to be thankful for - so I shall not waste my days with stress and frustrations - Life is too short! "          -Catherine Pulsifer

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."-           William Arthur Ward

"Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty."            -Doris Day

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice."           -Meister Eckhart

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."                                                                      -Epicurus

"When eating a fruit, think of the person who planted the tree."               -Vietnamese Proverb

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."                                                                -Oprah Winfrey

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you'?"   - William Arthur Ward