Miscellaneous Ceremony

PICTURESQUE SPEECH FOR WRITING CEREMONIES

These are a few descriptive phrases which illustrate the beauty of the Indian speech. They will be helpful as YOU prepare ceremonies at your meetings:

The painted leaves danced with the North wind.

The Moon of Painted Leaves.

The leaves whispered to the stars.

As many as the leaves on the trees.

Soon the keen knives of winter will cut the air.

Fifteen snows. (Fifteen years.)

Two suns and two sleeps. (Two days and two nights.)

Many moons. (Many months.)

When the moon is round. (At full moon.)

When the sun looks over the edge of the earth.

The sun journeys over the edge of the world.

When the sun is halfway on its journey.

Before the sun leaves to let the night come.

When the sun has gone to make place for the moon.

Farther than a fast pony could run from moon to moon.

The forest was covered with the dark blanket of night.

As long as the grass grows and the water runs (flows).

The water that never freezes. (The ocean,.)

The star that does not move. (North star.)

The tree that whispers to itself. (Aspen.)

I have only good things about you in my heart.

Descriptive Names for Stars and Various Natural Wonders:

The Milky Way was known as "The Trail of the wolf''. (plains tribes.)

The Northern Lights was called "The Marching Lights" (Sioux), and "The Ghost Dance of the Spirits" (Chippewa).

The North Star was named "The Star-that-does-not-move", and the Big Dipper was called "The Seven Stars".

The Iroquois named the sky "The Great Blue Wigwam" and fox fire was called "Witch Lights".