People of the Weeping Eye (North America's Forgotten Past) Read Free Page A

he lost like so many of these kids today? In the battle for his soul, will the video games win, or will he taste the elixir of Spirit Power? Will he ever take the time to find himself?”
    The Song grew louder, and she squinted down at the water.
    Something moved in the river, slipping along below the surface. Sunlight glittered on the shifting current, and she swore she saw rainbow colors sliding in the depths. Was that a sparkle of sunlight, or a great crystalline eye watching her?
    “Is that your Song, Grandfather?”
    The water swirled, sucked, and smoothed.
    “Oh, what a story you could tell.”
    The Singing grew fainter, and the thing was gone.

Makatok
    “M akatok.” In the Mos’kogee language it means, “It was said long ago.” Makatok is the word that starts all of our stories of Power, of prophecy, and legend. When a story is begun with Makatok, the audience knows that they must listen intently, that what is being told to them is not frivolous, but contains great lessons, truths, and portents for the conduct of their lives.
    Makatok is not a word that is used casually. It implies obligations from both the orator and the listener. You must understand: A story is more than just words; it has an existence of its own — a soul and presence that must be experienced and felt. A story lives, breathes, and has its own heartbeat. This must be respected.
    When an orator begins his story with Makatok he places his audience on notice that what they are about to hear must be carefully considered, for it concerns the way they live, how they perceive their world and relate to the people, places, and things in it. It tells them that what they are about to hear has implications from the past, value for the present, and ramifications for the future.
    Ah, I see the look of confusion in your eyes. Have you never considered that time is alive? Do you think the past dead? Is the present only the breath in your lungs? Are the rhythms of the future but fantasy to you?
    Extend your senses; see through the eyes of the spiral. Time is relationships. The past spinning itself into the
present, weaving events that will form and color the textile of our future.
    What? You need an example? Very well. In the eye of your souls, visualize an arrow in flight. Imagine it, shining in the sun, the keen point slicing the air. Hear the feathers hissing in the wind.
    Can you imagine it? Good. Now, what does it mean, this arrow arcing through the sky?
    To know, you must relive the intent of the archer who nocked this fletched shaft in a taut bowstring. You must sense the urgency in his heart when he drew the nock back to his ear. Were his souls possessed with fear of an untimely death? Anger at betrayal? Hatred for a despised enemy … or perhaps just the desperation of an empty belly? Only when you understand the archer can you either admire or fear the arrow’s flight. In this moment you can anticipate or rue its eventual impact as it finds or misses its intended target.
    Ah, now you begin to see. The present began in the past. Everything, from the patterns of clouds in the sky, the path of a beetle across the dirt, the love in a father’s eyes, to the wails of a dying captive, was spun from decisions made in the past. Each will extend beyond this moment to the future where they will be played out. Close your eyes; sense the movement of time around you. It is inexorable, flowing like a great river through and around us. Can you not comprehend the majesty of it? Is it not one of the miracles of creation?
    Nevertheless most of us muddle along, mired only in the present, involved with our mundane tasks. With each step we stare at the clinging mud beneath our feet instead of the glorious path ahead.
    For that reason, the great stories begin with Makatok . The word tells you to open your souls and pay attention, to realize the marvel of what you are about to hear. Drop your preoccupations of the moment. Expand your understanding of the universe around