"Kimkimila Wi" (The Butterfly Sun)

"Kimkimila Wi"

(The Butterfly Sun)

 

By Zumila Wobaga (Charmaine White Face)

Sept. 12, 2021

 

Our relatives to the South call it “The Butterfly Sun” when the actual sun lines up with the Equator. Then the Sun is the butterfly’s body and the rays spreading over the northern and southern hemispheres of the world are the butterfly’s wings. It is a sacred time of equilibrium and balance. We, the Oceti Sakowin, also recognize it as a sacred day, and the beginning of the time of diminishing light leading to winter. The time to rest and do indoor things. The geese, ducks, and birds are flying South. The leaves are starting to turn colors as they prepare for sleep. The buffalo berries are waiting for the first frost to release their sugar. The rattlesnakes are blind as they shed their skin. While the heska oyate, or white people, call it the Fall Equinox.

 

In all of the Western Hemisphere, traditional first nations people are praying for help on this special day, daybreak of Sept. 22, as the time we are in now has been so filled with chaos, fear and crisis. The traditional first nations people are being told by spirits that it is only going to get worse. The pandemic is not going to let up but will continue in waves as the virus mutates to more and more deadly offspring because ears are closed.

 

The United Nations (the house of mica) in 1949, 72 years ago, was warned of this time we are in now by the messengers from the Hopi nation. They were warned that technology, especially nuclear, should not be developed or the world would be too damaged. The representatives at the UN did not know that Unci Ina Maka was a spirit too and so the abuse of Her has persisted. They did not listen. Their ears were closed. Now, there are earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, droughts, floods, and heat domes all over the world. Now there are diseases killing hundreds of thousands of two-leggeds. For us, here in the northern great plains, the geologists say it is not ‘if’ the supervolcano, Yellowstone, will erupt but ‘when.’ Thousands of earthquakes have been happening there, only 300 miles away.

 

What do you do when you are in pain? Do you get fevers? Do you writhe in pain trying to ease the pain? And what happens when you have blood poisoning? The water all over the world is Her blood. Is it still pure? Or has it been so polluted that entire species of waterlife are becoming extinct. Is the polluted water causing us, two-leggeds, to be weaker and more susceptible to illness?

 

The Standing Rock Reservation has lost many members to the Covid Pandemic this past year, and also to suicide, alcohol and drug abuse. But there are those who recognize that prayer and a good connection to Wakan Tanka (Great Mystery) and all the Oglili (good angels) and others who are on the other side, the invisible side, will help us get through this time. So, they are planning on a way to purify the entire reservation. Starting Sept. 18th, with the help of the horse nation, riders will be going to the different communities to ride through the communities with sage smoke to purify the people, the houses, the entire communities. A sacred fire will burn until the four-day ceremony is completed. A Wiping of the Tears ceremony will also be held for those in mourning.

 

Will it stop the pandemic? Maybe yes, maybe no. Will it stop the alcohol and drug abuse? Maybe yes, maybe no. But more importantly it will remind the people of who they are as members of an ancient spiritual nation based on compassion, wisdom, courage and perseverance. It will increase the spirituality of the people making them prepared and strong enough to handle whatever else comes. It will drive out the negative and evil for a while. Hopefully, the people will continue to increase their spirituality.

 

This purification ceremony has miraculously come together; riders and horses and the wherewithal to feed them every day are coming in. Each day, two more communities will be blessed. The schedule will end on Sept. 21st at Bear Soldier in time to pray during the sacred butterfly sun. For more information call Wahpeziwin at 605-314-2431.

 

Wouldn’t it be so good if all the reservations did the same thing? Wouldn’t it be so good if a District or a community did this? We, individually, can also continue to smudge and pray in our homes and with our families. Then when the harder times come, we will be more prepared to handle and accept them.

 

Miracles do happen. I’ve seen so many miracles in my 74 years not to just believe, but to know this, and I’m a scientist. Miracles happen. We just have to pray for the good and the important word is “trust” that whatever happens, Wakan Tanka has good reasons. We have to be open to the miracle that will come. It might not be what we think. Would you ever think that the ugly little worm could turn into a beautiful butterfly that could fly? What about a butterfly sun?

 

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Zumila Wobaga, or Charmaine White Face (74) is Oglala Tituwan Oceti Sakowin, a great-grandmother, scientist, and writer. Google her name to read more of her writings. She can be reached at cwhiteface@gmail.com

           

           

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Llamada desde el Primer Encuentro Continental Indígena de Quito, Ecuador 1990

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Call from the First Continental Encounter of Indigenous Peoples Quito, Ecuador 1990 

(Bilingual)

Izcalli Abya Yala 

2021

Twice every year, first in the spring and then in the fall, there comes a moment when the day and night are in perfect balance.  In the common calendar of today, this time is called the equinox.  In the ancestral calendar of the Izkaloteka these times are known as the arrival of the Tonapapalome: Tlanexpapalotl - the Butterfly Sun of the Spring (red) and Yohualpapalotl - the Butterfly Sun of the Fall (purple).  The Butterfly Suns are moments of perfect equilibrium for all living beings on Mother Earth.

 

Today, in a world where humanity is out of balance with the Natural World, we take a moment to reflect, to center ourselves, commemorate, and offer our collective gratitude for the traditional teachings of our Indigenous Ancestors, so that we may go forward as a community inspired by tradition, and committed to Self Determination as Original Nations of Mother Earth.