The American Heritage Thread

Dave

Dave

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Post up and share your knowledge of obscure American cultural heritage, traditions, stories and people or places.

Let's start with an example, the Legend of the Great White Buffalo.

the great white buffalo.jpg


To Native Americans, the Bison or American Buffalo was a symbol of sacred life and abundance. This importance and symbolism was created from legend:

One summer a long time ago, the seven sacred council fires of the Lakota Sioux came together and camped. The sun was strong and the people were starving for there was no game. Two young men went out to hunt in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Along the way, a beautiful young woman dressed in white appeared to the warriors and said, "Return to your people and tell them I am coming." This holy woman presented the Lakota people with the sacred pipe which showed how all things were connected. She taught the Lakota people the mysteries of the earth. She taught them to pray and follow the proper path while on earth. As the woman left the tribe, she rolled upon the earth four times, changing color each time, and finally turning into a white buffalo calf. Then she disappeared. Almost at the same time as her leaving, great herds of buffalo could be seen surrounding the camps. It is said that after that day, the Lakota honored their pipe, and buffalo were plentiful.

This story of the White Buffalo Calf Woman has immense importance to the Lakota and many other tribes. As John Lame Deer, a spiritual leader says, "A white buffalo is the most sacred living thing you could ever encounter." The changing colors—like some white buffalo do as they age—have significance, too, which must be interpreted by a holy man.

The American Buffalo or Bison is a symbol of abundance and manifestation. The lesson learned by the Lakota is that one does not have to struggle to survive. This is especially true if the right action is joined by the right prayer. By learning to appropriately unite the mundane with the divine, all that will be needed will be provided.

The Native Americans see the birth of a white buffalo calf as the most significant of prophetic signs, equivalent to the weeping statues, bleeding icons, and crosses of light that are becoming prevalent within the Christian churches today. Where the Christian faithful who visit these signs see them as a renewal of God's ongoing relationship with humanity, so do the Native Americans see the white buffalo calf as the sign to begin life's sacred hoop.

"The arrival of the white buffalo is like the second coming of Christ," says Floyd Hand Looks For Buffalo, an Oglala Medicine Man from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. "It will bring about purity of mind, body, and spirit and ;unify all nations—black, red, yellow, and white." He sees the birth of a white calf as an omen because they happen in the most unexpected places and often among the poorest people in the nation. The birth of the sacred white buffalo provides those within the Native American community with a sense of hope and an indication that good times are to come.

The telling of a story from one culture to another is complex; without living in the culture, we miss much of the story's significance. However, it can still have meaning for us if we take the time to learn about the philosophy of the Native American culture from which it came.
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In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed up what is the western coast of the US. With him came European diseases such as small pox.
There were two rival shaman. Each thought the other was cursing their followers with this horrible disease. One began to flee with his followers. They stopped and began to settle a village but again the horrible disease caught up to them. Many died. They screamed in sorrow, crying as they burned their village and began to flee again.
Again they stopped to build a village, again the affliction caught up to them. Again they cried in agony as their loved ones died the horrible illness. Burn and flee.
They finally came to a place and meandered through a series of small valleys and saw before them the expansion of a huge valley. The clouds parted and the sun shone brilliantly to light the valley up in a beautiful spectacle.
They went down into the valley and built a village there. The run was finally over. The people rejoiced and honored the shaman for leading them to safety. This was where they would live the rest of their lives.
When the shaman finally died, he turned into a condor and flew high into the air. As he perched upon the mountain
he turned into a rock. As each of his followers died, they too turned into condors and perched on the mountain and transformed to rocks.
The name of that village was Temeku and now is known as Temecula.
 
There are many obsure bits of knowledge floating around about America. Places, people, legends, myths.

I'm sure some of the seasoned travelers here have knowledge of things and places that may or may not be in a book somewhere.

This thread is merely a place to share information on these obscure subjects that are woven into the fabric of America. :study
 
Rainbow Valley, (near Temecula) was not named for a rainbow that appeared after a storm, but for a homesteader named James Rainbow. It was formally known as "vallacito" (little valley en Español) until the late 1800's.
 
Chumash. They were originally on a channel island. They became too many and the goddess became angry because they were too noisy. She told them to leave but they had no way to leave. Suddenly a rainbow appeared from the island ALL the way to the mainland and they were told to walk over the rainbow but could not look down because if they did they would fall. As they walked along towards the mainland of what is today California, many looked down and fell into the sea and became dolphins.

i do not make these up.

http://www.rain.org/camp96/chumash_myth3.html
 
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The native Americans along the Colorado river, in particular the Mojave, (Aka-Makhav), used to travel to the coast regularly to trade there with the Tongva. They were very aware of the natural water springs along the way in the desert. At times they would travel up to 100 miles in one day ON FOOT!!
One time they came in to trade but most of the Tongva were Catholic converts and were in mass at mission San Gabriel. A soldier who was constantly in and out of trouble, tried to take their things and they began to beat him. As mass was let out they were soon overwhelmed and fled. Mounted soldados de cuera gave chase up and over Cajon pass and into the desert. Three days past the Mojave river the soldiers returned due to exhausted horses.

Here is a link to what this same route is like today:
http://americanadventurist.com/Forum/showthread.php?804-Mojave-Rd-Sept-2013
 
Nice job DesertFront. As a former California resident one thing I miss is learning about its rich history. I live in the oldest county in the US and within the cradle of this country's birth but there's something that was always more appealing about California's more "recent" history that resonated within me.
 
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