Disturbing.

The case of Lightning Medicine Cloud has been closed. Forensic evidence points to blackleg as cause of death, not ritual mutilation. This would make sense with how sudden the deaths were, and there is a blackleg vaccine for cattle, though it may or may not work for bison. More on this in a bit.

The spiritual implications are interesting, given that another white bison calf is alive and kicking in the northeastern United States. Peter Fay, the caretaker of Yellow Medicine Dancing Boy, is not a Native American and has only had his bison farm for 4 years. The caretaker of Lightning Medicine Cloud, Arby Little Soldier, is not only a Native but is a descendant of Sitting Buffalo Bull through one of Sitting Bull's stepsons, Henry Little Soldier (so no actual blood relationship; genealogy info near the bottom of that page). To me, these men seem like wonderful decisions by the universe / White Buffalo Calf Woman / Wakan Tanka, the divine, etc., because of the unity inherent in Mitakuye Oyasin. Hold that thought.

Although technically I'm more of a Zen Catholic than anything (hating the church politics but loving me some liturgy whenever I find myself at a Mass), I identify as a pantheist. Pantheism can mean many things to many different people, but my particular flavor involves seeing everything as part of the Divine, as God in a sense, learning more about itself by working in harmony with itself, with all of us as part of its mechanisms. It's kinda like how we learn more about ourselves over time. As we learn more about ourselves and our place in the multiverses, the Divine learns more about itself, which enables it to grow and develop. Mind you, I have this belief set in a scientific context. Along with this expanding universe, I see all other currently not observed dimensions and parallel 'verses that may or may not happen at a different rate of time as parts of the Divine. It's like a macrocosm/microcosm thing, like what we have in our own bodies. This may not be the best description, but it's like the Divine is the mind/soul/spirit of a person in its own personal universe (body), with our various non-solar but still systems (nervous, endocrine, etc.) sustaining various forms of life (what with tons of different types of bacteria, viruses, etc., plus the teenyature universes of what those are made of). Knowing that everything is a necessary part of everything and that we are all in this together is the essence of Mitakuye Oyasin to me.

There needs to be a lot more love and patience and tolerance and understanding on this planet, because we really are all in this together. Many more non-Natives are more conscious of this message thanks to Lightning Medicine Cloud. However, knowing the divisions among some Natives are as politically and spiritually charged as those of non-Natives makes me sad. The issue of including non-Natives in some Native things is seen by some Natives as a Bad Thing, but it's also a Non-Issue for others. There's the worry of how to protect one's heritage while embracing Mitakuye Oyasin, and there's the bewilderment of intentions and perceptions on all sides. (For example, Johnny Depp was adopted into the Comanche Nation due to his role as Tonto but other Natives are upset by details behind his portrayal of Tonto.) There's also the perpetual headache of arguing over who might have the most authentic spirituality within the tribes, when that shouldn't even be a problem. (Read about the sacred white buffalo pipe controversy sometime. Ai yah.)

Lightning Medicine Cloud and his mom, taken on the day
of his naming ceremony. This photo is protected by Digimarc
so feel free to use it as a Facebook cover photo if you like.

As a non-Native, seeing the accusations flying over Little Buff Buff's death is disheartening. Even more disturbing are the conclusions with the facts so far. Lakota Ranch is about an hour and a half from where I currently live so it's a little surreal to me that this is all local news. I was there at the naming ceremony last year. I saw and felt the excitement of everyone there, and the deep respect and pride of many Natives as they celebrated this marvelous rare occurrence together. Now... the whole thing is disturbing, especially with the Facebook page completely gone now. That *really* bothers me, especially with the wording in the latest press release (August 24, 2012). "The Lightning Medicine Cloud website will remain open for upcoming news and updates, however Facebook has never been a spiritual thing for them, and is therefore discontinued." So.... the Facebook page was more for them than for the many others who found community there? Hrrmph. Disturbing.

[UPDATE: I am really disturbed now - looking for cached info on the Facebook page, there's apparently been a lot of name calling and insulting going on. I could see shutting it down from that, but the wording would still mention that, I would think. Even if they didn't maintain the page, whoever was admining could've said something like, "We want to remain true to the message and we obviously still have a long way to go as evidenced by the comments on the page, and so we're shutting this down in honor and respect to LMC." Or something. I just saw a cached version of the page with a comment from someone mentioning that his post was deleted ... can't handle the truth... etc..... Sigh.]

I donated a small amount of money when I heard about the deaths but I didn't designate it specifically for the justice fund or for anything else. It was most certainly not a pledge (I have the PayPal receipt as a pdf), and it was most certainly intended to help with the care and feeding of the bison there. I'm at peace with having donated, though I feel a little agitated since I wouldn't have made the donation otherwise. It's all just sad but I do hope some good happens out of this whole mess, especially if the transportation of Chief Hiawatha is still on as LMC's case is now closed. Whatever the intentions of anyone, I'm going to keep this perspective ahead of all others: ""Maybe Lightning Medicine Cloud was sent to get everyone's attention, So Yellow Medicine Dancing Boy can deliver the rest of the message?"

R.I.P. Little Buff Buff, and thank you for your short life.

I am distraught.

I thought I was distraught yesterday (Friday) when I found out about the passing of M.C.A. (who will always have more rhymes than Carl Sagan's got turtlenecks). That was nothing compared to my shock a few hours later learning about the senseless death of Lightning Medicine Cloud.

Long story short, a non-albino white bison is a rarity, and one with a dark nose, eyes, and tail tip is an extreme rarity. One was born not quite a year ago, and was murdered very recently. His mother was killed not long after, and his father had died a few weeks prior from a lightning strike. I will lose my shit if I say anything else right now, so here are some news links:

Lightning Medicine Cloud, Sacred White Buffalo, Killed and Skinned

White buffalo calf's death investigated in Hunt County

My husband is part Native American (Lakota/Cherokee) and is pretty horrified at this, as are several of my Native friends (especially a dear college friend who is Cherokee and brought this to my attention, which amazes me as she's in Florida and I'm a short drive away to Lightning Medicine Cloud's home in the North Texas area). (I'm not a Native, though according to several people I could pass for one by looks alone.) I am so grateful to have been present at LMC's naming ceremony and dedication, and I have many photos I need to process and share sometime soon. I have many swirling emotions about this whole situation, and I am grieving over all of this way more deeply than most people will ever know, because I've been involved with people in shamanic fields of study, and omg the implications. I plan to attend the memorial pow-wow this coming weekend, and I pray that karma acts swiftly with those involved in these murders.

I came across this while looking for new news on the situation, and wanted to share. Mitakuye Oyasin.

Knocking From Inside: Lament for Lightning Medicine Cloud 

Preaching by example

I self-identify as a pantheist and a skeptic. I am totally awed by nature as evidence of scientific divinity. I'm wary of well-meaning religious people who have little or no sense of what they really believe. I was baptized Catholic, raised Protestant (non-denominational, Assemblies of God, Latter Rain, back to non-denominational), attended and graduated from a university owned by the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, went through RCIA for full Catholic standing, and worked in a Roman Catholic diocesan liturgy office for 5 years. I've received attunements in both Reiki and Integrated Energy Therapy, I can do the math to cast an actual birth chart (sun-sign only horoscopes be damned), and I can read and interpret both natal charts and tarot cards, though I haven't in some time. I've spent time on the forums at the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) website and have very much enjoyed the debunking done re: vaccines, homeopathy, etc.

My family and friends have enriched my life by their varying faiths (primarily Buddhist, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Jehovah's Witness, Methodist, Baptist, Jewish, Baha'i, Pagan, New Age, Unity).  A number of my friends have enriched my life by their non-faith and critical thinking and love of science and the scientific method.  My husband is an atheist / secular humanist skeptic who has extensively studied comparative religion and who lives by Wakan Tanka.

The following part of a conversation on Facebook will probably be incorporated into an article or book, somehow.  Will work on that another time, when life slows down to a shade below crazy pace.

--

KHW: For all my theologian friends: Is the phrase "live like you're dying" theologically sound? Part of me thinks not mainly because of Christ's comment regarding abundant life. I don't have an answer.

Me:  Theologically (from what I've learned via osmosis, anyway), Christ was fully divine yet fully human. I would assume that while Christ was alive on this earth, he had intimate access to the fullness of the rest of himself (God the Father, God the Holy Spirit), especially with the words he speaks in John 14.

Christ also knew on whatever level that he would have to eventually physically die an unnatural death, and at the end of that chapter it seems clear that he knew it would occur relatively soon. The "live like you're dying" would apply to Christ's human nature, like it would apply to all of us.

From my cancer survivor perspective, living as if every day could be the last is something I'd like to see more people doing. As odd as it sounds, this "living like I'm dying" leads to my having "abundant life." There's little to no time for petty arguments, or things that are really not a big deal in the scheme of things. Everything that I have as a priority is so much more important now because of the awareness of "wow, I really do have an expiration date, so definitely need to make the most of life while I'm here."

Sometimes it takes the experience of a serious health condition or a death for a person to "get it" and I view the crucifixion as the supreme example of this for us, for understanding that we're here for a short time to make this world a better place (to me, literally bringing about heaven on earth as much as possible). Christ lived with that knowledge of having a physical expiration date, and I see that as why he urgently wanted/wants people to spread the gospel. To me, the gospel (good news) is that abundant life is available to all of us, if we just crucify the things in our lives that seem important but aren't really, and work together to manifest the Kingdom here while we're alive.