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I am Little Jumper and I use the owl in my regalia.
Sometimes there are those who cast questioning eyes upon that regalia, but in my case of the owls, they came to
me in good times and I dealt with them with honor and respect. And they were good medicine. Now here is a story
of the Owl from a good Lakota friend of mine.
 YESTERDAY
AND TODAY, THE OWL
Many, many years ago, as a child, I got to see
and touch the first owls in my life. My brothers brought home two baby owls, from the prairie hills, and nursed
them, until they were old enough to fly, on their own. When they found these two baby owls, the mother owl had
been killed. So my brothers brought these owls home. My mother said they were bad medicine and to take them back
to where they found them, but my Grandfather was a Pipe Carrier and a Medicine Man and he said if my brothers cared
for the owls and gave them life until they were strong enough to fly on their own, the spirits would protect my
brothers and the owls from anything bad.
Later my brothers let the owls fly away and my
mother and grandfather made tobacco ties for the owls and made food to feed the owls and the spirits. These things
they took to where the owls were found and prayed to Tunkasila.
My grandfather then spoke of the spiritual beliefs
that were passed on, to the Oyate, from the Buffalo Calf Woman, of long ago, from generation to generation. He
said, if you have any bad thoughts or bad feelings and you use bad actions while bad medicine is in your possession,
something bad will happen to you and your family. But, also he said that in the case of the owls, which could have
been bad medicine, if you reverently respect and care for this medicine as would Mother Earth and Grandfather Sky,
and if you pray to the 4 directions and to the rock and water spirits and to the fire and animal spirits and to
Tunkasila, if you can do this with great reverence and good thoughts, feelings and actions, while this bad medicine
is in your hands, Tunkasila will protect you and your family from anything bad. For you have honored life and the
spirits in caring for part of the circle of life and respecting them.
So it was spoken to be true. So it was spoken from the heart. So it was spoken by Grandfather.
Little Jumper, 1-29-2000 as told by B. BringsPlenty
Mitakuye Oyasin
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