The Word for Earth is Earth

My name is John Thomas Twofist. Many of you read my last article
and wrote that I was insulting. The truth is, I am half Cherokee,
half Irish and half Polish and only those who speak from a place of
white privilege are insulted. It is this false “political
correctness” that has polluted the mind of the Anglo and made him into
a pandering, fork-tongued devil.When I lived in Encino with my treacherous sister, I realized many
things. One was the True Blood that filled my body. The
Cherokee blood. I set out to learn our Language and now wish to
tell you the most magical of Cherokee words. The word for
Earth. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to use the correct font
so I cannot write this word. It sounds like “elohi” and it is
written with a sort of squiggly capital R, followed by a G and then a
symbol that doesn’t look like anything, really. That is the word
for Earth.

My people have a legend. In the legend, the great Mother Spirit,
who built the earth from her lungs, selects a young brave to be her
spokesperson. The brave is the weakest boy in the tribe, and many
of the tribe mock him. When he returns and speaks for the Mother
Spirit, no one heeds him. The Mother Spirit told him to say that
a Great Wind was coming. My people believe that a Great Wind
comes once a generation and sweeps away the souls of the dead. If
you are not cautious, you may become trapped in the Great Wind and
vanish forever. The Brave, whose name was Running Deer, which
sounds like “atsvsti awi,” was forced to the Supper Tent by the
elders where he was told to be silent about the Mother Spirit and
prepare the meal for the tribe. It is customary for the tribe to
eat together and bond, a practice forbidden by the Anglo. Then a
squaw, whose name was Crippled Horse, or “Uyotsvhi soquili,” came
to him.

“I believe in your words,” Crippled Horse said to him. Her mouth
was large, and her face had a scarred lip. She was not beautiful,
but Running Deer looked in her eyes and saw something he recognized.

“I am glad you believe,” Running Deer said to Crippled Horse.

Crippled Horse lifted her dress and lay for Running Deer. He
pushed apart her legs and moved down to be on top of her, undoing his
breeches. This sexual position was adopted by the Anglos, not the
other way around like they claim in the White Privilege history texts.

When Running Deer entered Crippled Horse, Crippled Horse said, “Let the Mother Spirit enter me.”

Running Deer then became the Mother Spirit and he felt a great pressure
on his penis. As Mother Spirit and Crippled Horse bonded, Running
Deer realized what had happened and tried to rip himself from Crippled
Horse, but her sex closed upon him and tore his penis away.

Crippled Horse then stood, letting her dress fall back down, and she
said to Running Deer, “You were not yet ready for the Mother Spirit.”
When the elders found Running Deer, he had died from bleeding to
death. Crippled Horse was nowhere to be found and, within one sun
– what we call a day – no one remembered Crippled Horse. Then the
Great Wind came and many were taken for they heeded not the warnings of
the Mother Spirit.

In Cherokee tradition, the Earth, or Mother Spirit, is a living
creature. The oceans and rivers are like blood, the sky like eyes
and the tree roots like feet. It is the Anglo who
does not heed the Mother Spirit’s warning and, so, like Running Deer,
the Anglo will be emasculated by Crippled Horse. It is only a
matter of time.

I live in Kansas, which is the Anglo name for “Ayatena
Gasohi.” I live in my girlfriend’s apartment in a
small, rural area. She is one quarter Iowa. Not the state,
the tribe. She drives to White Cloud each day to work with the
Iowa of Kansas Executive Committee. It is she who reminded me of
the Tale of the Mother Spirit when I started working on this
column. We had been fighting because I am currently unemployed,
through no fault of my own, and I am jealous because she sometimes
stays at the Best Western in White Cloud. The recent winter storm
in the Midwest means that she must stay in White Cloud on the weekends
and sometimes the Best Western is full so she stays with traveling
businessmen kind enough to put her up. At first, I misinterpreted
the situation, but I am hot headed. Once she explained the
extenuating circumstances, and assured me that her boss at the
Committee vouched for these individuals, I relaxed.

My girlfriend is very pretty and I do not like to be gone from her for
long, but any friend of the Iowa is a friend of mine and learning to
not be sexually possessive is the lesson taught in the Tale of Running
Deer. It is a lesson we all should learn. I tell you this
from the heart.

Thank you for reading. May the Earth walk with you in light.

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