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BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: Members of 12 Native American tribes assembled recently in Terre Haute, Indiana, in what was called a "Gathering of the People." Its purpose: to celebrate the connection of all the tribes, some from as far away as Montana, Oklahoma, and Kansas, and their connection to the earth and to God.
The ceremony is described by Tim Tieyah, a member of the Comanche tribe.
TIM TIEYAH (Comanche Tribe Member): There's no other people I know who has more profound respect of where we stand on this earth. Some of our songs relate to Mother Earth. We come from Mother Earth and it's a cinch we're going back to Mother Earth. So we pray and we sing and we dance -- and we sanctify this immediate area that we dance and sing on.
The drum is a tool that we use that the Almighty gave us. He gave it to us when we were first made a people. When I sit at the drum, we start with a prayer and we end with a prayer. I ask for strength that these songs will come to me, the songs that God gave our forefathers, and that we can sing them in the right way, because you have to know them by your mind and your heart. There are no books for these songs.
We feel everything has a spirit: you, I, these trees, these animals. Sometimes, when I'm perplexed and have so many problems, I pray and humble myself. And my grandfather comes to me and gives me a direction and strengthens me.
The ceremony is described by Tim Tieyah, a member of the Comanche tribe.
TIM TIEYAH (Comanche Tribe Member): There's no other people I know who has more profound respect of where we stand on this earth. Some of our songs relate to Mother Earth. We come from Mother Earth and it's a cinch we're going back to Mother Earth. So we pray and we sing and we dance -- and we sanctify this immediate area that we dance and sing on.
The drum is a tool that we use that the Almighty gave us. He gave it to us when we were first made a people. When I sit at the drum, we start with a prayer and we end with a prayer. I ask for strength that these songs will come to me, the songs that God gave our forefathers, and that we can sing them in the right way, because you have to know them by your mind and your heart. There are no books for these songs.We feel everything has a spirit: you, I, these trees, these animals. Sometimes, when I'm perplexed and have so many problems, I pray and humble myself. And my grandfather comes to me and gives me a direction and strengthens me.
We have an annual "dowaka" where we dance the dance of our forefathers. We explain to our young people what they're about so that in that way we can perpetuate our tradition, our culture and also our religion.
When God made us, he gave us every living thing. One of the living things was the eagle. It's common knowledge to any Indian he flies the highest and, according to our beliefs, carries the prayers upon his wings to the Almighty. So we hold him that high. We don't pray to him -- he's not a God, but he's a creature. The eagle staff comes in first. So that's one of our sacred emblems and we hold it quite high, just like you would a Bible.
