For over a century the Native American shamans have prophesied the end of an earth cycle, the disappearance of the white man, and the return of all living things which had vanished under the pressures of the present world. The time, we are told, is near. As we observe governments, industries, and ourselves, we can see a system of waste and pollution so widespread as to cast a shadow across generations to come. It doesn't take a clairvoyant to predict disaster. Fortunately, we are aware of the need for change. The question is, whether the necessary changes in our institutions and ourselves will occur faster than the production of pollution generated by our old patterns of behavior. Only by honoring Mother Earth, Indian shamans tell us, can we avert disaster.
In the last century, a Sioux shaman had this vision of America's future: "I saw this in my mind not long ago: in my vision the electric light will stop sometime. The day is coming when nature will stop the electricity. People are being too smart, too clever; the machine stops and they are helpless because they have forgotten how to make do without the machine."
Sun Bear wrote: "I saw camps of people around natural water, such as rivers, creeks and springs, working hard to produce their food, but thankful to be alive, for only here and there were small bands of people alive. I've seen people fleeing great cities, and other people dying from pollution and cities abandoned."
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