“Appeal to the Great Spirit” by Cyrus Dallin, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Great Spirit is the Creator/Supreme Being/God known as Wakan-Tanka in Lakota, Unetlanvhi to the Cherokee, Gitche Manitou in Algonquian, and by other names in other Native American and First Nations cultures.
The Great Spirit Prayer
translated by Chief Yellow Lark, Lakota, 1887Oh, Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me! I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever hold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.Help me remain calm and strong in the
face of all that comes towards me.
Help me find compassion without
empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
Apache Blessing
May the sun bring you new energy by day,
may the moon softly restore you by night,
may the rain wash away your worries,
may the breeze blow new strength into your being,
may you walk gently through the world and
know it’s beauty all the days of your life.
Dakota Morning Prayer
Grandfather, Great Spirit, you have been always, and before you nothing has been, there is no one to pray to but you. The star nations all over the heavens are yours, and yours are the grasses of the earth. You are older than all need, older than all pain and prayer.
Grandfather, Great Spirit, look upon your children, the Spirit Lake Oyate, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of quiet.
Grandfather, Great Spirit, fill us with the light, Give us with the light. Give us the strength to understand and eyes to see. Teach us to walk the soft earth, as relatives, to all that live.
Help us, for without you we are nothing.
“The Prayer Stone” by Warren E. Rollins, oil on canvas, ca. 1920
May the warm winds of Heaven blow softly upon your house.
May the Great Spirit bless all who enter there.
May your mocassins make happy tracks in many snows,
and may the rainbow always touch your shoulder.
Prayer is courtesy of and available for download at Cherokee Nation Citizens At-Large
A Sioux Prayer
Grandfather, Great Spirit, you have always been, and before you nothing has been. There is no one to pray to but you. The star nations all over the heavens are yours, and yours are the grasses of the earth. You are older than all need, older than all pain and prayer.
Grandfather, Great Spirit, all over the world the faces of living ones are alike. With tenderness they have come up out of the ground. Look upon your children, with children in their arms, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of quiet.
Grandfather, Great Spirit, fill us with the light. Give us the strength to understand and the eyes to see. Teach us to walk the soft earth as relatives to all that live.
Mohawk Prayer
Oh Great Spirit, Creator of all things;
Human beings, trees, grass, berries.
Help us, be kind to us. Let us be happy on earth.
Let us lead our children to a good life and old age.
These our people;
Give them good minds to love one another.
Oh Great Spirit, be kind to us.
Give these people the favor to see green trees,
Green grass, flowers, and berries this next spring;
So we all meet again.
Oh Great Spirit,
We ask of you.
Pawnee Prayer
Oh, Eagle; come with wings outspread in sunny skies.
Oh, Eagle, come and bring us peace, thy gentle peace.
Oh, Eagle, come and give new life to us who pray.
Remember the circle of the sky;
the stars, and the brown eagle,
the great life of the sun,
the young within the nest.
Remember the sacredness of things.
Cheyenne Prayer for Peace
Let us know peace.
For as long as the moon shall rise,
For as long as the rivers shall flow,
For as long as the sun shall shine,
For as long as the grass shall grow,
Let us know peace.
“Prayer Walk” by Christine Lytwynczuk, 2015
Pueblo Prayer
Hold on to what is good,
even if it’s a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe,
even if it’s a tree that stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do,
even if it’s a long way from here.
Hold on to your life,
even if it’s easier to let go.
Hold on to my hand,
even if I’ve gone away from you.
“Encampment of Crow Indians” by Joseph Henry Sharp, 1908
“Earth Mother” by Angela Babby, Ancient Nations, art glass mosaic with enamel
Ute Prayer
Earth teach me suffering as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring as the mother who secures her young.
Earth teach me courage as the tree which stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation as the ant which crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom as the eagle which soars in the sky.
Earth teach me resignation as the leaves which die in the fall.
Earth teach me regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness as dry fields weep with rain.
“Mitakuye Oyasin” by Susha Guna
The Mitakuye Oyasin Prayer
Aho Mitakuye Oyasin . . . All my relations. I honor you in this circle of life with me today. I am grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge you in this prayer . . .
To the Creator, for the ultimate gift of life, I thank you.
To the mineral nation that has built and maintained my bones and all foundations of life experience, I thank you.
To the plant nation that sustains my organs and body and gives me healing herbs for sickness, I thank you.
To the animal nation that feeds me from your own flesh and offers your loyal companionship in this walk of life, I thank you.
To the human nation that shares my path as a soul upon the sacred wheel of Earthly life, I thank you.
To the Spirit nation that guides me invisibly through the ups and downs of life and for carrying the torch of light through the Ages. I thank you.
To the Four Winds of Change and Growth, I thank you.
You are all my relations, my relatives, without whom I would not live. We are in the circle of life together, co-existing, co-dependent, co-creating our destiny. One, not more important than the other. One nation evolving from the other and yet each dependent upon the one above and the one below. All of us a part of the Great Mystery.
Thank you for this life.
“Medicine Wheel” by Michael Tichansky
Prayer of the Four Directions
Great Spirit of Light, come to me out of the East (red) with the power of the rising sun.
Let there be light in my words, let there be light on my path that I walk.
Let me remember always that you give the gift of a new day.
And never let me be burdened with sorrow by not starting over again.
Great Spirit of Love, come to me with the power of the North (white).
Make me courageous when the cold wind falls upon me.
Give me strength and endurance for everything that is harsh,
everything that hurts, everything that makes me squint.
Let me move through life ready to take what comes from the north.
Great Life-Giving Spirit, I face the West (black), the direction of sundown.
Let me remember everyday that the moment will come when my sun will go down.
Never let me forget that I must fade into you.
Give me a beautiful color, give me a great sky for setting,
so that when it is my time to meet you, I can come with glory.
Great Spirit of Creation, send me the warm and soothing winds from the South (yellow).
Comfort me and caress me when I am tired and cold.
Unfold me like the gentle breezes that unfold the leaves on the trees.
As you give to all the earth your warm, moving wind, give to me,
so that I may grow close to you in warmth.
Man did not create the web of life, he is but a strand in it.
Whatever man does to the web, he does to himself.
“Into Crazy Wolf Pass” by Bruce King
Navajo Chant
The mountains,
I become a part of it.
The herbs, the fir tree,
I become a part of it.
The morning mists, the clouds, the gathering waters,
I become a part of it.
The wilderness, the dew drops, the pollen,
I become a part of it.