Native American Prayers

STATION 1

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 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.
- Sioux Prayer

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STATION 2

May All I Say
May all I say and all I think
be in harmony with thee,
God within me,
God beyond me,
maker of the trees.
- Chinook prayer, Pacific Northwest Coast, North America

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STATION 3

Healing Prayer
Grandfather,
Sacred one,
Teach us love, compassion,
and honor.
That we may heal the earth
And heal each other.
- Ojibway Prayer

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STATION 4

Treat the earth well.  We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
- Native American Proverb

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STATION 5

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know . The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.
- Chief Seattle

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STATION 6

Earth, Teach Me
Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
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 mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground, continued at #7

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STATION 7

Earth, Teach Me
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that 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.

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STATION 8

Eagle 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.
- Pawnee Prayer

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STATION 9
O Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me.

I come before you, one of your children. I am small and weak. I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made, my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise, so that I may know the things you have taught my people, the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

I seek strength, not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy: myself.

Make me ever ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes, so that when life fades as a fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.
- Chief Yellow Hawk

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STATION 10

In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.
- From The Great Law of The Iroquois Confederacy

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STATION 11

Healing Prayer
Grandfather,
Sacred one,
Teach us love, compassion,
and honor.
That we may heal the earth
And heal each other.
- Ojibway Prayer

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STATION 12

Great Spirit
O Great Spirit, help me always to speak the truth quietly, to listen with an open mind when others speak and to remember the peace that may be found in silence.
- Cherokee Prayer

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STATION 13

One With This World
My words are tied in one with the great mountains, with the great rocks, with the great trees, in one with my body and heart.  All of you see me, one with this world.
- Yokuts Prayer

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STATION 14

Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
- Chief Seattle, 1854 treaty oration

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STATION 15

Prayer to 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 every day 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.

 

By Chief Seattle, Leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish Native American tribes.
© Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated September 2021