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It’s Time For Us To Be Good Relatives






 

 

Once there was a Lakota person who accused fellow tribal citizens of using bad medicine on others. When asked exactly what was meant by the term “bad medicine,” a clear explanation couldn’t be given. Still, for the lack of a better concept, the phrase “bad medicine” will be used here because many Lakota people refer to this mysterious concept regularly on the Rez.

The bad medicine prevailing on our homelands actually originates from people’s dark thoughts. Disease of the mind is a form of mental illness which has a powerful hold on many Lakota. When you allow your mind to actively engage in scenarios filled with the suffering of others, you are creating bad medicine.

When your thoughts are not in the right place, you are actively projecting bad medicine on the people around you. If you regularly pray at church or in ceremony, but haven’t bothered to clean up your evil thoughts, your efforts at spirituality are for naught. Many Lakota people regularly attending or helping with ceremony or church services actually engage in very dangerous thought processes. Remember, spirit knows all. You disrespect the altar, as well as yourself, when you enter a sacred space with an undisciplined mind.

People might believe there are others who are praying against them or putting curses on them. But many people don’t understand that their own thoughts create their individual reality. A diseased mind is one that engages in negativity a majority of the time. When your thoughts are focused on all the wrong things, you’d best be careful. Your thought determines your reality.

Consequently, your own negative or fearful thoughts will attract all bad things into your life. Your mind is a powerful entity. For instance, you might have fear surrounding certain occurrences. You worry that terrible things will happen. Many people do not realize that worry is a form of prayer. Be careful what you pray for.

The most powerful prayer we can walk is with a clear mind and a pure heart. Our children are born with this purity. But, they are influenced by family members who go through their entire lives scared or worried about the bad medicine supposedly projected by others.

We have to make an effort to raise our children to walk through life with a clear mind and a pure heart. When you give energy to the bad medicine concept, you are projecting fear into your children’s minds and hearts. It’s a vicious, unhealthy cycle.

Clear your mind of fearful, hateful and negative thoughts. Purify your heart for your children. If you are under the impression that someone has done you wrong, pray for them.

Our ancestors were not powerful because they used bad medicine, they were powerful because they knew the key to a good life was walking with a clear mind and a pure heart. They were powerful because every step they took was a prayer.

It’s time for us to be good relatives. Our unborn generations are depending on us to keep the Red Road clear for them by walking as good ancestors. Let’s not darken their path with diseased minds.

*Vi Waln is an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Nation and is nationally published journalist.


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