A Novel By Dough Boyd

1. MAD BEAR
SPIRIT, HEALING, AND THE SACRED IN THE LIFE OF A
NATIVE AMERICAN MEDICINE MAN
BY DOUG BOYD.

2. Presented to:
DR. GHULAM MURTAZA
Presented by:
MUHAMMAD KHALID.

3. Biographical Novel
 Biography of a Medicine man who was an activist, a
leader, a spiritual person and a great human being.
Novel shows the rich spiritual, intellectual as well as
traditional heritage of American Indians.

4.  This novel is written by a White person, Doug Boyd. There
was a time, when white people manipulated the facts and
figures of Native Americans and wrote whatsoever they
wanted to show the world according to their propaganda
while they pretended to be Natives’ well-wishers.
 Doug Boyd has discussed and described the impact that
traditional healing practices have made in the lives of
American Indians. For him, and for the American Indian
nations, healing is a holistic process and cannot be looked at
in isolation.

5.  What started off as a healing ritual at a conference,
sponsored by the research department of the Menninger
Foundation, has led to an increase in Boyd’s interest in
traditional American Indian religious and healing practices
and their impact on the environment at the same time.
 Boyd’s biography focuses not only on the professional and
religious aspects, but also show that above all, the medicine
man, Mad Bear, is a human being and as such, his life is
governed by mundane matters as much as by the higher
goals of environmental conservation.

6.  Nature, the environment, and healing forms an invisible
chain where each link performs its separate and yet
interlinked function in making up the being that we call
Earth.
 Native and non-native writers, alike, writing about
Native Americans have tried to bring to the notice of the
public the threat that so-called ‘scientific progress’
poses on the environment.

7. KEY EVENTS & THEMES IN “MAD BEAR”
(CH.9- CH.15)
SPIRITUALITY:
Subtitle of this novel hints about the
spiritual side of Native Americans.
“Spirit, Healing, and the Sacred in the Life of a Native
American Medicine Man.”

8. Mad Bear have prophetic vision:
 The ceremony went pretty good. I got a hold of the young
man and he recognized me…I told him this is where he
used to sleep…I told him this is where he used to live
before he decided to go …..
(P.158)
I pick up your thoughts ,you know…. He said it to
Masayuki. (P.160)

9. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:
Natives believed in “purification"; nature
mourn with Natives and purifies the land
by removing all trespasses:
“Any time you take anything sacred without permission, its rape
whether its some woman’s person or someone’s tradition or Mother
Earth herself.”
(Pg. 152).
“When the Indians came to the end of the longest walk in
Washington D.C, spring had passed and it was summer. The air
was hot and sticky and it was difficult to walk along the glaring
sidewalks.” (Pg. 257)

10. Mad Bear said , “So may there be a soft and warm
breeze from the East and may it carry power and peace
to the people there that may be helped to receive greater
courage and wisdom—and may all people change their
path away from danger and destruction.” Now as we
break our circle and prepared to return to the four
directions from where we came, I’m going to give my
thanks and respects to each and every one of you one
by one, as you pass around and go on your way. And
may you all go in peace.”
(Pg. 282)

11. Modern people make a big mistake, even in your country, I
think manipulating everything, destroying whatever gets in
the way. The invaders over here, they thought they had the
right to manipulate whatever they wanted and they call this
‘ dominion’ . Well there is plenty of proof that this ‘
dominion’ business is a losing game.
(PG. 330-333)

12. PEACEFUL CULTURAL CO-EXISTANCE
 Two medicine men could make
contact without speaking:
“Mad Bear and Jison, they were both enjoying
their contact beyond their verbal communication.”
(Pg. 166)
“Certain things have power, that’s for sure. But
something we don’t know all the inside detail why they
happen.” (Pg. 159)
“Nothing can happen by chance, nothing can move but it
is moved.” (Pg. 173)

13. In the spring, Jon noticed a bulletin posted around
the college buildings and grounds announcing the
appearance on campus of representatives of AIM.
 AIM, the American Indian Movement, along with
traditional spiritual leaders from many tribes had begun
a cross-country march in response to newly proposed
legislation intended to abrogate existing treaties and
‘terminate’ the remaining Indian reservations. They call
it ‘The Longest Walk’. (Pg. 248)

14. "The march proceeded across the United States from
Alcatraz to Washington D.C.” (Pg. 249)
“One young man introduced himself saying that he
belonged to a once proud and powerful tribe that had lost
its language, most of its culture and history, and all of its
population but for seven known remaining members. He
told us that if the bills before Congress should pass and
government should take away the remaining reservations,
rights and recognition of the Indians, this would become
the fate of all the tribes.” (Pg. 249-50)

15. “I think that’s what we mean,” said another. “That’s
what this whole thing is about---to counter that image
and strengthen our own vision-- -the vision of our
people.” (Pg. 250)
“The organizers of the march had made it clear that
The Longest Walk was for people of all colors and all
cultures and that anyone and everyone was welcome
to join them in support of their cause.” Pg. 252

16. Marion was a major stop for the marchers and their
movement. Here Leonard Pelletier was incarcerated in the
state prison. The circumstances of his arrest were very
controversial, but it was generally believe among Native
Americans that he was a “political prisoner” incarcerated on
contrived charges to weaken the traditional leadership. His
had become a famous case among all American Indians as
well as those concerned with Indian affairs and civil rights.
(Pg. 253)

17. It was a spectacular sight: many Indians in striking
regalia and with vividly colorful banners, flags, ad
posters. It was an impressive display, but there was no
one here to see it or hear it but the police officers and
the marchers themselves. But to these traditionals this
was a ceremony and they had come with great
hardship to offer prayers and sacrifices for their cause.
Pg. 255.

18. “Some of the medicine people conducted the
personal sacrifices---the “ offerings of flesh”. “This
offering symbolizes our will and determination”, one
of them explained. “Even those of us who think we
have nothing to give, nothing to offer in prayer, can
give the ultimate gift. We can give of ourselves. We
can offer our very flesh.” P.255

19. “AIM had amended the education and restored the self-
esteem of thousands of Indian children who had fallen
behind and who had been let down by the public school
system where the Native people’s history and heritage was
ignored or distorted.” (Pg. 263)
“A small-scale sampling or model of what we hope will
become an ongoing intercultural, interracial interreligious
process of contact and communication.” (Pg. 299)

20. “We need diversity and not uniformity in a situation like
this. If we can honour and attend to each and every
individual’s cultural customs and comforts, I think they
will all be much more empowered to contact and
communicate with people of differing colours and customs.”
(Pg. 300).
“We changed the name of the closing event from Festival of
Brotherhood, to Festival of Humanity.” (Pg. 301).

21. “As cross-cultural leaders from around the world, we support in
spirit and action the right of Native Americans to protect and
maintain their traditional spiritual lands. Threats to these lands
are threats to the survival and development of the Native
American people. As a priority example, we demand the
cessation of the mining of coal, uranium, oil and gas in the Four
Corners Territory, where Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado
touch. We further demand an increase in the scientific research
that has shown the severe ecological dangers that will result
from mining efforts in this unique geophysical area. And finally,
we demand that the U.S American Religious Act, an act that
protects Native Americans sacred lands, and that other
governments, especially those of the Americas, support our
demands”. (Pg. 314)

22. “We understand that the sacred traditions of all
peoples are threatened when the traditions of one
culture are threatened. Thus our attention to this
specific Native American cause is a beginning of our
efforts on behalf of all cultures whose spiritual roots
hold certain lands and/or traditions to be sacred.”
(Pg. 314)

23. HARMONY :
We are all brothers and sisters—all of us—all over the Earth
and we will always brothers and sisters. (Ch. 13)
So it’s time from now on to begin to respect one another all
over this land and to carry this out from now on. We have no,
uh, weapons of any kind. We have come here without
weapons. We have come here without any purpose to harm
anyone. We only want to preserve our culture. We do not
want to be dissolved. We have come here from all over, many
tribes from great distances. We all know what purpose we are
here for. We are here because we want freedom! (Pg. 260)

24. “That is why we need freedom for our people, not to be
dissolved. We believe our culture must blossom forth so that
we can all work together. Not only Indian people but many
other people as well all over the world, are having problems,
and we all need to stand together. We are gathered here
because we believe in our sacred instructions and we want to
preserve our way of life.” (Pg. 261)
“So, in closing I would just like to pray for everyone all
brothers and sisters. I pray we will not be dissolved but that
we may be able to preserve our way of life. May the fragrance
of love go into every human’s heart and soul so that we can
live in peace and brotherhood and respect one another as
brothers and sisters and live a good life from now on.” (Pg.
261)

25. “We can talk to a tree or a mountain or a rock—and they talk
back to us. The winged things of the air, the four leggeds, we
have conversations with them to this day. It is because we
know the meaning of respect. I would like all people to know
that if they could understand the meaning of respect, they
would not fear us—because they would understand something
of the psyche and the beauty of our people.” (Pg. 263)
 Look how all these tribes and races and cultures are
gathered here and living together. Every culture and religion
has to be supported for what it is.
“The time for any one culture or religion or race to try to do
away with another is over. That time has got to be over or else
everyone’s time is over. That’s what this whole thing is about
here.” (Pg. 266)

26. “Without trying to Christianize or convert each other—we
might still have a chance to feel safe and easy again as our
people used to in the past.” (Pg. 267)
“There arrived clouds of birds—black birds—perhaps
thousands of them, and they settled in the branches of the
trees all around us and remained nearly silent. One gigantic
eagle had flown in above this cloud of birds and, for a
moment, all eyes were on him as he sat, stone still, at the
very top of the tallest tree.” (Pg. 305-306)
“a slow procession, singing in harmony as we went, the song
that we had chosen and reheard.” (Pg. 308)

27. If these people like to have an eagle around, they can have an
eagle if they want. It’s a good thing, because Eagle sees and
knows a lot, but it should be respected, and by the way, it’s not
necessary to point at it. (Pg. 309)
“But we also believe that our safety depends much more upon
the safety of our planet—the air, the water, the land, and the
forests—than it does upon the safety of corporations or nations.”
(Pg. 312)

28. MISREPRESENTATION BY EURO-
AMERICANS
“The woman working in the Red Cross office had remarked.
“Well, I don’t understand these protests,” I don’t understand
why these Indians insist on hanging on to their difficulties.
We have equal opportunities in this country. Why can’t these
Indians come off these reservations and join the real world?
You’d they’d want to take advantage of all the wonderful
things that modern life has to offer.” (Pg. 251)
“The difficulties of which she speaks have nothing to do with
our Indian identity or our way of life. Any hardships we are
experiencing are related to oppression. (Pg. 251)

29. MISREPRESENTATION BY EURO-
AMERICANS
“These people are racist,” one of them told us. “They
dislike non-Indian people”. “Well, I agree with them,”
said the first. They use really strong language talking
about ‘the white man’. “They do it on purpose too,.”
“They do it to embarrass us.” They all agreed that the
Indians wanted them to hear their criticism and
wanted them to feel ashamed.” (Pg. 254)

30. “All this concrete and all these walls create a false feeling of
power and control. People think they can achieve control by
creating something unnatural. But it’s just an illusion. One day
the little blades of grass will come back and claim what’s theirs,
and all this concrete will crumble into dust! There’s no
justification for keeping anybody inside those walls in such
unhealthy circumstances—I don’t care who they’re. The Natives
peoples of these continent lived for thousands of years without
these prisons. This notion belongs to a foreign culture—it’s
foreign to mankind, actually, foreign to all life. You people
brought this prison system over here from over there—and look
what a mess it’s made of everything. It’s made people all the
more cruel and cold—and scared… (CONTINUE ON NEXT)

31. …..To tell you the truth, I think you people have your prisons
out of fear—though fear never solves anything. You people get
yourselves so far away from nature you get weak and scared—
afraid of one another, your very own people. Imagine. And yet,
you go on doing just what it takes to make your society even
worse! I’ll make one prediction here. One day in the future
you are going to have more prisons than schools and
hospitals put together. And then soon after that— because of
that—everything will come tumbling down and the grass will
come back.” (Pg. 256)

32. There was a small item on the front page reporting that Indian
militants had launched a protest outside the prison and that
police had to be called out to break up a riot.
“There was no way to know whether this report was racist,
politically motivated, or simply a case of misinformation.
Perhaps it was an attempt to make a more engaging story of an
event whose real meaning they were not prepared to
understand.” (Pg. 257)
“There is only one color of mankind that has not been allowed
to participate in the international community and that’s the
red people of the Western Hemisphere. The reason for this was
fear—fear on the part of what he called the “multinational
corporations”. (Pg. 262)

33. “They fear our collective way of life,” he went on, “even
though they took their form of government from us”. But
yet they fear our culture that respects all life and respects
the Earth. (Pg. 263)
“When the reservations began to shrink to small areas,
Indian people could not continue to live on these
reservations. So not out of choices, but because of the
necessities of life, many of our Indian people had to move
off the reservations. They had to move to large cities—
Chicago, New York, Los Angeles—all over this country our
people began to move off the reservations and into urban
areas. Because their lands and their rights were being
taken over by somebody else, they had to leave their
homeland and move into the cities…CONTINUE ON NEXT

34. In the cities, they felt the pains of discrimination. Our Indian
people had to walk the streets of New York City, had to walk
the streets of Chicago and of Washington D.C. , with their
heads hanging down in shame because they were Indians.”
(Pg. 264).
“I think in a nice kind way we should remind President
Carter to look around in his backyard. We bring to this city
Indian awareness. I have noticed in these buildings people
are so far removed from the reality. The truth is hidden from
these people. But we are proud to say that, as Indian people,
we still understand the truth!”. (Pg. 265)

35. “There may be some others somewhere whose very existence
and identity is denied, but I believe that we’re the only ones to
whom that applies as an entire race. It represents a challenge,
see, because of this wish to ignore our sovereignty. It is kind of
ironic. Some folks in Congress want to do away with all out
treaties across the board, unilaterally, but they can’t even get
it to a vote. So what about these treaties? Treaties, by your
government’s definition, are agreement between sovereign
nations. Isn’t it embarrassing? They want to disregard our
sovereignty—but actually vote on it. We are not supposed to be
involved, though we’re parties to the treaties, because we’re
not supposed to represent ourselves. How can we participate
in international affairs if we don’t respect anything?” Pg.267

36. “But not international in the sense of just representing their
nations. And not spiritual in the sense of just representing their
religions. It wouldn’t be just acknowledge each other’s religion
and religious rights—although that is important, so that is part of
it. It would be to represent the people as human race. Who
represents the people of the villages and the city streets? Who is
there to address their common condition whatever their race or
nationality? And not only that but our all relations. Who is there
to represent the rights of the four leggeds and the finned and the
winged? Who is there to speak for the trees and growing things?
Who will represent the rights of the rain forests and all the
precious medicines that have been helping us out? And who will
there be who will speak on behalf of the Mother? The people I’d
like to see come and put their minds and hearts together are
those who follow the spiritual paths, know the sacred ways and
can guide the people”. (Pg. 269)

37. “Because some things you gotta see for yourself and get to
know directly— not second-hand.” (Pg. 276)
You can’t just come into a territory and take over. First
place, ever’ territory belongs to Nature and the Great Spirit
and whoever they had in there in the first place.
(Pg. 306, 307)
THE END !