~ The Life And Times From The Inner Spirit Of ................................. "Rolling Thunder"

~ Quincy - Owl - Chaw Se Incidents ~
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Quincy - Chaw Se - Owl Incidents

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At approximately 9:30 to 10:00 p.m. on the night of September 18,1994,I was returning from Quincy, California Pow Wow to Sacramento, California on Highway 89 south of Blairsdon in Sierra County, Tahoe National Forest. A large screech owl struck the lower left windshield of my truck, wedged just seemingly long enough for me to identify what type of bird it was. Between the lower left corner of my windshield on the driver's side and the side view mirror on the left side. The area that is struck has a sticker that was sent to me from Oklahoma of a Thunderbird. As I was pulling approximately a thirty-four to thirty-six hundred pound trailer I was unable to immediately stop. It was on the even of the full moon but it was in an area where the moon was cloaked by tall pine trees. There was also no shoulder available to pull over, only about a two foot shoulder on each side and it would have been very stupid to have stopped in the middle of the roadway. Stopping a large truck and large trailer would have taken considerable time and distance and by the time that I would have got the truck and trailer stopped and would have pulled over even if there would have been a shoulder, I would have had no idea on where to start looking for the dead bird which I was doing about fifty miles an hour and the impact of the bird sounded like it had crushed every bone in the birds body. Although, upon inspection of the truck and inspection of the trailer, the front of the trailer there was revealed absolutely no damage, no body debris or body fluids.

I have since talked to several people who feel possibly that it could have been a Spiritual experience, even though one of the Clans of Indian people is that of the bird. The owl, Western Screech Owl irregardless of what his occupation is, is a member of the bird clan, is a bird person. Unable to stop and say a prayer over the owl, unable to stop and say I'm sorry to the bird people, unable to show my respect even though it was an accident the bird did collide with myself, at least the vehicle that was transporting myself. I came on home. From the time that I hit the bird, all the way to the time that I got to Truckee I kept repeating out loud, YiHoWaAh, YiHoWaAh that's like repeating God, God, God. YiHoWaAh is our creator, our Great Spirit. All the way to Truckee, all the way down Highway 89 which that entire area to myself is very sacred, I have a lot of animal friends in that area. The area is felt to be full of Spirits and that's what happened. I got home here in Sacramento and I went to the bird people, clan of the bird, in prayer asking for forgiveness for not only inadvertently killing one of their people but for not being able to stop and bless or pray over that fallen individual.

I also went to YiHoWaAh, the Great Spirit to ask him for forgiveness, in a feeling that I got in return was that I go into one month's mourning. I would not do anything that would show myself as a warrior, I would not wear feathers pointing up, I would not wear bald eagle feathers, white feathers, feathers containing any white whatsoever and that I would wear a black headband, black shirt, black pants, black accessories, black boots and that I would participate in no dance, that I would not wear moccasins, that I would not wear any face or body paint and that I would wear no armor. This is what is referred to as the dress that I was wearing to Chaw/Se. The only thing that a person might refer to as ornamental that was on my dress when I went to Chaw/Se. On the left hanging from my belt was a cord with two black tassels and a red tassel smaller than the two black ones. On my right was a folded bandanna, black, a very subtle red and white pattern, it was folded in half down to a point, on that point was a black, a red and a white tassel, very subtle, not large but very conservative. On the belt band of the bandanna is seven silver bells representing the seven points of the Cherokee Star. The seven clans, the seven ancient traditional dances of the Indian people. Around my neck I wore a black beaded necklace which was made for me by my sister, the beads are strung on red deer skin, on the black head band was a large black raven feather, downward.

I went to Chaw/Se(The Indian Grinding Rock). I left Sacramento about 8:30 a.m., got parked then I walked down towards the Round House. I walked up towards the front of the Round House and started walking up towards the entrance and the doors were open and there were people walking inside just to more or less view what it looked like on the inside, you know people are curious. So just as I got within maybe twenty three feet of the entrance, the last person came out that had been inside viewing and the prayer/blessing group were entering the Round House. The prayer group went inside for their prayer/blessing ceremony of the inside of the Round House and the blessing and purification of the dance arena. Now this is all within the building, for lack of another word the Round House that has redwood on the roof. They went in and people started to gather outside to wait for them to get through with their prayer session so they could go in and view the inside and wait for the dance session to come about, which is totally ceremonial. Nobody actually participates except the tribal dancers and it is very sacred and although it is open to the general public there are no photographs, no recordings, no nothing. I am standing out there with probably thirty or forty other people and as I had walked up to the entrance I had kind of nodded and gave kind of a little bow and hello to the young Indian attendant and he kind of nodded his head, his head in recognition of me in that type of gesture. I backed over and I stood by the rest of the group that was ready to go in and view the place. About ten or fifteen minutes later the prayer group came out and as they had finished their session, the young man looked over directly at me and nodded his head and I nodded back and I walked towards the door. As I was walking past him I saw him raise his hand to the rest of the crowd, the rest of the individuals wanting to go in to view the inside of the Round House. He raised his hand in a wait gesture, he opened the doors, I walked in through the doors, walked in about two paces inside the doors and you do a three hundred and sixty degree turn around. Normally the viewers would go around the outside of the area, the dance area where the fire is. There's a oak fire in the middle of the dance area. The area where the people walk and the people sit is filled with dry grass. After I had made my turn around and was looking at the fire I had a very, very Spiritual drawing toward the fire.

I took about two paces towards the fire which I was coming from the East looking at the fire and facing the West. I knelt and lowered my head and said a few seconds of prayer. I stood back up, went to the North side of the fire, I turned towards the fire, knelt, lowered my head and said a few seconds of prayer, stood back up and walked around and went to the West side of the fire and did the same thing, knelt and bowed my head in a few seconds of prayer. I got up, I walked back to the East side facing the fire in the center, I backed up approximately two paces. I made my three hundred degree turn around and backed out the doorway. As I got back out and I was adjacent to the young man attending the doorway, the opening. I turned around to walk back up into the common area away from the Round House. At that time he gave a wave in gesture to the rest of the crowd to come on in and view or be seated. He evidently felt the Spiritual need that I had to go in alone and to do what I did. All of it was unplanned, unprepared. I had no idea what the inside of the Round House looked like. I had no idea of what to do except that when you walk in the door you make a three hundred and sixty degree turn around and then you walk counter clockwise around the outside of the area, the dance area.

When it came time for the dance to start I walked back down and I walked into the area where the spectators sit and it was almost totally full. There was room enough maybe for ten or twelve other people with there probably being around a hundred people inside. I squatted down on the area of the dry grass there and the what we call at a powwow the Master of Ceremonies. He welcomed everyone and he was making a few comments about the Ceremonial and he did mention the fact that if there were any elders that were sitting on the ground, sitting in the grass and if there were younger people sitting on the benches that was along the walls on both sides that the younger people should relinquish their seats to the elders. Now I was in the dress, the type of dress of mourning that I wore and I knelt down there. I squatted down there and I felt a tap on my right shoulder and I looked around and there was this young man probably ten or twelve years old and he said "Sir I would be honored if you would take me seat" and I said "Well thank you very much" and I backed up and took his seat which he had been sitting directly behind me and when I sat down the young man sat just forward of my right knee. The Ceremony was very impressive and very enjoyable, the fire was very warm but I felt a warmth as hot as the fire was on the outside. I felt a Spiritual warmth of that magnitude on the inside. The Round House has a hold in the middle that is quite large for the smoke to go out. There was a bright, bright beam of light, sunlight coming through the hole in the roof of the Round House. After the dancing was over, there are a few tribal members of that particular tribe that go up and they stand just inside the dance area and they'll toss coins towards the dancers and then they'll stand there a few minutes and then they'll do the dance, just in place dancing. After the dance was over and the dancers had left and all of the spectators had left, women and children of that tribe were out picking up the coins from that dance area.

I felt another need, I felt another drawing and I had been sitting on the north side, now when I started to leave felt a magnetism, a draw toward the fire. The fire is in the middle of a dirt dance area. On the west end of the Round House is where the instruments which are kind of clickety clackety sticks which have something inside of them like a can stick with a little rattle inside of them and they have little whistles and on the east side when you would walk out you would be walking out toward the east and than on either side, the north and south outside of the dance area is where the spectators sit. I happened to have been sitting on the north side, when I got ready to leave, there are four giant wood pillars. Trees that had been cut down and these huge trunks of these trees had the bark stripped off and they are at the four corners of the dance area. They are sacred posts, the M/C definitely says Please do not touch the post, the pillars. I came out of the spectators section, I walked around a small log that separates the spectators section from the dance area. I walked between the pillar and the fire back to the north side of the fire, I knelt again. All of this time there were people, Indian people of that tribe that were putting this ceremonial on, picking up the coins and getting ready for the next dance. I went to the north side and I approached within about four or five feet of the fire and I knelt again and bowed my head in a few seconds of prayer, the same on the west side, on the south side and on the east side of the fire I knelt again and when I got up I backed up about three paces. I make my three hundred and sixty degree turn around and backed out of the doorway or entryway of the Round House. As I got adjacent to the young Indian door attendant I knew that I was clear of the entrance and I turned around, I nodded to him in a kind of a short bow and said Ah-Ho.

I turned and there had to have been maybe a hundred people standing waiting to view the inside and to maybe get a good seat. I started to walk up the walkway and on each side of the walkway which the walkway is about four feet to five feet across, on either side of the walkway is grass and as I started up the walkway the people would back off the walkway and would bow their head in an acknowledgment gesture, even the non Indian people could evidently feel the radiance coming from my body, from my Spirit that I had been inside in reverence and it was a good feeling. I felt absolutely terrific and everything was totally, totally quite a spiritual experience. I had no idea, I had never been to a Round House Ceremonial. I had never been to the Indian Grinding Rock, I had never been to Chaw/Se. The whole experience was brand new so it wasn't something I could sit the day or night before and plan and say this is what I am going to do. It was like when I start to get my things ready and set them on the table and prepare myself to create something. I would be the hands of the Creator and things would just go together. This is what happened up at the Round House Ceremony today, it was the most totally Spiritual experience that I have even had in my life.