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Why We Need to Vote!

Our responsibility, given to our ancestors and handed down to us, is to be the voice of our Turtle Island. 

For many decades, we have had Washington come to our communities, make treaties, agreements, make false promises, manipulate, lie, and cheat. We don’t need a trial or court for us to recognize these activities. We just see what their actions are, not what they say. It is easy for Native people to see what is going on in Washington. WE have seen it before!

Age does not make an Elder. There are Elders and there are old people.  A long time ago, Congress had Elders Statesman who kept the young Congress members from being foolish. Behind the scenes, they were kept in line. They knew to focus on the Constitution and to do what was right for the people. but, over time, these Elders passed on, and now the Congress members have drifted and some are doing foolish things.  Congress has old people who have allowed big corporations to give them money to tell them how to vote and make policy to protect the Greedy. It’s bribery, but they passed a law to call it Lobbying so now it is ok to take money. 

There are spiritual Laws that govern everything. There are Laws for people to live by.  There are Laws for the animals, plants, environment, Seasons, Tribes, organizations, Leadership, and Corporations, etc. One of the Laws governs Systems, the unseen side of an organization. One of the Law of Systems is: “You always have a perfectly designed system that gives you the results you are getting”. This means you can create a system that is corrupt, and then it becomes normal.  Congress now has become a dysfunctional system. Electing new people who come into the system and using what the current rules are will not make changes. Electing new people does not guarantee change. Nothing changes until the rules of the system changes. If the system does not change, the results do not change.  Nothing changes if nothing changes. Corporations are paying our officials to make decisions in their favor, and the resources, the air, the water, trees, land, food supply, chemicals are being poisoned to make quarterly profits.

Lobbying will still create the same results when new people start taking the money. Nothing changes if nothing changes!

We must no longer be silent! Greed based ways of life do not stop on their own, and this way of life must be stopped before it’s too late. We must talk to our Elders and ask them to help us do a spiritual intervention.

During 2020, the Wellbriety Movement will start publishing a series of teachings from our Native communities to encourage and organize our communities to vote, encourage our Native women to run for political offices at all levels and to encourage our youth to get their degrees in political science.  We will share information from our Elders and from the teachings that will help make decisions that are not greed based.

For example, currently the corporate leaders get big money to show profits each quarter. THE CHANGE: Give the Corporate leaders big money if they can implement this teachings. Make decisions, not for Quarterly profit, but for what effect of our decisions will have 7 generations from now!  What will be the effects on the Earth, resources, our children, the air, the environment, etc?  Give them big money for intergenerational results. This thinking is not Greed based, but in harmony with Nature and changes the outcome for our future generations. This teaching comes from the Elders.

We must pray and vote! We will not say who to vote for, but pray and vote because what is going on is currently affecting our children and grand-babies. Bad leaders have been coming to our communities for a long time, and we recognize a wolf in sheep’s clothing. We know leadership that is honest, respectful, prayerful and has good intent will help lead us to a world our children can live in. We need to say out loud the things that need to be said. There are thousands of us that are sober and walking the Red Road. We need to become Recovery Activists. We need to Vote for the person(s) who will make decisions for the good of the people, not for what political party they are in, or because they are making promise they cannot keep.  They have to have the character to lead in a good way. Stay tuned as The Wellbriety Movement will be posting more on these types of issues.#NativeRecovery #SayingOutLoud #EnoughisEnough #RecoveryActivists

White Bison is honored to announce Dana Tiger as The First Wellbriety Artist of 2019.
Dana Tiger is a Muscogee Creek-Seminole and Cherokee artist from Oklahoma. Her artwork focuses on portrayals of strong women. She uses art as a medium for activism and raising awareness. Dana was inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 2001. She has been a strong supporter of the Wellbriety Movement since the first Journey of the Sacred Hoop in 1999. She generously allowed White Bison to use her artwork for our Daughters of Tradition program, which is a youth prevention program for girls ages 8-17. She was also one of the first women to carry The Sacred Hoop of 100 Eagle Feathers.
In 2002, Dana Tiger founded a non-profit organization, Legacy Cultural Learning Community, to foster arts development for Native youth. She comes from generations of famous, talented artists such as Jerome Tiger and Johnny Tiger Jr.

You can visit her website at https://www.tigerartgallery.com/
Please support this amazingly gifted Wellbriety Artist by purchasing paintings, custom work, T-Shirts designs, book cover designs, cards, Christmas presents, and Birthday presents.
Dana also does presentations on art and sobriety.

We will publish more of her work during the following month.

The Wellbriety Movement is growing, maturing and becoming self-sustainable. This means the Wellbriety Movement will keep alive from within itself. It is a system of the give-away.

Example 1:
We had a request for a big drum from a circle of 100 Native Women in a prison in Minneapolis. A group of Native men from a prison in Washington made a beautiful drum as a gift for them. We drove to Washington, picked up the drum, and delivered it to the women’s prison in Minneapolis.
Example 2:
We have a group of men in a prison in Oklahoma whose drum broke, and we are being given a big drum from a drum maker in New Mexico to be gifted to the men’s prison. The Wellbriety Movement is now at a place where people within it are willing to use their talents to help with spiritual tools for others. We will start making some of these requests known to help find people who are willing to share their talents and resources with others in the Movement.

This a request #1 for assistance from a brother from Oregon.

We received a request for six hand drums. We are looking for rawhide for making hand drums. These drums will be made and shipped out to Wellbriety/Red Road meetings by request. These drums will not be used for profit or trade. They will be given to the people.
We all have a song to sing!

The need of the Wellbriety Movement

We have a person who has offered to make these drums, if you can donate rawhide, please contact White Bison at or call us at 719-495-6378. We will put you in contact with a volunteer drum maker.

In our recovery, we learn to share with others as we know the Drum is our Medicine!

The 7 Teachings: Love, Respect Honesty, Bravery, Wisdom, Truth, and Humility
The Elders tell us how simple, powerful, and beautiful the 7 Teachings are. The Wellbriety Movement introduces the 7 Teachings Earrings Set. Now you can wear one set of earrings each day for 7 days.
During your morning prayer time, light your sage or sweetgrass and ask the Creator to show you the lesson of the teaching you are wearing so you can practice it throughout the day.
Monday is Love: Knowing love is to know peace. Our love must be unconditional. When people are weak, that is when they need love the most. Love is a strong affection for another. This can form between friends and family. Love is an attachment-based upon devotion, admiration, tenderness, and kindness for all things around you. For one to love and accept themselves is to live at peace with the Creator and in harmony with all of creation. Love knows no bounds. We must accept it sincerely and give it freely.
Tuesday is Respect: A way to honor creation is by showing respect. There should be no part of creation that should be excluded from the honor that we are to give. We demonstrate respect by realizing the value of all people and things, and by showing courteous consideration and appreciation. We must give respect if we wish to be respected. We honor the traditional roles that we fill and the teaching we have been given. We honor our families and others, as well as ourselves. We are not to bring harm to anyone or anything. Respect is not just an action, but a heart-grown feeling.
Wednesday is Humility: Humility is to know that we are a part of creation. We must always consider ourselves equal to one another. We should never think of ourselves as being better or worse than anyone else. Humility comes in many forms. This includes compassion, calmness, meekness, gentleness, and patience. We must reflect on how we want to present ourselves to those around us. We must be aware of the balance and equality with all of life, including humans, plants, and animals.
Thursday is Bravery: Facing a problem with integrity is a true demonstration of bravery. We do what is right even when the consequences may be unpleasant. We face life with the courage to use our personal strengths to face difficulties, stand tall through adversity, and make positive choices. We must stand up for our convictions and have courage in our thinking and speaking. All of these actions together will lead to ceaseless bravery.
Friday is Wisdom: The mixture of these teachings, combined with the experiences of life, is what we refer to as wisdom. It is given to us by the Creator to be used for good. Wisdom carries other meanings, which also include intelligence or knowledge. When we cherish our knowledge or intelligence, we are also cherishing our wisdom. We must use sound judgment along with the ability to separate inner qualities and relationships. We must use a good sense and course of action to form a positive attitude. We must remember to listen and use the wisdom that has been provided by our Elders, Tribal leadership, and our Spiritual leaders. We must also always remember that Wisdom comes in all shapes, sizes, forms, and ages.
Saturday is Honesty: acing a situation is to be brave, but having the courage to not only do the right thing but also saying it, is honesty. We must allow truth to be our guide. We must first be honest with ourselves. This will allow us to be honest with others. We must give full value to both the efforts of our own and others. When we walk through life with integrity, it is then that we know honesty. Be truthful and trustworthy. We must also remember to accept and act on truths through straightforward and appropriate communication.
Sunday is Truth: Truth is having the knowledge of our cultural teachings. It gives us the ability to act without regret. We must understand, speak, and feel the truth, while also honoring its power. Truth should not lead us to deceptions. We know who we are in our heart. By knowing that, we also know the truth. Our emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual gifts will guide each one of us in our journey.

The teachings on each earring set are designed to help guide your thinking throughout each day. All 7 Teachings must be used together in order to encourage positive change or to stay on the path of wellness.

To order a set, please visit the Wellbriety Online Store at www.coyhispublishing.com, call our office at 1-866-518-5275 or email us for more information at .

*CREDIT: Definitions taken from https://www.nhbpi.org/seven-grandfather-teachings/*

We created earrings displaying the 7 Grandfather Teachings given to us by the Elders: one teaching to be worn and discussed each day for 7 days.   Many years ago, the Elders knew there was a world you could see called the Seen World and there was a world you could not see, called the Unseen World or the Spiritual world.  The Elders knew the Earth was controlled by a set of Principles, Laws and Values. Each species in nature had been created to have its own set of Laws, including the human. To live in harmony on our Mother Earth, we would need to know what these spiritual teaching were.

The Elders knew about the Cycle of Life for the human, and they knew the children needed to learn the traditional values from birth to 8 years, or two 4 year cycles. We call these the Grandfather Teachings.

The feed from the Roots, it was the community norm that every youth was taught the 7 grandfather teachings to prepare them to grow up with the behavior that was accepted by the community. These values became a part of the parent and community teaching for every youth.

For more information, or to place your order, please visit the Wellbriety Online store at www.coyhispublishing.com, email , or call us at 866-518-5275.