Since I had played the drums in high school, I borrowed a fellow warrior’s drum and joined in.  As I watched the fire, the smoke began to take on a shape like a small tornado spinning up and down. All the warriors looked on, smiling at what was happening. The smoke kept spiraling for hours. I was told that our prayers were being carried to the heavens. I sat back and watched the small tornadoes of smoke rise to the heavens meditating on the Native American warriors in history.

As the drums of my fellow warriors pounded away, I thought back to when I was a child and the vision of the Native American would appear to me. I believe that the Native American I saw then was Sparrow Hawk. I closed my eyes and imagined that I was being taken back in time to witness this spiritual gathering.

As the smoke poured upwards, turning the night sky amber, and the heat from the fire became more intense, the vision of Sparrow Hawk returned to me, along with visions of his fellow warriors. I could see Sparrow Hawk wearing a multi-colored headdress of feathers that flowed with the wind. In his hand he carried what was known as a prayer stick, which is a wooden stick wrapped with animal hides and a fox skull at the very top. Sparrow Hawk led his fellow warriors into a circle around the sacred fire. As they circled the fire, they called out the words, "Mitakuye Oyasin,” which means, “We are all related.”  The women of the tribe joined in the circle and repeated the words.

I was so taken with this vision that I found myself also chanting the words “Mitakuye Oyasin”.  It all seemed very real. As I danced around the sacred circle, I felt the heat of the fire and the beating of the drums shuddering through my body. Sparrow Hawk jumped up on a pile of boulders surrounding the fire, raised his right arm towards the heavens as he held the prayer stick high, and called out the word, “Wakantanka,” (Great Spirit) “Please answer our prayers - Aho!” (Amen). I opened my eyes and reflected on the vision I had just experienced. Had I just been taken back in time to witness the ceremony of the Sacred Fire Circle?

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