There is a culture called the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohicans that are connected to Kripalu, a land. The name of the tribe Mohicannuk means, “They from the great unstill waters,” and they lived by the Hudson River.
The Hudson is considered a tidal river which means that the river flows inland as the tide comes in and it flows outward as the tide goes out. This is why the waters were considered to never be still. The Mohican people lived in different villages, and they were there for more than 14,000 years. As diseases took over and there was war and land was taken away unfairly, the tribe ended.
People often tell stories about their tribes and many of the stories have to do with the stars. The stars are there to lead people and to help the ancestors to figure out what to do and where to go. But there is more to the stars than this.
When people think about their ancestors dying, they think about all of the other things that die such as humans, plants, animals and more. People are all from the same ancestors and nature has shown people to respect the land around them. In the land, the tribes would use the land for things such as:
- Harvesting.
- Hunting.
- Planting seeds.
- Gathering food.
- Clearing off the land.
- Using the trees in order to cook and to keep warm.
The Mohicannuk tribe was one that respected the lands, and they would give the land food, tobacco and would sing and plant to make the land strong. They were known to clear out trees and to make sure that the earth was provided for. The earth in turn gave them food to eat and water to drink. Everyone is connected in this way.
Everything has energy and everything has life. Each thing that is living has a conscious and even though people are not part of Mother Earth, they are still life that fills the earth and both have a place on the universe. When people work with nature, they know that it is more than just land or water but it is part of the ecosystem and part of the stars.
Final Thoughts
The people and the land are made up of energy and the energy helps us to know that our ancestors are part of who we are. As we look into nature, we see that the skies, the clouds, the air and everything around is there to make life better and fuller.