Ep. 102-The Byte: Four Arrows

Four Arrows wasn't expecting a RAT to show up at his vision quest! BUT, it was this little animal and the lessons it brought that helped him when he needed it. Listen in on this shorter episode-and how revelation can come from the most unexpected places.

Transcript

Welcome to Episode 102 of Bite-Sized Blessings.

In this episode,

I interview the intelligent and dynamic Four Arrows.

I first discovered this intelligent and fascinating author on a trip.

I stopped in a random bookstore and saw this beautiful cover,

Looked at the book,

Read the title and thought,

Yes,

I'm going to buy this book.

His book is Restoring the Kinship Worldview,

Indigenous Voices Introduce 28 Precepts for Rebalancing Life on Planet Earth.

It is a gorgeous book,

Both inside and out,

Full of wisdom,

Compassion and really great ideas for how we can all incorporate little actions,

Words,

Thoughts,

Deeds in our lives to rebalance ourselves,

To find our way in the society with more integrity and authenticity,

And to be a more conscious individual in the world.

Now,

The author,

My guest,

How does one describe a person who is the author of 23 books,

Numerous articles,

Peer-reviewed papers,

And is the subject of a book by R.

M.

Fischer entitled Fearless Engagement of Four Arrows,

A True Story of an Indigenous-Based Social Transformer.

Four Arrows is internationally known for his work in cognitive anthropology,

Education,

Critical theory,

And wellness.

So I did a little dive on the interweb and found a movie that he'd put together that detailed this trip he took when he was quite a bit younger.

It's in three pieces,

It's made of photographs that he took on the trip,

But honestly,

The synchronicities,

He survived a near-death experience,

And that led to him creating this methodology or this way of looking at the world called Cat-Thon,

And we get into that later in this episode.

This trip and the movies were so fascinating,

I mustered up the courage and I contacted him,

And right away he got back to me,

And after a little back and forth,

We found a time to talk.

Wonderfully,

It's the only interview I've done where the guest has been in their swimsuit,

And it's totally apropos because Four Arrows had just come in from the beach where they were taking people,

Kids out on kayaks to explore the water and apparently the little bay that the area sits on.

Under the episode show notes,

I'm going to have a link to his book,

The book in which I discovered him,

And then I'm also,

On the treasures page,

Going to have a link to those movies in case anyone wants to see kind of the adventure that Four Arrows went on that I feel like kind of started it all,

I think.

At any rate,

It's so difficult to summarize a human being in just a few words,

And that's why I'm hoping this interview helps you get to know Four Arrows a little better and the amazing work that he's doing in this world.

So now,

Episode 102 of Bite-Sized Blessings.

The Sundance is a four-day ceremony,

One of the sacred ceremonies,

Where you dance from sun up until sun down under the sun with no water,

And so I told Bea,

I said,

Wow,

I'm not acclimated to that kind of heat now,

And I'm a little worried I'm not going to be able to get through it.

And she said,

Well,

You know what you got to do,

And I said,

Yeah,

And then I did what's called the om bless you,

Crying for a vision,

And I put the ribbons around in a circle,

And I was still thinking about,

You know,

Business as usual.

I wasn't quite into that state when a rat-like creature,

A rodent of some sort,

Kind of came out of the woods right next to my little cleared patch and started eating on the farthest away tobacco tie.

And what did I do?

I just kicked my foot out and scared him away,

Get out of here,

I'm going to do a vision quest.

Well,

There's so many magical stories,

You know,

I can't share the ones that happened during Sundances because that's just isn't,

That's not good protocol.

And then an EP ceremony,

I can't share those.

I have shared one or two of my own bletches,

And I think that the spirits are saying it's okay for me to do that because I know what you're reaching for.

You really want people to recognize that what you said about the spider's wisdom and the rocks.

So I'll tell you one.

I was in Idaho and had left Pine Ridge and didn't know really about the local flora and fauna of the animals.

We were in Soldier Mountain,

The Sawtooth Mountains,

And it was about 6,

000 feet and we were cool all year.

Whereas on Pine Ridge,

It was hot in the summer,

Really hot.

And so the Sundance I was getting ready to do.

I looked in the news and in two weeks,

The projection for the temperature was 114 degrees.

Now the Sundance is a four day ceremony,

One of the sacred ceremonies,

Where you dance from sun up until sun down under the sun with no water.

And then you pierce by taking piercing sticks and praying as you bleed.

The women don't need to do it because you guys already bleed.

You already have the experience of labor.

You already know how to nurture.

Us men,

We keep forgetting.

So the women are out there with us fasting and dancing in the heat,

But they're not hanging from the trees.

And so I told Bea,

I said,

Wow,

I'm not acclimated to that kind of heat now.

And I'm a little worried I'm not going to be able to get through it.

And she said,

Well,

You know what you got to do.

And I said,

Yeah.

So I started counting my tobacco ties,

Saying a prayer for the world for each one.

And every 10th one or so,

I'd say,

Give me the strength to do this.

And then I took them up on the hill and did what's called the ombletie,

Crying for a vision.

And I put them in a circle.

Now on my way up,

I was in my Western mentality,

You know,

Kind of,

OK,

I got to find this place that I had picked out.

I got to get up the hill.

I wonder what I'm going to do when I get back with my students,

You know,

Just thinking regular.

And I put the ribbons around in a circle.

And then I got my chinupa,

My pipe,

And I looked at the direction of the West and stepped in it and sat down and took a breath.

And I was still thinking about,

You know,

Business as usual.

I wasn't quite into that state when a rat-like creature,

A rodent of some sort,

Kind of came out of the woods right next to my little cleared patch and started eating on the farthest away tobacco tie.

And a little bit was sticking out.

It had come unwrapped a little bit.

I was just kind of eating the tobacco.

And what did I do?

I just kicked my foot out and scared him away.

Get out of here.

I'm going to do a vision quest.

And of course,

As you know,

The stupidity of it,

The,

You know,

The entire,

I went,

Oh,

My God,

That was whatever I was up here to learn.

That creature was supposed to teach me.

And look what I did,

You know.

And then I'm thinking,

I'm going to be up here now not knowing,

Right?

And it came back.

It just came back,

Which is unbelievable and magical in itself that I had just kicked it away.

And it came back.

It went to the same tobacco tie.

And this time,

I'm,

I love you,

I love you,

I love you.

Thank you,

Thank you,

Thank you,

Thank you.

Thank you,

Spirits.

You know,

I'm tuning in now.

And the animal kind of moves away from that one to one that's closer to me,

But then decides not to eat it,

I guess,

Or whatever.

But it turns facing the one that he had been eating about,

I don't know,

About 10 inches from my leg.

And sits there facing the West with me,

Like a pet dog.

And now I'm getting tears in my eyes,

And,

And then it walks away.

And now I'm sitting there.

Wow,

This is it.

But then pretty soon,

My critical mind comes into it.

And my critical mind goes,

You don't know what that means.

Because there's,

You don't live here,

You don't know that animal.

And there's nobody here that you can ask.

So guess what I start thinking now?

Google,

I'm thinking Google in the middle of this sacred ceremony.

And but then I kind of put Google out of my mind and say,

Well,

That'll keep there may be more and I'm here and then I stayed with it.

Well,

When I went came down and burned my clothes made the fire.

First thing I did is I walked naked up into my bedroom and got on the computer and I put in images of mammals and North America.

And boy,

There was big long tail,

Big back legs that looked at great,

Really big,

Long,

Long back legs,

Like a jump 10 feet.

And it said the Latin name,

Which I don't remember now.

And then it said,

The kangaroo rat of Idaho.

The only mammal that can go a lifetime without a drop of water.

You know,

It was like,

Wow,

I mean,

That was why I went up to cry for a vision,

You know,

Well,

This little guy can go a lifetime.

I'm not going to have any trouble.

I just was so grateful to be reading your book when I was up in Jackson Hole,

Where a friend had asked me to come house it for them.

I'd never been there.

And I'm a big user of tarot cards.

And I was using my tarot cards there.

And the last card that I pulled said,

Keep your eye out for dream or spirit animals.

They're going to come to you and let you know what is happening.

And so that night,

The dog that I was watching was a very rambunctious two year old.

And often he would see something outside and go barking after it.

So 430 in the morning,

This happens.

And there are deer everywhere in Jackson Hole.

And I thought,

Oh,

It's another deer outside.

So,

You know,

I got up,

Trudged downstairs to see what the kerfuffle was about.

And I thought,

That's not a deer.

What is that?

And this red fox came out from the snow,

Walked up almost to the window,

Circled around a few times and then just walked away.

And I thought,

What?

I know that's a fox,

But that was really weird.

And so I looked it up,

Google.

Thank you,

Google.

And it said red foxes in up there in Wyoming are super rare.

Like people never see them.

And one just came right up to the house.

And I thought,

Yep,

That's I have no idea what this means.

Google again,

Hopefully.

Did you find out?

You know what?

I'm the challenge with Google is that so many different people say different things.

So you got to kind of intuited,

But it doesn't hurt to look and see the different kinds of things that people have said about it.

Like,

For example,

The Lakota,

We call the fox the Shugia.

And it's thought of as a medicine animal.

That's what that's what it is.

It's considered to be some animal that has the power to locate herbs that are needed by medicine people.

So if you're if you're if you want to find the right kinds of herbs in the world,

For some reason to heal somebody,

Then the fox is a good thing to show up.

Right.

The fox is also known for its ability to escape to escape its enemies pretty craftily.

So,

You know,

Another piece of it is that it's a teaching for how to how to get out of a situation that's that that's not a not a good one.

You know,

In dangerous,

In dangerous territory.

But but we've lost you and I have both lost and most people that are listening have lost that animal knowledge,

Right,

Of the local animals.

And that's why indigenous languages,

They change whenever there's a different animal species of,

You know,

And Florida fauna that that changes because the language was was there,

The knowledge was there.

And so that's why they could all be teachers.

So we don't have much of a choice but to kind of study the science and people and people that know the animals and then your intuition.

You can study on Google everything about the animal,

Not somebody predicting what it means symbolically,

But just the actual life it leads and what it's known for.

And that alone will go,

Oh,

My gosh,

I wow.

That makes sense.

Right.

And because that's the same process that that our original ancestors had to go through.

So so we can we're going to have to do this.

We're going to be wrapping it up here in a few minutes.

And I'll say one thing that that probably will turn people off a little bit.

And I don't mean to do that.

But I was I was at the University of British Columbia a couple of years ago,

Just before the pandemic and speaking at the Department of Education.

And someone asked me at the end.

So do you think we can turn things around if we begin to reembrace our original kinship based worldview?

And it just came out of me.

I said,

No,

I don't think so.

And they all went from you can just feel the tension.

They went from loving me to hating me just like that.

And then hands went up and first person said,

Why are you here?

Why are you doing the work?

Why are you writing the books?

I said,

Because I want to be a human being.

You know,

Human being is kind of the word that most indigenous languages about themselves mean.

Cheyenne means human being,

For example.

And Sitting Bull,

I wrote a little booklet by Sitting Bull called Sitting Bull's Words for a World in Crisis,

Because he,

You know,

Smallpox was was wiping everybody out.

The buffalo were all killed.

But when he was,

You know,

Being interviewed later on,

You know,

And people ask him,

You kept doing poetry,

You're writing songs and you join Buffalo Bill later.

And you know,

He said,

I want to be a human being,

You know,

And I'm a spirit in a body.

That's why I do my continue my sun dances and my spiritual thing.

And somehow my journey continues.

So we've got to,

You know,

We've got to look at this from a spiritual perspective.

So I said,

For me,

Hope is a delusion now.

And I'm seeing more and more activists burning out because of hope.

They hope that that that they've reduced the carbon footprint from all the hard work they've done for all the year.

And then they read the statistics and realize it's gotten worse.

I prefer defining hope.

And my colleague,

Margaret Wheatley,

Defines it this way.

And and there's been other famous people,

I'm sure,

That have said this.

But besides Sitting Bull,

Hope is is is not the certainty of an outcome for me.

Hope is the certainty that whatever you're doing is truly the right thing to do,

Regardless of the outcome.

And that has allowed a lot of activists to not burn out and to enjoy and not get depressed and frustrated.

Right now,

That doesn't mean I don't think it's possible.

Anything's possible for turning around.

I just think that things are going to get continually more difficult.

And that's all the more reason for shows like yours.

That's all the more reason for people like you to say,

I want to help people learn how to get through this.

If someone's going to have to rebuild and those of us who don't get through it,

We want to be able to die knowing that we're spirits that will come back and help those who have rebuild do it the right way.

I think that this this idea is not a frightening one,

As it seems to be at first.

I think it's a realistic one.

And it's like,

Wow,

Whatever I do is going to help in some way with either reducing the intensity of what's going of the calamity or preparing people better for their endings or helping the people who will survive,

Rebuild or on and on and on.

It's still it still has great value.

But the idea of fearless engagement is a step above courage.

And the highest expression of courage is generosity.

And once we get into courage and that,

Then when we make a commitment to do what it's we're going to do,

That's when you got to let go of the motion of courage and step into a fearless trust of the universe.

And that's that to me is sort of the ultimate way of of of living and dying.

I was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2008,

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

I didn't do the surgery nor the chemo and practicing the indigenous worldview precepts.

Here I am a number of years later.

Like I told you earlier,

I'm a 76 year old surf bum.

So I'm going to go ahead and and say a brief Lakota prayer to end.

I usually I usually get up and grab my flute up there and play the Cherokee song.

I'll just tell the readers what it is.

I'm not going to do it because I still got my swimsuit on.

So the song that was is was played on the Trail of Tears,

I sang on the Trail of Tears by women to the children,

And it reminds them of the beautiful animals in the clouds they saw and how the clouds are keeping their responsibility to bring coolness and rain.

They it talks about the dancing prairie grasses and how they're so beautiful,

But they're keeping their responsibility to spread the seeds and feed the animals.

The beautiful colors of the fish in the brook they had to cross,

How they're keeping the waters clean for us,

The beautiful sounds of the birds,

How they're teaching us to sing and planting the seed.

And it's a beautiful song.

If you can imagine,

Though,

The mother singing that song in the most horrible situation,

It's a reminder for us all to keep seeing the beauty,

Keep focusing on the beauty all around.

And I'll say a prayer that wishes for that well-being,

Everybody,

And then we'll close.

We're all related.

For everyone listening out there,

The Red Fox also symbolizes being more creative,

Being bolder in your life,

And being a little bit of a trickster.

So I'm going to try to incorporate all those things in the coming month and try to take that message and that lesson of the Red Fox and bring it out into the world.

I need to thank my guest today,

Four Arrows,

For spending some time with me,

Telling some stories,

And reminding me that there's magic all around us,

But especially,

Especially in nature.

I also need to thank the creators of the music used in this episode.

Music Elle Files,

Otis Galloway,

Kevin MacLeod,

Alexander Nagarada,

Chilled Music,

Raphael Crux,

And Sasha End.

For complete attribution,

Please see the Bite-Sized Blessings website at bitesizedblessings.

Com.

On the website,

You'll find links to all sorts of groovy stuff,

Books,

Music,

Artists,

And a Four Arrows book under the episode show notes.

All that groovy stuff I hope lightens and brightens your day.

Thank you for listening,

And here's my one request.

Be like Four Arrows.

Examine in your life where you live in fear,

What scares you,

And why.

How is it controlling your life?

And then,

Then think of those precepts that we talked of earlier in the show.

Courage,

Compassion,

Generosity.

Think of how you can bring those in your life to engage with that fear,

To make friends with it.

And then,

Then you know what I'm going to say.

Use that change within yourself to go out and make this world a better place.