Table of Contents
David Little Elk offers a Lakota teaching about fire, not a tale about where nations come from. Everything is tied together, he says, and each element has a share in a person, so someone can speak with fire and pray for a peaceful result for humans, plants, and animals at once. His story is a bad burn in southern Colorado, where the wind kept changing. Apache firefighters saw what looked like men standing in the flames, and they left. Outside crews thought the Apaches were only afraid, and stayed. Within seconds the fire blew up and those firefighters died. The Apache men then needed a ceremony. The fire people are sacred, and meeting them without being a holy person can disturb mind and feeling. Thunder beings have a part in making living things, animals do sacred work so people can live, and prayer speaks to the sun, the moon, and the rest of the world. Fire, in this teaching, is not only a tool. It is a relative, and the fitting answer includes ceremony.
Key points
- Fire is one of the elements people are tied to, and it can be spoken to in prayer.
- The prayer he recommends asks a peaceful result for plants and animals as well as for humans.
- Apache firefighters left a Colorado fire after seeing figures that looked like men in the flame.
- Crews who stayed, taking that departure for fear, died when the fire exploded within seconds.
- Because the fire people are sacred, those Apache men needed a ceremony afterward.
- Thunder beings and animals are honored as well, because their work is what lets people live.
Short quotes
because everything is connected and we are connected to the elements we are connected to fire there's a part of that
David Little Elk, Lakota teaching on the fire people
He teaches that people are tied to fire and to every other element. Watch at 1:50
Apache guys saw something in the flame they thought they saw some men standing in the
David Little Elk, Lakota teaching on the fire people
He recounts Apache firefighters who believed they saw men standing inside the flames. Watch at 8:48
the fire people they had to go through a ceremony this is something that's sacred
David Little Elk, Lakota teaching on the fire people
He says a ceremony followed, because the fire people are a sacred matter. Watch at 11:11
knew about these animals it's a sacred work they do yeah because of them we can live because of
David Little Elk, Lakota teaching on the fire people
He calls the work of certain animals sacred and says human life depends on it. Watch at 20:01
sky and they address the sun they address the moon they address everybody and they give
David Little Elk, Lakota teaching on the fire people
He describes prayers that speak to the sun, the moon, and the rest of the world. Watch at 22:11
Video by David Little Elk. Watch on YouTube.