HOKSCHICHANKIYA

There are spirits that live in all things, and in today's world where mass destruction of the environment takes place daily, these spirits are often thrown out of their homes. By transferring plants, animals, and minerals to new homes, we create new places for these Nunahee to live in, and we set up an inter-connected spiritual network throughout the country.

This also allows us to save these plants, animals, and minerals from destruction while, at the same time, we preserve their power and pass it on to other areas of the world. This is a very noble practice that benefits everyone and everything.

HOKSCHICHANKIYA CEREMONY

1. Gather your materials. Someone in another part of the country should have supplied you with hokschichankiya packets. These could consist of seeds, tobacco, and feathers, for example. They could include small animals, with offerings of tobacco and feathers. They might include various crystals-all this should be arranged ahead of time by you and your friend.

2. Have at least three of these packets ready. It is a good idea if possible to plant/place one of these packets near your own home; another packet should go near where you work; the third packet can go where spirit tells you. For example, when I did hokschichankiya as part of my Shadowlight Medicine Path lessons, I planted one packet near my apartment building; one packet in a small park across from the school where I teach, and the third packet in a forest surrounding Miami University-Middletown campus, since Miami University holds very great meaning for me.

3. Planting procedures (if using plants): Bring with you your smudging materials. Once at the planting site, smudge yourself and the area. Offer tobacco to the four directions, then plant your seeds. Cover them carefully, place a little more tobacco on top of them, and leave. Make sure you notice any unusual things that happen as you do the planting: in one case for me the wind increased from the west the very moment I lit the sage for smudging.

4. If you are using crystals you can likewise place them within the ground or on top of it. Animals should be let loose into a hopefully safe place.

INFORMATIONAL HOKSCHICHANKIYA

There is another kind of hokschichankiya available now in this age of electronics, and that is informational hokschichankiya. Although the general purpose is different from traditional hokschichankiya (information generally doesn't really need to be preserved-with notable exceptions like the Library of Alexandria), information is to be shared, and can help others in their work on Turtle Island.

You may be writing to a friend, or you may be communicating with him or her via telecommunications on computers. In either case, if your friend is studying the Medicine Path and has need of information, maybe you can supply it. That information can be explanations of terms, ceremonies, meditations, even physical objects, or places where you can buy Medicine Path supplies. Useful information would also include the names of various books on the subject, along with the names of magazines, Native American newspapers, and the like, that the person, alone might never be aware of. Sharing information can be a great gift to others, and can help others on their spiritual paths. Thus, this can also be a form of hokschichankiya. the vibrations of love.