A VISIT BY OUR GRANDFATHERS, THE THUNDERERS

Submitted by Native North American Travelling College

I will tell you this story as it really happened, just the way I remember it.

I truly believe that it was our Grandfathers who came to visit us on June 22, 1970. It was on a very beautiful day. At noon, I was helping my wife wash dishes. We were standing side by side, both facing the kitchen window. Suddenly, we noticed it got even brighter, which surprised us both. It was beautiful to see, a few raindrops fell as if it were starting to rain. There was no sound but in came a light (beam, ray) with as many beautiful different colours as you could name. It encircled us and we stood in the center of this circle, as the light went around and around us. It never touched us or the floor and it passed about three feet from the floor.

We both enjoyed this sight. My wife looked at it in amaze­ment and I was smiling, grateful of not being able to tell all the different colours in it. For about 30 seconds or longer, the light remained and then rolled into a ball and went back out through the same window.

We watched the light go across the road towards a tree and as soon as it went around this tree, we lost sight of it. Immediately afterwards, we noticed something sticking out from the tree which we had never seen before. I wondered what it was and went to see what it was. Before I even reached up to grab it, it fell into my hands and I took hold of it. I looked at it and it was cut so squarely about 10” in diameter. I brought it in to show my wife. We were both so surprised to see this piece of bark cut so squarely. I said I would go and put the piece of bark in the storehouse, that I would not throw it away or misuse it. However, I do not remem­ber if I took it out to store it and I do not remember where that bark went -it just disappeared.

Anyone who comes to visit never notices the bark missing from that tree unless I point it out to them. Our Grandfathers, the Thunderers have very strong powers.

Many years older (before), lightning hit a tree at the end of my property. It glanced off the tree and went underground. My son Wilbert was still here and we went to check it out. He looked for something that might indicate where the lightning entered and he started digging but did not find anything. Meanwhile, I started picking up splinters, some were the size of toothpicks, and there were many around the tree. I picked them all up, took them to the milkhouse where I found a clean empty jar in which I placed these splinters. To this day, the splinters are still in this jar but the bigger bark is still missing and I believe that they took that back.

As a result of this, for many years now, I clean up the yard and chairs that are out on the lawn, which I always dust so that when my Grandfathers come, they will have a place to sit. Just as soon as I hear sounds in the distance, I go in and smoke my sacred tobacco, or if it’s raining, I stand on the porch and give thanks­giving to them.

Even today, I still continue to give them my greetings and thanksgiving for they are still carrying on their duties in bringing water which renews the life on Mother Earth and their forces protect all life, from the insects and creatures which might surface, to the ground.

To all you people who may hear these words, I ask you to remember your language, even though there are many different languages in this world. I urge you to love your language no matter if you do not use it, retain it, I do. I do not normally speak any other language except the white man’s language, but in my home KA NIEN KE HA KA is the language I speak. Now you young people, I pray that you would learn your language, love and pre­serve it, to carry on to your unborn generations. My duty, as long as I continue to mingle on this earth, is that I keep my language and I will not lose it. Once again, I ask you young people to re­learn your language. That is all I have to say for now.