Mesquaki

I Am walking my creator made me in his own likeness and he made this comfort for me. I Create a place beyond this earth Loves me and reminds me of his love at all times by being around me I see him in the earth gives me my food. I see him in the Sun From whom I received warmth and health. I See him in the trees Romney in the rivers and stream. He has placed fishing turtle for me While gaming father always planned for it so that I might always have to eat In the fall hard people Prepare for the winter. So squash drying is one of the things that my people do it's a side dish like a special food when they eat it or It could be used at ceremonies in the wintertime It could be prepared with water to try and get it to its original form and they use maple sugar or brown sugar on it to sweeten it to a little They have all had prepared squash for the winter and It used to be they used terrible from there for their season If we have a real good Sunshine hot sunshine well, it'll it could dry in four days But usually when there's a lot of moisture in the air, well it took longer time to dry My grandmother was used to make a lot of yard bells She was one of those that helped us in bringing back designs we have had Arrowhead designs and they can be a three arrowheads or Five Arrowhead or maybe more which would make the belt wider You learned this through what you see your my mother did a lot of those things as though I have seen and what they were doing and then I Maybe from that I wanted to do something like that There aren't a lot of people That want to wear them and there are even Non-indians want to buy them too and wear them with their casual clothes. I Don't make them to make money on them. I only sell them as art My aunt told me that the meaning of Wearing a belt is like you untied and you retired again is something like like Rededicating yourself. You retie your belt that's sort of a lesson to me You know you want to do something better while you really tie your belt The Meskwaki beadwork can be worn with costumes to set it off more or add on more decorations Our people used to use porcupine quills when there were a lot of porcupine around and And the material could be gotten then these they would die with the natural dyes Whenever they are in season and so they would have to know how to plan to get their colors and applied them to the quills as they want them and They stopped using the clothes when? Materia was putting a bead and gotten These a beadwork Could be made by the individual. This is what we are taught but of course if the person cannot make them while somebody else makes it for them a Circle is a sign of strength So that's why you see so many around it. Rosette the Bead worker will find her own design to to her own liking by working with the designs after a while a person would know just What kind of design that she can create from the other designs? We are told we are not dressing for other people we are addressing for the Creator so the but that more decorative and and of your own making The better it is Once we were happy in our country and we were seldom hungry there was plenty for all of us But the white man came and they have made little islands for us and always these islands are becoming smaller all around them Serves the flood of the Whiteman and it is dirty with lies and green My people have been Americans for thousand of years Before your people came they are questions not how you can Americanize us, but how we can recognize you They have been working on that for a long time You