American Lakota Elder on the Gifts of Silence
“You don’t convince anyone by arguing.
— American Lakota Elder
People make their decisions in their heart.
Talk doesn’t touch my heart.
People should think of their words like seeds. They should plant them, then let them grow in silence.
Our old people taught us that the earth is always speaking to us, but that we have to be silent to hear her.
I can understand all the trees.
The wind.
All the animals.
The insects.
I can tell what a color of the sky means. Everything in the natural world speaks to me.
Teaching our children well.”