Black Elk Speaks

We should understand well that all things are the work of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things: the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains, and all the four-legged animals and the winged peoples; and even more important, we should understand that He is also above all these things and peoples. When we do understand all this deeply in our hearts, then we will fear, and love, and know the Great Spirit, and then we will be and act and live as He intends.
- Black Elk, Oglaga Lakota

We are all one, and we are all interwoven. We do not exist on our own. Listen to the trees because, if we listen carefully, the trees talk to us. The trees are made of earth, and sky, and rain and without these elements there wouldn't be any trees. The same is true for us people. The Great Spirit has given us the gift of life. We must make the most of it, but we must do so with respect for all of the elements that made us and the other living beings of the world. The Great Spirit is the source of all things, but is greater than all things.