The Wind Is My Mother: The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman [Hardcover]

Bear Heart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 1996

Bridging the worlds of the traditional Native American and modern culture, the authors offer an inspiring and moving autobiography of a native American medicine man, one of the last to be trained in the ancient ways, and one of the few to teach nontribal people.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bear Heart, a full-blooded Muskogee Creek Indian and one of the last "trained" Medicine Men, shares this knowledge, combining it with his more formal, graduate degree in psychology to build a bridge between Native American and modern spirituality. Categorized as an autobiography, the book is nevertheless constructed episodically rather than chronologically, resulting in a lack of fluidity that may distract some readers. The first section describes Bear Heart's family, their beliefs and the calling and training he received to be a medicine man. In the second section, great truths of Native American beliefs and Christianity find parallels. Section three further describes the relationship of human beings to each other, to nature and to the Great Being; the importance of the Sacred Pipe; and the purposes of vision quests. It concludes with this question: "The word 'memorial' does not indicate that someone has died. It symbolizes that someone has lived. What is going to be the living memorial that you're going to leave behind?"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The life and healing practices of a Muskogee Creek medicine man who seems never to have met a disease he couldn't cure. A general reader must suspend disbelief and patiently endure grandfatherly lectures throughout this book, coauthored by Larkin, a white woman who experienced a spiritual rebirth under Bear Heart's tutelage. As a young disciple, Bear Heart underwent training rituals that included trooping through a nest of rattlesnakes and lying on an anthill. He also became adept in using traditional healing tools, including a wide repertoire of chants, an eagle feather upon which he blows when ministering to sick patients, the Sacred Pipe, and peyote, which only recently was legally permitted for use by practitioners of the Native American Church. In his long tenure as medicine man, Bear Heart claims to have cured earaches, tubercular-like illnesses, poisonings, and paralysis, often after Western medicine had failed. In addition, he was able to produce snow for a Colorado ski resort and cause choking fits from a distance in those with evil intentions. In the main, however, one can read this as a homily-filled discourse on leading a healthy and happy existence. Among his admonitions are to remain humble, have respect for elders, laugh frequently, be respectful of the natural environment, avoid blaming others for one's situation, and other tried-and-true strategies. The book is forever in danger of meandering into areas best left untouched, such as bear psychology (``Mostly they use telepathy to communicate'') and anthropology (``It's possible that the Hebrews were here in North America first and then traveled to Israel''), but the writers maintain such a consistently sincere tone that the uncritical reader readily forgives Bear Heart's leaps into the unknown. In sum, one can read this in lieu of spending an evening with a well-meaning but long-winded relative or use it, sparingly, as a resouce for insight into traditional Native American practices. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 259 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1st edition (March 5, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517702835
• ISBN-13: 978-0517702833
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,084,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Wind is My Mother", January 28, 2000

By 

Matthew A. Lambert - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wind Is My Mother: The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman (Paperback)

"The Wind is My Mother: Teachings of a Native american Shaman" is an extremely inspirational book filled with wisdom that has been passed down for centuries. It is a combination of Universal Truths and every-day living. Grandfather Bear Heart sits right up there with Fools Crow as one of the True Holy Men of our time. He has studied a multitude of subjects ranging from psychology to Anthropology, yet has learned that all we ever truly know is that which we have experienced.....

Though you will not become a Holy Person just by reading this book, it will inspire you to achieve your full potential as a human being, it will teach you the importance of truly living. One of Bear Heart's Elders was quoted in the book, saying-"You've been given the gift of life, don't just become an old man, learn something." An he has defintely learned many things....but the most important aspect of this wonderful man perhaps, is the fact that he practices true love and through that love, the wisdom he carries with him will penitrate the deepest part of your being.

I do hope that you have the honor of reading this book, and may you be moved to carry on his medicine, wisdom and love to all those arround you.....whether the ones arround you are two-leggeds, four-leggeds, the flying ones, the planted ones or those who are in the spirit world.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars POWERFUL,SPIRITUAL, SACRED !, December 24, 2000

By 

Sakanta Running Wolf (Abadiania, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wind Is My Mother: The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman (Paperback)

This book is beautiful! It is an honor to have done my Vison Quest with Bear Heart, to have visited with him, to have an ongoing relationship of student/teacher. The Kirkus review reflects that individual's skepticism. I have studied and practiced shamanism for 25 years. Bear Heart is the real deal, both as a human being and medicine man. You will find his life story extremely inspiring. I hope you get the chance to meet him too. Your heart and spirit will know who he is! Sakanta Running Wolf, Th'e Chupe ke ya ka Pah, Muscogee Creek name, means Walks in Freedom

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's amazing how subtle messages slam into you, August 17, 2000

By 

Urban Medic - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wind Is My Mother: The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman (Paperback)

I agree with a previous reviewer that this book is not a how-to on becoming a shaman. For anyone exposed to, and travelling on what could be considered a shaman-like path, this book offers insights not only in a man who would become a healer, but insights that can apply to almost anyone. I am not a shaman, nor do I claim to be, but Bear Heart's book brought a number of things to the forefront of my life, and cleared my mind as to the path I should take.

Will this be the case for everyone? I doubt it. Otherwise, it is a quick and very entertaining read. For those on their own path, it won't show you the way, but will point the way within yourself so you may search for and find the answers you seek.