Brian Frejo: "Have respect for these stories. Have respect for these beliefs that have been around for thousands of years. Don't make fun of it."
A common reported observance among those investigating alleged haunted locations is that of hearing footsteps. Upon hearing such a report, the first thing that comes to mind is... they are being made by a ghost walking and most often attributed to what is known as a "residual haunting" effect. Take a moment and think of when you yourself may have heard footsteps, not in a suspected haunted location, but in your very own home! I am talking about something reported to exist on Turtle Island, long before European intrusion into North America.
Some people call them fairies, gnomes, dwarves, etc. but those stories were brought to the U.S. from other places such as France, Italy, Ireland, England, etc. In North American before the white man came, they were known as "little people," the Nimerigar, Nirumbee, Rocks and Laurels, et. al.
These little people were for the most part, reportedly unwelcome by most Native Americans as their unpredictable nature and territorial mischief disturbed an otherwise normal life. Across the majority of North American tribes, the little people legends are found to be similar in nature. Some exceptions however existed.
There is the legend of "Spirit Mound" a.k.a. "Paha Wakan" as the Sioux call it, in South Dakota, U.S.A. It told of 18-inch tall humans with “remarkable large heads” who inhabited the site. Armed with arrows, these spirits attacked anyone who approached the hill." Spirit Mound is considered by Native Americans to be a place of contact between the natural and the supernatural world. Spirit Mound is also said to be the origin point for the "Wo'piye Can O'ti la," the Little Tree Dweller's Medicine Bundle. This medicine bundle is still in use today. From an article "Tobacco Ties and the Six Directions, "the colors represent who the medicine man is working with in the non-physical world, and the number of ties represent a specific amount of prayers that are requested by the spirits in order for them to come in and work with you. Your prayers carry the gift of your heart to the spirits so they know what you're looking for and they can see the sincerity of the heart. That's where they look because they know the truth is there."
I had previously spoken with my friend, Omolkhua, who as a token of unselfish concern about my planned mountain hike to investigate an abandoned gold mine alleged to contain the spirits of two miners who died inside, gave me a green string medicine bundle consisting of "Osha," harvested by him at about 10,000 ft elevation in Northern New Mexico near where he lives and where it grows. He advised, "wherever you travel and are entering a place that is possibly occupied by the unseen, cut them off individually. You tell the unseen they are bound to the bundle you have cut off, take it and bury it. If it cannot be buried then take a stone and place it on top of the bundle on the ground and leave it behind." He also gave me a colored bundle which he stated represented the six directions with the individual (myself) being the seventh. "First four are the four directions. The color blue, for example, represents the sky. Other colors represented by Osha, Cedar, Sage, Sweetgrass and tobacco were white, yellow, black, red and green." He also gave me a red ribbon, telling me this particular red ribbon had been used several times, including a house of a woman he had helped, having a dark presence in the home that was keeping someone's father's spirit there. He said, "If you are visiting someone or place where there has been a great deal of turbulence in their lives, for whatever reason, take the ribbon with you."
In general, the little people are said to be prone to be emotionally reactive to human behavior and thought. They respond to us based on our aggressive or passive behavior, able to bestow both gifts or rewards, or punishment as the situation dictates, notwithstanding their propensity for common, harmless mischief. The next time you can't find that missing sock, temporarily misplace your cell phone, drop something and cannot immediately find it, the surprise spot on your clothing, that missing shoe when you are running late, lost car keys, etc., give pause to the possibility it might well be due to the mischievous nature of them.
The following is an excerpt from a previous article of mine. This is an interview about an exchange by Omolkhua with a ghost hunting acquaintance of his, identified here as "GH."
(Omolkhua was heading to an area alleged to have spirits of the Indigenous of North America).
Omolkhua: Before you leave your home, ask permission. They know you're coming. Whatever words or language you wish to use with a message simple or complex, just tell them you'll be showing up. Regardless if you feel you captured good evidence or not, be sure to thank them as you leave. Just because they're dead, doesn't mean they do not understand. Maybe they understand more than you do. They deserve courtesy & respect. Would you enter the home of strangers you have never met, start filming them or record audio of them, asking them questions without permission, and when you were finished leave without saying anything?
Also, keep in mind, if going with others, safety in numbers does not apply, nor your cross, holy water or anything like that. It is not recognized by the Native people. It is not something that we practice. It is not ours. Instead, take tobacco. Before you leave your house to investigate, offer a prayer and seal your house. When you get to your destination, say a prayer, introduce yourself. Tell them what you are doing. The Native spirits will listen. The OTHERS will not. There are different worlds.
GH: I asked my friends there with me who were busily making a plan to investigate, if they would like to gather around to join in a prayer I was planning to offer to the non-living, the natives, and that they were welcome to join me. None were interested in participating, instead continued their plan to investigate the various areas of the house. I went outside, stood on the front patio. I said who I was and I took the tobacco and dropped it on the ground as I was advised to do. I spoke aloud that I meant no disrespect. Once I had finished my prayer to the unseen, something happened. Not that I could see or hear, but the best I could describe it was inside my heart. The way I was approaching this, it was no longer trying to catch a shadow or a light or an orb. That no longer became the priority. It became an evident, peaceful feeling that I was walking among those who had passed on. It was the strangest feeling because I had been doing this for a while and I had never experienced this particular sense. Because of this, I am no longer looking for things that "go bump in the night," but rather I am attempting to make a connection.
GH: was what I described uncommon or strange?
Omolkhua: Not at all. They acknowledged your prayer. They acknowledged your intent. In their way, they let you know they accepted it. Do not accept anyone to follow you. It doesn't matter who. Do not invite them. Do not trust them. Those who mean good intent will always leave you be and never make you feel like you need to bring them. THESE are not good! DO NOT open yourself up to being gracious and say 'come home with me.' Just because you have a sense of peace, of tranquility, feeling they might be around you just by uttering the words..... DO NOT! Nobody ever told you this? You're like a child given a knife for the first time. You are wielding it like a toy with no idea of the danger of the sharp point. Now, you have a family. The only ones who will be with you all the time, without invitation, are the 'helpers.' They are your guides. If you're Christian, they are known as your guardian angel and are always with you. We believe in what we call the helpers... spirits... ancestors. They are like sentinels or soldiers.
Omolkhua: "You're going to this old home, old church, cemetery looking for spirits... WHY? They're always around you. You just have to look. Even in your own home."
In a recent conversation with Omolkhua, he reminded me of something he had previously described to me in more detail: My grandmother use to catch the “little people” and that not nice ones- a normal thing for her- I realize once I left the REZ how things on the outside world is/are a mystery to many. My grandmother described them as 2 or 3 feet tall- dark , skinny, and fast. Trouble makers; they would move things around on her and hide them. She'd get so mad- she'd stand in the middle of the room, and begin her singing- I as a kid was would watch in amazement and with a stern grandmother voice, command them before her. She'd continue with her singing and start the loops, to the 4 directions. She conducted her ceremony, and once done... having them in her fist, she would chastise them, get to her door and release them, telling them not to come back. To me it was a normal thing to see. She'd look down and grab them, pull her hand and tighten the loop. Now at my age, I realize this ceremony is special, but almost forgotten.
With more detail of the process of capture of the little people, Omolkhua stated:
"The red ribbon is a binding to be used for the unseen, bad omens, Wenagis. Use this in your own home if you are followed home. You can do a ceremony where you can literally capture it and push it out of the house. You should not cut the ribbon. You must use the whole thing.
With left hand between the ring finger and the pinky let the ribbon hang down and then you put it between the index and the thumb. So you have a loop in your hand, like a "U". If you are going to move a being from a property or home switch from the right hand and hold that with the left also as you did the right. Take your right hand as if you are going to grab a glass of water. Your right hand is completely open and it goes underneath your left hand between the two ribbons. Once your hand goes through, you make a fist. You pull your hand out slowly and turn the ribbon so it collapses on itself and your able to make a small knot, not tight enough that you cannot undo it, but tight enough that it closes on itself. You do that for all four directions but you never hesitate. You never hesitate nor doubt yourself when you are grasping for the unseen. Once your hand penetrates that loop, you've penetrated from our world to theirs. Another people would say it was another dimension. After doing the four directions you hold it in your hand, tell it to get out. You go to the threshold of the home or property. You stay on the inside, stick your arms out and then you unbind the knots and just tell it "go, you are not welcome in this place", and it will leave. Then take the ribbon and wrap it loosely around your left wrist. When you have finally left that location, you can unwind it from your wrist and keep it in a safe place."
I remember Omolkhua once telling me, "to the unseen, time has no meaning." This bears a remarkable similarity to a quote by a popular religious figure in the Catholic Church: "Souls of deceased human beings do not occupy space... they are not anywhere. They exist outside of earthly, material time. They exist, but they are not "here" or "there" in a physical sense. You can follow Omolkhua on Twitter... @cajunmedicinem1.
Just as the paranormal carries widespread belief among many to some degree, one should not lightly dismiss the existence of these creatures that pre-date by a long shot, the stories of the paranormal today.
To quote from Brian Frejo about the little people, "you don't believe anyone's story because you didn't see it, or there's no proof or evidence. If that's really how you think, really how you feel, then they might show you something." I highly recommend checking out Brian Frejo's YouTube video interview "Native American Little People Stories" at:
https://youtu.be/GkieionCigc
- MoonJoey
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