Tipi living in the traditional way Tipi living can be fun but it can also be rather arduous at times. “After living with Leonard J. Mountain Chief on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation for nearly ten years, I can say unequivocally I would do it all over again given the chance.” Jay North author of Open Spaces My Life With Leonard J Mountain Chief. Eight-year-old Jay North read a book about Montana that changed his life. Ever precocious and constantly curious, young Jay decided that this rugged outback was a path he would one day travel. True to his dream, Jay eventually traveled to the Treasure State and met a true diamond in the rough, Blackfeet tribal elder Leonard J. Mountain Chief. After Jay’s retirement from Paradise Farms--his organic farm in Carpinteria California, he and his beloved late wife Pamela (Pammy) made the huge move to the Big Sky country of his boyhood dreams. From their first 1990 encounter in Jay’s quaint Native American Art shop until Leonard’s passing in 1999, Jay recounts his decade of deliverance in his newest (revised 2014)work, entitled Open Spaces: My Life with Leonard J. Mountain Chief, Blackfeet Elder from Northwestern Montana. This intimate collection of 28 stories and 58 photographs about Leonard’s unique visions and teachings is framed by the adventures of these two exceptional individuals. Blackfeet elder Leonard J. Mountain Chief served in the US army and fought two wars for this country’s freedom, the Second World War and the Korean War, retiring with medals of valor. Returning to the United States and his beloved mountain, Heart Butte, he served on the tribal counsel for over 25 years and was instrumental figurehead among his tribe. Leonard was also a remarkable artisan, a world-class fiddler, a tribal storyteller, shaman and actor. As the tribe’s storyteller, teacher and heritage passer, he preserved the traditional Indian way for generations to come. He was a strong, courageous man, huge in stature and spirit. Filled with remarkable experiences of sacred ceremonies, wilderness journeys and inspired conversations, the Big Sky country serves as both the storyboard and the setting of Leonard’s beloved home in Heart Butte, Montana. Native American spirituality teachers are increasingly sought after, and literature by these historical gatekeepers continues to be highly popular, demonstrating a lively and enduring following. The Northwest Montana Blackfeet Indian Reservation is home to the magnificent people of the Blackfeet and Blackfoot nations. Proud of their notorious stature as fierce warriors, they were among the last Native people to fight for freedom, finally subdued in 1894. Today they call Glacier National Park home, the motherland of these determined people. “I would invite you to come into Open Spaces and come out transformed.”Jay North. Please help support your favorite starving author, yours truly. Buy Now https://createspace/3635400 Join the thousands of readers that have enjoyed Open Space; I never met Leonard J. Mountain Chief, yet his spirit is closely entwined with mine and I call him brother and I call him friend. This book is more than just the story of the close friendship of two men; it carries forth the spirit of Leonard J. Mountain Chief in such a way that the reader finds themselves feeling a kinship, a brotherhood with him as our mutual God, our father binds us together. This book carries forth the spirit of the Native Americans. As Leonard and Jay have their adventures, we don’t just read about them, we experience them. Although he tells this book in the first person and it is indeed a book about the experiences that Jay had with this his foster father, Jay North has done a tremendous job in allowing us to experience for ourselves the man who was and who is, for his spirit lives on, Leonard J. Mountain Chief. I highly recommend this book, not just for those of us who are Native Americans, but for all people everywhere. I personally have been greatly blessed by it. Bunny McLeod, Nation of the Iroquois Today would be good day, Buy Now https://createspace/3635400
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 02:52:37 +0000
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