LONG AGO, IN THE TIME BEFORE ALL DAYS, before the beginning of all things, the Great Spirit created the spirit-world above and the earth below. At that time our mother earth was an empty wasteland with no form or beauty, and great darkness was over the face of the ancient deep waters. The Breath of the Great Spirit moved over the surface of the waters like an eagle brooding over her nest. Creator sounded his voice. “Let light be!” he said. And light was! The Great Spirit could see that light was good, so he separated the light from the darkness. Creator gifted the light with the name day, and to the darkness he gave the name night. Then night faded and morning came. The first day.

In six days the Great Spirit made all things seen and unseen. He made the spirit-world above and the earth below. He created spirits to be his messengers and helpers. He also made the sun, moon, and stars, and all plants and animals. He made the great waters and all who swim in them. The winged ones who fly in the sky, the four-legged ones who walk on the ground, every creeping thing that crawls—all were shaped and molded by his hands.

On the sixth day Creator made the first man and woman and placed them in the Garden of Beauty and Harmony to be caretakers of the earth.

On the seventh day the Great Spirit rested from his work of creation, not because he was tired but because he was finished. The Great Spirit blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day. So humankind was created to enter into his day of rest and remain in harmony with Creator and care for all of creation.

But the evil snake, sometimes called Accuser (Satan), a spirit being who opposes the Great Spirit, twisted the words of Creator. He planted a seed of doubt into the minds of the first humans, so they ate the fruit of the only tree that Creator had told them not to eat from, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. By listening to the evil snake and disobeying the Maker of Life, they brought death with all its bloodshed, violence, and destruction to all the generations of humankind that would follow.

The life of beauty and harmony was lost and the circle of life was broken. A powerful curse came upon the ground that affected all living things. Spiritual and physical death came to all. The hearts of human beings became broken, twisted together with good and evil. They could no longer live in harmony on the land and began to follow evil ways and hurt and kill one another.

Creator revealed what would come from the curse brought about by the ancient snake, then he made a promise to all humankind. He promised to one day send another human being, born of a woman, who would crush the head of the ancient snake and restore human beings and all of creation back to the life of beauty and harmony again.

After many generations, Creator found a man he would choose to make a peace treaty with, named Father of Many Nations (Abraham). Through this man and his descendants, Creator would bring to pass his promise.

When Father of Many Nations (Abraham) and his wife were too old to have children, the Great Spirit gave them a son. They named him He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) because they laughed when Creator told them they would have a child. He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) had a son whom he named Heel Grabber (Jacob), because he grabbed his twin brother’s heel when he was being born. The Great Spirit later gave him a new name, Wrestles with Creator (Israel), because he wrestled with a spirit-messenger from Creator.

Wrestles with Creator (Israel) had twelve sons, who became twelve tribes. After four hundred years of mistreatment and slavery in the foreign nation of Black Land (Egypt), the Great Spirit set them free through Drawn from the Water (Moses), who became the great lawgiver.

The Great Spirit made a peace treaty with the tribes and gave them their own Land of Promise, ceremonies to purify them, and feasts to teach them to celebrate his goodness. He also gave them their tribal law, which was carved into tablets of stone, and a sacred tent lodge, where they would perform their ceremonies.

Creator wanted to be their only Chief, but the tribes wanted a human chief so they could be like the nations around them. This grieved Creator, but he gave them what they wanted. Most of these chiefs became arrogant and misrepresented the Great Spirit, but there were a few good ones. One of these chiefs was Much Loved One (David). He had a good heart toward Creator and the people, even though he, at times, also strayed from the path.

Creator chose the tribes to be a light to other nations, but they failed to keep his peace treaty, broke his laws, and misrepresented him to others. He sent many prophets to turn the hearts of the tribes back to the right ways of the Great Spirit, but they did not listen, and their hearts became like stone. The tribes went to war with each other and divided into two tribal nations. One nation kept the name Wrestles with Creator (Israel). The other nation took the name Give Him Honor (Judah).

After warning them many times, the Great Spirit finally removed his protection from them and allowed them to be conquered by the people of the Village of Confusion (Babylon). The tribes were taken captive and removed from their homeland. Their sacred lodge was destroyed, and their Village of Peace (Jerusalem) was left in ruins.

Creator’s heart was full of sorrow, but he did not forget his ancient promise, so he sent more holy men to tell about his plan.

The Great Spirit spoke through the prophet Lifted by Creator (Jeremiah), saying,

He also spoke through Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah), saying,

The prophet Creator Will Decide (Daniel) said,

After about seventy years in captivity, a small remnant returned to their homeland and rebuilt the sacred lodge. But the elders wept because it was pitiful in comparison to the original sacred lodge built by the great chief Stands in Peace (Solomon).

Many generations passed. Sacred ceremonies and feasts became empty rituals that were used to try to manipulate the Great Spirit to do what the spiritual leaders wanted. The ceremonies and laws were used to control people and make them afraid instead of helping them. Many spiritual leaders became even more corrupt, and they complicated and twisted the true meaning of Creator’s words.

So the Great Spirit became silent and sent no more holy men to speak his words for four hundred years. But he did not forget his ancient promises.

Through the generations that followed, many powerful nations ruled over the tribes. The most recent was the People of Iron (Romans). This government took control of the tribes and dominated them for nearly two generations.

The People of Iron (Romans) forced their treaties on the tribes but did allow some freedoms. They could practice their own spiritual ways, build gathering houses called synagogues, and maintain a sacred lodge to perform their ceremonies and make their prayers.

This government also allowed them to have their own tribal chiefs. But over many years those chiefs became corrupt and were controlled more by the ways of the People of Iron (Romans) than by their ancient Sacred Ways. The People of Iron (Romans) had taken charge of appointing their holy men and their tribal chief.

The people were oppressed and feared this powerful government of the Village of Iron (Rome) with its many soldiers and weapons of war. They kept praying that the Great Spirit would fulfill the age-old prophecies and send the Chosen One, whom they hoped would be a great warrior chief to destroy the People of Iron (Romans) and set them free.

The right time had finally come for Creator to fulfill his ancient prophecies and send his Chosen One.

But he would not come in the way the tribes expected . . .