Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth’s rite of passage?
His father takes him into the forest…blindfolded…and leaves him….alone.
He is required to sit on a stump the whole night…and not take off the blindfold until the rays of Sun shine through it. He is all by himself. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.
Once he survives the night…he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience. Each boy must come into his own manhood.
The boy was terrified…could hear all kinds of noise…Beasts were all around him. Maybe even some human would hurt him. The wind blew the grass and earth… and it shook his stump. But he sat stoically…never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could be a man.
Finally, after a horrific night…the Sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he saw his father…sitting on the stump next to him…at watch…the entire night.
We are never truly alone. Even when we do not know it, our family and friends are watching out for us…sitting on a stump beside us.
Source: http://www.rogerdarlington.me.uk
US postage stamp issued in May 2023 to honour Chief Standing Bear (ca. 1829-1908), who won a landmark court ruling in 1879 that determined that Native Americans were persons under the law with inherent rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Courtesy: https://indianaffairs.state.ne.us/