Power of the Circle

You have
noticed that everything
an Indian does is in a circle, and that
is because the Power of the World always
works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In
the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all
our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and
as long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The
flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the
four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south
gave warmth, the west gave rain, and the north with its cold and mighty
wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the
outer world with our religion. Everything the Power of the World does is in
a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball,
and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls, Birds make
their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes
forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both
are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing , and
always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a
circle from childhood to childhood, and so its is in everything
where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests
of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's
hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great
Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.
-- Black Elk in Black Elk Speaks as
told through John G.
Niehardt

Black Elk (1863-1950) Oglala Sioux Holy Man