5 Feathers on Parchment Native American Wisdom Poster

The Five Feathers of Wisdom Artwork and Words by Skye Ryan-Evans © "A Native American Lesson is taught to the young and to whomever has forgotten the teaching, which uses five feathers to illustrate each point. The First Feather, a large one, represents Truth, this quality being of great importance to both warrior and squaw, to both friend and enemy. Without Truth, we cannot function together as a People neither can we Trust ourselves to keep the second great Law which is Honour. This trait too is represented using a large feather, to show its importance in the great scheme of Creation. The next two Feathers are smaller, but by no measure are they considered less important, for they act as support laws for the first two and without the two secondary traits, the first and second great teachings cannot be properly set in place. These two laws are concerned firstly with Courage, without which a people cannot face adversity together as a united front and therefore are weakened in its absence. The next is concerned with Kindness without which Justice, Honour and the greatest Law cannot be rightly exercised. The final and greatest Law then is that of Love which law combines the care of a Friend one to another, the love of a man for his companion, the respect of a grandson for his elders and the Compassion which is called upon whenever an animal is dispatched for the sustenance of the tribe or whenever one among us uses error in his judgement. Love is also that light with which we may see and thereby commune with our Creator, whenever we contemplate the great Father of us All. Compassion is that all-encompassing Love which holds no favourites and it is this greatest of all Laws which binds the rest together like a shield across the heart, a protective cloak for the Spirit, a sheltering tree that offers safe respite from all the ills of the World. Each feather is essential if the soul is to take flight and reach our Creator in the Sky at the end of all days. One feather less and we will fall short of our goal. So bind them fast, each together as one, and so shall you fly."