Chapter 1

The Twins of Night and Day

In the midwinter night, the glowing medicine lodge reflected its light on the surrounding snow. Inside, the Circle of Elders sat close to the warmth of the fire. The flicker of the council fire illuminated Night Eagle's hands as he signed the story of his history. The hand signals were like a mesmerizing dance. Owl, as most of his friends called him, wove the journey of his life with his weathered hands and his crackly old voice:

"In the winter of my birth, on the night that is the longest, my father, White Otter, was out hunting. It was a bad winter and there was much hunger in our village. The sky was clear and it was very cold in the Valley of the North Star. Otter had been tracking a deer for most of the afternoon and at last he saw his prey far ahead of him.  He tried a shot, but misjudged his distance and the arrow went between the stag's front legs.  Otter decided that he was too far away from camp to track the deer any further and turned back toward the village."...

It was evening by the time he found the trail that led down the valley to his lodge and a warm fire within. The full Moon was rising and the night was bright as twilight as moonlight reflected from the snow-covered trees. The snow sparkled with all the colors of the rainbow as the glow cast Otter's shadow across the path.

Suddenly, White Otter saw the tracks of a buffalo calf crossing the trail in front of him, and he bent down to read the sign. One lone calf, no other buffalo tracks nearby. White Otter felt the spirit of the give-away and knew that the calf would give itself as food for his family. He offered tobacco to the powers of the hunt that had brought him this gift. He followed the tracks and saw that the lone young buffalo was having a hard time making its way through the deep snow. The snow had a strong crust that Otter could walk easily on top of as he neared the calf. He killed the buffalo with one arrow in the neck, then walked to the still body.

Dancing slowly around the calf, Otter sang an honoring song. The song spoke of thankfulness for the life of the buffalo that would bring life to Otter's family. This song went on to say that one day Otter would die and give-away his body to the Earth. His body would feed the grass and the grass would feed the relations of the young buffalo within the circle of life. The buffalo had fallen next to the Medicine Tree where the People left their prayers and offerings.

Not far away in White Otter's lodge, his mate, Painted Fawn, was near her time of birthing. Grandmother Eyes of Wisdom was helping her to birth her first child. Fawn was worried about Otter being out so late, however, she was also hoping that his delay meant that his hunt had been successful and there would soon be meat in the lodge.

Grandmother helped Fawn into a squatting position as the contractions grew closer together. She fixed a backrest for Fawn to lean against, and told her to try and relax between each contraction.

Otter was busy skinning the buffalo calf so he was not aware of the approach of the mother buffalo. The cow had been searching for her lost calf, and was tired from walking through the deep snow drifts. She was not in a good mood. She smelled her calf and felt the death in the air. Startled by the dark shape between her and her calf, she charged.

Otter heard the crushing sound behind him and knew that his life was in danger. He turned and tried to jump out of the way of the charging buffalo. The snow crust gave way beneath his feet, and he was struggling to regain his balance when she struck him in his chest. The last thing that Otter saw was the white Medicine Tree with the many tobacco ties and feather bundles tied to her branches. Each medicine object was holding a prayer gift to the tree. He thought, "What a wonderful place to die," as the tree grew brighter until he felt only the intense light.

Fawn cried out with relief as her son cleared the birthing channel and fell into Grandmother's hands. The full Moon was overhead and its light shone down through the smoke flaps. An owl called out through the clear, cold winter night. Fawn felt a radiant light in the lodge as she held her first-born to her breast.

Eyes of Wisdom cut the umbilical cord with a flint knife and tied the end with sinew. She then embraced the mother and child and cried tears of joy.  Fawn said that she was afraid that the calling of the owl had meant that someone had died.

When Fawn awoke with a sharp pain in her womb, twilight was showing through the smoke flaps. The contractions increased rapidly and as the Sun broke over the mountains, the second twin was birthed. As Grandmother put the second son into Fawn's arms, an eagle shrilled its call from far above the lodge. And so Grandmother named the twins Night Eagle and Sun Eagle.

Chapter 2

Grandmother

Owl was lying in the tall grass in the shade of the cottonwood trees.   The spider he was watching was working her spider magic and spinning a beautiful web.  He had been watching the colorful spider since she attached her first cord and now there was a symmetrical pattern radiating out from the center.  She then started spinning her web in a spiral, working toward the center.

This is how Grandmother Eyes of Wisdom found him and she decided to join him and lie down in the grass and watch the creation of the web.  "What is troubling you Little Owl? Your energy is heavy with sadness.  What could be troubling you on such a wondrous spring day?"

The young boy continued watching each move the spider made as he replied, "Oh, Eagle and my cousins were just here and they wanted me to go hunting with them.   I was watching the spider spin her trap and did not feel like hunting today.   Sun Eagle called me 'Slow Owl' and said that I was lazy.  My cousin Stalker said that I would rather be listening to old women's stories then to be out hunting and making meat for my family.  Grandmother, what Stalker says is true.  I would rather be here and learn about the spider medicine.  Does that make me slow and lazy?   Why am I so different from my twin brother?"

Grandmother's eyes twinkled as she spoke:
        "Although you were born as twins, your brother and you have come into the world on different paths, like the many strands on that web.  You and your brother will walk separate journeys in your life; on the other hand, you may notice how every strand meets in the center.
        Your medicine power is the owl, and your brother's medicine is the eagle.  Actually, the two animal powers are similar, for they are the two creatures that are closest to spirit.  The eagle flies the highest of any creature and has the most powerful eyesight.  In this way, the eagle can be seen as the creature closest to the heavens, and from that perspective, the power with the most expansive vision.
        At night, the eagle is nearly blind, and it is the owl that has the most powerful eyesight.  Both are messengers from the world of spirit; one of the light, and one of the darkness.  This is why the owl is called the night eagle like your namesake.  Darkness is considered fearful, or even evil by some people, yet the darkness of the Sacred Void was the first power in all the universe.   Out of this dark void all life was created, just as new life is created out of the darkness of a woman's womb.
        My medicine is also the owl, and you and I see the world from a similar perspective.  We want to see into the meaning of all that we observe and feel around us.  You like to sit for half a day watching the spider because you are being taught by the greatest teacher of all, Mother Nature.  Through meditative observance of the natural world, you may learn the language of Mother Earth and receive her wisdom."