"In the life of an Indian, every new day, every encounter with bird or beast, and everything he owned or wore had religious significance. The Indians prayed each day to the One-Who-Made-All-Things, the Crow Ah-badt-dadt-deah. Since all creatures were made by the Great Spirit, the Indian considered the animals and birds with whom he shared his home not only sacred, but brothers. Each creature had unique powers and skills and the Indians believed that God had placed them on the Mother Earth to teach them valuable lessons. The eagle embodied courage and speed, skills the Indians needed for successful war and hunting, and eagles were revered as messengers of the Great Spirit. In the highest passes of the Rocky Mountains, spring arrives late in the year. As the snow melts, swollen, rushing streams and rivers tell the Indians that passes to more fertile hunting grounds will be open. The melting snow patterns speak to the Indians also. These are messages from the Great Spirit. It is because of the Indians' special reverence for the eagle that I have chosen to incorporate him into my most resent painting, Season of the Eagle"
"In a remote mountain valley
where winter lingers into summer
the Great Spirit
sends messages of fair weather and good hunting
on the wings of a mountain
on the flight of a lake
This is the Season of the Eagle."
- Bev Doolittle
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