Walking Spirit in a Native Way

  Are you making a difference? It is not who you were!   It is who you are! Who remembers a star football player thirty years after his game?   Do you remember Rolland Lawrence?   I didn't, until I met him.   Mr. Bay, as he is called affectionately by the kids at VisionQuest Big Lodge Camp, was a 1975 NFC ALL-PRO for the Atlanta Falcons.   Rolland was NFC's 2nd leading interceptor in 1975.   A deadly tackler, he gained over 4,000 yards at Tabor. But this is not about a retired football player.   I want to tell you about an extraordinary human being.   One day recently I was doing a project with VisionQuest Academies in Pennsylvania.   They were short on Child Care Workers and asked Ed, my partner, and myself to help out.   Since we are cleared for Child Care Work with VisionQuest, we were happy to help.   We were asked to monitor classes as we have done many times. Walking down the hall to the c...

 IAN Interview ~ Author James B. Beard aka Noodin Independent Author Network ~ Author Review ( This review has been updated to relate to the updated version and publisher October 12,2025 )   Author Bio: ) James Beard aka Noodin, Cultural Storyteller, Educator, Speaker, Author     Jim Beard is a speaker on topics such as traditional living and natural spirit teachings.  His topics address many concerns to do with wellness and balance in life.  He is a student of native teachings from Ojibwe Elders, Algonquin language based people, living throughout the Great Lakes Region of the US and Canada.  The audiences for his presentations vary from youth to elderly. Please tell us about your latest book: Some things in life happen that one could never foresee. The story you are about to read is about one of those things. Like most people, my life was pretty well laid out for me. Growing up in a small town in western New York, going to school, servi...

  For the sake of a little pleasure ! AN OLD TEACHING Do not be distracted because of little pleasures.   A number of flies were attracted to a jar of honey which had been overturned in a housekeeper’s room, and placing their feet on it, ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so smeared with the honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and were suffocated. Just as they were expiring, they exclaimed, “O foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves.”   Pleasure brought with pains, hurts.  Aesop’s Fables written in B.C.   Looking around, I think! ~ Is this what we have all done?  Noodin     James Beard aka Noodin                Cultural Storyteller, Educator, Speaker,                Author ...

James Beard aka Noodin                Cultural Storyteller, Educator, Speaker,  Author   Click on logo for interview:  Walking Spirit in a Native Way James Beard is a speaker on topics such as traditional living and natural spirit teachings. His topics address many concerns to do with wellness and balance in life. He is a student of native teachings from Ojibwe Elder...

  SHE WILL CALL AND YOU WILL KNOW! Great Spirit Place Grand Monadnock  Grand Monadnock In early spring the changes on Mt. Monadnock, in New Hampshire, are often dramatic. The hiking trails begin to melt off the ice that has built up during the winter and the trails near the base soften as the saturated mud warms. Each step one takes becomes a test to see if the ground is firm. A step on the soft path will often result in a gusher of muddy water squirting up from hidden pockets in the ground. Melting water comes down the trails making them streams to be traversed by the hikers anxious to climb the mountain. The trees barely have buds and yet those hints of budding new life will quickly form and fill the forest with lush shades of green between the groves of evergreen that dominate the forest scene. View of Grand Monadnock from Gilsom Pond At the summit one can see out over five states from this mountain that stands alone. ...

  To Speak Without A Tongue To Speak Without A Tongue by: Peter Schuler     Ojibwe Elder - Mississauga First Nation November 2, 2013 They came from a place we knew not where. We fed them when they were cold. Little knowing; They could eat so much more than we. Little knowing; They would eat so many birds, buffalo... trees. Little knowing; They would poison Mother Earth That sores of greed would open to run rivers of pus Where once ran Mother Earth's crystal clear blood. Our tongues crossed theirs So that they could travel our lands and see what we saw.  Little knowing; That they saw things so much different than we. Then; slowly, surely they cut out our tongue And replaced with theirs. To speak without a tongue can mean many things. loss of language speaking without your own language. To speak with your actions, to speak with silence. To speak through art, dance , drumming.   To speak with a look!  ...