Walking Spirit in a Native Way

  James B Beard, author             A Town     A town in the south And the west of the state Makes special for livin At this modern date When cities and travel And politics high Make people be crazy And just want to fly Its been there for years And never was great Though cowboys and injuns New it to rate So quiet and peaceful That town seems to be Down by a river That flows on so free A train and a crossroad Draw people by They stop and they visit This town by and by They talk of its beauty And all of its ways Then back to the cites To spend all their days The buildings stand old Though well built and true The Strater the General To name just a few The bars are still lively And scenting of beer Since Cisco and Doc And the cattlemen year To my way of bein Their passins okay These people of cities That come here today My hats off to towns That a...

A man named John By James B Beard Cultural Speaker, Author October 22, 2025    I first met John at a gathering to listen to an Ojibwe Elder speak in Massachusetts back in 1994. He and his wife, Rhona, had been attending with a small group of people to hear the teachings of this Elder and to study those teachings. It was my first time at this gathering. John was a very quiet man and one would ...

  Books and the Technology Wave ~ I Like My Books! The Technology Wave By: James Beard aka Noodin I like books to read and to have on my shelf. Well, I live outdoors most of the time so I have very limited shelving. Actually, most of my books are in boxes and, hopefully, stored in a dry place. When my home became a cabin in a state park a few years ago  I no longer had a place to fill with accumulations we all so love to gather. It became obvious that I needed to unload a lot of stuff.  HIKERS CABIN - White Dot Trail @ Monadnock State Park   Furniture, pictures, clothing, tools and all the little things that seemed so important had to go. Most of it was gifted to friends and others who might need those things. A bed went to a girlfriend along with dresser, tables, chairs and nicnacs. Another bed went to my boss along with a band saw, table saw, several tables and some pictures. The X-wife wasn't left out. I tried to give her back...

For a sweat-lodge it is important!  Over the past thirty years I have attended many lodges in different places. One of the most important tasks for the fire-keepers is to gather Grandfather rocks.  Firstly!  They have to be the right ones to assure a good lodge with no MISHAPS! It is NOT just a matter of going into a field to gather stones! In my experience, as is true with many other fire-keepers, volcanic rocks, basalt are the best for a sweat=lodge. It can often be found in old stream beds or in deposits near old volcanoes.    Running stream in New Boston, NH   So! How do you find an old stream bed and where are the rocks?    A stream out of hill country usually has what you are looking for. Over years and years the water has carved it way down to stone beds. Many stones have washed down into the bottom of the stream from up stream in storms and winter run offs. Often these stones will build up around curves in the stream to form larg...

  NOODIN ~ Cultural Story Teller, Educator, Speaker, Author J ames B Beard aka Noodin Cultural Story Teller, Educator, Speaker, Author   You are invited to visit my Web Site!   I hope you will enjoy the books and services offered here :   James B Beard aka Noodin @ www.northeastcultural.com Behind me, in the photo, is the Grand Monadnock Mountain. It is the most climbed mountain in the Americas with more than 100,000 climbers each year. It is more than that. It is a spiritual gathering place for people. I often refer to her as Mona and she is my friend. Her Native American name is  Chi Manitou’Nuc and means great Spirit place . I lived here on this mountain at Monadnock State Park. In the park I was a Park Ranger, Interpreter/storyteller, Camp Host and Wilderness Responder. I maintained an area of the park to honor this special place with a ceremonial fire, medicine healing lodge and areas for native and cultural gatherin...

bookhaven__ 's review Nov 14, 2025 it was amazing!!! “Walking Spirit in a Native Way” is the first book I’ve read by James B. Beard. Although James believed he was living the American dream, he still felt an inner void—something essential was missing. This sense of incompleteness led him on a search for deeper meaning. His first teacher on this journey was Misho, an Ojibwe elder. Misho guided Noodin, helping him learn more about who he truly was. Over the years, Noodin absorbed Misho’s teachings, which ultimately shaped the person he would become. When Misho once asked him, “Who is Noodin?”, the question unsettled him—he realized he couldn’t answer something so fundamental. Even during his childhood in Sunday school, James found himself questioning th...