Fran Dancing Feather

According the New Encyclopedia of Herbs & Their Uses, Dandelion is a potent diuretic, laxative and anti-rheumatic. It stimulates liver function, improves digestion and reduces swelling and inflammation. Fresh leaves can be blanched and are eaten in salads or cooked like spinach. Flower petals are sometimes made into wine. Dandelion is used to treat gall bladder and urinary disorders, gallstones, jaundice, cirrhosis, dyspepsia with constipation and edema associated with high blood pressure and heart weakness. It is also used for chronic joint pain and skin complaints, gout, eczema and acne. It has quite a list of extraordinary medicinal effects. Harvest is done in early summer and dried for decoctions. Leaves are picked in Spring and used as a fresh vegetables and roots are lifted in Autumn from 2-year old plants and pressed for juice.

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The mournful song of the dove speaks to anyone who hears it, stirring our emotions if we are paying attention. Even if we are somehow immune to the peaceful sounds of the morning the sound affects us at even a deeper level. To every person the dove may say something entirely different. Our reactions to the sights and sounds of life are based on our various experiences and accumulated memories and knowledge extending from the time of our birth until the present. Sights and sounds as we understand them, cause a series of biochemical responses in the brain. The things we encounter during any given day, can have profound effects on our physical health and feeling of well-being or other more negative emotions and physical conditions. In many cultures around the world, the dove sings of peace and to many, womanhood and the finding of water. Five different types of doves live in Arizona and many are hunted but the hunter must be able to identify the kind of dove because some provide better meat than others.

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The Rimrock Red Road Group is a fellowship of men and women who stay clean and sober by attending twelve-step meetings everywhere. The Rimrock Red Road meetings are regular AA meetings with a unique respect to American Indian culture and spiritual principles. They use the same twelve steps and twelve traditions as any AA meeting and are open to anyone who attends meetings anywhere else. The following paragraph is taken from the “Secretaries Report” of the Rimrock Red Road Group.

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The Christmas season and Winter Solstice bring Black Headed Canada Geese to visit Montezuma Well at this time every year. We are reminded again that this is storytelling time when we recall tales about faraway people and places. We also ponder the patterns set by the cycling seasons in our own lives. December is thought of as the “dead of winter” when we might huddle near a warm fire and become intimately closer to family and friends. Native peoples around the world celebrate the Solstice by honoring this cold purifying time with the knowledge that after the solstice fires are out, we approach the springtime and are grateful for surviving another winter. Our continuing strength is expressed in our joyous celebration of the season.

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One of the American Indian Tribes in the South believes the feathers of the wild turkey are as sacred as eagle feathers are to many of the other Tribes. Turkey, just like the buffalo of the northern pains and the deer and elk from the mountainous regions, is considered a sacred “giveaway animal.” Some people believe these animals are given to humankind by our Creator for the sole purpose of feeding the people. It is believed that the animals themselves even know this and that a considerable number of them are prepared to be hunted and consumed after they have reached maturity. It is believed that to the animals, it is a great honor to offer their lives for such a high purpose. Everything is sacred and the act of hunting and gathering of food is no exception. Hunting involves prayer and self-reflection and other forms of spiritual preparation as we get ready to enjoy the resulting feasts. Thanksgiving was celebrated long before any explorers or pilgrims ever arrived on the shores of this continent.

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A huge courageous sycamore tree grows right out of the base of Montezuma Well and around the aqueduct and river. The shade from it’s graceful far-reaching branches alongside the peaceful sound of flowing water and the ancient native-ness of the well, all work together to create a truly healing environment. Resting quietly under that sycamore, you can almost consciously feel the activity of the immune system, leveling vital signs and restoring peace and renewal to every aspect of the body, mind and spirit. The tree has a complexion of gentle camouflage colors of mixed greens, tan, gray, cream, and white with the bark being rendered with a dappling appearance as it sheds the various layers of itself over time.

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Horsetail grows all over the Southwest in rocky slightly moist soil and a dry climate.  It has been called a “prehistoric botanical relic” by herbalists. It’s history as a remedy for native people goes further back then the first European contact. When the stems are dry they resemble tiny bamboo shoots because of the darker joints along the stem/stock. The entire plant is dark green and appears void of any form of leaf. Horsetail is also known as “bottlebrush” and “shave grass.”

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We were told that walnut trees were planted near American Indian village sites in the Beaver Creek area. Research reveals that Black Walnut is a beautiful tree and would be the variety most likely to occur here, though it must be planted with care and consideration for it’s many characteristics. The tree produces a rounded crown from 70 to 150 feet in the woods and spreads 60 to 80 feet when open grown. Best growth occurs in a sunny location with moist rich soil, common along stream banks in its native habitat. It grows rapidly when young but slows with age and develops a number of massive branches well spaced along the trunk forming a very strong, durable and lovely tree. While valued as a lumber tree it may not make the best yard tree. The nuts are edible but are a nuisance to clean up and leaves often fall prematurely from leaf disease. The fruit is very hard and can dull a lawn mower blade quickly and a mower can ‘shoot’ the fruit across a lawn at a high speed, possibly injuring people in the area.

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Imagine summer in the Verde Valley before it was inhabited by towns and villages. Visualize traveling for weeks or months in a covered wagon across the Southwest seeking a suitable place to begin a new life. In our search for the most agreeable environment, we may look for a an ample amount of shade each day where there is a nearby stream or river. We travel around from mesa to mesa, peering down among the canyons while looking for that one particular shade of green; just the color of willow. Finding the willow during the summer months assures us that we have come upon a dependable water source that will stay with us, during the hottest months of the year. Survival is the message of the sacred willow. The soft willow that grows along the creek, has much to tell us about healing too. The wood when newly harvested, is easily bent and formed. It grows in moist heavy wet soil. Leaves and bark contain the salicylic acid that is used in aspirin. American Indians discovered the value of making tea from the bark to reduce fever and pain and induce sweating. The stems are used for basket making.

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The Red Tailed Hawk ranges all the way from North Alaska to as far south as Panama, as they move from place to place seeking more productive hunting. They will also fly to southern locations during the colder months even though they do not follow all the characteristics of true migration. According to Desert USA, Red Tailed hawks vary in weight from two to four pounds and average about twenty-two inches long, with a wingspan of fifty-six inches. They mate in the Springtime and lay from one to three eggs. They live from ten to twenty-one years and eat mostly small rodents and snakes.

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