Sioux Prayer to the Mystery, 1908 by Edward S. Curtis

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!

Described by photographer, Edward S. Curtis: "In supplication,  the pipe was always offered to the Mystery by holding it aloft. At the feet of the worshipper lies a buffalo skull, symbolic of the spirit of the animal upon which the Indians were so dependent. The subject of the picture is Picket Pin, an Ogalala Sioux."

A Sioux Prayer

Grandfather Great Spirit All Over The World

The Faces Of Living Things Are Alike.

With Tenderness, They Have Come Up Out Of The Ground.

Look Upon Your Children That They May Face The Winds

And Walk The Good Road To The Day Of Quiet.

Grandfather Great Spirit

Fill Us With The Light.

Give Us The Strength To Understand And The Eyes To See.

Teach Us To Walk The Soft Earth As Relatives

To All That Live.

Continued Next Page

Also See:

The Great Sioux Nation

Myths & Legends of the Sioux

Return to the Native Americans

Return to Vintage Photographs