Thursday, August 6, 2009

Happy Hunting Ground

There is a saying that when a native American (in TV language, Red Indians), dies, he goes to the Happy Hunting Ground or Heaven to most of us.

I looked up Wikipedia and it has an interesting quote and explanation for this caption.

The Happy Hunting Ground was the name given to the concept of the afterlife by several of the great plains Native American tribes, as well as the Iroquois, Cherokee and Algonquians. It is an afterlife conceived of as a paradise in which hunting is plentiful and game unlimited.

"I will follow the white man's trail. I will make him my friend, but I will not bend my back to his burdens. I will be cunning as a coyote. I will ask him to help me understand his ways, then I will prepare the way for my children. Maybe they will outrun the white man in his own shoes.

There are but two ways for us. One leads to hunger and death, the other leads to where the poor white man lives. Beyond is the happy hunting ground where the white man cannot go."

Many Horses - Oglala Sioux

That made me think. When a mountain biker passes on, can we say "He has gone to Whistler Mountain Bike Park"?

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