I remember the old men of the village. These old, old, men used to prophesy about the coming of the white man. They would go around tapping their canes on the adobe floor of the house, and call to us children.
"Listen! Listen!The grey-eyed people are coming nearer and nearer. They are building an iron road. They are coming nearer every day. There will be a time when you will mix with these people. That is when the Grey Eyes are going to get you to drink hot, black water, which you will drink whenever you eat. Then your teeth will become soft."
"They will get you to smoke at a young age, so that your eyes will run tears on windy days, and your eyesight will be poor. Your joints will crack when you want to move slowly and softly"
"You will sleep on soft beds and will not want to rise early. When you begin to wear heavy clothes and sleep under covers, then you will grow lazy. Then there will be no more singing heard in the valleys as you walk."
"When you begin to eat with iron sticks, your tones will grow louder. You will speak louder and talk over your parents. You will grow disobedient. You will mix with those grey-eyed people, and you will learn their ways; you will break up your homes, and murder and steal."
Such things have come true, and I have to compare my generation with the old generation. We are not as good as they were; we are not as healthy as they were.
How did these old men know what was coming? That is what I would like to know.
- James Paytiamo (Acoma Pueblo)
Taken from the book 'The Wisdom of the American Indians'
Children, listen to the wise elders, they have sight.
