Staff Photo
 
Chief Kitpou

 

I've  just revisited your site and I really enjoyed the photo archives that have gone up since my last visit. I have some info on Shaman Chief Kitpou and his visit to Camp Hinds in 1978. It was one stop on a journey that year starting in British Columbia on to Spokane, Rawlins WY, Camp Hinds and North Haven Maine, lecturing and delivering totem poles. He was responsible for the relief carving of the Thunderbird and inspired the Council totem pole.
I'd be more than happy to send it along to you if you like. I came across the material during my research for Kitpou's biography which I am writing up now.
 

Cheers Jim Gledhill


 
 

 
The longest running theme of Kitpou's life was the Tribal Laws of the Children of Light. It is a compilation and translation of the similar rules of conduct for aboriginal peoples. The Children of Light is a reference to the Algonquian culture to which he laid claim as his own. The book went through many modifications but the core remains the same. The laws.

THE TRIBAL LAWS OF THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT

1 - Sons belong to fathers, for fathers were once sons; daughters belong to mothers, for mothers were once daughters. A son raised by a mother shall never be a warrior, and a daughter raised by a father shall have difficulty in the search for gentleness. The pride of the father is the glint of the son in the sweat of his son in a worthy effort. The pride of a mother is in the gentleness of her daughter. Mother is the love of the lodge and father is the law. When mother becomes love and law, then father becomes useless in the eyes of his children. When father becomes law and love, then mother becomes useless in the eyes of her children. Each must have their place.

2. Honour your father and child shall honour you.

3. Condemn not a man by the hue of his flesh, the lilt of his voice, or the curvature of his face, for it is within him and unseen, that which can love you.

4. For seven (7) sets of four (4) seasons, place your hands on the shoulders of your son, standing before you naked remaining quiet for a time, and know this is your link in the descendency of man; then tell him that you love him. As a child this is here and gone but when as a man he will ask himself did my father love me, and the wind will tell him it was so.

5. Look into the eyes of your child and see the miracle of the Great Spirit.

6. He who knows not the love of a child cannot know the love of the Great Spirit.

7. When you think you are a great man, and above your tribesmen, go into the forest, stand before a mighty pine, then tell that pine how great a man you are.

8. When you become a wolf in the lodge of your loved ones, go into the forest, find tranquility there, rest awhile then come home again, a man.

9. Beware of the man who smiles too soon, for does not the wolf smile just before he bites?

10. Father in your youth, have time for you son, and in your age your son will have time for you.

11. In the profusion of the forest, examine the small weed and note there the work of the Great Spirit.
12. Sing loud in the forest, and be not ashamed of your voice, for the Great Spirit loves the song of the raven, and did He not give him this?

13. Hurt not any child, for they are the possessions of the Great Spirit, and remain so until maturity.

14. Make sure others are not hungry when you have sufficient, for loneliness will drive you mad.

15. Remember, hate destroys the hater, and the hated watches him die.

16. Mend the tribe you have defeated in war, and they shall no longer be your enemies.

17. If a stranger enters your lodge, feed first his dog, and by this he will know you are of a kind heart.

18. Gratitude comes from the heart, and the heart cannot speak.

19. Knock not on the lodge of another, for you might frighten the children.

20. Make sure the smell of your people is a good smell to your nostrils.

21. When you take of the trees of the forest, thank the Great Spirit, for they were made by him, and given to you as to your need.

22. If you find fear in your heart, go into the mountains or a high place, stand high on the peak, watch the storm come from the horizon, see the lightening, and hear the great thunder, then know that all this power is small in comparison to the power of the Great Spirit, with which he has protected you.

23. The Shaman Chief shall kill no game, for his duty is to preserve all life of the tribe and pertaining to the tribe.

24. If the Dog-soldier be commanded by the chief to take the life of another, the chief is responsible and may only do so in defense of the tribe, or the chieftainship.

25. When you walk on to the land of a strange tribe, remove your moccasins in honour of this tribe, for their land is their great love and the possession of their God.

26. If you wish to feel the hand of the Great Spirit, stand naked in the sun.
27. Clothe yourself for warmth and not for shame.

28. If you a man standing naked in the sun know that it is perfect, for it is the will of the Great Spirit, and any evil therein is in the eye of the beholder.

29. Love is mans’ greatest possession, for even the beast of the forest will return it when loaned.

30. Despise not the infirmity of your brothers’ mind or body or any condition of life, for they may become in time your own lot.

31. When sickness or infirmity or the reversal of fortune affects us, the sincerity of friendship is found.

32. The path of the Great Spirit is as wide to the tribesmen as it is to the chiefs.

33. To discover truth, the mind must be sedate. Seek council at your council rock.

34. In all your reason, employ your mind in the search of truth.

35. The true worship of the Great Spirit is an important and reverent necessity to success.

36. Know that to be a leader and a chief, you must be the servant of the least of your people.

37. Know that the Great Spirit is the light beyond the Sun, who created the sun, the water and the earth, then with these things created by man and all living things in the image of His will.

38. The eldest of the lodge is chief of the lodge, and though he becomes feeble, you in time will also, so give him a reason for living.

39. If your fathers’ bones lie in the land, you are of the land, for his spirit lies with the spirits of this land, and beyond the black door there is no hate.

40. If your village stinks, sickness will visit your people.

41. Make no dung or water within four lengths of a man to a river, lake or brook.

42. If a man be crippled or maimed, it is the will of the Great Spirit. Never condemn the will of the Great Spirit.
43. Feed the stranger who appears at your lodge, for he is also a child of the Great Spirit.

44. Beware of the man who has no love for his dog, particularly if his dog has no love for him.

45. Know that flesh on flesh is a very small part of love and that it is the completion, and not the beginning of courtship.

46. Take for yourself one mate and you will have peace in your lodge.

47. The child of elk and deer is owned by neither.

48. The man who touches a deer and lets it live is truly a hunter, but he who kills for the like of killing has a lack of heart and few friends.

49. If you wish to hunt for the sake of killing, hunt a man, he is your equal and can shoot back the arrow.

50. Tend the wounds of your brother, for the Great Spirit made both of you in the same manner.

51. If it be necessary to punish a child, do so in such a way as to improve his strength or his mind, but lay not your hand on him, for you may damage the possession of your God, his gift of life to you.

52. Know the success of a man by the weight of his child and the smile upon his child’s face.

53. Blame no child how it came to be, for the gift of life is from the Great Spirit.

54. When the nose of your son reaches your first rib, take him into the forest, let him place the arrow in your bow, then kill together a deer. From the fore-shoulders to the rear, remove one hand span by two arm lengths of leather, then from the underside, remove a strip the width of your thumb long enough to circle his waist. Put this on him, then place the warm hide between his legs and lace it through the belt front and back. He will then know the reason for killing. Waist not the remainder of the deer.

55. Hold your head high my son, for it is your father you honour. If you cannot honour your father, you will never hold your head up high.

56. Humility is one of the most amiable virtues one can possess.

57. The child who is solemnly fed and never injured in games of hunt or injured from childish play, will become like a beast of prey who destroys without pity for the search of knowledge of suffering.

58. Flattery is made to deceive and betray. It should be avoided as a rabid wolf.

59. Unhappiness is brought to those who are deaf to the calls of duty and honour.

60. If you have only trees to view, you have many possessions.

61. They who have much given to them will have much to answer for.

62. Fear not the plans of men, for those of the Great Spirit were complete before the making of men.

63. It should not be expected that those who in early life have been dark and deceitful, should afterwards become fair and ingenious.

64. They who have laboured to make us wise and good are the persons whom we ought to love and respect, and to whom we ought to be grateful.

65. From the character of those with whom you associate, your own will be estimated.

66. It is the Great Spirit who breathes the wind upon the earth with the breath of spring, who covers it with splendor and beauty, and holds the secret of life.

67. When the trees get their leaves, the brooks again sing after the long winter and the land becomes green again, it is the time for giving.

68. The truest gift in substance your child can give you is two sticks tied together. The gift is not the two sticks, it is the tying.

69. To enjoy your own land, look back on it from another.

70. The ruin of a tribe is generally preceded by a universal degeneracy of manners and contempt for the Great Spirit.

71. We are frequently benefited by what we have dreaded.

72. It is no great virtue to live lovingly with good natured and meek persons.
73. It deserves our best skills to inquire into those rules by which we may guide our judgement.

74. If we lay no restraint upon our lust, no control upon our appetites and passions, they will hurry us to guilt and misery.

75. To promote iniquity in others is the same as being the actors of it ourselves.

76. Be not afraid of the wicked. They are under the control of providence.

77. Consciousness of guilt may justly affright us.

78. Convey unto others no intelligence which you would be ashamed to claim.

79. How many disappointments have in their consequences saved a man from ruin and his chieftainship.

80. A well poised mind makes a cheerful countenance.

81. Virtue embalms the memory of good.

82. A Shaman may dispense, but the Great Spirit alone can bless it.

83. Condemn not a man ‘till you have walked a mile in his moccasins.

84. In many pursuits we embark with pleasure and land sorrowfully.

85. Rocks, mountains and caverns are of indispensable use both to earth and to man.

86. The hive of the village or the lodge is in the best condition when there is the least buzz in it.

87. The roughness found on our entrance into the paths of virtue and learning grows smoother as we advance into manhood.

88. The harmlessness of many animals and the enjoyment which they have of life should plead for them against cruelty.

89. We are often busy to no useful purpose.

90. Genuine charity how liberal it may be will never impoverish you.

91. However disagreeable, we must resolutely perform our duty.

93. Health and peace, our valuable possessions, are obtained at a small price.

94. True happiness is an enemy to pomp and noise.

95. Few depressions are more distressing than those which we made upon ourselves in our own ingratitude.

96. Cultivate your own heart and not that of evil ways.

97. Wars are attended with disgraceful and devastating effects. It is confessedly the scourge of our angry passions.

98. The blood of all men when spilled together cannot be defined apart.

99. Encourage no man to do what he believes to be wrong.

100. It shall not be said that we are charitable donors when our deeds proceed with selfish motives.

101. Endeavour to become a great chief and you stand a good chance of becoming a great warrior.

102. Great warriors do not always fight, but with wisdom are the peacemakers and protectors of the weak.

103. May a young man put his hand in the hand of an old man and let him live again a day of his youth, and from this learning, your youth will become more plentiful, but more important, is to give the old a reason for living.

104. Do one great deed in your life and it will be easier to die.

105. Death is the unknown door to a better place.

106. Recompense no man evil for evil. This will define the leaders of men for the chieftains of the tribe.

107. A kind heart controls our angry passions and softens our severe judgements.

108. To be faithful among the faithless argues great grants of principle.
109. Be not fooled, but know that wars are but regulated robberies.

110. A friend exaggerates a friends virtues; an enemy enflames his crimes.

111. A witty and humorous tendency more often produces enemies.

112. Cut not a man with words for the wounds are slow to heal.

113. Many have been visited with sufferings who have not profited from them.

114. The experience of want makes us appreciate the virtues of plenty.

115. When you wish for sun and there is much rain, remember that without either, you could not live.

116. The wicked are often trapped by the trap they lay for others.

117. When retiring at the setting of the day and there is an argument in your lodge, say you are wrong though you believe to be right and go to bed happy, for no argument is worth your love.

118. It is hard to say what sicknesses are controllable. They are all under the control of the Great Spirit.

119. Fear not the Shaman for he is guided by the Great Spirit and his cures are the gifts of the Great Spirits’ forest.

120. A steady mind may receive council but there is no hold on a changeable humour.

121. Excessive merriment is the path to grief.

122. To practice virtue is a sure way to love it.

123. One should study to live peaceably with all men.

124. A great warrior has a soul that can secretly defy death and consider it natures’ privilege.

125. The man who claims no fear is an idiot and a liar.

126. To lie is to deceive ones-self.
127. Let not the sternness of virtue affrights us. It will soon become amiable.

128. True value protects the feeble and humbles the oppressor.

129. Hurt no child or elder in war for they are the possessions of the Great Spirit.

130. The dog soldier would lower himself if he were to harm the old, the young or the defenseless, for he must earn his position by much bravery and privation.

131. One should recollect that however favourable we may appear to ourselves, we are vigorously examined by others.

132. Virtue can render youth as well as old age honour.

133. Rumour often tells false tales.

134. Let gossip not break a treaty between friends or tribes. Often a jealous tongue will use it to dishonourable advantages.

135. Weak minds are often ruffled by trifling things.

136. It is an honourable chieftain that feeds the hungry, visits the sick, clothes the naked and helpless of his children.

137. It is good to be cheerful without levity.

138. The gaiety of youth should be tempered with the respect of age.

139. The most acceptable sacrifice is that of a humble and contrite heart.

140. We are accountable for whatever we patronize in others.

141. It is the mark of a vicious disposition to torture animals to make them smart and agonize for our false pleasure.

142. A guilty man cannot avoid many melancholy apprehensions.

143. If we injure others we must expect retaliation.

144. The continuous receiver is as bad as a thief.

145. The Great Spirit is not only the creator but the ruler and preserver of all life.
146. It requires a kind heart as well as a just mind to be a great chief.

147. Honest endeavours if persevered in will finally be successful.

148. Inquire into the cause of the crime of your warrior before you pass judgement on the crime itself, for the crime can seldom be cured but the tribesman can.

149. If your warrior steals a loaf of bread, judge him for the why. If to feed his children, you are responsible as chief that no child should be hungry, but if it be for gain, only then is he guilty.

150. When the father of a child be a slave of your tribe, remember the child is yet the possession of the Great Spirit, whom at the time of maturity may claim your tribe as his own, this be his right.

151. If the child of a slave of your tribe claims your tribe at maturity, then the father is to be given freedom. If he retains the claim to his fathers’ tribe, then they are both set free. However, they may be pursued after four days at which time the child is now a man, and the father did not put his son, the possession of the Great Spirit into slavery.

152. There be first the child, then the rabbit warrior, then the claim to tribe at maturity, then the hunter, then the dog soldier (warrior), then the councillor, then the elder.

153. The bloodline chief becomes in line for chieftainship being the youngest grandson at the death of the grandfather, then the father becomes the veto chief and trains him.
154. A child will choose the parents at the death of his son.

155. Children in their childish battles must be taught to feed the loser for the following day.

156. Learning is losing an argument.

157. A person without a weakness is not a man.

158. The height of a man is measured by his wisdom.

159. The unknown is not feared when understood.

160. The true love of natures’ kingdom can prevent the sting of hoof, claw and tooth.

161. Man being the will of the Great Spirit, contains the Great Spirit.

162. So it is told, so it shall be.

163. When you hold in one hand water and in the other earth, then stand in the sun, it is a great revelation to know you hold the substance of all creation.

164. Assist the needy. It is possible they might become strong. It is also possible you may become needy.

165. It is good to be a fast runner. It could save your life.

166. There is no shame in fear. The shame is letting it be known to others.

167. The best judgement of a man is by the children that love him.

168. When the cry of the newborn enters your lodge, consider it singing and it will be not so annoying.

169. The smoking of the long pipe must be always by more than one, for it is a sign of trust. The only exception is with prayer to the Great Spirit.

170. Marriage for lust cannot last.

171. If you wish to impart knowledge to a tribe, teach first the parents, for if you teach the children, you steal from the parents the respect of the children and in time, you also steal the children.

172. Beauty is measured by wisdom and capability.

173. The paint of red is worn to show your brother that you will protect his blood and not to frighten the enemy.

174. The paint of blue represents the Chieftainship.

175. The paint of green represents the medicine man.

176. The paint of yellow, the dog soldier, the strength of youth and the sun.

177. The paint of white, the Great Spirit.

178. The paint of black, the black door into the good of the unknown.
179. Teach the children at an early age that fire is a great servant but a terrible enemy, for its hunger never dies.

180. It is better to have had friends that have failed you than to trust no man and have no friends.

181. The greatest gift you can give to a friend is knowledge.

182. When an animal takes from your lodge food, know that it is not stealing, for he has no knowledge of such things.

183. Listen well to the aged that you might be privileged to teach the young.

184. The gift of a weapon is the truest sign of trust. The axe side of the peace and war pipe.

185. Woman is as the moon to the sun, the reflection of the strength and warmth of her man.

186. There should never be a distinction or value placed on a child. They are beyond these things.

187. Pain imparts one great knowledge, that you are not dead.

188. A child’s smile is a worthy reward for any deed of goodness.

189. If you dislike a man but you know he is good for your people, then vote for him for the sake of your people.

190. A gentle word and a gentle hand in a time of sorrow is a worthy and great gift.
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Created: August 3, 2020
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