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I don't know much but what I do know is a
lot.
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Because I have a belief and I know my culture
that's what kept me on the straight and narrow. I know the Great Law
(Kaianerenkowa) and the Code of Handsome Lake (Kariwi:io) - the
Sonkwaiati:shon's instructions. I always remember those things. I
know it's boring to be good. You can't go to bingo, play cards,
drink alcohol....
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I can only perfect myself with each new day. I
can't be better than someone else but I can become a better Jake
Thomas today then I was yesterday.
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I am not going to listen to gossip. If the
people don't like what I'm doing it's their problem not mine. I
close my ears. I am going to do what I think is right.
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No one can force you to drink. If you give a
child medicine in a spoon, the child can refuse it. So, no one can
open your mouth and pour the drink down your throat, if you don't
want it.
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I never demand that I am sober today because
evil is so strong and watching. I can only perfect myself with each
new day. I can't be better than someone else but I can become a
better Jake Thomas today than I was yesterday.
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All I can give to you, my people, is what I
know.
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We were never to be jealous or have hard
feelings of someone who stands before us and possesses many gifts.
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It is our way that we take the good out of
life and keep it within us. The Condolence Ceremony and what it
means, the names of the fifty chiefs or sachems has to be memorized,
and a man has to conduct a ceremony all from memory.
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And when the day comes, when we cannot have
any more condolences as it says in our original teachings of our
sacred law, how then are we going to live by the "Great
Law" or the Kaianerenkowa?
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Who will be reminding us that we must carry
on our songs, our ceremonies, and our language?
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We can never rely on the whiteman, for he
will never truly understand what the Creator has given us, our
original teachings, our sacred laws, the Kaianerenkowa.
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I rely on the young people to carry on what
the Creator has given us.
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The Creator has given us our body in which we
are able to move about. He gave us life, He gave us power to
think, He gave us sight, He gave us hearing. The people on earth
are made like the Creator Himself.
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We have abandoned our way of belief.
Children are not told about the good or the evil things. How to
behave.
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We must set an example of ourselves so that
the children will follow the instructions given.
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We must respect ourselves and our bodies
before we can love and respect someone else.
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When our people get old, the elders are
placed in a home for the aged. And the children are left in day-care
centers. Therefore there is no communication there any more for the
children and their grandparents.
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Today, children seem to grow up on their own
because the parent don't spent enough time with their family. The
children only have the television to watch every night. Parents
should have control of their children, when and what they are
watching on television.
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Parents do not train their children to learn
to make different kinds of arts and crafts - just to keep them out
of mischief and to know a trade.
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Parents with families should also teach
their children their belief-the Iroquois Creation Story and the Code
of Handsome Lake, and what happens to a child or teenager if they
refused to obey.
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A young person should know they have
limitations and what they can or cannot do. If a person goes over
the limit then they may end up in prison.
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When I was a teenager we had a curfew. The
parents were told not to allow their child or teenager to be in town
after ten o'clock at night unless the parents were with him.
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Family violence is caused by not having an
understanding before a young couple comes together. Then the young
woman may say to the man, if you promise not to do any drinking then
we can get married, and if whenever it may happen that you break
your promise then that will end our marriage because if we have
children I will not tolerate your drinking. The children will
suffer.
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It is sinful to consume l] alcohol, 2] to
practice witchcraft, 3] to practice love potion, and 4] abortion. We
must give up these evil practices or we fall in the hands of evil
spirit.
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One cannot hide from the Creator. The
Creator is watching us whatever we do on earth. We must always be
honest with one another, and to have love and peace among ourselves.
Life is too short. We cannot afford to waste our lives on wrong
doings by hurting one another's feelings.