Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

Indoor Air Quality

Types of indoor air pollution include environmental (tobacco smoke, radon, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide), biological agents (molds, spores, animal dander, and bacteria), and organics. We have a very large degree of control on each and every one of these pollutants and can therefore effect changes for a healthier living.

Tobacco smoke, of course is generated by cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking. It contains a wide array of compounds including: benzene, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, carbon monoxide, and respirable particles.

Radon is a colorless, odorless gas which is emitted from the earth as the result of the decomposition of uranium in the soil. Airtight homes can trap and accumulate radon in areas where there are high amounts of naturally occurring radon in the soil. Radon exposure, because it is radioactive, can over long-term exposure, increase one’s risk for lung cancer. Radon has also been found in well water and is now being studied for its contribution to cancer.

Formaldehyde is a compound found in resins and glues used in building materials, flooring, and even furniture. Formaldehyde is an irritant and a toxin.

Carbon monoxide is formed as a combustion by-product and can leak from gas stoves, wood stoves, furnaces, and gas fireplaces. Carbon monoxide displaces oxygen in the blood and can lead to death in high amounts. Combustion appliances must be kept in proper working order in order to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

Biological agents, such as molds, spores, animal dander, and bacteria, cause allergic reactions in people ranging from rashes to severe asthma attacks. Molds and spores occur when building materials, furnishings, or carpeting become wet. Molds feed on the materials and produce spores which contain toxins that people become allergic to. Animal dander feeds dust mites, which, in turn, excrete feces which is an allergen and can cause asthma or bronchitis.

Organics come from the many consumer items we use, furnish with, and store. These include aerosols, paints, solvents, and pesticides. Even when stored tightly in original containers, these materials leak into the air which we breathe. Furnishings can contain urethanes, flooring can contain polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs), and cleaners can contain many types of VOCs. We readily bring these things into our homes to use without discretion. Many consumer products, such as nail polish and nail polish remover, contain solvents, which in an industrial setting are regulated to protect workers. Yet, in the home, we readily apply them to our bodies and expose others to them without a second thought.

Control of Indoor Air Pollutants

Indoor air pollution, as stated earlier, is something that we all have the power to control. We can choose to smoke, not to smoke or not to smoke around others. We can have our homes tested for radon and vents installed if radon is found. We can buy or use building materials, furniture, or products that do not have VOCs, organics, or formaldehyde. We can also properly ventilate our homes. We can inspect and repair heating devices regularly and use them properly. We can maintain our homes so they don’t leak and if things get wet from water, repair them quickly so they don’t cause a problem. Indoor air quality is personal and affects our quality of life greatly, but can be controlled quite easily.

Socially

The quality of the Four Winds is very important from a social perspective. When the quality of ones life is impacted in any way the social fabric can become torn and eroded because each individual is a thread in that fabric. People become disconnected with the land, which provides food, when there is the belief that the Four Winds carry toxic materials with them, which will pollute the food they are growing for their families. When there is the belief that the Four Winds carry poison with them, hunters and fishermen believe that the animals they take are also poisoned and hunting and fishing activities diminish, as does their livelihood.

When fundamental elements of a society are rejected and lost because they have been polluted, the people of that society lose the link with their ancestors. At the same time, they lose knowledge and turn towards replacements for their livelihood which often have no connection to the own society and societal values. There also a loss of independence and self-sufficiency, along with that a loss of self-esteem and self-worth.

The very acts of preparing the land and growing food, hunting, and fishing required cooperation and assistance from family members, family groups, and community Everyone had the same fundamental goals in common and all helped one another achieving these goals, it was important survival. In order to accomplish the goals, people had to interact, they had to talk to one another, in their own language and they had to pass traditional wisdom to the younger generations so that they would be successful when it was their turn to plant, hunt, or fish. Stories were told and the importance of following planting practices were passed on.

With the loss of quality food, from gardens the land and the water, peoples’ health is affected. In trade for high quality, fresh produce and protein sources, are government rations, processed foods and nutrient lacking commercial snacks. In trade for quality health and longevity the civilized diseases, such as heart stroke, and diabetes. The presence of these diseases cause anxiety and stress to those with the illness and to those who are the care givers, the family members, who watch the suffering of their loved ones.

Culturally

The cultural significance of the Four Winds is exemplified in Hutchens description of the natural history of the Hermit Thrush. When humans breathe, the oxygen is massed into tiny lung sacs called alveoli. The thin walls of the alveoli allow oxygen to pass through and enter the blood stream. In birds, oxygen gets two passes through the lungs. Inhaled air first goes through the lungs and then into air sacs in the hollow bones and elsewhere in the body. When the air leaves these sacs, more oxygen is harvested by the lungs. This gives the birds more energy for flying and singing.

This oxygen-rich blood is pumped to all rails of the body by a powerful heart beating hundreds of times a minute. Rapid movement of blood functions to regulate the body temperature between 106 F and 114 F and the feathers serve as insulation. The hermit thrush can tolerate fairly cold temperatures. Still, it migrates south as winter comes on. This is mostly because the food supply is reduced as insects go dormant and fruits cease production.

Syrinx is the name given to the hermit inrush’s vocal organ. The syrinx is located

at the bottom of the windpipe and controlled by pairs of tiny muscles. The hermit thrush’s ability to sing the song of the Spirit World comes from these muscles controlling the tension on the membranes of the syrinx as air passes over them. The bird is able to control the right and left sides of the syrinx separately and thus sing two independent voices.

Reference: Tehanetorens, Sacred Song of the Hermit Thrush. The Book Publishing Company, Summertown, TN, 1993.

Burning of Tobacco

The Four Winds also carry our prayers and offerings to the Creator whenever tobacco is burned. Before medicine plants are taken, tobacco is offered by burning in a fire. In the process of burning tobacco, smoke rises and the message is lifted upward to the medicine spirits that the plants are being taken for the purpose of healing.

Parker described the act of tobacco burning for a Thanksgiving ceremony. The Planting Thanksgiving was called by a Council of Elders in whose charge this festival was place and lasted for a full day. The addresses to the Creator, however, were all given in the early morning. The office of speaker belonged, of course, to a man but other offices were held by women. The address to the Creator, as given by Morgan, follows:

Great Spirit, who dwellest alone, listen now to the words of thy people here assembled. The smoke of our offering arises. Give kind attention to our words, as they arise to thee in the smoke. We thank thee for this return of the planting season. Give us a good season, that our crops may be plentiful.

Continue to listen, for the smoke yet arises (Throwing on tobacco). Preserve us all pestilential disease. Give strength to us that we may not fall. Preserve our old men among us and protect the young. Help us to celebrate with feeling the ceremony of this season. Guide the minds of thy people, that they remember thee in all their actions, no-ho.”

Parker also described the burning of tobacco during the White Dog Ceremony: “White Dog Ceremony: Burning of sacred tobacco to commence our invocation. Ask of “you who dwell in the sky” to inhale the smoke. As the smoke arises, inhale the incense as you listen.”

The Four Directions and Where the Winds Come From

Othore:ke - North, on the cold side

enkie - South, noon

e:neken non:kwa - West, ceiling (above,

high) on that side (sometimes referred to

the big meadows, or plains)

nak:kon non:kwa - East, under, on that side.

The Mohawk words for the directions, from where the Four Winds come from were described to me by my father, who explained that north was descriptive of where the cold winds came from, the south was descriptive of the location of the sun as viewed from the northern hemisphere. East and west were described relative to where you are standing and under the assumption that you are facing north (which is the standard today when reading a map).

Symbology of the Four Directions

The medicine wheel is a symbol used by many Native people and it holds meaning, including the Four Winds. The symbol of the medicine wheel is used to help in under­standing and expressing the meaning and purpose of the Four Winds. Connected to the symbology of the medicine wheel are North - Wholeness and mental devel­opment; East - Protection and spiritual development; South - Nourishment and emotional development; and West - Growth and physical development. The medicine wheel shows that all things are intercon­nected: humans, animals, plants, and the earth. The Four Directions, from where the Four Winds come from, provide gifts.

The gifts of the East are renewal birth and rebirth, a place of all beginnings. East is where each new day comes from, where the new days sun provides light, providing u; with the ability to see clearly. Other gift; from the east include: guardianship, courage, truthfulness, and loving with the heart of a child.

South, being the direction of the sun at its highest point, provides the gifts of youth, physical strength, vigor, generosity, loyalty, and sensitivity. Other gifts include music, art, and gracefulness. An important gift is learning self-control and controlling our emotions.

The West is the direction of darkness, a direction of unknown, dreams, prayer and meditation. It is a place of testing will and perseverance. Thunder and lightning also come from the West. Gifts of the West include self-discipline, spiritual under­standing and gaining an understanding of the relationship between ourselves and the Creator.

The North is the place of winter, symbolic of the white hair of the elders and their wisdom of years. Gifts of the North are the intellectual capacities: thinking, analyzing, problem solving, understanding, remem­bering, interpreting, and organizing. The most important gift of the North is wisdom and balance.

Each of the Four Direction gifts are not given, but must be gained through journeying through our own lives, not dwelling in any direction or becoming stuck on the gifts. The journey that we take is our own development and growth and gaining of gifts from the Four Directions.