The Journey Home


Long Sash was the wise and esteemed guide of the ancestors of the Santa Clara pueblo. He lead them on a journey to find their true homeland many hundreds of years ago, and met with many challenges, disappointments and difficulties along the way as they searched and searched for their new homeland.
Long Sash ( who was to become the constellation Orion ) was searching for the sign of the mole and the spider which were foretold by wise Old Spider Woman and a magical mole whom they had met in their wanderings at the , which is the opening to the next world. Spider Woman and Mole had told them to search for these signs upon which they would find their new home after passing through the Sipapu to reach the new world. After long wandering, and great worry if they ever were to find their new homeland, Long Sash prayed to his spiritual ancestors for guidance.
" After Long Sash's communication with the Spirits of his forefathers, a great bird flew overhead and circled the People four times before dropping two feathers from its tail. Falling to the ground, one feather pointed in the direction of the Coyote, while the other pointed to the People. Long Sash then declared " Here is the sign from our powerful messenger, the Eagle. He tells us to follow in this direction! " which was towards the land of the coyote. There they finally found and accepted the appearance of a creature they had never seen before - one with the footprints of a mole, and the design of a spider web on its back - Turtle, as the sign that they had reached their destined new homeland.
This important role of the Eagle in the Santa Clara Pueblo's central migration myth is excerpted from Old Father the Storyteller by renowned artist Pablita Velarde, published by Dale Stuart King, 1960.

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