The Celts and Nature's Way —by Ed McGaa, aka Sioux Tribal Leader, Eagle Man Much has been learned about the Celts from various sources, all of which confirm that the Celtic tribal society was relatively egalitarian, democratic and in harmony with nature. Historian Peter Ellis describes that society:
Is it not possible that the Celts were either related to or strongly influenced by the advanced civilization that Eisler speaks of in The Chalice and the Blade?2 Perhaps that earlier society migrated or shifted westward when the patriarchal intruders came down from the northeast with their advanced weaponry. The word 'Celt' comes from Greek and Roman writers who used it rather indiscriminately to refer to the various tribes that occupied Europe to the north and west of them. Physically, the Celts were taller and lighter-featured than people in southern Europe (although there were dark-haired Celts), and they often had blue eyes. The Celts shared with the Old Europeans a belief in the immanence of the spirit world and the immortality of the soul. Classical writers, who often denigrated Celtic spirituality as superstition , frequently commented on the Celts' intense obsession with spiritual matters. Celtic scholar Anne Ross notes that "the Celts were so completely engrossed with, and preoccupied by, their religion and it expression that it was constantly and positively to the forefront of their lives."3 Celts in Early America? Just as the Celts may have grown out of, or been influenced by, the Old Europeans, might not the early Celts have influenced the spiritual insights of the Native Americans? Or how about vice versa? There are certainly striking similarities between the two worldviews, as shamanic practitioner Tom Cowan notes:
The idea that Native America might have been influence by the Celts is supported by a December 2000 article in National Geographic, which indicated that the magazine has finally shed its Bering-Strait-only theory and now suggests that some migration from the east also brought early settlers across the Atlantic.5 Who were the first Europeans in the New World? Was it Leif Eriksson and his Vikings, or was it the legendary Irishman St. Brendan of the Misty Isles? Actually, it was probably neither. Recent archeology find in New England indicate a European settlement as far back as 800 B.C.E.! The evidence is threefold: first, in an ancient complex of stone buildings; second, in scores of tablets inscribed with a writing matching that used in western Europe around 800 B.C.E.; and third, in American Indian words that parallel those used in western Europe at that time. Researchers studying this data have concluded that the adventurers who crossed the Atlantic over 2,800 years ago were Celts. The Celtic identity of structures has been established through science of epigraphy — that is, the study of ancient inscription on stone. Barry Fell (now deceased), a former Harvard professor and past president of the Epigraphic Society, identified the inscriptions as Ogham, a system of cypher used by Celtic people over 2,500 years ago, and was able to translate them. Dr. Fell's research is conclusive in dating the Celtic presence in North America. Some of the inscriptions found and translated identify graves; others taken from the oracle chamber are religious writings; and still others specify land boundaries. Some 200 stone chambers have been found in New England, many of which are constructed in the form of Druidic astronomic calendar observatories. Together they suggest a Celtic settlement in the New World at the same time Ogham was in use in Europe — that is, about 800 B.C.E. Further, a study of local Indian words and place names has revealed Celtic roots. Other methods, such as the identification and dating of pottery, tools and implements found at the site, have also revealed the settlement to be Celtic, matching items produced in the Celtic Regions of Europe during the Bronze Age.6 Maybe influence flowed both directions — from the Celts to the Native Americans and back again — over as much as several millennia, with traffic going both west and east across the Atlantic. If the Celts were in North America as early as Dr. Fell's research suggests, it is highly probable that early traders returned to pre-Christian Europe with many of the values of the New Continent (later to be called North America). The exchange would explain why certain North American tribes have traces of physical resemblance to the Celtic/Nordic features. Walk through Rapid City, South Dakota, airport and discover the remarkable photographs that hang on the walls. As you look at the pronounced features of full-blooded, Sioux veterans who defeated Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn, you might think you were looking at a slightly darker than usual group of war-bonneted Celts or Vikings! Some northeastern tribes have features very unlike those of western tribes and even more unlike those of northwestern coastal Indians. Traces of Celtic and Viking influence may explain why northern tribes look different than southwestern tribes, such as, the Navajo and Pueblo. One has no difficulty in discerning a Sioux from a Navajo or a Tlingit. Maybe in addition to an inspiration tradeoff of values and spirituality between the Celts and The Sioux/Iroquois — a sharing of the best of what these Nature-respecting peoples had to offer — there was also a sharing of genes. The appearance of the Sioux and Iroquois people — lighter-skinned, taller and heavier-boned than their southern counterparts — suggests some intertwining of blood. I believe that this possible sharing of bloodlines and almost certain sharing of cultures shows that the paths of Native Americans and European Americans came from the same place: a place of equality for both men and women. Notes:
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