Give-aways can be traced back to the tribes/nations of the midwestern and high plains. As with fry-bread, we don't know the specific tribal tradition of origin. In the broad sense, a give-away is nearly the reverse of the majority culture's understanding of gift giving.In the majority culture, the expectation is to receive gifts when being honored, recognized, or celebrated on special occasions, such as birthdays, graduations, retirements, political elections, or special appointments.

Historically, in the Native American tradition, many nations/tribes have conducted a give-away when being honored. One gives to strangers, not simply hoping to make friends, but because it is the honorable thing to do. One gives to honor a relative, and this in turn honors that person in the eyes of the community. One gives when one seemingly has nothing to give.

Today the give-away practice continues in the communities and gatherings of many tribes and nations. It is being practiced more and more as Native Americans reclaim their traditions.

Ray Buckley, who is a Lakota/Tlingit, said that in many Native American cultures, what matters is not what someone has but what the person is able to give away to others.

"It is not the value of the gift, but the giving itself that is culturally relevant," he said. "Giving a gift that may not have significant monetary worth, but significant spiritual or personal value is a sign of a giving heart."

In the Lakota tradition, he said, all living things created by God are often referred to as "people." The Lakotas have a phrase, "mitaque oyasin," which means "all my relations" and refers to all human beings, four-legged animals, and those that can fly, swim and crawl.

"In The Give-Away, the four-legged and those that can fly gather for council to discuss the needs of the two-legged (human beings). In an attempt to meet the needs of humanity, they offer the most precious parts of themselves. In the end, it is the Creator who chooses to give away the greatest gift for humankind — the Son of God," Buckley said.

Because of a love for Christ that defied persecution, Native Christians survived "the cultural dismemberment that the church often brought," he said. Native Christians have existed for more than 500 years and have left a legacy of music, testimony and art, he said.

Most of the Native cultures found the message of Jesus to be consistent with the "truth that God had given their ancestors," he said. Some Native people found that the story of Christ's birth fulfilled tribal prophecies. Some of those who chose Christianity also wanted to maintain their culture and worship God with expressions that were relevant to their traditions.

"In many ways, Native people are beginning to gain confidence that the work of God within Native people has cultural significance not only to the church, but to the world at large," Buckley said. "Native people, including Native Christians have much, and the desire, to give away to the world."

European Christmas for Native Americans actually started when the Europeans came over to America. They taught the Indian about Christianity, gift-giving , and St. Nicholas. There are actually two religious types of Indian people in existence. One of these is the Traditionalist, usually full-blooded Indians that grew up on the reservations. The second type is the Contemporary Indian that grew up in an urban area, usually of mixed blood, and brought up with Christian philosophy.

Traditionalists are raised to respect the Christian Star and the birth of the first Indian Spiritual Leader. He was a Star Person and Avatar. His name was Jesus. He was a Hebrew, a Red Man. He received his education from the wilderness. John the Baptist, Moses, and other excellent teachers that came before Jesus provided an educational foundation with the Holistic Method.

Everyday is our Christmas. Every meal is our Christmas. At every meal we take a little portion of the food we are eating, and we offer it to the spirit world on behalf of the four legged, and the winged, and the two legged. We pray--not the way most Christians pray-- but we thank the Grandfathers, the Spirit, and the Guardian Angel.

The Indian Culture is actually grounded in the traditions of a Roving Angel. The life-ways of Roving Angels are actually the way Indian People live. They hold out their hands and help the sick and the needy. They feed and clothe the poor. We have high respect for the avatar because we believe that it is in giving that we receive.

We are taught as Traditional children that we have abundance. The Creator has given us everything: the water, the air we breathe, the earth as our flesh, and our energy force: our heart. We are thankful every day. We pray early in the morning, before sunrise, the morning star, and the evening star. We pray for our relatives who are in the universe that someday they will come. We also pray that the Great Spirit's son will live again.

To the Indian People Christmas is everyday and the don't believe in taking without asking. Herbs are prayed over before being gathered by asking the plant for permission to take some cuttings. An offer of tobacco is made to the plant in gratitude. We do not pull the herb out by its roots, but cut the plant even with the surface of the earth, so that another generation will be born its place.

It is really important that these ways never be lost. And to this day we feed the elders, we feed the family on Christmas day, we honor Saint Nicholas. We explain to the little children that to receive a gift is to enjoy it, and when the enjoyment is gone, they are pass it on to the another child, so that they, too, can enjoy it. If a child gets a doll, that doll will change hands about eight times in a year, from one child to another.

Everyday is Christmas in Indian Country. Daily living is centered around the spirit of giving and walking the Red Road. Walking the Red Road means making everything you do a spiritual act. If your neighbor, John Running Deer, needs a potato masher; and you have one that you are not using, you offer him yours in the spirit of giving. It doesn't matter if it is Christmas or not.

If neighbors or strangers stop over to visit at your house, we offer them dinner We bring out the T-Bone steak, not the cabbage. If we don't have enough, we send someone in the family out to get some more and mention nothing of the inconvenience to our guests. The more one gives, the more spiritual we become. The Christ Consciousness, the same spirit of giving that is present at Christmas, is present everyday in Indian Country.

Looks for Buffalo is an Oglala Sioux Spiritual Leader, the full-blood Oglala grandson of Chief Red Cloud and White Cow Killer, and a Cheyenne Oglala Leader. He resides on the Pine Ridge Reservation in SD; Contact him for consulting or healings at (605)867-5762; P.O. Box 150, Pine Ridge, SD 57770.

You could be Indian if someone asks you for directions and you put aside your Commod grilled cheese sandwich and point the way with your lips.

You could be Indian if you take your car to Midas for a new muffler and they tell you first you need a new pipe to run from the engine to it

You could be Indian if you get into a verbal fight with the waiter at your local Mexican restaurant over----Sopapilla, or is it Fry Bread?

You could be Indian if you use commodity can labels for your art collage project
6. Your mail address is DancesWithModems@hotmail.com.

You could be Indian if your car starts with a screwdriver

You could be Indian if you put a "Free Peltier" sticker on your truck, and the FBI wiretaps your house

You could be Indian if you have more aunts and uncles than your grandparents had children.

You could be Indian if you attend a General Custer memorial dinner, and you wear an Arrow shirt

You could be Indian if as a young child, learning your ABC's was hard because you wondered what the joke was every time you heard "A" (AAAYE)

You could be Indian if your relative gets a nice jacket that you wish you had so say, "Geez Hey, I REEEAAALLLY like that Jacket." (and he gives it to you)

You could be Indian if you think that the Basic Food Groups are Spam, commodity cheese, frybread, and 7-Up

You could be Indian if your dance outfit is in a suitcase held together by duct tape and pow-wow bumper stickers

You could be Indian if your new History teacher is talking about a completely different Columbus then the one your old Cultural teacher taught you about

You could be Indian if you've ever 49'd, 69'd, then 86'd outta there.

You could be Indian if when looking in the classifieds, you can't find the 1-900-REZ GIRL ad

You could be Indian if when you meet your sweetheart and wonders if he/she knows how to cook frybread.

You could be Indian if you get a sense of nostalgia when you hear the song "Indian Car"

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Native American Recipe
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Submited by: Tracy

Ma's Caramel Rolls

Ingredients
4 loaves of frozen bread dough or your favorite yeast bread recipe
1 lb brown sugar
5 cups sweet cream or canned evaporated milk
1 stick butter or margarine
Cinnamon to taste
2 cups walnuts or pecans (optional)
3 tablespoon shortening or lard

• Thaw or prepare the dough in a very large container, let it rise in a warm place to triple its size (the top of a barely warm stove works good) and punch it and down several times.
  
  
• Prepare 3 cake pans (9 inch by 11 inch) by speading a light coat of shortning or lard on the insides of them.
  
  
• Put 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1 cup of cream or evaporated milk, 1/2 cup of nuts and cinnamon to taste in the bottom of each pan and mix it around until they are all mixed evenly on the bottom of each pan.
  
  
• Divide the dough in half and spread it out on a lightly floured surface into 2 rectangles about 14 inches by 20 inches.
  
  
• Coat both pieces of dough with 1/2 stick butter or margarine, 1/2 cup brown sugar each and cinnamon to taste on only one side of the dough then sprinkle 1/2 cup of nuts on top of of each piece of them.
  
  
• Beginning on the long edge of the dough, start rolling the dough up somewhat firmly into a long log and pinch the edges and ends to make it hold together, then roll the whole log of dough until it is about 3 inches thick.
  
  
• Slice the log into 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch slices and place them into the pan on top of the cream mixture.
  
  
• Sprinkle the top of the rolls in the pan with another 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon to taste and carefully ladle or spoon more cream on the top of each roll until the cream level reaches the top edges of the rolls in the pan. (Make sure that you pour the cream or evaporated milk so that it soaks down into the creases of each roll)
  
  
• Cover the rolls in the pans with a cheese cloth or dishtowel and put in a warm place until they double in size.
  
  
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375-degree oven for 35 minutes. Check the progress of the rolls every ten minutes and if they try to rise out of the pan, use a wooden spoon to pat them back down into place.
  
  
• Carefully remove the pans from oven using oven mitts and set them on a heat resistant surface. Run the tip of a knife around the edges and flip the pans upside down onto lightly greased cookie sheets or wax paper. Then lift the pans to remove the rolls. Let cool slightly and enjoy. *Optional(If you use lightly greased cookie sheets you can put then back in the oven for 10 more minutes to turn them to a rich golden brown. This also helps the mixture to carmelize better)
  

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