Native Americans, north, south, and central, all have traditions and myths
that involve nature as the central axis of their world. When the "Great
Invasion" of Europeans overtook and destroyed large portions of their
world, the underlying truths about nature remained. These truths are
recorded in the myths and traditions of the wide variety of people across
the Americas we call collectively Native Americans.

The following story represents one instance in the wealth of Native
American stories which teach and inspire us to find our proper place in
the living environment around us. As science continues to inform us about
the effects of our actions on that environment, this inspiration and
learning must be accompanied ever more by leadership. This leadership
begins with the decisions we make about ourselves and our actions. It
extends to neighborhood, community, region, nation, and world. It is a
challenge to each of us, and also an invitation to become involved.

"The Sleep Tree" comes to us from the peoples of the Amazon rain forests of
South America. Theirs is a plight suffered by Native Americans across the
hemisphere. It is a similar experience of tragedy, and it is also
dramatically different. All of us are aware of the destruction of
rain forests around the globe, nowhere more evident or more ongoing than
the rain forests of the Amazon. 

Having myself lived near the rain forests of southwestern Oregon, I can
remember experiencing the amazing diversity of life "under the canopy."
Medicine grows rich because of it's wonders, and we are in turn given an
increasing promise of health and longevity. My rain forest was the little
brother of the world's great, yet disappearing, rain forests. But I share
with the Native Americans of the Amazon their horror at the displacement
and death visited upon them by the daily destruction of their world. In
parts of Oregon we would drive for miles and miles where the mountains
around us were bare of trees. The demon "Clear Cutting" had been there
before us, and yet the evidence of It's devastating visit remained long
afterwards.

"The Sleep Tree" is a traditional story from the Karaja and Apinaye
peoples of the rain forests in the central and northern Amazonian plateau.
 
 

To his amazement Uaica saw that there was a large group of animals all sleeping soundly beneath the limbs of the ancient tree. Trees were sacred among his people because of the many benefits they bring and Uaica had a feeling of the sacred as he gazed in wonder at the scene before him. It was for him a mystical experience to be in the presence of this great forest tree whose age must number hundreds, if not thousands, of years. As he came closer he himself became sleepy and could not resist the urge to rest among the animals beneath the mystery of this forest giant. 

He was soon fast asleep, and as he slept he dreamed. His dreams were of a strange people he did not know, and of animals he had never seen. While dreaming, an ancestor of his people, Sinaa (Si-naa), came to him. He led Uaica into the land of his ancestors and told him many sacred things. These were the teachings given to the teachers, healers, and medicine people of his land.

Upon waking near sunset, Uaica returned to his home, telling no one of his strange dreams under the great tree of the forest. The next day he returned to the mystical place in the forest, and again fell asleep under the tree of wonder. As before, he explored his ancestral world, and was taught by the healer Sinaa. This dreaming continued each day as Uaica returned to the tree and fell into the sleep which was the journey into knowing. The ways of the tree were revealed to him and he learned more and more of the secrets it held.

The day came, however, when his ancestor Sinaa told him "This day must be the last time you are to visit this great tree. Remember this upon waking for you will be in danger if you return to the world of your ancestors found in your sleep beneath the tree."

Upon waking, Uaica remembered the warning and gazed with sadness upon the tree he knew he would never see again. Before leaving he took some bark from the ancient tree and secured it with other of his sacred gatherings in the bag he always wore into the forest. On his journey back to his village he took some of the bark and mixed it with the water of the river near his home. It was the river which, with the abundance of the forest, brought life to him and his family, to his neighbors in the village, and to their ancestors before them.

The mixture of the sacred bark, and the water of the river, made a bitter tasting drink which Uaica sampled, expecting some wonderment to arise from the drinking. Before long the effects of the mixture took effect and caused Uaica to jump about as in a trance. His movements took him into the river where he proceeded to catch handfuls of the fish therein. When at last the effects of the sacred drink wore off, Uaica returned to his village with the makings of a feast in his arms. 

Uaica did not return to the great tree but continued to learn the secrets of it's bark. The day came when the medicine person of his village was unable to cure the sickness of a child. The child's parents brought their child to Uaica, having heard of the wonders of the mysterious bark found by him. With his knowledge, taught to him by his ancestor Sinaa in the sleep under the tree, Uaica was able to heal the child and make it well once again.

Following this, more and more of the villagers came to him to cure their illnesses and restore them to health in their jungle home. In time Uaica's dreaming returned, without the need to sleep under the ancient tree, and with each of his dreams his knowledge and power for helping grew. The stories of his amazing cures spread far and wide throughout the forest. 

Such was the lot of Uaica, until he chose to marry. His wife, unsatisfied with their simple life in the village, took to complaining about the smallest things. So often and so troublesome was her manner that on one particular occasion Uaica's mother chased her right our of the village.

Unhappy with this, the wife's relatives vowed to kill Uaica. The following day when Uaica brought his daily catch of fish to his village, and was sitting down to eat, his wife's brother crept up behind him, intending to strike a blow and kill him. 

Having the fine senses of one trained in the mystic ways, Uaica not only avoided the blow but vanished out of sight before his attacker. With him went the house he lived in, his garden, and all of his belongings. After a search of many days the villagers found Uaica miles from his home
preparing a place to live in another part of the forest. The villagers persuaded him to return to his home and life became normal again, for a while.

Eventually the brother of his wife again attempted to attack and kill Uaica. And again Uaica vanished as before. This time, however, before he disappeared, he told his wife's relative that his evil actions had now taken away the village's special gift, passed to Uaica from their ancestor
Sinaa in the sleep under the great tree of the forest. No longer were the secrets of the forest wisdom to be theirs. No longer would the healing of the people come from the sacred bark of the great tree. Such would be held always for those who loved the forest, it's trees, and it's special
people.

It is told in the village to this day that Uaica had disappeared into the rock upon which he sat the day he vanished. They say further that he still resides within the rock and from time to time a hand reaches from the rock, inviting an occasional dreamer to enter the world of their
ancestors, and learn the secrets of the Sleep Tree.
 
 

Stories of exceptional environmental insight from the numerous Native American traditions can be found in a wealth of on-line sources and in various books including Warriors, Gods & Spirits from Central & South American Mythology. Schocken Books, New York. 1983).