After the Third Shaking of Mother Earth, the future of Canada, whether from a material or a spiritual standpoint, is very great. Day by day, civilization and freedom shall increase. The clouds of Wakan Tanka will water the seeds of guidance which have been sown there.
The “Shaking of Mother Earth" signifies more than geological upheaval. This “Shaking” represents a profound disruption in the systems of greed, injustice, and spiritual forgetfulness. It is the rumbling cry of our Mother Earth herself, calling for the purification and restoration of balance.
These tremors awaken hearts that have long been asleep and reveal the fragility of power built without spiritual roots. It is the moment of truth when the veil is lifted, and what has been hidden truths buried, voices silenced, and wisdom forgotten, returns like thunder rolling across the prairies.
This shaking may take many forms: climatic shifts, economic collapse, spiritual crisis, or collective grief. But in all cases, it prepares the way for something greater. In the Dakota way, we understand this as wóičokíya, the shaking that precedes healing.
The Future of Canada: A Sacred Role in the Global Renewal
Canada, this northern realm of Turtle Island, holds within it a sacred trust. It is a land upon which diverse Indigenous nations have walked since time immemorial, ómakȟa tȟáŋka owáŋka yuhá, a land holding the memory and the ceremonies of the First Peoples.
The prophecy tells us that the future of Canada is very great, both materially and spiritually. However, this greatness is not rooted solely in economic power. This greatness lies in Canada's potential to become a beacon of healing, justice, and unity. It will not come through domination or exploitation, but through reconciliation with the sacred, and the full honoring of Indigenous governance, law, and vision. This vision should inspire hope and a sense of purpose in all of us.
In this future, Indigenous knowledge systems will no longer be sidelined. These Indigenous knowledge systems will be recognized as the central pillars of a new civilization rising from the ashes of the old. The Sacred Hoop, once broken, will be mended here. This recognition should instill a sense of value and respect in all those who hold this knowledge.
When the Eagle of the North and the Condor of the South fly together, and the white buffalo returns, we will enter a time of sacred renewal. Canada has a sacred duty in this convergence, and its spiritual greatness will be recognized by its ability to host this sacred reunion of our Human Family.
The Increase of Civilization and Freedom: The Return of Right Relationship
“Day by day, civilization and freedom shall increase.” But this is not the colonizer’s vision of civilization. It is not the empire built on extraction. It is a vision of a civilization rooted in spiritual law, a civilization of right relationships between human beings, Mother Earth, and the Creator. This vision should make us all feel connected and responsible for the future we are building.
True freedom does not come solely from material wealth; it also requires inner freedom. It comes through liberation of the spirit, healing of the intergenerational wounds, and walking again in the ways of sacred responsibility, wówačhiŋtognaka, the spirit of generosity; wóohitika, courage; wówašte, goodness.
Canada’s destiny is to become a garden of nations, where each sacred culture and people may grow and flourish without fear, in the light of truth and love. That is the spiritual meaning of freedom in our teachings: freedom to live in harmony with all life.
The Clouds of Wakan Tanka: Rain of Divine Guidance
"The clouds of Wakan Tanka will water the seeds of guidance..." Here, the imagery is profoundly sacred. The clouds are the unseen realms, the mysteries, the prayers of our Ancestors, the will of the Great Spirit gathering in the heavens. When the time is right, they burst forth as rain, blessings, dreams, visions, laws, understandings, dreams of unity—to nourish the seeds that have been planted in the soil of Canada’s collective heart.
Those seeds are the spiritual teachings, the Elders’ wisdom, the resistance of the People, the memories of ceremonies, the languages, and the vision of Indigenous youth rising. Some of those seeds were sown long ago and were buried under colonization, but they are not dead.
They were merely waiting for the right season. The shaking has come. Now the rain is coming. Wakan Tanka waters these seeds so that a New Sacred Tree, Čháŋ Gleská Wákȟaŋ, the Tree of Life, may rise again from Turtle Island, to shelter all peoples.
The Rising of a Morning Star Nation
This prophecy foretells that Canada is destined to become a Morning Star Nation, a beacon of light that signals the dawn after the long night of separation and suffering. However, that light can only shine if people return to the sacred, if Indigenous nations are honored as spiritual and political equals, and if reconciliation is not only spoken about, but also lived.
The shaking is already upon us. The rain has begun. The seeds are stirring beneath the soil. Now we must protect them, nourish them, and walk together, Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ, All My Relatives, as we rise into this new day.
Reflections on the day of my 81st Winter, July 3, 2025
Šuŋ́kmanu hé miye do- Čhaŋnúpa Sápa hé miye do
Híŋhaŋ Wičhášta and Delória Tióšpaye, Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ and Chikashsha Nations
