The Star People: "Extraterrestrials" From An Indigenous Perspective (Part 1)
Indigenous lore is full of stories about beings from other worlds. This article explores a few examples.
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), which have been re-branded as Unidentified Ariel Phenomena (UAP) by the powers that be, left the realm of taboo a few years ago. Thousands of academics, high-ranking military personnel and more have been sharing their knowledge about the subject for decades, but it wasn’t until 2017 that the subject entered into mainstream consciousness as something serious and non-fictional.
This sudden emergence into mainstream consciousness as something other than a “conspiracy theory” was unfortunately because mainstream media outlets began covering the topic more seriously. It’s a shame that some of these outlets still have so much influence and control over people's perceptions about various topics and issues. Information warfare is no doubt at an all-time high, and I fear a proper, balanced, and holistic view of the UFO phenomenon will never come from these sources given their long track record of misinformation.
That being said, this is why it’s interesting to seek out different perspectives of the phenomenon from different time periods from multiple cultures. Dr. Michael A. Persinger, an American-Canadian professor of psychology at Laurentian University observed that for thousands of years and within every known human culture, normal individuals have reported brief and often repeated ‘visitations’ by humanoid phenomena that are associated with strange flying objects.
In a book entitled Out of this World: Otherworldly Journeys from Gilgamesh to Albert Einstein, Professor Ioan Petru Couliano, editor in chief of the journal Incognita and professor of history of religions at the University of Chicago at the time, made it clear that observation of UFOs and contact by beings from beyond the Earth is mankind’s oldest story.
An Indigenous Perspective
Scholars have estimated that, before the ‘discovery’ of the Americas by Europeans, the pre-contact era population could have been as high as 100 million. The people that roamed these lands were comprised of extremely intelligent beings full of knowledge and teachings that were, unfortunately, forgotten by most, but carried on by a few. It’s these teachings that can play a big part in guiding us back to a human experience where all life can thrive. Yes, it is possible, our potential as a human race is greater than we know.
Another aspect of this society might have also dealt with extraterrestrial contact. I am not Native American, so when it comes to the topic of sharing beliefs from our very recent past from this culture, it’s best to leave it up to those who are direct descendants from where these stories permeated, and those who grew up around the Elders sharing them.
Stories of intelligent beings visiting our planet from the cosmos date back to the beginning of time, and span through several different cultures at various points in human history. Antiquity is filled with stories of beings, materials and flying objects that, according to modern-day thinking, should not have existed.
When it comes to Native American ‘lore’ and extraterrestrials, they were commonly referred to as ‘Star Beings.’
Richard Wagamese, who was one of Canada’s foremost authors and storytellers from the Wabaseemoong First Nation in Northwestern Ontario, once wrote:
“My people tell of Star People who came to us many generations ago. The Star people brought spiritual teachings and stories and maps of the cosmos and they offered these freely. They were kind, loving and set a great example. When they left us, my people say there was a loneliness like no other.”
He went on to contemplate,
“If Star People did come to the Ojibway, where did they go? Where did they come from? Who brought teachings to them? What scientific magic did they own that allowed them to make such an incredible journey – and is it possible for us?”
Sure, that sort of thinking doesn’t pay the rent or solve any legitimate earthly problems but it does make the head and spirit swell with possibility and maybe, in the end, that’s the role of science – the aboriginal kind and the western kind – to invite us again into the world of the possible, to make us wonder again.”
Another example comes from Stephane Wuttunee, who is a Plains Cree and French Canadian author and storyteller. He wrote a piece for UFO Digest in 2008, explaining that his perception and understanding of the ET phenomena as a Native person and its global implications comes from having been partially raised within the culture itself. He shares the same perspective in his book, Star Nations.
In his article, he makes a clear point to mention that, in his culture, they “give far greater attention to the seeking of the spiritual understanding of things rather than going after “the truth” as people from dominant cultures do. This is part of the reason why we tend to stand back and view or listen at first rather than bare in with questions or take the hard, direct approach.”
Wuttunee, like Wagamese, mentions the “Star People.” Stating that, while growing up he heard of,
“distant relations and Star People living amongst the stars many times, mainly around campfires and during traditional ceremonies. Far from being anything to be feared, Star People was just another term I grew up around. I remember listening in awe and fascination at the thought of us having relations that lived off and outside our world and sometimes spoke to them in my silent moments at night. I wanted to know who they were and what they looked like if they had families like us etc. In all honesty, the only time I was exposed to “aliens” per se was when I would go to the outhouse and read the Weekly World News or National Enquirer. It wasn’t until my later teens that I discovered that people from the dominant cultures were talking about the same “people” as my elders did, though each side’s sense of perception of these people seemed radically different from one another.”
He goes on to write about how his elders never really made any clear distinctions between extraterrestrials and the spirit world.
“In fact, at times I heard Aboriginal elders blend the two together and treat them as one, which I have to admit did kind of take me for a spin when I was young. Were our distant relations physical like us? Did they also exist amongst us in spirit? I had many unanswered questions, so I guess from a fairly young age I had some unravelling to do.”
He also points out how stories of abductions were not really spoken of, but rather stories of interactions with beings from other worlds and realms, mostly using telepathic communication and, sometimes, full-on physical and friendly encounters were shared.
“To this day, I’ve often wondered for instance, if White Buffalo Calf Woman, the teacher who brought Native people the four traditional medicines of sweetgrass, sage, cedar and tobacco might have been one of these otherworldly visitors.”
He ends his article by making the important point (to him), that in his culture, there is no reason to be fearful, and that the Star People come from far away and visited us quite often in the past, and will do so again in the future.
“In light of the way things are in the world, I’d have to say it’s about time someone dropped in again for some tea and bannock, in any case, the fire is lit and the door is open.”