Hello fellow women. If no one will mind, I have a story to share... When I was about four years old, I was at a Native American cultural event in Pennsylvania with my mother and grandmother. I am caucasian, which is not significant other than how it may relate to this story. There were hundreds of people there. The leader, the Female Chief who had been directing the event paused after a great speech. She put her microphone down and walked off the stage towards me and my family who were seated on the grass amongst the crowd. She kneeled before me, and stared deeply into my eyes. I will never forget it. She took my hand, and gave me the name Mystic Eyes, which was also [i]her [/i] name, and she passed it to me. She then asked my mother if she could take me with her and introduce me to the people. She took me to the stage with her, and in the microphone introduced me as the new Mystic Eyes. She gave me a deerskin vest and pinned to it a piece of wampum from her dress. She taught me a native dance, and we together danced before the crowd. After that day, she called my mother often to see how I was, and would speak to me as well. I was too young to remember those conversations. One day tragedy struck our family and we were forced to move away. My mother and I lost nearly all of our possessions, including Mystic Eye's number. I lost her. I never even knew which tribe she was from or how to find her again. I'm not even sure if she is still on this earth. But my heart aches for her desperately...my spiritual mother. In those days I was too young to remember how significant a gift she had given me. She gave me a part of myself that had not yet been revealed to me. I am nearly twenty years old now, which I am aware is still quite young, but I have something in me that needs to seek, needs to learn, and needs to contribute to this world. I could go on, but I won't right now. If anyone has anything to offer in response to this post, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you Mystic Eyes Soaring Hawk

Hello MysticEyes, and welcome to our forum. You will find what your are seeking and it will come to you when the time is right. Do you remember what town you were in when Mystic Eyes found you? This will help greatly in your search.

Pennsylvania tribes include:

Delaware
Erie
Honniasont
Iroquois
Saluda
Saponi
Shawnee
Susquehanna

Tuscarora, Tutelo, and Wenrohronon were also in Pennsylvania from time to time.

I am curious what you mean by "She gave me a deerskin vest and pinned to it a piece of wampum from her dress." I ask this because Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of Eastern Woodlands tribes. "a piece of wampum from her dress " implies fabric. Can you clarify this for me?

If you still have that vest and whatever it was that she pinned to it, that may help you to identify a tribe. Were there any other decorations or designs, like beading, on the vest? Colors and designs help to pinpoint specific tribes.

Are your mother and grandmother still alive? If so, do they remember any info that may help you find Mystic eyes? Attending a Native American event such as you describe, and the incident of the woman singaling you out of the crowd, would be an easy thing to remember for an adult. Did your mother take any pictures? Were there any other people (friends or family members) with you at the time who may remember more?

Nahimana is a Sioux name which means "mystic". Does the name Nahimana ring a bell with you?

You can also search Native American events of the 1990's to see if you come up with anything in Pennsylvania around 1994.

I hope any of my questions trigger a memory to help you in your search.

Being that it is from PA may have Delaware/Lenape injections. The Lenape word for 'Eye' is 'Wuschgink'.
Translation of 'Mystic' is not a direct corelation but requires knowing if it were used as a noun or an adjective.

I referenced an English to Lenape Dictionary & used the following website: www.gilwell.com/lenape

Thank you all for your responses. Phyillis: Nahimana [i]is [/i]a word that rings a bell. I don't know if she used it, but after some research I have learned that it means 'mystic'. I am pleased you would mention it though. There are pictures from that day, and to clarify the wampum I mentioned...Looking at a photograph of her, she had many pins on her dress that look like they are metal circles with stars in the center. This symbol was also the center of some necklaces she was wearing, as well as embroidered into her moccasins. The metal pins, however, had wampum attached to them. I know that certain colors have different meanings, and the one she gave me had the colors red, black, yellow, white, and pale blue, forming a diamond in the center. In the picture of us dancing, she is wearing much decorative wampum, all in the same color scheme. She was wearing a a red deerskin top, white wampum belt, and brown deerskin skirt and moccasins. On her chest is a red star encompassed in a white circle with a black dot in the center of the star. On her moccasins, the same star was embroidered in green and blue. Hopefully that will lead me to something. Unfortunately, I no longer have the vest, my grandmother has passed, and my mother remembers the event and the details of my encounter with Mystic Eyes, but does not remember anything about what tribe she was from. I have wondered if she could have been Iroquois, because I know that some Iroquois sects follow a matriarchal system of lineage, but it is just a theory. The town was Chadds Ford I believe, right over the Delaware border into Pennsylvania. Mystic Eyes, as my mother remembers, had a local Delaware phone number, and actually lived in the town that we did, and did not live on reservation. Thank you for welcoming me to the forum, and I am sure that I will find what I seek when it is ready to be found. Thank you for your help and I will keep you posted! Mystic Eyes Soaring Hawk

Lenape is a thought, I will look further into it, thank you Beetlemess.

Flower70: I am endeavoring to learn as much as I can about Native Culture, and I have faith that what wants to be found will make itself known! Thank you, I won't give up!

Red, Yellow, Black & White - very dominate colors for they define the 4 major races on Earth. (If you can recall or are familiar with the children Sunday School song.) They also represent the winds, directions, natural elements (earth-wind-fire-water), seasons, circle of life cycle, etc., etc.

Blue & Green are added to denote Sky & Ground entities = The Great Spirit & Mother Earth.

Orientation of the colors in a clockwise or CCW direction can assist in nation, tribe or clan identification, but can be overlaps due to integration.

You've come to the right place to get some guidance & direction.

In the Circle, I am known as: Nuwingi Achowalogen Weuchsowagan; Lenape for �Willing Worker who has Knowledge�

Bettlemess is right. This is a good place for guidance and direction. Beetlemess and other members who come here occasionally often help others with their knowledge and caring.

Thank you to both of you. I will continue this search and keep you posted if you wish.

The East Coast Native Community is VERY interconnected. Artisans, Elders and Spiritual Leaders are known from Southern FL all the way up to Maine. Several of the vendors who attend our little Pow-Wow in Southeast GA travel the entire Eastern Coast each year and have friends in every state.

Vendors at Pow-Wows and other gatherings have a wealth of knowledge you may benefit from. Find some local events and take the picture with you. Several of the vendors we know go North for the Summer and then return South for the fall Pow-Wow season. This may be the perfect time for you to attend an event and meet someone who may know or have knowledge of this wonderful woman. If you keep it brief, courteous, and respectful the majority of vendors will help in any way they can. And if not, they will refer you to someone, and the referrals will keep coming until you find her.

Good luck, and I hope you will find information soon to lead you back to her.

Here's an example of just how interconnected the vendors are. We attended a very small gathering in SC a few years back. I was wearing the yoke my friend gave me and a choker my husband had given me as an anniversary present. I knew nothing about these two pieces, but cherish both.

We walked up to one vendor and he asked where I got my yoke. He was fairly sure he knew who made it. A lady in TX and he described how she used bent flat head screwdrivers to create and burn the designs into garments made from old recycled leather coats. I was amazed!

Shortly afterwards we approached another vendor and she said, "You have one of Hildie's pieces! Where did you get that?" She was pointing at my choker. It has quills instead of hair pipe beads and has a medallion, beads on leather, surrounded by a small braid of sweetgrass. Very unique and I've never seen anything like it before or since. She knew the artist who lives in New Hampshire and doesn't travel further south than CT. When I told her it was purchased down in GA, she was amazed!

We went to this gathering for one purpose, to take some friends who had never attended one. I was in a small rural area of SC with maybe 1000 people, and yet I got information from TX and NH.

You never know what you can learn or how you will be blessed at a Pow-Wow. It continually amazes me.

MysticEyes, yes it would be nice if you keep us posted. lcp has some good ideas and knowledge about these kind of things.

Thank you so much Icp, I will try to find something local and will do just as you said. I had been thinking about it anyway, but now that you've shared that fantastic story of your Pow-Wow in SC (incredible, by the way!), I feel a even more hopeful than before. Thank you so much.

Check out the Pow-wow and events topics in this forum. Phyllis has some great links for websites that list events and dates. Hopefully, there will be one near you soon.

Don't get discouraged if there is no information at the first event. It will come, as you have asked for it.

Keep us posted.