Grand Canyon and a Native American Prayer
by Janine Raby

On Sunday, Sept. 24, 2006, John and I drove from St. George, Utah to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The day was warm and sunny as we traveled the 165 mile route that climbed steadily in altitude. The road went through Zion National Park, which slowed our arrival to the Grand Canyon, but provided some stunning scenery. The temperature went down as we went up, until we entered the park about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, where it was in the low 50's at about 8200 feet. We had lunch in the rustic Grand Lodge, which was built in 1932, and noticed through the large south facing windows, smoke from a forest fire on the South Rim across the Canyon.

After lunch, we made the short hike to Bright Angel Point, which overlooks Bright Angel and Roaring Springs canyons. We admired the view and marveled that the rocks at the bottom of the canyon are thought to be almost two billion years old, and those on the "young" top layer contain dinosaur tracks. We waited for most of the visitors to head back toward the Lodge, and then we stepped forward to the edge of the rim and began our farewell to Danny with the following prayer from the Omaha Tribe, contained in the book, Earth Prayers From Around The World:

Ho! Sun, Moon, Stars, all that move in the heavens,
I bid you hear me!
Into your midst has come a new spirit! Consent ye, I implore!
Make smooth its path that it may reach the brow of the first hill!

Ho! Winds, Clouds, Rain, Mist, all ye that move in the air,
I bid you hear me!
Into your midst has come a new spirit! Consent ye, I implore!
Make smooth its path that it may reach the brow of the second hill!

Ho! Hills, Valleys, Rivers, Lakes, Trees, Grasses, all ye of the earth,
I bid you hear me!
Into your midst has come a new spirit! Consent ye, I implore!
Make smooth its path that it may reach the brow of the third hill!

Ho! Birds great and small that fly in the air,
Ho! Animals great and small that dwell in the forest,
Ho! Insects that creep among the grasses and burrow in the ground--
I bid you hear me!
Into your midst has come a new spirit! Consent ye, I implore!
Make its path smooth that it may reach the brow of the fourth hill!

Ho! All ye of the heavens, all ye of the air, all ye of the earth:
I bid you all to hear me!
Into your midst has come a new spirit! Consent ye, consent ye all, I implore!
Make it path smooth---then shall it travel beyond the four hills!

When the prayer was completed, I sprinkled Danny's ashes over the edge of Bright Angel Point with these words, "Danny Mandell return to the Source!"

Janine and John Raby