Eagle Dancer Potawatomi

According to the “Legend of the Eagle” of the Potawatomi Indian tribe, in the beginning, life was lowered to the Earth from the stars like a child born into the world. Awakening from the dream world, the stars transformed into the beautiful creatures and the life of the physical realms of land, sky and water.

From the brightest of all stars, a pure white eagle was created to roam the skies, who then took flight back to the heavens and beyond the stars, searching for his place in the world. Venturing too close to the sun, the great white eagle received burns to the tips of his feathers. Soaring back to the Earth’s sky, the great eagle remained in between the worlds of land, water and the heavens above, flying closest to the great spirit of life and possessing the ability of leaving his physical body and entering the four realms of the spirit world: the physical world of consciousness; the dream world when one sleeps; the world in between life and death when one’s body is damaged or sick; the world of the dead when one passes on, taking the journey to the spirit world.

Possessing the ability of leaving the physical realm and entering the spirit world, the great eagle is the guardian and the keeper if the skies, would remain in between both worlds as a messenger and protector to the great spirit of life.