ABSTRACT

The Crow nation was capable of relinquishing its previous culture and identity, due to an underlying ethic of honor based on self-respect and the capacity to trust in the unknown. The Crow ethic allows more flexibility, trust and hope than the ethic of Southern honor. Faith in the unknown future suggests that an ethic based on inner truth and courage offers the promise for survival, and perhaps thriving beyond the abyss of the unknown. Curiosity and learning, then, become adaptive modes for an unknown future. The myth of the chickadee encourages openness and trust toward the wider reality, rather than clinging to stasis out of fear of an unknown future. All myths are the products of imagination and mental projections: for example the myth of white supremacy, and the myth of the chickadee as a curious bird that can learn from others.