visit  www.stonedge.com 

His prices are really reasonable.

He is originally a California Native American (went to Chico State)

The guy he made the bow for is one of the top martial artists in the country (a half breed as well <haha>) and he is a big fan of Charlie's as well. People like us will keep this brother "keep traditions alive"

It is just like Lingtaowoo (Charlie is from Taos now BTW) relating VN experiences last night. We musn't let our past die. Learn (if nothing else) from our native bretheren, we need to keep the old dtraditions alive and one of the most important was the handing down of our past whether in oral, printed, or now digital fashion. And one of the important parts of our past are those tales of our warriors in battle. We musn't ever forget either them or their stories.

thx sage

thats what I get from going by memory

Good stuff tho, no?

i'd have him personalize it for you. When you order I'll give you a name to "drop".

I love Mahagony obsidian!

First piece I ever got and still my favorite!

roninislost, that is a fair question. I will take you at face value that you are not belittling the culture, but are in fact interested in the "old ways"

The brother doing the skinning is a shaman. A keeper of the land and steward of all God's animals.

He is also an artisan in the finest sense of the word.

The buffalo is sacred and utilized only for the tribe. In this case the excess meat went to an orphanage in Taos area, and every part (trust me) of the buffalo was utilized by the tribe. Even the ligaments and tendons were used for bowstrings, tie downs and lashing for stone bladed deer handled knives, etc. The white man threw meat away, let it rot on the prarie. The "indian" did not.

The European Anglo-Saxon is really the only "tribe" who came in and slaughtered the buffalo for no good reason. Wiped them out (almost).

Doesn't mean they are all bad though. Just like not all native americans are good.

I will think of one of my quotes from departed bretheren that may explain this better.

I respect your feelings in this regard, even if you were "taking the Mickey out on me"!

robinislost: (for you)

From Wakan-Tanka, the Great Mystery, comes all power. It is from Wakan-Tanka that the holy man has wisdom and the power to heal and make holy charms. Man knows that all healing plants are given by Wakan-Tanka, therefore they are holy. So too is the buffalo holy, because it is the gift of Wakan-Tanka.

Also, the obsidian knife used in this never lost its edge. When I do a big animal (elk or steer) I have to sharpen steel (even 440) every now and then with my ceramic rods. Obsidian is even harder, never losing its edge. Of course you cannot really sharpen it, you have to "knap" it further (flakes). BTW, this one was hung from that forklift as it was for the orphanage for the feast of San Geronimo in Taos (for expediency). Usually we "score" the leg bones and break them off to utilize the two thigh bones to hang the hams from a limb.

Robinislost:

You did not offend me, you honored me. You care about a noble beast who is sacred to people I am close to. I was told by my brother in Taos that the posting of the pic might cause consternation in some. He agonized for days before posting it on his blog. When he did he got more than a few negative reactions. I’m sure he did a much better job than me of justifying his reasons for posting the occasion of the most important part of the ceremony for the Feast of San Geronimo.

The fact you were horrified means you are a spiritual person Robinislost. There is no higher calling than for us to be good husbanders of the land and its denizens, especially those like the noble Buffalo. The Wapiti is another. You honor this land and all its inhabitants by your longing for a relationship with one of its noblest of creatures. A creature that means life to the native inhabitants of this land.

To Tina or anyone else who may have been offended, I apologize. I only hope you will endeavor to understand my purpose for the posting of it. It is an important celebration to a proud people and is a part of their tradition – their life. The Anglo or other ethnic group’s that are also hunters (I maintain man is by nature) understand that by taking (and most importantly fully utilizing) mature animals (not for trophy though, but for meat and ancillary essentials), they are completing the circle of life and honoring the animal. Anyone who eats meat should realize a properly taken animal is more humane than what happens in most places from whence their “steak” came.

You Robinislost, are a good person and perfectly justified to be horrified by death. You are also a smart person and realize now what the picture really represents.

God bless you!

The Buffalo is more than a source of meat and hide. It is a connection to the past.

In today's fast paced world of jets and television, it is easy to forget our origins. It is easy to forget the lessons learned by generation upon generation of those who preceded us. We forget that not so very long ago, we couldn't just walk into a grocery store and buy our meat cut and packaged. We forget that we had to live off what we could coerce from Nature.

We lived in mud homes. We dressed in animal skins or cloth woven by hand. We hunted and grew our own food. We were closer to the Earth. We were a part of our environment, not apart from it.

Men like the one in Chico's picture remind of us of who we are and where we came from. It is something we should never forget.

Thanks, Chico, for helping remind us.

Oenghus, a gem of a post.

Note in background there is a tall anglo who is a highly placed member of govt.

It is good for everyone to remember (as you just have).

Unfortunately, we hve become so removed from the reality of our original vitality that we:

Fear no threats - exogenous or otherwise

Cannot fend for ourselves without govt intervention

Have become mean spirited purveyors of enforced re-distribution of wealth rather than relying upon the goodness of our spirit.

When a buffalo became older, he slowed down and was prey to the arrow or spear

This was natures "social engineering" program

It fed the native american and thinned the herd.

It was the angophile with superior weaponry (Mr. Sharps for one) who gave them the vehicle for mass slaughter for no good reason other than hides.

People like you can ferret out the pearls cast before the rest.....................

BTW, the forklift is instructive in a way also.

Normally we would do the buff right in place on its side, only thing hanging would be hams from intersection of two thigh bones above knee from hooks on saddle. No trees on prarie (usually) where they fall.

The obsidian blade is never sharpened even after "scoring" below the knee to break off bones to create "hanging mechanism for the two "hams" I spoke of. You'd sharpen a carbon stell knife at least once during all that.

Even the breast bone "cracking" to get to windpipe, etc. is done with no saw, just the flint knapped blade!

The obsidian blade even works well for scraping the freshly skinned hide prior to brain tanning process back at camp.

The duality of man (think of Mathew Modine in "FMJ") is represented by the forklift in this picture to me.

A large quantity of this meat went to the orphanage for the "Feast of San Geronimo" in Santa Fe. The rest to Taos ceremony and all other parts to create tools, weapons, clothing, shelter panels, rope, medicine bags, etc.Thus the need for expediency to get meat trucked to Santa Fe.

Thank you Oenghus (interesting name) for noticing something many are to blinded by wonkism and mordenism to see

The conception of Angus as an all-pervading divinity who first connects being with non-being seems removed by many aeons of thought from that beautiful golden-haired youth who plays on the tympan surrounded by singing birds. But the golden-haired Angus of the bards has a relation to the earlier Eros, for in the mysteries of the Druids all the gods sent bright witnesses of their boundless being, who sat enthroned in the palaces of the Sidhe, and pointed the way to the Land of Promise to the man who dared become more than man

And I thought all the Druids were over on Monterey street! <haha>