Two spotted help eagles compose the face of a star eyed Chief, with wings of deep starry blue to carry messages to the Creator. In the Lakota tradition, the chief holds the prayers, the knowledge and the wisdom for the people and especially for the younger generations. The Lakota people come from the constellation Pleiades, says Chief Marvin; they are people with knowledge of the stars. The White Buffalo Calf Pipe woman, shown as the white buffalo, was sent to earth by the Thunder beings, represented by lightning. A prophet who gifted the sacred Chanupa to humanity, also foretold a time when the 4 races would come together in harmony and prayer. The four races, black, white, red and yellow, are represented by the medicine wheel at the center of the piece. The 4 life cycles and four seasons are also affiliated with each color of the wheel, while the wheel itself represents the sacred loop of life, with no beginning and no end. The Chanupa shows the path between heaven and earth, outlined in red, also known as the Red Road. The Red Road is a way of walking, being and praying in the world that helps us understand the sacredness of all life, and leads us in a direction of wisdom.
"Only the sun, moon, stars, rivers, oceans, mountains, and skies are forever, the rest of us are visitors here," explains Chief Marvin. "Life here on earth is an illusion, and our relatives are only a step away." If we follow the light, the path of prayer, we will find our way to the happy hunting grounds, the ancestral nation, and will not need to return again.