A guide to integrating indigenous thinking into modern life for  a more interconnected and spiritual relationship with our fellow  beings, Mother Earth, and the natural ways of the universe. There is a natural law—a spiritual intelligence that we are all born with that lies within our hearts. Lakota spiritual leader Doug Good Feather shares the authentic knowledge that has been handed down through the Lakota generations to help you make and recognize this divine connection, centered around the Seven Sacred Directions in the Hoop of Life: Wiyóhinyanpata —East: New Beginnings Itókagata —South: The Breath of Life Wiyóhpeyata —West: The Healing Powers Wazíyata —North: Earth Medicine Wankátakáb —Above: The Great Mystery Khúta —Below: The Source of Life Hóchoka —Center: The Center of Life Once you begin to understand and recognize these strands, you can integrate them into modern life through the Threefold Path: The Way of the Seven Generations —Conscious living The Way of the Buffalo —Mindful consumption The Way of the Community —Collective impact Doug Good Feather is a full-blooded native American Lakota, born and raised in the traditional indigenous ways of his elders on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He is a direct descendant of Grandpa Chief Sitting Bull. He is the executive director and spiritual leader of the Lakota Way in Colorado and the co-founder of Spirit Horse Nation. You can visit Lakota Way Healing Center online at lakotawayhealingcenter.org. Introduction: Indigenous Spirituality Many people are attracted to the humble ways and ancient wisdom of Native American spirituality; however, this book is not meant to teach people how to be “Native American.” The intention of this book is to help people build a bridge from their life in the modern world back to the deep ancestral roots of their innate spirituality. In fact, if we were to journey back to our earthly ancestral origins, each of us would discover heritage and wisdom deeply rooted in the indigenous spiritual ways of ancient Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America, the island nations, the Arctic nations, and other lands that now only exist in myths and legends. The goal of this book is to guide people on a personal spiritual journey to make this connection, using their own indigenous heritage, teachings, and way of life. Obviously, we may not all be Native American, but each and every one of us is indigenous to Mother Earth. Indigenous spirituality is not a religion; it’s a nature-based way of living in alignment with Mother Earth and the spiritual laws of the universe. The answer to any meaningful question can be found in the natural world if you learn how and where to look. Those who learn to Think Indigenous live unencumbered by any human’s attempt to exploit and manipulate the intention of the Creator. Indigenous spirituality is both a practice and a way of life. No political party controls it, and no religious dogma dictates it; you can practice any religion and also identify with indigenous spirituality. As we learn to Think Indigenous, we’re learning the principles of honor and compassion for all beings and how to integrate these principles into our daily life so that we can experience a powerful and beautiful relationship with the people and world around us. So let’s begin where this journey started. A VISION QUEST This book came into being as a result of a prophecy that was shown to me while I was on a vision quest on Bear Butte, a spiritual place in the Black Hills of South Dakota that’s been used for vision quests by indigenous people for thousands of years. In this vision, Great Spirit instructed me to share the ways of Native American spirituality to help people who are suffering and need to connect with the ancestral wisdom and healing of their own spiritual roots. Everything that this book is came out of this vision quest—which isn’t to say that it’s new. It is a synthesizing of so much history, along with so many stories, philosophies, and teachings from all over the world, gathered into one very profound moment. That moment was not easy to reach, however. A year or so before my vision quest, I was suffering from debilitating PTSD, which one day brought me to be lying in a ditch on the side of the road, weeping. But someone came—a helping hand to pull me to my feet and brushed me off, lifting me out of the ditch. But when I turned around, no one was there. A couple of weeks later, an elder came to me in a dream and told me to spend one year preparing for a vision quest—which wasn’t something I had even considered attempting. The elder said to spend that year thinking about what I wanted to do in life—what impact I wanted to have on this world—and then to go to the Black Hills for answers. On a vision quest, you put water away, you put food away, and you give yourself wholly to the spiritual way. You don’t necessarily know if there will be life or death on the other