My name is Allen Aslan Heart, an Abenaki/Ojibwe dream-catcher weaver, story-teller, drummer, poet, writer, artist and teacher. Part-European in ancestry, I bridge worlds of thought and being, science and shamanism.  I bring a message of the contributions of Native American culture, of the beauty of Mother Earth, and our connection to all things.   I weave a story of honoring the earth and each other, of living in balance and tolerance, of rediscovering our hidden power.  To illustrate my message I display a wide variety of dream catchers crafted of natural materials.  Twigs of the traditional red willow, golden willow, red twig dogwood, gold twig dogwood, hartriegel, and manzanita honor the plant people.  Natural feathers honor the beauty of the animals and natural stones honor our stone relatives.  

From traditional to contemporary, each of the dream-catchers has its own story to tell, its own wisdom to teach.  To read their stories go to the Dream Catcher Gallery and click on each dream-catcher.  In 1996 Mississippi State University and Griffiths University in Queensland, Australia selected my dream catchers for their internet site for indigenous artists, Trophies of Honor: Artifacts of Indigenous People. I was guest artist at the Blue Mountain Powwow in Massachusetts and spoke from the Circle of the Seventh Fire.  I've gifted a spider web dream catcher to the leaders of each of ten aboriginal tribes in Australia. My dream-catchers and dream-catcher kits have been sold in the Museum of Ojibwe Culture and at the Mille Lacs Museum on the reservation in Minnesota.

My background and experience have taken me on an amazing journey. As a certified science and social studies teacher I taught in Minnesota public schools for 26 years. I explored my natural interests in Native American history, culture, and spirituality for the past 20 years. Then, in 1995, while sharing my dream catchers at a family reunion, the elders relinquished the family secret�Grandma Bertha was "Indian."  I found that I was Native American as well as white.  I am now / Allen Aslan Heart known as White Eagle Soaring of the Little Shell Pembina Band, a Treaty Tribe of the Ojibwe Nation.

Given the name,  'White Eagle Soaring" by a Passamaquoddy/M'kmaq seer of visions I've been honored for my teaching and weaving at the Rediscovery Center on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern  Minnesota.  I was asked to dance with the elders in the honoring dance.  I unknowingly contributed to the fulfillment of the Seventh Fire Prophecy when I returned the stories to the people.  I had learned dream catcher weaving at a pow-wow and a few years later my friend "wabishkie wun" (White Feather) widely known by his "white" name, Larry Cloud-Morgan, asked me to take him to the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.  At the Rediscovery Center, a conference of Native American Student Associations from the region was meeting, and as an elder and spiritual advisor, he wished to be with the young people.  I brought along my dream-catcher weaving materials to occupy myself as he talked with them.  Some of them asked if they could watch.  Next day they asked if I would teach them.  That evening they honored me for my teaching and weaving and I danced the honors dance with Larry, Josephine and the other elders.  I had returned the ancient stories and the weaving skills to the original people who had made dream-catchers.  Josephine was a favorite of mine, so sweet and her hospitality and gracious toward me touched me deeply. We shared good energy. She is in the coral jingle dress on the right. She walked the Red Road to the Star Web in 2000. Larry left in 1999. They are both missed and yet ever-present.

Since 1994, I've been traveling the USA and Europe, marketing my Native Heritage Collection of Dream-Catchers and teaching the Dream-Catchers' stories to children and adults from Australia to California to Vienna.  Now Great Spirit has shown me a new task, dancing a new dream for the people, the fulfillment of the Prophecy of the Seventh Fire.  When I first learned that I was "Indian," I was told that I was probably Ojibwe.  But I couldn't understand how my "Indian" ancestors could come from Vermont, the home of the Abenaki, the People of the Dawn, and yet I could be Ojibwe.

Then I learned of the Seventh Fire.  Over a thousand years ago when the Seven Prophets brought their visions, the people lived along the Atlantic Coast.  Some refused to heed the warning and remained.  Some, the People of the Dawn, called the Waubunakeeg (today called the Abenaki), accepted the validity of the prophesies yet remained in the east to provide assistance for those who began the great migration.  The latter group called the Three Fires, eventually took special tasks.  The Odawahg' (today called the Ottawa) were the traders finding food and supplies for the migrating people, the Oday'-wah-to-mee (today called the Potawotami) kept the sacred fire, and the Ojibwe were to hold the sacred traditions.  They were on their way to a promised land, "Turtle Island," and "the food that grows on water" in what is now called Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario.  Their migration to the center of the continent and their focus on the path of the spirit kept the wisdom alive long into the 1800's and has survived till today to be used in teaching all people the way forward to a new �technology� of the spirit, the Prophecy of the Seventh Fire.  The Abenaki, like most of the eastern tribes, suffered most from the invaders and their communities were shattered.  My great, great grandmother married a white man and in 1858 they moved west following nearly the same route as her ancestors and in 1860 arrived in Minnesota, the destination of the migration hundreds of years earlier.  So it seems that I was prepared to bridge the gap between white and "Indian", between the People of the Dawn and the Ojibwe who migrated, between the technology of science and the"technology" of spirit, to show people how to dance a new dream. 

In February 1998, as I awakened from an illness of several days that had forced me to end a planned marketing tour of California, spirit told me that I was to dance a new dream for the people that they might live in a new way.  I had been dancing the spiral with my weaving, even creating spiral dream catchers, and I had learned T'ai Chi, which is really a spiral dance.  I was stunned and tried to set aside the commission as unreal, the artifact of an over-active imagination.  Then I met a Native woman who "sees" beyond the normal and she confirmed it.  In 3 weeks I received from three Native Americans each a gift of a symbol that I later found associated with the prophecy, the eagle, bear, and turtle.  And I was told that I would have a mate who would help me, a full partner who could soar with me.

As a Dream Dancer of the Seventh Fire I have a task to bring  the Prophecy of the Seventh Fire into fulfillment  This is an ancient prophecy given to the Ojibwe people over one thousand years ago when they lived along the Atlantic coast.  Seven prophets came to them telling them that they must leave or their people would face severe struggles and death, that they would look for an island in the shape of a turtle and food that grows on water on a journey that would take them inland and away from the light-skinned race that was to come, that they would lose their way and that a little boy would dream a return to the correct path, that they would be misled even by their own elders and that many would leave the traditional ways. 

All of these prophecies were fulfilled as the People left their ancestral homes and began a long pilgrimage that 600 years later would bring them to the tip of Lake Superior where they found the food that grows on water, known today as wild rice or mahnomen.  The Seventh Prophet said that there would come a time when the fish could no longer live in the waters and that the air would begin to lose its power of life.  Then the stories would be returned to the people and the sacred water drum would once again sound.  A group of aware, spiritual people (Ogichidaag') would use their power and  strength to guide others with gentleness  and wisdom to develop the natural heritage of the heart to become a new people (Oshkibadeezig).  The light-skinned race would be given the opportunity to leave their dependence on the way of the mind and follow the path of spirit by following the whisper of spirit (sissagwad) that can only be heard by the heart.

I drum, teach songs and dance, and tell stories that empower and enhance self-esteem, discuss Native American contributions to our language, food, technology, economy, art, music, spirituality, history, and culture.  Dream-Catcher Art is used as a way to learn from nature, poetry as a way to speak from the heart. Thousands of people ages 8-80 have learned how to weave a dream-catcher through my innovative technique, and my humor, insight, and patience. These dream-catchers do more than catch dreams.  They're teachers of natural wisdom, journeys of the heart, playful co-creations with Mother Earth and Father Sky. Dream-Catchers tell the ancient stories of the Seven Fires.

To bring people to a readiness point, I am weaving these special dream catchers that tell the old stories. I am also searching for ways to do life on the earth with less pollution of soils, water, air, and people.  A clear body and mind is vital so that spirit has an accessible vehicle for the next evolutionary step to the stars. I wish to help you soar and to learn through practical experiences to overcome your belief in limitations.

I welcome your friendship and participation in the fulfillment of the Seventh Fire Prophecy.

White Eagle Soaring: Dream Dancer of the 7th Fire