A NEW STAR IN THE SKY
..
                              A village, isolated in a hidden wooded valley, exists as it has for centuries
                                     The children play while the villagers go about their daily tasks, fishing the river
 and hunting the forest and the plain
                                     They live in harmony with themselves, the animals, and the Spirits of the Earth
                                                 The old shaman, wearing a cloak of black bear skin, sits at his crude loom and weaves
 a beautiful fabric
                                He looks down into the village from the sacred mountaintop where he lives
                                          Animals and children gather around and watch his magical hands work, as he tells
                  tales of their forefathers and sings the sacred songs of his people
                               His chanting echoes throughout the valley, and the animals and birds reply
The shaman is filled with great joy  ...Night falls
                                    The sounds of the Night Spirits travel through the valley under a river of stars
                                  The shaman sits around the great fire with his people, spinning the tales that
 have been handed down through the ages
                                          He speaks of the Ghost Dance that breathes life into the legendary Horse of Fire,
                                      the winged stallion that carried the spirits of their forefathers to the Lost World
                  The children are frightened by his tale and the sounds of the dark
                                He tells the children not to be afraid. for when the sun returns, he will give
them a special gift
                                             He will teach them the Ghost Dance .Then they will never again have need of fear
                           With this promise the children sleep .The shaman sits awake by the fire
                                      He alone is aware of the ominous cries that the Spirits of Darkness bring to the
valley this night
              Dawn breaks as a tall willowy figure wanders into the village
                                        He is the Shadow Catcher, a photographer.The children run and hide with fear
                                     The villagers crowd around and stare at the wondrous stranger who is paler
than a winter moon
        He has with him a mule bearing his ground glass and tools
                               In the mule's saddle packs are trinkets and gifts that the Shadow Catcher
lavishes on the bewildered villagers
                            The shaman warns his fellow tribesmen of the Shadow Catcher's magic
The glass plates he carries will capture their souls
They will live only as bodies without spirits
                 The villagers pay no attention to the shaman's desperate warning
            The shaman leads the children to the safety of the mountains
Once there, he teaches them the Ghost Dance
                                              The old man and the children watch from the mountain, as the men and women pose
 for the Shadow Catcher
                                        The villagers stare in amazement at the images that appear upon his glass plates
                                            The Shadow Catcher quietly packs his ground glass and tools and slowly walks the
                             path out of the village.Darkness descends like a blanket upon the valley
The buffalo disappear from the great grassy plain
                                    The fishermen return to the village with empty baskets and the rivers run red
                                            When the frightened villagers ask the remaining animals where the buffalo and fish
                           have gone, they too run into the forests to hide - no longer able to reply
                                            The shaman is saddened by the sight of his people who no longer move as one with
 nature  The children sicken
                                    Their spirits frozen in the Lost World by the magic of the Shadow Catcher,
the village lays dying
The adults seek out the disheartened shaman
                                           Now they ask him where the buffalo have gone and why the birds no longer sing
                                              He tells them that they too, have gone to the Lost World where the rivers run clear
 and the grass is forever green and high
                         They beg him to use his magic powers to release their captive spirits
                                              He tells them that to do this he must go on a journey in search of the Horse of Fire,
                                            for only with the Horse of Fire can their spirits be retrieved from the Lost World
                                                     The children sing a prayer of peace as the shaman leaves on his journey into the desert
                      For many days and nights the shaman wanders alone in the desert
                                  On the way back to the sacred mountaintop, he passes through the village
                                                   The old man holds a bundle of feathers brought to him by the Spirit of the Wind and a
           buckskin pouch full of fallen stars gathered in the desert
       The villagers see that he has with him no magic horse
                       They believe his journey has failed.They are sad and call him fool
                                                Without a word he continues on to his mountain dwelling and spins a fine sparkling
                         thread from the fallen stars.He takes the feathers from his journey
                                   and with this newly spun thread, begins to weave them into a brilliant cloth
Slowly, it starts to take the shape of a horse
                        When completed, he and the children carry it to the village center
                The villagers begin to gather around the glittering cloth horse
                                                   The shaman tells them that during his journey the spirits of the Earth, Wind and Sky
fill him with visions of what is to come
                               His journey to the Lost World will free the trapped spirits of his people
                                                  Now they must prepare for their own journeys to this land of forever, where peace
and harmony await them
He begins to chant and dance the Ghost Dance