Honoring the Divine Masculine
True Brotherhood ~ The Doctor and the Medicine Man
Part 2 Divine Masculine
True Brotherhood
The Doctor and the Medicine Man
Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi just liked to run and run, he forgot about Alan and was pretending
to race with Grandfather's horses in the field. After awhile, he remembered his new
friend and looked back. Alan was just a little speck in the distance so Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-
Pi made a U-turn and ran back to Alan in no time at all. Alan decided that it
wouldn't be much fun to race with Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi so he picked up a couple of
choke cherry branches and handed one to his friend. Boys always like to chunk
spears so they did that for awhile. But Alan's spear just didn't ever go as far as Ba-
Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi’s.
Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi didn't want Alan to feel like he could beat him at everything they
did, so he just waited until his friend chose a new game. Alan ran ahead, Ba-Ti-Ga-
Sa-Pi let him stay in front. Alan took Ba-Ti-G-aSa-Pi to a huge tree behind the
Trading Post. Tied to a high limb on the tree there was a big rope. Next to the big
rope were two smaller ropes with a board attached to the bottom.
First, Alan climbed up the rope to the big limb and smiled down at Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi.
Then he scooted right down and got on the swing and began to swing higher and
higher. When his swing was going as high as it could, he jumped off and sailed
through the air, landing a good distance away. He felt proud because that was a
record for him; he'd sailed further than he ever had before.
Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi knew it was his turn to try the new game. He climbed the rope a
little slower than Alan but made it to the big limb and waved down below. Then he
came down and mounted the swing. Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi mimicked the leg actions he'd
seen his friend make and got that swing going pretty high. Alan made a motion
with his arms indicating that Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi should jump, but Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi
looked down and thought that might be far too high. He just kept swinging; Alan
kept signaling that it was time to jump. Finally Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi got up his nerve
and went sailing through the air, landing short of Alan's mark.
Each boy had his own special talents and they both felt that they were equals. They
were each so happy to have a playmate. The day went by with great adventures and
laughter. Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi forgot the time; he was having so much fun. But when he
saw the sun beginning to set he pointed to the west and Alan knew what he meant.
The two boys walked back to the Trading Post and Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi mounted his
pony and started off towards the woods. He paused to wave at his new friend and
Alan waved back.
That night at supper, each boy told his family of the wonderful adventures with his
new friend. Everyone was glad that the boys had someone their own age that could
play with them. Alan's family knew the chief and trusted that Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi was
as nice as his great-grandfather. Chief Shot Both Sides and Long Time Pipe
Woman had traded at Allen's father's Trading Post and knew that he was a kind
man and had surely raised a good boy.
After that, any time the two young boys had finished their chores and the weather
was good, they would meet and enjoy great adventures. Alan taught Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-
Pi some of his language called English and Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi taught Alan to speak
some Blackfoot. When they played 'cowboys and Indians' sometimes Alan would
be the Indian and Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi would be the cowboy, they would switch roles.
But always the cowboys and Indians would make friends in the end.
The years went by swiftly and the boys grew to be tall and strong. Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi
went to a boarding school with all Indian children and Alan went to a daytime
181school with all the kids like him. Some of Alan's friends didn't like the Indian
children, but they were kind of mean to Alan too.
Alan started to worry that Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi might not like him as much as he used
to because they were both becoming teenagers. He thought that maybe Ba-Ti-Ga-
Sa-Pi might think he was getting to be like the other teenagers at his school who
did not like Indians. Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi always thought the best of people and had no
idea Alan was worried. One day they were both riding their horses to the coulee to
take a swim and Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi asked Alan if something was troubling him. Alan
didn't reply so they rode on together in silence.
They reached the swimming hole at the coulee and jumped in the water,
frolicking, splashing, laughing and having a wonderful time. The hot prairie sun made
the swimming hole their favorite place in the summer. They had swimming races, diving
competitions, endurance floating matches, and run and jump demonstrations seeing
who could make the biggest splash.
When they got out of the water and got their lunch bundles, they sat down on the
warm grass and munched on the special meals they brought. Alan took a bite of a
182big red apple and spoke with a mouthful, “M na lik dos orders”. Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi
laughed because he couldn’t make out a word Alan said. Alan laughed too and
swallowed his food. “I’m not like those others”, he repeated clearly this time.
“What do you mean, Alan?” Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi questioned. Alan explained that he
was not like the other white teenagers who didn’t like Indians, and he was really
worried that Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi might not be his friend anymore.
Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi was surprised that Alan might think that he wouldn’t be his friend,
they were lifetime pals. Indians just knew about the spirits of people and he knew
that Alan G. Van Orman was a good spirit and could never turn his back on the
friendship. Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi reached out and patted Alan on the shoulder and smiled
saying, “Always friends Alan, always”.
