Here are 10 Native prophecies about the end of the world, derived from nature, elders’ teachings, and years of observation.
Iroquois – The warning within the Great Law
The Great Law of Peace was an inherent security system within society itself. Elders of the Iroquois would explain that “The real enemy…is not an invading army”. Rather, it’s a system of government that empowers just one leader too much.
A society slowly starts to decay when leaders stop considering what lies ahead. There will be finger pointing and people stabbing each other in the back, but it won’t happen all at once.
Instead of a large bang, this Armageddon will be a slow loss of rationality and humanity. When the Great Law is lost, society destroys itself from within.
Hopi – end of the fourth world
The Hopi believe in a quiet apocalypse of sorts. They teach that when man turns inward, loses compassion for his fellow humans and forgets his duty to the earth, the world starts to unravel.
It has happened more than once, though. Their prophecies tell of previous worlds destroyed, and speak of our current journey through one more cycle.
Sound familiar? When you step back and look at the world today, it can be mildly disturbing. The climate’s all whacked out. Nature doesn’t work like it used to. People don’t treat each other the way they once did.
It’s not supposed to scare us. It’s more of a caution or reminder, perhaps. We always have the power to change our course. How we live. How we care for Mother Earth. And how we care for each other.
Anishinaabe – The seven fires prophecy
The Anishinaabe have a prophecy known as the Seven Fires. You can think of it as a bookmark in human history.
Right now, we’re in the midst of the sixth fire. Only one fire remains after this.
At this “fire,” we are presented with a choice. If we continue to pursue material wealth and take what we want from Mother Earth, it’s going to end badly. However, if we decide to start loving the earth and each other again, we have another chance.
Pueblo – The drift away from the original instructions
Imagine the Original Instructions as a user’s guide that has been handed down for millennia.
Think of the Pueblo warning as: “If you aren’t following the instructions manual, don’t complain when the system fails.”
When we fail to honor the waters or the village, life doesn’t just get mean. Life becomes chaotic. We experience drought. We see endless conflict.
Everything seems out of sync, like things don’t quite mesh.
Inuit – When the ice no longer knows itself
“The ice,” Inuit elders explain, “no longer knows itself.”
Hunters have passed down through the generations the knowledge of how to read snow and tides as if they were words on a page.
But the words have started to scatter. Seasons are out of sync. Animals behave unpredictably.
It feels like we’re letting go of something forever.
Lakota – The return of the Sacred Hoop
The Lakota stories teach that Sacred Hoop is the perfect vision of a circle that encompasses all of Creation. Yet, the Hoop is delicate.
We live in a world caught in a broken Hoop, fractured by arrogance and apathy towards our fellow beings.
Lakota really doesn’t speak of the “end” as a cataclysmic event. Think of it more as a tipping point where destruction has occurred to the point of no return.
That’s why everything we do today is so critical: the way we behave and how we treat those around us.
Hopi – The blue star Kachina
Think about the Blue Star as our “due date.” The Blue Star will arrive just prior to Earth’s transition period, Hopi elders say.
You can think of the Blue Star as our deadline to continue living by the old rules without harmony.
Once the Blue Star comes into the sky, the “purification” begins. From this point forward, every action holds more weight, shaping the fate of humanity.
White buffalo calf woman’ s promise
There is a Lakota prophecy that holds great beauty and heaviness.
Lakota stories tell of a woman’s arrival, long past. She gave them sacred ceremonies and said she would return in their hour of need.
And when she returns it will not be easy. It will feel like all the hope has been sucked out of the world, as if everything has gone silent in a horrific way.
But it also means something else, the demise of greed. And the start of what they’re calling the “great turning.”
Blackfoot – The changing of the seasons
The Blackfoot Confederacy teaches us to watch the land and animals very closely.
They think we have a pact with the animals, a covenant with the Earth. That’s why people observe them. They teach us how to exist.
When we become distracted and lose our sync, things go off-kilter. Seasons feel wrong, animals vanish.
It’s not an epic apocalypse. It’s a slow, sad crumbling of everything we know to exist from thousands of years of life because we didn’t hold up our end of the bargain.
Cherokee – The prophecy of the sky people
The Cherokee also cautioned that the sky reflects our actions, acting as a kind of looking glass for how we treat the planet.
When we forget the ways of our ancestors and start practicing nonstop taking without any giving back, the mirror begins to cloud up.
I’m not talking about actual storms and blocked sunlight. I mean clouds that bring a darkness to everything because we have thrown the sacred balance off center.
When greed supersedes balance, there will be famine and war, and these will not be coincidences.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
