American Indian Religious Traditions

American Indian
Religious Traditions
American Indian
Religious Traditions
An Encyclopedia
VOLUME 1 A–I
Suzanne J. Crawford and Dennis F. Kelley
Santa Barbara, California Denver, Colorado Oxford, England

Copyright 2005 by Suzanne J. Crawford and Dennis F. Kelley
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of
brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the
publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Crawford, Suzanne J.
American Indian religious traditions : an encyclopedia / Suzanne J. Crawford
and Dennis F. Kelley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57607-517-6 (hardback : alk. paper)—ISBN 1-57607-520-6 (ebook)
1. Indians of North America—Religion—Encyclopedias. I. Kelley, Dennis F.
II. Title.
E98.R3C755 2005
299.7'03—dc22
2004028169
08 07 06 05 04 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an e-book. Visit
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

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Editorial Board
Ines Hernandez Avila
University of California at Davis
George Charles
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
Lee Irwin
College of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Joel Martin
University of California
Riverside, California
Kenneth Mello
University of Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Michelene Pesantubbee
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Inés Talamantez
University of California
Santa Barbara, California
These volumes are dedicated to the memory of my mentor and friend,
Professor Howard Harrod, who passed away February 3, 2003. We are
blessed to be able to include his work in this project. Howard first
introduced me to the study of American Indian religious traditions
and encouraged me to continue. Without him, this work would never
have come into being.
—Suzanne J. Crawford
I would like to dedicate my efforts in this work to the women and men
who strive to maintain their Native cultures and languages so that
subsequent generations of American Indians can know who they are,
and from where they have come. With this knowledge, they can know
where they are going.
—Dennis F. Kelley
The editors have directed that proceeds from the sale of these volumes
go to benefit the American Indian College Fund. Information about
this important organization can be found at http://www.american-
indiancollegefund.org.
Contents
Contributors and Their Entries, xiii
Introduction, xxiii
Maps and Regional Overviews, xxix
A Beloved Women, Beloved Men, Beloved

Academic Study of American Indian Towns, 68
Religious Traditions, 1 Black Elk (1863–1950), 75
Academic Study of American Indian Boarding Schools, Religious Impact, 77
Religious Traditions, Ishi, 11 Brave Bird, Mary (Crow Dog) (1953–), 83
American Indian Movement (Red Power Buffalo/Bison Restoration Project, 85
Movement), 15 Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions, 93
Angalkuq (Tuunrilría), 18
Archaeology, 20 C
Architecture, 27 Ceremony and Ritual, Anishnabe, 103
Art (Contemporary), Southwest, 34 Ceremony and Ritual, Apache, 111
Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho, 117
California and the Great Basin, 38 Ceremony and Ritual, California, 126
Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Ceremony and Ritual, Coeur d’Alene,
Northeast, 44 132
Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Ceremony and Ritual, Diné, 137
Northwest Coast, 49 Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota, 141
Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce, 147
Plains, 54 Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest, 151
Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo, 158
B Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast, 166
Ball Games, 57 Ceremony and Ritual, Yup’iq, 170
Basketry, 62 Chief Seattle (c. 1786–1866), 175
ix
Contents ________________________________________________________________________________________
Christianity, Indianization of, 178 Guardian Spirit Complex, 355

Clowns and Clowning, 182
Crow Dog, Leonard (1941–), 190 H
Cry Ceremony, 193 Healing Traditions, California, 361
Healing Traditions, Northwest, 369
D Health and Wellness, Traditional
Dance, Great Basin, 197 Approaches, 373
Dance, Northwest, Winter Spirit Dances, Herbalism, 381
202 Hopi Prophecy, 387
Dance, Plains, 206 Hunting, Religious Restrictions and
Dance, Plateau, 213 Implications, 391
Dance, Southeast, 220
Datura, 227 I
Deloria, Ella (1888–1971), 230 Identity, 401
Dreamers and Prophets, 235 In-Lon-Skah, 412
Dreams and Visions, 240 Indian Shaker Church, 415
Drums, 249
J
E Jones, Peter (1802–1856), 423
Ecology and Environmentalism, 255
Emergence Narratives, 258 K
Erdrich, Louise (1954–), 265 Kachina and Clown Societies, 427
Kennewick Man, 432
F Kinship, 436
Female Spirituality, 273 Kiowa Indian Hymns, 440
Female Spirituality, Apache, 276 Kiva and Medicine Societies, 442
Feminism and Tribalism, 291
First Foods Ceremonies and Food L
Symbolism, 301 Law, Legislation, and Native Religion, 455
First Menses Site, 307 Literature, Religion in Contemporary
First Salmon Rites, 311 American Indian Literature, 473
Fishing Rights and the First Salmon
Ceremony, 320 M
Manitous, 483
G Masks and Masking, 486
Gender and Sexuality, Two Spirits, 325 McKay, Mabel (1907–1993), 500
Ghost Dance Movement, 337 Menstruation and Menarche, 502
Giveaway Ceremonies, 344 Missionization, Alaska, 510
Green Corn Ceremony, 350 Missionization, California, 516
x
_______________________________________________________________________________________ Contents
Missionization, Great Lakes, 519 Oral Traditions, Western Plains, 707

Missionization, Kiowa-Comanche- Oral Traditions, Yupiaq, 717
Apache Reservation, 525 Owens, Louis (1948–2002), 723
Missionization, Northeast, 530
Missionization, Northern Plains, 534 P
Missionization, Northwest, 543 Parrish, Essie (1903–1979), 731
Missionization, Southeast, 549 Petrographs and Petroglyphs, 733
Missionization, Southwest, 554 Potlatch, 738
Momaday, N. Scott (1934–), 558 Potlatch, Northern Athabascan, 744
Mother Earth, 563 Power, Barbareño Chumash, 748
Mounds, 568 Power, Great Basin, 749
Mourning and Burial Practices, 573 Power, Northwest Coast, 752
Mourning and Burial, Southeast Power Places, Great Basin, 756
(Choctaw), 585 Power, Plains, 759
Mourning and the Afterlife, Southwest, Power, Southeast, 765
589 Powwow, 767
Mourning Dove (?1888–1936), 593 Prison and Native Spirituality, 774
Puhagants, 779
N
Native American Church/Peyote R
Movement, 599 Religious Leaders, Alaska, 783
Native American Church/Peyote Religious Leaders, California, 793
Movement, Diné, 618 Religious Leaders, Great Lakes, 800
New Age Appropriation, 625 Religious Leaders, Northwest, 811
Religious Leaders, Plains, 818
O Religious Leaders, Plateau, 831
Oral Traditions, 633 Religious Leaders, Pueblo, 839
Oral Traditions, California, 638 Religious Leaders, Southeast, 843
Oral Traditions, Haida, 640 Religious Leaders, Southwest, 855
Oral Traditions, Lakota (Teton), 648 Religious Leadership, Great Basin, 858
Oral Traditions, Northeast, 654 Religious Leadership, Northeast, 863
Oral Traditions, Northern Athabaskan, Religious Leadership, Northwest, 867
658 Religious Leadership, Plateau, 872
Oral Traditions Northwest Coast, 663 Repatriation, Spiritual and Cultural
Oral Traditions, Ojibwe, 672 Implications, 878
Oral Traditons, Plateau, 680 Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural
Oral Traditions, Pueblo, 686 Implications, 884
Oral Traditions, Southeast, 693 Retraditionalism and Identity
Oral Traditions, Tlingit, 701 Movements, 896
xi
Contents ________________________________________________________________________________________
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners,

Movements, California, 902 Southeast, 1040
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners,
Movements, Columbia Plateau, 905 Southwest, 1044
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Sun Dance, 1050
Movements, Plains, 917 Sun Dance, Crow, 1059
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Sun Dance, Kiowa, 1063
Movements, Southeast, 924 Sweatlodge, 1069
Retraditionalism and Revitalization, Symbolism in American Indian Ritual
Northeast, 929 and Ceremony, 1084
S T
Sacred Pipe, 935 Tekakwitha, Kateri (1656–1680), 1093
Sacred Pole of the Omaha, 941 Termination and Relocation, 1095
Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains, 945 Tobacco, Sacred Use of, 1099
Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains, Totem Poles, 1102
Black Hills, 962 Trail of Tears, 1106
Sacred Societies, Great Lakes, 964 Tricksters, 1118
Sacred Societies, Northwest Coast, 969
Sacred Societies, Plains, 974 V
Sandpainting, 985 Vision Quest Rites, 1127
Sbatatdaq (Sqadaq), 992
Scratching Sticks, 999 W
Song, 1002 Warfare, Religious Aspects, 1135
Sovereignty, 1006 Whaling, Religious and Cultural
Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau, Implications, 1141
1009 Winnemucca, Sarah (c. 1844–1891),
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, 1153
California, 1015 Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles,
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Great Lakes, 1155
Northwest Coast and Southeast Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles,
Alaska, 1019 Northern Athabascan, 1159
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners,
Plains, 1025 Y
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Yoeme (Yaqui) Deer Dance, 1165
Plateau, 1035 Yuwipi Ceremony, 1168
Appendix, 1175
Index, 1183
About the Editors, 1271
xii
Contributors and Their Entries
Jeffrey D. Anderson Tressa Berman

Colby College University of Technology
Waterville, Maine Sydney, Australia
Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho Art (Contemporary), Southwest
Tasiwoopa ápi Lydia Black

Educational Fundamentals University of Alaska (emerita)
Religious Leaders, Southwest Fairbanks, Alaska
Missionization, Alaska
Juan A. Avila Hernandez
UC Davis Josiah Blackeagle Pinkham
Davis, CA Nez Perce
Yoeme (Yaqui) Deer Dance Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce
Karren Baird-Olson John H. Blitz

California State University University of Oklahoma
Northridge, California Norman, Oklahoma
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Mounds
Movements, Plains
Colleen E. Boyd
Martin Ball Wesleyan University
University of California Middletown, Connecticut
Berkeley, California Oral Traditions, Northwest Coast
Kachina and Clown Societies
Spiritual and Ceremonial Jeane Breinig
Practitioners, Southwest University of Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
John Baumann Oral Traditions, Haida
University of Wisconsin
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Ecology and Environmentalism
xiii
Contributors and Their Entries _____________________________________________________________
Martin Brokenleg James Taylor Carson

Vancouver School of Theology Queen’s University, Kingston
Vancouver, British Columbia Ontario, Canada
Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota Dance, Southeast
Christianity, Indianization of Retraditionalism and Revitalization
Kinship Movements, Southeast
Jovana J. Brown Mary Jane McDermott Cedar Face

Evergreen State University Southern Oregon University
Olympia, WA Ashland, Oregon
Fishing Rights and the First Mourning and Burial Practices
Salmon Ceremony
(Kanaqlak) George P. Charles
Raymond A. Bucko, S.J. University of Alaska
Creighton University Anchorage/Fairbanks, Alaska
Omaha, Nebraska Oral Traditions, Yupiaq
Sweatlodge
Ward Churchill
Donna Cameron-Carter University of Colorado
Syracuse University Boulder, Colorado
Syracuse, New York Sovereignty
Tekakwitha, Kateri
Brian Clearwater
Alex K. Carroll University of California
University of Arizona Santa Barbara, California
Tucson, Arizona Art (Traditional and
Boarding Schools, Religious Contemporary), Northeast
Impact Oral Traditions, Northeast
Cry Ceremony Religious Leadership, Northeast
Dance, Great Basin Retraditionalism and
First Menses Site Revitalization, Northeast
Ghost Dance Movement
Oral Traditions Walter H. Conser, Jr.
Puhagants University of North Carolina at
Religious Leadership, Great Basin Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Missionization, Southeast
xiv
____________________________________________________________ Contributors and Their Entries
Julianne Cordero-Lamb Elizabeth Currans

University of California University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, California
Datura Gender and Sexuality, Two Spirits
Healing Traditions, California
Herbalism Richard Dauenhauer
Power, Barbareño Chumash Sealaska Heritage Institute
Juneau, Alaska
Charlotte Coté Oral Traditions, Tlingit
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington Aaron Denham
Whaling, Religious and Cultural University of Idaho
Implications Moscow, Idaho
Spiritual and Ceremonial
Suzanne J. Crawford Practitioners, Plateau
Pacific Lutheran University Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau
Tacoma, Washington
Angalkuq (Tuunrilría) Walter R. Echo-Hawk
On the Academic Study of Native American Rights Fund
American Indian Religious Boulder, Colorado
Traditions Law, Legislation, and Native
Ceremony and Ritual, Yup’iq Religion
First Salmon Rites
Giveaway Ceremonies Clyde Ellis
Guardian Spirit Complex Elon University
Kennewick Man Elon, North Carolina
Masks and Masking Missionization, Kiowa-Comanche-
Menstruation and Menarche Apache Reservation
Missionization, Northeast Sun Dance, Kiowa
Missionization, Southwest
Powwow Phyllis Ann Fast
Religious Leaders, California University of Alaska
Religious Leaders, Plains Fairbanks, Alaska
Religious Leaders, Plateau Potlatch, Northern Athabascan
Religious Leaders, Pueblo Religious Leaders, Alaska
Sacred Sites and Mountains, Black Women’s Cultural and Religious
Hills Roles, Northern Athabascan
xv
Donald L. Fixico John A. Grim

Arizona State University Bucknell University
Tempe Arizona Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Termination and Relocation Power, Plains
Sun Dance
Rodney Frey
University of Idaho Andrew Gulliford
Moscow, Idaho Fort Lewis College
Ceremony and Ritual, Coeur Durango, Colorado
d’Alene Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains
Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce
Dance, Plateau Dixie Ray Haggard
Oral Traditions, Plateau Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia
James Garrett Power, Southeast
Colorado State University Religious Leaders, Great Lakes
Fort Collins, Colorado Religious Leaders, Southeast
Buffalo/Bison Restoration Project
Jane Haladay
Joel Geffen University of California
University of California, Santa Barbara Davis, California
Santa Barbara, CA Basketry
First Salmon Rites
Retraditionalization and Michael Harkin
Revitalization Movements, University of Wyoming
Columbia Plateau Laramie, Wyoming
Power, Northwest Coast
Joyzelle Godfrey Sacred Societies, Northwest Coast
Lower Brule Community College Spiritual and Ceremonial
South Dakota Practitioners, Northwest Coast
Deloria, Ella and Southeast Alaska
Chris Goertzen Howard L. Harrod

University of Southern Mississippi Vanderbilt University—The Divinity
Hattiesburg, Mississippi School
Song Nashville, Tennessee
Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions
xvi
Dennis Hastings Connie A. Jacobs

Omaha Tribal Historical Research San Juan College
Project Farmington, New Mexico
Sacred Pole of the Omaha Erdrich, Louise
C. Adrian Heidenreich M. A. Jaimes-Guerrero

Montana State University, San Francisco State University
Billings, Montana San Francisco, California
Missionization, Northern Plains Feminism and Tribalism
Oral Traditions, Western Plains Hopi Prophecy
Sun Dance, Crow Identity
Louis A. Hieb James B. Jeffries

University of Washington Colgate University
Seattle, Washington Hamilton, New York
Architecture Manitous
Missionization, Great Lakes
Michael Hittman
Long Island University Jennie R. Joe
Brooklyn, New York University of Arizona
Native American Church Tucson, Arizona
Power, Great Basin Health and Wellness, Traditional
Approaches
Tom Holm
University of Arizona Marilyn E. Johnson
Tucson, Arizona Anishnawbe Health
Warfare, Religious Aspects of Toronto, Ontario
Women’s Cultural and Religious
Erica Hurwitz Andrus Roles, Great Lakes
University of Vermont
Burlington, Vermont Aldona Jonaitis
Drums University of Alaska Museum of the
North
Lee Irwin Fairbanks, Alaska
College of Charleston Art (Traditional and
Charleston, South Carolina Contemporary), Northwest
Dreams and Visions Coast
Vision Quest Rites Totem Poles
xvii
Sergei Kan Benjamin R. Kracht

Dartmouth College Northeastern State University
Dartmouth, New Hampshire Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Potlatch Dance, Plains
Sacred Societies, Plains
Linda K. Karell Spiritual and Ceremonial
Montana State University Practitioners, Plains
Bozeman, Montana Yuwipi Ceremony
Mourning Dove
Frank LaPena
Dennis F. Kelley California State University, Sacramento
University of Missouri, Columbia Sacramento, CA
On the Academic Study of Art (Traditional and
American Indian Religious Contemporary), California and
Traditions the Great Basin
Academic Study of American
Indian Religious Traditions, Ishi Luke Eric Lassiter
American Indian Movement (Red Ball State University
Power Movement) Muncie, Indiana
Ceremony and Ritual, California Kiowa Indian Hymns
Giveaway Ceremonies
Missionization, California Cynthia Lindquist Mala
Oral Traditions, California Cankdeska Cikana (Little Hoop)
Retraditionalism and Identity Community College
Movements Fort Totten, North Dakota
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Hoton Ho Waste Win . . . Good Talk
Movements, California Woman: Dakota Spirituality: My
Spiritual and Ceremonial Perspective
Practitioners, California
Karen D. Lone Hill
Clara Sue Kidwell Oglala Lakota College
University of Oklahoma Pine Ridge, SD
Norman, Oklahoma Black Elk
First Foods Ceremonies and Food Religious Leaders, Plains
Symbolism Sacred Sites and Sacred
Mountains, Black Hills
xviii
Denise Low-Weso Catherine Murton Stoehr

Haskell Indian Nations University Queen’s University
Lawrence, Kansas Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Chief Seattle Jones, Peter
Sacred Societies, Great Lakes
Nora Marks Dauenhauer
Sealaska Heritage Institute Larry Nesper
Juneau, Alaska University of Wisconsin
Oral Traditions, Tlingit Madison, Wisconsin
Clowns and Clowning
David Martínez
University of Minnesota Alexandra Witkin New Holy
Minneapolis, Minnesota Montana State University
Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo Bozeman, Montana
Kiva and Medicine Societies Mother Earth
Oral Traditions, Pueblo Parrish, Essie
Joanna Mashunkashey Jennifer Nez Denetdale

University of Kansas University of New Mexico
Lawrence, Kansas Albuquerque, NM
In-Lon-Skah Native American Church, Peyote
Movement
Carter Meland
University of Minnesota Pamela Jean Owens
Minneapolis, Minnesota University of Nebraska
Tricksters Omaha, Nebraska
Beloved Women, Beloved Men,
Jay Miller Beloved Towns
Seattle, WA Trail of Tears
Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest
Dance, Northwest Spirit Dances Donald Panther-Yates
Healing Traditions, Northwest Georgia Southern University
Religious Leaders, Northwest Statesboro, Georgia
Religious Leadership, Northwest Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast
Sbatatdaq (Sqadaq) Mourning and Burial, Choctaw
Oral Traditions, Southeast
Practitioners, Southeast
xix
Jordan Paper Mike Ring

York University, Toronto Art (Traditional and
University of Victoria, Victoria, British Contemporary), Plains
Columbia
Ceremony and Ritual, Anishnabe Aleta M. Ringlero
Female Spirituality Arizona State University
Sacred Pipe Tempe, Arizona
Tobacco, Sacred Use of Art (Traditional and
Contemporary), Southwest
Nancy J. Parezo
University of Arizona Mary V. Rojas
Tucson, Arizona University of California
Ceremony and Ritual, Diné Santa Barbara, California
Sandpainting Scratching Sticks
Raymond Pierotti James Ruppert

University of Kansas University of Alaska
Lawrence, Kansas Fairbanks, Alaska
Hunting, Religious Restrictions Oral Traditions, Northern
and Implications Athabascan
Owens, Louis
Greg Sarris
Annette L. Reed University of California, Los Angeles
California State University Los Angeles, CA
Sacramento, California McKay, Mabel
Indian Shaker Church
Ananda Sattwa
James Riding In University of California
Arizona State University Berkeley, California
Tempe, Arizona Green Corn Ceremony
Repatriation, Spiritual and Cultural
Implications John Scenters-Zapico
University of Texas
Robin Ridington El Paso, Texas
University of British Columbia Momaday, N. Scott
(Emeritus)
Dreamers and Prophets
Sacred Pole of the Omaha
xx
Siobhan Senier Coll Thrush

University of New Hampshire University of Washington
Durham, New Hampshire Seattle, Washington
Winnemucca, Sarah Missionization, Northwest
Theresa S. Smith Deward E. Walker, Jr.

Oral Traditions, Ojibwe University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Carolyn M. Smith-Morris Religious Leadership, Plateau
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas Frances Washburn
Mourning and the Afterlife, University of Arizona
Southwest Tucson, Arizona
Literature, Religion in
Richard W. Stoffle Contemporary American Indian
University of Arizona Literature
Tucson, Arizona Oral Traditions, Lakota (Teton)
Ghost Dance Movement
Power Places, Great Basin Nakia Williamson
Puhagants Nez Perce
Religious Leadership, Great Basin Dance, Plateau
Dale Stover Joseph Winter

University of Nebraska Native American Plant Cooperative
Omaha, Nebraska Prison and Native Spirituality
Symbolism in American Indian
Ritual and Ceremony Christopher Wise
Western Washington University
Linea Sundstrom Bellingham, Washington
Day Star Research Brave Bird, Mary (Crow Dog)
Shorewood, Wisconsin Crow Dog, Leonard
Petrographs and Petroglyphs
Gary Witherspoon
Inés Talamantez University of Washington
University of California Seattle, Washington
Santa Barbara, California Emergence Narratives
Ceremony and Ritual, Apache
Female Spirituality, Apache
xxi
Michael Yellow Bird Michael J. Zogry

University of Kansas University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
Reservations, Spiritual and Ball Games
Cultural Implications
Larry J. Zimmerman
Indiana University-Purdue University
Indianapolis, Indiana
Archaeology
xxii
Introduction
Welcome to American Indian Religious respected in these volumes, encouraging

Traditions: An Encyclopedia. These vol- our authors to consult with elders, com-
umes are the culmination of an enor- munity leaders, and tribal cultural re-
mous amount of effort from many differ- source managers whenever possible.
ent corners of both academia and Indian And we are encouraged that more than
Country. Our goal in creating this refer- half of the entries in these volumes are
ence work was to compile a set of articles written by scholars who are themselves
that would help to define the academic of Native descent.
study of American Indian religious tradi- For much of its early history, scholar-
tions as it is undertaken at the beginning ship on Native communities was done by
of the twenty-first century and to create a non-Native authors who had little
reference work both sensitive to and re- knowledge of the internal workings of
flective of the political and ethical con- Native communities and cultures. Inter-
cerns of the Native communities upon preted from the perspective of outsiders,
which these volumes depend. The en- much of this early work misrepresented
tries in these volumes, therefore, do not Native religious life. This encyclopedia
approach religion as an isolated experi- seeks to rectify this problem by present-
ence but as an integral part of cultural, ing Native spiritual traditions as they are
political, economic, and social lives, understood by people within the com-
placing their individual topics within the munities themselves.
wider social and political context. These This project stands apart from other
volumes are made up of entries by Native reference works in a number of ways.
academics and community members, as The authors in these volumes have been
well as non-Native scholars who have allowed to maintain their own voice, per-
demonstrated themselves sensitive to spective, and position. We have not dic-
the concerns of Native communities and tated the focus, content, or style of en-
aware of the political implications of tries, but provided guidelines within
their work. We are proud to present en- which our authors have creatively
tries written by the top scholars in the worked. The reader may therefore notice
field, whose scholarly endeavors are a the use of the first person and the cita-
testimony to their ethical commitment tion of individual Native elders as au-
to Native cultural survival. We have thoritative sources, methods not often
worked to ensure that Native voices are found in reference works. Rather than a
xxiii
Introduction ____________________________________________________________________________________
series of brief, definitional paragraphs, How to Use These Volumes

defining specific ceremonies or individ- If you have a specific term, ceremony, in-
uals, readers will find more general en- dividual, or tribal nation in mind that
tries that place the specific within a you would like to study, we recommend
broader context. that you first turn to the index. At the end
In an era when much of Native reli- of the book you will find an index of
gious life is at risk because of threats to tribal nations and key terms that will
sacred land, repressive laws, or misap- lead you to relevant entries. Keep in
propriation by New Age religious groups, mind that some tribal nations are known
it is extremely important that these tradi- by more than one name: for instance,
tions be presented to the wider public in many people think of the Native nation
a way that both informs them of the true living in the four corners area of the
nature and context of Native religious life Southwest as the Navajo. They refer to
and is simultaneously respectful of Na- themselves, however, as the Diné. In this
tive privacy and intellectual property project, we have chosen to use the
rights. Our overall intention for this proj- names for Native nations that they them-
ect is to provide students with research selves prefer to use. The index will help
and learning resources that are both reli- readers find the nations that might be
able and respectful. The entries and sug- listed in the volumes using an unfamiliar
gestions for further reading set their top- name.
ics within a historical context as well as a Each entry is followed by suggestions
contemporary setting; it is our hope that for further reading and research. These in-
students, as well as interested individu- clude scholarly works cited within the
als in the wider population, will find this entry and other works that the contributor
a valuable resource as they begin their recommends as reliable resources. Many
own research into American Indian cul- students undertaking the study of Ameri-
tural life. can Indian religious traditions are con-
Rather than brief dictionary-style en- fronted by the difficult task of weeding
tries we have chosen to include longer through reliable and unreliable sources. It
entries that demonstrate the complexity is our hope that these references will help
and context of the issues involved. To to point students toward solid scholarship
lead the reader through the complex web that has been conducted with careful sen-
of culture, experience, and history that sitivity to the concerns and needs of the
makes up American Indian religious life, Native communities.
the entries are intentionally linked, via
cross-references. Longer, chapter-length A Brief Word on Terminology
entries are devoted to broad topics such As many people from within Native
as Dance, Ritual and Ceremony, and Re- American communities can confirm, the
ligious Leadership. language that is used with regard to
xxiv
___________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction
American Indian culture is contested publications, the term “shaman” refers

and highly politicized. Mainstream cul- to any and all spiritual leaders among
ture and New Age writing frequently any and all indigenous populations. We
refer to “The Indian,” suggesting that have worked to avoid the use of the
there is a single identity and experience “shaman” label in these volumes, as we
that defines the Native people of this feel it negates the distinct differences ex-
country. With over 500 federally recog- isting among indigenous spiritual lead-
nized tribes (not to mention the hun- ers, healers, and counselors. To intro-
dreds of tribes recognized at only the duce readers to these distinctions, these
state level), this is clearly not the case. volumes offer extensive entries on spiri-
Each nation possesses a unique culture, tual and ceremonial practitioners, pro-
language, history, and sense of identity. viding examples from throughout Indian
The tendency in the dominant culture to Country of many distinct and unique re-
take these multiple and complex topics ligious practitioners. Some contributors
as parts of a single whole has added to may choose to keep the problematic
the kind of rhetoric against which Native term “shaman,” but they do so in a way
people now find themselves struggling. that situates them locally.
At the outset, these volumes set them- Many readers will be familiar with the
selves apart from such homogenizing by debate over the use of the words “In-
reference to the plurality of American In- dian,” “Native,” and “First Peoples” to
dian religious traditions. The entries in refer to the indigenous people of this
this volume avoid broad generalizations hemisphere. The term “Indian” is the fa-
and focus on specific, grounded exam- miliar self-reference that most Native
ples of individual Nations. Throughout communities use among themselves and
these volumes the reader will find names its use here is intended to convey the in-
and terminologies in their original internal-community-to-external-audience
digenous language. This is done in an ef- nature of this work. The use of the term
fort to demonstrate tribally specific phe- “Indian” here is reflective of the intimate
nomena as they are perceived from relationship with Native communities
within the indigenous community. It will within which the entries were created
therefore be necessary for the reader to and therefore does not advocate its
contend with terms presented in their broad use among non-Native people—it
appropriate indigenous language as well is a recognition of its use and importance
as with the creative use of English terms among indigenous communities.
that come closer to the communities’
own understanding than other more What’s Here and What’s Not
commonly-used words. One important Perhaps the most difficult part of a proj-
example of the latter is the use of the ect such as this is deciding what will be
word “shaman.” In many non-Native included and what will be excluded.
xxv
Introduction ____________________________________________________________________________________
Given a limited amount of space, we these national boundaries with extreme

quickly realized that much would neces- flexibility. We worked to construct these
sarily be left out. We have tried to include boundaries as Native nations do: nations
those topics that are most likely familiar and cultures oftentimes transgress polit-
to students and that they are most likely ical borders. For this reason, we encour-
to be researching in a reference work. Al- aged authors whose topics crossed polit-
though we recognize the impossibility of ical borders to do so as well. Entries
including every tribal nation and every discussing nations from the Pacific
tradition, we have done our best to give Northwest Coast thus include nations
students a sense of the vast diversity of from British Columbia, and entries on
American Indian cultures. We encour- northern Alaska include information on
aged our authors to provide general Inuit and Northern Athabaskan commu-
overviews, along with a few detailed, nities in Canada. Entries on Native cul-
grounded examples of the traditions that tures from the Great Lakes and New En-
they were discussing. We decided that of- gland likewise cross the Canadian divide.
fering a few specific examples dealt with And, some entries discussing the Ameri-
carefully and at length, would better can Southwest freely cross over into
serve our student readers than entries northern Mexico. We knew we could not
that discussed large numbers of tradi- possibly do justice to the complex tribal
tions without nuanced descriptions or and cultural diversities within Canada,
adequate contextualization. The vol- the Pacific, and Mexico. And yet, we also
umes thus address broader topics and did not want to laboriously draw our
ideas, rather than specific minutia. The borders along these political lines.
entries include tribally specific examples Hence, the contributors were encour-
of these broader ideas and hopefully aged to make reference to communities
succeed in demonstrating the diversity in these areas when appropriate.
of traditions. Still, we must readily admit And finally, many subjects were inten-
that these entries are nowhere near ex- tionally left out. Many religious traditions
haustive. They are meant to provide a for Native communities are extremely
brief introduction to the complexity and private and not meant to be discussed in
diversity of experience and to point our print. Some people may argue that we
readers in the direction of more detailed have gone too far with what we did in-
information. clude. Some might insist that it is never
Because of the limited space and our appropriate to discuss religion in print.
desire to adequately cover those areas we We hope that the entries represented
did include, we made the difficult deci- here demonstrate our concern to respect
sion that we would not seek to exten- the values and wishes of the Native com-
sively discuss tribal nations in Hawaii, munities they discuss. Some traditions,
Mexico, or Canada. However, we drew such as detailed information regarding
xxvi
___________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction
secret societies, details of ritual activity, California, Davis, advised us regarding

sacred songs and prayers, and images of Native traditions in Southwest and
sacred objects are not meant to be repre- Plateau regions; George Charles (Yup’iq),
sented outside of their specific ritual and University of Alaska, Fairbanks, advised
ceremonial context. Although much has us on traditions of Native Alaskans; Lee
been published about these subjects Irwin, College of Charleston, advised us
elsewhere, we chose not to do so. By way on traditions of the Great Plains; Joel
of example, the Huadenasaunne (or Iro- Martin, University of California, River-
quois) Six-Nation Confederation has reside, advised us on traditions in the
quested that no reproductions or images Southeast and on historical approaches
of False Face masks be publicly available. overall; Ken Mello (Pasamaquoddy), Uni-
For this reason, no images of False Face versity of Vermont, advised us on entries
masks appear in these volumes. for the Northeast region of the country;
The editorial board and we volume and Michelene Pesantubbee (Choctaw),
editors have made every effort to pro- University of Colorado, Boulder, advised
duce this work with honor and any us regarding entries on the Southeast and
shortcomings will hopefully be tem- on contemporary issues relating to gen-
pered by the knowledge that these efforts der, sovereignty, and intellectual prop-
guided this project. erty rights.
We would like to thank our editorial We would also like to thank our fami-
board for their gracious support and lies and loved ones for their patient sup-
guidance. Each member of the editorial port through what has been a long and
board assisted with overall editorial guid- difficult project. Suzanne Crawford
ance of the book, and each also offered thanks Michael T. O’Brien for his faith,
guidance with materials covering the encouragement, and affection. And
specific regions with which they had par- Dennis Kelley extends his thanks to his
ticular expertise. Inés Talamantez wife, Kate, and their son, Seamus, for
(Mescalero Apache), University of Cali- their love, patience, and inspiration.
fornia, Santa Barbara, advised us on tra-
ditions in the Southwest; Inés Hernandez Suzanne J. Crawford
Avila (Nez Perce/Chicana), University of and Dennis F. Kelley
xxvii
Northwest Coast and Alaska
The Northwest Coast culture area encompasses more than 2,000 miles of
the Pacific coast, from southern Alaska to northern California. The width of
this narrow coastal region varies from about 10 to 150 miles. It is cool, damp,
and thickly forested and is cut by many rivers. The mountain ranges that run
north-south along the eastern limits of the region include the Coast Ranges
in Canada and the Cascade Range in the United States. The region is charac-
terized by mild, wet winters and cool summers. Evergreen forests thrive
where there is soil enough to support them, and huge trees form dense
canopies that block out much sunlight. Springs and streams from mountain
glaciers feed numerous rivers, which, along with the ocean at the coast, pro-
vide abundant fish, and the forests are home to abundant plants and ani-
mals, providing a wealth of foods and medicines for the Indian peoples of
the region.
Northwest Coast peoples speak a variety of languages, with linguistic
families ranging from Athapaskan and Penutian, to Salishan and Wakashan.
The region is home to numerous and varied tribal traditions, as well, which
can be divided into three basic groupings: those of the colder northern area,
including the Queen Charlotte Islands of western British Columbia; those of
the central region, in the vicinity of Vancouver Island and the mouth of the
Columbia River; and those of the warmer southern region, who shared
some cultural traits with peoples of the California culture area.
Social organization is primarily focused on extended-family village
groups, with regular seasonal cooperative fishing and hunting camps for
temporary dwelling. In the central and northern areas, multiple-family
houses of cedar planks organized villages into collectives, which shared po-
litical connections prior to contact.
Canoes play an important role both culturally and religiously in the cen-
tral and northern areas at the coasts. Large ocean-going canoes, carved out
of single cedar trees, capable of carrying several individuals on fishing,
hunting, or trading trips throughout the region were common.
Religious diversity abounds in the region, with southern tribal groups
connected to the World Renewal ceremonial paradigm, a complex collec-
tion of dances that are key in the firming up and renewing of the earth for
continues
Northwest Coast and Alaska (continued)
the next cycle. People of the central areas and the central and northern re-
gions participate in potlatch ceremonies. Potlatching, once actually out-
lawed in both Canada and the United States, provides opportunities for the
celebration of significant events in the life of the community, such as mar-
riages and births, as well as seasonal observations like solstices and
equinoxes. At potlatch ceremonies, the significant aspect is a redistribution
of wealth items, often in the form of gift-giving, but at times redistribution
includes destruction of property.
The Northwest Coast is a diverse region that requires diverse approaches
for the long-term maintenance of available resources, and for the ongoing
continuity of tribal cultures. Much of the ceremonial activity in this region,
therefore, focuses on both of these aspects, propitiating the spirit world for
the continued gifts of fish, game, and plant resources and taking time to cel-
ebrate the communities that cooperatively manage these resources.
California
The California Indians, when taken as a whole, reside in a culture area that
includes roughly the present-day state of California as well as the Lower Cal-
ifornia Peninsula, or Baja California. There are two mountain ranges that
run north and south through the state of California: the Coast Ranges to the
west and the Sierra Nevada to the east. The Coast Ranges drop off to coastal
lowlands along the Pacific coast in most areas, but rocky cliffs and awe-in-
spiring vistas characterize the range to the north. Between the Coast Ranges
and the Sierra Nevada, the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers form a basin
known as the Central Valley. The climate is generally a mild, Mediterranean-
style, with wet and dry seasons and many days of warm weather, especially
in the south. Rainfall varies significantly throughout the state, with the
forested regions in the north receiving the highest levels and the deserts in
the south the lowest. Plant and animal life abound, and the region boasts a
rich and varied ecology.
The Sierra Nevada mountain range has long provided a natural barrier
to the movement of peoples. As a result, Native Americans east of the
Sierra Nevada practice markedly different ways of life and are often in-
cluded in the Great Basin or Southwest culture areas. Some Indian peoples
just south of California’s present-day northern border shared ways of life
with peoples of the Northwest Coast culture area and the Plateau culture
area further inland.
California was one of the most densely populated North American cul-
ture areas before European contact, with numerous tribes and bands speak-
ing more than 100 distinct languages. Nearly all of the Indian language fam-
ilies in the lower forty-eight states are represented in California.
Much scientific evidence places the first human occupancy of California
at the very end of the last ice age (approx. 10,000 years BP), but the rich na-
ture of tribal sacred history reveals a continuous interaction between peo-
ples, movements in and out of regions, and long-term stewardship of spe-
cific regions from time immemorial. It very well may have been that the
California culture area was a melting pot of sorts, with tribal groups influ-
encing one another through both trade and population movement.
continues
California (continued)
California once had abundant resources that supported large Native
American populations without the need for agriculture before the arrival of
Europeans. The dietary staple of most California Indians was the acorn,
which was collected in the fall. Acorns can be pounded into flour and rinsed
of the bitter-tasting tannic acid, creating an acorn meal that can be boiled
into a soup or gruel or baked into bread. This complex carbohydrate, when
augmented with protein from fish or meat, provides an extremely healthy
diet.
Most Native Americans in the California culture area lived in villages of
related families with descent and property ownership traced through the
male’s family. Permanent villages often had smaller satellite villages nearby,
and the complex was presided over by one principal chief, acting much like
the mayors of contemporary California. In addition, many regional groups
made use of temporary hunting or gathering camps that they occupied for
portions of the year.
Religiously, the region is far too diverse to accommodate here, but suf-
fice it to say that the sometimes-fickle nature of California’s weather pat-
terns produced philosophical systems that took the uncertain nature of the
universe into consideration, with the sacred beings often unconcerned
about their human communities. Not relying on simple good versus evil
scenarios, California Indian religions tend to view the world as it is. Reli-
gious professionals have the ability to sway spiritual matters in one direc-
tion or another, either through the employment of specific ritualized formu-
lae, or through the constant monitoring of the movements of the cosmos.
California Indian peoples also employed healing artists, people with knowl-
edge of the workings of the human body, herbal remedies to aid in the
body’s repair, and propitiation of spiritual influences that may be causing
physical harm from the spiritual realm.
California’s diverse and varied climate, then, presides over a diverse
human situation, as well, with many language groupings interacting with
the physical landscape, producing religious systems that allow for the con-
tinuing interaction with territory both physical and sacred.
Plateau
The native people of the Plateau are linguistically and culturally diverse.
Many aspects of their lives are unique adaptations to the mountains and
valleys in which they live. However, these people were strongly influenced
by the Plains people to the east and the Northwest Coast people to the west
prior to Euro-American contact. Most of the Plateau people lived in small
villages or village clusters, with economies based on hunting, fishing, and
wild horticulture.
The Plateau culture area is an upland region that encompasses the Co-
lumbia Plateau and the basins of the great Fraser and Columbia Rivers. The
Columbia Plateau is surrounded by the Cascade Mountains to the west, the
Rocky Mountains to the east, the desert country of the Great Basin to the
south, and the forest and hill country of the upper Fraser River to the north.
The mountains bordering the Columbia Plateau catch large amounts of
rain and snowfall. This precipitation drains into a great number of rivers and
streams, many of which feed the Columbia River on its way to the Pacific
Ocean. The mountains and river valleys have enough water to support
forests of pine, hemlock, spruce, fir, and cedar, while the land between the
mountain ranges consists of flatlands and rolling hills covered with grasses
and sagebrush. The climate varies greatly depending on proximity to the
ocean and the altitude. Game animals are generally small, except in the
mountain areas. However, nutritious plant foods such as tubers and roots
can be found in meadows and river valleys. Seasonal runs of salmon in the
Columbia, Fraser, and tributary rivers significantly enhanced the region’s
available food supply, providing both a staple food and a key sacred symbol.
The Plateau was not as densely populated as the Northwest Coast cul-
ture area to the west before contact, yet many different tribes have called the
region home. Two language groups are dominant: Penutian speakers such
as the Cayuse, Klamath, Klickitat, Modoc, Nez Perce, Palouse, Umatilla,
Walla Walla, and Yakama in the interior portions, and Salishan speakers, the
Columbia, Coeur d’Alene, Flathead, Kalispel, Shuswap, and Spokane to the
northwest.
continues
Plateau (continued)
More than two dozen distinct tribal groups inhabited the Columbia
Plateau at the time of European contact. Ancestors of peoples speaking lan-
guages of the Penutian linguistic family probably settled the area more than
8,000 years ago. Over the centuries these groups have been influenced by the
landscapes of the Plateau region in the development of their religious cul-
tures, often centering on the sharing of the salmon runs. First Salmon cere-
monies are fairly typical in the region, wherein the people celebrate and give
thanks for the new salmon run with a religious ritual prior to partaking in the
resource. This activity, while displaying an appreciation for the gift from the
sacred beings that salmon represent, also ensures that adequate numbers of
fish get to villages farther upstream, and that the strongest fish arrive at the
spawning grounds, maintaining a strong genetic line for the future.
Localized variations on this ceremony abound, as well as region-specific
rituals and ceremonies of thanksgiving and propitiation appropriate to lo-
calities. The extended-family group nature of the tribal system, along with
the numerous tribes in the region, also point to the need for extended coop-
erative trade relationships and intermarriage.
The Plateau cultural area, like all of the cultural regions used to discuss
Native American peoples, is really a diverse and varied one with linguistic,
cultural, and religious differences from area to area within the region.
However, there is enough ecological similarity in the region to inspire
some common traits among the tribal groups. Groups of the region often
sacralize these commonalities in regular intertribal gatherings for trade
and intermarriage.
Great Basin
The Great Basin culture refers to an arid inland region encompassing much
of the western United States. Consisting of a vast natural basin, with occa-
sional rocky uplands breaking up long stretches of mostly barren desert, the
region is surrounded by the Sierra Nevada range on the west, the Rocky
Mountains on the east, the Columbia Plateau on the north, and the Col-
orado Plateau on the south. The region includes the open expanse of the
Mojave Desert in the southwest, which provides a stark exception to the
general ecological makeup of the area.
The river systems of the Great Basin drain from the high country into the
central depression and disappear into sinks and thus have no outlet to the
oceans (hence the “basin” characterization). The mountains to the east and
west block the rain clouds, leading to both low rainfall and high evapora-
tion. The Great Basin once contained dozens of lakes, some quite large, as
evidenced by their remnants, including Great Salt Lake. In the western part
of the Great Basin is Death Valley, where temperatures in the summer often
exceed 125°F. Sagebrush dominates the sparse vegetation throughout the
Great Basin, with some piñon and juniper trees in the higher elevations.
This somewhat harsh environment produces more nomadic tribes than
regions to the west, and these tribes speak variations of the Uto-Aztecan
family. The one exception is the Washoe to the west who speak a Hokan di-
alect. The major tribal groups of the Great Basin are the Paiute, Shoshone,
and Ute, each with various subdivisions and offshoots. Although dialects
vary throughout the region, their similarities have made it possible for dif-
ferent groups to maintain diplomatic relations for trade and intermarriage.
Great Basin Indians adopted their nomadic lifestyles in order to fully
exploit wild food resources as they became available. Social organization
for this type of resource management tends to be smaller than that of
more settled groups, with the extended-family group being the primary
source for identity. Leadership is provided through “headmen,” who are
often capable and wise individuals who oversee the affairs of the family in
trade negotiations and the like. Regular gatherings of these family groups,
for practical purposes such as “rabbit Drives” (mass rabbit hunts requiring
the labors of many), seasonal observations such as solstice and equinox
continues
Great Basin, (continued)
ceremonies, or weddings often doubled as the group’s religious system,
and the bands’ spiritual advisors would preside over general rites of propi-
tiation and thanksgiving.
The relatively difficult day-to-day circumstances lead to less overall time
spent in philosophical pondering, but by no means should this fact be as-
sumed to equate less religiosity. The daily gatherings and hunting done by
the family group are accompanied by ritual activity, personal spiritual inter-
action, and the diplomatic interaction between the human and the other-
than-human world.
Southwest
In the Southwestern portion of the United States, the tribal communities
that maintain their connection to their homeland have done so more suc-
cessfully than many other tribal groups in the United States. The arid region,
relative isolation, and insular nature of the various communities therein are
all factors, but in any case, it is important to note that the region boasts a
high rate of language, culture, and religious retention despite the long his-
tory of colonial pressure, both from Spain and the United States.
The Southwest is one portion of Indian country where the intimate rela-
tionship between Native peoples and their lands can be seen most clearly.
The Diné (Navajo), Hopi, Apache, and Pueblo communities, while distinct,
have relatively similar lifeways owing to the nature of the landscape in what
is now the Four Corners region. Despite the arid nature of the high deserts
of modern-day Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, proper manage-
ment of the available rainfall has yielded corn crops sufficient to give rise to
the complex and ancient cultures that call this region home.
The Southwest culture area reaches across a great swath of arid country
in what is now the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It in-
cludes diverse terrain, from the high mesas and canyons of the Colorado
Plateau in the north to the Mogollon Mountains of present-day southern
New Mexico. Cactus-dotted deserts flank the Little Colorado River in pres-
ent-day southern Arizona and the Gulf of Mexico in present-day southern
Texas.
Few rains water the Southwest, and most rainfall occurs during a six-
week period in the summer. Snowfall is infrequent except in mountain
areas. Three types of vegetation are dominant, depending on altitude and
rainfall: western evergreen in the mountains; piñon and juniper in mesa
country; and desert shrub, cactus, and mesquite in lower, drier regions.
Among peoples in the Southwest, three language families predominate:
Uto-Aztecan, Yuman, and Athapaskan. Uto-Aztecan speakers included the
Hopi of Arizona and the Tohono O’Odham (Papago) and Akimel O'Odham
(Pima) of Arizona and northern Mexico. Some Pueblo peoples, including
the Tewa, Tiwa, and Towa in modern-day New Mexico, speak dialects of
Kiowa-Tanoan, a language family related to Uto-Aztecan. The Cocopah,
continues
Southwest (continued)
Havasupai, Hualapai, Maricopa, Mojave, Yavapai, Yuma (Quechan), and
other neighboring peoples in Arizona speak Yuman. The Apache and
Navajo (Diné) of New Mexico and Arizona and the southern fringe of Col-
orado and Utah speak Athapaskan languages.
In the early historic period, four distinct farming peoples came to oc-
cupy the Southwest: peoples of the Mogollon, Hohokam, Anasazi, and
Patayan cultures. The people of these cultures raised corn, beans, and
squash. For each of these peoples, the adoption of agriculture permitted the
settlement of permanent villages and the continued refinement of farming
technology, arts, and crafts, especially pottery.
The Mogollon people of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New
Mexico, who appeared about 2,300 years ago, built permanent villages in the
region’s high valleys and developed pottery distinct in its intricate geometric
patterns. The Mimbres people, a Mogollan subgroup, are famous for paint-
ing pottery with dramatic black-on-white geometric designs of animals and
ceremonial scenes. From about AD 1200 to 1400 the Mogollan culture was
gradually absorbed by the then-dominant Anasazi culture.
The Hohokam people of southern Arizona first appeared about 2,100
years ago. Hohokam Indians dug extensive irrigation ditches for their crops.
Some canals, which carried water diverted from rivers, extended for many
miles. Hohokam people also built sunken ball courts—like those of the
Maya Civilization in Mesoamerica—on which they played a sacred game re-
sembling a combination of modern basketball and soccer. Hohokam people
are thought to be ancestors of the Tohono O’Odham and Pima, who pre-
serve much of the Hohokam way of life.
In the Four Corners region, where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Col-
orado now join, the Anasazi Indians gradually emerged from older South-
western cultures, and took on a distinctive character by about 2,100 years
ago. Anthropologists refer to the Anasazi of this early era as Basket Makers
because they wove fine baskets from rushes, straw, and other materials. Bas-
ket Makers hunted and gathered wild foods, tended fields, and lived in large
pit houses, dwellings with sunken floors that were topped by sturdy timber
frameworks covered with mud. By about 700 CE, the Basket Maker culture
continues
had developed into the early Pueblo cultural period. Over the next 200 years
these peoples made the transition from pit houses to surface dwellings
called pueblos by the Spanish. These dwellings were rectangular, multisto-
ried apartment buildings composed of terraced stone and adobe arranged
in planned towns connected by an extensive network of public roads and ir-
rigation systems. At its peak, after about 900, Pueblo culture dominated
much of the Southwest. From about 1150 to 1300 Pueblo peoples evacuated
most of their aboveground pueblos and built spectacular dwellings in the
recesses of cliffs. The largest of these had several hundred rooms and could
house a population of 600 to 800 in close quarters.
The Patayan people lived near the Colorado River in what is now western
Arizona, and developed agriculture by about 875 CE. They planted crops along
the river floodplain and filled out their diets by hunting and gathering. Patayan
Indians lived in brush-covered structures and had extensive trade networks as
evidenced by the presence of shells from the Gulf of California region. The
Patayan people are thought to be ancestors of the Yuman-speaking tribes.
During the late 1200s the Four Corners area suffered severe droughts,
and many Pueblo sites were abandoned. However, Pueblo settlements
along the Rio Grande in the south grew larger, and elaborate irrigation sys-
tems were built. Between 1200 and 1500 a people speaking Athapaskan ap-
peared in the Southwest, having migrated southward along the western
Great Plains. Based on linguistic connections, these people are believed to
have branched off from indigenous peoples in western Canada. They are
thought to be the ancestors of the nomadic Apache and Navajo. Their arrival
may have played a role in the relocation of some Pueblo groups.
Two principal ways of life developed in the Southwest: sedentary and
nomadic. The sedentary Pueblo peoples are mainly farmers who hunt and
gather wild plant foods and medicines in addition to growing the larger part
of their subsistence diet: corn. Squash, beans, and sunflowers are also
grown in plots that range from large multifamily fields to smaller extended-
family plots. A number of desert peoples, including the upland and river
Yuman tribes and the Tohono O’Odham and Pima, maintain a largely agrar-
ian way of life as well.
continues
The religions of this region are as distinct as the cultures represented
here, however, the presence of relatively sedentary communities from about
1500 CE on renders a similar “emergence” philosophy, in which the people
are said to have come to their present place from lower worlds, and the role
that agriculture plays for these cultures leads to a common emphasis on fer-
tility, balance, and of course, rain.
The Hopi and other Pueblo cultures celebrate the presence of ancestral
spirit beings, called Katsinam, for the majority of the year. These beings
provide rain, fertility, and social stability through exemplary conduct used
to teach the people how to live. Similarly, the Diné (Navajo) utilize the sym-
bolism of corn and the cycles of the growing seasons to pattern both their
ceremonial lives and their behavior toward one another and to the universe.
Apaches likewise view their reliance on the seasonal cycles as indicative of
their sacred responsibilities.
Though the region known as the Southwest culture area appears to be a
dauntingly complicated landscape to maintain long-term communities in,
the tribal peoples therein have not only managed, but also thrived. In addi-
tion, due to the stark nature of the Southwest, and the isolated nature of
many portions within it, these tribal cultures have a level of cultural conti-
nuity that belies the harshness of the land.
Great Plains
The vast region known as the Great Plains culture area stretches from the
Mississippi River valley west to the Rocky Mountains and from present-day
central Canada to southern Texas. Dominated by rolling, fertile tallgrass
prairies in the east, where there is adequate rainfall for agriculture, the land-
scape shifts to short grasses in the drier high western plains. Some wooded
areas interrupt these vast fields of grass, mostly stands of willows and cot-
tonwoods along river valleys, and in some places highlands rise up from the
plains and prairies, such as the Ozark Mountains in Missouri, and the Black
Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. The region is remarkable, however, for
the extent and dominance of its grasslands. For thousands of years tens of
millions of bison grazed the grasses of the Great Plains.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, most occupants of the Great Plains
lived along rivers in the eastern regions. Predominantly farmers, these cul-
ture groups hunted bison and other game seasonally to augment their diets
with dried meat and to make use of the hide, bones, and fat of these enor-
mous animals.
The region is known for its diverse Native cultures, some of which have
resided in the Plains region longer than others. The Hidatsa, and Mandan,
both speakers of Siouan linguistic dialects, as well as Caddoan-speaking
Pawnee and Wichita made use of the river banks for small-plot farming and
they hunted in large cooperatives once or perhaps twice a year.
More hunting-oriented peoples eventually moved into the region and
developed cultural and philosophical traditions based on the bison and
warfare/raiding warrior cultures. These include the Algonquin-speaking
Blackfeet from the north and the Uto-Aztecan-speaking Comanche from
the northwest. After, and in some cases because of, the arrival of Europeans
in North America, Eastern tribal groups such as Siouan-speaking Assini-
boine, Crow, Kaw, Osage, Quapaw, and the various tribal groups often incor-
rectly glossed as “Sioux” (Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota) from the Great Lakes
region moved to the region. From the Northeast came the Algonquin-speak-
ing Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Gros Ventre. To be certain, this is an abbrevi-
ated list. The key issues are that movement into the region coincided with
continues
Great Plains (continued)
the entrance of horses to the Great Plains and the groups that call the Plains
home have all participated in a development of regional, seminomadic cul-
tural traditions that have come to be erroneously lumped together. This
tragic loss of a sense of tribal diversity on the Great Plains has been exacer-
bated by the “Hollywoodization” of Indian issues, itself merely a continua-
tion of nineteenth-century dime novels about the West.
After European contact, some Great Plains peoples continued to farm,
and many groups hunted a variety of game, fished rivers, and gathered wild
plant foods. However, with the spread of horses as a means of transporta-
tion to follow the seasonal migrations of bison herds over great distances,
bison meat became the staple food.
Most Great Plains tribes consisted of bands of related families, often
with several hundred members. Tribal leadership was typically divided be-
tween a peace chief and a war chief (or several war chiefs). Peace chiefs
tended to internal tribal affairs. War chiefs, usually younger men, conducted
warfare and led raids on enemies. The bands lived apart in smaller family
groups most of the year, coming together in the summer months for com-
munal bison hunts, ceremonies, or councils. In opposition to the idea that
Indian people never owned land, tribal groups often took responsibility for
particular regions, sharing hunting lands with friendly tribes, but protecting
them from enemies.
Another myth is that all Indians of the Plains lived in tepees prior to con-
tact. The tepee is a portable shelter that served its purpose for most groups
for portions of the year. Earth and grass lodges were also frequently used
dwellings before Euro-American arrival, providing large communal
dwellings and ceremonial structures.
Religion among the Plains peoples is as diverse as the linguistic tradi-
tions represented there, however, there are also some similarities. With
the important role that bison play in the lives of these tribal groups, it is
no wonder that that animal would be an important spirit being and rela-
tive, as well. In addition, the migratory nature of bison, and consequently
that of the peoples who rely upon them, support a seasonal and cyclical
continues
philosophical system wherein the circle is a key element. Plains Indian re-
ligious culture is often represented by circles, sun-wise directional
prayers, and cyclical senses of time and space.
Major ceremonies include the Sun Dance, a regular gathering of bands
for communal propitiation of the spirit beings, and the more recent reli-
gious innovation known as the Ghost Dance, wherein visions and ecstatic
dancing propels the tribal culture forward in the face of the difficulties aris-
ing from modernity.
The Great Plains, often viewed as the exemplary Native American cul-
ture area, is far more diverse and multilingual than popular culture depicts,
and the Plains peoples have many localized and territorial traditions that
represent specific regional differences.
Northeast and Great Lakes
As with most Native American groups, Northeastern tribal groups varied
greatly. However, the region has a fairly unified cultural history, resulting in
some important similarities across tribal groups.
Since 1000 BCE, the areas encompassing what are now the states east of
the Mississippi River, north of the Mason-Dixon line, and bordered to the
north by the Great Lakes and the east by the Atlantic Ocean have been occu-
pied by relatively sedentary agricultural communities. Corn has been culti-
vated by the region’s Native peoples from the Adena (1000 BCE–200 CE) and
Hopewell (300–700 CE) periods of prehistory, to the arrival of Europeans to
the area in the early 1500s. In fact, the United States owes much of its gene-
sis to the interactions between the first European settlers and the Native
peoples of the Northeast.
The mound-building Adena and Hopewell cultures contributed a re-
gionally interactive collection of independent nation-states to the Native
history of the area, culminating in the Mississippian influence, mostly lim-
ited to the southern portion of the area, in which hierarchical societies over-
seen by religious leaders dominated. From the north came more aggressive
hunting cultures, which vied for control of the fertile and game-rich Missis-
sippi and Ohio river valleys. This can be seen as a model for the Native his-
tory of the region: a tension between the tribal groups adhering to the more
sedentary agricultural aspects of the southern influence and those that car-
ried on the hunting traditions of their northern tribal cultures.
By the time European contact was made with the northeast region, Al-
gonquin-speaking tribal groups were moving into the region and putting
pressure on the more sedentary Iroquoian peoples, a situation that both
the English and the French immigrants exploited for their own purposes.
The Iroquoian tribes generally occupied the area that is now upstate New
York and the lower Great Lakes, growing pumpkins, beans, squash, and
corn in the extremely fertile soil. Algonquin speakers tended to settle near
the coast in what is now New England, hunting and trapping inland and
fishing at the coast. The arrival of Europeans increased the tendency for the
Algonkin tribes to move west into Iroquoian regions, displacing those tribal
continues
Northeast and Great Lakes (continued)
groups and prompting the creation of what came to be known as the Iro-
quois Confederacy, a formal cohort of tribal groups in which each tribe had
representation.
Religiously, the northern tribal groups tend to maintain an array of spir-
itual beings associated with the tasks of hunting cultures, with religious pro-
tocols, the proper behaviors dictated by the beings, dominating much of
daily life. To the south, seasonal cycles associated with the agricultural
needs of the people take precedence, owing to the need for continued fertil-
ity in the land. Both the Algonkin groups of the north and the Iroquoians to
the south participate in annual or semiannual memorial ceremonies for im-
portant leaders who have died. These regular ceremonies serve to provide
centripetal focus where the tendency is to favor difference and indepen-
dence and to allow for the meeting of trade and potential marriage partners
and the formation of other types of important allegiances.
The Native peoples who inhabited the region at the time of contact sus-
tained perhaps the longest and most intense pressure to conform to the
colonialist project, from the Plymouth colony and French fur trappers of the
sixteenth century, to colonial law and French-English hostilities, to Amer-
ica’s war for independence from England.
The Southeast
The Southeast culture area is a region north of the Gulf of Mexico and south
of the Middle Atlantic–Midwest region, extending from the Atlantic coast
west to what is now central Texas. Semitropical in nature, the area is humid
and wet. The terrain and vegetation of the Southeast culture area consists of
a coastal plain along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, with saltwater
marshes, grasses, and large stands of cypress. Rich soil can be found in what
are now Alabama and Mississippi, as well as along the Mississippi River
floodplain. The region also includes the vast swamplands, hills, and the high
grass of the Everglades in present-day Florida, as well as mountains of the
southern Appalachian chain. At the time of early contacts between Native
Americans and Europeans, much of the region was woodland, with south-
ern pine near the coasts and more broadleaf trees further inland.
European incursion, initiated by the French from the Mississippi Valley,
then the Spanish after the eighteenth century, found a region of the United
States that was bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Trin-
ity River, and the Ohio River. The cultures of this region include the
Catawba, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole Nations. In-
fluenced by the earlier Mississippian cultures, characterized by monumen-
tal mound building and corn cultivation, later tribal groups tended toward
sedentary village-based cultures, regional trade, diplomatic systems, and
religious traditions that supported the agrarian lifestyle. Much of this life-
way is characterized by sacred activities oriented toward seasonal plant
growth patterns.
One example of such sacred activity is the renewal festival, an annual
ceremony oriented toward fertility of the soil in the coming year, recogni-
tion of the passing of the annual celestial cycle, and especially thanksgiv-
ing for the bounty of the previous year. Like many regional ceremonies
throughout Native America, these festivals played important diplomatic
roles because status issues were an important part of the process of plan-
ning and celebrating these festivals. The festivals provided opportunities
for young people to meet potential mates outside their familial lineage
group.
continues
The Southeast (continued)
In addition to agricultural production of corn, beans, and squash, pre-
contact Southeastern tribal groups hunted game to augment the plant
foods in their diet, and this practice also gave rise to certain rituals. Hunters
all over Indian country are aware of the sacred nature of their endeavor, and
this is certainly true among the peoples of the Southeastern United States.
The propitiation of animal spirits and the need for respectful treatment of
the physical beings associated with them require hunters to hunt in a re-
spectful way; failure to do so runs the risk of going hungry.
Another aspect common throughout the region is the important role
that games play in both the leisure and religious realms. Most notable
among these is the ball game, in which a small leather ball is thrown, kicked,
or advanced with playing sticks (depending on the tribal area) by two teams
intending to score by advancing the ball past the opponent’s goal, as in a
combination of field hockey, soccer, and American football. This game has
sacred as well as entertainment value.
Many traditions have similar regional manifestations, owing to the rela-
tively unified early cultures extant before European inculcation, far too
many for this brief introduction. Suffice it to say that, although the tribal
cultures that call the Southeastern United States their place of origin differ
greatly one from another, the tendency to maintain similar traits such as
sedentary village life, clan and sacred society membership, and regular, im-
portant religious festivals remind the student of these cultures that the
tribal differentiation which is now of great import in these communities
developed out of a regionally aware collection of autonomous villages with
much intervillage interaction and intellectual discourse prior to the arrival
of Europeans.
The village served as the primary form of social organization among In-
dians of the Southeast prior to contact, and political organization also
began at the village level. The people governed the affairs of a specific area,
and village leaders, often led by a headman, met regularly to discuss matters
of import to the entire community, such as the cultivation of fields owned by
the community, or providing for defense of the village.
continues
Some Southeast tribes are organized into chiefdoms, defined as a society
with an ultimate ruler with social rank often determined by birth. Some ear-
lier Southeast chiefdoms encompassed many villages, and these tended to
have powerful priesthoods, leading to stratification in those societies. The
Natchez, Chickasaw, and the Creek Confederacy had well-developed hierar-
chies until the Euro-American political system undermined the authorities
within them. Other Southeastern tribes such as the Cherokee and Choctaw,
tended to be more democratic in their political organization and were less
likely to be inundated with efforts by religio-political American authorities.
Today, the village orientation continues in the region, albeit within the im-
posed Indian Reorganization Act (1934) system.
Reprinted from Duane Champagne, ed., Native America: Portrait of the Peoples. Visible Ink Press, 1994. Used by permission.
Academic Study of
American Indian Religious
Traditions
A
Few academic topics provide as many tribute to the work being done by both
pitfalls as that most nebulous of sub- Native and non-Native scholars toward
jects, religion. In addition, the academic that disentanglement. We will therefore
treatment of non-Western cultures has, begin with a brief introduction to the
at its very heart, the Euro-American history of the study of American Indian
colonialist perspective as its impetus. religious traditions, which we hope will
Nonetheless, there have been a great illuminate the current discourse.
many insights into traditional cultures The way in which the academic com-
when these are approached via the por- munity has approached American In-
tal of religious practice; in addition, we dian traditions has changed drastically
find that the study of American Indian over the centuries and decades, reflect-
religiosity can dramatically inform the ing changes in the wider political, reli-
understanding of religion in a non-Na- gious, cultural, and economic spheres of
tive context. Often, what Native experts American society. In its earliest forms,
articulate about the practices of their studies of American Indian religions
various communities resonates with were conducted by missionaries who
other traditions, such as the varieties of sought a basic knowledge of Native tradi-
faith to be found in Hindu, Jewish, Mus- tions in order to undermine them. The
lim, or Christian practices. Therefore, the earliest nonreligiously motivated rigor-
study of the multitude of distinct Ameri- ous academic scholarship of these tradi-
can Indian sacred practices must be jux- tions took shape in the late nineteenth
taposed against the very common artic- and early to mid-twentieth centuries,
ulation of the lived worldview that during a time when Native nations were
accompanies the great majority of forced onto reservations and were suf-
human communities. Of course, the na- fering the demographic and cultural de-
ture of the historic interaction between cline that resulted from the violent poli-
the modern West and the aboriginal na- cies of conquest and assimilation.
tions of the North American continent Scholarship responded to this crisis with
has provided a tangle of issues with what has become known as salvage
which contemporary academic and ethnography, designed to rescue cultural
nonacademic understandings of Native data from rapidly vanishing populations.
culture must contend. This three-vol- With the political resurgence of Native
ume encyclopedia is an attempt to con- communities in the 1960s and 1970s, it
1
Academic Study of American Indian Religious Traditions ______________________________
became very clear to the wider public had a vested interest in learning about
that Native nations and cultures were, in and understanding the Native commu-
fact, not vanishing at all, but were indeed nities with which they hoped to work.
flourishing. This newfound political Traders needed to know enough about
presence gave rise to collectives such as Indian languages and cultures to negoti-
the American Indian Movement (AIM), ate for goods successfully. Missionaries,
and Native communal interests and con- on the other hand, needed to know
cerns became known to a much wider enough about the Native communities
audience. During this time, and owing they encountered to be able to convert
much of their genesis to a course in them to Christianity. Some of the most
American Indian History and Culture informative and most carefully re-
taught at the University of California, searched documents of this era came
Berkeley, more and more Native scholars from Jesuit missionaries, such as those
took on the task of recording and reflect- who arrived in New France. But of
ing upon their cultural traditions in an course, missionaries and traders all ap-
academic setting. Their presence pro- proached Native traditions with an in-
vided the opportunity for truly emic, or herent assumption of their inferiority. In
insider, perspectives on the material. Si- their very vocation missionaries were as-
multaneously, this presence demanded suming the superiority of Christianity
that scholarship of Native communities over Native religious and cultural prac-
recognize the political realities of con- tices. Indeed, for most missionaries,
temporary Native nations and the im- conversion to Christianity simultane-
pact that scholarship can have upon ously required a complete conversion to
those politics. In the contemporary European culture, language, economy,
sphere, scholarship has changed dra- and way of life. The texts that these indi-
matically, with Native nations exerting viduals left behind reflect this assump-
considerable control over access to cul- tion of cultural superiority. They rarely
tural resources and demanding that aca- supplied the perspective of the Native
demic studies reflect the concerns, inter- people themselves, but rather described
ests, and ethical issues of the Native these traditions as they were perceived
communities. Many scholars, both Na- by outsiders who did not fully under-
tive and non-Native, see themselves as stand the philosophies, cultures, or his-
working for rather than working on Na- tories that put such religious practices
tive communities and cultures and do so into play.
with a greater sense of humility and obli- In the nineteenth century, Native pop-
gation to these Native communities. ulation levels reached an all-time low.
The earliest documents about Native Native nations had been decimated by
religious traditions were written mostly foreign diseases brought to the conti-
by missionaries and traders, all of whom nent by European colonists; their tradi-
2
______________________________ Academic Study of American Indian Religious Traditions
tional food resources were devastated by had only to look at indigenous cultures
Euro-American settlers; and their tradi- to understand their own origins in an-
tional hunting and gathering locations cient history. Fascinated with the idea of
were stripped and leveled for farming or exploring their own origins, many schol-
settlement. Following a series of bloody ars turned to Native American traditions
conflicts between the U.S. Army and var- for a glimpse into the primordial depths
ious Native nations, most tribes were in- of the European psyche.
terred on reservations by the U.S. gov- Clearly, such perspectives were in-
ernment, where they faced starvation tensely problematic. First, they assumed
because of a lack of resources on the the superiority of one culture over an-
reservations and the federal govern- other. Second, they assumed that human
ment’s failure to honor its treaty obliga- civilization exists on an upward linear
tions to provide food, medical care, and march toward an end goal: that societies
other necessities. Restricted to reserva- are necessarily evolving toward industri-
tions or isolated in a country now openly alization, modernity, capitalism, and
hostile to their very presence, American Christianity. It also assumed that other
Indian cultures seemed at the threshold non-Western cultures had somehow stag-
of collapse. Observing the rapid rates at nated, had not evolved as they should
which Native communities were chang- have, and had remained unchanged for
ing, many scholars feared that these cul- thousands of years. And finally, this social
tures would be lost forever. philosophy was entirely informed by the
Unfortunately, in an era dominated by political and economic climate in which it
Darwinian philosophy, it was assumed took place. With Manifest Destiny (the be-
that this loss was inevitable. According to lief that the United States was meant to
this evolutionary doctrine, all of human dominate and overtake the entire conti-
culture existed within a linear progres- nent from Atlantic to Pacific) and a colo-
sion from savagery to civilization. This nialist agenda that demanded absolute
ethnocentric view considered European power over what was to become the
civilization the most advanced and most United States, Euro-Americans needed a
evolved of all civilizations. As such, it was philosophy that justified their expansion,
argued, European civilization was the their theft of land from Native nations,
most fit to survive. Lesser-evolved cul- and the incredible devastation that this
tures and societies must, by necessity, expansion wreaked upon Native popula-
pass away so that Western civilization tions. It justified and placated a nation
could proceed. Indigenous cultures struggling with a guilty conscience.
throughout the world were seen as less At the turn of the twentieth century,
evolved, having stagnated in their “sav- ethnographic scholarship struggled with
age primordial” origins. In addition, ac- this philosophical legacy. Some ethnog-
cording to this philosophy, Europeans raphers, such as Franz Boas, challenged
3
the idea of cultural evolution, insisting on a linear evolutionary scale. Rather,

that indigenous cultures be understood cultural and physiological differences
on their own, not as the evolutionary ori- were the result of unique social, geo-
gins of Universal Man. But most scholars graphic, historical, political, and eco-
were still driven by a sense that Native nomic conditions. All cultures, he ar-
cultures were rapidly disappearing. From gued, were complete systems and were
the 1880s to the 1950s, these scholars en- equally developed (or evolved). In other
gaged in what has since been termed sal- words, each culture was uniquely and
vage ethnography: the practice of collect- nearly perfectly suited to meet that peo-
ing as much data and material about ples’ particular historical and geographi-
indigenous cultures and languages as cal context. His argument for historical
possible, before they were crushed by the particularism directly challenged the as-
onward march of civilization. sumption that universal laws governed
Franz Boas, born in Germany in 1858, humanity, and that all cultures could be
was a professor of anthropology at Co- expected to follow these universal “natu-
lumbia University until he died in 1937. ral” laws. In so doing, Boas directly chal-
He explored the Baffin Island region of lenged the evolutionary perspectives of
the Arctic and spent an extensive writers like Louis Henry Morgan and Ed-
amount of time studying the culture of ward Tyler, who had created a set of cul-
the Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl) of Van- tural stages through which, they argued,
couver Island. Boas’s success among the each culture passed on its evolutionary
Kwakwak’wakw, his comprehension of march toward civilization.
their culture as an integrated whole, and Boas’s work and influence set scholar-
his access to these cultural materials ship on Native traditions on a different
were dependent upon his relationship course. Rather than studying American
with George Hunt. Hunt’s mother was Indian traditions to discover deficient
Tlingit, and his father was an English versions of, or evolutionary precursors
employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company. to, European culture, Boas insisted that
Hunt’s linguistic and cultural knowledge they had value in their own right, as
about the Kwakwak’wakw enabled Boas unique cultural expressions perfectly
to conduct his research and secure his adapted to a unique setting and context.
collection of artifacts. Boas’s work likewise provided a context
Boas promoted the idea of cultural for study that was not informed by a mis-
relativism and historical particularism sionary or evangelical agenda. In advo-
within the anthropological study of cul- cating the unique value of each culture,
ture. Essentially, his work with Native the study of Native traditions within
communities led him to conclude that their cultural context, and the particular-
cultural differences were not the result of ity of each culture as an expression of its
racial preconditioning or their location unique historical and geographic con-
4
text, Boas prepared the way for a study of tributed much to the contemporary ap-
Native traditions that respected and proach to the academic study of Ameri-
honored those traditions and worked to can Indian religious traditions, he and his
present them as they were understood colleagues shared a misperception com-
by the people themselves. mon among many of his time: the belief
Boas influenced other scholars of Na- that Native people and cultures were fast
tive American traditions, helping to cre- disappearing. The urgency behind their
ate fertile ground for this perspective to work was driven by that belief, and their
develop. Many of his contemporaries fol- work reflects the notion of salvage
lowed his lead, and Boas’s own students ethnography. While perhaps undertaken
became highly influential in the field as with the best of intentions, salvage
well. These scholars included such re- ethnography assumed that Native na-
searchers as Melville Jacobs, active in the tions and traditions were about to disap-
tribal nations of the Pacific Northwest; pear, and many researchers during this
Cora DuBois, whose work on the con- era demonstrated less caution and re-
nection between culture and personality spect toward Native privacy and sacrality
in the Plateau region as well as California than should have been the case; sacred
was especially important because she objects, human remains, and details of
was one of the few women in the field at rituals, ceremonies, and songs were re-
the time. Alfred Kroeber, the first of moved from their communities to be
Boas’s students to receive a Ph.D., also housed in museums and anthropological
worked in California; he was professor of journals. Many of these objects and ex-
anthropology at the University of Cali- amples of cultural knowledge were taken
fornia, Berkeley, from which institution without the permission of their proper
he sent many students to do ethno- owners, and many human remains were
graphic work among the tribal groups in taken in direct violation of Native com-
California and the Southwest. Another of munities’ protests. Scientists often
Boas’s students, Leslie Spier, was influen- worked carelessly and aggressively, be-
tial in the development of dating tech- cause, they reasoned, these cultures were
niques still used by archaeologists. about to disappear anyway.
Although all of these scholars made It is true that Native cultures and lan-
enormous contributions to the academic guages were at risk, and the work of
study of American Indian religious tradi- these early scholars was essential in pre-
tions, gathering huge amounts of data serving some of this data for future gen-
and working to create a mode of study erations. However, the notion of the
that was scientific in its methodology and “vanishing Indian” implies the existence
critical of universalized laws of cultural of a “true” Native culture, untarnished
evolution, aspects of their work remain by cultural contact, and that cultural
problematic. While Boas’s work con- change inherently means culture loss. In
5
their emphasis on classical traditions, ial sites, and the very real ethical and
many of these studies failed to see the political concerns of the Native com-
means and methods of adaptation, ac- munities themselves were not always
commodation, and resistance that respected, or even acknowledged. Cer-
many Native communities were under- tainly that was not always the case—
taking. While Native cultures changed many of these scholars sought to re-
dramatically in the twentieth century, spect the communities with which they
they were also successful at survival: as worked, and some testified in court
they navigated the changing political, cases in behalf of Native tribes. How-
social, and economic climates, their re- ever, their position as outsiders, and the
ligious practices reflected that naviga- lack of Native voices to complement
tion. Such traditions remained inher- their own, meant that a one-sided per-
ently “Indian,” as expressions of Native spective of Native traditions was pre-
communities, and, while many changes sented to the public.
occurred, they maintained a strong The ability of Native communities to
connection with the ethical, philosoph- survive the drastic changes of the eigh-
ical, and spiritual traditions that in- teenth, nineteenth, and twentieth cen-
formed their earlier traditions. turies is illustrated in the changing face
It might also be noted that scholar- of Native scholarship of the 1960s and
ship of the late nineteenth and early 1970s. With the rise of the American In-
twentieth centuries was informed by dian Movement, Native scholars entered
these researchers’ perspectives as out- the academic scene in greater force, in-
siders: they were never able to fully em- sisting that Native traditions be under-
body the insiders’ perspective on these stood and valued as they were perceived
cultures. As such, their work was di- by the people themselves. Further, they
rected by the questions and concerns of insisted that academic scholarship be
a non-Native academic community. viewed within its political context, and
Their methods, approach, and conclu- that the political implications of scholar-
sions were likewise the result of a non- ship be overtly recognized.
Native academic world. Their publica- As has been noted, the political aware-
tions were written for non-Native ness of Native people was highly influen-
audiences, and their collections of arti- tial on the academic study of American
facts were set aside for the benefit and Indian religious traditions. With a resur-
viewing pleasure of non-Natives. In the gence of a distinctly indigenous identity
process, traditions were misinterpreted, emerging out of the reservation period
sacred objects were mistreated and re- and culminating with political acts such
moved from their proper ritual context, as the occupations of Alcatraz Island in
the skeletal remains of Native ancestors California and Wounded Knee in South
were at times removed from Native bur- Dakota, informed scholarship with re-
6
gard to Native culture gained a wider au- forts highlighted the emerging holism
dience. This shift from ethnographic in- that punctuates the discourse today. Em-
quiry to that of cultural studies, mirrored phasis is placed on the communal his-
in the development of women’s studies, torical context of the information, with
black studies, and Chicana(o) studies at the current social and political aspects of
the level of the university, was at least Indian Country as a guide.
punctuated, and perhaps indelibly influ- In the last two decades since publica-
enced, by the publication of Vine Delo- tion of God Is Red, an emic, or insider,
ria, Jr.’s God Is Red. That philosophical perspective has increasingly informed
treatise reflected upon the context and American Indian scholarship. Scholar-
worldview within which American In- ship has become concerned with bring-
dian people understand themselves, and ing forth a Native perspective on indige-
juxtaposed it against the totalizing force nous religious traditions, and presenting
of Western intellectual support of the them in a way that meets with the ap-
subjugation of Native people. Matching proval of the communities themselves.
the awareness of political and social con- Theoretical and methodological analysis
cerns brought about by political mobi- remains a key part of the scholarly
lization, God Is Red not only opened the process, but many scholars are working
door for understanding American Indian to uncover the way in which traditions
religiosity as a valid area of philosophical are perceived and experienced by Native
and even theological inquiry, it kicked it people, as well as the way in which many
wide open. Natives and non-Natives traditions function within Native society.
alike were challenged to view the tradi- An important element in this process
tional wisdom of this continent’s au- is the revisioning of the idea of “reli-
tochthonous peoples alongside that of gion.” Religion as a unique and sepa-
all human history. Hence it was this rate category of experience does not re-
emerging discourse on religious belief, flect the experience of most Native
practice, and behavior that initiated the cultures, in which traditional spiritual-
production of scholarship in other areas, ity encompassed nearly all areas of life
such as law and literature, dedicated and operated in an integrated mode
solely to the American Indian experi- with the rest of cultural experience.
ence. Seen as parts of a whole, then, Contemporary scholarship reflects this
much of the scholarship surrounding recognition, exploring religious and
Native culture was a collaborative proj- spiritual practices as they inform and
ect involving sociologists, anthropolo- are affected by land rights, land use,
gists, literary critics, art critics, linguists, politics, gaming, social networks,
lawyers, theologians, archeologists, and, health and wellness, recreation, pris-
especially, the Native American commu- ons, political reform, and language
nities themselves. Such collaborative ef- preservation (among other things).
7
Further, many scholars today demon- ally sensitive approach to their work (see
strate a desire to work with communi- Archaeology). Contemporary ethnogra-
ties, not on them. Communities today phers commit to working for years with
are rarely viewed as passive subjects to Native communities, learning the in-
be acted upon by an outside scholar. digenous language, and allowing the
Rather, the contemporary academic community itself to guide their research
community within American Indian efforts.
studies and American Indian religious In many cases this has meant not pub-
studies demands that researchers gain lishing material that the community
permission from the tribal communities would prefer did not make its way into
with whom they would like to work. The print. It also means submitting material
best scholars recognize that community to the community for their reactions and
members themselves are the true ex- response prior to publication. For exam-
perts, not the academic. The scholar is a ple, ethnographers Keith Basso and Inés
student, learning from the true authori- Talamantez, both of whom work with
ties: the elders within that community. Apache communities in the Southwest,
Additionally, the best of contemporary have spent years developing relation-
scholars recognize their need to give ships within the communities, learning
back to the community, that scholarly the Native language, and submitting
endeavors must be a two-way exchange. their work to community members for
For some, this means supporting tribal approval and correction. An important
efforts to protect sacred sites or land use part of this process is recognizing the in-
rights, lobbying to protect Native Ameri- tellectual property rights of Native com-
can religious freedom, or working to pro- munities. Native philosophical systems,
mote Native health care, language ritual and ceremonial practices, songs,
preservation, or access to education. stories, symbols, and ritual objects are all
Many contemporary scholars have the rightful property of the Native com-
demonstrated their commitment to munities that created them. Contempo-
working cooperatively with tribal com- rary scholars are called upon to respect
munities, pursuing research agendas set these intellectual property rights. In
forth by the tribal nations themselves, or doing so, scholars recognize the impor-
working cooperatively to meet tribal tance of making public only what the
concerns as well as their own academic community itself has agreed to. And im-
interests. With the passing of the Ameri- portantly, profits from such publications
can Indian Graves Protection and Repa- should find their way back to the com-
triation Act, archaeological investiga- munities and individuals to whom they
tions have radically changed, and many rightfully belong.
archaeologists have eagerly sought to Other disciplines have been remade in
promote a more cooperative and cultur- recent decades as well. Historians of Na-
8
tive cultures have begun to realize the troversial for this very reason, and for
importance of not merely reconstructing some communities any attempt at all to
history based on non-Native written ac- unpack the complex nature of sacred
counts but also drawing from extensive ways is a serious breach of religious pro-
Native oral traditions, which contain a tocol and privacy. For others, the de-
wealth of local knowledge about past creasing amount of confusion and mis-
events, as perceived from the perspec- conception surrounding these practices
tive of the Native community itself. The- is one way to stem the tide of appropria-
ology has also been radically challenged tion, especially when done with the col-
and remade by Native scholars such as lusion of the communities to whom they
Vine Deloria, George “Tink” Tinker, belong. People are less likely to be inter-
Homer Noley, and Clara Sue Kidwell, ested when the fullness of the responsi-
who have sought to reformulate Chris- bility that goes with most of these ritual
tian theology from a uniquely Native activities is revealed, and when the no-
perspective. tion of an “ancient Indian Way” brought
This trend has brought a final issue to forward from time immemorial gets
the fore with regard to the study of Amer- firmly attached to contemporary, mod-
ican Indian religious traditions. In con- ern people who have not only a past but
cert with the continuing development of also a present and a future. And so it is
what Wade C. Roof, among others, has with all seriousness that we, along with
referred to as a religious marketplace, an our editorial board, would like to stress
increased awareness of the particulars of that none of the information contained
American Indian sacred practices has in these volumes is meant to be repli-
become fodder for the New Age move- cated, acted on, or adopted by the
ment, as well as a variety of other spiritu- reader. If there exists a desire to know
ality-seeking individuals and groups these traditions on a personal level, seek
who tend to favor that which they see as out members of the community and do
exotic (read: “non-Western”), as possess- just that—get to know them personally.
ing a more evocative style of sacred be- This has very much been a labor of
havior. Along with the appropriation of love. We began in deep trepidation about
South Asian traditions such as yoga, what it was we were embarking upon,
tantra, and ayurvedic medicine, and var- and we were encouraged and aided im-
ious traditions associated with China, measurably every step of the way by
Tibet, and Japan, isolated symbolic ele- members of various Native American
ments and ritual behaviors of American communities, both inside and outside of
Indian origin have been commodified academia. It is clear that, at this juncture
and added to this ever-increasing mar- in the development of the discourse sur-
ketplace. The study of these traditions by rounding American Indian religious tra-
non-Native people continues to be conditions, that there is a great need for the
9
establishment of standards for the infor- Boas, Franz. 1995. Race, Language and
mation sought out by the junior re- Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
searcher, both in terms of the accuracy of Deloria, Vine. 1994. God Is Red: A Native
the material and the ethical establish- View of Religion. Golden, CO: North
ment and use of that material. It is our American Press.
———, ed. 1999. Spirit and Reason: The
great hope that these three volumes rep- Vine Deloria Reader. Golden, CO:
resent an example of that ethos, placing Fulcrum Press.
this work amid the very best of scholar- DuBois, Cora. 1938. The Feather Cult of the
Middle Columbia: General Series in
ship regarding the religious experiences Anthropology 7. Menasha, WI: George
of America’s indigenous nations, and Banta.
helping to define the study of American ———. 1939. The 1870 Ghost Dance.
Anthropological Records. 3, no. 1: 25–26.
Indian religious traditions as it exists
Berkeley: University of California Press.
today. Guerrero, Annette Jaimes. 1992. The State of
Native America: Genocide, Colonization
Suzanne J. Crawford
and Resistance. Boston: South End Press.
and Dennis F. Kelley Kidwell, Clara Sue, Homer Noley, and George
See also American Indian Movement; E. “Tink” Tinker. 2001. A Native American
Archaeology; Christianity, Indianization of; Theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
Law, Legislation, and Native Religion; Kroeber, Alfred. 1976. Handbook of the
Missionization; Repatriation, Spiritual and Indians of California. New York: Dover
Cultural Implications; Reservations, Publications.
Spiritual and Cultural Implications; Parkhill, Thomas C. 1997. Weaving
Sovereignty; Termination and Relocation Ourselves into the Land: Charles Godfrey
Leland, “Indians” and the Study of Native
References and Further Reading American Religions. Albany: State
Basso, Keith. 1996. Wisdom Sits in Places: University of New York Press.
Landscape and Language among the Seaburg, William, and Pamela Amoss, eds.
Western Apache. Tucson: University of 2000. Badger and Coyote Were Neighbors:
Arizona Press. Melville Jacobs on Northwest Indian
Biolsi, Thomas, and Larry Zimmerman, eds. Myths and Tales. Corvallis: Oregon State
1997. Indians and Anthropologists: Vine University Press.
Deloria Jr., and the Critique of Williams, Vernon J. 1996. Rethinking Race:
Anthropology. Tucson: University of Franz Boas Jr. and His Contemporaries.
Arizona Press. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press.
10
Academic Study of American Indian
Religious Traditions, Ishi
Ishi, Alfred Kroeber, and the these old photos already bear the mark
Implications of “Speciminism” of modernity in that they were suffering
That contemporary anthropology is built the fallout of even earlier incursions by
upon the foundations of colonial ideol- Europeans into their homelands. Such is
ogy, and the genocidal results of the de- the kind of story that lies between the
humanization of non-Western subjects, lines of Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of
may be an issue for another time. How- the Last Wild Indian in North America,
ever, the discipline itself has been unfor- written by Theodora Kroeber (1961), the
tunately loath to answer such charges wife of Ishi’s ersatz host Alfred. Unlike
until very recently. For social scientific Levi-Strauss, Kroeber never really re-
inquiry to occur in Native America, there flected upon the implications of his ac-
has to exist a mutual respect if that work tions for the Indian people that he stud-
is to be free from the pathos that the ied, nor for the struggles that continue
Founding Fathers (there were no “moth- for those for whom these data were, and
ers”) willingly brought into the lives of continue to be, sacred traditions.
past “informants” and their dead rela- Alfred Kroeber’s work in California has
tives upon whom research was done— been called salvage ethnography, owing
whether they wanted it to be done or not. to his belief that these tribal traditions, if
One need merely to look at the prole- not the very people themselves, were des-
gomenon in the photographic memoir of tined to die out, crushed by the weight of
Claude Lévi-Strauss (1995), Saudades do their own archaism. Accepting the an-
Brasil [Homesickness for Brazil], in which thropology position at the University of
he cautions the reader against seeing the California Museum in 1901, Kroeber was
photos of the indigenous Brazilians pre- enjoined to archive and oversee the re-
sented within, which he took in the latter mains of one of the worst examples of
part of the 1930s, as anything like what concerted cultural destruction and ethnic
might be the lifeway of those people violence ever perpetrated—that of the so-
now. The images of Nambikwara, Cadu- called Gold Rush and the subsequent in-
veo, and Bororo cannot be likened to flux of whites into the state, which precip-
those communities, now victims of a itated a 90 percent reduction in the Native
modernity that came rushing in behind population. Because of both military and
researchers like him. But perhaps more civilian massacres as well as bounty hunts
to the point, Lévi-Strauss admits that and the opportunistic social and physical
11
Academic Study of American Indian Religious Traditions, Ishi ________________________
diseases that accompany genocidal prac- of Ishi, and from the writings of
tices, this extreme loss of life affected Theodora Kroeber, who never herself
every corner of California Indian Country. met Ishi, the fondness was both gen-
Ishi (not his real name, but the word uine and reciprocal. One is, however,
for “man” in the Yahi language) is said to reminded of the chimp Washoe, a pio-
have found his way into a small town at neer of sorts in the sign language acqui-
the edge of his once wide territory sition ability studies done on apes.
(Oroville, California), seeking pilferable While those researchers, after spending
food. Caught by townsfolk, he eventually countless hours with Washoe both in
wound up in the hands of Kroeber, who, and out of the lab, certainly became de-
through the Yana interpreter Sam Batwi, votedly attached to their subject, they
began what was to be a relationship that never regarded Washoe as an equal.
would frame Ishi’s last chapter on this That is the kind of approach to Indians
earth, a chapter that was to last a scant as sources of study that continues to
three years. After Kroeber took Ishi to live endanger the legitimacy of their reli-
at the museum, Ishi contracted TB and gious traditions as bona fide philo-
died after suffering a long bout with sophical systems. While Kroeber may
pneumonia. have been sad to return to Berkeley and
While being kept in the museum as a find Ishi dead and his body dissected,
living artifact, Ishi participated in such including the removal of his brain, after
activities as flintknapping and cordage requesting that the body be cremated
making, existing as an exhibit depicting intact he packaged the brain to be
stone-age crafts. Ishi was also taken back archived in the museum apart from his
to his territory near Deer Creek, where he cremated but noninterred remains.
made bows and arrows, hunted, fished, While Ishi’s life prior to his capture is
and generally gave Kroeber a lesson in now fodder for speculation, his skills and
Yahi lifeways that helped to elevate his knowledge are evident within the pages
status in the anthropological commu- of both of the Kroebers’ work. One won-
nity. Kroeber was not with Ishi when he ders how Alfred would have fared had he
died, but a death-mask was made (it is been dropped onto the shores of Deer
still on display in the museum, as are all Creek and asked to make his way. It
of the things Ishi made while living) and would at least be expected that, looking
then his body dissected. into the eyes of another human being, a
Herein lies the key point of this tragic researcher would take note of the impli-
tale: for the three years that Ishi lived as cations that the study has on the lives of
Kroeber’s personal specimen, he, Kroe- their (let us use the term “consultants”)
ber, never moved their relationship be- as people. However, Thomas Buckley
yond that of researcher and his ensam- (1996) quotes Kroeber as follows: “After
ple. Alfred Kroeber certainly grew fond some hesitation, I have omitted all di-
12
_______________________ Academic Study of American Indian Religious Traditions, Ishi
rectly historical treatment . . . of the rela- ability to provide a healing salve for the
tions of the natives with the whites and injuries caused by colonization.
of the events befalling them after such Dennis Kelley
contact was established. It is not that this
See also Archaeology; Law, Legislation, and
subject is unimportant or uninteresting, Native Religion; McKay, Mabel;
but that I am not in a position to treat it Missionization, California; On the
adequately. It is also a matter that has Academic Study of American Indian
Religious Traditions; Parrish, Essie;
comparatively slight relation to aborigi- Repatriation, Spiritual and Cultural
nal civilization.” What Kroeber was after, Implications; Retraditionalism and
as were many if not most of his ilk, were Revitalization Movements, California; Ritual
and Ceremony, California
the last vestiges of dying cultures that
they may be preserved, as Ishi’s brain References and Further Reading
Buckley, Thomas. 1996. “‘The Little History
was, to attest to their own extinction. of Pitiful Events’: The Epistemological and
However, in 1999, despite initial de- Moral Contexts of Kroeber’s Californian
nials on the part of the University of Cal- Ethnology.” In Volkgeist as Method and
Ethic: Essays on Boasian Ethnography and
ifornia, Ishi’s brain and cremated re-
the German Anthropological Tradition.
mains were located and buried by History of Anthropology series, vol. 8.
members of the Pit River California In- Edited by George Stocking. Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press.
dian community on Mt. Lassen, the key
Kroeber, Theodora. 1961. Ishi in Two
geographical feature in Ishi’s home terri- Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild
tory. The private burial was followed in Indian in North America. Berkeley:
University California Press.
May 2000 by a ceremony that included a
May, James. 2000. “Spirit of Ishi Finally Free
feast and songs and dances of healing. to Join Ancestors.” Indian Country Today.
This act, which can be seen as something August 23.
of a bookend to the sad tale that is Ishi, Scheper-Hughes, Nancy. 2001. “Ishi’s Brain,
Ishi’s Ashes: Anthropology and
serves as a reminder that California Genocide.” Anthropology Today 17, no. 1
tribal traditions continue, and have the (February).
13
American Indian dian people came to understand and ap-
preciate the important cultural and spir-
Movement (Red Power
itual heritage embodied in the core prin-
Movement) ciples of AIM. However, AIM does not
The American Indian Movement (AIM) impose any religious or cultural views on
was founded in Minneapolis in 1968 by the different participating communities;
Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, Mary rather, it tries to adapt itself to the partic-
Jane Williams, and George Mitchell. The ular traditions within the sacred histo-
movement was among the most visible ries of those communities. In fact, many
aspects of American Indian activism of Indian people consider the AIM activism
the 1960s and 1970s, gathering a massive years to have been somewhat of an “In-
following from around Indian Country, dian Renaissance,” during which many
even gaining the support of many tradi- American Indians sought out their own
tional elders. AIM’s confrontational tac- tribal elders to re-establish a connection
tics provided the plight of contemporary with their traditional sacred history. Lan-
Indian communities with news media guage resurgence programs, revival of
exposure and identity, but the move- American Indian arts and crafts, and
ment also became, like many social newfound ceremonial awareness all owe
movements of the time, a target of gov- their early genesis to some degree to the
ernment persecution. Red Power movement.
The main purpose of AIM is to en- Using the Black Panther opposition
courage self-determination among Na- to police brutality as a model for their
tive Americans via the international organization, AIM recognized the simi-
recognition of treaty rights, calling the larities in the treatment of Indian peo-
U.S. government to responsibility for the ple by members of law enforcement
many transgressions in federal Indian and the courts they support. In urban
policy. As AIM began to grow, many In- areas of the United States, where police
15
American Indian Movement (Red Power Movement) _____________________________________
forces were overwhelm- an AIM group occupied

ingly white, the relation- Somewhere, these Plymouth Rock in Massa-
ship between the police young men started chusetts on Thanksgiving
and minority communi- the American In- Day, painting it red in
ties was typically tense, dian Movement. protest. In February of
at best. AIM leaders And they came to 1972, Means led more
drew attention to the than a thousand Indian
fact that Indians were
our reservation activists into Gordon,
often harassed and even and they turned Nebraska, to protest that
beaten by police, and that light on in- community’s refusal to
that Indian people, es- side. And it’s get- indict the killers of Ray-
pecially in communities ting bigger, now mond Yellow Thunder, an
near reservations, were Oglala. The protest was
we can see things.
consistently dissatisfied successful in securing
with their treatment by
—An Oglala Elder both the indictments and
the courts. AIM also lob- eventual convictions of
bied for improved city services for the white men involved in the murder.
urban Indians, and established so- AIM members helped to organize and
called AIM Patrols, among the first offi- then participated in “fish-ins” in the Pa-
cial AIM actions, in Minneapolis, Min- cific Northwest to protest state fish and
nesota, in order to monitor the activities game laws that violated treaty rights of
of police officers. both coastal and inland waterway Indian
AIM soon began to establish chapters nations. In 1972 they organized a cara-
in many major cities, and its leaders van to Washington, D.C., dubbed the
came to California to participate in the Trail of Broken Treaties, occupying the
1969 occupation of Alcatraz Island by a offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In
group calling itself Indians of All Tribes. 1973, AIM directed the seventy-one-day
Because federal law states that property occupation at Wounded Knee, South
abandoned by the U.S. government Dakota, site of a horrific massacre of In-
should automatically return to the con- dian men, women, and children by the
trol of its previous owners, Indians of All U.S. cavalry in 1890. The occupation
Tribes claimed that the abandoned fed- began as a protest of state manipulation
eral penitentiary belonged to indigenous of internal Oglala reservation politics,
peoples. That is when another high-pro- but when the FBI sent in 250 armed
file AIM activist, Russell Means, an agents to surround the protestors, press
Oglala Sioux raised in California, began coverage allowed it to develop into a
his relationship with AIM. broad-based protest of American Indian
On July 4, 1971, Means led a protest at issues generally. At its culmination, the
Mount Rushmore. Later that same year, Wounded Knee occupation had become
16
____________________________________ American Indian Movement (Red Power Movement)
Poster urging support of the American Indian

Movement, created between 1968–1980. (Library
of Congress)
Bobby Onco, a Kiowa member of the American

a potent symbol for American Indian ac- Indian Movement (AIM), holding up rifle. This
photograph was taken after a cease-fire
tivism and the burgeoning Red Power agreement between AIM forces and federal
movement. marshals at Wounded Knee, Pine Ridge
The end of the Vietnam War would Reservation, South Dakota, March 9, 1973.
(Library of Congress)
portend a decline in U.S. protest move-
ments; the civil rights movement, of
which AIM is a part, entered a period of
quiescence. With passage of the Indian 1978 to commemorate the Trail of Bro-
Self-Determination Act of 1974, many ken Treaties protest of 1972. AIM and
Indian people felt that they had been other American Indian activists believe
successful in causing the federal govern- that broken treaties between the U.S.
ment to modify its Indian policies. Den- government and American Indian na-
nis Banks, another important AIM tions remains a relevant issue in Indian
leader, organized the Longest Walk in Country and that there is a need to raise
17
Angalkuq (Tuunrilría) ________________________________________________________________________
awareness about the history of broken the Angalkuq, often referred to in written
treaties. sources as a shaman. An Angalkuq might
Today the movement includes a num- also be known as Tuunrilría, or “one who
ber of chapters across the country and a is using power.” An Angalkuq tradition-
national board that oversees their AIM- ally performs a number of extremely im-
sanctioned activities. Through the end of portant tasks within the Yup’iq commu-
the twentieth century, however, AIM be- nity. She or he might work as healers, or
came much more focused on regional is- as intermediaries between the human,
sues rather than national ones, promot- spiritual, and animal worlds. They work
ing American Indian religious freedom to ensure a plentiful supply of game and
and sacred land rights at the state and gathered resources, to ensure good
local levels. weather, to prevent social conflict, and
Dennis F. Kelley also to foretell the future. These activities
See also Brave Bird, Mary (Crow Dog); Crow are all done with the power and assis-
Dog, Leonard; Ecology and tance of an iinruq, or powerful object
Environmentalism; Identity; Law, containing one’s spirit power, and the
Legislation, and Native Religion; Native
American Church, Peyote Movement; help of the Angalkuq’s spirit powers, or
Prison and Native Spirituality; tuunrat. The work of an Angalkuq takes
Retraditionalism and Identity Movements; place through carefully enacted rituals,
Termination and Relocation
ceremonies, songs, dances, masking,
References and Further Reading
Churchill, Ward, and Jim Vander Wall. 1988.
and storytelling.
Agents of Repression: The FBI’s Secret An Angalkuq works as an intermedi-
Wars against the Black Panther Party and ary between spiritual and human worlds.
the American Indian Movement. Boston:
While within a trance, the Angalkuq will
South End Press.
Dewing, Rolland. 1985. Wounded Knee: The travel to the spirit world, whether to the
Meaning and Significance of the Second animal spirits living on the seafloor,
Incident. New York: Irvington Publishers.
those in the skyworld, or the departed
Means, Russell, and Marvin J. Wolf. 1995.
Where White Men Fear to Tread. New ancestors in the underworld of the dead.
York: St. Martin’s Press. Angalkut are initiated into the role of
Weyler, Rex. 1982. Blood of the Land: The
spiritual leader through a dangerous
Government and Corporate War against
the American Indian Movement. New brush with death early in their lives, such
York: Everest House. as an intense illness. Having overcome
death, the Angalkuq is uniquely gifted
with the ability to journey between
worlds. In many of their ritual and cere-
Angalkuq (Tuunrilría)
monial activities, the Angalkuq directs or
Among the Yup’iq of northern Alaska, the enacts a dramatic representation of their
primary religious practitioner and spiri- visit with the yuit or personhood within
tual healer of the village community is an animal or other spiritual entity.
18
_______________________________________________________________________ Angalkuq (Tuunrilría)
Through masking, dance, songs, and sto- Angalkuq might lay hands on a patient,
ries, the Angalkut are able to re-enact holding or massaging the afflicted area.
these world-crossing journeys. Angalkut In doing so, such healers are able to draw
direct the carving of masks that will rep- the illness out of the patient and take it
resent the yuit of animals as well as their into their own bodies. They might also
own spirit helpers. The masks will be suck, blow, or lift the illness out of a pa-
used only once, as they are considered tient. In any event, their actions demon-
dangerous; they must be handled with strate an ability to break down the bar-
great care. After the dance, masks are de- rier between individual bodies, enabling
stroyed by fire or left out on the tundra to the illness to leave the patient’s body and
decompose. During rituals and cere- be dealt with by another, stronger body.
monies these masks enable the dancers Loud noises might also be employed,
to see with supernatural vision, as well as such as drumming and singing, in an ef-
making spiritual beings physically mani- fort to drive illness away. The Angalkuq
fest to the community. recognizes the close connection be-
Both men and women can be an An- tween illness and improper behavior.
galkuq, and they play central roles within Causing offense to the spirit of an animal
their communities as healers, social and or offending another person in one’s
political mediators, and spiritual inter- human community may bring on dis-
cessors. Throughout other important ease. The Angalkuq may therefore also
ceremonial festivals, such as the Bladder work to solicit a confession from the pa-
Festival, Kelek, and Enriq, the Angalkuq tient, if doing so seems appropriate. The
plays a central role. The Angalkuq travels healer may have to travel to the spirit
between worlds, meeting with the spirits world, or don the mask of a powerful
of animals and departed ancestors, work- spirit power, in order to discern what the
ing to ensure healthy relationships be- offense has been. Finally, individuals
tween the village and those spirits, and may be ill because of soul-loss. A part of
ensuring that the village will have all its their soul, their tarnera, might have de-
needs met: that game and plants will be parted from the patient’s body. The An-
plentiful; that the weather will be good. galkuq must then travel along the path to
As social mediators, Angalkut work to re- the spirit world, retrieve the tarnera, and
store human relationships, negotiate dis- bring it back to the community.
putes, solicit confessions, and assign Suzanne J. Crawford
proper punishments. See also Health and Wellness, Traditional
Working as a healer, an Angalkuq Approaches; Masks and Masking; Oral
might give an iinruq to an afflicted pa- Traditions, Haida; Potlatch
tient, the power of which may work to References and Further Reading
Blackman, Margaret B. 1989. Sadie Brower
cure and protect. Healing might occur Neakok: An Inupiaq Woman. Seattle:
through other ritual means as well. The University of Washington Press.
19
Archaeology ____________________________________________________________________________________
Fienup-Riordan, Ann. 1990. Eskimo Essays: more complicated and at the heart of
Yup’ik Lives and How We See Them. New definitions of cultural identity. The con-
Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
———. 1994. Boundaries and Passages: Rule flict has a deep history.
and Ritual in Yup’ik Eskimo Tradition.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Who Are the Indians and How Did
Kawagley, Oscar. 1995. A Yupiaq Worldview:
A Pathway to Ecology and Spirit. They Get Here?
Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. The presence of American Indians has
Turner, Edith. 1996. The Hands Feel It: puzzled Europeans from first contact.
Healing and Spirit Presence among a
Northern Alaskan People. DeKalb:
The land itself, unknown to Europeans,
Northern Illinois University Press. was one matter, but the people who
lived on it proved an even greater
enigma. European explanations of all
they saw around them were mostly the-
ological—that is, they relied on the Bible
Archaeology
to explain things. The land and people of
As a way of knowing the past, archaeol- the “New World” were fully outside the
ogy seems to challenge core elements of Bible, causing Europeans to ask if Amer-
many American Indian religions. Ar- ican Indians were even human. Answers
chaeology knows the past by excavation, explaining the Indian presence often
analysis, and interpretation of material took the form of rampant speculation,
remains, whereas American Indian reli- with some viewing American Indians as
gion knows the past from oral tradition, the descendents of the Lost Tribes of Is-
passed down through generations, rael. As the Europeans and Euro-Ameri-
which often contains the sacred history cans began to spread across the conti-
of a people. Disputes surrounding the nents, they encountered the pyramids of
excavation, study, storage, repatriation, Central and South America and the im-
and reburial of human remains and sa- pressive earthworks of North America.
cred objects—such as in the ongoing dis- Although a few Euro-Americans saw this
pute over the Kennewick skeleton—have monumental architecture as the cre-
brought the issues to the attention of the ation of the American Indians’ ances-
general public. Although the news media tors, most felt that Indian culture was in-
and some individuals portray the debate capable of building such wonders. In
as bipolar—archaeologists versus Indi- part their view was understandable,
ans; science versus religion—there is ac- however, in that many tribes had been
tually a continuum of opinion about the badly reduced by pandemic disease and
role of archaeology in telling the story of had become mere shadows of their for-
American Indian pasts. Although discus- mer selves by the time Euro-Americans
sions seem focused on skeletons and had direct contact. For others, explana-
grave goods, the issues are substantially tions filled a need to have a European—
20
___________________________________________________________________________________ Archaeology
Native American mound cemetery, Marietta, Ohio, created between 1920–1950. (Library of Congress)
that is, a white—history of the land, a By the late 1800s, and with the devel-
view that was informed by notions of opment of systematic archaeology, sci-
Manifest Destiny. Euro-Americans entific explanations had disproved the
needed an excuse to move Indians off Moundbuilder and other explanations in
their lands, therefore just about every favor of an Asian origin for the Indians.
explanation for the pyramids and earth- Certainly, after the discovery of the Fol-
works was employed, so long as Indian som site in New Mexico in 1926, the great
ancestors were not involved in their cre- antiquity of American Indians in North
ation. Groups as diverse as Vikings, Tar- America became widely accepted,
tars, and survivors of the Lost Continent though the precise date and method of
of Atlantis got the credit. Many of the ex- their arrival remained a matter of debate.
planations became linked to the By the 1950s, and with the help of carbon
Moundbuilder myth. The Mound- 14 dating, the Bering land bridge became
builders were a group of whites here be- the favored hypothesis. Lowered sea lev-
fore the Indians. They built the mounds, els during glacial periods were said to
but ultimately the ancestors of Indians have created Beringia, a wide land bridge
annihilated them. between Siberia and North America, and
21
Archaeology ____________________________________________________________________________________
an ice-free corridor opening onto the completely. What few scientists, espe-
Plains. Most scholars accepted as scien- cially American archaeologists, take into
tific dogma that the first people in the account, is that their explanations have
Americas were the Clovis hunters of large an impact on the descendents of those
animals such as mammoth, entering they study, whose views of origins might
what is now the United States around be very different from theirs and for
12,000 years ago. whom the scientific views have great
Still, anomalies of earlier sites in both consequences. Certainly these views are
Americas, some with substantially ear- at the heart of American Indian concerns
lier dates than Clovis, kept archaeolo- about archaeology.
gists hard at work. Indeed, by the 1960s Consider the following statements,
some suggested that people had come which represent the extreme positions in
from Asia by boat along the Pacific coast- the debate. Archaeologist Ronald Mason
line, avoiding the glaciers altogether. (1997, 3), for example, contends that sci-
Early sites in South America, such as at ence, “by its very nature must challenge,
Monte Verde in Chile, showed that peo- not respect, or acknowledge as valid,
ple had been in the area a few thousand such folk renditions of the past because
years earlier. By the year 2000, most sci- traditional knowledge has produced flat
entists had abandoned a “Clovis-first” earths, geocentrism, women arising out
hypothesis. Indeed, the discovery of the of men’s ribs, talking ravens and the his-
Kennewick Man, among other archaeo- torically late first people of the Black
logical findings, became a source of Hills upwelling from holes in the
major dispute between some scholars ground.” In one of the earliest Indian/
and American Indians and even raised anthropologist formal planned discus-
the specter of the Moundbuilders once sions on reburial, Prairie Potawatomi
again. Supposedly Caucasoid features of Chick Hale commented, “My people did
the Kennewick remains became “Cau- not cross the Bering Strait. We know
casian” in the news media. Very recent much about our past through oral tradi-
genetic work on remains in Ohio seems tions. Why do archaeologists study the
to suggest links to European genetic past? Are they trying to disprove our reli-
forms, in support of a few archaeologists gion? We do not have to study our ori-
who have hypothesized ancient connec- gins. I don’t question my teachings. I
tions to the Solutrean complex of Ice-Age don’t need proof in order to have faith”
Europe (Chatters 2001). (Anderson et al. 1980, 12–13). Cecil An-
As scholars find new evidence and tone of the Gila River Indian Tribes at an-
offer hypotheses to explain aboriginal other conference elaborated, “My ances-
Americans, scientific views of the origins tors, relatives, grandmother so on down
of the first inhabitants of the Americas the line, they tell you about the history of
are clarified, elaborated, or even changed our people and it’s passed on and basi-
22
___________________________________________________________________________________ Archaeology
cally, what I’m trying to say, I guess, is them to put calendrical dates on their se-
that archaeology don’t mean nothing. We quences. They see the present as only a
just accept . . . the way our past has been fleeting moment, with the emphasis on
established and just keep on trying to the past and future. Archaeologists have
live the same old style, however old it is” not uncommonly written about “study-
(Quick 1985, 103). ing the past for the future.”
These statements suggest a substan- Tradition-oriented American Indians
tial divide, indeed that perhaps archaeo- emphasize lived time. They look at time
logical and American Indian views are as more complex, not just sequential.
anathema. From where does this divide What is important is the event itself and
come when on the surface, the two its meaning to life. In this view, the very
would seem to be looking at the same perception of time is flexible. By exam-
past? After all, isn’t the past, the past? At ple, time seems to move more or less
one level archaeologists and American slowly surrounding an event. Time may
Indians would probably accept the idea seem to pass very slowly during anticipa-
that the past is composed of a set of tion of an event, but quickly during the
events that left material remains that the event itself. In this sense, the present is
archaeologists find in their excavations. crucial, not the past or the future. This
Beyond that, however, everything belies at the heart of what is often called
comes a matter of interpretation and “Indian time.” What is important is what
perspective. The same set of events and an event means in one’s life and what
material items get perceived differently, one learns from it, not that it occurs at a
and that leads to problems. precise point in time. The actors and lo-
As scientists, archaeologists empha- cations may change, but the fundamen-
size measured time. They look at time as tals of human behavior do not. That is a
linear, moving only forward from the core idea of natural law, immutable,
past to the future. Such a view allows ar- given at the time of creation, and very ev-
chaeologists to attach the remains they ident in the quotation from Antone
find to a framework of cause and effect, above.
helping them to explain change through These two views are at the heart of our
time. They break up that temporal understanding of the concepts of literacy
stream by using linguistic partitions, ap- and orality. For literate cultures, cultures
parent in their jargon, to describe an- based on the written word, time is neces-
cient cultures, complexes, phases, tradi- sarily sequential and linear. The “now” of
tions, and the like. Their dates are the present is gone in an immeasurable
relative but linear, with X phase coming instant and is de-emphasized. In oral
before Y phase coming before Z phase, cultures, with their emphasis on the spo-
backed up by absolute dates from car- ken word, the spoken exists only in the
bon 14 and other techniques allowing present and is gone quickly, so it must be
23
Archaeology ____________________________________________________________________________________
attended carefully. In written cultures concerned they dehumanize the re-

the emphasis in stories is the setup (the mains for study; to Indians that shows a
past) and the consequence (the future), deep disrespect.
whereas in the oral, the end of the story In a form of scientific positivism used
is contained in the beginning is con- by many archaeologists, there is only one
tained in the end, and so forth. Time and truth, and it is knowable if one uses the
past are a circle or spiral, always coming proper approach. Scientists advance hy-
back to the point of origin. In other potheses to explain the data they have
words, the past is always present. found. Their task becomes to disprove or
Archaeologists tend to say that the “falsify” the hypotheses. What can’t be
past is gone and that only archaeology disproved is likely to be true. This con-
can interpret it. Take, for example, the fuses laypeople, who often remark that
comments of archaeologist Clement science “proves” things. Thus when an
Meighan: “The archaeologist is defining archaeologist proposes something such
the culture of an extinct group and in as the Bering land bridge idea to account
presenting his research he is writing a for American Indian origins, then later
chapter of human history that cannot be demonstrates that the hypothesis is too
written except from archaeological in- simple and suggests other hypotheses,
vestigation. If archaeology is not done, people see that as a weakness of science;
the ancient people remain without a his- in fact it is the opposite. Scientists know
tory and without a record of their exis- this, but most others don’t. Some Ameri-
tence” (Meighan 1985, 20). can Indians, for example, see the expla-
For many Indian people, the past is nation of the Moundbuilders, the Bering
never gone; it is always present and alive. land bridge, the coastal boat hypothesis,
To some, what archaeologists call arti- and the new notions of a European con-
facts, especially human remains, Indian nection as evidence that archaeologists
people consider people, still present and don’t know what they are doing, or that
alive. When archaeologists say that the they have dominant-society political
past is gone unless archaeologists study agendas. Nowhere is that problem more
it, tradition-oriented Indian people evident than in Vine Deloria, Jr.’s (1995)
could take that to mean that the present attack on archaeology in his book Red
is also gone, and thus that they them- Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and
selves are gone. That is not so dissimilar the Myth of Scientific Fact.
from a viewpoint often expressed by Archaeologists don’t help the problem
non-Indians over the past centuries that when they make statements like that of
Indians were disappearing or gone. In Meighan, above, or when they claim to
addition, archaeologists objectify the re- have the facts or truth about the past. Al-
mains they find. Although scientists though most archaeologists claim to
claim otherwise, insofar as skeletons are have no personal political agenda, they
24
___________________________________________________________________________________ Archaeology
may fail to understand the impact of termined effort to bridge the gap between
what they are saying on the lives of In- archaeological evidence and the evidence
dian people. For example, debates about of oral tradition (Echo-Hawk 2000). Tribes
cannibalism among the Anasazi or sup- such as the Zuni, Hopi, and Navajo (Diné)
posed discoveries of syphilis before the began their own tribal archaeology pro-
arrival of Europeans get used against grams in the 1980s, and a number of other
American Indians in contemporary tribes have since done likewise. There is a
America. While those are specific exam- growing interest in what is being called
ples, on a broader and more important “indigenous archaeology,” but what that
level, if most archaeologists take the de- actually means remains undefined. Sev-
bunking attitude expressed by Mason in eral academic conferences have made it a
the quotation above, archaeology be- point of discussion. The differences may
comes a harsh and cruel discipline. If ar- seem small, but in some cases it may
chaeologists tell Indian people that they mean archaeological research done by
have the facts about Indian origins and tribal members on their own cultural re-
that Indians should accept the archaeo- mains; in others it may mean archaeology
logical story, what archaeologists are ac- done by outsiders in full partnership with
tually telling Indians is that their tribal tribal members. In either case the episte-
stories are untrue. For Indians to accept mology of the past—that is, “how we
archaeological stories of their pasts, they know what we know” about it—will
need to reject their own oral traditions, change.
and that is another attack on American On a practical level, several organiza-
Indian cultural identity. tions have enacted ethics codes to make
members aware of relevant issues. The
Sharing Control of the Past first organization to pass such a code
Although there have been efforts to bring was the World Archaeological Congress,
archaeology and American Indian view- which enacted the Vermillion Accord in
points together during the past quarter- 1989 and the Code of Ethics on Mem-
century, the trend has accelerated during bers’ Obligations to Indigenous Peoples
the last decade. There is obvious overlap in 1990 (Zimmerman 1997a, 106–107).
between some American Indian origin The Society for American Archaeology
stories and archaeological finds, if both (2002a) also enacted Principles of Ar-
sides are willing to shift perspectives chaeological Ethics in 1996 after much
slightly. Even under the Native American discussion. Two of its principles deal
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act with accountability to affected groups,
(NAGPRA), consideration of claims for one of them directly naming Native
repatriation of remains must include Americans. The Society for American
both scientific and oral tradition evidence Archaeology (SAA) developed an en-
equally. Some scholars have made a de- dowment for support of scholarships
25
Archaeology ____________________________________________________________________________________
for Native American and Native Hawai- bing” and as a tool of domination. In
ians to support training in archaeologi- truth, each can benefit the other, but de-
cal methods, including fieldwork, ana- velopment of an ethnocritical archaeol-
lytical techniques, and curation. The ogy in which archaeologists and Indians
National Science Foundation adds sup- are active and equal partners in explor-
port insofar as each year the SAA offers ing pasts will require epistemological
the Arthur C. Parker Scholarship, changes from both groups.
named after the organization’s first Larry J. Zimmerman
president (1935–1936), an archaeologist
See also Kennewick Man; Mourning and
of Seneca ancestry, and the NSF Schol- Burial Practices; Oral Traditions;
arships for Archaeological Training for Repatriation, Spiritual and Cultural
Native Americans and Native Hawaiians Implications
(SAA 2002b). The Plains Anthropologi- References and Further Reading
cal Society (2002), a major regional or- Anderson, Duane, et al., eds. 1980. Planning
ganization, also offers a scholarship for Seminar on Ancient Burial Grounds. Iowa
City: Office of the State Archaeologist of
Native American students. Finally, a Iowa.
number of archaeological field schools Chatters, James C. 2001. Ancient
now directly incorporate American In- Encounters: Kennewick Man and the First
Americans. New York: Simon and
dian concerns directly into field train- Schuster.
ing and offer interaction with Indian Deloria, Vine. 1995. Red Earth, White Lies:
communities. Native Americans and the Myth of
Scientific Fact. Scribner: New York.
Perhaps the most difficult issue for ar- Echo-Hawk, Roger C. 2000. “Ancient History
chaeology when it comes to dealing with in the New World: Investigating Oral
American Indians is learning how to Traditions and the Archaeological Record
in Deep Time.” American Antiquity 65,
share control of the past (Zimmerman
no. 2: 267–290.
1994). This is no easy matter for scien- Mason, Ronald J. 1997. “Letter to the
tists steeped in traditions of academic Editor.” Society for American Archaeology
Bulletin 15, no. 1: 3.
freedom where they set their own re-
Meighan, Clement W. 1985. “Archaeology
search agendas and reach their own and Anthropological Ethics.”
conclusions based on analysis of mate- Anthropology Newsletter 26, no. 9: 20.
Plains Anthropological Society. “Plains
rial remains and their excavated or doc-
Anthropological Society Native American
umentary contexts. Archaeologists must Student Award.”
also let go of the idea that what is going (http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/plains
on is just “identity politics,” when it is anth/Awards/NASAward.htm. Accessed
November 12, 2004.)
actually much more complicated, incor- Quick, Polly. 1986. Proceedings: Conference
porating the realm of sacred history. For on Reburial Issues, Newberry Library,
American Indians, the most difficult Chicago, June 14–15, 1985. Washington,
DC: Society for American Archaeology.
problem will be to abandon the stereo- Society for American Archaeology. 2002a.
typic views of archaeology as “grave rob- “Principles of Archaeological Ethics.”
26
___________________________________________________________________________________ Architecture
http://www.saa.org. (Accessed March 10, spaces and places—conceptual, natural,

2002.) and architectural.
———. 2002b. “Arthur C. Parker Scholarship
and National Science Foundation Some architectural forms are in-
Scholarship.” http://www.saa.org. tended exclusively for religious pur-
(Accessed March 10, 2002.) poses—for example, shrines and altars.
Thomas, David Hurst. 2000. Skull Wars:
Kennewick Man, Archaeology, and the In all Native American cultures the cate-
Battle for Native American Identity. New gories and rules of kinship and social
York: Basic Books. organization are represented or embod-
Zimmerman, Larry J. 1994. “Sharing Control
of the Past.” Archaeology 47, no. 6: 65,
ied in architectural forms and settle-
67–68. ment patterns. Consequently, some ar-
_____. 1997a. “Anthropology and Responses chitectural forms—such as houses and
to the Reburial Issue.” Pp. 92–112 in
plazas—serve multiple purposes, being
Indians and Anthropologists: Vine
Deloria, Jr. and the Critique of transformed from secular to sacred
Anthropology. Edited by Thomas Biolsi space as required by a communal ritual
and Larry J. Zimmerman. Tucson:
calendar or individual life crisis rites.
University of Arizona Press.
_____. 1997b. “Remythologizing the More complex structures are often
Relationship between Archaeologists and mnemonic designs for the remem-
Indians.” Pp. 44–56 in Native Americans
brance of the past. Each reflects some-
and Archaeologists: Stepping Stones to
Common Ground. Edited by Nina thing of a people’s engagement with the
Swidler et al. Walnut Creek, CA: Altimara sacred.
Press. The study of Native American archi-
tecture had its beginning in the late eigh-
teenth and early nineteenth centuries
when platform mounds built by several
Architecture
different American Indian cultures were
At the time of European discovery, North encountered along the Mississippi River
America was inhabited by more than a and its tributaries. In 1849, Lieutenant
million people who spoke a variety of James H. Simpson, leading a U.S. Army
languages and dialects, who were orga- exploring expedition through northwest-
nized into a large number of tribes rang- ern New Mexico, discovered a series of
ing from small bands to confederacies large ancestral Puebloan ruins in Chaco
and states of considerable size, and who Canyon. Paintings of the ruins by the ex-
engaged in diverse forms of environ- pedition’s artist, Richard Kern, illustrated
mental adaptation: hunting and gather- Simpson’s report and helped stir specula-
ing dominated in some areas, agriculture tion about who had built them and why.
in others. Here also were numerous and Among those speculative efforts was so-
diverse religious traditions whose con- cial evolutionist Lewis Henry Morgan’s
ception and practice were, and continue Houses and House-Life of the American
to be, embodied and given expression in Aborigines (1881), which sought to trace
27
Architecture ____________________________________________________________________________________
the forms of social organization associ- Diné acquired horses, sheep, goats, and
ated with the stages of human progress. agriculture. In spite of these changes in
Morgan was not interested in Native their subsistence economy, it is likely
American religion, nor were the French that their religion is ancient in its con-
sociologists Marcel Mauss and Henri ceptualization and practice. Father
Beuchat, whose Seasonal Variations of Haile’s paper was written to explain why
the Eskimo (1904–1905) considered social the Diné hogan, the home of the Diné
transformation within an ecological per- family, persisted next to other house
spective as they documented the change forms derived from Anglo-American
from dispersed summer dwellings to col- culture that began to appear on the
lective winter houses. Diné reservation in the 1930s.
At the beginning of the twentieth cen- The spatial and temporal structure of
tury Franz Boas and his students in the the Diné cosmology or worldview has its
American historical school rejected evo- basis in the Diné emergence narrative.
lutionary theory. They sought to under- Through a series of underworlds—four
stand historical relationships and em- or multiples of four—their ancestors,
phasized a more inductive approach that First Man, First Woman, and other Holy
came to be called historical particular- People arrived on this earth surface. In
ism. One of their major concerns was the underworlds—first world (black),
material culture, including architecture. second (blue), third (yellow), and fourth
As much as students of Native American (white)—various plants, animals, and
religious traditions make use of the de- other objects came into being that are
scriptive accounts of Boas and his stu- associated in this (fifth) world—in an
dents, notably of the totem poles and elaborate system of correspondences—
houses of the Kwakwak’wakw and Haida with the four directions and four sacred
along the Northwest Coast, the first ex- mountains in which East (life) is the
plicit contribution to an understanding most auspicious direction and North
of architecture as the representation or (death) the least so. As with many other
embodiment of the conception and Native American peoples, the traditional
practice of religion is to be found in a home of the Diné, the hogan, is on cer-
mimeographed paper by Father Berard tain occasions a microcosm reflecting
Haile, O.F.M., “Some Cultural Aspects of this worldview in elaborate detail. Haile
the Navajo Hogan” (1937; cf. 1942). summarizes the chantway narratives re-
The Diné (Navajo) are latecomers to garding the hogan, a conical structure
the American Southwest, arriving in traditionally built of wooden poles laid
their homeland perhaps only a century over with sticks and a thick layer of earth:
or two before the Coronado Expedition
(1539–1540). Through contact with the These prototype hogans mention
Spanish and Puebloan peoples, the either a four- or five-pole type of
28
___________________________________________________________________________________ Architecture
Hogan, meaning the main poles upon supernatural, primarily through the con-
which the structure leans. The four- struction and use of dry-paintings on the
pole skeleton was constructed of a
floor of the hogan (Lamphere 1987). As
white bead pole in the east, of a
turquoise pole in the south, of an Haile made clear, the hogan is a place of
abalone pole in the west, of a jet pole memory, meaning, and power.
in the north. . . . The legends let the The Hopi are ancient occupants of
spaces between the poles be filled with the same area of northeastern Arizona,
shelves of white . . . turquoise . . .
living today on a reservation sur-
abalone . . . jet. The course here
described introduces an important rounded by that of the Diné. Unlike the
observance known in Navajo ritual Diné, who traditionally lived in scat-
as . . . ‘guided by the sun,’ sun-wise tered hogans, the Hopi live in compact
(our clockwise course). Sandpainting villages, pueblos, on or near three fin-
figures, lines of prayer-sticks, sewing
gerlike projections south from Black
of masks, winding of pouches,
strewing of pollen or lotions, and Mesa. The Hopi are agriculturalists,
numerous other prescriptions must be whose diet of corn, beans, and squash
done sun-wise and the reverse was supplemented with small game
course . . . ‘sunward’ (our anti- prior to the introduction of sheep by the
clockwise), is taboo in ritual. (Haile
Spanish. Today Hopis farm, raise cattle,
1942, 42–43)
and engage in a variety of occupations
on and off the reservation. Neverthe-
So understood, the hogan is the less, corn remains a symbol of life and
proper place for the Diné curing cere- all that sustains it.
mony (“sing”). On these occasions, the At the beginning of the twentieth cen-
space within the hogan is defined by the tury, a Hopi village consisted of a series
categories and rules of kinship and the of multistoried, terraced structures
division of labor—men’s space and made of sandstone and adobe, each con-
women’s space, a place for the hataali’ taining a number of matrilineal/matrilo-
(“singer”) and for the patient—as well as cal living units (kihu, sing.) arranged in
by the processes that move a person long rows or irregularly around a central
from a state of “ugly conditions,” or plaza (kisoni). The kiva, a semisubter-
disharmony and disorder (hocho), to ranean religious structure constructed of
that of “pleasant conditions,” or har- similar materials and built in the form of
mony and balance (hozho). a rectangular keyhole, was located in the
The Diné curing ceremony involves plaza, in the broad streets, or at the ends
gifts (prestations) to the Holy People, ac- of the house-blocks. Changes have taken
tions intended to remove the “ugly con- place in building materials, and new
ditions” from the patient’s body through homes are built away from the tradi-
the use of emetics and a sweatlodge, and tional house-blocks; however, the kisoni
actions that identify the patient with the and kiva remain the focal points for a
29
Architecture ____________________________________________________________________________________
Hopi (Moqui) Snake kiva, Oraibi Pueblo, Arizona. Created between 1890–1932. (Library of Congress)
complex ritual calendar concerned with above the entrance to the kiva, remind
communal well-being. Hopis of the trees their ancestors
The concepts through which the Hopi climbed at the emergence. For Hopis, the
perceive, experience, and describe their sipapu is a symbolic medium for ex-
traditional architecture derive largely change and communication between
from their worldview. Hopi cosmology the upper world of the living and the
includes the notion of the evolution of lower world of the spirits—between life
mankind through four worlds, with final and life-after-this-life. From this concep-
emergence of the Hopi in the Grand tion, the levels of the kiva, the tall lad-
Canyon by way of the sipapu, or opening ders, the architecture of this world, and
from the underworld below. In Hopi the architecture of their cosmology cor-
thought, the architecture of the kiva— respond and complement each other.
through the sipapu, an opening in the The Hopi plaza (kisoni) remains the
floor, and the levels of the floors—repli- focal point for a complex ritual calendar
cates this account. The ladders, which and the center of a series of roughly con-
stood against the door-level first floor ex- centric circles of men’s and women’s
terior of the traditional kihu or extended space. A tendency toward bilateral inheri-
30
___________________________________________________________________________________ Architecture
tance and neolocal residence has altered early summer take place in the kisoni co-
the view of the kihu as women’s space. incident with a complex ritual drama,
The kiva, however, continues to serve pre- tsukulalwa (clowning, clown ceremony),
dominately as men’s space. Nearby gar- in which behavior that is un-Hopi (qa-
dens are tended by women, while men hopi) is subjected to the judgment of
care for cornfields and livestock at some laughter by those gathered along the
distance from the villages. Beyond these sides of the plaza and on the rooftops
categories of space, priests collect snakes above. Finally, the plaza is designed with
and eagles (as messengers to sacred entrances/exits used in other rituals for
space, below and above), make offerings processions and for the expression of
at distant shrines (natural and architec- prayers and prayer offerings to the four
tural), and go on expeditions for salt. directions.
The kiva and the kisoni are architec- The conceptualization and practice of
turally defined spaces that are used for Hopi religion are not limited to the kiva
both sacred and secular activities. In the and the kisoni and the community phys-
spring and early summer the kachinas ically defined by the architecture of the
come to the Hopi villages as “messen- village. When the first amateur ethnolo-
gers” to receive the prayers and prayer gists visited the Hopi toward the end of
offerings of the Hopi people and to recip- the nineteenth century, they were told of
rocate with food and assurances that the Hopi’s pact or covenant with Ma’sau
their prayers have been heard. The (God of the earth’s surface) and of the
masked figures (kachinas) are the spirits land given to them, land they referred to
of the ancestors and the spiritual essence as Ma’saututsqua (Ma’sau’s land).
of all things and beings within the Hopi Ma’sau told the Hopi, “Look in the val-
world. They not only carry prayers to the leys, the rocks and the woods, and you
gods; they also return as rain for the corn will find my footsteps there.” Today, the
plants that sustain Hopi life. The kachi- Hopi distinguish between tutsqua (land
nas are spoken of as “beautiful beings,” as a geopolitical construct) and Hopitut-
for they are the embodiment of the Hopi squa (Hopi land, a religious concept).
way (hopi). When the kachinas first ap- Hopitutsqua is conceptual, natural, and
pear in the spring, they climb the ladder architectural. It includes sacred moun-
of a kiva, entering this world from the tains, rivers, springs—the sources of life-
lower world, and when they depart at the sustaining moisture as the kachinas, as
end of the Niman, or “home-going” clouds are seen gathering on the San
dance, they process to the west, in the di- Francisco Peaks to the west—as well as
rection of the San Francisco Peaks, where shrines through which offerings are
in their cloud form they gather and remade, for example, to the four sacred di-
turn as the blessings of rain. The kachina rections. It is to these places that pil-
“dances” or ceremonies of spring and grimages, prayers, and prayer offerings
31
Architecture ____________________________________________________________________________________
are directed and from these places that For much of the history of the aca-
the blessings that sustain Hopi life flow. demic study of vernacular architecture,
Finally, it is to these places that Hopis the focus and unit of analysis has been
look to sustain the memories of their the built form—for example, house, cer-
emergence and the migrations of their emonial structure—and only gradually
clans, and to see in the ruins of villages has attention spread to settlement pat-
destroyed or abandoned in the past terns and then to what are often called
moral lessons to be remembered for sus- cultural or ritual landscapes. And yet,
taining their communities today. Native Americans have always located
Ma’sau was also the first house- the meaning and purpose of their archi-
builder, the first architect, who has a tecture within a larger conceptual
two-story house underground. And framework, as in a narrative by Tyon, a
Ma’sau is death. Thus the graveyard is Sioux, at the beginning of the twentieth
Ma’sau’s kiva, Maski. It is not simply a century:
burial place (tuu’ami); it is the entrance
to the Underworld. A stick (massaqa) The Oglala believe the circle to be
erected on the top of a grave symbolizes sacred because the Great Spirit caused
everything in nature to be round
the ladder through which the spirit except stone. Stone is the implement
rises to go to the Spirit World. An early of destruction. The sun and the sky,
student of the Hopi, Alexander M. the earth and the moon are round like
Stephen, was told, “The dead go to the a shield, though the sky is deep like a
bowl. Everything that breathes is
lower stage or story where the houses
round like the stem of a plant. Since
are as we live in. The plan of the house the Great Spirit has caused everything
was brought from the interior [Under- to be round, mankind should look
world], and what is called dying is a re- upon the circle as sacred, for it is the
turn to the early house; men and symbol of all things in nature except
stone. It is also the symbol of the circle
women follow their usual vocations
that makes the edge of the world, and
there.” The kiva is, in this sense, “the therefore of the four winds that travel
house that is coming, the future house, there. Consequently, it is also the
the house they return to” (Stephen symbol of the year. The day, the night,
1936, 150–151). Thus the kiva is a mi- and the moon go in a circle above the
sky. Therefore the circle is a symbol of
crocosm of the Hopi world whose prin-
these divisions of time, and hence the
cipal tenet is the continuity of life in symbol of all time. For these reasons
this world with life in the “interior” or the Oglala make their tipis circular,
Underworld. Life and death, day and their camp-circle circular, and sit in a
night, summer and winter are seen not circle at all ceremonies. The circle is
also the symbol of the tipi and of
simply as opposed but as involved in a
shelter. If one makes a circle for an
system of alternation, continuity, and ornament and it is not divided in any
reciprocities that sustains both. way, it should be understood as the
32
___________________________________________________________________________________ Architecture
cosmology is vertical in orientation, with

the house pole symbolically linking the
sky world, this world, and the under-
world. A center place—not literally a ge-
ographical center so much as a cosmo-
logical center and focus of spiritual
power—is also a common feature,
whether located in a hearth as with the
Haida or in the sipapu as with the Hopi.
Sacred knowledge is often the privileged
responsibility of a shaman, priest, or
other religious specialist or group of spe-
cialists, and the activities associated with
this knowledge are often set apart and
secret. For example, while the Hopi
Snake-Antelope Ceremony lasts eight
days, most of the preparations, prayers,
and prayer offerings take place within
two kivas with only selected members of
the Snake or Antelope societies present.
Tepee, ca. 2000. (Corbis) Space and place—how each is de-
fined, logically structured, and symboli-
cally expressed—are fundamental to the
symbol of the world and of time. (Tyon conceptualization and practice of Native
in Walker 1917, 160) American religious traditions. More than
in any other form of material culture,
The conceptualization and practice of memory, meaning, and power are em-
religion in architectural forms reflects bodied or represented in the built envi-
the great diversity and richness of Native ronment, the architectural forms, of Na-
American traditions. At the same time tive American cultures.
there are many common elements. The Louis A. Hieb
shape of the house is often the shape of
See also Mounds; Sacred Sites and Sacred
the universe, as in the circular form of Mountains; Sweatlodge
the Oglala tepee and the Diné hogan.
The orientation of the dwelling is often Haile, Berard. 1942. “Why the Navaho
to the cardinal directions, however those Hogan?” Primitive Man 15, nos. 3–4:
are defined. For example, the Pawnee 39–56.
Humphrey, Caroline, and Piers Vitebsky.
earth lodge is oriented to the morning 1997. Sacred Architecture. Boston: Little,
and evening stars. In contrast, the Haida Brown.
33
Art (Contemporary), Southwest _____________________________________________________________
Lamphere, Louise. 1987. “Navajo Religion.” the Southwest, the area reveals a signifi-
Pp. 337–340 in The Encyclopedia of cant number of out-of-region artists who
Religion, vol. 10. Edited by Mircea Eliade.
New York: Macmillan. moved there in order to participate in the
MacDonald, George F. 1983. Haida centralized and vibrant art markets of
Monumental Architecture. Vancouver: towns such as Santa Fe, New Mexico;
University of British Columbia Press.
Nabokov, Peter, and Robert Easton. 1987. Scottsdale, Arizona; and, to a lesser ex-
Native American Architecture. New York: tent, parts of Colorado, Nevada, Texas,
Oxford University Press. and Utah.
Saile, David G. 1977. “Making a House:
Building Ritual and Spatial Concepts in
The idea that artists recorded what
the Pueblo Indian World.” Architectural they knew of their own individualized
Association Quarterly 9, nos. 2–3: 72–81. tribal experiences has given way to inter-
Stephen, Alexander M. 1936. Hopi Journal
pretations of modern Western and cul-
of Alexander M. Stephen. Edited by Elsie
Clews Parsons. New York: Columbia tural themes that may or may not have
University Press. any relationship to the artist’s own tribal
Swentzell, Rina. 1987a. “Bupingeh: The
affiliation and experience. For example,
Pueblo Plaza.” El Palacio 94, no. 2:
14–19. an identifiable school of modern Diné
———. 1987b. “Pueblo Space, Form, and painting can produce the stylized depic-
Mythology.” Pp. 23–30 in Pueblo Style
tion of a Northern Plains hunting scene
and Regional Architecture. Edited by
N. C. Markovich, W. F. E. Preiser, and F. G. in which mounted warriors hunt buffalo
Strum. New York: Van Nostrand in a staged landscape that resembles the
Reinhold. Grand Canyon. Such imaginative depic-
Walker, James. 1917. “The Sun Dance and
Other Ceremonies of the Oglala Division tions are closer to the earlier styles of
of the Dakota.” Anthropological Papers of Frederick Remington and Charles M.
the American Museum of Natural History Russell, whose presentation of nine-
16: 51–221.
teenth-century cowboy and Indian
theme paintings continues to be repro-
duced today for popular and specialized
Art (Contemporary), markets.
Disciplinary frameworks of anthro-
Southwest
pology and art history have long defined
The universe of contemporary South- Native American Southwest arts from
west art—like all divisions within Native within ethnographic contexts that
American art history—is drawn by multi- sought to unify art forms according to
ple boundaries and overlapping begin- material applications, such as basketry,
ning points. textiles, jewelry, and painting. While
Of these, issues of authorship, iden- these typologies proved useful as mu-
tity, and authenticity hail from diverse seum-based categories, artists today
locales to find a regional focus. In addi- draw from a range of media, often amal-
tion to the tribes that are situated within gamating them in installation works and
34
____________________________________________________________ Art (Contemporary), Southwest
Ray Tafoya, co-owner of Povijemu Indian Art, Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, incises a design on a
piece of pottery. (Macduff Everton/Corbis)
through new media technologies. Con- 2000), she highlights the commercializa-
temporary artists often combine their tion of Southwest arts by visually com-
own culture-based traditions, studio menting on the mass production of art-
practices, traditional motifs, and new works, underscored by the tourist trade
materials and forms. For example, Santa in low-cost items sold in the public plaza
Clara artist Nora Naranjo Morse draws of Santa Fe, the international “center” for
from her Pueblo traditions in her sculp- Indian art. Her work highlights how
tural works of clay and bronze, especially artists who bring the market into their
where she re-creates conceptual images work provide a window into art practices
of Tewa adobe structures (Out of the Wall themselves, which in turn influence art
Experience, 2000). In resituating the trends in the Southwest and elsewhere.
Pueblo past, Naranjo Morse’s work is also The Southwest remains a regional site
a commentary on the present-day con- for the traffic in Native American arts.
ditions of Southwest arts in relation to Nowhere is this more apparent than at
the market. In her video installation the annual Santa Fe Indian Market and
What Was Taken, What We Sell (1996– the Heard Museum’s Indian Market in
35
Art (Contemporary), Southwest _____________________________________________________________
Phoenix, Arizona. These art markets many others, certain family names have
bring together artists from all over the become associated with particular art
United States in a regional setting that forms over time, as art practices con-
upholds the Southwest as a key place for tinue within a frame of cultural continu-
commerce in the Native art trade. More- ity that links generations of artists within
over, the range of arts included in any tribal communities. The contemporary
given year offers the would-be buyer a ceramicist Virgil Ortiz exemplifies a
glimpse into the prolific range of artistic younger generation of artists who inno-
media, especially objects that tradition- vate upon kin-based artistic traditions.
ally—in art historical terms—define craft Ortiz (Cochiti) plays with cultural
movements. These crafts include a range iconography to create playful and daring
of objects based in cultural expectations, clay characters reminiscent of earlier in-
such as Hopi kachinas, Navajo (Diné) ventions, such as the Cochiti storytellers
textiles, and a range of Southwestern of Helen Cordero. Based on her great-
jewelry by such noted artists as Charles grandfather, these figurines surrounded
Loloma (Hopi), Gail Bird, and Yazzie by Indian children have become symbols
Johnson (Diné), and innovative “craft” of Cochiti cultural life and artistic inno-
forms such as the award-winning glass vation.
works of Isleta artist Tony Jojola. Distinct from the influences of the
While each of these categories has its Pueblos, other new sculptural forms
own unique art history in Native con- arose in the Southwest, most notably the
texts, tribal symbols and motifs continue early sculptural works of Chiracahua
to mark objects in significant ways that Apache artist Alan Houser. Houser re-
enable tribal identifications with new art ceived national acclaim as early as 1949,
forms. For instance, the noted Hopi pot- when he was awarded a Guggenheim
ter Nampeyo developed her own distinc- Fellowship. His prolific body of work is
tive style in the 1930s, yet drew from the memorialized in Santa Fe at the Alan
techniques of prehistoric Anasazi pot- Houser Sculpture Garden, in addition to
tery designs. The well-known insignia numerous museums and private collec-
and design motifs developed by Nam- tions. His son, Bob Haozous, continues
peyo and her daughters continue today to break new ground with his sculptures
as a hallmark of a family tradition that and installation works that tackle com-
defines these ceramic wares as distinc- plex issues of identity and renewal of in-
tively “Hopi.” Likewise, San Ildefonso digenous cultural values.
potters Maria and Julian Martinez devel- Site-specific works parallel trends in
oped a black-on-black incised pottery non-Native art practices, as installation
technique that today stands out as em- and public works became more promi-
blematic, if not exemplary, of San Ilde- nent in the 1980s and 1990s. These “post-
fonso pottery. By these examples, and studio” works, as they are sometimes
36
____________________________________________________________ Art (Contemporary), Southwest
called, were an outgrowth of the preced- erations of painters emerged, first fol-
ing decades of studio art—especially lowing then later breaking with the
under the influence of the Southwest “studio” style guidelines and prescrip-
studio school of the Institute of Ameri- tions. Among the earliest painters to
can Indian Arts (IAIA)—coupled with an rise to prominence was Joe Herrera (b.
activist orientation to art practices that 1923), who drew from his Cochiti and
attempted to reclaim public spaces, from San Ildefonso roots, especially the in-
ancestral lands to museum galleries. So- fluence of his mother, Tonita Pena, a
called traditional arts became rein- self-taught watercolorist. Herrera wed
vented and redirected in the social and his own tribal traditions with those of
art movements of the late twentieth cen- the Studio School and the Euro-Ameri-
tury. For example, the paintings of Diné can modernists of the 1950s to create a
artist Joe Ben, Jr., draw from the art of powerful synthesis in form and popular
sand painting, a ritual art form made for reception.
ceremonial purposes and barred from By the 1960s, the melding of political
display to outsiders. Ben incorporates claims with art genres ushered in an ac-
minerals and pulverized stones, such as tivist consciousness that found artistic
turquoise (blue), sulfur (yellow), copper, expression in the establishment of the
and coal to attain naturalized effects, IAIA in Santa Fe. The consideration and
lending new meanings to “sand paint- assertion of an American Indian identity
ings” in a fine arts context. Other non- as integral to the artwork is both politi-
ritual and tourist versions of sand paint- cized and legitimated by artists and art
ings, which use sand as a medium for consumers who deem the notion impor-
iconographic depiction, are now sold in tant to modern art forms created and
tourist shops throughout the Southwest. sold today.
Like contemporary Hopi kachina carvers Within the contemporary art market,
and Pueblo ceramic artists, the transfor- the representation of a recognizable style
mation of ritual arts for the market has that reflects a specific geographical loca-
created new forms of cultural abstraction is one way to localize Southwestern
tion in all media. art. For example, Shonto Begay ( Diné) is
Abstract art remains most strongly a postimpressionistic painter whose
associated with painting, and the work often centers on the subject of con-
Southwest holds a particular beginning temporary Diné reality, such as his de-
point in Native art history with the in- pictions of the family-centered drive
troduction of painting by Dorothy from the reservation in Arizona to the
Dunn in the 1930s and the “Southwest off-reservation town of Gallup, New
studio” style that was its outgrowth. Mexico. This school of “Diné realism” is
From interventionist forms of artistic unique to the Southwestern Indian art
assimilation such as Dunn’s, new gen- market. Begay, a painter and illustrator
37
Art (Traditional and Contemporary), California and the Great Basin ________________
of children’s books, has dominated the Albuquerque: University of New Mexico

art market for a decade with paintings Press.
Chase, Katherin. 2002. Indian Painters of
that locate the Diné experience often ob- the Southwest: The Deep Remembering.
served from a pickup truck mirror, Santa Fe: School of American Research
through the back window, or gazing from Press.
Hedlund, Ann Lane. 1993. Reflections of the
a truck bed where a family huddles Weaver’s World: The Gloria F. Ross
against desert elements of heat, wind, Collection of Contemporary Navajo
and sun. Weaving. Denver: Denver Art Museum.
Whiteford, Andrew Hunter. 1988.
At the turn of the twenty-first century, Southwestern Indian Baskets: Their
Southwest artists and art centers con- History and Their Makers. Santa Fe:
tinue to hold significant places within School of American Research Press.
the national Native art scene. A 2002
showcase at New York’s American Craft
Museum brought together more than
two hundred contemporary works of ap- Art (Traditional and
proximately ninety established and Contemporary), California
emerging Southwestern artists in the ex-
and the Great Basin
hibition Changing Hands: Art without
Reservation. Featured artists included The cultural and artistic heritage of the
ceramic artist Nancy Youngblood Lugo, indigenous populations of the Great
textile artist Ramona Sakiestewa, and Basin and California began long before
mixed media artists such as Tammy Gar- the Euro-American intrusion and dis-
cia. Although the faces and forms of ruption of those cultures. The spiritual
Southwestern artists will continue to foundation of their religious beliefs was
change, the grounding of cultural histo- that the interdependence of man and
ries continues to inform the themes, nature affects the well-being of the liv-
shapes, and iconographies for future ing earth and its inhabitants. There was
generations of artists. respect and appreciation for the plants
Tressa Berman and Aleta M. Ringlero and animals that provided food, shelter,
See also Art (Traditional and and clothing. The symbiotic relation-
Contemporary), California and the Great ship of humankind and nature was ac-
Basin; Art (Traditional and knowledged in the yearly cycle of spiri-
Contemporary), Northeast; Art
(Traditional and Contemporary), tual activities.
Northwest Coast; Art (Traditional and The Renewal Ceremony recognized
Contemporary), Plains; Symbolism in the spring as the new year; the fall, with
Ritual and Ceremony
the maturation of plants and the time of
gathering, was a time for Nature to rest.
Cajete, Gregory, and Joy Gritton. 2000. The
Institute of American Indian Arts: Despite the onslaughts of the last two
Modernism and U.S. Indian Policy. centuries, the ceremony continues. “As
38
_______________ Art (Traditional and Contemporary), California and the Great Basin
The world is a gift from our old ones. This sacred gift was
created through love and respect by those elders who un-
derstood the beauty of their surroundings. Their under-
standing encompassed the total meaning of life within the
environment. The old ones paid close attention to the sa-
cred earth and all its nature. They were involved with the
mysterious and magical dimensions of reality. The evidence
for the representation of the earth as a mystical and magi-
cal place was given embodiment through the experiences of
those who made visits to sacred places. The power of knowl-
edge was revealed to medicine people and traditionalists
involved in its pursuit. We respect those thoughts and
teachings; when we are forgetful and need reminding of
those teachings they are given back to us in our dreams.
—Frank LaPena, 1987
modern society confronts the conse- contact, the physical display of energy in
quences of its brutality toward nature, its the application of pigments is reminis-
destruction of the land, water, and air, cent of the abstract expressionism
the Indian respect for the Earth has movement of the twentieth century. In a
proven its truth and relevance and now spiritual sense, the paintings formulated
even those who had ignored it, at great an effort to comprehend the relation-
cost to the environment, acknowledge its ship of the inhabitants to their environ-
profundity” (LaPena 1992, 43). ment and the cosmos. In observation of
Some of the earliest known artistic the world and the sacred, certain colors
works in the California/Great Basin re- became associated with the directions
gion are the petroglyphs and picto- and powers of the world. Sometimes a
graphic murals, which are diverse, com- color was intentionally used to make sa-
plex, and found in great abundance. cred art; sometimes the colors used were
Many petroglyphs are of game animals, found in the local region. Some of the
but the finest examples of art are found colors used were black, white, yellow,
in the complex polychromatic abstract red, blue-green, and a wide palette of
pictographs of the Chumash residing earth pigments.
along the Santa Barbara coastal regions. With the arrival of the Euro-American,
Although the murals date from before the natural world of this sacred land and
39
its people were changed forever. The ex- legal seizure of land displaced many
pansion of the Spanish into California Great Basin tribes.
with the establishment of the Mission Traditional knowledge and the wis-
System (1769–1833) devastated the dom of the elders became vital to main-
southern California coastal Native “In- taining the worldview and spiritual in-
dian” populations where the missions formation against all the changes
were built. The colonial attitude of supe- brought on by “civilization.” “All things
riority over an invaded people was used in and of the earth relate one to another
by the church to denigrate the Native and are interrelated in the concept of a
people and to justify their exploitation. sacred circle. This idea, of sacredness,
The Native people helped to build includes all living things; all things in life
and decorate the missions with paint- are living and thus interconnected”
ings and ornamental designs. “A series of (LaPena 1985, 11). In order to help main-
twelve paintings on sailcloth at San tain tradition, the traditional cere-
Gabriel Mission attributed to Indian monies had to be done more or less in
artists of the Gabrielino tribes are be- secret. This allowed the Shaker Religion
lieved to have been painted in 1779.” and the Native American church to es-
Other objects produced in this period tablish themselves.
included murals as well as “statues and The Indian basketry being done in
figurines, plaques, iron grill work, California and to a lesser degree in the
church implements, costumes, stamped Great Basin was acknowledged as being
and colored leatherwork, textiles, metal- some of the finest work by traditional
work and embroideries” (Webb 1952, weavers anywhere in the world. Special
232–237). baskets of a religious nature were made
The following century saw the secu- for funerals, for use in ceremonies, for
larization of the Mission System, a con- doctoring and healing, and for use as
tinuing scourge of epidemic diseases, gifts. Baskets were used every day for
enslavement and genocide, and a relent- gathering; preparation and use of the
less westward expansion relating to the plants always involved prayers and
ideology of Manifest Destiny. The Gold proper conduct, as well as respect and
Rush and statehood were particularly care for the living plant and gathering
devastating to the indigenous peoples of places.
California: from the time of first contact, There were places of special power
they lost more than 90 percent of their and of spiritual importance.
population by 1900. The Great Basin suf- Mt. Shasta was sacred to the Wintu
fered as well. The people coming over- and other regional tribes, and especially
land had to pass through the Great Basin to healers and medicine people. Grant
to get to the California gold fields. Later, Towendolly (1873–1963), a Wintu medi-
silver mining, ranching, farming, and il- cine man and storyteller, painted many
40
paintings of Mt. Shasta. Most of his The themes are related through creation
paintings were done between 1904 and myths, stories, and songs. These in turn,
1910. relate to understanding and controlling
Many Indian children were removed the philosophical and ethical foundation
from their families and sent away to U.S. that helps one make a good and meaning-
government Indian schools, where In- ful life” (ibid., 10). In Indian tradition, we
dian languages and religion were not al- believe that to make a whole and com-
lowed. The Stewart Indian School was plete person is more desirable than to cre-
one of the government boarding schools ate a fractionalized person who would be
at Carson City, Nevada. American Indi- disjointed and nonconnected in body
ans were given citizenship in 1924. and spirit. There is no “school” of art that
Under the Indian Reorganization Act of significantly influences the artists work-
1934, it was possible for the Indian artists ing in California. Perhaps the main reason
to have their work accepted in public li- for this is the special place that Indian re-
braries, schools, and post offices. Before ligion, culture, and tradition play in their
that time a law restricted the use of In- lives. George Blake, a Hupa/Yurok, re-
dian art by the U.S. government. ceived the National Endowment for the
The Termination Programs of the Arts Heritage Award in 1991. His experi-
1950s were a major factor of demo- ence of learning and working with Homer
graphic change. Under this program the Cooper, a Yurok sinew-back bow maker,
U.S. government moved Indian tribal exemplifies the importance of the rela-
members from other states to California; tionship of young and old and traditional
it took people off the reservation and knowledge. After several years of study
from rural areas and moved them to the and acquiring information from others,
cities and abandoned them there. This Blake with the last bow he had finished
disruption created a lot of problems but visited Homer in the hospital before he
also forced a commingling of diverse died. “I greeted him, and first made some
tribes. The bringing together of individu- conversation. But he couldn’t wait. He
als from different tribal regions helped said, ‘What’s that you got behind you
create a “pan-Indian” awareness of is- there?’ I guess he knew, so I pulled it
sues common to many tribes. Social out. . . . He put that bow on his lap, and
commentary issues became part of the then he stroked it from the center of the
public domain, and subject matter for belly all the way out, then he turned
Indian artists. around and looked at me and grinned. He
Many contemporary artists work in said, ‘That’s the way I remember them as
both the traditional and the fine arts tra- a boy’”(Ortiz 1995, 31).
dition. Several are also noted poets. “Cer- “Despite a dissonance between the
tain themes flow through the conscious- traditional and contemporary ways, we
ness of the tribal society and its members. confirm the ancient teachings of the
41
earth to have valid lessons for today. Art tion into the ceremonial dance house so-
helps to create order through the use of ciety was the beginning of his ceremo-
symbols. These symbols help us to main- nial dancing and singing. His art relates
tain the connection between traditional to the ceremonies and dances of North-
and contemporary cultures by remind- ern California.
ing us of our responsibility for the way Brian Tripp (1945–), Karok, is a tradi-
we choose to live, the way we relate our tional dancer, singer, and poet. The
lives to the universal connection of the yearly dance cycle is important in under-
sacred circle” (LaPena 1985, 10). Cere- standing his work. His artwork is eclectic
monies and dances in California–Great and surprising. He uses scavenged and
Basin are associated with tribal regions natural materials for his mixed media
that cover the desert, the ocean, the pieces, including wood scraps, rock,
mountains, marshlands, and prairie; all glass, different types of paper, rope,
are unique. wood, paint, oil pastels, and graphite.
Frank Day (1902–1976), Konkow In his painting “In No Uncertain
Maidu, was known for his ability to de- Terms,” Brian suggests that death, like
pict the oral tradition in visual form. He life, is part of the total life experience that
also taught dance and music to the each of us has to face. Whether we accept
Maidu Dancers and Traditionalists, thus tradition or not, it still exists. The ques-
increasing the importance of his influ- tion is, What do we want to do with our
ence and work. Day was the son of a lives, and what do we want life to mean?
Konkow Maidu headman from Berry In recent years he has painted many mu-
Creek, which was isolated in the foothills. rals and has given poetry readings here
In some respects Day was the artist most and overseas in which he has shared as-
connected to a time when cultural tradi- pects of his culture and art.
tions were still widely practiced. His work Jean LaMarr (1945–), Paiute/Pit River,
is called “primitive” in the “naive” style of is a master printmaker and painter. She
the self-taught artist, but his knowledge has gone back to the reservation and set
and understanding of the Konkow myths, up a print shop and helped the young
legends, and history represented more people to gather stories from the elders.
than the label “naive,” used to define his They then have used the inspiration and
technical approach, implies. collective memory of the elders to create
Frank LaPena (1937–), Nomtipom murals for the community. For many
Wintu, is a traditional singer and dancer. years she printed posters for the annual
One of his teachers from the Grindstone renewal Bear Dance of the Mountain
Nomlakki Wintun reservation was born Maidu, held at Janesville in Lassen
in 1887. The sacred roundhouse at the County. Her recent works have been
reservation is the oldest continuously mixed media and help to tell the story of
used house in California. LaPena’s initia- her elders.
42
Harry Fonseca (1946–), Nisenan lands. I want my drawings to wake peo-

Maidu, became known for his Coyote ple up” (Heard Museum 1987, 7).
paintings. He knew this ceremonial fig- Frank Tuttle (1957–), Yuki-Wailaki/
ure from his involvement in traditional Konkow Maidu, is a realist who com-
dance, so that he was able to deal with bines found objects with his paintings.
the irreverence and the trickster person- His painting of his father, “Seasons
ality of Coyote. His interest in the Maidu Coming and Going,” is one such mas-
creation story and his research with pet- terpiece. It makes reference to his fa-
roglyphs and the California Gold Rush ther’s role as a dancer of the Hesi and
resulted in other series of work. the Toto. With their sticks, netting, flags,
Rick Bartow (1946–), Yurok, uses art and even words, his art pieces can be
to understand his place in the world. appreciated on many levels. He and his
After the trauma of the Vietnam War, his wife, Cheryl, are basket makers and
art helped him to express the isolation makers of traditional dance and cere-
and hurt of a sensitive personality. His monial regalia.
ability to capture the terror and fascina- The spiritual heritage and future of
tion of the transformation of a medicine California–Great Basin Indian art are en-
man or shaman involves the power of sured by the emergence of new young
Bear or Hawk. He is a prolific artist in artists and a continuing involvement of
sculpture, print, etching, and painting, the young in basket making, dance, and
as well as a fine musician and singer with ceremony.
his own band. Frank LaPena
Jack Malotte (1953–) is Western
See also Art (Contemporary), Southwest; Art
Shoshone. “My drawings reflect my feel- (Traditional and Contemporary), Northeast;
ings about the Indians’ connection with Art (Traditional and Contemporary),
Northwest Coast; Art (Traditional and
the earth and sky spiritually, physically,
Contemporary), Plains; Ceremony and
and politically. I can feel the colors and Ritual, California; Cry Ceremony; Dance,
the wind. The energy of the natural world Great Basin; Oral Traditions, California;
will always be here. Even after a nuclear Power, Barbareño Chumash; Power, Great
Basin; Religious Leadership, California;
war, the stars will still shine and the light- Religious Leadership, Great Basin;
ning will flash. Human beings could ster- Retraditionalism and Revitalization
ilize the earth and destroy our children’s Movements, California
ability to survive the earth, but these References and Further Reading
Bibby, Brian. 1996. The Fine Art of
things will always be here.
California Indian Basketry. Sacramento,
I draw the atom bombs and militariza- CA: Crocker Art Museum in association
tion of Nevada with a lot of colors to with Heyday Books.
draw people’s attention. I think about Dobkins, Rebecca. 1997. Memory and
Imagination: The legacy of Maidu Indian
these things because it is all around us in Artist Frank Day. Oakland: Oakland
Nevada, within our Shoshone ancestral Museum of California.
43
Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Northeast __________________________________________
Dubin, Margaret, ed. 2002. The Dirt Is Red how Native peoples in the Northeast se-
Here: Art and Poetry from Native cured a living from the land by creating
California. Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books.
Heard Museum. 1987. 3rd Biennial Native material objects for working with plants
American Fine Arts Invitational. and animals, as well as for interacting
Catalogue. with the world of mystery. It is by this
LaPena, Frank. 1983. “A Native American’s
View of Rock Art.” Ancient Images on conscious interaction with the natural
Stone: Rock Art of the Americas. Edited by world through art in religious terms that
JoAnne Van Tilburg. Los Angeles: Rock indigenous communities have kept in
Art Archive, Institute of Archaeology,
University of California, Los Angeles.
touch with the Earth and survived. It will
———. 1987. The World Is a Gift. San also explore how these environmen-
Francisco: Limestone Press. tally/socially based artistic traditions be-
———. 1992a. “Dancing for the Earth.”
came commoditized for the consumer
Pacific Discovery 45, no. 1: 43.
———. 1992b. “Contemporary Northern market to feed the Euro-American imag-
California Native American Art.” ination’s fascination with Indianness.
California History 71, no. 3.
Environmental conditions had a great
LaPena, Frank R., and Janice T. Driesbach,
eds. 1985. The Extension of Tradition. effect on the material culture of precon-
Sacramento: Crocker Art Museum. tact Northeast woodland peoples. Ar-
Ortiz, Bev. 1995. “George Blake: A
chaeologists classify the (pre)history of
Traditional/Contemporary Artist.” News
from Native California 8, no. 4: 30–34. Northeastern Native Americans into four
Webb, Edith Buckland. 1952. Indian Life at periods according to environmental
the Old Missions. Los Angeles: Warren conditions and subsistence strategies.
Lewis.
Wheat, Margaret M. 1967. Survival Arts of During the Paleo-Indian period (ca.
the Primitive Paiutes. Reno: University of 12,500 B.P.–10,000 B.P.), the proximity of
Nevada Press. large glaciers made the Northeast a cold
tundra inhabited mostly by large mam-
mals. Natives during this time were pri-
Art (Traditional and marily hunters that relied on stone tools
such as projectile points, knives, and
Contemporary), Northeast
scrapers, using the meat, bones, and
Artistic expression has always been a hides for survival. In the Archaic period
way for Native people to represent their (ca. 10,000 B.P.–3000 B.P.), large game ani-
way of life and communicate their spiri- mals were disappearing and the tundra
tual reality. Northeastern art has devel- was yielding to deciduous forest. Native
oped and adapted alongside the chang- peoples during this period built more
ing lifestyles of Native communities, not permanent wooden settlements and re-
only bringing style and creativity to their lied on more diverse food sources, in-
culture but also helping them survive, cluding plants, fish, and shellfish. As Na-
blurring the distinction between tool tive peoples began to rely more heavily
and decoration. This article will look at on the forest, they developed tools for
44
_________________________________________ Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Northeast
woodworking, such as stone axes, adzes, and spirit worlds, speculating that the
and gouges. They also made grinding images of animals and humans together
stones, mortars, and pestles for process- were an attempt by the “shaman” to se-
ing plant foods. cure food and prosperity for the com-
During this period, natives in the munity or to record psychic journeys
Northeast began making rock art. Known into the spirit world. Although much art
as petroglyphs, these ancient images has undeniably religious significance,
were carved into rock surfaces by strik- the blanket explanation that points to
ing them directly with a hard stone, dint- “shamanism” is unsatisfactory.
ing or pecking them, or by using a pick or One of the most effective ways to un-
chisel struck with a stone hammer (Lenik derstand prehistoric rock art is to ask
2002, 7). This percussive method left contemporary Native Americans of the
small dents that had to be painstakingly region. Ethnographic inquiry of this
patterned into lines and shapes to create kind has contributed to the archaeologi-
visible motifs. Another common method cal pool of knowledge as well as served
of making petroglyphs was incising or to stimulate interest in, and reconnect
scratching by using a sharp object. After Native communities to, the collective
European contact, some petroglyphs past of their communities. The explana-
were incised using metal tools obtained tions preserved by tribes in their oral
through trade. Native Americans of the traditions are often quite illuminating.
Northeast also used paints and dyes to Their relationship to the land is retained
produce pictures on rocks known as pic- in these collective memories, and that
tographs. Red ochre, an iron oxide, was human ecology is vital to understanding
most commonly used as a pigment to Native cultures. Other explanations for
color images on rock surfaces. Unfortu- rock art include the use of petroglyphs
nately, many pictographs have disap- as territory markers—that is, they may
peared as a result of exposure to the ele- signify family, clan, tribe, or nation
ments and European intrusion and boundaries, being employed to negoti-
forest destruction (ibid., 8). ate all of those relationships; they may
The intention and meaning of rock art record historical or astronomical events;
are a mystery to present-day re- they may mark graves or other impor-
searchers. Although many of the de- tant sites; or they may be meaningless
picted forms are clearly human or ani- doodles (ibid., 11).
mal, scholars do not know who put them The presence of art in an archaeologi-
there or why. Scholarly speculation usu- cal area can contribute valuable infor-
ally names any mysterious or unknown mation to anthropologists and histori-
artistic expression as “sacred.” Scholars ans trying to explain the patterns of
often focus on the role of the “shaman” human behavior in a region. In the
as an intermediary between the human Woodland period (ca. 3000 B.P.–400 B.P.),
45
changing environmental conditions and growing cycle. “Traditional basketmak-

increased trade relations led Native peo- ers must be in close touch with the earth,
ples of the Northeast to begin cultivating the seasons, and the growth habits of
corn, beans, squash, and other vegeta- plants” (Giese 1995, website).
bles. This new mode of dependence on One major problem among contem-
horticulture necessitated more seden- porary basket makers is the denial of ac-
tary settlement patterns and more stor- cess to traditional gathering lands. Pesti-
age containers. It is during this period cide and chemical pollution also
that clay pottery is first found in the ar- threatens many of the ecosystems that
chaeological record. Ceramic vessels be- support basket making materials. This is
came increasingly important during this an issue faced by basket weavers all over
time. Long-distance trade was estab- the country. Native peoples in the North-
lished, and stone pipes and tobacco were east rely primarily on the black ash tree
introduced into the Northeast (ibid., to make their wood splint baskets. The
13–16). Some tribes also began weaving habitat of this culturally vital tree is in-
baskets for storage that continue today creasingly threatened by industrial pol-
to be an important culturally artistic lution, and it is becoming more difficult
means of expression. for Native basket makers to find it. Other
All tribes in the Northeast have a bas- important basketry materials in the
ketry tradition. Weaving baskets is an im- Northeast include indigo for dye, brown
mensely complex mathematical and ash, sweetgrass, dogbane, and birch
geometric process. Apprentices spend bark. Although many obstacles to bas-
many years learning the intricate de- ketry have been created by the forces of
signs and the complex methods of tying. European assimilation, urbanization,
Basketry is also important in shaping the and industrialization, basket making tra-
relationship between a basket maker ditions have adapted and continue to
and the environment. It is an arduous flourish among Native Americans of the
process to identify, gather, and prepare Northeast woodlands.
the native reeds, grasses, and other ma- The Mi’kmaq of New Brunswick make
terials used to construct traditional bas- containers out of skin or birch bark deco-
kets. It requires a significant commit- rated with porcupine quills or moose
ment to the craft as well as knowledge of hair. They also use the roots of spruce
the places and conditions where materi- trees to make coiled baskets. Since con-
als can be obtained. It may take as much tact with Europeans, the Mi’kmaq, like
time to gather the materials as to weave many other tribes, have shown their
the basket. Often it requires long jour- artistic ability and entrepreneurship by
neys to the places where traditional bas- fashioning baskets in European styles
ketry materials grow, and they must be and with European tools to sell to tourists
gathered at just the right time in their that visit their reserves in Canada.
46
_________________________________________ Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Northeast
Maliseet and Passamaquoddy groups masks and therefore, ask that no attempt
speak dialects of the same language. In be made by museums to do so other than
precontact times they differed primarily in to explain the wishes of the Hau-
their ecological niches and modes of sur- denosaunee in this matter” (Kanatiiosh
vival. The Maliseet lived inland and 2001, website).
hunted game. The Passamaquoddy in- In that these artistic traditions are
habited the coasts of New Brunswick and functional and “religious,” the grade-
Maine and hunted seal, whale, otter, and school, pipe-store image of Indianness
other sea mammals. Their way of life relies that is engraved in the American con-
upon the forest, and thus their artistic tra- sciousness presents a conundrum. What
ditions work with wood. Birch bark was is the origin of the stereotyped Native
used to make canoes, baskets, dishes, wig- man with feathers in his hair?
wams, and moose callers. More recently, The (mis)representation of indigenous
baskets of black ash are woven for tourists. people in the colonized world is a power-
Although Native religious objects or ful form of knowledge production and
crafts are artistic, they are not abstract or diffusion. What we “know” about people,
representational; they are functional. especially as children, is heavily influ-
Many tools are decorated with religious enced by what we infer from how they are
icons to appease spirits and provide pro- portrayed. The stereotypically portrayed
tection for the person using the tool. Indian does not appear to belong in a
Most religious objects are not simply church, university, or other structural
decorations; they are the physical mani- housing of refined civilization where the
festations of visions. They are meant to “real” intellectual work of progress in sci-
be used in meaningful, inherited dances ence and thought is done. Instead, the
and ceremonies and in the meaningful condemning assumption of cultural and
acts of everyday life. In fact, many such intellectual inferiority is laid on all Native
religious objects have a power of their Americans. The stereotyped Indian man
own, which practitioners believe should looks as if he belongs on an impoverished
be kept within the communities they reservation isolated from white civiliza-
serve. A statement of the Haudeno- tion. It might surprise many, then, to
saunee Grand Council admonishes any learn that some Native Americans collab-
outsiders from having anything to do orate in the production of artifacts that
with the masks used by their False Face distort their own image and commodi-
societies. They call for the return of any tize their traditional handiwork (Phillips
and all masks from museums and pri- 1998, 10). Thus one of the primary prob-
vate collections, and they state: “The lems in Native art is authenticity.
Council of Chiefs find that there is no The study of art has been a political,
proper way to explain, interpret, or pre- male-dominated, biased one that privi-
sent the significance of the medicine leges the “fine” arts, done for art’s sake
47
(usually those of men), over “crafts” cre- Great Lakes (ibid.). However distasteful
ated by women for the market. Phillips this may seem to the purist who would
calls this elitist disregard for the mass- “[define] ‘real’ Indian art as that which
produced-and-consumed art the “dis- displays a minimum of European influ-
course of inauthenticity” (ibid., x). By la- ence” (ibid., xiii), the fact is that “real” In-
beling Native art produced for the dians face the realities of European con-
market “inauthentic,” this model “mar- tact and continued cohabitation on this
ginalizes not only the objects but the land. The nature of that new lifestyle, if it
makers, making of them a ghostly pres- is forced or exploitative, is explored and
ence in the modern world rather than ac- expressed through contemporary Native
knowledging their vigorous interven- art. Even the stereotypical souvenir art
tions in it” (ibid.). The artistic styles that made by Indians for the tourist market is
have been selectively bred by outsider a flamboyant expression of Indianness
taste and Native skills, the unique com- and one that “invite[s] us to detect in
binations of native materials with intro- them the voice of the colonized subject”
duced tools and methods, must reveal (ibid.).
something of the cultural context and Brian Clearwater
material reality that are shared at the See also Art (Contemporary), Southwest; Art
boundaries of the indigenous world. In- (Traditional and Contemporary), California
deed these intersections show the flexi- and the Great Basin; Art (Traditional and
Contemporary), Northwest Coast; Art
bility and adaptability, and perhaps (Traditional and Contemporary), Plains;
short-sightedness, of both Native artists Petrographs and Petroglyphs
and non-Native consumers. References and Further Reading
The issue of non-Native consumption California Indian Basketweavers
Association. “About CIBA.”
of Native art is tangled up in economic http://www.ciba.org/aboutciba.html.
and cultural forces. Thus Phillips writes: (Accessed August 26, 2003.)
“Nearly every northeastern Native com- Giese, Paula. 1995. Basketry: Philosophy,
Plants, Environment. http://www.
munity adjacent to tourist sites, sporting
kstrom.net/isk/art/basket/basplant.
preserves, or vacation resorts has en- html. (Accessed August 17, 2003.)
gaged in the production of souvenir art” _____. 1995a. Northeast Tribes Basket
Gallery. http://www.kstrom.net/isk/
(ibid., xii). For example, the Mohawk re-
art/basket/gallery.html. (Accessed
serve Kahnawake produces beadwork August 17, 2003.)
for sale at Niagara Falls. The Mi’kmaq Kanatiiosh. 2001. “Haudenosaunee
Confederacy Policy on False Face
community of Eskasoni, on Cape Breton
Masks.” http://www.peace4turtleisland.
Island, produces splint baskets of black org/pages/maskpolicy.htm. (Accessed
ash for sale in the summer resorts of August 17, 2003.)
Maine. Anishinabeg communities in Lenik, Edward J. 2002. Picture Rocks:
American Indian Rock Art in the
Michigan produce their porcupine quill- Northeast Woodlands. Hanover, NH:
work souvenirs for sale to tourists of the University Press of New England.
48
_________________________________ Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Northwest Coast
Phillips, Ruth B. 1998. Trading Identities: sculpture, faces tend to be flat or slightly
The Souvenir in Native North American curved with geometric features; bodies
Art from the Northeast, 1700–1900.
Seattle: University of Washington Press. are flat with minimal musculature. Some
Prindle, Tara. 2000. “Early Historic Accounts objects, such as rattles and spindle
of Basket and Bag Weaving in the whorls, have incised curvilinear surface
Northeast.” http://nativetech.org/
weave/basketandbag/. (Accessed August decorations. Much Salish art is personal
17, 2003.) and sacred, unlike the more public art
Sturtevant, William C., and Bruce Trigger, made farther north. In some groups,
eds. 1978. Handbook of North American
Indians. Vol. 15: Northeast. Washington,
spirits grant selected individuals power
DC: Smithsonian Institution. to achieve certain goals; this power could
be manifested in a costume, song, ritual
paraphernalia, and sculpture. Rattles, for
example, provide access to the spiritual
Art (Traditional and world to enable their owners to heal the
Contemporary), Northwest sick or prognosticate the future.
By the time of first contact, northern
Coast
Northwest Coast artists had developed a
The Native peoples of the Northwest highly formalized two-dimensional sys-
Coast are divided into three groupings tem that centers on the importance of
with differing social organizations and the formline, a swelling and narrowing
art styles. The Northern group, consist- ribbonlike line that defines the essential
ing of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian, elements of the composition. This ele-
shares a highly structured matrilineal so- gant, calligraphic type of decoration fills
cial organization, and has the most elab- the surfaces of boxes, house front paint-
orately developed formal system of two- ings, costumes, and screens that sepa-
dimensional design. People of the rated the house chief from the rest of his
Central group, which includes the extended family. An example of formline
Haisla, Heiltsuk, Nuxalk (Bella Coola), painting is evident in the Whale House
Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl), and Nuu- screen from the Klukwan Tlingit. The
chah-nulth (Nootka), have a more fluid images on the Whale House screen and
social organization, elaborate dancing house posts together depict crests,
societies, and lively, dramatic art. The highly prized possessions of lineages,
Coast Salish have the most fluid social inherited through matrilineal descent
organization and more abstract, mini- and presented verbally and visually at
malist art style. potlatches. Separating the Whale House
The deceptively simple art of the Sa- chief’s quarters from the communal
lishan-speaking people represents an ar- space is a monumental screen depicting
chaic style that was probably more wide- Raven in the act of supplying hu-
spread in prehistoric times. In figural mankind with water. According to this
49
Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Northwest Coast __________________________________
Of all the coastal groups, the Tlingit

created the most elaborate shamanic
artworks. During an eight-day vision
quest, animals destined to become a
novice’s helping spirits approached him,
protruding their tongues, which con-
tained spirit power. After this quest the
initiate returned to his community,
where he either inherited his predeces-
sor’s regalia or had new regalia made.
Charms, rattles, costumes, and masks
depicted the helping spirits the novice
encountered on his vision quest. During
a seance, the shaman would call these
spirits into their images, creating an aura
of intense supernatural power. The most
dramatic feature of a seance was masked
dancing. The shaman owned an assort-
ment of masks, usually around eight. He
donned his first mask—often a represen-
tation of the land otter, an immensely
Wilfred Stevens, a Haida carver, uses a wood
chisel on a 7-foot totem pole made of yellow powerful being that was once a human
cedar, 1994. (Raymond Gehman/Corbis) who had drowned and become an ani-
mal—and, after proper incantations,
transformed into that creature. Then the
history, the petrel Ganook kept all the shaman took off the otter mask and put
world’s freshwater hoarded within his on others, becoming a variety of animals
house. Raven entered petrel’s house such as octopus, eagle, and bear, as well
and, by means of trickery, stole his as different anthropomorphic spirits in-
water. The screen depicts raven with cluding dead people, young women,
open wings, surrounded by small, powerful warriors, and peaceful men.
squatting anthropomorphic images that These transformations enabled the
represent water dribbling from Raven’s shaman to travel with ease through the
beak as he flies over the land, forming air, over land, and into the ocean and to
lakes and rivers. The two house posts control all human life—living and dead,
that flank this screen, and the two more old and young, male and female, aggres-
that stand in the front of the house, de- sive and docile.
pict crests that played important roles in Among the Tsimshian, chiefly groups—
the clan’s history. the “real people”—could demonstrate rit-
50
The interior of the Whale House at Klukwan, Alaska, ca. 1895. (Winter and Pond/Corbis)
ual power, or halait, in a variety of ways, house was said to have cracked open, the
such as donning masks, performing the guests moving away from each other, the
peace dance in a Chilkat robe and frontlet fire splitting, the roof split apart. Then,
with down, and participating in an exclu- when the mask shut, the house slowly re-
sive group such as the Throwers, Destroy- assembled itself.
ers, or Cannibals. In addition, lineages Art of the Central groups tends to be
themselves owned naxnox names, per- more sculptural and vividly painted than
sonifications of power. When a lineage the works from the North and the South.
wished to demonstrate its spiritual Masks played major roles in ceremonies;
wealth, it would sponsor a masquerade the Nuxalk, for example, wore masks that
during which its naxnox names were dramatically represented myths during
dramatized, accompanied by their char- their kisiut winter rituals. Unlike the
acteristic song and whistles. While most other Northwest Coast groups, the Nux-
naxnox masks were simple personifica- alk conceptualize a relatively systematic
tions of a being, some were extraordinary, cosmography consisting of five levels:
such as the Crack of Heaven mask per- two heavens, the earth—an island float-
formed by Legiac, a great nineteenth-cen- ing in the ocean—and two underworlds.
tury chief. This transformation mask A major female deity who takes little in-
opened four times to reveal the face terest in the affairs of humans resides in
within; at the fourth opening, the whole the uppermost heaven. The second
51
Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Northwest Coast __________________________________
heaven—that is, the one directly above family and their descendents obtained
the earth—contains at its center the the privilege to perform the hamatsa
House of Myths, in which live deities dance. Before becoming a hamatsa, the
more directly involved in earthly events. initiate must stay hidden from the com-
The most important deity for human be- munity, presumably visiting Bakbak-
ings is the sun, master of the House of walanuskiwe. When he reappears, he
Myths. Other House residents include acts as if possessed by the man-eating
four brothers who live in an elevated supernatural being, lunging at people,
room at the rear of the House and carry trying to bite them—and sometimes suc-
out the wishes of the major deities who ceeding. Dancers impersonating the
also taught humans to carve, build cannibal bird assistants of Bakbak-
houses, make canoes, paint, hunt, and walanuskiwe perform during these cere-
fish. One of these is Yulatimot, “the one monies. At the conclusion of this perfor-
who finishes his work by cutting once.” mance, the new hamatsa dances calmly
Central groups are known for their and elegantly, fully reincorporated into
“secret societies” or “dancing societies,” human society. The host family then dis-
in which initiates re-enact an ancestor’s tributes to the guests wealth, the accept-
encounter with a supernatural being, ance of which signifies their validation of
dramatically re-creating his original the family’s right to display the hamatsa
spirit possession, often using masks ac- privilege.
companied by percussive music. One of The Nuu-chah-nulth used art for
the most spectacular of these is the whaling magic. Indeed, one of the most
hamatsa, or cannibal dance, which the extraordinary artifacts ever found on
Kwakwak’wakw received sometime dur- the Northwest Coast is a large shrine
ing the nineteenth century from the used by the great chiefs of Yuquot vil-
Heiltsuk. According to the hamatsa ori- lage to ensure success in acquiring
gin story, a group of hunters approached whales. The shrine is an assemblage of
the house of Bakbakwalanuskiwe, a eighty-eight anthropomorphic carv-
great cannibal spirit who lives in the ings, sixteen human skulls, and an
North, and, at the invitation of a woman open-air shed that stood on a small is-
who offered to help them, entered the land in a freshwater lake not far from
house. They were soon followed by the the village of Yuquot. Human remains
monstrous Bakbakwalanuskiwe, his have a magical connection to whaling,
body covered all over with mouths. The although the reason for their signifi-
hunters, with the help of the woman, cance is today unclear; thus the pres-
caused Bakbakwalanuskiwe to die and ence of skulls in the assemblage. The
then returned home with his songs, story of the shrine’s origin involves a
dances, masks, and other ritual regalia. thunderbird who teaches a chief to ritu-
As a result of this encounter, the hunters’ ally bathe in preparation for a whale
52
hunt, to make whaling implements, and cultural traditions, the Kwakwak’wakw,

to harpoon a whale. After this “educa- continued throughout the twentieth
tion,” the chief swims to an island in a century making art for ceremonies de-
freshwater lake where the whaler’s spite being persecuted for hosting pot-
shrine is located. The chief addresses latches. Once the British Columbia pot-
the wooden images, which he calls latch was decriminalized in 1951, open
“Doctors of Yaan,” the good giver of the potlatching became once more common
woods, asking them for power to “take among the Kwakwak’wakw. Other North-
the life of a whale when the time comes west Coast groups either continued the
for me to go and get one.” He then ad- ceremonials they had practiced furtively
dresses the skulls of his great-grandfa- or revived them anew. Art flourished,
thers who built the shrine, knowing that with new masks being made and used.
if he does not perform the rituals cor- In the 1960s, Northern artists became
rectly they will come to him in a dream once again familiar with the conventions
and instruct him about the proper ac- of the nineteenth-century Northern
tions. He prays to these skulls to help formline style and began making elegant
persuade the four Great Chiefs to give canonical two- and three-dimensional
him strength to kill a whale. works. Among the most accomplished
By the turn of the century, few North- artists is Haida Robert Davidson, who
west Coast spiritual practitioners were not only carves totem poles and designs
practicing, on account of missionary two-dimensional serigraphs with North-
pressure, clans commissioning less and west Coast images but also creates new
less crest art, and the abandonment by masks for original dances he choreo-
many British Columbia Natives of their graphs and for songs he composes. Al-
ceremonies; many succumbed to pres- though most Northern-style contempo-
sure from the Canadian government, rary artists follow their traditions
which had banned the potlatch and relatively strictly, some contemporary
dances such as the hamatsa. As a result, artists have chosen to accommodate
far less traditional art was made than in more modernist artistic concepts into
the mid-nineteenth century. Neverthe- their works, such as the Tlingit Jim
less, Native art on the Northwest Coast Schoppert, who takes Northern formline
did not disappear, in part because of a patterns and breaks them up into cubis-
lively tourist trade that kept carvers tic images.
working. Visitors to the region enthusias- Aldona Jonaitis
tically purchased carvings that the Haida See also First Foods and Food Symbolism;
crafted from argillite, a soft shale, as well First Salmon Rites; Fishing Rights and the
as small wooden totem poles made by First Salmon Ceremony; Healing Traditions,
Northwest; Oral Traditions, Northwest
Tlingit and Kwakwak’wakw artists. The Coast; Power, Northwest Coast; Religious
group that held most tenaciously to its Leadership, Northwest; Ritual and
53
Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Plains ______________________________________________
Ceremony, Northwest; Sacred Societies, Art (Traditional and

Northwest Coast; Totem Poles
Contemporary), Plains
Brown, Steve. 1998. Native Visions: Pre-European Contact
Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from Artwork on the Plains was and remains
the Eighteenth through the Twentieth
bountiful—so bountiful that it would be
Century. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum.
Holm, Bill. 1965. Northwest Coast Indian a rare occasion to come across any item
Art: An Analysis of Form. Seattle: that did not have some sort of decor.
University of Washington Press.
Men, women, and children all play a role
———. 1987. Spirit and Ancestor: A Century
of Northwest Coast Indian Art at the in the creation of art. The earliest forms
Burke Museum. Seattle: University of of artwork on the Plains were created
Washington Press.
using a combination of earth paint, dye,
Jonaitis, Aldona. 1986. Art of the Northern
Tlingit. Seattle: University of Washington brain-tanned leather, rawhide, and quill-
Press. work. Stone carving was also done for
———. 1988. From the Land of the Totem various types of pipes and sometimes
Poles: The Northwest Coast Indian Art
Collection at the American Museum of tools or weapons.
Natural History. Seattle: University of Earth paints and dyes were the most
Washington Press. important piece of an artist’s tool kit.
———. 1999. The Yuquot Whalers’ Shrine.
Seattle: University of Washington Press. They also played the most important role
Jonaitis, Aldona, ed. 1991. Chiefly Feasts: in Plains art before the arrival of Euro-
The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch. Seattle: peans. These items turned soft leather
Macnair, Peter, Alan Hoover, and Kevin hides into a canvas on which to produce
Neary. 1980. The Legacy: Continuing beautiful works of art. Porcupine and
Traditions of Canadian Northwest Coast bird quills were the items most often
Art. Victoria: British Columbia Provincial
Museum.
dyed, while earth paint was used on a
Ostrowitz, Judith. 1999. Privileging the Past: wide variety of items. Earth paints were
Historicism in the Art of the Northwest commonly used to add designs to pieces
Coast. Seattle: University of Washington
such as parfleche bags (rawhide cases),
Press.
Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays. shields, clothing, robes, or tepees, or
Seattle: University of Washington Press. used as body paint. Each color had a sig-
Thom, Ian, ed. 1993. Robert Davidson: Eagle
nificant meaning that differed by tribe.
of the Dawn. Vancouver: Vancouver Art
Gallery. The earth paints could be found in
Wardwell, Allen. 1996. Tangible Visions: various canyon walls and creek banks,
Northwest Coast Shamanism and Its Art.
while the dyes were acquired through
New York: Monicelli Press.
Wright, Robin. 1991. A Time of Gathering: plants, berries, or other natural materi-
Native Heritage in Washington State. als. This meant that the colors available
Seattle: University of Washington Press. to the artist usually depended on what
———. 2001. Northern Haida Master
Carvers. Seattle: University of part of the Plains they lived in. On the
Washington Press. Northern Plains, red, white, black, yel-
54
_____________________________________________ Art (Traditional and Contemporary), Plains
low, blue, and green were all common much less hazardous to move camp,
colors, while the Southern Plains most which meant that camp was moved
often used red, yellow, and green. Be- more often. It could also be the reason
cause of this regional factor, obtaining that the sedentary, non-nomadic Man-
certain shades and tones could mean a dan and Hidatsa are still today known for
high market value when trading with their amazing masterpieces of quillwork.
people from another region. Most tribes on the Northern Plains
There is a story that one day a white had formal quillwork societies that were
man was on a reservation looking at a led by a group of older women. These
parfleche bag that a woman there had older women would take in younger
created. He was amazed by her talent and women of the tribe and teach them the
could not believe her ability to use color ways of quillwork. There was a spiritual
schemes without “formal training.” He side to this as well, because the women
then asked the woman, “Who taught you would make pledges of prayer for a
to paint these beautiful designs, and how friend or relative while their particular
do you know what colors to use?” The old piece of quillwork was being created.
woman looked up at him and pointed to Rawhide and leather were the primary
a mountain valley full of wild flowers. canvas for all artwork on the Plains. Both
“God taught me,” she replied, “He has al- forms of animal skin could be stretched,
ready shown me what colors to use.” shaped, and sewn into almost anything.
In many tribes the men handled some Buffalo robes might be the most striking
of the painting, but it was strictly the example of this. The robes were worn
woman’s job to produce the quillwork. In “hair in,” with the outside or “skin side”
quillwork both bird and porcupine quills showing. Both men and women wore
were dyed and then sewn on to leather to buffalo robes decorated with either quill-
create complicated designs and pat- work or earth paint. The designs on a
terns. The women of the Northern Plains buffalo robe usually told a story, dis-
were very skilled in this art. Long winters played rank in society, or bore sacred re-
might have been a major contributing ligious symbols for protection. Religious
factor to this skill: quillwork takes a very symbols, however, appeared most often
long time to complete, regardless of the on a warrior’s shield. Shields were made
technique used by the artist. The fewer from the rawhide on a buffalo’s back—
times it was necessary to move from hide thick enough to stop an arrow at
camp to camp, the more opportunities close range or repel a musket ball when
to quill (women on the Plains were re- properly prepared. Still, the actual pro-
sponsible for moving camp). This is tection for a warrior came from the spiri-
probably the reason that quillwork on tual context of his shield, not its physical
the Southern Plains is very rare. The strength. Warriors often painted their vi-
short, mild winters in the South made it sions on their shields and then used a
55
Assimilation Poiicies __________________________________________________________________________
soft leather cover over the top of it to was not just the goods used for art that
conceal their true power from the were being replaced but the goods used
enemy. This leather cover was also for survival as well.
painted with a design, but the design was In the end, the importation of Euro-
far less important than the one it hid. pean items when it pertains to produc-
ing artwork was not a bad thing. It simply
Post-European Contact caused changes to occur. Some of the
When Europeans arrived in North Amer- most beautiful and intricate pieces of
ica, Plains artwork began to change. Plains artwork that have ever been cre-
Pony beads and later seed beads began ated have been made using beadwork. In
to take the place of the more time con- modern times Plains people create the
suming porcupine quillwork. Imported old traditional pieces to honor the
paints and dyes along with metal needles beauty and traditions of their ancestors.
began to show up as well. Fabric such as In traditional times the ancestors created
cotton and wool started slowly to phase those pieces because they had to.
out buckskin shirts, leggings, and Toksa Ake
dresses. The buffalo robe was now being
Mike Ring
replaced by Whitney blankets in the
This entry was provided by the Mid-
North, and German silver conches
American Indian Alliance, Inc., an inter-
adorned the people in the South. The
tribal 501c3 organization based in
market for beaver pelts in the early 1800s
Olathe, Kansas, that provides a Native
was the original fuel for all of this trade.
American cultural and community out-
However, one has to remember that it
reach in the Kansas City area.
was a lot of work to produce traditional
See also Art (Contemporary), Southwest;
goods. It is said that one has never done a Art (Traditional and Contemporary),
day’s work until one has field dressed a California and the Great Basin; Art
buffalo for its meat and then fleshed the (Traditional and Contemporary),
Northeast; Art (Traditional and
hide for tanning. That involves removing Contemporary), Northwest Coast;
all muscle and fat from a hide that is the Petrographs and Petroglyphs
size of a sports car. It can be argued that
it is hard to blame Plains ancestors for
taking the more modern and easier inno-
vations over the old ways. What that did,
Assimilation Policies
however, was create a dependency on
the Europeans for goods. Before long it See Termination and Relocation
56
B
Ball Games games, including double ball, shinny,
and games that employ rackets now
Traditional ball games have been and widely known as “lacrosse-type,” as well
continue to be key cultural elements for as engaging in ball racing and ball throw-
many Native peoples throughout the ing. Racket games in general, and specif-
Western Hemisphere. Many of the ball ically those versions played by commu-
games and their associated traditions dif- nities in what is now the northeastern
fer, and the ball games offer different United States and southeastern Canada,
meanings in different contexts. In some are generally considered to be the pre-
communities ball games are rituals con- cursors to the sport of lacrosse. At one
nected with particular observances, while time nations that played racket and ball
in others they are healing activities. Ball games included many along the Eastern
games are the focus of ritual activity in Seaboard of North America and across
some communities. In some they are so- the inland Southeast, as well as in the
cial events included in religious and secu- Great Lakes region and surrounding
lar festivals, and in still others they have areas. A few nations in present-day Cali-
no apparent sacral referent. Racket and fornia and the Pacific Northwest region
ball games are the most widespread of of North America also played versions of
those ball games that have explicit associ- the game. Racket games are good exam-
ations to Native American religious sys- ples of what is a wider phenomenon in
tems. They are resilient activities that many cultures: the utilization of “games”
have continued over centuries of great as meaningful cultural expressions and
change and are thriving in many commu- symbols—particularly with regard to re-
nities, though not all nations that once ligious systems. Although different na-
played such games continue to do so. tions have their own versions of ball
Research suggests that Native peoples games, broad regional similarities have
have played many different types of ball historically resulted in international ball
57
Ball Games _____________________________________________________________________________________
Mohawk boys playing lacrosse. Cornwall, Quebec, Canada, 1983. (Michael S.Yamashita/Corbis)
games, such as those between Cherokee each geographical area (Southeast,

and Muskogee (Creek) or Mohawk and Northeast, Great Lakes), with minor dif-
Seneca teams (Mooney 1890, 107; Culin ferences within each area.
[1907] 1975, 591). In all versions, two teams use either
The two main types of this activity are one or two rackets to propel a ball toward
single and double racket games. Versions a goal, and players cannot pick the ball
that have employed one racket or stick up off the ground with their hands. De-
include those of nations in the Hau- pending on the version, the players may
denosaunee confederacy and surround- be able to use their hands once the ball is
ing nations, such as the Huron and Pas- in their possession.
samaquoddy, whereas two-racket games The teams compete to score a prede-
have been the norm among such nations termined number of goals by crossing
as the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muskogee, goal lines or circling goalposts while in
Chickasaw, Yuchi, and Seminole. Groups possession of the ball, or by throwing the
such as the Ojibwe, Santee Dakota, ball across the goal line. There also are
Menominee, and Winnebago also used versions of the game that have a single
one racket. The rackets are distinct in pole at the center of the playing area; one
58
____________________________________________________________________________________ Ball Games
scores by hitting a target at the top. that wagering on games has been elimi-
Members of the Cherokee Nation in Ok- nated or much reduced in most commu-
lahoma, for example, continue this tradi- nities where it once was a regular feature.
tion. In most communities teams of men Many Native American nations have
play the games, but in some women do preserved accounts of ball games in cul-
play their own contests. Some versions, tural narratives in which nonhuman be-
particularly those of the single pole vari- ings played against humans, or in some
ety, feature teams of men against cases against each other in a time before
women, in which the latter are allowed humans inhabited the earth. The earliest
to use their hands. account of a ball game written by a Euro-
In traditional games players usually pean comes from the Jesuit Relations, in
wear little or no protective equipment, which in 1636 Jean de Brébeuf wrote
and often, especially in the Southeast, about the game occurring in the area
players wear shorts and no shoes; the then known as New France. He said that
men do not wear shirts. Often ritual spe- a Huron medico-religious specialist
cialists have been involved in ball games, (“sorcerer”) might prescribe a game of
preparing the players and the equipment “crosse” for the benefit of the entire na-
and in some cases predicting and deter- tion or for a sick individual, and some-
mining the outcome. Frequently, medic- times a person would dream that a game
inal substances have been applied or in- was necessary for recovery from illness
gested, and in some cases emetics have (Brébeuf 1636, in Culin [1907] 1975, 589).
been used to prepare players, who have The Six Nations of the Haudeno-
undergone rigorous training in prepara- saunee (Iroquois) all have strong ball
tion for the games. game traditions. The European settlers
Wagering on these games once was who formalized the sport of lacrosse as it
widespread, as was the participation of is now played everywhere from school-
the community at large by participation yards to professional stadiums likely
in pregame activities such as night drew heavily from the game of these na-
dances. In the nineteenth and twentieth tions and their neighbors. Hau-
centuries, however, religious and gov- denosaunee teams today participate
ernment authorities discouraged some both in field and box lacrosse, as well as
communities’ ball games. Officials ob- the classic version with wooden sticks
jected to the violence of the games and and with no boundaries, protective
the wagering on them, as well as to un- equipment, or time clock.
ruly crowd behavior that became more Among members of the Onondaga na-
frequent with the influx of spectators tion, the ball game known as dehuntshig-
from outside the participating commu- wa’es has been employed to heal sick-
nities. Perhaps the major difference be- ness and comfort the sick; it is played
tween contemporary and past games is between uneven teams of clan groupings
59
Ball Games _____________________________________________________________________________________
Stick ball players, Oklahoma, ca. 1924. (Library of Congress)
to a predetermined number of goals 1995, 117). It is played to honor the Seven

(Vennum 1994, 6–7). In 1815, when the Thunders, who are called “Grandfa-
Seneca prophet Handsome Lake was thers,” for “continuation of the service
dying, Onondaga people held a ball that they render mankind as agents of
game for him; an account from 1986 re- the Great Spirit”; which team wins or
ported people being brought in sick beds loses is not important (ibid., 117, 118).
to the edge of a field to watch a game According to one source, the players
held in their honor (ibid., 222; Oxendine “personify the seven thunder gods”; on
1995, 10). Tradition says the game is rare occasions when a sick person has
played in the afterworld, and players dreamed of the game, Cayuga teams play
make arrangements to bring sticks with it during the Midwinter Ceremony
them for those future contests (Vennum (Eyman 1964, 18–19).
1994, 7). The Cherokee ball game ane:tso is also
The ball game called gatci ‘kwae is the known as da:na:wah:us:di, or “little war”
central element of the Cayuga nation’s (Fogelson 1962, 2). The term “play ball
Thunder Rite, a one-day ceremony in the against them” carries a metaphoric
middle of the summer (Speck [1949] meaning in the Cherokee language,
60
____________________________________________________________________________________ Ball Games
meaning to engage in battle or another ditions as to whether this is a new inno-

contest (Mooney [1900] 1982, 483). Some vation or a revival of a custom as old as
commentators have suggested that there the men’s. The women’s games follow the
once was a formal link between the ball same rules as the men’s, although they
game and warfare, and there is some evi- wear shirts.
dence that ball games have been used to The Cherokee games match town-
settle disputes. However, there is no de- ships against one another or are scrim-
finitive evidence to support the conclu- mage exhibitions between squads from
sion that the ball game was once a surro- the same township. The ball game is a
gate for war. Research suggests instead rough contest, with frequent wrestling
that the ball game has expressed a num- and body blocking. The games are
ber of social, political, religious, and eco- played to twelve points, and teams usu-
nomic meanings for Cherokee people ally consist of ten to twelve players who
throughout their history. have undergone several weeks of train-
In the Cherokee narrative tradition ing and preparation for the week’s series
there are accounts of ball games played of games.
by supernatural beings (the Sons of This training regimen can include a
Thunder) and games between teams of rigorous practice schedule, a schedule of
birds and four-legged animals, as well as “going to water” (ritual bathing or lav-
famous games between Cherokee teams ing), and consultation with and treat-
and teams from other nations. Choctaw, ment from a ritual specialist. It also can
Muskogee, Seminole, Mohawk, and include scarification, ingestion or appli-
Onondaga narratives of similar games cation of medicinal substances, dancing,
between birds and animals exist, and in fasting, avoidance of certain foods, and
all the pivotal figure of the bat is rejected for men, avoidance of contact with
by one or both of the teams before being women and children for specified peri-
allowed to play. The narratives differ re- ods of time. In addition, ritual specialists
garding such details as which team fi- can perform a variety of activities, in-
nally accepted the bat and why, but the cluding some of a divinatory nature, be-
team that did so always wins in the end. fore and during the match. Movements
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to and from the field are ritualized as
continue to uphold their ball game tradi- well, and in the past the event was an oc-
tion with a series of annual games during casion that featured large-scale wagering
the Cherokee Fall Fair. The Mississippi on the outcome.
Band of Choctaw Indians play their ver- The Menominee ball game and war-
sion of the game, toli, during annual fairs fare are understood to be related activi-
as well. Recently teams of women have ties that came from the thunderers, and
begun competing during the Cherokee the “game was supposed to resemble a
Fair, and there are differing cultural tra- battle” (Densmore 1932, 35). Traditional
61
Basketry _________________________________________________________________________________________
narratives explicate this connection by Ethnology.” Ph.D. dissertation, University

detailing the origin of the game, ball, and of Pennsylvania.
Holmes, W. H. “Games of the North
racket, which is shaped like a war club American Indians.” In Twenty-Fourth
(ibid., 36–37). A 1925 account reported Annual Report of the Bureau of American
that a Menominee man who dreamed of Ethnology to the Smithsonian Institution,
1902–3. Washington, DC: Government
the thunderers held a lacrosse game to Printing Office.
receive help promised by them, termed Mooney, James. 1890. “The Cherokee Ball
“playing out a dream”; such dreams Play.” American Anthropologist 31:
105–132.
promised health or success, and medici- _____. 1900, 1891/1982. Myths of the
nal specialists could prescribe games Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the
(ibid., 27). In these games, one of which Cherokees. Nashville, TN: C. Elder
Bookseller. Reprint of the Nineteenth
Frances Densmore witnessed in 1925,
Annual Report of the Bureau of American
the dreamer did not play, and the out- Ethnology, 1897–1898, part 1: “Historical
come did not affect his purpose. One re- Sketch”; part 2: “Myths”; and the Seventh
Annual Report of the Bureau of American
cent source noted that to “cure illness,
Ethnology, 1885–1886, pp. 307–395.
the Menominee still play the game in the Washington, DC: Government Printing
spring, before the first thunder” (Ven- Office.
Oxendine, Joseph B. 1988/1995. American
num 1994, 33).
Indian Sports Heritage. Reprint, Lincoln:
Michael J. Zogry University of Nebraska Press.
Speck, Frank G., in collaboration with
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Anishnabe;
Alexander General (Deskáheh).
Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast; Dreams
1949/1995. Midwinter Rites of the
and Visions; Great Lakes; Oral Traditions,
Cayuga Long House. Reprint, Lincoln
Northeast; Oral Traditions, Southeast;
and London: University of Nebraska
Press.
Southeast
Vennum, Thomas, Jr. 1994. American Indian
References and Further Reading Lacrosse: Little Brother of War.
Blanchard, Kendall. 1981. The Mississippi Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Choctaws at Play: The Serious Side of Institution Press.
Leisure. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press.
Culin, Stewart. 1907/1975. Games of the
North American Indians. Reprint, New
York: Dover. Basketry
Densmore, Frances. 1932. “Menominee
Music.” In Smithsonian Institution As with most facets of American Indian
Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin material culture, the specifics of basket
102. Washington, DC: Government
making—and the baskets themselves—
Printing Office.
Eyman, Frances. 1964. “Lacrosse and the embody spiritual as well as aesthetic and
Cayuga Thunder Rite.” Expedition, The practical qualities. Although basketry
Bulletin of the University Museum of the materials, techniques, and uses have
University of Pennsylvania 6, no. 4: 15–19.
Fogelson, Raymond D. 1962. “The Cherokee varied among tribal cultures and have
Ball Game: A Study in Southeastern changed over time as a consequence of
62
________________________________________________________________________________________ Basketry
Basketry of the Mission Indians, ca. 1924. (Library of Congress)
intercultural contact, baskets are the They were Hutsipamamau?u, Ocean

oldest handmade vessels used by North Woman; Tukumumuuntsi, Mountain
American Native peoples and one of the Lion; Tivatsi, Wolf; and Cinawavi, Coy-
most ancient of art forms (Peabody ote” (Turnbaugh 1999, 9).
1986). Although Western science has Although basket making has become
dated Native basketry back over a thou- obsolete in some tribes with the passage
sand years, many Native oral histories of time, nearly every indigenous group
include the creation of baskets in their throughout the Americas has utilized
origin narratives, indicating a much basketry at some point: whether for food
older history. An example is the creation preparation and storage; as animal traps
story of the Chemehuevi people, one of or fish weirs; to transport goods and
innumerable Native cultures to practice carry children; as clothing; and for sa-
basketry since earliest times: “In the very cred and ceremonial purposes. For
beginning of time When the Animals many tribes and individual basket mak-
Were People, four Immortals floated in a ers, the finished baskets are living
basket boat on the Everlasting Water. metaphors of people’s connection to the
63
Basketry _________________________________________________________________________________________
plant materials who are their relations, ing their materials, weavers and their
and to the seasonal cycles of life that in- helpers follow certain rules in order to
fluence the rules governing the harvest- maintain a proper relationship with both
ing and preparation of organic materi- the plant life remaining at the gathering
als. In some Native cultures baskets site, so that it will replenish itself, and the
represent the shape of the universe it- harvested plant materials that will be-
self, a manifestation of the Creator’s come the basket. Sherrie Smith-Ferri
story that continues to be told. notes Pomo weaver Elsie Allen’s memory
An incredible array of organic materi- that her mother “always approached
als are used in the construction of Native sedge grass very slowly. She’d come and
North American baskets, as well as cer- stand and say a prayer. . . . She’d always
tain commercially produced materials ask the Spirit to give her plenty of roots.
such as glass beads and cotton thread, Then she’d say, ‘Thank you, Father,’ be-
which began to appear in some weavers’ fore she dug” (Smith-Ferri 1996, 61). For
work with the advent of colonial trade. the plants they are taking, weavers say
Nearly every imaginable part of a plant prayers or sing songs of thanksgiving to
may be woven into Native basketry in the plants, and they may leave gifts such
three basic weaving techniques, called as food or tobacco. The spiritual dimen-
coiling, plaiting, and twining. Bark and sion of these long-standing Native land-
leaves, stems and roots, pine needles management technologies fuses with so-
and porcupine quills, clam shells and phisticated practical measures ensuring
woodpecker crests: the environment of vigorous plant growth, the renewal of
the specific Native community largely basketry plants in preferred forms, and
determines the weaver’s choice of mate- the persistence of vital ecologies for gen-
rials, though weavers also trade and pur- erations—even more so than if those en-
chase particular materials they desire. vironments were left entirely untended
Basket weavers use both natural and by humans. While time, distance, legal
synthetic dyes in creating their work, but access to sites, commercial develop-
many choose to create color variations ment, and environmental destruction do
with the plant life itself. Experienced not always make it possible for contem-
weavers know when and where to gather porary basket weavers to gather their
particular plants in order to obtain the own materials, most weavers prefer to do
colors they seek. so, in part because of their feelings of
North American Native basket weav- kinship with the plant life at particular
ing is an exacting, time-consuming sites.
process and year-round activity. Certain For baskets utilizing designs, which is
plants may be gathered only at specific primarily the case with ceremonial and
times in their growth cycles, and weavers gift baskets, weavers conceptualized
take only what they need. While gather- their designs from the beginning, with-
64
________________________________________________________________________________________ Basketry
out reliance upon written plans or In addition to the reverence in which

sketches. The design of the basket is envi- Native weavers have held basketry materi-
sioned from the first stitch, and it is held als themselves, many tribes create specific
in the weaver’s mind as the basket takes basketry pieces for sacred and ceremonial
shape. Elements of basketry design might use. The Diné (Navajo) wedding basket,
come to the weaver from a number of called ts’aa’—a coiled sumac plaque
sources, including ancestral, symbolic woven by Diné, Ute, and Paiute peoples—
geometric patterns; motifs in the natural is designed with a white center portion
world, such as quail topknots, butterflies, designating “earth or the beginning of life”
lightning, and rattlesnakes; or from the and a break or gap in the colored portion
weaver’s own dreams and visions. Yurok of the design (most commonly red and
weaver Ada Charles says of designing a black, in the terraced shape of mountains,
basket, “I dream about it. It just comes to clouds, sunrays, or rainbows) that allows a
me, and I have to make it” (McConnell pathway for spirit, “including that of the
2001, 4). Renowned Pomo weaver and weaver,” to enter and exit the basket (Dal-
doctor Mabel McKay explains, “Every- rymple 2000, 82–83). This spirit path,
thing is told to me in my Dream. What which is known by various names, also re-
kind of design, what shape, what I am to lates to the Diné emergence stories, and,
do with it—everything about the bas- according to some, “must always point
kets—is told in my Dream” (Sarris 1993, east [the sunrise direction] during cere-
51). For these California weavers and for monies” (Peabody 1986, 34). Diné wed-
all who dream their baskets, it is even ding baskets hold sacred cornmeal for the
more important that the correct materi- bride and groom during their marriage
als, forms, coloring, and designs be ad- ceremony, and the coiled trays have addi-
hered to, which can be difficult if specific tional ceremonial use, including storing
plant materials are unavailable in a par- sacred articles, serving and preparing cer-
ticular region or season (Adams 2001, 21). emonial foods, drumming, bathing with
Ada Charles recalls using broom straws yucca suds or washing hair during specific
once because she was unable to obtain ceremonies (such as kinaalda), and for
the hazel sticks she wanted (McConnell use by healers during chantways such as
2001, 5). Such stories underscore the im- the Night Way (Dalrymple 2000, 80;
portant interrelations between baskets, Peabody 1986, 221). While some weavers
the living materials from which they are have broken with traditional designs by
made, and the Native people who make weaving sand-painting images, or Yei, the
them. Weaver Lois Conner (Mono/ Diné Holy People, into their basketry
Chukchansi/Miwok) explains that trays, this practice remains controver-
“plants are living, and when you create a sial—as is weaving sacred iconography
basket you create a living thing” (Adams into Diné rugs—and is not approved of by
2001, 21). all Diné people.
65
Basketry _________________________________________________________________________________________
The Hopi people of northern Arizona holds a special basketry plaque contain-
weave plaques of both wicker and yucca ing spruce, corn, and the fresh, green
for weddings and other ceremonial bean sprouts that have been carefully
events, as well as a number of baskets for nurtured into being within the kivas
gifts and daily household use. The (Waters 1975, 159–160, 175–180).
groom’s family is paid a designated num- In Pomo culture, as in a number of
ber of wicker plaques by the bride’s fam- California tribes, elaborate and finely
ily in a traditional Hopi wedding, in ex- woven gift or treasure baskets brought
change for the wedding robes the prestige to both their weavers and those
groom’s family has woven for the bride. who received the baskets. Such baskets
Dalrymple notes that in the villages of might be decorated with clam shell
Third Mesa, as many as a hundred disks, a traditional form of Pomo money,
plaques might be paid to the groom’s or valuable red woodpecker crest feath-
family with three specific styles required, ers, which were designated almost exclu-
each to be filled with cornmeal or piki, a sively for gift or ceremonial baskets
paper-thin bread made of blue cornmeal (Bibby 1996, 78). In fact, as Brian Bibby
and ashes that is often used for ritual notes, Pomo baskets “became, them-
purposes (118). Beautiful designs in both selves, symbols of wealth. They had roles
the natural colors of the plants and bril- in the exchanges of property that marked
liant commercial dyes depict animals, certain important personal and commu-
katsinas, birds, and geometric patterns nity events, such as young women’s com-
corresponding to clouds, rain, and fea- ing of age ceremonies, weddings, or any
tures of the landscape. In addition to situation for which a valuable gift might
weddings, ceremonial use of plaques in- be appropriate or payment required”
cludes holding sacred cornmeal and (ibid., 79). Oval-shaped Pomo “canoe”
other items in kiva ceremonies such as baskets were sometimes the equipment
those performed at winter solstice for of traditional Pomo doctors, used to
Soyál (which marks the beginning of the store and carry the healers’ necessary
Hopi ceremonial cycle, children’s initia- equipment of medicines, rattles, or other
tion into kiva societies, the summer items (ibid., 78). Doctors might also re-
Snake Dance, and during the annual ceive fine baskets from their patients as
February Bean Dance. Part of the larger payment.
and highly sacred Powamu ceremony— In Yurok, Hupa, and Karuk cultures,
itself one component of the Hopi sea- basketry figures prominently in the most
sonal ceremonial cycle held to honor life sacred communal ceremonial events.
and ensure its continuance in human, Each autumn these tribes hold their an-
plant, and animal forms—the Bean nual Jump Dance, whose purpose is to
Dance begins with the appearance at “fix” or rebalance the world. A crucial
dawn of the Crow Mother katsina, who part of the regalia used in this elaborate
66
________________________________________________________________________________________ Basketry
ten-day ceremony is the cylindrical bas- Native people were dispossessed and
ket that male dancers hold in one hand: their land bases were eroded by non-
each dancer, “at certain moments in the Native settlement. Contemporary
dance, with a sweeping motion across weavers who create both sacred and
the body, raises the basket skyward” secular baskets continue to work
(ibid., 77). Traditionally, women wove against an ongoing host of legal, physi-
and assembled the cylindrical Jump cal, and cultural challenges to maintain
Dance baskets, while men painted the this sacred practice. Literature pro-
geometric ornamentation on the bas- duced by The California Indian Bas-
kets’ buckskin end-pieces and added ketweavers Association (CIBA) lists a
feathers on the baskets’ ends. According number of contemporary problems
to Bibby, “Some say the basket’s shape is faced by today’s weavers, including lack
significant, resembling as it does the of access to experienced teachers and
elkhorn ‘purses’ that have traditionally local basketry materials; the inability to
been used to hold items of wealth, such gather needed materials from tradi-
as dentalia shells, which are evidence of tional gathering sites, which may be lo-
good luck and good standing with Spirit cated on privately owned or public
Beings known in Yurok as woge” (ibid., lands; a lack of privacy during gathering
77). Yurok ceremonial basketry caps, and communicating with plants; the
usually worn by young women who have threat of serious illness from contact
not yet had children, are also important with pesticides; and restrictions on cul-
traditional elements of Yurok culture. tivating or gathering plants in the
Yurok ceremonial dances often take proper manner. In addition to CIBA,
place at night, and the bold, contrasting founded in 1991, other Native basketry
colors—such as black maidenhair fern groups across the nation, including the
with white bear grass, and vivid decora- Arizona Basketweavers and the Okla-
tions such as red woodpecker crests and homa Native American Basketweavers,
dentalia—woven into the basket caps’ have been part of a significant revival of
geometric designs show up strikingly basketry since the1990s. In addition to
even when seen from a distance in the perpetuating basketweaving as a cul-
dark (ibid., 71). tural practice, these groups also advo-
Continuing to make and use ceremo- cate “the passing of legislation policies
nial basketry has not been easy for Na- which will help preserve, promote, and
tive North American peoples. In some perpetuate gathering (of basketry mate-
cases, especially in the late nineteenth rial) in a safe environment” (CIBA).
and early twentieth centuries, the craft To many Native peoples, baskets sym-
was maintained in part because the bolize life itself. California’s Chumash
commercial sale of baskets by Native people originally lived in houses shaped
women helped to fend off destitution as like baskets, and the universe has been
67
Beloved Women, Beloved Men, Beloved Towns ____________________________________________
described by Chumash elder Maria So- Heyday Books in conjunction with the
lares as containing three worlds that are Crocker Art Museum.
CIBA. N.d. “Some Problems Faced by Native
flat and circular like basketry trays. Chu- American Basketweavers.” California
mash elders told Fernando Librado Kit- Indian Basketweavers Association, P.O.
sepawit that “the world was like a great, Box 2397, Nevada City, CA 95959.
“Chaw’se Basketweavers Demonstrate Each
flat winnowing tray—some men move up Month.” 2001. Roots and Shoots 35
and some down, and there is much chaff (summer): 6–8.
mixed through it all” (Strands of Life). Dalrymple, Larry. 2000. Indian
Basketmakers of the Southwest: The
Weaving together the cultural, economic, Living Art and Fine Tradition. Santa Fe:
social, and spiritual dimensions of North Museum of New Mexico Press.
American indigenous peoples, basketry McConnell, Deborah E. “Basketweaver
Profile: Ada Charles (Yurok).” 2001. Roots
has remained a vital activity that spans
and Shoots 37 (winter): 4–5.
millennia. In an ongoing tradition of cre- Peabody, Sarah, and William A. Turnbaugh.
ative response to the social changes that 1986. Indian Baskets. West Chester, PA:
Schiffer Publishing.
Native peoples have selectively em-
Sarris, Greg. 1993. Keeping Slug Woman
braced and, too often, have had imposed Alive: A Holistic Approach to American
upon them by outsiders, the multifaceted Indian Texts. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
and holistic process of bringing baskets
Smith-Ferri, Sherri. 1996. “Basketry.” Pp.
into being continues to transmit cultural 61–63 in Encyclopedia of North American
and sacred knowledge, while revealing Indians. Edited by Frederick Hoxie. New
the ageless beauty of the living basket. York: Houghton Mifflin.
Strands of Life: The Nature of Native
For Miwok weaver Ramona Dutschke, American Basketry. 2000. Gallery and
basket weaving “is a necessity in my life Program Guide. Santa Barbara: Santa
because it’s spiritual. When you look out Barbara Museum of Natural History.
Turnbaugh, William A., and Sarah Peabody
you see the creation, and all the things Turnbaugh, eds. 1999. Basket Tales of the
that we work with are part of the creation. Grandmothers: American Indian Baskets
Our thinking is always with the Creator” in Myth and Legend. Peace Dale, RI:
Thornbrook Publishing.
(Chaw’se Basketweavers Demonstrate Waters, Frank. 1963/1975. Book of the Hopi.
Each Month 2001, 6). New York: Penguin Books.
Jane Haladay
See also Ceremony and Ritual, California;
Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo; Dreams and
Visions; Ecology and Environmentalism;
Healing Traditions, California; Masks and Beloved Women, Beloved
Masking; McKay, Mabel; Oral Traditions Men, Beloved Towns
Adams, Amanda. 2001. “The Arts of The Native American tribes whose origi-
Everyday Life.” News from Native nal homelands were in the southeastern
California 15, no. 1 (fall): 19–21.
Bibby, Brian, ed. 1996. The Fine Art of United States—those five larger tribes
California Indian Basketry. Berkeley: well known as the “civilized” tribes, as
68
___________________________________________ Beloved Women, Beloved Men, Beloved Towns
well as their less well known relatives, in- whether Beloved Women were the same
cluding the Alabama and the Yuchi— thing as War Women. Some scholars claim
seem to have had an understanding of a that certain tribes never had Beloved
quality that set apart some women, men, Women although their neighbors did. In
and towns for a special purpose. In En- response to the confusion, one might ask
glish, that quality has come to be trans- whether the scholarly confusion about
lated “beloved.” Browsing easily found Beloved Women comes from information
sources mentioning the various beloveds, filtered through the patriarchal system
looking for the one quality that everything adopted after extended colonial contact;
called beloved would share can be con- if so, then might it not be the case that
fusing. It seems that the English word what is written fails to accurately reflect
“beloved” has been used to translate a the matriarchal realities of earlier times?
quality that originally carried a range of In order to offer new conclusions and
implications, according to the specifics of raise new questions about what was not
its use. In addition to Beloved Women, written and about what was written, one
Men, and Towns, the Southeastern tribes must refilter the evidence through new
had a beloved tree that produced a eyes, sorting through both the contradic-
beloved drink. While these beloveds by no tions and the gaps. As Theda Perdue has
means corresponded to one another in noted of Cherokee political history, “The
every detail, the single element they all ready availability of sources for the newer
shared, beyond simply respect,was some system of written constitutions and
significant connection with the making of laws . . . may lead us to ignore that other
war and the keeping of peace. system that extends back into an an-
Once one notices that these various cient . . . past. Scholars must remember
beloveds all relate to the ways of war and that the surviving record does not always
peace, one can more easily understand correlate precisely to the human past, and
the reason why scholarship on the topic they must be ever alert to opportunities to
presents itself as so self-contradictory: al- redress imbalances. Unless we are vigi-
most everything written about Native lant, stories . . . will be lost because they
American war and peace issues has been run counter to the preponderance of
filtered through the eyes of the eventual [written] evidence” (Perdue 2000, 568).
“winners”—that is—the Euro-American The several beloveds are part of that
peoples who defeated both the British “other system that extends back into the
and the Indians to establish the United ancient past.”
States. Books that appear perfectly reli-
able, written by well-recognized scholars Red, White, War, Peace,
of Native American history, contradict and Being Beloved
each other on, for example, how being In Southeastern Indian traditions, the
beloved relates to Cherokee towns and color red stood for war and the color
69
white, for peace. Thus the legendary died could not pass over into the next
Creek Red Sticks were simply the fiercest world but would linger and cause trou-
young warriors of their people. During a ble in this world. To account for those
time of war, a Red Chief was in charge of cases of killing that were not intentional,
a village; during a time of peace, a White towns of refuge were established. These
Chief was in charge. Neither chief was, were often called Beloved Towns. A per-
by definition, beloved, but a chief or any son who took another’s life by accident
elder who counseled the people con- could flee to such a town and seek pro-
cerning war and peace certainly might tection. If the council in the Beloved
be a man or woman called beloved. The Town agreed, the person could remain
concept English speakers translate as until the annual Green Corn Ceremony,
“beloved” does not correlate exclusively at which time all debts and injuries of the
with either red or white, but seems to previous year would be forgiven and the
correlate quite closely with the ability to killer could possibly return home. It is
give sound counsel for war or peace, as difficult to know how completely this
well as on other matters. system functioned, and how absolute
the protection of sanctuary was, since
Beloved Towns sources are limited. Evidence is clear,
The peoples of the Southeast lived in however, that at least Chota, the best-at-
permanent villages or towns, practicing tested Cherokee Beloved Town, func-
agriculture along with hunting and war. tioned at times as such a place of refuge
Larger towns were often known as (Calloway 1995).
Mother Towns, and their neighboring A Beloved Town was not simply an-
smaller towns were daughter towns. other name for a White Town, as some
Sometimes one of the towns would also authors have suggested. Any Cherokee
be known as a Beloved Town. town could be Red or White, depending
Members of each clan of the people on whether it was at that moment at war
lived in each town. Among the Cherokee, or at peace. Each town flew a red or white
for example, members of all seven flag to show its current status. Simply
Cherokee clans resided in every Chero- knowing whether a town had been a Red
kee town or village. The clan system reg- Town or a White Town on a previous visit
ulated marriage and kept order through did not tell a traveler what to expect on a
a simple system of blood revenge. If a fel- future visit. At a particular time, one
low clan member were killed, the other town could be at war while a neighboring
clan members were responsible for town was at peace; a town’s status would
avenging their kinsperson’s death by tak- be clear to warriors by the flag it flew, and
ing the life of the murderer or someone that status would be respected by all. For
else from the murderer’s clan. Until the white observers, accustomed to think of
murder was avenged, the person who war and peace in terms of a nation, not a
70
town, this was a difficult concept. For the ation skills to avoid a bloody conflict. A
Cherokee, and for the other Indian peo- large mother city might have sitting in its
ples of the region, choosing to partici- council a group of Beloved Men from
pate in war was a very personal and local other peoples who served in this role in
matter. No one could make the decision their various tribes. The immunity of the
for another, and no town could coerce members of this body would be hon-
another to go to war or to refrain from ored, and their safety would be protected
war. even if the two peoples were to enter into
war against each other.
Beloved Men
As men of the peoples aged, they tended Beloved Women
to counsel against war, having seen the The name Nancy Ward of the Cherokee
result too often themselves. The elders of has become virtually a synonym for
a town, who often (but not always) coun- Beloved Woman in much popular and
seled peace, were commonly referred to scholarly literature. Historians tend to
as the Beloved Men of the town. Some agree that Nancy Ward was the last
sources seem to indicate that a town woman to hold the official title of
might have a particularly respected Beloved Woman (in Cherokee, Ghi-ghua)
Beloved Man as its White (Peace) Chief, in the Cherokee National Council. Read-
but that did not make him the only ers of history know that she was the last
Beloved Man in the town. On the other because of the actions she took to sup-
hand, the White Chief of a town could be port the adoption of a new Cherokee
a younger man who had not yet reached constitution patterned on that of the
that status of elder that would make him United States. The proposed constitu-
beloved. Among the Cherokee, the Red tion was adopted on July 4, 1827, at New
Chief, or War Chief, was also known as Echota, Georgia, the capital of the new
“The Raven,” but the White Chief was not Cherokee Republic; the new constitution
correspondingly called by a certain title. did not allow women or persons of
Although the colonists sometimes used African ancestry to vote or to speak in
titles like “king,” “governor,” or even “em- council meetings. Despite the fact that
peror,” the peoples of the southeast this change went against the traditional
themselves had no corresponding terms practices of the Cherokee and other ma-
nor any single official in whom was trilineal peoples, Nancy Ward agreed to
vested absolute authority over the town give up her office of Beloved Woman and
or the people. her right to speak in council in the hope
Oral history as well as documentary that, by adopting a U.S.-style constitu-
evidences shows that Beloved Men tion, her people might keep their lands.
served as diplomats between tribes in As Beloved Woman, Ward was charged to
the Southeast, at times using their medi- be the representative of all women; the
71
highest obligation of that role was record reports that she admonished him
preservation of the people’s land, and to to return to his people and explain his
that end, she was willing to give up actions to the women, saying, “Our cry is
nearly everything else for which a for peace. . . . [L]et your women’s sons be
Beloved Woman had traditionally stood. ours; our sons be yours. Let your women
The irony of Nancy Ward’s final act as hear our words” (Sawyer 2000, 15). In an-
Beloved Woman is particularly apparent other incident she is remembered as ex-
in light of the history of the develop- ercising her authority to pardon captives
ment of the U.S. Constitution, which by waving the white swan’s wing, her
was patterned on the governing docu- symbol of office, to save a white woman
ments of the Iroquois Confederacy, who had been taken captive. Other leg-
those Great Lakes tribes who were dis- ends tell how she was named War
tant relatives of the Cherokee. The most Woman (another synonym for Beloved
significant difference between the U.S. Woman) when she took her husband’s
Constitution and that of the Iroquois place in battle after he fell.
was in the role of women. While the ma- The almost larger than life legends
trilineal Iroquois practiced full gender and stories of Nancy Ward should be
equality, with Clan Mothers having final seen as making evident the very real
right of choice over chiefs, the United presence and authority of the clan moth-
States denied women both vote and ers and Beloved Women who functioned
voice. After its new U.S.-style constitu- in Cherokee and most likely other matri-
tion of 1827, the Cherokee form of gov- lineal Southeastern cultures since time
ernment would have more in common before memory. Like the Iroquois tribes,
with the white man than with the peo- each Cherokee clan had a leading
ple’s own ancient relatives. woman who spoke for it in councils.
Possibly Nancy Ward is the name most Within each village, the leader of this
known to history because she was so ap- council of women had a special role. The
preciated by whites as a friend of the title Beloved Woman refers to that role.
colonists; she is remembered by Ameri- She spoke for or against war and had full
can history books as working tirelessly to authority over the disposition of captives
keep peace between the Cherokee and taken in war. Her role held both in times
the settlers. Early in her career as of war and times of peace. Whereas for
Beloved Woman, Ward served as a mem- the men it was necessary to have the
ber of the negotiating team at the meet- functions of Red Chief (war) and White
ing with John Sevier at Little Pigeon Chief (peace) held by different men,
River, Tennessee, in 1781. She was ap- women were seen as the source of all life
palled that no women sat on his team, and thus could hold the realms of both
and he was equally appalled that the war and peace in constant tension and
Cherokee spoke through a woman. The balance within themselves.
72
Beloved Tree/Drink From the origin of the Southeastern peo-

One of the recognized functions of a ples and their receiving of life through
Beloved Woman, or War Woman, was to Corn Mother (or her counterpart, ac-
prepare the strong drink that warriors cording to tribe), the peoples had main-
took before going to battle. Observers tained balance with each other and their
have called this the Black Drink, because surroundings. Although they hoped that
of its dark color, but some of the peoples by becoming more “civilized,” like the
who used it called it the White Drink, be- white man, they would be left alone and
cause of its connection with purity. The allowed to keep their land, in fact their
drink was a strong tea with a high caf- acceptance of profound worldview-
feine content made from the leaves and shaking changes had the opposite result.
twigs of the yaupon holly, misnamed by The more their cultures came to resem-
Western science Ilex vomitoria. White ble those of the colonists, listening only
observers noted that men often vomited to men and only to the counsel of the
as part of their purification rituals and Red Chiefs, the more people within the
attributed the vomiting to the dark drink tribes began to go along with the argu-
they consumed in such great quantities. ments for removal and came to be sub-
In fact, yaupon tea has no emetic prop- ject to the bribes of unscrupulous white
erties and can be drunk just like any officials. By the time of the Removal Act
black tea, coffee, or other caffeinated in 1830, almost no vestige of the beloved
beverage (Hudson 1979, passim). The roles and functions, which had served to
yaupon was known as the Beloved Tree, keep harmony for generations, remained
and the drink was the Beloved Drink, among the Southeastern peoples. Little
consumed, apparently only by men, as a more than beloved memories went with
part of a great number of ritual occasions the peoples to Indian Territory.
in the various tribes of the Southeast.
Contemporary Beloved Women
The Loss of the Beloved Roles In the late twentieth century, the title
The traditional Southeastern worldview Beloved Woman was revived by the
kept war and peace functions divided Cherokee people. Two Cherokee women
between several men and recognized the were so named for their leadership in
key role of women in speaking both in what might be called the “War to pre-
councils of war and councils of peace. serve Cherokee culture in the contempo-
When that worldview began to crumble, rary world.” Both came from the Eastern
and when tribal constitutions were Band. In 1984 the joint council of the
adopted that no longer recognized the Eastern Band of Cherokees and the
balances deriving from the original in- Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma named
structions known by the people, the en- Maggie Axe Wachacha (1895–1993) a
tire culture of a people came to be at risk. Beloved Woman. For forty years Maggie
73
Wachacha served as Indian language Museum of the Cherokee Nation. The

clerk of the Tribal Council, never missing painting depicts the seven traditional
a meeting. She was a traditionalist who Clan Mothers of the Cherokee and the
lived in the Snowbird township of Rob- Beloved Woman, using honored contem-
binsville. She spoke no English and tran- porary women of each clan as models.
scribed all of the proceedings of the Louise Maney was the model for the rep-
council into the Cherokee syllabary for resentative of her clan, the Paint Clan.
the official records of the Eastern Band. She had previously been awarded the
For every meeting, Maggie walked the 1998 North Carolina Folk Heritage Award
sixty miles to the tribal headquarters in and in 2001 was honored as a Distin-
Cherokee, leaving with her husband at guished Woman of North Carolina. She
midnight in order to arrive on time. It is traced her heritage as a potter through
said that when they had enough money her mother’s line as far back as tradition
they would catch a train. Wachacha was remembers. Louise Maney’s pottery is on
also a traditional healer who learned the display at the Smithsonian.
old Cherokee healing ways from her Pamela Jean Owens
grandmother. Like the healers of early
See also Dance, Southeast; Missionization,
times, she is remembered as being will- Southeast; Oral Traditions, Southeast;
ing to walk many miles to help her peo- Power, Southeast; Trail of Tears
ple, in her long skirts and with her gray References and Further Reading
hair tied up in the traditional red Chero- Calloway, Colin G. 1995. “Chota: Cherokee
Beloved Town in a World at War.” Pp.
kee woman’s kerchief. In many ways, 182–212 in The American Revolution in
Maggie Wachacha functioned as a Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in
Beloved Woman long before she received Native American Communities. New
York: Cambridge University Press.
the title. Like the Beloved Women of the
Carson, James Taylor. 1999. Searching for
past, she was recognized and honored for the Bright Path: The Mississippi Choctaws
what she had already done and what she from Prehistory to Removal. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press.
would continue to do until her death.
Champagne, Duane. 1992. Social Order and
The second woman to be honored as a Political Change: Constitutional
Beloved Woman received the honor from Governments among the Cherokee, the
Choctaw, the Chickasaw, and the Creek.
the Eastern Band in 2001, a few months
Stanford: Stanford University Press.
after her death. Louise Bigmeet Maney Hatley, Tom. 1993. The Dividing Paths:
was known as a soft-spoken, strong- Cherokees and South Carolinians
willed master potter, a long-time ele- through the Era of Revolution. New York:
Oxford University Press.
mentary-school teacher, and keeper of Hoig, Stanley W. 1998. The Cherokees and
traditional Cherokee culture. The East- Their Chiefs: In the Wake of Empire.
ern Band honored her memory by dedi- Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press.
Hudson, Charles M., ed. 1979. Black Drink:
cating a painting by Cherokee master A Native American Tea. Athens:
artist Dorothy Sullivan to hang at the University of Georgia Press.
74
______________________________________________________________________________________ Black Elk
Martin, Joel W. 1991. Sacred Revolt: The conclusion of the Lakota-U.S. wars and
Muskogees’ Struggle for a New World. the early years of oppressive policies by
Boston: Beacon Press.
Mooney, James. 1992. James Mooney’s the U.S. government directed against his
History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of people. He also witnessed the early
the Cherokees: Containing the Full Texts reservation period, prior to the Indian
of Myths of the Cherokee (1900) and the
Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (1891) Reorganization Act of 1934. Black Elk
as Published by the Bureau of American was only three years old during the Fet-
Ethnology. Asheville, NC: Historical terman Battle; he was five years old when
Images.
O’Brien, Greg. 2002. Choctaws in a
the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty was signed.
Revolutionary Age, 1750–1830. Lincoln: During the Battle of the Little Bighorn he
University of Nebraska Press. was not quite a teenager, and in Decem-
Perdue, Theda. 1998. Cherokee Women:
ber 1890, during the massacre at
Gender and Change, 1700–1835. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press. Wounded Knee, when Chief Big Foot and
———. 2000. “Clan and Court: Another Look his band were killed, he was a young man
at the Early Cherokee Republic.” American
of twenty-seven. At the time he lived only
Indian Quarterly 24, no. 4: 562–569.
Reid, John Phillip. 1970. A Law of Blood: The eight miles from Wounded Knee Creek,
Primitive Law of the Cherokee Nation. on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
New York: New York University Press.
When Black Elk was a young adult,
Sawyer, Susan. 2000. “Nancy Ward: Beloved
Woman.” Pp. 8–17 in More than the Oglala Lakotas were heavily evan-
Petticoats: Remarkable Tennessee Women. gelized by Christian missionaries. In-
Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing. tense pressure was inflicted upon any
Sturm, Circe. 2002. Blood Politics: Race,
Culture, and Identity in the Cherokee who resisted conversion. Black Elk felt
Nation of Oklahoma. Berkeley: this pressure. After being forcibly subju-
University of California Press. gated to Christianity, he attempted to
Wallace, Anthony F. C. 1993. The Long, Bitter
Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians. understand it. On December 6, 1904, he
New York: Hill and Wang. chose to be baptized. The baptism took
place in the Holy Rosary Mission near
present-day Pine Ridge. While Catholi-
cism had been forced upon him, he
Black Elk (1863–1950) adopted the role and played it well, ap-
(Religious leader, Oglala Lakota) peasing his oppressors.
In December 1863, Black Elk was born However, Black Elk remained a strong
on the Little Powder River, the son of believer in his traditional Lakota spiritu-
White Cow Sees Woman and the elder ality. Along with many other Lakota peo-
Black Elk. He was the fourth person in ple, he participated in an underground
four generations of his family to carry spiritual movement. This movement
this name. began as soon as the U.S. government’s
Black Elk experienced a lifetime of ex- policies restricting traditional religious
treme challenges. He lived through the practices began to be enforced. Black Elk
75
Black Elk _______________________________________________________________________________________
participated simultaneously in these un- sance of traditional Lakota spirituality.

derground activities and those of the One result has been a decrease in mem-
Catholic church. Mastering both tradi- bership and attendance by Lakota peo-
tions, externally he appeared to be the ple at Christian churches on the reserva-
perfect Catholic. However, he feared that tion. Some of those churches, in an
the restrictive policies of the U.S. govern- effort to retain membership, have
ment would destroy traditional Lakota worked to absorb a degree of traditional
culture and beliefs. Many Lakota tradi- Lakota symbolism and ritual activity.
tional spiritual leaders felt the same way, However, the shift toward reviving tradi-
and, like Black Elk, they agreed to record tional Lakota traditions has continued,
many of their ceremonial and oral tradi- and it is particularly evident among
tions, using non-Indian scholars as a younger generations.
means of preserving these traditions for Inspired by the work and wisdom of
future generations of Lakota. Black Elk, this contemporary cultural
Black Elk was committed to this task revival reverses a process of assimila-
of preservation. He dictated his life story tion, acculturation, and missionization
to the poet John G. Neihardt in the sum- that had threatened to destroy Lakota
mer of 1930. The book Black Elk Speaks culture. For this cultural regeneration
was first printed in 1932, and since that to take place, there must be spiritual
time it has been widely read throughout and psychological healing from the
the world. His decision to share his story wounds inflicted by more than a cen-
publicly enabled future generations to tury of colonialism and oppression.
understand the history of his people, and This process of relearning Lakota iden-
to secure hope for the future, for the tity has been made easier because of
Lakotas, and for all humankind. Black Elk’s legacy. Black Elk’s warnings
In the book, Black Elk records a pivotal have been heeded.
vision that he experienced as a young Black Elk’s courage has been a source
person. The vision carries within it a of inspiration for the Lakota people. By
message for the Lakota, a warning navigating a dual identity, both Christian
against complete acculturation and as- and traditionalist, during an era of fierce
similation. oppression, he provided an example of a
With the passage of the 1978 Indian leader who could live peacefully along-
Religious Freedom Act, fear of federal side the dominant society while also re-
prosecution was lifted. The Lakota were maining at heart a Lakota traditionalist.
finally allowed open expression and free He lived through a difficult, painful, and
practice of their traditional faith. This violent period of Lakota history. How-
legislation, combined with the wide- ever, through the rapid and confusing
spread popularity of Black Elk’s teach- changes, he remained true to his Lakota
ings, has helped to facilitate a renais- identity. His outward appearance may
76
_______________________________________________________ Boarding Schools, Religious Impact
have changed as he adopted forms of et al. 2000; Deloria and Wildcat 2001;
Christianity and European-American Szasz 1999). Much scholarship has been
culture, but his heart and mind re- dedicated to assessing and critiquing
mained distinctly Lakota. policies directed at reshaping and elimi-
Karen D. Lone Hill nating indigenous cultures via compul-
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota; sory education. The Merriam Report rep-
Dreamers and Prophets; Dreams and resents one of the earliest as well as one
Visions; Missionization, Northern Plains; of the most influential critiques of ideas
Oral Traditions, Lakota (Teton); Power,
Plains; Religious Leadership, Plains; Sacred and practices exercised in the education
Sites and Sacred Mountains, Black Hills; of Indian pupils throughout the United
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, States (Merriam et al. 1928). Ethno-
Plains; Vision Quest Rites
graphic teams at the Bureau of Applied
Brown, Joseph Epes. 1989. The Sacred Pipe:
Research in Anthropology have since
Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Rites of taken a leading role in examining the im-
the Oglala Sioux. Norman: University of pact of formal Western education upon
Oklahoma Press.
the indigenous groups of Arizona and
DeMallie, Raymond J., ed. 1984. The Sixth
Grandfather: Black Elk’s Teachings as Nevada (Officer 1956; Kelley 1967; Ze-
Given to John G. Neihardt. Lincoln: deno et al. 2002), and the recent works of
Archuleta et al. (2000), Deloria and Wild-
Neihardt, John G. 1979. Black Elk Speaks.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. cat (2001), Huff (1997), Lomawaima
Rice, Julian. 1991. Black Elk’s Story: (1994), Prucha (1990), and Spring (2001)
Distinguishing Its Lakota Purpose.
have been instrumental in identifying
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press. critical social, political, economic, and
ideological variables associated with the
compulsory education of indigenous
children across the United States.
Boarding Schools, At a national level, collective efforts
aimed at “killing the Indian and saving
Religious Impact
the man” materialized in the establish-
Next to the implementation of federal ment of the first American Indian board-
policies designed to remove indigenous ing school in Pennsylvania in 1879 under
people from their traditional and aborig- the leadership of Richard Henry Pratt
inal territories, legislative measures (Prucha 1990). Known as the Carlisle In-
mandating the education of Indian chil- dian Industrial School, this institution
dren according to Western tenets of became the model for reeducating
knowledge have resulted in some of the American Indians throughout North
most profound and enduring impacts America during the late nineteenth and
upon the lives of historical and contem- early twentieth centuries. In Nevada, a
porary American Indians (see Archuleta massive resocializing campaign directed
77
Boarding Schools, Religious Impact ________________________________________________________
the Indians, get the Indianness out of

Back in those days they them.”
were trying to make Indi- Johnson’s statement is illustrative of
ans white overnight, you guiding principles underscoring federal
know what I mean? policies of Indian education from 1879 to
1928. In practice, bureaucrats working
—Andrew Vidovich
under the aegis of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA), “remove[d] the child from
at the youths of each indigenous com- tribal influence by placing him in a fed-
munity began in 1890 with the opening eral boarding school; during his stay the
of the first nonreservation boarding school . . . [taught] him disrespect for
school three miles southeast of the capi- tribal institutions, forb[a]de the speaking
tal in Carson City, Nevada. By 1902 the of his native language, expose[d] him to
federal government had established Christianity, [and] instruct[ed] him in
twenty-five boarding schools across the skills related to [a] non-Indian, rather
nation for the purpose of resolving the than Indian economy” (Officer 1956,
“Indian Problem” via assimilation tac- 116). In the place of indigenous popula-
tics, and “[by] the end of the century tions fluent in the languages, lands, reli-
nearly half of all native children attended gions, subsistence strategies, narratives,
school for some period of time” (Berk- and social and political codes of each
hofer 1978, 169–170). ethnic group, the schools endeavored to
Over the next century, indigenous create a pool of “new Indians.” These
youths throughout the United States new Indians would be bereft of tradi-
were exposed to Western educational tional knowledge but much more mal-
regimes at boarding schools, local day leable to the needs of a society struc-
schools, and public schools that perma- tured by Western values and practices
nently altered indigenous economic and (Archuleta et al. 2000, 56).
social milieus developed through cen- Although many families were reluc-
turies of experience. In practice, the as- tant to send their children to boarding
similation policies of the early years schools, some were lured by the hope
(1879–1928), and to a lesser extent the re- that their children’s economic futures
form years (1928–1945), translated into might be improved if the children were
rational, systematic efforts to disrupt exposed to Western forms of knowledge
and if possible eradicate the transmis- (Jackson 1969, 22). Ironically, federal
sion of indigenous knowledge from eld- policies emphasizing vocational training
ers to youths. Paiute Ed Johnson, former (Reel 1901; Knack and Littlefield 1996)
curator of the Stewart Indian Museum prepared American Indian students for
(Nevada Sept./Oct. 1990: 33), reflects, the lowest paying jobs within local
“What they were trying to do was civilize economies and consequently served to
78
Classroom instruction in art, United States Indian School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, ca. 1901. (Library
of Congress)
reproduce rather than reduce social, Soon after the school opened, students
economic, and political inequities be- were [also] afflicted with the mumps”
tween the indigenous and nonindige- (Johnson 1977); dysentery also reportedly
nous populations (Willis 1977). ran rampant (Jackson 1969, 36). In a re-
Late-nineteenth and early-twentieth- cent interview, one Paiute elder recalled
century educational policies for indige- that her friend was forced to wear the
nous people created additional risk-im- jacket of a dead girl (Stoffle and Zedeno
bued situations for which no remedies 2001). Many former students also ex-
were immediately forthcoming. While at- pressed concern about children who had
tending boarding schools, children were died at school and were never given In-
exposed to multiple disease epidemics. At dian burials. They explained that without
Stewart, “[s]tudents from kindergarten proper burials, the spirits of these chil-
through the eighth grade . . . were subject dren would not be at rest (ibid.).
the ravages of diseases including measles, At the boarding schools students lived
whooping coup, smallpox, and the flu. under militaristic regimes wherein their
79
Classroom instruction in math, United States Indian School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1903. (Library of
Congress)
behavior was strictly regulated through Paiute and Shoshone elders explain that
ongoing surveillance, behavioral modifi- they had never been exposed to the use of
cation programs, and the liberal use of physical violence against children (Stoffle
corporal punishment. Noncompliance and Zedeno 2001).
was regularly met with extreme force. “In Stories of student resistance abound.
the first 30 years . . . discipline was imme- Not uncommonly, children ran away
diate—and often brutal. Girls were locked from the school. In a recent interview,
in the attic of the girl’s dormitory. Stu- Western Shoshone elder John Kennedy
dents were forced to carry railroad ties relates the story of how his own father, as
around the grounds. Some were shackled. well as his extended family, acted in con-
Children who ran away—and many did— cert to remove John and his two siblings
were returned in leg irons and chains. from Stewart:
Even in the late years, students were sub-
ject to severe punishment” (Reno Gazette- The government tried to take every
Journal). Prior to attending these schools, children. They don’t want them to
80
learn their language. Take them from

their Indian ways. One train picked up Now they want people to
all the little kids. Dad got us out of the go to school to learn the In-
school. Picked up all three kids in a
Model T Ford. Took him to Telescope dian language and . . . I
Peak with his aunt—Hide him out— wonder why that is?
skipping him from here to there,
family to family to miss school. To
—Homer Hooper
grandparents, stayed in Lida, with
other grandfather in Lida. (Stoffle and
Zedeno 2001) brother as a girl before arriving at the
school: “Jerry was a little baby. When he
Often running away proved to be only was going to Stewart he had a dress on
a temporary help. “If a child brought to him. And they put him in the big girls’
the school ran away, he was rounded up dormitory, and they got to bathe him and
and brought back, sometimes in chains, dress him, and fix him up. See, I tell you,
and put on detention and watched” that’s the reason we [Vidovich children]
(Nevada Sept./Oct. 1990: 34). are so close together. On account of that”
In response to the rigors of a semimili- (Wheat 1959, tape 74, p. 15).
tary institution that was designed to Students also endeavored to mediate
“take the Indianness out of Indians,” stu- risks by displaying varying degrees of
dents employed multiple innovative compliance; developing new language,
strategies to protect themselves and vocational, and athletic skills; and creat-
maintain a sense of cultural identity. ing support networks that crossed ethnic
Children would sequester themselves boundaries and lay the foundations for
behind buildings where they would the late-nineteenth- and early-twenti-
speak in their native languages, and eth-century phenomenon of pan-Indian
older pupils often took the lead in ensur- awareness. In addition, families some-
ing that younger children had the oppor- times relocated to be near the schools of
tunity to practice speaking their own lan- their children, and tribal councils collec-
guages. Students also developed tively voiced their concerns over BIA ed-
“elaborate codes of slang and became ucational policies (Jackson 1969, 22).
expert note passers to circumvent school Over time, some of the children and fac-
rules that impeded communication” ulty of the boarding schools, particularly
(Archuleta et al. 2000, 26). Some students returning graduates, sought to transform
also created innovative strategies to en- the schools from places of fear into re-
sure that they had ongoing contact with gions of refuge in a world frequently
siblings within an institution that for- dominated by Euro-American interests.
bade socializing between male and fe- In 1928, the BIA progressively began to
male students. The Vidovich children modify its educational policies toward
went so far as to disguise their younger American Indians. For a full treatment of
81
twentieth-century BIA policies, see Offi- Jackson, Nicholas D. 1969. “A History of the
cer (1956) and Szasz (1999). Generally Stewart Indian School.” Unpublished
master’s thesis. Reno: University of
speaking, policies have continued to Nevada.
shift toward a position of acknowledging Johnson, Ed. 1977. “Native Language Was
the value of American Indian cultural Forbidden: Discipline Was Strict for
Stewart Students.” Apple Tree. February
ideas and practices, increasing tribal 13, 1977.
sovereignty over educational matters, Kelley, William H. 1967. A Study of Southern
and developing methods to catalyze the Arizona School-Age Indian Children
1966–1967. Bureau of Ethnic Research
revitalization of indigenous systems of Department of Anthropology. Tucson:
knowledge. Today former boarding University of Arizona.
school students and their children are Knack, Martha, and Alice Littlefield. 1996.
Native Americans and Wage Labor:
living out a legacy that has been shaped
Ethnohistorical Perspectives. Norman:
in part by a century of compulsory edu- University of Oklahoma Press.
cational policies. Reflecting on his own Lomawaima, Tsianina K. 1994. They Called
it Prairie Light: The Story of Chilocco
experiences, one former student pro-
Indian School. Lincoln: University of
claimed, “It was designed to break the Nebraska Press.
morale of the Indians, but it didn’t work” Merriam, Lewis, and Associates. 1928. The
Problems of Indian Administration.
(Nevada State Journal 1982).
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Alex K. Carroll Nevada. 1990. “Stewart School Days:
Graduates of Stewart Indian School
See also Christianity, Indianization of;
Recall the Hardships, Friendships, and
Identity; Law, Legislation, and Native
Lessons Learned.” Nevada
Religion; Reservations, Spiritual and
(September/October): 33–34.
Cultural Implications; Termination and
Nevada State Journal. March 3, 1982.
Relocation
Officer, James E. 1956. Indians in School: A
References and Further Reading Study of the Development of Educational
Archuleta, Margaret L., Brenda J. Child, and Facilities for Arizona Indians. Bureau of
K. Tsianina Lomawaima, eds. 2000. Away Ethnic Research. Department of
from Home: American Indian Boarding Anthropology, University of Arizona.
School Experiences 1879–2000. Santa Fe: Prucha, Francis Paul, ed. 1990. Documents
Museum of New Mexico Press. of U.S. Indian Policy. 2d ed., expanded.
Berkhofer, Robert F. 1978. The White Man’s Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Indian: Images of the American Indian Reel, Estelle (Superintendent of Indian
from Columbus to the Present. New York: Schools). 1901. Course of Study for the
Knopf. Indian Schools of the United States:
Bureau of Indian Affairs. 1936. “Why the Industrial and Literary. Washington, DC:
Boarding Schools Failed.” Indian Government Printing Office.
Education 3, no. 1. Reno Gazette-Journal. November 8, 1994.
Deloria, Vine, and Daniel Wildcat. 2001. Spring, Joel. 2001. Deculturalization and the
Power and Place: Indian Education in Struggle for Equality: A Brief History of
America. Golden, CO: Fulcrum. the Education of Dominated Cultures in
Huff, Delores J. 1997. To Live Heroically: the United States. Boston: McGraw Hill.
Institutional Racism and American Stoffle, Richard W., and Maria N. Zedeno.
Indian Education. SUNY Series. Albany: 2001. Field Notes for Indian History
State University of New York Press. Project (Zedeno et al. 2002).
82
______________________________________________________________ Brave Bird, Mary (Crow Dog)
Szasz, Margaret Connell. 1999. Education berta Menchú were quickly drawn, as
and the American Indian: The Road to Brave Bird’s books became the subjects
Self-Determination. 3d ed. Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press. of public debate and numerous aca-
Wheat, Margaret. 1959. “Tonopah Oral demic studies. Both popular and schol-
History Project.” Reno: Special arly interest in Brave Bird were in some
Collections Department, University of
Nevada. Interview with Tim Hooper, sense a matter of timing and irrelevant to
University of Nevada, Reno Tapes 40–43, the life and achievements of this para-
83–24/12:23, and interview with Andy doxical and courageous woman. At the
Vidovich, University of Nevada, Reno
Tape 74. 83–24/12:26.
time of their appearance, the struggle for
Willis, Paul. 1977. Learning to Labor: How religious rights had long since been
Working Class Kids Get Working Class fought and won, although life on the
Jobs. New York: Columbia University
reservation had by then left its marks
Press.
Zedeno, Maria, Alex K. Carroll, and Richard upon her. In retrospect, Brave Bird
Stoffle. 2002. “Indian History Project: seemed destined for fame, from the mo-
South-Central Nevada and Southeast
ment she birthed her first child during a
California Prepared for Science
Applications International Corporation. firefight at the Wounded Knee Uprising
Nellis Air Force Base and Range Complex of 1973, thereafter becoming an im-
and Nevada Test and Training Range.”
promptu symbol of Lakota and Indian
Bureau of Applied Research in
Anthropology. Tucson:University of regeneration.
Arizona Press. Born an iyeska (a person of mixed In-
dian background) named Mary Moore
and raised at He Dog as a member of the
Brulé or Sichangu Tribe, Brave Bird
Brave Bird, Mary joined the American Indian Movement
(Crow Dog) (1953–) (AIM) at an early age and married the
(Writer/activist, Lakota) renowned Lakota medicine man
With the appearance of Lakota Woman Leonard Crow Dog. In opposition to the
in 1990, Mary (Crow Dog) Brave Bird be- desires of friends and family members,
came one of the most famous Indian Brave Bird sought to live in body and
women of the twentieth century, not soul as a Lakota woman and reverse the
only for her spiritual wisdom but also as century-old process of “whitemaniza-
an outspoken activist for Indians’ and tion” that had affected so many on the
women’s rights. The surprising success of Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations.
Richard Erodes’s and Mary Brave Bird’s Her early school years at St. Francis
jointly authored volume led to a motion Catholic School convinced her of the
picture based upon Brave Bird’s life and a bankruptcy of the white man’s way of liv-
sequel volume entitled Ohitika Woman. ing, which drove her into a life of aim-
Comparisons between Brave Bird and lessness until her participation at sixteen
the Nobel Prize–winning author Rigo- years of age in the Trail of Broken Treaties
83
Brave Bird, Mary (Crow Dog) _______________________________________________________________
in 1972, which climaxed in an Indian oc- productive rights. In her years with Crow
cupation of the BIA office in Washington, Dog before their divorce, she grew in
D.C. As the wife of Crow Dog and mother knowledge of Lakota religion and acted
of four, Brave Bird struggled for years at as “water carrier” for Crow Dog in the
Crow Dog’s Paradise (the home and Native American Church. Although ini-
gathering place of the Crow Dog clan and tially repelled by the Christian dimen-
close friends) to gain acceptance as an sions of the Native American Church,
iyeska and also for recognition as an In- Brave Bird overcame her reservations
dian woman (she later had two more and came to embrace all sincere forms of
children with her second husband, Rudi worshipping Wakan Tanka, or the cre-
Olguin). Legal battles to free Leonard ative spirit. Brave Bird has been highly
Crow Dog from prison brought her to critical of those who would cast her in
New York City, where she widened her the role of a “female Don Juan” (from
circle of acquaintances and forged a Carlos Castenada), or who would exploit
close working relationship with her fu- Indian religion for commercial gain, but
ture coauthor, Richard Erodes. Gradu- she has also maintained a spirit of open-
ally, Brave Bird came to see the fight ness to all those who are drawn to Lakota
against racism and gender discrimina- religion.
tion as intimately related. Despite her Although the Native American Church
criticisms of the insularity of main- was not incorporated on the Rosebud
stream feminism, Brave Bird became an until 1924, the centrality of the “water
important figure for women of all races, carrier” in church rituals resonates with
creeds, and backgrounds. This was in ancient Lakota beliefs, especially as an
part because of her compelling honesty invocation of Ptesan Win, the White Buf-
and her willingness to speak the truth falo Calf Woman, the bringer of the sa-
about herself and others, no matter how cred pipe to the Sioux Nation. The
unflattering. woman who carries the water-of-life is a
She also spoke out about difficult as- reminder of the great life-giver, the All-
pects of her life as the wife of a famous Mother of the Universe, who gives life
medicine man, the labor-intensive if not with her blood and accordingly demands
back-breaking responsibilities that the highest respect. Ptesan Win taught
nearly drove her to despair. The murder the inikagapi (or sweatbath), as well as
in 1975 of her close friend Annie Mae prayers and songs for healing and purifi-
Aquash, a Micmac political activist, left cation.
lasting scars and increased Brave Bird’s All Lakota rituals begin with a sweat-
fears of further illegal reprisals against bath, as a rite of cleansing and a re-
her family. Brave Bird also fought against minder of Ptesan Win. In the story of the
alcoholism and wife-abuse on the reser- sacred pipe’s origin, as recorded by John
vation, as well as upholding women’s re- Neihardt in his conversations with Black
84
_________________________________________________________ Buffalo/Bison Restoration Project
Elk, Ptesan Win sang “With visible Feminism and Tribalism; Native American
breathe I am walking” as she presented Church; New Age Appropriation; Oral
Traditions, Lakota (Teton); Sacred Pipe;
the sacred pipe to the Lakota (Neihardt Sweatlodge
1995, 293). Brave Bird interprets “visible References and Further Reading
breathe” in this case to mean “the white Brave Bird, Mary, and Richard Erodes. 1993.
hot cloud rising from the sweatlodge” Ohitika Woman. New York: Harper
Perennial.
(Brave Bird and Erodes 1993, 100). The Crow Dog, Mary, and Richard Erodes. 1990.
purification of bodily fluids through Lakota Woman. New York: Harper
sweating and replenishment with pure Perennial.
Neihardt, John G. 1995. Black Elk Speaks.
water symbolizes the renewal of life. The
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
blood of Ptesan Win nurtures new life Wise, Christopher, and R. Todd Wise. 1998.
within her womb: she is the holy woman, “Mary Brave Bird Speaks: A Brief
Interview.” Studies in American Indian
the carrier of fire, flint, and pipe. In both
Literatures 10, no. 4 (winter): 1–8.
her books, Brave Bird evokes the ———. 2000. “A Conversation with Mary
Cheyenne proverb that “a nation is not Brave Bird.” American Indian Quarterly
24, no. 3 (summer): 482–493.
conquered until the hearts of its women
are on the ground” (Crow Dog and
Erodes 1990, 3; Brave Bird and Erodes
1993, 183–184). Buffalo/Bison Restoration
The heart of blood is the sacred source
Project
at the inauguration of life. But Brave Bird
also knows that the creative power of For many of the Native peoples of the
women often provokes the resentment Great Plains, religious life centers on
of men, regardless of their origin. For this their relationship with the buffalo
reason, she reminds her readers that In- (bison). The buffalo were given to the
dian women have rarely received the Plains people as a source of both physi-
high honor they deserve, even before the cal and spiritual sustenance. Bison are a
coming of the whites. The fight to restore central element of Plains oral traditions,
the honor of Ptesan Win, or the life-giver, rituals, ceremonies, and material cul-
is therefore older than the fight against ture. Despite its importance to Native
Euro-American racism and imperialism. people, both culturally and as an inte-
Brave Bird has fought this battle in behalf gral part of the Plains ecosystem, the
of Ptesan Win for most of her adult life, buffalo was the focus of extermination
affecting the lives of countless women efforts by nineteenth-century Euro-
and men along the path. Americans as they expanded westward.
Christopher Wise The restoration of bison populations has
become a focus of many contemporary
See also American Indian Movement (Red
Power Movement); Christianity, Native nations throughout the Plains,
Indianization of; Female Spirituality; and it plays an important part in the
85
Buffalo/Bison Restoration Project __________________________________________________________
spiritual, financial, and ecological well- to the present day) periods. The species
being of Native nations across the became smaller than its ancient relative,
Plains. but it also become more agile and faster.
The bison species originated in the There are two extant species of bison
steppe region of Asia. They radiated in the world today. They are the North
northward to the colder climes and then American Bison bison and the European
split into two distinct groups. Some Bison bonasus. Both have suffered ex-
went west and some went east. The treme population declines in recent
bison that went east eventually crossed times. The B. bonasus, sometimes re-
over a 1,000-mile-wide land called ferred to as the wisent, was very nearly
Beringia into the North American conti- exterminated during World War II by
nent. These bison are what we call “buf- wartime activities and starving war
falo” today. There really is no buffalo refugees. They are now protected in a na-
that is native to North America, and the tional park in Poland. The B. bison was
name is taxonomically incorrect. True almost exterminated in the late 1800s. It
buffalo exist only on other continents. is thought that prior to the arrival of the
The correct taxonomic name for this European on the North American conti-
species is Bison bison, although people nent, bison population numbers were
will probably always identify the animal between 30 million and 70 million. They
as the buffalo. were reduced to approximately 830 indi-
The earliest traces of bison occur in viduals during the Euro-American con-
Asia and are from the time period known quest of the West. There were two rea-
as the Pliocene geological epoch, around sons why the American bison population
two million years ago. Of course, little is was reduced: (1) to destroy the food sup-
known of this ancient animal, and much plies of the otherwise uncontrollable no-
more is known of its more recent rela- madic Indian nations, and (2) to make
tives. There is evidence that a bison room on the rich grasslands for the Euro-
called the Bison priscus eventually in- pean cattle that were brought onto the
habited the far north of North America. Great Plains. There are two subspecies of
The B. priscus was a much larger animal the North American bison present today.
than today’s bison. Archaeological evi- They are the Bison bison bison and the
dence shows that this distant relative Bison bison athabascae. The B. b.
was approximately 3 to 4 meters tall with athabascae are known as woodland
horns that spread 2 meters across. The bison, and their habitat is in Canada. The
bison species underwent several evolu- B. b. bison occupy the grasslands of the
tionary changes during the Pleistocene Great Plains.
(which began about 20,000 and ended The American Indians that resided on
some 11,000 years ago) and the or near the Great Plains relied very
Holocene (from about 11,000 years ago heavily upon the buffalo for much of
86
their winter food supply. The buffalo also rival. When she arrived the next day, all
supplied them with other by-products the people assembled and listened to
that were used for clothing and shelter. what she had to say. The message she
Although the Indians’ food supply also gave the people was that the buffalo na-
included many other species, such as tion wanted to help the people survive
elk, deer, pronghorn antelope, bear, por- better, and they were prepared to give of
cupine, and prairie dog, the bison pro- themselves if the people lived good lives
vided the most meat for the least amount and didn’t harm one another. She gave
of work. The Great Plains grassland them a sacred pipe and instructions re-
ecosystem is characterized as semiarid, garding songs to sing and prayers to say.
with very cold temperatures during the She assured them that if they faithfully
winter months, and adequate prepara- followed her instructions, the buffalo na-
tion was paramount to survival. The Na- tion would always be there to guide and
tive people became very efficient at se- assist the Lakota Nation. In return, the
curing buffalo meat, and the meat was Lakota people developed ways to utilize
preserved in preparation for the severe every part of the buffalo to fulfill their
and harsh winter conditions. many needs (see Table 1). The two nations
There were about twenty-four Indian lived together in this harmonious fashion
nations that lived on, or near, the prairie for centuries, and even millennia.
and survived by hunting buffalo. Many When the Euro-Americans came to
permanently resided upon the grass- this land and began their westward trek
lands and relied heavily upon buffalo across the continent, everything
hunting. There were also tribes that lived changed for the native species that had
along the periphery of the grasslands in coexisted for so long. The fragile balance
the mountains or forests, and they would within the various ecosystems that had
come onto the grasslands to hunt buf- been in place since time immemorial
falo. There were also tribes that lived suddenly began to unravel. On the
along the river bottoms that were depen- prairie, many native species began to
dent upon agriculture but either hunted disappear. The prairie wolf and the
buffalo or traded their vegetable crops prairie grizzly bear disappeared, and the
for buffalo meat. elk left for the mountains never to be
The Lakota Nation tell a story that, seen again in the prairie. The beaver al-
many moons ago when they were having most became extinct, as did the buffalo.
a difficult time surviving, two of their White hunters killed the buffalo in huge
young men were out hunting and ran numbers, taking only the tongue and
across a strange young woman on the hide. The rest of the animal was often-
prairie. When they met her, she gave them times left to rot. The fragile buffalo-
instructions to go back to their people’s based economies of many tribal groups
camp and tell them to prepare for her ar- were devastated beyond repair.
87
Table 1 Traditional Uses of Buffalo Parts
Animal Part Partial List of Traditional Usage
Horns Spoon ladles, Headdresses, Hide Scrapers, Bow Manufacturing

Hide (Raw) Parfleche Containers, Rattles, Glue, Mortar, Shield, Ropes (Lariats), Cases,
Saddles
Hide (Tanned) Robes, Tipi Covers, Moccasins, Bedding, Floor Covering, Calendars
Hair/Fur Halters, Moccasin Stuffing, Saddles Padding, Balls, Paint Brushes
Bone Needles/Awls, Arrow Points, Sled Runners, Knives, Tanning Tools
Paunch Water and Cooking Containers
Bladder Tobacco and Water Containers
Scrotum Rattles
Sinew Backing for Bows, Bow Strings, Sewing Thread, Ropes, Cordage, Bindings,
Glue
Tripe Buckets, Food Storage
Tail War Club, Water Switch in Steambath
Hoof Hatchet, Glue, Rattles, Pendents
Intestines Sacks, Sausage Manufacturing, Water Bags
Blood Smeared on Arrow Points for Greater Penetration
Tallow Healing Wounds, Sealing Tobacco in Pipes, Mixing with Paints
Gristle Glue, Chewed by Teething Babies
Heart Bag from Inner Lining
Dung Fuel, Baby Powder, Incense, Arrow Targets
88
It appeared to the Native people that were front-line conservationists and es-
they would no longer be able to depend tablished their own early versions of pri-
upon the buffalo to feed their families. vately owned “captive-breeding pro-
However, they were reminded to sing grams.”
their songs, to pray, and to dance. All By 1905 there were two government
over the prairie the people danced and herds: one herd was at the National Zoo-
sang in hopes that the buffalo would logical Park in Washington, D.C., and the
come back, the earth would be restored other herd was at Yellowstone National
to her former integrity, and the intruding Park. Within a short time Congress estab-
white people would leave. The Indian lished additional buffalo reserves, and,
people defied their captors to conduct at the urging of Hornaday, the buffalo
the necessary ceremonies to bring the were distributed geographically to avoid
buffalo back. In the end, they were possible accidental loss of the remaining
herded onto reservations that were akin animals. In the following years, federal
to concentration camps. reserves were created at the Wichita
Near the end of the 1800s, there were a Mountains (Oklahoma, 1907), the Na-
few people who had decided that the tional Bison Range (Montana, 1908), the
buffalo could not be allowed to go ex- Niobrara Reservation (Nebraska, 1913),
tinct. There were concerted efforts in the and Wind Cave Park (South Dakota,
eastern United States to preserve the 1913). The establishment of this reserve
species and to conserve genetic diversity system thus ensured the long-term sur-
and wildness. William T. Hornaday vival of the buffalo as wildlife.
worked for the New York Zoological Soci- The restoration of the buffalo began
ety and helped establish the American with just a few small herds on public
Bison Society. The society began lobby- lands and private ranches, but it has ex-
ing Congress for the establishment of a panded dramatically in recent times.
buffalo refuge. Meanwhile, some fami- Buffalo population figures are currently
lies in different areas on the prairie took estimated at 300,000. Buffalo popula-
steps to save the buffalo and captured tions have expanded exponentially since
buffalo calves. They started building buf- the turn of the century, and there are
falo herds on their private ranchlands. now numerous public, semipublic
There were four families that are credited (tribal), and private herds in all fifty
with contributing to the effort to save the states. The dramatic comeback of the
buffalo: C. J. “Buffalo” Jones in Kansas, buffalo, as a threatened species, is con-
Samuel and Sabine Walking Coyote in sidered the most successful conserva-
Montana, Charles and Mollie Goodnight tion story in this country.
in Texas, and Frederick and Mary Dupuis In 1992, various tribal representatives
on the Cheyenne River Lakota Reserva- met and formed the InterTribal Bison
tion in South Dakota. These families Cooperative (ITBC). This organization
89
was originally a sponsored program of freedom of ownership has gained a

the Native American Fish and Wildlife strong foothold among Native people
Society. The bison cooperative became today.
independent during 1992 and secured
operational funds during the same year. Case Study—Cheyenne River Lakota
Until this cooperative was established, Tribe
tribal efforts at restoring buffalo to their A case study of one tribal buffalo restora-
lands was a singular experience for tion effort can illustrate some of the
them. Prior to the ITBC, while the philosophical and spiritual significance
restoration of buffalo populations was of the effort to the tribal community. The
making some inroads, there was little or Cheyenne River Lakota Tribe, located in
no effort to reintroduce the cultural, eco- north-central South Dakota, is a charter
nomic, and ecological significance of the member of the InterTribal Bison Cooper-
buffalo to the tribal community. The ative, and their buffalo herd is the largest
ITBC, however, has steadily grown, and it tribal buffalo herd in the country. The
currently has fifty member tribes. It has herd was begun in the 1970s with ap-
endeavored to explore new avenues of proximately 60 head that came from the
reestablishing an old concept that Native Custer State Park. The herd was placed
people lived by in the not-too-distant on about 4,500 acres of “tribal trust land”
past—the notion of “spiritual economy.” (communally owned) along the Missouri
A spiritual economy is defined by the River and has slowly increased over the
ITBC as one in which money is not in- years. In 1990 the tribe embraced an eco-
strumental in the successful develop- nomic development plan that promoted
ment of the economy. Implementing the expansion of the buffalo herd. In
this goal in a modern context is a mind- 1991 “surplus” buffalo at Badlands Na-
boggling experience, and thus far it has tional Park (BNP) were distributed to
not matriculated into a coherent plan of local Indian tribes, and the Cheyenne
action. However, the concept stipulates River Lakota received 250 head from the
that if a tribe can develop the buffalo as park. A tribally owned nonprofit corpo-
a sustainable resource and provide the ration, entitled Pte Hca Ka (“Natural Buf-
necessary resources—for example— falo”), Inc., was formed and given man-
healthful food and by-products—to its agement jurisdiction of the tribal buffalo
membership with proper respect and herd and pasture. With natural popula-
reverence, a spiritual economy can be tion increases and the allocations of sur-
reestablished once again. That has not plus buffalo from BNP, the herd popula-
been easy, because the Native people tion was approaching 2,500 animals in
and their communities have been the year 2002.
greatly affected by the cash market The tribe has kept pace with the herd
economy. Also, the concept of individual expansion by allocating additional
90
acreage that is dedicated as a buffalo foods. This dramatic change is impli-

refuge. By 1997, the tribal buffalo pasture cated in alterations in the health of con-
had expanded from the initial 4,500 temporary Native peoples. On the whole,
acres to 20,000 acres of tribal land. A pri- Indian people today all across America
vate donor has also contributed to the are experiencing diseases that were ei-
expansion of the buffalo land base by ther unheard of or were previously rare
purchasing land and designating the within the Native community. Contem-
land to be used exclusively as a buffalo porary Native peoples are beginning to
refuge. In 1999, the buffalo program was experience extremely high rates of dia-
able to purchase an adjacent 22,000-acre betes and obesity, as well as rising rates
parcel of grassland. Although this land of heart disease. It is thought that the se-
lies within the reservation boundaries, vere change of diet and the more seden-
the tribe had lost ownership through the tary way of life may be the two primary
1908 Homestead Act. The tribe has dedi- causes of increasing health problems
cated this piece of acquired land to use among Indian people today.
as a natural parkland. The program does Tribal people are raising buffalo as a
not yet have enough animals to stock the natural food source because the meat is
entire 42,000 acres of pasture; however, high in protein and iron, while having
program policy is to keep all heifer (fe- low fat content and cholesterol. In di-
male) calves for eventual breeding stock. rect contrast, the meat from grain-fed
The program has adopted management domestic livestock is high in fat and low
practices that ensure that many forms of in protein. The Indian Health Service is
restoration will occur simultaneously— beginning to realize that a high-fat diet
for the buffalo, the ecology, the economy, may be a contributing factor to the in-
and the culture. crease in health problems among mod-
ern Indian populations, and buffalo
Nutrition meat is seen as a method of correcting
One of the more compelling reasons for the ill health among Indian communi-
establishing buffalo herds on native ties. Ongoing health studies in Native
lands is to combat the effects of a radical communities such as the Winnebago
change of diet that was forced upon the Tribe in Nebraska and the Rosebud and
Indian people. The modern diet is not as Cheyenne River tribes in South Dakota
nutritious for Native peoples as were are confirming that poor nutrition is in-
their native foods. When the Lakota peo- creasing health problems among Na-
ple were forced into a sedentary way of tive Americans. A recent health study
life on reservations, they lost a diet that on the Cheyenne River Reservation has
had previously consisted of many differ- confirmed that there is a significant rise
ent kinds of natural foods, and they had in the early signs of diabetes among
to adopt a diet that consisted of exotic children.
91
Community Resource Development combine to make this a reality over time.

Almost every Indian reservation has very However, that will depend entirely upon
high unemployment, and this need is the ability to have enough freedom, both
being addressed with advancement of politically and financially, to determine
buffalo herds as a reservation industry. their own requirements and then go on
As the buffalo populations increase, to develop the appropriate curriculum
there is a greater need for skilled work- based upon those needs.
ers. Workforce development and the up-
grading of the tribal infrastructure are Ecological Considerations
key to solving these issues on the reser- The tribe has thus far dedicated 42,000
vations. Tribal communities are cur- acres to buffalo restoration, and their in-
rently in desperate need of trained Na- tentions are to turn this acreage into a
tive managers that can administer, tribal natural park. They will make use of
protect, and conserve natural resources the land and natural resources as a tool
and protected areas in a holistic manner. to develop a sustainable tourism indus-
Tribal colleges are determining their own try on the reservation. The area will be
destinies in regards to research, manage- managed to maximize the number of vis-
ment, and education, and they are con- itors who will have very little impact
ducting community-based research. upon the natural resources.
There is a strong need to train tribal stu- With the ever-accelerating rate of nat-
dents in Western scientific knowledge ural resource depletion in the global
and indigenous ecological understand- community, there is a strong need for
ings of native ecosystems, to facilitate practical illustrations of how sustainabil-
more appropriate community-focused ity can be achieved. The tribal bison
research and management of resources. restoration movement represents a clear
Tribal people need to bring this blending example of the development of a re-
of the two knowledge bases together to gional model of ecological and economic
effectively administer both tribal and sustainability. This model can and will
public lands that exist within treaty enable the tribal community to develop
boundaries, such as the national grass- economic empowerment that can then
lands, forests, and parks. lead them to self-sufficiency and true
The right of tribal colleges to deter- sovereignty, thus providing an excellent
mine and establish their communities’ example of cultural, ecological, and eco-
educational needs may represent a sig- nomic recovery and restoration.
nificant pathway for cultural-ecological James Garrett
restoration and recovery within the tribal
community. The establishment of tribal See also Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho;
First Food Ceremonies and Food
bison herds and the use of tribal college Symbolism; Oral Traditions, Western Plains;
resources and resident expertise will Religious Leadership, Plains;
92
________________________________________________________ Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions
Retraditionalism and Revitalization by L. Irby and J. Knight. Bozeman:

Movements, Plains; Sacred Societies, Plains Montana State University.
McHugh, Tom. 1972. The Time of the
References and Further Reading Buffalo. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Berger, Joel, and Carol Cunningham. 1994. Press.
Bison: Mating and Conservation in Small Valandra, Edward Charles. 1993. “Lakota
Populations. New York: Columbia Buffalo Theology: Implications for
University Press. Buffalo Reintroduction into the Great
Danz, Harold P. 1997. Of Bison and Man. Plains.” Unpublished manuscript.,
Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado. University of Colorado, Boulder.
Dary, David A. 1989. The Buffalo Book: The ____. 1996. Seeking Refuge. Unpublished
Full Saga of the American Animal. manuscript. Rapid City, SD: InterTribal
Athens: Swallow Press/Ohio University Bison Cooperative.
Press. Zontek, Ken. 1995. “Hunt, Capture, Raise,
Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1995. Red Earth, White Lies. Increase—The People Who Saved the
New York: Scribner. Bison.” Great Plains Quarterly 15:
Ecoffey, Trudy, and James J. Garrett. 2000. “A 133–149.
Tribal College Perspective on Bison
Education.” Presentation at “Bison 2000:
Past, Present, and Future of the Great
Plains Conference.” Lincoln: University
of Nebraska.
Fisher, John W., and Tom E. Roll. 1998.
Bundles, Sacred Bundle
“Ecological Relationships between Bison Traditions
and Native Americans during Late
Prehistory and the Early Historic Period.” Studies of Native American religions on
In International Symposium on Bison the Great Plains almost always include
Ecology and Management in North
America. Edited by L. Irby and J. Knight. descriptions of oral traditions and ritual
Bozeman: Montana State University. practices that surround “sacred bun-
Garrett, James J. 2001. The Cheyenne River dles.” This term needs to be interpreted
Tribal College Tatanka (Bison bison)
Management Program. Unpublished
in relation to particular Native traditions
master’s thesis. Humboldt State and practices in order to understand
University, Arcata, CA. how these traditions, rituals, and ritual
Guthrie, R. Dale. 1990. Frozen Fauna of the
objects embody the specific identity and
Mammoth Steppe. Chicago and London:
University of Chicago Press. meet the needs of different groups. Since
Knapp, Alan K., et al. 1999. “The Keystone bundles are widely diffused among
Role of Bison in the North American
groups in North America, they can also
Tallgrass Prairie.” BioScience 49, no. 1:
39–50. be interpreted within the context of a
Knopf, Fritz L., and Fred B. Samson, eds. more general cross-cultural framework.
1997. Ecology and Conservation of Great
“Medicine bundles” were highly de-
Plains Vertebrates. New York: Springer-
Verlag. veloped among the Blackfeet or Siksika
Knowles, Craig J., Carl D. Mitchell, and Mike people who presently live on reserva-
Fox. 1997. “Trends in Bison tions in Montana and in Alberta,
Management.” In International
Symposium on Bison Ecology and Canada. In a powerful dream or vision
Management in North America. Edited experience, a dream spirit would speak
93
Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions _________________________________________________________
or sing to the recipient, providing in- Personal bundles may be compared

structions about the bundle contents with a class of bundles that were more
and teaching the individual the songs, deeply associated with the identity and
movements, body painting, clothing, well-being of the group. Although they
and restrictions that pertained to the may be individually “owned,” these bun-
bundle. Some early twentieth-century dles usually arose in the experience of a
interpreters translated the Siksika term predecessor. This predecessor may be a
saam as “Medicine Bundle,” while others “mythical” being or a historical person.
rendered the term saami as “medicine or In some societies these predecessors
drugs.” Contemporary linguists translate may occupy the status of a “culture
amopistaan as “ceremonial bundle.” hero,” or the individual may be marginal
This word is built on the older root, to the society—a “poor” youth. For ex-
amopist-, which means “to roll or wrap ample, the Cheyenne Sacred Arrow bun-
up.” Though often associated with heal- dle was given to the people by Sweet
ing, the bundles discussed here can be Medicine, and the Lakota sacred pipe
distinguished from the bags in which bundle was given to the people by White
traditional doctors used to carried their Buffalo Calf Woman. Both of these great
special herbal remedies, face paints, and predecessors occupied the status of “cul-
other materials. ture heroes” in those societies. By con-
In many societies, including the Sik- trast, a woman who married a Star
sika, visions associated with bundles brought the Natoas, or Sun Dance bun-
might be focused upon powers specifi- dle, to the Siksika people.
cally given to an individual. For example, In other cases, important cultural gifts
through a “medicine experience,” dream were transferred to Siksika through the
spirits might mediate power to heal spe- decision of a powerful nonhuman Per-
cific diseases, or to have success in war or son to take “pity” on the people. For ex-
hunting. In such cases, the rituals, songs, ample, one of the underwater people,
and materials gathered to make up the Beaver, transferred a large and complex
bundle might be so specifically associ- bundle to the Siksika. In a generous deci-
ated with the individual that they could sion to help Beaver, many animals and
be classified as “personal bundles.” Such birds contributed their bodies and their
bundles were often not transferred, and powers to the bundle. As a consequence,
they were sometimes buried with the in- this bundle contained the skins of many
dividual at the time of death. In other of the prominent animals and birds in
cases, the man or woman might transfer the Siksika environment. The Beaver
the ritual, songs, and “power” of the bun- bundle had complex functions, and it in-
dle to a son or daughter. Clearly, the ben- cluded hundreds of songs in addition to
efits of such bundles affected primarily prescribed ritual movements and
the individual and the individual’s family. dances. Beaver bundle owners kept track
94
of time and were responsible for fore- the Siksika and began softly to sing as the
casting the weather. In addition, the woman gathered berries. Being drawn by
bundle was opened when the Siksika the song, the woman discovered an
planted and harvested tobacco, as well Iniskim (probably an ancient ammonite)
as during the yearly Okan, or Sun Dance, resting on a bed of buffalo hair and sage.
ritual. Animal calling rituals that in- The Iniskim transferred to the woman
volved manipulating “buffalo rocks” the power to call buffalo, and she re-
were also associated with the Beaver turned to the people with this precious
bundle. Another example is the Medi- gift. While this small bundle may some-
cine Pipe bundle that was transferred to times qualify as a “personal” bundle, it
the people by Thunder. This bundle was carries with it the obligation to perform
opened at the sound of the first thunder its rituals and songs for the good of the
in the spring and was associated with the people. As we have seen, several Iniskim
awakening of the natural world after a were essential parts of the Beaver bundle
long winter. Its life-evoking powers were and were used during times when ani-
also associated with healing, and thus mals were in short supply.
the bundle was opened and its ritual per- In all of these cases, experiences with
formed during times of individual or so- dream spirits or with powerful nonhu-
cial illness. In some origin versions, such man Persons were embedded in oral tra-
as some of those that provide backing for ditions that were transmitted from one
the Beaver bundle, sexual relations were generation to the next. These traditions
established between animal Persons and provided an account of the origin of the
human women. Sometimes children bundle, the details of its ritual process,
were born of these unions, establishing a and any restrictions pertaining to own-
deeper kinship relationship, and reci- ership and use. They may evolve over
procities associated with this relation- time, and the significance of the bundle
ship came into play. might gradually change with the chang-
Another important bundle during ing life circumstances of the group. For
hunting days was the Iniskim, or buffalo example, bundle rituals that were fo-
rock bundle. In many societies, includ- cused primarily on calling buffalo may,
ing the Siksika, there were widespread in contemporary reservation contexts,
beliefs about the ancient character of become focused on the general well-
stone: rocks were believed to be among being of the group. Many bundles, in-
the oldest of “Persons.” Among the many cluding those having to do with hunting,
traditions of origin, one tells of a woman were also associated with healing. Con-
who was out gathering berries. The peo- temporary rituals may focus on healing
ple were in desperate condition, on the spiritual and physical ailments that were
verge of starvation. In response to this not present in traditional societies, such
human condition, Rock took “pity” on as alcoholism, spousal and child abuse,
95
and relatively recently acquired vulnera- specific kinship group. The transfer of
bility to diseases such as diabetes. bundles almost always involved ritual
Among the Siksika, bundles are ritual processes that included as central partic-
objects wrapped in one or more animal ipants the owner and his wife and the re-
skins or cloths. The “power” of bundles cipient and his wife. In some instances,
does not lie in their material features, the owners of other powerful bundles or
which may be lost or destroyed, but in members of bundle societies partici-
their association with powers of particu- pated in the transfer ritual. Although Sik-
lar dream spirits or transcendent nonhu- sika owners relinquished all specific
man Persons. These powers were “re- rights in the bundle through the transfer
leased” through proper ritual enactment. ritual, social status and honor still ac-
During periods when a bundle was not in crued to the individual and his family.
use, its efficacy still radiated as a conse- Previous owners were known for their
quence of its sheer presence among the participation in powerful rituals and
people. In earlier times, the bundle was were consulted on a variety of matters.
smudged with sweet grass or sage each Since they were reservoirs of ritual
day, and during good weather it was sus- knowledge and experience, they might
pended on a tripod outside the owner’s also be asked to participate in future
tepee. Attitudes of respect shown for bundle transfers.
bundles as well as beliefs concerning Many interpreters have used terms
their actual and potential power led to such as “purchase” and “bought” to de-
the conclusion that bundles were “alive” scribe bundle transfers. These terms
in a fundamental sense. They are still ad- need clarification, especially since
dressed through kinship terminology money is often a prominent medium of
and treated like powerful and respected exchange in contemporary transfers. In
relatives by the people. the nineteenth century, bundle trans-
Among the Siksika, bundles were indi- fers among the Siksika involved what
vidually “owned” and were transferred were often significant amounts of prop-
from one individual to another. The re- erty to complete the process. This prop-
cipient of a bundle may be related to the erty—buffalo robes, horses, guns, and
previous owner, but in most cases kin- other items—passed from the “pur-
ship relationships did not control bundle chaser” to the owner. The purchaser’s
transfers. In other societies, such as the extended family was usually deeply in-
Mandans and Pawnees, bundle owner- volved in helping the man and his wife
ship and transfer were controlled by kin- gather sufficient property to conclude
ship relationships. Bundles were associ- the transfer. The notion of reciprocity,
ated with particular clans; they were however, was the fundamental principle
transferred within the clan, and the regulating transfers, in comparison with
power of the ritual was associated with a market exchanges that characterize
96
capitalist economies. Property flowed most handsome and attractive of sky be-
toward the owner and his or her family; ings, she expressed the strong desire to
the benefits associated with the bundle, marry Morning Star. A few months after
its ritual, and its powerful presence this experience, Feather Woman found
flowed toward the purchaser and the that she was pregnant. When her condi-
purchaser’s family. The widespread use tion was discovered, the entire camp
of kinship terminology in relation both treated her unkindly, and Feather
to the human beings involved in the Woman became confused and de-
transfer and to the transcendent powers pressed because she had not had inter-
signals that the exchanges were infused course with any man. A few days later, as
with meanings that differed greatly she was going to the river for water, a
from those that characterize a capitalist handsome young man with a yellow
economic system. feather in his hair confronted her. He
The shared cultural meanings that held in his hand a juniper branch with a
gave bundles their distinctiveness and spider web at one end. He revealed him-
related them to the identity and history self to be Morning Star, the man she
of particular peoples are found in their loved, and he invited her to join him in
traditions of origin. In the case of the Na- the lodge of his father and mother, Sun
toas bundle, for example, Siksika people and Moon. Morning Star placed the yel-
believed that it was given by the people low feather in her hair and gave her the
above, and many traditions focus on the juniper branch to hold in her hand. Plac-
central figures of Sun, Moon, and Morn- ing her hands on the upper part of the
ing Star. While the details of these tradi- spider web and her feet on the lower end,
tions vary from group to group, there is a she was suddenly transported into the
persistent association with solar, lunar, sky country. Sun and Moon received
and astral Persons that has been trans- their new daughter with delight, and in
mitted through the generations. The due time she gave birth to a son named
term natoas is derived from meanings Star Boy.
that signify Sun power and turnip. With- Moon gave Feather Woman a soft,
out the backing of oral traditions, these beautiful tanned dress that was deco-
associations make very little sense. rated with elk teeth; elk tooth wristlets;
A complex tradition, which probably an elk skin robe painted with the sacred
takes up elements of several traditions red paint; a digging stick; and a rawhide
and weaves them into a single narrative, headdress cut in the form of a lizard. All
focuses upon two young women who of these things made up the first Natoas
were sleeping outside, exposed to the bundle. Moon told Feather Woman that
night sky. They awoke before dawn, and she could dig any root she chose except
the elder, Feather Woman, began to ad- for one large turnip. In the course of
mire Morning Star. Seeing him as the time, however, she disobeyed Moon.
97
With the assistance of a powerful bird of what his mother had done. Morning
Person, Crane Woman, she dug up the Star, his father, took pity on the poor boy,
large turnip. Through the hole in the sky however, and convinced Sun to heal him.
the young woman could see her people After the scar had been removed, Sun in-
below, and she became very homesick. structed his grandson in the details of
When it was learned that she had dug up the Sun Dance, or Okan ritual, transfer-
the forbidden turnip, it was decided that ring to him all of the songs and prayers
she could no longer be happy in the sky that were to be used in the ceremony.
country; she and Star Boy were let down Sun established the rule that the Okan
to earth by spider man, coming to rest in would be held on the occasion of illness
the midst of a Siksika camp. Feather and that only a virtuous woman could be
Woman brought with her from the sky the ritual leader. Scarface returned to
country a complete Natoas bundle. earth by way of the Wolf Trail—the Milky
Not many years later, Feather Woman, Way—and transferred the Okan to the
her father, and her mother died, leaving Siksika people. Since Feather Woman
Star Boy alone and very poor. As he grew had previously brought the Natoas bun-
older a strange scar developed on his dle to the people, they were now pre-
face, and, in addition to his poverty, he pared to enact the first Okan ritual. The
was further marginalized by his disfig- tradition ends with Scarface marrying
urement. He became known, somewhat the young woman he loved. Both of them
derisively, as Scarface. In time he fell in were taken back into the sky country,
love with a beautiful young woman who and Scarface became a star just like his
was the daughter of a leading Siksika father, Morning Star.
chief. But because he was so poor and The Okan ritual, which was held
disfigured the young woman rejected yearly among the Siksika, is infused with
him, and he became even more dejected meanings drawn from this oral tradition.
and alone. The chief’s daughter did hold Central among the ritual processes is the
out one ray of hope, however: if Scarface transfer of the Natoas bundle from the
could find a way to remove his disfigure- previous owner to the woman who
ment, she would consider becoming his pledged to sponsor the Okan. The
lover. After consulting with a powerful “pledge” arose on the occasion of illness
Medicine Woman, the young man or of social crisis, and the bundle transfer
learned that Sun had put the scar on his entailed a transfer of valuable goods,
face, and he determined to travel to this such as horses and robes, to the previous
great Sky Person’s lodge to beg him to owner. Clearly the pledger’s extended
heal his disfigured face. family was essential for helping her
After a long and dangerous journey, gather the goods necessary for the trans-
Scarface reached the Sun’s lodge but fer. An important day in the Okan prepa-
found that he was unwelcome because ration was the day when the previous
98
owner and her husband transferred the its uses in warfare. Morning Star told him
Natoas bundle to the pledger and her to return to his people and make seven
husband. Along with the elk skin dress, arrows, each a different color, to symbol-
wristlets, digging stick, robe, and lizard ize the stars in the Dipper. These arrows
headdress were transferred the songs, formed the central objects in seven bun-
prayers, and ritual movements that, dles that he was instructed to make for
when enacted, released the power of the the people. Before leaving the young
bundle. man, Morning Star gave him the original
From a comparative perspective, sacred arrow with the instructions that
Northern Plains bundles had formal simi- he was to include it in the first of the
larities, but when viewed from within the seven bundles.
horizons of meaning constituted by their The Crows were related to the Hidat-
origin traditions and ritual processes, sas, who were village people living on the
they were clearly associated with particu- Knife River in what is now North Dakota.
lar people and contributed to their sense The people who became the Crows sepa-
of identity and distinctiveness. Aspects of rated from the Hidatsas and moved west,
these traditions showed increasing simi- transforming themselves into mobile
larities as groups on the Northern Plains buffalo hunters. It is possible that the im-
interacted with one another and engaged portance of sacred arrows was derived
in various levels of cultural interchange. from Hidatsa traditions that were, when
Prominent among these similarities was the Hidatsas were a single people, widely
the significance of solar, lunar, and astral shared. For example, a deep Hidatsa ori-
Persons and the presence of powerful sa- gin tradition centered on a culture hero
cred arrows. who was, “in reality,” an Arrow Person.
Many bundles among the Crow peo- This Arrow Person, whose name was
ple contained shields that were given to Charred Body, came down from one of
the people in a dream or vision. Some of thirteen sky clans. These sky clans lived
these bundles also contained sacred ar- in earth lodge villages that stretched
rows that provided the power to succeed from the zenith to each horizon. After
in warfare. In one origin tradition, an ridding the earth country of dangerous
arrow bundle was transferred to a poor, beings and destructive powers, these
orphaned young man by Morning Star. Arrow Persons established thirteen vil-
The young man had gone out on the lages along the Knife River from which
plains to fast for a vision, and, after cut- the Hidatsas believed they were de-
ting off the first joint of his index finger, scended. Among other things, the Arrow
he prayed to Sun to take pity on him. People gave the Hidatsas a bundle con-
Later that evening, Morning Star ap- taining two arrows, one painted red and
peared in a vision and showed the young the other black. These bundles, associ-
man a powerful arrow, instructing him in ated with the power of the grizzly bear,
99
gave their owners the ability to doctor cred Arrow bundle became central to the
and to heal diseases. identity of the Cheyenne people, and it is
Hidatsa arrow symbolism may also still important in their ritual lives today.
have affected the people who became Even though war and hunting have
the Cheyennes. During the course of mi- faded, the bundle is still important for
grations from their homeland near the the moral renewal of the people, and
headwaters of the Mississippi to the when it is opened social healing and the
Northern Plains, some Cheyennes asso- flourishing of common life are en-
ciated themselves with the Hidatsas and hanced.
lived for a time in earth lodge villages The Pawnees, who were also earth
along the Missouri River. Sometime dur- lodge village people, had a number of
ing this period of cultural creativity, a important bundles associated with par-
culture hero came among the Chey- ticular villages. These bundles were re-
ennes. Named Sweet Medicine, he lated to essential life activities, such as
brought to the people a bundle that con- hunting and agriculture. Among the
tained four Sacred Arrows, two of which prominent bundles among the Pawnees
were painted red and two of which were were those associated with the Evening
painted black. This bundle gave the peo- Star and Mother Corn. During the winter
ple power over their enemies and over communal hunts, especially when game
their food supply, the buffalo. Two of the was scarce, the power of several bundles
arrows released war power, and, when would be brought together. Bringing the
they pointed them at enemies, users bundles together focused and intensi-
were assured victory. When pointed at fied their power through ritual interac-
animals, the two “buffalo arrows” en- tion. In some cases, for example, when
sured that the people would have a suc- the powers of the bundle in charge of the
cessful hunt. Animals killed under the hunt were inadequate, Mother Corn was
power of the sacred arrows were transferred from this bundle to the
butchered in a special manner: if the Evening Star bundle, intensifying and
buffalo’s head were left attached to the enhancing the power brought to bear on
spine and tail, the people believed that the hunt. Under these circumstances the
the animals would be renewed. killing of animals proceeded in a ritually
Unlike other bundles, the Sacred prescribed manner.
Arrow bundle was not transferred among Many other comparative materials
individuals or within clans. Rather, a per- could be analyzed, but perhaps these ex-
son who was qualified by personal virtue amples are sufficient to show how wide-
and ritual knowledge cared for it until spread bundles were on the Northern
old age or illness disabled him. At this Plains and, more broadly, on the Great
point the bundle was transferred to a Plains as a whole. Each of these bundles
person designated by the keeper. The Sa- or interrelated “bundle complexes” was
100
usually surrounded by a set of general come into view when one takes seri-
conditions that pertained to most phe- ously the claims of Native peoples
nomena in this class: bundles were ac- themselves. For example, when con-
quired by means of a dream or vision ex- temporary Cheyenne people say that
perience; dreams or visions might be Sweet Medicine was the founder of our
endured by an ordinary person or might society, the source of our identity as a
occur in the experience of an important people, observers and other interested
Predecessor; songs, movements, body researchers need to take those claims
painting, and other ritual elements were seriously. When Siksika people in the
transmitted from a dream spirit or Pre- United States or Canada say that the
decessor to a human being, male or fe- Beaver, Medicine Pipe, and Natoas
male; some bundles might be associated bundles still bring gifts of healing and
with predominantly male activities, such contribute to the flourishing of the peo-
as hunting, or female activities, such as ple, those outside that society need to
agriculture; in many cases, there was the grant legitimacy to their claims. And
possibility of transfer from one individ- when various people on the Northern
ual or group to another; the use of a Plains perform their yearly Sun Dances,
preparatory sweatlodge preceded bun- sensitive and sympathetic observers
dle openings, and, in some instances, a need to recognize that these people are
concluding sweatlodge moved partici- enacting rituals that deeply express
pants from realities evoked by ritual and who they are as Native societies. Such
symbol back to the world of everyday insights might begin to foster the sym-
life. These formal similarities should not pathetic understanding needed for all
obscure what were powerful symbolic Native peoples in North America to
boundaries constituted by different oral take their place as serious and re-
traditions that informed the meaning of spected contributors to the rich tapes-
bundles and the rituals that were essen- try of American religion.
tial for focusing and releasing their Howard L. Harrod
power.
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho; Oral
From within Northern Plains soci- Traditions, Lakota (Teton); Power, Plains
eties, it was clear to the people that
bundles and their rituals were specifi- Bowers, Alfred W. 1950. Mandan Social and
cally given to the particular people. Ceremonial Organization. University of
Historians and anthropologists of reli- Chicago Publications in Anthropology,
Social Anthropological Series. Chicago:
gion may be interested in how cultural University of Chicago Press.
interchanges produced similarities ———. 1965. Hidatsa Social and
within the oral traditions and ritual Ceremonial Organization. Smithsonian
Institution, Bureau of American
processes. But these interests cannot Ethnology, Bulletin 194. Washington, DC:
exhaust the rich levels of meaning that U.S. Government Printing Office.
101
McClintock, Walter. 1968. The Old North Wildschut, William. 1960. Crow Indian
Trail: Life, Legends and Religion of the Medicine Bundles. Edited by John C.
Blackfeet Indians. Lincoln: University of Ewers. New York: Museum of the
Nebraska Press. American Indian, Heye Foundation.
Murie, James R. 1984. Ceremonies of the Wissler, Clark. 1912. Ceremonial Bundles of
Pawnee. Edited by Douglas R. Parks. the Blackfoot Indians. American Museum
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. of Natural History, Anthropological
Originally published as Smithsonian Papers, vol. 11, pt. 4.
Contributions to Anthropology, no. 21 ———. 1946. Star Legends among the
(1981). American Indians. Science Guide no. 91.
Powell, Peter. 1969. Sweet Medicine, 2 vols. New York: American Museum of Natural
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. History.
102
C
Ceremony and Ritual, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, just up-
stream from where the Ohio River enters
Anishnabe
the Mississippi. Cahokia flourished until
Anishnabe (“Human Being”) is the name the change in climate that took place a
by which the Algonkian-speaking people century before the Europeans arrived. In
(particularly the dialects of Ojibwa/ other words, the Anishnabeg would have
Chippewa, Odawa/Ottawa, and Potawa- been well aware of cities, long-distance
tomi, as well as Menomini and Algon- trade, refined metallurgy, and a complex
guin) surrounding the Great Lakes call ritual life long before the arrival of Euro-
themselves. Western analyses of Anish- pean culture; there is no need to seek an
nabe religion tend to assume that it rep- explanation for these phenomena in
resents a primitive human tradition. Western influence.
What is ignored is that the peoples of the As in many American Indian tradi-
Great Lakes were at the northern extent tions, the foundational myths focus on
of a vast trading complex with common migration. In one major version, the An-
rituals that allowed for intertribal rela- ishnabeg migrated from the Atlantic
tionships several thousand years in age, coast down the St. Lawrence River into
as well as producing refined copper ob- the Great Lakes as far as its western ex-
jects as fine as those found anywhere tent. Algonkian-speaking peoples con-
else in the world at that time. The final tinue to live throughout those areas. The
precontact phase of this intercultural ex- major myth cycle focuses on Nanabush
change was the formation of a mercan- (Nanabozo), whose major theriomor-
tile urban center in the heart of North phic form is a rabbit, and who is both
America, called by archaeologists “Ca- culture hero and trickster. He is the child
hokia.” This city, as large as any in Eu- of Beautiful Woman and the West Wind.
rope at the time, was across from pres- His mother died at childbirth and he was
ent-day St. Louis at the confluence of the raised by his grandmother, who is also
103
Ceremony and Ritual, Anishnabe ___________________________________________________________
Moon. He brought to the Anishnabeg along with Sacred Pipe ceremonies, are
important aspects of culture, such as fire, ubiquitous among traditionalist Anish-
and the rituals, particularly that of the nabeg. Similar ceremonies are found
Midéwiwin. He is responsible for the re- among virtually all North and Central
creation of the earth following the Great American traditions, as far south as the
Flood. Maya. The Anishnabe structure is identi-
There are several important pan-Indian cal with the prereservation home, the
rituals in which some Anishnabeg take wigwam, suitable to a seminomadic,
part, such as the Native American Church gathering-hunting way of life: a dome-
(peyote ritual) and the Powwow. At the shaped skeleton of pliable saplings cov-
western extreme of the Anishnabeg, one ered with elm or birch bark, and now
finds the Thirst Dance (Sun Dance). with sufficient canvas and blankets to
The discussion of Anishnabe rituals create a light-tight structure. The An-
will focus on contemporary traditional ishnabe lodge is preferably made of wil-
practices. When individuals dream of low saplings in multiples of four to repre-
new rituals for their community, they are sent water, but maple is also used, in
told to an elder. If the elder validates the multiples of four, with an opening in the
vision, it may become a separate cere- direction of the rising sun. The earthen
mony or be incorporated as part of a floor will be covered, save for the central
longer ceremony. Such rituals may occur pit, with cedar leaves, which will also be
but once, for a few years, or they may be- used to create a sacred umbilical line to
come part of the ritual year; there are far the fire east of the entrance for heating
too many to discuss here. the rocks. The fire will be backed with an
altar formed of the earth from the pit
Circumpolar Rituals (the Earth’s uterus) dug in the center of
Certain common religious features are the lodge for the placement of the
found throughout the subpolar regions, Grandfathers, the red-hot heated rocks.
from the Saami of Scandinavia, through This altar will be formed into various
various Siberian traditions, the Inuit tra- shapes depending on the aspect of An-
ditions of northeastern Asia and Green- ishnabe religion involved. Every feature
land, and throughout the Americas. The is laden with spiritual significance.
Algonkian-language cultures found Spirit Lodge creates a communal spir-
through much of northern and eastern itual experience among the immediate
North America continue many of those participants, and one of its major pur-
features. poses is to bring ritual leaders into har-
mony prior to major ceremonies. The
Spirit Lodge ceremony is also used for healing pur-
Profaned in the literature by the name poses, as it is essentially a rebirth experi-
“sweatlodge,” Spirit Lodge ceremonies, ence, and for simply providing the par-
104
__________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Anishnabe
ticipants the opportunity to be in the im- then used in prognostication. This was
mediate and intense presence of the the major form of divination in early Chi-
spirits (see Paper 1990). nese civilization, and it is found as far
eastward as the Algonkian-speaking
“Shaking Tent” Naskapi of Labrador. Although not part
Binding rituals are common among the of contemporary Great Lakes Anishnabe
Inuit far to the north of the Anishnabeg, ceremonialism, given their migration
and known as Yuwipi among the Siouan- myths, it seems quite probable that this
speaking peoples to their west. In the An- was one of their rituals in the past (see
ishnabe version (including that of the Speck 1935).
closely related Cree to the north), a nar-
row tepeelike structure is built. The Common American Indian Rituals
healer is bound and placed inside. As the Foraging Rituals
songs bring the spirits, particularly Tur- All of the substances gathered and
tle, the structure begins to shake, and hunted for subsistence and for creating
their voices can be heard, providing im- traditional structures and ritual items
portant information for the community are understood to be spiritual beings
or for healing an individual. At the end of (other-than-human beings; see Hallo-
the ceremony, the healer emerges unwell 1960). When these beings are
bound (see Brown and Brightman 1988; hunted, they are spoken to and asked to
Hallowell 1942). give themselves for the needs of the peo-
ple, and they are ritually reverenced after
Bear Rituals they have given themselves. When plants
There is a complex of Bear ceremonial- and stones are gathered the first is also
ism throughout the subpolar regions of spoken to, and a gift is given in recom-
the Northern Hemisphere. This is re- pense, usually tobacco.
flected in the Anishnabe tradition with a There has been much confusion over
special reverence for Bear (the black these simple rituals that acknowledge the
bear), the female spirit of procreation gifts of themselves by the spirits—as all
and the most powerful healing spirit. upon which we depend for life are spiri-
Only special individuals can hunt Bear, tual entities. The confusion has been the
which was an important source of di- result of a misunderstanding of the term
etary fat and oil for protecting the body. dodem (“totem”). Anthropology created a
Its body is treated with special rituals primitive religion called Totemism,
(see Hallowell 1926). which seems to have no reality outside of
anthropology, psychoanalysis, and Marx-
Pyroscapulamancy ist historiography. Like many peoples,
Pyroscapulamancy is the application of the Anishnabeg are socially divided into
heat to scapula to obtain cracks that are clans, each symbolized by a spirit called
105
dodem. It is not the case that those of a Fasting and Vision Questing
clan cannot eat its dodem, as is found in As with all the indigenous traditions of the
the literature. Many clan dodems are Americas, it is essential that individuals
inedible, or, for the example of deer, develop a personal relationship with one
would have been the primary source of or more spirits. The Anishnabe means of
animal protein. Early anthropologists doing so involves fasting rituals found
confused the clan dodem with an indi- throughout northern North America.
vidual’s personal guardian spirit(s). Generally, those fasting for a vision
Those relationships are highly individ- will blacken their faces with charcoal,
ualistic, and any dietary prohibitions, build a traditional wigwam in a ritual
for example, would be a matter of what manner, make an offering of food and
the particular spirit told the individual water to the spirits in the vicinity, and
with regard to their specific relation- bound the area with a protecting circle of
ship and cannot be generalized (see cedar leaves. Those who are connected
Pitawanakwat and Paper 1996). to aviary spirits will build a nest in a tree.
Once in the lodge or nest, those fasting
Purifying and Smoke Offering Rituals will take no food or water and avoid
A preliminary part of all rituals, from sleep for four, sometimes eight or more,
simple daily routines to complex four- days. At the completion of the fast, the
day ceremonies, is the purification of vision seeker will put on a ceremonial
participants, place, ritual parapherna- feast for the community.
lia, and food and water for the feast with Vision questing is not for a select few
the smoke of purifying sacred herbs. but for all following the traditional path.
The Anishnabeg use the smoke from It is understood that a personal connec-
burning sweetgrass or cedar leaves. The tion with the spirit realm is essential for
former is often braided and symbolizes life; it is from the spirits that we learn our
the hair of Mother Earth; the latter is life’s path, receive our talents, are pro-
picked from the most potent of the tected from injury, and are able to func-
healing plants. tion for our family and community. Vi-
A second common aspect of rituals is sion questing will also be undertaken
the offering of tobacco. As mentioned when an important decision must be
above, tobacco is offered directly to spir- made or before one begins a major spiri-
its as they are gathered. Many cere- tual activity.
monies also involve, as part of the rituals,
placing tobacco directly on the central Drumming
fire to assist in sending prayers to the Shakers and drums are an important fea-
spirits. Sacred Pipe rituals also feature ture of many ceremonies. The Anish-
prominently as a part of ceremonies, or nabeg use several types of drums. Most
as a ceremony in and of itself. common are the hand-held drums used
106
in healing and other rituals. Of increas- nounced, the infant will be passed from
ing importance are the water drums person to person in the circle. Each
used in Midéwiwin rituals (see below). A member of the community will greet the
third type of drum is the Dream Dance child by name, welcoming the child into
drum. It is similar to the large Grass the community.
Dance drum, which rests on supports
and is played by several drummers; it Menarche and Male Adolescent
began in the Plains and became the basis Rituals
of the Powwow. As the Grass Dance drum As a person grows from childhood to
spread among the Anishnabe, it came to adulthood, the person needs to take on a
be treated as an important sacred item. mature relationship with both the
The four supports are decorated with sa- human and the spirit communities. Chil-
cred feathers and other items, and the dren of both sexes are taught to fast for
drum is dressed with an elaborately short periods of time until they are old
beadworked leather apron. It is ritually enough to fast for four days. The menar-
kept and treated in a sacred manner, and che is the first major fast for females;
the use of the drum became a ceremony adolescent males will also fast for four or
in and of itself—the Drum Dance (see more days (see Paper 1997).
Vennum 1982).
Death
Life-cycle Rituals There are a number of rituals pertaining
Naming Rituals to death; some are common to most cul-
Given the understanding that every tures, such as washing and dressing the
human person must obtain a relation- body. Other practices are required by
ship with one or more spirits to live, in- modern governments. Some of the cus-
fants are particularly vulnerable, as they toms that are particular to the Anish-
are not able to fast to gain such relation- nabeg include, for those who were mem-
ships. Parents of a newborn will ritually bers of the Midéwiwin, being given
request an elder to dream (lucid dreams instruction after death about the journey
and visions are designated by the same that one is to begin. Bodies are buried so
Algonkian word) a name for their child. that the feet are toward the west, reflect-
This name will transfer to the infant pro- ing the understanding that the path of
tection from the relevant spirit until such life follows the path of Sun, and the
time that the child is able to seek visions realm of the dead is toward the west. In
on her or his own, at which time the per- the past miniature houses were con-
son will receive a new name. After the structed over graves, now often replaced
elder receives the name from the spirits, by a symbol on a post representing a
a ceremonial feast is held. The commu- dwelling, a clan symbol, or a symbol of a
nity gathers, and, when the name is an- person’s status in the Midéwiwin. The
107
person’s belongings are often disposed of tion each, in which adherents, including
at a give-away ceremony, everyone pres- initiates and supporters, gather from
ent being given an article of the person’s throughout the area of the Great Lakes.
clothing or belongings. During one of the The general ceremonies are held in a
seasonal Midéwiwin ceremonies, one longhouse structure of a sapling frame-
evening may be devoted to a remem- work and nowadays canvas covers. The
brance for the dead. All those who lost initiation structure has a similar frame-
someone dear to them in the preceding work, but the lower part is covered with
year are asked to prepare the favorite boughs, with the upper part left open.
dish of the deceased for a feast. At the Since only those initiated to the appro-
feast, each grieving person holds the priate degree or the initiates can enter
dish and speaks about their departed, this structure, other adherents may ob-
then all share the food. In some commu- serve the nominally esoteric initiation
nities north of Lake Superior, there is an rituals only from without. A Spirit Lodge
annual Feast for the Dead, which is simi- will be built in the vicinity for prelimi-
lar. Various communities may have dif- nary rituals.
ferent related customs. Central to the Midéwiwin is the cowrie
shell (megis), which, being in the shape
Midéwiwin of a vagina, symbolizes life for many tra-
The Midéwiwin (known as “Medicine ditions worldwide; there is also a water
Lodge” among the Siouan-speaking Win- drum called the “Little Boy,” in reference
nebago) is an Anishnabe cultus in the to the origin myth of the Midéwiwin. All
original Hellenistic sense of the term: an those initiated have the megis, but only
optional adjunct to the base religion of a recognized elders, female and male, will
culture requiring initiation. Anishnabeg be keepers of the special drums.
who are already involved with traditional Euro-Americans have been aware of
religion may be invited after nomination the Midéwiwin since the late seven-
by relatives or friends to be initiated into teenth century, and all of its elements
a semi-institutional variant of traditional have a long indigenous past. Yet most
Anishnabe religion in which the mem- analyses understand the tradition to be
bers form a social as well as ritual bond. due, in various ways, to Euro-American
The initiations, at four sequential levels influence or to be a nativistic movement.
(eight in some versions), involve teach- This attitude is consistent with a mindset
ings and symbolic death and resurrec- that insists on seeing Native cultures as
tion using cowrie shells and sacred bun- primitive. One of the factors that leads to
dles, made of the skins of different the assumption of Western influence is
animals for each level. the birch bark scrolls that consist of a
Aside from initiation rituals, there are complex series of symbols with a
four seasonal rituals of four days’ dura- mnemonic function that assist in the
108
telling of Midéwiwin instructional myths ously debilitated from smallpox carried

and maintaining the complex initiation by French Jesuit missionaries. In the
rituals. The Great Lakes Anishnabeg are mid-seventeenth century, after a num-
not the only North American Natives to ber of battles, the Wyandot were de-
have such scrolls; the Algonkian-speak- feated and dispersed. Many joined their
ing Lenape (Delaware), originally of the Anishnabe trading partners to the north
mid-Atlantic coast, also had them. The and were assimilated. That would ac-
scrolls also reflect the continuing prac- count for the continuing annual Feast for
tice from antiquity of drawing symbols the Dead held by the Anishnabe on the
in sand during Midéwiwin teachings. Fi- central part of Lake Superior’s north
nally, the West did not introduce books shore. It also accounts for major features
to the Americas: the Mayans had im- of the Midéwiwin.
mense libraries (destroyed by the Span- Midéwiwin ritual structures are Iro-
ish), and the idea of books probably quoian longhouses; the “Little Boy” is the
spread up the Mississippi to the mercan- Iroquoian water drum. At present there
tile cities and thence northward to the are two types of the “Little Boy” that dif-
Great Lakes. fer according to the method of securing
By tradition, the Midéwiwin’s center is the rawhide head to the wooden body.
at the western end of Lake Superior, The older, called the “Grandfather
where by the late seventeenth century, Drum,” has the head secured in the Iro-
after displacing Siouan-speaking people quoian fashion. A second type of water
in the upheavals consequent to the fur drum, which came into use in Midéwi-
trade, an Anishnabe trading town arose. win rituals in the early twentieth century,
The Midéwiwin practices are particularly has its head tied in a manner related to
appropriate for a widespread culture that used by the Native American
that periodically comes together at an Church, which spread among the Great
established center. Lakes Anishnabe around the same time.
A second factor in the development of The focus on death and resurrection is
the modern Midéwiwin is the fate of the a prominent theme not only in circum-
Wyandot (Hurons). The Iroquoian- polar shamanistic traditions; it also
speaking, horticulture-hunting Wyandot would have become of particular impor-
had their towns at the southern end of tance at a time when the majority of the
Georgian Bay, east of Lake Huron. The population was dying of introduced
Anishnabeg to their north were their Western diseases. Hence the modern
trading partners. When the Iroquoian- Midéwiwin can be understood as an or-
speaking Five (later Six) Nations, armed ganic development of traditional ele-
by the English, sought to monopolize the ments, to which were added aspects
fur trade, they attacked the Wyandot, brought by the Wyandot when they
who were allied with the French and seri- joined the Anishnabe, to form a highly
109
viable aspect of traditional Anishnabe into the open and be available for heal-
religion suitable to the changing social ing and other spiritual activities.
circumstances and living patterns cre- Today, adherents of the Midéwiwin
ated by the fur trade. There is no need to gather seasonally, four times a year, from
look for Western Christian influence. all over the Great Lakes for ceremonies
In the 1970s, after a century of en- that rotate widely among Anishnabe re-
forced prohibition and mandatory serves. Members of the ritual society
Christianization, a revitalization of serve as healers and counselors in vari-
American Indian traditions began in ous urban areas. As the Three Fires Soci-
North America. Some Anishnabe lead- ety (Ojibwa, Odawa, Potawatomi), they
ers of the American Indian Movement, sponsor summer music festivals on the
having been introduced to Pan-Indian larger reservations that bring together
religious modalities, began to seek large numbers of Anishnabeg and other
among elders specifically Anishnabe American Indians.
traditions. The Midéwiwin had contin- Jordan Paper
ued underground among a small num-
See also Female Spirituality; Native
ber of elderly adherents, and they were American Church; Powwow; Sacred Pipe;
discovered by this new generation seek- Sweatlodge; Tobacco, Sacred Use of; Yuwipi
ing their spiritual roots. Being semi-in- Ceremony
stitutional, the revitalized Midéwiwin References and Further Reading
provided a loose organizational struc- Benton-Banai, Edward. 1979. The Mishomis
Book: The Voice of the Ojibwa. St. Paul:
ture, even for those traditionalists who Indian Country Press.
were not, strictly speaking, initiated. Brown, Jennifer S. A., and Robert
Native-way schools developed, based Brightman. 1988. “The Orders of the
Dreamed”: George Nelson on Cree and
on their teachings, beginning with the Northern Ojibwa Religion and Myth,
Red Schoolhouse in St. Paul (see Ben- 1823. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba
ton-Banai 1979). Along with the Six Na- Press.
Densmore, Frances. 1929. “Chippewa
tions Longhouse Tradition, around the
Customs.” Smithsonian Institution,
Great Lakes, it led to elders conferences Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin
held at universities, urban healing cen- 86. Washington, DC: Smithsonian.
Geshick, Ron. 1989. Te Bwe Win (Truth).
ters, elders working with Native prison-
Toronto: Summerhill Press.
ers, and so forth. Because of these de- Hallowell, A. Irving. 1926. “Bear
velopments, by the 1980s Christian Ceremonialism in the Northern
Hemisphere.” American Anthropologist
clergy lost their control over Native re-
28: 1–175.
serves in Canada, and the Christian ———. 1942. The Role of Conjuring in
boarding schools disappeared. Even Salteaux Society. Philadelphia:
those Anishnabe traditionalists who Philadelphia Anthropological
Association Publications 2.
will have nothing to do with the ———. 1960. “Ojibwa Ontology, Behavior,
Midéwiwin were now free to come out and World View.” Pp. 19–52 in Culture in
110
______________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Apache
History: Essays in Honor of Paul Radin. considered to be inseparable from the

Edited by Stanley Diamond. New York: forces within nature that have direct im-
Columbia University Press.
Hoffman, W. J. 1891. Midewewin or Grand pact on physical survival. Diye is under-
Medicine Society of the Ojibway. stood to be the power inherent within
Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of animals, plants, and humans. All Apache
American Ethnology, Annual Report 7.
Washington, DC: Smithsonian. people have the potential to receive and
Paper, Jordan. 1990. ‘‘‘Sweat Lodge’: A cultivate diye. Life without a source of
Northern Native American Ritual for power is difficult, while life assisted by
Communal Shamanic Trance.” Numen
26: 85–94.
this sacred power is blessed. Diye is ac-
———. 1997. Through the Earth Darkly: quired through the daily process of living
Female Spirituality in Comparative a traditional Apache life within the
Perspective. New York: Continuum.
Apache landscape. It is acquired through
Pitawanakwat, Kenn, and Jordan Paper.
1996. “Communicating the Intangible: proper living and respectful relationship
An Anishnabeg Story.” American Indian with the natural world. Sacred power
Quarterly 20: 451–465.
might also be attained through dreams
Smith, Theresa S. 1995. The Island of the
Anishnaabeg. Moscow: University of and visions. Such visions require a cere-
Idaho Press. monial response: the power must be en-
Speck, Frank G. 1935. Naskapi: Savage
acted and honored. A diye vision or
Hunters of the Labrador Peninsula.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. dream might provide the guidelines for a
Vennum, Thomas, Jr. 1982. The Ojibwa healing ceremony, or it might impart
Dance Drum: Its History and knowledge of medicines and healing
Construction. Smithsonian Folklife
Studies 2. Washington, DC: Smithsonian plants. With that in mind, it becomes ap-
Institution Press. parent that all aspects of Apache life are
ceremonies: the proper way to gather
plants, to hunt, to prepare food, to at-
tend to a child, are all ceremonial activi-
Ceremony and Ritual, ties that must be conducted with care
and concern. These might be considered
Apache
individual ceremonial activities. Of
All rituals and ceremonies within Apache course, there are communal ceremonies
culture were first brought to the Apache as well, such as those that mark the
people by the holy people. Oral tradi- stages of development in the growth of
tions accompany every ceremony, telling children and adults.
of how the ceremony was first taught to But all of these ceremonial activities
the people by the Holy Ones. To under- center on the importance of cultivating
stand ritual and ceremony in Apache and honoring diye, sacred power. To be
culture, it is first necessary to under- properly conducted, ceremonies can be
stand Apache notions of sacred power, or performed only by ritual experts, those
diye. In traditional Apache culture, diye is who have lived their lives in the cultivation
111
Ceremony and Ritual, Apache _______________________________________________________________
Apache Indians with headdresses and painted bodies perform a Gahan dance, the dance of the
mountain spirit. New Mexico, ca. 1975–1995. (Charles and Josette Lenars/Corbis)
of diye, and who have spent years in ap- within this sense of interconnectedness
prenticeship to the spiritual leaders of and interrelatedness with nature. It is
the Apache people, learning the rituals this interrelatedness that enables the
and the songs and prayers that accom- Apache to survive in the natural world.
pany them. Only those who have learned Plants and animals are willing helpers,
how to cultivate and control diye providing Apache people with meat,
through respectful relationships with the hide, seeds, and fruit only if “they are ap-
Apache natural world can lead these sa- proached in the correct manner, with
cred ceremonies. proper attention to beliefs and ritual
The search for and cultivation of diye practices that have existed from the time
continues in contemporary Apache cul- of the ancestors when the earth was
ture. Traditional economic and material new” (Castetter and Opler 1936; Brand
culture is inseparable from this search 1937).
for diye; to acquire sacred power is to ac- Ways of acquiring and cultivating diye
quire the ability to survive. Apache ritual are present within men’s hunting tradi-
and ceremony can be understood only tions and ritual restrictions, as well as
112
within women’s gathering traditions. the healing properties of medicinal

Apache women have long-honored tra- plants. For instance, cattail pollen in
ditions of gathering and cultivating wild great quantity must be gathered for the
herbs and plants, and processing those ceremony, because of its power to bless
natural materials to make baskets, medi- and heal. Cattail pollen is carefully
cines, and valuable food resources. shaken from the head of the stalk, then
Forests supply other important nde dried and winnowed, before it is stored
bidane (dietary staples), as well as vital in small buckskin bags. The material will
ceremonial materials such as nuts from play a central role in the girls’ puberty
pinon trees, ‘inaada (mescal), ye’eltsui ceremony, and it is considered extremely
(acorns). In the desert and semiarid re- precious. The long leaves of the cattail
gions of the Apache homeland, women will also be present in the ceremony,
gather plants for medicinal purposes, serving as the floor covering for the cere-
such as prickly pear and nanstane monial tepee. Young girls are required to
(mesquite beans). In the grasslands, drink through the stem of a bamboo
women continue to gather the cattail, grass, or ‘uk’a, which grows on the reser-
grama grass, and gushk’ane (soapweed), vation, and that too must be ritually
materials that are used in the summer gathered prior to the ceremony. The
ceremonies. Throughout their gather- poles for the ceremonial tepee are made
ings, women are cultivating a relation- from juniper trees, and they must be
ship with the diye within the plants. gathered in a sacred manner. The earth
Their ability to nurture this sacred power of the reservation likewise supplies sa-
within themselves and within the plants cred materials for the ceremony: the
will determine their success in gather- girls’ faces and bodies will be painted
ing, as well as the plants’ potency in heal- with chi (red clay) and dleesh (white
ing, in practical use, and in ceremonies. clay). Galena, or Tse’besh, an iridescent
Such traditions of cultivating diye blue-gray ore that is ground to dust, and
through the proper use and gathering of leetsu (yellow ochre) will also be used in
materials in the natural world can be the ceremony. The cultivation of diye
seen within the Apache girls’ puberty found within these powerful elements is
ceremony. ‘Isánáklèsh Gotal, the Apache ensured through the ritual gathering of
girls’ initiation ceremony, is a ceremo- materials, and it comes to play a key role
nial process in which young girls are in the efficacy and power of the cere-
guided through a religious transforma- mony itself.
tion. Throughout the ceremonial event, Diye, or sacred power, is thus culti-
young women are taught about tradi- vated through a proper interaction with
tional Apache approaches to healing, the the natural landscape. Diye is then put
proper modes of collection and prepara- into action, effecting protection, bless-
tion of ritual foods and materials, and ing, health, and strength for individual
113
Apache within communal rituals and fant. The canopy of the cradleboard that
ceremonies. Many of these ceremonies shields the infant’s head will be deco-
are directly structured around the rated with symbols of the moon, if it is a
growth and development of young girl, and the back will be pierced so that
Apache people into adulthood. Because Life Giver will be able to see the child and
of that, Apache people have created cer- offer the Creator’s favorable blessing.
emonies for every phase of life: birth, Cradles are often decorated with
childhood, puberty, young adulthood, turquoise, beadwork, and a small pollen
maturity, old age, and death (Opler, bag. As part of the cradleboard cere-
1941). mony, the child will be blessed across the
At its birth, an infant will be bathed, nose and below the eyes with pollen, and
massaged, and blessed with pollen by blessings are offered to the four direc-
the midwife who delivered the child or tions. Then the cradle itself will be lifted
by another woman knowledgeable and offered to the east, south, west, and
about ritual procedures. If the child is a north. The cradle is then lifted to the east
girl, the family will erect a post to mark three times, and on the fourth time the
her birth, and will bury the umbilical baby girl will be carefully wrapped and
cord near the home. The baby will also strapped into the cradleboard, ensuring
be blessed with pollen and prayers. that she will be secure throughout the
Women attendants will lift her above first months of life.
their head, and while blessing the child Within the Apache ritual complex, life
with pollen will slowly turn clockwise is envisioned as a path. As a conse-
beginning in the east. It is still believed quence, the ceremony celebrating a
that this sunwise blessing will protect child’s first moccasins is particularly sig-
the child against the threat of illnesses nificant: it commemorates the child’s
common to infancy. first steps upon that path. As with all
The cradleboard ceremony, or bizane Apache ceremonies, the ceremony for
ts’al, will be performed within a few days first steps was given by the holy people.
of the child’s birth (personal communi- ‘Isanaklesh first performed this cere-
cation, Willetto Antonio, gutaal, mony for her son Child of the Water. Be-
Mescalero Apache reservation). Prior to cause of that, the ceremony should be
this ceremony, the materials necessary conducted only by a woman who has the
for making the cradleboard will be gath- diye of Isánáklèsh. The woman conduct-
ered with care, accompanied with ing the ceremony will be called ‘Isana-
prayers meant to grant the baby a long klesh throughout the ceremony. If the
and healthy life. Such prayers in the ceremony is conducted for a male infant,
midst of gathering materials are a mode it will be conducted by a man, who will
of cultivating diye, for this power is being be referred to as Tobasichine (Child of
evoked and cultivated in behalf of the in- the Water).
114
pollen footprints. For each step that the

child takes, prayers are offered. The child
will walk through the four steps four
times, while she is blessed and prayed
for. Once she has done this, she will cir-
cle the buckskin four times in a sunwise
direction, accompanied by songs,
prayers, and blessings. The child will
then be blessed with pollen by everyone
present. The moccasins themselves are
then blessed with pollen, lifted to the
four directions, and placed on the in-
fant’s feet. The ceremony is commonly
known as “Putting on Moccasins,” and it
is considered to be an important source
of protection and guidance, enabling
children to continue on the pollen path
throughout their lives.
In the springtime, when the child is
older, she or he will have the first hair-
An Apache coming-of-age ceremony, during
which a young woman is being blessed by cutting ceremony. Again, the child will
pollen. Arizona. (Martha Cooper/Peter Arnold, be blessed with pollen. As with all
Inc.) Apache ceremonies, the ritual works to
affirm the child’s place within the com-
munity, and her or his interdependence
The ceremony takes place early in the with the natural world. The child will be
morning, and preferably at the new blessed with cattail pollen, and prayers
moon, when things are new and newly will be offered to the four directions so
forming (personal communication, that the child will have a long and
Meredith Begay, Mescalero Apache spiri- healthy life. As the child’s hair is divided
tual leader, 1985). The leader conducting into sections, a small bunch of grama
the ceremony will mark all those present grass will be laid against the hair, in
with pollen. When the sun rises, the rit- hopes that like the grass, the child’s hair
ual leader will lift the infant four times in will grow thick and straight. Once cut,
a sunwise direction, beginning in the the hair will be gathered and left in a tree,
east. The ceremonialist will then draw one that is in bloom. Prayers and bless-
footprints made from cattail pollen onto ings accompany this process, so that the
white buckskin. Then the child will be child’s life will be productive and fruitful,
helped to walk, placing her feet on the like the tree in bloom.
115
When children are introduced to their The unifying and underlying principle
first solid foods, that also requires cere- of this ceremony is transformation. The
monial recognition. These first solid young woman is not “identified” with
foods are traditional Apache foods, af- ‘Isánáklèsh, as Opler has suggested
firming the child’s dependence on the (Opler 1941, 90). She is not an “imper-
Apache landscape: mesquite, mescal, sonation,” as Basso describes (Basso
yucca, and sumac. 1966, 51), nor is she a “representation,”
The most widely recognized of as Hoijer has described it (Hoijer 1938,
Apache ceremonials is the girls’ pu- 148). She is not performing a dramatic
berty ceremony. Like other Apache cer- role. Rather, the initiate literally embod-
emonials, this ritual centers on the ies the physical and spiritual essence of
proper cultivation and transmission of ‘Isánáklèsh.
diye. The young girl, as she transitions The ceremonial space is marked by
into womanhood, is endowed with the the gutaal, or ceremonial Singer, who
power of ‘Isanaklesh, the female deity, also supervises the construction of the
and so receives diye. As with other ritu- ceremonial tepee. In the tepee, a fire will
als, the goal is a long, healthy, and be kept burning throughout the days of
power-filled life for the young person. If the ceremony. It is ‘Isanaklesh’s fire, and
a girl’s ceremony is successful, she will as such cannot be allowed to go out. As
reach ‘isdzaa dziili (adulthood) as a the songs describing ‘Isánáklèsh’s first
spiritually, intellectually, and physically ceremony are sung, the mythic past is
capable woman. brought into the present. The presence
The girls’ puberty ceremony, or of this female deity is so powerful that is
‘Isánáklèsh Gotal, celebrates and honors must be balanced with the diye of mas-
young women’s lives. To the Apache, it is culine holy people. The Hastchin, or
a celebration of the female deity ‘Isánák- Mountain Spirits, are thus present, em-
lèsh. It is often referred to as the Big Tipi, bodied in the Gahe, or Mountain Spirit
or simply “The Feast.” The eight-day cer- Dancers, also referred to as Crown
emony includes four days of ritual activ- Dancers because of their elaborate head-
ity, attended by large numbers of family dresses. These dancers dance through-
and friends, which are followed by four out the four nights of the ceremony,
days of quiet reflection. The first cere- lending their strength and support to
mony was performed for ‘Isánáklèsh ‘Isánáklèsh as she dances in the ceremo-
herself, when she emerged from the nial tepee.
water and first came to this world. When This eight-day ceremony, ‘Isánáklèsh
young girls undertake the ritual process, Gotal, celebrates young Apache women
they are literally becoming ‘Isánáklèsh: as valuable and powerful parts of their
they are the embodiment of this female families and community. For four days
deity, present in the community. their family, friends, and extended rela-
116
_____________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho
tions have gathered to celebrate her, of- the status of saane, elder. This can be
fering up large amounts of time, labor, achieved only by following the footsteps
and resources to see her successfully of their ‘i kek’jagal, or ancestors.
transitioned into womanhood. This is Inés Talamantez
deeply significant, and impresses upon See also Ceremony and Ritual, Diné; Female
the girl how valuable she is in the eyes of Spirituality, Apache; Masks and Masking;
her community. Menstruation and Menarche; Spiritual and
Ceremonial Practitioners, Southwest
On the fourth morning, after dancing
all night long in the ceremonial tepee, Basso, Keith H. 1966. “The Gift of Changing
the initiate will run toward the east, Woman.” U.S. Bureau of American
greeting the rising sun. The Singers, who Ethnology Bulletin, No. 76.
Brand, Donald. 1937. The Natural
have sung with her all night, will paint Landscape of Northwestern Chihuahua.
the image of the sun on their palms with Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
galena. As the rising sun hits their palms, Press.
Castetter, Edward, and Morris Opler. 1936.
reflecting off the lead ore, they will place
The Ethnobiology of the Chiricahua and
their palms on the girl, blessing her. The Mescalero Apache: The Use of Plants for
initiate, painted with white clay and Foods, Beverages and Narcotics.
filled with the power of ‘Isánáklèsh, will
Press.
then bless the community, marking Hoijer, Harry. 1938. Chiricahua and
them with pollen and white clay. The Mescalero Apache Texts. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
four-day ceremonial is completed with a
Opler, Morris. 1941. An Apache Life Way: The
great feast and give-away, symbolic of Economic, Social, and Religious
the abundance that the young woman Institutions of the Chiricahua Indians.
will have throughout her lifetime. For the Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Talamantez, Inés. 1991. “Images of the
next four days, the young woman will re- Feminine in Apache Religious
main in quiet isolation with her mentor Traditions.” In After Patriarchy: Feminist
and the Singer who conducted the cere- Transformations of the World Religions.
Edited by Paula M. Cooey, William R.
mony, to reflect upon and consider the Eakin, and Jay B. McDaniel. Maryknoll,
significance of what she has undergone. NY: Orbis Books.
Many other ceremonies likewise exist
within Apache tradition, ceremonies cel-
ebrating marriage, aging, menopause,
and death. The goal of all these cere- Ceremony and Ritual,
monies remains similar: if individuals
Arapaho
live their lives according to proper be-
havior, living respectfully toward the nat- Arapahos are ancient occupants of the
ural environment and their community, Plains Indian culture area of North
and if they are blessed with the proper America. Throughout history before and
ceremonials as they grow, they will reach after Euro-American contact, Arapaho
117
Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho ______________________________________________________________
culture has been a central and innovative Montana. Arapaho and Gros Ventre
influence in Plains Indian ritual and cer- bands split by the late 1700s prior to ini-
emony. Before the introduction of the tial contact with Euro-Americans,
horse, the arrival of historical Plains peo- though the religious practices of the two
ples (for example, the Cheyenne and tribes still share many elements. By the
Lakota), and the influx of non-Native 1840s the Arapaho bands split into a
people, dispersed Arapaho bands syn- southern and northern tribe. Today there
chronized camp movements with bison are two federally recognized tribes: the
migrations, seasonal vegetation, tribal Southern Arapaho of Oklahoma and the
gatherings, and intertribal war and trade. Northern Arapaho of Wyoming. Descen-
Annual collective rituals, sacred artifacts, dants of the original Wood Lodge or Big
an elaborate age-grade system, and a Lodge (Beesowuunenno’) subtribe
common mythology held the bands to- merged into both tribes and are still re-
gether around a core religion. garded as carriers of the traditions sur-
Arapaho is an Algonquian language, rounding the care and ritual uses of the
though it possesses a distinct grammati- sacred Flat Pipe, the eternal center of
cal structure suggesting a long separa- Arapaho identity, religion, and life.
tion from other languages in the group- All sacred narratives related to cos-
ing. Nevertheless, Arapaho ritual and mogony and origins of ceremonies were
myth share a deep stratum of forms and circumscribed by ritual preparation and
elements with other Algonquian cul- enclosure. For the most sacred story-
tures, especially Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibwa, telling, individual listeners had to fast
and Cheyenne. At another level, Arapaho and purify themselves in preparation.
religion shares many ritual forms dis- Likewise, the narrator had to tell the sto-
tinct to Plains societies. ries precisely and cautiously. Through
Arapaho bands probably moved onto these stories, all bands and tribes have
the Plains in the distant past, either from long recognized their common identity
the north, east, or northeast in Canada or as hinono’ei, translated either as “our
the Great Lakes region. There is no evi- people” or “wrong root people” (Ander-
dence, however, to establish the time son 2001, 243–244). The name Arapaho is
and direction of Arapaho pre-Plains not indigenous but originated either
habitation. Before contact with Euro- with a Crow or Pawnee term for the tribe.
Americans there were at least five Ara- The concept of “wrong root people” is
paho subtribes, each with its own dialect linked to an Arapaho myth entitled “The
and identity (Kroeber 1983, 5–7). One Porcupine and the Woman Who Climbed
group, called the Rock People, lost its dis- to the Sky,” a Star Husband story with
tinct identity in the distant past. Another many variations across North America
became the Gros Ventre tribe, now resid- (Dorsey and Kroeber 1998, 321ff.). In the
ing on the Fort Belknap Reservation in story, moon impersonates a porcupine
118
to entice a woman and a frog up a cot- and associated values. Common to all
tonwood tree to the sky, where they the stories is the motif of an individual
marry moon and sun, respectively. Even- alone or separated from the camp who
tually the human wife of moon ignores gains some knowledge from an animal or
the advice of her mother-in-law and digs sacred being and then returns the knowl-
up the wrong kind of root. Through the edge to the elders, who then use it for the
hole created she sees her camp and fam- betterment of all the people. Other sto-
ily below on earth. While she is trying to ries relate the activities of a trickster,
escape down through the hole her hus- called Nih’oo3oo, translatable as either
band kills her, but her son, the culture “spider” or “white man.” These stories,
hero named Found-In-Grass, survives to told for instruction to young people, re-
bring all knowledge of culture to the peo- late the proper limits that should be fol-
ple. As a charter for ceremony, the story lowed in both ceremonies and everyday
shows that one must make a sacrifice for life in relations with sacred being, pow-
one’s kin in order to acquire knowledge ers, humans, and animals.
and blessings. Many elements of the Of- Before the early reservation period,
ferings Lodge, or Sun Dance, are based in Arapaho bands came together from the
this story, which provided the first link summer to early fall for communal cere-
between the above and the earth. monies called “all the lodges” (bey-
Even earlier in mythical history, the oowu’u), including the Offerings Lodge
earth and humans themselves were cre- (now called the “Sun Dance”), the men’s
ated through an earth-diver cosmogony, age-grade lodges, and the women’s Buf-
common to many other American In- falo Lodge (Kroeber 1983, 153–154). To
dian cultures. During a great flood, the enter any of the lodges, an individual
Flat Pipe was alone on the water in a piti- vowed to fast or make other sacrifices in
ful, lonely state. He called out to all ani- the lodge in order to promote the life or
mals and birds to help. After several health of a relative. Then, other pledgers
ducks failed to bring up earth from followed with similar vows. All ritual
below, turtle succeeded. From the dirt in pledges involved sacrificing, fasting, or
his claws, the creator made the earth and giving gifts so that life blessings would
humans through the power of the Flat come to family, band, and tribe.
Pipe to radiate all life outward. Again, a The age grades and associated lodges
lonely and pitiful being acquires bless- functioned to create bonds across differ-
ings from above or below, then shares ent bands among men in the same age
them with others. set, and to sustain an age ranking system
Other sacred narratives recount the between senior and junior grades. Age
origins of the ceremonies of “all of the distinctions were and are the basis for all
lodges,” described below, and provided order in Arapaho ceremonial and social
charters for proper ritual performance life. The men’s age-grade sequence
119
began with two grades without lodges, communal hunts and ceremonies. The
the Kit-Foxes for youths in their mid- Crazy Men were the Arapaho variation of
teens and the Stars for men in their late contraries. During their lodge ceremony,
teens. Each had a dance performed on the dancers behaved and spoke back-
the open prairie and a set of regalia to ward and did “crazy” stunts, such as
define their membership. When an age dancing through fire. The lodge marked
set formed from the youthful grades the access of men in their thirties and
reached marriageable age, it entered and forties to the knowledge and use of med-
passed through the sequence of inter- icines. The Dog Lodge marked an age
mediate and older grades, consisting of set’s transition to military and political
the Club Board (or Tomahawk) Lodge, leadership. In the Old Men’s Lodge,
Spear Lodge, Crazy Lodge, Dog Lodge, about which the least is known, all men
and Old Men’s Lodge (ibid., 151–158). For were introduced to the most sacred and
each lodge, except the last listed, each powerful knowledge, transmitted in se-
man had a ceremonial grandfather cho- cret. Above all the lodge was a group of
sen from three grades above and an elder seven of the oldest men, who owned the
brother, drawn from two grades above. seven sacred bundles needed for direct-
The grandfather and elder brother di- ing “all the lodges.” Those highest-rank-
rected, assisted, and instructed the ing and most powerful elders became
dancers in the lodge. As each age set closely associated with the sweatlodge at
passed through the sequence, men the center of camp; thus their name
gained increasingly sacred knowledge translated “Water-Sprinkling Old Men.”
and authority in the ceremonies. The Arapaho name of the women’s
Each grade also performed particular lodge has never been translated, but the
roles in military defense, patrolling ceremony has come to be called the Buf-
camps, political decision-making, and falo Lodge for the central importance of
ritual authority. The ceremony or lodge that animal in the ritual itself and its
marking entry to each grade had its own mythical origins. Young women could
colors, internal ranking, paraphernalia, pledge and participate in the lodge,
body paint forms, medicines, and cen- though no separate age grading for
tral sacred being, all of which recognized women followed. The Buffalo Lodge was
and emphasized the types of roles men similar in many ways to the senior men’s
played in them (Anderson 2001, lodges and the Offerings Lodge. Thus it
185–198). The Kit-Foxes and Stars served was regarded as at least as high in rank as
as servants to the other ceremonies and the men’s Dog Lodge.
in day-to-day camp organization. The Arapaho women participated in cere-
Club Board Men and Spear Men per- monies that did not simply complement
formed warrior duties in defending the or support the roles of men, but rather
camp, as well as police functions during were crucial to the function of promot-
120
ing life blessings. Women’s power to give Women’s ritual roles in the Buffalo
birth was considered the first and great- Lodge, quill society, men’s lodges, and
est of human powers. Accordingly, birth other ceremonies were equally essential
was circumscribed by ritual preparation, to those of men for promoting tribal
precaution, and purification, all of which well-being. Women were the primary or-
involved primarily feminine agency. ganizers and agents for all life transition
Wives were not only identified with the rituals in early childhood and in the so-
age-grade status of husbands but also cial space of the tepee. The women’s
provided the food and other exchange lodge and quill society also balanced the
goods for all ceremonies of all the lodges. relationship between humans and ani-
Women were also the primary agents mals, and preserved the most sacred
and organizers of many of the most sig- symbols founded in mythical time for or-
nificant childhood life transition feasts dering the Arapaho worldview and social
or ceremonies listed below (Hilger 1952, behavior.
24–43). Upon a death in the family, The Offerings Lodge, now commonly
women also took on the most stringent called the Sun Dance, is the only surviv-
mourning behavior and sacrifices. For ing lodge ceremony. Most of the lodges
example, a sister or mother could vow to and grades had dissolved by the early
sacrifice a portion of finger for the well- 1900s, though the Club Board Lodge was
being of the deceased. performed last in 1931. Government as-
The highest expression of women’s rit- similationist policy opposing communal
ual agency was the sacred art of quill- ceremonies, along with deprivation and
work, a tradition that involved applica- disease that decimated senior age
tion of dyed porcupine quills to groups, made it impossible to maintain
cradleboards, tepee ornaments, robes, continuity of age grades and the
and other ritual gifts, to ensure the life women’s Buffalo Lodge. Although the
and health of the recipient facing a life dance was banned in 1913, Northern
transition or difficulty (Kroeber 1983, Arapahos continued to hold the Sun
64–67). To complete such a project a Dance in secret before the Indian agent
woman had to seek the ceremonial in- allowed them to hold it publicly again in
struction of seven old women, each of 1923, upon the tribe’s agreement that
whom owned one of the sacred bundles they would perform no piercing. Before
needed for quillwork. Completion of var- the Offerings Lodge was suppressed,
ious ranks and numbers of quillwork ob- some Arapaho pledgers to the lodge had
jects marked women’s life ascendancy, been pierced in the chest with skewers
culminating in the seven old women tied for straining to thongs attached to
whose rank and bundles were the coun- the center pole of the lodge or to buffalo
terpart to those of the seven Water- skulls. Although piercing is no longer
Sprinkling Old Men. practiced, pledgers fast for four days and
121
make individual pledges to perform spe- in dreams, day visions, or spirit encoun-
cific roles. Today only the Northern Ara- ters while traveling. In all instances,
paho hold the Sun Dance, though it also younger people sought the guidance of
serves as the main communal ceremony the oldest people to interpret and then
for both the Southern Arapaho and some use their medicines. In some cases, the
members of the Gros Ventre tribe. receiver rejected the medicine because it
All Arapaho ceremonies aim to over- was beyond understanding or beyond
come life-threatening situations and what the individual could manage for
then to generate long life for self, family, the well-being of his family, for each type
band, and tribe. When a relative suffers of knowledge carried strict proscriptions
illness or some other hardship, one can and instructions for caring for the medi-
make a vow to participate in one of the cine properly. If one accepted the great
lodges or in other forms of sacrifice in responsibility, one had to keep the medi-
order to promote life and to discard ill- cine knowledge to oneself and never use
ness, tragedy, or misfortune. To ensure it for harm, lest ill fortune come to one’s
that children lived long and developed family.
human abilities, families also held a There were two kinds of medicine for
number of small rituals, either in the curing illnesses. The first involved
tepee or in conjunction with larger cere- knowledge of herbal remedies, along
monies. These included birth itself, with associated preparations, songs, and
naming, ear-piercing, and honor feasts modes of application. These could be ac-
for achievements, such as first tooth, first quired through visionary experience, or
walk, first speech, or first kill in hunting. purchased through apprenticeship from
Both the cradleboard and amulet bag the previous owner. The second was very
containing the navel also promoted a powerful medicine (beetee) owned only
long and straight life. by the oldest men. This medicine gave
Outside of the lodges, individual men men extraordinary powers of prophecy,
and occasionally women could acquire heightened perception, metamorphosis,
personal medicines that would give di- and curing or harming others.
rection to their lives and define their du- To gain life-giving blessings, cere-
ties to serve others through curing, per- monies and prayers were directed to a
sonal counseling, and rituals. To acquire number of sacred beings, including
medicines, men in their twenties or thir- earth, sun, Water-Monster, Whirlwind
ties went out to fast on hills, buttes, or Woman, Thunderbird, the Four Old Men,
mountains, for either four or seven days. and Our Father (Heisonoonin) (ibid.,
Some men never gained medicines, and 313). One or several beings were peti-
some others had to try several times. Oc- tioned, depending on the ceremony and
casionally, animals or powerful beings the age status of the petitioner. Thunder-
also offered medicine to men or women bird was especially central to younger
122
male age grades, since he is a warrior ings to placate Water-Monster, known

god, defending the boundaries of the for blessings but also for drowning.
world against attacks and from Water- Other sacred places requiring offerings
Monster. Whirlwind Woman was closely included trees, fasting hills, stone monu-
identified with the women’s quill society, ments, and other places marked in
since she originated the sacred art form memory for powerful events caused by
in the beginning, at the same time that animals, humans, or natural forces. For
she helped spread the earth out to its example, as an Arapaho band passed a
current boundaries with her spinning stone monument, women often left
and spiraling motion. Our Father the cre- stones on top in order to pray for the
ator, who sits directly above, was the long life of their children.
most powerful and could be addressed In addition to the major ceremonies,
only by the oldest men. The Four Old Arapaho people practiced countless rit-
Men, who sat on four hills at the four di- ual forms in daily life. Eating, praying,
rections, were called upon, for example, smoking, fire-tending, hunting, sunrise,
in naming ceremonies, since they repre- ways of speaking, and many other osten-
sent the four stages of life and in total the sibly profane activities were infused with
desire for a long life for a child or adult ritual proscriptions and prescriptions to
name receiver. All rituals involved peti- maintain proper relations between peo-
tions for long life to the four directions, ple, based on age, kinship, and gender, as
as well as above (that is, “Our Father”), well as with sacred beings and animals.
the earth below, and the center, as in the There were many changes in Arapaho
four and seven numbered order com- religious life throughout the reservation
mon to other Native American cultures. period beginning in the 1870s. New cere-
Each of the four directions is associated monies emerged to replace the loss of
with a color, season, stage of life, and most of those in “all the lodges” and to
epoch in the earth’s history. Prayers and meet the needs of harsh and abruptly
actions aimed to totalize blessings in cir- changing conditions in reservation life.
cular space and extend them forward in In 1889, Northern Arapahos became the
linear time toward long life. However, first Plains Indian society to follow the
powerful beings could also bring harm to Ghost Dance (Mooney 1896, 894). Within
family, self, or tribe if ritual actions were a year Northern Arapaho followers
not performed properly or if individuals passed the dance to the Lakota,
overparticipated in ritual itself. Cheyenne, and Southern Arapaho. The
As camps and bands traveled there Paiute prophet Wovoka prophesied a
were also sacred places of power that coming apocalypse, removal of Euro-
people returned to and recognized by of- Americans from the continent, resurrec-
ferings. Offerings of cloth, coins, or shells tion of all deceased Indians, return of the
were often left at springs or at river cross- buffalo, renewal of the land to its original
123
state, and survival for all who performed long as followers continued to keep the
the dance. Flat Pipe highest among all religions.
The ceremony of the Ghost Dance itself Throughout the twentieth century, the
involved a circular dance to songs specific Native American Church has gained an
to each stage, accompanied by leaders’ ever-increasing following in both Ara-
hypnotic movements. All these elements paho tribes. A moral code highlighting
combined to induce visions among sobriety, strong family ties, and charity
dancers about the afterlife and world to continues to help many Arapahos find
come. From those visions, followers ac- solutions to problems of reservation life.
quired direction and their own songs. Unlike some other reservation com-
Most Plains peoples quickly abandoned munities, neither Arapaho tribe experi-
the ceremony after the massacre at enced intense and enduring religious
Wounded Knee in 1890 and after the conflict with the Christian missions and
prophesied renewal did not happen as associated boarding schools, though of
predicted in 1891, though both Arapaho course there were periods of tension and
tribes continued to perform the dance oppressive events. The Catholic and
and retained many of the songs for a num- Episcopal missions in Wyoming and the
ber of years. A ceremony known as the Mennonite and later Baptist missions in
Crow Dance, which once accompanied Oklahoma drew considerable Arapaho
the Ghost Dance, for example, continues participation. As for the Ghost Dance
today in the Northern Arapaho tribe. and Peyote way, both tribes maintained
By the 1880s, the Southern Arapahos a uniquely Arapaho pluralism combined
had acquired the Peyote way from neigh- with compartmentalization. The Ara-
boring Kiowas and Comanches in Okla- paho strategy was based on the idea that
homa. By 1900, some younger Northern there are many roads to God but that
Arapahos had learned about the cere- each must be kept separate from the core
mony from their southern relatives and sacred traditions. As many outside ob-
soon began following the tradition servers have concluded, the traditional
(Fowler 1982, 124–125). The simplicity of Arapaho religious emphasis on practice
the meeting and its performance out of over doctrine has helped sustain this
public view at night in a tepee or tent was pluralism and compartmentalism of rit-
well adapted to reservation life and less ual traditions, in which the oldest and
conspicuous to agents of forced assimi- core traditions endure at the center.
lation. It allowed younger people a new Christian ceremonies were readily ap-
path for individual inspiration and was propriated with Arapaho meanings or
practicable with the limited means avail- conjoined with traditional ceremonies.
able on the reservation. Although elders For example, christening became associ-
originally met the practice with some ated with traditional naming practices.
concern, they eventually accepted it as Furthermore, the missions offered new
124
spaces and times for maintaining and in- veterans play crucial roles in the Christ-
venting ritual traditions, as well as elabo- mas week dances, pow wows, funerals,
rating others. By the early 1900s, the an- and all federal holiday ceremonies (for
nual Northern Arapaho Christmas week example, Memorial Day, Veterans Day,
dances at the community halls, though and Fourth of July). Drum groups,
supported by the missions, allowed for women’s memorial organizations, fami-
maintaining many winter camp tradi- lies, and other groups also play signifi-
tions, including social dances, speech- cant roles in modern ritual life.
making, and games, as well as the Crow In the contemporary context, Arapaho
Dance, once associated with the Ghost ceremonial life faces new, unprece-
Dance religion. With the influence of the dented challenges. The Northern Ara-
missions, the war veterans’ organiza- paho continue to ward off the intrusion
tions, pan-Indian traditions, and in- of commercialization and factionaliza-
creasing community solidarity in the tion of the Offerings Lodge. Compared
face of the tragedies of reservation life, with other Plains Indian peoples, the
funerals and other memorial ceremonies Arapaho have been more successful at
became much more central in both Ara- keeping a single Sun Dance and defend-
paho tribes. In general, rather than losing it against the carnival-like dilution
ing their religion, as assimilationist gov- occurring on other reservations. Simi-
ernment policies and missions had larly, Arapaho elders have been con-
intended, Arapahos kept the core cere- cerned about the growing influx in the
monies strong, acquired new forms to past few decades of pan-Indian ritual
meet the needs of reservation life, and traditions, and primarily the sweatlodge,
defined their own places and times for pipe-carrier, and Sun Dance traditions of
the Christian ceremonies introduced by the Lakota, which have spread through-
the missions. out Indian country. For younger genera-
Apart from those external influences, tions, the compartmentalism main-
both Arapaho tribes adapted or invented tained by earlier generations is giving
ceremonies to maintain surviving tradi- way to a freer syncretism among Peyote,
tions and support emerging ones. Cere- pan-Indian, and Christian practices. As
monies evolved to select tribal leaders in other Native American communities,
and thus resist government-imposed since the 1970s more and more people
electoral procedures or agent appoint- have returned to traditional religious
ments (ibid., 149–151). Arapaho soldiers practices, and the population has grown
served in the two world wars, Korea, and significantly, thus placing greater de-
Vietnam, and ceremonies addressed mands on an ever fewer number of eld-
their needs and recognized their experi- ers fluent in both the language and the
ences as a basis for strong leadership in old traditions. Thus there is an ongoing
many sectors of reservation life. Today tension between the need to follow old
125
Ceremony and Ritual, California ____________________________________________________________
traditions and the needs of increasing Ceremony and Ritual,

numbers of young people who want to California
participate.
Jeffrey D. Anderson Any discussion of ritual or ceremony
See also Dances, Plains; Kinship;
must begin with adequate definitional
Missionization, Northern Plains; Oral remarks. Far from being standard, logical
Traditions, Western Plains; Power, Plains; terms, the uses of these terms can differ
Religious Leadership, Plains;
Retraditionalism and Revitalization
depending on the context in which they
Movements, Plains; Sacred Pipe; Sacred are employed. Here, in an attempt to give
Societies, Plains; Spiritual and Ceremonial a broad overview of the ways in which
Practitioners, Plains; Sweatlodge; Tobacco,
California Indian communities manifest,
Sacred Use of; Vision Quest Rites; Warfare,
Religious Aspects embody, and practice their worldviews,
References and Further Reading the term “ritual” will encompass cere-
Anderson, Jeffrey D. 2001. “The Four Hills of mony. Thus all ceremonies are rituals,
Life: Northern Arapaho Knowledge and but all rituals are not necessarily cere-
Life Movement.” Anthropology of North
American Indians Series. Edited by monial. Therefore there are, for our pur-
Raymond J. DeMallie and Douglas R. poses, two broad types of ritual practice:
Parks. Lincoln: University of Nebraska ceremonial and solitary. The latter tends
Press.
Dorsey, George A. 1903. The Arapaho Sun to occur in two spheres—namely, the in-
Dance: The Ceremony of the Offerings- dividual and the communal. Indigenous
Lodge. Field Columbian Museum California practices generally follow that
Publication 75, Anthropological Series
vol. 4. Chicago: Field Columbian
scheme, with communal solitary ritual
Museum. being either the individual employment
Dorsey, George A., and Alfred L. Kroeber. of specific traditions, such as in the ven-
1903/1998. Traditions of the Arapaho.
eration of shrines along hunting or trad-
Fowler, Loretta Kay. 1982. Arapahoe Politics, ing routes, or the individualized type
1851–1878: Symbols in Crises of most often experienced by the religious
Authority. Lincoln: University of
practitioner in the form of a dream or
Nebraska Press.
Hilger, Sister M. Inez. 1952. Arapaho Child signs that pertain to her or him only but
Life and Its Cultural Background. are not limited across tribal groups to
Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of
those individuals. In other words, any-
American Ethnology, Bulletin 148.
Washington, DC: Government Printing one who receives a particular message
Office. from the other-than-human realm,
Kroeber, Alfred L. 1983. The Arapaho. though it may follow broad “tribal” pat-
Mooney, James. 1896. “The Ghost-Dance terns, would nonetheless view it as hers
Religion and Sioux Outbreak of 1890.” or his alone and therefore become
Pp. 641–1110 in Fourteenth Annual bound to certain solitary rituals. Individ-
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
1892–93, Part 2. Washington, DC: ual communal rituals, then, would be
Government Printing Office. performed by an individual, but in the
126
___________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, California
same form as is done by other individu- high level of importance placed on the
als. It is important to note that very few, if spoken word in his early discussion of
indeed any, California tribal worldviews California Indian religiosity, and this is
consider the individual apart from the one aspect of that early analysis that has
community. Thus, when an individual lasted. Speakers and general orations are
has a solitary and specific practice, it is fairly common in indigenous California
nonetheless employed within the con- ceremony, and, as in many Indian com-
text of doing one’s part for the good of munities, songs and speeches generally
the whole community. coinhabit most ceremonies. As Kroeber
Finally, ceremonial ritual practice can also noted, it is important to view the
be said to encompass a very broad range role of the singer or speaker apart from
of group activities, from a handful of the content of the speech or song. Al-
hunters in a sweat ceremony to large in- though these songs and speeches do
tercommunal, seasonal observances. contain important content, the social
That pattern is not at all out of step with role played by a singer or speaker, as well
the general treatment of ritual and cere- as the act of honoring a person by asking
mony by religious studies scholars, that person to speak or share a song, is at
meaning that the categories developed least as important as what that speech or
in the scholarly analysis of ritual and cer- song may “mean” to the assembly. In ad-
emony would be no more or less likely to dition, the process of ongoing ceremo-
resonate with California Indians them- nial gathering has a substantial role in
selves than with evangelical Protestant social cohesion, much in the way Émile
Christians or Sunni Muslims. They are Durkheim identified as “collective effer-
but this: a set of parameters within vescence,” and the very act of gathering
which these phenomena can be sub- at regular intervals and maintaining a
jected to etic discourse. ceremonial pattern over time has
The elements of these broad cate- emerged in the ritual studies discourse
gories, then, are myriad, given the large as a key aspect of ritual and ceremony
number of distinct tribal traditions in generally.
California. While it would be impossible For Native Californians of the central
here to provide an exhaustive account of part of the state, it is this factor that has
them all, there are some important as- played an important role in overcoming
pects that can be said to encompass the the effects of missionization. California
ritual character of Native California. tribes underwent an intense attempt by
Dance, song, and oratory are, of course, Spain, via the Roman Catholic Church,
important factors in the general study of to transform them from “idolaters” into
ritual and ceremony, and they are no less “neophytes” (new Christian converts).
important among California Indians. Al- Of course, this meant that the Catholic
fred Kroeber identified a particularly religious system had to supplant the
127
traditional ones, along with languages, mony; those participants, in turn, ex-
dress styles, marital patterns, and child- pected to sponsor ceremonies them-
rearing techniques. At first glance, it selves, in which it would be their turn to
may seem as though a church full of perform a give-away. In extreme circum-
California Indians responding to the stances, mostly in the very far Northwest
priest at Mass in Spanish would signal in what is now Washington state and the
the end of their “traditional” way of life. western coast of Canada and Alaska, the
However, if ritual and ceremony are gift give-away, itself at times taking the
viewed through the lens described form of a purposeful destruction of
above, we can see how important rela- property, was outlawed by the U.S. gov-
tionships, patterns of ritual practice, ernment. Large give-aways were also
and traditional thought could survive in universally discouraged in California, if
the mode of “Mission Indian” lifeways. not barred altogether. This important as-
The Roman Catholic scheme follows a pect of California Indian ceremony
seasonal cycle, with the important as- could easily be maintained, however, via
pects of the life of Jesus accented in that both covert methods (by using white
cycle. For most California Indians, the commodity goods, such as staple gro-
seasonal cycle of nature provided the ceries, blankets, and clothing as poten-
perennial backdrop for the overall ex- tial gifts), and in a more obvious way (by
pression of their traditional worldview. adopting “sanctioned” ceremonies in
Therefore, a “missionized” group like which gift-giving was appropriate, such
the Chumash or Ohlone could maintain as Christmas and birthdays). Songs
a sense of the religion of their ancestors themselves were also given and accepted
via the cycle of birth, life, death, and re- as honored gifts, and many of the songs
birth that punctuates the Catholic that are sung in California Indian Coun-
mythology. try today survive because they were
In other parts of the state, where the passed from family to family as largess.
Spanish Catholic invaders were not as Dance in California is another very
prevalent, there were other efforts to difficult set of features to elaborate on,
transform the traditional cycle of the na- because of the voluminous amount of
tive people. In Protestant Christian re- differentiation in styles between Native
gions, such as in the Northwest, the reli- California groups. However, California
gious system was more thoroughly Indian dance can be seen as differing
ensconced in the economic one. For from the stereotypical dance usually as-
Northwestern tribal groups, ceremonies sociated with Indians that bear an overt
are almost always accompanied by gift- Plains tribal style. In California the
giving, and participants in a ceremony dances are often “set” pieces, with
would expect to receive gifts from the dancers having designated positions or
person or family sponsoring the cere- movements during the dance. Careful
128
consideration is made regarding the po- people and any births that may have oc-
sition of dancers, singers, and ceremo- curred between ceremonies. These com-
nial leaders. That is to say that, in a typi- munal rites also include various “first-
cal circular dance arena, positions fruits” ceremonies linked to the cycles of
corresponding with the cardinal points nature and resource availability and lo-
(north, south, east, west), zenith and cations. Such elaborate rituals aid in the
nadir, inside/outside, and so forth, maintenance of the natural world and
would all be held by particular actors ac- ensure a continuation of the earth’s
cording to role, gender, or status, and healthy life.
movement between and within these Although each ceremony is distinct
areas is significant to the dance being from the others, and there are many local
performed. Perhaps the best means to il- variations upon the details of the cere-
lustrate the various ways in which ceremony, there are two facets common to all.
mony and ritual manifest among Califor- The first is an esoteric part in which a rit-
nia Indian communities is to provide ual specialist visits specific sacred sites
concrete examples. Bearing in mind the associated with the prehuman ancestral
established categories of personal soli- originator of the particular ceremony and
tary ritual, communal solitary ritual, and recites formulas regarding that first per-
ceremony, I will provide examples from formance, thereby linking the current one
various regions of the state in order to to the first. That is then followed by a pub-
lend some insight into the nature of lic part including the performance of one
those practices. or both of two distinctive rituals, the Jump
Beginning in the Northwest, the tribes Dance and the White Deerskin Dance.
along the Klamath River—that is, the These dances, occurring every day for
Hupa, Yurok, Karuk, Tolowa, and Wiyot— up to ten days or more, require dance re-
are linked by a cyclical ritual system regalia, songs, and steps, standardized by
ferred to by anthropologists as “World custom, whereby the dancers display
Renewal.” The cycle consists of about a wealth items such as dentalia shell neck-
dozen ceremonies held every year or al- laces and long obsidian blades as part of
ternating years and encompassing a their regalia. As the dance progresses,
wide range of ritual performances, in- the sponsors of the dance provide more
cluding the White Deerskin and Jump valuables for the dancers to wear or
dances. These performances, in addition carry. White Deerskin Dance regalia con-
to their role in fulfilling Native responsi- sists of deerhide or wildcat kilts and
bilities to the renewal of the world, also headgear consisting of wolf fur head-
afford the community an opportunity to bands and caps of woodpecker scalps, in
participate in gift give-aways and to cele- addition to the aforementioned wealth
brate other community milestones, such items. The dancers also carry poles with
as the onset of puberty among young stuffed deer heads mounted at the ends
129
and draped with white or light-colored semisubterranean structure used exclu-

deerskins. The Jump Dance regalia is a sively for ritual and ceremony; the Big
headdress consisting of woodpecker Head Dance is a central aspect. The Big
scalps and long white feathers, along Head regalia includes a unique head-
with the ubiquitous dentalia and deer- piece of flexible rods radiating out from
skin or cat aprons. the crown to which are attached black
Other rites were less elaborate, such as and white feathers, forming a large con-
the Hupa “first fruits”–style Acorn Feast vex pattern. The Big Head is one of the
and First Salmon ceremony, but they are most important power items in the ritu-
no less important. The Acorn Feast is cel- alist’s regalia.
ebrated in the autumn when the nuts The Pomo, like most societies, pay
begin to fall from tan oaks, and the First particular attention to the human move-
Salmon ceremony when the spring run ment through the life cycle, including
of fish begins. In their respective cere- passing from this world into the next. Be-
monies, the acorns and salmon are ritu- fore Christian insistence upon physical
ally obtained and prepared, with various burial was forced on the Pomo in the
prayers spoken and sacred acts per- 1870s, cremation was the preferred cus-
formed. It is not until those prayers and tom. Each village had its funeral pyre
acts are finished that the food is con- area, and specific aspects of the ritual
sumed and the gathering or fishing sea- differed from village to village. Generally,
son begins in earnest. Such “first fruit” though, the dead were cremated face
ceremonies celebrate and give thanks for down in order that the spirit could leave
the acorns and salmon, thereby ensuring the body more easily; they were oriented
the continuity of the natural resources to the south, because that is the direction
that the Hupa depend upon. the spirit takes when it departs. Some
Like the rain forest–dwelling tribes of Pomo communities designated a woman
northwest California, the tribes that call to perform the task of burying the re-
the central inland part of the state home mains. A second burning would take
also depend upon acorns for food and a place on the grave site at the one-year
source of meaning. The Pomo dedicate anniversary, with relatives bringing gifts
much ceremony to the acorn harvest in for those who had passed. In the event of
the fall, and the Pomo also have an Acorn an infant death, the child’s bedbasket
Festival, the main purpose of which is to was either burned or submerged in the
give thanks for all the blessings of life river during the anniversary ceremony.
and to ask for continued help and power In the far south of California, the
for the coming year. The ritual’s form Kumeyaay occupied the region on the
varies from community to community, coast and just inland in what are now
but it always consists of special songs San Diego and northern Baja California.
and dances done in the roundhouse, a Prior to European invasion, the Kumeyaay
130
maintained Sh’mulq (clan) territories “specialize” in a particular healing style

with both summer and winter village or ceremony; that would draw people
sites. While territory was not defined in from other Sh’mulqs, or even other
the same manner as by the Europeans, tribes, who would seek out the individual
there is a definite sense of Sh’mulq stew- for assistance or advice.
ardship over specific regions. A hunter The key aspect, then, of California In-
tracking game would be able to travel dian ritual and ceremony is the varied
through other Sh’mulq territories, but way these categories manifest in particu-
settling or gathering plant resources in lar regional and tribal circumstances; it
the region of another Sh’mulq was not is far more productive to view them
appreciated and would undoubtedly re- comparatively from a functional, rather
sult in conflict. Large seasonal gather- than substantive, standpoint. Each tribal
ings were held in strategically hosted lo- group has its own set of ceremonies and
cales where various Sh’mulqs would rituals; however, indigenous people
gather for celebration, gambling, and so- everywhere tend to incorporate key as-
cial interaction. These gatherings, spon- pects into these practices. Nature and
sored by important families in the host the natural cycle of the earth are pre-
Sh’mulq territory, were both festive and dominant, but not in a guileless sense of
ceremonial. Depending upon the time of fascination with the seasonal weather
year, large-scale rituals appropriate to forces; rather, it is a sophisticated con-
the Kumeyaay calendar were held, as nection between the logic of that group’s
well as group puberty rituals for the particular worldview, the cycles and
young people coming of age throughout states of the individual human life, and
the region. The key individuals at these the life of the community. In addition,
events were the ritualists/ceremonial the ceremonies and rituals tend to tie in-
leaders called kuseyaay. The predomi- dividuals to the community, even when
nantly male kuseyaay were born to their solitary rituals are performed. Most Cali-
calling, with certain children being ob- fornia Indians hold the key division in
served early for signs of the innate quali- human organization to be the family,
ties necessary for that important posi- with that family being broadly reckoned,
tion. When a potential kuseyaay came of encompassing extended and nonblood
age, he was taught the herbal knowledge, relations as well as the ancestral spiri-
prayers, songs, ceremonial duties, and tual, animal, and elemental realms.
the like by an elder kuseyaay who acted Dennis F. Kelley
as mentor. Inasmuch as the kuseyaay See also Art (Traditional and
were also the healers of the village, that Contemporary), California and the Great
information might take many years to Basin; Dreams and Visions; Masks and
Masking; McKay, Mabel; Missionization,
impart. A particular religious leader or California; Oral Traditions, California;
healer might gain a reputation, or might Parrish, Essie; Power, Barbareño Chumash;
131
Ceremony and Ritual, Coeur d’Alene _______________________________________________________
Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains; and Chief Child of the Yellow Root, some-
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, times referred to as the First Peoples). The
California; Sweatlodge; Vision Quest Rites
rituals also serve as a means for helping
Bean, Lowell John, ed. 1992. California care for and perpetuate those gifts, and, in
Indian Shamanism. Ballena Press turn, share them with family members in
Anthropological Papers no. 39. Menlo need of assistance. Among the gifts re-
Park, CA: Ballena Press.
Bean, Lowell John, and Thomas C.
ceived and shared are the camas roots
Blackburn, eds. 1976. Native and huckleberry fruits, venison and
Californians: A Theoretical Retrospective. salmon meats, and suumesh songs (spiri-
Ramona, CA: Ballena Press.
tual power) and my-yp “teachings” (val-
Costo, Rupert, and Jeannette Henry Costo,
eds. 1987. The Missions of California: A ues). These are gifts that nourish and heal
Legacy of Genocide. San Francisco: the body and spirit, guide and watch over
Indian Historian Press.
the young and old, impart essential val-
Emanuels, George. 1990. California Indians:
An Illustrated Guide. Walnut Creek, CA: ues and a Coeur d’Alene identity, and pro-
Diablo Books. vide a means with which to express
Kroeber, Alfred L. 1925/1976. Handbook of
laughter as well as sorrow.
the Indians of California. Bureau of
American Ethnology Bulletin no. 78. While the influence of Jesuit mission-
Reprint, New York: Dover. aries and federal government agents has
Sarris, Greg. 1994. Mabel McKay: Weaving curtailed many of the former cere-
the Dream. Berkeley: University of
California Press. monies, there remains a core of tradi-
Shepherd, Alice. 1998. In My Own Words: tional practices continued by several
Stories, Songs, and Memories of Grace Coeur d’Alene families. These cere-
McKibben Wintu. Berkeley: Heyday
Books. monies include the rituals associated
Vane, Sylvia Brakke, and Lowell John Bean. with root digging, berry gathering, and
1990. California Indians: Primary deer hunting, the seeking of a guardian
Resources, A Guide to Manuscripts,
Artifacts, Documents, Serials, Music, and Animal Spirit and acquiring of a suumesh
Illustrations. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena song, and the Sweat House, Jump Dance,
Press. and Memorial Give-Away. In each in-
stance it is only when human and Ani-
mal peoples enter into and maintain a
Ceremony and Ritual, close and respectful kinship relationship
with each other that the efficacy of the
Coeur d’Alene
ceremonies is ensured.
The various ritual and ceremonial activi- Before any camas or bitterroot is dug,
ties of the Coeur d’Alene serve as the any huckleberries or serviceberries gath-
means for acknowledging and giving ered, or a deer or elk hunted, a prayer is
thanks for the gifts bestowed upon the first offered. Addressing the Creator and
human peoples by the Amotqn (Creator) the plant or animal itself, the spoken
and the Animal Peoples (such as Coyote prayer seeks permission to begin the
132
______________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Coeur d’Alene
gathering or hunt, along with a request learned early in life. After a young hunter
for success. After the pitse (digging stick) gets a first rabbit, deer, or elk, he or she
has loosened the soil and the first camas will have a feast for all the family mem-
bulb is removed, its blue flowers are bers. All will share in the meat except the
placed back into the earth, along with an hunter, to, as the elders say, “remind him
offering of tobacco or qhasqhs (a “medi- of his role as a provider.” Just as the deer
cine root”). When the “water potato” has offered itself up to the hunter, so too
roots are being gathered, an elder will should the hunter offer meat to those in
encourage the gatherers to remember need.
those who could not gather; when they The connection to the animal world
finish, they take some of the roots and and to traditional responsibilities can be
give them to the elders and children. Be- seen in the vision questing rituals. From
fore berry gathering begins, an elder will the vision quest, an essential and per-
go to the berry bushes and bring a small sonal “kinship” with the Animal Peoples
branch back to a “grandmother” (a fe- can be initiated, the benefit of which af-
male elder). She will eat of the first fects humans and animals alike. Tradi-
berries, reminding all of the role of the tionally, both young boys and girls would
mothers. In gathering the berries, they go during the summer to the nearby
are to be “combed out” of the bushes so mountains to seek a guardian spirit.
as not to injure the huckleberry bush. Having participated in a Sweat House
When the berry gathering is completed, ceremony, the young person would be
a basket of the berries is left in a tall tree under the direction and care of an elder
as an offering for the Creator. Before the member of the family. He would be in-
hunter goes out he will sing his suumesh structed to stay at the “prayer circle,” a
hunting songs. When successful, the rock formation located at the mountain
Coeur d’Alene say that the deer has “of- site, for the duration of the fast. The fast
fered itself” to the hunter; the hunter will might last from two to as many as three
again sing a set of hunting songs at each or four days. While not drinking water or
stage of the butchering of the deer. In all consuming food during the fast, the
instances, an important teaching is em- young person might be told to bathe in
phasized. Only the amount of roots or the lake’s waters each day. This would be
meat necessary for the family’s needs is an act of cleansing and renewal, and an
gathered or hunted—it is traditional for acknowledgment of the important spirit
the Coeur d’Alene to tell their children to beings associated with Lake Coeur
be sure “never to take too much.” d’Alene. Most of the important fasting
As with roots and berries, meat is dis- sites surround this particular lake, which
tributed to all those in need, such as the is located in the heart of Coeur d’Alene
elders, the sick, and the households country. If the seeker’s sacrifice is judged
without a hunter. It is a ritual act that is worthy, an Animal Spirit, such as an
133
Eagle, Elk, or Wolf, might appear and give many families, weekly, the rituals of the
him a suumesh song. That particular An- Sweat House take place in a blanket-,
imal Spirit could remain with the indi- canvas-, or rug-covered doomed struc-
vidual for his entire life, offering guid- ture of willow saplings. A lodge may be
ance and spiritual protection. from six to ten feet in diameter and built
The faster would learn the song asso- along a nearby creek, or even in some-
ciated with his guardian spirit, as well as one’s backyard near his or her home. The
under what circumstances the song lodge itself is sometimes referred to as
should be used. Songs are forms of “Grandmother,” while the rocks are
prayer that help direct the spiritual called “Grandpas.” After the rocks have
power associated with the guardian been well heated and placed within the
spirit to specific ends. A song might be lodge, the participants enter without
intended for a healing, hunting, or gam- clothing. Typically, men sweat apart from
bling purpose. It might be used to wel- women. After the door is closed the ritual
come a new day or even to bring the begins with the singing of suumesh songs
rains to help nurture roots and berries, and the saying of prayers. The prayers are
deer and elk. Or the song might simply directed at the needs of those participat-
be intended to be sung for the general ing, and especially their families. The cer-
welfare and health of family members. In emony is structured into a cycle of four
all instances, the suumesh song is to be quarters, with water poured over the
respected and cared for, never used ca- heated rocks during each quarter and
sually or for purposes not intended. It is more songs and prayers offered. The heat
to be sung during the winter Jump generated in the sweat is intense. Sweat
Dances, else the individual be infected cedar or a medicine root might be sprin-
with “spirit sickness.” If a suumesh song kled over the rocks, or the root might be
is not cared for properly, the guardian rubbed directly onto the sweating bodies
spirit would leave the individual and of the participants. The acts of smudging
“bad luck” would likely follow. A su- and rubbing further help to cleanse the
umesh song is one of the most important participants. After all the prayers are
gifts that can be acquired from the Ani- given, which could take as long as an
mal Peoples, solidifying the kinship rela- hour, the participants might plunge
tionship between human and Animal themselves into a nearby creek or wash
peoples. off with water from buckets.
In the heat, prayer, and song of the The Coeur d’Alene say that emerging
Sweat House ceremony, individuals are from the sweatlodge is like emerging
offered an opportunity to give thanks for from the womb of the Grandmother—
the various gifts bestowed and to obtain you are reborn and rejuvenated, becom-
spiritual cleansing, healing, and “re- ing stronger to help your people. To
birth.” Held throughout the year and, for sweat is to renew one’s kinship with one’s
134
______________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Coeur d’Alene
family, and with the Amotqn. In addition streetlights and the headlights of passing
to the regular sweats, the Sweat House cars, which could disrupt the dance.
ceremony is held to help celebrate birth- Only the dim light of one or two oil lamps
days and, prior to the hunting season, to illuminates the room. As the partici-
help ensure success for the hunters. The pants—from thirty to a hundred men,
suumesh songs sung during a sweat women, and children—enter the long-
might also be used to remedy a physical house, they move counterclockwise
pain, heal a sickness, or seek guidance around the room. They greet each other,
during a troublesome time. The Sweat hug, and shake the hands of those al-
House and the suumesh songs sung ready present. The members of each
within the lodge are often used to help family will then gather along sections of
heal what one Coeur d’Alene elder calls the room’s wall, with pillows, blankets,
“wounded people,”those individuals and folding chairs that will be used to
who have lost their cultural identity as an help comfort the participants between
Indian, as a Coeur d’Alene, and who dances. The dancers wear moccasins,
might be struggling with alcoholism or with many participants also adorning
drug abuse. themselves with medicine scarves, neck-
The Jump Dance, also known as the laces, or other objects representative of
Winter Spirit Dance, Stomp Dance, or their particular suumesh. Each of the
Medicine Dance, is held during the dancers who will sing their suumesh
height of the winter season and helps to songs will also bring in a “dance stick” to
culminate the most important prayers be used to beat the rhythm of their song.
and desires of its participants. Spon- Young men will be stationed at the doors
sored by individual families, the dance is of the room to keep people from entering
held over a period of two to three consec- or leaving once the dance has begun.
utive evenings, from sunset to sunrise. It Following a welcome and opening
is the sponsor’s responsibility to an- prayer by the sponsor, the dance begins.
nounce the dates of the dance to the An individual will come to the center of
community; to prepare the longhouse, the room and give “heart talk,” speaking
community center, or living room of of the good fortune and challenges his
their home for the dance; and to provide family has had, as well as their desires for
a meal for all participants on the morn- the future, speaking from the heart, with
ing following each evening’s dance. The sincerity and truth. Once the “heart talk”
longhouse or home within which the is over, the individual will begin to sing
dance will take place is prepared by hav- his suumesh song and either dance
ing all of its furniture, tables, and loose around the room or remain in the center
rugs removed, creating an open dance of it. All the participants are encouraged
floor. Windows are covered with black to dance for their families, moving coun-
plastic so as to keep out the light of terclockwise. The dance step involves a
135
hopping movement, with both feet to- and elk. In the heat and exhaustion of
gether and knees slightly bent. It is said “jumping hard” (dancing with strength
that you can feel the spirits close at hand and vigor), the dancer gives back and
as the dancers begin to transform and helps renew the plant and animal peo-
take on the characteristics of their par- ples of the world. An essential realization
ticular suumesh Animal Spirit, be it Bear, also comes through to the dancer from
Deer, Elk, or Wolf. In the past, the most jumping hard and transforming into his
powerful metamorphosis involved the suumesh Animal Spirit. The Animal Spir-
Bluejay. A dancer would fly to the top of its of one’s suumesh, a relationship likely
the longhouse and out into the night for- acquired during a vision quest, are in fact
est. Upon its return, and though still the same Animal Peoples of the oral tra-
dangerous, the Bluejay would foretell the ditions. In jumping hard the human is
future and bless the food. Only after transformed and linked not only to the
being smudged by cedar incense and Animal Spirits of the mountains but also
sung over by a powerful medicine man back to the creation time of Coyote and
would the Bluejay become human again. Chief Child of the Yellow Root.
After the dance leader had finished his The ceremony of the Memorial Give-
song, another participant would come Away is typically held a year after the
forward with his “heart talk” and su- wake and burial of a deceased relative,
umesh song, and the dancing would con- and it can be repeated for several suc-
tinue. Each participant with a suumesh is cessive years. Held in a community cen-
expected to sing his song and honor his ter or longhouse, the public event at-
spirit guardian. To fail to do so could tracts friends and relatives of the
bring on sickness. After a brief midnight deceased from both far away and close
break, the dancing would continue until to home. Following a meal for all in at-
sunrise and a morning meal. The meal tendance, the give-away begins. In addi-
might include sandwiches or eggs and tion to blankets, towels, and cloth, items
bacon, and perhaps some camas root to be distributed often include many of
among other traditional food items. the personal belongings of the de-
In addition to the overt desire to con- ceased, such as clothing, jewelry, and
tribute to the welfare of one’s own family kitchen or hunting paraphernalia. Be-
and the specific needs of each dance fore their death some individuals may
leader, the intense dancing and singing have also gathered or made special
are a way to help vitalize and care for the items, such as a favorite rifle, a pair of
various plant and animal gifts. When one beaded moccasins, or a beaded bag, all
sings one’s suumesh song, its spiritual designated for particular relatives to be
power also contributes to providing given out on the day of their give-away.
good spring rains that will nurture During the give-away, a family member
healthy fields of camas and herds of deer would hold up each article and call out
136
_________________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Diné
to a relative or friend to collect the item. gone ahead and prepared the way for the
As that person accepts the item, he or coming of the rest of their family.
she would speak of the significance of Rodney Frey
the deceased person in his or her life. See also Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce;
The stories can be of a serious note, with Dances, Plateau; Oral Traditions, Plateau;
tears of sadness shed, as well as humor- Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau; Spiritual
and Ceremonial Practitioners, Plateau;
ous stories, with tears of laughter. The Sweatlodge; Vision Quest Rites
collective stories told throughout the References and Further Reading
memorial event thus piece together an Frey, Rodney, in collaboration with the
entire life history, and reiterate the kin- Schitsu’umsh. 2001. Landscape Traveled
by Crane and Coyote: The World of the
ship ties among all those gathered. Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene Indians).
Everyone in attendance receives items Seattle: University of Washington Press.
that are to be taken home, with which al- Teit, James. 1930. “The Salish Tribes of the
Western Plateaus.” Pp. 23–396 in Forty-
ways to remember the person.
Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of
The Memorial Give-Away thus repli- American Ethnology for 1927–28.
cates important teachings from the cre- Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press.
ation time. When Bird, one of the Animal
Peoples, died, his feathers were pulled out
and distributed to all the other Bird Peo-
ples. The sorrow was thus distributed and Ceremony and Ritual,
shared among all the relatives. Then as all
Diné
the Birds flew away, the burden of sorrow
was lifted, and Bird himself was allowed The Diné (Navajo) are Athabascan peo-
to fly forever. The Memorial Give-Away ples who live in the Four Corners area of
thus offers a way to express and then dis- the American Southwest. The current
perse the sorrow felt following the death reservation encompasses a substantial
of a relative, as well as the means to renew part of the Diné’s traditional lands. This
kinship among both the living and the de- area, Diné Bikeyah or Dinétah, is
ceased. In letting go, the deceased person bounded and defined by four sacred
is free to return to the land, to “fly forever.” mountains: in the east is Sisnaajiní (Hori-
An additional teaching is also evident. zontal Black Belt, White Shell Mountain,
Some Coeur d’Alene relatives will openly Sierra Blanca Peak), to the south is
speak of the deceased as “crossing the wa- Tsoodzil (Tongue Mountain, Blue Bead
ters and going to the mountains to pre- Mountain, Mount Taylor), in the west is
pare the tipi camp, finding the best berry Dook’o’slííd (Light Shines From It, Abalone
patches and best hunting places.” As the Shell Mountain, San Francisco Peaks),
Animal Peoples of the creation time have and to the north is Dibéntsaa (Big Moun-
prepared the world for the coming of tain Sheep, Obsidian Mountain, Mount
human peoples, so too the deceased have Hesperus in the La Plata mountain range)
137
Ceremony and Ritual, Diné __________________________________________________________________
(Kelley and Francis 1994). Diné religion before humanity, is an orderly, all-inclu-
and the chantways that are part of it are sive unity of interrelated elements. It
embedded in the land, for it is within the contains both good and evil, which are
four sacred mountains that Diné have a complementary yet embodied in each
sense of belonging that is sanctified by other in an intricate duality. Evil is the
tradition and integrated by religion, as absence of control. Control depends
enacted in their complex of chantway upon knowledge. Good is that which has
ceremonies. A chantway is a complex of been brought under control. Evil can be
individual ceremonies or rites, each of brought under control by investing it
which has a separate function for healing, with holiness. Holiness is distinct from
such as dispelling and exorcising evil or both good and evil and refers to some
attracting the healing power of the Holy power that has been manipulated in the
People. Each chantway is referred to as a quest to establish and maintain hozho.
hatáál, a word that signifies that the cere- Control is ritual, and by enacting ritual,
monies are chanted or sung. such as an individual silently saying a
Diné religion is very complex and in- prayer, a diagnostician gazing at the
tegrative. It combines what in American stars, a háátli chanting prayers or con-
culture is compartmentalized as ritual, structing a sandpainting in a chantway
ethics, health, history, philosophy, psy- ritual, the universe can be integrated.
chotherapy, music, oral history, scholar- Powers, animals, plants, rains, moun-
ship, and ideology. It centers on the contains, and forces populate the universe.
cept of hozho, which is variously Holy People, Diyin Diné, are immortal be-
translated as balance, goodness, beauty, ings who have hozho, know how to cure,
and harmony, and on the idea that all be- and travel by following the path of the
ings and all of nature are kin, or alk’éí: rainbow and sunray. Earth Surface People
“those who should be treated with com- are Nihookáá Diné, created by Changing
passion, cooperation, and unselfishness Woman, Asdzaa Nadleehé, the most
by the People” (Witherspoon 1975, 37). highly revered of all the Holy People. Holy
Goodness means productivity, depend- People taught Earth Surface People the
ability, helpfulness, and cooperation. essentials of life and how to live well
This difficult-to-translate concept sum- within the four sacred mountains. Their
marizes the idea of the controlled inte- deeds and the history of the world are
gration of all forces and powers in the recorded in the Diné Bahane’, or the Cre-
universe into a single harmonious world. ation Story. That text also records the Diné
Hozho is the cornerstone of Diné philos- cosmology, outlines philosophy, world-
ophy and the pillar upon which the view, and morals, and lays the foundation
chantways are built. for the distinctive origin stories that ac-
Diné philosophy is also based on re- company each chantway.
spect for all beings and the interdepend- There are several distinct types of Holy
ence of life. The universe, which existed People who populate the Diné universe.
138
_________________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Diné
The teachings as well as their history and lable, occasional, and unpredictable
adventures are recorded in numerous event, the majority of Diné rituals are ini-
Diné oral history stories and sacred texts. tiated only when needed. The Diné have
Those texts also explain Diné cosmology no organized system of religious services
and philosophical principles, as well as (such as a prayer service every Sunday
imparting ancestral knowledge that con- morning), no fixed ceremonial calendar
stitutes a blueprint for how Diné can fol- (Saint days), or an institutionalized
low the Beautiful Trail and lead a good priesthood. However, ritual is highly con-
life. Principles of reciprocity govern Earth textualized and performed only under
Surface Peoples’ relations with these ele- the direction of highly trained specialists
ments. However, Earth Surface People do called hataatli, or “singers.” The hataatli
not always do what is correct. All illness is knows also the details of the rituals, in-
caused by improper contact with inher- cluding chants, prayers, and the sacred
ently dangerous powers, breach of a su- text that justifies the ritual practices. He
pernaturally sanctioned rule, excess, or supervises the construction of sand-
misfortune. These activities result in painting and the use of sacred articles,
disharmony and departures from the herbs, and other medicines.
normal order of the universe. Harmony, A basic set of song ceremonies are the
balance, and order are restored through Blessingway group, which are concerned
the use of knowledge and the correct per- with securing blessings and are prophy-
formance of orderly procedures in a con- lactic rather than curative. This can in-
trolled ritual environment. clude rituals designed to bless a new
Ritual is the active part of any religion, home, a girl’s puberty ceremony, or Ki-
and Diné ritual is simultaneously curative naaldá, as well as prayers. A critical
and preventive. Individual ceremonies piece of art used in Blessingway (and
are subsumed into a fluid system of vari- other) ceremonies is the ceremonial
ous kinds of song ceremonies, including basket, or ts’aa’, often referred to as the
curing rites, divination rites, prayer and wedding basket. The symbolic designs
blessing ceremonies, and other minor on this basket are an encoded depiction
sites. Sandpainting is used in most Diné of Diné cosmology, the universe, and the
song ceremonies. Song ceremonies are Dinétah.
rituals in which a rattle is used, accompa- Enemyway is a group of ceremonies
nied by chanted prayers. The People uti- designed to eliminate the polluting ef-
lize prayers and ceremonies as the Holy fects of improper contact with evils, such
People have taught them. The complex war, ghosts, and witches. Evilway chants
system of rituals is organized into an ex- concentrate on the expulsion of evil and
tensive system of chantways designed to rarely utilize sandpaintings. A third cate-
cure specific illnesses. gory is Lifeway ceremonies, performed
Much of ritual is concerned with heal- following an accident. Lifeway cere-
ing, and since sickness is an uncontrol- monies do not utilize sandpaintings.
139
Ceremony and Ritual, Diné __________________________________________________________________
The fourth and largest set of chantways emonies. For large chants this may run
is the Holyway ceremonies, which con- to a thousand or more people, and the
centrate on correcting illness and other expense can be great. Because of the
problems resulting from improper con- time and expense and the power of the
tact with supernatural forces and excess, forces called during the ritual, cere-
while also protecting against future mis- monies are not undertaken lightly.
fortune. There are twenty-four chantways A Holyway chant must be held in a
that are further subdivided into more hogan, usually in the home of the patient
than sixty branches. These chantways are or that of a close matrilineal kinsperson.
further divided into Windway, Beadway, Curing works by ritually attacking evil
Big Star Way, Eagleway, Flintway, Hailway, and forcing it under control, hence yield-
Mountainway, Nightway, Shootingway, ing to good.
Waterway, Windway, Chiricahua Wind- Today, in addition to the traditional re-
way, and Beautyway. Each Holyway chant ligious and philosophical system, many
is a framework for coordinating the vari- Diné also participate in the Native Amer-
ous details of religious knowledge and has ican Church (peyotism) and various sects
a name and an origin story. Some chant- of Christianity, including Catholicism,
ways are fixed, appearing in every chant, Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism, and
while others are distinctive. Some are several fundamentalist groups. Through-
obligatory; others are discretionary, based out their lives Diné search for hozho and
on the knowledge of the hataatli and a work to put the world in order when indi-
suite of other factors such as the sex of the viduals or evil things place it in flux. Diné
patient, the specific malady, the time of follow the Beautiful Trail as individuals
year, and how recently the ceremony has and as a people. That trail is full of bless-
been performed. Each chant has a basic ings and trials.
five-night version that consists of ten to Nancy J. Parezo
twelve ceremonies. These may be divided
into two main groups: (1) purification and See also Emergence Narratives;
Sandpainting; Spiritual and Ceremonial
the dispelling of evil; and (2) the attrac-
Practitioners, Southwest
tion of goodness, strength, and power.
Each section is accompanied by chanting References and Further Reading
Farella, John. 1984. The Main Stalk: A
throughout the night (hence the common
Synthesis of Navajo Philosophy. Tucson:
designation of these rituals as “sings” and University of Arizona Press.
of the religious healer as a “singer”). Faris, James. 1990. The Nightway: A
History and a History of
The family of a patient sponsors a
Documentation of a Navajo
Holyway ceremony. Sponsorship in- Ceremonial. Albuquerque: University of
volves securing the services of the New Mexico Press.
hataatli, paying his fee, securing gifts for Frisbie, Charlotte. 1967/1993. Kinaaldá: A
Study of the Navaho Girl’s Puberty
his assistance, providing a locale for the Ceremony. Reprint, Salt Lake City:
ritual, and feeding all that attend the cer- University of Utah Press.
140
_______________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota
Haile, Berard. 1938. “Navaho Chantways spirit world. This understanding is based
and Ceremonials.” American on a sophisticated, holistic understand-
Anthropologist 40, no. 4: 639–652.
Kelley, Klara, and Harris Francis. 1994. ing of the relationships between all
Navajo Sacred Places. Bloomington: things. The mythical White Buffalo Calf
Indiana University Press. Woman has revealed major Lakota cere-
Kluckhohn, Clyde, and Leland Wyman.
1940. “An Introduction to Navaho Chant monies and their attendant instructions
Practice.” Memoirs of the American over several generations. The Lakota na-
Anthropological Association, no. 53. tion uses seven major ceremonies and a
Arlington, VA: American Anthropological
Association.
myriad of daily or occasional cere-
McNeley, James. 1981. Holy Wind in Navajo monies. Each major ceremony, as well as
Philosophy. Tucson: University of the lesser ones, follows a general form,
Arizona Press.
but the specifics of any ceremony vary
Reichard, Gladys A. 1944. “Prayer: The
Compulsive Word.” Monographs of the widely according to the revelation and
American Ethnological Society, no. 7. received tradition of the ceremonial
Arlington, VA: American Anthropological
leader. It would be a mistake to assume
Association.
———. 1950. Navaho Religion: A Study of that there is a single ceremonial format
Symbolism. New York: Pantheon Books. for any Lakota ceremony. In the Lakota
Schwartz, Maureen Trudelle. 2001. Navajo
experience, no one can conduct a cere-
Lifeways: Contemporary Issues: Ancient
Knowledge. Norman: University of mony unless that person is deeply and
Oklahoma Press. personally connected with the Lakota
Witherspoon, Gary. 1975. Navajo Kinship community.
and Marriage. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press. The seven major ceremonies of the
Wyman, Leland. 1970. Blessingway. Tucson: Lakota have four major components of
University of Arizona Press. structure. (1) The first is the process of
preparation and invitation. In this
phase the participants have a period
during which they make physical prepa-
Ceremony and Ritual, rations as well as performing the spiri-
tual practices necessary to get ready for
Great Basin
the ceremony. For public ceremonies,
See Cry Ceremony the participants issue verbal, personal
invitations to those who will participate
by being present and observing the cer-
emony. (2) The second component of
Ceremony and Ritual, any ceremony is the teaching compo-
nent. This may be private and precede
Lakota
any gathering. It is more likely to be the
A person in Lakota theology is a holistic oral tradition articulated by respected
fusion of spiritual and physical aspects. persons and elders at the time of the
Ceremony allows one to negotiate the ceremony. This involves long orations
141
Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota ________________________________________________________________
Slow Bull, Saliva, and Picket Pin, 1907. Edward Curtis. (Library of Congress)
expressing the teachings and history of how to conduct the ceremony, as well as
the ceremony. (3) The third component the philosophy accompanying the cere-
of a ceremony involves the symbol of mony’s purpose. These teachings are
the ceremony. This central action or learned only in connection with the
sign embodies the meaning of the cere- Lakota community and cannot be
mony for the participants. (4) The learned from books. General descrip-
fourth component is the celebration tions of the ceremonies will be used
and the conclusion of the ceremony. here, but the specifics of the ceremony
During this component the partici- will not be included. They also are
pants will feed guests, often give gifts learned in the living context of the
away to the visitors, and express their Lakota community.
thanks for the help of those who came Probably the oldest Lakota ceremony
as observers. today is the Inikagapi, often named in
The White Buffalo Calf Woman has re- slang the sweatlodge. The Lakota term
vealed Lakota ceremonies to us. Ptesan- actually means “They make Spirit.” This
win reveals the teaching concerning ceremony involves participants directly
142
encountering Spirit. To do this they At the appointed time, two rounds of

gather stones, heat them in a fire, and an Inipi usually prepare the candidate.
construct a dome-shaped lodge. Partici- Relatives and the mentor then take him
pants are naked as they enter the lodge, to an isolated location. The place is pre-
since it is with their bodies that they en- pared, the cardinal directions being
counter Spirit. The heated stones are marked with chokecherry staffs with col-
brought into the lodge, and the door is ored flags for each direction. The site is
closed. Participants are in darkness, “fenced” in with strings of tobacco ties:
under a dome, in a circle, with stone in one-inch squares of cotton cloth enclos-
the center, as at the beginning of the visi- ing a pinch of tobacco and tied with cot-
ble world. Using prayer songs, state- ton string. A buffalo skull altar might also
ments of intentions and intercessions be present on the west corner. Un-
spread over four segments of the cere- clothed, the candidate stands holding
mony, the participants are strengthened his pipe. He may have one blanket for
for what lies ahead of them. That might warmth. He is left with no distractions—
be a specific ceremony or life itself. A that is, no food, water, or company for
Pipe ceremony takes place a little be- the appropriate length of time, up to four
yond the midpoint of this ceremony, days. During this time he waits for a vi-
even though the Pipe comes to the sion, but it cannot be made to happen.
Lakota after the Inipi, the ceremony to At the agreed-upon time, the mentor
strengthen one’s spirit, has been re- returns to collect the candidate. They
vealed. At the conclusion, the partici- complete the remaining two rounds of
pants emerge from the lodge feeling at the Inipi and are joined by elders with
peace and in the state of balance and spiritual experience. The candidate ex-
right relationship with all things, a state plains all he has experienced during the
called wolakota. time alone. The elders will help him un-
The second major Lakota ceremony is derstand the meaning of his experiences.
the ceremonial way to prepare to see a If a vision occurs, it may give the candi-
vision, called Hanbleceyapi. The Lakota date certain powers, change his spiritual
term refers to wanting something so name, and forecast his future life.
much one weeps for it. This is a men’s There are visions that are not sought
ceremony; some say it was a necessary and that yet occur. A vision of the thun-
rite of adulthood, but not all agree. If one ders would cause one to become a
seeks a vision, one asks the help of a Heyoka, a contrary whose life must al-
mentor who guides the candidate ways be the opposite of whatever is ap-
through the preparation of the ceremo- propriate. Should he not live out his role,
nial objects needed. The mentor also his relatives are at risk of being killed by
prepares the candidate’s spirit and mind the Thunders. Another nonvoluntary vi-
for the ceremony. sion would be that of Anog-Ite, Double
143
Woman, the Spirit of Creativity, normally older female relatives. Some of the
but not exclusively given to women. If a teaching is delivered out loud and pub-
woman has this vision, she is able to sing licly, while other teachings are secret and
Anog-Ite’s song and is also given the whispered to her. Traditionally, she now
highest level of artistic creativity. became available for formal courting. In
The third major Lakota ceremony of contemporary times her status as a
adoption is called, “they sing over those beloved Lakota woman is manifested in
over whom the Hunka staffs are held.” the “give-away” that her relatives have to
This ceremony may be held to adopt a show their respect for her.
person into any relationship, not only to The fifth ceremony is the Wanagi
adopt a child. A person may adopt a sib- Yuhapi: “They have a ghost.” This
ling, a parent, a grandparent, a grand- mourning rite is most often kept by par-
child, or any other relationship. The ents whose child has died, but it may be
teaching focuses on the obligations of kept by any family who cannot bear to let
kinship. The central ceremony consists a deceased relative go. To invoke the cer-
of the adopting family’s covering the rel- emony, the relatives ask the help of an
ative-to-be and then, with prayer songs, elder/mentor. Hair is cut from the top of
revealing that person as the relative the deceased person’s head and placed
being adopted. The adopted one is in a special container. It is understood
adorned with an eagle feather if it is that this lock of hair contains the spirit of
male, an eagle plume if a female. A the deceased person. It is kept in a spe-
Lakota name is given to this person as cial place and relatives and friends will
well. Both formal and informal forms of visit and talk with the spirit of the de-
this ceremony are considered binding on ceased. To honor the spirit of the person,
the relatives for life. Because of the im- the relatives and family must continue
portance of kinship, this ceremony is one the good activities the person would
of the most significant in contemporary have done. This must be kept up as long
Lakota life. as the ghost is kept. Other rules the fam-
The fourth ceremony is the acknowl- ily must keep include prayerful isolation,
edgement of a new Lakota woman, Isnati emotional stability, prohibition from
Awicalowan. The Lakota means: “When using a knife, and often, in contempo-
she lives alone, they sing over her.” Lo- rary times, cutting the hair and wearing
cated during the woman’s first moon black clothing. The ghost may be kept for
time (menses), this teaching ceremony up to one year, when it must be released.
acknowledges the importance of this On the appointed day the mentor con-
new Lakota woman. As she is clothed ducts the release. The mourners are spo-
and made up, she is reminded of her new ken to by elders and esteemed persons.
and powerful status as a Lakota woman. The lock of hair is burned in a fire. This
The teachings come mainly from her releases the spirit of the deceased per-
144
Lakota Sioux woman dressed in ceremonial dress, posing in the living room of her home just outside
Rosebud, South Dakota, 1996. (Robert van der Hilst/Corbis)
son. A farewell song is sung at this time, prayer the elder prays with the pipe, con-
and the mourners weep openly. The structs and altar, and decorates the ball,
mourners then “give-away,” by feeding which has been constructed out of buf-
those who have gathered as well as by falo hide and is stuffed with buffalo hair.
distributing gifts to all—as much as they Thanks are given to the buffalo for all her
are able. help in our survival. The ball is then
The sixth major Lakota ceremony is taken by the young woman and the elder
the Tapa Wankeyeyapi, Throwing a Ball. out to the gathered people. The ball is
This is a highly stylized ball game. As a tossed to the west, and some instruction
ceremony it is a teaching event. A young may be given to the people. The ball is
woman or women represent the nation. then tossed to the north, then to the east
The young woman assists the elder or and the south. Lastly it is tossed high and
medicine man who leads the event. With brought back to the elder. The game is
145
then followed with feasting and the usual der and will be tied to a string of buffalo
talks. This ceremony has not been used skulls. She will pull the skulls until she
for three generations. The current revival breaks her piercing as her offering. Other
of all ceremonies may include this cere- participants will make flesh offerings, and
mony as well. the ears of toddlers are pierced to mark
The seventh major Lakota ceremony is them as Lakota and to open their ears to
the Wi Wayag Wacipi, the Sundance. This spiritual teachings. Recently Sundance
self-offering is based on the Lakota con- leaders on the Northern Plains made a
viction that the only real offering one can decision to restrict full participation in
make must come from one’s own body. To the Sundance only to Native Americans.
suffer becomes the offering one makes for This important ceremony is again a Na-
others and for the entire people. A year of tive American ceremony.
extensive personal preparation brings These major ceremonies are encircled
one to the four days of the Sundance, usu- with many other ceremonies. Spirit-call-
ally taking place at the height of summer. ing ceremonies are conducted for heal-
A Sundance circle is erected under which ing. Pipe ceremonies carry prayers many
those not taking direct part in the dancing times a day. Lakotas have ceremonies for
will rest. A cottonwood tree, considered arising, taking water, hunting, eating
the most sensitive tree by the Lakota, is food, marking the changes of seasons,
erected in the middle of the circle. It is and for every other occasion. Yet no cere-
adorned with effigies of a man and a male mony is seen as religion. The word does
buffalo. Streamers of cotton cloth are tied not exist in the Lakota language, since
in the branches by the dancers. Ropes are this is simply the way Lakotas are to live.
tied to the trunk of the tree. Only the top- They are the Lakol wicoh’an.
most branches remain on the tree. Cross All Lakota ceremonies have survival as
branches of chokecherry are placed their goal. Health, spiritual strength,
higher up on the tree. community cohesion, and a strong iden-
After the days of immediate prepara- tity are all supported by these cere-
tion, the ceremony begins with people monies. They have been revealed to us
making their offerings of suffering and Lakota as the way we are to live.
prayer. On an agreed-upon day, each Martin Brokenleg
dancer’s flesh is pierced through with par-
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Yup’iq; Oral
allel slits. Skewers or eagle claws are in- Traditions, Western Plains; Power, Plains;
serted through the flesh and tied to the Religious Leadership, Plains; Sacred
rope already attached to the tree. The Societies, Plains; Spiritual and Ceremonial
Practitioners, Plains; Sundance, Plains;
dancer is now united to the sacred, and he
Vision Quest Rites
dances until he breaks the pierced flesh as
his offering. Only men are attached to the
Powers, Marla N. 1988. Oglala Women:
tree directly. Women dancers will be Myth, Ritual, and Reality. Chicago:
pierced through the upper arm or shoul- University of Chicago Press.
146
___________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce
Powers, William K. 1977. Oglala Religion. government over the past 150 years have
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. modified and in some instances elimi-
———. 1984. Yuwipi: Vision and Experience
in Oglala Ritual. Lincoln: University of nated many of the former ritual and cere-
Nebraska Press. monial practices, a core number are still
St. Pierre, Mark, and Tilda Long Soldier. practiced among the Nez Perce. These in-
1995. Walking in the Sacred Manner:
Healers, Dreamers and Pipe Carriers: clude rituals associated with the seasonal
Medicine Women of the Plains. New York: round, such as First Foods ceremonies,
Simon and Schuster. and rituals associated with the life cycle,
Walker, James R. 1980. Lakota Belief and
Ritual. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
such as the seeking of a weyekin, or
Press. guardian spirit. The ancient term weyekin
———. 1989. Lakota Myth. Lincoln: specifically refers to “moving with”; it im-
plies being guided by something greater
Zellinger, R. 1997. Sacred Ground.
Chamberlain, SD: Tipi Press. than the self. The underlying relationship
sought throughout these rituals and cere-
monies is one of “kinship,” in which
human, animal, fish, plant, and spirit are
Ceremony and Ritual, in a partnership. When the salmon, for ex-
Lakota, Yuwipi ample, are understood and engaged with
as kinsmen, both human and fish com-
See Yuwipi Ceremony munities benefit.
There are a number of ceremonies
held as part of the subsistence seasonal
Ceremony and Ritual, Nez round. While the reasons for conducting
a Sweat House ceremony, or Hitemyekse,
Perce
are many and varied—such as prayer,
One important aspect of Nez Perce ritual spiritual cleansing and renewal, healing,
and ceremonial expression, as a reflection or as a pastime—it is a critical ceremony
of the recent past, revolves around spiritu- held prior to and following activities as-
ally maintaining the proper relationships sociated with fishing, hunting, and root
with the land and its fish, plant, and ani- and berry gathering.
mal populations. Through these rituals A Sweat House is a dome-shaped,
and ceremonies the Nez Perce seek, blanket- or canvas-covered structure
among things, to gain both food and spiri- some six to eight feet in diameter; it may
tual guidance for the human communi- be located in the backyard of someone’s
ties, to maintain the health and vitality of home or along a valley creek outside of
the fish, plant, and animal communities, town. After rocks are heated red hot and
to ensure an equitable distribution of food placed in the small pit within the lodge,
to all those in need, and to give thanks for the ritual begins. Men and women will
what is received. While the activities of sweat separately from each other. Water
Christian missionaries and the federal is ladled onto the rocks in a prescribed
147
Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce ____________________________________________________________
manner to strengthen the body, while cause of the dangers involved with such
prayers are given in the intense heat. travel, the Qillóowawya seeks to instill
Sometimes songs are included as a form “good memories of family and friend to-
of prayer and purification. A very special getherness,” for it may be the last time
and spiritually powerful form of ritual these men might be seen.
bathing is known as the Mud Bath, or Individual rituals are also associated
Teméeyenwees (literally, “place of mud with subsistence activities. Most com-
bathing”). It is often accompanied with mon among these are the singing of per-
an emetic ritual in which a willow stick is sonal weyekin songs, weyekwenipt.
inserted down the throat. These are songs acquired in a vision
A Mud Bath is conducted in a water- quest or handed down from generation
filled pit with the “right type of clay-like to generation within the family; they are
earth.” Hot rocks are added to the pit, designated specifically for some particu-
causing the “mud to bubble.” In both lar activity, such as hunting elk, fishing
forms of ritual bathing, the ensuing for salmon, or gathering roots or berries.
prayers seek success in subsistence en- Gender roles are extended to these
deavors, asking the elk or salmon, for ex- songs, with men singing hunting and
ample, to honor the hunter or fisherman. fishing songs, while women sing berry
The hunter becomes “so clean that he is and root gathering songs. The salmon
almost invisible” and no longer smells fisherman, camas root gatherer, or elk
like a human but smells like “Mother hunter would sing his or her weyekin
Earth.” The emetic causes him to be “so song as a means of communicating with
light that he runs as fast as deer.” the animal population. The song would
Another ceremony is known as the be a way to demonstrate one’s humility,
Qillóowawya, literally “rawhide hitting”; as well as to honor and respect the
it is commonly referred to as “Nez Perce salmon or elk. In so doing the implicit
Serenade Songs.” Dressed in their finest desire is that the animal in question
ceremonial regalia, men would gather in would reciprocate by “offering itself” to
front of the lodges of each man who was the hunter or fisherman. The prayer that
about to begin an important journey, might accompany the song offers thanks
such as to battle or to buffalo country to to the animal for sacrificing its body for
hunt. The men would then sing the the welfare of the hunter’s family.
unique Qillóowawya songs as they beat Throughout the seasonal round, as
sticks on the stiff rawhide of buffalo, elk, each new food becomes available an an-
or deer. No drum is used. Following the nual communitywide ceremony, a First
song, women would present their male Foods ceremony, Ké’uyit, is held. In a
relatives with newly made moccasins community hall, or hosted by a particu-
and bundles of dried foods, thus show- lar family in their home, family and
ing their support for the endeavor. Be- friends would gather to partake ritually
148
___________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce
of the newly harvested food, be it Gathering—celebrating, for example, the

salmon, bitterroots, or huckleberries. success of a boy’s first hunting of a deer
Along with the honored food, a full meal or a girl’s first gathering of roots.
would be prepared and served. With In fasting to seek guidance and spiri-
people assembled, the prepared foods tual power, a critical relationship with
would be placed on a central table; an the land and its animal peoples is initi-
elder would offer a prayer. The words ated. In this relationship, a person can
would convey gratitude for the bountiful acquire a weyekin, a specific spirit guide
harvest. The prayer might also convey or tutelary animal spirit. Following the
certain important subsistence values, proper instructions provided by an elder
such as not gathering, fishing, or hunting and the ritual cleansing in a Sweat House
too many roots, salmon, or deer, but only ceremony, an individual would go to the
what the family needed at the time. high mountains and some other sacred
Those assembled would be reminded place to seek his weyekin. Going without
not to take the biggest deer or first fish food and water, the individual would fast
seen, for fear of endangering the health for two to as many as several days. Hum-
of the entire animal population. “We are bling himself, the young person prays for
to hunt, fish and gather not for trophy or his particular needs and the needs of his
the biggest, but for the welfare of our family. During this spiritual quest a Spirit
families and to look after the health of Being, such as an Eagle, Elk, Bear, or even
the animals. Leave some for our children Cloud, may come to the faster and be-
to allow the animals to continue.” After stow a vision. The faster may hear a
the prayer each person would ritually sip weyekin song, and may also be in-
water from a glass, acknowledging the structed in the proper care and use of the
vital role that water plays in the health of weyekin. A song may come at some fu-
all living beings. Then the foods would ture time.
be distributed and eaten by all the atten- In addition to coming as a result of vi-
dees. Strongly implied in the Ké’uyit is sion questing, weyekin can also be
the value of redistributing the salmon, passed down from generation to genera-
elk, and roots throughout the commu- tion in the family, inherited from an
nity, so that no family suffers from elder kinsmen, or even arrive when
hunger and all are cared for. With the someone is sick and not deliberately
Ké’uyit completed, the full harvesting of seeking weyekin. Once received—and if
the food would commence. respected and cared for properly—one’s
Two important rite-of-passage cere- personal weyekin would be with that
monies are directly related to the suc- person for the rest of his or her life, help-
cesses or failures in the seasonal round. ing to protect and nurture the individual.
They involve the seeking and acquiring Some songs are intended to be used for
of a personal weyekin, and the First Food curing ceremonies, others for hunting or
149
Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce ____________________________________________________________
fishing success; still other songs are for personal status, being encouraged to
the general welfare of one’s family. A hunt only for what is needed by the fam-
salmon headman, for example, would ily. Words of thanks to the animal, fish, or
use his weyekin songs to seek permission root are also offered, and the new role of
from the salmon to fish them, to ensure the young is acknowledged. As the meal
that only what is needed is taken, and to is served and consumed, all will partake
safeguard the fishermen’s safety. of the foods except the young hunter or
When a young person kills his first gatherer. In abstaining from the meat of
deer or elk, catches his first salmon, digs the newly caught salmon or newly shot
her first roots, or gathers her first berries, deer, for example, the new role of the
a First Food Gathering ceremony is held. fisherman or hunter is established and
The gathering of relatives and friends reiterated to the young person. He or she
may be a community event, held in a is now a provider for the others within
community hall, or limited to family his or her family, not seeking to kill for
members, held in a residential home. personal reasons but to look after the
Hosted by the immediate grandparents needs of others. “As a hunter his work is
and elder kinsmen of the young hunter honorable work.” The entire ceremony
or gatherer, a large meal is prepared for thus also emphasizes the role and im-
all who are anticipated, along with the portance of the traditional foods for Nez
particular meat, fruit, or roots just ac- Perce families.
quired by the young person. A special One other rite-of-passage ceremony,
Sweat House ceremony might also be the Marriage Trade, or Misqóoyit (liter-
held for the young person prior to the ally “wedding trade”), reiterates the close
meal. During the meal, an elder will pro- association each individual has with the
vide songs and prayer, along with words foods and activities of the seasonal
of guidance to the young hunter, fisher- round. This ceremony occurs when two
man, or gatherer. These talks could reit- people begin their lives together in mar-
erate the proper values to be kept in riage. It is initiated when the family of
mind during hunting and gathering, the bridegroom selects an elder of the
such as “keeping your mind clean.” “An family to go and speak on his behalf be-
animal is looking for [the clean mind of fore the bride’s family. The elder explains
the hunter or fishermen], because it’s the to the family of the potential bride the
animal who chooses you, blessing you, particular personality qualities and skills
offering itself to you.” It is sometimes of the young man. If the young man is a
said that salmon go on a long journey proficient hunter or fisherman, as well as
only to come back bearing gifts for peo- industrious and a hard worker, approval
ple when they are respected and hon- of the marriage would likely be granted.
ored by the people. The hunter is cau- In the actual trade, food exchanges are
tioned against hunting for “trophy” or made between the relatives of the two
150
__________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest
families. The wedding trade typically fo- Culture and History of the Nez Perces, vol.
cuses on the female relatives of the two 1. Lapwai, ID: Nez Perce Tribe.
Walker, Deward. 1985. Conflict and Schism
families, but occasionally the male rela- in Nez Perce Acculturation: A Study of
tives are involved as well. The items Religion and Politics, 2d. ed. Moscow:
themselves are called, misqoyíit’as (liter- University of Idaho Press.
ally, “wedding trade items”). These items
include corn husk bags with dried qáaws
(cous) and qém’es (camas). Dried fish
and meats are also included as trade Ceremony and Ritual,
items, as well as hides and other useful
Northwest
items. In contemporary times, blankets
and cookware are also included. Northwest native peoples honored all
Josiah Blackeagle Pinkham the members of their world throughout
and Rodney Frey the year. Events in the life cycle of plants,
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Coeur especially berries, of animals, especially
d’Alene; Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce; salmon, and of humans, especially chil-
Dances, Plateau; Oral Traditions, Plateau; dren, were duly observed. Since salmon
Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau; Spiritual
and Ceremonial Practitioners, Plateau; and cedar were the hallmarks and main-
Sweatlodge; Vision Quest Rites stays of these societies, both figured in
References and Further Reading mythology and ritual. Salmon beings
Aoki, Haruo. 1994. Nez Perce Dictionary. lived in their own towns beyond the hori-
University of California Publications in
Linguistics, vol. 122. Berkeley: University
zon on the ocean. There they taught a
of California Press. disrespectful child how to welcome each
Axtell, Horace, and Margo Aragon. 1997. A new run of a salmon species properly,
Little Bit of Wisdom: Conversations with
with a ritual much like that for welcom-
a Nez Perce Elder. Lewiston, ID:
Confluence Press. ing a visit from an esteemed chief. Cedar
Landeen, Dan, and Jeremy Crow. 1997. I Am itself taught basket making to a handi-
of This Land: Wetes pe m’e wes—Wildlife
capped girl and sacrificed its flesh for
of the Hanford Site. Lapwai, ID: Nez
Perce Tribe. planks with many uses. Each stage in any
Landeen, Dan, and Allen Pinkham. 1999. manufacturing process involved ritual
Salmon and His People: Fish and Fishing
prayers, guarded dicta (spells), and offer-
in Nez Perce Culture. Lewiston, ID:
Confluence Press. ings. When a canoe was carved from a
Marshall, Alan. 1977. “Nez Perce Social log, the carver and his wife treated the
Groups: An Ecological Interpretation.” craft as their newborn, hosting a naming
Ph.D. diss. in Anthropology, Washington
State University, Pullman. feast to provide it with an identity and
Nez Perce National Historical Park. 2002. stability.
http://www.nps.gov/nepe/. (Accessed The culmination of these many and
July 30.)
Slickpoo, Allen, and Deward Walker. 1973. varied ceremonies, throughout the
Noo Nee-Me-Poo (We, the Nez Perces): Northwest, was the all-inclusive event
151
Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest ___________________________________________________________
centuries of careful planning, the holder

of the chiefly Eagle name-title of Ligeex
rose to the forefront of the Tsimshians.
His resource base was the entire Skeena
River, a major thoroughfare into the fur-
rich interior and spring runs of candle-
fish, whose oil was the basis of Tsimshian
trade.
Ever ready to benefit from novel con-
ditions, Ligeex’s forces once arrived out-
side an upriver town. There Ligeex pa-
raded along the shore with the first
umbrella, using it to lure the townspeo-
ple into an ambush. Although the attack
was brutal, victory was undecided. Even-
Potlatch dancers, Klinkwan Village, Alaska, tually, Ligeex and his advisors decided
1904. (Corbis)
instead to rely on potlatches, feasts, and
marriages arranged through his daugh-
known as the Potlatch, from a Nootkan ter-in-law and other relatives to form al-
word meaning “to give,” a deliberately liances to strengthen and enforce his
ironic understatement for this lavish apical rank.
give-away. Each nation along the coast About 1866, the man known as Old
had its own forms and traditions, as can Ligeex hosted his greatest potlatch, sup-
be seen by contrasting the elaborations posedly distributing goods that were
of that of British Columbia’s Tsimshian given to him by the Hudson’s Bay Com-
high chief (whose title was Ligeex) dur- pany in exchange for giving up his trade
ing the 1800s with that of the Lushoot- monopoly of the Skeena. These fur
seed Salishans of Washington state. traders wisely decided to pay off the
chief instead of fighting him for access to
Tsimshian Potlatch these upriver furs. Ligeex fed his Eagle
Unlike other nations of the Northwest, kin at a preliminary feast, then an-
nine coast Tsimshian towns wintered to- nounced a date for the main event a year
gether for a thousand years, hosting away. Eagle families offered to help and
feasts and potlatches that relied on the suggested which members should be
foods each had amassed during sum- named, elevated, or confirmed in higher
mers spent in their home territories. A ranks at the potlatch, since the audience
few chiefs held primary positions that served to witness those life changes.
enabled them to initiate certain activi- Next, he held a feast for members of his
ties, events, and memberships. After father’s Raven crest to ask their help and
152
to assign each one certain tasks, such as Inside the house, visitors were treated
announcing, organizing, contributing to displays of other names and spirits
particular foods, or commissioning owned by Ligeex. After this dancing and
some carving. singing, the guests were well fed. That
Meanwhile Ligeex continued to amass night chiefs stayed in the homes of crest
foods and gifts. To broadcast the date, relatives, and other visitors camped on
tribesmen were sent as messengers—ac- the beach, supplied with wood and food
companied by a lesser chief, so the other by the hosts.
chiefs would not feel slighted—to invite The next day, a picnic feast was held
other towns and tribes. Arriving in front on the beach. That night a challenge
of the town, the lower-ranking chief feast was held, with Ligeex boasting of
stood in the bow of the canoe, wearing a his fame and belittling everyone else,
Chilkat robe, shaking his raven rattle, which was his right as generous host.
and singing a song to the accompani- Guests were seated by rank, and some
ment of hidden whistles. He called out were singled out to receive huge ladlefuls
the name of the town chief three times, of candlefish grease mixed with snow
inviting him (and his people) to the pot- rushed from the mountaintops.
latch. The fourth time, the chief re- Ligeex’s people came in dressed for
sponded by sending a messenger to the war, with their hair bound up, but they
beach to invite the visitors into his soon scattered eagle down everywhere to
house. He fed them and gave them gifts indicate their peaceful intent. After
to take back to Ligeex. taunting songs and overeating, gifts were
The chiefs of each town assembled distributed, accompanied by jokes about
their families and advisors and were the shortcomings of the guests. Every
paddled by slaves or supporters to item was counted out while a song was
Ligeex’s town. There each canoe floated sung, the better to overwhelm the guests
in front of the beach until Ligeex’s sister with the wealth of Ligeex, inasmuch as
and other ranking women came down to most of these offerings came from his
greet them by dancing and singing. The very own supply. His personal abilities
sister, wearing a mask, acted as though and network were such that he amassed
she were grabbing one of Ligeex’s won- his own fortune. Many goods had been
der powers, called All Calm Heavens, hidden behind a rear partition, and these
from the air and throwing it toward the were now thrown into the room. Soon
guests. The arriving chief acted as the pile was so high that roof boards had
though he had caught it (in the form of a to be removed. Ligeex taunted that he
shiny quartz crystal), wrestled with it, had thousands of items, while other
then threw it back to the sister. The ca- chiefs had only hundreds.
noes then beached, and the guests were A Raven man recited all of the names
welcomed. and histories that Ligeex claimed. Then
153
wife to a small group that had converted

and forsaken potlatching.
The final day was spent giving out
these gifts to chiefs, for the benefit of
themselves and their tribes. Speeches of
thanks by tribal spokesmen followed,
and a last feast ended the event. Then the
hosts helped to pack all the canoes as the
guests left. A short time later, Ligeex held
a feast for the Eagles to thank them for
their help. Every man was given some
food as a gift.
Ranked Orders
The other distinctive ceremonial institu-
tion of the Northwest was a series of or-
ders or guilds whose membership was
Potlatch hat. White eagle down was scattered to drawn from elite families. It was most
ensure goodwill during ceremonies held by the complex at Heiltsuk, on the central
cultures of the northwest coast. It was
contained within the potlatch rings hanging
coast, where a dozen ranked orders
from the dancers' hats and released by the formed a double series; it was only mini-
erratic movements of the dancers’ head. The mal to the extreme north and south,
number of rings signified the number of
where only one form was known.
successful potlatches held, in this case eight.
(Werner Forman/Corbis) Tsimshian had four orders, known as
“great halaayt” (wihalait).
Among Tsimshians, these four secret
all of his copper shields were shown and orders were, by name, the Mitla (Dancers),
named. Children of Ligeex’s own Eagle Nuthlim (Dog-Eaters), Ludzista (De-
crest were brought forward and named. stroyers), and Xgedem Halaayt (Con-
Any pregnant Eagle women were given sumers, Cannibals). The first two orders
the names of a boy and a girl to use once functioned as secret guilds with initiated
the gender of the newborn was known. members. The last two seem to have
While the guests relaxed, members of the been the personal privileges of high
tribe made a final tally of the remaining chiefs and, as such, had no cult associa-
gifts. Bundles of sticks represented each tions. In all cases, however, membership
group of guests, divided by house and in these orders was a mark of member-
lineage. Quantities also varied by tribe, ship in the nobility and the royalty of a
from most to least, according to a rank- clan and town, a true badge of the elite.
ing: from the tribe of Ligeex’s primary Royal children, both boys and girls, were
154
initiated during winter into these orders, ate. The night before the girl came back
with the Consumers reserved for the from Heaven, the double was taken out
greatest chiefs, who bore halaayt names in the canoe with the swan. Early in the
linking them with Heaven, the eminent morning, warned by blasts of whistles,
being of the Tsimshian cosmos. people rushed to the beach to watch the
An initiate vanished at the sound of girl’s return from Heaven. Offshore, a
secret whistles and supposedly went to huge swan appeared with the girl (actu-
Heaven to become “elevated.” Later the ally her double) on its back. The swan
child returned to town riding on a repre- floated toward shore, opening its wings,
sentation of a family crest. Although this and then suddenly sank out of sight. As
crest was inherited through the mother, the canoe vanished, the girl and paddlers
the display itself was arranged by the fa- swam underwater and hid behind boul-
ther. Thus the halaayt made use of both ders near the shore.
crest and wonder, mother and father, to As whistles came from the hills,
create a new identity. For the most im- Ligeex, wearing a Chilkat robe, went into
portant initiations, the help of Ligeex the forest and came back with the naked
was needed. During the first stage, called girl. Dancing and singing, they visited all
Tsiik, the father of the child arranged for the homes in the village before going to
her or him to be elevated. the halaayt house of Ligeex. Her parents
In one instance, five children were gave away wealth there, and the girl went
cared for by paternal aunts until Ligeex into seclusion. Eventually the whistles
arrived and threw his great halaayt were heard outside her father’s house.
power into them. Instantaneously they Ligeex went inside and took the cedar
disappeared, ascending to heaven even bark rings off the girl. Her father then
as their bodies were quickly hidden away gave Ligeex many gifts. The girl went
by their aunts. Their parents then dis- back into seclusion, until this removal of
tributed much wealth to the guests, par- the woven rings was performed a second
ticularly to Ligeex. and a third time, after which the girl was
On another occasion, as whistles free to resume a normal life and play
sounded, a girl was led by her father’s sis- with her young friends.
ter into the house of Ligeex and formally Members of each order used different
seated. Ligeex came toward her singing gestures and hand signals. A Mitla’s right
and dancing, but, as he reached her, she hand was over the heart and left hand
disappeared. Previously, special crafts- was extended as far as the elbow with
men had made a big swan that could forearm raised. Xgedem held the right
open its wings and had mounted it on a hand over the heart and kept the left
small canoe. This swan was one of the hand fully extended. Nuhlim upraised
foremost crests of her father. Ligeex both hands. Dog-Eaters wore a bearskin
found a young girl to double for the initi- robe, dance apron, and rings for the
155
head and neck woven of mixed red and tive was ransomed), or the death of one
white cedar bark, while Dancers wore chief and the elevation of his or her heir.
only red rings, eagle down, and paint. Upper Skagit potlatches were held
The patron spirit of each order was during September, after people had re-
sent away at the end of the initiation. The turned to their winter homes with stores
highest-ranking member, a chief, danced of food and before the spirits returned to
around the fire; made a grasping motion their human partners in November. Tra-
at the sound of a hidden whistle, to grab ditional gifts were baskets, canoes, pre-
the spirit; and finished his circuit. Then pared cedarbark, unworked cedar and
he threw the spirit to the next ranking spruce roots, and mountain goat and
member, who did the same and passed it dog wool blankets—the most prestigious
down to the next lower-ranked member. offerings because they enhanced per-
The last member threw it back to the sonal warmth. Sometimes, for the fun of
chief, who danced around the fire four it, a joking potlatch was held, with the
times and hurled it through the smoke men and the women trying to embarrass
hole into the sky. The diminishing sound and amuse each other.
of a whistle indicated that the spirit was When marine or downriver tribes were
returning to the “cave of the spirits.” invited to a potlatch, guests arrived with
Sometimes the assembled chiefs en- their canoes abreast, singing a power
gaged in a power contest that the highest song to feign an impending attack. Visit-
ranking always won. Called sedulsa, it ing groups were expected to be small,
began when an important person fell and these overt displays of aggression
dead at a large gathering. Each chief in were expected and encouraged by the
turn tried to revive him, but no vital signs host, who made sure that they did not es-
appeared until the highest chief came calate or get out of hand. Such expressive
forward and began a cure. As an offering outlets helped to take the edge off any
was placed in the fire the house became tensions or hostilities deriving from pre-
very quiet, so that the sounds of secret vious breaches, slights, or conflicts.
whistles could be heard coming from For a Suquamish potlatch, a plank
nearby hills, increasing in volume as that house was divided into sections accord-
chief’s spirit got nearer to the house. ing to the number of groups coming from
When the highest chief greeted it and as- different areas. The host sent word to
sumed its power, the corpse revived and these different headmen, inviting them
the ceremony resumed. all to come with their people. At the give-
away, gifts went to these leaders, who
Lushootseed Potlatch then (or later) passed them out among
A Lushootseed potlatch was held to mark their own people, affirming the generos-
the giving of names, the removal of a ity of both the hosts and themselves.
stigma (such as when a daughter was sent When a leader arrived, he brought his
home by her divorcing husband or a cap- own family to be seated together in their
156
______________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest, Potlatch
section of the house. The announcer for off all the others holding on, to have them
the host called out the famous names of forfeit their share. If an old man or
people as they came in, and ushers woman got hold of a blanket, a strong
showed each group where to sit and young man would pull it away from the
where to stay overnight. Guests brought others until he could give it to that elder,
food to give to the household that put showing proper respect for age. Special
them up overnight. poles were also thrown down, each one
Inside a traditional smokehouse, today representing a canoe. One person would
as well as in the past, members of a tribe pay the others for their share if they firmly
or drainage are seated on risers between held the same stick.
side posts, ideally occupying the same Sometimes a chief would deliberately
position in the house as their tribal terri- stigmatize himself to have an excuse for
tory has in the world. Thus a tribe from a potlatch. One deliberately came too
the southeast is seated in the southeast- close to his hearth, so that his blanket
ern part of the house. These worshipers caught on fire. When it did, he gave a pot-
thereby directly link the house and the latch to cover the embarrassment and to
world with their physical bodies. show people that he was generous.
When everyone important had ar- Jay Miller
rived, the host began to sing his song. See also Dance, Northwest Winter Spirit
Next he spoke to the people, thanking Dances; Religious Leadership, Northwest;
them for coming, and he began another Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners,
Northwest Coast and Southeast Alaska
song. At the end, he gave gifts in the
same order in which the tribal leaders
Miller, Jay. 1988. Shamanic Odyssey: The
had been invited. Anyone else who had Lushootseed Salish Journey to the Land of
joined him in hosting this potlatch then the Dead, in Terms of Death, Potency, and
Cooperating Shamans in North America.
sang his song, and gave his gifts in the
Anthropological Papers no. 32. Menlo
order of his own invitations. Only leaders Park, CA: Ballena Press.
received these goods. ———. 1997. Tsimshian Culture: A Light
through the Ages. Lincoln: University of
When all the gifts were given out to the
Nebraska Press.
chiefs, there was a feast and a “scramble.” ———. 1999. Lushootseed Culture and the
Proud people did not participate in this Shamanic Odyssey: An Anchored
grabbing free-for-all because they Radiance. Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press.
thought it crass and undignified, but the Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays.
young and the poor found it fun and prof- Seattle: University of Washington Press.
itable. For a scramble or “throw,” men
climbed onto the roof and threw blankets
and other gifts to the crowd below. Every- Ceremony and Ritual,
one tried to grab something without
Northwest, Potlatch
pulling or tearing it. The holder with the
firmest grip would then claim it and buy See Potlatch
157
Ceremony and Ritual, Osage _________________________________________________________________
Ceremony and Ritual, gle bit of religious feeling equal in inten-

Osage sity and exaltation to the usual vision
quest of the North American Indian”
See In-Lon-Skah (Bunzel 1992, 480). What is true for the
Zuni is also true in principle for all
Puebloan communities. In fact, even
Ceremony and Ritual, when medicine society priests go on a re-
treat to fast and pray, they do so as a
Plains, Omaha
group. Furthermore, because of the
See Sacred Pole of the Omaha agrarian nature of Puebloan communi-
ties, ritual and ceremony are typically
guided by the following of a calendar
Ceremony and Ritual, round, which in turn is characterized by
the coming and going of the seasons. Fol-
Pueblo
lowing the dictates of specific solar and
Among the twenty-two Pueblo commu- lunar events, a different ceremony will be
nities of the Colorado Plateau, which cov- enacted for the well-being of the commu-
ers northeastern Arizona and northern nity. Each ceremony, moreover, although
New Mexico, ritual and ceremony are the different in content and purpose, will
ways through which the people fulfill a nonetheless be made up of elements that
reciprocal relationship with sacred be- are common to all the ceremonies in the
ings. As social phenomena, ritual and calendar round. That is in addition to rit-
ceremony express a group mentality with uals pertaining to birth and death.
respect to religious values: even in the Reciprocity is the premise on which
myths that account for the origin of ritual and ceremony are sustained. For
Puebloan rituals and ceremonies, these example, taking ritual and ceremony as
religious actions are conducted in a forms of “prayer,” Louis A. Hieb observes
group setting. This emphasis on taking a that making prayer offerings for the Hopi
collective approach to religious activity places an obligation on the sacred beings
places the Puebloan tradition on the op- who accept their gift. More specifically,
posite end of the spectrum from the “making prayer offerings to the
Plains traditions, especially those of the kachinas . . . the Hopi ‘feeds’ them. The
Northern Plains, such as the Lakota. This kachinas are to reciprocate by feeding the
is not to say that the Plains tradition is Hopis with rains so their crops will grow”
bereft of any regard for the group, but (Ortiz 1979, 580). The Zuni maintain a
rather, as Ruth L. Bunzel observes about similar relationship with the sacred be-
the Zuni: “Although the Zuni may be ings to whom they refer as k?apin
called one of the most thoroughly reli- ?a·ho??i, “raw people”; these may be not
gious peoples of the world, in all the only kachinas but also “rainstorms,
enormous mass of rituals there is no sin- bears, deer, . . . or corn plants” (ibid.,
158
_______________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo
on the needs of this world, as opposed to

worrying about the afterlife. The Hopi,
for example, according to John D. Loftin,
regard their religious activities as being
“concerned with practical, material
blessings, such as precipitation, long life,
fertility, and good health.” Indeed, if the
Hopi did not tend to their rituals and cer-
emonies, then, as Don Talayesva, the au-
thor of Sun Chief: The Autobiography of a
Hopi Indian, asserted, “Life for the Hopi
might end” (Loftin 1991, 36–37). This is
far from hyperbole, when one considers
that the Hopi religion and Hopi culture
are virtually one and the same. The ur-
gency that many Pueblo people feel for
maintaining their rituals and cere-
monies is expressed by the Zuni. Accord-
ing to Edmund J. Ladd, himself a Zuni
and an anthropologist, the Zuni believe
Hopi snake priest with snake in his mouth in that a person who neither attends cere-
the Hopi Snake dance, Phoenix, Arizona, 1899.
(Library of Congress) monies nor participates in any of the rit-
uals would, upon death, be like the
lonely little cloud, instead of joining the
501). Offerings may include “food,” such mass of clouds that precedes a rainstorm
as tobacco and cornmeal, as well as (Schaafsma 2000, 18).
“clothing,” such as prayer sticks made The rituals that are actually per-
from willow sticks, complete with a formed, aside from those already men-
carved face on the tip and decorated with tioned, include making fetishes, altars,
feathers and paint. In return the suppli- sandpaintings, and (kachina) masks, as
cant prays for “a completed path (a life well as (kachina) dancing, singing, fast-
not shortened by an untimely death), old ing, road-making, pipe-smoking, eme-
age, waters, seeds, riches (clothing and sis, sucking out of sickness, whipping,
jewelry), fecundity (children, domestic washing, and bathing (Parsons 1996,
animals, and game), power, strength of 268ff.). The most important ritual, espe-
will, good fortune, and daylight” (ibid.). cially among the Hopi and Zuni, is the
One could say, in light of the evidence, making and offering of prayer sticks. This
that the Pueblo communities practice a ritual permeates the oral traditions of
kind of religious pragmatism. Their ritu- both cultures. Indeed, whenever the
als and ceremonies keep them focused people are in need of supernatural assis-
159
Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo ________________________________________________________________
tance, they will compensate the sacred The Twin War Gods went up to the
beings with prayer sticks. For example, crack and threw in the pahos, after which
according to Edmund Nequatewa, there they completely sealed the crack with
was a time when the people were trou- the cornmeal prepared for them by Spi-
bled by a heavy wind that blew relent- der Woman. Happy with their deed, the
lessly across Hopiland. The people be- Twin War Gods left Sunset Mountain for
came greatly concerned when the wind home. The people were at first glad to see
continually blew away the seeds they that the tiresome wind had stopped, but
had planted for food. Consequently, the as the days wore on they began to notice
elders held a council to decide what to a serious change in the climate. The air
do. While they deliberated they smoked became dry and hot all the time, and not
their pipes, which meant that they were even a wisp of cloud would appear on
not simply in council but in prayer. The the horizon. People climbed onto their
result of their meditations was the real- roofs, looking for the longed-for clouds
ization that they needed to ask the “little that would bring the rain, but to no avail.
fellows,” the Twin War Gods, Pöqánghoya Finally, the elders held another council
and Palöngawhoya, for help. and decided that they needed to ask the
Once the Twin War Gods had ap- Twin War Gods to return to Yaponcha’s
peared, the elders explained their home and rectify the situation. The eld-
predicament and asked for help. The ers once again made pahos and gave
Twin War Gods said they would offer them to the Twin War Gods. When the
their assistance, then instructed the eld- Twin War Gods returned to Sunset
ers to stay in their kiva and make many Crater, they determined that the right
pahos, or prayer sticks. While the elders thing to do was to remove some of the
completed their task, the Twin War Gods cornmeal seal. When that was done, a
went to Spider Woman and asked her to cool breeze began to blow out of the
prepare some cornmeal for them. With crack, followed by a little white cloud
their supplies, the Twin War Gods that floated toward the Hopi villages.
headed for the San Francisco Peaks This time everyone was pleased. The
(where the kachinas live). The elders fol- wind was just right, and all the people
lowed the Twin War Gods as far as the Lit- were grateful. “Ever since,” as Ne-
tle Colorado River, where they sat down quatewa tells it, “prayer offerings of
to smoke their pipes. The Twin War Gods pahos . . . are made to the Wind God,
were on their way to where Yaponcha, Yaponcha, in the windy month of March
the Wind, lived in Sunset Mountain, by the chiefs and high priests of the three
which is also where one could find an villages of the Second Mesa” (Nequatewa
enormous meteor crater. Yaponcha lived 1990, 86–87).
at the foot of this crater, inside the crack The purpose of humans in the first
in a large, black rock. place, according to Andrew Peynetsa, is
160
Smiling Sun, a thirteen-year-old Hopi, takes part in the hair-cutting ceremony as he enters
manhood, ca. 1955. (F. Roy Kemp/Stringer/Getty Images)
to make prayer offerings to the Sun. In brought the people to Hawikku during
fact, the Sun was forced to destroy three their search for the Middle Place, they
previous worlds because the people built a village. Once they had built their
could not remember to honor the Sun village, they then fulfilled the Sun’s pur-
with prayer offerings. Finally, though, pose for them. As Peynetsa tells this
when the Ahayuuta, the two Bow Priests, story: “Just as the sun had wanted it /
161
they offered him prayer meal / they of- cording to Secakuku, is the Bean Dance
fered him prayer sticks: / This is the way during Powamuya, which is actually the
it was when newness was made / and most complex of all the Hopi ceremoni-
that’s why / we live by the prayer sticks” als. Its ultimate purpose is summoning
(Peynetsa and Walter 1999, 281–282). the kachinas “to appear among the Hopi
Rituals become most poignant among so life for all mankind can have substan-
the Pueblos during the various yearly tial growth and maturity” (Secakuku
ceremonies. According to Alph H. Se- 1995, 16).
cakuku, the Hopi religion was taught to The Powamuya is also the time when
them by Másaw, the caretaker of the children are initiated into the kachina
earth on which the Hopi would live in the and Powamuya societies (Ortiz 1979,
Fourth World. More to the point, Hopi re- 564). The Powamuya is then followed by
ligion is based on the premise “that all the kachina night dances during Ösö-
things, living or not, are melded into a muya. The purpose of the kachina night
great wholeness” (Secakuku 1995, 2). dances is “to create a pleasant atmo-
Following the ceremonies in the calen- sphere for all life forms, encourage their
dar round ensures that the people will growth, and bring all-important rain for
maintain the vital rapport that they have their fruitfulness” (Secakuku 1995, 34).
with the land, “which they proudly refer Kwiyamuya follows around April, when
to as tuuwanasavi—the spiritual center it is time to prepare the fields for the
of the earth” (ibid.). planting of sweet corn, violet corn, and
The Hopi calendar round itself is di- yellow corn, all of which is protected by
vided into masked and unmasked the kwiya, the windbreaks, that sur-
halves, referring to the kachinas that ap- round the fields of seedlings. It is also
pear during the first half of the year. during Kwiyamuya that the Hototöm,
More specifically, the calendar round be- the racer kachinas, challenge young
gins in either January or February and men to footraces. What are at stake are
ends around July. During these months, the symbols of fertility, health, and well-
the kachinas will appear in the various being: “baked sweet corn and various
Hopi villages. “Thus,” as Arlette Frigout breads made of cornmeal” (ibid., 64).
notes, the kachinas’ “presence marks a Hakitonmuya is the next stage of the cal-
season extending from sometime in the endar round, which is the season for
month or so following the winter solstice planting beans, pumpkins, watermel-
to sometime in the month after the sum- ons, muskmelons, and gourds. During
mer solstice” (Frigout 1979, 564). The un- this time, eaglets are captured and
masked ceremonies, as clearly implied, adopted by different clans. They are
cover the complementary half of the treated like newborn children and are
year. With respect to the masked half of kept to watch and observe the Hopi peo-
the year, the first major ceremony, ac- ple (ibid., 70).
162
Woku’uyis then arrives as the corn- ticipants, in turn, will observe sexual ab-
planting season. Word also begins to stinence and refrain from eating salt and
spread that there will be a kachina meat. Inside the kiva, “smoking, singing,
dance. In the meantime, those who are praying, and erecting altars” will take
newly initiated into the kachina rituals place. Apart from the kachina dances
will gather at their kiva to smoke, medi- themselves, one of the more interest-
tate, and pray for bountiful crops. The ing—and secretive—modes of expres-
dance then begins at sunrise as the sion is the altars. These altars, according
kachinas enter the plaza single file, to Frigout, “consist of vertical slabs, with
“bringing gifts of good fortune, virtue, symbolic or realistic paintings of maize,
and moisture for all plant life” (ibid., 84). clouds, lightning, sacred animals, and
Finally, the kachina or masked half of the cult heroes” (Frigout 1979, 570). In front
calendar round ends about July with Ta- of the slabs are frequently placed típòni,
langva. This midsummer ceremony dis- or fetishes, which are complemented
tinguishes itself as the time of the most with a medicine bowl filled with spring
intense prayer and meditation. It is also water. The most public aspect of a cere-
when the kachinas return to their spirit mony happens in the plaza (although
home. Even the eaglets that were there are shrines outside of the village
adopted earlier will be released. What that participants may visit). In addition
the kachinas leave in their wake is a land to dancing (both masked and un-
in full blossom. The people’s prayers and masked), participants may deposit offer-
meditations have come to fruition, testi- ings “at the pahóki or at other sacred
fied to by the successful departure of the places,” as well as distribute food or hold
kachinas for the San Francisco Peaks races that will “lead the clouds or other
(ibid., 88–89). benefits of the gods into the village”
Depending on the ceremony, the en- (ibid., 570). Finally, once the ceremony is
tire event will last between four and eight completed, participants will sleep in
days. In either case, a given ceremony their kiva for four days while maintain-
will take place for the most part in two ing their vows of abstinence. Before they
spaces: the kiva and the plaza. Before a may interact with people again, they
ceremony begins in earnest, participants must go through the ritual of ná·vocìwa,
will meet at the kiva (sometimes the clan which means “he exorcizes himself.” The
house) to “smoke, prepare offerings, and ritual entails “sprinkling ashes with the
arrange the announcement.” Once an- left hand on the participant or the cere-
nounced, a ná?ci, a decorated pole, will monial object” (ibid., 570).
be placed adjacent to the ladder that The unmasked half of the Hopi calen-
leads into the kiva. From that time on, dar is no less important to the well-being
access into the kiva is strictly limited to of all. However, instead of the kachinas,
those participating in the ceremony. Par- there will be the Tala’paamuya, which
163
women’s ceremonies, and the Basket

Dance (ibid., 99).
The Zuni, who also hold kachina
dances, recount the origin of these ritu-
als during their migration legends, or
Chimiky’ana’kowa’, “That Which Was the
Beginning” (Schaafsma 2000, 163). More
specifically, there was a time when the
kachinas came from Kachina Village,
Kolhuwalaaw’a, to dance among the
Zuni people (ibid., 18). The kachinas
came because the people wondered
what to do to enjoy themselves (Bunzel
1992, 605). When the kachinas brought
their dances with them during the sum-
mer and winter, the people found them
to be both very sacred and very beautiful
Corn Dance, Taos Pueblo, 1934, painted by (Ortiz 1979, 502). In fact, the women
Norman Chamberlain (1887–1961). (Norman found the kachina dances to be espe-
Chamberlain/Smithsonian American Art
Museum/Art Resource) cially alluring—so much so that many
women actually fell in love with the
dancers and wanted to follow them back
will consist of alternating years of the to Kolhuwalaaw’a. However, since only
Snake-Antelope ceremony and the Flute the deceased can enter Kolhuwalaaw’a,
ceremony. “The purpose of these cere- the women who followed the kachinas
monies,” Secakuku states, “is to bring the back to their abode wound up sitting
last summer rains to insure the maturity around the lake that served as the en-
of corn and other crops before harvest, trance. As Edmund J. Ladd describes it,
and to prepare the fields for the next this created quite the predicament for
planting season” (Secakuku 1995, 96). the Zuni people: “They [the women]
Naturally, this is followed by the Maraw couldn’t come home, and they couldn’t
harvest ceremony during Nasanmuya, go in because their time on earth had not
which happens around September. Only been concluded yet. And so the wise
women who have completed their initia- people of our village, the elders, said to
tion into the Maraw society may dance at the K/apinna:hoi [the raw people, that is,
this time (ibid., 98). Lastly, the winter sol- the kachinas], you must leave your
stice season of Toho’osmuya and image with us but disappear forever,
O’waqölt is marked first by the Lakon never coming to the village again in
ceremony, the second of the important human form” (quoted in Schaafsma
164
2000, 18). Ladd goes on to explain that kachinas themselves are impersonators,
this story accounts for the origin of the a facet that is revealed in the mythology.
kachina—or in Zuni, kokko—mask. In- According to the story that Tedlock ana-
deed, when the Zuni refer to the kachi- lyzes, after the kachinas had created the
nas, they mean the mask, the dance, and predicament alluded to above (though in
the sacred being who is represented. Tedlock’s version someone actually died
From this mythological origin, then, each time the kachinas left after danc-
stems an ongoing tradition of masking), the kachinas came to the people
making and dancing to impersonate the and spoke with them. “‘Now, my chil-
kachinas (ibid.). dren, perhaps it shouldn’t be this way. It
Although kachina masks among the wouldn’t be right for us to continue com-
Zuni may be individually owned, the ing. . . . Take a good look at us. We are not
“owner” (who is better described as a always like this.’ . . . Two of them set
caretaker) does not actually create the down their face mask, their helmet
mask. The kiva to which the owner be- mask” (Schaafsma 2000, 171).
longs will do that for him. But one can At this point of the story, not only do
have this done only after one is properly the kachinas from Kolhuwalaaw’a reveal
initiated into the Kachina Society, dur- their true identity to the Zuni people,
ing which time they are told the story of but, in addition, during the initiation
how the kachinas once came to enter- into the Kachina Society the kachina im-
tain their living counterparts. Once the personators reveal their true identity to
initiation is complete and one has ac- their initiates. Thus the locus of the
quired a mask, maintaining one’s mask kachinas’ identity is not in the person, or
is of utmost importance for two reasons. human form, but in the mask. This is
First, one can not participate in any why the kachinas from Kolhuwalaaw’a
kachina dances without owning a mask. instructed the people to copy their
Second, without a mask, one can not masks. “You will bring them to life,” the
enter Kalhuwalaaw’a (ibid., 19). “If a kachinas said, “so that when you dance
man owned a mask during life,” writes with them, we will still be coming to
Dennis Tedlock, “he may both join the stand in front of you” (ibid.). In light of
constant dancing at [Kolhuwalaaw’a] this precedent, when a person dons a
and come invisibly to Zuni to ‘stand be- kachina mask and participates in a cere-
fore’ the living kachina impersonators” mony, it is dubious that he actually “be-
(Ortiz 1979, 507). comes” the kachina he is impersonating.
With that in mind, Tedlock argues that In fact, when one dancer was asked
many interpreters of kachina dancing whether he felt he was actually a kachina
have gone too far with their claims to the while dancing, he answered: “You don’t,
efficacy of imitating the kachinas. More really, become one. You imitate, step into
specifically, Tedlock asserts that even the it. You make your mask come alive. . . .
165
Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast ____________________________________________________________
Otherwise, a mask is just sitting there, Zuni Storyteller. Translated by Dennis

sleeping, till you get in there. . . . You be- Tedlock. Lincoln: Bison Books.
Schaafsma, Polly, ed. 2000. Kachinas in the
come part of it, but not really, because Pueblo World. Salt Lake City: University
your body will be the same, but just the of Utah Press.
head, you know, your thoughts” (ibid.). Secakuku, Alph H. 1995. Hopi Kachina
Tradition: Following the Sun and Moon.
David Martínez Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing.
Tedlock, Barbara. 1992. The Beautiful and
See also Kachina and Clown Societies;
the Dangerous: Dialogues with the Zuni
Masks and Masking; Oral Traditions,
Indians. New York: Penguin Books.
Pueblo; Symbolism in Ritual and
Waters, Frank. 1977. Book of the Hopi. New
Ceremony; Vision Quest Rites
York: Penguin Books.
References and Further Reading The Zuni People. 1973. The Zunis: Self-
Bunzel, Ruth L. 1992. Zuni Ceremonialism. Portrayals. Translated by Alvina Quam.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press. Press.
Courlander, Harold. 1987. The Fourth World
of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi
Indians as Preserved in Their Legends
and Traditions. Albuquerque: University
of New Mexico Press.
Cushing, Frank Hamilton. 1988. The Mythic
Ceremony and Ritual,
World of the Zuni. Albuquerque: Southeast
University of New Mexico Press.
Dozier, Edward P. 1970. The Pueblo Indians The Southeast is noted for its large num-
of North America. New York: Holt, ber of sacred sites and ancient ceremo-
Rinehart and Winston.
Frigout, Arlette. 1999. “Hopi Ceremonial
nial grounds, all strongly associated with
Organization.” In Alfonso Ortiz, ed. 1979. American Indian ritual and ceremony.
Handbook of North American Indians, Many such sites are laid out in rectangu-
vol. 9: Southwest. Washington, DC:
lar plazas, others have circular plans,
Smithsonian Institution Press.
Hultkrantz, Åke. 1987. Native Religions of and some are built with stone—but only
North America. San Francisco: Harper a handful have been thoroughly studied
San Francisco.
or protected from the bulldozer,
Loftin, John D. 1991. Religion and Hopi Life
in the Twentieth Century. Bloomington: ploughshare, and pot hunter. Not one
Indiana University Press. has been reserved for use by Indian peo-
Nequatewa, Edmund. 1990. Truth of a Hopi:
ple today. U.S. federal courts have never
Stories Relating to the Origin, Myths, and
Clan Histories of the Hopi. Flagstaff, AZ: upheld Indians’ access to their sacred
Northland Publishing. sites, unless the land was part of a reser-
Ortiz, Alfonso, ed. 1979. Handbook of North vation. A survey map of mounds assem-
American Indians, vol. 9: Southwest.
Washington, DC: Smithsonian bled by Swanton for the Smithsonian In-
Institution Press. stitution presents well over 20,000
Parsons, Elsie Clews. 1996. Pueblo Indian locations. We can never know how many
Religion, vol.1. Lincoln: Bison Books.
Peynetsa, Andrew, and Walter Sanchez. more lie hidden beneath rising ocean
1999. Finding the Center: The Art of the waters or under artificial lakes created by
166
___________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast
the Tennessee Valley Authority (as in the great deal of academic fashion. Despite
case of the ancient Cherokee capital of powwows and other recent tourist phe-
Tellico in Tennessee). An amateur ar- nomena such as cultural centers, Ameri-
chaeologist has located more than 500 can Indians for the most part still practice
shell middens of rather recent construc- ritual and ceremony underground—for
tion on the southern Florida shoreline instance, at so-called inner circle gather-
alone, while naturalist Constantine ings. Although tribal government meet-
Rafinesque found 105 circular temples ings may be opened with a prayer, they
on the Kanawha River in West Virginia in lack the religious character of old. Few at
the 1820s. Moundville in Alabama; a powwow could explain why they wear
Etowah, Ocmulgee, and Kolomoki in the regalia they wear, do the things they
Georgia; Mound Bottom and the Nar- do, or observe certain taboos (for exam-
rows of the Harpeth, outside Nashville; ple, never to let a feather fly free and
and Pinson Mounds on Forked Deer touch the ground). One theory advanced
River are a few of the more famous “ar- by a Chickasaw medicine man in the tele-
chaeological parks” that can be visited by vision roundtable series “The Native
the public today. Americans” was this: “When the white
All such places bear silent testimony man came, most of our people were just
to the high degree of interinfluence, ad- waiting for fast food to happen.” Not
vanced social organization, and spiritual every Indian was a priest or holy man.
refinement in Southern tribes—not to The major religious festivals of the
mention their taste for lavish public Cherokee in the eighteenth century, to
spectacle. The last mound was built by take one culture out of many, were as fol-
the Natchez on the Red River in 1728. A lows. The Spring Festival on the first new
little more than a hundred years later, moon of the year came first. Everyone in
Southeastern ritual and ceremony sur- the village celebrated birthdays on that
vived only in Indian Territory, and that in day, having survived the winter and thus
an extremely clandestine and tenuous become one year older. This corre-
fashion: one mixed with elements of sponded to the busk of some tribes,
Christianity and Judaism. Perhaps 95 when villagers threw out their utensils
percent of the region’s original ethnicity and household fixtures. Fires were re-
was already extinct. Today we do not newed and the entire nation “went to
know even the names of the tribes that water” to dip seven times and be puri-
built most of the monuments. fied. Next was the Green Corn Festival,
Descriptions of the Southeastern Cer- held about June, when the young corn
emonial Complex, with its fascinating became fit to taste, an alternative busk
symbols of double axes, woodpeckers, time with certain tribes. (Corn is the only
and hands-with-eyes, amount to little world food crop that can be eaten imma-
more than daring guesswork, subject to a ture.) This was followed in time by the
167
Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast ____________________________________________________________
Ripe Corn Feast, when the fields were in spurs) to purify warriors and ballplayers
roasting ear. Fourth was the Great New and make them strong; circle visions, or
Moon Feast, actually the beginning of sun dances, in which predominantly
the cycle, or Cherokee New Year, still cel- young people fasted in an arbor, blew on
ebrated with great panache today in eagle bone or cane whistles, and found
Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and Cherokee, or renewed their life vision; sweatlodges
North Carolina. Fifth was the Ah tawh for men and “moon lodges” for women
hung nah, Propitiation, or Cementation, in a log winter house built partway in the
or Friendship, or Bonding Festival. And ground (asi in Cherokee); bonding or
the sixth was the Bounding Bush, four marriage ceremonies (a man and
nights of dancing and sacrifice with “re- woman exchange deer meat and corn
made tobacco.” Additionally, a Great under a blanket symbolizing cohabita-
Thanksgiving Festival called the Uku, or tion, and in the Creek tradition they
Ookan, was held every seven years in the jump over a fire to mark their new life to-
national capital. gether); healing, mourning, and coming-
The two main types of dancing at of-age ceremonies; and a host of others,
these feasts were the stomp dance, origi- now obscure, including trading circles,
nally a communal land-clearing and in which no speaking was permitted,
burning rite, and the friendship dance. only sign talk. One should also mention
On special occasions, such as a peace all-male (for example, Shalagi Warrior
treaty or the marriage of a chief’s daugh- Society) and all-female ceremonies.
ter, the spectacular Eagle Dance was en- The oldest ceremony is the Cedar
acted. A version was incorporated into Grass Honoring ceremony (achina,
the choreography of the outdoor pag- lishina apo wanji), a thanksgiving for fire
eant “Unto These Hills,” a summer at- (achila). Cherokee used to insist on
traction at Cherokee. seven sacred woods and elaborate rules
Other ceremonies included the Black for building a ceremonial, or sacred, fire.
Drink, a purifying ritual, also called They say that the national council fire
White Drink (cassia, cussena, Tihanama kept at Tellico and extinguished by the
kiyantush), in which a conch shell full of American soldiers in 1783 sank into the
white, frothy, black-bodied yaupon tea ground and continues to burn. Seven is a
was passed among the men, with an magic number for them—seven clans,
emetic and hallucinatory effect; pipe- seven counselors in the council-house,
smoking rituals (with old, or wild, re- and so forth. Some ceremonies were
made, or ceremonial tobacco, the last a conducted by a specific clan (always
kinnikinnnik, or mixture, with sumac, a naming and adoption ceremonies).
favorite of the Cherokee); a scratching Major dances went all night—and still do
and bleeding ritual performed by priests at some of the Oklahoma stomp dance
with a kanuga (scraper with turkey cock grounds. Musical accompaniment was
168
___________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast
restricted to the drum (usually a water To understand ceremonies, a note on

drum among the Cherokee), rattles and time keeping is in order. Natives in the
whistles, and flutes being relegated to Southeast measured a year by the num-
courting. Ordinary sticks were some- ber of moons, or months, not days or
times used—for example, for mourning weeks. The Cherokee had names for the
songs. months, such as Gule, “acorn month,” in
The consecrated circle, arbor, or hep- August–September (when the doves
tagonal council house is the center of begin to call loudly for acorns), or Straw-
the ceremony ground. Celebrants sit or berry Month in May–June (when every-
recline in the sector designated for their body took a spring tonic of strawberry
clan. Council seats are hereditary, a fact juice). Calendar keepers using stone cir-
proudly mentioned in stories and pro- cles observed the summer solstice, or
tocols. No one may enter with metal or a longest day of the year, winter solstice,
weapon. Only bare feet or moccasins when the sun rose from its southernmost
are allowed, in order to show respect for point on the horizon, and spring and fall
Mother Earth. Generally, the opening is equinoxes. These were often times for
in the east, sometimes the northeast, as council meetings, feasts, and trade cir-
ancient coordinates are about 30 de- cles, and today many remnant tribes
grees west of today’s magnetic north—a hold public festivals or gatherings on
trait shared with South American tribes. these dates. In sign talk, a day was a
According to most protocols, entrants sleep, and a year was a winter. The sun
are purified, or smudged, often with was the day-star and the moon was the
cedar incense, an abalone shell, and evening sun. Most Muskogee considered
turkey feather. They then walked clock- the sun female and the moon male, but
wise at least one full turn, sometimes the majority thought in terms of Grand-
seven, before taking their proper seats. father Sun and Grandmother Moon. The
Traditionally, an intertribal hospitality Pleiades (“the Boys”), Big Dipper
system ensured recognition of one’s (“Bear”), Corona Borealis (“Medicine
clan even in foreign towns or faraway Bag”), and other stars were followed in
locales. In native understanding, a cir- the sky in their particular season. Also,
cle unites the four cardinal directions the movements of Venus were carefully
plus four additional ones, the human studied. Years were not numbered as
dimension, or people, being the last. dates but recorded with the name of a
Circular movement in a clockwise or, memorable event, such as the “year we
“sun-wise,” fashion concentrates en- cried” (1838–1839).
ergy, while the opposite radiates it. Thus Donald Panther-Yates
in one Cherokee dedication ceremony,
See also Dance, Southeast; Green Corn
the women go one way and the men the Ceremony; Mourning and Burial Practices;
other. Oral Traditions, Southeast; Religious
169
Ceremony and Ritual, Yup’iq ________________________________________________________________
Leadership, Southeast; Spiritual and Martin, Joel W. 1999. Native American

Ceremonial Practitioners, Southeast Religion. New York: Oxford University
Press.
References and Further Reading Rhodes, Willard. 1954. “Folk Music of the
Cushman, H. B. 1899/1999. History of the United States: Delaware, Cherokee,
Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Choctaw, Creek.” Sound Recording.
Indians. Reprint, Norman: University of Washington, DC: Library of Congress,
Oklahoma Press. Music Division, Recording Laboratory.
Galloway, Patricia Kay. 1997. The Hernando Swanton, John R. 1911. Indian Tribes of the
de Soto Expedition: History, Lower Mississippi Valley and Adjacent
Historiography, and “Discovery” in the Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Bureau of
Southeast. Lincoln: University of American Ethnology Bulletin 43.
Nebraska Press. Washington, DC: Government Printing
Geiogamah, Hanay (Kiowa), and Michael Office.
Grant. “The Native Americans: The ———. 2000. Creek Religion and Medicine.
Southeast: No Matter How White.” 1994. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Television program. Atlanta: Turner
Home Entertainment.
Heth, Charlotte. 1975. The Stomp Dance
Music of the Oklahoma Cherokee: A Study
of Contemporary Practice with Special
Reference to the Illinois District Council
Ceremony and Ritual,
Ground. Microform. Yup’iq
———. 1978. Music of the Creek and
Cherokee Indians in Religion and The central philosophical ideal within
Government. Videocassette recording. Yup’iq ritual and ceremony is that of
Burbank, CA: AME.
cyclical return, of rebirth and renewal.
———. 1992. Native American Dance:
Ceremonies and Social Traditions. Ritual and ceremony are centered on
Washington, DC: National Museum of maintaining the proper cycles and recy-
the American Indian, Smithsonian
cles of natural, spiritual, and human
Institution, with Starwood Publishing.
Horn, Gabriel. 2000. The Book of worlds. They reinforce an ethic of mutual
Ceremonies: A Native Way of Honoring responsibility and establish the rules for
and Living the Sacred. Novato, CA: New relationships between these interactive
World Library.
Hudson, Charles. 1976. The Southeastern worlds. Throughout, they demonstrate
Indians. Knoxville: University of an emphasis on balance, harmony, and
Tennessee Press. reciprocity. Rituals and ceremonies help
Kidwell, Clara Sue. 1995. Choctaws and
Missionaries in Mississippi, 1818–1918.
to maintain this balance, and restore re-
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. lationships between people, spirits, and
Kilpatrick, Jack F., and Anna G. Kilpatrick. the surrounding cosmos. Songs, danc-
1967. Run toward the Nightland: Magic
ing, masks, feasts, give-aways, and be-
Rituals of the Oklahoma Cherokees.
Dallas: Southern Methodist University havioral restrictions all play key roles in
Press. these ceremonial activities. Many ritual
Mails, Thomas E. 1992. The Cherokee
activities work to invite spiritual entities,
People: The Story of the Cherokees from
Earliest Origins to Contemporary Times. be they the spirit of animals or deceased
Tulsa, OK: Council Oaks Books. ancestors, into the community, in order
170
_______________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Yup’iq
feast honoring animals taken in the hunt

Contrary to non-Native ex- (the Kelek), ceremonial activities center
pectation, they [Yup’ik] do on inviting the spirits of animals or an-
not see themselves as cestors to the community, where they are
merely surviving on the hosted and then returned to their proper
limited resources of an im- homes. By contrast, the Messenger Festi-
val is concerned with reaffirming rela-
poverished environment tionships between the members of living
but as living in a highly communities and villages.
structured and worthwhile Nakaciuq, also known as the Bladder
relationship to that envi- Festival, occurs at the beginning of win-
ronment, a relationship ter, during the shortest days of the year.
The festival ensures the rebirth of the
they hope to maintain.
yuit, or personhood, of animals killed in
—Ann Fienup-Riordan the hunt. If killed in a proper way and
treated thereafter with due respect, the
spirit of animals might be induced to re-
to repair and nurture relationships. Oth- turn to the community the following
ers act to reify a dream, vision, or super- year and offer themselves once again as
natural experience undergone by an An- food. When an animal offers itself to the
galkuq (a Yup’iq individual who works as hunter, its spirit retreats to its bladder.
a spiritual leader, healer, and diviner), or Throughout the year, bladders are in-
to maintain strong human relationships flated and carefully stored, awaiting this
within and between villages. All cere- important festival. In some communities
monies act as a means of giving thanks, bladders of all sorts of animals are kept:
directly or indirectly, to Ellam Yua, the seals, birds, caribou, mice, walrus. In
spirit of the universe. Most rituals and others, only the bladders of seals are pre-
ceremonies take place in the qasegiq, or served. Prior to the festival, the commu-
men’s ceremonial house. Women enter nity undergoes days of careful prepara-
the qasegiq only during these special cer- tion. Men purify themselves in a sweat,
emonial times. followed by a dance and feast. Men may
There are several major ceremonial also offer gifts to their wives. Over the
festivals that take place within Yup’iq vil- next several days, men will carve new
lages and communities, all of which act bowls, compose new songs, and carefully
to protect subsistence activities and paint the bladders. Women will make
community stability through affirming new clothing for all the participants. On
relationships between the human, spiri- the first evening of the festival, all the
tual, and natural worlds. In the Bladder fires and lights are put out, and the
Festival, the Feast for the Dead, and the qasegiq and its fire pit are cleaned. The
171
Angalkuq ascends through the smoke The bladders of birds and land animals
hole in the roof of the qasegiq, journey- are burned, their spirits released to jour-
ing in trance to the spirit land of the ani- ney upward. The festival, which might
mals, where the Angalkuq invites them last from five to fifteen days, affirms the
to the gathering. transition to a new year, a new hunting
On the first morning, men are given season, and the importance of maintain-
their new clothes, children’s faces are ing a respectful and reciprocal relation-
painted, and the new dishes and painted ship with the animal world.
bladders are collected and brought to the The Elriq, or Great Feast for the Dead,
qasegiq, where they are greeted with a which occurs every ten years, and the
feast and ritual dances. Throughout the Merr’aq, the annual feast for the dead,
days of the festival, from this point on, also serve as a means of maintaining and
the qasegiq will never be left empty, and restoring relationships between the liv-
fire and lights will not be allowed to go ing human community and the spiritual
out. For five days the community honors community. These festivals provide an
the spirits of the animals present in the opportunity for the living to honor and
bladders, sings for them, dances for care for the spirits of the recently dead.
them, feasts them and entertains them, The Yup’iq traditionally believe that an
offering them food and water. essential aspect of the individual is car-
On the fifth and final day, while in a ried on within her or his descendents.
trance, the Angalkuq ritually descends to When children are still young, commu-
the sea floor, visits with the sea animals, nity members will look for signs of an an-
and affirms the relationship between cestor’s spirit within the new child, and
them and the human community. When the children will be named accordingly.
the Angalkuq returns from this spiritual Names are generally androgynous, as is
journey, the story of the journey is re-en- this spirit of the ancestor that is passed
acted through dance, song, and masking. on to the next generation. Hence the
On the last night, the Angalkuq ascends spirit of a grandfather might be recog-
through the smoke hole in the qasegiq nized within a young girl. Named after
once more, followed by the bladders, this grandfather, the girl would be ad-
which are lifted out by the hunters who dressed by the man’s widow as “my hus-
captured them during the year, an action band”; his children would call the girl
referred to as nalugyaraq, or the “process “father.” The name is thus a recognition
of pulling up.” The bladders are carried of the presence of the particular ancestor
to the sea, where five holes are made in within the child. During the Feast for the
the ice, and the bladders of sea creatures, Dead, namesakes are fed, clothed, and
such as seal and walrus, are released given water to drink. But it is not the
back to the sea, accompanied by songs namesakes who receive the gift, but the
and dances that send them on their way. spirit of the ancestor within them.
172
_______________________________________________________________ Ceremony and Ritual, Yup’iq
Prior to both feasts, decorated stakes ceive gifts of clothing, food, utensils,
are placed at the grave sites, summoning carved bowls, kayaks, and so forth.
the dead to the gathering. A fire and Namesakes can request gifts from the
lights are kept burning in the qasegiq host, which they will maintain posses-
throughout the ceremonial period. The sion of, but it is the dead who are the of-
men sing songs, inviting the spirits into ficial owners of these objects. On the
the qasegiq, and the spirits move into the fifth night, once the gift-giving has been
communal house, until they rest at the concluded, the dead are called upon to
firepit under the floor, awaiting the ar- return to the spirit world. When Elriq is
rival of their namesakes. The namesakes concluded, it marks the final time that
then eat, throwing food and water into the deceased will be honored and
the firepit. Throughout the day-long mourned in this way.
Merr’aq festival, the dead gradually move During the Kelek, the spirits of ani-
closer to their namesakes, receiving the mals and other natural entities are in-
gifts offered on their behalf. At the close vited into the community and asked to
of the day, they are eventually sent away use their influence to secure a success-
while the community ritually sings and ful hunt and food resources for the
stomps on the floor. coming year. Like the Elriq and the
Elriq, which occurs once every ten Nakaciuq, the Kelek is also a ceremonial
years, is a more elaborate version of the activity concerned with crossing
Merr’aq. The Elriq involves a huge boundaries between worlds. Like the
amount of goods, and it helps to ensure Elriq, the Kelek is a large intervillage
a regular redistribution of wealth among event, each time hosted by another vil-
the village and surrounding communi- lage. Songs are sung to invite the yuit of
ties. Guests arrive for the festival from the game animals in question. They are
far-off communities for this extravagant welcomed and embodied within
gathering. Because of the expense in- masked dances directed by the An-
curred in hosting such an event, the galkuq. These songs and dances have
Elriq continually shifts its location, each their origin within oral traditions in
time hosted by a different local village. which a boy or girl encountered these
The event opens with the singing of qi- spirits and was gifted with the song and
atait, or crying songs. The dead are thus dance that would call the spirits to the
called and welcomed to the gathering. community, and through which they
Guests are also welcomed to the qasegiq, would become present.
each giving a gift upon arrival. A feast Prior to the Kelek, the Angalkuq travels
follows. For five nights the dead are for- to the moon to request game animals for
mally feasted and welcomed, and their the following year. The Angalkuq’s songs
namesakes are honored on their behalf. facilitate the journey, and the Angalkuq’s
On the last two nights the namesakes re- spirit guide helps to locate these valu-
173
able animals. The Angalkuq will also ships between villages. Two messengers
complete a journey to the ocean floor are dispatched to a nearby village to in-
prior to this ceremonial time, working to vite them to a Kevgiq sometime in the
ensure a successful hunt of sea animals months to come. Each village responds
for the following year. with lengthy songs that list their re-
The Kelek itself is the inverse of the quests for gifts, often asking the other
Angalkuq’s journey. While the spiritual village for valuable items difficult to
leader of the community will travel become by. The songs of solicitation that
tween worlds to visit the spirits, in the issue these requests are passed back
Kelek the spirits of these animals are in- and forth through the messengers. Fol-
vited to journey to the village, to visit lowing months of preparation and
briefly with the community. They are in- gathering of gifts and food, the messen-
vited, and made visible through these gers are sent a final time to fetch the
masked dances. The Angalkuq directs guests. As they make the journey to the
the carving of these masks, which will village, messages continue to be sent
represent the yuit of animals as well as back and forth between the communi-
the Angalkuq’s spirit helpers, or tuunrat. ties. They are finally greeted with songs,
During rituals and ceremonies these entertained, and brought to the qasegiq
masks give their dances supernatural vi- for a feast. When it is time for the give-
sion, as well as making the spiritual away, widows, orphans, and elders have
physically manifest to the community. first choice from the elaborate gifts. In-
The dances themselves do not simply dividuals perform their songs and
mimic the movements of the animals in dances as the gifts are requested and
question. Rather, they are considered to presented.
be the dance of that animal, the property The Petugtaq, or Asking Festival, is a
of that animal, which was given and similar celebration, but one that takes
taught to a human ancestor. The masks place within the village, and on a smaller
will be used only once, as they are con- scale. Men request gifts from the
sidered to be dangerous and must be women. When the women present the
handled with great care. After they have gifts at the festival, the men are expected
been danced, masks are destroyed by fire to reply in kind. Throughout the Asking
or left out on the tundra to decompose. Festival men and women perform comic
Finally, the Messenger Feast, or songs and dances, entertaining each
Kevgiq, is another central ceremonial other with lighthearted performances.
gathering for Yup’iq communities. In In both the Kevgiq and the Petugtaq, the
this gathering, however, the guests are result of the festival is the restoration
not spirits but the people of neighbor- and continuity of healthy human rela-
ing villages. The Messenger Feast is a tionships, as well as the redistribution of
celebration of community relation- wealth and resources.
174
___________________________________________________________________________________ Chief Seattle
All of the Yup’iq ceremonial festivals Chief Seattle

work to ensure not just the survival of the (c. 1786–1866)
community but also a meaningful sur-
vival. Human and animal spirits are kept Seattle (also Sealth or See-at-la), lived
alive through ceremony, naming, and from about 1786 to 1866 in the Puget
proper treatment. Gifts and resources Sound area of Washington. His father,
are likewise kept alive through circular Schweabe, was of the Suquamish tribe;
and constant gift exchange. It is impor- his mother, Scholitza, was of the
tant to recognize that gift exchanges are Duwamish tribe. Both are coastal Salish
not for the accumulation of wealth but nations. Seattle’s life spanned the period
rather the redistribution of wealth, to en- of transition from traditional indigenous
sure the survival and comfort of every- culture to a time of mixed European-
one in the community. Rituals and cere- American cultures. He blended both reli-
monies play a central role in ensuring gions in his life. He was a convert to
the physical, cultural, and social survival Catholicism and promoted daily prayer
of the communities, as they restore and services in his Native nation. A speech
maintain relationships, teach younger attributed to Seattle outlines his tradi-
generations modes of proper respect and tional Native religious beliefs and seems
care, and reaffirm the place of each to anticipates the Native American
Yup’iq person within a wider cosmos. Graves and Repatriation Act. He was a
Suzanne J. Crawford military as well as a political leader.
As a young man, Seattle served as war
See also Health and Wellness, Traditional
Approaches; Masks and Masking; Oral
leader after raids by White River Indians.
Traditions, Yupiaq Eventually he united six tribes into a po-
litical alliance. When English and other
Blackman, Margaret B. 1989. Sadie Brower non-Native groups entered the region,
Neakok: An Inupiaq Woman. Seattle: Seattle represented his confederacy in
political dealings. In 1854, at the age of
Fienup-Riordan, Ann. 1990. Eskimo
Essays: Yup’ik Lives and How We See sixty-eight, he spoke at treaty negotia-
Them. New Brunswick: Rutgers tions with U.S. territorial commissioner
University Press.
(later governor) Isaac Stevens. That is the
———. 1994. Boundaries and Passages:
Rule and Ritual in Yup’ik Eskimo speech for which he is best remembered.
Tradition. Norman: University of Religious freedom was the main point of
Oklahoma Press.
the speech.
A Pathway to Ecology and Spirit. The content of Seattle’s speech is diffi-
Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. cult to determine after 150 years. In all
Turner, Edith. 1996. The Hands Feel It: records of Seattle’s meetings, the U.S.
Healing and Spirit Presence among a
Northern Alaskan People. DeKalb: Army reports show only brief sentences
Northern Illinois University Press. attributed to Seattle. Nonetheless, he
175
Chief Seattle ___________________________________________________________________________________
Chief Seattle, Angeline, and views of Mount Rainier and Seattle, Washington, ca. 1890. (Library of
Congress)
had a reputation as a remarkable orator. glish style of his time, but the contents
A non-Native witness to Seattle’s formal appear to be authentic.
speeches, Samuel F. Coombs, describes Seattle’s speech describes indigenous
Seattle as “an intelligent looking Indian religious practices that contrast to
who could speak English.” Henry A. Catholicism. As he presses the commis-
Smith described his impressive bearing, sioner for religious rights, Seattle ex-
at six feet tall, and his “deep-toned, plains these beliefs in detail. He opens
sonorous” voice, which carried over a with acknowledgment of the Christian
large crowd. god, who, Seattle states, seems to favor
In 1887, Smith finally published the only the European, not the Native. He
most complete documentation of Seat- notes the Christians’ need for “written
tle’s speech to Commissioner Stevens. tables of stone.” In contrast, he says,
Smith wrote in the ornate Victorian En- “Our religion is the traditions of our an-
176
___________________________________________________________________________________ Chief Seattle
cestors.” These Native traditions are sites, whether “hill, valley, plain, or
maintained through instruction from grove.” The soil itself is revered because it
elders and dream visitations from ances- is literally composed of his people’s
tors. Seattle goes on to cite the impor- “dust,” and so “responds more lovingly”
tance of human remains and their “rest- to his people’s “footsteps” than those of
ing place,” which is “hallowed ground.” non-Natives. This suggests that the land
This argument anticipates the Native itself can respond with a “sympathetic
American Graves and Protection Repa- touch” to people; it is not an inanimate
triation Act. In this view, spiritual and object. The sacred interaction between
physical remains of relatives are con- humans and the natural environment is
nected to specific lands and waters. At an important belief. In 1991, Vi Hilbert, a
these places, ancestors may return to the member of the closely related Upper
living “to visit, guide, console, and com- Skagit Tribe, said in an interview, “Just
fort them.” Seattle’s entire speech argues because it is an inanimate object doesn’t
for safe passage to sacred burial grounds, mean that it doesn’t have life” (Hilbert,
so the people can sustain ties with spirit- 7). So the belief continues.
relatives. In 1971, Fred Perry wrote a film script
Seattle also describes other religious loosely based on Seattle’s speech, which
practices in this speech. Dreams and vi- was copied in many forms, including the
sionary images are the vehicles for com- children’s book Brother Eagle Sister Sky.
munication, and the elders and religious However, these other versions of the
people are crucial community leaders. speech show “Indian” stereotypes rather
Religious experience is heartfelt, rather than accurate representations of
than text-based. Duwamish and Suquamish people. The
Spirits of departed people are impor- derivative versions simplify the political
tant in this speech, since they continue and religious concerns of Native people
to affect the living, even immigrants to to make them conform to the “noble sav-
the city named after Seattle. They appear age” stereotype. Errors appear in Perry’s
especially “at eventide”; at that time of speech, such as a reference to the
day, people may “greet shadowy return- slaughter of buffalo, which occurred
ing spirits.” These spirits provide contin- twenty years later. According to the
uing power to their descendants. Suquamish Museum, the Duwamish Na-
Seattle stresses the religious impor- tion accepts the earliest published ver-
tance of land to his people in his speech sion, the Henry A. Smith speech, as the
when he asserts, “Every part of this soil is most authentic.
sacred in the estimation of my people.” Like the Oglala Lakota holy man Black
Every place in the landscape is part of his Elk, Seattle practiced Catholicism as well
people’s experience, and the story of a as his own Native religion. When Seattle
“sad or happy event” connects to specific died, he was buried “according to the
177
Christianity, Indianization of ________________________________________________________________
rites of the Catholic Church with Indian on the Christian people and churches
customs added” (Bagley 1931). The great that came among us.
leader and orator succeeded in blending Contact with European explorers and
religious practices that fit an emerging early settlers invariably meant that Na-
hybrid culture that continues to this day. tive people came in contact with some
Denise Low-Weso form of Christianity. Probably the earliest
See also Black Elk; Ceremony and Ritual, contact Native people had with Chris-
Northwest; Law, Legislation, and Native tianity occurred in the Southwest and in-
Religion; Missionization, Northwest; terior of the continent, with Roman
Religious Leadership, Northwest;
Repatriation, Spiritual and Cultural Catholics and Roman Catholic mission-
Implications; Sacred Societies, Northwest aries. Later, on the East Coast, contact
Coast would have been with Protestants. Mis-
References and Further Reading sionary zeal for Indian souls caused some
Bagley, Clarence. 1931. “Chief Seattle and
Angeline.” Washington Historical
to kill Native people who did not want to
Quarterly 22, no. 4. become Christians. In other locations
Chief Seattle Arts. “Chief Seattle.” missionaries literally fought one another
http//www.chiefseattle.com/history/
for rights to Indian souls. This caused
chiefseattle/chief.htm
Furtwangler, Albert. 1997. Answering Chief embarrassment among the Quakers, who
Seattle. Seattle: University of Washington proposed an assignment process for Na-
Press.
tive nations farther west, and the Quaker
Hilbert, Vi. 1991. “The Man with the
Longhouse Voice.” Raven Chronicles 1, Plan was put into effect as federal policy
no. 1: 7. from 1874 to 1890. A single denomina-
Kaiser, Rudolf. 1987. “Chief Seattle’s
tion was assigned as the official and ex-
Speech(es): American Origins and
European Reception.” Pp. 497–536 in clusive mission to each Native commu-
Recovering the Word: Essays on Native nity. Today on Western reservations most
American Literature. Edited by Brian residents will belong to one Christian de-
Swann and Arnold Krupat. Berkeley:
University of California Press. nomination. This does not mean that
participation in Christianity is to the ex-
clusion of participation in tribal cere-
monies. In fact the unique ability of Na-
Christianity, Indianization tive people to tolerate high degrees of
ambiguity allows us to participate in
of
seemingly conflicting events with ease.
Christianity in its many forms came The Native American ability to move be-
among Native peoples through a variety tween multiple realities gives us the abil-
of means. The assumption of missionar- ity to be open to multiple religious reali-
ies was that they would have an impact ties and not have to demand an exclusive
on Native people. In reality, Native people allegiance or exclusive participation. This
and culture have had a profound impact ability often confused missionaries.
178
_______________________________________________________________ Christianity, Indianization of
Christianity does not come into Na- of Native Christians gave them an alle-
tive American communities clean. It is giance stronger than any rebuke.
usually in collusion with the governmen- Native American people learned early
tal officials who seek land or control of on to distinguish the teachings of Chris-
Native people. Christianity is also in col- tianity from the institution of the church
lusion with education, often being the and the white people who did not neces-
vehicle of acculturation and alienation sarily live by Christian customs. This
from families and communities. Even so, practice enabled Native Americans to use
missionaries are influenced by Native the values and ethics of Christianity as re-
people and often advocate for us and be- inforcement for our own traditions, and
have in sharp contrast to other whites. we even adjusted our traditions in light of
After the Minnesota-Santee war of 1862, Christian teachings. For example, among
for example, missionaries petitioned the Lakota retaliation was expected,
President Lincoln to have military court since it balanced a wrong. Christian for-
cases reviewed. The result was 39 execu- giveness extinguishes the need for retali-
tions rather than 303—still the largest ation. That adjustment would not have
mass execution in U.S. history. Mission- been possible had Lakotas not been able
aries who were positively influenced by to see the value of Christian teachings
their relationship with Native people separate from the behavior of white
made that effort. Missionaries were the Christians. Christianity has become such
major opponents of a governmental pol- an integrated part of some Native Ameri-
icy of genocide proposed by Benjamin can communities that ethnographers
Franklin and others. state that Christianity might as well be a
Native Christians exhibit profound al- traditional Indian religion.
legiance to Christianity. Previous to the In early relationships with a particular
1862 war, Dakotas who had converted to Native American community, mission-
Christianity established a utopian com- aries depended on specific individuals
munity based on the New Testament. No as interpreters and for advice. The coop-
white community in the region had at- eration of the missionary with Native
tempted to embody Christian life. The people usually resulted in dictionaries
bylaws of the Hazelwood Republic were and initial translations of prayers,
based exclusively on Christian teachings. hymns, and scriptural passages into the
Even though none of the members of local Native language. Bible histories
this community participated in the 1862 were generated, as were grammar
war, however, the community was forced books, theology textbooks, and aca-
to disband. Its members were arrested demic materials for schools. Naturally,
and removed from Minnesota because that necessitated the invention of a writ-
they were Indians. The exiles continued ing system to preserve language and
their faith in Christianity. The devotion ideas across time and distance. These
179
Christianity, Indianization of ________________________________________________________________
materials preserved a high-quality form personal hymn, much as one would have
of that particular Native language and had a traditional drum song. People will
would become educational materials for ask to have their hymn sung on impor-
future generations of Native Americans tant occasions, or the person might sing
relearning their language. In some in- the hymn at a church service as an offer-
stances Native languages are redefined ing to the community and to God. In
to include Christian concepts. For ex- some nations, such as the Cheyenne, a
ample, among the Lakota our term Christian drum song tradition was re-
Wakantanka, great power, originally revealed and remains viable today.
ferred to an objective force; Christian Other traditional customs have be-
Lakotas have altered the definition to come a part of church life. Among prairie
mean a personage, as in the term “God.” peoples there is a long-standing custom
The people who initially provided ad- of the medicine bundle. This decorated
vice and translations were normally the bag contained signs of a person’s spiri-
leadership in their local communities, tual experience and power, such as
and they became leaders through the stones from a particular place. In church
church. Often educated and trained by the “medicine bundles” brought to
the missionary, they became significant church would be crocheted or beaded
leaders in negotiating the transition to bags to carry prayer books, hymnals,
the reservation. In fact, at a time when Bibles, and rosaries. The feasting tradi-
no other white institution was inter- tion of nearly every Native American
ested, the church for several generations community enhances church teaching
raised up Native American leaders. about Holy Communion, but in Indian
These Native Christian leaders were the country the feast after the Communion
new form of the traditional leader, who service is perhaps more important than
must always have a strong spiritual base the church service—if effort and partici-
in order to lead properly. pation are indicators.
Hymns are probably one of best- The collusion of Christianity with at-
known aspects of Christian life. Native tempts to change Native American cul-
people use them in our own unique way. ture and values affected virtually every
Hymns were translated into local lan- Native American community for at least
guages in a collaborative effort between two generations. Today many elders feel
the missionary and the tribal people. Na- threatened and act hostilely toward
tive American communities have a long younger Native people who are recon-
tradition of personal songs, and all Na- necting with our tribal traditions. Yet it is
tive women and men would have some Native Christian thinking that provides
song they would sing at significant times the theory for validation of the tribal tra-
in their lives. When hymns become avail- ditions that were demeaned a century
able, Native people select one as their ago.
180
_______________________________________________________________ Christianity, Indianization of
Contemporary Native American monies or from the Sun Dance or pipe

Christians have developed a theology ceremonies are used instead of hymns.
that includes tribal traditions. The He- Garments and altar hangings reflect the
brew Scriptures have been termed “The arts tradition of that particular Native
Old Testament” by Christians for many American culture. Holy water will be
generations. Native American Christians used for water ceremonies upon gather-
see that Old Testament as the history of ing. Statuary and wall decorations are
God’s relationship with the Jewish peo- the forms from that cultural tradition.
ple. But God was also active in Native Ceremonial movement in church is the
American communities long before the circular format of the Native community.
presence of missionaries. Our tribal tra- Eventually Christian theology will be ar-
ditions and ceremonies are our “Old Tes- ticulated through the values, symbols,
tament.” They embody the history of stories, and insights of that Native Amer-
God’s revelation to us and form the foun- ican community, rather than by Euro-
dation of everything we do as a church. centric theological concepts. Eventually,
Our oral teachings have the status of the Christian church in that Native
printed scriptures. Elders are the learned American community will look and
theologians of Native America. The sym- sound like what it is: a traditional Indian
bols and themes in our tribal traditions religion.
are the groundwork for understanding Martin Brokenleg
the teachings of Jesus. If, for example, See also Kiowa Indian Hymns;
our traditions teach us to live as good rel- Missionization, Alaska; Missionization,
atives, then our understandings of what California; Missionization, Great Lakes;
Missionization, Kiowa-Comanche-Apache
Jesus taught are explanations of how to Reservation; Missionization, Northeast;
live as good relatives. The self-offering of Missionization, Northern Plains;
Jesus on the cross is understood by Lako- Missionization, Northwest; Missionization,
Southeast; Missionization, Southwest
tas as the offering of a sun dancer. The
cross is the sun dance tree.
Brokenleg, M. 1987. “The Pipe and Cross:
This process of inculturation is the Varieties of Religious Expression in
process by which Christianity clothes it- Dakota.” In A Common Land, A Diverse
People. Edited by Thompson, H. F., A. R.
self in the garments of a specific culture,
Huseboe, and S. O. Looney, Sioux Falls,
and Native American Christians are en- SD: Nordland Heritage Foundation.
gaged in that dynamic now. Native Chris- ———.1998. “That the People May Live.” In
tians have agreed on which traditional Preaching Justice. Edited by C. M. Smith.
Cleveland: United Church Press.
customs express Christianity the best. If Cochran, M. E. 2000. Dakota Cross-Bearer.
a Native nation bathes in sacred smoke Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
to begin gatherings, then that custom is Deloria, E. C. 1983. Speaking of Indians.
Vermillion: University of South Dakota.
adopted at the beginning of a church ser- Kidwell, Cara Sue, Homer Noley, and
vice. Drum songs from sweatlodge cere- George E. “Tink” Tinker. 2001. A Native
181
Christianity, Kiowa ___________________________________________________________________________
American Theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis the Euro-American tradition embody

Books. fewer sociocultural functions and mean-
Tinker, George E. 1993. Missionary
Conquest. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. ings than do the traditional ritual or sa-
Treat, J. 1996. Native and Christian. New cred clowns of Native American societies.
York: Routledge. European and American clowns appear
at secular performances such as circuses
or theaters (but don’t forget medieval
Christianity, Kiowa clowns and clowning, which was much
more sacred and transformative, and the
See Kiowa Indian Hymns
holy fools of Russia). Typically, American
Indian clowns appear in sacred contexts.
In addition to their own ceremonies,
Clowns and Clowning
wherein individuals are made into
Throughout much of Native America there clowns, these figures appear at the cere-
is a ritual figure that those in the West find monies of others and mock them along
most like the clowns and court jesters of with those who attend. At large public
the European tradition. Called heyoka ceremonies, they may dance out of step,
among the Lakota, Koyemshi among the sing out of tune, and imitate the orations
Pueblos, and Pe heipe among the Maidu of of ritual officiants or political figures.
California, these figures are simultane- They will dress inappropriately, beg food,
ously funny, foolish, provocative, authori- give food away, or act the glutton. They
tative, transgressive, and subversive. They use ritual regalia in inappropriate ways,
are inherently self-contradictory and often engage in foolish, humorous, or even ob-
regarded as the most powerful of medicine scene side-shows, often with respected
people or dancers. They incorporate parts members of the community, and then as-
of the roles of teacher, philosopher, editor, sume the role of police and orchestrate
ironist, police, doctor, priest, and perhaps the movements of those in attendance. In
others. In mythology, they are often pres- other contexts they may speak or act
ent in the early stages of creation. They are backwardly, inverting their meaning, say-
frequently associated with the land of the ing “yes” when they mean “no”; they may
dead. In some societies, the responsibility dry themselves with water and wash
of assuming this role is studiously avoided. themselves with dust, or wear hot clothes
As a result it is rare that one ever chooses in summer and very little in winter.
the role. Rather, people are recruited into
the role by some form of dream, accident, The Southwestern Clowns
illness, or selection by an elder. The sociological role and function of
One may use the term “clown” and clowning is related to the social organi-
refer to what they do as “clowning,” but zation of the society in which the clowns
we should remember that the clowns of appear. Among the town-dwelling
182
________________________________________________________________________ Clowns and Clowning
Kurena societies of clowns respectively

associated with summer and maturing
plants, and winter and growing plants, at
Zia and Laguna, Jemez, and Isleta Pueb-
los. Zuni and Hopi peoples complicate
this pattern, the former with their
Ne’wekwe and Koyemshi, and the latter
with multiple clowning societies, includ-
ing the Wuwuchim and Tataukyamu.
Although all of these societies engage
in some form of buffoonery, they are all
also responsible for other matters in dif-
ferent degrees and proportions. In fact,
the most common function of the
clowns is to serve as a kind of sergeant-
at-arms who preserves order even as
they undermine it. At Cochiti Pueblo, the
clown societies are concerned with fertil-
ity, the crops, and communal welfare. At
Diné man bedecked in hemlock boughs and Zia Pueblo they specialize in rainmaking
mask of a clown associated with the and fructifying the earth. At Laguna
mischievous rain god Tonenili, “Water
Sprinkler,” January 6, 1905. (Library of Congress) Pueblo the clowns cure disease and re-
move evil. At Santo Domingo Pueblo,
(Pueblo) intensive agriculturalists of the they represent men before the deities.
American Southwest whose societies are At Zuni, ritual clowning is more for-
organized into descent groups such as mal. There are two groups: the Koyemshi
moieties and clans, clowning is most and the Ne’wekwe. In the first, ten men
elaborated. Among the hunter-gatherers selected to serve for a year make
of the Eastern woodlands and sub-Arctic monthly prayer-stick offerings, attend
regions, where society is organized along summer dances for rain, and play at the
the lines of age and gender, clowning is November Shalako ceremony. Their
least structured. masks are in the care of a ritual priest.
In the Southwest, where Pueblo soci- They are held in awe, being most feared
ety (Diné society is not organized as and loved by the townspeople. Unlike
such) is organized into two units that are the Koyemshi, who are concerned with
mirrors of each other, often referred to as rainmaking and who do not cure, the
summer people and winter people, so Ne’wekwe do effect cures. The former’s
too are the clowning societies organized. antics, however, are ritualized; the lat-
We find complementary Koshare and ter’s are improvised. These Koyemshi are
183
Clowns and Clowning _________________________________________________________________________
considered to be the more sacred and charm). One who begrudges them
outrageous in their buffoonery, as they anything will meet swift and terrible
retribution. (Bunzel 1932, 521)
are inclined to joke in a sexual idiom.
The ethnographer Matilda Coxe
Stevenson describes her observations In their study of Mayo-Yaqui clowns,
of Zuni clowns in the late nineteenth Parsons and Beals identify four different
century: clown groups at First and Third Mesas,
and the transplanted Tewa community
Each man endeavors to excel his of First Mesa: a group “who wear their
fellows in buffoonery and in eating
repulsive things, such as bits of old
hair like young girls, bunched on each
blanket or splinters of wood. They bite side, or who wear a wig, and paint black
off the heads of living mice and chew around eyes and mouth or red stripes
them, tear dogs limb from limb, eat across the face”; a group “who paint in
the intestines and fight over the liver
black and white bands with black circles
like hungry wolves. . . . The one who
swallows the largest amount of filth around mouth and eyes and wear their
with the greatest gusto is most hair in two vertical pokes or horns bound
commended by the fraternity and with corn husk”; a group “who wear a
onlookers. A large bowl of urine is knobby cotton mask smeared with red
handed by a Koyemshi, who receives it
clay with turkey feathers tied to the
from a woman on the housetop, to a
man of the fraternity, who, after knobs, and a shabby black woolen loin
drinking a portion, pours the cloth, hardly a kilt, over their reddened
remainder over himself by turning the body”; and a group “who wear all kinds
bowl over his head. Women run to the of grotesque masks and clothes or ap-
edge of the roof and empty bowls of
pear without masks according to the
urine over the Newekwe and
Koyemshi. (Stevenson 1904, 437) roles they are for the time being enact-
ing. . . . They are little but comedians or
In her study of Zuni ceremonialism attendants upon the katchina” (ibid.,
performed in the 1920s, Ruth Bunzel 492–493).
notes: Of the pueblos that have a dual social
organization and complementary
The Koyemshi are sacred clowns clowning societies—that is, at Cochiti,
privileged to mock at anything, and to
Zia, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Jemez, Santo
indulge in any obscenity. They are the
most feared and the most beloved of Domingo, and Laguna, as well as both
all the Zuni impersonations. They are Hopi and Zuni—the Koshare type of
possessed of black magic; in their clown tends to paint in black and white
drums they have the wings of black stripes. They also typically wear corn
butterflies that can make girls
(sexually) crazy. In the knobs of their
husks in their hair, giving a horned ap-
masks is soil from the footprints of pearance. The Kurena type vary a great
townspeople (a widely used love deal in their appearance.
184
These clowns, as teachers by misdi- painted masks” (Parsons and Beals 1934,
rection, are not concerned only with in- 500). These clowns have direct control
ternal social and cultural matters. They over the weather and fertility as well as
also burlesque the stranger, satirizing warrior functions. They don’t speak and
the behavior of Anglo tourists, mission- perpetually pray when masked, carrying
aries, Mexicans, and non-Pueblo Indians the crucifix of a rosary in their mouths.
who live in the area, by exaggerating They abstain from sexual intercourse
what the Pueblos find most distinctive in and stay with their fellow clowns, who
those persons; they imitate Anglos with are called Fariseos (Pharisees), Diablos
their cameras, Catholic priests and bish- (devils), and soldados del Pilato (soldiers
ops with their ritual Masses, Mexicans of Pilate), after characters in the Gospels.
and their bullfighting, and Diné (Navajo) They, too, imitate other dancers, reverse
tribal politicians. actions, take fright at the inconsequen-
Consistent with the sacred clowns’ tial, run away, fall down, and pretend to
distinctive characteristic of dynamically eat filth. Positively, they are “guardians of
embodying opposites within their per- the image of Christ and act as messen-
sons, many of these clown societies have gers, wood cutters and water carriers at
their mythological origins at the time of all small household fiestas” (ibid., 503).
the creation of human beings, or as the They act as police during Lent, being
result of some terrible human transgres- particularly attentive to sexual infrac-
sion. At Zia Pueblo, for example, it was tions, and as undertakers.
both the Koshare and the kwiraina There are clownlike figures among the
clowns who led human beings in the sec- Athabascan peoples of the Southwest
ond and third worlds. The Zuni Koyemshi who moved into the region in the last
originate as the outcome of incest be- millennium although their symbolism
tween a brother and sister charged with appears to be derived from the indige-
the responsibility of finding a place for nous Puebloan peoples. The Diné have
the people to live. their nenili and djajini, the Havasupai
In the southern Sonoran desert of their gidji. All three play pranks and serve
Mexico, where the Indian people such as as police. The Jicarilla and the Mescalaro
the Yaqui integrated Christianity into Apache, as well as the Pima and Papago
their spirituality centuries ago, the peoples, have their clowns, though they
clowns appear during Lent and Holy are not organized into societies.
Week. “Wearing grotesque masks and
performing ridiculous antics, they run in California, Northwest Coast, Plains,
small groups from house to house and Eastern Woodlands
through the fields and woods, begging Maidu clowns in California were ap-
for food, money, or even a few gay flow- pointed by the heads of ritual societies
ers to adorn their already brightly and occupied the office for life. They
185
were distinguished by a necklace of The diversity of Plains Indian cultures

acorns, and by the cane and pipe they presents a similar diversity of clown
carried. During ceremonies they orated, types. Among the Arapaho and Gros
sometimes in a backward fashion, held Ventre, Mandan and Hidatsa, sodalities
dialogues with ritual officiants, joked, of men approximately the same chrono-
lied, malingered, simulated fights with logical age such as the Crazy Lodge
imaginary animals, fell into large water acted in clownish ways, speaking in the
baskets, stole, begged and ate food at in- contrary manner and served as healers.
appropriate moments, and imitated oth- Kiowas, Arikaras, and Pawnees all had
ers. At the same time they acted as au- societies that had clownlike behavior
thority figures, taking serious roles in repertoires. The Cheyenne had two con-
some contexts. They were present at the trary societies, neither age-graded, and
creation in one version of a Maidu myth, both were associated with thunder and
and so clowns also announced the be- lightning. The Assiniboine have a Fool’s
ginning of a new day and exhorted the Dance in which the dancers clown in
people to get on with their work. spectacular fashion. All of these soci-
The nearby Patwin people had similar eties share a small set of ritual symbols,
clowns, though among the Pomo and Yuki including contrary speech and action,
they were associated exclusively with bird-bone whistles, and the use of red
Ghost Society performances. The Miwok paint.
and Yokuts people had clowns associated Among the best known indigenous rit-
with Coyote, and the people of southern ual clowns are the heyoka, which appear
California had clowns associated with fire. in all of the Siouan groups. Speaking and
On the Northwest Coast, in one of acting in a contrary manner, and re-
North America’s richest environments, garded as the most powerful of medicine
the sedentary villages of the Kwak- people, these clowns are intimately asso-
wak’wakw, Bella Coola, and Nuu-chah- ciated with thunder; they ritually tran-
nulth had their clown societies, which scend the power of fire as they remove
were associated with madness ; clowns meat from a boiling kettle in their own
worked as attendants and messengers clown-making ceremony. They appear at
for the Hamatsa or Cannibal Society, the various social dances. The dress of these
highest ranking secret society. Long- clowns varies with locality and vision;
nosed masks were characteristic of these some appear nearly naked, though
impersonators. The Haida, Tlingit, and strangely painted, others in ragged
Tsimshian had individuals who acted in clothes including leggings, bark hats,
either a clownish or jesterlike fashion as and bark earrings. Lakota also clown at
well. The Swinomish, Snoqualmie, Sno- ritual New Year’s celebrations for the
homish, and Lummi clowns were both healing of their relatives, and to bring joy
police figures and buffoons. to the community.
186
On the Northern Plains, the Crow, to him and offers to lead him to the
Blackfoot, Assiniboine, Plains Cree, and “holy home” of the masked dancers.
He follows. The mountainside opens
Ojibway all had clown societies as well as
to admit them. Then he is conducted
individuals practicing many of the be- through four doors, passing four
haviors characteristic of other Plains obstacles and entering four separate
contraries. chambers. Animals and supernaturals
In the Eastern woodlands, ritual clown of all kinds offer him a great power.
Advised by the clown, he refuses all of
behavior emerges in the context of the
these, and at the end of the last
Haudenausaunee False and Husk Face chamber the masked dancers are
societies, wherein members recruited by waiting for him. Their power he
visions wear ragged clothes and masks; accepts. And spends four nights
they perform cures and beg. Unlike so learning all the details of the ceremony
and the designs to be painted on the
many of the Plains clowns, however, they
persons and paraphernalia of the
do not use contrary speech nor go to war. dancers. The clown conducts him back
Among the Algonquian-speaking to the door, and then the Apache finds
Delaware people, the Solid Face masks himself awake at the place where he
are the analogue to the False Faces. lay down to rest. (Opler 1938, 76)
Penobscot and Wabnaki people of Maine
had clowns who mediated trade between Similarly, the heyoka of the Sioux are
unfamiliar partners. Finally among the also recruited by supernatural means.
Cherokee we find the Booger Dance, Insofar as the Thunderbird—a creature
which incorporates clown symbolism. living to the west who itself is a series of
contradictory powers—is understood to
Becoming a Clown be antinatural, those that dream of him,
Although occasionally destined to play or one of his messengers, are required to
fools, clowns engage in very serious act as clowns and to forestall retribution
business. As such, recruitment into in the form of illness to themselves or
clownship reflects this. On the pueblos, members of their family. Among the far
people tend to be clowns for life. They less individualistic pueblo peoples, re-
are recruited by having been cured cruitment into clown societies may be
themselves of a malady, having made a hereditary. This also appears to be true
pledge, being given to the clown society among Maidu people.
by their parents, or by trespass by appli-
cation. Among the Chiracahua and Significance, Function, and Meaning
Mescalaro Apache, for example: Scholars and others have long specu-
lated on the meaning of ritual clown
An Apache may stop at some wall of
rock in the mountains and sleep there performances. In the nineteenth cen-
for the night. At that place he has a tury, when an evolutionist paradigm was
vision experience. The clown appears ascendant, travelers, missionaries, and
187
soldiers were typically shocked by the and privileged figures in both the consti-
behavior of the clowns. Often their de- tution and subversion of culture as a par-
scriptions of clowns were in the service ticular structural and symbolic order.
of their judgments of the moral and so- Clowns play a role in the emergence of
cial stage of development of the people antistructure, a condition by which the
they were writing about. With the ad- normal relations that organized society
vent of cultural relativism in the early were reversed. Freed from the normal
twentieth century, scholars made a constraints on behavior and thought,
greater effort to understand the signifi- this is a creative and generative chaos.
cance of clowning. Because most schol- British social anthropologist Mary
ars understood societies in functionalist Douglas’s thinking about jokes is seminal
terms, they wondered how clowns con- in this approach. “By revealing the arbi-
tributed to social stability. Notable trary, provisional nature of the very cate-
among the first generation of explana- gories of thought, by lifting their pres-
tions is the idea that clowns provide sure for a moment and suggesting other
comic relief and release from strain in ways of structuring reality, the joke rite
serious ritual circumstances. This might [or clown performance] in the middle of
be called the psychological steam valve sacred moments of religion hints at un-
interpretation. The view is well repre- fathomable mysteries” (Douglas 1968,
sented by Lucille Hoerr Charles, who 374).
draws upon the psychology of C. G. Jung Clowns then point to the idea and par-
in her interpretation. adox that cultural order itself is a con-
The clown “is a priest . . . performing a struction. The very capacity to have that
rite both in his own and in our behalf. insight, however, requires a system of
And what is this rite? It is the locating, categories of thought and the under-
naming, bringing to a head, and express- standing that those too are arbitrary.
ing of a psychological element which has Robert Brightman’s analysis of Maidu
been causing trouble in the uncon- clown performances takes off from this
scious; a renegade element, which for interpretation and represents the most
the sake of self-integration and further recent anthropological understanding of
progress in personal living should be the clown’s significance: “Maidu clown
brought up to consciousness, released, and other ritual clowns of the subversive
to a certain extent experienced and con- cast exhibit the Janus-faced capacity to
sciously related to, and so assimilated point both towards and away from re-
into the personality of the beholder” ceived convention, at once legitimizing
(Charles 1945, 32). the cultural order as naturally given and
With the emergence of interest in cul- establishing it as artificially contrived”
ture as a structured symbolic system, (Brightman 1999, 272). The author goes
clowns came to be seen as important on to show that performances dramatize
188
the relationship between conformity blow the dome off the Capitol. I have
and authority and between individual told you that I once worked as a rodeo
clown. This was almost like doing
dispositions and the collective life in a
spiritual work. Being a clown for me,
society where those issues were compli- came close to being a medicine man.
cated by the presence of an underclass It was in the same nature. (Erdoes and
that represented an ongoing critique of Lame Deer 1971, 236)
the status quo. Clowns mediate and
translate. Opposites meet within their And finally, Tewa Indian anthropolo-
very bodies. They express the relation- gist, Alfonzo Ortiz (1972, 147) expresses
ships “between inside and outside, self the reflexive aspect of what clowns do:
and other, creation and destruction, “Of burlesque and caricature generally, it
order and chaos” (Babcock 1984, 120). can be said that they best permit insights
into Pueblo modes of conception since
Native Interpretation they reveal what the Pueblos find serious
Native thinking about clowns runs paral- or absurd, baffling or wrong, fearful or
lel to these more recent scholarly efforts. comical about life and about other peo-
Morris Opler worked among Apache ple. When these center about the lives of
people in the middle of the twentieth other people, they can be particularly in-
century. A medicine man told him, “Peo- structive. The wonder is that this has
ple think that the clown is just nothing, gone almost completely unrecognized
that he is just for fun. This is not so. When by ethnographers” (Hieb 1972, 147).
I make other masked dancers and they Larry Nesper
do not set things right or they can’t find
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho;
out something, I make that clown and he Dance, Plains; Green Corn Ceremony;
never fails. Many people who know Masks and Masking; Power, Plains; Sacred
about these things say that the clown is Societies, Plains; Spiritual and Ceremonial
Practitioners
the most powerful” (Opler 1965, 276).
From the Plains, the Lakota holy man References and Further Reading
Babcock, Barbara. 1984. “Arrange Me into
Lame Deer reflects on the meaning of the Disorder: Fragments and Reflections on
clowns: Ritual Clowning.” Pp. 102–128 in Rite,
Drama, Festival, Spectacle: Rehearsals
To us the clown is somebody sacred, Toward a Theory of Cultural
funny, powerful, ridiculous, bold, Performance. Edited by J. MacAloon.
shameful, visionary. He is all this and Philadelphia: ISHI.
Beck, Peggy V., and Anna L. Walters. 1977.
then some more. Fooling around, a
“Sacred Fools and Clowns.” Chapter 13
clown is really performing a spiritual
in The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge,
ceremony. He has a power. It comes Sources of Life. Tsaile, AZ: Navajo
from the thunder-beings, not the Community College.
animals or the earth. In our Indian Brightman, Robert. 1999. “Traditions of
belief, a clown has more power than Subversion and the Subversion of
the atom bomb. This power could Tradition: Cultural Criticism in Maidu
189
Crow Dog, Leonard ____________________________________________________________________________
Clown Performances.” American Parsons, Elsie, and Ralph Beals. 1934.

Anthropologist 101, no. 2: 272–287. “Sacred Clowns of the Pueblo and Mayo-
Bunzel, Ruth. 1932. “Introduction to Zuni Yaqui Indians.” American Anthropologist
Ceremonialism.” Forty-Seventh Annual 36, no. 4: 491–514.
Report of the Bureau of American Stevenson, Matilde Coxe. 1904. “The Zuni
Ethnology for the Years 1929–1930, Indians: Their Mythology, Esoteric
467–544. Washington: Bureau of Fraternities and Ceremonies.” Pp. 3–634
American Ethnology. in Twenty-Third Annual Report of the
Charles, Lucille H. 1945. “The Clown’s Bureau of American Ethnology for the
Function.” Journal of American Folklore Years 1901–1902. Washington, DC:
58: 25–35. Bureau of American Ethnology.
Crumrine, N. Ross. 1969. “Capakoba, the Steward, Julian H. 1991. The Clown in
Mayo Easter Ceremonial Impersonator: Native North America. New York:
Explanations of Ritual Clowning.” Garland.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion Tedlock, Barbara. 1975. “The Clown’s Way.”
8: 1–22. Pp. 105–118 in Teachings from the
Douglas, Mary. 1968. “The Social Control of American Earth: Indian Religion and
Cognition: Some Factors in Joke Philosophy. Edited by Dennis Tedlock
Perception.” Man 3, no. 2: 361–376. and Barbara Tedlock. New York:
Erdoes, Richard, and John Fire (Lame Deer). Liveright.
1971. Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions. New
York: Simon and Schuster.
Handelman, Don. 1981. “The Ritual Clown:
Attributes and Affinities.” Anthropos 76:
321–370. Crow Dog, Leonard
Hieb, Louis A. 1972. “Meaning and
Mismeaning: Toward an Understanding (1941–)
of the Ritual Clown.” Pp. 163–195 in New
Perspectives on the Pueblos. Edited by A. (Spiritual leader/activist, Lakota)
Ortiz. Albuquerque: University of New Leonard Crow Dog is a spiritual leader
Mexico Press. active in the contemporary fight for reli-
Honigmann, John J. 1942. “An
Interpretation of the Socio- gious freedom among American Indian
Psychological Functions of the Ritual nations. During the 1970s he played a
Clown.” Character and Personality 10: key role in the political and spiritual ac-
20–226.
Lewis, Thomas H. 1974. “The heyoka Cult in tivism of the American Indian Move-
Historical and Contemporary Oglala ment (AIM), and was a central player in
Society.” Anthropos 69: 2–32. the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee.
Opler, Morris E. 1938. “The Sacred Clowns
of the Chiricahua and Mescalero
The significance of Leonard Crow
Indians.” El Palacio 44, no. 10: 75–79. Dog’s contributions to American Indian
———. 1965. An Apache Life-way: The Religion cannot be measured without
Economic, Social and Religious
some understanding of the historical
Institutions of the Chiricahua Indians.
Introduction by Charles R. Kaut. Lincoln: conditions that prevailed on U.S. reser-
University of Nebraska Press. vations prior to the AIM uprising at
Ortiz, Alfonzo 1972. “Ritual Drama and the Wounded Knee in 1973. The fact that In-
Pueblo Worldview.” In New Perspectives
on the Pueblos. Edited by A. Ortiz. dians today may observe traditional cer-
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico. emonies in relative freedom is to a large
190
___________________________________________________________________________ Crow Dog, Leonard
American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Russell Means (left) gets an application of war paint from
Lakota medicine man Crow Dog just prior to a cease-fire agreement between federal forces and AIM
leaders occupying the historic hamlet of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, March 8, 1973. (Bettmann/
UPI/Corbis)
extent due to the acts of Leonard Crow visions and dreams in Black Elk Speaks
Dog and a few other brave men and could take place only after Neihardt as-
women who risked their lives to restore sured concerned whites on the Rosebud
basic religious rights following more Reservation that his project was poetic
than a hundred years of illegal repres- rather than politically subversive. Black
sion. Crow Dog’s vocation as the most Elk himself lived an ambiguous exis-
important Lakota Medicine Man of the tence, serving for decades as a Catholic
twentieth century cannot then be mean- catechist while preserving his dreams,
ingfully distinguished from his identity knowledge, and sacred things in private.
as Sioux warrior, a man who has repeat- The German Catholic priests who came
edly confronted death in the fight for re- to proselytize the Sioux Nation in the
ligious liberties that are regularly en- early twentieth century quite simply
joyed by mainstream society. viewed Lakota religion as the work of
It bears remembering that John Nei- Satan, a demonic force to be vigorously
hardt’s transcription of “Nick” Black Elk’s opposed and extinguished. Many Lakota
191
Crow Dog, Leonard ____________________________________________________________________________
on both the Rosebud and Pine Ridge of how the “dead” ways of the past might
reservations converted to Catholicism, reassert themselves with a vengeance.
or they hid their most cherished rituals Ironically, when Crow Dog was impris-
and customs far from the eyes of fearful oned by the federal government on
whites. The Ghost Dance itself, which trumped-up charges, it was the National
was performed not far from St. Francis Council of Churches that raised funding
on the Rosebud, was brutally terminated for his defense.
by horrified witnesses who feared its In the years following AIM’s takeover
possible success. Those Lakota who did of Wounded Knee, Crow Dog oversaw
not succumb to European religion con- Lakota religious revivalism in South
tinued to observe Indian traditions pri- Dakota and elsewhere when Indian reli-
vately, some fully disassociating them- gion was normalized on the reservation.
selves from the manners and customs of Although factions among Indian Chris-
their white conquerors. tians and adherents to traditional rites
The family of Leonard Crow Dog, remain, Crow Dog helped create an envi-
which prided itself on living as ikche ronment in which Indian religion was
wichasha, or “wild natural beings,” were made safe and legitimized. Among the
among those Lakota who preferred to Lakota, Crow Dog restored the Sun
separate themselves, rejecting the Dance and Ghost Dance, the Yuwipi cer-
teachings of Euro-Americans. From his emony, the sweatlodge, the hanbleceya
earliest childhood, Leonard Crow Dog (or “vision quest”), and the sacred pipe.
was recognized for his unusual spiritual He became widely known not only for his
gifts, visions, and dreams, which sealed powers of healing but also for his incred-
his destiny as a Medicine Man. ible generosity and wisdom.
Leonard’s father, Henry Crow Dog, in- Inevitably, Crow Dog’s fame spread
sisted that his son be kept free of the beyond South Dakota, and his talents
white man’s ways of learning, including were sought among Indians and non-In-
reading and writing. Instead, Leonard dians throughout the United States. It
was trained in medicinal, herbal, and only later came to be recognized that
other healing arts, as well as the com- Crow Dog’s vision extended far beyond
plexities of tribal religious ceremonies. the Lakota peoples, as he gradually in-
When AIM swept through Indian society corporated non-Lakota Indian traditions
in the early 1970s, Crow Dog became the within his increasingly Pan-Indian world
most important spiritual force behind view. Crow Dog became an active mem-
the movement, presiding over countless ber and “roadman” in the Native Ameri-
events and ensuring its religious in- can Church, which was introduced
tegrity. At a time when most Indian men among the Lakota in the early 1920s,
feared wearing their hair in braids, Crow founded by the Comanche Quanah
Dog stepped forward as a living example Parker, who developed this form of pey-
192
_________________________________________________________________________________ Cry Ceremony
ote religion in western Oklahoma and See also American Indian Movement (Red
the American Southwest. For Crow Dog, Power Movement); Christianity,
Indianization of; Law, Legislation, and
distinct varieties of Indian religion offer Native Religion; Native American Church,
complementary paths of worshipping Peyote Movement; Oral Traditions, Lakota
Wakan Tanka, or the creative spirit of (Teton)
Lakota religion, and they must be re- References and Further Reading
Brave Bird, Mary, and Richard Erodes. 1993.
spected as such. The Great Spirit is not Ohitika Woman. New York:
the exclusive property of any one tribe or HarperPerennial.
Indian nation, nor of the ikche wichasha Crow Dog, Mary, and Richard Erodes. 1990.
Lakota Woman. New York:
rather than the iyeska (or “half-breed”).
HarperPerennial.
One indication of the success of Crow Neihardt, John G. 1995. Black Elk Speaks.
Dog in bridging so many disparate In- Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
dian belief systems is apparent in the
growing alarm of some tribes about the
rising hegemony of Lakota religion
Cry Ceremony
today, especially in contexts in which in-
digenous customs have nearly disap- The Cry, also known as Yakappi, Burn-
peared. None, however, dispute the suc- ing, and Powwow, is a mourning cere-
cess of Crow Dog or his centrality in mony that Numic and Yuman people
restoring Lakota religion as well as devel- have traditionally used as a means of as-
oping a form of Indian spirituality that sisting departing spirits into the afterlife
freely transgresses tribal, state, and even (Kelly and Fowler 1986, 383). This ritual
national boundaries. event is a very powerful ceremony in-
Crow Dog has been a uniting force for volving the spirit of the departed person,
Native Americans for more than thirty members of the departing spirit’s com-
years, influencing state and federal legis- munity including religious specialists
lation, and helping to make Indian reli- called Salt Song Singers, and a sacred
gion an undeniable fact of contemporary trail that Paiute and Hualapai people tra-
American life. The dynamic nature of his verse on their journey to the afterlife
orientation to Lakota spirituality has (Stoffle et al. 1997, 16).
demonstrated the resilience, power, and According to the Kaibab Paiutes,
vitality of Indian religion, not as a mu- whose aboriginal territories include por-
seum artifact or a field for scholarly in- tions of southern Utah and northern Ari-
quiry, but as a viable alternative to Euro- zona, Coyote is responsible for holding
pean forms of religious expression. Crow the first Cry ceremony. Another origin
Dog’s greatest contribution resides in the story exists among the Chemehuevi
fact that he has helped Indians learn to Paiutes from southern California, who
live with themselves. say that the Locusts initiated the Cry
Christopher Wise with the assistance of Coyote (Sapir
193
Cry Ceremony __________________________________________________________________________________
1930–1931, 2, 347, in Kelly and Fowler from the world to return to this world
1986, 383). In an account recorded by (Mooney 1896, xx).
ethnographer Edward Sapir (1912), the In its original form, ritual specialists
Cry was reportedly taught to the Moapan called Salt Song Singers, or spiritual run-
Southern Paiutes by neighboring Mo- ners, helped recently departed Paiute
javes. Sapir elaborates upon the spread spirits move into the afterlife by means
of the Cry ceremony in his 1930 analysis, of a song trail, or songscape (Stoffle et al.
stating that “the mourning ceremony of 1997, 16). Traditionally, Southern Paiutes
the Colorado River Yumans has been had a system of trails and specialists who
spreading in the Basin as the Cry Dance.” moved along them carrying messages,
According to its origin story a council goods, and services. A knotted string,
was held in the far western country that called tapiticapi (literally “the knotted”),
resulted in the dance. “That place where was sent out via a runner to other Paiute
they had danced turned to stone, and people to inform them of events (Laird
then from its trails arose in all direction. 1976, 26–27, in Stoffle et al. 1996, 16).
It is in this way that the Cry has come to Given the great distances traveled by
be” (ibid., 347). spiritual runners, as well as the diversity
Discussions about the origin of the of the physical and spiritual landscapes
Cry indicate that Southern Paiutes liv- traversed, the ritual specialists required
ing in political districts spanning por- a method that would keep them from
tions of the Mojave Desert, Great Basin, getting lost. The songs of the ritual spe-
and Colorado Plateau adopted the Cry cialists served as memory maps that
under circumstances that were unique helped them to safely journey along
to each place and community. Among these trails. Carobeth Laird, who was
Las Vegas Paiutes, this adoption oc- married to one of the last ritual runners
curred so long ago that the people of from Chemehuevi, indicates that these
the district affirm that they have “al- ritual specialists were responsible for re-
ways had it.” During the late 1860s a membering specific trails as well as the
Northern Paiute known as Wodziwob or trail to the afterlife (Laird 1976).
Fish Lake Joe appears to have further Although there are multiple song-
modified the Cry ritual. In its trans- scapes, there is only one trail to the after-
formed state, this ritual became the life. This sacred pathway is shared by the
basis for the 1870s Ghost Dance (Hitt- Paiute and Hualapai (Stoffle and Zedeño
man 1973). In contrast to the original 2002, 187). Known as the Salt Song Trail,
Cry ceremony, which was designed to this songscape covers a vast territory that
help Paiute spirits into the afterlife, the corresponds directly to the traditional
Ghost Dance was designed to help boundaries of the Numic homeland. It is
Paiute spirits who departed too quickly worth noting that the Paiute and Huala-
194
_________________________________________________________________________________ Cry Ceremony
pai traditionally lived upon opposing help the spirit to journey along the path
sides of the Grand Canyon. Furthermore, that ends in the Grand Canyon. In addi-
the point at which the spirit leaps into tion to guiding the spirit into the after-
the afterlife is a site along the Colorado life, the ritual participants also “dance”
River in the Grand Canyon. In its en- the objects of the person into the other
tirety, the Salt Song Trail runs across world. William Walker (1999, 284) notes,
southern Nevada from the Las Vegas Val- “Ethnography suggests that, by imbuing
ley. Traveling along the Spring Moun- life force into inanimate matter, ritual
tains, it arrives on the northeast side of activities conducted during the manu-
the mountains near Indian Springs. It facture, distribution, use, and reuse of
then goes through Pahrump to Ash certain objects have a direct bearing on
Meadows, comes back south near Eagle whether such objects have afterlives.”
Mountain, travels down the Amargosa During the Cry, the possessions of the
River past Shoshone, and turns at Du- person that has departed are danced into
mont Dunes. It goes up through Baker heaven and then ceremonially burned.
and Soda Lake, then passes south to the In one incident, the horses of a spirit that
Providence Mountains. From there it had recently passed on were “run to
goes to Twenty-nine Palms, to the San death.” According to the cultural logic of
Bernardino Mountains, and turns east the Paiutes, this activity allowed the
toward the Colorado River, crossing into horses to join their spirit companion in
Arizona south of Blythe. After a number the afterlife.
of stops in Arizona the soul traveling the Today there is a growing recognition
Salt Song Trail jumps into the afterlife at of the cultural importance of the Salt
a location along the Colorado River near Song Trail and Salt Songs. In an effort to
the Grand Canyon (Laird 1976 in Stoffle preserve this sacred knowledge, Paiute
and Zedeño 2002, 187). elders recently created a project that
Notification about an upcoming Cry aims to record all of the Salt Songs while
was traditionally given by passing a also returning to the many sites along
knotted string or bundle of sticks from the Salt Song Trail for spiritual, cultural,
community to community. Typically, a and educational purposes.
Cry is held within three months after a Alex K. Carroll
person leaves the physical world. A year See also Dance, Great Basin; Mourning and
later, a second ceremony is held for the Burial Practices; Mourning and Burial,
purpose of completely releasing the Choctaw; Mourning and the Afterlife,
Southwest; Power Places, Great Basin
spirit to the afterlife. During the first cer-
emony, the spirit of a recently departed
Kelly, Isabel, and Catherine Fowler. 1986.
person is assisted by ritual specialist “Southern Paiutes.” In Handbook of
singers and whole communities who North American Indians. Vol.11: Great
195
Cry Ceremony __________________________________________________________________________________
Basin. Edited by Warren L. D’Azevedo. and Yuman Epistemology.” High Plains

Washington, DC: Smithsonian Applied Anthropologist 2, no. 22:
Institution Press. 172–193.
Laird, Carobeth. 1976. The Chemehuevis. Stoffle, Richard W., David B. Halmo, and
Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press. Diane E. Austin. 1997. “Cultural
Sapir, Edward. 1912. “The Mourning Landscapes and Traditional Cultural
Ceremony of the Southern Paiutes.” Properties: A Southern Paiute View of the
American Anthropologist 14, no. 1: Grand Canyon and Colorado River.”
168–169. American Indian Quarterly 21, no. 2:
———. 1930. “Southern Paiute Language.” 229–249.
Proceedings of the American Academy of Walker, William H. 1999. “Ritual, Life
Arts and Sciences 65: 1–3. Histories, and the Afterlives of People
Stoffle, Richard W., and Maria N. Zedeño. and Things.” Journal of the Southwest 41,
2002. “The Concept of ‘Power’ in Numic no. 3: 383–405.
196
D
Dance, Great Basin purpose of celebrating, mourning, or ef-
fecting change.
The Paiutes of the Great Basin have al-
ways danced. Like many indigenous Dances Concentrate Puha
groups, they danced to celebrate, to To understand the social functions of
mourn, and to prepare for war. Less Numic dances, one must first under-
known is the fact that the Numic people stand the concept of Puha, which means
used ritual movement as a primary vehi- “power” in the Numic language. Jay
cle for effecting tangible changes within Miller describes this phenomenon when
their environments and their communi- he writes,
ties. In essence, ritual movement served
as a means of actively engaging the Power is diffused everywhere in
continuous flux and flow, which,
forces of power that constitute the uni-
however, is not haphazard because as
verse. Through the performance of an- an aspect of memory, power is
cient and historic dance rituals, Numic rational. From all available evidence,
people endeavored to bring balance to the routes of concentrated power
the world and to themselves. The com- within the generalized dispersion are
web-like. . . . The web image is
pletion of a great pine nut harvest, the
reflected in the stories where Coyote
death of a cherished loved one, and a assumes the form of a water spider to
change in weather patterns represent the carry humans to land and Sun takes
types of events that were often com- the form of a spider who is webbing
memorated or renegotiated through the the firmament of the universe. (1983,
79–80)
act of dance. In each case the ritual
movements were infused with prayer
Ethnographic accounts and oral his-
and closely tied to the sacred landscapes
tories confirm that among the Numa
in which groups ranging from a handful
the world exists as a matrix of Puha in
to several thousand would gather for the
which everything and everyone is alive
197
Dance, Great Basin ___________________________________________________________________________
and interconnected. Puha at places within the land

is often concentrated in Friends let the that were known as sites
ritual specialists and sa- play commence, of power. Although the
cred ceremonial places, all sing together. physiographic bases of
and whole communities —John Wesley ceremonial sites vary, it is
commonly organize
Powell clear that specific land
their ritual lives around formations including
their relationships to plateaus, caves, rivers,
this phenomenon. The performance of canyons, springs, and mountains are fre-
dance rituals serves as a primary quently understood by the Numic people
method for concentrating Puha. Miller to be areas where Puha concentrates.
writes, “The attraction of power for life “The logic is simple—if knowledge re-
is such that any gathering . . . will con- sides in powerful places, then let us return
centrate it, while a closed dance circle to those places where we can capture it”
contains it for some time. . . . After such (Carroll et al. 2004). At these special sites
a concentration, power apportions itself that Numic people have returned to for
among the participants” (ibid.). countless generations, many forms of rit-
Another means of concentrating Puha ual dance have been regularly performed.
occurs through the enactment of rituals
that open channels of communication be- Types of Dance
tween ritual specialists and forces of Puha John Wesley Powell witnessed the perfor-
such as sacred animals. The mountain mance of ritual dances among the
sheep represents one force that Puha- Numic people during his travels in the
gants have been known to engage through Great Basin and Colorado Plateau be-
ceremonial activities. Kelly and Fowler tween 1869 and 1879. Paramount among
(1986, 384) confirm the concomitance of his observations was a core set of ritual
ritual movement and communication movements used in virtually all Numic
with nonhuman forces. One of Isabel dances. He writes, “They have many
Kelly’s informants, “G,” indicates that spe- dances, but most of them have one thing
cial alliances were forged with animals as in common, that is, the people dance in a
well as other natural forces of Puha during circle, men and women, boys and girls,
dance performances. “There are many and little children taking their places in
songs that go with a circle dance. [They] the circle at random” (Powell MS 798, 12,
sing about the sun, clouds, stars, rabbits, in Fowler and Fowler 1971, 63).
mountain sheep, deer, birds, eagle. . . . In
the fall they have a dance when they are The Round Dance: Nikkappi or
hunting rabbits” (Kelly 1964, 105). Kiyappi
A third means of concentrating Puha The Round Dance, which was also known
occurs through participation in ritual acts as the Circle Dance, Harvest, Pine Nut
198
__________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Great Basin
In a celebration that Powell likened to

a New Year’s Dance, the Numa combined
elementary ritual movements of the
Round Dance with songs that were
passed down from generation to genera-
tion. Powell explains that a cedar tree
stripped of branches was placed in the
center of a large circle. “Around this the
whole band formed a large circle, danc-
ing and singing” (Dellenbaugh 1926,
178). It is quite probable that the pole
served as a focal point through which
participants moved into a state of trance
that allowed them to communicate with
forces of Puha.
Through repetitive movements and
sound, the dancers moved from every-
day awareness into a heightened, trance-
induced state of knowing. “The dancing
was the usual hippity-hop or ‘lope’ side-
Lemhi Shoshone Summer Baldwin dances at ways, each holding the hands with his or
ceremony. (Native Stock Pictures) her neighbors. In the center stood a man,
seeming to be the custodian of the sings
and a poet himself. He would recite a
Rabbit, and Squaw Dance, played a piv- piece, and then all would sing it, circling
otal role in the social organization of the round at the same time” (ibid.).
Numic people of the Great Basin. “Typi- Ritual dances and songs served sev-
cally, men and women, especially young eral functions. First, dances served as a
people, alternated in a circle, each facing mechanism for transferring knowledge
inward, arms linked (interlocking fingers from generation to generation. Kelly
considered ‘new style’; Saint George) and comments that the “songs for circle
moved clockwise” (Kelly 1964, 104–106). dances (are) evidently numerous . . .
Such dancing was accompanied by [and] Sapir [1930, 300] mentions a series
singing, commonly performed by male of over two hundred songs, chiefly cere-
leaders with religious and social stand- monial” (1976, 125).
ing. All of the community participated in The Round Dance was also used as a
the selection of the circle dance leader. vehicle for connecting people with
“They picked the best man, someone not forces of Puha beyond themselves and
too old” (ibid., 105). their immediate communities. Powell
199
Dance, Great Basin ___________________________________________________________________________
recalls witnessing a round dance being standing within dance on their toes with
performed by three elderly women who their heels turned out and body bent for-
were preparing to leave the earth. When ward leaping high into the air” (MS 798,
Powell arrived, the women were looking 12, in Fowler and Fowler 1971, 63).
into the fire and paid little heed to his Although the dance participants of the
presence. Powell wrote that “each one 1870s and 1890s Ghost Dance were
supporting herself by a staff rose to her known to use a shuffling step, there are
feet and they joined in a dance which several important differences between
was a shuffling movement, circling the dance that Powell recorded in his
around the fire. This dance was accom- manuscripts and the Ghost Dance,
panied with the chant that follows: which involved more than thirty-two dif-
ferent ethnic groups across the United
Ai-ai Ai-ai ai-ai States. Powell maintains that the men in
Ai-ai ai-ai ai-ai
the center of the shuffle dance that he
I’van tu’-ni-shump pa-ni-gunt
U-ni-shump uni-shump witnessed used a special musical instru-
I-ai-kwa-vvwan I-ai-kwa-vwan ment throughout their performances. He
writes that they “[bend] forward leaping
Alas, alas, alas high into the air, and as they leap giving a
Alas, alas, alas
Here long enough have I walked the
yell and whirling a musical instrument
earth [probably a Na-mi-mu-it] which they
Here long enough have I walked the hold in their hands and which gives out a
earth curious shriek” (MS 798, 12, MS 831-c, in
Enough, enough
Fowler and Fowler 1971, 64–65).
Let me die, let me die.
(Powell MS 830, in Fowler and Fowler The nanimutanimpi, or “bull roarer”
1971, 61) instrument, is a flat piece of juniper
wood to which a string is attached on
Finally, dances served as a forum for one end. According to Sapir, the bull
publicly commemorating important roarer could be used to make the wind
events and providing a setting in which blow or to attract evil spirits. Conse-
people could meet potential mates, and quently, some parents insisted that this
exchange information and material item not be treated as a toy.
culture.
The Cry
Shuffling Dance The Numic people also created special
Powell describes another type of dancing dances that were performed only when
among the Numa that involved shuffling someone passed from this world at the
as well as leaping. He explains, “The end of their earthly existence. This
women are formed in a circle and dance dance, accompanied by songs sung by
in a slow shuffling manner, and the men respected ritual leaders, performed two
200
__________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Great Basin
critical functions. First, Numic people ered with hair but could still communi-
help the recently departed spirits to find cate with them. He told them, “I’ll give
their way to heaven. Those who remain you a bear dance. I’ll give you songs and
on earth literally dance the spirits and all the step. I will dance. My wife [the bear]
of their earthly belongings into the after- and I will give them to you. Dance this in
life. Second, this ritual helped the living March. Now go and tell all the Indians.”
to grieve the departure of a loved one The Bear Dance reportedly gave people
while also celebrating the life of the de- the power to escape a bear attack.
parted person (see Cry Ceremony).
The Ghost Dance
The Bear Dance and Scalp Dance The Ghost Dance, or Spirit Dance, of the
Paiutes also performed the Bear and the late nineteenth century played an im-
Scalp dances, which were probably in- portant role in Numic society and In-
troduced by their Ute neighbors in the digenous/Euro-American relations. Dur-
late nineteenth or early twentieth cen- ing the 1890s, Ghost Dance or Spirit
tury. An informant of Edward Sapir’s in- Dance songs were given to Wovoka, who
dicates that the Scalp Dance was used in turn shared his revelations with
among the Kaibab Southern Paiutes. As Paiutes and multiple indigenous groups
in the Round Dance, participants moved for the purpose of effecting change
in a clockwise direction around a pole through collective dance rituals.
placed in the center of the circle. In con- The Ghost Dance and Round Dance
trast to the Round Dance, however, the share similar features, including clock-
Scalp Dance was accompanied by drum wise movement, shuffling, and alternat-
playing, and dancers reportedly hit a ing of male and female participants; con-
scalp hung on the center pole as they sequently, some scholars suggest that
moved around in a circle. the Ghost Dance derived from the Round
Kelly estimates that the Bear Dance Dance. Others, including Hittman
reached the Southern Paiutes of Kaibab (1973), indicate that the Ghost Dance de-
by approximately 1907. In addition to the rived from the Cry Ceremony, which is a
people of Koosharem and Kaibab, the In- mourning ritual based on dancing,
dians of Cedar City, Kaipaarowits, St. singing, and the memorialization of sa-
George, San Juan, and Moapa learned cred sites in the landscape.
the Bear Dance (Kelly 1976, 107–109). Ac- Alex K. Carroll
cording to the legend of the Bear Dance, See also Cry Ceremony; Ghost Dance
one fall a man came upon a bear den. He Movement; Health and Wellness, Traditional
Approaches; Power Places, Great Basin;
told his companions that he was going to
Religious Leadership, Great Basin
stay with the bear, and that they should
return to the cave in March. When the Carroll, A. K., M. N. Zedeño, and R. Stoffle.
companions returned, the man was cov- 2004. A Cartography of Ritual Behavior:
201
Dance, Northwest, Winter Spirit Dances __________________________________________________
Ghost Dance Sites in History and Salish people gather all winter as singers
Archaeology. Edited by Brenda Bouser. and drummers to support lone dancers
Utah Press.
Dellenbaugh, F. S. 1908/1926. A Canyon as each expresses an ongoing bond with
Voyage: The Narrative of the Second a spirit power (sqelalitut in Lushootseed
Powell Expedition down the Green- Salish, tahmanawas in the trade jargon).
Colorado River from Wyoming, and the
Explorations on Land in the Years 1871 This generic word for spirits referred
and 1872. New Haven and London: Yale both to career and to curative (xdab,
University Press. xnam) powers, these beings constituting
Fowler, Don D., and Catherine S. Fowler,
eds. 1971. “Anthropology of the Numa:
the doctors of the universe. This modern
John Wesley Powell’s Manuscripts on the manifestation of ancient beliefs is called
Numic Peoples of Western North Syowin, or Smokehouse Religion, for the
America, 1868–1880.” Pp. 63–65 in
open fires in the present version of cedar
Smithsonian Contributions to
Anthropology 14. Edited by Don D. plank longhouses inspired by ancestral
Fowler and Catherine S. Fowler. dwellings. While each community, usu-
Washington, DC: Smithsonian
ally on a reservation, is based in its own
Institution Press.
Hittman, Michael. 1973. “The 1870 Ghost smokehouse, regularly scheduled winter
Dance at the Walker River Reservation: A visits are made on both sides of the bor-
Reconstruction.” Ethnohistory 20, no. 3:
der. Today these required ceremonial
247–278.
Kelly, Isabel T. 1964. “Southern Paiute visitations are sometimes frustrated by
Ethnography.” Pp. 104–106 in University border guards, although the United
of Utah Anthropological Papers 69, Glen States officially regards these crossings
Canyon Series 21. Salt Lake City:
University of Utah Press. as matters of religious freedom.
Kelly, Isabel T., and Catherine S. Fowler. The course of these visits is set by the
1986. “Southern Paiute.” In Handbook of movements of the spirits themselves. Al-
North American Indians, vol. 11. Edited
by Warren L. D’Azevedo. Washington, though curing powers remain ever ready
DC: Smithsonian Institution. to help their shaman partners, most
Miller, Jay. 1983. “Basin Religion and other spirits visited their human ally only
Theology: A Comparative Study of Power
(Puha).” Journal of California and Great in the winter months. During these long
Basin Anthropology 5, nos. 1, 2: 79–80. rainy winters, people gather to welcome
Mooney, James. 1896. The Ghost Dance back their spirits by singing and dancing
Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890.
Chicago and London: Phoenix Books.
a mime of how they or an ancestor first
met in some remote spot on the land or
in the sea. For the rest of the year, spirits
lived in villages of their own “on the other
Dance, Northwest, Winter side” of the human dimension, before
spiraling all winter though the Salishan
Spirit Dances
country from the east to the north, west,
Today, throughout the Northwest and on and south. Towns knew their location
both sides of the U.S./Canadian border, along the route from centuries of such
202
_________________________________________________ Dance, Northwest, Winter Spirit Dances
stayed nearby and could be used to cure

or help others. Today, while black paint
powers still spiral the earth during the
year, red paint ones seem to remain
closer to their human partners, who can
and do sing all year long in the quiet of
their own homes, giving it full public ex-
pression only in the winter season.
Spirits also moved around during the
day, hovering in the air (rather than
treading on the ground). They are lower
in the early morning and higher later in
the afternoon. They are constantly
aware of human actions and would
leave if their partner became ritually
impure or disrespectful. Then the spirit
was said to “lift off” until it could be
coaxed back by a shaman. Spirits liked
daylight but, lacking form or substance,
were truly ethereal. They had the most
Pacific Northwest boy dances in raven costume, nebulous of existences, with their ap-
ca. 1991. (Neil Rabinowitz/Corbis) petites and pleasures supplied vicari-
ously through their links with hu-
mans—especially kin. For woman, her
visits and began to prepare to host their spirit power was regarded as a personal
own power displays once they had been friend, while for man it was an imper-
invited to the celebrations of the towns sonal force that infused his entire body
that preceded them on the circuit. when it returned.
Each spirit was both a being and a The religious time of winter began
song. The song moved slowly counter- with the end of summer food getting ac-
clockwise or westward during the winter tivities. About November, at Suquamish
and, in late April or so, headed east (near Seattle), when all of the dog
again. As a group, spirits came to the salmon were gone and those that had
Nooksak before they reached Vancouver been caught were dried, the spirits ac-
Island, where they lingered until spring. quired by young men (or women) would
While the song traveled, the spirit itself return for the first time since they had
stayed close to the human partner. met. People were invited by a boy’s father
Fierce black paint spirits traveled more to help him to sing in public. Each year
widely than did those of red paint, who the youngest dancers were the first to be
203
Dance, Northwest, Winter Spirit Dances __________________________________________________
remain healthy. The first time a boy sang,

certain people who knew about powers
and songs came to help. The young man
could not start to sing until someone else
sang his song to loosen his mouth. Hear-
ing the song, the spirit forced its way out
of the man’s chest and emerged as song.
Long ago, in a famous example widely
known, a boy was going from house to
house in a Suquamish village, pretend-
ing to sing just for fun. All of a sudden, of
course, the power he was intended to in-
herit actually struck him, rendering him
helpless. People went to the boy’s father
and told him to clean up his house, say-
ing he needed to empty it to make room
for a crowd to come and help his son to
sing and dance.
The father did not want to do this, be-
cause his son had been joking about
The masked dancer is known as a Sxyayxwey power; that reflected badly on his par-
dancer among the Salish and Xwéxwé among enting. Since the power came when his
the Kwakwak’wakw. The mask is danced at son was showing disrespect, the father
winter ceremonials and potlatches to prepare
and purify a ceremonial space. June 16, 1913. told the people to find another house to
(Library of Congress) use, but they insisted that it was a father’s
duty to help his son in the winter. Finally,
bowing to community pressure, the fa-
exposed to the return of their career ther agreed and had his house prepared
spirit. so that many people could sit on the
The father did the inviting because the sleeping benches.
son (or daughter) was so overcome by His ill son was brought inside as the
the power (“sick to sing”) that he could father took charge. He had people who
do nothing but deal with his own spirit. knew about power ready to help his son.
He was unable to talk or engage in regu- Ushers took care of the guests, showing
lar activities. When guests came to help, them where to sit. For four nights every-
the father seated them according to their one helped this boy, who stayed awake
locales and status. the whole time because his power kept
When the spirit power arrived, the him energized. All night he sang and
human had to sing the binding song to danced, except for rests in a corner.
204
_________________________________________________ Dance, Northwest, Winter Spirit Dances
At the very first, a man chosen by his partner understood his or her power
father repeated the song that the boy was more fully. The repeater helped only for
to sing. Then the song came out of the the first year or two; then people could
boy and he sang it. Next the repeater begin singing on their own, gaining con-
started it again, and everyone joined in so fidence and familiarity with their spirit(s)
the boy could dance until he made a sign and song(s).
for everyone to quit; he then sang an- Today, most spirit powers are inher-
other tune and lyrics. The repeater lis- ited in families and similarly fixed in a
tened and said these words for all to sing person by a winter-long initiation in a
so the boy could dance the second song. smokehouse or private home. Every
Since only important people had several smokehouse includes an experienced
spirits and songs, the boy was again act- shaman, master, or lead dancer who,
ing dangerously boastful. The same spirit helped by his or her family, “brings out”
might give several songs, or other spirits an initiate’s song so that he or she can
might give songs if they liked the child. learn from the power while welcoming it
Bringing out these songs, coaxing back every year.
them forth from the boy, had to be care- Spirit powers are never explicitly iden-
fully done because, if they came out in tified. Instead, the community gets a
the wrong order or got “twisted up,” the sense of the spirit because there are only
boy would become very ill and might die. a dozen song types. Further, certain
To prevent a fatality, formerly a song bonds require certain costuming, as
master but now a shaman was called in does length of time after initiation. New
to straighten out the songs, placing each dancers are called “babies” and covered
in the correct order (“lining them up”) head to toe with a blanket and hat of
inside the boy. Then he would be cured, loose wool strands. They are under strict
as proven by his ability to sing an impres- discipline and seclusion for their first
sive display of power under the protec- winter, either at the smokehouse or in
tion of his doctors. their own home. Food and sleep are lim-
On the fourth day, everyone received ited, while sexual intercourse is forbid-
gifts and departed. The boy ate and slept den. In later years, black paint dancers
for a day or so before he went back to work will wear human hair hats. Red paint
at whatever he had power to do, such as dancers wear stylish clothes and move
fishing, hunting, or making canoes. with slow dignity.
The next year at the same time, the While birthdays, weddings, anniver-
same spirit came back to the son, and the saries, and funerals are usually now cel-
father was now ready. Later, when the fa- ebrated by Salish in recognizably Amer-
ther himself got a spirit, it was up to the ican fashion with cake and flowers,
son to take charge and choose a song remembers of the winter smokehouse re-
peater. Every year, the spirits’ human ligion continue to observe traditional
205
Dance, Plains __________________________________________________________________________________
rituals enhancing spiritual aspects of a Midewiwin (Medicine Dance), and the

person. Each dancer regards his or her Ghost Dance, as well as warrior and sa-
day of initiation as another (sometimes cred society dances associated with
more significant) birthday, to be ob- medicine bundles, doctoring, and age-
served with traditional foods and festiv- grading; semisacred and more secular
ities. The virtues of age, rank, and family dances are variants of the War Dance,
have kept their ancient emphasis, as has dating back to the Middle Mississippian
the transmission of inherited wisdom in culture (A.D. 800–1500). Plains warrior
its most private and hard-earned forms society ceremonies and intertribal gath-
in the secluded privacy and protection erings during the late nineteenth cen-
of the modern smokehouse. tury expedited the popularity of the War
Jay Miller Dance, which burgeoned between 1883
See also Healing Traditions, Northwest; and 1934 despite BIA antidance policies.
Power, Northwest Coast; Religious Concomitantly, the War Dance attracted
Leadership, Northwest; Sbatatdaq (Sqadaq) tourism, and by the end of World War II it
References and Further Reading had become the major feature of tribal
Amoss, Pamela. 1978. Coast Salish Spirit
Dancing: The Survival of an Ancestral and intertribal powwows. Plains Dance
Religion. Seattle: University of traditions, especially powwow celebra-
Washington Press. tions, continue to flourish in contempo-
Jilek, Wolfgang. 1982. Indian Healing:
Shamanic Ceremonialism in the Pacific
rary rural and urban settings throughout
Northwest Today. Surrey, British North America, where their perfor-
Columbia: Hancock House. mances bolster Native American identity
Miller, Jay. 1999. Lushootseed Culture and
(Young 2001, 996; Duncan 1997, 45–52;
the Shamanic Odyssey: An Anchored
Radiance. Lincoln: University of Young and Gooding 2001, 1011).
Nebraska Press. Pre-Columbian origins of the War
Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays.
Dance are linked to the Middle Missis-
Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Suttles, Wayne, ed. 1990. Northwest Coast: sippian ancestors of the Dheghia Siouan
Handbook of North American Indians, speaking Omaha, Ponca, Kansa, Osage,
vol. 7. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
and Quapaw, the Chiwere Siouan Iowa,
Institution Press.
Otoe, and Missouria, and the Caddoan
speaking Pawnee and Caddo; scattered
throughout the Ohio and Mississippi
river drainage systems, these peoples
Dance, Plains
were symbolically united through the
Ceremonial song and dance play a sig- Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, for-
nificant role in celebrations held in pre- merly called the Southern (or Death)
reservation and reservation-era Plains Cult. Pottery, shell, and copper artifacts
communities. Some dances are sacred in salvaged from major population centers
character, such as the Sun Dance, the ranging from Etowah (Georgia) to Spiro
206
_________________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Plains
Native North American men, wearing large dance bustles of eagle feathers and headdresses of
porcupine hair, watch the dance competitions during a powwow. (Corbis)
(Oklahoma) are adorned with avian and of the War Dance Complex—performed
bird/man motifs that are also associated by the Iowa and several Central Al-
with War Dance Complex symbology; gonkian tribes. Then, in 1680, René-
dancers dressed as hawks and falcons— Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, wit-
the symbols of war—adorned with tat- nessed a Potawatomi and Miami
toos and forked eye motifs, are clad in Calumet Dance. Seven years later, in
roach headdresses with single, upright 1687, a member of La Salle’s expedition
feathers and with pendant shell gorgets. to colonize Texas observed Quapaw
Oftentimes they are depicted wearing dances, including the War Dance,
hawk medicine bundles tied to their Calumet Dance, and Scalp Dance.
backs; some wield war clubs or knives, Trekking the lower reaches of the Missis-
and a few hold the severed heads of ene- sippi River between 1718 and 1734, An-
mies (Duncan 1997, 45–52). toine Simone Le Page du Pratz noted the
The earliest European reference to the same dances among the Alabama,
War Dance is Nicolas Perrot’s 1665 ac- Chickasaw, Kansa, Otoe, Pawnee, Osage,
count of the Calumet Dance—also part Sioux, and Comanche; back East, the
207
Dance, Plains __________________________________________________________________________________
Seneca asserted that their War Dance, acquisition of the War Dance in 1883,
called Wasase—derived from the French and how elements from these dances
word for Osage—had originated in the eventually merged into the Southern
West. In 1819, Edwin James, who accom- Plains powwow. Data describing pre-
panied Stephen H. Long’s famed expedi- 1935 Kiowa dances are derived largely
tion, aptly described a War Dance per- from the unpublished ethnographic field
formed by the Otoe and Iowa, noting a notes of Weston LaBarre, Jane Richard-
prominent Iowa dancer, perhaps a war son, Donald Collier, William Bascom,
lieutenant, wearing a white wolf skin and Bernard Mishkin, members of the
with a crow bundle attached above the Santa Fe Laboratory of Anthropology Ex-
waist in the back. Victor Tixier accompa- pedition to southwestern Oklahoma
nied the Osage on a bison hunt in 1840, during the summer of 1935, under the
when sightings of Pawnee enemies in the direction of Alexander Lesser. The un-
vicinity prompted War Dance cere- published field notes are housed in the
monies lasting four days; dancers were National Anthropological Archives,
adorned in deer hair roaches, otter fur Smithsonian Institution.
turbans, white wolf robes, and, notably, Like other nineteenth century Plains
the corbeau “crow belt” dance bustles tribes, many Kiowa dances related to
(Young 1981, 104–110, 119; Young and warfare. War chiefs oftentimes spon-
Gooding 2001, 1012; James 1823, 235; sored all-night dances in their tepees the
Duncan 1997, 52–53). night before the departure of raiding ex-
During the 1860s and 1870s, the War peditions; outgoing warriors, joined by
Dance rapidly diffused throughout the wives and girlfriends, danced to travel
Plains, assuming various guises: the songs. When victorious war parties—
Omaha and Ponca Hethushka, the Osage those that did not sustain any casual-
Iloshka, the Pawnee Iruska, the Omaha ties—returned to the Kiowa villages, fe-
Dance, the Crow Dance, the Grass Dance male relatives of the returning warriors
(given by the Omaha to the Lakota), and emerged from their tepees wielding
the Kiowa Ohomo Dance. Dancing soci- lances and long poles adorned with pen-
eties formally acquired the War Dance by dant scalps, performing the adalda-
“transfer” ceremonies, precursors of the guan—that is, the “hair-kill dance”
contemporary Plains “giveaway,” then (Mooney 1979 [1895–1896], 291), or
interpreted the dance according to their Scalp Dance, to welcome the sojourners
own needs (Wissler 1916, 4, 87; Young (LaBarre et al. 1935; Boyd 1981, 61–64).
and Gooding 2001, 1012; Bailey 1995, 18; During summers when the Sun Dance
Duncan 1997, 73–74). was enacted, the five Kiowa men’s soci-
The following essay describes secular eties alternated policing the communal
warrior society dances and intertribal bison hunts and holding nightly war
dances of the prereservation Kiowa, the dances in oversized society tepees. Pri-
208
_________________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Plains
The Fancy Dance, called Fast War Dance in the early twentieth century. Traders’ Village Labor Day
Powwow, 1985. (Courtesy of Benjamin R. Kracht)
vate warrior society dances became pub- breechcloth-clad men, whose chests,
lic affairs when the tepee covers were backs, and upper forearms were painted
rolled up to encourage guests to join in yellow. Dancers completed their attire
the singing and dancing. Notable among with horsehair roach headdresses; they
the sodalities were the Tonkonko, or adorned their scalplocks with silver
Black Legs Society, and the Daimpega, medallions and danced holding eagle
“Skunkberry People,” known today as tail feather fans and sleigh bells.
the Kiowa Gourd Clan (LaBarre et al. Renowned Tonkonko members wielded
1935). the pwbon, or “no-retreat” staff, a long
During the prereservation era, there lance that curved up like a shepherd’s
were forty-five to sixty members of the crook at the end; in the midst of combat,
Tonkonko, so-named for their ceremo- a pwbon keeper could thrust his lance
nial body paint designs: the forearms into the ground, signifying a fight to the
and ankles up to the knees were painted death unless a comrade dislodged the
black, and there were black circles on lance, freeing the owner from his suici-
the shoulder blades and buttocks of the dal obligation to hold precious ground.
209
Dance, Plains __________________________________________________________________________________
Exclusive to the Tonkonko society was Tonkonko songs, Daimpega songs glori-
the Ts’akoigya “turn around” or “rever- fied death through warfare (ibid.).
sal” Dance, performed by one group Although Tonkonko and Daimpega
dancing in a clockwise circle while an- dances commemorated warfare, the
other danced in a counterclockwise di- Kiowa forged alliances with other Plains
rection outside the circle. Four total per- tribes throughout the nineteenth cen-
formances of the Ts’akoigya Dance were tury: peace was made with the Co-
highlighted by dancers who discharged manche by 1806, with the Osage in 1834,
their firearms into the air; thematically, the Cheyenne and Arapaho in 1840, and
many of the songs belonging to the after 1868, hostilities ceased with the
Tonkonko Society still commemorate Ute, Diné (Navajo), and Pawnee. New
death through combat rather than re- coalitions brought together former ene-
treating from an enemy (ibid.). mies who socialized at dances and cele-
Called “Skunkberry People” because brations, leading to the exchange of
of their red body paint were approxi- songs and dances; Kiowa Sun Dance cer-
mately forty prereservation members of emonies between 1844 and 1883 at-
the Daimpega Society. In addition to red, tracted numerous intertribal visitors
some painted white stripes across their (Kracht 1994, 325). Friend Thomas Bat-
bodies, and all wore horsehair or porcu- tey, a Quaker missionary/teacher among
pine quill roach headdresses, except for the Kiowa in early 1873, observed a
the leaders, who donned owl feather Kiowa performance of the “Osage war
headdresses. Ritual paraphernalia in- dance” on February 19; then on March 3
cluded a sword, a large “mountain,” or he witnessed the “Pawnee war dance”
war club, several “no-retreat” sashes, conducted by a visiting Pawnee delega-
three lances, including the famous Zebwt tion suing the Kiowa for peace (Battey
(meaning “unknown”) lance owned by 1968, 125–126, 130–134).
Set’aide, or White Bear (d. 1878), and a In the spring of 1883, Cheyennes visit-
bugle that Set’aide presumably captured ing a Kiowa encampment staged a Sioux
from the U.S. Cavalry. Dances began War Dance in a large tepee; the
when singers, accompanied by hand Cheyenne dancers sat at the north side
drums, sang the wordless Starting Song, of the tepee and the Kiowa initiates at the
while Daimpega members stood facing south side, representing the Eagle-Crow
into a large circle, shaking gourd (or moieties. One by one, Cheyennes
rawhide) rattles horizontally. Subse- danced to the south side, handing each
quent society songs signaled the dancers Kiowa an eagle feather to place in his
to move the circle inward; then faster- scalp lock, then Big Bow, a Kiowa leader,
paced songs encouraged them to move was presented with the ceremonial
about the dance circle and to bob up and dance bustle composed of bald eagle tail
down from the knees while dancing. Like feathers and two deer horns, as well as a
210
_________________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Plains
large drum. Horses were given to the Giving eagle feathers to initiates charac-
Cheyenne delegates in return. Within a terized the Ohomo and Ghost dances,
year, performances of the newly formed and the Kiowa often referred to the latter
Ohomo Society—derived from Omaha— as the Feather Dance in reference to the
attracted a growing membership, and wearing of single eagle feathers in the
Ohomo dances were conducted con- scalp lock, as in the Ohomo Dance
comitant to other warrior society dances (Kracht 1992, 466). Recalling the Ghost
during the last two Kiowa Sun dances Dance, one of LaBarre’s collaborators
ever performed, in 1885 and 1887. Elabo- stated that the dance steps were “similar
rate gift giving at Ohomo Society gather- to scalp dance steps, like [a] soldier [war]
ings compelled Indian agents to call it dance” (LaBarre et al. 1935). Like many
the Gift Dance, which became more Plains tribes, the Kiowa synthesized ele-
popular during the 1890s as warrior soci- ments from different rituals, including
ety dances were conducted less fre- the War Dance, into their own syncretic
quently (LaBarre et al. 1935). ceremonies (Young and Gooding 2001,
In 1916, Clark Wissler commented 1012).
that the Plains peyote religion, the Ghost Plains Indian dances, especially the
Dance, Hand Game, and Grass Dance War Dance, were threatened when the
were “modern ceremonies . . . conspicu- 1883 Indian Religious Crimes Code
ous because of their diffusion” (Wissler deemed shamanism and dances illegal.
1916, 868). Since these were intercon- Issuance of the 1892 “Rules for Indian
nected rites, the rising popularity of the Courts” reified this law, albeit the imple-
Ohomo Dance coincided with the mentation of BIA antidance policy varied
1890–1891 Ghost Dance movement among the Western Indian agencies;
among the Kiowa, and from 1894 to 1916 nevertheless, many ceremonies became
the revived Ghost Dance served as the defunct despite Indian Commissioner
vehicle for perpetuating the Ohomo John Collier’s 1934 distribution of Circu-
Dance: adherents of the new religion lar 2970, “Indian Religious Freedom and
tenaciously clung to war dancing (Kracht Indian Culture.” During this dark era, the
1992, 465). Significantly, the Kiowa ob- Kiowa abandoned the Sun Dance (1890)
tained both dances from the Cheyenne and the Ghost Dance (1916). Although
and Arapaho, who performed the auxil- the Ohomo Dance was also targeted for
iary Crow Dance before the Ghost eradication, it went underground and
Dance; ethnologist James Mooney survived; today, an annual Ohomo Soci-
likened the Crow Dance to the “Omaha ety dance is held every July by the few re-
dance” of the “northern prairie tribes” maining members (Kracht 1992,
(Mooney 1896, 901, 922), so the Crow 466–469; 1994, 331).
Dance was a variant of the Lakota Grass Strategically disguising Ohomo dances
Dance and the Kiowa Ohomo Dance. as patriotic Fourth of July gatherings in
211
Dance, Plains __________________________________________________________________________________
the post–World War I era helped preserve Francis La Flesche. Norman: University
the War Dance, as did the Wild West shows of Oklahoma Press.
Battey, Thomas C. 1875/1968. The Life and
and Indian fairs that became popular in Adventures of a Quaker among the
the 1920s and 1930s. Prompted by Indians. Introduction by Alice Marriott.
tourism, the Omaha-Grass-Crow variants Boston: Lee, Shepard, and Dillingham.
Reprinted, Norman: University of
of the War Dance fused into the Straight Oklahoma Press.
Dance in eastern Oklahoma and Ne- Boyd, Maurice. 1981. Kiowa Voices.
braska; in western Oklahoma they evolved Ceremonial Dance, Ritual and Song, vol.
1. Linn Pauahty, Kiowa Consultant. The
into the fast and furious Fancy Dance, Kiowa Historical and Research Society,
complete with brightly feathered dance Consultants. Donald E. Worcester,
bustles and bells; in the Northern Plains, Associate Editor. Fort Worth: Texas
Christian University Press.
the War Dance became the Grass Dance
Duncan, Jimmy W. 1997. Hethushka Zani’:
and the Traditional Dance. Following An Ethnohistory of the War Dance
World War II, tribal and intertribal cele- Complex. Master’s thesis, American
Studies, Northeastern State University.
brations, dances, and giveaways flour-
James, Edwin. 1823. Account of an
ished throughout the Plains, then spread Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky
to distant parts of North America. Return- Mountains. Performed in the Years 1819
and 20. . . . Under the Command of Major
ing Indian veterans and the rekindling of
Stephen H. Long. 2 Vols. Philadelphia: N.
the warrior spirit embodied in the War C. Carey and I. Lea.
Dance contributed to the formation of the Kracht, Benjamin R. 1992. “The Kiowa
powwow. Kiowa contributions to contem- Ghost Dance, 1894–1916: An Unheralded
Revitalization Movement.” Ethnohistory
porary Southern Plains powwows are evi- 39, no. 4: 452–477.
dent by afternoon and evening perfor- ———. 1994. “Kiowa Powwows:
mances of the Gourd Dance, the nearly Continuity in Ritual Practice.”
American Indian Quarterly 18, no. 3:
defunct dance of the Daimpega Society 321–348.
that was revived in 1957. Like many Native LaBarre, Weston, et al. 1935. “Notes on
Americans today, Kiowa identity is cele- Kiowa Ethnography. Santa Fe Laboratory
of Anthropology Expedition in 1935.”
brated by attending these celebrations Papers of Weston LaBarre. Washington,
(Kracht 1992, 467–469; 1994, 331–334). DC: Smithsonian Institution, National
Anthropological Archives.
Benjamin R. Kracht
Mooney, James. 1979 [1895–1896]. Calendar
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho; History of the Kiowa Indians.
Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast; Dance, Seventeenth Annual Report of the
Great Basin; Dance, Southeast; Drums; Bureau of American Ethnology,
Ghost Dance Movement; Mounds; Powwow; 1895–1896. With an introduction by John
Sacred Societies, Plains; Spiritual and C. Ewers. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Ceremonial Practitioners, Plains; Warfare, Institution Press.
Religious Aspects _____. 1896. The Ghost-Dance Religion and
the Sioux Outbreak of 1890. Fourteenth
References and Further Reading Annual Report of the Bureau of
Bailey, Garrick A. 1995. The Osage and the Ethnology, 1892–1893, part 2.
Invisible World: From the Works of Washington, DC: Bureau of Ethnology.
212
_______________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Plateau
Wissler, Clark. 1916. “General Discussion of sing, dance, feast, and share what elders
Shamanistic and Dancing Societies.” consider their most heartfelt concerns
American Museum of Natural History
Anthropological Papers 11(12):853–876. and needs. The Winter Dance is spon-
New York: American Museum of Natural sored at the height of the winter season,
History. (Bound with other monographs while the Washat dances are held
in: Societies of the Plains Indians, Clark
Wissler, ed., New York, 1916. Reprinted: throughout the year, including as Sun-
Lakota Books, Kendall Park, New Jersey, day Worship Dances.
1993.) Historically, the Winter Spirit Dance ex-
Young, Gloria A. 1981. Powwow Power:
Perspectives on Historic and
tended over virtually the entire region, in-
Contemporary Intertribalism. Ph.D. cluding both Salishan- and Sahaptin-
dissertation, Anthropology Department, speaking tribes. It ranged from the
Indiana University.
Okanagan in the north to the Klamath in
———. 2001. “Intertribal Religious
Movements.” Pp. 996–1010 in Handbook the south, from the Flathead and Nez
of North American Indians, vol. 13, Perce in the east to the Yakama and Kliki-
“Plains.” Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
tat in the west. Three tribes traditionally
Institution Press. did not practice the Winter Dance: the
Young, Gloria A., and Eric D. Gooding. 2001. Shuswap, Thompson, and Kootenai. Only
“Celebrations and Giveaways.” Pp.
into the early part of the twentieth cen-
1011–1025 in Handbook of North
American Indians, vol. 13, “Plains.” tury did the Kootenai begin holding the
Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. dance. The Washat, on the other hand,
Washington, DC: Smithsonian fully emerged as a distinct ceremonial
Institution Press.
complex only during the nineteenth cen-
tury. Influenced by the charismatic leader
Smohalla and incorporating certain
Christian elements, the Washat has come
Dance, Plateau
to complement the practice of the Winter
In the Plateau today there are two pre- Dance among most of the Sahaptin peo-
dominant ceremonial dances, the Winter ples. Winter Spirit dances are also con-
Spirit Dance (also known as the Medi- ducted on every reservation in which Sa-
cine Dance or Jump Dance) and the haptin families follow the Washat way.
Washat (from the Sahaptin word Today the Washat dances are held on the
wáashat, to “[Indian] dance”). The Nez Perce, Yakama, Umatilla, and Warm
Washat is also referred to as part of the Springs reservations, along with Nez
Seven Drum or Longhouse “way of life,” Perce and Palouse families at Nespelem
and is referred to by the Nez Perce as the on the Colville Reservation, and off-reser-
Wal’usut way, or, in the earlier form, Ip- vation along the Columbia River among
n’uucililpt. Both the Winter Spirit dances Wanapum families at Priest Rapids and
and Washat dances are culminating op- other Sahaptin families at the village of
portunities for family members to pray, Celilo near the Dalles. The Winter Dance,
213
Dance, Plateau ________________________________________________________________________________
Prior to the Washat, no other ceremonial

dance was of greater importance, either
in its duration or its significance. Spon-
sored by an individual who may have
had a spirit visitation or vision to “put on
this dance,” it would be his family’s obli-
gation to announce the event to the
community, prepare the site for the
dance, and coordinate the meal to be
held following each evening’s dance. If
the individual did not heed his spirit
guardian’s wishes, misfortune would
likely follow. In instances in which a vi-
sion was not received, a potential spon-
sor might hold the dance after first con-
sulting an elder for the most auspicious
time to do so.
Once word of the dance and its dates
are publicly known, the other members
of the sponsor’s family and members of
Myron Berger, bear dancer. Salish, Montana. other families, as well as friends of those
(Native Stock Pictures) families, would make plans to attend.
Some participants may come from as far
as neighboring reservations located in
with few Christian influences incorpo- other states. Anywhere from thirty to a
rated into its rituals, is thus retained pri- hundred participants might attend a
marily among the Salishan-speaking dance. Many participants will have taken
tribes. However, neither the Jump Dance part in a Sweat House ritual prior to the
nor Washat demands exclusive adher- dance, in order to spiritually cleanse
ence, allowing their followers to partici- themselves, to ask for the assistance of
pate in the other’s dances as well as in their spirit guardian, and to initiate the
other religions, such as the Shakers or specific prayers that they will relate dur-
Catholics. Both dances are tolerant of the ing the dance. Occasionally a special
“many ways to pray to the Creator.” Sweat House is constructed to accom-
Winter Spirit Dances culminate a modate up to fifteen sweaters. Tradition-
yearlong cycle of prayers and spiritual ally, the dance was held in a tule-mat
needs; they are held at any time during longhouse. Today a community center or
the period beginning at the end of De- even the sponsor’s home can serve as the
cember and continuing into February. location for the dance. In one commu-
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_______________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Plateau
nity in Idaho the elder who sponsors the sion of the leader, except during a brief
Winter Spirit Dance still holds the dance midnight recess, and sentries are posted
in the traditional “long tent” or compos- at the doors to enforce these rules. Dur-
ite tepee. His particular “Medicine ing the dance, the dance area, be it in a
Dance” is widely known for what this longhouse, community center, or home,
elder considers this traditional aspect. In is lighted only dimly, as, for example,
all instances, furniture, rugs, and other from the flames of two oil lamps. “Mere
mobile objects are removed from the onlookers” are strongly discouraged
dance area. Windows may be covered from attended these ceremonies, since
over so as not to allow any night lights everyone who attends is there for a “spir-
from entering the enclosed area. Black itual purpose,” offering prayer and
plastic sheets may be taped over win- dance to help themselves and the mem-
dows. As in the past, the Winter Dance bers of their families.
will be held for two or more consecutive In former times a center pole would
nights, as determined by the sponsor, be used. A small fir tree would be cut, just
with each evening’s dance lasting from tall enough to reach the ceiling of the
sunset to sunrise. During the day the lodge or room. Its limbs and bark would
participants rest and prepare for the next have been removed to a height of eight
evening’s dance. feet, with the rest left in its natural state.
Upon entering the dance area, each With its base sharpened, the tree was
participant offers a handshake to those brought to the center of the dance area
already present, moving counterclock- and placed firmly in the ground. The
wise around the room. Everyone, even center pole was addressed as a spirit
the smallest child, receives a greeting. helper, with the guardian spirit of the
“It’s not a hug or a time to visit; just a shaman sitting atop the pole and serving
time to acknowledge your kinship and as the shaman’s “eyes.”
respect for them.” Traditionally, women The sponsor would initiate the cere-
would sit on the left side of the room, mony with an address to all participants.
while men would gather on the right side In the address there would likely be ref-
of the dance area. Today it is more com- erence to the sponsor’s own spirit
mon for families to gather together, with guardian, who had commanded him to
men, women, and children situating “put on this dance.” During these initial
themselves along the room’s walls. The proceedings, and moving counterclock-
children are encouraged to watch and wise, the sponsor would ceremonially
learn, though they might not actually sweep the dance floor with an eagle-
dance. All participants are prohibited feather fan, to “cleanse the floor and so
from smoking, eating, and drinking dur- all will not get sore feet.” The dance area
ing the songs. None are allowed to enter would thus be spiritually purified and
or leave the dance area without permis- the floor “now opened.”
215
Dance, Plateau ________________________________________________________________________________
Of those who plan to share their songs d’Alene. The dance movement is an up
that night, the first step forward onto the and down jump, with both feet moving at
floor and speak aloud “heart talk.” Dur- the same time and knees slightly fixed.
ing these addresses, most of the dancers The song leader encourages the partici-
identify their particular suumesh pants to dance hard, to “dance for your
guardian spirit, though some are reluc- family.” While the dancing continues,
tant to do so. Often the dancer will wear other relatives and friends look on,
some emblem of his suumesh medicine seated along the walls of the longhouse.
power, such as a cloth sash or handker- However, no one is to look directly at the
chief tied around an arm. As the address singer who is “bringing out” his song.
continues, he will relate the challenges That is why some women cover their
he and his family have been facing and eyes with their bandanas while singing,
ask for assistance from the spirit world and an additional reason why the dance
and the Creator. area is darkened. The singing continues
Following the heart talk the speaker until the suumesh is “no longer heard
“brings out” his song, singing his su- within you.”
umesh song. The spirits are understood During the singing, the lead singer is
as being “close at hand, as you feel their transformed into his animal spirit. “He
power and hear their songs within you.” becomes the spirit,” removing his
The singer typically uses a dance-staff to human clothing, blackening his face,
keep rhythm with the song, beating it on talking as his animal spirit, and perhaps
the floor. A staff is from four to six feet tall perching on rafters of the longhouse.
and is typically fashioned from a straight This human-to-animal metamorphosis
fir sapling, with deer hoofs attached at its is a uniquely Plateau feature. As Verne
tip. Its bark has been removed, and it is Ray observed among the Sanpoil (1932,
sometimes painted in a series of bands 196), particular characteristics of the su-
according to vision instructions. No umesh guardian spirit are witnessed in
drums or other wooden percussion in- the actions of the dancer. For example,
struments are used. the Driftwood spirit might be repre-
As the individual sings his suumesh sented in the dancer’s taking a few steps,
songs, other participants join him and first back and then forward, as if wood
the dancing begins. The song leader may were being carried back and forth in a
either stand in the center of the room or river. In the case of the Deer spirit, the
begin to dance himself, with anyone dancer holds his hands up at the sides of
wishing to join him doing so. The his body, calling “a’a . . ..” As he dances,
dancers circle the center pole or the song he moves one arm and then the other
leader in a clockwise fashion, as among forward, representing the Deer as it
the Sanpoil, or in a counterclockwise walks. The Grizzly Bear dances sideways
manner, as is the case among the Coeur and emits a deep sound from the throat.
216
_______________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Plateau
ture for the participants present. He is re-

turned to a human state only after force-
fully being smudged and sung over by a
shaman.
At sunrise, a meal is prepared and
served to all the participants. The meal
might include fried eggs and bacon, pan-
cakes, fruits of various types, and juice
drinks and coffee. Occasionally, camas
or some other traditional root food
would be included in the meal. Serving
traditional foods is a very important as-
pect of the dances and further strength-
ens the teachings that govern this impor-
tant activity. In addition, various gifts
might be distributed to the singers who
shared their suumesh songs during the
Four Nez Perce Indians on Colville Indian
Reservation, ca. 1910. (Library of Congress) night.
There are a number of stated reasons
for holding the Winter Spirit Dance.
Among the most important reasons is in-
The Elk is seen in the raising and lower- fluencing the winter snowfall and the
ing of the dancer’s shoulders, while hold- coming of spring rains. When the various
ing his arms vertically at his sides. The roots and game animals are well nour-
Salmon spirit is witnessed in the waving ished, the gathering of the roots and the
motion of the dancer. Various Bird spirits hunting of the deer also prosper. Another
involve the dancers’ arms moving as if concern is the health of the dancers.
flying, while other animals are identified When the suumesh songs are sung, it is a
by their unique calls. way of “respecting your suumesh spirit”
One of the most important transfor- and avoiding “spirit sickness.” Not to sing
mations is that into the Bluejay. Tradi- your spirit songs during the Winter Dance
tionally occurring among the Coeur could bring on “spirit sickness.” Finally,
d’Alene, Flathead, Kalispel, Sanpoil, and much of the “heart talk” addresses the
Spokane, the dancer becomes the Blue- welfare of the families and community at
jay and “flies to the rafters of the lodge large, beseeching members to cooperate
and out into the forest.” Upon his return, and respect one another, and to reduce
the Bluejay is not to be touched, for fear tensions and rivalries.
of contracting a sickness. Nevertheless, The Washat is one of the important
he blesses the food and foretells the fu- ceremonial complexes in the Plateau,
217
Dance, Plateau ________________________________________________________________________________
emerging into its contemporary configu- we have on Smohalla and his influence
ration during the nineteenth century. on the emerging Washat comes from
While there are key traditional ceremo- James Mooney (1896). Mooney wit-
nial elements that have been retained in nessed the salmon feast celebrated in the
the Washat, such as the importance of vi- Washat orientation. During trance expe-
sion questing, establishing an animal riences, Smohalla repeatedly journeyed
guardian spirit relationship, and holding to the land of the spirits. There he re-
communal prayer and dance, there are ceived songs and instructions, and he
also Christian-influenced elements predicted natural events such as earth-
clearly evident. Such elements include quakes and eclipses. In one vision he was
Sunday Worship Dances and an empha- instructed to make a flag adorned with
sis on a code of proper moral behavior. an oriole with a brass tack eye, and to
As understood by many Washat follow- raise the flag when the longhouse was in
ers, “the Longhouse teachings and the use. Smohalla rejected white civilization
original prophecy songs which formed and the removal of Indian families to
the basis of these beliefs are basically the reservations. He staunchly advocated
same teachings which were given to oth- following the “traditional way,” including
ers across the ocean [Europeans], except how one was to dress and pray, and al-
that they were given to our people in a ways protecting the earth. Some tribes—
different way.” After the Europeans not, however, including the Nez Perce—
“broke the original laws,” the teachings believed that if the people danced the
were brought to the Indian peoples to Washat, whites would be removed from
help them cope with the enormous the land and the dead would be brought
change being prophesied concerning the back to life.
arrival of the Europeans. “Since our lives Unlike the single ceremonial event of
were about to change dramatically this the Winter Dance, the Washat entails a
was the way given to our people by the series of year-round ceremonial expres-
Creator to help ourselves.” In addition, sions. Within the Washat ceremonial
the spread and character of the Washat complex, dances are held for the first
itself owes much to the guidance of the foods’ feasts, such as the first roots in
nineteenth-century prophetic leader spring, the salmon fished in midspring,
Smohalla. and the berries that come at the end of
Smohalla was one of the most impor- summer. There are Washat dances held
tant nineteenth-century spiritual leaders for wakes and for memorial and funeral
in the Plateau. Under his influence the observances. The Washat longhouses are
Washat spread throughout the region. used by family members, for example,
Smohalla was born in the Priest Rapids, for naming ceremonies for their chil-
Washington, area sometime after 1810; dren, for the celebration of a child’s first
he died in 1895. Much of the information powwow dancing, for marriage and
218
_______________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Plateau
“wedding trades,” for high school gradu- ceremony. A Washat leader is chosen by
ations, and for veterans’ celebrations. the congregation and can often trace his
Hence the Washat is referred to as a “way descent from respected chiefly families.
of life,” and not as a specific ceremonial He is often said to possess visionary and
observance. prophetic powers. Having extensive
The Washat dances are traditionally knowledge of the ritual of the Washat
held in longhouses, with their entrances and their meanings, the leader is respon-
oriented to the east. The tule-mat long- sible for conducting the ceremony. He is
house has long been a symbol of com- ultimately responsible to the people, tak-
munity solidarity and identity, the place ing care of their various spiritual needs.
where communal celebrations regularly To the left of the leader, either standing
occurred. Today well-built wood-framed or seated, are seven singers. Seven is the
or cinder-block structures are called sacred number among Washat followers.
“longhouses.” Both traditional and con- Each singer holds an unpainted hand
temporary forms have a central dirt drum some three inches deep and
floor, to remind dancers to stay close to twenty inches in diameter. The deriva-
the earth. Tule-mats may also be used to tion of what is sometimes referred to as
cover part of the center floor. Men, the “Seven Drum way of life” is based
women, and children participate in the upon these drummers.
dances, with men assembling on the Starting with the youngest and hold-
north side and women on south. The ing an eagle feather fan in his right hand,
gender separation reiterates the impor- each of the singers sings his Washat
tant roles men and women play in the song. In some instances a single eagle
community. “From where they’re seated, feather is held, not a fan. At Priest Rapids
the women look to the hills for berries to the men use swan feather fans; the
gather and roots to dig, while the men women use single eagle feathers. During
look for deer to hunt. Both are needed if the singing, the leader keeps rhythm
the families are to grow.” Ribbon shirts with a hand bell as the other singers
might be worn by the men, with women keep cadence with their drums. The bell
in calico “wing-dresses” and head is used to signal the beginning and end
scarves; both men and women wear of the various segments of the cere-
moccasins. The wearing of “traditional mony, and for the “count of songs.” As
dress and hairstyle” is very important to the songs are sung, the singers moving
the Washat way, as it “shows respect for their right hands back and forth in an
the original teachings and for the Cre- arc fashion, from their hearts upward to-
ator, since He was the one who created ward the right. At the end of each song
us and gave [us] these laws to follow.” series, people extend their right hands
Stationed at the west side of the long- outward and upward, intoning Aiiiiii,
house and facing east is the leader of the like an “Amen,” and then circling once in
219
Dance, Southeast ______________________________________________________________________________
a counterclockwise fashion. Once one of by Crane and Coyote: The World of the
the seven singers completes his song, Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene). Seattle and
London: University of Washington Press.
the next singer begins his Washat songs. Hunn, Eugene, with James Selam and
After each series of seven songs, an Family. 1990. Nchi’i-Wána, “The Big
elder would come forward and “speak River”: Mid-Columbia Indians and Their
Land. Seattle and London: University of
out,” often with his head lowered. All the Washington Press.
participants are told to remember the Mooney, James. 1896. The Ghost-dance
teachings and values of their grandpar- Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890.
Pp. 641–1136 in the 14th Annual Report
ents, such as having respect for their eld- of the Bureau of American Ethnology for
ers; stressing cooperation, hospitality, 1892–1893, Pt. 2–1. Washington, DC:
and sharing; and never taking more than Bureau of American Ethnology.
Ray, Verne. 1932. The Sanpoil and Nespelem:
what is needed. At the close of the dance
Salishan Peoples of Northeastern
you might hear an elder say, “We’re wrap- Washington. University of Washington
ping up these words and thoughts that Publications in Anthropology. Seattle:
were shared here and putting them into
———. 1939. Cultural Relations in the
this bundle [holding his hand together, Plateau of Northwestern America.
outstretched before him], and now send Publications of the Frederick Webb
Hodge Anniversary Publication Fund,
them to the Creator.”
vol. 3. Los Angeles: Southwest Museum.
The Washat dance concludes with a Relander, Click. 1956. Drummers and
community meal and closing song. Be- Dreamers: The Story of Smowhala the
fore the meal is begun and following a Prophet and His Nephew Punk Hyak
Toot, the Last Prophet of the Nearly
prayer by an elder, a few sips are ritually Extinct River People, the Last Wanapums.
taken from the containers of water Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Press.
placed before each participant. Water is Spier, Leslie, ed. 1938. The Sinkaietk or
Southern Okanagon of Washington.
particularly revered and significant in General Series in Anthropology, no. 6.
the Washat religion, considered the Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta.
“source of all of life.” The participants Walker, Deward, and Helen Schuster. 1998.
“Religious Movements,” in Handbook of
exit the longhouse either after acknowl- North American Indians, Plateau, vol. 12.
edging each other in a “friendship circle” Edited by Deward Walker. Washington,
or simply walking around the longhouse, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
single file, with each person leaving
through the door.
Nakia Williamson and Rodney Frey Dance, Southeast
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Coeur
d’Alene; Oral Traditions, Plateau; Spirits and Sacred dances enabled Native people of
Spirit Helpers, Plateau; Spiritual and
the Southeast to commemorate signifi-
Ceremonial Practitioners, Plateau
cant events from the past, renew rela-
Frey, Rodney, in collaboration with the tions between people, and influence the
Schitsu’umsh. 2001. Landscape Traveled forces of order and chaos that governed
220
_____________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Southeast
the world they inhabited. When Creeks, perform the quail dance, in which men
Choctaws, Chickasaws, Powhatans, and women alternated in a circle, wad-
Seminoles, and other groups danced, dling about like quails. As a drummer
they re-created their communities and pounded out the beat, the quail dancers
reinforced their sense of self, place, and would sing each of two songs and com-
power. As a marker of culture and belief, plete four circuits around the fire for
sacred dances enabled groups of people each. The fish dance welcomed hunters
to connect in a number of ways. back to their hometown. Each successful
One of the most important functions hunter appeared at the square ground
of dance was to help integrate outsiders with a stick carved into the shape of a
into the world of the Southeastern Indi- fish. The dancers danced while the
ans. For example, when Pierre LeMoyne drummers sang the fish dance song. Af-
d’Iberville explored the lower Mississippi terward, dancers and observers feasted
Valley for the king of France, the people and concluded the ceremony with a
he met used dances to greet him and to stomp dance, the most common form of
bind him to them in political and mili- dancing, in which men and women cir-
tary alliances. In 1699, Bayogoulas and cled a fire. The former sang the stomp
Mogoulaschas welcomed Iberville to the song while the latter rattled out a beat
village they shared and escorted him to with tortoise shells filled with pebbles.
the middle of a crowd where he sat on Dancing was an important part of the
bearskins. The hosts gave Iberville and Creek New Year celebration—the boskita,
his men some tobacco and a dish of fer- or Green Corn Ceremony—which oc-
mented corn called sagamité. After the curred at the ripening of the first corn
presentation of the gifts, the Bayogoulas crop. Creeks from across the confederacy
and Mogoulaschas passed the rest of the celebrated the Green Corn Ceremony
afternoon in singing and dancing. and used its rituals to give thanks for the
Iberville wanted to know about the vari- harvest and to wipe away all of the ill
ous rivers that cut through the country, deeds from the year before. Three stomp
but his hosts wanted to celebrate the dances preceded the ceremony. Men
new alliance that had been born of their wore masks, horsetails, or cattle horns
contact. and provided venison in exchange for
Dances also built bonds between peo- cornbread made by the women.
ple within Native societies. Social dances One of the preparatory stomp dances
required men and women to choose might begin with the wolf dance. In the
partners for a turn around the sacred wolf dance young men would visit
fire. Such dances might also be held in nearby homes, dismount their horses,
conjunction with important events, such and dance around a particular home,
as the end of a hunt or the passage of a howling like wolves. Only when the in-
season. Before ball games Creeks might habitants of the home set out a plate of
221
Dance, Southeast ______________________________________________________________________________
food would the wolves be satisfied and by foraging in the forests when Euro-
move on to another house. The men peans came and spread the diseases and
would meet up with women at the violence that had made their towns un-
square ground, dance throughout the inhabitable.
night, and be sent home by a perfor- Along similar lines, tick dancers cele-
mance of the drunken man’s dance at brated a Choctaw ambush of a European
sunup. exploring party early in the contact pe-
The Green Corn Ceremony lasted sev- riod. To commemorate their victory over
eral days and involved fasts, rituals, and the boatload of Europeans, the warriors
feasts. Dances marked the beginning traced out a circle in the high grass on
and end of the period of fasting and an- the riverbank adjacent to where the at-
nounced the beginning of particular rit- tack had taken place. There they showed
uals. Young boys would be asked to their contempt for the invaders by
sprinkle new, clean sand over the old stomping on the ticks that crawled in the
square ground. Women would then grass.
dance to commemorate the act. In addition to the Green Corn Cere-
Such dances re-created the Creek’s so- mony and other kinds of dances, Chicka-
cial order. At some times men would saws used dancing to heal the sick.
dance without women present; at others Chickasaws believed that illness came in
certain men could not enter the square the form of a spirit, and they looked to a
ground without being welcomed in song doctor, aliktce, to heal the sick and con-
by the women. Children would typically front the bad spirit that had brought the
dance with women, not men, and from sickness in the first place. In order to ex-
time to time the elderly and the youngest orcise the bad spirit, the aliktce would
Creeks would have to sit and watch oth- draw on their knowledge of sacred power
ers perform important dances. to make medicine out of plants such as
Choctaws danced for the green corn mistletoe, willow, snakeroot, cotton-
as well, and they had other dances that wood, and ginseng. After administering
marked important times in their history. the medicine the aliktce would rattle a
Turtle dancers invoked the Choctaws’ gourd and dance three times around the
first contact with Europeans. “A life in the patient. Then the aliktce would mimic
wilderness,” the turtle dancers sang, the raven’s call to invoke the powers of
“with plenty of meat, fish, fowl and the healing, ask fish to bring water to cool
[turtle dance], is far better than our old the fever, and call on eagle to fly to the
homes, and the corn, and the fruit, and sky and return with refreshment for the
the heart melting fear of the dreadful sick person.
[Europeans]” (Carson 1999, 21). In this The Powhatans employed dancing as
dance, the turtle dancers reminded the part of the huskanaw ceremony that en-
people that they had managed to survive abled young boys in their teens to ac-
222
_____________________________________________________________________________ Dance, Southeast
quire a personal tutelary spirit that that had more to do with marketing than
would guide each through the rest of his with Seminole traditions and beliefs.
life. The boys spent the morning singing Given the large number of Seminole par-
and dancing to call upon the proper spir- ticipants, it is clear, however, that the fes-
itual forces. The group then ran three tival was important for the scattered
times down a gauntlet while older boys communities in finding new ways to
shielded them from the blows of the men identify themselves as Seminoles.
who lined the way. After the community- Today dances remain a central part of
affirming practice of the dances, the community life. Cherokees in Okla-
gauntlet helped to symbolically kill the homa, for example, continue to hold
boys, so that each could then take off to stomp dances. Because customs of clan
live alone in the forest for nine months and gender remain important parts of
before returning as a man possessed Cherokee life, the stomp dances retrace
with full spiritual powers and guidance. in a circle the interdependence of men
As important as dance was to the Na- and women as they seek to uphold the
tive inhabitants of the South in the sev- power of sacred fire. Around the fire,
enteenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth women—many of whom still wear rattles
centuries, dancing continued to play an made of turtle shells filled with peb-
important role in community formation bles—stomp out a cadence and a beat
in the twentieth. Seminoles drew upon that the men follow with their song.
their dance traditions to enhance the Without the beat of the women the men
tourist operations that became an im- cannot sing, and, consequently, neither
portant part of their economic life in the men nor women can come together as a
twentieth century. In 1916, Seminoles community before their sacred fire. Just
living near West Palm Beach, Florida, as in the time when Europeans first
created the Seminole Sun Dance festival. came, circles and fire underscore the
Tour operators and Seminole leaders basic structure of the world, and men
hoped that the festival would prolong and women continue to dance to explain
the tourist season. Initially the festival and experience it.
focused on a parade and a dance, and James Taylor Carson
over time other innovations were added. See also Dance, Great Basin; Dance,
By the 1930s organizers had shifted the Northwest, Winter Spirit Dances; Dance,
focus to the Seminoles’ resistance to the Plains; Dance, Plateau; Drums; Ghost
Dance Movement
federal government and the fact that the
government had never defeated them. Carson, James Taylor. 1999. Searching for
Other Seminole camps across Florida the Bright Path: The Mississippi Choctaws
began to hold their own versions of the from Prehistory to Removal. Lincoln:
Sun Dance festival. Critics charged that D’Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne. 1981. Iberville’s
the dances were an artificial creation Gulf Journals. Translated and edited by
223
Southwest
In the Southwestern portion of the United States, the tribal communities
that maintain their connection to their homeland have done so more suc-
cessfully than many other tribal groups in the United States. The arid region,
relative isolation, and insular nature of the various communities therein are
all factors, but in any case, it is important to note that the region boasts a
high rate of language, culture, and religious retention despite the long his-
tory of colonial pressure, both from Spain and the United States.
The Southwest is one portion of Indian country where the intimate rela-
tionship between Native peoples and their lands can be seen most clearly.
The Diné (Navajo), Hopi, Apache, and Pueblo communities, while distinct,
have relatively similar lifeways owing to the nature of the landscape in what
is now the Four Corners region. Despite the arid nature of the high deserts
of modern-day Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, proper manage-
ment of the available rainfall has yielded corn crops sufficient to give rise to
the complex and ancient cultures that call this region home.
The Southwest culture area reaches across a great swath of arid country
in what is now the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It in-
cludes diverse terrain, from the high mesas and canyons of the Colorado
Plateau in the north to the Mogollon Mountains of present-day southern
New Mexico. Cactus-dotted deserts flank the Little Colorado River in pres-
ent-day southern Arizona and the Gulf of Mexico in present-day southern
Texas.
Few rains water the Southwest, and most rainfall occurs during a six-
week period in the summer. Snowfall is infrequent except in mountain
areas. Three types of vegetation are dominant, depending on altitude and
rainfall: western evergreen in the mountains; piñon and juniper in mesa
country; and desert shrub, cactus, and mesquite in lower, drier regions.
Among peoples in the Southwest, three language families predominate:
Uto-Aztecan, Yuman, and Athapaskan. Uto-Aztecan speakers included the
Hopi of Arizona and the Tohono O’Odham (Papago) and Akimel O'Odham
(Pima) of Arizona and northern Mexico. Some Pueblo peoples, including
the Tewa, Tiwa, and Towa in modern-day New Mexico, speak dialects of
Kiowa-Tanoan, a language family related to Uto-Aztecan. The Cocopah,
continues
Havasupai, Hualapai, Maricopa, Mojave, Yavapai, Yuma (Quechan), and
other neighboring peoples in Arizona speak Yuman. The Apache and
Navajo (Diné) of New Mexico and Arizona and the southern fringe of Col-
orado and Utah speak Athapaskan languages.
In the early historic period, four distinct farming peoples came to oc-
cupy the Southwest: peoples of the Mogollon, Hohokam, Anasazi, and
Patayan cultures. The people of these cultures raised corn, beans, and
squash. For each of these peoples, the adoption of agriculture permitted the
settlement of permanent villages and the continued refinement of farming
technology, arts, and crafts, especially pottery.
The Mogollon people of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New
Mexico, who appeared about 2,300 years ago, built permanent villages in the
region’s high valleys and developed pottery distinct in its intricate geometric
patterns. The Mimbres people, a Mogollan subgroup, are famous for paint-
ing pottery with dramatic black-on-white geometric designs of animals and
ceremonial scenes. From about AD 1200 to 1400 the Mogollan culture was
gradually absorbed by the then-dominant Anasazi culture.
The Hohokam people of southern Arizona first appeared about 2,100
years ago. Hohokam Indians dug extensive irrigation ditches for their crops.
Some canals, which carried water diverted from rivers, extended for many
miles. Hohokam people also built sunken ball courts—like those of the
Maya Civilization in Mesoamerica—on which they played a sacred game re-
sembling a combination of modern basketball and soccer. Hohokam people
are thought to be ancestors of the Tohono O’Odham and Pima, who pre-
serve much of the Hohokam way of life.
In the Four Corners region, where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Col-
orado now join, the Anasazi Indians gradually emerged from older South-
western cultures, and took on a distinctive character by about 2,100 years
ago. Anthropologists refer to the Anasazi of this early era as Basket Makers
because they wove fine baskets from rushes, straw, and other materials. Bas-
ket Makers hunted and gathered wild foods, tended fields, and lived in large
pit houses, dwellings with sunken floors that were topped by sturdy timber
frameworks covered with mud. By about 700 CE, the Basket Maker culture
continues
had developed into the early Pueblo cultural period. Over the next 200 years
these peoples made the transition from pit houses to surface dwellings
called pueblos by the Spanish. These dwellings were rectangular, multisto-
ried apartment buildings composed of terraced stone and adobe arranged
in planned towns connected by an extensive network of public roads and ir-
rigation systems. At its peak, after about 900, Pueblo culture dominated
much of the Southwest. From about 1150 to 1300 Pueblo peoples evacuated
most of their aboveground pueblos and built spectacular dwellings in the
recesses of cliffs. The largest of these had several hundred rooms and could
house a population of 600 to 800 in close quarters.
The Patayan people lived near the Colorado River in what is now western
Arizona, and developed agriculture by about 875 CE. They planted crops along
the river floodplain and filled out their diets by hunting and gathering. Patayan
Indians lived in brush-covered structures and had extensive trade networks as
evidenced by the presence of shells from the Gulf of California region. The
Patayan people are thought to be ancestors of the Yuman-speaking tribes.
During the late 1200s the Four Corners area suffered severe droughts,
and many Pueblo sites were abandoned. However, Pueblo settlements
along the Rio Grande in the south grew larger, and elaborate irrigation sys-
tems were built. Between 1200 and 1500 a people speaking Athapaskan ap-
peared in the Southwest, having migrated southward along the western
Great Plains. Based on linguistic connections, these people are believed to
have branched off from indigenous peoples in western Canada. They are
thought to be the ancestors of the nomadic Apache and Navajo. Their arrival
may have played a role in the relocation of some Pueblo groups.
Two principal ways of life developed in the Southwest: sedentary and
nomadic. The sedentary Pueblo peoples are mainly farmers who hunt and
gather wild plant foods and medicines in addition to growing the larger part
of their subsistence diet: corn. Squash, beans, and sunflowers are also
grown in plots that range from large multifamily fields to smaller extended-
family plots. A number of desert peoples, including the upland and river
Yuman tribes and the Tohono O’Odham and Pima, maintain a largely agrar-
ian way of life as well.
continues
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Datura
The religions of this region are as distinct as the cultures represented
here, however, the presence of relatively sedentary communities from about
1500 CE on renders a similar “emergence” philosophy, in which the people
are said to have come to their present place from lower worlds, and the role
that agriculture plays for these cultures leads to a common emphasis on fer-
tility, balance, and of course, rain.
The Hopi and other Pueblo cultures celebrate the presence of ancestral
spirit beings, called Katsinam, for the majority of the year. These beings
provide rain, fertility, and social stability through exemplary conduct used
to teach the people how to live. Similarly, the Diné (Navajo) utilize the sym-
bolism of corn and the cycles of the growing seasons to pattern both their
ceremonial lives and their behavior toward one another and to the universe.
Apaches likewise view their reliance on the seasonal cycles as indicative of
their sacred responsibilities.
Though the region known as the Southwest culture area appears to be a
dauntingly complicated landscape to maintain long-term communities in,
the tribal peoples therein have not only managed, but also thrived. In addi-
tion, due to the stark nature of the Southwest, and the isolated nature of
many portions within it, these tribal cultures have a level of cultural conti-
nuity that belies the harshness of the land.
Richebourg Gaillard McWilliams. West, Patsy. 1998. The Enduring Seminoles:

Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. From Alligator Wrestling to Ecotourism.
Gibson, Arrell Morgan. 1971. The Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
Chickasaws. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press.
Gleach, Frederic W. 1997. Powhatan’s World
and Colonial Virginia: A Conflict of
Cultures. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Datura
Press.
Hudson, Charles. 1976. The Southeastern The plant known by its Latin name as
Indians. Knoxville: University of
Datura is a powerful, highly toxic hallu-
Tennessee Press.
Perdue, Theda. 1998. Cherokee Women: cinogen and medicinal plant used by in-
Gender and Culture Change, 1700–1835. digenous cultures around the world. It is
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. found in India, Southeast Asia, the Mid-
Swanton, John R. 1928/2000. Creek Religion
and Medicine. Lincoln: University of dle East, Africa, South America, and in
Nebraska Press. the deserts and semiarid places of the
227
Datura __________________________________________________________________________________________
United States and Mexico. Datura is a sions of this story, Momoy’s granddaugh-
member of the plant family Solanaceae, ter wandered too far from home and was
the nightshade family, which is consid- then taken away and married to Thunder
ered by botanists to be one of the most and Fog. She bore their children, the twin
highly evolved plant families in the boys Six’usus (Little Thunder) and Sumi-
world. Other powerful members of this wowo (Little Fog). In many instructive,
family are tobacco and chili peppers. highly complex, and spiritually symbolic
Along with these plants, datura has been stories, Old Woman Momoy instructs the
given a place of central religious impor- rash younger twin, Sumiwowo, and the
tance by the peoples who live with and more self-restrained older twin, Six’usus,
use this medicine. Considered by some on the magic and danger of the world. As
Southern California Native nations to be, Chumash people pass the oral histories
in itself, a powerful doctor-priest, datura from one generation to the next in the
is approached as a teacher of life’s great- stories of Old Woman Momoy and her
est mysteries, who also has the power to twin great-grandsons, the Momoy stories
take life. As such, datura reflects many of transfer cultural knowledge and values
the ritual practices of the world’s faiths that include respect for age and seniority,
that honor the tremendous creativity proper etiquette, reciprocity with hu-
that arises from chaos and death. It is in mans and nature, self-constraint, mod-
that seemingly contradictory light that esty, industriousness, self-respect, hon-
datura appears in depictions of the Vedic esty, moderation, and skill with language.
deity Shiva, the sacred entity of war, de- The datura plant, with its Chumash
struction, and creativity. In Native Cali- name Momoy, is understood by the Chu-
fornia, datura is treated as both symbol mash and surrounding tribes to have
of, and the actual means to achieving, many powerful cosmic relatives. Momoy
spiritual understanding of these aspects can be clearly seen on moonlit nights,
of life, death, chaos, and enlightenment. dotting the hillsides with her huge,
The Chumash people, whose home white, trumpet-shaped flowers. Perhaps
territory is located along California’s Cen- partly because of this, datura flowers are
tral Coast, call this powerful teacher believed to share properties with the
Momoy. Momoy appears in traditional moon, which is also called Momoy in the
stories as a wise old woman, whose Barbareño Chumash language. Since it is
daughter was married to and then killed believed that both the moon and its
by a bear. Old Woman Momoy took the flower incarnation on earth control the
scattered bits of the girl’s bone and blood tides and mark the passage of time, the
and mixed them in a bowl with medicine words denoting each new month begin
used to raise the dead. Soon Momoy’s with the phrase hesiq’momoy. This
granddaughter appeared out of her roughly translates to “The moon of” or
mother’s remains. In one of the many ver- “the month of.” January, interestingly, is
228
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Datura
The vapor of the steamed plant can be

safely inhaled to treat severe respiratory
distress. Datura’s powerful alkaloid at-
ropine, which dries out and dilates
bronchial passages, has long been used
as a treatment for asthma. It is most ef-
fective as a topical pain reliever, and it is
often used as a hot poultice to produce
this effect in treating snakebites, stings,
and contusions, in reducing swellings,
and during the setting of bones when a
medical facility is not available.
It is very important to consider the re-
spect and reverence shown to datura by
the world’s peoples. This plant, if mis-
used, can bring about permanent blind-
ness or insanity, or it can cause a very
Datura in bloom, Monument Valley Tribal prolonged and painful death. The Chu-
Park, Arizona, 1990s. (George H.H. Huey/Corbis) mash word for power is at?sw?n, which is
a root verb denoting the inter-related ac-
called hesiq’momoy momoy, the moon of tions of healing, dreaming, or poisoning.
the moon. The traditional doctor, who carries the
Datura has been used as a plant medi- knowledge of proper dosage, determines
cine and hallucinogen by every culture which aspect of datura’s power will be
that has encountered it. The powerful made manifest: destruction or creation.
chemicals responsible for its pharma- The ancient protocol surrounding the
ceutical value as a topical pain reliever— use of this sacred medicine has long dic-
mainly atropine and scopolamine—are tated that it not be used recreationally
also the constituents that in high doses under any circumstances.
can bring on nightmarish hallucinations Julianne Cordero-Lamb
and death. Many indigenous nations use
See also Health and Wellness, Traditional
datura’s powerful effects in order to help Approaches; Herbalism; New Age
adolescents glimpse their people’s cre- Appropriation; Power, Barbareño Chumash;
ation stories with a sense of the stories’ Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners,
California
ultimate reality. Many traditional Native
American doctors have used a small References and Further Reading
amount of datura in their diagnosis of a Barrows, David Prescott. 1900. The
Ethnobotany of the Coahilla Indians of
patient, as the plant allows them to “see” Southern California. Chicago: University
the source of illness in the patient’s body. of Chicago Press.
229
Deer Dance _____________________________________________________________________________________
Bean, John Lowell, and Katherine Siva are identified by the dialect each spoke:
Saubel. 1972. Temalpakh: Cahuilla the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota speakers.
Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants.
Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press. This entry describes her contribution to
Blackburn, Thomas C. 1975. December’s the understanding of those peoples.
Child: A Book of Chumash Oral Narratives. The official Tribal Enrollment Certifi-
Hudson, Travis, and Ernest Underhay. 1978. cate from the Yankton Sioux Tribes lists
Crystals in the Sky: An Intellectual Ella’s birth year as 1888 and her degree of
Odyssey Involving Chumash Astronomy, Indian blood as 5/8 Yankton Sioux. Philip
Cosmology and Rock Art. Santa Barbara,
CA: Ballena Press/Santa Barbara
J. Deloria (YS#346–00000391) is listed as
Museum of Natural History. father, with Mary Sully/Bordeaux desig-
Jackson, Robert H., and Edward Castillo. nated as mother.
1995. Indians, Franciscans, and Spanish
In a lengthy paper that Ella wrote
Colonization: The Impact of the Mission
System on California Indians. about her childhood on the Standing
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Rock Reservation, she refers to her
Press.
“other mothers,” who would be the sis-
Moore, Michael. 1990. Los Remedios:
Traditional Herbal Remedies of the ters and cousins of Mary who were living
Southwest. Santa Fe: Red Crane Books. in the immediate area. These women
Schultes, Richard Evans, and Albert
acted, not as surrogate mothers, but as
Hoffman. 1979. Plants of the Gods:
Origins of Hallucinogenic Use. New York: biological mothers to the children of
McGraw-Hill. their sister, Mary. And Mary equally con-
Strike, Sandra S. 1994. Ethnobotany of the sidered their children to be her children.
California Indians: Aboriginal Uses of
California’s Indigenous Plants. That behavior was expected and ac-
Champaigne, IL: Koeltz Scientific Books. cepted as the norm by all of the people,
Walker, Phillip L., and Travis Hudson. 1993. regardless of dialect. There was no dif-
Chumash Healing: Changing Health and
Medical Practices in an American Indian ferentiation between biological and fa-
Society. Banning, CA: Malki Museum milial “mothers” or “fathers,” in attitude
Press. or responsibility.
In the original papers, Ella tells of the
Dakota-speaking Yankton grandfather
who came to visit their family while they
Deer Dance
lived on Standing Rock. “When my
See Yoeme (Yaqui) Deer Dance grandparents came to visit at our home
on Standing Rock it was my grandfather’s
custom to take whoever was the baby at
the time, on his knee, and sing him or her
Deloria, Ella (1888–1971) to sleep. I barely recall a song, like a Gre-
(Linguist/author, Yankton Sioux) gorian chant, and the words were,
During Ella Deloria’s life, she interviewed ‘Canupa ki de waka ce / Unka aniktuze
thousands of elders from the three ce do / He waka ce. . . .’ It was a long, long
Brother Tribes of the Sioux Nation who song, evidently a song for the Consecra-
230
__________________________________________________________________________________ Deloria, Ella
tion of a Pipe for a specific purpose, and 4. Ghost-keeping

those few lines were only part of it. I was 5. The Virgin’s Fire
6. Heyoka-Wozepi (Antinatural Feast)
quite small, small enough to be held and
7. The Double-woman Ceremony
sung to sleep; but I recall that. I wish I 8. The Peace-pipe Ceremony
knew it all, for it was unlike any other
I have spoken of six ceremonies
Dakota song I have heard since. It trans-
which were general and in a sense
lates: ‘This Pipe is Sacred / Beware lest open to everyone, under the right
you forget / It is holy. . . .’ For the linguist, conditions. They were: (Listed from
let me add here that my grandfather was birth to death)
a Yankton and used the D-dialect, as the 1. Ear-piercing
words indicate.” 2. Buffalo Ceremony
From this excerpt we know that Ella’s 3. Water-Carriers
first language was Dakota and that her 4. Huka
5. Sun Dance
exposure to the religion of the Dakotas
6. Ghost-keeping and redistribution.
began at an early age. This next excerpt
on religion demonstrates the trust that
the Teton people placed in Ella by telling The legend of the bringing of three
her of how the people came to have the ceremonies to the Teton people is called
Sun Dance, Huka, and Buffalo cere- The Man Who Came to Teach and Die.
monies. Most white anthropologists “A man came from nowhere and took
have it that there were seven ceremonies the chief’s daughter for his wife. All
that were brought by the White Buffalo honor was shown him at his marriage.
Calf Maiden along with the Calf-Pipe. In And when he and his bride sat down in
Ella’s work on Dakota culture, however, their own tepee to talk, he said to her
she identifies eight ceremonies. that he came to her people on a mission
and he wished to communicate it to her
The original ceremonies (according father.
to the legend of the Oglala) are three The chief sensed that there was no
in number; but others also were personal message but one which con-
strongly in existence for longer
cerned the tribe, so he called in all the
periods than anyone could say. In all,
I found the following rites and principal men and feasted them. Then
ceremonies in my investigation. They his son-in-law began to talk: ‘I have
seem to be pretty general among all come so that your lives may be im-
the Tetons regardless of band; and, to proved. So your part is to plant a pole in
agree in essentials, although differing
the ground and hang me on it, with my
more or less in detail. I refer to the
first eight. The other are local, or long arms outstretched. And as many as can,
extinct. take knives and cut away pieces of my
1. The Sun-gazing Dance
body. When you are finished, you shall be
2. The Huka purified. Everything evil shall be blown
3. The Buffalo Ceremony away. That is the first thing you must do.’
231
Deloria, Ella ___________________________________________________________________________________
So they carried out his instructions, consecrated, not to touch themselves

and stabbed and cut off pieces of his but to wear sticks in their hair by which
body, and yet he continued to hang there to scratch or scrape off the perspiration
intact. They grew frightened and during the dance.
stopped cutting him. He lifted up his Then he instructed about the materi-
head as he hung there and spoke, ‘Thus als and the business in the ceremonials
hast thou decreed and so has it been of the Buffalo, Huka, etc., and the narra-
done unto me. But it has availed nothing. tive closes with, ‘Thus did “He-comes-to-
So now, do thou wash them clean. And a-stand-sacredly” instruct the people,
also cause all evil to blow away. Do thou vividly, as in a dream.’”
do it!’ he said; and again, ‘Accordingly, From the flow of the story, it seems
they have come up in four places. Alas!’ that Ella transcribed it exactly as it was
At that instant it was noticed that in four told to her. The same legend is in her pa-
places on the horizon the thunders came pers more than once, and almost word
into view, and on they came, converging for word. This would indicate that the
at the area over this camp, and poured same care in retelling this event was
water in floods on the people, and wet taken as for the telling of the Woman
them, and tore down their tepees with Who Came from the Sky, the bringing of
their accompanying winds. the Calf-pipe.
When things were again straightened Ella warned of the problems that
out, then he met with the people and would occur when nontribal data collec-
told them he had brought certain teach- tors interviewed these same elders, be-
ings to them. And he told them about the cause no self-respecting Dakota would
wordings for the rituals of the Buffalo speak for another, especially about is-
Ceremony, the Huka, the Sundance. sues not in a personal domain. The suc-
Principally did he instruct concerning cess of researchers into the Dakota cul-
the Sundance. They must set up a pole, ture depends on the person’s having
with a cross piece at the top. From it they knowledge of three personality charac-
must hang a buffalo-figure and a man- teristics that are considered serious de-
figure. And the man-figure would be fects. These are important to the extent
himself. Then symbolically, as he had that they have labels in the language.
been cut, so the people were to cut and They are:
offer their flesh for earnest prayer. And
they were to place a buffalo-skull at the wawiyuge-s’a—one who asks
base to honor the buffalo-spirit who questions boldly and as a habit; and
would keep them fed; and they must lean is said to be a regular questioner;
this is not a compliment;
a pipe, filled, at the base of the tree. He
woyake s’e—one who freely tells
told the dancers how to dress; and in- secrets to outsiders and who is to be
structed them especially when they were avoided by all, including, usually to
232
__________________________________________________________________________________ Deloria, Ella
lesser extent, one’s own relatives; tribe, and quoting him as gospel; and I
and have seen the real people of the tribe
wasloslol-kiye ktehci—an laughing at him, saying, “Look whom
uncomplimentary title given to he picked out to tell him, what does he
someone who is “bent on knowing know?”
everything,” an extremely
undesirable trait. The next selection is the best descrip-
tion of how Ella was accepted by her peo-
This explanation of cultural values ple that can be found in the papers. It
gives us an insight into why the miscon- was written as part of a paper on kinship
ceptions about the people Ella Deloria ties—how they are established and
knew intimately abound to this time. It maintained—but it clearly indicates the
also explains why they are accepted by complete degree to which Ella was ac-
both our tribal people and all others who cepted in each of the three dialect com-
are familiar with concepts as recorded munities.
and put forth by the early non-Indian
observers. The manner of ‘new’ grandparents was
In a prelude to one paper that Ella ti- and is immediately more articulate,
tled Religion among the Dakota, she that is, without any initial formality. I
do not know if this is due to a life-time
gives this precaution concerning the
of practice in dealing with numerous
gathering of information about medi- grandchildren, or whether to a
cine men and power. mellowing by the years that results in
an immediate acceptance of all youth
We need to guard against going to as grandchildren; an automatic heart-
loose characters and outlaws in opening to any and all who relate
Dakota society and getting material themselves to them. For example, at a
from them, unless it be to find out gathering, my brother took me to meet
something about their private lives the fine old man, Little Warrior, who
outside the pale of that society. took part in the Custer battle. ‘He is
Naturally the men whose word is my (social) grandfather,’ my brother
respected in the tribe, and who are in said. ‘He belongs to my parish. . . . I
good standing are the ones to give the want you to meet him, he is full of
truth. It is conceivable and actually stories.’ So we went to him where he
happens that people who are loose sat under a tree with his wife.
give false testimony at times, simply to ‘Grandfather, this is my sister, who . . .’
satisfy the questioner. No white man The old man’s tone and manner
wants a derelict of his own color to became that of a real grandfather. It
give information about his race and was a petting tone, a gentle, tender
thus to represent him; and in like tone, as he reached out, ‘Hao, hao,
manner, no Indian wants any but the takoza ku wo, lel iyotaka yo, mitakoza,
best informed and the most upright to mitakoza!’ And he led me to a space
do so, and speak only truth. I have between him and his smiling and
seen white people questioning some equally cordial though less articulate
one who is regarded as a fool in the wife. And the warmth of affection in
233
Deloria, Ella ___________________________________________________________________________________
the air I could almost feel by touch. I But this has happened to me before,
had always been their prize many times, though never so dramati-
grandchild, one would have supposed.
cally. Nor have I ever detected any initial
No need to ask why I had come, what I
wanted of them. They were ready to caution, any momentary fear of possible
give all. I felt actually close to these rejection. Whether one accepts grand-
two human beings whom I had never parents or not, they accept one as a mat-
laid eyes on before. ter of course.”
It is abundantly clear from the unpub-
“His greeting was significant of total lished work of Ella Deloria that the be-
welcome. Hao, hao, takoza (Welcome, liefs we hold today about the historical
welcome, grandchild). Ku wo (return) lel culture of the speakers of Lakota (Teton),
iyotaka yo (sit down here). Then the ex- Dakota (Yankton), and Nakota (Santee)
clamations, My grandchild! My grand- are far from the reality that is described
child! It is Ku that is significant. It was by the tribal elders speaking to their
one of various directional verbs with fine grandchild, Ella.
distinctions. They constitute a whole
grammatical problem too involved to All of the information in this entry comes
discuss here. But this must be said. The from the unpublished papers of Ella Delo-
more technically correct verb would be ria, which are housed at the Dakota In-
u-Come (this way. Come for a while from dian Foundation in Chamberlain, South
the place you belong. Come, for a visit, Dakota. Since very little has been pub-
on an errand, or whatever) wo is a man’s lished about, or by, Ella, the only source
sign of the imperative mood. Deliber- cited here is the Ella Deloria Collection of
ately Little Warrior used its companion Unpublished Papers. Wherever possible,
form, ku (Return. Come home, here direct quotations from the papers are used.
where you belong). It meant I had a kin- Joyzelle Godfrey
ship right to be there; I had immediate See also Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho;
claim on all the grandparental ministra- Female Spirituality, Dakota; Missionization,
tions I required, along with all their other Northern Plains; Oral Traditions, Lakota
(Teton); Religious Leadership, Plains;
grandchildren. It was an indescribable
Sacred Pipe
comforting choice of words.
He had not waited for any explanation Deloria, Ella Cara. 1992. Dakota Texts.
as to why I had come, what I was after. He University of South Dakota Press.
———. 1998. Speaking of Indians. Lincoln:
interrupted the moment he realized that
as his (social) grandson’s sister, I was one Rice, Julian, ed. 1992. Deer Women and Elk
more grandchild to be treated as such. Men. Albuquerque: University of New
His instantaneous acceptance, generous Mexico Press.
———. 1994. Ella Deloria’s The Buffalo
to overflowing, was typical; so warm, so People. Albuquerque: University of New
unstilted, so selfless. Mexico Press.
234
______________________________________________________________________ Dreamers and Prophets
Dreamers and Prophets can take place only after have known
and experienced them in myths,
Dreams are a universal feature of human dreams and visions. Even their
nature, but they are also given highly cul- concept of person is different from
tural meaning by Native Americans. ours. In Dane-zaa reality, animals,
winds, rocks, and natural forces are
Dreaming is integral to Native American
“people.” Human people are
epistemology, their ways of knowing. continually in contact with these
Part of that epistemology is an emphasis nonhuman persons. All persons
on learning by experience and observa- continually bring the world into being
tion, rather than by explicit instruction. through the myths, dreams, and
visions they share with one another.
Dreams are a means of focusing a per-
The Dane-zaa experience myths and
son’s mind on events as they unfold. In dreams as fundamental sources of
his book Ways of Knowing, Jean-Guy knowledge. (Ridington 1988, xi)
Goulet writes, “Among Native North
Americans generally, and among the
Dreams provide a medium of commu-
Dene specifically, knowledge is not a
nication between human persons and
commodity to be objectified in instruc-
the nonhuman persons with whom they
tion; it is an expertise personally ab-
share the gifts of creation. When Plains
sorbed through observation and imita-
Indians begin or end a ceremony with
tion” (Goulet 1998, 30). Lee Irwin makes
the phrase “All my relations,” they refer
a similar point when he writes, “Theoret-
to both human and nonhuman persons.
ical knowledge, typical of the dominant
Jennifer Brown points out that the
culture, often reveals particular kinds of
“thought categories” of the Manitoba
relations among abstract, intellectual
Ojibwa “leave open the possibility of ani-
precepts, whereas the dreamer’s knowl-
mation in and communication with the
edge has a strong experiential, emo-
totality of the surrounding universe.”
tional, and imagistic base. . . . Dreaming
These categories explain, she writes, that
experientially transforms our sense of
“the private vision or dream was the
the everyday world in a holistic and im-
prime means of access to significant
mediate, emotional encounter, not in a
knowledge and power among the North-
logical or abstract sense” (Irwin 1994,
ern Algonquians,” who treat dream en-
19–20). Commenting on my own experi-
counters “as seriously as did the
ence of Dane-zaa culture, I wrote:
Freudian psychologists who ‘discovered’
the importance and relevance of
People in Western culture . . . assume dreams” (Brown 1986, 222). Brown and
that we can know and experience her colleague Robert Brightman edited
events only after they have begun to
take place in a physical world
the 1823 fur trade journal of George Nel-
accessible to our senses. The Dane-zaa son, who observed that the Cree and
assume, I came to learn, that events Ojibwa people with whom he traded
235
Dreamers and Prophets _______________________________________________________________________
Chief Smohalla, called The Prophet of Columbia River, with his priests inside a woodlodge, 1884.
(National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian)
lived their lives according to “the orders hunter and game negotiate a relation-
of the Dreamed” (Brown and Brightman ship. A. Irving Hallowell wrote of the
1988, 34). The dream-persons who in- Ojibwa in 1935, “The hunting dream is
struct them include the Sun, who ap- the major object of focus. . . . It is part of
pears as a man, Walking on the Wind, an- the process of revelation by which the in-
imal people, and a variety of spirit dividual acquires the knowledge of life. It
beings. is the main channel through which he
When hunters prepare themselves for keeps in communication with the un-
a hunt, they attend as much to their seen world. His soul-spirit speaks to him
dreams as to the physical equipment at in dreams” (Hallowell 1935, quoted in
hand. They typically dream ahead to the Ridington 1990, 102). Robert Brightman,
place where their trails and those of their in his study of Rock Cree Human-Animal
game intersect. In the hunt dream, Relationships, writes, “Crees say that ani-
236
mals are sometimes killed twice, first in a Yahey told me that dreamers are like
dream and subsequently in waking swans, able to leave their bodies and
life. . . . Crees say that many dreams are journey to a place beyond the horizon:
perceptions of actually occurring events
Even Swans, when they have hard luck
that the dreaming self witnesses or in
in the fall time
which it constructively participates. and start to starve, they can just go
Such dreams are conceived to be as real right through the sky
as the data of waking consciousness.” He to Heaven without dying.
quotes a Cree hunter who told him, “You Swans are the only big animals God
made
got to know how to do things in your
that can go to Heaven without dying.
dream. Make things happen.” Brightman Swans are hard to get for food.
notes, “Events prophesied or predes- They go right through the sky.
tined in dreams may occur anywhere Saya [the culture hero] wanted big
from a few hours to decades after the groups of swans in Heaven
so there would be lots up there.
dream itself” (Brightman 1993, 95; That is why there are only a few that
99–100). he kept on earth.
Dreams also facilitate communication Most of them are up in Heaven; only a
between living people and their human few down here.
(Ridington 1988, 104–105)
relatives who have passed on. While
most individuals can use dreams to con-
Similarly, he said, there are many dream-
tact animals and natural forces, particu-
ers in Heaven and only a few down here.
larly gifted people, sometimes known as
Each song comes from a particular
dreamers or prophets, can follow dream
dreamer. Each time the singers give
trails into the future. Among the Dane-
voice to a song they are making contact
zaa, dreamers follow yagatunne, the trail
with the dreamers in Heaven. Charlie ex-
to heaven, and return with messages
plained:
from the people who have gone before.
The gift to dream in this way comes That is how a dreamer who is still alive
through the dreamer’s own experience of here
gets that person in dream.
dying and returning to earth. The Dane-
He takes that song in his dream,
zaa say that their prophets die and return the song that woman or man is
in order to “dream ahead for everybody.” singing.
Charlie Yahey, who died in 1974, was the The next morning he dreams
last in a long line of dreamers. The first About how that person has started
walking
one that contemporary Dane-zaa re-
and singing that song.
member was called Makenunatane, “He (ibid., 106)
Shows the Way.” He is credited with
prophesying the coming of the white Dane-zaa dreamers remind people of
people and their new technology. Charlie the sun’s seasonal journey north and
237
Dreamers and Prophets _______________________________________________________________________
south. They tell people that they must abandon alcohol and light new fires, “the
sing and dance, for if people do not sing new flames to be kindled in the tradi-
and dance together when the sun tional manner” (Edmunds 1983, 36). The
reaches its winter and summer solstice name he adopted is strikingly like that of
points, the sun will continue moving the nineteenth-century Dane-zaa
until it goes out of sight and the seasonal prophet Maketsueson, “He Opens the
cycle fails. Door.” Tenskwatawa means “the Open
Like Makenunatane, other Native Door” (ibid., 34). By 1811, he and his
American dreamers have been particu- brother Tecumseh had established the
larly important in predicting and inter- center of a new Indian nation they hoped
preting social and economic changes to create at Prophetstown, in what is now
brought on by contact with European so- Indiana. Sadly, their vision was crushed
ciety and technology. Many of these with the death of Tecumseh at the hands
dreamers adopted elements of Chris- of William Henry Harrison in the battle
tianity and incorporated them into their of the Thames in 1813.
teachings. Because of that, some ob- In the Pacific Northwest, prophet tra-
servers have thought that prophet tradi- ditions were reported during the same
tions and practices such as the Ghost period as Handsome Lake, Ten-
Dance were the product of cultural bor- skwatawa, and Makenunatane. A
rowing. Further scholarship and the tes- Spokane prophet, Yurareechen (“the Cir-
timony of Native American dreamers cling Raven”), “heard his Creator in a
themselves, however, indicates that burst of light tell him to prophesy to the
dreaming and prophecy are of great an- people” and began preaching in 1800,
tiquity and were used as a tool to deal “when the air clouded and the ground
with the traumatic events of European became covered with the ‘dry snow,’ the
contact. The Seneca Prophet Handsome ash from Mount St. Helens” (Ruby and
Lake was one such visionary. His experi- Brown 1989, 5). A generation later, two
ence of death and rebirth in 1799 gave other prophets from the same area, Smo-
rise to the Iroquois “longhouse religion,” halla and Skolaskin continued the
which revitalized Iroquois culture and dreamers’ message of renewal and revi-
helped it adapt to social, economic, and talization. Like Tenskwatawa, who was
political changes. blind in one eye, and Makenunatane,
The Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa who was initially viewed as being “crazy,”
was another spiritual leader who, in Smohalla was “a hunchback” and Sko-
1805, used the experience of death and laskin “had crippled limbs” (ibid., 14).
rebirth to revitalize his people. Like Because dreaming is fundamental to
Handsome Lake, he had been almost the Native American way of knowing
overcome by alcohol and cultural disin- about the world, the appearance of
tegration. He exhorted his followers to dreamers and prophets in many differ-
238
ent times and places must be attributed As indigenous nations face increased as-
to more than the diffusion of an idea saults, they can expect thoroughly con-
from one nation to another. Native temporary dreamers and visionaries to
Americans responded to similar chal- appear among them. There is great truth
lenges with similar cultural and individ- when Native Americans invoke the spir-
ual solutions. A Dane-zaa elder, Sam St. its of “All my relations.”
Pierre, explained to me what he under- Robin Ridington
stood to be the difference between See also Dreams and Visions; Ghost Dance
priests and dreamers. Priests, he said, Movement; Native American Church,
preach about what they know from Peyote Movement; Retraditionalism and
Revitalization Movements, Columbia
books, while dreamers preach about Plateau; Revitalization Movements,
what they know from experience. Native Northeast; Vision Quest Rites
nations throughout North America have References and Further Reading
been subjected to parallel experiences of Brightman, Robert. 1993. Grateful Prey:
contact with European people, institu- Rock Cree Human-Animal Relationships.
tions, and technology. It is not surprising Brown, Jennifer. 1986. “Northern
that they have responded to these chal- Algonquians from Lake Superior and
lenges through the dream experiences of Hudson Bay to Manitoba in the Historic
Period.” Pp. 208–243 in Native Peoples:
their leaders. In some cases, such as the The Canadian Experience. Edited by R.
Ghost Dance, prophets predicted the Bruce Morrison and C. Roderick Wilson.
disappearance of the white people and a Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
Brown, Jennifer, and Robert Brightman.
return of the buffalo. Others, such as 1988. The Orders of the Dreamed: George
Handsome Lake and Tenskwatawa, Nelson on Cree and Northern Ojibwa
preached against the harmful effects of Religion and Myth, 1823. Winnipeg:
University of Manitoba Press.
alcohol. A feature common to most Edmunds, R. David. 1983. The Shawnee
dreamers is the experience of dying in Prophet. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
this world and traveling to another. Their Press.
Goulet, Jean-Guy. 1998. Ways of Knowing:
dreams and visions become prophecies
Experience, Knowledge and Power among
when they returned to tell people about the Dene Tha. Lincoln: University of
their experiences. Nebraska Press.
Irwin, Lee. 1994. The Dream Seekers: Native
For hundreds of years, since first con-
American Visionary Traditions of the
tact, Native American dreamers and Great Plains. Norman: University of
prophets have provided their people Oklahoma Press.
Ridington, Robin. 1988. Trail to Heaven:
with knowledge about the changes that
Knowledge and Narrative in a Northern
threaten to overwhelm them. For millen- Native Community. Iowa City: University
nia prior, dreamers provided insight into of Iowa Press.
the economic and political issues of the Ruby, Robert H., and John A. Brown. 1989.
Dreamer-Prophets of the Columbia
day. There is no reason to believe that Plateau. Norman: University of
such gifted people lived only in the past. Oklahoma Press.
239
Dreams and Visions ___________________________________________________________________________
———. 1990. Little Bit Know Something: usually, but not always, acquired under
Stories in a Language of Anthropology. circumstances of rigorous dream quest-
Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.
ing, while ordinary dreams lack puha, as
do negative or disturbing dreams (Wal-
lace and Hoebel, 1952, 155). Among the
Apache, a dreamer who is asleep at the
Dreams and Visions
onset of a dream of power is thought to
For First Peoples, dreams have acted as be “awakened” by the power and taken to
guiding resources for prophetic move- the home of the power (as a challenging
ments, new techniques in healing, guid- test of the dreamer’s commitment), at
ance for enduring the hardships of colo- which place the dream power is con-
nialization, innovation in technology ferred in a ceremonial setting; the
and crafts, a resource for the mainte- dreamer is then returned to the sleeping
nance of religious continuity, and reli- state (Opler 1969, 204). The dream as be-
gious revalidation. There is a rich affir- stowing “power” is a critical marker of
mation of dreaming among indigenous the ontology of dreaming; the dream as
peoples around the world, from the such is not the issue as much as the psy-
Evenki-Tungus in Siberia to the Inuit and chic and spiritual contact with sources of
to the peoples of Africa and Australia, as sacred being that generates an influx of
well as for a majority of the indigenous enhanced ability or new capacities unac-
peoples of North and South America. tualized before the event of the dream.
Dreaming in a majority of these tradi- It is important to recognize in this
tions has been central, a primal resource kind of classification that “power” is a
for religious action, ritual, and individual term that references a type of knowl-
development. In many of these tradi- edge—specifically, knowledge acquired
tions, dreams are regarded as having through dreams that is considered ex-
greater validity than knowledge obtained traordinary and unusual. The dreamer
in the normative, waking sense. But that has been given a gift of knowledge that
does not mean all dreams are regarded will empower action in the waking world
as significant, or that any dream may because dreams are seen as a primary
confer status on the dreamer. Most in- means through which such power is con-
digenous traditions make a sharp dis- ferred. For example, among the Zuni,
tinction between various types of k’okshi (that is, “good”) dreams are those
dreams. that strengthen the heart and breath and
For example, among the Comanche, give knowledge that is pikwayina
dreams are indexed according to the de- (“passed through from the other side”),
gree of puha (“power”) conferred by the or a capacity to “see ahead” (tu-
dream experience while either awake or naa’ehkwi). Such knowledge is consid-
asleep. Dreams with significant puha are ered an enhancement of human poten-
240
__________________________________________________________________________ Dreams and Visions
tial through contact with more-than- Often the dreamer must wait years be-
human sources (conceptualized by the fore enacting the power, sometimes sig-
Zuni as the raw, animate powers of na- nified by four repeating dreams on the
ture rather than the weaker, cooked subject of the power given.
power of human beings). Bad dreams are From just these few examples, for
told in the morning while breathing in which analogies can be recognized in
smoke from the piñon, thus dissipating many other Native communities, we can
the negative influence; good dreams are see that dreams are clearly distinguished
held within to strengthen the breath and into various types, and that some dreams
enacted only under special circum- are highly valued as bestowing nonordi-
stances when extraordinary power is re- nary degrees of power and knowledge.
quired (Tedlock 1987, 113, 117). Further, ordinary dreams are distin-
Other Native communities make clear guished from special types of dreams
linguistic distinctions with regard to that are believed to establish a link be-
dream types. For example, among the tween the religious worldview of the
Apsarokee (Crow) we find four types: community and the direct, personal ex-
Etahawasheare, meaning “no account perience of the individual. Thus, some
dreams,” are common, nonempowering dreams are valued more than others—in
night dreams. Maremmasheare, “wish or fact, a relatively small percentage of all
sleep dreams,” possess minor maxpe dreams are the dreams that are most val-
[“power/medicine”], giving some degree ued and most reflective of the higher-
of power based on prayers and desires value world of the dreamer. However,
whose source cannot be identified in the dreams are generally remembered and
dream; these dreams are sometimes valued insofar as the dreaming experi-
given by the dreamer to other Apsarokee ence is a medium for communication
during a sweatlodge rite or in return for with the sacred powers of the religious
presents donated on special occasions. world. Dreams in this sense are a means
The next highest grade is the of establishing a direct personal relation-
Bashiammisheek (lit., “he has a medi- ship with the deepest sources of ontolog-
cine”), usually conferring significant ical value within a given cultural frame-
maxpe while asleep. The highest grade is work. That is because the dreamwork is
known as Baaheamaequa (lit., “some- inseparable from a religious worldview
thing you see”), or a waking vision that that sees dreaming as a unique form of
gives an abundant degree of maxpe knowledge, a relationship between em-
(Wildschut 1960, 4–5). Generally, the powering sources and dreamers who
dream power is conveyed in terms of cer- must enact the dream to manifest the
tain objects, songs, ritual behavior, and power or knowledge given.
proscriptions necessary to ensure the Dreams in the Native context are nei-
lasting vitality of the maxpe conferred. ther epiphenomenal nor a by-product of
241
biological or cognitive processes, but a The impact of the dream is visceral,

means by which the dreamer estab- image driven, emotional, and tactile. In
lishes reciprocity within a psychically other words, it has ontological reality; it
defined religious worldview. Another is an encounter with primal power
important feature of the higher-value through the medium of the visionary ex-
dream experience is the often visual, perience that affirms the reality of the re-
nonverbal character of the dream, its ligious worldview. The female figure is
intensely vivid and imagistic texture. A not merely a Hopi woman but dressed in
dream of power is itself a dramatic en- rabbit skins with long corn tassel ear-
actment, a visceral experience that rings—a precise image of the Mother of
grips the dreamer in a powerful, utterly the Game. This in turn directs attention
absorbing, and often highly emotional to the problem of the dream texture (as a
fashion. The dream is not about a text vivid emotional and visceral felt-en-
but about texture and context. A Hopi counter) as compared with the written
dreamer reports how while sitting out- text through which, in the non-Native
side by his cornfield, banging a can and context, the dream is conveyed. But what
shouting to chase away the crows, he about the Native context? In that context
saw a small cloud approaching but ig- what matters is the success of the hunt,
nored it until it came very close to him. the hunter’s ability to actualize the gift of
Suddenly “a powerful female being” power through successful hunting, not
(Mother of the Game) jumped on him, the narrative of the dream. The axiology
knocked him to the ground, weakened of the dream lies in its successful enact-
his breathing, made him feel limp, wres- ment in the context of the Hopi world-
tled with him, tried to pin him in a pos- view, and certainly not in the creation of
sible sexual embrace that he resisted a written text. The value is not the dream
successfully, and released him only as a form of narrative, but the way in
when he promised to offer her prayer which dreaming acts to empower the in-
sticks if she would give him special abil- dividual and give existential value to the
ity to hunt. Finally, she spun around dreamer by heightening the capacity to
“like a top” and disappeared into the act with greater effectiveness in certain
ground. When he awoke from this dream-defined circumstances (such as
dream, his ears were ringing with the hunting).
sound of bells and his body was covered To understand this axiological (or
with sweat (Simmons 1942, 342). Such value driven) content of the dream, it is
an intense somatic encounter opens the necessary to move away from the text-
door into the profound emotional dy- centered bias that currently pervades
namics of contact with extraordinary much scholarship on dreaming. What is
power normally inaccessible in lesser the power of the image? How does the
dream types. dream texture determine the value of a
242
dream? Why are some dreams recog- words to be recited, songs to be sung,
nized as dreams of “power” and not oth- prayers to be offered, which, all in all,
ers? The power of the image is not simply make up a quite small portion of the
its visual presentation; it is the way in dream. The primary content of the
which the image moves, the ways in dream is the dramatic action, the en-
which this moving imagery taps the counter that is related through a meeting
human potential and arouses a power- between the dreamer and explicit, ani-
ful, reactive encounter with latent capac- mate powers of the shared religious
ity. In the context of a religious world- worldview of the dreamer. The remark-
view, the visual field is charged with able aspect of this action is the way in
powerful mythic forms and imagery (re- which the imagery embodies a strategic
inforced through visual semiotics in link to powerful figures of that religious
communal religious life) that can move worldview. These figures in turn, through
far beyond dreaming as mere visual the visionary mode, impact the dreamer
presentation (like a spectator watching a as embodying a profound reality, an on-
film) to a radical encounter that forces tological depth, that moves the dreamer
the individual to grapple with com- into a state that permits tapping the
pelling, visionary manifestations of power of the image through following
those forms. The texture of the dream of the dream instructions, through enact-
power is this radical encounter, this ment and actually living the dream in a
compelling, gripping sense of the lived variety of contexts sanctioned by the
reality: the vividness of the interaction, same religious worldview. So the im-
its provocative, confrontational quality. agery moves beyond any text classifica-
These are not ordinary dreams, and they tion scheme and into an indexing of the
cannot be reduced to ordinary texts various modes of power that vivify the
without obscuring the real texture that religious worldview through existential
validates the dream in its indigenous encounter, through real dream affirma-
context. Dreams of power are recogniza- tion of the power of those images.
ble not by metaphor or analogy, not by Subsequently, the very nature of that
conformity to textual criteria, but by encounter opens the door for innovation
confrontation, emotional depth, and a and emergence in the religious context.
sense of the nonordinary quality of the As the texture deepens, as the shades and
dream. nuances of the culture shift, in the ongo-
There is more to be said about images. ing mediation of power as a religious phe-
One feature of indigenous dream reports nomenon, the dream is a vehicle that can
that I have long noticed is the relatively both reinforce existing patterns of belief
small role played by actual verbal con- and open the way for equally potent but
tent. Most often, such explicit verbal new manifestations. The dream is a living
content is linked to ritual behavior: medium of encounter and imagery, and
243
drama is the means by which the dream view. The crucial reality, the ontological
enhances or affirms new awareness and significance, is not the telling of the
new thinking. There is nothing in the fun- dream (though that may be part of the
damental theory of dreaming in the in- pattern) or the dream text, but what the
digenous context that inhibits such inno- dream sanctions in terms of action and
vation. The visual medium is a living successful manifestations of dream
context in transformation—if the dream power. A new healer among the Califor-
reinforces the dreaming of others, con- nia Pomo received dreams of the Pomo
structed in traditional patterns, well and round house (ceremonial center) and
good. But if the dream introduces new was instructed in dreams on how to heal,
ideas, perceptions, encounters, or emer- or to use weya, or “healing power.” Fol-
gent powers (like Jesus or Mary), that too lowing these instructions he began to
is well and good. What matters is not the healing techniques revealed to him in his
text, but the texture and the gripping real- dreams and was soon recognized by
ity, the encounter that moves the dream many Pomo (and others) as a successful
into the arena of power. And the test is the dreamer, as evidenced by his actual heal-
capacity of the dreamer to manifest that ing of people (Gray 1984, 146). The real
power in a context that affirms and sup- test of the dream of power is for the
ports the communal life. dreamer to manifest the dream power
We can build on this understanding. capacity in a way that is evident and
In the religious context, the dreamer clear to other community members; the
seeks to have these special, empowering dream as text plays only a minor role in
dreams as a validation of the religious this process.
worldview as well as a personal affirma- Some persons demonstrate a capacity
tion of enhanced human ability. People for dreaming many of these types of
without these affirmative and enhancing higher-value dreams, the contents of
dreams lack the special abilities that which are often linked as a series of em-
such dreams give; they do not epitomize powering manifestations. Usually it is
the ideal of the successful dreamer. The possible for any community member to
higher-value dream is much more than a receive higher-value dreams, although
simple pattern dream or a repetition of some persons receive many and thus
particular imagery. The validating crite- may become highly respected healers or
rion is the affective nature of the dream spiritual exemplars. For example, Susie
in the waking state. It is not “dreams re- Rube, a respected Washo healer, says, “All
membered” but the dream as enacted in puhágëm [healers or doctors] have more
the actuality of waking life—that is, how than one dream. They usually have four
the dream enhances and empowers daily or five. This increases the doctor’s power.
life and provides a manifestation of the But doctors have one main dream, which
animate powers of the religious world- is the first one dreamed. Others come in
244
as help. The more helpers, the more healers and other practitioners to learn
power. The longer the practice, the more more about the process of dream inter-
helpers. In doctoring, all dreams work pretation and enactment. Higher-value
together” (Siskin 1983, 25). The puha (or dreams can be very enigmatic or difficult
healer) gains credibility through a devel- to follow, challenging the dreamer in
oping ability that becomes manifest ways that can be dangerous. In fact, con-
through sequential dreaming—the tex- tact with the animate powers of higher-
ture deepens and enriches the under- value dreams is considered a profound
standing of the dreamer, even though challenge; the integration of that dream
the actual dream context is rarely dis- knowledge or power requires a lifetime’s
cussed or narrated. As Park has noted effort. The contents of such a dream are
among the Paviotso, “dreams-in-a-se- unpacked over years of thought and re-
ries” is the most distinguishing feature of flection, coupled with dream enactment
successful healers or doctors as those and supplemented by additional dream
healers “continue to dream and develop experience.
their powers” (Park 1975, 23). As described by one Gros Ventre
Henry Rupert, a Washo healer, notes dreamer, the encounter with the ani-
that dreamers do not begin to use their mate powers of the religious worldview
power until about the age of forty-five, is often “fearsome and uncanny”
but they may be older—over sixty—be- (Cooper 1957, 278). That quality is a
cause younger dreamers often do not mark of profound contact with psychic
understand the significance or applica- contents that challenge dreamers to
tion of their dreams (Siskin 1983, 34). transform their life in ways that corre-
They may also not be familiar with the spond to an ability to access the power
more mature features of the religious as defined in a religious context. The Co-
worldview held by successful dreamers manche healer Sanapia reported of her
who have often acted as creative inter- solicitation of the eagle-dream power
preters of that worldview. The knowledge that “when the eagle came to her, every-
given by the dream is often highly indi- thing around her disappeared, [and]
vidualized, and in studying dream while the eagle was present, she trem-
records I have rarely encountered identi- bled violently and perspired freely, her
cal dreams—in fact, most dream narra- heart beat very rapidly and she felt as if
tives have been very diverse, even within she was going to faint.” To maintain and
a single cultural context, and even direct the healing energy of the higher-
though they do share certain features value dream requires special training
common to the religious beliefs of the and inner development that is part of a
community. Dream knowledge is built shared visionary epistemology that
up over years of dreaming, and younger must be enacted to be validated. The re-
dreamers will turn to older, successful ality of the dream power is not simply
245
vivid imagery or a particular action but only must the dreamer seek to under-
an action that solicits the dream state, stand the nuances of the dream, its often
that invokes and animates the dreamer enigmatic qualities, but, in addition, the
with the power and presence of the dreamer must be psychically prepared to
dream. That is no easy task. The dreamer enter the dream state and be able to in-
must be able voluntarily to enter the terpret the dream in terms of processes
dream state while awake, to bring the of both cultural continuity and cultural
dream to life with a texture similar to the emergence.
original dream instructions. This re- By implication, the dream world em-
quires special practice and a certain ca- bodies primary sources for the affirma-
pacity to embody the dream state as tion of religious action, either in the per-
normative for the manifestation of its son of the respected dreamer or through
animating power. the dream as the medium by which the
The continuity between the waking animating powers of the visionary world
state and the dream state is here much communicate extraordinary sanctions for
more pronounced than most current action. The dreamer, the developed
dream research recognizes. The vision- dreamer, having integrated the sequence
ary epistemology of the dreamer is such of dreams into an overall dreaming praxis,
that the higher-value dream is marked becomes increasingly assimilated into
not in terms of waking or sleeping but in the general religious hierarchy of dream-
terms of intensity and vividness that ing powers. This is generally not a matter
grasps the dreamer and transports that of a rigidly codified institutional hierar-
dreamer into the visionary reality gener- chy, but of a very informal pluralism in
ally sanctioned by communal religious which a dreamer who embodies specific
beliefs. And then, the vision may very connections to specific powers “stands
well surpass the boundaries of commu- out” in communal life as one who knows
nal belief by introducing new motifs, im- the visionary world, who enacts it, and
agery, songs, rituals, and so on that is thereby represents its authentic presence.
part of the creative and emergent Such a role can be ambiguous, “uncanny
process of higher-value dreaming. The and fearful,” for other members of the
challenge of the dreamer is to embody community in the same way that the
the dream in the waking state with a sim- higher-value dream represents the ambi-
ilar if not greater vividness, which brings guity and power of the religious world-
the creative and transformative qualities view. An advanced dreamer-practitioner
of the dream truly to life in the commu- might well be regarded as embodying the
nal context. This takes a high degree of dream power in ways that are extraordi-
maturity and good judgment in terms of nary and uncanny (Irwin 1992, 246). The
being able to handle the transformative psychic abilities of the dreamer are recog-
experience that validates the dream. Not nized by other members of the commu-
246
nity through the successful enactment of dreams until they feel ready to act on
the dream, and the dreamer gives validity them. In acting on them, they have vary-
to the religious worldview through the ing degrees of success. Those who have
dreamer’s own personhood. The value lies the most marked success, who can actu-
not only in the dream but also in the ally demonstrate knowledge and power
dreamer, in the way in which the dreamer in the visionary (or perhaps uncanny)
makes real and viable the shared beliefs of sense, become recognized as embodying
the community. those powers. Over years of practice and
This aspect of the dreamer as repre- skillful development, the individual may
senting the dream or visionary world of be increasingly identified as a religious
religious belief is an aspect of the prag- expert with profound knowledge of
matic function of religion in the Native dreaming power and may be regarded
American context. Religion is not simply with some awe or trepidation.
about belief but also about the capacity Different cultures interpret this
of human beings to embody and exem- process differently. For example, among
plify ontological depths that empower certain Northern Plains communities,
and enhance human capacity. The the above-mentioned development is
dream is one medium of this enhance- central to the validation of core religious
ment, and its most telling exemplum is values. Among contemporary Lakota
the vitality and success of the dreamer in women (and men), acquiring dreams is a
manifesting extraordinary power ac- basic prerequisite for eventually attain-
quired in higher-value dreaming. There ing the role of a Wapiya Win (“woman
is a psychic trajectory here: an individual healer”). These dreams may begin when
dreams many dreams, some of which a dreamer has little or no expectation of
may be more representative of higher having such dreams, but then, a series, of
values than others. Among all these powerful dreams becomes compelling
dreams, perhaps a few stand out as com- and draws the individual into religious
municating power (or enhanced ability), practices of healing. Nellie Two Bulls tells
and those dreams are specially marked the story of how she resisted the dream
as reflecting core values in a religious call from the voices she heard and the
worldview. There is a shared knowledge three women who appeared to her in
that such marked dreams are a means for several waking visions. The dreams
contact and interaction with the most made her sick and fearful, but eventually
powerful sources of knowledge in that she felt she had to accept the call and
worldview. However, this knowledge subsequently became a very powerful
cannot be easily transmitted without the and highly respected Double Woman
requisite dream experience. Certain in- healer (St. Pierre and Long Soldier 1995,
dividuals excel in this kind of dreaming; 54–55). In other communities, such as
they may spend years pondering their among the Pueblo peoples, compelling
247
dreams are less central to the religious ments—that is, predictive narratives
life of the ritual processes that character- about the future tied to various manifes-
ize the agricultural practices of Pueblo tations of power in the present, such as is
religion. And yet, various societies exist seen in the many “dreamer” and “shaker”
that support individual dreaming—as religious movements of the Northwest.
among the Zuni Teka’we or the Din’e All of these affirm the ontological value
ndilnih—healing societies in which the of the dream as a source of empower-
dream can act as a guiding, even comment and knowledge that surpasses or-
pelling, manifestation for individual de- dinary waking or dream knowledge.
velopment. In summary, dreams in the indige-
Among the Modoc, the sumach ahot, nous context are multifaceted but con-
or “great dream,” is considered an out- verge in their affirmation of core reli-
standing event because it connects to a gious values through experiential
time before birth, recovered in the encounter. The dream is a medium of
dream, and reveals the dreamer’s true validation for those values not simply as
power as a sumact (“doctor” or “healer”) a text or a narrative but also as a re-
who can embody Avikwame, the spirit of source that taps the roots of human po-
the mountain of creation. Such dreams tential and draws through those roots
convey new portions of the story of cre- capacities that are unique, highly hon-
ation, which are then added to the ongo- ored, and fruitful in supporting emer-
ing narratives and rites of other great gence and transformation in the reli-
sumact (Stewart 1974, 9). Such an exam- gious worldview. Further, dreams give
ple clearly illustrates that certain dream extraordinary knowledge of the mythic
types are recognized as axiological re- and psychic structures of that world-
sources that confirm and help to shape a view as embodied in actual dreamers
religious worldview in an ongoing who come to represent that world as liv-
process of cocreation among dreamers. ing manifestations of its power and real-
Such dreamers stand out as exemplifying ity. The higher-value dream is not re-
the religious worldview and as affirming ducible to either a literary expression or
in a direct experiential sense the onto- a simple imaginative act; it is a primary
logical value of dreams. The most ad- medium for the validation of a religious
vanced Modoc dreamers are able to con- worldview. It is a creative resource for
nect to a preexistence that is still in the the exploration of human potential, and
process of development and that confers such dreams are psychically potent
unique abilities and narrative traditions manifestations of as-yet-unactualized
linked to the ongoing story of adaptation capacity and knowledge that takes
and something more than survival. Al- many years of training and develop-
ternatively, many Native dreaming tradi- ment to realize fully.
tions also have strong “prophetic” ele- Lee Irwin
248
__________________________________________________________________________________________ Drums
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho; Drums

Dreamers and Prophets; Guardian Spirit
Complex; Power, Northwest Coast; Power Drums play an important ceremonial
Places, Great Basin; Power, Plains; Power, role in Native American societies from
Southeast; Spirits and Spirit Helpers,
Plateau; Sweatlodge; Vision Quest Rites the Arctic Circle southward throughout
References and Further Reading the continents. Often used to accom-
Cooper, John M. 1957. The Gros Ventres of pany singing, the drums can take many
Montana: Religion and Ritual. forms. Some songs or rituals call for a
Washington, DC: Catholic University of
America Press. quiet counterpoint played on clappers—
Gray, Leslie. 1984. “Healing among Native split sticks tapped against a leg or the
American Indians.” PSI Research 3: palm of a hand. Many incorporate rat-
141–149.
Irwin, Lee. 1992. “Cherokee Healing: Myth,
tles, while others use small frame drums,
Dreams and Medicine.” American Indian water drums, or a large drum played by
Quarterly 16 (spring): 237–257. several people at once. In most cases, the
Opler, Morris. 1969. Apache Odyssey: A
drum or other percussion instrument is
Journey between Two Worlds. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston. understood to play an essential role in
Park, Willard. 1975. Shamanism in Western the practice, representing a particular
North America: A Study of Cultural
kind of power that resides in the drum
Relations. New York: Cooper Square
Publishers. that is called forth when the drum is
Simmons, Leo W., ed. 1942. Sun Chief: The given voice by its player. In cultures that
Autobiography of a Hopi Indian. New
use the drum in healing ceremonies, the
Haven: Yale University Press.
Siskin, E. E. 1983. Washo Shamans and drum may produce a physiological effect
Peyotists. Salt Lake City: University of in the drummer and other participants
Utah Press.
that enables the ritual specialist to enter
St. Pierre, Mark, and Tilda Long Soldier.
1995. Walking in the Sacred Manner: the proper state of consciousness to ef-
Healers, Dreamers, and Pipe Carriers— fect the needed healing. Two main kinds
Medicine Women of the Plains. New York:
of drums found in important pan-tribal
Simon and Schuster.
Stewart, Kenneth. 1974. “Mohave ceremonies are the water drum used in
Shamanistic Specialists.” Masterkey 48: peyote ceremonies of the Native Ameri-
4–13. can Church, and the drum that forms the
Tedlock, Barbara. 1987. “Zuni and Quiché
Dream Sharing and Interpreting.” Pp. center of the powwow.
105–131 in Dreaming: Anthropological
and Psychological Interpretations. Edited
by Barbara Tedlock. Cambridge: Water Drum
Cambridge University Press. Water drums may be constructed from
Wallace, E., and E. A. Hoebel. 1952. The
Comanches: Lords of the Southern pottery vessels, from cooking pots, or
Plains. Norman: University of Oklahoma from a hollowed piece of wood or
Press. wooden staves, like a barrel. They are
Wildschut, William. 1960. Crow Indian
Medicine Bundles. New York: Museum of found across many cultures in North and
the American Indian, Heye Foundation. South America, and constitute the only
249
Drums ___________________________________________________________________________________________
drum used in traditional Apache and plays the drum rapidly to accompany the
Diné (Navajo) music. The water drum singing that continues through the night.
used in the Native American Church The drum incorporates several sym-
seems to be related to this Southwestern bols that enhance the connection be-
variety, generally made from a heavy tween the drum and the religious world
metal cooking pot, ideally of the old of the Native American Church. These
three-legged iron variety. It is usually include four coals placed in the water to
around eight or nine inches in diameter represent lightning, the sound of the
across the top. A buckskin head is drum itself representing thunder, and
stretched over the opening and kept wet the water representing rain. The rope
during the ceremony. can be seen as a symbol of the crown of
The stringing of the head is a ceremo- thorns worn by Jesus at his crucifixion. In
nial act in itself. The drum’s owner or addition, the drum itself symbolizes the
guardian, a leader in the church called a peyote plant.
“roadman,” has a kit that includes every- The stick used by the drummer to pro-
thing necessary to assemble the drum: duce the sound of the drum is usually
the kettle; cotton rope with which to tie made of wood and carved with various
down the head; seven marbles or other symbols of important peyote images.
round, small objects; the deer hide that The roadman usually has several to
forms the head of the drum; and a round, choose from at a ceremony. The drum-
pointed tool that is used to help the stick may also be decorated with beads,
roadman tie or untie the drum. These metal, or rhinestones. Drumsticks can be
tools may be made from antler or wood part of the ceremony as traded items or
and are often carved with symbols im- gifts as well, given from one member of
portant in the church, such as the cross the church to another at the end of a cer-
or a representation of the peyote plant. emony in the morning.
The properly tied drum will have a star
with seven points formed by the crossed Dance Drum, Powwow Drum
ropes on the bottom of the pot. In the Ojibwa tradition, the story of this
Water fills half the pot, and it can be drum relates its first appearance to a
splashed onto the inside of the drum- Sioux woman named Tailfeather
head as the drum dries. The player, who Woman. According to one version of the
kneels, holding the drum at an angle but story, white soldiers had attacked her
resting on the ground, can accomplish people, killing her four sons, and Tail-
this by slightly tossing the drum to feather Woman tried to escape by run-
redampen the head. While he plays, the ning away. She hid in a pond, under the
drummer changes the tone of the drum lily pads, and while she was there, over a
by using the thumb of the hand support- period of four days, the Great Spirit told
ing the drum to press on the head. He her about the drum and the dance and
250
__________________________________________________________________________________________ Drums
another community. In that way, each

drum is a descendant of an earlier drum,
and thus all drums in this tradition are
related to each other and to the original
drum built according to Tailfeather
Woman’s vision. The presentation of a
drum from one group to another is a cer-
emonial occasion, on which the instruc-
tions for its care, for its ritual officials,
and for the songs and ceremonies that
accompany it are passed on, just as Tail-
feather Woman passed the original in-
structions to her people.
The drum is constructed from part of
a wooden barrel or washtub, usually
about thirteen inches high and any-
where from twenty-two to twenty-five
inches in diameter on the top and sev-
eral inches narrower on the bottom.
Both top and bottom are covered with a
Drum circle at Native American powwow, ca. heavy hide head, usually made from cow,
1990s. (Robert Holmes/Corbis) moose, or horse. The wood planking on
the bottom is preserved, but a hole is cut
from the middle, leaving a donut-
the ceremonies that she was to bring shaped, flat bottom to support the staves
back with her and give to her people. and add strength to the drum. The drum
They were to build the drum, learn the has four looped strap handles that are
dances, and then pass them on to other used to hold it off the ground, slung on
Native peoples, spreading peace be- four legs that are either placed in a sup-
tween the tribes and protecting them all porting frame or put into the ground.
from invasion by whites (Vennum 1983, Each leg has a hook onto which to hang
44–45). one of the four drum straps, and each leg
The drums have been spread since the is placed at one of the cardinal direc-
end of the nineteenth century, from one tions, determining the direction of the
group to another, across tribal lines. drum. The orientation of the drum is re-
Generally, a group that has a drum will iterated in the painted drum heads, each
build a new one starting from a piece of which has a yellow strip running from
taken from their own drum, and then east to west down the center of the drum.
they will give the new one to a person in The rest of the head is painted blue on
251
Drums ___________________________________________________________________________________________
the northern half and red on the south- ers join in on cue with the song and the
ern half. The exact symbolism of the col- drum beat. Standing in a half-circle be-
ors is not agreed on. hind the men who play the drum, the
Other symbolic elements of the drum women of the drum society stand and
include a fabric skirt that encircles the sing. The drum is understood by some
entire drum, covering it protectively and players as the heartbeat of the commu-
adding to its impressive appearance, a nity, or the place where the spirits can
beaded belt around the upper part of the come onto the earth. Some drums have
skirt, and a fur strip around the top edge bells suspended in them that signal the
of the drum. There are also four tabs or presence of the spirit by their sound
flaps that hang equidistant between the when the drum is struck.
four straps, thus corresponding to the In the powwow circuits, the musicians
northeast, southeast, southwest, and refer to their group as a Drum, not al-
northwest orientations of the drum. ways named after the drum’s owner, but
These tabs are sometimes used to distin- named with a title that expresses the af-
guish a drum used for ceremonies from filiations of its members with a place, a
the social dance drums, which are more symbol, or a historical figure. Each Drum
modern and secular. Only the traditional plays and sings in its own style, often a
ceremonial drums have tabs that are combination of traditional songs handed
decorated with representational figures down through the community and new
such as a hand or a stylized person. compositions, often written by the
The owner of the drum is only one, al- leader of the group. The songs can use
beit the central one, of a society of men vocables or lyrics or a combination of the
and women who take responsibility for two. In some cases the Drum will write
the drum and the dance. Other members songs with the idea of preserving a lan-
of the society include singers, drum guage that is no longer spoken fluently
heaters, pipe lighters, and warriors. Each by any member of that culture. These
of these society members has a role to drums are treated with respect, not
play in the dances and the ceremonies being allowed to rest directly on the
that surround the transfer of the drum to ground or being disturbed by disrespect-
a new owner. The drum heaters are re- ful or unruly behavior. They are used not
sponsible for heating the drum in the only for the traditional ceremonial
sun before the dance starts. They also dances but also for the “socials” or secu-
play the drum, along with the singers in lar dances at the powwow. Their heads
the ceremony. During the dance or the may be decorated with a variety of sym-
ceremony, the drum is suspended on its bols, especially the name of the Drum
four anchoring poles, and the players sit and an image associated with it. Just as
around it on folding chairs. The leader the songs vary according to the identity
begins the song, and the rest of the play- and affiliation of the members of the
252
__________________________________________________________________________________________ Drums
Drum, the symbols and form of the See also Dance, Great Basin; Dance,
drums also vary. In some cases a march- Northwest, Winter Spirit Dances; Dance,
Plains; Dance, Plateau; Dance, Southeast;
ing band–style bass drum is adapted for Sacred Pipe; Sweatlodge; Vision Quest Rites
powwow use. In addition, the powwows References and Further Reading
that emphasize intertribal participation, Arlee, Johny, Rex Haight, and Robert Bigart.
and even allow in some cases non-In- 1998. Over a Century of Moving to the
Drum: Salish Indian Celebrations on the
dian participation in the dances, also Flathead Indian Reservation. Helena:
vary widely in the roles taken as accept- Montana Historical Society Press.
able for women. Some Drums have Asch, Michael. 1989. Kinship and the Drum
Dance in a Northern Dene Community.
mixed membership of men and women,
Edmonton, Alberta: Boreal Institute for
and there are a few that are made up of Northern Studies/Academic Printing and
women only. However, these women’s Publishing.
Padilla, Stan. 2004. Mother Drum: Drums in
Drums are not always welcomed at pow-
Native American Culture. Summertown,
wows by the more traditional organizers Tennessee: Native Voices.
and emcees. While women are always Pow Wow Power. http://www.powwow-
power.com. (Accessed December 13,
welcomed as singers standing behind
2005).
the men, their presence as drummers is Vennum, Thomas. 1983. The Ojibwe Dance
still controversial. Drum: Its History and Construction.
Erica Hurwitz Andrus Institution Press.
253
E
Ecology and trine of discovery, by which discoverers
had sole claim to all “discovered” lands.
Environmentalism
Aboriginal claims to the land were to be
The term “ecology,” the study of the rela- ignored.
tionships between organisms and their An alternative model for studying Na-
environment, and “environmentalism,” tive American culture utilizes the con-
the varied strategies surrounding protec- cept of “lifeways,” whereby the reli-
tion of environments, are often used in- gious, ecological, and sociocultural
terchangeably. “Religion and ecology” aspects of life are aspects of a seamless
refers to the influence of belief systems whole, rather than discrete areas of ac-
on human attitudes and activities affect- tivity. Narrative stories for entertain-
ing nature. The positing of a “nature” dis- ment and the passing on of knowledge
tinct from “humanity” arose from West- reveal the conflation of these cate-
ern philosophical speculation on the gories, often discouraging analytical ef-
relationship between humans and their forts by Western researchers. Characters
environments. On the North American in the stories are human and nonhu-
continent, many Europeans in early man, or combine human and animal
postcontact history associated Native qualities, signifying a close commonal-
cultures with wilderness and savagery, a ity between human and nonhuman
state of being that was considered the populations. Indeed, many stories de-
opposite of the European model of “civi- scribe a time when human and nonhu-
lization” rooted in Christianity, land man animals spoke the same language,
ownership and cultivation, and Euro- and contemporary stories suggest the
pean ways of life. According to those possibility that knowledge of nonhu-
standards, land must be changed and man languages is not completely lost.
developed, subjugated to human needs. Persistent descriptions in Native stories
Many colonists subscribed to the doc- of a relational model of daily life among
255
Ecology and Environmentalism ______________________________________________________________
all life, including human, is the basis for Western Apache are thus inhabited by it
a worldview representational of an inas well, and in the timeless depth of that
terconnected, interdependent universe, abiding reciprocity, the people and their
dynamically sustained by humans landscape are virtually as one” (Basso
through an ongoing matrix of reciprocal 1996, 102). The notion of interconnection
relationships. has been conflated with many contempo-
It is difficult to speak of generalities rary spiritual themes drawing broadly on
concerning Native populations, though Eastern philosophical ideas of interde-
a common idea of the interdependence pendence, especially Western interpreta-
of all life is prevalent. This interdepen- tions of Buddhist thought. There is no
dence is created and sustained through a word for religion in most Native American
protocol of respect-based relationships, languages, exemplifying the integrative
or reciprocal relationships. Many narra- nature of the Native worldview. The activ-
tive stories of various Native traditions ity of daily life is religion, and all actions
describe the need for the maintenance of have a sacred dimension: there is a “right”
respectful reciprocity between humans way and a “not-so-right” way of living
and the nonhuman world, and many de- one’s life. Being in harmony with the
scribe the negative consequences of dis- world, with the ways of the ancestors,
respectful or unconscious actions. with society, with community, and with
Briefly, the earth and larger universe are family is a properly lived religious life. The
often considered as inseparable from the maintenance of a proper relationship
prime creative power responsible for with one’s surroundings implies sustain-
bringing the world into being. The main- ability, rendering the creation of a sec-
tenance of respectful relationships helps ondary self-identity as an environmental-
to ensure not only the survival of those ist unnecessary.
engaged in relational activities (for hu- Just as the use of the concept of “life-
mans, that includes actions such as gath- ways” allows for a more nuanced
ering food, hunting, trading, and living glimpse into Native culture, the range of
in community) but also the ongoing issues under the umbrella of Native
health of the world at large. American religion and ecology requires a
Linguists have commented on the consideration of mutually influential
striking lack of terminology in Native lan- spheres of activity. Battles over intellec-
guages concerning “nature” as a discrete tual property rights (which have been ex-
concept. The notion of a close intercon- tended to allow the patenting of local
nectedness among human beings, non- plants by pharmaceutical companies),
human beings, and physical environ- economic rights (such as access to and
ments is often ascribed to Native cultures. profit from natural resources, casino
Anthropologist Keith Basso writes, profits, and political representation in
“[I]nhabitants of their landscape, the policy-making processes), tribal sover-
256
_____________________________________________________________ Ecology and Environmentalism
eignty, land claims based on the sacrality what Native Americans are, distorting
of localities, loss of cultural resources the reality of actual living populations.
(through disappearance of languages, Activism in Indian country concern-
erosion and degradation of land bases, ing environmental issues has gained
and cultural assimilation), and the his- greater notoriety since the 1970s, fueled
torical foundations upon which such is- by the works of such writers as Donald
sues rest are but a few aspects of the field Grinde and Bruce Johansen, Winona
of Native American religion and ecology. LaDuke, Peter Mathiessen, and Vine De-
Such issues reflect the wide variety of loria, among many others. Some semi-
battles waged in the Americas by indige- nal writings on Native culture and envi-
nous peoples. These conflicts, by neces- ronment include Keith Basso’s Wisdom
sity and of their nature, involve issues of Sits in Places, Richard Nelson’s Make
social justice, environmental justice, and Prayers to the Raven, and the books and
political policy-making. essays of N. Scott Momaday and Leslie
The vast array of diverse Native cul- Marmon Silko. Contexts for activism are
tures in the Americas have developed many and varied, including the Cree and
and continue to maintain a wide set of Inuit battles against Hydro-Quebec in
belief systems and strategies regarding Canada, water rights for many Native
the place of humanity in the universe. populations in the western United
These belief systems and the practices States, the ongoing loss of land in
they engender are place-specific, and Florida and many other states, the de-
they tend to change as needs and recline of salmon populations in the
sources change. As local environments northwestern United States, and count-
evolve and in many cases are harmed by less battles over state and federal viola-
activities within and outside of local Na- tion of treaty provisions.
tive communities, strategies for eco- Perhaps the most contentious battles
nomic survival evolve as well. continue to be waged over areas desig-
Environmental writers, activists, and nated by Native cultures as sacred space.
organizations, operating within the The inability of the U.S. judicial system
Western cultural context, make use of a to grant substantial recognition to In-
variety of ideas to address environmen- dian claims of sacred space has resulted
tal issues, often drawing from popular in numerous cases of desecration and
conceptions of Native American cul- destruction of places held sacred by Na-
tures—or, more likely, a sort of amalga- tive cultures. The Chumash of southern
mation of attributes credited to “Indi- California, for example, continue to re-
anness.” While most would deny sist development of Point Conception,
envisioning a stereotype historically known as the Western Gate, the point on
denoted as the “Noble Savage,” many the Pacific Coast where the recently de-
still draw on romanticized ideas of ceased are believed to pass through to
257
Emergence Narratives ________________________________________________________________________
the next world. The San Carlos Apache Weaver, Jace, ed. 1996. Defending Mother
have led efforts to defy the building of Earth: Native American Perspectives on
Environmental Justice. Maryknoll, NY:
the Mount Graham International Obser- Orbis Books.
vatory, citing the importance of the
mountain as a sacred place, as well as the
ecological degradation connected with
the project. The Western Shoshone and
Emergence Narratives
Paiute in Nevada unsuccessfully fought a
widely unpopular federal decision to Western spirituality often seeks to in-
designate Yucca Mountain as a long- spire its adherents to transcend their
term nuclear waste repository. Success- earthly state and desires (that is, the so-
ful efforts to resist the development of called natural or the fallen state), and to
sacred places often occur through the ascend to the heavens where a more di-
linking of spiritual concerns and envi- vine state predominates. For Native
ronmental impact. Americans in general and Southwestern
John Baumann Natives in particular, their history, their
See also Fishing Rights and the First Salmon
spirituality, their art, their identity, and
Ceremony; First Salmon Rites; Law, their sense of place all emerge out of the
Legislation, and Native Religion; Sacred earth.
Sites and Sacred Mountains; Sacred Sites
The idea of people emerging from the
and Sacred Mountains, Black Hills
womb of Mother Earth onto the surface
Basso, Keith. 1996. Wisdom Sits in Places. of the earth is unfamiliar to Western peo-
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico ples and to Western theology. Rather
Press. than seeking to overcome their natural
Delora, Vine, Jr., and James Treat. 1998. For
This Land: Writings on Religion in
state or transcend their earthly natures,
America. New York: Routledge. Natives of the Southwest seek to under-
Grinde, Donald, and Bruce Johansen. 1998. stand and celebrate their natural and
Ecocide of Native America:
earthly state. They see nothing lowly or
Environmental Destruction of Indian
Lands and Peoples. Santa Fe, NM: Clear carnal in their kinship with the Earth
Light Publications. Mother. They seek to find their place on
LaDuke, Winona. 2002. The Winona
the earth and to attune their lives to the
LaDuke Reader: A Collection of Essential
Writings. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur rhythm, melodies, and cycles of the
Press. earth and the sky.
Martin, Calvin. 1985. Keepers of the Game:
Judeo-Christian followers sometimes
Indian-Animal Relationships and the Fur
Trade. Berkeley: University of California build their temples and sacred structures
Press. on high places reaching toward the heav-
Nelson, Richard K. 1986. Make Prayers to ens, seeking to transcend their earthly
the Raven: A Koyukon View of the
Northern Forest. Chicago: University of states and places, orienting themselves
Chicago Press. to higher states and places of being. In
258
_______________________________________________________________________ Emergence Narratives
contrast, Pueblo Indians and their pred- art, in architecture, in ceremony, in po-
ecessors built their sacred places, the etry, and in prayer.
kivas, below the surface of the earth. Emergence is foremost an experience
The Christian idea of hell as a bottom- of birth, of origin, and of beginning.
less pit in the earth and heaven as a para- Emergence stories proclaim that all life—
dise in the sky creates antagonism be- human, animal, and plant—is conceived
tween the earth and the heavens, in and born from the womb of Mother
between the carnal state of the flesh and Earth. In many cases the three under-
the higher state of the spirit. Native worlds prior to this one are metaphori-
Americans see no such antagonism. The cally linked to the trimesters of pregnancy
earth and the sky are kindred to the peo- and prenatal development. In the case of
ple—Mother and Father, existing in com- the Diné (Navajo), gender issues and
plementary asymmetry to each other, identity are resolved in the third world, or
forming a dynamic and fertile union; the third trimester of the prenatal devel-
they create, if you will, a cosmic concert. opment of their ancestral peoples.
To Native Americans, the state of nature The emergence from the womb of
is not a war of all against all for self-ag- Mother Earth makes all people—and in-
grandizement; it is not a contest for the deed all life—children of Mother Earth.
survival of the fittest, nor is it a struggle Because in most cases the other species
for power, wealth, or territory; it is a dy- also emerged with the ancestors of hu-
namic and diverse concert! The purpose mans, birth from the womb of Mother
of human life on earth is to harmonize Earth unites all living beings into a single
with the grand concert of which it is a kindred with the earth. Plants that grow
part. Therein do humans, children of the from seeds that germinate in the womb
Earth and the Sky, find the fulfillment of of Mother Earth are also part of this same
their highest nature and purpose. kindred.
From the Native American perspec- Southwestern Native American ac-
tive, life, sustenance, virtue, beauty, har- counts of their origin intertwine the lit-
mony, health, and well-being all emerge eral and the metaphorical in ways that
out of the earth. Despite vast differences convey a different kind of truth than the
in culture, language, subsistence, and truths found in solely literal attempts to
physical type, a unifying thread that render accounts of human origins.
links all or nearly all of the diverse soci- Metaphor and symbol can embody and
eties in the Southwest is the concept of express concepts, perspectives, and
emergence from a world or a womb truths that are often lost in attempts to
below the earth’s surface to the world render an exact chronology of history.
above. The concept of emergence is The quest for a completely literal
ubiquitous in both time and place. It is human history is presumptuous and il-
found in song, in story, in agriculture, in lusory. No one has a full and complete
259
knowledge of the past—and especially Southwestern histories place and in-

not of origins. Every detail of “factual” form the people in their present state
evidence is sorted, sifted, and spun to- and circumstance, and link them to the
gether from the subjective perspectives past and to the future. The emergence
and purposes of those who recorded accounts are literal enough to provide a
them, those who collect and interpret recognizable framework that resonates
them, and those who write about them with contemporary people, and they are
in the present. metaphorical enough not to be mistaken
Native Americans do not presume to as solely literal representations. The effi-
possess a completely accurate literal cacy of the story called history is in its ca-
human history and genesis. The impor- pacity to help people understand their
tance of origin stories is not primarily in place in the world. History provides peo-
the literal details they recount but in the ple with a charter for their cultural values
underlying truths and meanings they and perspectives and for their social in-
convey. Southwestern histories have lit- stitutions, resulting in a particular way of
eral truths embedded in metaphors and seeing the world and a particular way of
allegories, and they also have metaphors being in the world.
imbedded in literal constructions. West- All history is to one degree or another
erners have, therefore, been baffled by mythical in nature. Histories that extol
these histories and have usually treated the literal and ignore the metaphorical
them solely as myths. are more contingent, more subject to re-
Southwestern histories cannot be fully vision, and, most important, more sub-
understood or appreciated if we view ject to debate and dispute. The past be-
them as strictly literal representations. fore our lifetimes cannot be fully known
They also cannot be fully understood if by us; it can only be imagined.
we view them solely as metaphorical Historical metaphors are analogical
statements. They are not myths, though truths and meanings imbedded in literal
they are not solely a chronology of actual and quasi-literal frameworks. These
events. They are not fiction, though they analogical truths and meanings are
are not to be taken as solely factual. They more potent, more pregnant, and more
are a different kind of history, and they far-reaching in the information they
present a different kind of truth. We are convey and the implications they em-
going to have to learn to listen to these body than are mere literal accounts.
histories in a new and different way, if we Metaphors enliven and enrich the power
are going to be able to understand them. and impact of history. Attempts at literal
The Southwestern accounts of emer- history are mostly mere skeletons of
gence provide a good starting place. monolithic dates and details—often
Emergence is both a statement of fact without form, meaning, or contempo-
and a metaphorical statement. rary familiarity.
260
Metaphor is based on analogy and ancient and the contemporary, with the
points to underlying similarities in the metaphysical and the physical, with the
past and the present that are otherwise infinite and the finite.
often obscure. Metaphors reveal underly- The admonition shabik’ehgo is fre-
ing principles, patterns, and dynamics quently heard among the Diné. It means:
that link the people to their past and con- “Go according to the pathway of the light
textualize their place and experience in (generally referring to sunlight), or live in
the contemporary world. There is proba- harmony with the patterns of Earth and
bly no greater example of the interweav- Sky.” Accordingly, the people follow the
ing of the literal and the metaphorical path of the sun. This pattern of following
than is found in the Native Southwestern the path of the sun is several thousand
histories of emergence. Emergence is a years old. As the sun rose each day the
concept that informs nearly every south- ancient ones of the Southwest emerged
western culture and society from the from the darkness of night into the light
Mayans and the Aztecs in the south to the of day, coming up out of their subter-
Diné in the north. ranean homes at dawn and experiencing
In a daily renewal of the experience of a daily rebirth and renewal.
emergence, ancient Natives of the Today the people emerge from adobe
Southwest from as long as 7,500 years and earthen-covered lodges and other
ago arose with the sun, emerged from types of homes, but those lodges are still
their subterranean homes, and ran to the metaphorically linked to the earth as
east to greet the rising sun with song, their home and their place of origin and
prayer, and offerings. That tradition con- birth. When the Diné reenter their
tinues today, though observed less regu- hooghans they must follow the sun’s
larly than in the past. The Zuni Sunrise pathway, making a sunwise revolution.
song comes from that tradition. That is routinely done every day, but it is
During the last 1,300 years, homes absolutely enforced at times of ceremo-
have been built above ground and cere- nial performances.
monial chambers called kivas below The annual pathway of the sun also
ground. The underground kivas were sa- mirrors the pattern of emergence as the
cred places reserved for ritual perfor- sun moves from its lowest point in the
mances and for the retelling and reen- south at the time of the winter solstice to
acting of sacred history, symbolically its northernmost position at the time of
returning the people to their origin in the the summer solstice. The annual cere-
womb of Mother Earth. Descent into and monial calendars of the Anasazi of the
emergence from the kiva linked one with past and the Pueblo Indians of the last
the world below and the world above, 700 years were all organized around the
with the Earth Mother and the Sun Fa- solstices and the annual cycle of the sun
ther, with the dark and the light, with the and the earth.
261
The sun calendar on Fajada Butte near planted in the womb of Mother Earth,
Chaco Canyon marks both the noon germinates there, and, with nourish-
hour of the day and the semiannual sol- ment from Father Sky, emerges from the
stices and equinoxes by guiding light womb of Mother Earth into a newness of
onto serpentine spirals drawn on the in- life on the earth’s surface. Above the sur-
terior rock surfaces behind three huge face of the earth, the corn grows until it
rock slabs. This calendar also marks the reaches fruition. The stock then decays,
nineteen-year cycle of the moon. It is the but some of its seeds may be selected for
only ancient site in the world to unite planting, whereupon the cycle of the
perfectly the interrelated cycles of the corn continues in a pattern of infinite re-
sun, the earth, and the moon. generation.
The sun calendar and noon marker The life cycle of the corn and the life
were created so that the ancient Cha- cycle of humans are similar. The only dif-
coan Anasazi could perfectly harmonize ference is that the human cycle of regen-
their lives—physically and spiritually, eration is continued by women who be-
agriculturally and ceremonially, daily come mothers, like unto Mother Earth.
and annually—with the terrestrial, solar, Elsewhere, I have argued that in at least
and lunar cycles that they observed and the case of the Diné, the Earth Mother is
with which they felt themselves to be an the primary mother and primary refer-
integral part. The daily and annual cycles ent of the term “-má” (Witherspoon
of Native life are attuned to the comple- 1977, 85–87, 91–94). Human mothers
mentary asymmetry of Mother Earth and and the mothers in other species are like
Father Sky. unto the Earth Mother. Therefore it is
When one sees the universe as a con- human mothers who represent a
cert rather than a contest, the appropri- metaphorical extension of the concept
ate behavior is to ascertain the melody, “-má,” rather than the reverse.
rhythm, and structure of the concert and The ancestors of the Diné (the Diyin
then to attune one’s life and activities, as Dine’é) emerged into this the Fourth
well as one’s thoughts, to this grand con- World from three previous worlds below
cert. That is the premise and the orienta- the surface of the earth. In the Fourth
tion that led the Anasazi to align their vil- World, Changing Woman created the
lages and ceremonial structures to the four original matrilineal clans of the
dimensions of the cosmic concert of people we call today “the Diné.” In their
which they were a part and from which own language and history, the children
they would attain a fullness of being and of Changing Woman are called “The
purpose. People of the Earth’s Surface.” Changing
The concept of emergence further re- Woman later became the inner form, or
veals that human life mirrors the life of in-standing soul, of the earth. Earth
the corn on which it depends. Corn is Woman is another one of her names.
262
The earth’s surface is the outer form of in patterns of infinite regeneration, mak-
Changing Woman. ing all living beings of one kindred.
Changing Woman is named “chang- It makes a moral and metaphysical
ing” (nádlééhé) because of her power of difference, as well as an ecological one,
infinite regeneration and rejuvenation. when one views the Grand Canyon as the
This power of infinite rejuvenation is vagina of Mother Earth, as opposed to
manifest on the earth’s surface, her outer viewing it as the result of hundreds of
form. As the earth goes through her cycle thousands of years of erosion. These
of the seasons, Changing Woman is a views affect the way one sees the world
young girl in the spring; in the summer and the way one views one’s place in it.
she becomes a young woman; in the fall For the Zuni and the other Natives of the
she becomes a mature woman; in the Southwest, the emergence establishes a
winter she becomes elderly. But in the bond of kinship with the earth and all life
next spring, she rejuvenates and contin- forms nurtured by the earth. It also es-
ues her infinite cycle of regeneration. tablishes a moral and theological imper-
The ancestors of the Zuni climbed up ative that requires them to assume re-
through four earth wombs before emerg- sponsibility to help sustain the cycle of
ing to the surface of this world, the Fifth life supported by the earth. The annual
World. These ancestors emerged onto ceremonial cycle of all the Pueblos not
the earth’s surface at the bottom of the only harmonizes the lives of humans
Grand Canyon, a place to which they with the larger solar, terrestrial, and
refer as the vagina of Mother Earth. Then lunar cycles of which they are a part,
their ancestors migrated for many years these rituals contribute to and enhance
in search of the Center of the Fifth World. the healthy continuation of those cycles.
They found that center near the Conti- In the primary family, the Earth
nental Divide and built seven villages Mother is joined in beautiful and fertile
there. This place they called Halona Iti- union with the Sky Father, or in some
wana or “middle place,” and the Zuni be- cases more specifically with the Sun Fa-
came “the People of the Center” (or “the ther. Father Sky sends the rain down to
People of the Middle”). The Zuni say earth to fertilize the Earth Mother and
there are four worlds to come after this bring forth new life conceived in the
one, so they are in both the center of womb of Mother Earth. The Sun Father
space and the meridian of time in the also sends sunshine to the earth to
Fifth World on the earth’s surface. lighten, warm, and energize life on the
The cycle of human life, like the cycle earth. The Sky Father and the Earth
of the corn and all living beings, mirrors Mother form a dynamic and fertile union
the infinite cycle of life of the earth who is of complementary asymmetry. One is
the mother of all. It is She who gave birth not without the other; together they
to life and sustains and nurtures that life form a whole.
263
Mother Earth and Father Sky are the The Southwest Native worldviews out-
foundation of what I call the cosmic lined here provide important premises
concert. I think “cosmic concert” is the and purposes for their way of being in
best gloss for the Diné word hózhó. the world, provide significant charters
Hózhó describes the normal state of the for social and ritual orders and institu-
Fourth World, which is a state of beauty, tions, and provide basic prescriptions for
harmony, health, happiness, and peace. individual and collective behavior. Envi-
This was the state of the world when sioning the world as a single kindred of
Changing Woman created the People of complementary diversity and dynamic
the Earth’s Surface. That state, however, harmony does not presume, however,
is not necessarily permanent. It can be, that these peoples have always lived and
and often is, disrupted. That is where behaved in a harmonious manner. They
the ceremonial system comes into play. are humans and are subject to human
The Holyway and Evilway ceremonies frailties and failures just like humans
restore hózhó when it is disrupted. The everywhere. Nevertheless, conceptualiz-
Blessingway ceremonies are designed ing the world as a dynamic and diverse
to celebrate, maintain, and enhance complementary concert founded on a
hózhó. common kindred with the Earth and the
The complementary asymmetry of Sky provides a uniquely valuable way of
Earth and Sky, male and female, thought seeing the world and a uniquely valuable
and speech, static and active, below and way of being in the world.
above, inner and outer, growth and According to Clifford Geertz, the es-
decay, form the foundation of the dy- sential vocation of ethnology is not to
namic and harmonious ebb and flow of provide definitive answers to our deep-
the cosmic concert described by the est questions, but to provide answers
Diné as hózhó. This holistic union sus- that other people guarding other sheep
tains a pattern of cyclical and infinite rein other valleys have given, and to in-
generation. The constitution of this clude them in a consultable record of
world is a complementary and holistic what people everywhere have said
diversity bound together by a common (Geertz 1973, 30). The views of South-
kindred with the Earth and the Sky. The western Native peoples are certainly
primary theme of this world is a dy- worthy of inclusion in such a record;
namic and diverse harmony. The Na- they are voices and views worthy of
tives of the Southwest do not view the widespread reflection and thoughtful
state of nature as one of contest but contemplation.
rather as one of concert. These particu- Emergence reveals truths that tran-
lar, important, and profound truths are scend all others in their moral, social,
embodied in and expressed by the con- and ecological implications; in the way
cept of emergence. they contextualize human experience on
264
_______________________________________________________________________________ Erdrich, Louise
the earth; in the way they compel one to Witherspoon, Gary. 1977. Language and Art
see the world; and in the way they bind in the Navajo Universe. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press.
one to the larger community of life. Zolbrod, Paul. 1988. Dine Bahane: The
It is not only the content of what South- Navajo Creation Story. Albuquerque:
western Natives have said that is worthy University of New Mexico Press.
of serious contemplation but it is also the
character of how it is said that is instruc-
tive. Native histories of genesis beautifully
and powerfully intertwine metaphorical Erdrich, Louise (1954–)
messages with literal constructions, sug- (Novelist, Chippewa)
gesting that a strictly literal representa- By reading the novels of Louise Erdrich, a
tion of history and origin is neither possi- reader is immersed into the world of tra-
ble nor desirable. ditional and contemporary Ojibwe (also
In Native American stories of genesis, known as Ojibwa, Ojibway, Anishinaabe,
the literal and the metaphorical are in- and Chippewa) history, cultural prac-
terwoven, just as human perception and tices, stories, and religion. It is important
experience always occur in an elusive to keep in mind that in this context, the
admixture of text and context, fact and term “religion” connotes more than be-
figure, reality and representation, infor- longing to a specific denomination or
mation and interpretation. faith, going to a specific church or tem-
Gary Witherspoon ple, or reading the holy books. According
to Lawrence W. Gross, an enrolled mem-
See also Architecture; Ceremony and Ritual,
Diné; Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo; First ber of the White Earth Chippewa Nation,
Foods and Food Symbolism; Kachina and “Religion should be understood as refer-
Clown Societies; Oral Traditions, Northeast; ring to the lifeway of the Anishinaabe”
Oral Traditions, Northwest Coast; Oral
Traditions, Plateau; Oral Traditions, Pueblo; (2002, 30); in other words, religion for the
Oral Traditions, Southeast; Oral Traditions, Ojibwe encompasses all aspects of their
Western Plains; Symbolism in Ritual and lives.
Ceremony
Erdrich, an enrolled member of the
References and Further Reading Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indi-
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. The Interpretation of
ans, is one of the most popular and pro-
Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Ortiz, Alfonso. 1972. Tewa World: Space, lific of contemporary Native American
Time, Being and Becoming in a Pueblo writers. Building on and adding to the
Society. Chicago: University of Chicago
groundbreaking and award-winning
Press.
Reichard, Gladys. 1990. Navajo Religion. works of N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Mar-
Princeton: Princeton University Press. mon Silko, and James Welch, Erdrich es-
Tedlock, Barbara. 2001. The Beautiful and tablished herself as a major American
the Dangerous: Encounters with the Zuni
Indians. Albuquerque: University of New writer with the 1984 publication of Love
Mexico Press. Medicine and eight subsequent related
265
Erdrich, Louise ________________________________________________________________________________
novels (The Beet Queen, 1986; Tracks, ered rice (1993, 8). The first European
1988; Love Medicine, expanded and re- contact came in the 1600s with French
vised, 1993; The Bingo Palace, 1994; fur traders who were seeking beaver
Tales of Burning Love, 1996; The Antelope pelts and with French missionaries who
Wife, 1998; The Last Report on the Mira- were seeking souls to convert. Because
cles at Little No Horse, 2001; Master of increasing pressures by European
Butchers Singing Club 2003; and Four settlers and incursions into traditional
Souls 2004). One of the reasons for her Ojibwe lands by other tribes in search of
popularity is that her linked novels are fur-bearing animals, various Ojibwe
populated by a large and intriguing cast groups migrated into Canada, Min-
of characters; reading an Erdrich novel is nesota, and onto the Plains; the fur
akin to being an invited guest at a large traders and missionaries followed and
family reunion: you hear stories of the forever altered the Ojibwe’s traditional
past, you slowly work out for yourself the way of life.
complicated family relationships, and The Turtle Mountain Chippewa Band,
you become immersed in the ongoing also known as the Plains Ojibwe, moved
story of the family. No other Native into the Red River Valley of North Dakota
American authors link their novels into and hunted in the Turtle Mountains of
one long story of their tribal community North Dakota as early as the seven-
in the twentieth century, and reading Er- teenth century. Trading posts soon fol-
drich’s novels becomes a cultural im- lowed—in 1797 the trading post of the
mersion into a hundred years of tribal Northwest Company of Montreal and in
history, cultural practices, governmental 1843 the Pembina Trading Post, both lo-
policies, and Native life on the reserva- cated near Pembina in the Red River Val-
tion and in the city. ley of Northern North Dakota ( Jacobs
There are several key events that have 2001, xix). Father George A. Belcourt
shaped the destiny of the Turtle Moun- worked among the North Dakota Ojibwe
tain Band of Chippewa Indians, and it is in the mid-1800s, and Belcourt, the
the ongoing and lasting effects of Euro- major town on the Turtle Mountain
pean contact, especially with the Reservation, is named for him. Other
French, and the 1887 General Allotment priests followed Father Belcourt, and in
Act (Dawes Act) that figure most promi- 1884 two nuns from the Sisters of Mercy
nently in Erdrich’s works. Before Euro- came to found the St. Mary’s Indian In-
pean contact the Ojibwe had lived in the dustrial School (St. Ann’s Centennial
East until the more powerful Iroquois 1985, 30). In 1885, Father John Malo be-
drove them out. Christopher Vecsey es- came the first pastor at the newly estab-
timates that the Ojibwe migrated to the lished St. Ann’s Church (ibid., 32). The
Great Lakes region around A .D. 1200, French also brought with them firearms,
where they hunted, fished, and gath- alcohol, disease, the French language,
266
_______________________________________________________________________________ Erdrich, Louise
and French decorative arts, most no- aboriginal holdings in the United States,
tably the floral designs so distinctive to subdividing reservations into 80–160-
Ojibwe beading. acre tracts” (1988, 34). The stated goal of
Of primary importance among the this act was to help Native people as-
French influences are the métis, the off- similate into Euro-American life by giv-
spring of primarily French but also En- ing them land on which to farm, but the
glish, Scottish, or Irish fur traders (De- result and unstated goal was to open up
lorme 1955, 124–125). The métis, Western lands for European settlers.
children of European fathers and Na- The U.S. government continued to
tive women, mostly Cree and Ojibwe, erode the land base of American Indi-
became one of the largest groups on the ans through broken treaties and fees as-
Plains; by the end of the nineteenth sessed to allotment parcels that Native
century they had joined the Turtle people did not know they were required
Mountain Band. These two groups to pay—the penalty for failure being
hunted together, intermarried, and de- loss of the land and illegal land seizures.
veloped a distinctive language, Michif, For the Turtle Mountain Chippewa, the
which is a combination of French, Cree, McCumber Agreement of 1892 caused
and Chippewa ( Jacobs 2001, 79). How- them illegally to lose an additional
ever, the métis maintained their own 10,000,000 acres previously guaranteed
unique culture, retained their French to them (Jacobs 2001, 81). The Turtle
names, religion, and language, and Mountain Chippewa, who originally oc-
generally distinguished themselves cupied nearly a fifth of the state of North
from their full-blood and more tradi- Dakota, were living on one of the smallest
tional relatives. In Tracks, these two and poorest reservations in the United
groups battle each other as the tradi- States by the beginning of the twentieth
tionals (Kashpaws, Pillagers, Nana- century (Camp 1990, 81). According to
push) seek to retain tribal lands while David Delorme, “Today, with its land
the métis (Lazarre, Morrissey) favor base of less than fifteen acres per resi-
selling their allotments to the Turcot dent, approximately ninety-five per cent
Lumber Company. of which is unsuitable for dry farming,
The other historical event that has the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation
changed the traditional ways of life of is aptly designated a ‘rural slum’” (1955,
the Ojibwe is the Dawes Act. Erdrich 134).
writes, “For Chippewa, the nightmare The effects of French contact with the
began with the General Allotment Act of tribe as well as the fallout from the
1887 when Henry Dawes, a Massachu- Dawes Act are pervasive in Erdrich’s nov-
setts ‘reformer’ and Senator determined els. As Tracks, the first of the related nov-
to abolish Indian reservations, spon- els, opens in the beginning of the twenti-
sored legislation that virtually halved all eth century, the effects of overhunting,
267
Erdrich, Louise ________________________________________________________________________________
reduction of tribal lands, and disease Last Report on the Miracles at Little No
have devastated the tribe (Erdrich does Horse. Her religious fanaticism causes
not name her fictional reservation until the deaths of numerous tribal members,
the seventh novel, when readers learn and she lives to be over one hundred
that it is the Little No Horse Reservation, years old, deluding herself all the while
assumed to be modeled after her own that she really is not Native, that God has
Turtle Mountain Reservation). Smallpox chosen her to “save” the (not her) tribal
epidemics in the eighteenth and nine- people, and that she is among the best of
teenth centuries devastated the Ojibwe Christian martyrs. Critics often read this
as well as other Native tribes. There were contentious character as Erdrich’s cen-
terrible epidemics of measles and tuber- sure of the Catholic Church, which
culosis, but it was smallpox that brought sought to kill the savage in order to save
the most deaths to Native people (Vecsey the soul.
1993, 154). The continued ravages of al- However, even with the adoption of
cohol figure prominently among many Catholicism, there are many traditional
of Erdrich’s characters: Gordie Kashpaw cultural elements that remain embedded
(LM), King Kashpaw (LM), Napoleon in tribal life, and Erdrich’s novels are
Morrissey (T), Lucille Lazarre (LM), So- filled with references to them. Foremost
phie Morrissey (T), Mary Fred and among them is the relationship of the
Tammy Toose (BP), Klaus Shawano (AW), manitous (spirit helpers) to the people.
and Richard Whiteheart Beads (AW). According to Vecsey, “It was the duty of
By the twentieth century, most of the the manitos to keep the Ojibwas alive
people on the reservation are Catholic, and healthy” (ibid., 72); two of the most
and the Catholic Church in the novels powerful manitous, Misshepeshu and
has become a center of community life: Nanabozho, figure prominently in the
the children are sent to mission schools; novels. Misshepeshu is the Underwater
there is a convent located on the reserva- Manito who controls the lakes. Although
tion; the people go to Sunday Mass; and he is said to be a combination of a
there is always a priest to minister to the horned serpent and a lion, he is not en-
people (Father Damien is the principal tirely evil (ibid., 74–75). If the people are
narrator in the seventh novel, The Last in right relation to him through gifts of
Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse). copper, tobacco, and even dogs, he
One of Erdrich’s most fascinating and ex- leaves them alone. He even serves as
asperating characters is Pauline Puyat, guardian and protector to some like
one of the narrators of Tracks. She be- Fleur (T, BP, LRMLNH), and he saves her
comes Sister Leopolda and plays impor- and her great grandson Lipsha from
tant roles in Tracks, The Beet Queen, Love drowning (Jacobs 2001, 161–165). Fleur
Medicine, Tales of Burning Love, and The is the powerful medicine woman who
268
_______________________________________________________________________________ Erdrich, Louise
knows the old ways of healing, speaks of trying to learn how to use these great
the old language, is in right relation to gifts appropriately and respectfully. He
Misshepeshu, and is of the powerful Pil- goes on a vision quest only to learn that
lager clan with their bear totem to pro- he is not living in right relationship with
tect and strengthen them. She knows the his spirit helpers. He becomes associated
old-time love medicines famous to the with a new tribal enterprise, gambling,
Ojibwe, and she has the ability to turn and uses his Pillager talent for gambling
herself into a bear. These human-animal to win great sums of money. He pos-
transformations are part of traditional sesses the gift to heal but not the heart,
stories and are indications of a person’s and the entire community in The Bingo
great powers. Palace watches with disgust and then
The other prominent traditional cul- hope as he slowly transforms himself
ture figure in the novels is Nanapush, into one worthy of his hereditary medi-
drawn from the traditional trickster and cine powers.
culture hero Nanabozho. Nanabozho While Tracks has the most embedded
brought fire to the people, taught them allusions to the old ways, there are nu-
to hunt, and could assume different ani- merous references in the other novels to
mal or plant forms. Erdrich transforms the continuance of traditional cultural
traditional Nanabozho into Grandfather practices. The Bingo Palace opens with a
Nanapush (T, LRMLNH), who adopts powwow that draws the people together
Fleur, knows the old medicine, knows to dance and to be once again in com-
the old ways of hunting, is a storyteller, munity, and several of Erdrich’s charac-
plays tricks, and works for the tribe’s sur- ters are known as good traditional
vival. Gerry Nanapush (LM, BP) is Fleur’s dancers: Shawnee Ray Toose (BP),
grandson and Nanapush’s adopted Lyman Lamartine (LM, BP), and Henry
great-grandson who inherits power from Lamartine Junior (LM). Lyman goes on a
both. He is another trickster figure in the vision quest that is set up by Xavier
novels who is referred to as a rabbit or Toose, who conducts sweatlodge cere-
hare (the traditional Ojibwe trickster ani- monies (BP). Marie Kashpaw and Lulu
mal), can escape from the most precari- Lamartine in Love Medicine and The
ous situations, and possesses powerful Bingo Palace fight to return buffalo to the
medicine. Erdrich associates him with reservation and to regain tribal lands
Leonard Peltier, an Ojibwe leader of AIM that were unlawfully seized. Not only is
(American Indian Movement); both fight tradition alive on the reservation but it
for the rights of their people and both are also remains a part of the Indian urban
unjustly imprisoned. Gerry’s son Lipsha community in The Antelope Wife, in
inherits the powerful medicine from his which Ojibwe from Minnesota reserva-
father, and The Bingo Palace is his story tions who have moved to Minneapolis to
269
Erdrich, Louise ________________________________________________________________________________
find work still gather in community to Brogan, Kathleen. 1996. “Haunted by

feast and celebrate special occasions. History: Louise Erdrich’s Tracks.”
Prospects 21: 169–192.
Erdrich’s linked novels celebrate the Camp, Gregory S. 1990. “Working Out
lives of Native people who, despite the Their Salvation: The Allotment of Land
U.S. government, the Catholic Church, in Severalty and the Turtle Mountain
Band 1897–1920.” American Indian
disease, and pressures to join the Euro- Culture and Research Journal 14, no. 2:
American mainstream and renounce the 19–38.
old ways, manage to survive, thrive, and Catt, Catherine. 1991. “Ancient Myth in
Modern America: The Trickster in the
maintain the ability to transform tradi- Fiction of Louise Erdrich.” Platte Valley
tional ways and practices in contempo- Review 19, no. 1: 71 –81.
rary times. As Gross comments, many Chavin, Allan, ed. 1999. The Chippewa
Landscape of Louise Erdrich.
Native people are “in recovery” from the
Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama
aftermath of European colonization Press.
(2002, 15). He then hopefully suggests, Delorme, David P. 1955. “History of the
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa
“Even though the surface phenomena
Indians.” North Dakota History 22:
may have changed, the core essence of 121–134.
the Anishinaabe world survives, in part, Erdrich, Louise. 1988. “Who Owns the
Land?” New York Times Magazine
in the teaching of bimaadiziwin [the
(September 4).
good life]” (ibid., 16). That is what Er- Gross, Lawrence W. 2002. “Bimaadiziwin, or
drich celebrates in her novels—the the ‘Good Life,’ as a Unifying Concept of
strength of the people to adapt and sur- Anishinaabe Religion.” American Indian
Culture and Research Journal 26, no. 1:
vive and the power of the old ways to 15–32.
guide them on their continuing journey. Jacobs, Connie A. 2001. The Novels of Louise
Erdrich: Stories of Her People. New York:
Connie A. Jacobs Peter Lang.
See also American Indian Movement (Red Johnston, Basil. 1976. Ojibway Heritage.
Power Movement); Buffalo/Bison New York: Columbia University Press.
Restoration Project; Ceremony and Ritual, Maristuen-Rodakowski, Julie. 1988. “The
Anishnabe; Manitous; Missionization, Turtle Mountain Reservation in North
Northern Plains; Momaday, N. Scott; Oral Dakota: Its History as Depicted in Louise
Traditions, Ojibwe Erdrich’s Love Medicine and Beet Queen.”
American Indian Culture and Research
References and Further Reading Journal 12, no. 3: 33–48.
Barnouw, Victor. 1977. Wisconsin Chippewa Radin, Paul. 1956. The Trickster: A Study in
Myths and Tales and Their Relation to American Indian Mythology. New York:
Chippewa Life. Madison: University of Bell Publishing Company.
Wisconsin Press. Sarris, Greg. 1993. “Reading Louise Erdrich:
Beidler, Peter G., and Gay Barton. 1999. A Love Medicine as Home Medicine.” Pp.
Reader’s Guide to the Novels of Louise 115–145 in Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A
Erdrich. Columbia: University of Holistic Approach to American Indian
Missouri Press. Texts. Berkeley: University of California
Brehm, Victoria. 1996. “The Metamorphoses Press.
of an Ojibwa Manito.” American Sarris, Greg, Connie A. Jacobs, and James R.
Literature 68, no. 4: 677–706. Giles. 2004. Approaches to Teaching the
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_______________________________________________________________________________ Erdrich, Louise
Works of Louise Erdrich. New York: Louise Erdrich: Voices and Context.”
Modern Language Association. Wicaza Sa 7, no. 2: 26–33.
Schneider, Mary Jane. 1990. North Dakota’s Vecsey, Christopher. 1993. Traditional
Indian Heritage. Grand Forks: University Ojibwa Religion and Its Historical
of North Dakota Press. Changes. Philadelphia: American
St. Ann’s Church. 1985. St. Ann’s Centennial: Philosophical Society.
100 Years of Faith. Belcourt, ND: St. Vizenor, Gerald. 1989. “Minnesota
Anne’s Church. Chippewa: Woodland Treaties to Tribal
Stripes, James D. 1991. “The Problem(s) of Bingo.” American Indian Quarterly 13,
(Anishinaabe) History in the Fiction of no. 1: 31–57.
271
F
Female Spirituality those of another culture was always po-
tentially dangerous and, therefore, a
One of the greatest fallacies spread about warrior role. With regard to religion, Eu-
American Indian traditions is that the ropean religion was one in which ritual
women were unimportant, subservient, leaders were exclusively men (and still
demeaned, and without a religious life; are in some traditions); female ritual
the actuality is opposite. When Euro- leaders were executed as witches. Hence,
peans first observed Native cultures, the Europeans were oblivious to the
they saw women gardening and men many female rituals and ritual roles.
hunting. In late medieval Europe, peas- Related to the above is that, save for
ants farmed and hunting was reserved as the class societies along the Mississippi
a pastime for the aristocracy. Hence Na- and the Northwest coast, Native soci-
tive women were viewed as drudges sub- eties were egalitarian, both with regard
ject to men, and the men were seen as to class and gender, and leadership was
loafers, indulging only in recreational volunteeristic. (Cultures of the North-
pastimes rather than work. Secondly, in west coast had bilateral inheritance, and
councils with Native tribes, the Euro- the Mississippian cultures had a practice
peans interacted with the men and thus whereby those of the highest class would
assumed that the men were the leaders. marry those of the lowest; men and
What they did not understand was that women were of equal status.) Leaders
most organized societies were matrifo- were chosen for particular activities,
cal. The elder women chose male war- based on the strength of their relation-
riors to speak for them; they appointed ship with relevant spirits, but no one had
the chiefs and could dismiss them if they to take part or obey, and leaders could be
went counter to the women’s policies. men or women. Sex and gender were not
Men were chosen to speak for the necessarily correlated; women could
women because any encounter with take up traditional male roles, including
273
Female Spirituality ____________________________________________________________________________
Principal spiritual practitioner of the Hupa, ca. 1923. (Edward Curtis/Library of

Congress)
274
___________________________________________________________________________ Female Spirituality
being warriors, and men could take up to influence from Christianity, was one of
female roles. Such individuals, both in female and male complementary deities.
the past and the present, may or may not The virtually ubiquitous tobacco offer-
be homosexual and are greatly honored, ings, whether or not in a pipe, are invari-
because they evidence the spiritual ably to the zenith and nadir and the four
power of both genders. directions, the order varying. Zenith and
Women and men understand their nadir are the male Sky and female Earth,
roles and lives to be mutually comple- and the four directions represent the Four
mentary in all aspects, including spiritu- Winds, some male and some female. Fe-
ality. Women function shamanistically no male Moon is paired with male Sun (some
differently than men, and many of the rit- traditions reverse the gender because of
ual roles are similar. In other cases, men particular geographical circumstances);
and women have different ritual roles the male Morning Star is paired with the
that are complementary to each other. female Evening Star; and so forth. Associ-
But in all traditions for which there is related with these cosmic deities are various
evant data, it is clear that women were animal and plant deities, gendered ac-
and are understood to be spiritually more cording to their function. Those animal
powerful than men because of several spirits on which humans subsist are fe-
factors. Women are biologically linked to male; those perceived primarily for their
Earth because of (1) menstruation— predatory or protecting virtues are per-
linked to Moon and the flowing waters of ceived as male. Hence, the female bison
Earth; (2) vaginas—linked to caves, the was the most important deity for those
vaginas of Earth; (3) giving birth—linked who resided on the Plains full-time after
to the creative powers of Earth; and (4) the adoption of the horse, while warriors
lactation—linked to the food resources, revered the male bison. Similarly, the
plants and animals, that are the gift of black Bear, the major healing deity, is per-
Earth. Men do not mirror Sky so directly. ceived as female, while the ferocious griz-
Women also are understood (as they are zly Bear is understood to be male.
in African and Asian traditions) innately Only after enforced Christianization
to readily connect to the spirit realm, was a quasi-monotheistic male Creator
while men usually need ritual activity to deity accorded supremacy over all the
enter the same trance states. While other spirits in many traditions. Such a
women and men have equal access to the deity did not figure in the primary offer-
spirit realm, as a Native woman put it to ings as delineated above, nor did it fit
me, “Men have to work harder at it.” into the Native understanding that cre-
ation came from the female. The primary
Female Spirits function of the male was, as a warrior, to
For nearly all American Indian religious destroy. It is only with the adoption of the
traditions, the realm of the sacred, prior Creator and other similar male superior
275
deities, often an extension of Sky, that we now returning in many of the revitalistic
find the mistreatment of women by men, movements.
modeled on Euro-American practices,
and the denigrating of female social, Menarche, Menstruation, and
economic, and spiritual importance and Marriage
complementary equality with males. But While men have no specific physiologi-
the older complementary tradition is cal marker of maturity, women bleed.
Female Spirituality, Apache

In traditional Apache culture, the most important ceremonial event for
women is the coming of age ceremony, or Isánáklèsh Gotal. This four-day
ceremony endows young women with the power of Isánáklèsh, the female
Apache deity. The ritual transforms the girl to a woman and teaches her the
responsibilities she must meet as a good Apache woman. I have devoted
much of my life to the study of this tradition; it carries meaning for me, an
Apache woman, on a number of different levels.
As a young girl I saw my first ceremony on a visit to the reservation with
my mother, aunt, and cousins to spend time with our extended family. Our
mothers wanted very much for my cousin and me to benefit from seeing the
ceremony. I remember standing in awe, watching the initiates dressed in
their doeskin dresses, dancing in front of the ceremonial fire in the Big Tepee,
accompanied by the Singers and the rhythm of their deer hoof rattles.
Traditional Apache spirituality was part of my life long before I saw this
first ceremony. I was barely six when my grandfather led me outside in the
early morning to the growing rows of corn. In the dark quiet of morning I
watched him as he gently touched each corn tassel. When he had gone
down all the rows, he took cattail pollen from a bag at his waist, blessed him-
self, blessed me, and put some in his mouth. Then, looking toward the east-
ern sky, he gave thanks for the new day.
It was when I entered graduate school three decades later that these
memories from my childhood would take on greater significance. Since
1967 I have actively engaged in field research among my clan sisters and
brothers on the Mescalero Apache reservation in New Mexico. Throughout
the years I have attended more than twenty-five girls’ initiation ceremonies,
276
drawing personal and professional wisdom from these moving ritual events.
Many times I have stood at the Sun Pole of the central ceremonial tepee, lis-
tening as the Singers chant the songs. Certain memories will always remain
with me: shadows from firelight on the walls of the tepee, the smell of pine
boughs, the peachwood fire, the cattail fronds carpeting the tepee floor, and
the warm Pendleton blankets.
Women in Apache society have always played a central role in social, po-
litical, and religious life as mothers and elders. In addition, Apache culture is
matrilineal—that is, property is inherited through the female line, and
women control household property and food supplies. If a woman is a
mother of adult children, she can rightfully claim even more respect and in-
fluence, as her children honor her through their adult lives. Some women
are ceremonialists, healers, and counselors, or nadek’leshn—women who
are selected to mentor young girls through the girls’ initiation ceremony.
Such women are chosen because of their wisdom and knowledge of Apache
lifeways. Women take responsibility for nearly all the ceremonial prepara-
tions, including preparing the girl herself. Women, along with Singers, are
the keepers of Apache tradition.
Women play a central role in Apache culture, and because of that fam-
ilies are very concerned that daughters be raised in a proper and caring
way. Young girls are seen as living in harmony with nature. Traditional
Apache culture recognizes the female role in nature and the place of femi-
nine wisdom. Affirming this need to protect her and ensure her an up-
bringing that will guide her along the “pollen path,” the proper mode of a
long and healthy life, her family and her culture celebrate the girl, her
power, and her harmony. It is important that careful attention be paid to
the minutia of a girl’s life, and that such details be ceremonially recog-
nized, so that her growth into spiritual and cultural maturity, her transfor-
mation into a woman, will be ensured as she assumes the powers and
blessings of Isánáklèsh.
Primarily, a girl is taught how to live like Isánáklèsh through the examples
set by the women in her family. Gradually over time, she will learn to join in
the responsibilities of women. As part of this process she will be taught po-
liteness, obedience, and awareness, and the importance of using language in
a careful and respectful way. Young girls will help with household chores, as
continues
277
Female Spirituality, Apache (continued)

well as tending to younger siblings and cousins. As proper social roles are
made evident to her, she is taught how to behave properly around adults and
boys. Her tasks will become more varied and demanding as she grows older.
As part of this education, she is taught how to find and properly gather me-
dicinal and food plants, as well as how to dry, store, and prepare such plants.
Young girls might also be taught how to gather ceremonial items such as
yucca, pollen, white clay, red clay, and galena.
Young girls are prepared for life, its difficulties and its beauties, through
the elaborate Apache oral tradition. Apache societal values are gleaned from
this oral tradition, which relates the origin of the Apache people as well as its
songs and the complex ceremonial and philosophical system. Grandmoth-
ers, mothers, aunts, and older sisters are primarily responsible for this
transmission of knowledge. Through learning the histories of other women
in her tribe, she is taught how to respond to crises and dilemmas, and the
means of survival in a sometimes difficult world. Grandmothers play a key
role in this transmission of cultural knowledge. Young girls are required to
respect the age and wisdom of their grandmothers. It is through listening to
these wise elders that young girls are able to learn about long life and old
age. Life wisdom is taught, being referred to over and over again in conver-
sations, myths, stories, and ceremonial songs. The bond between a young
girl and the elder women in her family is visibly present among contempo-
rary Apache women, and it can be seen in many areas of day-to-day life, as
well as within ceremonial contexts.
Traditional Apache culture recognizes key transitional moments in the
lives of its young women with lavish ceremonial events. These ceremonies
make evident the valued position that women hold in Apache culture. It is
hoped that all women will follow the path of life in beauty. To do so, they
must honor their bodies and their families in all areas of life: physically,
mentally, and spiritually. Rituals and ceremonies performed throughout a
girl’s life are intended to ensure that these girls will become strong young
women, able to ensure Apache cultural continuity.
Apache women are thus thought of as moving along ‘intine (a path or
trail), which is protected by the Apache ceremonial complex. These rituals
act to ensure protection for the girl from the time she is born, guuli, through
278
‘elchine (babyhood), and on through guzhaa gulaa’e dadziiya (puberty, or the

age when she can have babies). Puberty receives great attention within
Apache ceremonialism because it is the time when “you become aware of all
your senses and you begin to notice with care all the things around you, es-
pecially nature” (Willetto Antonio, Sun Clan Leader, Mescalero Apache
Reservation, 1985, Personal Communication). Among the Apache, puberty
and menstruation are a sacred time for women. Young girls are taught by the
women in their family of the sacrality and intense power of menstruation, as
well as the need for proper behavior during those times of their lives. Apache
girls are taught that the opposition between maleness and femaleness in the
universe must be held in balance. Contact between a menstruating woman
and any male, whether human or animal, can upset this balance. Hence,
during her menstruation, a woman should avoid sexual intercourse, ride
only female horses, pet only female dogs, and so forth (Opler 1941).
Menarche, the important time in a young girl’s life when she first begins
to menstruate, is ceremonially blessed and marked with Isánáklèsh Gotal. In
the contemporary era, as mainstream society impacts the worldview of
Apache girls, families stress all the more this notion of the importance of
cultural survival. These concerns make a girl’s initiation ceremony all the
more important.
The woman who prepares the girl and guides her through the eight-day
ceremonial process is the nade’kleshn, or Sponsor. This Sponsor is responsi-
ble for guiding the initiate into womanhood. In Isánáklèsh Gotal, the Spon-
sor acts as the spiritual mother of the initiate. Only women who have been
through the ceremony as an initiate are called to be a nade’kleshn. Sharing
in this experience prepares her to assist a young girl adequately. The nade’k-
leshn is responsible to train the girl for a full year prior to the ceremony.
Sponsors will teach the young woman about proper modes of behavior, how
to live in beauty and balance, and how to gather and prepare traditional
foods and medicines. She will sit down with her before her ceremony and
tell her everything that she will need to know. She will massage the young
girl’s body, molding it into the shape of a strong Apache woman. The Spon-
sor will direct and guide her movements and actions throughout the four
days of ceremonial activity, as well as the subsequent four days of quiet re-
flection that the initiate will undergo.
continues
279
Female Spirituality, Apache (continued)

During the ceremony, the female initiate embodies Isánáklèsh, making
her present to the community. As such, the girl is the embodiment of diye, or
sacred power. As the central female deity, Isánáklèsh embodies female
ideals for behavior in nearly every aspect of life. Isánáklèsh arrives from the
east with the dawn and meets the girl as she runs toward the east on the first
morning of the ceremony. She returns with the girl, and enters the ceremo-
nial tepee. During the ceremony, the girl is ritually transformed: she literally
becomes Isánáklèsh: Isánáklèsh, the female deity, also referred to as Mother
Earth, appearing to the people during the last day of the initiation cere-
mony, her lower face painted over with white earth clay.
Apache women are told that they must pattern their lives after Isánák-
lèsh, in order to follow the pollen path. This entails respecting Mother
Earth, doing all daily tasks with care and attention, and treating everyone
with kindness and generosity. Animals and plants should be treated as
carefully as people should, and food should be prepared in traditional
ways. Women should pattern their lives after Isánáklèsh. If women under-
take such careful thoughts and actions, then they will be able to share in
the power personified in Isánáklèsh herself, and present in the natural
world.
Women in traditional Apache culture have social roles distinct from
those of men. They are also primarily responsible for rearing children. How-
ever, despite these differences, Apache ceremonial practices work to guide
women into positions of equal authority and responsibility within their
communities. Young women are not prepared through these ceremonies for
a life of subservience, but rather for a life that reflects their embodiment of
Isánáklèsh, the female deity of the Earth. While young girls and women are
taught cultural responsibilities that are distinct from those of men, they are
also taught that such activities are profoundly valuable, and necessary for
the survival of their people. Apache women are mothers and wives, but they
also take on important social and political positions within their tribe as
they handle property, run businesses, teach in schools, serve on tribal coun-
cils, and act as Sponsors within ceremonies. To fulfill all these responsibili-
ties in a proper way, to walk respectfully on the path of life, women and girls
model themselves after Isánáklèsh. By doing so, Apache women are able to
280
access the strength and power they need to ensure the continuity of their
culture into future generations.
Inés Talamantez
Basso, Keith H. 1966. “The Gift of Changing Woman.” U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology
Bulletin 196: 123.
Clark, Laverne Harrell. 1976. “The Girl’s Puberty Ceremony of the San Carlos Apaches.”
Journal of Popular Culture 10, no. 2: 441.
Hoijer, Harry. 1938. Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache Texts. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Opler, Morris E. 1941. An Apache Life Way: The Economic, Social, and Religious Institutions of
the Chiricahua Indians. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
———. 1942. “Adolescence Rite of the Jicarilla.” El Palacio 49, no. 2: 25–38.
Talamantez, Inés. 1991. “Images of the Feminine in Apache Religious Traditions.” In After
Patriarchy: Feminist Transformations of World Religions. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
This blood, which emerges from the female’s spiritual life. In the more agri-
very center of their bodies, intimately cultural societies, the isolation may be
connected with reproduction, symbol- in a room of the home, or a part of the
izes the essence of specifically female large, matrilocal clan longhouse will be
spiritual power. In gathering-hunting walled off for similar purposes. Thus, it
and horticultural-hunting traditions is the females who have puberty rituals,
worldwide, it is understood that the not males.
power of menstruation overwhelms Until menopause, for four days each
male spiritual power. And menarche is moon cycle menstruating women will
particularly potent because, as a result avoid contact with men, as well as their
of lack of experience and learning, it is hunting and sacred artifacts, and will
an uncontrolled power that can have not cook food for others, nor will they
deleterious effects on the entire com- take part in their normal work. As Na-
munity. Hence, in these traditions tive women have told me, “It is a period
young women are taught to isolate of time-out.” In societies in which men
themselves immediately from others, hunt or raid, their work is sporadic, and
save for their female relatives and fe- intense periods of activity can be fol-
male elders. A shelter is built for them lowed by leisure periods. On the con-
away from the camp, and, in most such trary, the female roles of foraging and
traditions, this is the time for the first nurturing continue each day. Four days
major fast-vision quest. For a period of off a month is most welcomed. Because
time, subsequent menstruations will be women isolate themselves monthly and
an interlude for being instructed in commune with Earth, their spiritual life
adult skills and the development of the is continually renewed. Hence they do
281
not usually require the more frequent dition, the marriage ritual has the impor-
vision questing that males undergo in tance of the menarche ritual as dis-
order to attain spiritual equality with cussed above. This is a strongly matrifo-
the females. cal tradition; the woman chooses her
Western interpreters of these prac- husband, and he builds a house near her
tices devalue female power and often family that belongs to her. As part of the
understand that menstruating American marriage rituals, the woman braids a
Indian women are perceived by their special basket for her husband, and the
peers to be polluted rather than spiritu- man and his male relatives weave special
ally potent. In Dené traditions in the clothing for the bride. This clothing is of
Yukon and Northwest Territory of importance in the next life for the
Canada, at the time of menarche, young woman, as the basket is for the man.
women underwent special rituals for a Hence, in this instance, the marriage rit-
year. Their faces were shielded by a veil; ual determines not so much one’s path in
they did not touch their bodies but used life as in the afterlife.
a scratching stick; they drank using a
bird-bone tube; and they refrained from Female Rituals and Ritual Societies
eating certain foods. In these cultures it Aside from menarche and menstruation
is repeatedly acknowledged that women rituals, another important set of rituals,
have more spiritual “Power” than men at primarily engaged in by females, are
all times. those directly involved with foraging and
In the related Diné traditions (Apache gardening. Unfortunately, because the
and Navajo) of the American Southwest, early Western social sciences linked reli-
the menarche ritual has become the gion exclusively to male activities, the
major cultural ritual, celebrated by the en- many such rituals throughout North
tire community. During the ritual, the pu- America were studiously ignored. Most
bescent female becomes the Earth deity ethnologists were totally oblivious to
and can heal with her touch. Similarly, in them. We have detailed studies of subsis-
this regard, in the Anishnabe traditions, tence rituals in horticultural-hunting
the menarche ritual is called “Turning into Plains cultures that leave out the garden-
a Bear.” Here it is recognized that at the ing rituals, and the important planting
time of menarche the girl, in being trans- rituals of the Eastern Iroquoian-speaking
formed into a woman, is the equivalent of peoples are simply not to be found in the
the most powerful healing, life-giving ethnographic literature. The only depic-
spirit. tion of the female aspects of these rituals
In most traditions, there is no particu- is limited to Amazonian cultures, and
lar marriage ritual per se; marriage is a then in only a single study (see Brown).
matter of social recognition of two per- A second type of ritual not only ig-
sons becoming a couple. In the Hopi tra- nored but denied in most writings on
282
Hoton Ho Waste Win . . . Good Talk Woman
Dakota Spirituality: My Perspective
To begin, it must be acknowledged that writing about Dakota spirituality is
very challenging. Traditionally, our culture was transmitted via oral stories
and life experiences. I am not a religious leader, a medicine person, or an
elected tribal official. I am a Dakota win (woman) and an enrolled member
of the Spirit Lake Nation. I share my story based on my understanding of
culture, identity, life experiences, and stories shared with me throughout my
lifetime. I share this perspective as a female participant in Dakota cere-
monies that were and are integral to my healing and learning journey.
As a child of the 1950s I was raised as a Catholic and attended an Indian
mission school in St. Michael, North Dakota. My parents went through a bit-
ter divorce, with my Scandinavian father gaining custody of seven children.
We moved off the reservation and converted to my father’s religion, Presby-
terianism, when I was a teenager. Both religions scared and confused me.
Incidents occurred that triggered questions in my mind (even as a child) re-
garding the sincerity of the lessons being taught. As an adult I have chosen
to try to live as a Dakota win (woman). I say, “Try to live,” because it is a most
challenging way of life that has, as its roots, spirituality.
The aboriginal people of the United States were and are deeply spiritual.
Spirituality was the basis for how to live and survive. This lifestyle was based
on being in balance with one’s self and living in harmony with each other as
human beings and with nature. The word “Dakota” means “friend” or “ally”
and is the proper or preferred identification of our people. The real signifi-
cance of the word “Dakota” derives from the word “wodakota,” which
means harmony, a condition of being at peace with oneself and in harmony
with one another and with nature—a condition of lifestyle patterned after
the natural order of nature (Red Owl 2000).
The historical oppression of the indigenous people of America is
greatly misunderstood; it was perpetuated based on mythical images that
vacillated from “heathen savage” to “noble Indian” during the settlement
of this country, and to some degree it continues on in today’s world. Fed-
eral policies to deal with Indian people evolved based on the premise that
the settlers knew what was “best” for the “conquered” Indian. Religion and
continues
(continued)
religious conversion of the Native people were integral components of col-
onization of the Americas. The goal of civilizing the Indian was best done
through Christianity.
Prior to the European settling of this country, Indian nations had their
own very diverse educational systems, all geared toward providing an edu-
cation informally through parents, relatives, elder members of the commu-
nity, and religious and social groups. Indian children learned by application
and imitation, with great value placed on sharing and cooperation. Tribal
societies focused on the needs of the entire tribe, as opposed to the individ-
ual good. Individuals were contributors to the welfare of the whole tribe.
Traditional educational practices were grounded in the quest for learning
about relationships—relationships as human beings and the role that hu-
mans play in living in the whole.
As D. H. Dejong, an American Indian educator, says, “Traditional Indian
education covered tribal history, including origin and great deeds; physical
science, as seen in the Indian’s love and care of the natural world; physical
education and athletic ability; etiquette, including respect for elders; hunt-
ing or learning to provide for one’s family; religious training and fasting,
which connotes self discipline; and diet and health care” (Dejong 1993,
5–6).
Historians and anthropologists have estimated the indigenous popula-
tion to be anywhere from 15 to 40 million people living and roaming this
great land when it was discovered, with more than three hundred languages
and thousands of dialects. There is no term in any American Indian lan-
guage that means “religion.” Yet it is agreed that Native peoples were in fact
very spiritual, with rich traditional beliefs and practices. Spirituality for In-
dians was known and expressed in all facets of everyday life.
Despite the hundreds of different Native tribes, each with its own his-
tory, culture, and language, there is some commonality relative to spiritual
beliefs and practices. One common belief is of spiritual forces or beings that
affect human lives. The natural and supernatural worlds are linked by spirit
forces. In Dakota, the word used to describe spirit power is wakan, which is
sometimes translated to mean “sacred” or “holy.” Wakan conveys a sense of
mystery or the mysterious and is used as an adjective to denote the sacred
quality of spirit or spiritual power. Wakan Tanka is often translated and
used as “Great Spirit,” which limits the Dakota perspective of spiritual
power or essence. Everything has spiritual power that is related to a higher
power.
Belief in the sacred power of language is another common characteristic
for Native people. In the words of historian and author Joseph Epes Brown,
“An aspect of the sacred potency latent in words in primal tradition is the
presiding understanding that words in their sounds are born in the breath of
the being from whom they proceed, and since breath in these traditions is
universally identified with the life principle, words are thus sacred and must
be used with care and responsibility. Such quality of the spoken word is fur-
ther enhanced by the understood close proximity of the source of breath,
the lungs, with the heart, which is associated with the being’s spiritual cen-
ter” (Brown 1991, 3).
The use of words is critical to the oral traditions of Dakota culture; story-
telling reflects the actual reenactment of an event and is not bound by time.
Language and use of words are integral in Native cultures. Equally impor-
tant is the appreciation and sanctity of silence and of words not spoken. Si-
lence is sacred and has spiritual power for indigenous people.
Time and process are components of commonality in spiritual beliefs of
indigenous people. Indians think in terms of cycles or circles, rather than in
Western linear thinking. Indians believe in a cyclical time frame—the life
cycle, the seasons, and the directions—and the concept of what goes
around, comes around. Nature is designed with circular patterns (Mother
Earth, the Sun, Moon, etc.). The cyclical path of life and the cyclical changes
of the seasons symbolize, for Natives, their spiritual significance. Human
beings bear the responsibility to understand the relationship and roles nec-
essary to maintain balance and harmony with and in these cycles.
Dakota ceremonies honor the unique character of each cycle of life, as
well as the interwoven texture of the entire cycle of human existence. We are
taught that spiritual power exists and affects humans even though it may not
be seen. Human participation is essential to maintaining the relationship of
harmony between the natural and supernatural worlds. Ceremonies to com-
memorate birth, puberty, relatives and family, death, and self-awareness are
continues
(continued)
all honored by rituals that reinforce relationships and are viewed as promot-
ing the well-being of the individual, the family, and the community. These
rituals unite the members of the community in a shared experience that both
honors the spirits and strengthens the bonds of the community.
Religion—the belief in the supernatural—varies greatly among different
cultures and groups of people. Religions serve similar purposes, however, in
that they help people make sense of the universe and provide a guide to
human behavior through moral and ethical frameworks of the religious
dogma. Spiritual beliefs unite people in celebrating their common identity
within a specific faith. Religion has influenced lives and affected culture
throughout human history.
The indigenous peoples of the Americas faced numerous hardships and
suffered through countless individual and collective traumas. By the early
1900s the Native population had been dramatically reduced—there were
fewer than 240,000 Indians. American Indians have survived and endured
the taking of the land; having their communities and families destroyed by
warfare, separation, and disease; and control by foreigners and foreign gov-
ernments. Native people survived the destruction of their way of life as
stewards of the land, which was based on spiritual understanding of human
connections with each other and with nature.
As devastating as the colonization process was for Native Americans,
their spiritual essence survived, albeit suspicious and battered. Indians
kept their respective spiritual beliefs alive by protecting, hiding, and
adapting their rituals and ceremonies. Individuals and families continued
the teachings in secret ways until the advent of the Civil Rights movement,
which helped create a revitalization of pride in being Indian. The healing
process for Native people is taking hold because of traditional ceremonies
and spiritual renewal. Natives are coming to terms with their historical
trauma and adapting their traditional teachings to live in today’s contem-
porary world. The desire to make sense of a world in turmoil, to make
order out of chaos, is timeless and universal—for all human beings. Spiri-
tual beliefs and religious dogma provide the framework and solace that we
all seek.
My healing journey began when I became my tribe’s health
director/planner in the early 1980s. I had graduated from college and re-
turned to the reservation. My social life evolved around drinking and party-
ing. As the health director I began to see the devastation caused by alcohol
that permeated all facets of my life—both as an Indian and as a North
Dakotan. In rural North Dakota it was accepted that socializing meant drink-
ing, and in Indian country it was only compounded by poverty and cultural
differences. I made a conscious decision to quit drinking. I could not be a
hypocrite and tout healthy lifestyles and then spend my weekends partying.
Dakota ceremonies became my guide in coming to terms with my iden-
tity and in learning of the great beauty in being a Dakota win (woman). It
was difficult to quit drinking and socializing with my family and friends, and
I ended up spending time with older people who would share the stories
and laughter of their understanding of Dakota ways. For a year I was initi-
ated into Dakota spirituality by attending sweatlodges and doctoring cere-
monies and by observing the Sun Dance ceremony. During this first year of
learning I made the pledge to become a sun dancer and obtained a pipe
from one of the elders on my reservation. Becoming a pipe carrier was a sig-
nificant milestone—the pipe was brought to the people by the White Buffalo
Calf Woman and its meaning is symbolic of the survival of the Dakota na-
tion. The pipe is the means to communicate with Wakan Tanka. I was in awe
and was also afraid—afraid that I would do something wrong or disrespect-
ful. But Indians are wonderfully compassionate and forgiving. There were
very few younger people learning these ways at that time, and so the circles
were very powerful, led by older Dakota people.
My understanding of Dakota womanhood is that it is a special and
unique role because females alone give and provide life. Life is holy, and the
woman as mother nurtures this life that has become visible and alive in the
community of humankind. The basis of traditional Dakota womanhood is
religious and spiritual because she is seen as coparticipant with Wakan
Tanka in the giving of life. In addition to giving life, the woman transmits the
spiritual way of life of the people. The female role in the rituals and cere-
monies of the Dakota is integral and significant.
It was a woman—the White Buffalo Calf Woman—who brought the pipe
and the seven sacred rites to the Dakota/Lakota/Nakota people (more
continues
(continued)
commonly known as the Great Sioux Nation). The ways of the pipe were in-
structions on relationships and on how to live in a good way. The pipe sym-
bolizes the gifts of Wakan Tanka—the bowl created of red stone is the earth
and carved with a buffalo that represents the four-legged animals; the
wood stem represents all that grows upon the earth; the eagle feathers rep-
resent the winged ones; and the tobacco used to fill the pipe symbolizes the
connections with the smoke in sending the prayers to spiritual powers. In
accepting the pipe and the ceremonies, the Dakota people made a
covenant relationship with Wakan Tanka to live a spiritual life based on un-
derstanding relationships and connections (Red Owl 1991).
Dakota spirituality teaches us the symbolism of the four directions and the
four primary colors with animals or entities associated with each direction:
• West/black symbolizes spiritual strength, doctoring. Thunder

beings.
• North/red signifies physical, natural law, common sense, truth.
Buffalo nation.
• East/yellow symbolizes emotional health, new life, beginning. Elk,
black-tail deer, White Buffalo Calf Woman.
• South/white signifies healing ways, wisdom, elders, the direction
when we pass from this world. Spotted eagle, owl nation.
Some elders have stated that the four colors represent the human races
of Mother Earth. Each race or color is linked to the balance and harmony of
nature. We are also told that the other colors look to the Red people for that
wisdom in understanding the relationships and connections.
I have attended and participated in all but one of the seven rites—sweat-
lodge, crying for a vision, sun dance, making of relatives, keeping the spirit,
and womanhood (the one I have not participated in is the throwing the ball
ceremony)—of the Dakota people. I carry a pipe and have been in the sun-
dance ceremony for eighteen circles (seasons). In experiencing the power
and beauty of Dakota ceremonies, I am humbled and have come to under-
stand that I have a role to play. Part of that role is to be responsible for who I
am and to conduct myself in a good, respectful manner and to give back to

my community and family. This understanding does not preclude or dis-
miss Western practices of medicine or education. Dakota spirituality is a
way of life that is based on common sense, respect, and compassion—and
practiced every day.
Today we strive to be healthy and to reconstruct the culture in a good way
that is appropriate for the contemporary world. Many seek the knowledge
and wisdom of Native people. We have much in common as human beings
and with the concepts of spirituality and religion. The common thread is that
we all strive for understanding and to make sense of our world. Spiritual be-
liefs and religious practices provide the guide to behavior, giving us the moral
and ethical framework in which to make decisions for living a good life.
We all have a responsibility to learn and to teach. We have a responsibil-
ity to pass on to future generations the gift of spirituality. I challenge each of
us to go forward with this charge to cultivate mutual respect for all beliefs
that bring us closer to Wakan Tanka.
Mitakuye oyasin . . . we are all related.
Cynthia Lindquist Mala
Dejong, D. H. 1993. Promises of the Past: A History of Indian Education. Golden, CO: North
American Press.
Epes Brown, J. 1991. The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian. New York: Crossroad
Publishing.
Red Owl, E. M. 1991. Traditional Dakotah Womanhood. Unpublished paper, pp. 21–25.
———. 2000. Brief Historical Overview of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe. Unpublished
paper, p. 1.
Native American religion is those rituals Of particular importance on the

engaged in by women that are only de- Plains are female ritual societies, which
scribed for men, such as pipe rituals with have their own sacred bundles and the
female pipe-holders (which at times may like. These societies are parallel to male
involve men) and Spirit Lodge (“sweat- societies and work together with them
lodge”). With regard to the latter, con- for major communal rituals, such as an
temporary mixed-sex “New Age” “sweat” annual Thirst (“Sun”) Dance. An exam-
rituals are exactly that. These pipe and ple would be the female Motokiks Soci-
Spirit Lodge rituals are similar to those ety of the Nitsitapi (“Blackfoot”), parallel
engaged in by men, with an emphasis on to the male Horn Society. Both societies
female needs and concerns. put up their ritual tepees during the
289
Okan (“Sun Dance”) and had comple- though the woman is the primary care-
mentary roles. taker of the sacred bundle.
Moon rituals are important in the con- Throughout North America, in gather-
temporary context, particularly in urban ings for rituals such as Sacred Pipe cere-
areas. These rituals, held during full monies, it is common for women and
moons and directed toward Moon and men to sit at opposite sides of a circle;
Earth, enable Native women, particu- hence, they are separate, yet together
larly those not brought up in a tradi- they complete a sacred circle. Often, in
tional setting, to gather under the tute- ritual lodges, men and women take on
lage of a female elder to both celebrate separate, complementary roles; for ex-
and learn about the spiritual aspects of ample, men tending the sacred fire and
their femaleness. Other than these ritu- women preparing the ritual feast. In con-
als, most ritual activity takes place in structing Midewiwin lodges and many
mixed-gender rituals. Spirit (“sweat”) Lodges, men gather the
wooden poles for the framework and
Female Roles in Mixed-Gender Rituals women gather boughs. Each has a differ-
In most major rituals, the complemen- ent role in their construction. In sum-
tary spiritual relationship between fe- mary, American Indian religions are
males and males is an essential aspect those in which both genders have com-
of the ceremony. In many of the Plains plementary, essential roles.
traditions, a woman must dream of Jordan Paper
sponsoring a Thirst (“Sun”) Dance, and
See also Feminism and Tribalism;
she becomes the central figure in the Menstruation and Menarche;
complex set of rituals—in the Cheyenne Retraditionalism and Identity Movements;
tradition, she is called the “Holy Sacred Pipe; Women’s Cultural and
Religious Roles, Great Lakes; Women’s
Woman.” In the Missouri Valley horti- Cultural and Religious Roles, Northern
cultural-hunting traditions, there is a Athabascan
complex interrelationship between
bison-hunting and corn-gardening ritu- Brown, Michael F. 1985. Tsewa’s Gift: Magic
als. The primarily male hunting rituals and Meaning in an Amazonian Society.
required a woman at the center, and the
Institution Press.
primarily female gardening rituals re- Estrada, Álvaro. 1981. Maria Sabina: Her
quired a man. In the Hopi traditions, the Life and Chants. Translated by Henry
Munn. Santa Barbara, CA: Ross-
male ritual societies require the partici-
Erickson.
pation of women, and the female soci- Hungry Wolf, Beverly. 1980. The Ways of My
eties require the participation of men. Grandmothers. New York: William
Among the Pikuni (“Blackfoot Confed- Morrow.
Jones, David. E. 1972. Sanapia: Comanche
eration”), sacred bundles can be trans- Medicine Woman. New York: Holt,
ferred only to married couples, al- Rinehart and Winston.
290
_____________________________________________________________________ Feminism and Tribalism
Lurie, Nancy Oestrich, ed. 1961. Mountain men toward women in mainstream pop-
Wolf Woman, Sister of Crashing Thunder: ulations. These women were generally
The Autobiography of a Winnebago
Indian. Ann Arbor: University of more educated in Euro-American hege-
Michigan Press. mony, and married with middle-class
Paper, Jordan. 1998. Through the Earth status, in contrast to their “women of
Darkly: Female Spirituality in Comparative
Perspective. New York: Continuum. color” counterparts.
Underhill, Ruth M. 1979. Papago Woman.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. The Myth of “Tribalism” and U.S.
Colonialism
The meaning of “tribalism” is often con-
noted with conformity and subservience
Feminism and Tribalism
of the individual subsumed to the inter-
A key concern regarding feminism for ests of the group, since the member must
many Native American women is the follow group culture and rules with little
emphasis on individuality by early West- or no independent thinking. The idea
ern feminists, who wanted more equal- has even been associated with a kind of
ity with men in the prevailing patriar- infantile behavior. On the more positive
chal sociocultural structures in U.S. side, however, tribalism is attributed to
society, premised on democratic ideals kinship and protection, in which indi-
for gender equity (Jaimes 1998). Starting viduals work to meet the needs of the
with the suffragettes, upper- and mid- community and cultivate acceptance
dle-class women demanded the vote for within that community. Among some
white women within this historical Native tribes and other ethnic groups
legacy of the women’s movement (Ker- these can take the form of other surro-
ber and De Hart 2000), but they were not gate extended family traditions, among
as concerned with “women of color.” those nonrelated but living in close prox-
Therefore, Native American women per- imity to each other, also attributed to
ceived this early feminism as a reaction gangs and even athletic teams. Other
to the existing patriarchal sociopolitical terms attributed to the established
system that was not concerned with the “tribal order” are magic, rituals, mysti-
racialized oppression of other marginal- cism, animism, and the protection of an-
ized women and subcultural groups cestral or cultural traditions, myths,
(called “ethnic minorities”). This in- rights of kinship, and sacred places
cluded Native Americans as tribal peo- (Moyer 2000).
ples, and the impact of U.S. colonialism Generally speaking, within the Euro-
on their traditional ways of life. Femi- American hegemony “tribalism” is not
nists of these earlier and more exclusive considered a high level of maturity or
times were focused on challenging the civilization. It is associated with the
sexism and chauvinistic behavior of “primitive” or “savage” and therefore is
291
Feminism and Tribalism ______________________________________________________________________
seen as backward and uncivilized. In body of persons united by a common

this Eurocentric way of thinking, Native character, culture, or sentiment; the indi-
peoples and their cultures have often viduals collectively of any characteristic
been described as a “tribe” or as “tribal group, conceived apart from the unity of
people,” which can be associated with the group as subject to common govern-
the pejorative naming of a group of ani- ment (that is, as a state) or as issued from
mals as a lesser subspecies of “white” or a common stock (that is, as a race or
European. A more current definition of tribe). 2. A race, tribe, or nation; as, the
the term “tribe” by the Oxford English peoples of Europe.” The OED states the
Dictionary (OED) is stated thus: “A group meaning of “people” thus: “A body of per-
of persons forming a community and sons composing a community, tribe,
claiming common ancestry. A particular race, or nation. . . . sometimes viewed as
race of recognized ancestry; a family . . . a unity, sometimes as a collective of num-
the families or communities of persons ber. . . . The persons belonging to a place
having the same surname. A race of peo- or occupying a particular concourse,
ple . . . a primary aggregate of people in congregation, company, or class. . . .
a primitive or barbarous condition Those to whom any one belongs; the
under a headman or chief.” In this hege- members of one’s tribe, clan, family,
monic context, Native American peo- community, association, church, etc.,
ples are seen, therefore, as dependent collectively. . . . The common people, the
“tribes” with inferior cultures. This con- commonality. . . . The whole body of en-
structing of Euro-American dominance franchised or qualified citizens, consid-
is echoed in the Supreme Court’s Mar- ered as the source of power; esp. in a
shall decision, referring to Native peo- democratic state, the electorate. . . . Men
ples as “domestic dependent nations” or women indefinitely; men and women,
(Churchill and Morris 1992). As a result persons, folk.”
of U.S. colonialism and Euro-American In these definitional configurations of
patriarchy, the traditional authority of the British/American English language,
Native American women has been grad- it is evident how the Western lexicon is
ually eroded from the time of first con- used in the dominant/subordinate con-
tact to the present. struction of the colonizer and the colo-
Native Americans, on the other hand, nized. This is done with imperialistic
see themselves as “a People,” and refer to aims and monopolistic agendas, and
themselves as such in their respective in- even duplicitous obfuscation and sub-
digenous languages through the group terfuge as to what “people,” as a popula-
names for themselves (for example, Diné tion entity, calls itself a nation or state.
[Navajo] and Lakota [Sioux] mean “the Through the acceptance of the U.N.
peoples”). According to Webster’s Dic- charter and other human rights instru-
tionary (1969), “people” means: “1. A ments, the self-determination of all peo-
292
ples is a universally accepted aspiration gious life. Christianity, a historically pa-

in modern times. This recognition of the triarchal tradition, brought with it a pro-
self-determination of peoples, however, found change in gender roles. And yet,
has been recognized only in the realiza- for Natives, life in a colonialist era often
tion that colonialism is abhorrent to the meant becoming at least marginally
desired liberty of all humanity. The Christian.
meaning of colonialism is a theoretical Native scholars in international law
construct in Euro-American international and politics have noted the colonialist
law, and its meaning can be defined only distinction made between Christians and
in the context of the Eurocentric para- others. Stigmatized as infidels or, worse,
digm within imperialist doctrine: “control as heretics, indigenous peoples have
by one power over a dependent area of been labeled as non-Christians, and have
people. [Colonialism] is also construed been denigrated as pagans, savages, or
as a policy advocating or based on such heathens. Native legal scholar G. T. Mor-
control” (Webster’s Dictionary l969). In ris writes: as an extension of the Roman
the natural world, a colonizer is an “ani- legal principle territorium (res) nullius, “a
mal or plant which has [not] quite estab- ‘discoverer’ could legally occupy a terri-
lished itself in a place where it is not in- tory that was already inhabited (by ‘infi-
digenous.” Hence, the colonist or dels’) and extend Christian sovereignty
colonialist is a usurper, defined in the over it” (Jaimes 1992, 58). In response to
Oxford English Dictionary as “one who Spanish colonial law, Morris also notes,
takes part in founding a colony” where the first known European documents ad-
other peoples and their respective terri- dressing the question of dominion over
torial nations have already been estab- the “New World” were the papal bulls of
lished. Therefore, the colony is estab- Pope Alexander VI. Such documents ac-
lished as a predatory process of knowledged the right of the sovereigns of
colonialism in order to gain dominion Castile and Aragon to acquire and Chris-
over the early inhabitants, their land, tianize the islands and terra firma of the
and natural resources. new regions. The formation of these reli-
In Native America, this colonial gio-political laws created immediate ten-
agenda had direct impact upon women, sions and international legal debates that
and their ability to maintain their tradi- would remain unresolved in Europe from
tional matrilineal roles of authority their inception to the present (ibid., 59).
within their communities. Half of the Some of the first to suffer under this reli-
Native population was women, and gious justification for colonialism were
among them were those who held formi- themselves Europeans. In ancient times,
dable spheres of authority and leader- the Irish were subjugated for being “pa-
ship as Clan Mothers. Much of this loss of gans” by the British imperialists. With the
women’s power was directly tied to reli- overthrow of Catholicism by the Anglican
293
Church, colonial conquest of Ireland was consolidated . . . to the extent that

once again justified as a means of subdu- many indigenous nations were
vulnerable to military invasion by U.S.
ing the threat of Catholicism.
forces. The expansion of the U.S. was
G. T. Morris continues: “The historical fueled by a racist philosophy. . . .
antecedents of the legal rights of indige- [Therefore] the . . . Americans (as
nous peoples may be found centuries colonialists) believed that through
prior to the European arrival in the divine ordination and the natural
superiority of the white race, they had
Western hemisphere. After the estab-
a right (and indeed an obligation) to
lishment of the Holy Roman Empire, but seize and occupy all of North America.
prior to the colonial travels of various (ibid., 58–67)
peoples to the ‘New World’ . . . distinc-
tions drawn by Europeans between the The imposition of colonialism on Na-
known world were generally in terms of tive peoples and their land-based cul-
Christians and infidels.” He further tures has made the status of designated
states that “although the [United States] tribal nations, with “quasi-sovereignty”
claims that its national legislature pos- within the United States, unique. These
sesses such rights under the ‘plenary federal-Indian relations were based on
power doctrine,’ its assertion is not un- treaties and other agreements, such as
like similar claims by other colonizing negotiated land transactions between
states that have maintained their rela- approximately four hundred federally
tions with colonized peoples are purely recognized Native groups and the United
domestic issues. . . . The roots of the as- States (Morris, in ibid., 55–86). What the
sertion that the [United States] pos- historical texts conveniently leave out, in
sesses exclusive domestic jurisdiction terms of the impact of aggressive colo-
over its relations with indigenous na- nization on a disrupted people, is the
tions can be found in [its] case law and cost at which this disruption comes to
the self-serving legislation that often ac- indigenous people and their land. This
companied it. Asserting such claims, inquiry also needs to be contextualized
however, does not accord them accept- in postcolonialist terms regarding con-
ance under law.” Morris asserts that, on cerns over biocolonialism and biopiracy
the other hand, (Jaimes-Guerrero 2002).
Will Durant, a prolific Marxist scholar,
while it is true that the [U.S.] Congress
has passed thousands of laws in the wrote on the Eurocentric “history of civi-
area of U.S.-Indigenous affairs, to lization” with his wife, Ariel Durant,
suggest that the unilateral acts of a whom he only later acknowledged. In
legislature can diminish the national this work they observed, with regard to
sovereignty of [these historical]
nations . . . seems an unjustifiable
what he termed “village communities,”
conclusion. . . . By 1820 . . . the power that the individual was hardly recog-
of the [United States] had been nized as a separate entity in natural (that
294
is, indigenous) society. Within such a Indigenous Kinship and Traditional

context, he went on, kinship was valued Communalism
over virtually all other possible forms of In a historical context, the problem
social organization, and power derived with using the term “tribalism” is that it
from consent rather than more abstract distorts the genuine meaning of “com-
sources of right to domination. Primitive munalism” in traditionally oriented Na-
societies functioned essentially on the tive American societies. The complex
basis of cooperation, collective enter- network of relationships that charac-
prise, and communal custom in this terizes communalism is the basis for
view. The social form in question, he im- Native nationhood. This is a nation-
plied, had much more to commend it by hood premised on matrilineal descent
way of its humanity than any of its more in indigenous kinship, for most Native
modern counterparts, and might ac- peoples prior to the impact of U.S.
cordingly be considered as something of colonialism and patriarchy on their in-
a model for emulation in a world beset digenous lifeways. These communal
by ruthless competition, the extreme models of indigenous governance,
brutality of hierarchy and class inequal- therefore, gave women respect and au-
ity, and global warfare. Remarking that thority and were exemplary of gender
this comparatively idyllic social exis- egalitarianism with men through both
tence had once been virtually universal, matrifocal and patrifocal (to use an-
he mused that it should certainly be pos- thropological terms) councils for nego-
sible for “modern man”—with all “his” tiating consensus and coming to deci-
material and intellectual attainment—to sions in times of peace and war.
do as well (Durant 1954, 21–35). Of Native women frequently lived longer
course, despite the good intentions and than men did (as all women generally do
obvious accuracy of much of his analysis, outlive men), and with that longevity,
more than likely influenced by Karl and concomitant elder status, provided a
Marx’s notion that early indigenous peo- matrilineal continuity as Clan Mothers
ples practiced a “primitive commu- who determined role responsibilities
nism,” Durant is still engaging in the fun- among clan members. Women’s matri-
damentally Eurocentric error of treating lineal leadership as Clan Mothers was
indigenous peoples and cultures as if exercised through collective cultural
they no longer existed. In actuality, the practices and reciprocal kinship tradi-
model of the collective, communal, or tions. This can be seen, for instance,
indigenous society was still very much in among the Iroquois Confederacy in the
evidence at the time of his writing, and it Eastern woodlands; the Southwest Pueb-
exists as a cultural tradition in the pres- los and Navajo/Diné; and the Great
ent as well as for historical consideration Plains Tribal Nations in the Dakotas
(Jaimes 1992). (Jaimes-Guerrero 1999b).
295
Theresa Halsey, a Dakota woman the people would no longer be Dakota

among the Great Plains peoples, points in truth. They would no longer even be
human. To be a good Dakota was to be
out that the indigenous concept of kin-
humanized, civilized. And to be
ship is different from the Western one. civilized was to keep the rules imposed
She states, “When we live in our commu- by kinship for achieving civility, good
nity, it is called a tiyospaye, [meaning] a manners, and a good sense of
group of tipis. This community was very responsibility toward every individual
dealt with. Thus only was it possible to
important to us because that is where we
live communally with success; that is
found our strength and knowledge of to say, with a minimum of friction and
knowing who we are and where we came a maximum of good will. We also had
from. We no longer live in tipis but still be- social kinship which were
lieve in this concept.” She quotes Ella De- relationships based on the Sioux
cultural concept that relationships can
loria’s ethnographic Waterlily, on Dakota
be based on patterns of thought and
traditional living: “Any family could main- behavior and be equally as binding as
tain itself adequately as long as the father relationships of blood, unlike the
was a good hunter and the mother an in- western concept of blood relatives. A
dustrious woman. But socially, that was good example of this is when [in
Waterlily] Blue Bird and her
not enough; ideally it must be part of a
grandmother lost their family to an
larger (extended) family, constituted of enemy war party and the people of
related households . . . [as in kinship]. In their kind who spoke their dialect,
the camp circle, such groups placed their took them in and adopted the
tipis side by side where they would be newcomers like relatives. (Halsey
2002)
within easy reach for cooperative living.
In their closeness lay such strength and
social importance as no single family, In “Traditional Role of Aboriginal
however able, could or wished to achieve Women Has Great Relevance,” Warren
entirely by its own efforts” (Deloria 2002, Goulding quotes Winona Wheeler, an
20). Halsey continues, Aboriginal woman and acting dean of
Saskatchewan Indian Federated College
I agree with Ella Deloria in her book, (Saskatchewan, Canada): “It’s a contem-
Waterlily, when she points out that the porary translation of a traditional
ultimate aim of Sioux life, stripped of
role. . . . Women were not dependent on
accessories, was quite simple; one
must obey the kinship rules; one must men, their role was very much in balance
be a good relative. No Dakota who has with men.” Goulding argues that “history
participated in that life will dispute has much to teach us about the role of
that. In the last analysis every other women in First Nations communities
consideration was secondary—
property, personal ambition, glory,
and family, how they share the responsi-
good times, life itself. Without that aim bilities and duties with men and elders,
and the constant struggle to attain it, and how it evolved that the status of
296
women was diminished and, in the eyes and Texas) and elsewhere. Among the
of some Church leaders and European themes that describe indigenous kinship
men, demonized.” Wheeler says that the are communalism, egalitarianism, reci-
primary focus of women prior to the ar- procity with others and Nature, and a
rival of the European fur traders was to complementary relationship between
protect the family and to act as breadwin- women and men, with special respect for
ners. As she describes kinship relations: children and elders.
Imagine four circles. There is a little Patriarchal Colonialism

circle in the centre with the babies and U.S. colonialism and patriarchy have se-
children. Around the circle is another verely impacted Native American peo-
one, with Elders, grandfathers, and ples, especially Native women. These
grandmothers. Around that circle are
the women and then around them are
historical forces have continued to erode
the men. The men formed the first line their indigenous rights, rights they hold
of protection, they protected all from as the earliest groups to inhabit the
danger and their primary focus was Americas. For Native American women,
the entire community, the sustenance
this has meant a double burden, in hav-
of the entire community. The next line
of protection was the women and their ing to deal with both racist and sexist at-
focus was on family, then the Elders titudes as well as discrimination as a re-
who were raising the children. . . . sult of such prejudices. This is what can
There was a balance and no one job, be described as patriarchal colonialism.
no one role was more important than
To understand what is meant by patriar-
the other. Especially among Plains
societies, which were egalitarian, chal colonialism, once must understand
[because] everyone’s role was equally U.S. American colonial history. Euro-
valued. American colonialism is a legacy of Eu-
rocentric notions of inferiority under-
Goulding notes, “The arrival of the Euro- mining and subjugating nonwhite or
peans brought out massive societal non-Western races and all women in
changes, the negative impacts of which general, and the presumed superiority of
are being felt today” (Goulding 2002). the anglicized Euro-American man. A
Even though these are only two illus- synonym for patriarchy is paternalism;
trations of this concept of kinship in tra- yet patriarchy is indicative of a more sys-
ditional Native/Aboriginal societies, and temic hegemony in the prevailing chau-
both are particular to the Great Plains vinism of postcolonialist times and is
cultures, these are main themes that re- juxtaposed with the racism that is char-
verberate among all indigenous peoples acteristic of U.S. colonialism.
in North America, including the Pueblo In this context there is also a need to
peoples of the Southwestern states (that address what can be termed as “transna-
is, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, tional colonialism” among Third World
297
peoples, as the result of the impact of sphere. This hemispheric inter-Ameri-

NAFTA and other transnational arrange- can organization is calling for more
ments today. In response, there is a bioethics in the cultural context of Na-
global indigenous resistance that is tive Spirituality, in the “bioprospecting”
emerging to resist a new wave of geno- of targeted indigenous peoples through-
cide (destruction or erosion of a people), out the Americas (over 700 peoples and
now linked with ethnocide (destruction their respective cultures), and in what
or erosion of a culture) and ecocide (de- has been called “biopiracy” and “bio-
struction or erosion of an ecosystem as a colonialism” by geneticists and agents in
natural, organic environment), and in the Human Genome Diversity Project(s)
which Native and indigenous women (Jaimes-Guerrero 2002 and 2004).
play key roles as activists and leaders, in In a literal sense, the term “indi-
both “Native Feminism” and “Native genism” means “to be born of a place,”
Womanism” campaigns for indigenous but for Native peoples it also means “to
liberation in life and land struggles. live in relationship with the place
where one is born,” as one’s indigenous
Native American Women and homeland. In this cultural context, an
Indigenism: Toward Native Feminist indigenous member has the responsi-
Spirituality bility to practice kinship roles in recip-
There is an emerging global indigenous rocal relationship with one’s bioregional
movement, in which Native American habitat. This kinship is manifested in
women and their international organiza- the cultural beliefs, rituals, and cere-
tions work as leaders and activists in re- monies that cherish biodiversity, tradi-
gard to Native life and land struggles. tional culture, and its relationship to
Central to these struggles is the preserva- the bioregion. This all occurs within the
tion of Native Spirituality. Among these context of a Native land ethic and Na-
Native or indigenous women’s organiza- tive spirituality. If one moves or mi-
tions are Women of All Red Nations grates, as an individual or a group, one
(WARN) and the Indigenous Women’s is expected to carry this indigenous
Network (IWN), which send delegates to consciousness along, to practice this
international and national conferences bioethic in a new environment, and to
and U.N. forums to advocate for the live in a way that is respectful of the
human rights of all indigenous peoples. bioregion and its biodiversity. This is
The IWN was prominently represented also manifested in the sacred images of
at the Women’s International Confer- what I refer to as “feminine organic ar-
ence, held in Beijing in 1995, as well as chetypes” in all Native creation stories
working on inter-American alliances and and geomythology. For example, this
coalitions with a delegation of Indige- archetype can be seen in the Corn
nous Peoples of the Western Hemi- Mother and Daughter, Spider Woman,
298
and Changing Woman of Southwest snared in what I have termed “patriar-

Pueblo cultural lore ( Jaimes-Guerrero chal colonialism,” can resonate with
1999b). Walker’s notion of Womanism. It has
This is a main principle of what can be been documented by Euro-American
called a “Native Feminist Spirituality” as historians that Spanish colonists per-
defined within the context of indigenism ceived Native men as less masculine
and ecofeminism (the latter from a Third than andocentric Europeans, who
World women’s perspective). It is a spiri- viewed women, children, slaves, and the
tuality that advocates for a Native natural world as the property of Euro-
woman’s cultural rights in contemporary centric white men. Another reason for
times, and for one’s subjective agency this denigration of Native men is that
within the existing patriarchal and post- Native or indigenous women were
colonialist U.S. society. I also argue for a viewed as exotic and erotic, being able to
notion of Native Womanism, which ad- seduce any man into promiscuity and
vocates for more historical agency in re- even to turn their own into “eunuchs”
envisioning a prepatriarchal, precolo- (Jaimes-Guerrero, Native women stereo-
nialist, and precapitalist U.S. society. As types 1999). Hence, what the chauvinis-
Native women take up the task of telling tic Western Europeans mistook as a sub-
and writing their own history, they are jugation of Native men to their women
able to express their own self-determina- was actually the gender role dynamics of
tion in reclaiming their indigenous ma- an egalitarian society that valued both
trilineal and matrifocal roles, roles that women and men.
empower them with respect and author- Native Womanism also has an ecologi-
ity in indigenous governance (Jaimes- cal perspective, since there is a connec-
Guerrero 1999b). tion with the degradation of Nature, as
acts of ecocide, and the denigration and
A Call for Native Womanism from subordination of women in general. The
Sacred Kinship Traditions common denigration of Nature, Native
The term “womanist” was inspired by peoples, and women, all of which are
novelist Alice Walker’s In Search of Our manifestations of the Female Principle,
Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose can be seen in the “strands of the web of
(1983/1967), in which she calls for imperialism.” This denigration is the re-
“women to love women.” Her meaning is sult of patriarchal colonialism that has
taken to signify a call, both literally and been imposed on Native peoples and
figuratively, for a restoration of the “Fe- others in the process of conquest from
male Principle” and for a challenge to the an imperialistic agenda. This intersec-
prevailing colonialist and patriarchal tion of the denigration of Nature, Na-
denigration of women and Nature. I feel tives, and women, therefore, also serves
that Native women, as tribal peoples en- as a means of illustrating advancing
299
genocidal agendas, as genocide that is ———. 1998. “Savage Hegemony . . .

linked with ethnocide and ecocide Feminist and Indigenous Women’s
Alliances.” In Talking Visions:
(Jaimes-Guerrero 2002 and 2004). Multicultural Feminism. Edited by Ella
Challenging this subjugation of the Shohat. Boston and New York: M.I.T.
feminine, as antifemale and antiwoman, Press and New Museum of
Contemporary Art.
calls for the historical agency of Native Jaimes, M. Annette, and Theresa Halsey.
women, as expressed in Native Woman- 1992. “American Indian Women: At the
ism. This reassertion of traditional Center of Indigenous Resistance in
North America.” Pp. 311–344 in The State
modes of women’s power and authority of Native America: Genocide,
can be put forth to preserve and restore Colonization, and Resistance. Edited by
the Sacred Kinship traditions among M. Annette Jaimes. Boston: South End
Press.
bioregionally based indigenous peoples,
Jaimes-Guerrero, M. A. 1999a. “Savage
and to promote a vision for a more hu- Exotica, Erotica: Media Imagery of
mane and egalitarian future that is ex- Native Women in ‘Hollywood’ Cinema.”
In Native North America: Critical
emplary of being indigenous.
Cultural Perspectives. Edited by Renee
M. A. Jaimes-Guerrero Hulan. Toronto: ECW Press.
———. 1999b. “Red Warrior Women:
See also Deloria, Ella; Ecology and
Exemplars of Indigenism in ‘Native
Environmentalism; Identity; Kinship; Law,
Womanism.’” Asian Women 9: 1–25.
Legislation, and Native Religion;
———. 2002. “Global Genocide,
Retraditionalism and Identity Movements
Biocolonialism and Biopiracy: The
References and Further Reading Impact of the Human Genome
Churchill, W., and Morris, G. T. 1992. comp. Diversity Project(s) on Targeted
“Key Indian Cases,” (table). P. 18 in The Indigenous Populations Worldwide.” In
State of Native America: Genocide, Aesthetics of Violence. Edited by Arturo
Colonization, and Resistance. Edited by Aldama. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers
M. Annette Jaimes. Boston: South End University Press.
Press. See The Cherokee Cases ———. 2004. “Biocolonialism and Isolates
(1831–1882), especially Cherokee Nation of Historic Interest.” In Indigenous
v. Georgia. Intellectual Property Rights: Legal
Deloria, Ella Cara. 2002. Waterlily. Lincoln: Obstacles and Innovative Solutions.
University of Nebraska Press. Edited by Mary Riley. Lanham, MD:
Durant, Will, with Ariel Durant. 1954. “Our Roman and Littlefield.
Oriental Heritage.” Pp. 21–35 in The Story Kerber, L. K., and J. S. De Hart, eds. 2000.
of European Civilization, vol. 1. New Women’s America: Refocusing the Past,
York: Simon and Schuster. 5th ed. New York: Oxford University
Goulding, Warren. 2002. “Traditional Role of Press.
Aboriginal Women Has Great Relevance.” Morris, G. T. 1992. “International Law and
May 8. Politics: Toward a Right to Self-
Halsey, Theresa. 2002. E-mail Determination for Indigenous Peoples.”
correspondence with author. May P. 58 in The State of Native America:
22–23. Genocide, Colonization, and Resistance.
Jaimes, M. Annette. 1992. “La Raza and Edited by M. Annette Jaimes. Boston:
Indigenism: Alternatives to South End Press.
Autogenocide in North America.” Global Moyer, Bill. 2000. Spiral Dynamics;
Justice 3, no. 2/3: 4–19. compiled on April 19, 2000.
300
_____________________________________________ First Foods Ceremonies and Food Symbolism
Walker, Alice. 1983. In Search of Our season and the first yearly hunt—the
Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. San families of the young men who had
Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
pledged to go through the ordeal of the
dance held feasts of buffalo tongues, a
special delicacy.
First Foods Ceremonies Tribal people acknowledged their
sense of immediate relationship with the
and Food Symbolism
animals around them. The various ani-
Food sustains not only the body but also mal nations were considered relatives to
the soul, in the form of the rituals that humans. The use of animal food, how-
surround its use and create a sense of ever, raises complex issues around eat-
communion both with the spiritual ing one’s relatives. In the case of animals,
world and the social world. Food works they gave themselves freely to sustain
on at least three levels of meaning— human life. The Pawnee hunted ducks,
basic physical subsistence, relationships but the ducks were willing prey, based on
between human beings and their envi- stories such as that of Small, the orphan
ronment, and cultural metaphors. who fell asleep while hunting ducks and
The buffalo were the staple food of woke to find himself in the lodge of the
Plains Indians. Various tribal traditions ducks under the water. The council of
tell how buffalo came to ward off human ducks debated his fate, knowing that he
starvation. The Lakota people tell the was hunting them for food, and pon-
story of White Buffalo Calf woman, a dered whether they should kill him. But
beautiful woman who appeared to two also knowing that it was their decision
hunters. One approached her with lust, whether to let themselves be killed, they
and he was immediately enveloped in a agreed to continue to give themselves to
cloud. When the cloud lifted it revealed humans for food, and they gave Small
his maggot-ridden corpse. The other great luck as a gambler.
hunter approached the woman with re- The Lakota also tell of an event that
spect. She taught him seven sacred ritu- explains both why buffalo were a source
als before turning into a buffalo calf and of food and why the Black Hills are still a
trotting off across the prairie. The Lakota sacred site. The two-leggeds (humans,
called the buffalo wakan tanka, wakan bears, and birds) challenged the four-
being their term for eminent spiritual leggeds to a great race for dominance.
power. The spiritual nature of the buffalo The race went on so long that the track
was evident in the way that herds often was worn down and the land in the mid-
appeared to rise from the earth or from dle was pushed up, thus forming the
the surface of lakes. During the Sun Black Hills. The buffalo was in the lead,
Dance—the spring ceremony held in but the magpie had perched on his
conjunction with the buffalos’ rutting hump; just as he reached the finish line
301
First Foods Ceremonies and Food Symbolism ______________________________________________
A herd of bison roam within the safety of the InterTribal Bison Cooperative, Black Hills, South
Dakota, August 1, 1996. The cooperative was formed in 1990 in an effort to return the bison to
Indian lands for economic, cultural, and spiritual purposes. (Jean-Marc Giboux/Liaison/Getty
Images)
the magpie flew off and crossed the line wide range of conditions and spread
first. The four-leggeds were defeated and readily (qualities that today lead them to
agreed that they would be food for the be classified as weeds). They were proba-
two-leggeds. bly domesticated as volunteer plants in
Although corn is generally considered disturbed soil near Indian villages.
the staple of American Indian diets, it Corn, beans, and squash displaced
was a relatively late addition to the agri- these earlier crops, and corn became a
cultural complex for Indian farmers. The metaphor encompassing a range of
earliest domesticated plants in North meanings that bring an understanding of
America were seed-bearing plants in- the complex relationship between hu-
cluding sunflowers (Helianthus annus), mans and the environment. The Chero-
sumpweed (Iva annua var. macrocarpa), kee in the Southeast, who raised corn as a
goosefoot (Chenopodium bushianum staple, told the story of Selu and Kanati.
Aellen), maygrass (Phalaris caroliniana Kanati, the husband, hunted game for his
Walt.), and giant ragweed (Ambrosia tri- family, and Selu, the mother, fed them a
fida L.). These plants could withstand a delicious grain but would not divulge its
302
origin. Her two sons were very curious Corn, beans, and squash were the sta-
and followed her one day. They discov- ple foods of Indian agricultural societies.
ered that she stood over a basket rubbing An Iroquois story told of three beautiful
skin from her body to produce the grain. sisters who walked the fields at night,
They considered her act witchcraft, and their long hair and flowing garments
when she saw that they had discovered touching the earth. These were the spir-
her secret, she told them to kill her and its of the corn, the beans, and the
drag her body seven times around the squash. A Diné (Navajo) song sung while
ground surrounding their cabin. They planting celebrated the fact that the spir-
were lazy, however, so they stopped after its of the three plants enjoyed being to-
two times and did not cover the entire gether. This triad of plants is comple-
ground. The following spring they found mentary, not only on a spiritual level but
corn growing from the places where Selu’s also on nutritional and environmental
body had touched the earth. Because her levels. Beans set the nitrogen in the soil,
sons had dragged her body around the enriching it for the corn and squash. The
fields only two times, corn would ripen amino acids in beans complement those
only two times a year instead of seven. in corn to provide a more complete pro-
Those two times became the early and tein. And in the intensive planting sys-
late plantings that the Cherokees fol- tem characteristic of Iroquois agricul-
lowed. Selu’s death was necessary for re- ture, the beans and squash were planted
newal, in the same way that corn is born at the base of the hills where the corn
and is killed in the harvest. The ability of seeds were planted, so that the bean
the female to bear children is associated plants could climb the corn stalks while
with the fertility of the earth that brings the squash plants formed a ground cover
forth the corn. Corn thus becomes the that preserved soil moisture and kept the
great metaphor for the seasonal cycles soil at a moderate temperature.
and the human cycle of birth and death. Wild rice (mahnomin in the Chippewa
The Cherokee celebrated the spring language) is a staple for Indian commu-
harvest of the early milk corn at the nities in the area around the Great Lakes.
Green Corn Ceremony, during which Actually a form of grass (Zizania acquat-
Cherokee villagers cleaned out the de- ica), it grows in shallow lakes in Wiscon-
bris in their villages, settled disputes, for- sin and Minnesota, although its range
gave those who had transgressed social extends as far south as Florida.
norms, and put out old fires to renew Wenebojo, the great creative figure in
them from a central fire maintained in Chippewa oral traditions, and his
the village. Fire, the essential force that mother were in a canoe on a lake when a
made food edible for humans, not only duck landed on the gunwale. It dropped
cooked but also cleansed and renewed a few grains of rice from its feet before it
social relationships. flew off, and Wenebojo threw the grains
303
into the lake to sprout. The rice was gath- order. In San Juan Pueblo the summer
ered from a canoe poled through the and winter moieties are two divisions
shallow water of the lake. The grains based on kinship, whereby the mother’s
were knocked off the stalks into the family and kin are the primary source of
canoe with sticks, and some of the rice relationship. A child must be inducted
must be thrown back into the lake to en- into its moiety in a ceremony that in-
sure the next year’s harvest. Some volves food. Subsequent ceremonies that
Chippewa people in Minnesota and Wis- involve the exchange of food between
consin in the twenty-first century still members of the community serve to es-
gather rice in this traditional way and go tablish a person’s identity as a member of
through the laborious process of parch- the moiety with increasing responsibili-
ing, beating, and winnowing it to remove ties as he or she reaches maturity.
the outer husk. Mahnomin festivals are In the larger tribal sense, ceremonies
held in rural communities and urban In- such as First Salmon ceremonies on the
dian centers in Minnesota to celebrate Northwest coast of North America cele-
its importance in tribal life. brated the seasonal life cycle of salmon,
Food was central to ceremonies that anadromous fish that spawn in fresh
integrated individuals progressively into water in the upper reaches of coastal
their own communities throughout their river systems, live in the salt water of the
lives. In many societies, ceremonies cele- ocean, and return to their freshwater
brated a boy’s first kill in the hunt. The homes to spawn and die. The salmon
animal that he killed was cooked and were perceived as spirits who lived in
distributed to members of his tribal their houses in the oceans. In the spring
group. The Diné (Navajo) and Apache in they put on their salmon robes and
the Southwest, both matrilineal soci- swam up the rivers into the interior of
eties, celebrated the first menses of girls the land, where they could be speared or
with elaborate rituals. Girls ground corn netted by the Indians. Their life cycle
to make cakes to serve at the feasts. The mirrored the cyclic seasonality of death
length of her life as well as her health and and rebirth. As they swam upstream in
that of her children were determined by the prime of life, they were fat and sleek.
the amount of corn the girl could grind The carcasses of those that had spawned
and the size of the cake it produced. and then died floated back downstream,
In Pueblo societies, where a highly thin and battered by the rigors of their
structured kinship system prevails, ex- upstream journey and by the process of
change of food is an essential aspect of spawning. But they reemerged again
maintaining social order in Native soci- every spring, reborn for a new season.
eties and is a key component of reciproc- The cycle of death and rebirth that char-
ity, which in turn is an essential aspect of acterized the season in nature and the
ceremonies that maintain the social rhythms of human life was also explicit
304
energy in prayer and ritual activity

causes the change of seasons that in turn
is essential to the growth of plants. The
cycle of ceremonies of the Made People,
who comprise eight religious societies in
San Juan Pueblo in New Mexico, are des-
ignated by names that translate as Bring-
ing the Buds to Life and Bringing the
Leaves to Life. These ceremonies are
held about a month before the actual
budding and leafing of plants. The plant-
ing of beans in Hopi kivas during the
Powamu ceremony in early February
presages the actual planting of beans in
the fields. Ceremony actually produces
the foods that people eat as much as
their physical work in the fields.
The sacrifice of life is a characteristic
Patches of corn in a garden between canyon of religion, but it plays a limited role in
walls on a Navajo farm. (Edward Curtis/Library Native societies. One can sacrifice only
of Congress) what one owns or controls, and the dog
was the only domesticated animal in
North America prior to European con-
in the seasonal cycles of plant and ani- tact. The Seneca in the Northeast sacri-
mal life. Ceremonies celebrated their ficed white dogs during their midwinter
yearly return. The first fish that ap- ceremony. This offering of life amid the
peared had to be caught, cooked, and a many rituals of the ceremony helped to
piece given to every member of the com- sustain the cycle of the seasons.
munity except for menstruating, preg- The use of human flesh as food is one
nant, and nursing women, whose pow- of the most controversial aspects of Na-
ers might destroy the power of the fish to tive practice. The Iroquois nations prac-
return. ticed a ritual of torturing war captives
Indians who relied on animals for from other tribes. Depending on the
their food also utilized a wide variety of bravery with which they endured the or-
wild nuts, berries, seeds, and roots. The deal, they might be adopted into the na-
seasonality of these foods maintained tion, or, if they displayed unusual en-
the sense of a continuing relationship of durance, they would be killed and parts
human beings with the land. The essen- of their bodies eaten by their captors. Al-
tial idea of ceremonialism is that human though this practice was viewed with
305
horror by European observers, Iroquois to feed off leavings in kitchen middens

men saw it as a way of assimilating to near Indian villages. The turkey (Melea-
themselves the qualities of the victim— gris gallopavo) was first domesticated by
bravery and the ability to endure pain. the Maya, as was the muscovy duck (Cai-
Catholic missionaries preached the rina moschata). The Inca domesticated
power of the sacrament of communion, llamas and alpacas, which were used as
ingesting the body and blood of Christ, beasts of burden; in addition, their coats
to counteract the traditional practices of were shorn for wool, and their meat was
their converts. used for food. They were also sacrificed
Archaeological evidence suggests that in ceremonies. In a ceremony still prac-
food was essential to leadership in large- ticed in Peru, a llama is set adrift in a
scale communities in precontact North canoe in Lake Titicaca to starve to death
America. Skeletal remains from the as an offering to the deities.
Moundville site in southern Alabama Consuming food is the most basic
show better nutrition among those form of establishing relationships
buried with significant grave goods, a among humans, plants, animals, and the
sign of status. The highly centralized gov- forces in the environment that are the ul-
ernance evident at Moundville suggests timate sources of life. It is an integral ele-
chiefs whose duties may have included ment of both physical and spiritual
control of the timing of religious cere- being. Gifts of food solidify human rela-
monies. At Cahokia, a major mound site tionships; offerings of plant and animal
in Illinois just across from present-day life establish and maintain relationships
St. Louis, a circle of postholes shows the between humans and the spiritual
existence of a structure called a wood- world. The seasonal cycles of crops mir-
henge, an alignment of posts used to ror the cycles of human life and death.
mark the rising of the sun at the summer Eating together is the essence of reli-
and winter solstices and the equinoxes. It gious experience.
roughly defined the first and last frosts, Clara Sue Kidwell
establishing the planting season for peo-
See also Buffalo/Bison Restoration Project;
ples who farmed corn and varieties of Ceremony and Ritual, Diné; Ceremony and
beans and squash. Ritual, Northwest; Ceremony and Ritual,
The foods widely associated with Pueblo; Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast;
First Salmon Rites; Fishing Rights and the
American Indian cultures actually origi- First Salmon Ceremony; Kachina and
nated in the Southern Hemisphere of the Clown Societies; Sacred Sites and Sacred
Americas, home to Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Mountains
and Inca cultures. The dog was the only References and Further Reading
domesticated animal in North America, Coe, Sophie D. 1994. America’s First Cuisines.
Austin: University of Texas Press.
although wild turkeys became semido- Deloria, Ella Carter. 1994. Ella Deloria’s The
mesticated because of their propensity Buffalo People. Edited by Julian Rice.
306
_____________________________________________________________________________ First Menses Site
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico veyed by James Brooks, who worked for
Press. the Atomic Energy Commission during
Jolles, Carol Zane, with the assistance of
Elinor Mikaghaq Oozeva. 2002. Faith, Project Faultless, a nuclear test, in the
Food and Family in a Yup’iq Whaling 1960s (Johnson, Edwards, and King
Community. Seattle: University of 1996); however, it was not identified as a
Washington Press.
Powell, Mary Lucas. 1988. Status and Health women’s site until 2000 (Stoffle et al.
in Prehistory: A Case Study of the 2000). Native American representatives
Moundville Chiefdom. Washington, DC: visited and extensively surveyed the site
Powers, William K., and Marla M. Powers.
and vicinity as part of two projects, the
1984. “Metaphysical Aspects of an Oglala first involving an assessment of the ef-
Food System.” Pp. 40–96 in Food in the fects of environmental restoration on
Social Order: Studies of Food and
cultural resources, and the second con-
Festivities in Three American
Communities. New York: Russell Sage. cerning the NAGPRA consultation for the
Reichard, Gladys. 1990. Navajo Religion. Hot Creek Valley collections (Arnold et al.
Princeton: Princeton University Press.
1997; DuBarton, Beck, and Johnson
Ulrich, Roberta. 1999. Empty Nets: Indians,
Dams, and the Columbia River. Corvallis: 2000). Tribal representatives described
University of Oregon Press. the First Menses Site as a powerful ritual
Venum, Thomas, Jr. 1988. Wild Rice and the
setting where women would go to con-
Ojibway People. St. Paul: Minnesota
Historical Society Press. duct ceremonial activities. Tribal repre-
Wax, Murray. 1962. “The Notions of Nature, sentatives of both sexes and three ethnic
Man, and Time of a Hunting People.” groups identified this site as a “gen-
Southern Folklore Quarterly 26, no. 3
(September 1962): 175–186. dered” ritual setting on the basis of:
Wilkinson, Charles. 2000. Messages from
Frank’s Landing: A Story of Salmon, • its secluded but accessible
Treaties, and the Indian Way. Seattle:
University of Washington Press. location on the valley bottom,
Will, George F., and George E. Hyde. 2002. • its natural shape (a keyhole-type
Corn among the Indians of the Upper canyon),
Missouri. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press. • the position of the petroglyphs on
the canyon entrance,
• the imagery depicted by the
petroglyphs,
• the abundance of medicinal plants
First Menses Site
used by women, as well as other
The First Menses Site discussed below is useful plants,
located on the valley bottom, at the • the presence of artifacts used by
mouth of a small canyon that pierces the women, such as a beating stick
northwest flank of Petroglyph Butte, in used for felling pine nuts from
the northern portion of Hot Creek Valley piñon trees and grinding stones,
in central Nevada. The site was first sur- • access to a nearby stream,
307
First Menses Site ______________________________________________________________________________
• the availability of white sands with bol accompanied by a Spanish phrase

which to make hot beds, and that is probably contemporaneous with
• other natural resources that add to the Gold Rush. Other rock engravings
the site’s power, such as an eagle’s appear to be of much older origin. Not-
nest, a possible paint source, and ing the depth and height of some of the
a source of grinding stones. petroglyph markings, some tribal repre-
sentatives suggested that men engraved
The First Menses Site is situated on a these rocks. In addition, they suggested
small canyon that mirrors a woman’s re- that certain medicine men might have
productive anatomy. The red and white endeavored to harness some of the
canyon walls, which are separated by a women’s reproductive powers through
weaving pathway of white sand, symbol- these actions (see also Whitley 2000).
ize the opening of the woman’s womb to- That activity could be dangerous and
ward the east. Walking into the canyon, would therefore be practiced only by
one metaphorically enters into a men with a high degree of knowledge of
woman’s body as well as the womb of the such matters. Other elders reject this
earth. Many of the canyon walls theory and maintain that only women
throughout the canyon are marked by would have been allowed to visit this site.
petroglyphs. Numerous vulvaglyphs, or When young women were brought to
glyphs representing a woman’s repro- the First Menses Site they were taught
ductive organs, are dispersed along the about the physical, social, and religious
northern and western canyon walls and, dimensions of womanhood. According
to a lesser degree, along the southern to Kelly and Fowler (1986, 380), “[T]he
side. Glyphs of bird tracks, a circle with a girl’s puberty rite followed the patterns
dot in the center, and the symbol of a outlined by childbirth . . . seclusion, use
Bear, who may have been the guardian of of the hotbed at night, use of the
the site, are also in evidence. Callaway, scratching and tooth sticks and taboos
Janetski, and Stewart (1986, 352) noted on meat, salt, and drinking cold water.
relations between bears and women’s The conclusion was marked by parting,
puberty ceremonies among Numic- washing and trimming the hair and
speaking Utes. “During a girl’s puberty painting the face or body.” Paiute and
ceremony, menstrual huts were some- Shoshone women heated the white
times located near to Bear Dance sands from the floors of this canyon to
grounds during which newly pubescent relieve cramping and may have used the
females danced in public recognition of sands for birthing practices as well. In
their new status” (Arnold et al. 1997, 50). addition, the white sands were used in
Phallic symbols are carved upon the purification ceremonies. The traditional
rocks on the north side of the canyon. plants and a nearby stream also played
Upon one northern rock is a phallic sym- central roles in women’s ceremonies.
308
_____________________________________________________________________________ First Menses Site
The smoke of big sagebrush (Artemisis Three types of data suggest that the re-
tridentata) was used to signify the “pu- productive ceremonies of Paiute and
rification of the living” (ibid., 97) and Shoshone women in some areas may not
was prevalent in “girls’ puberty cere- have been as harmed by late-nine-
monies” (ibid.). Women at this site teenth-century Euro-American legisla-
bathed and ritually cleansed themselves tion banning aboriginal religious prac-
at a nearby stream, after which they tices as were many other indigenous
could have adorned themselves with ceremonies. First, there is a strong social
paint located at a source identified at memory of the historical use of this site.
this site. Our ongoing Kawich History Project,
Elements of women’s ceremonies funded by the U.S. Air Force, indicates
were often directed toward educational that Shoshone families, including Hot
and social purposes. According to Creek Annie, whose basketry is exhibited
D’Azevedo (1986, 477), “ethnographers in the Central Nevada Museum, lived in
have tended to overlook the religious the Hot Creek Valley during the late
and social aspects of women’s subsis- 1800s and early 1900s, and that at least
tence activities. Of particular signifi- one Indian camp across the valley from
cance was the consecration of the fe- the First Menses Site was being used as
male role in the girl’s puberty rites in late as 1940. Second, a historic photo-
which symbolic acts connected with graph of a seclusion hut belonging to the
gathering and domestic chores were women of a local Western Shoshone
given emphasis as well as taboos against family and dating to the 1920s to the
eating meat and fish.” Women who 1940s was taken in Kawich Ranch, just
came to the First Menses Site were edu- south of Hot Creek Valley. And third, the
cated about traditional plants and their presence of well-preserved perishable
future roles as providers. One aspect of artifacts associated with female activi-
this education entailed learning the ties, such as the beating stick, suggests
skills that they would be required to use relatively recent use. Other open-air per-
in their activities as adult members of ishable features used by women during
their societies. Piñon pines, whose pine seclusion, such as the sage piles found in
nuts formed a staple part of the diet of Airfield Canyon, Nellis Air Force Base
Paiutes and Shoshones, are abundant (NAFB), by archaeologists from Louis
within this region, which is consistent Berger and Associates, Inc., strengthen
with the presence of plant-collecting our observations of the resiliency of
and -processing tools at this site. Native Numic women’s ceremonies and their
Americans explained that the women recent practice. The continuous use of
who gathered at the site here would do this site is consistent with independent
so for physical, ceremonial, and socio- ethnohistoric documentation. As Steven
educational purposes. Crum notes:
309
First Menses Site ______________________________________________________________________________
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries See also Female Spirituality; Female
the Indian Bureau superintendents Spirituality, Apache; Female Spirituality,
were given the task of eliminating the Dakota; Menstruation and Menarche; Oral
culture of Shoshone [and] Paiute Traditions; Petrographs and Petroglyphs;
people. This effort was part of the Power Places, Great Basin; Sacred Sites and
Sacred Mountains; Scratching Sticks;
government policy of assimilating the
Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles, Great
tribal people across the country. . . .
Lakes; Women’s Cultural and Religious
[On] the surface this policy of cultural Roles, Northern Athabascan
ethnocide, eliminating the Indians’
culture, was largely successful. But
Arnold, Richard, et al. 1997. Tevitsi
deep-rooted native culture, the results
Yakakante (It is Crying Hard): American
of thousands of years of development, Indian Rapid Cultural Assessment of
could not be fully eliminated. One DOE Nevada Operations Office
practice that persisted into the 20th Environmental Restoration Activities at
century was the isolation of women Double Tracks, Clean Slate, and the
during menstruation. The Central Nevada Test Area. Report
superintendent could not forbid this prepared for Environmental Restoration
practice since it would cause him Division, U.S. Department of Energy,
embarrassment if he invaded female Nevada Operations Office. Tucson:
privacy. (Crum 1994, 51–52) Bureau of Applied Research in
Anthropology, University of Arizona.
Callaway, Donald, Joel Janetski, and Omer
Contemporary Paiutes and Shoshones Stewart. 1986. “Ute.” Pp. 336–367 in Great
Basin, vol. 11, Handbook of North
continue to regard the First Menses Site
American Indians. Edited by Warren L.
as an important and powerful place. Sev- D’Avezedo. Washington, DC:
eral geographical aspects of the site make Smithsonian Institution Press.
Crum, Steven J. 1994. The Road on Which
it a place of power. Most clearly, the entire
We Came: A History of the Western
canyon mirrors the reproductive organs Shoshone. Salt Lake City: University of
of a woman. In addition the site com- Utah Press.
D’Azevedo, Warren L. 1986. “Washoe.” Pp.
bines unique geographical features in-
466–489 in Great Basin, vol. 11,
cluding high cliffs, striking color con- Handbook of North American Indians.
trasts of white and red rocks, white sands, Edited by Warren L. D’Azevedo.
and an area of constriction at the east
Institution Press.
end of the canyon juxtaposed by steep Dubarton, Anne, Colleen Beck, and William
canyon walls. The presence of a paint Johnson. 2000. The Hot Creek Artifact
Collection Status Report. Prepared for the
source, a stream for ritual cleansing, pet-
U.S. Department of Energy Nevada
roglyphs, and traditional medicinal and Operations Office. Las Vegas: Desert
subsistence plants further establishes the Research Institute, University and
Community College System of Nevada.
value of this place as a site traditionally
Johnson, W. G., S. R. Edwards, and M. King.
used by Paiute and Shoshone women for 1996. A Class I Cultural Resources
physical, ceremonial, social, and educa- Overview of the Project Faultless Area,
Nye County, Nevada. BLM Cultural
tional purposes.
Resources Report 6–1600. Las Vegas:
Alex K. Carroll Desert Research Institute.
310
____________________________________________________________________________ First Salmon Rites
Kelly, Isabel T., and Catherine S. Fowler. particularly true at the end of winter,
1986. “Southern Paiute.” Pp. 368–397 in when the primary source of subsistence
Great Basin, vol. 11, Handbook of North
American Indians. Edited by Warren L. was dried roots and dried fish. On April
D’Azevedo. Washington, DC: 17, 1806, Lewis and Clark recorded the
Smithsonian Institution Press. situation at The Dalles along the Colum-
Stoffle, Richard W., et al. 2000. From Place to
Object: Native American Graves and bia River: “I have seen none except dryed
Repatriation Act Consultation for the Hot fish of the last season in the possession
Creek Valley Artifact Collection, Central of the people above [Five Mile rapids],
Nevada Test Area. Report prepared for
Environment, Safety, and Health
they subsist on roots principally with
Division, U.S. Department of some dryed and pounded fish. . . . The
Energy/Nevada Operations Office by inhabitants of the rapids at this time take
Bureau of Applied Research in
a few of the white salmon trout [steel-
Anthropology. Tucson: University of
Arizona. head] and considerable quantities of a
Whitley, David S. 2000. The Art of the small mullet on which they principally
Shaman: Rock Art of California. Salt Lake
subsist” (quoted in Boyd 1996, 58).
City: University of Utah Press.
It was therefore a huge event when the
first salmon arrived in the spring. Ac-
cording to Erna Gunther, an early-twen-
tieth-century anthropologist whose
First Salmon Rites
work is still very much respected, the
Salmon was arguably the most abundant first salmon to be caught in a given year
and important food to Native peoples was treated with special honor. It was, to
living along the Pacific Northwest coast use her word, “venerated.” The ideas un-
and the Columbia Plateau (Driver 1969, derpinning this attitude, she said, re-
99). Living as adults in ocean waters from volved around the belief that the spirit of
Alaska to California, large numbers of the salmon was “immortal” and that it
these fish migrated upstream in the consciously permitted itself to be caught
spring. Some traveled east all the way to (Gunther 1928, 166). In his book Nch’i-
the Rocky Mountains. Specific traditions Wana, Eugene Hunn describes such be-
celebrating the arrival of salmon migrat- liefs as being animistic. It is important to
ing upstream in the spring varied from point out here that “animism” is a term
one indigenous community to another. that evolved within the Darwinistic con-
Yet the conceptual framework of first text popular in anthropological circles
salmon rites, ceremonies honoring the during the nineteenth century. The con-
salmon’s arrival, was broadly shared cept of “animism” was founded within
(Gunther 1926, 605; Gunther 1928, the evolutionary idea that religion devel-
135–136; Boyd 1996, 6). oped over the ages from “primitive” be-
Seasonal hunger was common for ginnings to the monotheistic heights
people throughout the region. This was represented by Christianity. The term is
311
First Salmon Rites _____________________________________________________________________________
problematic because it never actually importance of proper ritual in main-

described a religion. Rather, it merely de- taining healthy human/nature relation-
scribed a theory concerning the origins ships are visible in salmon ceremonies
of religion (Eliade 1987, 296–299). on the Northwest coast and the Colum-
According to E. B. Tylor, a famous an- bia Plateau. This is shown through two
thropologist of the period, animism en- examples.
tails a belief in autonomous spiritual
entities. The world is vitalized by spirit. Kwakwak’wakw
Spirits possess “will and judgement” In the nineteenth century, ethnogra-
(Tylor 1889, 1:424, 469; ibid., 2:108). An- phers recorded the veneration of the first
imism also entails the belief that spirits salmon that arrived in the Kwak-
persist following the death of their wak’wakw (Kwakiutl) villages on Vancou-
dwelling. Animals may die only to live in ver Island, British Columbia. Many of
the spirit-world, or they may die only to these ceremonies are still observed
live again within another look-alike ani- among contemporary communities
mal body (ibid., 1:470). Because of spir- today. Kwakwak’wakw First Salmon Rites
its’ existence in the tangible and the in- occur in the spring, with the arrival of the
tangible world, and because of the season’s first salmon making their trek
spirits’ influence in the lives of people, from the ocean to the headwaters of in-
they are the focus of awe, prayer, and land rivers. The first catch of each season
propitiation. Various legends express is surrounded by a complex system of rit-
the conviction that, if given respect and ual prayers, food preparation, commu-
accorded the ceremonies they are due, nal feasting, and ceremonial deposition
spirits can help people survive and of the remains. Kwakwak’wakw tradition
prosper. If angered, however, they may tells that the Salmon People dwell in a
decide not to return, thus depriving village, similar to that of Native people,
people of food and causing tremendous under the sea. In their home during the
hardship. In contrast to Tylor, Hunn winter months, the Salmon People dwell
(1990) claims that at its foundation ani- in human form. When the spring spawn-
mism is much more a moral principle ing season arrives, they put on a salmon
than an ontological idea describing the mask, and a cloak of scales, and become
nature of reality. “People, animals, the staple food of the Kwakwak’wakw.
plants, and other forces of nature—sun, The run is considered a voluntary sacri-
earth, wind, and rock—are animated by fice for the benefit of the Kwakwak’wakw
spirit. As such they share with hu- people, and it is believed that when the
mankind intelligence and will, and thus bones of the fish are returned to the
have moral rights and obligations as water, they wash down to the sea where
PERSONS” (230). These themes of animal each fish is reassembled and resurrected
personhood, spiritual efficacy, and the (Drucker 1965, 85). Upon catching or
312
spearing the salmon, holding it in both upon which it had been served and cere-
hands, fishermen speak to it affection- monially returned to the river, thus al-
ately. These words are a prayer, but spo- lowing them to flow back to the ocean. It
ken in a familiar tone, as to a friend or is strongly believed that if any bones are
relative: missing, or the carcass is not properly
disposed of, the next year’s salmon will
We have come to meet alive, Swimmer. be deformed, or unable or unwilling to
Do not feel wrong about what I have
return (Kirk 1986, 83). The dependency
done to you, friend Swimmer, for that
is the reason why you come, that I may of the Kwakwak’wakw upon the salmon
spear you, that I may eat you, as their primary staple is a strong incen-
Supernatural One, you, Long-Life- tive to respect the sacred, temperamen-
Giver, you, Swimmer. Now protect us, tal nature of the fish. Other ritual restric-
me and my wife, that we may keep
well, that nothing may be difficult for
tions exist as well: in order to avoid
us that we wish to get from you, Rich- giving offense to the salmon, parents of
Maker-Woman. Now call after you newborn infants, pubescent girls, men-
your father and your mother and struating women, and those in mourn-
uncles and aunts and elder brothers
ing are restricted from coming too close
and sisters to come to me also, you,
Swimmer, you Satiater. (Boas 1930, to the runs (Drucker 1965, 157).
207) The Spring Salmon Rite can be best
understood when examined within the
Such prayers precede a careful wider context of the Kwakwak’wakw
process of stringing the fish on a hoop of worldview. Within their cosmology, the
intertwined cedar branches, and careful animal and human worlds are under-
preparation by the fisherman’s wife. She stood to have originated from one
will recite a prayer greeting to the salmon source. In the mythic past, all creatures
as well, and will proceed to clean the fish, were persons; at creation, some put on
setting aside the entrails and all the the masks of various animals, while oth-
bones, and leaving the head, spine, and ers took on human form. Emerging from
tail intact. The meat is then shared the same source, all creatures have the
within a ritual feast. Such meals differ ability to acquire and conduct nawalak,
from village to village and may include or supernatural power. Within Kwak-
the family, neighbors, or male elites of wak’wakw society, animals and human-
the village (ibid., 205–207; Kirk 1986, 83). ity take part in an intricate reciprocal re-
Despite the diversity of traditions, it relationship that infuses all areas of life
mains true from one group to another and social interaction. Salmon are often
that the first salmon caught is shared associated with guests in Kwakwak’wakw
communally. society, and as such participate in an ex-
Following the meal, the bones and re- change of supernatural power with their
fuse are rolled up in the cedar bark mat host. “Salmon, drawn inexorably by the
313
power of the host to his house, enter into The use of masks thus re-creates a myth-
a relationship with him within which ical reality, in which humans and ani-
their animal characteristics set some of mals interact as the same beings. The
the patterns of social intercourse. As use of the mask and the winter ceremo-
salmon they are the wealth of the host. nial dances reflect the salmon myth: a
They are supernatural representatives passing through death, in order to re-
bringing the wealth of the sea . . . [bring- create life. In wearing the mask and en-
ing] the nawalak of the salmon into the tering the spirit world, the dancer leaves
house” (Goldman 1975, 185). behind his own identity, dying to his
Animals are considered to be humans human self to become his animal self.
in disguise, and they are to be treated as That is clearly much like the salmon,
such. When the salmon arrive they are which leaves behind its human life, at
considered the Kwakwak’wakw guests, the bottom of the sea, donning its
bringing with them the gift of life, salmon mask and cloak, to swim to the
nawalak. They in turn, by means of cere- Kwakwak’wakw world. The salmon
monial ritual and respect, are imparted passes through death, its bones are cere-
with Kwakwak’wakw nawalak. The ani- monially released, and the salmon re-
mal-human relationship is thus seen turns to its home reborn (Walens 1981,
within this cyclical acquiring and ex- 59). The winter Salmon Dance of the
changing of supernatural power and life. Kwakwak’wakw, in which a dancer wears
The salmon provide health, wealth, and the guise of the spawning salmon and
a staple food supply to the Kwak- reenacts the leaping dance of the sea-
wak’wakw, while they in turn receive re- sonal migration, is an essential part of
birth and resurrection (ibid., 198). the cyclical nawalak exchange. “Just as
In that light, the ceremonial masked the human dancer dances to reaffirm his
dancing of the Kwakwak’wakw during pledge to the salmon that they will be re-
the long winter months becomes born, so the salmon ‘dance’ their way
clearer. The use of masks goes beyond from their own country to man’s, reaf-
merely “playacting.” For the Kwak- firming their pledge” (ibid., 141). Travel-
wak’wakw, they are essentially becoming to the spirit world, the dancer ex-
ing the animals they portray, traveling changes supernatural power with the
into the spirit world, joining with the Salmon People, and makes possible
totemic animals, and proffering a their return in the fall.
nawalak exchange. “They were said to A Kwakwak’wakw story (one among
have been kidnapped by the spirits many possibilities) reflects this salmon
which were said to inspire them. When tradition, demonstrating how it has be-
they reappeared, they were possessed by come infused into the oral tradition of
their particular spirits, bereft of all the people. The ritual symbolism of res-
human qualities” (Drucker 1965, 162). urrection and the salmon is evident in
314
the Raven myths. When Raven goes coming salmon, to descend to the
searching for a wife among the dead, he Salmon People in the winter, the Salmon
restores her to life after sprinkling water People don masks to ascend to the Kwak-
on her bones. When the woman wades wak’wakw, becoming salmon, in the
to the middle of the river, the first summer. But the First Salmon Rites are
salmon spring from her body, filling the also the cyclical, ritual exchange of
men’s nets. She instructs the men to nawalak, by means of consumption and
carefully preserve all the bones and re- passing through death, to make possible
turn them to the river, that the salmon rebirth. The summer months, no less
will return again every year. When than the winter months, are a period of
Raven arrives home in the evening, masking and supernatural exchange.
however, several low-hanging, drying When women and men take up the
salmon catch in his hair. Raven forgets masks of animals, initiating a role rever-
to extend the proper ceremonial greet- sal that is once again reversed in the
ing, failing to treat the salmon as living summer months, they are enabling and
guests in his home. affirming their place in the cosmological
“‘Oh, why do you catch in my hair, you drama. The woman’s prayer to the
that are from the dead?’ The woman an- salmon as she prepares it for cooking be-
swered quickly, ‘What did you say?’ I comes a clear representation of this bal-
said, ‘Why do you catch in my hair, you anced relationship, hinging upon mu-
that are drying?’ ‘No, you said, “You that tual cooperation and respect, which
are from the dead.’” She looked up at the assures the well-being of the community
fish, clapped her hands, and cried ‘Wee!’ and the ordering of the universe.
And all the salmon fell down and rolled “‘Welcome, Supernatural One, you,
into the water where they at once be- Swimmer, you have come trying to come
came alive and began to jump and swim. to me, you, who always come every year
The woman disappeared at the same of our world, that you come to set us
time” (Hays 1975, 146–147). The Raven right that we may be well. Thank you,
story illustrates the importance of cere- thank you, thank you sincerely, you,
monial respect within the nawalak ex- Swimmer. I mean this, that you, please,
change. The salmon are part of a recipro- will come next year that we may meet
cal relationship, one that they are not again alive, that you please, protect me
required to maintain. that nothing evil may befall me, Super-
As the main staple of the Kwak- natural One, you, Swimmer. Now I will
wak’wakw diet, salmon is vital to the do what you came here for that I should
community’s survival. And yet it is clear do to you,’ says she and she cuts it. ‘Here
that the tribe considers the salmon to be is where I shall stop my words, for you
essentially human, like themselves. Just know all the ways of what is done with
as the Kwakwak’wakw don masks, be- the salmon’” (Boas 1930, 207).
315
The Yakama under the water and present themselves

As on Vancouver Island, nineteenth-cen- as food to people, serving as intentional
tury ethnographers and ethnographic- sacrifices as long as proper ritual is ob-
minded missionaries working along the served and respect is given (Chadwick
mid-Columbia River and its major tribu- 1999, 9). The importance of respect is
taries observed and wrote about the made clear in “The Legend of the Lost
honor paid to the first salmon caught in Salmon”:
the spring by Native peoples. First Long ago, in the time that existed be-
salmon rites are still very much practiced fore the coming of humans, animals
there today. For inhabitants of the area, were all the people that there were.
salmon were not just fish. They were a Salmon was available for the people to
people. Relationships with them were fa- use. However, there were rules to abide
milial in nature. If treated with respect, it by. “Do not take more than you need.
was believed, the fish would offer them- Never lay a salmon down on the ground
selves as willing sacrifices so that the with his head towards the river. Always
people might live. First food ceremonies place the salmon with his head away
help maintain this relationship. While from the body of water.” The people were
certainly modified over time, such be- told all this by the Creator. He guaran-
liefs remain foundational in the lives of teed that if these simple rules were fol-
many. Through such rituals, it is held lowed there would always be plenty of
that the tangible and intangible bonds salmon to eat.
between people, salmon, and the cre- All went well while the people did as
ative forces of the universe are renewed. they were asked. Each village along the
Celilo Falls is a very important tradi- river stayed busy fishing, cleaning,
tional fishing spot on the Columbia preparing, and eating salmon. Everyone
Plateau. It was both a premier place to was healthy and happy. Then one day
catch salmon and a center of trade and the people became negligent. They
socializing whose influence reached stopped following the rules. They be-
hundreds of miles in all directions. Al- came greedy and disrespectful of the
though it was flooded in 1956 by the U.S. salmon. Not only did they catch more
Army Corps of Engineers as part of a re- than they needed but they let the excess
gional hydroelectrification project, it re- rot in the sun. Further, those who
mains significant to Natives in memory wished to obey the Creator’s rules were
and practice. A 1999 interview with a ridiculed. Then, all of a sudden, the
Yakama woman living near Celilo Falls salmon vanished! Not a single one was
revealed that, like the Kwakwak’wakw of to be seen anywhere. The people be-
the nineteenth century, Yakama people came hungry. Starvation set in. The old
also traditionally understand salmon to ones begged for food, and the children
be people. Salmon people live in homes cried out for something to eat.
316
One day, as people were seeking along crawled on top of the salmon four times.
the river’s edge for a bit of something to The fifth time he crawled right into the
eat, someone discovered a dead salmon. salmon’s spine and it was revived!
They looked at it and realized what they (Beavert 1974, 38–41)
had done. Feeling deep shame for their Resurrection was an important con-
actions, they said to one another, “If we cept in Plateau first salmon rituals, just
are given one more chance, we will do as it was on the Northwest coast. In 1843
better. If only we could awaken this this ceremony was observed firsthand
salmon, the other salmon might come and recorded by the Reverend Henry
up the stream.” Immediately a council Perkins, a Methodist missionary living at
was called to order. The people discussed the Wascopam Mission, located at The
how they might use their spiritual pow- Dalles (near Celilo Falls). Because of
ers to bring the dead salmon back to life. their clarity, his comments are included
In those days, individuals with special here in detail. Perkins observed:
powers could revive the dead by step-
ping over them five times. They all tried, The natives have but one word for
but none were successful. In desperation “hallowed” or sacred, & this is applied
in such a manner, that I have had
they asked Old Man Rattlesnake for help. doubts about using it in conjunction
Though quite old and slow, he was with the name of our Heavenly Father.
known to be very powerful. For instance, the “tu-a-ti-ma”—or
Old Man Rattlesnake resisted their medicine men—as they are sometimes
called by the whites—practice a sort of
pleas. It hurt his ancient body to move,
invocatory ceremony on the first
and he was tired. But they persisted. Fi- arrival of the salmon in the spring.
nally he relented. As he slowly made his Before any of the common people are
way across to where the salmon lay, the permitted to boil, or even to cut the
trickster Coyote was already busy trying flesh of the salmon transversely for
any purpose, the “tu-a-ti”—medicine
to revive the dead salmon. He had always
man of the village, assembles the
wanted to convince people that he had people, & after invoking the “Tah” or
special powers. Coyote knew that he the particular spirit which presides
would be famous if he could bring the over the salmon, & who they suppose
salmon back to life. So he stepped over can make it a prosperous year, or
otherwise, takes a fish just caught, &
the salmon four times and, as he stepped
wrings off its head. The blood, which
over it for the fifth, he bumped it with his flows from the fish, he catches in a
toe to make it appear as if it had moved basin, or small dish, & sets aside. He
and loudly said, “O look, my people, I then cuts the salmon transversely into
made the salmon come to life. Did you small pieces, & boils. The way is thus
opened for any one else to do the
see it move?” But people were not fooled.
same. Joy & rejoicing circulate through
Old Man Rattlesnake at last reached the the village, & the people now boil & eat
salmon. Using all of his strength, he to their hearts content. . . . But I wish
317
to call your attention to the blood. This tion. The ritual he saw was Washat, just as
is considered to be “aut-ni”—or as we it usually is today. Upon entering the
should say sacred, or hallowed, or
longhouse, the men and women arranged
sanctified—i.e., it is sacredly set apart,
& carefully guarded for five days, when themselves on opposite sides, all facing
it is carried out, waved in the direction the center. Everyone was well dressed in
in which they wish the fish to run, & buckskin regalia. Plates of freshly cooked
then carefully poured into the water. salmon, along with an abundance of
(quoted in Boyd 1996, 274)
other foods, were set out for a communal
meal. Following an initial service during
Such use of salmon blood is unique in which the longhouse leader asks ques-
the ethnographic literature. Despite the tions, each of which is answered in turn
fact that first salmon ceremonies were by the congregation, the assembled are
widespread across the Pacific Northwest instructed to “take water.” All raise a cup
region, other communities returned to their mouths. “Now drink.” They take a
bones, not blood, to the rivers. Yet there is sip. “Now the salmon.” All put a piece of
no need to question Perkins’s credibility, fish in their mouths. “Now eat.” Finally
says Boyd. Basins of this or a similar type they are permitted to eat freely.
were used by shamans on the Lower Once the meal is finished, plates are
Fraser River (part of the Columbia taken away and the “dance” starts. At the
Plateau, located in British Columbia) to sound of a bell held by the longhouse
wash or perhaps even to purify their leader, people line up as before. Another
hands. He points out that the first salmon ringing of the bell signals that they are to
ceremony recorded by Sapir and Spier put their right hands over their hearts.
(1930) near The Dalles was led “by a Soon all are rhythmically swinging their
shaman.” However, there is no discussion hands “like fans” in front of them, danc-
of special treatment of blood or of the ing in place. Ceremonial songs are sung
five-day period so frequently mentioned throughout the rest of the service to the
in Yakama legends (see Beavert 1974 and sound of drums and occasional ringing
Ramsey 1977). By the time Spier and of the bell. James Mooney interprets the
Sapir arrived on the scene, older styles of first song as saying
observance had been either replaced or
modified through acceptance of Washat Verily, verily, Our Brother made the body.
traditions (Boyd 1996, 128–129). These He gave it a spirit and the body moved.
Then he counted out the words for us to
were initially developed by the Dance
speak.
Prophets Smohalla (Wanapum) and Sko-
laskin (Sanpoil) during the second half of
A subsequent song proclaims:
the nineteenth century.
In 1896, James Mooney observed a first Verily, Our Brother put salmon in the
salmon ceremony on the Yakama reserva- water
318
to be our food. (quoted in Hunn 1990, The Consortium of Johnson O’Malley

257–260) Committees of Region IV. n.p.: State of
Washington. Yakima, WA: Franklin Press.
Boas, Franz. 1910. Kwakiutl Tales. New York:
Clearly, Washat/Waashat has Chris-
Columbia University Press.
tian elements. This is not a surprising de- ———. 1930. The Religion of the Kwakiutl.
velopment during a time when mission- New York: Columbia University Press.
Boyd, Robert. 1996. People of the Dalles: The
aries and government agents were
Indians of the Wascopam Mission.
actively working to “civilize” Native peo- Studies in the Anthropology of North
ples. Yet the first salmon ceremony of the American Indians. Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press.
latter nineteenth century shares com-
Chadwick, Douglas H. 1999. “Can the
monalities with the ritual recorded by Salmon Culture Be Saved?” Defenders
Henry Perkins fifty years earlier. In both (spring): 6–15.
cases the salmon, an extremely impor- Driver, Harold E. 1961/1969. Indians of
North America, 2d ed. Chicago:
tant food and spiritual figure, is treated University of Chicago Press.
as a person of honor. On the Northwest Drucker, Philip. 1965. Cultures of the North
coast, as exemplified here by the Kwak- Pacific Coast. San Francisco: Chandler.
Eliade, Mircea, ed. 1987. “Animism and
wak’wakw, similar ceremonial themes Animatism.” Pp. 296–302 in The
existed. Salmon are people who give Encyclopedia of Religion, 16 vols. New
their lives willingly that others might live. York: Macmillan.
Goldman, Irving. 1975. The Mouth of
Myth cycles are integrally related to rit- Heaven: An Introduction to Kwakiutl
ual performances. And across the Religious Thought. New York: John Wiley
Plateau and Northwest coast, although and Sons.
Gunther, Erna. 1926. “Analysis of the First
specific ceremonial traits differed from Salmon Ceremony.” American
place to place, there is an overarching Anthropologist 28: 605–617.
framework of paying deep respect to and ———. 1928. “A Further Analysis of the First
Salmon Ceremony.” University of
offering thanks for the return of food.
Washington Publications in
That was certainly the case during the Anthropology 2, no. 5: 129–173.
nineteenth century and before. Cultures ———. 1966. Art in the Life of the Northwest
Coast Indians. Portland, OR: Portland Art
change, yet for many, many Native com-
Museum.
munities it still remains true today. Hays, H. R. 1975. Children of the Raven: The
Joel Geffen and Suzanne J. Crawford Seven Indian Nations of the Northwest
Coast. New York: McGraw-Hill.
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Coeur Hunn, Eugene S. 1990. Nch’i-Wana: Mid-
d’Alene; Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest; Columbia Indians and Their Land.
Ecology and Environmentalism; Fishing Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Rights and the First Salmon Ceremony; Kirk, Ruth. 1986. Tradition and Change on
Masks and Masking; Oral Traditions, the Northwest Coast. Seattle: University
Northwest Coast; Retraditionalism and of Washington Press.
Revitalization Movements, Columbia Plateau Ramsey, Jarold. 1977. Coyote Was Going
References and Further Reading There: Indian Literature of the Oregon
Beavert, Virginia. 1974. The Way It Was Country. Seattle: University of
(Anaku Iwacha): Yakima Indian Legends. Washington Press.
319
Fishing Rights and the First Salmon Ceremony ___________________________________________
Sapir, Edward, and L. Spier. 1930. tant role in natural resource manage-
“Wishram Ethnography.” University of ment in the Pacific Northwest in order to
Washington Publications in
Anthropology 3: 151–300. ensure the survival of salmon.
Tylor, Edward B. 1889. Primitive Culture, 2 Salmon have been at the center of
vols. New York: Henry Holt. American Indian culture in the Pacific
Walens, Stanley. 1981. Feasting with
Cannibals: An Essay on Kwakiutl Northwest for thousands of years. Fish-
Cosmology. Princeton: Princeton ing has always been important to the
University Press. tribes. Salmon have historically been a
vital part of the diet of the Natives of the
area and a symbol of their way of life.
Fishing Rights and the Salmon are anadromous fish, beginning
their lives in freshwater streams, some-
First Salmon Ceremony
times far from the ocean. They migrate
The fishing rights of the Indian tribes of down the streams as juvenile fish, spend-
the Pacific Northwest and the reintro- ing most of their lives in the ocean, and
duction of the first salmon ceremony are then return as adults to the stream they
both important issues in contemporary were born in to reproduce. After the
Northwest Indian life. When the Indian salmon have laid their eggs (spawned),
tribes of the Pacific Northwest signed they die. Salmon need clear, cool run-
treaties with the federal government, ning water, streams shaded by trees, and
they reserved the right to fish off-reser- undisturbed areas in which to spawn. In
vation in their historical fishing sites. The addition, for the salmon to survive, the
tenacity of the tribal fishers to continue juveniles must swim unimpeded down-
their fishing and their determination to stream to the ocean. Many things harm
have their treaty rights upheld led to im- their habitat, such as development of the
portant federal court cases, such as U.S. mouths of rivers (cities and ports), log-
v. Washington, 1974 (Boldt decision). ging, dams, water withdrawn from
That decision reaffirmed the Indian streams for irrigation of agricultural
tribes’ right to fish off-reservation. Fur- crops, and water pollution.
thermore, the decision stated that they American Indian tribes such as the
were entitled to 50 percent of the salmon Suquamish, Tulalip, Skokomish, and
harvest. As fishing again became an im- Nisqually in the Puget Sound of what is
portant economic and cultural activity now Washington State traditionally lived
for the tribes in the area, the first salmon near or at the mouth of rivers. Other
ceremony was reintroduced. This cere- tribes, such as the Nez Perce and
mony honors the first salmon of the sea- Yakama, lived near smaller rivers that
son in the spring and ensures a bountiful ran into the mighty Columbia River. All
harvest for the remainder of the fishing of these tribes would catch salmon as the
season. The tribes now take an impor- fish returned up the rivers to their natal
320
__________________________________________ Fishing Rights and the First Salmon Ceremony
Members of the Tulalip tribe carry a chinook salmon during a ceremony celebrating the first salmon
catch, Tulalip, Washington, 1992. (Natalie Fobes / Corbis)
streams. The Indians would harvest only that is now Washington, Oregon, Mon-
what they needed, ensuring that most of tana, and Idaho), the federal govern-
the fish remained in the streams to swim ment decided that it was time to make
farther upstream to spawn. This natural treaties with the Indians of the area. The
method of conservation meant that the policy of the federal government was to
fish would return every year. To further remove the Indians to reservations in
guarantee this, the tribes would conduct order to open the land for white settle-
a first salmon ceremony in the spring. ment. Isaac Stevens was sent to the
This ceremony embodied the concept of Washington territory in the early 1850s
respect for and connection with the to carry out that policy. During the
salmon. treaty councils that he called with the
As American settlers moved west- Indian groups and tribes in the area, he
ward into the Pacific Northwest (land heard, through his translators, many of
321
the Indians speak about the importance natal streams. By the 1870s factories to
of fishing to their way of life. Although can fish had been established near the
Stevens knew very little about Indians, mouth of the Columbia River, and giant
he did know that white settlers and fish wheels were put in the river that
members of his party depended on buy- scooped up large numbers of returning
ing salmon from the Indians for their salmon for the canneries. Thus there
own food supply. It was clear that the were fewer fish available to the Indians,
Indians would not sign the treaties who historically had fished farther up
without there being provisions in them the Columbia and on its tributaries, such
to reserve the right to fish, hunt, and as the Yakima River. In the 1930s the
gather. Thus the treaties contained a dam-building era began on the Colum-
clause that said: “The right of taking fish bia River and other rivers in the Pacific
at usual and accustomed grounds and Northwest, blocking the salmon’s migra-
stations is further secured to said Indi- tion. If the salmon could not return to
ans in common with all citizens of the their natal streams to spawn, there were
territory.” The important thing about no juvenile fish to begin the cycle again.
this clause is that the tribes’ “usual and The state governments of the Pacific
accustomed” fishing grounds were not Northwest, particularly Washington
on the newly established reservations; State, began to be concerned about con-
they were the locations where the Indi- serving salmon and passed laws to regu-
ans had fished historically. Thus the late fishing gear and seasons. They inter-
tribes reserved in the treaties they preted the words “in common” in the
signed the important right to fish off- treaties signed by the Indians to mean
reservation in their historical fishing that Indian fishers could be regulated as
sites. were non-Indian fishers. Since the Indi-
The Indians continued to fish in those ans were by then catching only about 2
locations. In the 1860s and 1870s, white percent of the salmon returning to their
settlers still purchased fish from Indian fishing grounds, this imposed an addi-
fishers. As more Euro-Americans moved tional hardship on them. During the
into the area, however, whites also began 1960s the Indians in the Pacific North-
to fish. By the early part of the twentieth west staged a number of “fish-ins” to
century, the whites were able to catch bring attention to the fact that their
many more fish with their mechanized treaty rights to fish were not being recog-
boats. Although the Indians continued to nized by state government.
fish, and remembered their right to do In the early 1970s, at the request of
so, they began to be squeezed out of the tribes in the area, the federal govern-
fishery by the increasing numbers of ment went to federal district court to
white fishers and their ability to harvest force the state to recognize treaty fishing
the salmon before they reached their rights. After three years of careful consid-
322
__________________________________________ Fishing Rights and the First Salmon Ceremony
eration of the testimony and evidence, waters and set adrift. The spirit of the fish
Judge George Boldt issued his decision in returns to the Salmon People and tells
U.S. v. Washington, 1974. He stated that them that he has been honored. This
the words “in common” in the treaties means that the Salmon People will re-
meant that the tribes were entitled to turn to the tribe to ensure them a good
catch 50 percent of the salmon returning fishing season. The ceremony is a tribute
to the tribes’ historical fishing grounds. to the Creator, and to the blessings of
U.S. v. Oregon, 1969, was a similar case Creation. It is also a way to educate
that recognized Indian treaty fishing youth about the importance of being re-
rights on the Columbia River. A subse- spectful to, and connected with, nature.
quent decision, called Boldt Phase II, The general public is often invited to
though never fully litigated, established these ceremonies, at which salmon is
that an “environmental right” accompa- cooked on standing spits around an
nies the treaty right to take fish. This open fire and provided to all.
means that the tribes have a legal inter- The tribes look to the future to ensure
est in having fish habitat maintained that salmon will return for this cere-
throughout the migratory range of the mony, and for the important role that
salmon. Indian tribes in Washington salmon play in their economic and cul-
State have thus become involved in help- tural lives. To do this, the tribes are active
ing to formulate forest practices regula- in salmon habitat protection and con-
tions for state and commercial timber- servation. Many of the tribes have hatch-
lands, watershed planning for water eries that supplement the wild salmon
quantity and quality, and related envi- stocks and provide fish for Indian and
ronmental issues. Indian tribes on the non-Indian fishers alike. Because of their
Columbia River have become active par- treaty rights to salmon, the tribes play an
ticipants in river management in order important role in natural resource man-
to restore salmon and salmon habitat. agement in the Pacific Northwest. The
As the tribes began actively fishing first salmon ceremony can thus be seen
again in the 1970s, they reintroduced the as both a symbol of the importance of
first salmon ceremony to celebrate the the salmon to the Indian tribes and an
return of the salmon in the spring, to indication of the active role the tribes
honor the first salmon caught and en- take in preserving the salmon for the en-
sure that the salmon will return again. At tire Northwest.
the Tulalip tribes, for example, tribal Jovana J. Brown
members begin the ceremony by arriv- See also Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest;
ing in a cedar canoe and presenting the Ecology and Environmentalism; First Foods
tribal members with the first salmon. Ceremonies and Food Symbolism; First
Salmon Rites; Law, Legislation, and Native
After the ceremony honoring that Religion; Whaling, Religious and Cultural
salmon, its remains are returned to the Implications
323
References and Further Reading Singleton, Sara. 1998. Constructing

Amoss, Pamela T. 1987. “The Fish God Gave Cooperation: The Evolution of
Us: The First Salmon Ceremony Revived.” Institutions of Comanagement. Ann
Arctic Anthropology 24, no. 1: 56–66. Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Cohen, Fay. 1986. Treaties on Trial: The Ulrich, Roberta. 1999. Empty Nets: Indians,
Continuing Controversy over Northwest Dams and the Columbia River. Corvallis:
Indian Fishing Rights. Seattle: University Oregon State University Press.
of Washington Press. Wilkinson, Charles. 2000. Messages from
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Frank’s Landing: A Story of Salmon,
Commission. “Serving the Four Treaty Treaties, and the Indian Way. Seattle:
Tribes of the Columbia River.” University of Washington Press.
www.critfc.org. Wray, Jacilee, ed. 2002. Native Peoples of
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. the Olympic Peninsula: Who We Are.
“Serving the treaty tribes of Western Norman: University of Oklahoma
Washington.” www.nwifc.wa.gov. Press.
324
G
Gender and Sexuality, perception of gender membership on
the part of the individual; gender role as
Two Spirits
the outward expression of this percep-
In many precontact American Indian nation; and gender status as the social posi-
tions, including the Klamath, Chumash, tion assigned to the individual by that
Hopi, Ojibwa, Winnebago, Crow, person’s culture” (ibid., 50). In addition,
Cheyenne, Diné (Navajo), Ute, Papago, gender role change refers to giving up
Teton Lakota, Oglala Lakota, and Santee the responsibilities and privileges of the
Dakota, certain individuals were be- gender role associated with one’s biolog-
lieved to have both masculine and femi- ical sex for the responsibilities and privi-
nine spirits that accorded them special leges of the gender role associated with
status in their communities (Lang 1998). the so-called opposite sex. Gender role
What made these individuals unique was crossing is the performance of some re-
their gender expression. Although some sponsibilities and privileges with the
two-spirit people did engage in sexual “opposite” sex without a complete role
activity that would today be considered and status change.
homosexual, their positions within their The term “two-spirit” is a recent label
communities focused on the responsi- given to so-called nontraditional gender
bilities and privileges given to them be- statuses that were present in many pre-
cause of their gender. contact nations and that continue to
exist in both traditional and innovative
Terminology forms. Intersexed people—or people
Three useful terms for understanding who have a combination of male and fe-
how gender functions in a society are male internal and external genitalia—are
“gender identity,” “gender role,” and considered to be two-spirit by many cul-
“gender status.” Sabine Lang defines tures, as are biological males choosing to
“gender identity as the subjective, felt express feminine gender characteristics
325
Gender and Sexuality, Two Spirits __________________________________________________________
and biological females choosing to ex- unavailable or general discussion is

press masculine gender characteristics. needed, the terms “women-men,” “men-
Until the 1990s anthropologists referred women,” and “two-spirit” will be used.
to two-spirit people born with male
anatomy as “berdaches,” while those Two-Spirit People: A Question of
born with female anatomy were some- Gender Rather than Sexuality
times called female “berdaches.” The Gender roles complement each other in
term “berdache” has roots in a Persian traditional Native communities. All nec-
word meaning “young captive” or essary tasks are valued. Care of children,
“slave.” By the time European colonists food preparation, and manufacture of
encountered Native American peoples, household items (which do not compose
“berdache” was used in England and all facets of women’s work in Native
France to refer to a younger, passive North America) are treated as inferior
partner in a male homosexual relation- tasks by a Euro-dominated worldview,
ship (ibid., 6–7; Roscoe 1998, 7–8). This while tasks associated with male gender
history has rendered the application of roles, such as hunting, fishing, and war-
the term to Native American gender vari- fare, are glorified (Jaimes 1992). As Lisa
ations problematic. Duggan and Kathleen McHugh remind
Many Native and non-Native activists us, this is related to racism and homo-
and scholars prefer the term “two-spirit” phobia.
because it locates people with non-nor-
mative gender identities between mas- In the dominant myth of gender, white
culinity and femininity. These people are men work to support their delicate,
morally superior feminine white
understood to have the spirit of both
women. The feminine white woman is
men and women within. The term origi- offered “respect” only in relation to
nates in the Northern Algonquin dialect. those excluded from the sacred
Niizh manitoag translates as “two-spirit” domestic and its “protections”—the
(Anguksuar 1997, 221). Anguksuar, a slave, the mammy, the whore, . . . the
dyke, the welfare queen, [and the
Yup’ik scholar from Alaska, believes that
“squaw”]. “Femininity” here is the
“each human is born because a man and price paid for a paltry and debasing
a woman have joined in creating each power. This femininity pays the
new life; all humans bear imprints of symbolic taxes of a mythology based
both, although some individuals may on the denial of class and race—a
mythology that takes no
manifest both qualities more completely responsibilities for its privilege, its
than others” (ibid., 221). The terms hierarchies, its parasitic relation to
“women-men” (males in feminine roles) other’s labor and sweat. (1996, 157)
and “men-women” (females in mascu-
line roles) are also useful (Lang 1998). In contrast, feminine gender roles as-
Whenever a culturally specific term is sociated in Native North America were
326
_________________________________________________________ Gender and Sexuality, Two Spirits
and are considered powerful positions. tian worldviews of those who colonized
Native American women have main- this continent and reveal an obsession
tained sophisticated relationships with with sexuality that has developed within
the plants and animals that surround such worldviews. Within this paradigm,
them. Indigenous women provide food, discussions of sexual expressions focus
building materials, and medicinal plants on categories of behavior such as hetero-
for their families. As the suppliers of sexuality, homosexuality, and bisexual-
more than half of the food supply and ity. These categories give primacy to the
materials for trade, women played a fun- sexual dimensions of interpersonal rela-
damental role in traditional economies. tionships.
Reciprocity is the principle through In contrast, Native American concep-
which relationships between sexes and tions of interpersonal relationships focus
genders have been cultivated and re- primarily on what gender role a person
fined, through which people’s contribu- plays within a relationship or commu-
tions to their society are recognized and nity. Therefore contemporary discus-
returned (Cordero and Currans 2003). sions of transgendered people more
Within this context of respect for the closely resemble indigenous views of
work performed by both women and two-spirit people. For example, in Trans-
men, two-spirit people found an hon- gender Warriors, Leslie Feinberg provides
ored place. In Native cultures, gender a global history of gender variation. S/he
roles exhibit the deep respect accorded includes the Crow badé (sometimes
to individuals and the contributions they spelled boté), the Chumash joya, and the
make to the continued existence of their Diné nádleehí, alongside female warriors
communities. Contemporary views of from across the globe, and well-known
gender and sexuality reveal both accep- figures from the West including Joan of
tance of and resistance to Euro-Ameri- Arc and RuPaul. Feinberg risks obscuring
can models. Like all cultural relations, important cultural differences and eras-
gender norms and roles are subject to ing the complex systems within which
change because of new circumstances. these examples occur but focuses on
Changes exhibit the dynamism of gender rather than sexuality and pre-
human communities and thus do not sents a better understanding of these in-
imply “inauthenticity.” dividuals than do discussions of homo-
Current political debates about the sexuality. A binary view of gender as only
rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgen- feminine or masculine fails to acknowl-
dered, intersexed, and queer (GLBTIQ) edge that some individuals fall between
people are heir to understandings of sex- masculinity and femininity—or that few
uality and gender developed throughout individuals completely embody either
American (and European) history. These ideal. Transgendered theories acknowl-
conceptions are connected to the Chris- edge a broader set of gender possibilities
327
that create a space for two-spirit people that incorporate spirit, mind, and social
that discussions of sexuality do not. relations . . . ; the sensibilities of the
The division of sex and gender devel- body, whose essences and practices . . .
oped in feminist theory also fails to pro- make sexuality into a matter of social
vide adequate tools for appreciating two- reasoning and sociality; . . . and the pas-
spirit people. For example, Gilbert Herdt sions, or eros, of being with others sexu-
describes the Mojave as granting “a dis- ally or playfully but without necessarily
tinctive ontology [to] two-spirit persons, romance or procreation in the modernist
expressed in heartfelt desires, task prefer- sense of these ideals” (ibid.). Sexuality is
ences, and cultural transformation with a social phenomenon, and the behaviors
respect to the genitals and to personal that compose an LGBTIQ identity in the
pronouns. The social role was sanctified contemporary West are often not under-
by spiritual power—an attribute lacking stood in the same way in other places or
in the Western conception of these varia- times.
tions of sex/gender” (1997, 279–280). This is not to say that two-spirit peo-
Thus, understanding gender as the social ple did not or do not enjoy sexual rela-
and cultural meanings given to bodies tionships. Although a few tribes did pre-
with different genitalia fails to address scribe celibacy for two-spirits, some
the important position of two-spirit peo- two-spirit people formed partnerships
ple within worldviews that imbue roles with people of the same biological sex,
and individuals with symbolic impor- while others had partners of the opposite
tance within a cosmological system of biological sex. Both gender role change
meanings. and gender role crossing occurred in
Because Western understandings of precontact Native American nations,
sexuality do not translate easily into Na- and continue to occur today.
tive American cultural contexts, these
phenomena have often been thought to Historical Two-Spirit People
be about sexual desire and expression. According to Gay American Indians, an
Herdt observes “that ‘sexuality’ in the organization intended to address the
Western meanings of the word does not needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
apply in every respect to the phenomena transgendered Native Americans, 133
surrounding sexuality in non-Western precontact nations recognized two-spirit
worlds” (ibid., 276). The equation of sex- people (1988, 217). Sabine Lang lists 148
ual activity with identity in contempo- nations (1998, 5), while Will Roscoe cites
rary American culture obscures impor- 155 (1998, 7). These figures are taken
tant nuances of desire and spirituality. from written sources assembled primar-
Among the important issues excluded ily by outsiders that do not include con-
from Western understandings of sexual- temporary innovations. The colonial and
ity are “concepts of the whole person anthropological sources provide more
328
examples of women-men than men- among the Zuni, Diné, Papago, Crow, Kla-
women. While this discrepancy may be math, Osage, and others (ibid., 191–194).
related to the privileging of male inform- In some cultures women-men remained
ants over female by male researchers and celibate, while in others they were sexu-
the greater visibility of men dressing as ally available to many. Among the
women and performing feminine tasks, Cheyenne, Chumash, Natchez, Cree,
the incongruity is great enough that it is Kutenai, Crow, Papago, Yuma, and Pima,
likely that women-men (men in femi- researchers noted an early preference for
nine roles) were more common. female company among women-men
Individual nations accorded unique (ibid., 220–221). The Lakota winkte, Zuni
statuses to women-men and allowed for lha’ma, and women-men among the San-
varying degrees of flexibility. The perfor- tee Dakota, Osage, Hopi, Cheyenne, Diné,
mance of feminine tasks was noted and the Yuki were described as speaking
among many California tribes, including in a feminine manner (ibid., 128–129).
the Chumash, Pomo, and Yurok. This in- Walter L. Williams concludes that ho-
cluded gathering food, preparing meals, mosexuality existed in precontact na-
weaving, and sewing (Lang 1998, 91–92). tions and that it was not limited to two-
Feminine occupations for women-men spirit people, although most existing
also existed among the Kutenai, Klamath, accounts involve those individuals
Quinault, Aleut, Ojibwa, Winnebago, whose gender status made them visible
Crow, Cheyenne, Teton Lakota, and San- to colonists (1992, 88). Same-sex erotic
tee Dakota (ibid., 94–96). The Crow boté, expression did not necessarily preclude
the Chumash joya, the Cocopa elxa, and marriage or children. Sexuality was
women-men among the Santee Dakota, viewed as a natural and pleasurable part
Oglala Lakota, Diné, Ute, Papago, and of life. Although restrictions on sexual
Pomo are described as having an early activity (including extramarital, pre-
proclivity for feminine tasks (ibid., marital, and same-sex eroticism) ex-
219–220). Women-men in other commu- isted in many nations, Native North
nities performed a combination of mas- America had an overall more lenient at-
culine and feminine tasks. titude toward sexuality than contempo-
Women-men married or had sexual re- rary America.
lations with men or women depending on Most precontact nations believed that
the nation. Sexual relationships between two-spirit people engaging in sexual ac-
women-men and men occurred among tivity with each other was improper. Sex
the Crow, Yuma, Apache, Santee Dakota, between two-spirit people was some-
Klamath, Chumash, Diné, Cheyenne, times understood to be like sex between
Hopi, Papago, Ute, Zuni, Pomo, and oth- members of the same family (ibid., 93).
ers. Scholars report sexual relationships In many areas the terms used for sex be-
between women-men and women tween males were different from those
329
for sex between a man and a woman- may have been easier for women to per-
man (ibid., 96). form traditionally male tasks without
Man-woman status (a female perform- signaling a gender status change than it
ing a masculine role) also allowed for flex- was for men to perform traditionally fe-
ibility in dress, work, and sexual relation- male tasks without signaling a status
ships. Among the Achomawi of northern change, which may partially account for
California, men-women dressed in femi- the larger number of gender variant roles
nine clothing but performed masculine available for men than women.
work and married women (Lang 1998, Both women-men and men-women
273). One Klamath man-woman assumed often had specialized roles. Women-men
masculine responsibilities, including were typically healers, “gravediggers,
marriage, but continued to wear primar- conveyers of oral tradition and songs,
ily feminine clothing (ibid., 275). Mohave, and nurses during war expeditions; they
Quinault, and Paiute men-women per- foretold the future, conferred lucky
formed masculine tasks, wore masculine names on children or adults, wove, made
clothing, and often married women pottery, arranged marriages, and made
(ibid., 274). Warfare was usually associ- feather costumes for dance” (ibid., 151).
ated with men but could be performed by Women-men healers were common
women and did not necessarily coincide within cultures in which female healers
with masculine or ambiguous gender were prevalent. Because women-men
identification. Thus female warriors were were considered to have both masculine
not always viewed as changing gender and feminine spirits, they were believed
roles and are excellent examples of gen- to have extraordinary access to the spir-
der role crossing without full status its and special insight into relationships
change. between men and women. For example,
Same-sex relationships between wo- the Lakota winkte had special powers
men have been largely ignored in an- symbolized by wearing women’s cloth-
thropological literature. This is due in ing, and much like other powerful peo-
part to the inability and reluctance of ple they carried symbols of their spirit
(predominantly) male researchers to ac- healers in medicine bags. Feminine
cess women’s lives, but it may also be clothing represented connection to spir-
due to the fact that “gender role cross- itual power, a connection so potent that
ings were frequently possible for women medicine people approached winktes for
without involving an ambivalent, non- advice (ibid., 157; Williams 1992, 35).
feminine gender status. This is above all Much of the available literature in-
true for the war/raiding complex, and in cludes brief references to two-spirit peo-
isolated cases also for masculine activi- ple without providing in-depth examina-
ties such as hunting or participating in tions of the lives of women-men and
certain ceremonies” (ibid., 22, 261). It men-women, but there are a number of
330
life histories and biographies, including included the suppression of rituals and
those of Osh-Tisch (Finds Them and Kills ceremonies. Religious traditions and un-
Them), a Crow boté (Roscoe 1998, 30; derstandings of gender that differed
Williams 1992, 179; Lang 1998, 118), from colonial practices were at the core
Ququnak patke, the Manlike Woman of of Native cultures and therefore were
the Kutenai (Lang 1998, 275; Williams greatly affected by the conquest of in-
1992, 236), Hastíín Klah, a Diné nádleehí digenous land and the denial of land
(which means being transformed) claims by the U.S. government. Women’s
(Roscoe 1998, 40; Lang 1998, 68), Woman positions were undermined by the nam-
Chief of the Crow (Roscoe 1998, 78; ing of male heads of households for new
Williams 1992, 244), and We’wha, a Zuni family arrangements according to a
lha’ma (Roscoe 1998, 113; Roscoe 1991). modern European nuclear model. Two-
Generally speaking, these individuals spirit people did not fit into these new
share some commonalities, such as arrangements and therefore found
making the decision to assume two- themselves without property or access to
spirit status prior to adulthood (Roscoe government funds (Williams 1992, 176).
1998, 8–9). Missionization was and continues to
In some nations it was possible to be an especially problematic develop-
hold two-spirit status for a period of time ment for two-spirit people. Looking at
and then take on a masculine or femi- missionization and colonization as sim-
nine status (Lang 1998, 61). The respect ply historical events is misleading. While
given to these people is part of why an missionization and colonization began
understanding of their lives is so impor- hundreds of years ago, the effects are
tant within contemporary America, a still felt, and neither process has
cultural milieu in which the language of ended—either here or abroad. The oc-
tolerance and equal rights is often used cupation of Iraq by the United States
to defend the rights of people to discrim- and Britain in 2003 is but one of many
inate against others on the basis of race, examples of Western imperial powers
ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and religion. taking control of natural resources for
Connections between these historical economic gain and dictating how other
individuals and contemporary LGBTIQ nations should live. Native Americans
and two-spirit Native Americans are are still denied the right to practice their
complex, because of changes in Native religions in some areas, and traditional
American cultures since contact. One land is more often than not in the pos-
way to examine these relationships is session of non-Native peoples (Cordero
through a discussion of religious beliefs and Currans, 2003). Some Native na-
and practices. tions are not even granted federal recog-
The process of forced integration of nition, which allows them land and ac-
Native Americans into the United States cess to limited resources provided in
331
“exchange” for the appropriation of land homophobia and misunderstanding of

by the U.S. government. two-spirit behavior can make it difficult
Two-spirit medicine people faced to conduct research with two-spirit peo-
threefold oppression under colonial ple. Also, racism, Christianization, and
rule—as leaders of illegal religions, as cultural deprivation have led to reluc-
gender variant, and as indigenous. Mis- tance by some Native people to acknowl-
sionaries to Native communities viewed edge past or current practices that are
conversion as a sacred duty. This process not compatible with dominant Euro-
included Westernization as well as Chris- American values.
tianization, because European civiliza- The condemnation of two-spirit peo-
tion was (and is) viewed as representa- ple by Westerners (and Native Ameri-
tive of Christian ideals. Walter Williams cans) is a conflict of religious and social
reminds us that in “its most ethnocentric beliefs. In the preface to Two-Spirit Peo-
form, everything Western was sanc- ple: American Indian Lesbian Women
tioned by the will of God, while every- and Gay Men, Duane Champagne writes
thing belonging to an indigenous culture that in tribal contexts, “[a]lternative gen-
was evil” (Williams 1992, 181). Mission- der roles were respected and honored,
ization began as a means of controlling and believed to be a part of the sacred
colonial subjects by changing their web of life and society” (1997, xviii). He
worldviews. continues, “All are to be honored and re-
Christian conversion and the related spected as part of the plan of the Great
suppression of indigenous religious ex- Spirit. Human beings, only a small part
pressions have proven to be excellent of creation, are not privy to the grand
tools throughout Western expansion. plan of the Great Spirit, but honor and
Many Native American tribes have par- respect must be given to the course of
tially or fully internalized Western Chris- events, and humans must play out the
tian values, thus both homophobia and role assigned to them as individuals and
distrust of non-Christian beliefs and nations” (ibid., xx).
practices exist in contemporary Native Gender expression is a valued choice
communities. Native Americans with according to many Native American
nonnormative gender and sexual identi- peoples. Cultivation of individual skills is
ties often feel ostracized on reservations an asset to the nation. A strong commu-
and therefore either suppress their de- nity consists of individuals whose talents
sires or find their way into mainstream are utilized for the benefit of the individ-
gay communities. The ethnocentric ual and the collective. Champagne
views expressed in many studies of Na- states, “Since individuals have sacredly
tive communities have led to an under- revealed missions, their activities, re-
standable distrust of non-Native schol- gardless of how strange they may seem
ars. This distrust combined with a fear of to others, cannot be interfered with
332
without retribution from the beings who winkte and koshkalaka would reappear,
are directing the sacred mission. Thus in as out of the grass” (Anguksuar 1997, 220).
many Indian nations, individualism is When discussing contemporary two-
highly regarded, and each person may spirit people, the inherent dynamism of
have a sacred mission in the world to cultures needs to be taken into consider-
perform” (ibid., xix–xx). ation. While Native American cultures
Creation stories are exceptional have changed, and two-spirits do not
sources for examining cultural self- perform quite the same functions they
understandings. The inclusion of two- did prior to contact, contemporary Na-
spirit people in creation myths shows at tive people who identify as two-spirit are
minimum an acknowledgment of their not “inauthentic.” Anguksuar states:
presence within a society and often ex-
hibits a respectful acceptance of these An academician may wish to assert that
there are no more classic “berdaches,”
roles. Two-spirit people exist in Zuni,
that they are simple remnants of Native
Arapaho, Pima, Mohave, and Diné cre- cultures, and that Native people, in
ation stories (Williams 1992, 18–23). In large part no longer know who they are
all except the Pima story, in which the nor know their traditions. These rather
presence of two-spirit people is blamed narrow Western parameters and
definitions mark a startling contrast to
on the neighboring Tohono O’odham the ways that many Natives regard their
with whom the Pima have historically lives and origins. Our methods of
been in considerable conflict, two-spirit measuring may not exactly mesh with
people are depicted as valued commu- what academia regards as acceptable or
empirical knowledge, but we do
nity members.
continue with our dreams, prophesies,
and other esoteric knowledge. (ibid.,
Reclaiming Two-Spirit Roles 221)
Some contemporary Native Americans
identify with traditional understandings Thus, although there may be few, if
of two-spirit people and their link to pre- any, two-spirit people that completely fit
contact tribal communities. Despite the historical examples from anthropologi-
homophobia within both mainstream cal literature, there are two-spirit people
and Native communities, some Native who have interpreted this role to address
Americans see two-spirit people as exam- contemporary concerns. The two-spirit,
ples of cultural continuity, and signs of like all cultural roles, is flexible and
hope for increased tolerance and cultural adaptable.
renewal. For example, a Lakota/ It is important to listen to the voices of
Ojibway woman shared a prophecy with living people rather than simply examin-
Anguksuar, a Yup’ik who identifies as two- ing historical figures. Beverly Little Thun-
spirit, that said, “[At] a time directly pre- der, a Standing Rock Lakota, asks schol-
ceding a great cleansing in society, the ars to focus on living people: “Instead of
333
focusing on one or two people who lived manity of the individual or community
in the past it is now time to begin to write that is either disparaged or placed on a
about those of us who live today. Anthro- pedestal. Two-spirit people must be rec-
pologists of today have the opportunity ognized as complex individuals who are
to record the contemporary life of our neither ideals nor aberrations.
people, not just our history, for future Even in the absence of overt racism,
generations” (ibid., 209). Living two- the pressure to conform can be over-
spirit people, like the living cultures they whelming. Michael Red Earth, a Sisseton
exist within, are adaptable. Dakota, describes his sexual self-under-
The homophobia sometimes encoun- standing as developing in relation to
tered in Native communities leads some white standards: “I learned to define my-
two-spirit and LGBTIQ Native people to self as a gay man by my exposure to
enter predominately white LGBTIQ white American culture” (ibid., 214). In
communities that may not be sensitive LGBTIQ communities, like most other
to the needs of Native people. White gays areas of American culture, white experi-
and lesbians have sometimes appropri- ence is viewed as the norm, which can
ated the two-spirit as an ancestor to con- cause tension between ethnic and sexual
temporary sexual identities—an exten- identities for people of color. Red Earth
sion of an unfortunate tendency among states that “even though I knew I was sex-
Euro-Americans to take aspects of other ually and affectionately attracted to
cultures to serve their purposes. Claim- men, I thought I was the only Native gay
ing two-spirit people as ancestors to there was” (ibid., 213). Historical accep-
Euro-American gay identities denies the tance of two-spirit people and an in-
complexity of the cultures from which creasingly active and vocal Native LGB-
two-spirit people come. Beverly Little TIQ movement helped Red Earth to
Thunder states: integrate his identities, but he does not
identify fully with the role of winkte. Not
In the non-Native community of all contemporary Native American LGB-
lesbians and gay people I have been
TIQ individuals identify as two-spirit.
told that being two-spirited means that
I am a special being. It seems that they Chrystos, a lesbian poet, tells of her
feel that my spirituality was the alienation from the lesbian feminist
mystical answer to my sexuality. I do community in San Francisco. “After 31⁄2
not believe this to be so. My spirituality years I had so little left of myself, so
would have been with me, regardless of
many bitter memories of women who
my sexuality. This attitude creates a
feeling of isolation. I live in a white disrespected me & others. . . . The lies,
society that finds me exotic. (ibid., 207) pretensions, the snobbery & cliquish-
ness . . . the racism which bled through
Racism and exoticism are two sides of every moment at every level” (Chrystos
the same coin. Both deny the full hu- 1983, 69). LGBTIQ communities still
334
have a lot of work to do to address ized ancestor for contemporary LGBTIQ

racism. While the most overt racism people.
comes from white people who both in- Elizabeth Currans
tentionally and unintentionally belittle
See also Female Spirituality; Feminism and
the experiences of people of color and Tribalism; Religious Leadership, Plateau
exclude their concerns from “gay rights”
agendas, Barbara Cameron reminds us Ackerman, Lillian A. 1995. “Complementary
that people of color have also internal- but Equal Gender Status in the Plateau.”
Pp. 75–100 in Laura F. Klein and Lillian A.
ized racism toward other groups.
Ackerman. Women and Power in Native
“Racism among third world people is an North America. Norman: University of
area that needs to be discussed and dealt Oklahoma Press, 75–100.
Anguksuar [Richard LaFortune]. 1997. “A
with honestly. We form alliances based
Postcolonial Colonial Perspective on
loosely on the fact that we have a com- Western [Mis]Conceptions of the
mon oppressor, yet we do not have a Cosmos and the Restoration of
commitment to talk about our fears and Indigenous Taxonomies.” Pp. 217–222 in
Two-Spirit People: Native American
misconceptions about each other” Gender Identity, Sexuality, and
(Cameron 1983, 49). Reservation life is Spirituality. Edited by Sue-Ellen Jacobs,
hard, and many contemporary Native Wesley Thomas, and Sabine Lang.
Urbana and Chicago: University of
people choose to live in cities for many Illinois Press, 217–222.
reasons, including sexual orientation Brant, Beth. 1984/1988. A Gathering of
and gender expression. The communi- Spirit: A Collection by North American
Indian Women. New York: Firebrand
ties these people find themselves in need Books.
to be open to the important contribu- Brown, Lester B., ed. 1997. Two-Spirit
tions they can make and to be willing to People: American Indian Lesbian Women
and Gay Men. New York and London:
face their own racism in order to create a Haworth Press.
truly safe place for all LGBTIQ people, in- Cameron, Barbara. 1981/1983. “‘Gee, You
cluding those who identify as two-spirit. Don’t Seem Like an Indian from the
Reservation.’” Pp. 45–62 in This Bridge
In addition to being affected by
Called My Back: Writings by Radical
modernity, indigenous people have had Women of Color. Edited by Cherríe
a hand in shaping it. American culture Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa. New York:
Kitchen Table Press.
would not be what it is without the influ-
Champagne, Duane. 1997. “Preface: On the
ence of Native Americans, or without the Gift of Sacred Being.” Pp. xvii–xxiv in
contributions of people with nontradi- Two-Spirit People: American Indian
Lesbian Women and Gay Men. Edited by
tional gender and sexual identities. The
Lester B. Brown. New York and London:
two-spirit is an important part of Ameri- Haworth Press.
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place of honor in both Native and non- Those Who Have Turned Away from
Me.” Pp. 68–70 in This Bridge Called My
Native histories without being trans- Back: Writings by Radical Women of
formed into an aberration or an ideal- Color. Edited by Cherríe Moraga and
335
Gloria Anzaldúa. New York: Kitchen Genocide, Colonization, and Resistance.

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in Sexuality and the World Religions. Texas Press.
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Wilcox. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. Two-Spirits: Homosexuality and Gender
Depoy, Elizabeth, and Claire Bolduc. 1997. in Native American Cultures.” In Female
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97–108 in Two-Spirit People: American E. Wieringa. New York: Columbia
Indian Lesbian Women and Gay Men. University Press.
Edited by Lester B. Brown. New York and Little Thunder, Beverly. 1997. “I Am Lakota
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336
______________________________________________________________________ Ghost Dance Movement
Urban Contexts.” Pp. 85–95 in Two-Spirit everything there is to say about the Ghost
People: American Indian Lesbian Women Dance has already been said. Ironically,
and Gay Men. Edited by Lester B. Brown.
New York: Haworth Press. the central issue of restoring balance to
Tiger, Lisa. 1995. “Woman Who Clears the the earth, to native peoples, and to ances-
Way.” Pp. 192–204 in Listen Up: Voices tors passing much too quickly into death
from the Next Feminist Generation.
Edited by Barbara Findlen. Seattle: Seal has received only cursory treatment
Press. within mainstream ethnographic litera-
Williams, Water L. 1986/1992. The Spirit and ture. Over the past several years, there has
the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American
Indian Cultures. Boston: Beacon Press.
been a renewed interest in the Ghost
Dance. As American Indians have begun
to bring their stories and questions for-
ward, it has become evident that despite a
Ghost Dance Movement large body of ethnographic literature, the
Ghost Dance is still little understood.
The 1890s Ghost Dance represents one of
the most challenging and intriguing
Wovoka’s Message
chapters in the annals of American In-
The 1890s Ghost Dance Movement origi-
dian/Euro-American relations. After it
nated in Mason Valley, Nevada, under
was studied initially by James Mooney of
the leadership of the Northern Paiute
the Bureau of Ethnology (1896) and later
prophet Wovoka, also known by the In-
by eminent scholars including Spier
dian name of Quoitze Ow, and the Euro-
(1935), Steward (1938, 237), Kehoe (1989),
American name Jack Wilson (Chapman,
and Hittman (1990), it would seem that
83–24/III/4:30). In an interview with
ethnographer James Mooney in 1892,
Wovoka recalled, “When the sun died I
Na’anuga or Father Dance
went up to heaven and saw God and all
is what we call the Ghost the people who had died a long time ago.
Dance. The dance was to God told me to come back and tell my
bring these spirits back to people they must be good and love one
their relatives who thought another, and not fight, or steal or lie. He
they went too soon and gave me this dance to give to my people.”
Following his first major revelation,
missed them. It is not about
which occurred during an eclipse on Jan-
a spirit or ghost that has uary 1, 1889, the prophet began to in-
not gone to the afterlife. struct members of his community about
—Marlin Thompson, the ways they should conduct their lives
Cultural Specialist, in order to restore balance and well-
Yerrington Paiute being to the earth and themselves
(Mooney 1896, 771). Most important,
337
Ghost Dance Movement _______________________________________________________________________
Wovoka encouraged outer edge of which

Northern Paiutes to re- The Ghost Dance may the willow sticks were
connect themselves to be mixed up with the still standing, over
the land, the ancestors, Ute Circle Dance— which they spread
and the powers en- Conavinokai—which their tenting for shelter
tailed therein. He also could be translated as during these cere-
urged indigenous peo- monies. The cleared
ple to respond to the
“God Dance” or “Wolf ground must have
collective stresses that Dance.” been from 200 to 300
accompanied Euro- —Omer Stewart, feet in diameter, and
American expansion Cultural only about four places
through community Anthropologist left open to enter the
solidarity. Such soli- grounds” (Chapman,
darity could be ex- 83–24/III/4:30/193).
pressed through ongoing participation in After the prophet had spoken, the par-
a dance that some scholars have likened ticipants would join hands and perform
to the ancient Round Dance (Steward a series of side steps or shuffling move-
1938, 237). ments while chanting five songs that
Each dance typically lasted five days were given to Wovoka in a visionary state.
and was conducted at intervals of ap- According to Mooney, each of the songs
proximately three months (Chapman, was used to alter the weather in some
83–24/III/4:30/2). Special Ghost Dances fundamental way (1896, 772). “From his
were also held when indigenous dele- uncle I learned that Wovoka has five
gates such as the Sioux or the Arapaho songs for making rain, the first of which
visited (Chapman, 83–24/III/4:30/2), brings on a mist or cloud, the second
and in response to extraordinary politi- snowfall, the third a shower, and the
cal events (that is, opening up the reser- fourth a hard rain or storm, while he
vation to Euro-American mining claims) sings the fifth song the weather becomes
and adverse environmental conditions clear” (ibid.).
such as ongoing drought (Wheat, 83–24/ An examination of the doctrine of the
III/4:30/78). Ghost Dance as recorded by Mooney re-
Typically, participants gathered in a veals similar ideas of regeneration and
circle upon a cleared, flat ceremonial site. well-being (ibid., 777). He writes, “The
A. I. Chapman describes three ceremo- great underlying principle of the Ghost
nial grounds where he observed ghost dance doctrine is that the time will come
dancing under the leadership of Wovoka. when the whole Indian race, living and
He recalls, “They [the ceremonial sites] dead, will be reunited upon a regenerated
had been cleared of sagebrush and grass earth, to live a life of aboriginal happi-
and made perfectly level, around the ness, forever free from death, disease, and
338
misery.” The Ghost Dance represented tional lands of the Northern Paiutes and
not only a collective response aimed at Western Shoshones of western and cen-
healing the natural environment and its tral Nevada in the middle to late 1800s,
indigenous people but also a ritual of col- they brought along with their material
lectivization and resistance that intensi- culture diseases to which indigenous
fied tensions with Euro-Americans even people had no immunity (Stoffle et al.
as it empowered its participants. 1995; Dobyns 1983). These newcomers
Wovoka’s message resonated with in- carried visions of nature that were in
digenous people far beyond western many respects diametrically opposed to
Nevada (Chapman, 83–24/III/4:30). the understandings that Northern
Consequently his message spread rap- Paiutes and Western Shoshones had de-
idly, and a steady stream of representa- veloped by living with and learning from
tives from indigenous groups from Cali- the land for thousands of years.
fornia to the Great Plains regularly With the rapid appropriation of land
boarded the railroads to visit the newly and depletion of resources necessary for
acclaimed Indian Messiah of Mason Val- their subsistence, the Northern Paiutes
ley. Some Euro-Americans feared this and Western Shoshones experienced di-
new evidence of collectivization and re- minished autonomy and physical hard-
sponded by petitioning the railroads to ships that often culminated in death. A
stop allowing Indians free passage upon predominant adaptation to the risk soci-
the rails (Danberg 1968). ety of this historical era entailed the par-
The question of how a local Paiute rit- ticipation in the Ghost Dance, which
ual grew into a pan-Indian event with promised to relieve some of the stresses
support from such distance groups as that accompanied encroachment.
the Sioux, Arapaho, and Bannocks has
had the attention of much scholarship. Situating the Ghost Dance in Time
The results of these inquiries affirm that and Place
the 1890s Ghost Dance movement be- The Ghost Dance was first practiced in
came a dominant response to the stren- 1870 under the leadership of Northern
uous and often life-threatening physical, Paiute prophet Wodziwob, also known
economic, political, and social realities as Fish Lake Joe (Hittman 1973). The
that accompanied the Euro-American Ghost Dance shared similarities to the
usurpation of traditional lands (Mooney ancient Round Dance (Steward 1997,
1896; Dobyns and Euler 1967; Hittman 237) as well as the northwestern Prophet
1973). Dance (Spier 1935, 5). In addition, sym-
bols and ideas were selectively drawn
Local Context from Christianity.
When growing numbers of Euro-Ameri- During the 1890s, the Ghost Dance
cans began to converge upon the tradi- flourished among the Northern Paiutes
339
of western Nevada as well as the Western Snow too. He can make the wind blow
Shoshones and Northern Paiutes of cen- too. Everybody know that. One time he
tral Nevada and Owens Valley, California. want to buy some hay from a man. That
It is probable that both Wodziwob’s and man not sell him any. That night that
Wovoka’s messages first gained popular man [Wilson] make that whole haystack
support among Northern Paiutes living blow away—every bit of it. All Indians
near Yerrington, Nevada, where both know that, Paiute and Shoshone too”
prophets lived at the time they began (ibid.).
disseminating the Ghost Dance mes-
sage. In the case of the 1870s Ghost Ceremonial Sites
Dance, however, it appears that the In central Nevada particular sites were
prophet Wobziwob, who was originally selected for the performance of the
from Fish Lake Valley, drew inspiration Ghost Dance ceremony (Stoffle and Ze-
from the Cry, which is a mortuary ritual deno 2001). A Western Shoshone cultural
that was not practiced among the North- specialist and Puhagant (shaman) noted
ern Paiutes of Mason Valley (Wheat, that people always performed Ghost
83–24/III/4:30/70). Dance ceremonies at places where their
By contrast, the Ghost Dance message ancestors had performed ceremonies.
and songs of the 1890s appeared to have These places were known as places of
originated in Mason Valley and were power, or Puha. It was understood that
thereafter shared with representatives the ceremonies would be effective if the
from the central regions of Nevada. Ac- people sang ceremonial songs for and
cording to Shoshone elder Tim Hooper about the special places, animals, plants,
(b. 1874), “They [people around Schurz] and all other living elements. These liv-
sent for three people to come and learn ing forces grew stronger as a result of
the songs [from Wovoka]. Three men these songs and prayers, and in turn,
went from Belmont” (Hooper 1959). that power was used to help and heal the
Hooper also indicates that “Jack Wilson Ghost Dance participants while also
told the Paiutes to come back from restoring balance and wellness to the
Austin.” Following the return of the earth.
Shoshone delegates from western In Smoky Valley, Ghost Dances were
Nevada, the Ghost Dance gathered in- regularly performed near a place known
creasing momentum among the Western as Darrough’s Hot Spring (ibid.). Hot
Shoshones and Northern Paiutes of cen- springs are places that Puhagants and
tral Nevada. Like their Western counter- other indigenous people have always re-
parts, those of central Nevada empha- turned to for the purpose of healing.
sized Wovoka’s capacity to control the Knowledge of the diverse healing prop-
weather. Hooper reports, “He [Wovoka] erties of particular waters is transmitted
can make it rain whenever he wants. from generation to generation, and peo-
340
ple travel as much as two hundred miles to provide sleeping and eating accom-
in order to elicit a cure (ibid.). Ghost modations, were preferred. In the case of
Dances were performed at other sites places located on Shoshone Mountain,
throughout central Nevada. Corbin Har- there is a close association between the
ney, tribal elder and medicine man of the rituals of regeneration and the presence
Western Shoshones, reports that Ghost of pine nut stands, which served as a sta-
Dancing activities occurred in important ple food source. Participants regularly
ceremonial areas including (1) Beowawe, returned to ceremonial sites used by an-
(2) Dixie Valley, (3) at numerous springs cestors and burial sites. Both practices
located on Cortez Mountain, (4) in suggest that cultural inscription prac-
Spring Valley, (5) in the Crescent Valley tices as well as physiographic variables
area, (6) near Austin, (7) Tecopa Spring, contributed to the value of a particular
(8) Elko, (9) and Cornacopi, where bal- ceremonial dance site.
ancing ceremonies were performed and
white chalk was gathered from a local Ghost Dance Eventscape
source during the summer. Other impor- The arrival of Euro-Americans to central
tant ceremonial areas selected for the Nevada resulted in alterations of ecosys-
Ghost Dance ceremony include (10) Ash tem/human relations at both a quantita-
Meadows and (11) Hiko. In addition, tive and qualitative level. Faced with
people danced together in the Hot Creek starvation, disease, physical and ideo-
Range near (12) Moore’s Station. Today a logical marginalization, and loss of re-
large white circle can be seen where sources, the Northern Paiutes and West-
these dances occurred. During the late ern Shoshones of Fish Lake Valley and
nineteenth century Ghost Dances were neighboring communities instilled great
also held at a significant ceremonial cen- value in the Ghost Dance as a method for
ter in the Fish Lake Valley. eliciting change. Indian people regularly
Ceremonial sites are composed of gathered to dance near Palmetto, which
unique and repeating physiographic fea- is on the southeastern edge of the Fish
tures. Frequently, a source of water has Lake Valley near the Nevada-California
been described as a factor contributing border; it was there, in the 1890s, approx-
to the strength, or Puha, of a place. imately ninety miles southeast of Mason
Dancers often chose broad, flat terrain Valley, that the Ghost Dance was first
that was suitable for gathering poten- recorded. Palmetto is also the home of
tially large groups of people together Fish Lake Joe (Wodziwob), who Hittman
(Chapman, 83–24/III/4:30/193; Stoffle (1973) convincingly argues was the
and Zedeno 2001). Furthermore, sites leader of the 1870s Ghost Dance move-
close to indigenous settlements that ment. Hittman also suggests that the Cry
could be used as support communities, ceremonies enacted upon the death of
or those that were of a large enough scale Paiutes of Fish Lake Valley may have
341
served as an impetus for later Ghost store balance: to heal themselves, to heal
Dance developments. the land, and to guide into heaven the
In the winter of 1890 the Western multitudes who had died as a result of
Shoshone and Northern Paiute people of Euro-American encroachment. The ne-
Fish Lake Valley in Emerald County, cessity of the latter activity arose because
Nevada, held a Ghost Dance. It was one of the unprecedented death rates that
of the coldest winters in the history of accompanied ten major epidemics as
Nevada; snow fell to great depths, closing well as pervasive starvation associated
roads and even railroads, yet the Indians with the loss of resources and persistent
of Esmeralda County danced for weeks. drought.
They danced to regain control of their The Ghost Dance must also be situ-
lands, to bring back native plants and ated within the context of a new theory
animals, and to dance the many Natives that attends to the centrality of power
who had fallen to disease and starvation within Southern Paiute and Hualapai
into heaven. They danced to eliminate culture. According to this theory, for
white people and their adverse influence Paiute and Hualapai people, Puha
on the land, water, and animals of cen- (power) pervades everything in the phe-
tral Nevada. They danced to bring the nomenal world. Power is everywhere in
world back into balance. space and time, but it tends to be more
Hershell Knapp, a prospector and concentrated in particular places and
miner who had lived in a cabin in this re- people. This concept is fundamental to
gion, identified one ghost-dancing site interpreting the Ghost Dance sites in
on a low hill across from Pigeon Springs. central and western Nevada and at
Rock etchings near the ancient petro- Kaibab Creek in the Grand Canyon, as
glyphs indicate that indigenous people well as the ways in which Indian people
visited Pigeon Springs for ceremonial have interacted with Puha sites in both
purposes in the late 1880s and in 1912. ancient and recent times.
Older rock engravings demonstrate that Participants literally ghost-danced
this was a traditional site that was visited places, including the Grand Canyon, as a
for healing or knowledge purposes long means of protecting such regions of
before the onset of the Ghost Dance. refuge from Euro-American appropria-
tion. Additionally, these Indian people
Perspectives on the Ghost Dance of ghost-danced the Grand Canyon and
the 1890s other sites because they were sources of
The 1890s Ghost Dance movement rep- power to be drawn on for the special
resents another episode in the long needs of humans. When they ghost-
struggle to protect lands, resources, and danced as part of a far-reaching ceremo-
lifeways from non-Indian encroach- nial event, they produced a cultural land-
ment. Indigenous people danced to re- scape that allied them with other Indian
342
peoples, producing a spatially and so- der. Weakened by social disruptions

cially larger form of social organization. that accompanied the creation of In-
Our analysis suggests that these ghost dian diasporas and the curtailment of
danced–based cultural landscapes per- movement within and between aborigi-
sisted, albeit in a somewhat attenuated nal territories, many indigenous groups
form, after the spring of 1891. A news ar- felt the need to fight for their very right
ticle entitled “A Shoshone Nuisance” to exist. Through participation in the
published in the Belmont Courier on Sat- Ghost Dance, however, old traditions—
urday, June 13, 1891, documented the particularly the reconnection to places
continuation of the Ghost Dance: of power—were revitalized and new so-
“Thomas Warburton, of Belmont, has cial networks were developed. The
been informed by Hon. T. J. Bell of Ghost Dance also signified the begin-
Cloverdale, that the Shoshone Indians nings of a pan-Indian movement (Stof-
will soon hold a grand fandango at Duck- fle et al. 2000, 11). Ghost Dancers capi-
water, Nye County. Mr. Bell says that a talized on the fluidity of fluctuating
wily red skin has told his dusky brethren interethnic and tribal boundaries that
that they must keep on dancing in order had been forced upon them by federal
to induce their dead relatives to pay policies and Euro-American encroach-
them a visit on the Earth.” ment. Existing connections between
As late as 1906, Ghost Dancing was tribes were once more utilized, tradi-
also reported among the Northern tional enemies sometimes found com-
Paiute of Mason Valley, and Ghost mon ground, and ethnic boundaries
Dances continued to be performed in were more readily crossed. These ex-
portions of the United States and changes allowed Ghost Dance partici-
Canada during the twentieth century pants to create vast information net-
(Kehoe 1968, 301). In a recent interview, works for relaying information on the
one of the descendants of Black Elk Ghost Dance, as well as both federal and
maintained that the powers of the Ghost regional events that were affecting their
Dance song never died out, and that lives.
they continue to exert an influence in Alex K. Carroll and Richard W. Stoffle
the present. Thus the Ghost Dance land- See also Cry Ceremony; Dances, Great
scape persisted as a source of cultural Basin; Health and Wellness, Traditional
Approaches; Power Places, Great Basin;
and historical identification.
Religious Leadership, Great Basin; Religious
The 1890s Ghost Dance movement Leadership, Plains; Retraditionalism and
also catalyzed risk management strate- Identity Movements
gies whose effects echo into the present References and Further Reading
century. At the inception of the 1890s Chapman, A. I. Report of the Secretary of
War. Special Collections Department,
Ghost Dance, the social fabric of many University of Nevada, Reno, Library,
indigenous groups had been torn asun- 83–24/III/4:3.
343
Giveaway Ceremonies _________________________________________________________________________
Chalfant, W. A. 1933. The Story of Inyo. Washington, DC: Government Printing

Bishop, CA: Community Printing and Office. Reprint 1997, Salt Lake City: The
Publishing. University of Utah Press.
Danberg, Grace. 1968. “Wovoka.” Nevada Stewart, Omer. 1978. “The Western
Historical Society Quarterly 11, no. 2 Shoshone of Nevada and the U.S.
(summer): 12–15. Government, 1863–1950.” Pp. 77–114 in
Dobyns, Henry. 1983. Their Number Become Selected Papers of the 14th Great Basin
Thinned: Native American Population Anthropological Conference. Edited by D.
Dynamics in Eastern North America. Tuohy. Socorro, NM: Ballena Press.
Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. Stoffle, Richard W., and Alex K. Carroll.
Dobyns, Henry, and Robert Euler. 1967. The 2001. “The 1890s Ghost Dance.”
Ghost Dance of 1889 among the Pai Unpublished chapter. Nellis Indian
Indians of Northwestern Arizona. Studies History Project. Bureau of Applied
in Anthropology (Prescott College), No. Research in Anthropology, University of
1. Prescott, AZ: Prescott College Press. Arizona.
Hittman, Michael. 1973. “The 1870s Ghost Stoffle, Richard W., Kristine L. Jones, and
Dance at the Walker River Reservation: A Henry F. Dobyns. 1995. “Direct European
Reconstruction.” Ethnohistory 20, no. 3: Transmission of Old World Pathogens to
247–278. Numic Indians during the Nineteenth
———. 1990. Wovoka and the Ghost Dance. Century.” American Indian Quarterly 19:
Yerington, NV: Grace Danberg 181–204.
Foundation. Stoffle, Richard W., and Nieves Zedeno.
Hooper, Tim. 1959. Tonopah Oral History 2001. “Field Notes.” Nellis Indian History
Interview. Special Collections Project, Bureau of Applied Research in
Department, University of Nevada Reno Anthropology, University of Arizona.
Library. “Interview with Tim Hooper.” Thompson, Marylin. 2001. Oral History with
University of Nevada, Reno. Tapes Yerington Paiute Cultural Specialist.
#40–43. 83–24/12:23 - 83–24/12:26. Nellis Indian History Project, Bureau of
Special Collections Department, Applied Research in Anthropology,
University of Nevada Reno Library. University of Arizona.
Kehoe, Alice Beck. 1968. “The Ghost Dance Wheat, Margaret. Special Collections
Religion in Saskatchewan, Canada.” Department, University of Nevada Reno
Plains Anthropologist 13, no. 1: 296–304. Library 83–24/III/4:30.
———. 1989. The Ghost Dance: Ethnohistory
and Revitalization. New York: Holt,
Rinehart, and Winston.
Mooney, James. 1896. “The Ghost-Dance
Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of
1890.” Fourteenth Annual Report of the
Giveaway Ceremonies
Bureau of Ethnology, Part 2, 1892–1893.
Washington, DC: Government Printing
Giveaway Ceremonies constitute a cen-
Office. tral part of American Indian ritual and
Spier, Leslie. 1935. The Prophet Dance of the ceremonialism. Very few ceremonial
Northwest and Its Derivatives: The Source
events take place that do not entail some
of the Ghost Dance, General Series in
Anthropology 1. Menasha, WI: George sort of giveaway. Giveaways might vary
Banta. in size and scope: they may be monu-
Steward, Julian H. 1938/1997. “Basin- mental events entailing thousands of
Plateau Aboriginal Sociopolitical
Groups.” Smithsonian Institution Bureau dollars’ worth of gifts given over a period
of American Ethnology Bulletin 120. of several days, or they may be a simple
344
________________________________________________________________________ Giveaway Ceremonies
gift given in thanks to an elder or spiri- and social needs. Through the giving and
tual practitioner who has offered prayers receiving of gifts, social ties and obliga-
on behalf of a sick friend. It is very rare tions are established, maintained, and
that a Native spiritual leader would ever celebrated. Young people learn to thank
charge a fee for any kind of service ren- those who have cared for them in their
dered. However, it is also extremely rude childhood. They learn their duties and
for any individual to call upon a spiritual obligations to others, and social posi-
leader for assistance, or even simply to tions within the community are clarified
make a social call to an elder or re- through the hierarchy of gift-giving. In-
spected friend, without bringing a gift. dividuals are thus able to locate them-
Gifts are a sign of respect and of caring, selves within the intricate network of re-
and also an affirmation of one’s depen- ciprocal relationships that make up a
dence upon another person. Native community. Giveaway cere-
For Native communities, this sense of monies also serve as a means of redis-
reciprocal relationship, not only within tributing wealth. Ancient traditions
personal ties but also within the larger mandating the giving of vast resources to
interaction with the universe, guides one’s community prevent the unequal
many of the philosophical systems that accumulation of wealth in any one indi-
compose American Indian religious tra- vidual, and they also ensure that poorer
ditions. The earth provides for the peo- families will be cared for. Giveaway cere-
ple, in various ways, and the people are monies and feasts are a way of thanking
thus beholden to that system of care and people for directing or participating in a
giving. It only makes sense, then, that ceremonial event, and a feast and give-
giving gifts to one another at important away follow most ceremonial gatherings.
times in the ceremonial cycle allows the These events are a means by which those
people to participate in what is a guiding who attended the ceremony can be
tenet of creation. Although many re- thanked for their time, prayers, and
searchers have pointed to the communal labor.
bonds that are forged and maintained By way of example, all of these things
via giveaway ceremonies, most do not occur within the Northwest Coast pot-
acknowledge the role that gift-giving latch. A family or individual who puts up
plays in the central philosophies of most a potlatch earns social prestige by giving
Native American communities. This cen- away vast quantities of food, material
tral concept can be compared with re- goods, and spiritual gifts. While individ-
pentance for sins among Christian belief uals might give away nearly everything
systems, or the notion of enlightenment they have, in the process they have
for followers of the Buddha. gained a different sort of wealth. They
Giveaway ceremonies throughout Na- have affirmed their relationships to
tive America meet a variety of spiritual those in their community and the sur-
345
rounding area. They have established treated as though they were the ances-
themselves as important community tors in question. At the conclusion of the
leaders. And they have secured the debt ceremony, namesakes receive gifts of
and obligations of others: as they gave, clothing, food, utensils, carved bowls,
they will in return receive. Further, indi- kayaks, and the like, which they accept
viduals giving a potlatch have secured on behalf of the deceased ancestor. This
for themselves spiritual wealth, in the giving serves the dual purpose of ex-
form of spirit-powers, the rights to clan pressing love and support for the de-
crests, songs, and dances. “Wealth” in parted as well as affirming the young
this context is not merely material but people’s position, as namesakes, within
also includes the rights to ownership of the community. They learn that they are
spiritual positions and powers. Gifts at honored and cared for, and that they in
potlatches are not merely material but turn have the responsibility to honor and
also spiritual: markers of social and spir- care for their community and family.
itual status are also given and estab- Girls’ puberty initiation ceremonies
lished at potlatches. Individuals attend- are another ritual event usually followed
ing the potlatch also receive ownership by a giveaway ceremony. Nearly all
rights to names, crests, songs, and sto- American Indian communities have a
ries. Further, when an individual tradition in which, at the onset of men-
achieves a social or spiritual position, struation, young women are secluded
through right or inheritance, a potlatch from the community and taught their
is necessary to affirm and establish that roles and responsibilities as Native
right. By attending the event, the guests women. The girls then undergo an initia-
indicate their agreement to the new title tion ceremony that transitions them into
or position, as well as their support for adulthood. The ceremony itself varies
the individual in question. Through this from tribe to tribe in length, content, and
complex network of giving and receiving, expression, but at the conclusion of her
social, political, and spiritual positions initiation, the young woman is wel-
within the community are established, comed back into the community with a
wealth is redistributed, and obligations feast and a giveaway. In many communi-
to others are met. ties, such as the Diné, the young woman
Naming ceremonies are another kind herself prepares some of the food for the
of ceremony often requiring a giveaway feast (in this case, a corn cake), which is
ceremony. Yup’iq naming ceremonies, given to others. The event establishes her
for instance, require a gift-giving. During new position as a young woman, with
the Yup’iq Feast for the Dead, the name- the responsibilities of an adult. The ex-
sakes of departed ancestors are honored. pression of abundance and wealth
These individuals, who have been within the giveaway is also important
named after former ancestors, are among the Mescalero Apache, because it
346
Northwest Coast
The Northwest Coast culture area encompasses more than 2,000 miles of
the Pacific coast, from southern Alaska to northern California. The width of
this narrow coastal region varies from about 10 to 150 miles. It is cool, damp,
and thickly forested and is cut by many rivers. The mountain ranges that run
north-south along the eastern limits of the region include the Coast Ranges
in Canada and the Cascade Range in the United States. The region is charac-
terized by mild, wet winters and cool summers. Evergreen forests thrive
where there is soil enough to support them, and huge trees form dense
canopies that block out much sunlight. Springs and streams from mountain
glaciers feed numerous rivers, which, along with the ocean at the coast, pro-
vide abundant fish, and the forests are home to abundant plants and ani-
mals, providing a wealth of foods and medicines for the Indian peoples of
the region.
Northwest Coast peoples speak a variety of languages, with linguistic
families ranging from Athapaskan and Penutian, to Salishan and Wakashan.
The region is home to numerous and varied tribal traditions, as well, which
can be divided into three basic groupings: those of the colder northern area,
including the Queen Charlotte Islands of western British Columbia; those of
the central region, in the vicinity of Vancouver Island and the mouth of the
Columbia River; and those of the warmer southern region, who shared
some cultural traits with peoples of the California culture area.
Social organization is primarily focused on extended-family village
groups, with regular seasonal cooperative fishing and hunting camps for
temporary dwelling. In the central and northern areas, multiple-family
houses of cedar planks organized villages into collectives, which shared po-
litical connections prior to contact.
Canoes play an important role both culturally and religiously in the cen-
tral and northern areas at the coasts. Large ocean-going canoes, carved out
of single cedar trees, capable of carrying several individuals on fishing,
hunting, or trading trips throughout the region were common.
Religious diversity abounds in the region, with southern tribal groups
connected to the World Renewal ceremonial paradigm, a complex collec-
tion of dances that are key in the firming up and renewing of the earth for
continues
347
Northwest Coast (continued)

the next cycle. People of the central areas and the central and northern re-
gions participate in potlatch ceremonies. Potlatching, once actually out-
lawed in both Canada and the United States, provides opportunities for the
celebration of significant events in the life of the community, such as mar-
riages and births, as well as seasonal observations like solstices and
equinoxes. At potlatch ceremonies, the significant aspect is a redistribution
of wealth items, often in the form of gift-giving, but at times redistribution
includes destruction of property.
The Northwest Coast is a diverse region that requires diverse approaches
for the long-term maintenance of available resources, and for the ongoing
continuity of tribal cultures. Much of the ceremonial activity in this region,
therefore, focuses on both of these aspects, propitiating the spirit world for
the continued gifts of fish, game, and plant resources and taking time to cel-
ebrate the communities that cooperatively manage these resources.
ensures that the woman will have wealth and distributing it to individuals in his
and abundance throughout her life. community. In doing so the young man
Scarcity at such an event must be establishes his position within the com-
avoided, for it implies that she herself munity, gives thanks to those individuals
will suffer scarcity in her life. Finally, a who helped him to grow into a young
giveaway teaches the young woman of adult, and also learns in a concrete way
her obligations to her community: pres- of his obligations to others.
tige, wealth, and success are defined by Ceremonial moments that mark the
her ability to give to others. It is in being creation of new relationships are also
a supportive and generous member of often accompanied by giveaways. Wed-
her community that she will be a suc- dings and adoptions often include elab-
cessful woman. orate gift-giving between families. By ex-
Boys’ initiation ceremonies also incor- changing gifts, the families establish a
porate giveaway ceremonies. For in- reciprocal relationship and network of
stance, when a young man has his first obligations. They are making clear their
successful hunt, it is usually accompa- intention to honor and care for each
nied by a giveaway. The young man is in- other.
structed to dress the game in a proper Finally, many Native communities
and respectful manner, cutting the meat hold giveaways at funerals and memori-
348
als. In many communities, everything friendship, and family. Their central role
owned by the deceased individual is within American Indian spiritual life
given away. Such elaborate gift-giving is speaks volumes about the worldview of
often seen as a cleansing, facilitating the traditional Native communities, in which
process of mourning and also working to spiritual well-being is inherently tied to
redistribute wealth within the commu- being a part of a healthy, supportive, and
nity. Reciprocal relationships are af- caring community.
firmed, as the family gives away nearly This gift-giving tradition and the ethic
all of their possessions, and the commu- of generosity were strongly challenged
nity responds in kind, caring for the fam- by Christian missionaries and U.S. fed-
ily’s needs. Such giveaways honor the eral Indian agencies. Inspired by their
spirit of the departed family member, own ethics of Western capitalism, the
further establishing their position as a Protestant work ethic, and the nuclear
generous and caring member of their family, Euro-American missionaries and
community. Spiritual honors such as Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agents
names, symbols, songs, and dances are sought to outlaw indigenous giveaway
also passed on at this time, affirming the ceremonies. They saw such events as
new positions of others within their contrary to the Euro-American work and
community and families. save ethic, and referred to giveaway cere-
Giveaway ceremonies take on vastly monies as extravagant, dangerous, and
different forms in different communities. licentious. Indigenous social ethics built
They will look different, be experienced on community obligation and reciprocal
differently, and will serve different pur- exchange contradicted missionaries’
poses in different contexts. Still, they are a ideals of single-family households, the
common thread that runs throughout holding of individual plots of land, work-
nearly all American Indian traditions. ing within a wage-labor system, and sav-
They signal an emphasis on community, ing for retirement. In the Pacific North-
and on locating an individual within west the potlatch system was outlawed,
complex networks of reciprocal relation- and civil authorities severely restricted
ships. Communities exist to care for indi- its practice. Throughout Native America,
viduals, and individuals, in turn, exist in BIA agents sought to outlaw and curtail
order to be generous and caring members Native ceremonialism, blaming give-
of their communities. Giveaway cere- away ceremonies for Native peoples’ re-
monies are places where individual iden- luctance to take up the Euro-American
tities and positions within communities Protestant work ethic and nuclear family.
are established and affirmed, where so- For decades, Native peoples were forced
cial and spiritual status is conveyed and to make giveaway ceremonies a private
secured. They are moments for the ex- affair, hiding them from the eyes of reser-
pression of love, respect, thanksgiving, vation missionaries and BIA agents.
349
Green Corn Ceremony _________________________________________________________________________
Today, giveaway ceremonies are once Meaning for the Adolescent.” El Palacio
again a public and celebrated part of in- 71, no.1: 27–36.
Opler, Morris. 1941. An Apache Life Way: The
digenous spiritual life. Giveaways are Economic, Social, and Religious
reaffirmed as a central part of many Institutions of the Chiricahua Indians.
gatherings—from powwows to wed- Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Powers, Marla N. 1980. “Menstruation and
dings, to funerals, to healing cere- Reproduction: An Oglala Case.” Signs:
monies. Gift-giving holds a central place Journal of Women in Culture and Society
in the creation and maintenance of 6, no. 1: 61.
Quintero, Nita. 1980. “Coming of Age the
community, in the demonstration of re- Apache Way.” National Geographic 157:
spect for elders and spiritual leaders, 262–271.
and in the initiation of young people Rust, Horatio. 1906. “A Puberty Ceremony of
the Mission Indians.” American
into adulthood.
Anthropologist 8: 32.
Suzanne J. Crawford and Talamantez, Inés. 1991. “Images of the
Feminine in Apache Religious
Dennis F. Kelley
Traditions.” Pp. 131–145 in After
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Apache; Patriarchy: Feminist Transformations of
Ceremony and Ritual, Diné; Ceremony and World Religions. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Ritual, Nez Perce; Ceremony and Ritual, Books.
Yup’iq; First Foods Ceremonies and Food
Symbolism; Hunting, Religious Restrictions
and Implications; Masks and Masking;
Menstruation and Menarche; Mourning
and Burial Practices; Potlatch; Power, Green Corn Ceremony
Northwest Coast; Reservations, Spiritual
and Cultural Implications; Termination and Throughout the Southeast, the Green
Relocation Corn Ceremony is considered one of the
References and Further Reading most sacred events of the year. It is also
Blackman, Margaret B. 1989. Sadie Brower
referred to as the Busk, from the Creek
Neakok: An Inupiaq Woman. Seattle:
University of Washington Press. word boskita (“to fast”), because of its
Cole, Douglas, and Ira Chakin. 1990. An ceremonial fasting. Green Corn embod-
Iron Hand upon the People: The Law
ies spiritual and healing traditions for
against the Potlatch on the Northwest
Coast. Seattle: University of Washington the entire community and exemplifies
Press. the ways in which indigenous traditions
Fienup-Riordan, Ann. 1994. Boundaries and
are tailored to the needs of the people. It
Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup’ik
Eskimo Tradition. Norman: University of is a time of renewal and purification for
Oklahoma Press. the community and is celebrated when
Jonaitis, Aldona, ed. 1991. Chiefly Feasts: the first green corn ripens. Green Corn
The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch. Seattle:
University of Washington Press. works to unify the community, which is
Kan, Sergei. 1989. “Cohorts, Generations, especially important today because of
and Their Culture: Tlingit Potlatch in the the changes in lifestyles that make it dif-
1980s.” Anthropos 84: 405–422.
Keith, Anne. 1964. “The Navajo Girls’ ficult for members to live together as
Puberty Ceremony: Function and they did in preinvasion times. It is prac-
350
________________________________________________________________________ Green Corn Ceremony
ticed by many Southeastern nations, in- trilineally. It was the place where the sa-
cluding the Creeks, Cherokees, Choc- cred fire lived, where visitors were re-
taws, Muskogees, Yuchis, and Seminoles, ceived, where children were named,
yet it is as individual as each square- where disputes and other town business
ground where it is celebrated. The infor- were handled, and where other cere-
mation given here is drawn from differ- monies took place. Now, because of work
ent squaregrounds; spellings of terms obligations, many people live elsewhere,
may vary. and squaregrounds are often used like
Along with fasting, the participants campgrounds where people from the
take traditional medicine to cleanse community may come and camp out for
themselves physically, spiritually, and the duration of the ceremony.
mentally. They also clear the way for a
new year of blessings for the community Preceremony Preparation
by reflecting on and forgiving past Preparations and prohibitions depend
wrongs committed in their communion the leadership of the squareground;
ties. It is also a time for thanking and giv- however, generally speaking, partici-
ing back to the Creator (who is also re- pants must abstain from sex, alcohol,
ferred to as Old Man Above, Maker of and drugs for at least one week prior, de-
Life, and Master or Maker of Breath). pending on their role in the ceremony.
Green Corn is a clearing away of the old They must also refrain from any contact
in preparation for the new. In the past, with fresh earth—which means no buri-
when Native people made everything, als, no gardening, and no breaking of
they burned their old household items ground. On the night before taking med-
along with their old clothing in the old icine they begin fasting at midnight. Ab-
sacred fire and then began the new year solutely no food or water is allowed. They
with a clean house and new goods. Today cannot even touch water. The only con-
people burn what they can and some- cession that is made is for diabetics, who
times even offer new things to the fire, to are allowed a piece of gum or hard candy
show nonattachment to material goods. if they need sugar, but no water is given.
In the past, Green Corn was celebrated
during the new moon, between June and The First Day
August. Now, because of the five-day On the first day, Thursday, after everyone
workweek, the ceremony begins on the has set up campsites, people greet family
first Thursday after the new moon and and friends who have come from a dis-
ends on Sunday morning. Historically, tance for the ceremony. The families be-
the squareground was the town’s center. longing to that squareground are the
Families within the community founded hosts; they must make sure that all visi-
each squareground, and membership in tors are fed. Traditionally, in the after-
the squareground was passed down ma- noon, the men challenge the women to a
351
ball game that the women always win first clear the arbors of old branches and
because of handicaps imposed on the rake the trash from the ground. Then they
men. All have fun and work up a good bring in new willow boughs to repair the
sweat that helps in the purification arbor, and a man is selected to sweep all
process. of them. After sweeping he puts small
After a sumptuous feast, including the twigs from his wormseed or Mexican tea
past year’s corn, they announce a stomp broom in the forks of each of the twelve
dance. The term for stomp dance in front posts of the four main arbors to “kill
Muskogee is Opvnka hajo, loosely trans- the green wood” (Howard 1984, 126). This
lated as “crazy dance” (Howard 1984). is necessary to protect participants from
This may include a specific dance called any harmful energy that might have en-
the Stomp Dance or an entire series of tered the grounds in the willow branches.
nighttime dances. Generally, a leader is Meanwhile, the mikko and the medicine
selected along with three assistants plus man prepare some ceremonial items for
a shell shaker girl. The chief selects dif- the dances. The first dance is the women’s
ferent leaders through the night, and Ribbon Dance.
each leader determines the dances they
will do. This first day stomp usually starts Ribbon Dance
at 9:00 P.M. and ends at midnight, so that The Ribbon Dance has to precede the
the participants can be ready for the next lighting of the new sacred fire because
day’s activities. women’s “life-giving and nourishing
Power, circling the empty Fire Mound, is
The Second Day: Women’s Day necessary to cleanse and purify the
Everyone is up at sunrise on the second Grounds and make them ready to sus-
day. The setting for the Green Corn contain the birth of the new Holy Fire” (Rib-
sists of four brush-covered arbors, sup- bon Dance 4). Seen as Co-Creators or
ported by posts. The arbors are placed in Life-Carriers by the community, women
the cardinal directions, around the sacred are both “physical and spiritual conduits
fire. Each arbor contains a wooden bench of life” (Ribbon Dance 3). Even today
for seating selected members of the com- some communities require women to do
munity. The mikko (chief ) and his assis- the Ribbon Dance first, for the same rea-
tant, the hemeha (spokesperson for the son (see The Apalachicola Ribbon Dance
chief), as well as the medicine person, are website in references).
the appointed leaders of the Green Corn. When they have made all of the prepa-
The men report to the mikko, and the rations and it is time for the Ribbon
work begins. Everything at the arbor and Dance, two young emarv (messengers)
squareground is done ceremonially in a enter from the South Arbor, carrying tall,
counterclockwise direction, starting in feathered wands of cane (koh-tafv) (Rib-
the west with the mikko’s arbor. The men bon Dance 7). They call the women four
352
________________________________________________________________________ Green Corn Ceremony
times, and at the fourth call the women then they must leave the squareground
put on their leg shakers. They tradition- to the men. The medicine man sends
ally made these from turtle shells, but four specially chosen men to gather the
now some women make them from con- two herbs, pasa (spicewood) and pussy
densed milk cans. Each dancer carries a willow, to make the medicines he will
willow branch in her hand that embodies use. These are made into tea in separate
the “living prayers of the group” (Ribbon pots. The people of the Green Corn refer
Dance 2). It is an offering for the commu- to pasa as the White Drink because it pu-
nity, to the One Above, which the Ribbon rifies, but because it is actually black,
dancers will send by way of the Sacred non-Native people call it the Black
Fire at the end of the dance. They do the Drink. The medicine man (Hilishaya)
dance four times. The ribbons used in sings a prayer four times and blows the
the dances are so sacred and significant prayer into the concoction with a hollow
for the individuals, their families, and reed each time. The men drink the pussy
the community that they must be dis- willow until the urge to vomit overtakes
posed of ceremonially when they can no them. If the pussy willow does not work,
longer be used. the highly emetic spicewood tea is taken
to cause vomiting. The purpose of vomit-
Sacred Fire ing is to remove the crust that has devel-
Fire is a vital part of the Green Corn. It is oped on the lining of the stomach over
a sacred living being, lovingly given by the past year. The pasa is given only in
Master of Breath to the people so that the first of the four rounds of taking
when He looked down He would see the medicine, with pussy willow tea being
fire and know everything was all right the only drink after that.
with them. After the cleaning of the Participants get scratched lightly, four
ashes and the rebuilding of the mound, times on their arms and legs. In addition,
one member from the community arbor men sometimes request deeper scratches
and one from the leadership arbor are on their chests. Not much blood is shed,
selected to help line up the wood to start and scratching actually benefits the par-
the fire. A Fire Master is then chosen to ticipant because when they bathe their
tend the fire. When the fire is ready, they arms and legs with the White Drink it
feed it the first fine ears of corn and other seeps into the scratched areas and aids
appropriate offerings. The new fire must in healing. Scratching was originally
be kept alive until the next Green Corn. done with thorns, later with steel needles
embedded in a wooden frame or with a
Third Day: Men’s Day bent buzzard’s quill. Now, because of the
In the morning of Men’s Day, women and threat of disease, they have returned to
children may come to get “scratched” thorns, and each person gets a fresh
and to “touch” medicine if they wish, but thorn. Although every member of the
353
community can take part in this purifi- tact with other peoples. Joel Martin, in
cation process, it is not required of his book Sacred Revolt, says, “In the his-
women and children. After medicine tory of religions in North America, there
taking and scratching, the participants are probably few examples of ritual that
must “take water” (bathe) at nearby have succeeded so well in surviving
ponds, rivers, or creeks. Unfortunately, through change and crisis as the Busk”
over the years water sources have been (Martin 1991, 42). Perhaps that is be-
diverted or polluted, so participants cause of the communities’ persistence
have had to find alternative ways to com- and ability to adapt to changes while
plete the ceremony. Now participants keeping their core values. Critics believe
use nearby public facilities or shower that modern changes break with tradi-
and toilet facilities installed at the tion, but for Native Americans tradition
squareground. is not static, and the ability to change is
After fasting, scratching, medicine tak- often what keeps tradition alive. The on-
ing, and bathing, men Feather Dance, a slaught of Christianity led to the closing
dance done for community healing. The of some squaregrounds, but today some
dance is led by members of the bird clan Indian Christian churches are honoring
with feathered wands and is repeated the ceremonies and adapting them to
four times. At the end of the dance, the the needs of the people. Some formerly
men who take part are given white or closed squaregrounds are being rededi-
blue shaved egret or crane feathers, to be cated, a task that takes four years.
worn in their hats until the next Green Ananda Sattwa
Corn, as a sign that they participated and
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast;
sacrificed for the community. The Men’s Dances, Southeast; Female Spirituality;
Day ends with feasting on the new corn Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners,
Southeast
and many other foods, followed by the
all-night Stomp Dance. References and Further Reading
The Almanack. “The Creek.” http://
www.inheritage.org (Accessed May 23,
The Final Day 2002).
At dawn the participants do friendship The Apalachicola Ribbon Dance at Pine
Arbor Tribal Town in North Florida.
dances, and the men issue their final
http://www.freenet.tlh.fl.us/Museum/cu
challenge to the women to play ball. By lture/RIB2K.htm (Accessed May 23,
midday Sunday, the participants are gen- 2002).
erally on their way home, tired but with a Baird, Jason. 1998. “Yucchi Rituals: Meaning
and Tradition in Contemporary
renewed sense of community. Ceremonial Ground Life.” Ph.D. diss.,
Indiana University. http://www.loc.gov/
History folklife/fcn/Spring99.txt (Accessed May
11, 2002).
The Green Corn ceremony has weath- Berry, John. Personal Interviews. Choctaw,
ered five hundred years of “intense” con- poet, warrior, Native American Studies
354
____________________________________________________________________ Guardian Spirit Complex
librarian at the University of California Vecsey, Christopher. 1983. Traditional

Berkeley, and yearly participant in the Ojibwa Religion and Its Historical
Green Corn 5/6/02, 6/25/02, and Changes. Philadelphia: American
8/23/02. Philosophical Society.
The Cherokee Nation. “Cherokee Festivals.” ———. 1988. Imagine Ourselves Richly:
www.cherokee.org (Accessed June 18, Mythic Narratives of North American
2002). Indians. New York: Crossroad.
Garrett, J. T., and Michael Garrett. 1996. Weaver, Jace. 1998. Native American
Medicine of the Cherokee: The Way of Religious Identity: Unforgotten Gods. New
Right Relationship. Santa Fe: Bear and York: Orbis.
Company. Womack, Craig S. 1999. Red on Red: Native
Green, Donald E. 1973. The Creek People. American Literary Separatism.
Phoenix: Indian Tribal Series. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Healy, Dan. “The Thlopthlocco Creek.” Press.
http://users.aol.com/Donh523/
navapage/thlop.htm (Accessed March
30, 2002).
Howard, James H. 1984. Oklahoma
Seminoles: Medicines, Magic and Guardian Spirit Complex
Religion. In collaboration with Willie
Lena. Norman: University of Oklahoma Throughout the Pacific Northwest Coast,
Press. a spiritual tradition often referred to by
Jessop, Erin. “Green Corn Festival.”
anthropologists as the “Guardian Spirit
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/
tlresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/ Complex” was and is prevalent. The
corn.html (Accessed June 24, 2002). Guardian Spirit tradition is still active on
Kavasch, E. Barrie, and Karen Baar. 1999. the Northwest Coast. However, its prac-
American Indian Healing Arts. New York:
Bantam Books. tices are extremely private; winter spirit
Laduke, Winona. 1999. All Our Relations: dances are considered sacred and are
Native Struggles for Land and Life. closed to outsiders. Individuals will
Boston: South End Press.
Lame Deer, Archie Fire, and Richard Erdoes. rarely discuss details of their religious
1992. Gift of Power: The Life and practice and experience. To respect these
Teachings of a Medicine Man. Santa Fe: sensibilities, this essay does not discuss
Bear and Company.
Martin, Joel W. 1991. Sacred Revolt: The
such traditions in intimate detail, pro-
Muskogees’ Struggle for a New World. viding only an outline and the basic ele-
Boston: Beacon Press. ments of the tradition.
Michael, William H. 1980. The Busk Fire:
In this tradition, individuals develop
Source of Balance and Harmony.
http://www.freenet.tlh.fl.us/Museum/ relationships with spirit-powers. In
culture/THE_FIRE.htm (Accessed much of the historical and contempo-
December 16, 2004).
rary literature, this tradition is referred to
Nerburn, Kent, ed. 1993. The Soul of an
Indian and Other Writings from Ohiyesa using the Chinook jargon term tama-
(Charles Alexander Eastman). Novato, nawas or tumanos, a term used to refer
CA: New World Library. to both the practice of acquiring spirit-
Oliver, Louis Littlecoon. 1990. Chasers of
the Sun. New York: Greenfield Review powers and the spirit-powers them-
Press. selves. This tradition assumes that the
355
Guardian Spirit Complex _____________________________________________________________________
within song, dance, and ceremony, pro-

vide structure to traditional Northwest
spiritual traditions.
Such spirit-beings within the natural
world make themselves known to indi-
viduals during vision-seeking experi-
ences—most often undertaken during
puberty—and begin a lifelong relation-
ship with them, entailing obligations
and responsibilities and providing them
in return with certain abilities and pro-
tections. According to ethnographies
recorded in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, spiritual practices of
the Pacific Northwest Coast center
around relationships with spirit-powers
acquired throughout one’s life, particu-
larly at puberty and, for women, during
pregnancy (Amoss 1978). At adoles-
Interior supporting columns of Koskimo home
bearing carvings commemorating incidents in
cence, young people engage in solitary
family history, often depicting the guardian ventures, hoping to meet with and ac-
spirit of the founder. Vancouver Island, British quire spirit-powers found in the natural
Columbia, 1914. (Edward Curtis/Library of
Congress)
world. The Reverend Myron Eells de-
scribed such vision-quest endeavors
among Native communities of the South
natural world is imbued with spirits that Puget Sound, saying that they might last
can be found within plants, animals, from three to thirteen days, during
and forces of nature. The spiritual tradi- which time one did not eat or sleep but
tions of the Pacific Northwest are or- focused upon one’s songs and prayers,
dered by a worldview in which the cos- while tending a large fire and frequently
mos is filled with interconnected bathing in lakes and rivers (Castille 1985,
relationships. The natural world is sen- 395–398). When established, such rela-
tient and participates in these networks tionships are recorded in carvings upon
of relationships. Human activity, and the prows of canoes, house-posts, figures
human well-being, depend upon these at house doors, or in images left to guard
systems of relationships remaining in burial scaffolds. These relationships are
balance. These relationships, sought out also affirmed, commemorated, and
within the natural world and embodied strengthened by participating in winter
356
spirit dances, in which individuals dance ing Guardian Spirits and the gift of a
the dance of their spirit-power, provid- spirit-power. During such spirit-quests,
ing a space for communion with that spirit-powers might manifest them-
power. selves in dreams or visions. Spirit-pow-
As mentioned, children are encour- ers come in many forms: grizzly, grouse,
aged to begin searching for spirit-pow- cedar, fir, coyote. Such vision quests had
ers at a young age. Such activities are to be undertaken in a careful way, under
equally required of young men and the supervision of community elders. To
women alike. Melville Jacobs recorded attempt such a thing inappropriately
one Coos woman’s recollections: “Go would risk illness or death.
round outside! Fear nothing! No matter Among traditional Northwest Coast
how bad (fearful) it may be, you are to communities, spiritual power is consid-
go nevertheless right to it there, (per- ered a kind of wealth. More than merely
haps) to the ocean, (or perhaps) to a material possessions, spirit-powers give
lake, no matter how bad it may be, you an individual the ability to acquire mate-
must not fear it. . . . Even though (they rial goods, as well as protect her or him
are) young girls, they will nevertheless from illness, misfortune, and death. Suc-
tell such things to them. And indeed, cess in hunting, fishing, gathering, the
that is what they (girls) themselves do. use of medicinal plants, skill in basketry,
That is the way a girl at puberty goes ease of childbirth, carving, or curing are
around, swims, and encounters a (luck- all dependent upon the acquisition and
power) person indeed” ( Jacobs 1939, proper maintenance of a relationship
98). A narrative in Jacobs’s Kalapuya with the proper spirit-power.
Texts mirrors this one: “That was the In order to keep a good relationship
way my people used to be long ago. This with spirit-powers, individuals are
country gave it to us to be like that. We obliged to honor certain ritual obliga-
went to get our shaman spirit-powers in tions and restrictions. They must not eat
the mountains, and in the lakes too. the animal or plant that acted as their
That is where we got our spirit-powers. spirit-power, or even speak of it, lest they
It was in consequence of that that some cause offense. As a Coos woman told Ja-
of the people were powerful” ( Jacobs cobs, “Whatever was their dream, that is
1945, 341–342). James Swan observed what became their power. . . . [T]hey saw
these customs in practice among the them as persons, and as persons under-
Shoalwater Bay Chinook of the 1850s. stood their language. . . . [W]hatever sort
According to Swan, young women and of food was their day (spirit-power), they
men, at puberty, would fast and isolate did not eat what their day was. They said
themselves for up to seven days in the of it thus, if they should have eaten their
woods or on an island in the bay, seek- day, that then their day would take
357
Guardian Spirit Complex _____________________________________________________________________
Nuu-chah-nulth Wolf ’s Head Mask. Early nineteenth century. (Richard A. Cooke/Corbis)
vengeance on them (causing their spirit-powers are present with individu-

death)” (Jacobs 1939, 90). als all year, enabling them to do the
Spirit-powers are honored during things they are gifted to do (hunting,
spirit-dances, which often take place canoe building, berry picking, curing,
during the winter months. Spirit danc- and so forth), the spirit comes upon the
ing on the Northwest Coast remains an person particularly strongly during the
important part of traditional ceremo- winter months, demanding that it be
nial life. During the winter, songs that honored. Winter dances are generally
had been given to an individual by her organized by a member of a household
or his spirit helper return to that indi- who feels a particular need to honor her
vidual, causing discomfort and some- or his spirit-power. Among some tribal
times sickness that can be relieved only nations, an important part of these win-
through dancing and singing. While ter dances is the wearing of masks, and
358
dancing of one’s spirit-power. By danc- sult of personal relationships with

ing in these masks, often owned by fam- spirit-powers.
ily lineages and inherited through kin- The Guardian Spirit Complex of the
ship networks, spirit-powers are Northwest Coast also facilitates the
manifested and physically embodied maintenance of good social and ethical
within the community. If an individual relationships with a community. Acting
fails to honor her or his spirit-power, it inappropriately toward the source of
can place that person at risk for illness one’s spirit-power or toward another
or even death. It is thus a religious re- individual placed one at risk. Offense to
quirement to dance one’s spirit-power, a spirit-power, whether one’s own or
acting as affirmation of the relationship another’s, could cause illness or death.
and a sign of respect. The only cure was to honor and ap-
Spirit-powers play a central role in pease such spirit-powers, through
traditional Northwest Native healing properly respectful behavior and win-
ceremonies as well. A healer with a ter spirit dances.
spirit-power capable of curing an ail- Suzanne J. Crawford
ment will be called upon to cure a sick See also Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest;
individual. Illness, generally caused by Masks and Masking; Oral Traditions,
disease-causing spirit-powers, could Northwest Coast; Power, Northwest Coast;
Sacred Societies, Northwest Coast;
take the form of a physical object, Sbatatdaq (Sqadaq); Vision Quest Rites;
“shot” into someone’s body. Disease Whaling, Religious and Cultural
would in turn cause a part of an indi- Implications
vidual’s soul to become lost. It is the References and Further Reading
Amoss, Pamela. 1978. Coast Salish Spirit
healer’s task to remove the cause of ill- Dancing: The Survival of an Ancestral
ness and retrieve the patient’s lost soul. Religion. Seattle: University of
The healer will thus remove this object Washington Press.
Benedict, Ruth. 1923. The Concept of the
and its associated disease spirit-power,
Guardian Spirit in North America.
through ritual means such as song, American Anthropological Association
prayer, and dance. Guided by their Memoir 29. Arlington, VA: American
Anthropological Association.
spirit-powers, healers are given their
Bierwert, Crisca. 1999. Brushed by Cedar,
own individualized approach to heal- Living by the River: Coast Salish Figures
ing. Some might touch or massage the of Power. Tucson: University of Arizona
Press.
patient’s body, others sit and sing.
Castille, George Pierre, ed. 1985. The
Some will use cedar diving boards like Indians of Puget Sound: The Notebooks of
the squidaylich; others might burn Myron Eels. Seattle: University of
sage or cedar. Some healers are paid, Washington Press.
Jacobs, Melville. 1939. “Coos Narrative and
while others refuse payment. Personal- Ethnologic Texts.” University of
ized healing practices were thus the re- Washington Publications in
359
Guardian Spirit Complex, Plateau __________________________________________________________
Anthropology 8, no. 1. Seattle: University Anthropology no. 7. Seattle: University of

of Washington Press. Washington Press.
Jacobs, Melville, Leo J. Frachtenberg, and
Albert S. Gatschet. 1945. Kalapuya Texts.
University of Washington Publications in
Anthropology 11. Seattle: University of
Washington Press. Guardian Spirit Complex,
Spier, Leslie. 1935. The Prophet Dance of the
Northwest and Its Derivatives: The Source Plateau
of the Ghost Dance. General Series in
Anthropology, no. 1. Menasha, WI: See Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau
George Banta.
Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays.
Vancouver: Talonbooks; and Seattle:
Swan, James G. 1969. The Northwest Coast, Guardian Spirit
or, Three Years’ Residence in Washington
Territory. Seattle: University of Traditions, Northwest
Washington Press.
Verne, Ray. 1938. Lower Chinook Texts. See Whaling, Religious and Cultural
University of Washington Publications in Implications
360
H
Healing Traditions, mawish, a verb that most closely trans-
lates as “to be healthy” or “to deal well
California
with situations.” While the particular
Healing ceremonies and traditions can words and meanings for health are dif-
be any event wherein a person, family, or ferent in every culture, this concept in-
community may seek healing from phys- terpreting health as an action verb is an
ical ailments, spiritual imbalance, or the excellent place to start when learning
complex combinations of both that about healing traditions in Native North
many indigenous communities world- America.
wide recognize as the sources of illness. For Native people who have become
Prayers and ceremonies for the healing unhealthy because of the imbalance of
of the land are also often performed. their own actions, someone else’s actions
These two foci are sometimes not treated toward them, exposure to infectious
separately in healing practices of Native agents, as a result of living in dire poverty
North America, as it is often seen that the in a polluted environment, or a combi-
health of human beings and the health of nation of all of those factors, there are
the land are inseparable. many practices available that will help
There are as many ways to heal as them move toward equilibrium. There
there are ways to be unwell. In Native are formal ceremonies involving one’s
California, there are hundreds of ideas entire community, since illness is rarely
defining “health” and “sickness,” a diver- seen as isolated within a single individ-
sity that reflects the hundreds of lan- ual. The Nations of northern California
guages and worldviews extant in Native are well known for their days-long com-
North America (Mithun 1999), and munity ceremonies dedicated to the
within California as well. Among the Bar- healing of children. This is a time when
bareño Chumash of the central coast of virtually everyone whom the sick child
California, the word for health is shu- knows will cease usual daily activities in
361
Healing Traditions, California ______________________________________________________________
order to participate in singing and danc- the power of human constructions of ill-
ing the child well. Virtually all indige- ness. The majority of the world does not
nous Nations in California perform heal- recognize as an illness what the U.S.
ing ceremonies in which the entire medical establishment has designated
community participates. These are often attention deficit disorder; however, peo-
days-long affairs involving tremendous ple do experience this as a real condition
organization and output of energy and with serious, real-life consequences.
skill. I have often heard it expressed dur- A theme central to virtually all indige-
ing these ceremonies that for an event of nous California healing traditions is the
this size, the cooks, food servers, security emphasis on the community, the family,
personnel, and announcement-makers and the culture as a whole. While to an
play as important a role in the healing as outsider it may seem during some of
do the doctors and ceremonial singers. these ceremonies that the focus is on one
In most indigenous California Na- individual, it is not the case that all of
tions, there are also less elaborate but this effort is being expended solely for
equally effective healing ceremonies that the well-being of that one person. An in-
consist solely of the indigenous doctor, dividual is generally understood to be
the ill person or persons, and sometimes out of balance in relation to all elements
also others who are specialized singers of of the world—community, environment,
healing songs. A healing ceremony can economy, the political sphere—all the
be as simple as two people in a parked realms of existence in which human be-
car smoking tobacco and praying, or one ings must situate themselves, for better
person alone, praying for the healing of or for worse. Among the Chumash, as
the community and for loved ones. Both well as among many other peoples, ill-
these simpler and more elaborate heal- ness can be caused by a jealous person
ing traditions are often in response to or persons who can “shoot” an individ-
health issues that are not recognized as ual or community with poison (Se-bu-
such by mainstream American medi- tah 1998; Sevedge 2002). This phenome-
cine. To cite an example outside of Cali- non is seen outside of Native California
fornia, the illness known in Mexico and communities as well. According to Gor-
Central America as susto is contracted by don Se-bu-tah of the Blackfeet Nation
a person who experiences tremendous and Randy Sevedge of the Choctaw Na-
fear or stress that remains in the body, tion—two indigenous nations that are
sapping the spirit and making the person very different in language, culture, and
chronically ill (Rubel, O’Nell, and Col- belief systems from those found in Cali-
lado-Ardón 1984). A person can die from fornia, and from each other—these poi-
susto, and great energy is spent during sons will usually work first to impede
curing procedures. To label susto merely people’s mobility. Their ability to get
as a social construction underestimates around and perform their duties for their
362
_____________________________________________________________ Healing Traditions, California
families and communities will be im- materials used for more complex prob-
paired, a situation that affects the entire lems. Long before germ theory was de-
community. In recognition of the spiri- veloped by European medicine in the
tual and systemic nature of this imbal- 1850s (Duffin 1999), there were treat-
ance, ceremonies, both elaborate and ments for septic wounds and virally
simple, are conducted in order to clean communicated illness among California
the people off, make them whole again Indians. Although introduced infectious
in relation to their families and larger diseases such as smallpox, cholera, diph-
community. theria, and measles are extremely viru-
Rarely discussed by anthropologists lent and they overwhelmed indigenous
and other researchers who have pub- communities (along with virtually every
lished vast amounts of material on the other culture in the world, no matter
healing practices of Native North Ameri- how “advanced” their medical tradition),
cans is the role of diet and nutrition in infection from both minor and serious
healing traditions. Among many Califor- wounds can be easily kept to a minimum
nia Indian people, diet is considered to through the use of antimicrobial medici-
be the first line of defense in one’s physi- nal plants.
cal health. Deliberate avoidance of intro- Today, California Indians are faced
duced foods—refined sugar, white flour, with health problems rarely experienced
processed fats—is an act of healing not by our ancestors. Along with the poor
only from poor nutrition but also from nutritional patterns introduced by the
the effects of the colonial culture that dominant society, the violence of
imposed this unhealthy eating pattern in poverty has produced a state of despair
the first place (Margolin 2001). The verging on hopelessness among many
choice to sustainably gather and con- Nations. Compounded by chronic alco-
sume more traditional foods is also con- holism, drug abuse, high suicide rates,
sidered an act of healing (Gendar, Ortiz, domestic violence, and the highest rates
and Margolin 2000; McCovey 2000). The of both Type I and Type II diabetes in the
inability to do so because of destruction world, this despair is even further exac-
of the natural places where these foods erbated by the policies of the dominant
were found in traditional times—or the society, which continue to destroy Native
destruction of the knowledge of which lands, invade community and individual
plants to gather and how to prepare privacy, and steal Native traditions and
them—points once again to the systemic sacred items. A casual visit to a reserva-
nature of imbalance. tion will not reveal the complexity of the
If the problem persists, other interpre- ill health experienced by both reserva-
tations as to the cause of a person’s or tion and urban California Indians. Even
community’s illness may be then drawn among Nations that have brought about
upon. Plant medicines are among the an era of self-determination and eco-
363
nomic prosperity, problems with alco- mary symptoms at all, but on the events
holism, domestic violence, diabetes, and and disturbances experienced by those
suicide persist (Trafzer and Weiner entities. Past history, both personal and
2001). In both Native societies and medical, are also often addressed. This
among non-Natives in the dominant so- process takes much longer than the
ciety, poor nutrition is common among usual half-hour allotted by U.S. health
the wealthy, as the rising rate of Type II maintenance organizations, and it is
diabetes in all North American commu- meant to gain an understanding of the
nities demonstrates. entire community and of the cultural
California Indian Healing ceremonies context of the imbalances that have led
and traditions have changed over the to illness.
past few generations in order to address Not all California Indian healers use
new health issues. While a singer of heal- plants in their healing traditions. Many
ing songs and ceremonies will, with great are ceremonial singers, who heal a per-
strength and rigorous training by his or son’s body and spirit by bringing the
her elders, hold to ancient traditional power of their songs to address the im-
song patterns and ceremonial configura- balance. Many other doctors are able to
tions, new songs and ritual practices are see where in the person’s body the imbal-
constantly developed in response to ance is located and literally pull it out
these unprecedented stressors. Many through a variety of means (Sarris 1994;
new plant medicines are now being used Margolin 2001; Nelson 1983; Walker and
to address previously unknown illness Hudson 1993). Very often, an indigenous
states such as diabetes, neurodegenera- doctor will have at her or his disposal the
tive disorders such as multiple sclerosis, powerful influence of tobacco, a sacred
and autoimmune conditions such as medicine used to purify and make whole
lupus. These medicines are not generally the person’s connection to the earth, the
used simply as more “natural” versions spirit world, and the greater community.
of the chemical pharmaceuticals that are The habitual misuse of this powerful
prescribed by Western physicians to ad- medicine is now known by nearly every
dress a symptom-pattern. Rather, they culture on earth to cause tremendous
are generally used as part of a person’s damage.
overall change in behavioral patterns, The use of medicinal plants for heal-
prayer, diet, and physical activity, and ing is not confined to the esoteric knowl-
the ritual recognition by one’s commu- edge of indigenous healing specialists.
nity that one’s health is being improved Everyone with any knowledge of every-
in relation to that community. Indeed, day traditional practices can identify and
many of the questions asked in diagnos- use plants for medicine. That knowledge,
ing the person’s or community’s pattern among people still connected to their
of imbalance do not focus on the pri- homeland, is as common as knowledge
364
California
The California Indians, when taken as a whole, reside in a culture area that
includes roughly the present-day state of California as well as the Lower Cal-
ifornia Peninsula, or Baja California. There are two mountain ranges that
run north and south through the state of California: the Coast Ranges to the
west and the Sierra Nevada to the east. The Coast Ranges drop off to coastal
lowlands along the Pacific coast in most areas, but rocky cliffs and awe-in-
spiring vistas characterize the range to the north. Between the Coast Ranges
and the Sierra Nevada, the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers form a basin
known as the Central Valley. The climate is generally a mild, Mediterranean-
style, with wet and dry seasons and many days of warm weather, especially
in the south. Rainfall varies significantly throughout the state, with the
forested regions in the north receiving the highest levels and the deserts in
the south the lowest. Plant and animal life abound, and the region boasts a
rich and varied ecology.
The Sierra Nevada mountain range has long provided a natural barrier
to the movement of peoples. As a result, Native Americans east of the
Sierra Nevada practice markedly different ways of life and are often in-
cluded in the Great Basin or Southwest culture areas. Some Indian peoples
just south of California’s present-day northern border shared ways of life
with peoples of the Northwest Coast culture area and the Plateau culture
area further inland.
California was one of the most densely populated North American cul-
ture areas before European contact, with numerous tribes and bands speak-
ing more than 100 distinct languages. Nearly all of the Indian language fam-
ilies in the lower forty-eight states are represented in California.
Much scientific evidence places the first human occupancy of California
at the very end of the last ice age (approx. 10,000 years BP), but the rich na-
ture of tribal sacred history reveals a continuous interaction between peo-
ples, movements in and out of regions, and long-term stewardship of spe-
cific regions from time immemorial. It very well may have been that the
California culture area was a melting pot of sorts, with tribal groups influ-
encing one another through both trade and population movement.
continues
California (continued)
California once had abundant resources that supported large Native
American populations without the need for agriculture before the arrival of
Europeans. The dietary staple of most California Indians was the acorn,
which was collected in the fall. Acorns can be pounded into flour and rinsed
of the bitter-tasting tannic acid, creating an acorn meal that can be boiled
into a soup or gruel or baked into bread. This complex carbohydrate, when
augmented with protein from fish or meat, provides an extremely healthy
diet.
Most Native Americans in the California culture area lived in villages of
related families with descent and property ownership traced through the
male’s family. Permanent villages often had smaller satellite villages nearby,
and the complex was presided over by one principal chief, acting much like
the mayors of contemporary California. In addition, many regional groups
made use of temporary hunting or gathering camps that they occupied for
portions of the year.
Religiously, the region is far too diverse to accommodate here, but suf-
fice it to say that the sometimes-fickle nature of California’s weather pat-
terns produced philosophical systems that took the uncertain nature of the
universe into consideration, with the sacred beings often unconcerned
about their human communities. Not relying on simple good versus evil
scenarios, California Indian religions tend to view the world as it is. Reli-
gious professionals have the ability to sway spiritual matters in one direc-
tion or another, either through the employment of specific ritualized formu-
lae, or through the constant monitoring of the movements of the cosmos.
California Indian peoples also employed healing artists, people with knowl-
edge of the workings of the human body, herbal remedies to aid in the
body’s repair, and propitiation of spiritual influences that may be causing
physical harm from the spiritual realm.
California’s diverse and varied climate, then, presides over a diverse
human situation, as well, with many language groupings interacting with
the physical landscape, producing religious systems that allow for the con-
tinuing interaction with territory both physical and sacred.
_____________________________________________________________ Healing Traditions, California
of game animals. There are of course cer- and individuals and are often more
tain plants with talismanic and spiritual prized than other possessions such as
power, such as datura or peyote, that are houses or cars. To acquire a song or ritual
generally gathered or prepared only by a from a group without permission, many
selected group of ritual specialists. indigenous singers assert, is tantamount
I have intentionally attempted to re- to breaking into a home and stealing pre-
veal very little specific data regarding the cious family heirlooms. Often a song or
healing ceremonies and traditions of Na- song cycle sung in the presence of peo-
tive North Americans. My reasons for ple outside one’s family or clan will begin
doing so are as crucial to the continua- with an elaborate introduction detailing
tion of these healing ceremonies as is the the song’s meaning, origin, and prohibi-
passage of specific information down tion of use by others—unless the song is
through the generations of people for being formally gifted.
whom these traditions are their While it is possible for privileged non-
birthright. There are few areas of Native Indians to read about, co-opt, and prac-
American spiritual tradition more im- tice Native ceremonies with total im-
portant to American Indian peoples than punity, the people to whom those
those practiced for the healing of indi- ceremonies belong often find them-
viduals and communities. There are also selves in a battle for the right to practice
few areas more exploited, inappropri- them unimpeded. American Indians
ately co-opted, and misinterpreted by are, on paper only, guaranteed by law
non-Indian scholars, as well as by non- the freedom from harassment during
Indian individuals seeking a spiritual healing ceremonies and other spiritual
path that they believe will harness for gatherings. The American Indian Reli-
them the power of Native ceremonies. gious Freedom Act is only rarely en-
Many Indian people argue that, after forced, and it is very often willfully vio-
stealing the lands, languages, and modes lated by local, state, and federal
of self-determination practiced by in- authorities. Why is that the case for Na-
digenous cultures, the dominant society tive Americans and not for mainstream
is now unashamedly stealing Native American religious traditions? Many
American healing and ceremonial tradi- scholars and community activists—both
tions (Rose 1992; Churchill 1992; Whitt indigenous and non-Native—feel that,
1998). That this is not a recent phenome- in the case of indigenous religious tradi-
non is demonstrated by Teton Dakota tions, this violation is directly impli-
scholar Philip Deloria, who argues that cated in battles over land tenure and
“[p]laying Indian” is a long-established natural resources extraction. California
Anglo-American pastime (1998). Indian healing ceremonies and tradi-
Among California Indians, songs and tions are inseparable from the lands in
ceremonies are said to belong to families which these traditions were developed
367
in rich context over the millennia. Now, ducted in privacy, while working along-
in the last five hundred and more years, side Native American communities to
those lands have been grievously in- ensure that we can do so.
jured, along with the peoples whose Julianne Cordero-Lamb
identity and health are part and parcel of See also Academic Study of American
the health of their homelands. Ulti- Indian Religious Traditions; Ceremony and
mately, of course, the destruction of the Ritual, California; Datura; Herbalism; Law,
Legislation, and Native Religion; McKay,
land destroys the health and lives of all Mabel; Missionization, California; New Age
people, regardless of their long-standing Appropriation; Parrish, Essie; Sacred Sites
ties to any particular place. and Sacred Mountains
Indigenous Californians must con- References and Further Reading
stantly defend sacred lands where me- Churchill, Ward. 1992. Fantasies of the
Master Race: Literature, Cinema, and
dicinal plants are gathered, where gener- the Colonization of American Indians.
ations of our families have gone to pray, Monroe, ME: Common Courage
and where healing ceremonies have Press.
Cook-Lynn, Elizabeth. 1998. “American
been performed since time immemorial. Indian Intellectualism and the New
These lands are seen by the dominant Indian Story.” In Natives and Academics:
society only for their potential develop- Researching and Writing about
American Indians. Edited by Devon A.
ment value. It is in the court records of Mihesuah. Lincoln: University of
legal battles to defend sacred lands that Nebraska Press.
the most impassioned arguments re- Deloria, Philip. 1998. Playing Indian. New
garding Native North American healing Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1998. “Comfortable
ceremonies and traditions can be found Fictions and the Struggle for Turf: An
(Deloria, Jr. 1998). It would be more ap- Essay Review of The Invented Indian:
Cultural Fictions and Government
propriate, and possibly also more re-
Policies.” Pp. 65–83 in Natives and
warding, for non-Indian scholars to ask Academics: Researching and Writing
themselves how their research can en- about American Indians. Edited by
Devon A. Mihesuah. Lincoln: University
sure that Native peoples are unimpeded
of Nebraska Press.
in the practice of healing ceremonies Duffin, Jacalyn. 1999. History of Medicine: A
and traditions, rather than focusing on Scandalously Short Introduction.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
and publishing the specific details of
Gendar, Jeannine, Beverly R. Ortiz, Sadie
those traditions. It is as important to the Cash Margolin. 2000. “Acorn Power: A
effectiveness of the healing ceremony to Special Report on Food and Fitness in
be left in privacy as are the specific prac- Native California.” News from Native
California 13, no. 3 (spring).
tices performed, stories told, and songs Margolin, Malcolm. 2001. “An Interview
sung. Members of the dominant society with Loren Smith.” News from Native
can participate in the healing cere- California 14, no. 4 (summer).
McCovey, Shaunna. 2000. “I Still Eat All My
monies by deliberately, and mindfully, Meals with a Mussel Shell.” News from
allowing the ceremonies to be con- Native California 14, no. 2 (winter).
368
_____________________________________________________________ Healing Traditions, Northwest
Mithun, Marianne. 1999. The Languages of of specialists much like those of the
Native North America. New York: modern medico-religious profession.
Cambridge University Press.
Nelson, Richard K. 1983. Make Prayers to After massive dieoffs as a result of Euro-
the Raven: A Koyukon View of the pean diseases and dislocations, ordinary
Northern Forest. Chicago: University of spiritual practitioners who survived
Chicago Press.
Rose, Wendy. 1992. “The Great Pretenders: began to assume more and more of the
Further Reflections on functions and practices of these special-
Whiteshamanism.” Pp. 403–421 in The ists. Formerly, those functions included
State of Native America: Genocide,
Colonization, and Resistance. Edited by
that of curer of various types, medium
M. Annette Jaimes. Boston: South End who communed with the dead, song
Press. master who untangled tunes, puberty
Sarris, Greg. 1994. Mabel McKay: Weaving
preceptor, baby broker who understood
the Dream. Berkeley: University of
California Press. babies’ needs, and that of priestly figures
Se-Bu-Tah, Gordon. 1998. Interview by the who conducted rites such as the First
author. Santa Barbara, CA, April 16.
Salmon and other return foods festivals.
Sevedge, Randall. 2002. Transcribed
telephone conversation with the author.
Bisbee, AZ, February 8. Tsimshians
Whistler, Kenneth W. 1980. An Interim
Along the North Pacific coast, for Tlingit
Barbareño Dictionary. National
Anthropological Archives, NHB-152. and Haida, masks were worn by religious
Washington, DC: Smithsonian specialists while working. The neighbor-
Institution. ing Tsimshian, however, used many
Whitt, Laurie Anne. 1998. “Cultural
Imperialism and the Marketing of Native masks more generally as manifestations
America.” In Natives and Academics: of rank and power. Tsimshian culture
Researching and Writing about American was imaged as a beam of light from
Indians. Edited by Devon A. Mihesuah.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Heaven that refracted into several
branches whose emblems were posi-
tioned on the model of a head. Crests
were passed through mothers and were
Healing Traditions, embodied as hats, carvings of chiefly
rank and power were worn on the fore-
Northwest
head, and masks covered the face.
Throughout the Northwest, certain peo- Shamans themselves were known as
ple maintained constant contact with “blowers,” utilizing the mouth, but their
sources of power and spirit beings that power resided in their hair, which re-
enabled them to change conditions for mained unkempt and uncut.
the better—and sometimes for the For Tsimshians, the primordial beings
worse, if they had a selfish reason to do are called Naxnox, and the powerful re-
so. Although often called shamans or In- fracted light is halaayt. During the 1800s,
dian doctors, they once included a range halaayt took six manifestations. It was
369
Healing Traditions, Northwest ______________________________________________________________
personalized as a blower—a curer who of the Salishan Language Family, which

could be either a man or a woman who also includes Lushootseed and Tilla-
served year-round. The Tsimshian year mook. These three well illustrate the di-
was divided between summer activities versity once seen even among related
devoted to fishing and harvesting wild languages.
foods, followed by winter religious and
communal events. A chief, as head of a Nuxalk
cedar plank house, therefore had two At birth, each Nuxalk person’s soul or
guises. During the summer he coordi- spirit took up residence in a thin bone at
nated dispersed food gathering, but with the back of the neck. Other spiritual as-
the onset of winter he became Smha- pects were located above. In the begin-
laayt (real halaayt) and took over a more ning, the Creator at Nusmatta (a huge
priestly role that included religious du- house in the upper world) set up a tally
ties involved with feasting, displays of post and a section in a water basin for
heirloom art, and intertribal entertain- every named person who would live. As
ment. Members of high rank also be- named couples, these beings floated
longed to one of four secret orders down to tops in the human homeland,
known as Wutahalaayt (great halaayt), then set up villages along waterways and
which crossed local allegiances to be in- began families. At death, a Nuxalk sepa-
ternational and privileged in scope. rated into corpse, shadow, and ghost.
These six roles do not exhaust the Since names were inherited, the ghost
realm, however, since various groups went back through an unbroken line that
and guilds of artists who made the crests, led back up to Nusmatta.
emblems, and embellishments also had When a Nuxalk took seriously ill, spe-
religious functions to perform, often in cial healers had the ability to get to Nus-
private. Indeed, the penalty for stum- matta and inspect the patient’s pole and
bling upon a secluded workshop was im- basin. If the pole leaned, the acuteness of
mediate death unless the person was of the angle indicated the outcome of the ill-
high enough rank to demand immediate ness. If possible, the pole was set upright
initiation. again, and the water in the basin was re-
The Northwest coast included this newed. Failing that, a doctor would sacri-
typical distinction between summer fice grease, bark bowls, and tiny wooden
chief and winter priest for all its leaders. figures to the dead, who lived under the
Most detailed information is a conse- earth. With their help, a sucking cure
quence of the length of time, personali- would suddenly become effective.
ties, and rapport that characterized any
fieldwork situation. Outstanding for the Lushootseeds
coast is that for the Nuxalk (formerly For the Lushootseeds of Puget Sound, im-
Bella Coola), the northernmost member mortal beings provide career or curing
370
_____________________________________________________________ Healing Traditions, Northwest
abilities. Leaders had spirits, themselves Ghosts were the souls of the dead,
leaders, that empowered them to give who were tormented by hunger, loneli-
wise council and acquire wealth, as well ness, and nostalgia for their possessions
as to hunt the most dangerous of animals. and relatives. Those ghosts who were still
The term for both spirits and their in contact with the living roamed the
human allies, derived from the Lushoot- earth between about 3:00 P.M. and 3:00
seed for “name” or “call”: in the Native A.M. Ghosts were particularly attracted by
system of medicine, to designate human gatherings, especially when peo-
(“name”) the cause of an illness correctly ple were eating. A ghost was closest of all
was to diagnose the cure. Healers and when its name was being inherited by a
curing spirits were always at the ready, descendant. Certain humans once acted
unlike career powers whose closeness as mediums because they had a special
varied with the seasons. relationship with a ghost, who warned of
Just as European noble families sent calamity. This medium conducted rituals
sons into the church, into business, into in which food and clothes were burned
banking, or into the military to widen in a fire to send them to the dead. While
their power base, so too did Lushootseed such burnings were once held sepa-
nobles try to have members in all posi- rately, they have now become managed
tions of authority; leadership was multi- by shamans as the first event at modern
plex, depending upon the task. More- power displays, memorials, and pot-
over, modern Salish families extend this latches.
strategy to include many contemporary Dicta were a set of enchantments (in-
options, particularly religious ones. cantations and formulas) for influencing
Thus, while families continue to attend or directing the world and its inhabi-
winter ceremonials to welcome the re- tants. They were passed down family
turn of spirit partners, on Sunday they lines to influence the minds and hearts
devotedly attend Protestant, Catholic, of all living things.
Baha’i, or other services. In modern Salishan religion, the High
Lushootseed had at least four overlap- God now features in the Indian Shaker
ping systems of power and consequent Church and various Christian funda-
specialists concerned with guardian mental denominations. Belief in an ulti-
spirits, ghosts, dicta (word formulas, mate power, however, was ancient and
spells), and the High God. Each spirit has known as xa’xa—which means anything
two aspects, as being and as song, with a sacred and holy as well as forbidden—
third term used to personify the vision it- taboo in such a way as to provide a deifi-
self. The song came from the east in the cation of power.
fall, moved slowly north, westward, then Puberty preceptors have faded out
south during the winter; in late April or under Christian influence, yet many fea-
so, it headed east again. tures from traditional puberty seclusion
371
Healing Traditions, Northwest ______________________________________________________________
have been incorporated into the modern well as techniques for drying fish, pick-
initiation of Winter Dancers. While a ing berries, digging clams, weaving, bas-
boy’s coming of age was marked by ketry, and keeping a household running
changes in his voice and body, girls once smoothly and well. She was told to be
observed great restrictions. Placed in a good to her mother-in-law, other affines,
special hut, a girl’s bed was made of fresh and all elders, while showing kindness
fir boughs. Every night, she left her hut to and compassion to everyone.
go to a creek to bathe and scrub with rot- After her first seclusion a girl was re-
ten cedar to make herself clean. During garded as dark or light for six weeks, ac-
the day she kept very busy, weaving mats cording to the phases of the moon. On
or blankets, making yarn, or coiling bas- dark days, when the moon waned, her
kets. This effort made her industrious face was painted red, and on light days,
her whole life, and desirable as a good when the moon waxed, she was visited
wife. by other women.
If it was ripe berry season, a first men-
struant picked with a stick (called a “bri- Tillamooks
dle”) between her teeth; the stick was in- Along the Oregon coast, the Tillamook
spected by older women at the end of once had five types of practitioner, each
each day to see if she had stained it by concerned with healing, poisons, spirits,
eating any forbidden berries. Her strict love, and the baby (Seaburg and Miller
diet included food that was allowed to 1990, 565). The first three wore the in-
cool if it was cooked. She ate very little, signia of a braided human hair belt with
mostly roots, but nothing fresh or warm, its ends hanging behind like a tail. Al-
using special dishes that were destroyed though these specialists became wealthy
afterward. Fresh and bloody foods were by their efforts, they were generous at
particularly avoided. winter ceremonials and so never
Toward the end of her month of seclu- amassed a hoard.
sion, her grandmother invited other old Healers were both men and women,
women to sing, dance, and feast to enter- who would blow while curing. Only men
tain the girl, who could not herself join used their hands to extract illness, while
in. Because of her supercharged condi- women would only suck, specializing in
tion, she was under strong ritual restric- the removal of blood, black ooze, or
tions. She could not look at anyone or white ooze, which was thrown into a fire
they would become sick. She never or drowned in a basket. In severe cases, it
touched her own hair. She used a stick of was both drowned and burned. These
ironwood to scratch. women received their power from a
Every day the girl was instructed by being called Wild Woman, whose em-
older women about how to conduct her- blem was tattooed on their breasts. Male
self calmly when she was married, as healers carved or painted their emblem
372
___________________________________________ Health and Wellness, Traditional Approaches
on their headboard, which stood at the Masks and Masking; Oral Traditions,
healer’s bed until brought into use dur- Northwest Coast; Power, Northwest Coast;
Religious Leadership, Northwest; Sacred
ing a cure. Societies, Northwest Coast; Sbatatdaq
Poison doctors were always men, with (Sqadaq)
the ability to send their own “poisons” or References and Further Reading
to extract that sent by other shamans. Miller, Jay. 1988. Shamanic Odyssey: The
Lushootseed Salish Journey to the Land of
Their medical kit included deer-hoof rat- the Dead, in Terms of Death, Potency, and
tles tied on a stick layered with eagle Cooperating Shamans in North America.
feathers, carved humanoid poles with Anthropological Papers 32. Menlo Park,
CA: Ballena Press.
faces inset with abalone shell eyes, and a
———. 1992. “Native Healing in Puget
headdress made of fringed cedar bark or Sound.” Caduceus (Winter) 8, 3: 1–15.
red male hummingbird scalps. A poison ———. 1997. Tsimshian Culture: A Light
through the Ages. Lincoln: University of
itself was sometimes represented as a
Nebraska Press.
tiny bone humanoid doll, or as a fish. ———. 1999. Lushootseed Culture and the
Their treatment went on for five nights. Shamanic Odyssey: An Anchored
Radiance. Lincoln: University of
Spirit doctors, always men, journeyed
Nebraska Press.
in human daytime to the afterworld to Seaburg, William, and Jay Miller. 1990.
retrieve the souls of patients who were ill “Tillamook.” Pp. 560–567 in Handbook of
but not dead. This spirit could be re- North American Indians: Northwest
Coast, vol. 7. Edited by Wayne Suttles.
turned only after human dark, when it Washington, DC: Smithsonian
was safe from recapture. In difficult Institution Press.
cases, he sometimes sucked out a pur- Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays.
plish ooze sent from the dead.
Only women served as love doctors,
able to manipulate affections and sexual
abilities. A baby broker was a man who Health and Wellness,
could converse with babies and dream of
Traditional Approaches
events in Babyland, where fetuses lived
until they went to be born from human At the time of the European contact, each
mothers. tribal group throughout the Americas had
Today, throughout the Northwest, the well established indigenous health care
aboriginal variety of religious func- delivery systems. Some had only one or
tionaries now appears in the diversity of two healers, while others had more com-
leaders of church denominations, be- plex systems, with an array of resources
liefs, and spiritual practices, as else- and specialists including midwives,
where in the modern world. bonesetters, herbalists, and so forth.
Jay Miller Every family also had a family member
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest; who had extensive knowledge about
Dance, Northwest Winter Spirit Dances; home remedies, and each household
373
Health and Wellness, Traditional Approaches ____________________________________________
maintained a formulary of herbs and not only spiritual significance but also
other supplies for times of emergency. At the spirit itself. For that reason, certain
the center of most tribal health delivery animals serve as guardian spirits (pro-
systems were healers whose knowledge tectors) or as a totemic sign for a particu-
and expertise enabled them to call upon lar societal group or clan. Members of
both natural and supernatural resources the eagle clan, for example, may perform
to help restore health or to halt an indi- certain religious activities that call for
vidual’s unusual bout of misfortune. help from the spirit of the eagle, which is
Tribal health care delivery systems, their clan totem or guardian spirit. These
both in the past as well as now, have relationships highlight tribal beliefs
been embedded in the sociocultural-re- about the spiritual relationship between
ligious fabric of the respective tribes. The man, nature, and the spirit world. Those
prevailing perception held by many beliefs acknowledge that spirituality is
tribes has been that health is intercon- transcendental in nature and can influ-
nected with morality and spirituality, ence the manner by which one per-
and that the well-being of an individual ceives, adjusts, or seeks remedies in
and of the community requires vigilant times of ill health or misfortune.
attention to maintaining harmonious re- Most tribes share a common set of
lationships with nature and with other cultural beliefs about health and illness,
living beings. It is believed that the dis- despite inherent intertribal cultural and
ruption of this harmony can result not linguistic differences. Understandably,
only in sickness but also in vulnerability some of these beliefs have been modi-
to misfortune. To prevent illnesses and fied, forgotten, or replaced with others
misfortune, tribal members strictly ob- over the years, primarily because of on-
serve numerous tribal taboos and other going cultural changes and accultura-
moral codes. Other preventive measures tion. The impetus for change comes
include the use of talismans, medicine from many sources, including the adop-
pouches, guardian spirits, and obser- tion of beliefs offered by organized reli-
vance of certain important ceremonial gions, formal schooling, experiences
activities. outside tribal communities, access to
Within the worldview of most tribes, and utilization of allopathic medicine,
nature is informed with spiritual signifi- urbanization, and the like. That is not to
cance. This spiritual significance is fre- say that all traditional beliefs have been
quently embodied in certain landforms modified or forgotten. They have not.
(sacred sites, sacred objects, sacred Some traditional cultural beliefs about
lands), animals, and the like. For exam- health and illness remain strong today
ple, eagles, ravens, bowhead whales, buf- and continue to play a significant role in
falo, and salmon are examples of animals how individuals or groups respond to ill-
considered by some tribes as embodying ness or other life-threatening situations.
374
Victor M. Begay, a Diné medicine man, during a sandpainting healing ritual. In the sandpainting
ceremony, a skilled medicine man creates a symbolic picture by strewing finely powdered pigments
on the floor of a hogan. The patient sits on the painting and eats a given medicine. After the
ceremony the sand is collected and placed outside the hogan. Each illness requires a specific
painting, and the Diné probably use more than 1,000 different designs. Monument Valley, Arizona,
1994. (Arne Hodalic/Corbis)
Health beliefs and behaviors are Christian Scientists believe in and make
shaped and influenced by many factors, use of prayer as the ultimate and primary
but a significant one for American Indi- source of healing; and Catholics’ belief
ans and Alaska Natives has been the about the sanctity of life forbids its mem-
pressure from organized religion. This bers to accept abortion, in vitro fertiliza-
push-pull relationship between one’s tion, or the use of contraceptives.
spiritual beliefs and one’s health behav- Membership in organized religions
ior, however, is not unique to tribes or in- (many of which historically have dis-
digenous religions. Through their teach- couraged the use of indigenous healing
ings, organized religions shape or resources) and accessibility to allopathic
reinforce certain health beliefs and be- medicine are but two influences that
haviors among their members. For ex- have modified the traditional health be-
ample, Jehovah’s Witness followers share liefs and behaviors of many tribal mem-
a proscription against blood transfusion; bers. Despite those changes, many tribal
375
leaders still advocate for the preserva- ceremony may be occurring in an urban
tion of traditional healing and for the use setting, the participants’ quest for a tra-
of healers in their communities. In fact, ditional form of purification, blessing, or
most tribal leaders and health advocates rebirth has not changed.
want traditional tribal healing to be one Although they generally do not op-
of the resources included among the oppose its use by others, there are tribal
tions offered by their local allopathic members who do not utilize traditional
medical services. healers or traditional tribal medicine.
Advocates for this inclusion represent Most are among those whose ancestors
a growing cross section of tribal commu- or families were converted (voluntarily
nities, including non-Indian health care or forcibly) into one of the many orga-
providers. Foremost among the health nized religions after European contact,
care providers who have advocated for, when various organized religions re-
and are using, traditional tribal healers ceived congressional or presidential ap-
are providers in mental health and sub- proval to locate their churches in tribal
stance abuse treatment programs. Out- communities in order to gain converts.
side those programs, the number of indi- The Europeans and their missionaries
viduals and families who make use of looked upon native spirituality as evil
traditional tribal healers is also on the in- and as inspired by evil superstitions. Un-
crease. Among the growing numbers of able to understand this holistic concept,
those who rely on traditional tribal heal- the European colonizers and the church
ing are individuals who may be facing groups were quick to judge tribes they
life-threatening conditions or chronic encountered as godless, heathen, super-
health problems not easily addressed by stitious, and dependent on magic for
allopathic medicine. Those individuals dealing with illness.
often use traditional tribal medicine in From the European perspective, most
addition to allopathic treatment. The use tribes did not have a formal religion be-
of traditional tribal medicine is also im- cause there were no visible idols or sep-
portant to those tribal members who are arate permanent places of worships. All
rediscovering their traditional tribal spir- Native peoples, however, did have a reli-
itual practices, and when faced with the gion (a set of spiritual beliefs), but it was
lack of such resources in their tribal not a separate sphere from one’s daily
communities, some gladly embrace the activities and thus was not visible. Dur-
ceremonial practices of other tribes. For ing celebrations or healing ceremonies,
example, the sweatlodge and the rituals however, these activities and the pres-
that accompany it are increasingly being ence of healers gave traditional reli-
used by tribal members whose tribes gions visibility and emphasized the im-
may not have used sweatlodge prior to portance of spirituality to the tribal
the European contact. And although the communities.
376
After the European conquest, the vari- Because most tribal healers also
ous religious denominations made use served as their tribe’s spiritual leaders,
of different methods to win converts (or they were labeled by church leaders as a
held them as hostage for free labor to threat and singled out as barriers to civi-
build missions), but most of the lization and the progress of the churches.
churches forced tribal members to give A number of healing practices, especially
up their use of traditional tribal healers those found most objectionable by
or faith. Death or brutal punishment was church leaders, were outlawed by the
the fate of “converts” who disobeyed or federal government in the 1800s, forcing
who were reported to have attended a some healing ceremonies to go under-
tribal ceremony. ground until the policy was changed in
This push toward assimilation by or- the early 1900s. Ceremonies that were
ganized religious groups helped sever the prohibited included the Sun Dance
ties these families and individuals had among the Northern Plains tribes, the
with their ancestral tribal cultures, and Ghost Dance religion, the use of peyote
today many descendents of these fami- in the Native American Church, and the
lies and individuals do not consider Shaker Church Religion. In addition to
themselves members of American Indian these overt government policies, the
or Alaska Native tribes. They rely primar- suppression of native spirituality was en-
ily on allopathic medicine, and their forced by various other means, such as
health concerns reflect the health beliefs requiring a tribal convert to Christianity
and behaviors of the majority culture. to burn his or her medicine bundles in
In retrospect, ethnographers, lin- public—a gesture intended to denounce
guists, and other scholars have acknowl- one’s traditional cultural beliefs. Until
edged that most tribal languages did not the early 1900s, it was also not uncom-
include a specific word for religion, per- mon to have missionary physicians re-
haps because most viewed spirituality as fuse to treat an Indian patient who
an integral part of daily life and as central showed visible evidence of having been
to the well-being of the individual, the recently treated by a traditional healer—
family, and the community. The mainte- that is, a feather tied to the hair or a med-
nance or restoration of well-being icine pouch necklace.
(which is conducted through various Today, with few exceptions, most
tribal blessings or healing ceremonies) is tribal peoples utilize allopathic medi-
referred to by many tribes as maintain- cine, and the number of tribal commu-
ing or restoring harmony. This holistic nities who now operate their own med-
view integrates mind, body, emotion, ical facilities staffed by nurses and
and spirit as if they were one strand in physicians continues to increase. The
the fabric of one’s physical, emotional, passage of a number of federal laws has
social, and mental well-being. made it possible for tribes to assume
377
management of health facilities in their Apart from treating illnesses, most tra-
communities that were formerly oper- ditional healers have other responsibili-
ated by the federal government. In many ties to their communities. These obliga-
of these allopathic health programs, trations may include blessing important
ditional tribal healers serve as consult- occasions or carrying out required cere-
ants or as members of the facility’s monial activities for the entire commu-
health care delivery team. It is also a nity—that is, praying for a bountiful har-
common practice now in many tribal vest or a successful hunt, asking for the
communities to have the physicians safety and protection of tribal members,
refer patients to traditional healers. fulfilling other sacred or spiritual obliga-
That is but one indication of the fact tions, and so forth.
that decades of forced cultural change Even today, in some tribal communi-
did not greatly alter the need for tradi- ties, religious leaders devote all their
tional healers (religious leaders) in time to their role as healers and religious
many tribal communities. Today, tradi- leaders. Under these cultural practices, it
tional healers are called upon to treat is understood that the entire community
health problems generally not associ- is to provide food and other support for
ated with, or deemed treatable by, allo- the healer and for the healer’s family.
pathic medicine. Traditional healers More frequently, however, most tradi-
may also be called upon by the patient tional healers tend to be employed and
or the patient’s family to help ensure the to carry out their religious or healing
success of a pending allopathic treat- practice on a part-time basis.
ment or procedure—such as cardiac by- Whatever the time commitment, it is
pass surgery. Traditional healers are also generally accepted that full-time healers
used when allopathic medicine is not are more likely to be found among agri-
able to offer a cure or when a physician culturally based tribes that have had the
has given an unfavorable prognosis. resources to support one or more heal-
Such a prognosis may motivate the pa- ers—that is, tribes that prior to European
tient or the family to make use of a tra- contact had developed complex secu-
ditional healer to help with the psycho- lar/sacred cultural systems. Part-time
logical consequences of the prognosis. healers/religious leaders have histori-
The involvement of the family in heal- cally been found among tribes whose
ing ceremonies provides them an op- history and way of life were more no-
portunity to offer the patient support. madic and who lived as hunters and
Such interest and familial support gatherers.
serves not only as visible evidence of While each tribe has always had a dif-
caring but also as a means to encourage ferent name and role for its traditional
the patient to commit to self-improve- healers, many healers serve both reli-
ment and to getting well. gious and secular functions. Secular
378
functions may include holding a special and the like. Depending on the tribe and
position in the tribal council or serving the complexity of their healing cere-
the leadership as an expert consultant. monies, some apprenticeships may take
Today, some of these secular responsibil- a decade or more before the apprentices
ities include consultation to the tribe on are considered skilled or knowledgeable
policies for repatriation of human re- enough to be healers.
mains or religious objects from muse- Consistent tribal advocacy, a number
ums or collectors. Consultation on de- of supportive court decisions, and pas-
velopment of special academic curricula sage of other policies such as the Ameri-
on such topics as tribal history, or on tra- can Indian Religious Freedom Act in
ditional teaching methods, is another re- 1978 have helped protect tribal religious
sponsibility assumed by some tradi- practices—as well as the healing cere-
tional healers today. Healing or tending monies that are embedded in those
to the sick, however, remains the central practices. However, the recent loss of a
responsibility for most traditional tribal number of legal battles based on the
healers. American Indian Religious Act indicates
Some tribes have complex health care that tribal religious practices are not pro-
delivery systems in which there may be a tected by that law, or by the First Amend-
cadre of healers, each specializing in ment. Issues such as tribal access to sa-
treating one or more specific health cred sites remain unresolved in a
problems. In other tribes there may be number of instances.
one traditional healer (with a number of Although freedom of religion debates
apprentices) who works alongside other continue in the legal arena, the use of
specialists such as herbalists, boneset- traditional healers in the health arena
ters, midwives, or diagnosticians. Al- has been slowly evolving—and in most
though both men and women can be cases in more positive ways. For exam-
healers in most tribes, women may not ple, the federal Indian Health Service
be allowed to practice as healers until (IHS), the major health care provider for
they have passed childbearing age. It is American Indians and Alaska Natives in
also common in some tribes to have only the United States, formalized and publi-
female or only male healers. cized its rather longstanding informal
Most traditional healers learn their policy of respecting the cultural values,
skill and art through an apprenticeship beliefs, and traditional healing practices
with other healers. Before the apprentice of tribal groups. This policy is set out in
is accepted, he or she must negotiate a the IHS’s 1994 description of its Tradi-
fee to be paid to learn the ceremonies. tional Cultural Advocacy Program
Potential healers enter the profession ei- (TCAP). The first sentence of the policy
ther by seeking to be a healer, or they are states that IHS staff must inform their
“called” through dreams, vision quests, patients of their right to practice native
379
religion and healing practices. In other pecially for those such as American Indi-
words, when a patient or the patient’s ans and Alaska Natives whose cultures
family requests help in obtaining the ser- and religions offer complementary ways
vice of a traditional healer, IHS staff for dealing with suffering and poor
should assist with the request. health.
This action by IHS is but one of many Spirituality has been and continues
recently undertaken by the federal gov- to be the subject of a number of re-
ernment to promote culturally compe- search endeavors, especially with the
tent care and to decrease health dispari- chronically ill, although few studies
ties for racial and ethnic minorities. The have included research with American
U.S. Office of Minority Health, an agency Indians and Alaska Natives. From these
within the U.S. Department of Health studies, however, spirituality has been
and Human Services, has also recently identified as a key factor in providing
drafted standards for providing cultur- meaning, quality of life, hope, and ad-
ally and linguistically appropriate health justment for those suffering from fatal
care. This initiative is intended to pro- or serious diseases such as AIDS, can-
vide guidance to health care providers cer, and heart failure. Many patients, re-
and health care facilities that seek to gardless of their cultural group, indicate
make their services more culturally ap- that their spiritual beliefs, along with
propriate. Recommendations include the support of family and friends pro-
providing interpreters when the patient vide them with hope and optimism in
does not speak English, conducting peri- the face of a fatal disease or chronic
odic needs assessments in order to health problem. Researchers who have
gauge the health requirements of the pa- examined the role of spirituality for pa-
tient population, and so forth. tients with serious health conditions
It should also be noted that there is a found that those who attest to strong re-
growing awareness by the general public, ligious or spiritual beliefs are more
but more specifically by scholars, of the hopeful, despite their poor prognoses.
need to examine how illness is affected These individuals were also more likely
cross-culturally by religious practices, to remain involved with life, family, and
beliefs, and behaviors. Some of this at- friends, and to take an active role in
tention is fueled by those who feel that their own health care. One can say that
allopathic medicine has failed to treat most of these research findings confirm
many chronic diseases successfully, and what has always been an essential part
that there is a need to pay more attention of most Native peoples’ beliefs about
to alternative ways in which individuals health and spirituality.
can cope with some of these incurable Jennie R. Joe
conditions. This coping includes spiritu- See also Healing Traditions, California;
ally attuned responses and practices, es- Herbalism; Indian Shaker Church; Native
380
______________________________________________________________________________________ Herbalism
American Church, Peyote Movement; Service. 1992. Restoring Balance:

Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural Community-Directed Health Promotion
Implications; Sacred Pipe; Termination and for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Relocation Stanford: Stanford University.
Kaufert, Patricia, and John O’Neil. 1993.
References and Further Reading “Analysis of a Dialogue on Risks in
Adair, John, Durth W. Deuschle, and Clifford Childbirth: Clinicians, Epidemiologists,
R. Barnett. 1988. The People’s Health: and Inuit Women.” Pp. 32–54 in
Medicine and Anthropology in a Navajo Knowledge, Power, and Practice: The
Community. Albuquerque: University of Anthropology of Medicine and Everyday
New Mexico Press. Life. Edited by Shirley Lindenbaum and
Adams, Diane L. 1995. Health Issues for Margaret Lock. Berkeley: University of
Women of Color: A Cultural Diversity California Press.
Perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Kelm, Mary-Ellen. 1998. Colonizing Bodies:
Publications. Aboriginal Health and Healing in British
Aitken, Larry. 1990. Two Cultures Meet: Columbia, 1900–1950. Vancouver:
Pathways for American Indians to University of British Columbia Press.
Medicine. Duluth: University of Kunitz, Stephen J. 1983. Disease Change and
Minnesota. the Role of Medicine: The Navajo
Bair, Barbara, and Susan F. Cayleff. 1993. Experience. Berkeley: University of
Wings of Gauze: Women of Color and the California Press.
Experience of Health and Illness. Detroit: Swinomish Tribal Mental Health Project.
Wayne State University Press. 1991. A Gathering of Wisdoms: Tribal
Blackfeather, Judith. 1992. “Cultural Beliefs Mental Health: A Cultural Perspective. La
and Understanding Cancer.” American Conner, WA: Swinomish Tribal
Indian Culture and Research Journal 16, Community.
no. 3: 140. Trafzer, Clifford E. 1997. Death Stalks the
Boufford, Jo Ivey, and Philip R. Lee. 1998. Yakama: Epidemiological Transitions and
“Federal Programs and Indian Country: Mortality on the Yakama Indian
A Time for Reinvention.” Public Health Reservation, 1888–1964. Ann Arbor:
Reports 113 , no. 1: 34–35. University of Michigan Press.
Boyd, Robert. 1999. The Coming of the Spirit Trafzer, Clifford E., and Diane Weiner, eds.
of Pestilence: Introduced Infectious 2001. Medicine Ways: Disease, Health,
Diseases and Population Decline among and Survival among Native Americans.
Northwest Coast Indians, 1774–1874. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.
Seattle: University of Washington Press. Trudelle-Schwarz, Maureen. 1997. Molded
Burhansstipanov, Linda, James W. in the Image of Changing Woman:
Hampton, and Martha J. Tenney. 1999. Navajo Views on the Human Body and
“American Indian and Alaska Native Personhood. Tucson: University of
Cancer Data Issues.” American Indian Arizona Press.
Culture and Research Journal 23, no. 3:
217–242.
Csordas, Thomas, ed. 2000. “The Navajo
Healing Project.” Medical Anthropology
Quarterly 14, no. 4: 463–475. Herbalism
Harjo, Joy. 1991. “The Generations of Native
American Women’s Birth Experience.” Herbalism in Native America—that is, the
MS Magazine (July–August): 28–30. use of plants for medicine and as part of a
Health Promotion Resource Center,
Stanford Center for Research in Disease traditional diet—is still widely practiced
Prevention, and the Indian Health throughout North America. Herbalists
381
Herbalism _______________________________________________________________________________________
will be the first to tell you that the plants other nations. Valuable European medic-
used as medicine today—as well as tradi- inal plants, such as milk thistle, basil,
tional theories regarding health, disease, and rosemary, have been ably incorpo-
physiology, and medicine—have followed rated into the sophisticated medical
an old tradition of adapting with the practice of traditional Native doctors.
times. The materia medica (an entire However, no matter which plants are
body of knowledge regarding plants used used, or which changes in each tribe’s
for medicine) of each indigenous nation herbal practice are implemented over
is not, however, often willingly shared time, certain central principles are not
with outsiders. Pharmaceutical corpora- deviated from, unless an individual de-
tions, in fact, have patented “discoveries” cides to pay no heed to the central im-
that were actually given to researchers by portance of maintaining the plant stands
indigenous doctors. They have then im- for future generations. Many herbalists
posed royalties on the use of those medi- not only maintain the physical health of
cines and generally work to isolate single the plant stands but also assert that the
chemical compounds in the search for principles behind the ancient plant-
medicinal “magic bullets”—all practices gathering protocols are indeed part of
that greatly hinder traditional doctors’ the medicine. “The healing begins before
practice of healing within ancient, dy- the plants are even gathered. The herbal-
namic systems of using whole plants to ist fasts, prays, and approaches the plant
heal whole people. Notable exceptions people with the highest respect and
are researchers who have taken careful in- prayer,” says Judy Blue Horse Skelton, a
struction from traditional doctors in their Nez Perce/Chickasaw traditional herbal-
efforts to understand and work within ist who currently works in conjunction
each nation’s system of ancient healing. with the National College of Naturo-
However, because of the exploitative pathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon.
pressure applied by the majority of phar- Herbalists like Blue Horse Skelton daily
maceutical researchers, I will not be dis- perform an age-old fusion of past and
cussing details of my nation’s materia present traditions in practicing and
medica, but rather focusing on the princi- teaching about how to use and gather
ples of balance and reciprocity with the wild plants for medicine. Like many
plant world that I have learned as a tradi- herbalists around North America, her
tional herbalist in my homeland. gathering spots are carefully guarded
Contrary to popular belief, native against the depredations of commercial
medical traditions have not “resurfaced”; plant gatherers, development, and in-
rather, they have always been in place, dustrial pollution. She is quick to remind
changing and adapting with the ecosys- people that the same principles that
tems, as well as contributing to and bor- guided her ancestors are also highly rele-
rowing from the medical traditions of vant today: if people wish to benefit from
382
______________________________________________________________________________________ Herbalism
American Indian medicinal and ceremonial plants of the high-altitude desert and canyons of the
western United States, 1994. (Arne Hodalic/Corbis)
the healing power of plants, the stands species correctly—some of them are
must be kept healthy, and the gatherers quite toxic—the herbalist must take into
must heed the subtle checks and bal- account an almost infinite number of
ances of each unique bioregion. This factors regarding the current health of
means that people must put themselves each place. He or she must look at cur-
in balance with the land, and that the rent weather conditions, animal habitat,
land must be healthy. slope, exposure, soil texture, and many
Central to this process are principles more subtle factors regarding the plants
of reciprocity between people and that seem to be offering themselves.
plants. Just as well-mannered people Herbalists must then know the lore of
continually ask permission and wait to gathering techniques: how to give
be invited into healthy interaction with thanks, when to prune, how to angle
one another, the specialized herbalists each cut, when and where to gather root
from each nation have learned that per- medicines, how to dig with minimal im-
mission must be granted from the plants pact, at what time of day to gather, how
as well. Beyond the precise training to scatter or plant seed, and how to con-
needed in order to identify each plant stantly monitor one’s activities in the
383
Herbalism _______________________________________________________________________________________
stand. In order to perform this last step imals and plants are far more knowl-
effectively, it is necessary for the gatherer edgeable about existing on this fragile
to be rooted to the place. It is difficult, if planet over time and space than we are.
not impossible, to monitor the effect of When we remember our proper man-
one’s gathering techniques over time if ners, many indigenous herbalists tell us,
one does not live close to where one we are as useful to the land as any other
gathers. Many non-Native wildcrafters, species of animal: the plants use us as
as medicinal plant gatherers are com- pollinators, seed distributors, soil aera-
monly called, also recognize the impor- tors, and also for healthy thinning of the
tance of a community’s rootedness to stands through pruning, coppicing, and
particular places. Native American burning.
herbalists feel and practice this connect- In order to cultivate a worldview that
edness to ancestral places with deep sees humans as merely one thread in the
spiritual and intellectual rigor. Relocat- overall balance of health, it is helpful to
ing to other lands is to abandon the learn from Native American herbalists
places that have sustained us—and that about concepts of humility in the face of
we have knowledgeably helped sus- the constant changes in the natural
tain—for countless generations. world. In many Native North American
Implicit in the word “reciprocity” is languages, concepts for power and heal-
that the benefits of a relationship are felt ing reflect a continual attunement with
by two or more beings. In the case of tra- the role of humans as humble recipients
ditional plant medicine, the “people” in of the gifts of the world—gifts that we
this relationship are humans, plants, an- must constantly return in order to re-
imals, soil, rocks, and every element that main healthy. That ideal is not always at-
contributes in any way to the health of tained, and grievous mistakes have been
the whole. Western herbalists and envi- made by indigenous peoples in the past,
ronmentalists often use the word “stew- but always the lesson of knowledgeable
ard” when referring to the care and at- humility and balance is held out to us,
tention paid by humans, and they often herbalists assert, from the plant world. In
couch that term in biblical references the language of my home community in
that call people to act as the caregivers of Chumash country, the word for power is
the land. Many indigenous herbalists re- ’at?sw?n. This word is not a noun in the
gard this view as a human-centric eleva- European sense; it is a verb with multiple
tion of human beings, pointing out that meanings, all of which are constantly
humans ultimately have very little ac- kept in mind by the traditional herbalist
tual, sustained control over anything in as he or she works with potentially toxic
the cosmos. Instead, many Native Amer- plant medicines. ’At?sw?n means “to
ican herbalists assert that humans fall at heal,” “to dream,” and “to poison.” How
the bottom of the evolutionary heap; an- power is wielded depends entirely on the
384
______________________________________________________________________________________ Herbalism
knowledge, humility, wisdom, and intent More than three thousand vascular na-
of the wielder. Every herbalist knows that tive plant species can be found in Cali-
dosage is the difference between a plant fornia alone, virtually all of which are
that cures, a plant that causes dreamlike useful to humans and animals in some
hallucinations and contact with the way. Hundreds of plant species are used
spirit world, and a plant that kills. specifically for medicine—many more if
Many researchers assume that indige- one includes traditional foods con-
nous knowledge of proper dosage has sumed as part of a healthy diet. Diet, in
been a matter of simple trial and error fact, is where most herbalists begin the
over thousands of years. Indigenous treatment of human illness. The many
healers assert that this is not the full factors of a person’s life are taken into
story, however. According to most tradi- consideration; herbalists then work to
tional herbalists the world over, there is a help people understand how many of
subtle communication between the their imbalances can be gently pulled
plants and the herbalists, something that into place by eating and drinking moder-
is not, and can not, be experienced by ate amounts of healthful, traditional
every person; it is comparable to the food plants. Chia seeds (Salvia colum-
subtle communication felt between a bariae) are eaten by Southern Californ-
fine arts carver and his or her material. ian tribes to bring blood sugar levels into
The material is not simply carved. Along balance, as well as to benefit from the
with the carver’s dreams and visions, the heart-helping effects of this food’s rich
material dictates what will be carved. Omega–3 fatty acids. The acorn, easily
Traditional herbalists “feel the pulse” of the most important food staple in Cali-
their material in much the same way. fornia, is a low-sugar protein and carbo-
“Trial and error” comes from a Western hydrate-rich nut that is gathered by the
world of repeatable experiments based ton in the fall by many Native families
on ideas of power and control couched today. California Indians know that full
in Judeo-Christian principles of domi- baskets of carefully stored acorns mean
nance. Power, to a traditional Native food and good health for the coming
American herbalist, lies within all of life, year. In California, as well as in other
and comes through beings to be wielded places where oaks are revered, the acorn
for the healing of all life, the dreaming of is a powerful symbol of healing, strength,
all creation, or the poisoning of the and potential. In the past, the Chumash
world. even used the mold that grows on acorn
The incredible diversity of plant mush as an antibiotic, much as penicillin
species in nearly every biosphere in mold is used in Western medicine. Deli-
North America has inspired a knowl- cious greens, shoots, and edible bulbs
edgeable humility among Native Ameri- are abundant in the spring, and they
can herbalists for thousands of years. make a mineral-rich addition to an ill
385
Herbalism _______________________________________________________________________________________
person’s daily healing regimen. The di- lands. It is the sincere hope of many in-
versity of plants in North America is digenous herbalists, including myself,
today sadly diminishing because of that the people of mainstream America,
largely unchecked development and pol- who have the extreme privilege of resid-
lution. It is sobering to note the decrease ing in our beautiful homelands, will learn
in overall health in North America as the those lessons—for their own health, and
dominant culture’s corporations destroy for the health of our shared world.
the places where traditional health has Julianne Cordero-Lamb
been gathered for millennia.
See also Datura; Healing Traditions,
Traveling to the places where those California; Health and Wellness, Traditional
foods grow, experiencing the beauty and Approaches; Native American Church,
abundance of the land, and connecting Peyote Movement; Power, Barbareño
Chumash; Power, Northwest Coast; Power
with places where our ancestors gath-
Places, Great Basin; Power, Plains; Sacred
ered foods and medicines for their own Pipe; Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau;
health and healing are all-powerful med- Tobacco, Sacred Use of
icines in their own right. As a traditional References and Further Reading
herbalist, I would even go so far as to say Arviso Alvord, Lori, and Elizabeth Cohen
that without those embodied experi- Van Pelt. 2000. The Scalpel and the Silver
Bear: The First Navajo Woman Surgeon
ences of interaction with the land and Combines Western Medicine and
the plants, medicine is only a Band-Aid, Traditional Healing. New York: Bantam.
merely covering the symptoms of illness Balick, Michael J., and Paul Alan Cox. 1996.
Plants, People, and Culture: The Science
without addressing the source. of Ethnobotany. New York: Scientific
There are as many different ways of American Library.
practicing traditional Native North Amer- Barrows, David Prescott. 1967. Ethno-
botany of the Coahuilla Indians.
ican herbalism as there are Native North
Banning, CA: Malki Museum Press.
American nations. In my personal en- Bean, John Lowell, and Katherine Siva
counters with herbalists from many dif- Saubel. 1972. Temalpakh: Cahuilla
Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants.
ferent nations, I have learned that most
people have plants and practices unique Blackburn, Thomas C., ed. 1975. December’s
to their area, and that they are not usually Child: A Book of Chumash Oral
Narratives. Berkeley: University of
shared with outsiders. I am not at liberty
California Press.
to discuss those practices, but I can share Cajete, Gregory. 2000. Native Science:
that among all the peoples with whom I Natural Laws of Interdependence. Santa
have had the profound privilege to meet Fe: Clear Light Publishers.
Chesnut, V. K. 1902. Plants Used by the
and learn from, as well as to teach humbly Indians of Mendocino County, California.
about my own practice, all have shared Washington, DC: Contributions from the
central concerns regarding the lessons of U.S. National Herbarium.
Ebeling, Walter. 1986. Handbook of Indian
balance and reciprocity learned from the Foods and Fibers of Arid America.
powerful plants of our respective home- Berkeley: University of California Press.
386
_________________________________________________________________________________ Hopi Prophecy
Gendar, Jeannine, Beverly R. Ortiz, and into the sides of canyon walls throughout
Sadie Cash Margolin. 2000 “Acorn Power: the Southwestern states (that is, Arizona,
A Special Report on Food and Fitness in
Native California.” News from Native Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah). An an-
California 13: no. 3. cient rock or boulder still sits on the Hopi
McCovey, Shaunna. 2000. “I Still Eat All My land, land that the Hopi perceive as sa-
Meals with a Mussel Shell.” News from
Native California 14: no. 2. cred. On it they have inscribed a petro-
Rubel, Arthur J., Carl W. O’Nell, and glyph, a drawing in the stone, an inscrip-
Rolando Collado-Ardón. 1984. Susto: A tion that has undergone numerous
Folk Illness. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
interpretations as to its cryptic meaning,
Shipek, Florence Connelly. 1991. Delfina and it has been called the Hopi Prophecy.
Cuero: Her Autobiography, An Account of The Hopi Prophecy is an important
Her Last Years, and Her Ethnobotanic
part of the traditional Hopi’s geomythol-
Contributions. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena
Press. ogy that combines geography with their
Skelton, Judy Blue Horse. 2002. Personal respective religio-cultural beliefs. There
communication. November 14.
are both Native and non-Native scholars
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 1999. Decolonizing
Methodologies: Research and Indigenous on this enigmatic subject. What follows
Peoples. London: Zed Books. is what the Hopi and others have had to
Strike, Sandra. 1994. Ethnobotany of the
say about this particular Prophecy in
California Indians, vol. 2. Champagne,
IL: Koeltz Scientific Books. Stone, which is a part of their creation
Trafzer, Clifford E., and Diane Weiner, eds. story and cosmology regarding their ori-
2001. Medicine Ways: Disease, Health, gins and destiny here on Earth. In this
and Survival among Native Americans.
Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press. prophetic legacy, Nature is a spiritual
Walker, Philip L., and Travis Hudson. 1993. teacher to the Hopi and is premised on
Chumash Healing: Changing Health and the Female Principle. The writer of this
Medical Practices in an American Indian
Society. Banning, CA: Malki Museum essay has seen the Prophecy Stone first-
Press. hand, while on a visit to the Hopi Mesas
in the early 1980s to meet with Tradition-
alists. I was told by those kiva spiritual
leaders, most notably the now deceased
Hopi Prophecy David Monongye, that this relic from
A Prophecy in Stone their past is an important part of the tra-
The Hopi People and their respective cul- ditional Hopi people’s religio-cultural
ture are considered the longest-known belief system, one with spiritual and
indigenous Pueblo society in North philosophical meaning that advocates
America, and they are still living on their an indigenous ecological way of life. The
original homeland in northern Arizona. Prophecy Stone is also the esoteric sub-
These Mesa people trace their ancestry to ject of anthropological and archaeologi-
the ancient Anasazi, whose Pueblo re- cal debate among academics and other
mains are still evident as “ruins” built non-Hopi/non-Natives.
387
Hopi Prophecy __________________________________________________________________________________
The Hopi Traditionalists on Banyacya had only ten minutes to

the Hopi Prophecy speak, but he gave a powerful presenta-
On December 10, 1992, Thomas Banya- tion of his interpretation of the Hopi
cya, of the Wolf, Fox, and Coyote Clans warning. The Hopi, Banyacya said, had
among the Hopi, gave a message on predicted World War I, World War II, and
Stone Tablet #4, The Hopi Message to the the development and destructive poten-
United Nations. He was the last of the tial of the atomic bomb. Since World War II
speakers: humanity had lived in fear of the destruc-
tion that would result from a third world
In 1948, all traditional Hopi spiritual war. Banyacya urged that a third world
leaders met and spoke of things . . . of
war could be avoided and that the nations
great importance to all people. They
selected four interpreters to carry their of the world were at a vital crossroads:
message of which I am the only one
still living today. At the time I was This is now a time to weigh the choices
given a sacred prayer feather by the for our future. . . . If you, the nations of
spiritual leaders. I made a the Earth, create another great war, the
commitment to carry the Hopi Hopi believe we humans will burn
message of peace and deliver warnings ourselves to death with ashes. That [is]
from prophecies known since the time why the spiritual Elders stress strongly
the previous world was destroyed by that the United Nations fully open the
flood and our ancestors came to this door for Native spiritual leaders.
land.
He further stated: Banyacya spoke of the alienation from

the natural world experienced by people
This commitment was fulfilled when I from nations around the world. This
delivered a letter and the sacred prayer alienation has led to a life out of balance
feather I had been given to John with nature and the spirit, which the
Washburn in the Secretary General’s
Hopi call Koyaanisqatsi, or “crazy life.”
office in October, 1991. I am bringing
part of the Hopi message to you here This life out of balance, Banyacya said,
today. (Banyacya 1992) was evidenced by the destruction of war
and by the destruction of the lives,
His presentation was preceded by homelands, and sacred sites of native
shouts from Oren Lyons, the first speaker peoples around the world. But the Hopi
as the Haudenasaunee Faithkeeper of and other native peoples had not sepa-
the Six Nations, also called the Iroquois rated themselves from the natural world
Confederacy. It was explained that the and therefore could provide a solution to
shouts were a spiritual announcement to the life out of balance experienced by the
the Great Spirit of the people assembled nations of the world.
and of the intention to give a message of The Hopi Prophecy, Banyacya said,
spiritual significance to the world. clearly defined the two paths open to hu-
388
_________________________________________________________________________________ Hopi Prophecy
mankind. The path of technology sepa- connection to the natural world. Hopi
rated from natural and spiritual law or ceremonies maintained the balance of
the path in harmony with nature: the forces of nature (sun, wind, rain) and
reaffirmed Hopi respect for all life and
If we return to spiritual harmony and
Hopi trust in the Great Spirit.
live from our hearts, we can
experience a paradise in this world. If Waters expounds on the Hopi prophe-
we continue only on this upper path, cies with an incendiary view of future ca-
we will come to destruction. . . . It’s up tastrophe, especially considering world
to all of us, as children of Mother crises and conflicts in the twentieth and
Earth, to clean up this mess before it’s
twenty-first centuries. Waters interprets
too late. . . . If any of you [UN] leaders
want to learn more about the spiritual the Hopi Prophecy as predicting that the
vision and power of the Elders, I invite third world war would be started by
you to come to Hopiland and sit down China, Palestine, India, and Africa. Ac-
with our real spiritual leaders in their cording to Waters, the “gourds of ashes,”
sacred kivas where they will reveal the
the boiling rivers that burn the earth so
ancient secrets of survival and
balance. (ibid., 10–11) that grass will not grow, and the disease
that medicine cannot cure inflicting the
Rex Wyler, a non-Native scholar, offers United States “can only mean nuclear or
a detailed description and interpretation atomic bombs; no other weapon causes
of the Hopi Prophecy in his book Blood of such effects” (Waters 1963).
the Land (1973). Wyler describes the two The Hopi believe that only they and
paths open to humans as “the path of those who follow Hopi ways will be
those who forgot the Creator’s instruc- spared this destruction because they are
tions, those who relied on inventions “at peace in their hearts already” and are
and cleverness rather than spiritual “in the Great Shelter of Life” (ibid.).
faith” (Wyler 1973) and the path of the Those who are evil will not survive.
Hopi, which is a path of peace. The path The Hopi predict what Waters inter-
of those who do not follow the Creator’s prets as a shift in Earth’s poles: “Turtle Is-
instructions leads to destruction. “The land could turn over two or three times
Hopi warn that now the earth is near dis- and the ocean could join hands and
aster if the people of the world do not meet the sky” (ibid.).
turn away from greediness and war, to- Waters’s book also describes the Hopi
ward a spiritual, peaceful life” (Wyler beliefs in the cycles of life, and what they
1973). call the “Fourth World” that they are liv-
In his seminal Book of the Hopi (1963), ing in, to be followed by the “Fifth
Frank Waters, a notable Native Cheyenne World,” in which the land is “criss-
scholar on the Hopi people and their re- crossed by a giant spider’s web,” unlike
spective indigenous culture, describes those worlds before and still to come.
the Hopi as living a life of simplicity and The Cherokee of Oklahoma also have
389
Hopi Prophecy __________________________________________________________________________________
this prophecy from their elders: “Some- stories also tell of a time when their pre-
day the world will be covered by a giant human ancestors came out from the
spider web (circa 1950)” (Waters 1992). center of the Earth on the Hopi mesas, as
The Hopi and other Native peoples be- Ant People (Duchene 1981); this could
lieve that there are signs, or portents, to also be a possible connection to an in-
warn us of this mass destruction; they intriguing understanding of their process
clude the guns and later trains, “snakes of of human evolution from their indige-
iron,” first brought to the “new world” by nous homeland.
the Europeans. Waters expounds on Hopi
philosophical and spiritual traditions, The Hopi Message to the World
which manifest in Kachinas, gods person- One significant theme of the Hopi
ified by Hopi members who take on the Prophecy stands out. That is that the
spirit of these mythical gods in their re- Prophecy Stone, as part of a longer ge-
spective religio-cultural beliefs. These ar- omythical legacy, is perceived as a warn-
chetypal entities teach them a social and ing of impending planetary upheaval,
moral way of life through their sacred cer- the outgrowth of mankind’s intolerance
emonies and rituals. He also writes about and inhumanity in contemporary and
UFO sightings by the Hopi, and how they postmodern times. There is also the por-
interpret this phenomenon in the context tent of environmental degradation, in
of the Prophecy petroglyph, which signi- which the Earth will no longer be a natu-
fies “the coming Day of Purification when ral habitat for human survival as a result
the true Hopi will fly to other planets in of this global holocaust. In the after-
‘ships without wings’” (ibid.). math, only the traditional Hopi will sur-
The Prophecy also warned that there vive, as well as those non-Hopi who
will be three divisions among the Hopi. choose to live a more ecological way of
The first division was in 1906 between life in indigenous reciprocity with Nature
the Traditionalists and the Modernists. and the Earth. This is seen in the context
One of the more critical issues between of an imbalance between the Female
these two groups, which sparked this Principle (manifested in the Earth and
conflict, was the question of whether or Nature) and the prevailing masculine
not to use electricity in the ancient mindset in a patriarchal and neocolo-
Pueblo. The Modernists were forced to nialist society (Jaimes-Guerrero 1999).
leave Oraibi (as Old Oraibi) and move to No one living today knows the dating
Hotevilla (as the New Oraibi with elec- of the Hopi Prophecy Stone. Yet, in light
tricity). The second division took place in of what is going on in the world, as well
the wake of the spectacular appearance as what has already taken place, a case
of UFOs in August 1970. can be made to heed the Hopi Prophecy
On the origins of the Hopi people, it is as an ecological as well as sociopolitical
interesting to note that their creation warning, and for the sake of the future of
390
_______________________________________ Hunting, Religious Restrictions and Implications
our younger generations worldwide—In Wyler, Rex. 1973. Blood of the Land: The
Spirit! Government and Corporate War against
the American Indian Movement. New
The author of this entry wishes to York: Everest House.
thank Wolf Yhout Larsen for assistance
with research.
M. A. Jaimes-Guerrero
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo; Kiva Hunting, Religious
and Medicine Societies; Missionization, Restrictions and
Southwest; Oral Traditions, Pueblo;
Petrographs and Petroglyphs; Implications
Retraditionalism and Identity Movements;
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, “The Majority of tribal religions look at
Southwest religion as a healing and balancing
References and Further Reading process. Healings are a cooperative en-
Brown, Lee. 1986. “North American Indian terprise between people, animals, and
Prophecies.” Talk given at the 1986 spirits or powers” (Deloria 1999, 154).
Continental Indigenous Council.
Fairbanks, Alaska. http://home.pacifier These cooperative, or mutualistic, rela-
.com/~songbird/hopi.htm. tionships between humans and animals
Duchene, Marlys. 1981. “The Hopi as Ant underlie the religious and spiritual as-
People.” Unpublished paper presented at
the Western Social Science Annual pects of hunting for Native American
Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico. people. One major component of these
April. relationships is respect, which is a key
Hopi Prophecies. 1998. “Hopi Elders on the
Art Bell Radio Show.” June 16. website: operating principle in religious ideology
http://www.crystalinks.com/hopi3.html. (Armitage 1992). “Respect involves
(Accessed January 6, 2005). maintaining good relationships with the
“Hopi Prophecies of the Future.”
http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/
spirit world. . . . Hunters obtain coopera-
hopi.html. (Accessed January 6, 2005). tion of the animals they kill by showing
Banyacya, Thomas. 1992. Hopi Sacred respect to their bones and other re-
Tablets, Stone Tablet #4, under “Hopi
mains” (McGrath 2002). It is important
Way—Cloud Dancing,” pp. 8–11, by Mr.
Thomas Banyacya of Kykotsmovi, to understand how relationships with
Arizona, December 10, 1992; message on nonhumans became such an integral
Hopi Prophecies delivered to the United
component of Native American religious
Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
Jaimes-Guerrero, M. A. 1999. “Red Warrior thinking, and how the rituals and tradi-
Women: Exemplars of Indigenism in tions that developed to symbolize those
‘Native Womanism.’” Asian Women
relationships continue to function in the
Journal 9: 1–25. Research Institute of
Asian Women, the Sookmyung Women’s religious practices of contemporary Na-
University Press, Seoul, Korea. tive American peoples.
Waters, Frank. 1963. Book of the Hopi: The As Native cultures evolved in North
First Revelation of the Hopi’s Historical
and Religious Worldview of Life. New America, people learned to obtain food
York: Penguin Books. and shelter from the land. To survive and
391
Hunting, Religious Restrictions and Implications ________________________________________
prosper, our ancestors had to become ef- mans and animals. Others focused on
fective at hunting; our survival both as the activity of culture heroes, and in
individuals and as cultures depended on some cases the gift of animals came from
our ability to take the lives of other bean anonymous or poor individual (Har-
ings. To be an effective hunter required rod 2000). The boundaries between cate-
observation of fellow, nonhuman, be- gories of stories were permeable, and
ings. Each species had at least one ability different types might be linked in the
or characteristic that set it apart from same narrative.
other species and enhanced its chances The notion of kinship created a spiri-
of survival (Marshall 1995). Humans tual conundrum for peoples who de-
lacked horns, teeth, claws, and the speed pended on hunting as a way of life. The
and strength of many other species. In- essence of Native attitudes toward
stead, humans had understanding and other life forms is “kinship relations in
language, which allowed them to pass which no element of life can go unat-
knowledge directly from one generation tached from human society”; it mani-
to the next. “American Indians view real- fested itself in “kinship cycles of re-
ity from the perspective of the one sponsibility that exist between our
species that has the capability to reflect species and other species” (Deloria
on the meaning of things” (Deloria 1999, 1999, 131). If nonhumans were under-
130). Our ancestors survived and pros- stood to have “characteristics similar or
pered by paying careful attention, learn- equivalent to those of humans, how
ing about the strengths and weaknesses were humans to understand what it
of the other organisms, and developing meant to kill animals and consume
rituals and traditions related to this their flesh?” (Harrod 2000, 46).
knowledge that symbolized the impor- This dilemma is one of the defining el-
tance of the taking of nonhuman lives. ements of Native American religious and
This enabled them to take nonhumans spiritual thought. Many rituals and tradi-
as food and avoid being taken by them as tions stem from practices developed to
food (Martin 1999; Pierotti and Wildcat provide an ethically satisfying resolution
2000). to the question of how to take other lives
As knowledge acquired through ob- in an ethical manner. It is not widely rec-
servation was passed on, and repeated ognized, but many contemporary reli-
constantly so that the knowledge would gious practices of Indian people stem
be passed on intact, several types of sto- from rituals originally developed for
ries emerged that dealt with hunting and hunting—for example, the pipe and the
the gift of animals. Some stories dealt sweatlodge, which have been trans-
with animal masters or mistresses—for formed into practices that address the
example, White Buffalo Calf Woman. spiritual needs of contemporary Indians
Many dealt with kinship between hu- (ibid.).
392
Native peoples were fully aware that the same materials of which you are made
they were not the only organisms who (ibid.). A similar principle exists in Chris-
hunted as a way of life. They observed tianity’s communion rituals, which estab-
that other organisms killed and ate the lishes links between Christ and contem-
plant eaters. Wolf, cougar, bear, badger, porary humans.
and eagle were hunters from whom Recognizing connectedness did not,
much could be learned, and those ani- however, mean that animals or plants
mals took on sacred significance; they should not be taken or used for food or
represent spirits of five of the six sacred clothing. Instead, each taking was ac-
regions (directions) in Zuni religious companied by a recognition of the fact
thought (Cushing 1988). Predators were that the taking represents loss of life to a
recognized for their power, and humans fellow being whose life had meaning on
recognized a kinship with them because its own terms (Taylor 1992). This recog-
humans also took animal lives for food. nition led to the following ethical and
“From the dawn of our spiritual and psy- spiritual conclusions based on the con-
chological being our closest relative in cept of respect: (1) the lives of other or-
the wild has been Makuyi,” or wolf (Jack ganisms should not be taken frivolously;
Gladstone, Blackfeet, quoted in McIntyre and (2) other life forms exist on their own
1995). In many tribes, clan systems were terms and were not put here only for
based primarily or exclusively on preda- human use (Pierotti and Wildcat 2000,
tory species. For example, Northwest 2001). Native people recognize that the
coastal clans are eagle, bear, wolf, orca lives of animals and plants exist on their
(killer whale), and raven, which repre- own terms and have value independent
sent the major nonhuman predators of any that we human beings might place
found in that ecosystem. on them (Taylor 1992). Nevertheless,
One principle shared by most Native being taken as food is a common fate of
American religious or spiritual traditions, species within their natural environ-
which emerged from the reliance on ment, such as deer, buffalo, salmon, and
hunting as a way of life, was that all things so forth.
are connected (Pierotti and Wildcat 2000, Eating the flesh of these animals es-
2001). This is a spiritual acknowledge- tablishes the connectedness that is such
ment of the realization that no single or- a profound aspect of spirituality because
ganism can exist without the connections lives of human hunters and their families
it shares with many other organisms. Tak- depended upon taking the life of the ani-
ing the lives of other organisms, and con- mal. By giving up its life, however, the an-
suming their tissues in order to sustain imal made a profound sacrifice that re-
one’s own body, establishes connected- quired thanks and respect on the part of
ness. By eating parts of other organisms, the hunter. “Every species finds meaning
you demonstrate that they are made of in this larger scheme of things and that is
393
why other species are willing to feed and (Pierotti and Wildcat 2000). This pre-
clothe (humans)” (Deloria 1999, 149). sumed gift required gratitude (thanks)
Hunting required practical skill, but it on the part of the human who took the
also involved a highly charged spiritual life of the nonhuman.
exchange (Martin 2000). A hunter when As a result, ecological knowledge and
taking the life of the other could employ religion became inseparable to Indian
two major strategies. In many tribes the people. “The natural and supernatural
hunter might apologize to the victim and worlds are inseparable” (Nelson 1983,
give thanks to the victim and its guardian 227). The religion of Native Americans
spirit(s). When humans eat or otherwise served to code ecological knowledge,
use nonhumans whose lives they have while providing direct emotional in-
taken, they are empowered by that rela- volvement with the nonhuman world
tionship, which leads to mutual respect (Deloria 1999)—for example, Northwest
(Anderson 1996). coast Indians treated nonhuman beings
Many nonhumans had powers far be- with both a sense of direct personal em-
yond the capabilities of ordinary hu- powerment and a healthy respect (An-
mans and were able to move through derson 1996). To these peoples, “Fish,
worlds impassable to humans, such as bears, wolves, and eagles were part of the
birds flying through air, or whales, kinship system, part of the community,
beavers, and fish moving through water. part of the family structure. Modern ur-
Animals were considered “persons” and banite ecologists see these as ‘Other’ and
assumed to have cognitive abilities; thus romanticize them, but for a Northwest
they were assumed to recognize the dan- Coast Indian, an alien human was more
ger when they were being hunted by hu- ‘Other’ than a local octopus or wolf”
mans (Pierotti and Wildcat 2000). One (ibid. 66).
important restriction was that when a Native Americans understood them-
person was planning to hunt a particular selves as predators, part of the world of
species, or an individual of that species, the prey, connected to the prey in a pro-
the hunter not use the name of that found experiential sense (Tanner 1979;
species in any discussion of plans for the Brightman 1993; Marshall-Thomas 1994;
hunt. It was assumed that nonhumans Marshall 1995; Pierotti and Wildcat 2000,
knew when they were being discussed, 2001), which means recognizing that
and that this might cause them to be- they must take lives in order to live them-
come impossible to find (Martin 1978, selves. They also recognized that preda-
1999; Brody 1982). If the animal allowed tion is not a hostile act, and that nonhu-
itself to be killed, it was assumed to in- man predators may feel strongly
volve some element of choice on the ani- connected to the prey when they have
mal’s part (Anderson 1996)—hence the taken its life. Wolves act with joy when
concept of the prey “giving itself to you” they kill a rabbit and carry the rabbit in
394
the same way they would a wolf pup of the killing and asks, “‘Has the hunter
(Pierotti, unpublished observations), prayed words of pardon for the life you
and big cats may lick and groom deer or gave for his own?’ If the answer is no,
antelope after killing them (Marshall- then Awi Usdi goes—invisible, fleet as
Thomas 1994). the wind—and tracks the blood to the
Hunters sought to avoid alienating the hunter’s home, where he swiftly pains
spirits of nonhumans because an alien- and cripples his bones so he can never
ated spirit could carry news of the insult hunt again” (Awiakta 1993, 109). “No
to its kind. Then that species might ei- hunter who has regard for his health ever
ther cease to allow the hunter and his fails to ask pardon of the deer . . . for tak-
people to take them, or extract some ing its life” (Martin 2000, 36).
form of revenge by sending sickness or Tribes that continue to depend on
disaster upon the hunter and his family hunting as a substantial part of their
(Martin 2000). It has also been argued livelihood still use rituals and cere-
that apparent breakdowns in this rela- monies to maintain a relationship with,
tionship led to extreme reactions by hu- and avoid offending, the nonhuman.
mans. When diseases introduced by Eu- Such religious traditions remain closely
ropeans caused the deaths of large tied to hunting activities. These cultures
percentages of some tribal groups, sur- provide insight into how many Native
vivors may have turned on the animals American tribal cultures may have func-
(especially beaver), upon the assump- tioned prior to (1) being devastated by
tion that those animals were striking at disease, (2) being attacked by European
humans for no apparent cause. When re- invaders, (3) having their religious and
spectful treatment of animals did not spiritual practices and knowledge deni-
bring an end to the epidemics, tribes grated, and (4) being forced into reserva-
may have regarded the traditional com- tions or terminated.
pact between human and nonhuman as The best-studied contemporary hunt-
having been broken. Thus beaver were ing cultures are in Canada and Alaska,
trapped without concern for the future where human population densities are
of the resource (Martin 1978). lower, nonhuman populations are much
The link between disease and the tak- larger, and ecological communities are
ing of nonhuman lives was powerful. The more intact. Examples are various bands
Cherokee (Tsalagi) associated many dis- of Algonkian or Cree, including the Innu
eases with excessive hunting, especially (Montagnais-Naskapi) of Quebec and
of deer (Awiakta 1993; Martin 2000). Mal- Labrador (Speck 1935; Martin 1978; Tan-
adies were named “deer eyes,” “deer ner 1979; Armitage 1992), the Rock Cree
tongue,” or “deer chief disease.” It is said of northern Manitoba (Brightman 1993),
that when a deer is killed Awi Usdi, the and groups of Athapaskans, such as the
chief of the deer, comes to check the spot Koyukon of Alaska (Nelson 1983) and the
395
Beaver of northern British Columbia Plains tribes where animal wives and
(Brody 1982). husbands were regularly associated with
Cree traditional hunting practices the “gift” of animals that allowed them-
suggest that nonhumans are considered selves to be taken for food. The Pawnee
to live in social groups similar to those of tell stories of men who marry deer and
human hunters. To the Innu, “the ani- buffalo. The Mandan, Assiniboine, and
mals of the forest, the tundra, and the Lakota all have traditions of young men
waters . . . exist in a special relation. They marrying buffalo wives who then allow
have become objects of engrossing reli- the men and their villages to hunt their
gious activity, for to them hunting is a buffalo relatives (Harrod 2000).
holy occupation” (Speck 1935; Martin In such stories the humans were hav-
1978). Animals pursue an existence cor- ing difficulty feeding themselves prior to
responding to that of humans in terms of these interspecies marriages, and the
emotions and purpose. The difference marriage assures the humans of a reli-
between human and nonhuman exists able source of food as long as they main-
primarily in outward form, which means tain the relationship in a proper manner.
that their equality is spiritual and In some cases the husband cheats on his
eclipses the physical differences be- animal wife, or some other insult is di-
tween them which required that animals rected at the nonhuman, at which point
be treated with the same respect as hu- the nonhuman leaves the village and
mans (Speck 1935; Martin 1978; Tanner food once more becomes difficult for hu-
1979). mans to obtain (ibid.). Such stories illus-
Three major concepts are employed trate the necessity of maintaining a
by Cree hunters to model their relation- proper social relationship and appropri-
ships with nonhumans, based on various ate respect toward one’s prey as a way of
categories of social relationship: (1) living a proper life.
male-female, (2) dominance-subordina- For Innu, the dominance-subordina-
tion, and (3) equivalence (Tanner 1979). tion relationship is recognized when the
In the first category, the nonhuman is hunter employs ceremonies and rituals
considered to have a close personal rela- in an effort to compel the nonhuman to
tionship to the hunter, similar to that of a approach the hunter, or allow itself to be
female relative or lover. Hunting songs or killed. This is necessary because when
dreams represent a loving relationship the hunter first decides that a hunt is
between hunter and prey. For caribou necessary the animal is actually in the
the relationship is analogous to love be- superior position; it can only acquiesce
tween man and wife, or man and daugh- to be killed through its own agreement,
ter, whereas for bear the relationship is or because the spiritual power of the
analogous to a mother or grandmother. hunter overwhelms the will of the non-
Similar relationships can be seen in human. The “shaking tent” (kusaapi-
396
cikan) and sweatlodge or steam tent tinue to be available. Renewal of the prey
(muutuuciiswaap) are examples of such species is of paramount importance to
ceremonies originally developed for hunting peoples, and rituals developed
hunting that have taken on other mean- to ensure renewal of animal populations
ings in contemporary Innu religious are among the most important of reli-
practice (Tanner 1979; McGrath 2002). In gious ceremonies. Sun dances and the
such relationships the hunter may be ritual structures associated with such
able to force prey to allow itself to be ceremonies among Plains tribes began
killed through spiritual power even when as renewal ceremonies for the buffalo on
the nonhuman does not wish to die. which those cultures depended (Harrod
Another context in which a dominant- 2000), before taking on major signifi-
subordinate relationship is employed is cance as healing ceremonies for Native
when an animal species is assumed to American people in the modern world;
have an entity (Animal Master, Master of this illustrates the point about healings
the Game, Keeper of the Game) that has being “a cooperative enterprise between
control over the members of its species, people, animals, and spirits or powers”
although this concept is not as widely (Deloria 1999, 154).
applied by Innu as by other Algonkians— Equivalence models used in religious
for example, Ojibwe and Chippewa (An- symbolism exist when the relationship
ishnabeg) (Tanner 1979; Brightman between the hunter and the animals he
1993). This idea of Keepers of the Game kills is described in terms of “friendship”
is a powerful tradition for many peoples, (Tanner 1979). Many cultures have sto-
such as the Awi Usdi, whereby such enti- ries and traditions that deal with such re-
ties must be assuaged and treated prop- lationships, including stories of humans
erly before they allow their kind to be being taken in and cared for by nonhu-
hunted and taken by humans. Relation- man species. An Innu story tells of a boy
ships between animal populations and kept and raised by a bear. The boy’s fa-
human hunters depend upon carefully ther kills the bear after an extended ex-
maintained relationships between hu- change of spiritual power, and the dying
mans and these “masters” or “keepers.” If bear gives the boy a gift that will allow
humans are greedy and hunt to excess, him to find bears whenever he feels it is
or otherwise insult the species, the necessary; the boy grows to be a success-
“keepers” will withdraw their species ful hunter of bears (ibid., 148–150). Simi-
from accessibility to humans, or even lar stories are told by Inupiaq and Yup’iq
cause diseases in humans (Martin 1978; of young men who lived with bowhead
Tanner 1979; Martin 2000). whales or bearded seals and were taught
If, however, proper respect is shown, the proper way to treat such species in
the prey species will be renewed so that order to hunt them successfully (Martin
the food obtained from hunting will con- 1999). These stories emphasize that only
397
individuals who show proper respect, time of menses was considered danger-
both for the hunted animals and for their ous because at that time women had their
remains after they have been taken, will greatest powers. One example of such
be successful in hunting. Such traditions power is revealed in the story of the village
may also be related to “vision quests” un- that tried to avoid having their children
dertaken by young men of many tribes eaten and their village destroyed by
during which a special relationship may “Stone Clad,” by placing seven virgins
be established with a particular species who were experiencing their cycles along
that “gives medicine” to the individual the path into the village. By the time the
on the quest, determining his future. monster reached the last woman he had
These categories are not mutually ex- no power left and fell into a pile of peb-
clusive, as the relationship between the bles. “So they say!” As the Cherokee tradi-
hunter and his prey may change over the tionally end their stories (A. Calhoon, per-
course of the interaction; for example, sonal communication).
the boy raised by a bear story contains el- When the hunter is deciding what and
ements of both dominance-subordi- where to hunt, he must participate in rit-
nance (father/bear) and friendship uals and ceremonies during which he
(boy/bear). In Innu tradition the nonhu- must appeal to his animal “friend,” who
man goes from a position superior to the has far more knowledge and influence at
hunter prior to the hunt, to a position of this stage than does the hunter. “Each
equality during the hunt, to the property animal knows way more than you do. We
of women after it has been killed (Tanner always heard that from old people when
1979). they told us not to bother anything un-
The role of women is also important less we really needed it” (Nelson 1983,
during the final stages of hunting rituals. 225), which is why the hunter must pre-
Although women rarely participate in the pare himself spiritually through sweats
act of killing, they are the primary individ- and dreams (Brody 1986). During the
uals involved in preparation of food and taking of the nonhuman life, an ex-
skins (ibid.; Harrod 2000; Martin 1999). change occurs between human and non-
Women are usually prevented from han- human “persons,” who interact at an
dling the weapons used by men in hunt- equivalent level.
ing, particularly when menstruating. Al- After the kill, the hunter must act in a
though this has often been interpreted as properly humble and respectful manner,
women being “unclean” at this time, it is giving thanks and apologies as needed.
also possible that it is because women Afterward the hunter and his family
and their menses were associated with must continue to act in a respectful
the production of life, whereas hunting manner in the dispersal, preparation,
instruments are associated with the end- and consumption of the food. The un-
ing of life (Martin 1999). For Cherokee the born fetuses of female animals also must
398
be treated with respect (ibid.). Cree fishermen. The respect that tribal people
hunters and their families must treat the hold for the fish as relatives means that
edible parts of the prey with care and they would not overexploit the resource,
make sure that they are shared with because that would violate their rela-
other members of their community in a tionship with the fish.
true “communion”—which is literal, un- Similarly, catch and release fishing,
like the symbolic communion of Chris- considered a major tool for conservation
tianity. Inedible parts also must be by non-Native sport fishermen, may be
treated carefully, and placed in locations regarded by Indians as “playing with the
that indicate their significance. Antlers fish”—showing no respect for the fish
and skulls are decorated and placed in and the importance of its life. If a fish is
prominent locations. Bones of land ani- caught, that fish should be eaten; other-
mals and birds are placed on elevated wise, any suffering experienced by the
platforms, and those of water animals fish during its capture is for no purpose.
are returned to water. Bones are not The same principle is also applied to an-
given to dogs, nor are they thrown away, imals that are the subjects of mark-re-
for that would be disrespectful (Tanner capture studies, whereby scientists trap
1979). The tradition of elevating and dec- animals, mark or tag them, and then re-
orating buffalo skulls during Sun Dances lease them so that further studies can be
almost certainly has a similar function— carried out (Nelson 1983; Brightman
that is, pleasing the game master and 1993).
making a special ceremony honoring the Perhaps the best way to think of the
sacrifice of the animal’s life, thus serving spiritual and religious basis of Native
to heal the human community at the American hunting is that Native Ameri-
same time. cans lived their lives as though the lives of
The connectedness that derives from other organisms mattered. They experi-
these reciprocal relationships between enced other creatures in their roles as
human and nonhuman recognized by parents, as offspring, and ultimately as
Native people leads them to take stands persons within a shared community, and
that generate conflicts with the domi- realized that their own lives were inti-
nant Euro-American culture on key is- mately intertwined with those of these
sues dealing with conservation of other organisms. Thus, human beings
wildlife and fisheries. Native people find are not the measure of all things, but
that many fish and game regulations exist as but one small part of a very com-
make little sense in terms of the way they plex ecosystem. That idea is in contrast
live their lives—for example, Anishnabe to the Western view, which places human
walleye spearfishing vs. “sport-fishing” beings above the rest of nature.
in Wisconsin. Fishing regulations are de- The contributor of this entry wishes to
signed to regulate greed on the part of thank his indigenous colleagues Ann
399
Calhoon (Eastern Cherokee), Francis Marshall-Thomas, Elizabeth. 1994. The

Wakazoo (Lakota), and Daniel Wildcat Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture.
New York: Simon and Schuster.
(Euchee) for their comments and addi- Martin, C. 1978. Keepers of the Game:
tions. Any errors that remain are, of Indian-Animal Relationships and the Fur
course, my own. Trade. Berkeley: University of California
Press.
Raymond Pierotti Martin, C. L. 1999. The Way of the Human
Being. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Martin, J. W. 2000. The Land Looks after Us:
Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho; Dreamers
A History of Native American Religion.
and Prophets; Dreams and Visions; Ecology
New York: Oxford University Press.
and Environmentalism; Oral Traditions,
McGrath, R. 2002. “Traditional Innu Beliefs.”
Western Plains; Religious Leadership,
In Spirituality among the Inuit and Innu
Plains; Sacred Pipe; Sundance, Plains;
of Labrador. A Background Report for the
Sweatlodge; Vision Quest Rites
Environmental Impact Assessment of the
References and Further Reading Voisey’s Bay Mine and Mill Project. St.
Anderson, Eugene N. 1996. Ecologies of the John’s, Newfoundland: Community
Heart: Emotion, Belief, and the Resources, Ltd. http://www.innu.ca/
Environment. Oxford University Press, tanner1.html. (Accessed December 7,
New York. 2004).
Armitage, Peter. 1992. “Religious Ideology McIntyre, R. 1995. War against the Wolf:
among the Innu of Eastern Quebec and America’s Campaign to Exterminate the
Labrador.” Religiologiques 10: 64–110. Wolf. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur Press.
Awiakta, Marilou. 1993. Selu: Seeking the Nelson, R. K. 1983. Make Prayers to the
Corn Mother’s Wisdom. Golden, CO: Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern
Fulcrum Publishing. Forest. Chicago: University of Chicago
Brightman, Robert. 1993. Grateful Prey: Press.
Rock Cree Human-Animal Pierotti, R., and D. Wildcat. 2000.
Relationships. Berkeley: University of “Traditional Ecological Knowledge: The
California Press. Third Alternative.” Ecological
Brody, Hugh. 1982. Maps and Dreams. Applications 10: 1333, 1340.
London: Faber and Faber. ———. 2001. “Being Native to this Place.”
Cushing, F. H. 1883/1988. Zuni Fetishes. Pp. 3–16 in American Indians in History,
Reprint, Las Vegas: KC Publications. 1870–2000. Edited by Sterling Evans.
Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1999. For this Land: Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.
Writings on Religion in America. New Speck, F. G. 1935. Naskapi, the Savage
York: Routledge. Hunters of the Labrador Peninsula.
Harrod, Howard I. 2000. The Animals Came Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Dancing: Native American Sacred Ecology Tanner, A. 1979. Bringing Home Animals:
and Animal Kinship. Tucson: University Religious Ideology and Mode of
of Arizona Press. Production of the Mistassini Cree
Marshall, Joseph III. 1995. On Behalf of the Hunters. London: C. Hurst and Co.
Wolf and the First Peoples. Santa Fe: Red Taylor, P. 1992. Respect for Nature.
Crane Books. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
400
I
Identity ment for validation and approval of indi-
vidual identity. Only Native Americans
The cultivation, creation, and reaffirma- are required to demonstrate a set “blood
tion of identity is a central part of any re- quantum,” or trace a direct lineage to a
ligious tradition, wherever it may be treaty-signing ancestor, to receive a gov-
found, and issues of identity and identi- ernmentally approved “pedigree.”
fication play an enormous role within These legal complications result in the
American Indian religious, cultural, and denial of official Native identity to the
spiritual life. Identity is a complex issue majority of people sharing Native her-
for many Native people, created through itage, descent, and cultural affiliation.
personal experience, family stories and The spiritual, psychological, cultural,
oral traditions, kinship, community in- and political strain of such federal poli-
volvement, and federal recognition. The cies cannot be underestimated. For ex-
fact that identity politics in Native com- ample, federal policies require Native
munities is complex to say the least has a people to maintain a certain percentage
profound impact on the spiritual lives of of distinctly tribal blood to remain “In-
Native people. While many Native peo- dian.” This means that an individual who
ples self-identify as Native, may have is entirely “Native” (but the offspring of a
been taught by parents and grandpar- diversity of Native American nations, not
ents of their cultural heritage, and may a single nation) may no longer be con-
participate in cultural activities that cel- sidered “Indian” by the federal govern-
ebrate pan-tribal Native traditions, those ment and may be denied basic rights and
same individuals may not be recognized services because of a lack of “pure
by federal or state governments as being blood.” These policies, many have ar-
“Native.” American Indians are the only gued, are part of the federal govern-
racial or ethnic group in the United ment’s termination policies to erase Na-
States that must look to the U.S. govern- tive people (legally) from existence.
401
Identity _________________________________________________________________________________________
It is important to understand the identity policies have had a particularly

complexities of these identity issues detrimental effect on Native women,
when considering American Indian reli- who, within the patriarchal Euro-Ameri-
gious and cultural life in the twenty-first can system, are assumed to take on their
century. For many Native people, partic- husband’s name and identity. Native
ipation in traditional spiritual practices women who marry outside of their tribe
is a way to affirm a cultural identity that have been denied tribal status, while
federal and state governments have de- men marrying outside of their commu-
nied. It should be remembered that Na- nity have not. Such practices directly
tive spiritual practices are tied to indige- contradict indigenous matrilineal and
nous landscapes, ancestral homelands, matrifocal traditions, which are built on
and oral traditions that are the property and around more egalitarian Native spir-
of individual nations. This combining of itual and cultural traditions. U.S. federal
geography with religio-cultural beliefs policies that undermine traditional sys-
has been called geomythology. Native tems of marriage, governance, kinship,
people sharing more than one cultural and identity act to undermine indige-
heritage (a condition of the majority of nous cultural and spiritual life. Hence, to
Native Americans) are often conflicted understand contemporary American In-
between multiple landscapes and multi- dian religious life, it is necessary to un-
ple traditions, as a result of U.S. colo- derstand federal and state identity poli-
nialism. Access to community member- cies, and the impact they have had on
ship, to a home on reservation lands, to Native identity, land ownership, and
an assured identity is called into ques- community cohesion.
tion by federal policies that are more
concerned with the allocation of federal Land and Identity
funds than the spiritual and cultural The first threat to American Indian cul-
identities of individuals. tural identity occurred with the loss of
Furthermore, traditional indigenous Native land. At the heart of indigenous
religions are not individual endeavors spiritual and cultural life is the indige-
but communal activities, activities that nous landscape, and the loss of land
take place within a sacred landscape. places Native cultural survival and iden-
The separation of individual Native peo- tity at risk. The first step in this theft of
ple from that community and landscape land took the form of the reservation
through federal relocation policies, or system. In the aftermath of the Indian-
through federal laws that do not allow Settler wars, the U.S. federal govern-
communities to define who they are and ment initially wrote treaties with more
whom they include, directly threatens than four hundred American Indian
the spiritual well-being of Native people tribes, in order to pacify those tribes by
and nations. As this essay will show, corralling them onto Indian reserva-
402
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Identity
tions. These forced migrations were con- groups in the Midwestern states and re-
gressionally legislated by the Indian Re- quired all tribal lands to be marked off
moval Act (1830). Among such acts of for allotments that broke up the com-
genocide perpetrated by the U.S. gov- munal land holdings among all the
ernment, the Cherokee “Trail of Tears” members. What later followed was the
and the Navajo/Diné “Longest Walk” are Indian Reorganization Act (1934), which
the most infamous. The larger reserva- further eroded the traditional cultural
tions were established in the state of Ari- structures of the Native tribes, in order
zona, while the New Mexico Pueblos to have them conform to U.S. federal
were able to maintain their original control in regard to its laws and jurisdic-
lands. California’s situation was distinct tion on the reservations. However, in
in that the tribal people had already later years the federal government spon-
been missionized by the Spaniards; they sored “relocation programs,” legislated
were therefore a mixed population by the Relocation Act (1956), which co-
called “mestizos” (meaning mixed- erced as well as encouraged American
bloods among Spanish and Natives). Indians to relocate off the reservation to
Native Californians also wrote agree- metropolitan urban centers; such was
ments with the Continental Congress, the case of the Lakota Sioux from South
but those “treaties” supposedly never Dakota, among others. Prior to the relo-
reached Congress to be ratified into law. cation programs was the ill-fated Termi-
As a result, these Californian groups nation Act (1953), which took tribal sta-
were left with a quasi-tribal status, many tus away from several tribes (including
with state recognition but not federal the Menominee and Klamath) in order
recognition, with their reservation to hasten their assimilation. Yet that act
called “rancherias.” The history of the was eventually rescinded and the tar-
state of Colorado is among the most no- geted tribes reinstated, as a result of the
torious, because the cavalry effectively dire consequences brought on by their
wiped out most of its “Indians,” includ- legal termination. All tribal peoples at
ing the Arapahos, in such engagements that time were living in Third World con-
as the infamous Sand Creek Massacre. ditions of poverty on the reservations,
Hence, in the U.S. history of conquest and with little recourse for their oppres-
and colonization enacted upon Native sive situation. The Indian Land Claims
Americans, each state has its own Commission (1946) was intended to cor-
unique story to tell regarding the out- rect this situation by investigating cases
come of its Native populations. Most of illegal expropriation of Indian lands.
tribes were eventually affected by the However, this commission had the op-
General Allotment Act of 1887, also posite effect, as it coerced the claimants
known as the Dawes Act, which initially into monetary compensation that mini-
targeted the Cherokees and related mized their land claims.
403
Identity _________________________________________________________________________________________
A stated intent of these treaties and settlement, as well as being provided

agreements by the U.S. government was federal and state services that were ini-
to ensure these Native peoples federal tially interpreted as “obligations” stipu-
and state services, such as education, lated by these treaties and agreements.
health care, and later housing. These Out of such obligations, which the fed-
treaty agreements were followed up by eral government later called “benefits” to
twentieth-century congressional legisla- Native Americans, came congressional
tion intended to assist in the process of legislation that further colonized Native
their colonization—then referred to as Americans as second-class citizens
their “assimilation” into U.S. society as (often living in poverty on reservations),
subordinate citizens. The Bureau of In- such as the Indian Citizenship Act
dian Affairs (BIA) was formed out of the (1924); the Indian Civil Rights Act (1968);
Office of War, which implemented those the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
stipulations, eventually resulting in the cational Assistance Act (1975); the Indian
expropriation of Indian lands under a Child Welfare Act (1978); the American
duplicitous federal paternalism referred Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978).
to as a “trust responsibility” (and also re-
ferred to as wardship) to Indian tribes. Defining Identity
This federal “responsibility” was inter- One of the more perplexing issues con-
preted in the Supreme Court’s Marshall fronting the indigenous peoples of North
Decision, in The Cherokee Cases America during the early twenty-first
(1831–1832), by calling these tribes “do- century is the question of how to define
mestic dependent nations” under fed- who is and who is not “Indian,” when
eral jurisdiction. In that vein, these considered in terms of the federal Indian
treaties and agreements can be per- identification policy, which includes
ceived as “real estate” transactions, with “blood quantum” formulation. At base,
the federal government taking away tra- the problems derive from confusion as
ditional Indian lands for public state ser- to whether Native American peoples are
vices (that is, national parks, forests, to be understood as distinct nationali-
monuments, and the like mostly under ties, as their several hundred ratified
the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt) treaties with the United States and other
for the “common good,” while asserting nation-states clearly entitle them to be,
plenary domain throughout its national- or to be classified merely as a “racial
ist boundaries. In this process, Native group” under the racist labeling of “eth-
Americans were assured of living on nic-minority.” In the first instance,
lands designated for them to preserve American Indian identity would be de-
their own cultural ways “as long as the termined not only by birth into one or
grass grows and the river flows.” They another nation (Mohawk, Ute, Bannock,
were to be removed from Euro-American and so forth) but also by exercise of such
404
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Identity
sovereign group prerogatives as natural- willingly and thoroughly diluted through

ization by marriage, adoption, and appli- a sustained process of intermixing long
cation. In the latter case, considerations before the pedigrees of individual Indi-
of genealogy predominate to the exclu- ans began to be catalogued by anthro-
sion of all other factors. For politically pologists and bureaucrats employed by
convenient reasons of self-interest and the federal government.
opportunism, the United States has cho- During the early period of U.S.-Indian
sen to impose both mutually contradic- relations, Native criteria regarding mem-
tory standards of identification, and bership in their various societies contin-
often simultaneously. That makes it even ued to prevail, which created a “dual-cit-
more problematic to determine who is izenry” status when the United States
eligible as an “American Indian,” as an mandated the Indian Citizenship Act of
individual or as a tribal group, for both 1924 for all American Indians. In none of
federal and state services addressing ed- the many treaties (over 400) that the
ucation, health, and housing. United States negotiated with indige-
Traditionally, most Native peoples nous nations prior to 1871 did the gov-
employed concepts of group member- ernment attempt to limit, by blood or
ship that much more closely resemble any other measure, the constituency em-
the time-honored ideals of citizenship bodied by the parties to such agree-
than notions of race or “blood.” In pre- ments. It was not until Indians were mili-
contact times, “intertribal” marriage was tarily subdued that the United States felt
common in kinship traditions, with ei- free to undertake such unilateral pre-
ther husband (patrilineal descendency) sumption. This new federal policy was
or wife (matrilineal descendency) as- first evidenced in coherent fashion in the
suming membership in the group of his General Allotment or “Dawes” Act of
or her spouse, depending upon the ex- 1887, through which the government set
tent of matrifocality or patrifocality of out to assign each American Indian it
the cultures involved. Even more perva- chose to recognize an individually
sive was the practice of adopting chil- deeded parcel of land within existing
dren, and sometimes adults, taken as reservation boundaries; this was a colo-
captives in warfare. After contact, such nizing strategy to break up the commu-
inclusive procedures were expanded to nal ownership of property. Once all rec-
accommodate the desire for member- ognized Indians had received a 160-acre
ship expressed by both a steady stream tract, all remaining property was de-
of European frontiersmen and even a clared “surplus” and opened to non-In-
rather larger number of escaped African dian utilization. The standard for the
slaves. Hence, whatever “genetic purity” federal recognition of “Indianness,”
might ever have existed within indige- which entitled applicants to receive
nous North American societies had been deeds, was not that they be members or
405
Identity _________________________________________________________________________________________
citizens of their respective nations but “Indian” artists in the Indian art market
that they be “one-half or more Indian without “BIA certification.”
blood.” These formative processes have had
Needless to say, there were far more numerous ill effects on Native peoples.
160-acre parcels available within the That is exemplified by the fact that, while
reservations than there were individuals the 1990 U.S. census formally acknowl-
meeting the federal criteria. Conse- edges the presence of fewer than 2 mil-
quently, of the approximately 150 million American Indians in the country,
lion acres of reservation land inside the more realistic appraisals indicate an ad-
United States in 1890, nearly 100 million ditional 14 million who are “federally
had passed from Native ownership by non-recognized” being categorized as
the time the allotment had run its course “white,” “Hispanic,” or “black.”
in the early 1930s. By then, the govern- Such circumstances fuel a sharp and
ment had come to appreciate the extent even increasing divisiveness within Na-
to which the “blood quantum” method tive communities as to “who is Indian.”
of Indian identification could be used to The situation also lends credence to con-
its advantage, not only in controlling Na- tentions that the blood quantum system,
tive land and resources but also in con- which has been described as a eugenics
straining its financial obligations in areas code comparable to those employed by
such as education. Moreover, the such blatantly racist countries as Nazi
method could be employed—by the sim- Germany and apartheid South Africa,
ple expedient of raising or lowering adds up to a form of “statistical extermi-
quantum requirements—as a mecha- nation” of Native Americans. As the
nism to manipulate Indian policies and noted historian Patricia Nelson Limerick
demographics, virtually at will. Thus, has observed, “Set the blood quantum
blood quantum identification standards [standard], hold to it as rigid definition of
have been maintained as an integral as- Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it
pect of federal Indian policy through the had for centuries, and eventually Indians
present day, despite recent official adop- will be defined out of existence. When
tion of a rhetoric that implies sovereignty that happens, the federal government
and self-determination without govern- will be freed of its persistent ‘Indian
ment interference for Indians. In this mi- problem.’”
lieu there is the recent passage of the in- As a result of these racialized formula-
famous Public Law 101–644–104, Stat. tions of “blood quantum,” the Affirma-
4662, legislation that denies self-pro- tive Action category of “American In-
claimed American Indians the right to dian” or “Alaskan Native/Eskimo” is
identify themselves as “Indian” artists, shrinking, and the population of “mixed-
legislation with dire effects on targets bloods” (that is, métis, mestizo, mulat-
such as art galleries that exhibit these tos, and so forth), who do not hold this
406
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Identity
federally mandated certification, is Second Amendment right to keep and

being denied federal or state services. bear arms, nor the Third Amendment
The federal mandate has now led to right to be immune from quartering of
“DNA blueprinting,” which is premised soldiers on one’s property in time of
on genetic coding. The state of Vermont peace. The Seventh Amendment, which
has passed the first “DNA certification,” allows the right to a jury trial in civil suits
regarding its Native population among exceeding $20 was not extended to In-
their largest and mostly “mixed-blood” dian courts principally because of the
Abenaki people. This has harmed cost to tribal governments and Indian lit-
younger generations, who cannot meet igants” (137–138). In an early precedent
such restrictive blood-quantum criteria court case, Talton v. Mayes (1896), the
and are thus rendered ineligible for fed- U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of
eral and state services. Consequently, the Rights did not apply to tribal govern-
representation of “recognized” Native ments or courts. This case was the first of
Americans in U.S. mainstream institu- a roster of court cases that involved con-
tions, such as for education, health care, troversies over American Indian religious
or housing, is diminishing to the point of freedom, including Toledo v. Pueblo de
making them an “endangered species,” Jemez (1954) and later Colliflower v. Gar-
with genocidal and ethnocidal conse- land (1965), about a reservation dispute
quences. over the use of tribal lands in Montana.
This “Bill of Indian Rights” legislation
Gender, Indian Identity, and the was inspired by the Civil Rights Move-
Indian Bill of Rights ment of the 1960s. As Wunder notes,
Most U.S. citizens know of the “Bill of “The ninth piece of Indian legislation
Rights” but are not aware that there ex- was a last-minute amendment to the
ists an “Indian Bill of Rights,” written and Civil Rights Act of 1968. This was the In-
enacted by the Subcommittee on Consti- dian Bill of Rights, a pet project of Sena-
tutional Rights for federally recognized tor Sam Ervin of North Carolina” (ibid.,
American Indian tribes. In his compara- 126). After hearings on the legal rights of
tive analysis of the two bills (Retained by Native Americans since 1961, this sena-
the People, 1994), John R. Wunder states tor “had become convinced that Indians
that in addition to the omission of the should have the same individual rights
Second, Third, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, as those guaranteed to all other Ameri-
and Fifteenth Amendments from the cans by the Bill of Rights” (ibid., 127).
U.S. Bill of Rights, portions of other However, the senator’s paternalistic act
amendments were also excluded from further eroded tribal communal or col-
the Indian Bill of Rights: “In sort of a lective rights, and Native women were
nineteenth-century carryover, individ- for the most part voiceless in these pro-
ual Indians were accorded neither the ceedings. This raises the obvious ques-
407
Identity _________________________________________________________________________________________
tion: why the need for a distinct Indian Policy” in the discourse on American
bill of rights for American Indians? history. It has mainly been concluded
An extensive review of the Indian Bill that among the approximately four hun-
of Rights is beyond the scope of this dred tribes that made international
essay. However, it is important to note treaties and other negotiations from the
some of the differences between the In- 1700s to the 1800s with the U.S. govern-
dian Bill of Rights and the U.S. Bill of ment, all of those nation-to-nation
Rights. In addition to the Second, Third, agreements have been violated at the ex-
Ninth, and Tenth Amendments not pense of the tribes. U.S. colonization,
being added to the Indian bill, the Fif- therefore, resulted in the subordination
teenth Amendment was also excluded, of these tribal peoples, who traditionally
the Amendment that prohibits “discrimi- held to communal or collective rights
nation in the right to vote based on race. that were initially meant to be protected
The last omission was intentional, as by treaty with the U.S. federal govern-
many tribes believed that the inclusion ment. Hence a separate Indian Bill of
of [that] amendment might make it diffi- Rights that took this colonialist history
cult for them to determine their own into account was needed, but one in
membership qualifications based on which treatied Indians were to become
[kinship] descent or [what is called] second-class citizens, or Third World
blood-quantum” (ibid., 138). Wunder refugees “exiled in their own lands”
adds that the “reactions by non-Indians (Lyons and Mohawk 1992), while often
to the new Indian Bill of Rights were gen- residing in Third World living conditions
erally quite favorable . . . [while] the In- on tribal reservations marginal to U.S.
dians’ reactions were mixed” among pri- society.
marily male leaders and male-controlled Prior to the writing of this congres-
organizations. In the latter case, both the sional document, Supreme Court chief
Association of American Indian Affairs justice Marshall had already defined
and the National Congress of American American Indian tribes as “domestic de-
Indians supported the act (ibid., 140). pendent nations,” a perspective that en-
Yet, it is relevant to note that this non- abled a restructuring of tribal status with
Native author was not necessarily con- the federal government, in what was in
cerned with gender inequities in his con- theory meant to be a bilateral relation-
servatively liberal but patriarchal ship. Hence, this Marshall Decision in-
political analysis. stead imposed a juridical dominant-sub-
Others, both among Native and non- ordinate restructuring that, in practice,
Native scholars, have written compre- resulted in a unilateral restructuring. All
hensively on the federal-Indian relation- American Indians were mandated U.S.
ship, and under what is more often citizenship in the Indian Citizenship Act
termed “Federal Indian Law and Public of 1924, followed by the Indian Civil
408
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Identity
Rights Act of 1964 and the Indian Bill of dorse the IRA form of government on
Rights, which favored Indian men over many reservations to this day. This act,
women. This chauvinistic situation, that therefore, further eroded traditional ma-
resulted from U.S. patriarchy, existed de- trilineal descendency and communal
spite the fact that the Iroquois Confeder- ways of holding land, resulting in the loss
acy had influenced the Founding Fathers of women’s rights. Intermarrying outside
in their conceptualization of a federalist the tribe, which could threaten a Native
republic conceptualized as an American woman’s tribal membership and that of
democracy—especially in terms of its bi- her offspring, often compounded the in-
cameral houses for legislative represen- dividual loss of tribal status. As a result of
tatives and congressional consensus reorganization, such decisions were now
(Martin and Jaimes 1995). What these being made by male-controlled tribal
same land and slave owners who councils, a move that also corrupted a
founded the federalist republic ignored form of traditional nepotism that fa-
was the significant role the Clan Mothers vored certain kinship clans over others,
played among the Iroquois nations in which were now “elected” to leadership
their traditional intertribal governance. that monopolized their power and self-
Yet it wasn’t until the Indian Reorgani- interests.
zation Act of 1934 that tribal govern- In New Mexico, Martinez v. Santa
ments were mandated to be restructured Clara Pueblo (1978) (Jaimes w/ Halsey
as extensions of the duplicitous U.S. gov- 1992); Jaimes-Guerrero 1997) became a
ernment’s federal system. The Reorgani- well-known case illustration when Julia
zation Act is described thus: “The IRA Martinez took her grievance all the way
(ch. 576, 48 Stat. 948, now codified as 25 to the Supreme Court after the tribal
U.S.C. 461–279; also known as the council threatened to take her Indian
Wheeler-Howard Act), was imposed by status, and that of her children, away be-
the United States to supplant traditional cause she had married outside of the
forms of indigenous governance in favor Pueblo to a Navajo/Diné man. After los-
of a tribal council structure modeled ing her children’s status, she and her
after corporate boards. In order to put a family were expected to leave the com-
democratic face on the maneuver, it was munity, and they were provoked to do so
stipulated that each nation be reorga- by being denied educational, health, and
nized and agree to the process by refer- housing services by the tribe. Martinez
endum. The referenda were then system- sued the Pueblo, premised on her and
atically rigged by the Commissioner of her children’s civil rights, but the Court
Indian Affairs John Collier” (Jaimes 1992, decided not to interfere with the “tribal
15). One divisive result has been the cre- sovereignty” of the male-controlled
ation of tribal political factions separat- Pueblo council. Therefore it is in this
ing those who resist from those who en- case that a correlation is seen between
409
Identity _________________________________________________________________________________________
colonialism, racism, and sexism in a mainly male-controlled, it is more likely,

Pueblo society that once held, in pre- generally speaking, for a Native woman
colonialist times, to matrilineal tradi- to lose her tribal membership as a result
tions. Early records indicate that most of intermarrying outside the community.
tribal societies were matrilineal before For a cross-nationalist comparison,
the European invasion; Native women the 1978 Martinez case in New Mexico
held positions of authority as exemplary had a different legal outcome than did
leaders. Hence it wasn’t until the more the Sandra Lovelace Sappier case in
direct coercion of American colonists Canada on the Tobique Reserve in On-
and missionaries, with their Eurocentric tario Province (Silman 1987). In the
subordination of women as male prop- Lovelace case, a Native woman was los-
erty, that these societies changed to pa- ing her aboriginal status and rights be-
trilineal and later patriarchal ways. It is cause she married outside of the reserve
this shift that has since eroded Native to a non-Indian. When Lovelace Sappier
women’s matrilineal and matrifocal au- tried to return to her community with
thority as Clan Mothers, as a cultural kin- her son, both she and her son were de-
ship tradition among their respective nied housing services. She appealed to
peoples. the Canadian government on civil rights
In regard to the issues of civil rights grounds, and when the government did
and sovereignty, there is a juxtaposition not respond she took her case all the way
between racism and sexism, a “trickle- to the United Nations. She argued her
down patriarchy” as a result of the effect case as a human rights grievance with
of the colonialist process upon Native the support of a Native women’s move-
people. Research has shown that there is ment in her area. In 1981 the United Na-
about 50 percent intermarriage (also tions decided to intervene by mandating
called exogamy) among Native peoples that the Canadian government amend
of both genders (Thornton 1987). The its “Indian Act” to protect aboriginal
data also indicate that Native women women from this kind of patriarchal dis-
will more often than not marry intertrib- crimination. That was a very different
ally and beget children; Native men outcome from what was seen in the U.S.
more often than not marry non-Natives Martinez case, in which a male-con-
and beget children. The latter are fre- trolled Pueblo council prevailed, while
quently able to put their non-Native the Tobique Reserve council cried foul in
wives and children on tribal roles, while what they saw as the interference in their
Native women married to Native men “tribal sovereignty.”
are not. It should be noted that a Native There are a myriad of issues that Na-
man is also subject to losing his Ameri- tive people have had to contend with in
can Indian status for tribal membership, regard to identity formation, including
but because the tribal councils are the obfuscation of what is meant by
410
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Identity
“dual citizenry,” “blood quantum” crite- failing to meet federal “blood quantum”
ria required for federal recognition, and regulations, Native identity has become
the play of those issues within individual a complex and painful issue, one intri-
tribal sovereignty. The federal Indian cately tied to gender, culture, politics,
identification policy has resulted in a and spirituality.
majority of Native people who identify M. A. Jaimes-Guerrero
themselves as being American Indian
See also Feminism and Tribalism; Law,
suffering from a loosening of ties with Legislation, and Native Religion;
their tribal communities, often for rea- Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural
sons beyond their control. These circum- Implications; Termination and
Relocation
stances are resulting in a shrinkage in the
number of tribal members, who are be- References and Further Reading
Deloria, Vine, Jr., and Clifford M. Lytle.
coming exclusive to such a point that the 1983. American Indians, American
identities of younger generations are Justice. Austin: University of Texas
being wiped out, or legally distinguished Press.
Forbes, Jack D. “Undercounting Native
from those of their kin and brethren liv- Americans: The 1980 Census and the
ing on or off the reservations. Census Manipulation of Racial Identity in the
data and research in the 1990s indicated United States.” Wicazo Sa Review 6, no. 1
(spring): 2–26.
that, at the end of the twentieth century, Jaimes, M. Annette. 1992. The State of
some 20 to 30 percent of American Indi- Native America. Boston: Southend
ans still permanently resided on tribal Press.
Jaimes-Guerrero, M. A. 1997. “Civil Rights
reservations; a growing number (60 to 70 vs. Sovereignty: Native American Women
percent) of “urban Indians” lived among in Life and Land Struggles.” In Feminist
mainstream populations. The latter are Genealogies, Colonial Legacies,
Democratic Futures. Edited by C.
often concentrating in major metropoli-
Mohanty Talpade and M. J. Alexander.
tan areas, most notably Los Angeles, New York: Routledge.
Chicago, Minneapolis, and Phoenix. Of Jaimes-Guerrero, M. A., and Joel Martin,
eds. 1995. “The Scholarship of Cultural
the 1.5 million Native Americans who
Contact: Decolonizing Native American
constitute 10 percent of the U.S. popula- History.” Special journal issue for
tion, 50 percent are Native women. Na- Historical Reflections 21, no. 2 (spring).
Lyons, Oren, and John Mohawk, eds. 1992.
tive American women, however, are still
Exiled in the Land of the Free:
in the minority in regard to political rep- Democracy, Indian Nations, and the U.S.
resentation and voting power, and it is Constitution. Santa Fe: Clear Light
generally these women who end up the Publications.
Silman, Janet. 1987. Enough Is Enough:
most disenfranchised and dispossessed Aboriginal Women Speak Out. Toronto,
because of the colonialism and patri- Ontario: Women’s Press.
archy in today’s global U.S. society. For Thornton, Russel. 1987. American Indian
Holocaust and Survival: A Population
the so-called urban Indian population, History Since 1492. Norman: University
and for those living on the reservations of Oklahoma Press.
411
I n -Lo n -Skah _____________________________________________________________________________________
Wunder, R. John 1994. Retained by the lost. However, the music of the In-Lon-
People. Bloomington: Indiana University Skah continues to thrive and is possibly
Press, 1994.
the main representation of Osage culture
(Hamm 1975, 114). The dance style of the
In-Lon-Skah is the straight dance, which
is more traditional and controlled than
I n -Lo n -Skah
that of the powwow or fancy dancing. In
The In-Lon-Skah is a time of harmony ceremonial dancing the focus is on the
and serenity for the Osage people, and a overall spiritual experience of the In-Lon-
primary ritual in Osage life. In addition, Skah (Callahan 1990, 97). In order for a
the In-Lon-Skah is representative of the male dancer to be allowed to dance in
centrality of ceremonial practice in the In-Lon-Skah, he must be wearing the
Osage life, and in Plains Indian religious Osage traditional ceremonial dress, ex-
systems in general. cept on the fourth day during family
As well as securing the rebirth of har- songs and give-away. In Osage dances
mony, the In-Lon-Skah allows a renewal of men are the main dancers; women have
Osage spirit and a peaceful understand- been allowed to dance in the dance arbor
ing of the world (Callahan 1990, 135). The only since World War II. Women dancers
Osage assign great importance to the eld- often dance in street clothes with a
est child. In-Lon-Skah (lit.: “playground of dance shawl around them; however,
the first son”) is a time to honor the first some wear tribal dress.
son who has been chosen as drumkeeper The In-Lon-Skah is a four-day cere-
for the year (Wilson 1985, 201). The drum mony held at Grayhorse, Hominy, and
is a sacred instrument in the In-Lon-Skah Pawhuska in northern Oklahoma during
and brings great honor and responsibility the month of June. The In-Lon-Skah
to the eldest son, as well as his family. The drum was received by the Osages in the
drumkeeper must preserve and safeguard mid-1880s from the Ponca and Kaw
the drum as well as perform other duties, tribes (ibid., 7). As stated previously, the
which will be discussed later in detail. The drum is a sacred instrument in the In-
cedarman is responsible for the cedar- Lon-Skah. It signifies the Osage song, life,
burning ceremony at the In-Lon-Skah. and history and therefore is the core of
Burning of cedar is another sacred ritual the In-Lon-Skah. The drum is placed in
in the Osage culture. The smoke from the the center of the dance arbor, and the
burning cedar chips purifies the dance men singers form a circle around it with
arbor and allows good spirits to remain at the women singers directly behind them.
the In-Lon-Skah (Callahan 1990, 54). The most common rhythm in the
Osage traditions are handed down by music during the In-Lon-Skah consists of
word of mouth from generation to gen- heavy accents that occur during irregular
eration, and as a result most have been intervals and vary in length (ibid., 74).
412
____________________________________________________________________________________ I n -Lo n -Skah
The singing seems to be forced from the the spirit world (ibid., 62). After the feast
throat, which gives the music its power. of the mourners, the drum is brought out
Historically this ceremonial dance has of silence and the In-Lon-Skah continues.
been considered a man’s dance because There are many preparations that
of the belief that men are better equipped must take place before and during the In-
to bring out the magic from the drum and Lon-Skah. The present-day dance com-
music of the In-Lon-Skah (ibid., 98). mittee consists of a drumkeeper, head
The men dance in a circular pattern committeeman, several dance commit-
around the men and women singers. The teemen, advisors, tail dancers, whipmen,
women dance in a circular pattern waterboys, head cook, assistant cooks,
around the border of the arbor. It is not drum warmer, head singer, men singers,
uncommon to find women standing in women singers, and a town crier.
front of their seats dancing silently in The main job of the drumkeeper and
place. Although there are several varia- his family is to protect the drum. Addi-
tions to the men’s straight dance used in tionally, the drumkeeper must select the
the In-Lon-Skah, the most common is the dance committee, organize special
ball-to-heel step, in which the knees meals during the planning of the cere-
bend slightly. The male dancers individu- mony, and ensure safety and protection
alize their In-Lon-Skah dance technique during the entire In-Lon-Skah. The posi-
from their own views and past experi- tion of drumkeeper entails a huge finan-
ences. The women’s dance step is a repet- cial obligation, but it brings great honor
itive flatfoot step with a slight bend of the and respect to the family.
knee producing an up and down effect. The head committeeman is consid-
The burning of cedar is considered a ered a very important individual during
sacred ritual in the In-Lon-Skah and is the In-Lon-Skah. He is in charge of orga-
used mostly in mourning ceremonies. nizing and planning meetings through-
When the death of a tribal member oc- out the year, making crucial decisions
curs in an Osage district, a feast for the during the In-Lon-Skah, and educating
mourning family must occur before any the young children on the importance
additional planning for the In-Lon-Skah and significance of the dance ceremony.
takes place. If the death occurs during The head committeeman also carries out
the In-Lon-Skah, the drum is kept silent the introduction-to-the-dance cere-
until after the feast for the mourners. At mony. When a boy is ready to become
dawn on the morning of the feast the part of the dance, the head committee-
cedarman performs the cedar-burning man is notified and makes arrangements
ceremony. The entire dance committee, for the ceremony. The boy must have an
as well as the dance arbor, is smoked Indian name and must understand
with cedar, which allows the spirit of the which clan he comes from (ibid., 66). He
deceased to continue on its journey to is accompanied by his family during the
413
I n -Lo n -Skah _____________________________________________________________________________________
ceremony. The roach, the traditional are provided by the drumkeeper, before
headpiece of the Osage, is then placed on and during the In-Lon-Skah. The drum
the boy’s head and blessings are given to warmer prepares the drum, which is
him (Hogan 1998, 10). The family then made out of cowhide that covers a hollow
gives gifts to members of the dance com- piece of wood. The drum warmer must
mittee, and the boy is considered to be a heat the drum on the morning before a
part of the In-Lon-Skah dance. dance and make sure that it is placed in
The additional dance committeemen the correct spot in the dance arbor.
assist the head committeeman through- The head singer is responsible for all
out the year in preparation for the In-Lon- of the music during the dances, as well as
Skah. The advisors are elder members of for placing the male and female singers
the tribe that have participated in all asin their correct positions. The head
pects of the In-Lon-Skah. These advisors singer must lead the group of singers and
are called upon when counsel is needed be able to sing and understand a large
regarding traditions and customs of the number of songs for the In-Lon-Skah. The
In-Lon-Skah. The Tail Dance of each song singers are not required to wear tradi-
may be danced only by the tail dancers tional straight dress while in the dance
(Callahan 1990, 44). Tail dancers have arbor. The singers are very much re-
been recognized by the tribe as being ex- spected by the tribe and are vital for the
cellent dancers. The whipmen serve as success of the In-Lon-Skah. The town
messengers for the head committeeman crier is selected for life and is responsible
by informing the Osage villages as well as for calling out honored individuals and
surrounding tribes of when the In-Lon- families during the fourth day of the In-
Skah will be held. During the In-Lon-Skah Lon-Skah (Wilson 1988, 103).
the whipmen deal with unruly behavior The In-Lon-Skah begins on Thursday
that may arise and assign fines to afternoon with the cedar burning cere-
dancers that drop things on the floor. mony, prayers, and a welcome by the
When a dancer drops a piece of clothing head committeeman. If there is a new
or another article on the dance floor, the drumkeeper, he will usually accept the
whipmen picks up the article, and the drum on Thursday afternoon. The new
dancer must pay a fine to get it back. The drumkeeper will honor the exiting
waterboys give water first to the singers drumkeeper and his dance committee
and then to the dancers. Each drinker with gifts and a speech. The new drum-
drops a little water on the ground in ac- keeper will then officially open the In-
cordance with the belief that if you take Lon-Skah by making the first drumbeat
something from Mother Earth you must of the dance. The dance proceeds for
give something in return (ibid., 45). four days, during the afternoons and
The head cook and assistants are re- evenings. The number of dancers con-
sponsible for cooking the meals, which tinues to grow throughout the In-Lon-
414
_______________________________________________________________________ Indian Shaker Church
Skah, with the largest number of dancers century in the Pacific Northwest through
present on Saturday night. Sunday is the Native prophets John Slocum and Mary
time when family songs are sung. Family Thompson. It has no connection or ties
songs honor members of certain fami- to the non-Native religious group known
lies. During the family song, the family as the Shakers, which originated in En-
dances along with close friends to honor gland in 1772. This latter, widely known
their song. At the end of the In-Lon-Skah group immigrated to the United States,
gifts are presented to people who have where it practiced its beliefs in celibacy,
contributed greatly to the In-Lon-Skah, as group ownership, and a unique way of
well as to people who are being honored life. In contrast, the Indian Shaker
for different reasons. Items from blan- Church originated in North America and
kets to groceries are given away during practices more or less a syncretic religion
Sunday of the In-Lon-Skah. based on Christianity and Native reli-
Joanna Mashunkashey gious ideologies (Slagle 1985, 353).
See also Dance, Plains; Drums; Song On the Skookum Bay inlet, located in
References and Further Reading the upper Puget Sound area of Washing-
Baird, David. 1972. The Osage People. ton State, a Squaxin Native, John Slocum
Phoenix: Indian Tribal Series. (Squ-sacht-un), operated a logging
Callahan, Alice. 1990. The Osage Ceremonial
Dance I’n-Lon-Schka. Norman: camp. In November 1881, at forty years
University of Oklahoma Press. of age, he died. Some say his death was
Hamm, Charles. 1975. Contemporary Music the result of an accident in the woods,
and Music Cultures. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
while others say that he contracted a se-
Hin, Gilbert C., and A. P. Nasatir. 1983. The rious illness that caused him to become
Imperial Osages. Norman: University of “weak and sickly.” Five Indian doctors
Oklahoma Press.
worked on him without success. After a
Hogan, Lawrence. 1998. The Osage Indian
Murders. Frederick, MD: Amlex. few hours, however, his relatives and
Mathews, John Joseph. 1961. The Osages, others witnessed a miraculous event as
Children of the Middle Waters. Norman:
he sat upright and told them of his after-
University of Oklahoma Press.
Wilson, Terry. 1985. The Underground life experience. This incident marked the
Reservation. Lincoln: University of beginnings of the Indian Shaker religion.
Nebraska Press.
During Slocum’s ordeal, his wife, Mary
———. 1988. The Osage. New York: Chelsea
House. Thompson (Whe-Bul-eht-sah), sat qui-
etly at her husband’s side with her niece
Nancy George not far away (ibid., 353).
Nancy noticed movement in the previ-
ously lifeless body, upon which she left
Indian Shaker Church
the room, informing others who had re-
The Indian Shaker Church, or Shaker remained outside. As people entered the
ligion, originated in the late nineteenth room, they viewed Slocum sitting upright
415
Indian Shaker Church ________________________________________________________________________
Portrait of Messiah Squ-Sacht-Un (John Slocum) with Chief High Priest Ai-Yal (Louis Yowaluch),
both members of the Indian Shaker Church of Puget Sound, 1892. (Smithsonian Institution/
National Anthropological Archives)
and conscious. As later related by non-In- Slocum began to spread his revela-
dian judge James Wickersham, the still tions, as he understood them, brought
weakened Native prophet explained, “All about by his life-changing experience.
at once I saw a shining light—great light— He related, “When I came alive, I tell my
trying my soul. I looked and saw my body friends, good things in heaven. God is
had no soul—looked at my own body—it kind to us. If you all try hard and help me,
was dead. . . . Angels told me to look back we will be better men on earth” (ibid.,
and see my body. I did, and saw it lying 354). He instructed that they were to
down. When I saw it, it was pretty poor. build a church within four weeks, and in
My soul left my body and went up to [the] their services they were to integrate bells,
judgment place of God” (ibid., 354). It is candles, crosses, and other sacred ob-
said he died twice that day, being resur- jects. He further stressed that Native
rected each time by a higher power. peoples needed to cast aside vices such
416
as alcohol, and even draw away from tra- ship and spirituality. John Slocum did
ditional healers. By this time, many not live in isolation from these changes;
Northwest coast Native people had be- rather, he dwelt at the center. Like many
come familiar with Christian churches Native people he sought to survive, at
and the concept of worship as a path to times succeeding as a hard-working log-
spiritual salvation (Reed 1999). ger, at other times succumbing to alco-
White contact had affected Native life hol to deaden the pain of radical societal
in the Pacific Northwest, as in all areas of change (Ruby and Brown 1996, 35).
North America. Native people resisted Approximately a year had passed after
white encroachment upon their lands, the death and revival of John Slocum. The
experienced devastating massacres and flurry over his experience had begun to
open warfare, strived to maintain their wane, and he, himself, reportedly began to
own traditions in the face of governmen- indulge in his old ways of life. According to
tal suppression, and witnessed conflicts one account, “[On] the day following a
between traditional religions and the large and lengthy meeting on Squaxin Is-
newly arrived and often imposed Chris- land, Slocum began hemorrhaging from
tianity. The federal Office of Indian Affairs the nose. He attributed his condition to
(today’s BIA) confined Natives to reserva- having had too much fun the previous
tions while forcing cultural assimilation. day, when he had returned to Enetai at the
The Indian Bureau told the Indians to give mouth of the Skokomish River after bury-
up their traditional cultural and religious ing a child at Bald Point. Slocum had
practices and replace them with those of caught a ride as a passenger in a canoe
the dominant society. The federal govern- race. When the canoe fell behind, the pad-
ment and the larger population viewed dlers asked him to help. Slocum obliged
Native people as “pagans” and their reli- by taking up a paddle. Suddenly, he was
gions as either immoral or nonexistent. stricken with pain” (Amoss 1990, 633).
In addition to assimilationist policies, The following day, as he remained ill,
the tribes experienced devastating pop- John’s wife, Mary, walked to a nearby
ulation declines caused by white-intro- stream for a private prayer. As she prayed
duced diseases, including smallpox. a power from a higher source entered her
Many tribal people refer to this time as body, and she began to “shake.” Mary
the “world turned upside down” (Slagle lost consciousness during the divine
1985, 353–374). Native people responded phenomenon. She received word from
in a variety of ways to the drastic up- Christ, who instructed her to return
heaval in their lives. Some sought to con- home to her husband. Singing a spirit
tinue their own indigenous religious song, she handed a bell to her brother
practices and beliefs, while others joined Isaac and asked for more hand-bells to
mainstream churches. Many others be dispersed among those assembled.
combined more than one form of wor- Women held candles; men rang the bells.
417
With her singing synchronized with the ity remains a Native practice. Also, who
ringing of the bells, Mary felt the power may be a healer is based on whom the
of God and the Holy Spirit enter her, and spirit comes to, and that too is part of
she again began to shake. She worked on Native religious belief. Shaker leaders
her husband through the “healing conduct services either during the day or
power” with miraculous results. John in the evening. Evening healing services
Slocum again regained his health, and he start in the early evening and last until
organized his new religion with healing the healing is complete, even if that re-
being an intricate part of the Indian quires an all-night service, which is also
Shaker Church, introduced through a form of nativism. The songs of the
Mary. Shakers have Native-type rhythm and do
As previously indicated, religious syn- not resemble Christian hymns, which
cretism practiced by the Indian Shaker emphasize religious domination and the
religion combines elements of Christian- great God.
ity with those of indigenous Native be- Some interpreters maintain that the
lief. Shaker members use the cross in pre-1840 nativistic Prophet Dance move-
their churches, in homes on altars, on ment indirectly influenced the Christian
jewelry, and in worship, thus making it aspects of the Shaker religion after it
clearly a part of their rituals. In addition, emerged later in the century. The
members make crossing gestures during Prophet Dance movement incorporated
appropriate times (an influence of elements of Christianity. Many Native re-
Catholicism). Their doctrine teaches the ligious movements wove together in-
belief in one God as well as the Trinity digenous and Christian beliefs in times
(Father, Son, and Holy Ghost or Spirit). of intense change in North America.
Many say that the church helps to deal in As for the Shaker opposition to alco-
a positive way with worldly vices such as hol use, it might have less to do with a
drinking, gambling, and smoking. Christian “don’t” and more to do with the
As for the Native side, the Shaker rise of alcoholism among some tribal in-
Church places much emphasis on heal- dividuals in the postcontact period.
ing, which was a common precontact in- Many Indian Shakers say that their be-
digenous practice that continues to this liefs and God help them to abstain from
day. Additionally, the healing is a group alcohol and drugs. They believe that the
or communal effort and not individualis- religion changed their lives and placed
tic. In stark contrast, when some non-In- them on a positive path (Valory 1966, 73;
dian Pentecostal churches carry out Amoss 1978, 232).
healing openly, it is the lone minister With a combination of Native and
who is involved. In the Shaker service, ei- Christian elements, the Shakers have
ther one or several individuals work created a unique religion. For example,
upon one person. The sense of collectiv- the church entrance faces the west to
418
make room for the prayer table in the termediate agent like the Bible. Instead,
east side, because east is the “direction the members receive their inspiration
for prayer.” Church members place can- directly from God through prayer and
dles throughout the church, as they be- worship. The Bible controversy became
lieve that the flames have healing pow- such a serious issue that it split some
ers. Men sit on the left side of the Shakers in Washington from the 1920s to
entryway and the women on the right. the 1940s. Followers settled the issue by
Members wear white robes or garments separating into two churches, the Indian
that represent purity and protection. Shaker Church (non-Bible users) and
People who enter the church turn in a the Indian Full Gospel Church (Bible
counterclockwise manner to acknowl- users) (ibid., 360).
edge leaving behind bad thoughts and Leadership practices within the
other negative factors. They also make church show both Native and Christian
counterclockwise movements during the influence. In the earliest days, leadership
services (Amoss 1990, 637). appeared to follow the indigenous prac-
Like other religions, including Chris- tice of individual influence and
tianity, the Shaker Indian Church has not charisma. But as the years went by, the
been a monolithic entity since its found- church began to follow Christian organi-
ing in the late nineteenth century. At dif- zational concepts. Perhaps a large shift
ferent times its members have disagreed took place in 1910, when the Shakers be-
over particular issues. Some maintain came an organized church with “Articles
that once people become Shaker believ- of Incorporation.” This written source
ers, they must give up traditional ways, brought into existence the church offi-
including tribal dancing and the wearing cers of bishop, elders, and a secretary,
of traditional regalia. In contrast, others along with voting. With elected offices,
maintain that Shaker members should the church had introduced authoritative
be permitted to accept both worlds and rule that is a Euro-American concept,
to participate in tribal dances and cere- not indigenous. In recent times, voting to
monies. Members still adhere to these determine courses of action has become
two philosophical stances to this day an all-important pattern. In 1970, at their
(Slagle 1985, 360). annual convention in Washington, dele-
Another more serious matter has gates voted 39 to 2 to build a new church
been the so-called Bible controversy. at Mud Bay, Washington, to replace the
Some Shakers maintain that the Bible old one that had collapsed after a snow-
must be used during church services, storm (Richen 1974, 1–10; Amoss 1990,
since it is the God-inspired word and 633). Perhaps one main reason for
serves as the intermediary between church incorporation and the adoption
human beings and God. Others main- of mainstream white church structure
tain that the Shakers do not need an in- rested within the deep-rooted prejudice
419
against non-Christian religions at the tions for the Shakers. They could have
time, especially Native religions. only two meetings each week. Each
Like other Native religions, including meeting could last for only three hours,
the Native American Church or the Pey- to begin at 7:00 P.M. and to end at 10:00
ote religion, the Indian Shaker religion P.M. No meetings could be held after
was frowned upon by the BIA. It regarded 10:00 P.M. Additionally, the Shakers
the Shaker religion as a form of pagan- needed to secure bureau permission if
ism and Indianism. Many Euro-Ameri- they wanted to have a series of, or suc-
cans and the federal government viewed cessive, meetings. Lastly, the Shakers
Native people as “uncivilized” without could not use bells while healing during
understanding the complexities of in- their services. All of these restrictions de-
digenous societies and religious prac- nied the freedom of the Indian Shaker
tices. They sought to eliminate Native Church to conduct worship according to
practices so that Indians would be forced its own religious doctrines (Regulations,
to become “civilized” Christians. Indian January 2, 1920, CCF, 67761–19-Neah
Bureau officials regarded the Shakers as Bay–816, RG 75, NA).
carrying out “excessive” behavior be- Although the main Indian Bureau of-
cause of their long services, the use of fice in Washington, D.C., allowed the
bells, and other practices (Charles H. Shaker Church to exist, that did not stop
Burke to Alpheus D. Dodge, Feb. 10, Christian missionaries and local or re-
1920, CCF 67761–19-Neah Bay–816, RG gional Indian Bureau officials from at-
75, NA). The bureau therefore either pro- tacking the church and working to pre-
hibited or placed restrictions upon the vent the formation of new Shaker
Shaker practice. Regarding one case of churches on Indian reservations. When
prohibition, Commissioner of Indian Af- some Hupa tribal members of north-
fairs Cato Sells told one Shaker leader, western California wanted the Shaker re-
John Johnson of Washington, the follow- ligion on their reservation in 1930, the
ing in March 1918: “I can not give you bureau superintendent John Keeley im-
permission in preaching the Shaker faith mediately asserted, “It would be a seri-
on the various reservations, to conduct ous mistake to permit it to be established
your meetings as you see fit” (Cato Sells on this reservation” (John D. Keeley to
to John Johnson, March 12, 1918 CFF, CIA, May 5, 1930, CCF 24290–30-Hoopa–
67761–19-Neah Bay–816, RG 75, NA). 816.2, RG 75, NA). Keeley, of course, re-
In the end, however, the Indian Bu- ceived the support of the Reverend
reau allowed the Shakers to practice Philip Payne, the Presbyterian mission-
their religion mainly because it recog- ary on the reservation, who also opposed
nized that the church followed Christian the Shakers. Payne said, “[Do] anything
models. At the same time, around 1920, you can do to prevent the establishment
the bureau came up with a list of restric- of this pagan religion on the Hoopa
420
Reservation” (Philip F. Payne to CIA, May the church, decided to grant the peti-
16, 1930 CCF, 24290–30-Hoopa Val- tioners their request. Commissioner
ley–815.2, RG 75, NA). In addition to the Rhoads reasoned: “Our record on the
bureau, Christian missionaries also purchase of the 163.96-acre tract for
viewed the Shaker religion as a form of these Indians in 1907 gives 163 as the In-
paganism or a negative influence upon dian population. If one-fourth of them
their potential Native converts. are affiliated with the Shaker Church it
In the end, the bureau in 1931 allowed would seem that they would have as
the Shakers to build a church on the good a right as any other denomination
Hoopa reservation and at the Smith to a Church site provided there be a lot
River Rancheria, in northwestern Cali- that is unused and can be spared for the
fornia, a year later. The controversy, how- purpose” (Rhoads to Boggess, June 30,
ever, continued. On May 25, 1932, the 1932, CCF 28133–32-Hoopa Valley–816.2,
members of Smith River Shaker Church RG 75, NA). The commissioner contin-
wrote to BIA superintendent O. M. ued, “While complaints have been made
Boggess requesting the government to of this organization on some other reser-
provide them with a parcel of land on vations we do have reports also to the ef-
Smith River Reservation as a permanent fect that the Church has had a good in-
site for the church. With this letter they fluence on its members; that among
included a list of forty-three members of them there are fewer Indians using in-
the newly formed Indian Shaker Church. toxicants; fewer divorces, and more in-
Superintendent Boggess forwarded the dustry. Any religious institution that can
petition to the commissioner of Indian exert such an influence over the Indians
affairs, Charles Rhoads, but not without it would seem should be welcomed.” An
his own commentary: “It would seem interoffice memo might have influenced
unfortunate to me for our Department to Commissioner Rhoads, as it reported:
place its sanction on the erection of a “There is often denominational preju-
Shaker church there [Smith River] also. I dice against the Shakers. . . . [If] they can
do not know just the most diplomatic influence the Indians to work, to take
way to proceed in the case, but I hope care of their families, to let booze alone,
that the Office can return such an answer to marry and live decently it seems more
that will prevent the setting aside of land than missionaries of other churches
and the erection of a building” (O. M. have been able to do, though they have
Boggess to BIA commissioner Rhoads been working fifty years or more among
CCF, June 1, 1932, 28133–32-Hoopa Val- the Indians” (BIA interoffice memo,
ley–816.2, RG 75, NA). 28133–32-Hoopa Valley–816.2, CCF, RG
Fortunately, the BIA gathered further 75, NA).
information regarding the Indian Shaker Although the Indian Shaker Church
Church and, after debating the value of faced opposition at times by the federal
421
government and from local Protestant Leadership, Northwest; Sacred Societies,

churches, as well as internal divisions Northwest Coast
over the use of the Bible, it managed to References and Further Reading
Amoss, Pamela T. 1978. “Symbolic
establish itself as a major religion of the Substitution in the Indian Shaker
western United States and Canada. The Church.” Ethnohistory 25, no. 3
Squaxin Island nation still refers to itself (summer): 225–249.
———. 1990. “The Indian Shaker Church.”
as the place of origin of the Indian Shaker Pp. 633–639 in Northwest Coast,
religion: “One of the most interesting and Handbook of North American Indians.
well-known aspects of the Squaxin Island Edited by Wayne Suttles. Washington,
DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Tribe is the motherhood of the Indian
Reed, Annette L. 1999. Rooted in the Land of
Shaker Church. Founded by Squaxin Our Ancestors, We Are Strong: A Tolowa
tribal member John Slocum in the late History. Ph.D. diss. University of
California, Berkeley.
1880s.” The tribe also created the Squaxin
Richen, Marilyn C. 1974. “Authority and
Museum Library and Research Center, Office Leadership in the Shaker Church.”
which stands as a magnificent accom- University of Oregon Anthropological
Papers 7: 1–10.
plishment after years of planning. In ad-
Ruby, Robert H., and John A. Brown. 1996.
dition to the many traditional dances and John Slocum and the Indian Shaker
songs, organizers asked Indian Shaker Church. Norman: University of
minister Rose Algea to bless the building Oklahoma Press.
Slagle, Al Logan. 1985. “Tolowa Indian
on November 2, 2000. Many members of Shakers and the Role of Prophecy at
the Indian Shaker Church still look for- Smith River, California.” American
ward to the conventions held each year, Indian Quarterly 9, no. 3: 353.
Suttles, Wayne. 1957. “The Plateau Prophet
in which Shakers from various regions Dance among the Coast Salish.”
join together for prayer and healing. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology
13, no. 4: 352–396.
Annette L. Reed Valory, Dale. 1966. “The Focus of Indian
See also Guardian Spirit Complex; Health Shaker Healing.” Kroeber
and Wellness, Traditional Approaches; Anthropological Society Papers, vol. 35:
Power, Northwest Coast; Religious 67–111.
422
J
Jones, Peter (1802–1856) moved to the Iroquois reserve at Grand
(Anishinabeg chief) River, where his Welsh father, Augustus
An influential Anishinabeg chief be- Jones, lived with a Mohawk wife. At
tween 1825 and 1855, Peter Jones, known Grand River, Jones met Chief Thomas
to the First Nations in Upper Canada as Davis, a Mohawk who had become a
Kahkewaquonaby, led his community on Methodist. Jones himself attended a
a course of spiritual and political en- Methodist camp meeting in 1823. The
gagement with settler society. Famous in preaching left him with a sense of grave
North America and Europe as the first spiritual danger. He asked the Great
Anishinabeg Methodist preacher, Jones Spirit for help and was given a new vision
traveled Upper Canada convincing An- in which, as he described it, “the trees
ishinabeg and Iroquois communities to looked all so heavenly, and the people so
move to agricultural settlements and joyful.” He became convinced that Jesus
worship the Great Spirit, practices that loved the Anishinabeg and wanted to
he believed would offer them a future of make them powerful, just as he had done
increased peace and prosperity. Jones’s for the Europeans. Jones believed that
translations of Wesleyan hymns and por- this vision could give other First Nations
tions of the Bible are still used by An- people the strength to break their depen-
ishinabeg communities in Canada and dence on the vices of settler society and
the United States today. effect the radical shift from hunting and
Jones spent his first fourteen years liv- gathering to agriculture.
ing with his mother in an Anishinabeg Jones’s Methodist congregations re-
community at the River Credit. Although sembled the Medicine Societies com-
instructed in Anishinabeg cosmology mon in Iroquoian and Anishinabeg
and rituals, Jones failed to attract a spirit, communities in the eighteenth and
or manitou, guardian during his adoles- nineteenth centuries. Jones explained
cent vision quest. At age fourteen he the concepts of Methodism in terms of
423
Jones, Peter ____________________________________________________________________________________
analogous Anishinabeg beliefs. Entering When Jones returned to the River

Methodism required applicants to Credit Anishinabeg in 1824, preaching
demonstrate either a visionary dream, about the blessings offered by the Great
usually received at a rambunctious out- Spirit, the community listened with
door meeting, or an awareness of their acute interest. The community members
sickness and acknowledgement of the maintained their political structure but
society’s ability to help. Sin was the ill- adopted Methodist forms of worship, in-
ness the Methodists could cure. Once in corporated farming into their annual
the society, members were required to cycle, and lived in houses built for them
offer special veneration to the Great by the colonial government. Soon the
Spirit, who, like the Anishinabeg mani- River Credit community became well
tous Bear and Water Lynx, required de- known among the Native groups in
manding ceremonies. Jones himself did Upper Canada, both as news of their in-
not acknowledge the structural similari- creased wealth spread and as their most
ties between Methodism and other An- extroverted member, Peter Jones, prof-
ishinabeg beliefs, dismissing the An- fered the River Credit’s history as an ideal
ishinabeg reliance on the manitous as to every Native community he ad-
superstition. However, he respected the dressed. Anishinabeg came from hun-
thanksgiving ceremonies and healing dreds of miles to judge if the community
abilities of the Anishinabeg and fulfilled at River Credit could serve as a model for
his social role as a chief, which partly ex- their own dealings with Euro-American
plains his success. settlers.
Jones’s teachings arrived during a tur- Jones’s career also included intensive
bulent time for the Anishinabeg. In the fund-raising and missionary tours for
late eighteenth century epidemics of the American Methodist church, speak-
smallpox had begun to spread in south- ing to audiences of settlers throughout
ern Ontario. Some Anishinabeg popula- Upper Canada. Jones’s education, his
tions declined by more than 50 percent self-deprecating humor, and his status as
in the first half of the nineteenth century. a chief made him a powerful draw for
In the wake of the American Revolution such audiences and also a fund-raising
two waves of Iroquoian and Euro-Ameri- asset to Upper Canadian Methodists. His
can settlers had swarmed over Anishin- knowledge of colonial society, his politi-
abeg hunting territory. Despite the im- cal savvy, and his passion for protecting
balance that the settlers introduced to the future of his people made him, in
the Anishinabeg’s seasonal hunting, turn, attractive to the Anishinabeg.
many Anishinabeg decided not to move Throughout his career Jones served the
north or to resist the settlements, but in- interests of the Methodist Church and
stead to remain and confront their new those of his Anishinabeg community. In
circumstances. 1837 the council at Credit River empow-
424
___________________________________________________________________________________ Jones, Peter
ered Jones to act as oskabewis, or mes- trated his hopes. Scholars in Canada are
senger, for the community, to bring the largely agreed that although the residen-
Credit River’s request for title deeds to tial schools undoubtedly provided valu-
their land to the Queen of England. Over able training to thousands of First Na-
the years, while maintaining his work as tions children, the physical and spiritual
a missionary, and writing hundreds of suffering they sustained while receiving
sermons, Jones undertook this and sev- their education mocks the efforts of
eral other trips to England, where he met those who believed the schools could
with members of elite society to publi- offer hope for new generations of First
cize the colonial government’s dishon- Nations children.
esty in administering land treaties. Catherine Murton Stoehr
Jones retired from active missionary
See also Boarding Schools, Religious
work with the Methodist Church in 1844 Impact; Christianity, Indianization of;
and continued on with preaching and Manitous; Missionization, Great Lakes;
political agitation until his death on June Sacred Societies, Great Lakes
28, 1856. At his funeral Eliza and her four References and Further Reading
sons mourned Jones, along with mem- Jones’s sermon notes and papers are stored at
the Victoria University Library in Toronto,
bers of the River Credit community.
and many of his letters were printed in
After his death Jones’s hymn transla- the Christian Guardian, published in York
tions were reprinted and distributed to between 1827 and 1855.
Jones, Peter. 1860. The Life and Journals of
communities as far away as Minnesota,
Kah-Ke-Wa-Qou-Na-By (Rev. Peter Jones),
where they were incorporated into An- Wesleyan Missionary. Toronto: Anson
ishinabeg mourning traditions. They are Green.
———. 1861. The History of the Ojebway
still used today by Anishinabeg commu-
Indians: With Especial Reference to Their
nities coping with death. Also, the legacy Conversion to Christianity. London: W. A.
of the residential or boarding schools Bennett.
that Jones promoted as a way to limit Eu- Smith, Donald. 1987. Sacred Feathers: The
Reverend Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby)
ropean influence over Anishinabeg self- and the Mississauga Indians. Lincoln:
determination both fulfilled and frus- University of Nebraska Press.
425
K
Kachina and Clown uniform or homogenous in their cultural
practices or beliefs, there are many com-
Societies
monalties and continuities, though each
In the American Southwest, generally community has its own unique under-
taken to be the states of Arizona and New standing and practice regarding kachina
Mexico, there are numerous cultures and and clown societies. Given the great dis-
communities that are collectively known parity in names, practices, ceremonial
as the “Pueblos.” These communities are systems, and religious beliefs, this essay
so named because they are organized will not attempt to give a general
into permanent village settlements of overview of all the cultures concerned.
adobe houses and buildings and tend to Instead it will focus on two such cultures,
be agricultural and have highly orga- the Hopi and Zuni, as exemplars of the
nized social and religious institutions. significance and role of kachinas and
Within the more than thirty Pueblo com- clowns.
munities there are six different language Perhaps most readers will have some
families. With the exception of the Hopi, passing familiarity with kachinas in the
who reside within Arizona, all other form of kachina dolls, which are sold
Pueblos are located within New Mexico, throughout the Southwest as tourist
and most are adjacent to river systems items. That is not, of course, their pri-
such as the Rio Grande. Common to all mary significance for Pueblo cultures
Pueblos is the presence and significance and is itself a product of the commodifi-
of kachina and clown societies that per- cation of indigenous cultures in the
form numerous ceremonial and ritual Southwest for tourist consumption.
practices and are, along with the Such figures are not decorative objects
Catholic Church, the primary form of re- within their indigenous cultures but
ligious expression and practice. While rather are representations and manifes-
Pueblo communities are by no means tations of the spiritual forces that are of
427
Hopi kachina dancers with face masks, feathers, kilts, and pelts, Walpi Pueblo, Arizona, ca.
1911–1920. (Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, Horace Swartley)
_______________________________________________________________ Kachina and Clown Societies
significance to those cultures. Within and detailing the origin, meaning, and
Pueblo cultures, the dolls are commonly ceremonial function of the different
used as gifts for children so that they may kinds of kachinas, the exact details of
learn the different figures in their cul- which are kept for those who are directly
tures’ pantheons of spiritual powers. At initiated into the society.
the most general level, kachinas are un- A common understanding of the ori-
derstood to be spiritual manifestations gin of kachina ceremonial practice in
of deceased ancestors who now reside in Pueblo cultures is that in the distant,
specific landforms within the southwest- mythological past, spirit beings came
ern landscape. They are called upon by and visited their respective communi-
the people to bring blessings, rain, and ties. With these visits they brought the
bountiful harvests, and to ensure that knowledge necessary for the people to
the proper balance of life, death, growth, live in a balanced and reciprocal rela-
and birth take place. tionship with their environment and
The term “kachina” is derived from the spiritual powers that animate it. The
the Hopi term katsina (sing.) or katsi- ideas of balance and reciprocity in these
nam (pl.). Each Pueblo community has traditions can best be understood as dy-
its own general term for these spirits. namic and interactive, in that the spiri-
Among the Zuni they are referred to as tual community of kachinas provides
koko. However, there are numerous for humans and their needs, for exam-
classes and kinds of kachinas in Hopi ple through rain and bountiful harvests,
and Zuni cultures, just as there are while humans simultaneously provide
within other Pueblo cultures. Each has for the needs of the spiritual commu-
its own individualized name and is nity through prayers, offerings, and
grouped into different categories, often recognition of the importance of ex-
led by different societies or family clans. trahuman forces. The dynamic aspect of
In all Pueblo communities, the kachinas these traditions is regulated by the
are represented and symbolized not only yearly change of seasons and weather,
in the dolls but also as masked ceremo- with certain times of year, such as the
nial dancers. These dancers perform solstices, being given special impor-
highly specialized dances and cere- tance and recognition. Through the
monies within their communities to teachings of the kachinas, the exchange
achieve various ceremonial ends that are of power, prayers, and sacred sub-
commonly associated with agriculture stances is dynamically regulated within
and the annual changes in seasons and a context of sacred activity that ideally
the movement of the sun and moon. harmonizes the rhythms of communal
Each culture, and even individual existence with the natural seasonal
kachina societies within a given culture, rhythms of Southwestern ecology and
have their own oral traditions explaining hydrology.
429
Kachina and Clown Societies ________________________________________________________________
After the teachings of the kachinas difference, in that their ceremonies are
were given to the people, the original not representations or understood to be
spirit-forces receded back within the merely symbolic (although symbolism
landscape and no longer visited the peo- does play a crucial role) but are a direct
ple directly. Through the instruction of connection to spiritual agencies.
the kachinas, the people were taught Through ceremonial action, the spirit
how to perform the necessary kachina forces are called forth from the land-
ceremonies to ensure the continued bal- scape to join the community of humans
anced and reciprocal exchange of pow- to ensure blessings and well-being for
ers. It then became the responsibility of the new year and the new cycle of birth,
the communities themselves to perform growth, maturity, and eventual death
the sacred ceremonies, sing the songs, and return.
and pass on the sacred history through Each Pueblo community has its own
their oral narrative traditions. It is these individual understanding of sacred land-
societies of kachinas and clowns, danced scapes, and there may also be variations
and performed by men, that carry on the within a culture according to the differ-
original teachings of the spirits. ent understandings among the different
Given that kachinas are danced by ceremonial societies. Connections are
men who are masked and decorated as most generally made with associations
specific spirit powers, many anthropolo- of the four directions (or, more elabo-
gists have characterized ceremonial par- rately, six or seven, if zenith, nadir, and
ticipants as “impersonators.” In fact, that center are also counted among the sa-
characterization is not an accurate de- cred directions), specific landforms such
piction of indigenous thought. Although as sacred mountains (often grouped into
the original spiritual powers may have collections of four mountains, represent-
receded within the landscape, the curing the four directions), places of emer-
rent ceremonial practitioners are not im- gence (as identified in creation and ori-
personators. Kachina ceremonies are gin narratives), or sources of water (such
marked by long periods of prayer, purifi- as springs, lakes, and rivers).
cation, meditation, and preparation. The With regard to specific landscape as-
ideal is that the dancers will be of the sociations, Hopi katsinam are under-
proper state of mind, body, and spirit, so stood to reside within the San Francisco
that they will not be an impersonation or Peaks, located just outside Flagstaff, Ari-
mere representation of the spirit forces zona. For the Zuni, their koko are under-
but will more significantly become an stood to reside at the bottom of a lake to
embodiment and manifestation of the the southwest of their community. As
spirit powers. Thus a properly prepared with other Pueblo communities, Hopi
kachina dancer becomes a living expres- and Zuni traditions teach that the spirits
sion of the spirit powers. That is a crucial of deceased ancestors travel to these sa-
430
_______________________________________________________________ Kachina and Clown Societies
cred locations after death, where they ment, initiates are exhorted never to re-
become kachinas. These ancestors can veal the secret identity of the dancers.
then be petitioned for blessings for the Initiates are also instructed in the sacred
communities. As Pueblo communities lore of the society and learn the proper
are all agriculturally oriented, many of realms for action of their particular soci-
the petitions are directed toward re- ety: different societies tend to be highly
quests for rain and moisture to ensure specialized in their ceremonial duties
good harvests. Reciprocally, the kachinas and obligations.
are ritually fed so that they too may be The ceremonial attire of kachinas tends
nourished and sustained, just as are the to be extremely elaborate and to contain a
human communities, emphasizing the wealth of symbolic representation. Often
reciprocal bonds. colors are used according to directional
Among both the Zuni and Hopi, as is symbolism, with specific colors represent-
the case for other Pueblos, knowledge of ing different directions. Other common
masked dancers and the right to partici- symbolic motifs are clouds, rain, and im-
pate in their ceremonies are regulated ages of fertility and agricultural growth.
through processes of initiation. Young Plants and animals, or parts of animals,
men, when they reach the proper age of may also be used, each with its own spe-
maturity, are invited into the ceremonial cific and esoteric meaning according to
homes of the kachinas, which are gener- the society and community in which the
ally called kivas. Kivas are round struc- kachina practices.
tures that are commonly carved out of In stark contrast to the intricate and
the earth and are accessed through a cir- highly formalized symbolism of the
cular opening at the top where one en- kachinas are the clowns. Clowns gener-
ters and exits by means of a ladder. Initi- ally have far less intricate symbolism, are
ates are taken down into the kiva where, not colored with specific directional col-
during their initiation, they are exposed ors, and tend not to incorporate highly
to the kachinas unmasked for the first specific symbolic references in their at-
time in their lives. Kachinas never retire. Clowns also differ dramatically from
move their masks in public, and thus, up kachinas in terms of ceremonial behav-
until the time of initiation, young mem- ior and action. To simplify, one could say
bers of the community do not know that that kachinas embody order, precision,
the dancers are their immediate kin. In and prescribed meaning and action,
the kivas the identity of the dancers is re- whereas clowns embody chaos, unpre-
vealed, and initiates are instructed to try dictability, and antisocial behavior and
on the ceremonial masks and to attempt actions. Within Hopi culture, for exam-
for the first time to make the requisite ple, the katsinam embody all that is con-
sounds and perform the proper ritual ac- sidered hopi: the proper and ideal forms
tions. Under threat of severe punish- of behavior and regulated action.
431
Kennewick Man ________________________________________________________________________________
Clowns, on the other hand, embody all of North American Indians: Southwest,
that is ka-hopi: all that is not Hopi. In vol. 9. Edited by Alfonso Ortiz.
that capacity the clowns will parody im- Institution Press.
proper behavior, ridicule individuals, Geertz, Armin W. 1990. “Reflections on the
and basically invert standard social Study of Hopi Mythology.” Pp. 119–135 in
Religion in Native North America. Edited
norms, a common practice throughout by Christopher Vecsey. Moscow:
the Pueblos. By demonstrating and University of Idaho Press.
mocking what is not Hopi, they educate Hieb, Louis A. 1994. “The Meaning of
Katsina: Toward a Cultural Definition of
individuals about what is Hopi. Com- ‘Person’ in Hopi Religion.” Pp. 23–34 in
monly, children—and even adults who Kachinas in the Pueblo World. Edited by
should know better—are chastised by Polly Schaafsma. Albuquerque:
the clowns, who use humor and humilia-
Hultkrantz, Ake. 1992. Shamanic Healing
tion as pedagogical tools. and Ritual Drama. New York: Crossroad
Overall, the kachina and clown tradi- Publishing Company.
Loftin, John D. 1991. Religion and Hopi Life
tions can be viewed as means by which
in the Twentieth Century. Bloomington:
Pueblo communities seek to maintain Indiana University Press.
balance and reciprocity with the spiri- Secakuku, Alph H. 1995. Following the Sun
and Moon: Hopi Kachina Tradition.
tual forces of their given environments
Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing.
and landscapes. They emphasize the Tedlock, Dennis. 1979. “Zuni Religion and
continuity between life and death, this World View.” Pp. 499–508 in Handbook of
world and the next, the human and the North American Indians: Southwest, vol.
9. Edited by Alfonso Ortiz. Washington,
divine. One can see that there is not an DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
insurmountable divide between the sa- Whiteley, Peter M. 1998. Rethinking Hopi
cred and the secular, the religious and Ethnography. Washington, DC:
the social, as all aspects of life and com- Wright, Barton. 1994. Clowns of the Hopi:
munal activity are integrated into the sa- Tradition Keepers and Delight Makers.
cred fabric of the yearly round of kachina Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing.
dances and ceremonies.
Martin Ball
See also Art (Contemporary), Southwest; Kennewick Man
Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo; Clowns and
Clowning; Hopi Prophecy; Masks and Kennewick Man is a 9,300-year-old
Masking; Missionization, Southwest;
Mourning and the Afterlife, Southwest; Oral
skeleton found on July 28, 1996, near
Traditions, Pueblo; Sacred Sites and Sacred Kennewick, Washington. Possessing
Mountains; Spiritual and Ceremonial what archaeologist James Chatters de-
Practitioners, Southwest; Symbolism in
scribed as “Caucasoid” characteristics,
Ritual and Ceremony
the remains were first thought to be
Frigout, Arlette. 1979. “Hopi Ceremonial those of a nineteenth-century settler.
Organization.” Pp. 564–576 in Handbook Later, however, radiocarbon dating at the
432
_______________________________________________________________________________ Kennewick Man
University of California at Davis showed devastating spiritual consequences”

the body to be more than 9,000 years old. (Oregonian, 10/2/97, D1).
The remains became known as Ken- The Kennewick Man debate must be
newick Man because of their proximity seen within the context of American In-
to nearby Kennewick, Washington. dian religious beliefs and practices re-
The Army Corps of Engineers, which garding death, history, and cultural iden-
had jurisdiction over the area of the Co- tity. Representatives of the five tribes
lumbia River where the remains were insist that Kennewick Man is an ancestor
found, determined to return the body of contemporary American Indians, and
for reburial to five local American Indian that failing to rebury him respectfully
tribes (the Confederated Tribes of the can result in serious spiritual conse-
Umatilla, the Yakima Indian Nation, the quences. Arman Minthorn, tribal chair-
Nez Perce tribe, the Wanapum band, and person of the Umatilla, explained their
the Colville Confederated Tribes), as re- feelings: “Culturally and religiously, our
quired by the Native American Graves religion tells us that when a body goes
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAG- into the ground, it is keeping a promise
PRA). This decision resulted in protests that was made when time began. And
from anthropologists and archaeologists the body is to remain in the ground until
throughout the country, eight of whom the end of time. And because these re-
filed a lawsuit requesting that the bones mains have been exposed, this is very
be turned over to them for study before sensitive to us, because the remains
reburial. The lawsuit was also joined by a aren’t part of the ground like they should
third party, the Asatru Folk Assembly be” (Oregonian 10/14/96, A1). Horace
(AFA), a religious group located outside Axtell, Nez Perce, agrees: “We have an in-
of Nevada City, California. The AFA is herent responsibility to care for those
concerned with the revival of pre-Chris- who are no longer with us. Our tradition,
tian Celtic, Nordic, and Germanic reli- spiritual beliefs, practices and culture
gious practices. Because of Kennewick teach us that when a body goes into the
Man’s Caucasoid characteristics (a large ground, it is meant to stay there until the
nose and oblong face), the group be- end of time. When remains are disturbed
lieves him to be one of their ancestors above the ground, their spirits are at un-
who migrated to the Americas more rest. To put those spirits at ease, the re-
than 9,000 years ago. The five tribes, mains must be returned to the ground as
however, insist that the body be re- soon as possible” (Oregonian 4/30/97,
buried as soon as possible. The tribes A14).
oppose the scientific testing of the re- The significance of ancestral remains
mains, especially destructive techniques such as Kennewick Man to the Native
like DNA analysis and radiocarbon dat- communities indigenous to the Colum-
ing, seeing them “as desecration, with bia River Plateau reflects the tie between
433
Kennewick Man ________________________________________________________________________________
tribal communities, their ancestors, and Indians know the past because it is
the land. A reciprocal obligation exists spiritually and ritually part of their
daily existence and is relevant only as
between the body, the earth, and the liv-
it exists in the present. . . . When
ing community. The body, in its decom- archaeologists say that the Native
position, is fulfilling this relationship: American past is gone, extinct, or lost
the earth supports the body during life, unless archaeology can find it, they
and in death, the body supports the send a strong message that Native
Americans themselves are extinct.
earth. Halting this process threatens
(Zimmerman 1994, 65)
both ecological and spiritual stability.
The Kennewick Man debate also
makes clear the different ways in which The Kennewick Man debate exists
identity and history are understood alongside a history of grave robbing that
within indigenous communities. Rather has devastated many Native communi-
than the DNA analysis and radiocarbon ties. Throughout the history of Euro-
dating of university laboratories, identi- American interaction with Native peo-
ties among these communities stem ple, government officials, academics,
from a complex and honored oral tradi- and amateur scavengers have collected
tion. Adeline Fredin, director and man- Indian remains, stealing them from bur-
ager of the Colville Confederated Tribes’ ial grounds and shipping them to muse-
history and archaeology department, ar- ums and universities. In 1996 it was esti-
gues that the oral traditions of the com- mated that there were approximately 1
munities go back 10,000 years, to the million such remains held by private and
time when Kennewick Man would have public institutions (Mihesuah 2001).
lived in the area. “It’s very clear that our Such collections were part of “salvage
ancestral people were there. How can we ethnography,” based on the assumption
deny our ancestry? We’re living with that the Native peoples of the Americas
those kinds of stories and those kinds of were doomed to extinction by the on-
Indian legends that tell us about our own ward march of progress. That idea, com-
ancestry” (Oregonian 10/14/96, A1). bined with the goals of Western empiri-
Larry Zimmerman, an archaeologist cism and science, demanded that
at the University of Nebraska, argues that specimens of Native biology and culture
the nature of time and history are under- be preserved for future non-Native gen-
stood differently among traditional in- erations to study. Such collectors took lit-
digenous communities: tle notice of the opinions of American In-
dian peoples themselves, who were, they
To Native Americans, the idea that assumed, going to vanish forever (see
discovery is the only way to know the
past is absurd. For the Indian
Thomas 2000; Trafzer 1997; Mihesuah
interested in traditional practice and 2001). Only recently, with NAGPRA, have
belief, the past lives in the present. Native communities been able to insist
434
_______________________________________________________________________________ Kennewick Man
legally upon the return of their ances- scientists also speculated on Kennewick
tors’ and relatives’ remains. For Native Man’s possible ethnic heritage, and the
communities, Kennewick Man is part of possibility that ancient Europeans might
this long history of abuse and disrespect have arrived in the New World before the
on the part of Euro-American colonizers. ancestors of contemporary American In-
Anthropologists and archaeologists in dians. It is because of those speculations
favor of studying the Kennewick remains upon his possible European heritage that
argue that their work is not in the interest Kennewick Man has garnered so much
of a certain cultural or national group but publicity. State Republican senators and
for the benefit of a global human com- representatives have joined the news
munity: “In examining our heritage, media and scientists to suggest that Ken-
physical anthropologists seek to under- newick Man might have been Caucasian.
stand the biological history and origins of James Chatters, the first archaeologist to
all humans in all geographical areas. Our study the bones, suggested that Ken-
focus is on all humankind. . . . Each soci- newick Man looked more like British film
ety’s biological history is an integral part star Patrick Stewart (of Star Trek fame)
of the complete and continuing story of than a contemporary American Indian
all humankind.” Ignoring what makes (Preston 1997, 73). It important to note
cultures unique, physical anthropolo- that such speculations about indigenous
gists explain that they are interested in authenticity could carry dangerous polit-
cross-cultural and cross-racial questions ical and ethical consequences. Such nar-
of biological evolution. One anthropolo- ratives in the news media could lead
gist argued that bones such as those of some to challenge the authenticity of in-
the Kennewick Man are “priceless rare digenous land claims, indigenous burial
treasures of humanity. The skeleton’s fea- rights, and indigenous religious freedom.
tures are virtually indistinguishable from Francis P. McManamon of the U.S. De-
white ancestors and Asian ancestors” partment of the Interior explained that
(Oregonian 12/19/96, E12). the U.S. government classifies indigenous
The Kennewick Man debate has been remains as: “human remains relating to
criticized by many anthropologists for re- tribes, peoples, or cultures that lived in
viving “race science,” and for making use what is now the United States before the
of racial categories that are easily sensa- documented arrival of European explor-
tionalized and virtually useless in terms ers. The remains would be considered Na-
of scientific study (Marks 1998). While tive American regardless of when a partic-
discussing the skeleton as a source of in- ular group might have begun to live in this
formation about the physical character- area and regardless of whether these
istics, health, and way of life of America’s groups were culturally affiliated or biolog-
first people, of the peopling of the Ameri- ically related to present-day tribes” (Ore-
cas, and of human evolution in general, gonian 4/14/98, B1). The legal guidelines
435
Kinship __________________________________________________________________________________________
accompanying NAGPRA provide regula- Jr. and the Critique of Anthropology.

tions for the return of remains: they are Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Crawford, Suzanne. “(Re)Constructing
first offered to individuals directly de- Bodies: Repatriation and the Debate over
scended from the deceased; if those are Kennewick Man.” Pp. 211–238 in
not available, the remains are given to bi- Repatriation Reader: Who Owns Native
American Remains? Edited by Devon
ologically affiliated tribes; if affiliated Mihesuah. Lincoln: University of
tribes are not available, they are returned Nebraska Press.
to culturally or geographically affiliated Goldstein, Lynne, and Keith Kintigh. 1990.
“Ethics and the Reburial Controversy.”
tribes. Whether or not DNA testing American Antiquity 55, no. 3: 595–598.
demonstrates a clear link between Ken- Gould, Stephen Jay. 1981. The Mismeasure
newick Man and contemporary commu- of Man. New York: W. W. Norton.
Landau, Patricia, and D. Gentry Steele.
nities, legally—because his death pre- 1997. “Why Anthropologists Study
dated 1492 and because he was found in Human Remains.” American Indian
this geographical region—his body be- Quarterly 20, no. 2: 209–228.
Marks, Jonathon. 1998. “Replaying the Race
longs to the tribes in question. Card.” Anthropology Newsletter 39, no. 5: 1.
Despite what local Native communi- McGuire, Randall. 1992. “Archaeology and
ties argue to be clear legal grounds for im- the First Americans.” American
Anthropologist 94, no. 4: 827.
mediate repatriation, Kennewick Man Mihesuah, Devon, ed. 2001. Repatriation
was placed in storage pending the out- Reader: Who Owns Native American
come of a series of lawsuits and appeals. A Remains? Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press.
DNA test showing that Kennewick Man Preston, Donald. 1997. “The Lost Man.”
did indeed share DNA with contemporary New Yorker 73, no. 16: 81.
American Indians did not settle the case. Thomas, David Hurst. 2000. Skull Wars:
Kennewick Man, Archaeology, and the
In September 2000, the Interior Depart- Battle for Native American Identity. New
ment concluded that the remains should York: Basic Books.
be repatriated to the tribes. The scientists Trafzer, Clifford E. Death Stalks the Yakama:
Epidemiological Transitions and Morality
involved in the lawsuit appealed, and in on the Yakama Reservation, 1888–1964.
2002 the decision was overturned. In the East Lansing: Michigan State University
summer of 2002, Kennewick Man was Press.
Zimmerman, Larry. 1992. “Archaeology,
given to scientists for study. Reburial, and the Tactics of a Discipline’s
Suzanne J. Crawford Self Delusion.” American Indian Culture
and Research Journal 16, no. 2: 37.
See also Academic Study of American _____. 1994. “Sharing Control of the Past.”
Indian Religious Traditions; Archaeology; Archaeology 47, no. 6: 65.
Law, Legislation, and Native Religion;
Mounds; Mourning and Burial Practices;
Repatriation, Spiritual and Cultural
Implications Kinship
Biolsi, Thomas, and Larry Zimmerman. 1997. Kinship is the most significant philo-
Indians and Anthropologists: Vine Deloria sophical and theological concept in the
436
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Kinship
thought of many Native American cul- their other parents. Anyone in the gener-
tures. Lakotas, in particular, value kin- ation above my parents is my grandpar-
ship above all ceremonies and sacred ob- ent. We have no such thing as great-
jects, since it is the cohesion of the world aunts and great-uncles, since they are all
and the means by which we live in this my grandparents. Anyone in that genera-
world. A culture that perceives and function in my community is equally my
tions by means of kinship is termed “his- grandparent. In my own generation I do
tolic” by anthropologists. Histos is the not have cousins; they are all my broth-
Greek word for “net” or “web,” and it in- ers and sisters. Their children are my
dicates the network that, in this case, children. The children of any of my chil-
kinship provides. “Histolic” denotes a dren are all my grandchildren. Like the
way of experiencing and expressing all generation of my grandparents, anyone
relationships as being based in kinship. in the generation of my grandchildren in
Examining first the level, person to my community is also my grandchild.
person, an understanding of the Native This family is multigenerational and is
American cultural value of kinship can the unit of people on whom I would de-
be formed. From its first breath and pend for survival and a good life. In fact
even before, a Native American child is all my social needs are met by this kin-
surrounded by relatives. And when we ship unit, whether those needs be mili-
come to the end of this life we under- tary, educational, religious, or related to
stand that we will go to another where social welfare.
we will again live with our relatives. Native Americans must have a good
This family might be called an extended sense of social intelligence. One’s life
family, but in reality it is the normal consists of interactions with all the nu-
form of family in the indigenous world. ances of familiarity and avoidance in the
Eurocentric academics alone see the tribal code of behavior. Simply recogniz-
nuclear family as the norm. The Native ing a relative is so important in Lakota
American concept of family consists of life, for instance, that our word for
two hundred to three hundred people “prayer” and for “recognizing a relative”
spread over five generations. is the same word. Degrees of familiarity
Native families are understood by mean that one will probably be the most
generations, and they are inclusive in familiar with relatives of one’s same sex
terminology and function. Above my and generation. If a relationship crosses
generation I have my biological parents, to the other sex, there is usually a sub-
as well as all of their siblings and cousins, stantial level of formality that must be
who are also my parents. They are all my included. If a relationship crosses a gen-
real parents, and many Native American eration, the younger person defers to the
children are five years old before they older out of respect and acknowledge-
distinguish their biological parents from ment of the greater experience of the
437
Kinship __________________________________________________________________________________________
older person. Degrees of avoidance people place the identity of their com-
would include the sibling avoidance in munity far above their own individual
which siblings do not speak directly to identity.
siblings of the other sex. Brothers and If someone is not a good relative and
sisters may communicate only through a does not keep the ethical code of the
third party. The greatest avoidance is the community, he is ignored or even ostra-
in-law avoidance that requires certain cized until he learns to obey the kinship
in-laws not only to avoid speaking but code. Children are admonished to live as
also to avoid being in each other’s pres- good relatives or people will say, “Look,
ence. A son-in-law would never be in the he’s coming,” and turn and walk away.
presence of his mother-in-law, nor Probably the worst statement that can be
would a daughter-in-law ever be in the made to a Native American is to say, “You
presence of her father-in-law. This live as though you have no relatives.”
avoidance keeps peace and harmony in The mentality that results from living
the community and in no way implies among kinsfolk for a lifetime transfers to
any dislike between the parties involved. all other relationships. Native American
It is the lived experience of the commu- cosmologies do not separate animals
nity that has generated these customs. from humans. Normally the term “na-
Each relationship has its defined tions” is used to speak of all those beings
perimeters, and knowing those limits that live on the earth and fly, swim, walk
frees the parties to focus on the ways in on two or four legs, or crawl. This term,
which they ought to interact. “Being a “nations,” includes persons and animals
good relative” is defined as the highest as well a birds, reptiles, and fish. We re-
ethic, and Native Americans understand late to all of these entities as our rela-
that moral living enhances survival and tives, since that is who they are. The es-
quality of life. Essentially, relatives are to sential difference between them and us
help one another. The reciprocity of is that we humans were the last created
these relationships guarantees a good and the weakest of all the nations. Also,
life. So long as I am a good relative, I will we can lose our spiritual ways, while they
have what I need from my kinsfolk. do not, and so we turn to them for in-
Human beings are defined in Native struction. For example, Duane Hollow
American theology as being essentially Horn Bear told me that he learned some-
good. Good human traits such as con- thing from his dog. One day he spoke
cern, helpfulness, generosity, availabil- sharply to his dog, whose ears and tail
ity, are all defined as the traits of a good drooped and he ran behind the house. A
relative. The entirety of one’s life is de- few minutes later he peeked around the
voted to meeting the needs of one’s rela- other side of the house; his ears were up
tives. The impact of this training is so and his tail was wagging. Duane Hollow
profound that most Native American Horn Bear said, “That’s forgiveness. A
438
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Kinship
dog will forgive you instantly, but a per- It is in our relationship to the earth
son will hold a grudge for years.” that we are at the greatest distance from
In our relationship with the nations of European culture. To Eurocentric cul-
animals we have to keep the rules of tures the earth is an inanimate object, a
good kinsfolk. If we follow those rules commodity to be managed. To us Native
they will see that we have everything we people, our experience is that the earth is
need as human beings. When my rela- alive, that she is a sacred being with
tives go hunting they are careful about memory and kinship with us humans.
what they do and think in the days before Our life on her is her gift to us, and we are
they hunt. In that way their relatives, the obligated to keep the rules of kinship to-
deer for example, will give themselves to ward her strictly if we wish to have what
us, if it is meant to be. we need from her.
Experiential learning is the only kind of In ceremony, we Native people use
learning we respect. By way of example, the dynamics of kinship to negotiate
when an urban couple wanted their son our way. Since humans are a fusion of
to have all the right sensitivities of his physical and spiritual, we are able to in-
people, they gave him to his grandmother teract with the spirit world through cer-
to raise. The grandmother taught him not emony, itself a fusion of the physical
to fear the dark. She let him discover and spiritual. Ceremony allows us to in-
which wood made the best bow. Then she teract with the spirit world through the
sent him out to bring back meat. He went rules of kinship. Essentially, a ceremony
near water and he waited. Soon a deer allows us humans to demonstrate our
came to drink and the boy let his arrow fly. kinship with certain spirits, which then
The deer was mortally wounded, and so will provide us with our needs. For ex-
the boy ran to grab the deer’s head. When ample, a healer in a ceremony will
he turned the head, he looked into the make present objects that show him or
deer’s eyes. He saw that the deer was her to be a relative of the petitioned
afraid and that it was in pain. Following spirit. Ceremony allows the healer to
his grandmother’s instructions, the boy enact the relationship, and that allows
cut the deer’s throat and it died quickly the spirit to give the healer the power
and peacefully. When he brought that necessary to heal. It is accomplished
meat home his grandmother could teach through the medium of kinship. So long
him how we humans are fed, because our as the healer had kept his end of the
own relatives give themselves to us for kinship obligation, the spiritual powers
food. She taught him that food is always a will keep theirs.
gift. She taught him that food must never In all of life, we negotiate our way
be wasted. No one who shops in a super- through kinship. It is by being good rela-
market would have this same sensitivity tives that we live life in a good way.
to his relatives who are our food. Martin Brokenleg
439
Kiowa Indian Hymns __________________________________________________________________________
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota; (cf. Kracht 1989). Many Kiowa people,
Hunting, Religious Restrictions and for instance, tell a story of when mis-
Implications; Termination and Relocation;
Vision Quest Rites; Warfare, Religious sionaries at the Rainy Mountain Mission
Aspects; Yuwipi Ceremony began encouraging Kiowas to make
References and Further Reading their own hymns in their own language.
Beck, P. V., A. L. Walters, and N. Francisco. “The missionaries Lauretta E. Ballew
1992. The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge,
Sources of Life. Tsaile, AZ: Navajo
and Henrietta Reeside encouraged [their
Community College Press. congregants] to ‘make’ a song, to put
Deloria, E. 1983. Speaking of Indians. Kiowa words into a hymn,” says Milton
Vermillion: University of South Dakota
Noel, a member of the Rainy Mountain
Press.
DeMallie, Raymond J., and James R. Walker. Kiowa Indian Baptist Church. “After that,
1992. Lakota Society. Lincoln: University these hymns just took off” (Lassiter et al.
of Nebraska Press.
2002, 114). And indeed they did. To this
Irwin, Lee. 2000. Native American
Spirituality: A Critical Reader. Lincoln, day, Kiowa Indian hymns remain a vi-
Nebraska: Bison Books. brant part of Kiowa culture and are sung
Treat, James, and Vine Deloria, Jr. 1998. For
at churches throughout the community
This Land: Writings on Religion in
America. New York: Routledge. (cf. Lee 1995).
These hymns blend Kiowa traditional
songs with “old time” Christian hymns.
Sung a cappella, Kiowa Indian hymns
are rendered in the Kiowa language and
Kiowa Indian Hymns
recalled completely from memory; they
Perhaps among the most time-honored incorporate both Kiowa and Christian
components of Kiowa Christian expres- themes. Like all traditional Kiowa songs,
sion is song. Historically, Kiowas and Kiowa hymns recurrently restore and
nineteenth-century missionaries had minister to the community with each
deep and enduring human relationships singing: they continue to be integral to
that often transcended the particulars of the community’s enduring identity. The
both Kiowa and Christian traditions (see hymns are often highly individualistic,
Missionization, Kiowa-Comanche- because many songs are composed and
Apache Reservation). These abiding shared by church members themselves
human relationships led both Kiowas at different times in their lives. “These
and missionaries to create a unique songs are their experiences,” says
blending of their respective faiths and Theresa Carter, “their religious experi-
traditions—what the Kiowas called “the ences. It’s what these songs are. . . . Like
Jesus Road” (see, for example, Ellis when they say, ‘His mother made that
1998). And among these new creations song,’ after a certain experience. It was
were so-called Kiowa Indian hymns, en- true to the heart. She experienced
couraged and fostered by both groups something and the song came out. It
440
_________________________________________________________________________ Kiowa Indian Hymns
was her religious experience, and most cal for singers who often are called upon
of these songs are just that” (Lassiter et to sing particular hymns for particular
al. 2002, 112). occasions, such as birthdays, weddings,
Songs come to believers in a variety of or funerals. At funerals, for example, only
ways, but they almost always come all at a select number of hymns are appropri-
once as a whole, rather than in parts. ate for the occasion. “We often sing
Take, for example, the following story [these particular songs] at funerals so
told by noted Kiowa hymn singer Ralph that people can remain strong in their
Kotay about a hymn made many years faith,” says Kotay. “Songs like this remind
ago and still sung today: us of how hard it is to live this life. It’s es-
pecially hard when you’ve lost a loved
My uncle, he’s a good singer. He’s one. . . . It makes people feel good to
made some songs. . . . This one know that God is with them and helping
particular song, he was telling me:
them through their hard times. People’s
“You know nephew, when I was
young, I went to church—and I also emotions can be so mixed at such times.
went to the Native American Church. Their minds are not clear. So that’s why I
We all pray about the same thing, sing songs like this” (ibid., 102–103).
about something in our lives. This one In addition to categorizing individual
time, this particular time, my wife had
Kiowa hymns according to use, Kiowa
gone away. God had taken her away. I
was really depressed. I was sitting singers also firmly situate Indian hymns
there in the room by myself and within the same stream as “our tradi-
thinking about things in my life. Later tional Indian songs” (see Lassiter 1998,
on, this song came to me. It came to 139–152). “All of our traditional Kiowa
me through the gladness of my heart.
I’m glad I sung [it] because it seemed
songs are like this,” says Kotay. “Native
to lift all that depression off of me.” American songs, powwow songs,
(Lassiter 2001, 345) hymns—many of them come in the
same way, from God, through His Spirit”
After receiving a song, believers often (Lassiter et al. 2002, 93). This is impor-
share their songs with other singers and tant to note, because when it comes to
various congregations, after which the American Indians, scholars and lay peo-
song may join the larger repertoire of ple alike rarely pay much serious atten-
Kiowa Indian hymns. Once a hymn en- tion to the role of Christianity in Native
ters this larger repertoire, songs are fur- American communities, and conse-
ther categorized by their use. “There are quently, to Indian hymn traditions—per-
songs of thanksgiving, there are songs of haps because such talk doesn’t match
sorrow, for people that are down and our expectations of who (or what) many
with sickness,” says Kotay. “We have people expect (or want) Indians to be
songs of all kinds” (Lassiter et al. 2002, (that is, distinctly “other” and distinctly
75). This knowledge is particularly criti- antiquated). Most academic stories
441
Kiva and Medicine Societies _________________________________________________________________
about the encounter between Indians publications/Lassiter.htm (accessed July

and Christianity, for instance, emphasize 9, 2002).
Ellis, Clyde. 1998. “‘She Gave Us the Jesus
the adversarial relationship between Way’: Isabel Crawford, the Kiowas, and
nineteenth-century missionaries and the Saddle Mountain Indian Baptist
American Indians; they stress how Chris- Church.” Pp. v–xxii in Kiowa: A Woman
Missionary in Indian Territory by Isabel
tianity led to the demise and assimilation Crawford (orig. pub. 1915). Reprint, with
of Native America. Although that is partly an introduction by Clyde Ellis. Lincoln:
true, the actual negotiation of culture be- University of Nebraska Press.
Kracht, Benjamin R. 1989. “Kiowa Religion:
tween human beings is never that simple. An Ethnohistorical Analysis of Ritual
People everywhere create and re-create Symbolism, 1832–1897.” Ph.D. diss.,
religious tradition as a matter of purpose. Southern Methodist University.
Lassiter, Luke Eric. 1998. The Power of
And when we examine Native American
Kiowa Song: A Collaborative
Christianity and song from the viewpoint Ethnography. Tucson: University of
of experience, we find that the story is Arizona Press.
———. 2001. “‘From Here On, I Will Be
much more complicated than previous
Praying to You’: Indian Churches, Kiowa
students of Native American studies ever Hymns, and Native American
thought. Indeed, the blending of Native Christianity in Southwestern Oklahoma.”
Ethnomusicology 45: 338–352.
and Christian traditions is as time-hon-
Lassiter, Luke Eric, Clyde Ellis, and Ralph
ored and integral to the history and her- Kotay. 2002. The Jesus Road: Kiowas,
itage of American Indian communities Christianity, and Indian Hymns. Lincoln:
today as such blending is, for example, in University of Nebraska Press.
Lee, Dayna Bowker, ed. 1995. Remaining
African-American communities. Kiowa Ourselves: Music and Tribal Memory.
hymns are thus an important window Oklahoma City: State Arts Council of
into this religious experience—an experi- Oklahoma.
McElwain, Thomas. 1990. “‘The Rainbow
ence centered by song traditions that, Will Carry Me’: The Language of Seneca
until very recently, have been largely ig- Iroquois Christianity as Reflected in
nored by scholars (McNally 2000). That is Hymns.” Pp. 83–103 in Religion in Native
North America. Edited by Christopher
unfortunate, because, as Thomas McEl- Vecsey. Moscow: University of Idaho
wain (1990) notes: “Researchers have Press.
been blind to a rich source of informa- McNally, Michael D. 2000. Ojibwa Singers:
Hymns, Grief, and Native Culture in
tion on native spirituality in the native Motion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Christian traditions.”
Luke Eric Lassiter
Dance, Plains; Drums; Missionization,
Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation;
Kiva and Medicine
Power, Plains; Song Societies
A sample of Kiowa hymns can be heard on Sacred societies are groups within the
http://www.indiana.edu/~ethmusic/ Pueblo communities that have the re-
442
________________________________________________________________ Kiva and Medicine Societies
sponsibility of maintaining the various that is, kiva—that will act as “the custo-
components of ceremonial life. Kiva dian of ritual paraphernalia” as well as
and medicine societies, in particular, “providing the clan heads” (ibid.). In the
are charged with the duties of keeping case of medicine societies, such as those
the people in good rapport with the at Zuni, the four leaders for each society
land and the sacred beings who inhabit will also be taken by particular clan
it. An important aspect of Puebloan reli- members. However, those who are af-
gion is that it takes a collective ap- flicted with specific maladies will be
proach to the necessities of ceremonial obliged to join the society that cured
life, be it for weather, illness, warfare, them, regardless of their clan affiliation.
control of flora and fauna, or village Most illnesses, moreover, are caused by
harmony (Dozier 1970, 133). Like other transgressing a sacred object, being, or
aspects of Puebloan life, kiva and medi- animal.
cine societies stem from events in the Among the Zuni there are twelve dif-
oral tradition, tying those social entities ferent medicine societies, whose patron
back to the time of the people’s emer- animals correspond to the twelve “beast
gence into the present world. With re- gods” that govern the Zuni homeland.
spect to studying these societies, what The most prominent of these include the
the scholar of Pueblo religion soon real- Mountain Lion, Bear, Badger, Wolf,
izes is just how little is known about the Eagle, and Mole (Hultkrantz 1987, 98).
features and activities of those institu- Simply being cured, however, is not suffi-
tions. “What is known about them,” as cient in itself for claiming membership
Peter Nabokov and Robert Easton write, in any of the medicine societies. One has
“is mostly conjectural . . . due to the to go through an initiation ritual, an inte-
cloak of secrecy around Pueblo religious gral part of which is an elaborate feast.
beliefs and practices” (Nabokov and Guiding the individual through this rit-
Easton 1989, 376). ual is the ceremonial “father,” who is
With regard to what can be said about usually the one who healed the initiate.
kiva and medicine societies, as social in- Going through the ritual will enable one
stitutions they tend to cut across clan to complete life’s path, or onanne. As
and phratry lines, although it is common Dennis Tedlock points out, “At birth the
for particular clans to be responsible for Sun Father sets the proper span for every
leadership positions. As Edward P. person’s life. . . .When a person has truly
Dozier observes among the Western come to the end of his appointed road,
Pueblos in particular, such as Hopi and nothing can be done about it.” At the
Zuni, “[S]uccession of important [kiva] same time, one may encounter an “ob-
offices ordinarily remains within one stacle” that may lead to premature
household and lineage” (Dozier 1970, death, such as anything that may cause
139). It is the household and lineage— illness. In that case, being healed and
443
Ni-ha-poo-ma, an antelope priest, removing the A-wat-a-na-tci from the antelope kiva, Phoenix,
Arizona, 1899. (Hartwell and Hamaker/Library of Congress)
joining the appropriate medicine society Acoma, possess multiple kivas, “where
would be the proper way of not having such structures are definitely associated
one’s onanne impeded (Tedlock and Ted- with clan and sodality (association)
lock 1992, 259). The healing act itself may organizations” (Dozier 1970, 126). For
involve ?icep_o, or “magicianship.” In example, at Old Oraibi in Hopiland,
such cases, the healer may become pos- there are thirteen known kivas (Nabokov
sessed by the spirit of a bear or mountain and Easton 1989, 376), while at Taos and
lion, at which time he will locate the “for- Picuris there are six, divided between the
eign” object causing the illness and ex- winter and summer moieties that con-
tract it from the patient’s body by either trol the ceremonial life of those Pueblos
waving it to the surface with an eagle (ibid., 377).
feather or by sucking it out (Ortiz 1979, The structure itself is either rectangu-
505). The usual time for medicine society lar or circular, pertaining to the often
activities is during the fall and winter. mentioned division between western
Those who have been initiated into a and eastern Pueblos, respectively.
medicine society will go on a retreat Among the Hopi, a rectangular kiva will
apart from the village, where they will typically be 25 feet long, 15 feet wide,
make prayer sticks for their ancestors and 10 feet high. There will often be a
and pray for rain. Integral to each medi- fireplace, a hole representing the
cine society’s identity is the maintenance sipapuni (or place of emergence), with
of the society’s fetish, which is “kept by part of the floor raised, leading to the
the main household of the associated ladder and exit, so that authorized visi-
clan” (Hultkrantz 1987, 112–113). tors can watch the rituals and dances
The kiva itself is a subterranean or that take place in the back interior. A sure
semisubterranean structure, “the oldest sign that one was in the presence of a
type of religious building in continuous kiva was a ladder poking out of an entry-
use in the Western hemisphere.” In fact, way in the ceiling. When a kiva was being
according to the Acoma, the first kiva used for ceremonial purposes, a banner
originated because the people needed a of some kind would be attached to the
sacred place, one that could commemo- exposed part of the ladder. “Nearly all of
rate the time of emergence, as well as these sacred structures,” according to
being a place where the kachinas could Nabokov and Easton, “are off-limits to
come to the people (Nabokov and Eas- non-residents, and many a tourist has
ton 1989, 376). The number of kivas that been sternly reproached, even by young
each Pueblo community maintains will children, for failing to observe the prohi-
vary according to location and its respec- bition against taking photographs or
tive traditions. Some, like the Tewa trespassing” (ibid.). During the Wuwtsim
groups, have only one large kiva, while ceremony, the prohibitions become even
others, such as the Hopi, Zuni, and stricter, especially when young boys are
445
being initiated into the various kiva soci- initiation (Dozier 1970, 141). Initiation at
eties. For example, the people at Oraibi this point will involve being whipped by
will ceremonially close the four roads the kachinas for the sake of purifying the
that lead into their village. More specifi- initiate. Symbolically, this also places the
cally, a member of the One Horn Society initiate under the control of the kachi-
will seal a road shut by “drawing four nas. Later on, when the boy is between
lines across it with sacred cornmeal,” ten and twelve, he will be further initi-
thereby protecting “the village from any ated into the secrets of kachina ritual-
evil power that might come” (Waters ism, as well as going through another
1977, 142). Once the roads have all been whipping for purification purposes
closed, the villagers are admonished to (Hultkrantz 1987, 111). Furthermore,
stay in their homes while the initiation during the second phase, “either a
ritual takes place. In fact, members of the mandatory assignment to specific cere-
One Horn Society will go on night patrol monial association” will be made or the
looking for people who do not belong boy will make a “voluntary selection of
out on this particular night. As for the one from among a number of alternative
kiva’s being used for the initiation ritual, associations” (Dozier 1970, 141). Once a
it is absolutely limited to only those who boy is fully initiated, he will have the
are necessary to the event at hand. privilege and responsibility of donning a
What this entails is that entry into a kachina (kokko) mask and participating
kiva, especially when it is being used for in the ceremonies of the calendar round,
ceremonial purposes, is limited to those the cycle of ceremonies that the tribe
who have been properly initiated into performs throughout the year.
the respective kiva society. Across all The process of initiation, according to
Pueblo communities, young boys in par- the Hopi, is likened to the maturation of
ticular are expected to join a kiva society plant life, such as corn. The child begins
and participate in the ceremonial life of as a seedling, but with the proper care he
the community. Some may later join will grow to bear fruit and become ripe,
other societies, and perhaps some will or hoyya. In the words of a Hopi man
even lead medicine societies; nonethe- recorded by Walter C. O’Kane, “A baby is
less, the community expects—even de- like a plant that has started to grow from
pends on, for its general well-being— a seed. It must be protected in just the
young people joining the rites of their same way” (Loftin 1991, 29). The process
ancestors. Among the Zuni, the parents of maturation and then initiation is also
will usually decide which of the six kivas likened by the Hopi to their emergence
their son will join first, while the boy is legends into this world. “The baby when
somewhere between five and nine years born,” observes John D. Loftin, “is per-
old. A ceremonial “father” will then guide ceived by the Hopi to be incomplete, just
the child through the first phase of the as the first Hopis were in the under-
446
this will occur during Powa-

muya, when the Wuwtsim or
Bean Dance is held.
Ostensibly, the Powamuya
ceremony inaugurates the
masked or kachina half of the
year, when the kachinas them-
selves will stay in the Hopi vil-
lages until the end of July. Ac-
cording to Alph H. Secakuku,
the Powamuya ceremony is
the most complex of all Hopi
ceremonials. It begins with an
Ahöla, a kachina priest of the
highest order, going around to
the houses in the village and
blessing them, followed by the
ceremonial opening of the
kivas to the kachinas who have
been summoned. All the boys
who have been through the
first phase of initiation must
now gather and prepare for
the ensuing kachina dance.
Meanwhile, Whipper kachinas
will make their way through
Ceremonial figure with rain from a fresco on kiva interior the village at night, assessing
wall, ca. 1500, at Tiguex (Kuaua Pueblo), near Francisco “whether or not life standards
Vásquez de Coronado's camp on the Rio Grande, New
Mexico. (North Wind Picture Archives) maintained by the village have
been acceptable and warrant
special blessings” (Secakuku
world.” Thus a Hopi baby will symboli- 1995, 16). Eventually, on the
cally go through the four worlds of emer- day of the dance, the kachinas will arrive
gence before being brought into the sun- bearing gifts, symbols of the wealth and
light and named on its twentieth day. values that Hopis hold dear. Matriarchs
Once the child becomes of age and is will be given small bundles of bean
ready for his initiation into a kiva society, sprouts; girls will be given kachina dolls,
he will once again go through the mytho- dancing wands, plaques, and traditional
logical stages of emergence. For the Hopi shoes; boys will receive lightning sticks,
447
rattles, and moccasins (ibid.). The Powa- (Waters 1977, 21). An important part of
muya ceremony is also a time of atone- the plan of creation has to do with re-
ment, when ogre kachinas, Soo’so’yoktu, membering to honor the sacred beings by
arrive in the village demanding food initiating young people into their secrets
from young girls and boys that is difficult and ceremonies.
for them to acquire. If the ogres do not Four kiva societies will participate in
receive their food, they proclaim that the Wuwtsim: the Two Horn, the One
they will eat the children. During this Horn, the Flute, and the Wuchim. Once
time of duress, all the people “[look] into the Crier Chief has announced that it is
themselves to see what they may have time to begin the Wuwtsim, the four soci-
done wrong during the year to deserve eties will remove themselves to their re-
this terrifying disruption.” Of particular spective kivas and spend the next eight
concern are transgressions against com- days in preparation for the ceremony.
munal Hopi values. As a way of expiating The Two Horn Society, in particular, will
the villagers’ indiscretions, everyone is erect in its kiva the Six Directions altar.
publicly ridiculed and disciplined. Once That altar consists of colored sands rep-
that has been done the ogres are forcibly resenting the four primary directions, as
removed from the village, and healing is well as an ear of dark mixed corn and one
achieved with public enactment of the of sweet corn, marking the above and
kachina dance (ibid.). below directions, respectively. A wooden
The Wuwtsim initiation ceremony that backdrop is covered with the colors of
occurs while the above ceremonial events the four worlds, which in turn are deco-
are taking place re-creates the mythologi- rated with symbols of the four elements.
cal episodes that are referred to in the In front of this display are two elk horns
larger ceremony. More specifically, the standing nearly six feet tall. Between the
initiation invokes the events that led to two horns is placed a típòni, which is a
the Hopi emergence into the Fourth fetish made from either stone or wood.
World, or Túwaqachi. “The Wuwtsim cer- The Two Horn fetish is a “wooden figure
emony is secret,” Loftin writes, “and parts of a man about twelve inches high with a
have never been viewed by outsiders” bow beside him.” During the initiation
(Loftin 1991, 30). Nevertheless, what we ritual a mongko, a symbol of a society’s
can say about it is that it carries the ur- origins in the underworld, about four
gency that the first inhabitants of the feet long, will cover the kiva entrance.
Fourth World felt upon making it up from During the Wuwtsim, young people
the previous world. According to Frank will embark on the most important stage
Waters, Sótuknang told the Hopi, “What of their initiation, called Ástotokya, or
you choose will determine if this time you the Night of the Washing of the Hair. This
can carry out the plan of Creation on it or particular ritual is held only every four
whether it must in time be destroyed too” years and is shrouded by a blanket of se-
448
crecy. Such precautions are necessary for their society between common, middle,
the reason that the initiates are thought and first-class groups. The lower groups
to symbolize the first people to emerge became jealous of the privileges of the
into the Fourth World. As such, they are first-class groups, particularly the
free from “any human frailty and must be priests. Eventually all the gossip about
held inviolate from mortal evil.” During selfish priests and unfaithful spouses
the Ástotokya only priests and sacred be- created a huge rift between the lower
ings may have contact with the initiates. and upper classes, as well as between
The initiates are led by their ceremonial men and women. In fact the women felt
“fathers” into the appropriate kiva, the greatest amount of offense, as a re-
where they will sit on benches on the sult of the rivalry between the lower- and
eastern, raised half while the priests oc- upper-class men, so the women began
cupy the lower end, holding the Six Di- refusing their husbands across the three
rections altar. The initiation takes place classes. The men had no choice but to re-
while villagers are shut up in their homes treat into their kivas. In time the women
and the night patrol is on duty. decided to work out a tentative peace ac-
The initiates watch in the dim light of cord with the men. Nonetheless, there
evening as one of the priests removes a was still much strife in the air.
plug from the floor that was covering the Yai-hiwa, the village chief, along with
sipapuni. The priest then recounts the the Crier Chief and their families, were
mythological journey that the Hopi peo- severely troubled by the turn of events.
ple took through the previous worlds. Yai-hiwa determined that something
What the initiates learn from this story- must be done to ameliorate the discord,
telling is that they are similar to the peo- in addition to making certain that the
ple of the Third World, Kuskurza. By people learned a lesson from their way-
virtue of going through this initiation, the ward behavior. But what exactly to do?
young boys will gain in spiritual growth, Yai-hiwa called on the Posi-wiwaim-
learning what their ancestors did when kum, the wisest men of the community.
they went through the original stages of He asked them to hold council at a loca-
emergence (Waters 1977, 138–145). tion apart from the village. Four days
Edmund Nequatewa, a member of the later they gathered. They then engaged
One Horned Society, tells one version of in a fatherly and brotherly smoke as they
this crucial moment in Hopi mythology. sat around a fire that had been lit for the
During the beginning time, long before occasion.
the Hopi would arrive at their present lo- Once the smoking was done, Yai-hiwa
cations, the people lived in an under- prayed that the sacred beings would re-
world where “everything was good.” ceive their smoke, and that they would
However, the people began losing their receive help in resolving their stricken
way because of the divisions made in community. What Yai-hiwa proposed to
449
the wise gathered before him was that Sikatsi, the canary bird. Yapa said that if
the people needed to move on to another Sikatsi told Yai-hiwa and the wise men to
place. After a moment of silence, the call on him, he would undoubtedly as-
Posi-wiwaimkum asserted their alle- sist. But they had to summon Sikatsi
giance to the chief and his cause. Yai- first. With that, Yapa went to hide while
hiwa then directed them to begin mak- the men sang another Calling Song for
ing pahos, prayer offerings, beginning Sikatsi, who appeared by and by. Sikatsi
the next morning. asked the men why he was summoned,
When they reconvened the next day, and what he could do to help.
everyone showed up with the material Once again, Yai-hiwa explained that
needed for making pahos. Before they the people were in trouble that they
started on their work, they all confirmed could not resolve on their own. They
that they were “strong in heart.” With needed Sikatsi’s knowledge and wisdom.
that, Yai-hiwa was the first to make a “I understand you,” Sikatsi said. “But I
paho, which the others then copied. cannot do everything alone. I cannot
They worked until they all had filled the perform my ceremony without the
plaques they had brought with them magic songs. The mocking bird must be
with pahos. Afterward, they engaged in with us. Call him at once. We need him.”
another fatherly and brotherly smoke. With that, Yapa, the mockingbird, was
On the third day, they continued mak- called forth again. When Yapa appeared,
ing pahos and they smoked. Sikatsi greeted him along with all the
On the fourth day, Yai-hiwa declared others. Sikatsi told Yapa that they needed
that they were done making pahos. How- his abundant knowledge of songs. Yapa
ever, now they needed to call on some- said that he was ready to help. Sikatsi and
one much wiser than they who could Yapa then flew away around some rocks.
help them with their predicament. Yai- When they returned, they had trans-
hiwa and the Posi-wiwaimkum then formed into tall, handsome men with
sang a Calling Song that beckoned Yapa, long, black hair.
the mockingbird, to their gathering An altar was then arranged for the
place. Yapa then asked why he was sum- forthcoming ceremony. The wise men,
moned, what could he do to help? Yai- including Yai-hiwa, used colored sands,
hiwa explained that the people were in differently colored ears of corn, and a sa-
great need of his knowledge and wis- cred water bowl. Once that was ready,
dom, for which Yapa was offered a Yapa began singing a song for the water
plaqueful (a plaue is a flat basket) of in the sacred water bowl. Then they had
pahos. Once Yapa had accepted the of- to decide whom they would call first with
ferings, he told all who were gathered Yapa’s calling songs. Yapa and Sikatsi de-
that there was someone still wiser than cided that they should first summon
he whom they should call. This was Kwahu, the eagle. At the end of every
450
song the sacred water was sprinkled to and luck songs that nothing would hap-
each direction. pen to the hawk.”
When Kwahu appeared, Sikatsi and By the time Ki-sa returned everyone
Yapa explained the people’s needs to was certain that he was dead. In fact,
him. Kwahu said that he would try de- when they spotted Ki-sa in the sky
spite the arduous task at hand. When Kwahu flew up to help him back down to
Kwahu asked which direction he should the ground. Fortunately, Ki-sa’s heart
fly, Sikatsi and Yapa said, “We wish you was still beating a little. To help revive
would go up into the skies. There may be him, Yapa sang over Ki-sa, while others
an opening and another world up there.” prayed and smoked. When Ki-sa was fi-
Prayer feathers were then tied around his nally able to talk he told the others that
neck and each of his feet. Kwahu then what Kwahu saw was correct, that there
flew up into the sky until he disappeared was an opening to another world. How-
into the clouds. ever, in spite of flying even farther up
All day they waited for Kwahu to re- than Kwahu, Ki-sa was not able to actu-
turn. When they finally spotted him de- ally make it into the opening.
scending it was very late in the day. Upon Once again, Sikatsi and Yapa called on
reaching the ground Kwahu looked ex- another helper. This time the swallow
hausted and nearly dead. It took a while appeared, at which time it was explained
before he revived enough to tell every- to him why he was summoned. The
one what he had found. Kwahu told swallow then took his turn at flying up
them about how difficult it was to fly that into the clouds, followed by the prayers
high up into the skies, particularly how of everyone gathered. While the men
there was no place to rest. However, be- waited for the swallow to return they
fore he had to give up from exhaustion, continued with their smoking and pray-
Kwahu said that he did spot an opening ing. Once again it became very late be-
after all. Kwahu was then given many fore the swallow returned from his jour-
prayer offerings for his help and asked to ney again. He too was near death when
stay until the task was done. he finally landed. Upon receiving his
Sikatsi and Yapa then decided to plaqueful of prayer feathers, the swallow
summon someone else. This time they confirmed the accuracy of what Kwahu
called Ki-sa, the hawk. Just like Kwahu and Ki-sa had reported. But unlike the
before him, it was explained what the other two, the swallow made it the clos-
people’s needs were and where they est yet to the opening, where, he said, the
would like Ki-sa to fly. Once Ki-sa was wind was very strong.
adorned with prayer feathers, he asked For the fourth time, Sikatsi and Yapa
the others to pray for his success. Ki-sa sang a Calling Song. Si-katsi, the shrike,
then disappeared into the clouds. “All then appeared, asking why he had been
this time the men were singing prayer summoned. But before Si-katsi took on
451
the task of flying up into the skies he said When it came time to figure out how
to everyone gathered, “I know and feel the people would actually make it into
that it must be a hard undertaking be- the next world, the humblest among
cause these three brothers were not able them, Kochoilaftiyo, the Poker Boy, came
to make it. But to be sure, you must all forward. Yai-hiwa and others were sur-
tell me if you are all earnest in the hope prised by this, but they listened never-
to be saved. Somebody’s heart must be theless, to what he had to say. Ko-
bad here and he is the one that is holding choilaftiyo then told them about kuna,
you back and keeping you working so the chipmunk. Kuna would know how to
hard. Every heart must be true and hon- make things grow, especially trees, and
est. Let us all be one if we really want to probably would know what to do.
be saved.” So kuna was called to forth, and just
Yai-hiwa then asked all of the wise like the birds he wanted to know why he
men if any of them had any doubts was summoned here. Once all was ex-
about the value of what they were trying plained to him, kuna acknowledged that
to do here, to which all the men assured he was very familiar with the planting
him that they were committed to the and growing of trees. Still, kuna could
task at hand. With that Si-katsi took off not guarantee that he could help them
into the sky, flying faster the higher he achieve their goal. Before kuna reached
got, until at least he disappeared into the into his bag, the others smoked and
clouds. Unlike the previous three, Si- prayed.
katsi did not come back exhausted and “This,” kuna said with a seed in his
near death but with a lot of energy. hand, “is a spruce. We will try it first.”
When everyone saw this they became Kuna then put the spruce seed in his
encouraged and felt happy in their mouth and sang four songs before plant-
hearts. It was not long then before Si- ing it in the ground. Kuna then produced
katsi was telling everyone what he had a seashell rattle and proceeded to sing
seen. Unsurprisingly, most of what he over the seedling. Kuna continued with
saw matched the previous three ac- his growing ritual until the spruce began
counts. But Si-katsi actually made it into to grow to a great height; nonetheless,
the opening that led to the next world, the spruce was far from tall enough. “I
where he found projecting rocks where have done my best,” said kuna.
he could land and rest. “Then, at last,” Kuna then asked the others not to give
Si-katsi said, “up through the opening up hope. He then pulled another seed
which is just like a kiva you have down from his bag. This time it was for a fir
here. The light and sunshine is much pine. Kuna then followed the same ritual
better than here, but there is no sign of as before. Like the spruce, the fir pine
human life, only the animals and birds began to grow to a great height. But, al-
of all kinds.” though it was much taller than the
452
spruce, it was still far from tall enough to toward the sky. Then the others followed
reach the hole in the sky. Kuna said that one by one.”
he had to give up on the fir pine, but he With everyone joining in for the
would try again. The others, meanwhile, singing of the songs taught them by Yapa,
kept up their prayers and smoking. kuna began his arduous task of trying to
This time kuna pulled out a seed for make the bamboo shoot grow. Keeping
the long needle pine. And again kuna time with the singing, kuna pulled at the
went through the same ritual until the bamboo, stretching it further and further
long needle pine began to grow and upward. As the bamboo tree began to
grow, the tallest tree yet. But it too was far grow taller than any of the other three
too short in spite of being much taller previous trees, all four of the birds that
than the previous two trees. At this point, helped to find the opening in the sky went
kuna stopped to smoke and think. He up to check on the progress of the growth.
could not understand why none of the Naturally, it was the shrike who con-
trees so far were tall enough. At length he firmed when the bamboo made it to the
felt compelled to ask the others. “I wish opening. Once this was done, everyone
to ask you from your very hearts if there was overjoyed, especially kuna. The next
is someone here who is not very willing stage of course was to get the people up
to go and hates to leave behind the ones through the hollow interior of the bam-
he loves?” Kuna also suggested that per- boo and into the next world, the Fourth
haps someone among them was still har- World. However, since it was night, Yai-
boring evil thoughts, to which everyone hiwa decided that they should wait until
denied. Everyone assured kuna that their morning to begin planning their journey
hearts were committed to reaching the upward. “Now they were all very anxious
next world. to see the morning come, and before it
Kuna then went to where the bamboo did come, the chief had appointed two
trees grow. There he took a bamboo birds—the eagle and the swallow—to be
shoot and brought a piñon shell filled on the lookout so that no wicked people
with water. Kuna then set these on a bas- might pass” (Nequatewa 1994, 1–13).
ket tray, after which he began smoking This is the point that the young boys
his pipe and prayed. “Others followed in being initiated into their kiva societies
the same manner. When this was done have reached. When they climb up the
he put the piñon shell of water in the ladder, exiting their kiva, they will be re-
ground, at an arm length deep and on enacting their ancestors’ ascent into the
top of it he planted the bamboo shoot Fourth World. But first, men will come
and he covered it up. He took his sacred down the ladder into the darkened kiva,
cornmeal in his right hand and stood wearing robes and large four-pointed
over the plant and said his prayers in si- white stars on their foreheads. Másaw is
lence. Then he threw the meal high up among them. During this time the only
453
sounds are a low humming and the Courlander, Harold. 1987. The Fourth World
blowing of breath. Slowly these noises of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi
Indians as Preserved in Their Legends
become louder. Suddenly there is a voice and Traditions. Albuquerque: University
that proclaims that it is “the Beginning of New Mexico Press.
and the End.” Just as abruptly, all the Dozier, Edward P. 1970. The Pueblo Indians
of North America. New York: Holt,
men begin clambering to get up the lad- Rinehart and Winston.
der and out of the kiva. While this is Hultkrantz, Åke. 1987. Native Religions of
going on, other men will be waiting at North America. San Francisco: Harper
San Francisco.
the top of the kiva with buckets of water Loftin, John D. 1991. Religion and Hopi Life
that they will pour on everyone’s head. in the Twentieth Century. Bloomington:
This act washes away any impurities that Indiana University Press.
Nabokov, Peter, and Robert Easton. 1989.
may have come out of the kiva. The Crier
Native American Architecture. Oxford:
Chief then calls into the kiva for anyone Oxford University Press.
to come out who may still be inside. One Nequatewa, Edmund. 1990. Truth of a Hopi:
Stories Relating to the Origin, Myths, and
by one the initiates emerge, naked and as
Clan Histories of the Hopi. Flagstaff, AZ:
wet as newborn children. The initiates Northland Publishing.
are now taken to a nearby home, where Ortiz, Alfonso, ed. 1979. Handbook of North
American Indians: Southwest, vol. 9.
they will have their hair washed in nine
bowls of yucca suds. However, the initia- Institution.
tion does not end here. “Late in the Parsons, Elsie Clews. 1996. Pueblo Indian
spring,” Frank Waters writes, “each initi- Religion, vol. 1. Lincoln: Bison Books.
Peynetsa, Andrew, and Walter Sanchez.
ate is required to make a pilgrimage to 1999. Finding the Center: The Art of the
the Salt Cave in Grand Canyon, testing Zuni Storyteller. Translated by Dennis
his spiritual wings for the first time” (Wa- Tedlock. Lincoln: Bison Books.
Schaafsma, Polly, ed. 2000. Kachinas in the
ters 1977, 145–146). What the initiates Pueblo World. Salt Lake City: University
have earned, moreover, is the honor and of Utah Press.
responsibility of participating in the Secakuku, Alph H. 1995. Hopi Kachina
Tradition: Following the Sun and Moon.
kachina ceremonies, for which a mask Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing in
will be made for each of them by mem- cooperation with the Heard Museum.
bers of their kiva society. Tedlock, Barbara. 1992. The Beautiful and
the Dangerous: Dialogues with the Zuni
David Martínez Indians. New York: Penguin Books.
Tedlock, Dennis and Barbara. 1992.
See also Architecture; Ceremony and Ritual,
Teachings from the American Earth:
Pueblo; Clowns and Clowning; Health and
Indian Religion and Philosophy. New
Wellness, Traditional Approaches; Kachina
York: Liveright.
and Clown Societies; Masks and Masking;
Oral Traditions, Pueblo
References and Further Reading The Zuni People. 1973. The Zunis: Self-
Bunzel, Ruth L. 1992. Zuni Ceremonialism. Portrayals. Translated by Alvina Quam.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press. Press.
454
L
Land racy, where most citizens take religious
freedom for granted, Native Americans
See Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains have shared the tragic fate of most indige-
nous societies: since the dawn of the colo-
Law, Legislation, and nial era, the world’s indigenous peoples
have suffered a history of religious geno-
Native Religion
cide. That history (1500–1945 C.E.) has
Major Laws Affecting Native been felt in most colonies and former
American Religious Freedom colonies through religious intolerance,
All peoples and cultures hold certain proselytization, and discrimination
deeply ingrained religious beliefs to be brought by European settlers and en-
self-evident. From time immemorial, the forced through the machinery of colonial
spiritual side of life has uplifted and en- and postcolonial governments. These
riched our species. That is certainly true policies were enforced in some nations,
among the Native peoples of the Western including our own, by military force and
Hemisphere, who are heirs to religions outright government prohibition of Na-
that long predate Columbus’s arrival. tive religious practice. As a result, many
These indigenous religions exist in di- tribal traditions, cultures, and religious
mensions that surpass Middle Eastern re- practices, ceremonies, and sites have dis-
ligious diversity. For example, the United appeared from the North American conti-
States is home to older and more numer- nent. Today Native peoples struggle to
ous aboriginal holy places than those de- protect what remains.
scribed in the Old Testament and Koran. Sharing his perspective on how this
In contrast, the human right of worship problem affects human rights issues
is not universally held. Only the privileged under the jurisdiction of the Senate
and powerful enjoy that liberty unfettered Committee on Indian Affairs, Chairman
in most nations. Even in our own democ- Daniel K. Inouye observed:
455
Law, Legislation, and Native Religion _____________________________________________________
Walter Echo-Hawk at a Senate Select Committee on Indian affairs field hearing in Seattle in 1992
regarding Native American religious freedom and legislative needs. Peterson Zah, president of the
Navajo Nation, and Vine Deloria, Jr., are shown left and right, respectively. (Courtesy of Chuck
Williams)
Religious intolerance and suppression came to America to escape religious

of tribal religions in America is not persecution, Old World prejudices
new. In fact, this form of were transplanted in the Colonies,
discrimination has characterized the where discrimination became
relationship between our indigenous commonplace. The Establishment
population and newcomers from Clause of the First Amendment was
Europe for the past 500 years. . . . In intended to curb these Old World
the minds of Europeans, tribal abuses of the colonists’ religious
religions of the New World were freedom by preventing majoritarian
inferior. . . . Thus, it is not surprising— support for popular religious
especially given Europe’s own heritage denominations. From the beginning,
of religious discrimination among the federal government’s effort to
unpopular Christian denominations convert Indians to Christianity became
and against non-Christian world a cornerstone of its federal Indian
religions—that intolerance became a Policy. . . . As may be expected,
basic feature in the Pilgrims’ and other Government violation of Indian
colonists’ relationship with the religious freedom in respect to the
Indians. Indeed, although early settlers Establishment Clause was soon
456
____________________________________________________ Law, Legislation, and Native Religion
followed by an incursion on these cial change intended by that law is not

freedoms alternatively protected by yet completed and remains part of
the Free Exercise Clause, which
America’s “unfinished business.” Sena-
prohibits governmental intrusion on
the practice of religion. Outright tor Inouye noted the importance of this
prohibition of tribal religions by the challenge:
federal government began in the
1890s. Federal troops slaughtered If America is to provide strong moral
Indian practitioners of the Ghost leadership in the world today as a
Dance at Wounded Knee, and much needed beacon for freedom, our
systematically suppressed this tribal indigenous policies need to be vastly
religion on other Indian Reservations. different from countries such as South
In 1892 and 1904, federal regulations Africa, which have questionable
outlawed the practice of tribal standing in the international
religions entirely, and punished Indian community as a result of mistreatment
practitioners by either confinement in of their original inhabitants. Like us,
the agency prisons or by withholding many nations are former colonies, and
rations. (Inouye 1992, 12–14) the way in which they treat their
indigenous populations reflects their
Today the world’s nations are entering intrinsic values. Even if constitutional
the “New World Order,” which promises rights are ensured for a majority of
society, a denial of constitutional
unprecedented opportunity for wide-
protections for indigenous people is a
spread freedom and democracy. The heavy moral weight that may cloud a
paramount human rights challenge faced democracy’s human rights foreign
in each former colony, including the policy.
United States, is to fully restore the reli-
gious liberty of aboriginal inhabitants and The law pertaining to Native American
the cultural integrity of their tribal com- religion is broad. It encompasses treaties,
munities. There is a human rights move- statutes, executive orders, administrative
ment among the world’s indigenous na- regulations, case law, and tribal law. This
tions—which are “invisible nations” article surveys major statutes that protect
within the boundaries of many nations— indigenous religious practices. Legisla-
to protect their beliefs and practices from tion is the primary means by which Na-
encroachment by nonindigenous settlers tive religious liberty is protected in the
and governments. Those aspirations are United States. It is also the hardest form
embodied in the Declaration of the Rights of protection to obtain, because of politi-
of Indigenous Peoples, which is pending cal disadvantages faced by Native Ameri-
in the United Nations. cans, as an impoverished minority group,
America began its response to this in Congress.
challenge twenty-five years ago, with the Nonetheless, accommodation of reli-
passage of the American Indian Reli- gion is primarily a legislative, not judi-
gious Freedom Act of 1978. But the social, function. Courts have always had
457
difficulty applying widely accepted First hardships on minority faiths. Even

Amendment protections to Indians. though politics “place at a relative disad-
They finally gave up that task entirely in vantage those religious practices that are
Employment Div., Dept. of Human Re- not widely engaged in,” Smith ordained
sources of Oregon v. Smith (1990) and that this “unavoidable consequence . . .
Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Ass. must be preferred.” Justice O’Connor
(1989) and turned the chore over to Con- dissented against making worship de-
gress—not only for Indians but also for pendent on politics and predicted harsh
all other citizens. As a result, bare politics times for religious minorities:
controls the extent of religious freedom.
The First Amendment was enacted
It is not guarded by judicial enforcement
precisely to protect the rights of those
of the Free Exercise and Establishment whose religious practices are not
clauses of the First Amendment, as most shared by the majority and may be
people often think. viewed with hostility. The history of
In Lyng and Smith, the Supreme Court our free exercise doctrine amply
demonstrates the harsh impact
faced Native American religious claims.
majoritarian rule has had on
In those cases the Court greatly re- unpopular or emerging religious
stricted First Amendment protections groups. . . .
and referred the plaintiffs to Congress to The very purpose of the Bill of
protect their practices. The decisions Rights was to withdraw subjects from
the vicissitudes of political
also generally turned over the task of ac- controversy. . . . One’s right to life,
commodating religious liberty to the leg- liberty, and property, to free speech, a
islative branch. These cases narrowed free press, freedom of worship and
the meaning and application of the First assembly, and other fundamental
rights may not be submitted to votes;
Amendment to such rare circumstances
they depend on the outcome of no
that little room for constitutional protec- election.
tion against governmental actions that
infringe religious liberty remains. The degree to which Congress has
Smith justified this result on the protected the endangered religions of
grounds that religious diversity, in the America’s Native peoples is surveyed
eyes of the Court, is a “luxury” that soci- below.
ety “cannot afford.” Under Smith, only
antireligion laws that are openly hostile Major Native American Religion Laws
to religion are subject to First Amend- American Indian Religious Freedom Act
ment safeguards. Since few if any antire- of 1978 (AIRFA). The AIRFA is a landmark
ligion laws have ever been enacted, law that set federal policy and a legisla-
those safeguards have little meaning. tive agenda that have endured over the
The Court left religious accommoda- past generation. The law is based on con-
tion to the political process, despite clear gressional findings that the Constitution
458
has not protected indigenous religious life” and “indispensable and irreplace-
liberty, infringements existed on a mas- able,” the lawmakers were troubled that
sive scale in 1978, and legislation is nec- federal policy “has often resulted in the
essary to protect those inherent rights. abridgement of religious freedom for tra-
Accordingly, Section One establishes a ditional American Indians.” In short,
U.S. policy to “protect and preserve for AIRFA formally acknowledged a dark
American Indians their inherent right of side of U.S. history, determined that our
freedom to believe, express, and exercise nation must address serious human
the traditional religions of the American rights infringements, and inaugurated
Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native the need for social change.
Hawaiians, including but not limited to Indians seemingly held no constitu-
access to sites, use and possession of sa- tional rights prior to AIRFA. That history
cred objects, and the freedom to worship could no longer be ignored, however,
through ceremonials and traditional after the declarations made in AIRFA.
rites.” Those findings corroborated facts long
Section Two directed the president to known to historians, who have docu-
evaluate federal laws, policies, and pro- mented that separation of church and
cedures to identify changes necessary to state was disregarded in the govern-
preserve indigenous religious rights and ment’s treatment of Indians. Govern-
report recommendations to Congress. ment-sponsored religion was imposed
AIRFA is remarkable in three respects, on Indian tribes for more than a hundred
even though it only establishes a “policy” years by hiring Christian missionaries as
and makes no substantive rules. Indian agents, placing Indian nations
First, important findings about the under the administrative control of dif-
government’s treatment of Native Ameri- ferent religious denominations to con-
can religions were made in the “whereas vert Indians and separate them from
clauses” of this legislation, which have their traditions, conveying Indian land to
provided the policy backdrop for all sub- religious groups for the building of
sequent laws and legislative efforts. For churches and religious schools on Indian
the first time Congress acknowledged reservations, proselytizing Indian youth
that freedom of religion is an “inherent in federal boarding schools, and using
right” guaranteed to Native Americans federal funds to support those activities.
by the First Amendment and declared These policies amounted to wholesale
that their religious practices “are an inte- Establishment Clause violations for an
gral part of” indigenous “culture, tradi- entire race of people for well over one
tion and heritage, such practices form- hundred years. In the report to Congress
ing the basis of Indian identity and value mandated by Section Two of AIRFA, Sec-
systems.” Because these religions were retary Andrus corroborated this trou-
found to be “an integral part of Indian bling history.
459
That Christianity and federal interests ing, trafficking in human body parts and
were often identical became an article burial offerings, and massive warehous-
of faith in every branch of government
ing of sacred objects and human remains
and this pervasive attitude initiated
the contemporary period of religious by museums were also documented.
persecution of the Indian religions. It Many infringements were found to stem
was not, to be certain, a direct attack from a “lack of knowledge or the insensi-
on Indian tribal religions because of tive and inflexible enforcement of Fed-
their conflict with Christianity, but an
eral policies and regulations premised
oblique attack on the Indian way of life
that had as its by-product the on a variety of laws” that are “designed
transformation of Indians into for such worthwhile purposes as conser-
American citizens. Had a Christian vation and preservation of natural
denomination or sect, or the Jewish species and resources but were never in-
community, been subjected to the
tended to relate to Indian religious prac-
same requirements prior to receiving
affirmation of their legal and political tices”(see AIRFA “whereas clauses”).
rights, the outcry would have been Nonetheless, Congress found that these
tremendous. But Indians, forming an laws and policies often deny access to sa-
exotic community that few cred sites required in Native religions,
understood, were thought to be the
prohibit the use and possession of sa-
proper subject of this concern.
(American Indian Religious Freedom cred objects needed for rites and cere-
Act Report, P.L. 95–341 [U.S. Dept. monies, and permit intrusions and inter-
Interior, 1979] [hereinafter, “Secretary ference with, and in a few instances ban,
Andrus’s Report”], 4) traditional ceremonies. Secretary An-
drus’s report explained that these
AIRFA’s legislative history, findings, “abuses have for the most part arisen be-
and report to Congress also documented cause of ignorance or misunderstanding
present-day government infringements. on the part of the non-Indian,” and
That record reveals a shocking list of added that this treatment “exemplifies
human rights violations. Problems in- what can happen to a religious minority
cluded the outright denial of access to when its tradition is radically divergent
religious ceremonies, holy places, and from that of a majority in a society” (Sec-
burial grounds (including a complete retary Andrus’s Report, 7–8). The secre-
lack of legal protection for those places), tary promised that the U.S. people and
as well as the natural materials needed nation would rectify those injustices.
as sacred objects for religious obser- “With the enactment of the American
vances (such as peyote, certain plants, Indian Religious Freedom Act our nation
mineral substances, eagle feathers, and is being afforded the opportunity to cor-
marine mammal and other animal parts) rect past injustices and to begin anew
when located on federal lands or pro- with regard to treatment of those who
tected by conservation laws. Grave loot- adhere to the tenets of traditional Native
460
A delegation of Indians visit the White House, during the Grant administration (1869–1877).
Represented are delegations from the Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi, and Sac and Fox.
(Bettmann/Corbis)
religions. In countless ways in the past insufficient to protect human rights.

and present, both our government and AIRFA’s policy was not enforced by the
our people have proven themselves courts. Lyng dismissed AIRFA because its
equal to challenges inherent in new be- policy had “no teeth” and allowed the
ginnings. This will be no exception” government to destroy an irreplaceable
(ibid., 16). The findings of Congress con- holy place that was central to the religion
tinue to provide the foundation for leg- of three Indian tribes in order to build a
islative policy to protect Native Ameri- dirt logging road. Civil rights leaders did
can religious liberty and will remain in not rely on “policy” to end centuries of in-
that role until each documented injus- grained racial discrimination. Instead,
tice is addressed by the American people they obtained enforceable laws when
and corrected by appropriate legislation. human rights were at stake. Similar laws
However, in redressing these injustices are needed to fulfill Secretary Andrus’s
AIRFA also teaches that “policy” alone is ringing promise to Native Americans.
461
AIRFA Amendments of 1994. In 1990, employees in certain safety-sensitive

the Supreme Court denied constitu- jobs.
tional protection in Smith for an Indian This law protects “Indians,” who are
religion of pre-Columbian antiquity in- defined as a member of “any tribe, band,
volving the religious use of peyote. Be- nation, pueblo, or other organized group
cause that sacred plant is classified as a or community of Indians, including any
controlled substance under federal drug Alaska Native village . . . which is recog-
laws, Smith created a human rights crisis nized as eligible for the special programs
among Native people who were forced to and services provided by the United
worship in fear of arrest or job discrimi- States to Indians because of their status
nation. The crisis prompted a human as Indians.” The House Committee re-
rights movement originating on Indian port explains that Congress passed this
reservations for passage of legislation to law as part of the federal government’s
correct the problem. This resulted in the trust responsibility to protect and pre-
AIRFA Amendments of 1994, which were serve Indian cultures and traditions.
signed into law by President Clinton. Native American Graves Protection
The amendments overturn the appli- and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). NAG-
cation of Smith to the religious use of PRA was signed into law by President
peyote by Indians, legalize such use na- Bush in 1990. This statute was part of a
tionally, and prohibit discrimination legislative movement to protect Native
against Indians because of such use. The Americans from widespread grave dese-
law provides that “the use, possession, or cration, to repatriate thousands of their
transportation of peyote by an Indian for dead held by museums and federal agen-
bona fide traditional ceremonial pur- cies, and to retrieve improperly acquired
poses in connection with the practice of religious and cultural property. NAGPRA
a traditional Indian religion is lawful, repudiates an abhorrent historical dou-
and shall not be prohibited by the United ble standard under which U.S. law
States or any state”; it further guarantees strictly protected white bodies and
that “[no] Indian shall be penalized or graves from mutilation and desecration,
discriminated against on the basis of while allowing—even encouraging—pri-
such use, possession or transportation.” vate citizens, scientists, soldiers, and
The act safeguards public interest con- museums to loot Native graves, to obtain
cerns by allowing: (a) reasonable regula- the contents as “property,” and to dese-
tion of the cultivation, harvest, and dis- crate Native dead without the knowledge
tribution of this sacred plant; (b) or consent of the next of kin. This double
discretion of prison authorities to permit standard violated the sanctity of the
access to this sacrament by incarcerated dead and the religious sensitivities of
Indians; and (c) reasonable limitations every Indian tribe, Native Hawaiian, and
on such use by military personnel and Alaska Native community in the nation.
462
NAGPRA seeks to rectify these horri- sands of these dead have been returned
ble injustices by establishing national to Native communities for reburial.
repatriation guidelines and other reme- In addition, NAGPRA prohibits inten-
dies discussed below. A significant body tional excavation of cultural items on
of state and federal laws provided prece- federal land without an Archeological
dent. By 1990, thirty-four states had Resources Protection Act permit. Tribal
passed laws to protect unmarked graves. consent must be obtained for excavation
These laws prohibit intentional distur- on tribal land. When cultural items are
bance of unmarked graves and provide accidentally discovered, activity must
guidelines for the disposition and rebur- cease pending notification of the af-
ial of remains discovered in unmarked fected agency and Native parties, so they
graves. The laws closed loopholes cre- may determine ownership and disposi-
ated by state statutes that protect tion. NAGPRA provides the rules for con-
marked cemeteries but not unmarked trolling the disposition of human re-
graves, which consist primarily of Indian mains discovered on federal and tribal
graves. By 1989, Arizona, California, land, even ancient remains such as the
Hawaii, Nebraska, and Kansas had en- Kennewick Man and Salt Cave remains.
acted precedent-setting laws of varying The rules give the initial right of disposi-
scope to repatriate Native remains held tion to lineal descendants and, where
by museums and other entities to Native descendants are not ascertained, list a
communities for reburial. On the federal descending order of priority among the
level, the Museum of the American In- Native American community. Trafficking
dian Act of 1989 directed the Smithson- in human remains is made a criminal of-
ian Institution to repatriate its collection fense, and trafficking in other cultural
of 18,500 dead Indians under specified items obtained in violation of the act is
standards and procedures. also prohibited. In sum, NAGPRA is an
NAGPRA is a complex law that sets out enforceable law that effectuates the so-
procedures and standards for repatriat- cial change envisioned by AIRFA.
ing human remains, funerary objects, sa- Repatriation under this historic law is
cred objects, and objects of cultural pat- a case-by-case process that will take
rimony. These “cultural items” are years to complete because of the massive
defined in the statute. The provisions number of human remains, museums,
apply to federal agencies and museums and federal agencies involved. To imple-
that receive federal funding. They must ment NAGPRA, agencies, museums, the
repatriate cultural items upon request by NAGPRA Review Committee, and courts
lineal descendants, culturally affiliated are interpreting, clarifying, and applying
Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian groups its provisions to specific cases. Those
under defined evidentiary and proce- provisions must be liberally construed to
dural standards. Under NAGPRA, thou- accomplish the remedial purposes of
463
American remains whose cultural affilia-

tion cannot be determined. NAGPRA di-
rects the Review Committee to inventory
these remains and recommend actions
for their disposition. Native people claim
the right of disposition for reburial as the
nearest cultural, spiritual, and geograph-
ical kin. Their position is supported by
the general rule that all persons are enti-
tled to a decent burial. That norm is fol-
lowed in local laws requiring a burial for
each person who dies, even at state ex-
pense, for unclaimed strangers, paupers,
or persons with no next of kin. The Na-
tional Congress of American Indians
(NCAI), the nation’s largest organization
of tribal governments, passed a resolu-
tion in 2002 demanding such protection
for these dead. The resolution opposes
disposition that exempts these dead
Native American Alfred Smith, whose use of from the norm by elevating scientific in-
peyote in religious ceremony was condemned by
the Supreme Court. 1990. (Phil Schofield/Time
terest over the religious, sovereign, and
Life Pictures/Getty Images) human rights of Native Americans. NCAI
insists that these dead “be repatriated
and reburied by Native peoples as soon
this legislation, as is commonly done for as possible.” In contrast, some scientists
civil rights laws, and interpreted under want to permanently retain these dead
rules of construction that apply to fed- as “specimens” for future study.
eral Indian statutes: NAGPRA is a human Laws affecting traditional use of eagle
rights law enacted as a part of Congress’s feathers and animal parts. Plants and
Indian trust responsibility. Some scien- animals are considered sacred by aborig-
tists seek to limit NAGPRA by arguing in inal hunters, fishers, gatherers, and tra-
the Kennewick Man litigation, which is ditional people in Native American com-
now pending in the courts, that NAGPRA munities. Their religions are based upon
is not an “Indian law” statute, that it centuries of close observation of the nat-
must be narrowly construed, and that it ural world. This has established close
should not apply to early remains. spiritual relationships between them
Another implementation issue con- and the plants and animals that com-
cerns the proper disposition of Native pose their indigenous habitats.
464
The Makah Indian whaling culture is to the whale and sing to it, begging its
an example. For thousands of years this spirit to turn toward the shore where
the people “stood ready to give it
seafaring tribe has looked to the ocean
praise” and to honor it as a guest of
for food, tools, and clothing. Whaling be- the village with ceremonies and
came the core of the Makah culture, rituals. (Miller 2001, 184–186)
identity, economy, and way of life. The
rituals, songs, ceremonies, and legends Though little understood by non-Indi-
surrounding whales have deep spiritual ans, such spiritual ties are commonplace
significance in Makah life. among indigenous people. Over millen-
nia, their beliefs have been greatly en-
Makah whaling is also steeped in riched by teachings and spiritual power
spiritual, religious and ritualistic received from animals and plants. Tradi-
beliefs. The ritual or spiritual nature of
tional ceremonies are conducted to
whaling is based on the idea that
humans are too insignificant to honor these spiritual relatives, commu-
capture such enormous and powerful nicate and receive blessings or knowl-
creatures if the whale does not want to edge from them, and to otherwise wor-
be taken or does not cooperate in its ship the Creator in the natural world.
capture. Ritual preparation for months
before whaling ensures that the Makah
These beliefs and practices sustain Na-
whaler is pure in heart and deserves to tive life, subsistence, and harmony in in-
take a whale. In fact, Makah and other digenous habitats. As a result, numerous
native whalers believed that the animal and plant parts are sacred objects
spiritual preparation was as important
needed for indigenous religious obser-
as the whaling equipment and
methods they used. vances. Some are described in Secretary
Andrus’s report:
The Makah practice religious rituals
in the woods in private with the goal of Native traditional religions are based
finding and securing the aid of on the natural environment. Their
intermediary spirits or tamanos, which practitioners rely on natural
guarded the destinies of individuals. substances for their religious
They would bathe ritually in lakes and observances. Certain wildlife, plants
in the ocean and would swim and minerals—which may be worn,
imitating a whale by spouting water carried or simply present—are
from their mouths. They would also considered sacred and fundamental to
purify themselves by self-flagellation the religious and ceremonial life.
with nettles or hemlock branches. The sacred objects of a ceremony or
Moreover, the Makah believed in religion may be, for example, the
human to whale transformations. . . . salmon, eagle, buffalo, kit fox, hawk,
shark, snake, deer, moose, elk, squirrel,
Once a whale was struck, the turtle, bowhead or butterfly. Some
Makah used spiritually powerful family religious ceremonies may hold
songs to turn a harpooned whale venerable claws, feathers, beaks, tusks,
towards shore. The Makah would pray hides, fangs or quills; while particular
465
plants—such as sage, tobacco, mescal, tently contributed to the problem by fail-

yucca, sweet grass, cedar, peyote—are ing to take their uses into account (ibid.,
central to others. Drums, arrows,
69–70).
masks, prayer feathers, pipes, totems,
medicine bundles and other objects Major federal statutes addressing
made from natural materials are held problems of this nature include the pey-
sacred in certain Native religions. ote legislation, discussed above. In 1962
Natural products may be roots or the Bald Eagle Protection Act was
rocks, berries, gourds, leaves, shells or
amended to allow the use and posses-
turquoise—they may be consumed,
buried, held, carried or observed, and sion of eagle feathers “for the religious
are commonly used for healing, purposes of Indian tribes.” This exemp-
purification or visions, according to tion is administered through the Fish
religious customary law. (Secretary and Wildlife Service. In a 1994 executive
Andrus’s Report, 68)
order, President Clinton attempted to
improve this administrative system. The
Unfortunately, access to these materi- Marine Mammal Protection Act exempts
als has been curtailed by federal conser- from its “takings” prohibitions “any In-
vation laws, land management policies, dian, Aleut, or Eskimo who resides in
and other factors. From an environmen- Alaska and who dwells on the coast of
tal standpoint, Secretary Andrus’s report the North Pacific Ocean or the Arctic
explained that these materials have be- Ocean” if the take is for subsistence or for
come scarce, because white settlement making traditional native handicrafts.
and the introduction of nonindigenous The Makah whaling quota (one gray
species has “inevitably led to a great re- whale per year) is secured under interna-
duction of the natural animal and plant tional and domestic agreements entered
species.” Scarcity was exacerbated by into under the Makah Treaty of 1855,
federal development projects that which reserved Indian whaling rights,
“greatly affected wildlife habitats and the International Convention for the
rendered inaccessible many deposits of Regulation of Whaling, the Endangered
mineral substances” (ibid.). The ability Species Act, and the National Environ-
of Native people to gather traditional mental Protection Act. Makah whaling
materials needed for tribal religious ob- occurs under environmentalist litiga-
servances was seriously curtailed by fed- tion, protests, harassment at sea, as well
eral removal of Natives from aboriginal as racial acts and death threats.
homelands containing those materials. Worship by incarcerated Native
Natives who were able to return to tradi- Americans. Disproportionately high
tional places were confronted with in- numbers of Native Americans are con-
flexible federal land management poli- fined in U.S. prisons. In 1991 the per-
cies that prevented Native gathering, centage of Native Americans among the
and by conservation laws that inadver- prison population of Alaska was 31 per-
466
cent, Hawaii 34 percent, and South authorities from imposing a substantial

Dakota 25 percent. A major human burden on inmate worship unless the
rights problem is the denial of access to authorities show that the burden fur-
their traditional religious practices. Sec- thers a “compelling governmental inter-
retary Andrus’s report describes this est” and is the “least restrictive means” of
problem: furthering that interest.
“Native Americans have a dispropor- In the absence of an effective federal
tionately high arrest and incarceration law to protect Native American worship
rate—the highest of any identifiable in prisons, five states legislated to fill the
group in the country. . . . Many Native void. Largely on account of legislative ef-
American prisoners experience difficulty forts by Native corrections advocates
in the practice of ceremonies and tradi- (such as Lenny Foster, director of the
tional rites, possession of sacred objects Navajo Nation Corrections Project), Ari-
and access to spiritual leaders” (ibid., 86). zona (in 1995), Colorado (in 1992), Min-
Between 1970 and 1996, more than nesota (in 1985 and 1999), New Mexico
fifty lawsuits were filed to protect the reli- (in 2002), and Utah (in 1996) enacted
gious rights of Native prisoners. This liti- laws to protect the religious freedom of
gation was effective until the Supreme Native American inmates.
Court weakened legal standards for pro- New Mexico’s statute guarantees that
tecting such rights in O’Lone v. Estate of “Native American religions shall be af-
Shabazz (1987). Subsequently, those forded by the corrections department the
hard-fought rights began to erode, has- same standing and respect as Judeo-
tened by Lyng and Smith. Congress rein- Christian religions.” The law directs state
stated some legal standards for protect- prisons to “permit access on a regular
ing worship in the Religious Freedom basis” to a “native American spiritual ad-
Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA). However, visor” and to “items and materials used
RFRA was ineffective for protecting pris- in religious ceremonies,” as well as to “a
oners, because its application was wa- sweat lodge on the grounds of the correc-
tered down in the prison context. This in- tional facility.” No Native American in-
effectual law was short-lived, and it was carcerated in New Mexico is required “to
struck down, as applied to state actions, cut his hair if it conflicts with his tradi-
as unconstitutional by the Supreme tional native American religious beliefs.”
Court in City of Boerne v. Flores (1996). Colorado’s law affords access to Ameri-
Congress’s second attempt, the Reli- can Indian spiritual leaders, items and
gious Land Use and Institutionalized materials used in ceremonies, and ap-
Persons Act of 2000, may hold more propriate religious facilities on a basis
promise if properly enforced by the comparable to that which is “afforded to
courts. This law applies to prisons that inmates who practice Judeo-Christian re-
receive federal funds. It prohibits prison ligions.” In federal prisons, a 1996 policy
467
More than 500 Makah Indians attend the traditional ceremony of the whale hunt, Neah Bay,
Washington, 1999. (Anthony Bolante/Corbis Sygma)
statement guarantees Native prisoners unchecked totalitarian treatment at the

the equal access to religious leaders, hands of the state.
items and materials, and facilities and Major laws affecting Native worship
ceremonial foods, as well as protecting at sacred sites. All world religions, in-
their right to wear traditional hair styles cluding religions indigenous to the
for religious reasons. United States, have holy places. Preser-
These efforts recognize that Native vation of such places is the responsibility
worship is an important and integral of each nation. Most countries maintain
part of corrections. They provide models stringent legal protections for holy
for legislating national corrections stan- places within their borders. Our nation is
dards. The human rights of incarcerated home to numerous Native American
Native Americans must not be ignored holy places. Secretary Andrus’s report
simply because they are locked away. Al- advised Congress:
though separated by prison walls, they
remain important to their people and The Native peoples of this country
will someday return to tribal communi- believe that certain areas of land are
holy. These lands may be sacred, for
ties. It is vitally important that they re- example, because of religious events
turn as contributing tribal members and which occurred there, because they
not as alienated strangers damaged by contain specific natural products,
468
because they are the dwelling place or standards that can be used to protect re-
embodiment of spiritual beings, ligious places from government destruc-
because they surround or contain
tion. Those standards help ensure that
burial grounds or because they are
sites conducive to communicating no church, synagogue, mosque, cathe-
with spiritual beings. There are dral, Sunday school, church school,
specific religious beliefs regarding camp, or parking lot will be bulldozed.
each sacred site which form the basis However, in the Senate Committee re-
for religious laws governing the site.
port and floor statements regarding this
(Ibid., 52)
act, senators created a loophole in its
coverage by indicating that the act is not
Most sites are natural landmarks intended to apply to “the use of the Gov-
(such as a waterfall, mountaintop, or ernment’s property or resources.” That
butte) that are no longer owned by Na- loophole effectively excludes protection
tive people but have fallen into federal or for indigenous holy places that are lo-
private ownership. That often makes Na- cated on federal land, since they are gov-
tive worship at those sites, or protection ernment “property or resources.” This
of them, difficult. double standard continues in the Reli-
Native religious use of federal lands gious Land Use and Institutionalized
containing such sites, and the preserva- Persons Act of 2000, which protects the
tion of these holy places, are not pro- religious use of a church only if the
tected by federal statutes. Federal reli- claimant “has an ownership, leasehold,
gion laws strongly protect religious easement, servitude, or other property
property, such as church buildings, but interest in the regulated land.” This re-
these statutes exclude indigenous holy quirement excludes indigenous holy
places because they are natural land- places that are no longer owned by Na-
marks that are not owned by Native peo- tive people.
ple. For these second-class religious Indigenous religious sites have been
places, only limited procedural protec- bulldozed, flooded, paved over, clear-
tions are afforded by federal law. This cut, commercialized, desecrated by
disparate treatment is an Equal Protec- tourists, and shelled by the military. In
tion problem that has seriously compro- 1995, forty-four sites were being threat-
mised indigenous religious liberty. ened by development, tourism, resource
The double standard arises from fed- exploitation, looting, and vandalism.
eral laws and policies that strongly pro- Such an onslaught would shock and out-
tect mainstream religious facilities and rage the nation if committed against
properties owned by churches or the church- or government-owned religious
government, but not indigenous holy property.
places. The Religious Freedom Restora- In contrast to stringent laws that pro-
tion Act of 1993 created stringent legal tect other religious property, the only
469
protection afforded Native American veyed below, may be replaced or

sites is unenforceable “policy.” U.S. gov- strengthened by adequate legislation
ernment AIRFA policy did not prevent that affords Native Americans equal pro-
government destruction in Lyng, be- tection under federal law.
cause it is unenforceable. President Statutory protection of Indian ceme-
Clinton promulgated another policy in teries and burial grounds located on fed-
1996. Section 1 of Executive Order No. eral and tribal lands is provided in NAG-
13007 on Indian Sacred Sites directs PRA and the Archeological Resources
federal land managers “to the extent Protection Act of 1978. Both laws pro-
practicable, permitted by law, and not hibit excavation, removal, defacing, or
clearly inconsistent with essential sale of human remains and burial items
agency functions” to: unless done in accordance with those
statutes. These acts supplement state
1. accommodate access to and unmarked grave protection laws that
ceremonial use of Indian sacred protect Indian burials located on state
sites by Indian religious and private lands.
practitioners; and
Ten site-specific laws provide for Na-
2. avoid adversely affecting the
physical integrity of such sacred tive American access, ownership, or use
sites. of federal land containing sacred sites. In
1970, President Nixon signed legislation
Agencies must implement procedures to return sacred Blue Lake to Taos
for carrying out these mandates, but Sec- Pueblo; 25 U.S.C.A. 640d–19 provides
tion 4 limits those provisions to “internal Hopi access to a shrine for ceremonial
agency management” and does not pro- and gathering purposes; 16 U.S.C.A. 228i
vide enforceable legal rights. adds lands to the Havasupai Reservation
The maze of laws affecting Native for traditional uses, including religious,
worship at sacred sites is an ineffective and gathering or hunting native foods,
patchwork. Numerous efforts since 1978 materials, paints, and medicines; 16
have failed to strengthen, consolidate, or U.S.C.A. 410ii–4 ensures that certain Na-
coordinate this maze, or to streamline tional Park agreements do not prevent
protections into a more workable, uni- traditional Native American religious
form, and enforceable system. In 2002, uses; 16 U.S.C.A. 543f protects tradi-
Native Americans resumed efforts to pe- tional cultural and religious uses of a
tition Congress for legislation to protect Scenic Area; 16 U.S.C.A. 460uu–47 pro-
their religious places, and the Senate In- tects access to a national monument for
dian Affairs Committee has commenced traditional cultural and religious uses
a series of oversight hearings on this and allows temporary closures to protect
human rights problem. It is hoped that the privacy of religious activities; 16
the statutory patchwork, which is sur- U.S.C.A. 410pp–6 protects cultural and
470
religious uses of a National Park; P.L. such, protection of sites under NEPA is
98–408 returns traditional Zuni land to up to the goodwill of agency bureaucrats.
that tribe for religious and subsistence The success of NHPA and NEPA has
purposes; P.L. 95–498 returns land con- varied. These laws helped protect Native
taining shrines and religious sites to worship at the Medicine Wheel and
Santa Ana Pueblo; P.L. 95–499 returns Devil’s Tower. Those instances required
land containing shrines and religious lengthy negotiations by organized Native
sites to Zia Pueblo. Americans and supportive agencies that
Finally, two laws offer limited proce- were compelled to defend their actions in
dural protections. The National Historic federal court against non-Indian special
Preservation Act (NHPA) offers procedural interest groups unhappy with the accom-
protections for property that is significant modation of religion by the agencies.
in American history and culture, including Other efforts failed where these factors
“properties of traditional religious and were not present, as in the case of Mount
cultural importance to an Indian tribe or Graham, which is sacred to the Apaches.
Native Hawaiian organization.” The act re- As explained by Jack Trope, legal counsel
quires federal agencies to determine for the Indians who protected their wor-
whether their undertakings harm such ship at the Medicine Wheel:
properties, and it requires consultation
Ultimately, however, the protection of
with Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian
these sites should not be dependent
organizations that attach religious or cul- upon the political pressure that tribes
tural significance to the property. How- can muster, the political clout of a
ever, after agencies satisfy procedural re- potential developer or the good will of
quirements they can proceed as they see the local land manager. Over the long
term, it would be most appropriate to
fit, and any substantive protection of reli-
transfer sacred sites to tribal control
gious sites is therefore discretionary. where this is possible. Most religious
Similarly, the National Environmental sites in this country are controlled by
Policy Act (NEPA) requires agencies to the religious communities that value
assess the impact of their actions on the them. The ultimate goal should be to
achieve the same end for practitioners
human environment. This is done
of Native American traditional
through studies that evaluate those im- religions. (Trope 1996, 35)
pacts. NEPA regulations require consul-
tation with Indian tribes. While not ex- Given the unique historical circum-
pressly mentioned, impacts on sacred stances involved, there is much merit to
sites may fall within NEPA’s framework. the transfer proposal. Native American
As is the case with the NHPA, after agen- religious places are property taken by a
cies satisfy procedural requirements government with a policy of outlawing
they can proceed, notwithstanding im- tribal religion. While that policy was later
pacts on the human environment. As withdrawn by AIRFA, most religious
471
properties were not returned or suffi- See also American Indian Movement (Red
ciently protected. Under these circum- Power Movement); Archaeology; Ecology
and Environmentalism; Fishing Rights and
stances, that property should now be the First Salmon Ceremony; Identity;
transferred back to the original owners Kennewick Man; Native American Church,
or, at minimum, sufficiently protected Peyote Movement; Repatriation, Spiritual
and Cultural Implications; Reservations,
for the aboriginal religious use predating Spiritual and Cultural Implications; Sacred
federal acquisition. Sites and Sacred Mountains; Termination
As our society matures, it becomes and Relocation
time for our nation to fully restore Native
American religious liberty and cultural Andrus, Cecil, Secretary of the Interior,
integrity. Congress must enact a reme- Federal Agencies Task Force. August
1979. “American Indian Religious
dial law to stringently protect Native
Freedom Act Report, P.L. 95–341.” U.S.
American sacred sites in a manner Dept. of the Interior.
equivalent to the protections that it has Dussias, Allison M. 1998–1999. “Ghost
afforded to other religious properties. Dance and Holy Ghost: The Echoes of
Nineteenth-Century Christianization
Disparate treatment in federal law Policy in Twentieth-Century Native
amounts to religious discrimination. American Free Exercise Cases.” Pp.
Such laws can not be tolerated, and their 553–659 in First Amendment Law
Handbook. Edited by James L. Swanson.
inequality must be rejected as repugnant St. Paul: West Group.
vestiges of the government’s treatment of Echo-Hawk, Roger C., and Walter R. Echo-
Native American religion. Hawk. 1994. Battlefields and Burial
Grounds: The Indian Struggle to Protect
Ancestral Graves in the United States.
Minneapolis: Lerner Pub.
Conclusion Echo-Hawk, Walter R. 1993. “Native
The laws surveyed in this article measure American Religious Liberty: Five
Hundred Years after Columbus.”
the extent to which Congress has ad- American Indian Culture and Research
dressed and incorporated the human Journal 17, no. 3: 33–52.
rights of America’s Native peoples into ———. 1996. “Study of Native American
Prisoner Issues.” National Indian Policy
the social and legal fabric of our nation. Center, George Washington University.
Indigenous worship occurs under a sig- Echo-Hawk, Walter, and James Botsford.
nificant, but incomplete, patchwork of 1996. “The Legal Tango: The Native
American Church v. the United States of
legislation, and Native American reli- America.” Pp. 123–142 in One Nation
gious liberty is unfulfilled in important under God: The Triumph of the Native
areas. Repetitive legislative efforts to cor- American Church. Edited by Huston
Smith and Rueben Snake. Santa Fe: Clear
rect these injustices underscore the
Light Pub.
hardships encountered by Native Ameri- Echo-Hawk, Walter R., and Jack Trope. 1992.
cans in protecting human rights in the “The Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act: Background and
political arena.
Legislative History.” Arizona State Law
Walter R. Echo-Hawk Journal 24, no. 1: 35–77.
472
___________________ Literature, Religion in Contemporary American Indian Literature
Griffin, Rayanne J. 1995. “Sacred Site tional intertwining of religious and every-
Protection against a Backdrop of day life is no longer universally true, as
Religious Intolerance.” Tulsa Law Journal
31: 395–419. the amount of religion practiced in daily
Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Paulette Molin, living varies from tribe to tribe and
eds. 2000. Encyclopedia of Native among individuals. There are still Native
American Religions. New York:
Checkmark Books. Americans who closely follow their sacred
Inouye, Daniel K. 1992. “Discrimination and traditions, much as their people did in the
Native American Religious Rights.” past, but there are also Native Americans
University of West Los Angeles Law
Review 23: 3–19.
who have become Christian, and so com-
Miller, Robert J. 2001. “Exercising Cultural partmentalize or separate their religion
Self-Determination: The Makah Indian from their everyday activities. Some Na-
Tribe Goes Whaling.” American Indian
tive Americans practice no religion at all,
Law Review 25: 165–273.
President, Executive Order, “Indian Sacred Christian or traditional. However, it is the
Sites, Executive Order 13007,” Federal traditional interweaving of religion in
Register 61, no. 104 (24 May 1996): 26771.
daily life that is most often reflected in
Trope, Jack. 1993. “Protecting Native
American Religious Freedom: The Legal, Native American literature. But what ex-
Historical, and Constitutional Basis for actly is Native American literature?
the Proposed Native American Free
A good standard for defining Native
Exercise of Religion Act.” New York
University Review of Law and Social American literature is literature written by
Change 20: 373–403. Native Americans using Native American
_______. 1996. “Existing Federal Law and characters, settings, and cultural situa-
the Protection of Sacred Sites.” Cultural
Survival Quarterly 19: 30–35. tions. That definition would be accepted
by almost any scholar of Native American
literature, but there are gray areas in which
people disagree. For example, Tony Hiller-
Literature, Louise Erdrich
man’s books, such as Talking God (Hiller-
See Erdrich, Louise man 1991), by the above definition are not
Native American literature because Hiller-
man is not Native American, no matter
Literature, Religion in that his work may fit some of the other cri-
Contemporary American teria in the description. Hillerman’s work
could best be classified as popular fiction
Indian Literature
that makes use of Native American char-
Unlike most Christian societies, in which acters, settings, and cultural situations.
secular or everyday life is separated from On the other hand, Martin Cruz Smith,
religious practice and belief, traditional who is Native American, writes some work
Native American societies were quite reli- that is Native American literature and
gious, incorporating aspects of the sacred some that is not. For example, Stallion
into every part of their lives. This tradi- Gate (Smith 1986) would be included, but
473
Literature, Religion in Contemporary American Indian Literature ___________________
many of his other books, such as Havana and through conversion to Christianity.
Bay (1999), are not included because they Material written by Native Americans
do not contain Native American charac- like Charles O. Eastman (From the Deep
ters, settings, or cultural situations. These Woods to Civilization, 1977), who re-
distinctions are important when consid- nounced their culture and embraced the
ering whether sacred or religious informa- Christian faith, found publishers and
tion contained in the text is authentic— readers; those who adhered to tradi-
and authenticity is important. tional sacred belief found themselves si-
A text written by a person who is Native lenced. Zitkala Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) of
American is more likely to present reli- the Lakota tribe attended eastern board-
gious and sacred information accurately ing schools, where she converted to
because such persons would probably Christianity and became a teacher and
have been raised in the religious tradi- writer (Old Indian Legends, Retold by
tions of their own particular tribe or have Zitkala Sa, 1901). Later in her life she re-
specific knowledge from their own family canted the conversion and published an
and tribe. “Likely” and “probably” sound article in Atlantic Monthly entitled “Why
nebulous, but these caveats must be in I Am a Pagan” (1902). The Atlantic article
place because not all Native Americans was ignored until recently, when it be-
are raised within the religious and cul- came available as an e-book on the Inter-
tural traditions of a tribe. Many Native net. Her early works about boarding
Americans live modern lives in places school and her Christian conversation
that are far from their tribal origins. Even are widely published in such works as
so, information provided by an “urban In- the Norton Anthology of American Litera-
dian” is still more likely to be accurate ture (Shorter 1989, 1630–1652).
than that from a non-Native American, Traditional stories from the oral tradi-
because all Native Americans, urban or tion were occasionally studied, written
reservation-dwelling, have a vested inter- down, and published, but most of these
est in ensuring accuracy. Native Ameri- were recorded as anthropological stud-
cans have been misrepresented and inac- ies intended to preserve information
curately portrayed in literature (which about a supposedly vanishing people;
includes film, television, and theater, as they were not considered valid literature
well as print media) since the first contact by scholars and the wider reading public.
by white society, and incorrect labels have The stories were artifacts, read in much
formed the roots of misunderstandings the same way that a modern person
and discrimination for centuries. might read an article about the San peo-
Much early literature attempted to ple of Africa in National Geographic. It
portray Native Americans as savages must be noted, however, that without the
who must be civilized through eradica- work of anthropologists such as Franz
tion of their religious and cultural beliefs Boas (Kwakiutl Tales 1910), a Columbia
474
is one of the most outstanding exam-

ples of such romanticizing.
Furthermore, like most films about
Native Americans, Dances with Wolves is
set in the historical past and perpetuates
the notion of the vanishing Indian. It is
unclear whether this is the form that
filmgoers want to see, or if it is simply the
only fare about Native Americans that is
offered by most Hollywood filmmakers.
Writing about the movie in his book
Fantasies of the Master Race (1998), Ward
Churchill states,
It’s all in the past . . . comfortably out

of reach. . . . Nothing to be done about
it, really, at least at this point. Best that
everyone—Euroamericans, at any
Writer Sherman Alexie, 2004. (Christopher rate—pay a bit of appropriately
Felver/Corbis) maudlin homage to “our heritage,” feel
better about themselves for possessing
such lofty sentiments, and get on with
University professor who worked among business as usual. . . . That is, after all,
the very business as usual that films
the Clackamas and Kwakwak’wakw peo- like Dances With Wolves help to
ple of the Northwest, much material perpetuate by diverting attention to
from oral tradition, both sacred and sec- their sensitive reinterpretations of
ular, might have been forgotten. yesteryear. (Churchill 1998, 241)
Modern literature, particularly film,
about Native Americans has tended in It must also be pointed out that the sa-
the opposite direction, toward portray- cred and religious aspects portrayed in
ing Native Americans as wonderfully in this film are just as suspect and improba-
tune with the environment, generous, ble as is the general plot. A filmmaking
peaceful, and spiritual people; while step in the right direction is the film
that may be true of some, it is not uni- Smoke Signals (1998), based on Sherman
versal, and the idea of Native Ameri- Alexie’s writings.
cans as perfect human beings is roman- Alexie, of the Spokane tribe, has been
ticizing and just as inaccurate and very successful with his publications of
damaging as the literature that demo- poetry, short fiction, and novels. Smoke
nizes and dehumanizes. The Kevin Signals is an adaptation of some of his
Costner film Dances with Wolves (1990) short stories from the collection The
475
Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in but with more people developing an un-
Heaven (Alexie 1993). The film follows derstanding of Native American culture,
Spokane Indians, Victor and his friend and therefore an understanding and ap-
Thomas Builds the Fire, on a journey preciation for Native American film,
from the Spokane Reservation to there is hope for the future.
Phoenix to recover the ashes of Victor’s The future, the turning point for wide
father, who has died there while es- acceptance of Native American literature
tranged from his family and tribe. The in print, began with the publication of N.
film is chock full of references and in- Scott Momaday’s 1969 Pulitzer
jokes that go completely over the heads Prize–winning book House Made of
of viewers who know nothing about Na- Dawn (1968). Momaday is the Kiowa/
tive Americans, but Alexie’s creation of Cherokee/white son of parents who were
humorous dialogue and situations is teachers on various southwestern reser-
general enough to make the film worth- vations; he spent twenty-five years at
while for everyone. Alexie has been criti- Jemez Pueblo in north-central New Mex-
cized by both whites and Native Ameri- ico. This pueblo is the setting for House
cans for portraying a bleak, sometimes Made of Dawn, which tells the story of
hopeless situation for Native Americans, Abel, a World War II veteran returning to
but nonetheless his work is realistic and the pueblo after the war. It is a violent
a more accurate representation than is story of cultural loss, alienation, and
the romantic, feel-good tripe of modern Abel’s ultimate reunion with the land
Hollywood, or the John Wayne Western and sacred traditions of his people upon
genre of movies from the 1930s, 1940s, the death of his grandfather. Abel is ren-
and 1950s, which typically dehumanized dered inarticulate by the horrors of war
Native Americans and depicted distor- and separation from his land and cul-
tions of their culture. ture, and thus the story is told mostly
In addition to Alexie, other Native from the points of view of other charac-
Americans are also producing films. The ters, including a Hispanic priest, Abel’s
mixed blood writer Gerald Vizenor wrote Diné (Navajo) friend, and a Kiowa
and produced Harold of Orange (1984), a preacher from the Native American
short comedy drama. Typical of Vizenor’s Church. Sacred performances, stories,
books and articles, this film is full of in- and parts of ceremonies from Kiowa,
nuendo, sarcasm, and jokes that are hi- Diné, and Pueblo traditions run
lariously funny to those who understand throughout, giving the text a cross-tribal
them, yet confusing and easily misunder- sampling of sacred traditions and perfor-
stood by those outside the culture. With mance. Material from this book became
the exception of Alexie’s Smoke Signals, the core and source for subsequent
Native American film has not, for the books by Momaday, including most no-
most part, been commercially successful, tably The Way to Rainy Mountain (1969).
476
Rainy Mountain comes closest of any Abel, Tayo has been alienated and sepa-
book in translating Native American oral rated from his culture. Ceremony also
tradition, storytelling, to the written contains violent scenes that are
page. The story of the Kiowa migration metaphors for the violent upheaval
from southern Canada and the northern within the psyche of the characters. Al-
United States to their present location in though Silko’s novel is certainly pat-
the south-central Great Plains is the core terned on House Made of Dawn, it is not
of the book, but Momaday includes his- a carbon copy but deserving of respect
torical information and personal mem- and recognition in its own right. There
oirs in a three-part formula that echoes are obvious differences between the two
the storytelling of oral tradition, wherein books. Momaday’s work is unrelentingly
the traditional narrative (sacred or secu- serious, while Silko includes scenes of
lar) remains intact but the storyteller tragic comedy, such as the picture she
may include relevant collaborative his- paints of Tayo and friend Harley en route
torical “fact” and personal experience. to a bar with Harley, a big man, riding a
Drawings by Momaday’s artist father are donkey and Tayo mounted on a blind
interspersed in the text, a technique that mule. Another example of a difference
is similar to an oral storyteller’s use of between the two texts is that Abel finds
body language through gestures. The himself and reconnects to his spiritual
large amount of white space—areas of and cultural heritage only upon the
the pages left blank—is the equivalent of death of his grandfather, but Tayo’s re-
pauses and silences that a storyteller in- covery must come through a cere-
corporates into an oral narrative for dra- mony—and hence the title of the book.
matic effect. Momaday has published Since the publication of Ceremony, Silko
other works of poetry and fiction, but has published other works, such as Al-
House Made of Dawn stands as the wa- manac of the Dead (1992), that are
termark for Native American literature. unique and distinct from her first book
Besides introducing the world to Native and Momaday’s. With the recognition
American literature, the book served as a and success of Momaday and Silko, a
model for other Native American writers process of recovery began.
to follow, most notably Leslie Marmon That is, other previously published
Silko. but far less successful works by Native
Silko, who is of Laguna Pueblo, Mexi- Americans were sought out and repub-
can, and white ancestry, published Cere- lished, while new works were published
mony in 1977. In this book, the main as well. John Rollin Ridge’s novel The Life
character, Tayo, is similar to Momaday’s and Adventures of Joaquin Murietta, The
Abel in House Made of Dawn. Tayo, too, is Celebrated California Bandit (1854) was
a World War II veteran returning to his rediscovered, along with Mourning
home after serving in Japan, and like Dove’s book Cogewea, the Half-blood: A
477
Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle inventions and not the true practices of
Range (1927). James Welch published any particular tribe. Vizenor himself may
several novels beginning with Winter in be the ultimate trickster figure, as his
the Blood in 1974. Altogether, Welch pub- works seem to be the embodiment of all
lished five novels, a collection of poetry possibilities, allowing readers to decipher
entitled Riding the Earthboy 40 (1971), for themselves what is meant by a partic-
and a nonfiction work, Killing Custer ular narrative. Bearheart: The Heirship
(1994), with film producer and director Chronicles (1990) and The Heirs of Colum-
Paul Stekler. In addition, Welch and Stek- bus (1991) are representative of his novels.
ler collaborated on the film Last Stand at Another notable Native American
Little Bighorn (1992), produced for the writer of the Chippewa (Ojibwa) tribe is
PBS American Experience series. With Louis Erdrich. Erdrich is arguably the
the exception of the Ridge novel and the most commercially successful Native
Welch/Stekler book, all of these works American writer of all time, surpassing
incorporate aspects of ceremony and even Momaday. She began her career
traditional religious practice into the with the publication of Jacklight (1984), a
narratives. Other Native American writ- collection of poetry, and has continued
ers have written about aspects of sacred with the publication of poetry, short sto-
practice in unconventional ways, no- ries, and novels, most of which are set on
tably Gerald Vizenor. the Turtle Mountain Reservation in
A member of the Minnesota Chippewa North Dakota. Love Medicine (1993),
tribe, Vizenor was a journalist who began Tracks (1989), The Beet Queen (1998), and
writing and publishing books somewhat The Bingo Palace (1994) are a series of
later than the other writers mentioned, novels with recurring characters and sit-
but he has certainly made up for lost time; uations that detail land loss, culture and
Vizenor is now one of the most prolific of language loss, and survival. Her work in-
Native American writers, with seventeen termingles sacred stories and traditions
books, both fiction and nonfiction, to his with the lives of modern Ojibwa people
credit. Vizenor is much more difficult to in such a way that it is obvious that the
read than some of the others; he utilizes traditional stories are a means of surviv-
enigmatic characters, circular plots, and ing the past and continuing into the fu-
odd situations that poke fun at miscon- ture. The Crown of Columbus (1991) is a
ceptions about Native Americans, “talk novel written in collaboration with her
back” to injustices, and redefine the late husband, Michael Dorris, a Native
meaning of what it is to be both Native American writer in his own right (A Yel-
and American. The sacred ceremonies low Raft in Blue Water, 1998).
and performances that he writes about In contrast to Erdrich’s success, the
are true to the spirit of Native American late Louis Owens, of Cherokee/Choc-
religious practice, but they are frequently taw/Irish heritage, spoke of himself as
478
“the least read and most misunderstood” Alexie does in “Capital Punishment” (The
of all Native American writers (Owens, Summer of Black Widows 1996).
personal correspondence, 2002). Re- For anyone seeking an entryway into
gardless of his own opinion about the re- Native American literature, poetry, or
ception of his work, Owens is an impor- other forms, a good place to start is with
tant figure in Native American literature. Nothing But the Truth: An Anthology of
He is the author of five novels beginning Native American Literature, edited by
with the publication of Wolfsong (1991), John L. Purdy and James Ruppert (2001).
editor of American Literary Scholarship: (All three of the above-mentioned poems
An Annual, 1990, collaborator with Tom are republished in this anthology.) This
Colonnese on American Indian Novelists: book contains entries under nonfiction,
An Annotated Critical Bibliography fiction, poetry, and drama, with an intro-
(1984), and the writer of five other works ductory explanation before each section.
of nonfiction. Two of these nonfiction Different as they are, certain common
works, Mixedblood Messages: Literature, aspects of Native American poetry have
Film, Family and Place (1998) and his last been frequently acknowledged, as Native
book, I Hear the Train: Reflections, Inven- American writer Kimberly Blaeser points
tions, Refractions (2002), are autobio- out in the section preceding the poetry.
graphical in nature and essential reading She writes:
for anyone attempting to understand the
problems of Native Americans in mod- Comparatively little in depth
ern society. While Owens never wrote interpretation or criticism has been
written about Native American
poetry, he had a deep appreciation for
poetry. . . . Despite this apparent
the art form and for the Native Ameri- dearth of critical analyses, certain
cans who wrote and published poetry, facets of Indian-authored poetry have
including Simon Ortiz, Joy Harjo, Luci been frequently acknowledged. Most
Tapahonso, and Kimberly Blaeser. notably, the poems have been
recognized to have a significant
Native American poetry is as varied as
spiritual and physical landscape, to
the poets who write it. Some poems, invest themselves in a political
such as Paula Gunn Allen’s “Soundings” struggle, to search for or to attempt to
(Life Is a Fatal Disease 1994), are a feast of articulate connections with the
metaphor and language describing the individual, tribal or pan-Indian legacy,
and particularly significant to the
natural world in terms that are both spir- poetic form—to retain connections to
itual and secular, while other poetry is the oral tradition. (Purdy and Ruppert
informal in language and tone, such as 2001, 413–414)
Luci Tapahonso’s poem of wry humor
“Raisin Eyes” (A Breeze Swept Through Perhaps poet Simon Ortiz speaks for
1987). Other poets have used their art other Native American writers as well as
form for political protest, as Sherman himself when he writes on the dedication
479
page for his collection of poetry, Woven Dorris, Michael. 1998. A Yellow Raft in Blue
Stone (1992): “The stories and poems Water. New York: Warner Books.
Dorris, Michael, and Louise Erdrich. 1991.
come forth, and I am only a voice telling The Crown of Columbus. New York:
them. They are the true source them- HarperCollins.
selves. The language of them is the vision Eastman, Charles A. (Ohiyesa). 1977. From
the Deep Woods to Civilization:
by which we see out and in and all Chapters in the Autobiography of an
around.” Indian. Linclon: University of Nebraska
Native American literature provides Press.
Erdrich, Louise. 1984. Jacklight. New York:
an opening into understanding the sa- Henry Holt.
cred traditions of the first people to oc- _____. 1989. Tracks. New York:
cupy the North American continent, as HarperPerennial.
_____. 1993. Love Medicine. New York: Henry
well as an introduction into the rich cul-
Holt.
tural heritage of many Native American _____. 1994. The Bingo Palace. New York:
tribes. With understanding come toler- HarperCollins.
_____. 1998. The Beet Queen. New York:
ance, acceptance, and appreciation. We
HarperPerennial.
can look forward to the time when po- Eyre, Chris, dir. 1998. Smoke Signals. Evan
etry, fiction, nonfiction, theater, and film Adams and Adam West, actors.
Miramax.
produced by Native Americans will be an
Hillerman, Tony. 1991. Talking God. New
unquestioned part of the American York: HarperCollins.
canon of literature. Kostner, Kevin, dir. 1990. Dances with
Wolves. Kevin Kostner, Graham Green,
Frances Washburn and Mary McDonnell, actors. Image
See also Erdrich, Louise; Momaday, N. Scott; Entertainment.
Oral Traditions; Owens, Louis; Symbolism in Momaday, N. Scott. 1968/1999. House Made
Ritual and Ceremony; Tricksters of Dawn. New York: Harper and Row.
Reprint, New York: HarperPerennial.
References and Further Reading _____. 1969/1995. The Way to Rainy
Alexie, Sherman. 1993/1994. The Lone Mountain. Reprint, Albuquerque:
Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. University of New Mexico Press.
Reprint, New York: HarperCollins. Mourning Dove (Hum-Isha-Ma, Cristal
_____. 1996. The Summer of Black Widows. Quintasket McLeod Galler). 1927/1981.
Brooklyn, NY: Hanging Loose Press. Cogewea, the Half-Blood: A Depiction of
Allen, Paula Gunn. 1996. Life Is a Fatal the Great Montana Cattle Range. Reprint,
Disease. Albuquerque: University of New Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Mexico Press. Ortiz, Simon. 1992. Woven Stone. Tucson:
Boas, Franz. 1910. Kwakiutl Tales. New York: University of Arizona Press.
Columbia University Press. Owens, Louis, ed. 1990. American Literary
Churchill, Ward. 1998. Fantasies of the Scholarship: An Annual, 1990. Durham:
Master Race: Literature, Cinema and the Duke University Press.
Colonization of American Indians. San _____. 1991. Wolfsong. Albuquerque: West
Francisco: City Lights Books. End Press.
Colonnese, Tom, and Louis Owens. 1984. _____. 1998. Mixedblood Messages:
American Indian Novelists: An Annotated Literature, Film, Family and Place.
Critical Bibliography. New York: Garland Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press. Press.
480
_____. 2002. I Hear the Train: Reflections, Vizenor, Gerald. 1978. Darkness in Saint
Inventions, Refractions. Norman: Louis Bearheart. Republished 1990 as
University of Oklahoma Press. Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles.
Purdy, John L., and James Ruppert. 2001. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Nothing but the Truth: An Anthology of Press.
Native American Literature. Upper _____. 1991. The Heirs of Columbus.
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University
Shurer, Jacqueline, dir. 1992. Last Stand at Press.
Little Bighorn. American Experience Weise, Michael, dir. 1984. Harold of Orange.
Films. Produced for PBS Television by Charlie Hill, lead actor. Film in the
Boston: WGBH. Cities.
Silko, Leslie Marmon. 1977. Ceremony. New Welch, James. 1971/1988. Riding the
York: Viking Press. Earthboy 40. Reprint, Pittsburgh:
_____. 1992. Almanac of the Dead. New York: Carnegie-Mellon University Press.
Penguin. _____. 1974/1986. Winter in the Blood.
Smith, Martin Cruz. 1986/1987. Stallion Reprint, New York: Penguin.
Gate. Reprint, New York: Ballantine Zitkala Sa. 1901. Old Indian Legends, Retold
Books. by Zitkala Sa. Boston, London: Ginn and
_____. 1999. Havana Bay. New York: Company.
Random House. ———. 1901/1986. American Indian Stories.
Stekler, Paul, and James Welch. 1994. Killing Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Custer. New York: W. W. Norton. Press.
Tapahonso, Luci. 1987. A Breeze Swept _____. 1902. “Why I Am a Pagan.” Atlantic
Through. Albuquerque: West End Press. Monthly 90: 801–803.
481
M
Manitous Native peoples of this vast region possess
different linguistic, folkloric, and cere-
If there is a central traditional religious monial traditions, they share a common
concept embraced by the Native peoples religious outlook. This outlook is based,
of the Great Lakes, it is undoubtedly man- not necessarily on a shared cosmology,
itou. Loosely translated as “spirit,” the mythology, or belief system, but on a
term denotes the seat of agency that Na- shared logic for detecting spirits in the
tives of the region recognize in all living world. Rather than viewing nonhuman
things. They perceive spirits, with the con- causality as natural or fortuitous, Natives
joined sense of power and personhood, in of the region assume that there are per-
humans, as well as winds, animals, plants, sons operating behind all events,
medicines, tools, cliffs, lakes, dreams, and whether the “persons” involved are
all other impressive, effective features of human or other-than-human. Thus all
their surroundings. Although it has this activities and occurrences are inter-
broad reference, in its common usage Na- preted in a social context. The religious
tives reserve the term for those who are es- traditions of the native peoples of the
pecially powerful. In fishing, hunting, Great Lakes region are organized around
healing, traveling, and all other important describing and influencing the hidden,
activities, Natives seek the aid or forbear- nonhuman persons in their respective
ance of associated manitous with prayer, surroundings. In fishing, hunting, heal-
song, tobacco, or other ceremonial offering, divining, traveling, and all other ac-
ings. In many of these traditions, individu- tivities left open to success or failure—
als acquire their own personal lifelong fortune or peril—Natives petition the
spirit guardian by performing a vision associated agents to affect the outcome.
quest during adolescence. Although it is known by different
While the Huron, Ottawa, Ojibwa, Me- names, “manitou” is the term most widely
nominee, Potawatomi, Miami, and other used to refer to the common spiritual
483
Manitous ________________________________________________________________________________________
essence that natives perceive in all living of others. Just as members of these tribal
forms. In the general sense of the term, societies yield to its powerful, influential
everyone is or possesses manitou. This in- members—namely, the skilled hunters,
cludes the medicine, fish, wind, lake, and fishermen, healers, as well as wise elders
other nonhuman persons who inhabit (that is, skilled thinkers)—natives believe
the world. The bodies that contain spirits, that plants, animals, rocks, and other
such as human, plant, or rock forms, are spirits yield to the powerful manitous of
nonessential, impermanent features of their respective domains. When fishing
being. Thus it is believed that one’s spirit or hunting, Natives make prayer, to-
wanders off from the body during dream- bacco, or other respectful offerings to
ing and travels to the land of the dead, or their fishing and hunting tools, as well as
is reincarnated after death. Likewise, it is to the targeted lake or gamekeepers who
understood that some manitous have the control the fish or deer.
ability to shift their appearance from one It is the especially powerful spirits that
form to another. Plants, animals, rivers, natives of the Great Lakes region typically
and other manitous not only possess the refer to as manitous. In most of these tra-
same types of feelings, needs, and moti- ditions, there is the notion of a Great
vations as human beings but, in addition, Spirit, or Kitchi-Manitou, who created the
they may sometimes embody, as in many world but who lives far away. Among Ojib-
story traditions, a human form. In this was and Menominees, there is also the no-
way natives of the Great Lakes region be- tion of an Evil Spirit, Matchi-Manitou,
lieve that all living things are essentially, who dwells in the bottom of lakes. More
despite appearances, of the same spiri- relevant to the day-to-day activities of na-
tual or ontological nature. tives are the manitous that are believed to
In the absence of such hard and fast embody the large, impressive features that
measures, qualitative or corporeal, for impact their immediate surroundings—
distinguishing the various persons that that is, the sun, moon, thunders, wind,
inhabit their surroundings, native peo- lakes, rivers, cliffs, mighty rocks, and other
ples of the Great Lakes region derive so- large and impressive features of their envi-
cial protocols from the quantitative dif- ronment. It is understood that these man-
ferences that they perceive between itous influence the lesser spirits—the indi-
“people.” Rather than imagining fixed vidual plants, animals, and rocks—that
ontological distinctions between human, dwell in their presence. Thus, in order to
natural, divine, or other types of beings, safely and successfully complete their im-
natives measure one’s social standing ac- portant tasks, natives pay homage to the
cording to the amount of spirit one pos- appropriate manitous that govern the
sesses. For that reason it is the powerful, lands and waters that they trespass, and
the especially spirited among people, the plants and animals that they harvest.
who command the attention and respect Inasmuch as healing specialists, or
484
_______________________________________________________________________________________ Manitous
shamans, are believed to possess a While Natives of the region petition

tremendous spiritual capacity—like their common manitous in their surround-
nonhuman counterparts—they too are re- ings, such as lakes, cliffs, plants, winds,
ferred to as manitous. and tools, that are associated with com-
The traditional religious practices that mon tasks, individuals seek the assis-
Natives of the Great Lakes region engage tance of their personal spirit helpers to
in are informed by protocols of gift ex- receive special power and guidance in
change, which govern all social interac- determining and negotiating their paths
tions. In order to influence manitous, of life. To acquire a spirit helper, Natives
Natives pay tribute to them through ritu- undertake a vision quest, fasting in isola-
als of sacrifice and supplication. Venera- tion until they are visited by a manitou,
tion, in the context of gift exchange, is an which usually appears as the sun, a
expression of need that obligates poten- thunder, bird, wolf, bear, or some other
tial benefactors, whether they are natural element or animal. In traditional
human or other-than-human, to share Ojibwa contexts, all children between
their wealth. Individuals honor those ten to twelve years of age undertake a vi-
that they depend on. Thus, in order to sion quest to obtain their spirit guardian,
acquire something from “others”—fish or ōbawagē’kgōn. At the time just before
from a lake, a straight shot from a gun, the onset of adolescence, the transitional
safe passage around a cliff, a vision of the time in which boys and girls become
future from an eagle, venison from a men and women and accept greater re-
neighbor—one praises their greatness. It sponsibility for themselves and others,
is by the accumulation of such honorary the quester spends a few days fasting in
capital, through prodigious hunting, seclusion until he or she obtains a div-
healing, or prophetic skills, that individ- inatory vision from a manitou.
uals acquire the political capital neces- At the appointed time, the parents rub
sary to be leaders in their societies. In the charcoal on the face of their child to indi-
case of thunders, winds, lakes, and other cate to others that the child is undertak-
nonhuman persons, Natives convey ing a vision quest. The novice then enters
their respect through gestures of praise the woods for a period of four to ten
and self-sacrifice. Often, Natives will days. Boys spend the duration perched
offer a prayer or song to the manitou on wooden platforms, or “nests,” that
while burning or burying a small amount they build in trees. Girls spend the time
of tobacco. They package their verbal walking in the woods. Because of the ar-
and material tribute to manitous in song, duous nature of the quest, the father pe-
prayer, dance, and other aesthetic forms riodically checks on the condition of his
in order to enhance and underscore the son or daughter, sometimes providing
gesture of gratitude that will, in turn, the child with small amounts of water
elicit favor from the manitous. and food, depending on the age and
485
Masks and Masking ___________________________________________________________________________
strength of the child. Upon the success- See also Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions;
ful completion of the quest, the seeker, Ceremony and Ritual, Anishnabe; Dreams
and Visions; Hunting, Religious Restrictions
now considered an adult, returns to the and Implications; Oral Traditions, Ojibwe
village where he or she, with the assis- References and Further Reading
tance of family members, elders, or Boatman, John. 1992. My Elders Taught Me:
shamans, interprets the vision. Aspects of Western Great Lakes American
Indian Philosophy. Lanham, MD:
By fasting in this manner, the seeker University Press of America.
enters a paranormal, ecstatic state that Grim, John. 1988. The Shaman: Patterns of
lends itself to unusual visual experi- Religious Healing among the Ojibwa
Indians. Norman: University of
ences. A successful quest is indicated by
Oklahoma Press.
the faster’s apprehension of a manitou, Hallowell, Irving A. 1960. Ojibwa Ontology
which reveals itself as his or her spirit and World View. Chicago: Chicago
University Press.
guardian. In a typical account of a vision
Hilger, M. Inez. 1951. Chippewa Child Life
quest, the manitou presents the seeker and Its Cultural Background. St. Paul:
with a special power to which she will Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Johnston, Basil. 1982. Ojibwa Ceremonies.
have access thereafter. The powers ac-
quired typically correspond to a skill, _____. 1995. The Manitous: The Spiritual
such as hunting, healing, predicting the World of the Ojibwa. New York:
future, or influencing the weather. In one HarperCollins.
Spindler, George, and Louise Spindler. 1984.
such vision, described by an Ojibwa, a Dreamers with Power: The Menominee.
man appeared and, taking pity upon the Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
faster, left him with deer meet. As he Vecsey, Christopher. 1983. Traditional
Ojibwa Religion and Its Historical
walked away, however, the boy saw him Changes. Philadelphia: American
turn into a wolf. Thus he determined that Philosophical Society.
the wolf was his spirit guardian, and that,
through the wolf, he would always have
special hunting powers (Hilger 1951, 45).
Masks and Masking
Upon returning from a successful vi-
sion quest and interpreting its message, The use of masks in rituals and cere-
the initiate obtains a charm in the form monies is a central part of many Native
of a feather, claw, bone, shell, stone, religious and cultural traditions. Masks
piece of cloth, or some other representa- and ceremonial masking act as a means
tive piece of the spirit helper. He then of dramatically mediating the spiritual
places the charm in his medicine bun- and material worlds, of making the spiri-
dle, which he carries with him the rest of tual physically present. In most Native
his life. Whenever he requires the assis- traditions, the material world is believed
tance of his spirit guardian, he draws it to be sentient and aware. Plants, ani-
from his medicine bundle. mals, geological formations, and natural
James B. Jeffries forces have a conscious spirit within
486
__________________________________________________________________________ Masks and Masking
Nuu’chah’nulth mask, ca. 1910. (Seattle Art Museum/Corbis)
them. In ceremonial masks, the spiritual nial masks are sentient, living entities
expressions of these entities take on ma- that must be treated in proper and re-
terial form. Such ritual masking is not spectful ways. In many traditions they
drama, play-acting, or sleight of hand, must be regularly fed, prayed to, and
but the literal embodiment of the spirit danced for at regular intervals. Failure to
of the mask. Dancers who undertake this treat masks in a respectful way can be
process make careful ritual preparations dangerous. For many Native communi-
before a ceremony, in order to embody ties that is why the housing of ceremo-
the spirit of the mask fully, so that it nial masks in museums, where their spir-
might make itself present and communi- its are not cared for properly, is so
cate with the community. Such masks problematic.
are considered, ultimately, the property While masks ultimately belong to the
of the spirit that inhabits them. Ceremo- spirit that inhabits them, ceremonial
487
masks are considered the property of the dream or vision. In other communities,
community or particular family lineage such as the Haudenosaunee (the seven
that acts as their caretakers. Possession Iroquois nations), the sale of even rough
of and right to use a mask are the result copies of masks is considered to be inap-
of inheritance, a direct gift from the spirit propriate and a violation of sacred re-
itself, or initiation into a sacred society. strictions.
The dances, songs, and ceremonies that
accompany a mask are similarly passed Kwakwak’wakw and Coastal Salish of
on, and only those who own these cul- the Pacific Northwest
tural materials can rightfully use the According to Northwest coast traditions,
mask. Many tribes insist that because parallel worlds exist beneath the sea and
such ceremonial masks are simply stew- in the sky. In these worlds, animals live in
arded by the community, sacred society, their human form in villages and homes
or family, no individual can ever right- much like those of humans. Crossing
fully sell or give away a mask to someone back and forth between worlds, these
outside that lineage or community. That birds, fish, and animals put on the exter-
is yet another reason why many tribal nal appearance of the animal in question.
nations insist upon the repatriation of Particularly important are animals such
ceremonial masks from museums and as thunderbird, eagle, raven, salmon, and
private collectors. frog, which have the ability to move from
Masking is a complex ceremonial and air to earth, or sea to land. Common im-
spiritual practice that takes on very dif- ages associated with the sea are otter and
ferent forms throughout Native America. orca, as is Kumugwe’ (in Kwakwa-
This essay discusses specific tribal tradi- k’wakw), the chief of the undersea world.
tions within four different regions as a Often portrayed with a loon (who mis-
way of exemplifying the diversity and took Kumugwe’ for an island and landed
complexity of this ceremonial art. In ad- on his head), his movements cause
dition to these ceremonial masks, many waves, tides, and whirlpools. Wolves,
of the communities also have so-called bears, and Bak’was (the wild man of the
secular masks. These might be used for woods of the Kwakwak’wakw) play an im-
storytelling or dramatic performances portant role in forest traditions, as do
outside of a ritual or ceremonial context. moon and sun in the sky-world. Many
Artists within these communities also animals in these oral traditions shed their
create secular masks for commercial skin, fur, or feathers to take on a human
sale. For some Native nations that is perform, to marry humans, and to found
fectly acceptable, as these masks have clans and familial lineages. When spiri-
not been intended for ceremonial or rit- tual beings cross over to the physical
ual use and are not the property of a spe- world, these transformations take on
cific lineage or inspired by a sacred physical form through masking and
488
dancing, as well as through the masks mation as they swing open on concealed
themselves, which are able to change hinges, revealing the transformed iden-
form through sophisticated and complex tity inside. The outer mask might be ani-
mechanics wherein eyes and mouths can mal, the inner human, revealing the
open and close, and faces can split open human spirit within every plant and ani-
to reveal other faces within. mal. Such masks, signifying a kinship re-
Three main types of masking tradition lationship, are limited to individuals
exist on the Northwest coast: ancestor within the inherited lineage. At winter
masks, guardian spirit masks, and masks ceremonial dances, individual dancers
belonging to secret societies. Ancestral might also wear masks to commemorate
masks and guardian spirit masks are their relationship with their personal
danced at potlatches, and all three types guardian spirits, acquired on vision
of masks are danced at winter ceremo- quests during puberty. And in yet other
nial dances. The dominant theme of the masking traditions, initiates to sacred
Northwest coast masking tradition is societies are transformed into the pow-
transformation. When dancers wear an erful spirits of those societies. Animal
ancestral mask, they are re-enacting the spirits are transformed into their human
ancestor’s life and affirming the ances- form and back into their animal form
tor’s connection to the present commu- again, or they might shift shape, from
nity. Ancestor masks cause a transforma- wolf to orca, from bear to mother. Masks,
tion within the dancer, even as they act songs, and dances are always the gift of a
as memorials to an ancestral transfor- spiritual being, received either from a
mation. The ancestor of the lineage often personal guardian spirit or within a more
initiated a kinship relationship between mythic past, when an ancestor received
an animal clan and her or his descen- them as a gift from a powerful spirit
dants, a kinship celebrated and enacted being. As such, ceremonial masks should
through the mask. Often, such an ances- be kept and danced only by their proper
tor of a clan or family line had engaged in owners.
a spiritual journey, usually resulting in On the Northwest coast, ceremonial
either a marriage to or victory over a masked dancing takes place primarily
spirit power, such as Bear, Salmon, in two contexts: the potlatch and the
Raven, or Eagle. In such instances the winter ceremonial dances. Masked
ancestor returned to the community, dances at potlatches serve to mark spe-
often with children that were the prod- cial events, to verify an individual’s
uct of this supernatural union, and claim to wealth or ritual property, and
bringing with them a mask, songs, and to affirm social relationships. Masking
dances. at winter ceremonials offers individuals
Intricately carved and painted, such the chance to dance their guardian
masks illustrate this notion of transfor- spirit dances, to retell and re-enact the
489
exploits and activities of ancestors and dances that would enable him to draw
ancestral mythic beings, and for secret on the power of each. The Atlakim Dance
societies to perform their ceremonial re-creates this narrative—and includes
dances. These spiritual beings and an- forty masks with their songs and
cestors thus take on their physical ex- dances—as it celebrates the different
pression within masked ritual perfor- Guardian Spirit Powers to be found
mances. within the forest. The series of masks and
the ritual knowledge are owned by sev-
LaòLaxa: Kwakwak’wakw Guardian Spirit eral families, which ensures social cohe-
Dancing sion and cooperation in the annual per-
One part of the winter ceremonial formance of these ceremonial objects.
dances is the LaòLaxa dance series.
These masks reflect the embodiment of Tsonoqua (Dzonokwa)
dancers’ personal guardian spirits, or Another important mask danced at win-
guardian spirits inherited through mar- ter ceremonials is Tsonoqua, also called
riage. Masked dancers participate in the Dzonokwa. An eight-foot-tall ogress with
Warrior Dance, Grizzly Bear Dance, or pendulous breasts and hair covering her
Wolf Dance, or embody any other num- entire body, Tsonoqua is known for steal-
ber of guardian spirits, such as killer ing children and carrying them away in a
whale, salmon, grouse, sea monsters, or basket on her back. Nearly blind and no-
human ancestor heroes. At the winter toriously clumsy, she also commonly
ceremonial dances a spiritual leader, or steals salmon from drying racks, as well
paxala in the Kwakwak’wakw tradition, as dried berries, dried meat, furs, skins,
might also participate in the LaòLaxa coppers, and other forms of wealth.
dance series. The paxala might re-enact Those who are able to capture her and
her or his spirit quest and acquisition of kill her are rewarded with enormous
power, or the journey of the mythic an- wealth and power. Consequently, her
cestor who acquired the mask that she or image is often reserved for chiefs. The
he inherited. Tsonoqua mask is characterized by black
The Atlakim Dance is another impor- tufted hair and eyebrows, deep hollow
tant winter ceremonial dance. The dance eye sockets (often appearing half-closed
is drawn from an oral tradition in which or sleepy), and hollow sunken cheeks.
a young orphaned boy was rejected by Her lips are generally protruding, as
his family and sent into the woods. A though whistling or howling, and the
grouse, caught in his snare, promised the dancers’ bodies are wrapped in a black
boy great wealth if he was freed. The blanket or bear skin. At the winter cere-
grouse subsequently took the boy on a monial dances, the Tsonoqua appears
tour of the forest, introducing him to an- asleep. Too drowsy to dance, she stum-
imals and giving him masks, songs, and bles around the room. She is also known
490
as Tsanaq, or Tzualach among the him, and reorient him to his place in so-
Lummi, Malâhas among the Kwak- ciety. Fellow members of the society,
wak’wakw, and Sasquatch among the masked as cannibal spirits, accompany
Fraser River and Island Comox tribes. the initiate through this complex cere-
The mask is often said to have been a gift monial process. Occurring over a period
of the Tsonoqua to an individual who ei- of four days, the ceremony culminates
ther found and conquered her, or offered on the fourth day, when the initiate is
her some kind of assistance. According summoned back to the community. He is
to several oral traditions, the children met at the village edge, captured, and
who had been captured by her learned brought in. At first his dancing is wild
magic songs that would put her to sleep, and uncontrolled, and the initiate
thus making possible their escape. searches for someone in the audience to
Hence she appears sleepy at winter cere- bite. Masked dancers, embodying the
monials. The Tsonoqua tradition is the spirits of Baxwbakwala nuxwsiwe’, or
origin of contemporary Sasquatch, or Big Cannibal at the North End of the World,
Foot, stories of the Pacific Northwest. and his village guards Huxwhukw, Can-
nibal Raven, Crooked Beak of the Sky
Hamatsa: Kwakwak’wakw Cannibal (the Cannibal spirit), and the Cannibal
Society Grizzly Bear dance to calm the initiate
Only those who have inherited the right and to begin the process of returning
to do so and have undergone the difficult him to the community.
process of initiation can wear masks be-
longing to secret societies. Perhaps the Sxyayxwey
most famous of secret societies on the At Potlatch ceremonies, a mask known as
Northwest coast is the Hamatsa, or Can- Sxyayxwey among the Coast Salish and
nibal Society of Vancouver Island. At pu- Xwéxwé among the Kwakwak’wakw is
berty, a potential initiate is “kidnapped” danced at winter ceremonials and pot-
by his guardian spirits and isolated with latches. The Sxyayxwey is a spiritual
those spirits in the forest for a period of being that cleanses and purifies a cere-
days, weeks, or even months. After this monial space. Prior to the winter cere-
time of preparation in the forest, super- monial dances, four to six Sxyayxwey
natural forces, starvation, cold, and dancers will dance around a person,
loneliness possess the initiate. He is preparing the individual to dance their
transformed, and he literally becomes guardian spirit. Typically such dancers
the Cannibal spirit. He returns to the are men, but they are silent, accompa-
community wild, out of control, and nied by female singers. They sing a song
hungering for human flesh. It is the task for a person, one inherited or composed
of the ceremonial dance to draw this infor the occasion, intended to purify the
dividual back to the community, tame person’s state of mind and to remove any
491
one with a guardian spirit, or by a mem-

ber of another secret society. The masks
can be distinguished by their cylindrical
eyes protruding out from the mask, an
open mouth with long, lolling tongue,
bird heads as horns, and a nose that is
sometimes represented as a bird’s head.
Ownership of such a mask is a guarantee
of wealth; they are inherited among elite
families via marriage.
Yup’iq Native Alaskan Traditions

As in the Northwest coast, the Yup’iq of
Northwest Alaska traditionally believe
that all places, animals, plants, and natu-
ral forces have spirit, or yua. This yua re-
sides in ceremonial masks. However, the
spirit in a mask is not believed to be
merely the individual spirit of an individ-
ual animal, but rather that of the spirit of
that species of animal. A mask with an
Makah painted mask, ca. 1900. (Richard abstract representation of a seal, for in-
Cummins/Corbis)
stance, does not represent merely an in-
dividual seal, but rather the spirit of Seal,
insults or ill feelings that might be pres- of all seals at all times. Anatomically cor-
ent. In preparation for a potlatch, rect masks are more likely to refer to a
Sxyayxwey dancers dance to announce single animal within a certain story, but
the event. Their presence and dance pu- an extra eye, mouth, nose, or one eye
rifies the space, being intended to re- shaped differently on an otherwise good
store any fractured personal relation- representation indicates that the mask
ships. The presence of the Sxyayxwey refers not only to a specific animal but
ritually prepares the spectators, ensuring also to the more general genus or cate-
good luck and wealth to everyone pres- gory of animal.
ent. Sxyayxwey masks and dancers are Unlike Northwest coast masks, the
present throughout a wide range of the emphasis is not upon transformation
Northwest coast, among the Kwak- from one state of being to another, but
wak’wakw, south as far as the Lummi, the simultaneous existence of various
and east as far as the Stelo and Fraser Val- modes and forms of being within a sin-
ley. The masks cannot be worn by any- gle entity. At the same moment, a mask
492
might represent killer whale, polar bear, hunting success and survival of the
and the human spirit of a shaman Yup’iq community.
(anyaquog, anyutkuk, “man of many Tungalik might also commission a
tricks”; or tungalik, “demon intermedi- mask and call for a dance to record and
ary”). Masks often represent the tunga- re-enact a journey to the spirit world. In
lik guardian spirits, such as whale, seal, such journeys, the tungalik might take
otter, walrus, or bear. While individuals on the form of an animal, travel to the
might often have a guardian spirit, tun- spirit world, and secure a vision of the fu-
galik are set apart by the quantity and ture, a promise of better hunting, im-
relative power of their many guardian proved weather, or the ability to cure.
spirits. The mask is considered the prop- Such masks are generally larger, with ap-
erty of those spirits it represents. Be- purtenances attached to them. They are
cause of this, the meanings of masks re- worn during the first public perfor-
main opaque. Tungalik are not to mance following a spirit journey, when
explain the meaning (meanings are not the story of the journey is danced and
theirs to divulge, but the possession of sung for the community. The mask is a
the spirit). In some masks, the animal it complex and abstract amalgam of both
represents has a human face located human and abstract animal forms, rep-
somewhere on it. This face is often cov- resenting the combined expressions of
ered and can be revealed only when the the tungalik and her or his helper spirits.
helper spirit is especially pleased with The image might thus be half walrus and
the community around it. The face of half man, or part whale, part bear, and
the mask represents its inua, or the part human.
spirit of the animal.
Festival Dances: Messenger and Bladder
Kinds of Masking Festivals
Tungalik, Yup’iq spiritual leaders, will Yup’iq ceremonials take place primarily
often use masks to honor the spirit of an- at annual festivals. Festival dances such
imals that serve as important food re- as the Messenger and Bladder feasts cel-
sources. Prayers, songs, and masking in- ebrate subsistence activities, such as
vite the spirit of the animal to be present hunting or berry picking. Some masked
in the community, where it is thanked dances are owned exclusively by individ-
and honored for its gift of life. Animals uals; others are shared as common prop-
are not sought out and killed, but they erty. Such festivals and their masked
voluntarily give their lives to sustain the dances take place in the kazgi, or cere-
human community. Because of this, they monial house.
must be honored and thanked. Such rit- The Messenger Festival is designed to
ual dances and ceremonies are a vitally pay homage to game animals upon which
important way of ensuring the future the community depends for survival. The
493
festival centers on lavish gift-giving and a beings they represent, some recurrent
feast. Dancers wear masks of the spirits of symbols can be recognized. For instance,
game animals, which they honor, re- masks are often created to work in com-
questing their return to the community so plementary pairs, danced at opposing
that the village will be ensured of food for ends of a ceremonial house, facing and
the coming year. The Bladder Festival is moving toward each other. Masks repre-
likewise focused upon securing hunting senting good and bad tungalik, or mas-
success. A memorial for all food animals, culine and feminine masks, work to re-
the festival focuses upon the seal. A cen- store balance between opposing forces in
tral aspect of this ceremony is the belief nature. A down-turned mouth often rep-
that animals will be reborn if their bodies resents a woman, an upturned mouth a
and spirits are treated with proper re- male. A down-turned mouth on a seal
spect. Traditionally, the Yup’iq believe that implies a bounty of food resources.
the soul of animals resides in the bladder. Ringed circles around masks represent
Throughout the year seal bladders are cosmic levels of the Yup’iq universe that
saved, and during this festival they are in- Yup’iq tungalik travel to in their spiritual
flated, painted, hung in the ceremonial journeys. The large outer hoop repre-
house, and feasted and celebrated. On the sents heaven or the five worlds above, the
final day of the festival, they are released inner ring that of the earth, pack ice, sea,
into the sea, where they will be reborn. and the underworld. A small human face
Masking plays a central part in this cere- on the mask, often at the center, repre-
mony, for it is through the masks that the sents the sentient, humanlike spirit of the
spirits of the seal and other game animals animal. A hand with a cutout hole signi-
are able to manifest themselves physi- fies a wish for a continuing supply of
cally at the ceremony. Their presence is game; the hole in the hand implies that
embodied in the masked dancers, and the spirit will release game to the human
they are honored through song and community. A fish or animal in the
dance. It is hoped that by honoring the mouth of a mask indicates a wish for
animals through the festival, they will re- abundance. Horns imply the presence of
turn the following year and give them- caribou, fox ears agility. One common
selves to Yup’iq hunters. mask is the Windmaker. The Windmaker
mask has a dark or black face, hands or
Yup’iq Symbolism fins that represent the seal or walrus, and
Masks are inspired by a guardian spirit, dangling spheres representing the air
who shows them to a tungalik in a dream. bubbles of seals, rising in blowholes.
The tungalik then commissions them to
be carved and danced in a ceremonial Northeast: The Haudenosaunee
drama. While Yup’iq masks are designed The Haudenosaunee, more commonly
to be abstract, only hinting at the spirit referred to as the six-nation Confederacy
494
of the Iroquois, have an ancient and ac- ing involves the burning of tobacco and
tive tradition of masking that centers the offering of prayers to the tree. If the
around the so-called False Face and tree survives the process, it is believed
Corn Husk societies. that the mask takes on the power inher-
The origin of the False Face masks is ent in the tree. Members of the society
described in an oral tradition of a culture are also permitted to use Turtle Shell rat-
hero known as Great Defender, Great tles, or elm or hickory bark rattles within
Humpback, or Rim Dweller. According to the curing ceremonies.
tradition, Great Defender was boasting Masks are used primarily for curing on
about his powers, and he sparked a con- an individual and communal level, but
flict with Creator, or Sky Holder. Creator they have also been used to control
challenged Great Defender to summon a storms and extreme weather. Most medi-
mountain. Great Defender shook his tur- cine societies are made up of individuals
tle shell rattle and managed to move the who were at one time patients. When ex-
mountain a few feet. When the Creator periencing an ailment, an individual
called the mountain however, it sped to- might dream of or have a vision of a False
ward them instantly and silently. Great Face. Sometimes seeing a vision of a
Defender impatiently turned around False Face can in itself cause illness. Indi-
and struck his face into the side of the viduals who saw False Face spirits in the
mountain, breaking his nose and twist- woods might be instantly killed, struck
ing his mouth in pain. Having thus with a nose bleed, or risk death if they
learned humility, Great Defender was did not respond by making a mask and
charged by the Creator with the task of having a ceremonial curing in their be-
driving disease from the earth and pro- half. It is the individual’s responsibility to
tecting the Iroquois people. The Great have a mask made, or borrow one that
Defender is considered to be the first matches the image in the dream or vi-
False Face, and masks are modeled after sion, and solicit a cure from the society
Great Defender, with his broken nose in which that mask is used. Oftentimes,
and twisted mouth. Members of the following a cure, an individual will then
False Face Curing Society wear such be initiated into the society.
masks during curing ceremonies. Masking ceremonies cure physical ail-
Masks are said to take their power ments, ailments associated with social
from the False Face spirit that inspired conflicts, and also psychological distress.
and inhabits them, and from the tree The early Jesuit missionaries were aston-
from which they are carved. Masks are ished at the effectiveness of the False
carved from living basswood trees, Face society in the interpretation and
though other trees such as magnolia, curing of afflictions associated with
poplar, white pine, maple, or willow dreams. Public curing ceremonies are
might sometimes be used as well. Carv- held in the spring and fall, and they act
495
as effective means of communal disease ity spirits, the Corn Husk spirits dwell
prevention. Curing ceremonies also take under the fertile soil, in an agricultural
place during the Midwinter Festival in underworld. They arrive for visits during
the ceremonial longhouse. Throughout spring planting and fall harvest social
the year, private ceremonies might take dances, on their way west. Their pres-
place in individuals’ homes as they be- ence helps ritually to clear villages of dis-
come necessary. Curing occurs through ease and other malevolent influences.
masking, dance, prayers, laying-on of As with Northwest coast and Yup’iq
hands, and the application of hot ashes traditions, False Face masks are consid-
to the patient. The ashes are considered ered living, sentient, and powerful be-
to have the concentrated power and ings. During ceremonies, dancers are not
healing energy of the tree from which the merely performing a drama but have lit-
wood was originally taken. As masks are erally become the spirits they embody.
used, small tobacco ties, cloth pouches They are not men or women, disguised
perhaps 1 inch square, are added to as spirits, but the living spirits them-
them, signifying both their use and the selves. The creation, care, and use of
degree of power they have acquired. masks in curing ceremonies and festivals
While False Face Society members are are actions full of responsibility. Masks
generally men, members of the Husk are cared for by individual society mem-
Face Society, gad jeesa, are made up of bers, and they can be exchanged among
both genders. The Husk Face Society fo- members of the society. However, they
cuses on curing and agriculture. These should not be given or sold to anyone
masks represent and embody agricul- outside the society. Failure to care for
tural spirits who first taught the Hau- and dance a mask in appropriate ways
denosaunee the art of planting, giving can offend the False Face spirit. Some are
them seeds of corn, beans, and squash. known to have bad tempers, and they
The masks, made of cornhusks that have must be fed, prayed to, and danced to, in
been braided and sewn together, are order to keep them pacified. Because
danced by the Husk Face Society for two False Face and Husk Face spirits are ex-
nights during the Midwinter Festival, the tremely powerful, they can be very dan-
spring planting, and the fall harvest. gerous if not approached in a proper and
Husk Faces also work to cure individuals, respectful way. Upon the death of an
although more on a daily basis. Women owner, a mask should be passed on to a
who weave and own them may fre- family member, given to another society
quently use them in their own homes to member, or buried with its owner. If mis-
cure common ills. The masks are said to treated, masks can cause severe illness.
provide aid with hunting, planting, and Chief Leon Shenandoah, Tadadaho, of
the knowledge of how to care for corn, the Haudenosaunee Grand Council re-
beans, and squash. As agricultural fertil- leased a statement on ceremonial masks,
496
in which he argued that, “Among these dancers. At the time of emergence, when
medicine societies are those that utilize the Hopi entered this world, these
the wooden masks and cornhusk masks, deities, known as katsinas, lived among
which represent the shared power of the them and taught them how to survive
original medicine beings. Although there within their new world. Their teachings
are variations of their images, all the provided the ceremonial calendar and
masks have power and an intended pur- modes of subsistence, including hunt-
pose that is solely for the members of the ing, warfare, agriculture, social organiza-
respective medicine societies. . . . The tion, and medical knowledge, that made
public exhibition of all medicine masks life possible.
is forbidden. Medicine masks are not in- When the katsinas left the Pueblo, sa-
tended for everyone to see and such ex- cred societies undertook the ritual re-
hibition does not recognize the sacred sponsibilities associated with those as-
duties and special functions of the pects of life. Part of these responsibilities
masks” (Chief Leon Shenandoah 1995). included masking as katsina deities at
Out of respect for the wishes of the coun- certain times of the year. Katsinas have
cil, no photos or images of Hau- distinct manifestations and personali-
denosaunee masks will be included in ties, but they all maintain two modes of
this encyclopedia. existence: as spiritual beings, and as
their physical embodiment in masked
The Southwest: Hopi Katsinas, dancers. Through masking, these spiri-
Apache Gahe, and Diné Ye’ii tual beings are given form, substance,
In the Southwest, masks play an impor- and the ability to act within their com-
tant role in seasonal celebrations of fer- munities. Katsina masks are carved and
tility among Pueblo communities, in fe- painted wood with distinct attachments.
male initiation ceremonies of the They are designed to represent the spir-
Apache, and in healing chantways of the its of animals, plants, geological features,
Diné. For the Hopi, masked katsina and celestial beings, and as such they do
dancers make up a central and vitally im- not resemble human features at all.
portant part of the annual ceremonial Men who wear these masks cease to
season. In the Hopi cosmos, the spiritual be their former selves; they take on the
realm is composed of noncorporeal spirit in question. Katsina dancers don
counterparts of all material phenomena. the symbolic regalia and masks while in
All plants, animals, natural forces, and the kiva. Underground ceremonial
geological features have a spirit within structures, kivas represent places of
them. Clouds, stars, the sun and moon, transition between the spirit under-
animals, birds, insects, plants, and world and the present surface world of
human ancestors may all take material the Hopi. When the dancers leave the
and embodied form as masked katsina kiva, emerging like katsina deities rising
497
from the underworld, they embody the as life and death never leave the commu-
katsinas themselves in action and in ap- nity, Ma’sau too stays in the pueblo all
pearance. By enacting these divine be- year. As a guarantor of new life and fertil-
ings, they make divine power accessible ity, he is present at the Making of New
to the Hopi people. Community mem- Fire Ceremony at the winter solstice.
bers do not recognize dancers as famil- Ahola is associated with the sun and ger-
iar relations but rather consider them mination. He first appears in December,
the actual embodiment of the katsina following the winter solstice, and begins
deities. the new season by ritually opening the
For the Hopi, the year is divided in kivas in anticipation of the other katsi-
halves, marked by the winter and sum- nas’ return. Ahola moves throughout the
mer solstice. From winter to summer is a pueblo, visiting every clean house and
time of planting, growth, and new life. blessing women’s seed corn. At his ar-
Summer to winter is a time of harvest rival, the community offers prayers to
and death. The katsinas arrive in the the sun for harvest, a long life, health,
pueblo at the winter solstice, signaling and happiness.
the end of winter and the beginning of a
season of growth. At this time the kivas Apache
are ritually reopened, marking their re- Among the Apache nations of the South-
turn to the community. Throughout the west, one of the most important masking
first half of the year the katsinas will peri- traditions is the Gahe, or Gaan. The
odically appear to renew the world, bring Gahe, also known as Mountain Spirit
rain, ensure a good harvest, and initiate Dancers, play an important role in tribal
children. If they are honored appropri- life. Dancers undergo careful ritual
ately, the katsinas will cure illness, bring preparation prior to becoming a mem-
a good harvest, and provide rain at the ber of the Gahe, and also prior to each
proper time before leaving at the sum- dance. Once in their mask, ceremonial
mer solstice. paint, and costume, the individual men
Two important katsinas are Ma’sau are no longer considered to exist. They
and Ahola. Ma’sau is an extremely an- have become the mountain spirits. No
cient earth and fire god. He represents longer speaking, but only making super-
the dual nature of the cosmos, bringing natural sounds, the Mountain Spirits ar-
both life and death and encompassing rive at the girl’s puberty ceremony, or
both female and male attributes. As an Isánáklèsh Gotal. While the young
agricultural deity he is a guardian of fer- woman dances inside her ceremonial
tile land and of the underworld. Much of tepee, the Mountain Spirits will dance
Hopi sacrality centers on this idea of outside, around a bonfire. Like the young
death and rebirth, of seeds that enter the woman, they will dance all night, offer-
earth and emerge from it as new life. Just ing their strength and support to her as
498
she undergoes her ceremony. The Moun- community members dressed in this
tain Spirit dancers dance at other cere- manner are not considered to be friends
monial activities as well, but the girls’ or relatives. Within this ceremonial con-
initiation ceremony is one of their most text, they have become the physical em-
public activities. As symbols of Apache bodiment of the ye’ii. With the holy peo-
reverence for place and tradition, the ple physically present, the patient fully
Mountain Spirit dancers have a powerful becomes the hero-patient of the myth.
and central place in Apache ceremonial Suzanne J. Crawford
life. See also Ceremony and Ritual, Alaska,
Yup’iq; Ceremony and Ritual, Apache;
Diné Ceremony and Ritual, Diné; Emergence
Narratives; Kiva and Medicine Societies;
Among the Diné, masked dancers play a Oral Traditions, Haida; Oral Traditions,
central role in certain chantways, or cur- Northeast; Oral Traditions, Northern
ing ceremonies. Diné chantways are rit- Athabascan; Oral Traditions Northwest
Coast; Oral Traditions, Pueblo; Sacred
ual reenactments of a mythological Societies, Northwest Coast
story. In each story, a hero visits the spirit References and Further Reading
world and returns with a cure. Through Carlson, Roy. 1984. Indian Art Traditions of
the chantway, the patient ritually be- the Northwest Coast. Burnaby, B.C.:
Archeology Press, Simon Fraser
comes the hero and shares in the cure. University.
The Coyoteway Chant is an example of Chief Leon Shenandoah. 1995.
one such ceremony. Over nine days, the “Haudenosaunee Confederacy Policy On
False Face Masks.” http://www.
patient is led through a series of events peace4turtleisland.org/pages/
designed to enable him or her to experi- maskpolicy.htm. (Accessed February 1,
ence the Coyote myth of the chantway 2005).
Fienup-Riordan, Ann. 1994. Boundaries and
on a personal level. He or she is seated
Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup’ik
on sandpaintings that depict the myth. Eskimo Oral Tradition. Norman:
The patient listens for eight days to the University of Oklahoma Press.
Frisbie, Charlotte. 1981. Southwestern
story, told and retold. The patient repeats
Indian Ritual Drama. Albuquerque:
the prayers and narratives in the first University of New Mexico Press.
person, placing herself or himself in the Furst, Jill J., and Peter T. Furst. 1982. North
American Indian Art. New York: Rizzoli
role of the hero of the story. The sand-
International Publications.
paintings and the stories are all intended Haudenosaunee Confederacy Policy on
to summon the ye’ii, or holy people, vis- False Face Masks. http://www.
ited by the hero in the story. At the peace4turtleisland.org/pages/
maskpolicy.htm.
proper moment, the ye’ii do in fact ap- Luckert, Karl. 1979. Coyoteway: A Navajo
pear. They enter the ceremonial hogan Holyway Healing Ceremonial. Tucson:
dressed as described in the chantway University of Arizona Press.
Ray, Dorothy Jean. 1988. Eskimo Masks: Art
and carrying objects meant to assist the and Ceremony. Seattle: University of
patient in the healing process. Again, the Washington Press.
499
McKay, Mabel __________________________________________________________________________________
Wyatt, Gary. 1999. Mythic Beings: Spirit Art spirit of revivalism. Dreamers emerged
of the Northwest Coast. Vancouver, B.C.: in every tribe and organized—or reor-
Douglas and McIntyre.
ganized—their respective tribes around
the dictates of their dreams. Mabel,
Richard Taylor’s sister’s grandchild,
would become the last Bole Maru
McKay, Mabel dreamer.
(1907–1993) Mabel began dreaming at age six.
(Basket weaver/medicine woman, Pomo) What the Spirit showed her wasn’t pleas-
World renowned Pomo basket weaver ant: blood, poison, disease, crying, mis-
and medicine woman Mabel McKay was ery, and hatefulness. She woke up
born on January 12, 1907, in Lake screaming and frightened, and she be-
County, California. Born Mabel Boone to came sickly and frail. “If only my brother
Yanta Boone, a Potter Valley Pomo man, [Richard Taylor] was alive,” Mabel’s
and Daisy Hansen, a Pomo from the an- grandmother Sarah prayed. “He could
cient village of Lolsel, or Wild Tobacco, help her.”
Mabel would become the last sucking “The spirit was showing me all the
doctor among the Pomo peoples—in things I would have to work with as doc-
fact, the last known sucking doctor in the tor,” Mabel said. She didn’t want to be a
state of California—and the last person doctor, or medicine woman. “I wanted
to speak the Lolsel language. Her mater- to be normal like everybody else. But I
nal grand-uncle, Richard Taylor, known was cut out different.” She resisted her
as Lame Bill Taylor, introduced the re- dreams for a long time, until she was
vivalistic Dreaming Religion—known as nineteen, when, near death, she ac-
the Bole Hesi among the Wintun peoples cepted the help of two Wintun medicine
and the Bole Maru among the Pomo—on men who understood what was hap-
the eastern shores of Clear Lake during pening to her. “The Spirit said, ‘I put you
the winter of 1870–1871. There he an- [Mabel] on earth for Doctoring and
nounced to more than a thousand Pomo, Dreaming. I’m speaking to you in
Coast Miwok, and Wintun that the world Dream now. If you don’t want to do
was going to flood and be cleared of these things, if you disobey me, I’ll take
white people. The ancestors and the ani- you back. You have no choice. You been
mals would return. After four days of picked!’”
heavy rains, the people emerged from Mabel began to doctor the sick, first
roundhouses made specially for the oc- with songs that she dreamed and with
casion only to find the world as they had her hands. Soon, however, she grew a
left it—intact, with white people. Disap- “spiritual instrument” in her throat, a
pointed, the people nonetheless re- second tongue, for sucking out patients’
turned to their homes infused with the diseases. The basketry that she started as
500
_________________________________________________________________________________ McKay, Mabel
a young girl was now also inspired by the held in permanent collections in many
dictates of her dreams; many of the bas- national museums, including the Smith-
kets, particularly her feather baskets and sonian. She lectured widely in colleges
incredibly small miniatures, some no and universities, continuously taught
larger than an eraser head, were de- basketweaving classes, and was honored
signed specifically to guide individuals several times, including by former gover-
and protect them from ill health. Noth- nor Jerry Brown, who appointed her the
ing—no doctoring or basketweaving— first Indian on the California Indian
was done without the dream. In fact, Commission. Yet she was a modest per-
basket collectors and others might order son, never delighting in fame or atten-
a basket from Mabel, even offer great tion. With her husband, Charles McKay,
amounts of money, but unless she and their adopted son, Marshall, she at-
dreamed the basket it would not get tempted to lead a quiet, unassuming life.
made. Typical of Bole Maru dreamers, In fact, while she traveled near and far to
Mabel dreamed future events: a terrible doctor the sick, demonstrate bas-
pestilence that would strike young peo- ketweaving, and lecture to college and
ple; the death of a young man working university audiences, she continued to
on the Sonoma Lake Dam. work long hours in an apple cannery—
Unlike other dreamers, Mabel did not for twenty years—so she could, as she
have a tribe to work with. By the time she put it, “get her pension.” She was more
was dreaming and doctoring, only a few interested in others than she was in her-
individuals of the Lolsel Pomo group self as someone, or something, special,
were left, and they were more or less in- so that she became like water, benefiting
tegrated into the Sacramento Valley Win- everyone, and everything, she touched.
tun tribes. In the early 1950s, Essie Par- She dreamed that the world as we know
rish, a powerful and well-known it was going to end in the not too distant
dreamer with a large congregation on future. “Fire, destruction,” she said.
the Kashaya Pomo Reservation, adopted When asked, “What should we do?” she
Mabel into her roundhouse and commu- chuckled and stated simply: “What else,
nity. Until Essie’s death in 1979, Mabel live the best way you know how.”
and Essie worked side by side, sharing Mabel McKay died on May 31, 1993.
their dreams and healing the sick. Mabel She was buried on June 4, next to Essie
continued to serve Essie’s family as spiri- Parrish in the Kashaya Pomo cemetery.
tual leader during Kashaya religious ac- Greg Sarris
tivities. See also Basketry; Ceremony and Ritual,
As Mabel became well known as a California; Healing Traditions, California;
healer and basket weaver, she was Oral Traditions; Oral Traditions, California;
Parrish, Essie; Power, Barbareño Chumash;
sought after by Indians and non-Indians Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners,
alike to cure the sick. Her baskets were California
501
Menstruation and Menarche _________________________________________________________________
References and Further Reading with, or even living with men for a period
Allen, Elsie, and Vinson Brown. 1972. Pomo of time each month. Generally speaking,
Basketweaving: A Supreme Art for the
Weaver. Happy Camp, CA: Naturegraph such restrictions are not because menses
Publications. is considered unclean, but because it is
Hurtado, Albert. 1990. Indian Survival on considered to be extremely powerful.
the California Frontier. New Haven: Yale
University Press. Menstruating women, in many Native
Merriam, C. Hart. 1993. The Dawn of the cultures, are understood to be embodying
World: Myths and Tales of the Miwok an enormous amount of power. During
Indians of California. Lincoln: University
of Nebraska Press.
their menstrual cycles they are some-
Moser, Chris. 1993. Native American times said to be embodying a holy per-
Basketry of Southern California. son, or that their bodies are ritually puri-
Riverside, CA: Museum Press.
fying themselves, or that they are in a
Sarris, Greg. 1993. Keeping Slug Woman
Alive: A Holistic Approach to American particularly powerful spiritual or intuitive
Indian Texts. Berkeley: University of condition, or that they are simply repre-
California Press.
sentations of the awe-inspiring ability to
———. 1994. Mabel McKay, Weaving the
Dream. Berkeley: University of California bear children.
Press.
Community Celebration
Puberty ceremonies have been widely
studied among scholars of Native Ameri-
Menstruation and can traditions, and they are a good place
to begin as we try to uncover Native tradi-
Menarche
tions of menses and how menstruation is
In American Indian cultural traditions, perceived mythologically and dealt with
menstruation has traditionally been per- ritually. The most immediately striking
ceived very differently than in Euro- difference between Western and Native
American Christian society. While the traditions is the public and communal
Western tradition has generally portrayed nature of girls’ puberty rituals. In clear
menstruation as the result of a biblical contrast to the overriding sense of shame
curse, as unhygienic, and as the failure of and secrecy among young women in
a woman to be in her proper state (that is, Western cultures, when traditional Na-
pregnant) (Martin 1987), indigenous tive women reach menarche, it is often a
communities have interacted with the source of communal celebration. In fact,
physiological reality of menstruation in a Keith Basso has observed that Apaches as
very different way. For most Native com- a whole are “more apt to speak candidly
munities, menstruation was (and often and truthfully about the girl’s puberty rite
still is) surrounded by a complex system than any other ceremony” (Basso 1966,
of ritual, oral tradition, ceremony, and 123).
proper behavior. Ritual restrictions might Among the Cheyenne, for instance,
prevent women from cooking, sleeping when a young woman has her first period,
502
________________________________________________________________ Menstruation and Menarche
the event is immediately announced to of extended family. They will call each
the community, and her father gives other shi ti ke, an expression of familial
something of value away—traditionally a obligation. As one man explained,
horse. Sacred objects are removed from “When you call someone shi ti ke you al-
the home. Older women unbraid her hair, ways help him out” (ibid., 132). At the
bathe her, and paint her body red. A bun- conclusion of the ceremony they will call
dle of sweet grass, cedar needles, and each other mother and daughter, or, in
white sage are burned, and the young girl some cases, Godmother and Goddaugh-
wraps a blanket around herself, trapping ter from then on (Clark 1976, 441).
the smoke within. During her monthly Like the Apache ceremony, the Diné
menses, for the four days of heaviest flow, Kinááldà ceremony is a relatively well
young women would traditionally remain known ceremony, and it is well docu-
mostly at home. When married, young mented. The rite is led by the young
women would traditionally leave their woman’s grandmother or sponsor and
home during those four days every takes place over four days, culminating
month and sleep in a separate menstrual in an all-night sing on the forth night.
lodge (Grinnell 1902, 13–15). On the first day, the girl’s sponsor
The incredible amount of work and brushes and ties her hair and prepares
expense incurred during the puberty rite the girl for the ceremony. The girl runs to
demands the full support of all extended the east, in a demonstration of strength
family, necessitating the communal na- and endurance. The sponsor massages
ture of the process. Basso argues that the the girl’s body, shaping her into a good
Apache puberty ceremony serves as a vi- and beautiful Diné woman. During the
tally important means of ensuring that four days, the girl grinds corn and pre-
kinship ties and networks of reciprocity pares a corn cake that is baked in the
are maintained. “Relations between the ground during the fourth night. She will
girl’s family and their blood kin must be not eat of the cake herself; to do so
unstrained because without the contri- would be to encourage greediness. In-
butions of kinsmen, there would be too stead, she will nurture the values of hos-
much work for an extended family, even pitality and generosity.
a large one, to accommodate” (Basso
1966, 125). The ceremony entails weeks Ceremonial Education
of work: building structures in the tradi- In the Apache ceremony Isánáklèsh
tional manner, shades, wickiups or te- Gotal, “the young girls are provided with
pees; clearing the area; preparing food; the necessary cultural knowledge and
and cutting firewood. This kinship net- marked as carriers of the wisdom of the
work is extended even further, because religious traditions that will see them
the ceremony serves to create a formal into the world of wisdom and a wise old
relationship between the girl and her age. They are instructed as to why living
sponsor. The relationship becomes that their lives according to Apache religious
503
ethics is so important for the survival of hut up to one mile from the main camp,
the culture. They are recognized as po- for anywhere from several months to a
tentially strong and powerful women ca- year. During that time, older female rela-
pable of handling both political and reli- tives bring the girl food and spend time
gious authority” (Talamantez 1991, 132). educating her in such skills as sewing and
Like the Apache ceremony, the Diné food preparation, in the laws of the com-
Kinááldá is considered to be the means munity, and in discipline. The girl ob-
by which the girl is equipped “with the serves food restrictions, eating only dried
knowledge to participate in society as food and no fresh meat or fresh berries.
an adult female. . . . The girl is taught She is careful as to what meats she does
not to be lazy or mean, not to laugh too eat, for her future children might have
loud, to be generous, helpful, cheerful, the characteristics of that animal. If she
gentle with children, dependable, re- eats beaver, for instance, her children
spectful and kind.” The ceremony “pro- might have difficulty walking gracefully.
motes industriousness and longevity” The initiate wears a menstrual hood to
(Artschwager 1982, 384). Diné young cover her face, particularly when she
women reflect on their ceremonies as a leaves her hut, drinks water through a
challenging time that helped to struc- drinking tube, uses a scratching stick,
ture their sense of moral and social and eats off of special dishes. When she
ethics: “We have to work real hard. . . . leaves her seclusion hut, she must walk
You have to get the muscle. I didn’t want with her head down, follow trails made by
to. I was lazy, but my mother told me others, and avoid game trails. When her
not be lazy, and keep doing it.” “You’re seclusion is over, her family celebrates
not supposed to touch any of it, your with a communal feast and give-away.
own underground cake, because then Women reflected on the experience as a
you’ll be selfish when you grow up.” “If positive one, a time of learning and
you don’t get up early with the sun, growth: women who had undergone the
you’ll get old right away” (Keith 1964, rite were said to gain longevity, a beauti-
31–32). ful physical appearance, and endurance
Along the Upper Yukon River, Julie under hardship. Young women were
Cruikshank has recorded the puberty ini- taught to withstand cold, hunger, loneli-
tiation rite of the northern Athabascan ness, and fear—all necessary abilities in
peoples, which strongly reflects this the far north (Cruikshank 1975, 3–5).
formative educational element. While Among the Wintun of California, the
the rite varies according to the social sta- puberty initiation ceremony resembles
tus of the woman and when the rite was this Northern Athabascan tradition. A
performed, there are several common el- small brush shelter is built twenty to
ements involved. The young woman is thirty yards away from the family’s shel-
secluded away from the community in a ter for the initiate to reside in for one to
504
several months. She is not allowed to do A similar ceremony is recorded among

any cooking during this time and is the Mission Indians of Southern Califor-
brought acorn soup by her older female nia at the beginning of the twentieth
relatives. She is allowed to leave the century. A pit is dug and a fire kindled to
structure only at night. For the first five heat stones. The pit is then filled with
days of her seclusion, she is to stay green herbs, upon which the initiates lay,
awake. As in the Northern Athabascan wrapped in blankets, for four days. Dur-
ceremony, she has a scratching stick. She ing this time the young women are sung
is not to comb her hair. The seclusion is a over by older women and instructed in
time for education, during which elders the right ways of living. The event is also
in the community give her advice, in- a communal one, for while this occurs
structing her on her future behavior. the large number of guests and visitors
This educational element is seen as who have come for the event dance and
well among the Washo of Nevada. In celebrate. The event is concluded with a
1929 a woman present at a Washo pu- give-away. The time is considered to be
berty rite, the Fire Dance, recorded that one of education for the young girls, in
the initiate was to fast for four days be- which they are taught to be generous
fore the dance. The woman, who was and are ritually endowed with fertility.
also the initiate’s schoolteacher, noted The ceremony is “performed in order to
that the young woman continued to at- make good women of the girls. They are
tend school in spite of the fast. On the talked to by their relatives and advised to
fourth day, the initiate danced for a half- be good and to give water and food to
hour alongside a companion, while be- people” (Rust 1906, 32).
hind them four elder women chanted
and sang blessings over their lives. This Embodying Power
was followed by a celebration dance, a Within these girls’ puberty rituals, the
feast, and a give-away. Afterward, the ini- young woman is nearly always assumed
tiate ran to the nearest water, in this case to be embodying an enormous amount of
the Carson River (which was three-quar- spiritual power. In the Apache and Diné
ters of a mile away), and bathed, despite traditions, for instance, the young girl is
the fact that it was midwinter and cold. said actually to become the goddess
Every aspect of the ceremony exists for a Isánáklèsh, or Changing Woman. As Basso
specific instructional purpose: fasting explains: “The strength of all Apaches
before the ceremony will make the girl comes from Isánáklèsh. Through her initi-
live longer and will teach her endurance; ation ceremony, and in the subsequent
bathing in cold water and running to the transformation into a respected and wise
river will make her strong; and the give- woman of her culture, the female in
away is said to teach her generosity and Apache tradition undergoes transforma-
hospitality (Cartwright 1952, 136–140). tion into something so strong and vital
505
that she, too, becomes a source of strength into the initiate through a complex ritual
for the men and women around her.” The process that takes place over the course of
initiate’s ceremonial dress is reflective of a single evening. In doing so, he is instill-
this coming transformation. During the ing the Oglala virtues associated with the
ceremony the girl is considered a powerful buffalo into the young girl: chastity, fertil-
authority. Her dress “shows everybody ity, industry, and hospitality. Within the
that tomorrow she will be at the head of ceremony both the medicine man and
her people” (Basso 1966, 149). the initiate drink sacred water and pray to
For the four days after the ceremony the buffalo spirits. The ceremony con-
the young girl is considered to be holy cludes with a feast and a give-away. This
and filled with Changing Woman’s power: ceremony serves to establish an identify-
power to heal, bless, and transform oth- ing relationship between the young
ers. Part of this process entails covering woman and White Buffalo Calf Woman,
the girl with Cattail Pollen, the most sa- one of the primary spiritual beings of the
cred element of the Apache people. As Northern Plains tribes. Red is considered
one girl recalls: “On Saturday in the rain sacred among the Oglala, and sacred
all the people, perhaps a hundred, pick water is red. Menstrual blood is associ-
up a handful of pollen from a basket be- ated with sacred water, and it comes to be
side me and shake it over my head” considered sacred as well. The associa-
(Quintero 1980, 269). In the final days, tion of menstruation with White Buffalo
many people will come to be healed by Calf Woman, the first woman to menstru-
the young woman, the embodiment of ate in Oglala tradition, and of menstrual
Changing Woman or Isánáklèsh, or to blood with sacred water serves to instill in
have their children blessed. “During the the young woman a sense of her own par-
four day ceremony, her services are fre- ticipation with the sacred activities of life
quently requested. . . . [M]any of the old and the creation of life. Women who go
and afflicted come to her seeking treat- through the ceremony are said to become
ment for their ailments, and she tries to industrious, wise, and cheerful (Powers
cure them by touching or rubbing them, 1980, 61). As Powers argues: “The rela-
generally on or over the place of their af- tionship between buffalo and women,
fliction. She also touches small children prevalent in Oglala myths and rituals,
or babies to make them grow into strong substantiates my thesis that it is the fe-
adults” (Clark 1976, 438). males’ reproductive role in society that is
The Buffalo Ceremony of the Oglala re- being emphasized, rather than her cata-
flects this notion of identifying the men- menial period, which has been analyzed
strual young woman with a female holy variously as taboo, pollution, and defile-
person, in this case White Buffalo Calf ment” (ibid., 55).
Woman. The spiritual leader of the com- The notion among many Native cul-
munity invokes the spirit of the buffalo tures that menstruating women embody
506
enormous amounts of sacred energy and puberty ceremony. As he observed: “The

power is well documented, though often prospect of power, even Changing
misinterpreted by Western scholars. See- Woman’s beneficent power, creates a
ing only the “taboo” or apparent stigmas certain tension which, in turn, inspires
attached to menstruating women, schol- the sobriety and good behavior consid-
ars assume that such cultural restrictions ered proper at na ih es” (ibid., 150). The
and distinct treatment are due to the association of women with intense
young women’s being polluted or con- power is the reason most often given by
taminating. To see that this is not the Native peoples to explain practices that
case, one has only to look to the mytho- Western anthropologists have labeled as
logical origins of menses. In Christian taboos.
traditions, menstruation is literally a These restrictions differed from com-
curse. Women menstruate because of munity to community, but they often fol-
Eve’s sin, and her responsibility for caus- lowed a basic pattern. Among the Diné,
ing her husband to fall as well. The story menstruating women traditionally lived
is quite different in Native American train separate structures with other women
ditions. For instance, the Diné deity during menses; they did not participate
Changing Woman, the holy person of the in cooking or sexual relations. They did
Earth, of life, and of reproduction, was not enter ceremonial hogans, see sand-
the first to menstruate. When women paintings, attend as a patient at a healing
participate in their monthly cycles, they ceremony, or attend a sing or join in
are thus participating in the cyclical na- dancing. Among the Yurok and Chey-
ture of the Changing Woman. Changing enne, menstruating women lived apart
Woman thus comes to be the model for from men in a special shelter con-
the pubescent girl (Basso 1966, 151–155). structed near the main house. They did
Similarly, among the Oglala and Lakota, no cooking, and they ate special food
White Buffalo Calf Woman, their primary that had been separately collected,
deity, is the first woman to menstruate. stored, and prepared by younger girls or
Menstruation, in many Native cultures, menopausal women (Buckley 1982).
is a sign that the woman is sharing the Richard Nelson has recorded that among
power of the holy person associated with the Koyukon, menstruating women were
creation, fertility, and the Earth. A not to eat certain types of meat, go near
woman at such times becomes the em- trapping lines, or touch their husbands’
bodiment of that Being’s power to create hunting gear (Nelson 1983).
and give life. Such restrictions, it must be remem-
The Apache word for power, di yih, re- bered, were undertaken because of the
veals a force that is at once welcomed enormous amount of power women
and feared. Basso observed a degree of were said to have at such a time. Cruik-
reverence among those attending the shank records several narratives among
507
the Athabascan of the Upper Yukon River men also wore grass ankle bands and
that illustrate this point. One young maple bark skirts. Their diet was also re-
woman, who was supposed to sit with stricted to dried fish and acorns. In addi-
her legs folded underneath her, violated tion, men gashed their legs with white
a restriction by stretching out her legs. In quartz until the blood flowed down their
doing so she kicked a boulder, dislodging legs. Buckley writes that such bleeding
it, so that it rolled down a hill and was, like menstrual blood, “thought to
blocked the river, causing great havoc. carry off psychic impurity, preparing
Unable to do so themselves, the villagers them for spiritual attainment” (Buckley
had to ask the woman to remove the 1982, 49).
boulder for them. Another narrative said The menstrual hut and the sweatlodge
that a man was able to make a bear get can thus be seen to parallel each other, as
up and move away from the village sim- places “where you go into yourself to
ply by threatening that if the bear contin- make yourself stronger” (ibid.). As Buck-
ued to sleep where he was, a menstruat- ley argues: “If Yurok women once shared
ing woman might step over him menstrual periods in synchrony and were
(Cruikshank 1975, 10). able to control their synchrony to some
William Buckley’s analysis of the tradi- degree, it would have meant that for ten
tional Yurok menstrual restrictions illus- days out of every twenty-nine all of the
trate the potentially powerful role that fertile women who were not pregnant
menstruating women are considered to were removed, as a group, from their
have. Early ethnographies of the Yurok households’ mundane activities and
report that women within a village plunged into collective contemplative
tended to menstruate synchronically and ritual exercises aimed at the acquisi-
with each other. During ten days out of tion of wealth objects and other spiritual
every twenty-nine, the women of the vil- boons. This would, logically, have been
lage observed a series of restrictions: the ideal time for all the younger men in
they wore bark skirts, and grass arm and the sweathouse to undertake their own
leg bands. Their diet was limited to dried ten day periods of intense training,
fish and acorns, and they lived in men- which, as did women’s menstrual prac-
strual shelters a short distance from the tices, emphasized continence and avoid-
family dwelling. But Buckley discovered ance of contact with fertile members of
a previously unnoticed element: during the opposite sex” (ibid., 56).
the same ten days in which women se- Yurok women were isolated because
cluded themselves, the men of fertile age they were at the height of their powers,
within the village did so as well. The men and “thus, the time should not be wasted
secluded themselves in the communal in mundane tasks and social distrac-
male sweatlodge. During these ten days tions, nor should one’s concentration be
508
broken by concerns with the opposite Basso, Keith H. 1966. “The Gift of Changing
sex. Rather, all of one’s energies should Woman.” U.S. Bureau of American
Ethnology Bulletin 196: 123.
be applied in concentrated meditation Buckley, Thomas. 1988. “Menstruation and
on the nature of one’s life, ‘to find the the Power of Yurok Women,” in Blood
purpose of your life,’ and toward the ‘ac- Magic, Thomas Buckley and Alma
Gottlieb, eds. Berkeley: University of
cumulation’ of spiritual energy.” Cyclical California Press, pp. 187–209.
bleeding thus acted in a manner parallel Cartwright, Willena D. 1952. “A Washo Girl’s
to the sweat for men, as a means of puri- Puberty Ceremony.” Proceedings of the
Thirtieth International Congress of
fying and preparing the self for spiritual Americanists 30: 136–140.
endeavors (ibid., 48). Clark, Laverne Harrell. 1976. “The Girl’s
Other tribes’ examples likewise sup- Puberty Ceremony of the San Carlos
Apaches.” Journal of Popular Culture 10,
port this view of menstruation as a sign
no. 2: 441.
of spiritual power, and the ability to cre- Crow Dog, Mary. 1990. Lakota Woman. New
ate and nurture life. Philip Deere, a York: HarperCollins.
Cruikshank, Julie. 1975. “Becoming a
Muskogee, explained that “woman is the
Woman in Athapaskan Society: Changing
same as man. But at a certain age she Traditions on the Upper Yukon River.”
changes into another stage of life. Dur- Western Canadian Journal of
Anthropology 5, no. 2: 1–14.
ing this stage she naturally purifies her-
Grahn, Judy. 1993. Blood, Bread and Roses:
self each month. During their monthly How Menstruation Created the World.
time women separate themselves from Boston: Beacon Press.
men. Men must sweat once a month, Grinnell, George Bird. “Cheyenne Woman
Customs.” American Anthropologist 4
while women are naturally purifying (1902): 13–16.
themselves to keep their medicine effec- Keith, Anne. 1964. “The Navajo Girls’
tive” (Powers 1980, 57). Among the Pa- Puberty Ceremony: Function and
Meaning for the Adolescent.” El Palacio
pago it is said that the menstruating 71, no. 1: 27–36.
woman “is the vessel of supernatural Nelson, Richard. 1983. Make Prayers to the
power—the power that allows her to give Raven: A Koyukon View of the Northern
Forest. Chicago: University of Chicago
birth. This power is so different from a Press.
man’s power that the two must be kept Powers, Marla N. 1980. “Menstruation and
apart” (ibid.). Reproduction: An Oglala Case.” Signs:
Journal of Women in Culture and Society
Suzanne J. Crawford 6, no. 1: 61.
Quintero, Nita. 1980. “Coming of Age the
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Apache;
Apache Way.” National Geographic 157:
Ceremony and Ritual, California; Ceremony
262–271.
and Ritual, Diné; Female Spirituality;
Rust, Horatio. 1906. “A Puberty Ceremony of
Gender and Sexuality, Two Spirits
the Mission Indians.” American
References and Further Reading Anthropologist 8: 32.
Artschwager Kay, Margarita. 1982. Talamantez, Inés. 1991. “Images of the
Anthropology of Human Birth. Feminine in Apache Religious
Philadelphia: F. A. Davis. Traditions.” Pp. 131–145 in After
509
Missionization, Alaska _______________________________________________________________________
Patriarchy: Feminist Transformations of on their boats; both believed in the

the World Religions. Edited by Paula M. power of Aleut ritual specialists to invoke
Cooey, William R. Eakin, Jay B. McDaniel.
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. spirits (we call such specialists
“shamans,” a term borrowed from the
Russian scholars who in turn borrowed it
from the Siberians, Native and Russian.
Originally, it was an Evenk/Even [Tun-
Missionization, Alaska
gus] word). The Russians acknowledged
Christianity came to Alaska in the eigh- the spirituality of the Aleuts, the first Na-
teenth century. The first harbingers of tive Alaskans they encountered, even as
the new religion were not priests or mis- they fought the Aleut warriors. Lay peo-
sionaries but ordinary men. They were ple performed the first baptisms, be-
the fur hunters and traders from the Rus- cause in Orthodoxy lay persons can bap-
sian Far North and Kamchatka who had tize. (If such baptisms take place, the
come in search of freedom and riches. clergy later perform the sacrament of
They did not preach but followed the chrizmation—anointing with oil—which
customs of their religion, holding the formally incorporates the baptized indi-
laymen services of the Eastern (Ortho- vidual into the Communion of the Faith-
dox) Church. Rich in visual symbolism, ful.) They baptized young hostages, the
even the laymen service attracts atten- escaped slaves or war captives who
tion, especially through its music: all ser- sought succor in Russian camps, women
vices are sung without any instrument with whom families were formed, and
accompaniment. There is little if any reg- trading partners and friends. The ties of
imentation for those who attend the ser- god-parenthood were not taken lightly,
vices. People move about freely. A cen- and godchildren, especially young god-
tury later, the Eskimo people of the sons, were often taken to Russia for an
Bering Strait described to an American education that included exposure to the
observer the Orthodox liturgy as the Rus- glory of Orthodox services in metropoli-
sian dance of worship (Nelson 1899). tan churches. Conversions were volun-
The fur hunters were not bookish peo- tary. Some of the earliest ones followed
ple. Most of them recognized Aleut spiri- recovery from wounds when injured per-
tuality expressed in everyday life. Most sons had been given up by local healers
held that the Aleuts shared with them and were brought to the Russian ships
many beliefs. Both people turned east- for help.
ward in prayer. Both believed that water There were no clergy in the Aleutian
was sacred and had healing qualities; Islands until 1824 (except for two visits
both invoked the aid of the deity when by Navy chaplains—one in 1790 and the
setting out on a sea hunt; both wore pro- other in 1818, briefly, in the Eastern
tective talismans on their persons and Aleutians). The role of the laymen in the
510
______________________________________________________________________ Missionization, Alaska
A boy carries a cross during a Russian Orthodox procession for the burial of Eyak Indian bones
released by the Smithsonian Institute to Eyak families in Cordova, Alaska. ca. 1980–1990. (Natalie
Fobes/Corbis)
conversion process should not be under- Catherine the Great, arrived in 1794.
estimated. When priests came to the They were chosen from the brethren of
Aleutians they found already existing Valaam and Konevitsa monasteries on
Christian communities. Their mission Lake Ladoga for their ability to adapt to
was to serve, not to convert. the northern environment and their fa-
The Christianization in the Alutiiq miliarity with sub-Arctic conditions. By
(the modern self-designation of Kodiak 1799 they were reduced, through tragic
and Upper [Eastern] Alaska Peninsula deaths, to only four. With little support
people), the Chugach, and Pacific from the local managers of what later be-
Athabascan (Dena’ina, or Tanaina) areas, came the Russian-American Company,
extending from the Kodiak Archipelago their missionary activities were severely
to the Upper Alaska Peninsula, Cook curtailed.
Inlet, and Prince William Sound, took a The Orthodox Church is not an ag-
somewhat different path. The First Spiri- gressively proselytizing one. The monks
tual Mission, sanctioned by the head of were instructed to speak only when
the Russian Orthodox Church and asked to and to behave as guests in
511
someone else’s house. They were to at- grace of the Spirit is not associated with
tract followers through living the life of any particular way of life. There was little
their faith. Soon, the monastics became or no overt pressure for cultural change.
known as defenders of the Kodiak Na- The head of the First Mission, Archiman-
tives. For this reason, there was a time drite Ioasaf, designated in 1799 as bishop
when the monks suffered persecution vicar of Alaska, envisioned the ordina-
from the managers of the local commer- tion of Native clergy and the founding of
cial fur hunting interests. One of the a seminary (Ioasaf, along with his entire
clergy, the humble monk Father Her- entourage, perished in the wreck of the
man, founded a hermitage in which or- frigate Phoenix on his return voyage to
phans and abused women found shelter. Alaska in 1799). The first Kodiak Native
Today he is Saint Herman of Alaska, the to be ordained a priest, in 1809, was a
Father of the Orthodox Church in the graduate of the local school established
Americas. His relics repose in the Church by the First Mission. He was to serve the
of the Holy Resurrection in Kodiak, Kodiak Parish. Since agents of the Rus-
founded in 1795 by the First Mission. sian-American Company refused to re-
Although there were many converts, a spect his authority, however, he was re-
majority of village populations kept their assigned to a prestigious parish in the
own beliefs, and the local ritual special- city of Irkutsk.
ists continued to function without hin- The Orthodox Church, since its found-
drance. The clergy, even those visiting ing, has conducted services in the lan-
from Russia, participated in Native festi- guages of the people it serves. By
vals and associated with the spiritual 1804/1805, the Lord’s Prayer had been
leaders. As late as 1844, an Orthodox translated into Alutiiq. In 1824, when the
clergyman, by invitation, met with a first resident priests arrived to serve the
shaman, and the two of them discussed, growing Christian communities of
over tea, various philosophical ques- Alaska, the work of translating the
tions. The shaman felt the burden of his church services and the Gospels into Na-
position and sought a way out in the tive languages began. The Orthodox
wake of the smallpox epidemic that clergy were the first to study the Native
struck Alaska in 1835–1838, when the languages and to produce authoritative
shamans’ power to heal had failed (see ethnographies.
Ganley 1996). The leader in this work was Father
The Orthodox Church holds that the Ioann Veniaminov, parish priest of the
Holy Spirit can manifest itself anywhere, Ounalashka District in the Aleutian Is-
and that among the so-called heathen lands from 1824 to 1834 and of
there might be saints whose names are Novoarkhangel’sk (modern Sitka) from
known to God but not to man. Moreover, 1834 to 1838 (today Veniaminov is known
the Orthodox Church holds that the as St. Innocent, Metropolitan of Moscow
512
and Kolomna, Enlightener of Alaska and River basins. He also converted Athabas-
Siberia). Veniaminov pioneered the cans of the interior—primarily Ingalik,
study of the Aleut, Alutiiq, and Tlingit Lower Koyukon, and Kolchane (Upper
languages and wrote the ethnography of Ahtna). He soon acquired the reputation
the Aleut. He was the first to purposefully as peacemaker and healer. Father Iakov
introduce Orthodoxy to the Tlingit combined Aleut traditional healing prac-
through addressing their gatherings tices with the paramedic training that
from Sitka to the Stikine River. He was priests were obliged to undergo. Today,
also the first priest to visit the Bristol Bay Iakov Netsvetov is St. Iakov of Alaska, one
and Nushagak River Yup’ik Eskimo, of the five Alaskan saints, only one of
many of whom by this time had been whom—Hieromonk Iuvenalii, killed in
baptized by laymen. 1796 near modern Kwhetluk village on
The priest resident at Sitka since 1818 the Bering Sea—was Russian.
served primarily the Orthodox commu- In Sitka, Bishop Innocent opened a
nity associated with the Russian estab- seminary in which many Natives were
lishment there. Tlingit converts were enrolled. He also established an iconog-
brought into the church by Russian, raphy workshop that produced several
Aleut, and Alutiiq individuals with ties of Native iconographers. At his request a
kinship and friendship in the Tlingit of few missionaries came to Alaska from
the Sitka area. Slaves held by the Tlingit Russia, but in the villages the work of the
and scheduled for sacrifice at various church was carried on by the local peo-
feasts were ransomed by the Russians ple: Native clergymen, the readers and
and resettled. Such individuals invari- choir directors. In Alaska, Native church
ably became Orthodox. music tones are still used in village
Veniaminov’s friend and collaborator churches.
in creating Aleut literacy and sacred liter- In the Far North, however, a very dif-
ature translations was Father Iakov ferent mode of Christianity began to ap-
Netsvetov, son of a Siberian teamster and pear in the second half of the nineteenth
his Aleut wife, Maria. Father Iakov served century. In the 1840s, American whalers
his people, in the Atkha District, from sailed through the Bering Strait and
1828 to 1844. That year, Veniaminov, now turned east, along the coast, in pursuit of
bishop of Kamchatka, the Kuril, and the the bowhead whale. Some of the whaling
Aleutian Islands, sent him to the Yukon captains, like most of the early Russian
as a missionary. He established himself fur hunters in the Aleutians, were men of
in the Yup’ik Eskimo village of Ikogmiut faith. They, apparently, introduced to the
(now Russian Mission), opened a bilin- Inupiat Eskimo of the North Slope no-
gual school attended by boys and girls, tions of Protestant Christianity, includ-
and carried the Orthodox message to the ing the Quaker religion. In the Upper
Yup’ik of the Yukon and Kuskokwim Yukon, where the Hudson Bay Company
513
believed themselves to be Christians.

Sheldon Jackson, a Presbyterian mis-
sionary in Alaska since the 1870s, in 1885
became the first U.S. commissioner for
education in Alaska. A friend of presi-
dents, he wielded enormous influence.
He established the policy of “American-
ization” and divided Alaska into “territo-
ries” assigned to various, predominantly
Protestant, denominations. The Natives
were to be introduced to “true” Chris-
tianity. The Orthodox Church did not ap-
pear on the map of denominations pub-
lished by Jackson. The Tlingit fell under
the Presbyterian aegis; Kodiak became
the province of the Baptists; the Aleutian
Islands were assigned to the Methodists;
the Lower Kuskokwim region fell to the
Moravians; and so on. The policy was
that of conversion coupled with assimi-
lation: Native dress, food, and crafts were
Jesuit father Rene Astruc dancing Yup’ik dance.
to be abandoned in favor of “civilized”
Alaska dance festival, 1992. (James H. Barker)
activities, such as boot making.
The instrument of assimilation was to
established Fort Yukon, came, in the be the school—not a village school but a
1860s, the first Catholic and Episco- boarding school or “orphanage” or
palian missionaries. For a time, the new- “home,” where the children, often
comers had little impact. But then, in forcibly taken from their parents, were to
1867, the Russian government relin- be recast in a new mold. Most traumatic
quished Alaska to the United States of of all was the attempt to eradicate the
America. The Treaty between the two use of Native languages. Presbyterian
countries guaranteed the right of free re- missionaries, in particular, were active in
ligious expression to former subjects of this respect. S. Hall Young wrote, among
the Russian Empire. other things: “We should let the old
However, the Orthodox Church soon tongues with their superstition and sin
faced not only competition but persecu- die—the sooner the better—and replace
tion. The newly arriving missionaries la- these languages with that of Christian
bored, not among the unconverted hea- civilization, and compel the Natives in
then, but among the Natives who our schools to speak English and English
514
only” (Krauss 1972, 23). Clearly, the Or- languages; gone are the prohibitions on
thodox, by now trilingual, church school Native dancing and masking. In fact,
system that existed in a large part of many clergy, especially Roman Catholic
Alaska was an obstacle in achieving Jack- clergy, participate in memorial pot-
son’s goal. Somehow, the message was latches, in dances, and in drumming at
conveyed to many Natives that Ortho- local feasts. No major event in a Native
doxy was not a Christian Church but “a community begins without a blessing by
Native superstition.” a clergyman. The major exhibit of Yup’ik
In 1986, in a village on the Yukon, an masks was opened with a Catholic ser-
old lady now long dead told me the story vice. A large number of clergy were pres-
of “Dr. Nikolai,” a Native healer in Anvik, ent, and one priest drummed alongside
who was, together with his kin, expelled the Yup’ik dancers. The opening of the
from the village by an early Episcopalian exhibit “Looking Both Ways” that cur-
missionary. I remarked that “Nikolai” is rently travels the country began with the
not an Ingalik name. My friend re- Lord’s Prayer recited in three languages
sponded, “Yes, he was baptized Russian, (Alutiiq, Russian, and English, in that
but Russians are not Christians, they are order), followed by the blessing of the
just the way we were before the Chris- exhibit by the Orthodox priest. Almost
tians came.” In 1899, Jackson predicted gone is the interdenominational feud-
that “twenty five years from now, there ing, though some of the extreme funda-
will not be any Orthodox church mem- mentalist sects do engage in campaigns
bers left in Alaska” (Oleksa 1998, 23). aimed at liturgical churches and call for
Ironically, the cultural pressure resulted destruction of any items reminiscent of
in massive conversion of the Tlingit, es- “pre-Christian” past. Gone are the sepa-
pecially those who were cultural conser- rate “Native” and “white” churches.
vatives, to Orthodoxy. Through passive Through intermarriage or choice, indi-
resistance, and occasionally active viduals now often change their church
protest, the Native Orthodox communi- affiliation.
ties survived. Today, most of the Yup’ik, A new church art flourishes in parishes
Chugach, Dena’ina, Alutiiq, and Aleut of Orthodox, Catholic, Episcopalian, and
are Orthodox. A majority of the Orthodox even Lutheran denominations. It is ab-
clergy is Native, and services in the vil- sent, however, in the strict Protestant
lages are conducted in their Native lan- parishes, such as those belonging to the
guages or in English. During services one Swedish Covenant Church, for example,
hears English, Slavonic, or Russian, and and Moravians discourage participation
the local language. in selaviq, an Orthodox practice reminis-
Over time, the attitudes and policies cent of Christmas caroling, the starring
of other denominations changed. Gone (see Fienup-Riordan 1990). Native heal-
is the opposition to the use of Native ers are active again, but any suggestion
515
Missionization, California ___________________________________________________________________
that they are “shamans” is met with vehe- Oleksa, Michael. 1998. Orthodox Alaska: A
ment denial: they heal now in the name Theology of Mission. Crestwood, NY: St.
Vladimir Seminary Press.
of God. Phillips, Carol A.1995. A Century of Faith,
Lydia Black 1895–1995. Centennial commemorative,
Episcopal Diocese of Alaska. Fairbanks:
See also Christianity, Indianization of; Centennial Press.
Missionization, Northwest; Oral Traditions,
Yupiaq; Religious Leadership, Alaska
Anonymous. 1996. A Good and Faithful
Servant: St. Innocent of Alaska and Missionization, California
Siberia. Fairbanks: University of Alaska
Press. Spain’s excursions into what is now Cali-
Black, Lydia. 1998. Orthodoxy in Alaska. The
fornia was a foray into what would be the
Sixth Annual Distinguished Lecture
Series of the Patriarch Athenagoras absolute outskirts of an already overex-
Institute, October 1966. Berkeley: tended empire. An abject inability to
Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute deal with much resistance among Indi-
at the Graduate Theological Union.
Dauenhauer, Richard L. 1997. Conflicting ans of the interior part of the state gave
Visions in Alaskan Education, 2d ed. Spain the impetus to allow the church to
Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press. establish missions as a means of “con-
Fienup-Riordan, Ann. 1990. “Selaviq: A
Yup’ik Transformation of a Russian verting” various Native communities,
Orthodox Tradition.” Pp. 94–122 in with the hope of turning these missions
Eskimo Essays. New Brunswick, NJ: into pueblos, or towns, that the Spanish
Rutgers University Press.
Ganley, Matthew L. 1996. “The Role of Crown could then control. Hence the
Anatguk in Northwest Alaska: Historic colonization process for Alta California
Transformation.” In NOAS: Notes and differed greatly from Spain’s earlier, and
Materials for the Linguistic Study of the
Sacred. Edited by Juan Adolfo Vazquez.
much more violent, colonization of Mex-
12(1–2): 5–19. Pittsburgh: University of ico and Central and South America. This
Pittsburgh. new method, however, was no less insid-
Krauss, Michael. 1972. Alaska Native
ious and devastating to the Native popu-
Languages: Past, Present and Future.
Fairbanks: University of Alaska, Native lations of the region.
Language Center. The missions of Alta California were
Moussalimas, Soterios A. 2003. From Mask
organized and overseen by a Franciscan
to Icon. Brookline, MA: Hellenic College
Press/Holy Cross Orthodox Press. with Inquisition experience and a severe
Revision of the 1995 publication personality, Padre Junipero Serra. A man
Transition from Shamanism to Russian
who had designs on martyrdom among
Orthodoxy in Alaska. Providence, RI:
Berghahn Books. the “savages” since childhood, this as-
Nelson, Edward W. 1899. “The Eskimo about tute and driven administrator founded,
Bering Strait.” In 18th Annual Report of or planned and directed, the establish-
the Bureau of American Ethnology,
1896–1897. Washington, DC: ment of twenty-one missions in Califor-
Smithsonian Institution. nia along the coast or at a short distance
516
___________________________________________________________________ Missionization, California
inland, reaching from San Diego in the properly treat them. The baptism of
south to Sonoma, beyond San Francisco dying infants and their parents became
Bay, in the north. the first major break for the padres’
In spite of somewhat romantic visions “conversion” plans. In fact, the mission
of kindly padres ushering docile Indians lifestyle—such as the practice of forcibly
into the modern world, California mis- separating Indian children from their
sions were essentially religious planta- parents and placing them in disease-rid-
tions designed to benefit Spain and its den quarters—most likely increased the
ruling elite. The imposition of non-na- spread of the diseases and the suffering
tive crops and animals made it difficult of the victims. Pioneering demographer
for those Indians (and there were many) Sherburne F. Cook conducted exhaus-
who initially resisted the loss of their tive studies and concluded that perhaps
economic autonomy to maintain tradi- as much as 60 percent of the population
tional plant and animal management decline of mission Indians was due to
schemes. Soldiers that accompanied the introduced diseases.
padres intimidated the populations, who In addition to the desperate parents of
were used to dealing with their neigh- dying children, many others eventually
bors in more sophisticated ways, such as sought out mission life as a way of medi-
by financial contract and intermarriage. ating the loss of population and tradi-
In addition, the diseases brought by the tional economic activity that the mis-
Europeans made the maintenance of sions themselves had caused. The plan
communal systems difficult, to say the was to convert the Indians over a ten-
least. year period, after which they would be
Epidemics can be considered the given the mission lands, crops, and live-
most effective tool of the colonizers in stock to work on their own—thus creat-
California. Diseases such as smallpox, ing pueblos ready for participation in
measles, diphtheria, and syphilis Spain’s already impressive trade scheme
brought Indian communities to a stand- with the East via the Philippines. The
still, as enormous drops in population, padres, however, never realized this ulti-
and the intense suffering that these dis- mate goal, and they greedily kept control
eases caused while the victims struggled over the stolen lands and the economic
with them, meant that aid to the sick wealth. The argument frequently used by
and obligations to the dead became the the padres was that the Indians were like
main preoccupation. For most mission- simple children who would be unable to
area Native communities, their situa- survive without the help of the missions.
tions demanded that they view the In reality, as settlers moved into the re-
padres as allies. The rise of these un- gion from Mexico, the missions were a
known maladies coincided with their ar- key provider of manual labor for the new
rival; therefore they must know how to ranchos, even to the point of creating a
517
Missionization, California ___________________________________________________________________
completely idle landed upper class to the variety of sacred practices was of lit-
whom the padres were beholden. It is no tle consequence. However, broad re-
wonder that the padres were reluctant to gional similarities, managed and main-
give up this source of free labor. tained as part of an overall inter-regional
Mission wealth, in both hard currency trade relationship, meant that, from the
and valuable land and resources, had Native perspective, the sacred activities
reached a peak at around the time that of the padres did not look so foreign as to
the peasant class became fed up with the make inclusion impossible.
same arrangement to the south. Mexi- For missionaries elsewhere in the
cans revolted and won independence United States, on the east coast, for ex-
from Spain, and the missions were pres- ample, the religious systems of the Indi-
sured by the new authority to “secular- ans and missionaries were often so sig-
ize”—that is, turn over all lands but for nificantly and diametrically opposed as
the missions themselves to private own- to make the conversion process much
ership—and release all Indians who more of a struggle. In California, regional
wished to leave the control of the mis- sharing of ceremonial practices was a
sion padres. common occurrence, and all villages had
In terms of the religious effects of the individuals well versed in the languages
mission system, it must first be noted and practices of their neighbors, all the
that California, in precontact times, sup- better to facilitate cooperative resource
ported a vast number of relatively inde- management and intermarriage. Thus
pendent, village-oriented tribal groups. when the Roman Catholic ceremonies
Unlike what missionaries encountered were shown to the Indians, they most
elsewhere on the continent, there were likely recognized enough of the postures,
very few large-scale political systems actions, and seasonal markings to make
overseen by councils or single leaders. the transition easier. In addition, the
Instead, the approximately two dozen goals of the empire were paramount, so
language stocks divided into separate the padres were loath to deny participa-
linguistic and cultural groups are in- tion by willing congregants because of
tensely regional in nature, and the first such trivial issues as complete lack of ad-
issue to be overcome by the padres was herence to the Roman Catholic world-
understanding the divisions that existed view. Baptize and “civilize” first, indoctri-
upon their arrival. Dialects would nate later.
change frequently as the missionary California religious philosophies tend
process moved through the state, and to be extremely different from Western,
cultural differences from region to re- Judeo-Christian sacred narratives, more
gion were marked. Of course, since the often tending toward codified behavioral
goal for the colonists was to erase any protocols designed to facilitate proper
and all non-Spanish Catholic practices, responses to the world as it exists, rather
518
________________________________________________________________ Missionization, Great Lakes
than in a distant afterlife. Many Califor- Law, Legislation, and Native Religion; Oral
nia tribal traditions employ a host of Traditions, California; Reservations,
Spiritual and Cultural Implications;
other-than-human participants, from Revitalization and Retraditionalism
plant, animal, and environmental spirits Movements, California; Termination and
to heroes, deities, and sacred beings of Relocation
human origin. It can be said, then, that References and Further Reading
Castillo, Edward D. 1989. “An Indian
Roman Catholic doctrine, with its saints, Account of the Decline and Collapse of
angels, and martyrs, made for a relatively Mexico’s Hegemony over the Missionized
easy translation. Such that, for many Indians of California.” American Indian
Quarterly 13, no. 4: 391–408.
contemporary California Mission Indi-
Cook, Sherburne F. 1976. The Conflict
ans, the stories of the “before time,” Coy- between the California Indians and White
ote and his adventures and the ceremo- Civilization. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
nial practices and seasonal observances,
Haas, Lisbeth. 1995. Conquests and
were brought to them by their ancestors Historical Identities in California,
despite the seemingly total disruption by 1769–1936. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
the colonial process of missionization.
Hurtado, Albert L. 1988. Indian Survival on
Even today, many Native Californians the California Frontier. New Haven: Yale
see no sharp distinction between their University Press.
Native traditional ways and their Jackson, Robert H., and Edward Castillo.
1995. Franciscans and Spanish
Catholic upbringing. While many mod- Colonization: The Impact of the Mission
ern California Indian people do reject, System on California Indians.
often totally, anything having to do with Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press.
the church because of its bloody and op- Phillips, George Harwood. 1983. Indians
pressive history, it is nevertheless true and Intruders in Central California,
that one is as likely to find the elders of 1796–1849. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press.
these former mission Indian communi-
ties in Mass on Sunday as not. For the
younger generation, applying the world-
view handed down to them from time Missionization, Great
immemorial to information gathered
Lakes
from a variety of contemporary sources
is fueling a resurgence in traditional The Great Lakes region has seen two suc-
practices within which the original vic- cessive enduring waves of Christian mis-
tims of the mission system would most sionization, Roman Catholic and Protes-
likely feel right at home. tant, loosely corresponding to the
Dennis F. Kelley predominant missions imported during
its French (1608–1763) and Anglo-Amer-
Healing Traditions, California; Health and ican (1763– ) phases of colonization. The
Wellness, Traditional Approaches; Identity; relative impact and effectiveness of the
519
Missionization, Great Lakes _________________________________________________________________
Father Marquette holding peace pipe to greet Native Americans. Hand-colored woodcut. (North
Wind Picture Archives)
missions has depended on a number of penetrate and exert pressure on the

variables surrounding the interplay be- communities, and, on the other, its abil-
tween the efforts of missionaries and the ity to coexist amicably with the ruling
corresponding responses of Native government. Native American responses
Americans. The outreach and longevity have depended on a number of factors,
of a mission has generally reflected its re- including their proximity to mission cen-
sources and ability, on the one hand, to ters and the condition of their societies
520
and traditional ways of life in the wake of but by forging mutually accommodative
epidemics, expanded warfare, modern- military and economic alliances that out-
ization, capitalism, and other disruptive fitted Natives with guns, kettles, blankets,
and enveloping factors of European con- and other desirable European goods in
tact and expansion. Often their re- exchange for their assistance. The prob-
sponses to the missions, favorable or un- lem with these arrangements, however,
favorable, have hinged on whether they from the French perspective, was that
have viewed Christianity and its messen- they were costly, transient, and worse,
gers as relieving or abetting their post- they bolstered the sovereignty, rather
Columbian predicaments. than the allegiance, of their allied tribes
The French were the first Europeans (White 1991, 50–93). In this context, colo-
to explore, claim, and colonize the Great nial officials, beginning with Champlain,
Lakes region. In competition for global turned to the Roman Catholic Church to
dominance with the other European em- help subjugate Native peoples.
pires of the time, the French Crown, in Champlain was confident that Natives
the seventeenth century, targeted the St. of the region would readily embrace the
Lawrence River and its tributaries for its principles of civility and religion that he
own colonial expansion. Operating ini- and his countrymen assumed to be uni-
tially from Quebec, established on the St. versal and self-evident. Although they be-
Lawrence River in 1608 by the “Father of lieved in spirits, Natives showed little
New France,” Samuel de Champlain, ex- agreement or concern about the particu-
plorers first entered the Great Lakes in lars of these beliefs. Unrestricted by doc-
hopes of discovering precious mineral trine, individuals paid homage to an un-
deposits, as well as a transcontinental limited array of spirits according to their
water route for the lucrative spice trade own needs and experiences. Such open-
with the Orient. ness toward spiritual beliefs was also evi-
In order to secure their interests in denced by their apparent eagerness to
North America, whether for exploration, learn about Christian notions of God, cre-
trade, or war, the French required the as- ation, and an afterlife. Since the Natives
sistance of Native Americans. Given the did not pray in common to a limited set of
limited resources that the Crown pro- gods, Champlain and his countrymen de-
vided the colonies, French authority in termined that the Natives of New France
North America, until well into the eigh- did not possess religion. Operating from
teenth century, was limited to a handful biblical assumptions, they concluded that
of settlements near Atlantic seaports on these “savages” were lulled into a condi-
the St. Lawrence and Mississippi rivers. tion of lawlessness by the Devil, who was
Thus, beyond the reach of the settle- the real source behind their superstitious
ments, cooperation was achieved, not by customs. Furthermore, Champlain felt
force as the French might have preferred, that upon recognizing their obligations to
521
God, Natives would give up their false be- Franciscan order, had few capital re-
liefs and practices in order to model, and sources to apply to that enterprise. The
ultimately become, French subjects. For Huron mission was abandoned in 1629,
Champlain and for the Catholic clergy he when the English temporarily overthrew
would call upon to mount this campaign, Quebec and expelled the French and
the dual function of Christian missioniza- their Catholic clergymen.
tion was to provide the French with loyal After Quebec was returned to the
subjects while, at the same time, saving French in 1632, the missionary reins
them from eternal damnation. were taken up by the Society of Jesus,
The first missionary, and probably the better known as the Jesuits. A more or-
first European, to reach one of the Great ganized and wealthy Catholic order than
Lakes was Joseph Le Caron, a Recollect the Recollects, the Jesuits succeeded, by
Franciscan friar, who visited Huron vil- the end of the seventeenth century, in es-
lages on the eastern portion of Lake tablishing roughly thirty missions across
Huron in 1615. Le Caron was a member the Great Lakes region. Resuming the
of a small contingent of Recollects sta- work of the Recollects, the Jesuits fo-
tioned in Quebec. Operating from a bark cused on the conversion of Hurons. Fa-
chapel in Carhagouha, a principal village thers Jean de Brébeuf and Antoine
in the Georgian Bay, the visiting Recol- Daniel, who had arrived with the first
lects earnestly applied themselves to contingent of Jesuits in 1625, spear-
learning the Huron language and in- headed this effort, learning the Huron
structing their welcoming hosts on the language and preaching year-round in
tenets of Christianity. The Hurons were their communities. In 1641, the two Je-
of special interest to Champlain and the suits visited the major Ottawa and
missionaries, not only because they lived Ojibwa trade centers at the Straits of
in a region that was strategic for explo- Mackinaw and Sault Ste. Marie, where
ration but also because they were seden- Lake Huron meets Lake Michigan and
tary. Dwelling in large villages sur- Lake Superior, respectively. In 1665, Fa-
rounded by wooden palisades, the ther Claude Allouez established a mis-
Hurons appeared to the French to be sion among Ottawas and Hurons at
more advanced—and thus, more in- Chequamegon on the western shore of
clined to receive Christianity—than the Lake Superior. Two years later Father
itinerant hunting tribes near Quebec. Jacques Marquette joined Louis Joliet in
Such villages also enabled the missionar- the exploration of Lake Michigan and the
ies to educate and monitor large groups Mississippi and Illinois rivers, clearing
of potential converts. Although they the way for future missions in villages
were interested in establishing a perma- populated by Menominee, Potawatomi,
nent mission among the Hurons, the Ojibwa, Mascouten, Miami, Illinois, and
Recollects, as members of the mendicant other peoples of the western Great Lakes.
522
The health and stability of these mis- lege a system of compulsory beliefs and
sions was generally contingent upon the practices, the missionaries’ insistence
health and stability of the communities that Christian beliefs superseded and in-
in which they served. Many of the Jesuits’ validated all others struck the Natives as
promising converts were lost to the peculiar and arrogant. Although the
deadly epidemics that swept through the Hurons, like the other indigenous peo-
region. Although the Jesuits tried to use ples of the Great Lakes, prayed to spirits
their natural immunity to the diseases to for favors, in ways comparable to Chris-
convince their hosts that it was the tians and their prayers to God, these
Christian faith that protected them, in practices were informed by a shared an-
many cases that association backfired. thropomorphic logic that associated
As more and more of their people died, every perceived action or event that oc-
even those who were baptized, Hurons curred outside human control to a dis-
began to suspect that the Jesuits were de- tinct spirit actor. According to this per-
liberately inflicting the diseases upon spective, the world was filled with spirit
them. In addition to the epidemics, the people, or “manitous,” who constituted
Hurons suffered tremendous losses from and controlled thunder, winds, lakes,
increased hostilities with their tradi- rapids, cliffs, animals, crops, medicines,
tional enemies, the Iroquois tribes of dreams, inspirations, and all other pow-
New York, who had acquired guns from erful forces that affected human beings.
the Dutch and the English, rivals of the Consequently, prayer offerings were not
French. Jesuit missions among the Iro- directed to a single universal Spirit but
quois near Lake Ontario ebbed and were distributed to an unlimited number
flowed with the currents of war. In 1649 of spirits, according to individual need
the Iroquois destroyed the Huron vil- and experience rather than doctrine.
lages, and three Jesuits, including Thus, during the early stages of contact,
Brébeuf and Daniel, were tortured and Natives received the Jesuit’s biblical sto-
killed. ries as they would any visitor’s spirit sto-
While it is a fairly simple matter to ries. The significance of Jesus, however,
chart the comings and goings of the Je- like any manitou, was gauged not by the
suits in the Great Lakes, it is far more dif- force of dogma but by his usefulness in
ficult to gauge their impact on the com- hunting, fishing, warfare, healing, and
munities in which they preached. other practical activities (ibid., 27). Over
Contrary to Champlain’s assumptions, time, many tribes came to view the Je-
the willingness that Natives displayed to suits, who were constantly badgering
learn about Christianity did not augur them to change their customs, and who
well for conversion. Since Natives of the were useless in hunting, travel, and war-
Great Lakes region did not, before con- fare, as intolerable nuisances in their
tact with Europeans, distinguish or privi- communities.
523
Therefore, the main impediment to tions, they faced a resurgence of Chris-

conversion during the French era was tian missions—this time, both Catholic
not Natives’ unwillingness to accept and Protestant—in their communities.
God, Christ, the Virgin Mary, or some Itinerant missionaries who established
other Christian figure, but their refusal to missions among the Ottawas and Ojib-
accept them in place of, or as something was in upper Michigan and Ojibwas in
other than, manitous. Consequently, the northern Minnesota spearheaded the
Jesuits reserved baptism for those who Catholic missions during this period.
were near certain death, or for those who Anglican and Methodist Episcopal mis-
showed that they prayed exclusively to sions were established on Ojibwa reser-
God. In order to bring about the latter in vations in Ontario and Minnesota, on
adults, however, missionaries faced the Dakota reservations in Minnesota, and
monumental task of uprooting them, as on Iroquois reservations in New York.
much as possible, from their familiar, Likewise, Presbyterian, Baptist, and
practical associations with the environ- Lutheran churches followed suit, carving
ment. Thus the missionaries were suc- their own missionary niches in the re-
cessful in converting mainly those who gion (Vecsey 1983, 29–35).
had already become wholly dependent Restrained, if not entirely removed
upon the French—namely, the orphans from their traditional lands and ways of
and refugees created by epidemics and life, these groups faced enormous chal-
warfare. lenges to their economic and cultural
The end of imperial conflict in the survival, much like the refugees of epi-
Great Lakes in the nineteenth century— demics and warfare during the French
between the French and the English in era. On the reservations, missionaries
1763, and between the English and the operated with expanded authority, espe-
United States in 1815—marked a new era cially Protestant missionaries, to facili-
of Christian missionization in the region. tate and police the acculturation of Na-
Their military services no longer re- tives—in some cases, forcing children on
quired by one side to oppose the other, the reservations to attend their schools.
Native American tribes lost the bargain- Not all of the missions were oppressive,
ing positions they had had to resist dis- however, and in some cases, the clergy
placement and subjugation. Once the provided real humanitarian relief and
border was drawn through the Great acted as effective advocates for their
Lakes, dividing Canada and the United needs vis-à-vis oppressive governmental
States, the two nations commenced their policies. In those cases, Christianity rep-
respective annexational marches west- resented a meaningful vehicle to Natives
ward into Native territories, forcing the for navigating an impoverished condi-
surviving tribes onto reservations. Once tion. Indeed, by the twentieth century,
these groups were contained on reserva- many Natives had accepted progressive
524
_________________________________ Missionization, Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation
movements that led them into churches White, Richard. 1991. The Middle Ground:
and mainstream society. Beginning in Indians, Empires, and Republics in the
Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815.
the 1960s, however, a revival of Native Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
American spirituality and self-determi-
nation swept the region, with many call-
ing for the ejection of Christianity and
their missions from the reservations. Missionization, Kiowa-
Today, most Native Americans of the Comanche-Apache
Great Lakes probably place themselves
Reservation
in between the so-called progressive and
traditionalist camps, viewing their Chris- During the late nineteenth and early
tian “religion” as a compatible ap- twentieth centuries, every mainstream
pendage to their “culture.” American Christian denomination es-
James B. Jeffries tablished missions at the Kiowa-Co-
See also Boarding Schools, Religious manche-Apache Reservation (KCA) in
Impact; Christianity, Indianization of; southwest Oklahoma. Encouraged by
Manitous; Reservations, Spiritual and their belief in the necessity of converting
Indians, and supported by a federal bu-
Bieder, Robert E. 1995. Native American reaucracy that eagerly supported such
Communities in Wisconsin, 1600–1960: A work, missionaries at the KCA Reserva-
Study of Tradition and Change. Madison: tion were convinced, as Henry Warner
University of Wisconsin Press.
Devens, Carol. 1992. Countering Bowden has written, “that one set of cul-
Colonization: Native American Women tural standards—the one shared by
and the Great Lakes Missions, churchmen and politicians—promoted
1630–1900. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
both spiritual progress and national sta-
Eccles, W. J. 1998. The French in North bility” (Bowden 1981, 164–165). Church
America, 1500–1783. East Lansing: leaders and politicians alike believed
Michigan State University Press.
that conversion to Christianity would
Tanner, Helen Hornbeck. 1987. Atlas of
Great Lakes Indian History. Norman: solve the Indian question quickly, hu-
University of Oklahoma Press. manely, and permanently. Indeed, as the
Tinker, George E. 1993. Missionary
Board of Indian Commissioners noted in
Conquest: The Gospel and Native
American Cultural Genocide. its annual report for 1869, where assimi-
Minneapolis: Fortress Press. lating Indians was concerned, “the reli-
Trigger, Bruce G. 1985. Natives and
gion of our blessed Savior is . . . the most
Newcomers: Canada’s “Heroic Age”
Reconsidered. Kingston, Ont.: McGill- effective agent for the civilization of any
Queen’s University Press. people” (Prucha 1984, I: 510). This atti-
Vecsey, Christopher. 1983. Traditional tude was perceived by policy-makers to
Ojibwa Religion and Its Historical
Changes. Philadelphia: American be especially relevant at the KCA Reser-
Philosophical Society. vation. If those tribes with their warrior
525
Missionization, Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation __________________________________
ethos could be brought into the fold of a move that Paul Prucha writes “set
civilization through the work of the post–Civil War Indian policy ever more
churches, it would both be a triumph of firmly in the pattern of American evan-
peaceful assimilation and point the way gelical revivalism” (Prucha 1984, I: 503).
toward similar experiments on other Control of the KCA Reservation went to
reservations. the Society of Friends, who in May 1869
The 3-million-acre KCA Reservation assigned an Iowa farmer named Lawrie
was established in 1867 by the Treaty of Tatum to the task.
Medicine Lodge. After being consoli- The living embodiment of the Peace
dated with the neighboring Wichita Policy, Tatum eschewed force and in-
Agency in 1878, the reservation’s popula- sisted that the Lord “could restrain the
tion was about 6,000, half of whom were evil intentions and passions of the Indi-
Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches. The ans” (Lassiter et al. 2002, 25). But as
remainder came from the Wichitas, Cad- William Hagan has noted, “[T]here was
does, Tawakonis, Wacos, Kichais, no more incongruous spectacle than that
Anadarko, and Hainai. The reservation of a Quaker agent preaching the virtues
quickly gained a reputation for lawless- of peace and agriculture to a plains war-
ness and violence, and policy-makers rior, treating this man . . . as a simple,
held it in generally low regard. In 1871, misguided soul who could be brought to
for example, Secretary of the Interior see the error of his way by compassion
Columbus Delano described the Kiowas and sweet reason” (Hagan 1976, 160). In-
and Comanches as “predatory and crim- deed, Tatum struggled from the begin-
inal.” In the same year, the commis- ning. In the spring of 1870, for example,
sioner of Indian affairs declared that of conditions deteriorated so badly that
all the nation’s tribes, the Kiowas and Co- every Quaker employee save for one cou-
manches had “caused the greatest trou- ple fled the reservation; Tatum’s own wife
ble”; he singled out the Kiowas for their left before summer. Between 1871 and
“gross outrages,” “restless and war-loving 1872, Kiowas killed at least twenty Tex-
spirits,” and “passion for plunder” (Las- ans, and Tatum admitted in 1872 that the
siter et al. 2002, 24–25). Kiowas were “uncontrollable by me.” In
In 1869, however, reformers and fed- 1873, six years after Medicine Lodge, he
eral Indian officials agreed that Christian reported that there were no missions or
missions might be the best way to secure government schools, and little likelihood
peace and to assimilate Indians, espe- that either would soon appear. Tatum re-
cially at a reservation as problematic as signed in 1873, exhausted by the vio-
the KCA. The Peace Policy, as it came to lence, repeated threats to his life, and the
be called, allocated the administration of government’s apparently endless capac-
most of the nation’s western agencies to ity for failing to meet its obligations (Las-
representatives from American churches, siter et al. 2002, 25–27).
526
Only two Quaker agents were assigned sion boards” (ibid., 29). By 1900 there
to the KCA Reservation, and when were nineteen churches on the KCA
Tatum’s successor was replaced in 1878 Reservation, and before long the roll call
by P. B. Hunt (an Episcopalian), both the of KCA mission stations included the Re-
Quaker era and Peace Policy were dead formed Presbyterian Church of North
in the water. Hunt’s annual reports were America, the Methodist Episcopal Church
no better than Tatum’s, and twelve years South, the American Home Baptist Mis-
after Medicine Lodge he revealed that sion Society, the Board of Home Missions
there were no permanent missions on of the Presbyterian Church, the Territorial
the reservation (ibid., 28). Yet the Peace Baptist Convention, the Catholic Order of
Policy’s failure did not end the role of the St. Benedict, the Women’s Board of Mis-
American churches in the government’s sions of the Methodist Episcopal Church
forced assimilation campaign. With the South, the Dutch Reformed Church, the
passage in 1887 of the General Severalty Women’s Auxiliary to the Domestic and
Act—arguably the era’s most important Foreign Missionary Society of the Protes-
assimilation legislation—the church tant Episcopal Church, the Mennonite
won a second opportunity. Along with al- Brethren Church of North America, the
lotment and education, missions re- Women’s American Baptist Home Mis-
mained a crucial component in the cam- sionary Society, the Women’s Executive
paign to transform Indians, and the goal Committee of the Reformed Church in
that policy-makers had for Indians re- America, and the Women’s Baptist Home
mained firmly anchored in mainstream Missionary Society of Chicago. The only
Protestant ideology. As Methodist mis- major American denomination missing
sionary to the Kiowas John J. Methvin was the Mormons, whose otherwise keen
put it, “[C]ivilization alone does not civi- sense of proselytizing did not extend to
lize.” It was “the Gospel, faithfully Kiowas and who were excluded from the
preached [that] not only saves the [In- reservation by officially sanctioned preju-
dian’s] soul, but qualifies him for taking dice (ibid., 29–30).
on the habits of civilization.” The time The most influential denominations
had come to pave a new Jesus Road into were the Baptists, Methodists, and—es-
the heart of the KCA Reservation (ibid., pecially in the early years—the
28–29). Catholics. Each brought a different
Armed with a renewed sense of impor- strength to the field. The Catholics ran
tance, missionaries flocked to the KCA an exemplary school and mission sta-
Reservation in numbers that eclipsed tion at St. Patrick’s in Anadarko. The
anything the tribes had ever seen. In 1888 Baptists were notable for their devoted
Kiowa Agent E. E. White enthusiastically and capable women missionaries, who
reported on “the interest now being man- created remarkably strong bonds with
ifested . . . by religious societies and mis- the Native communities in which they
527
Missionization, Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation __________________________________
worked. The Methodists proved adept at people need not be behind the white
bringing Indians into the ministry, as ev- people.” For his part, Big Tree told his
idenced by the fact that they ordained people that “we have the light now. Do
nearly a dozen ministers in the first gen- not be ashamed to follow Jesus now”
eration of converts alone. Mission sta- (ibid., 32, 43–44).
tions typically operated day schools and In many mission stations, a compli-
boarding schools, and many of the cated cultural middle ground emerged
women also worked in the government’s as Kiowas and missionaries negotiated
field matron programs, where they the details of conversion. If missionaries
taught domestic skills. insisted on ending certain practices that
While it is tempting to dismiss the were plainly outside the bounds of white,
missions as corrosive intrusions into Na- middle-class, Christian norms (such as
tive communities, in many cases the re- multiple marriages), more often than not
lationship between Kiowas and mission- they stopped short of demanding a com-
aries was both more complicated and plete surrender of the institutions and
more positive. In many cases, Kiowa practices that defined Kiowa identity.
communities requested mission stations Language, for example, survived in the
and actively facilitated their growth. In missions in several forms. Interpreters
1891, for example, the Kiowa leader Lone translated sermons and messages for
Wolf wrote to Baptist officials, saying, “I congregations not yet fluent in English,
want to see you. Come now! I want you to but by maintaining language, important
tell me what I and my people must do” cultural concepts and ideals were main-
(ibid., 42). The Baptists subsequently es- tained even as Kiowas converted to
tablished missions among the Kiowas at Christianity. The Kiowa word for God, for
Rainy Mountain and Elk Creek, and example, is Daw’kee, a phrase translated
among the Comanches at Quanah as “throwing power,” or “throwing spirit”;
Parker’s camp. Five years later, Baptist it was used by Kiowas to describe their
missionary Isabel Crawford established creator long before missionaries arrived.
the Saddle Mountain Mission in re- Language also gained a new lease when
sponse to a plea from local Kiowas who Kiowa converts began composing Native
complained that they needed, but did hymns in their own language. The first of
not have, their own station. In Anadarko, these was composed by Gotebo at the
Kiowas and Comanches asked Father Rainy Mountain Mission in the 1890s,
Isidore Ricklin of St. Patrick’s for more and a new song tradition began that
“great spiritual men” who could teach many Kiowas now say is crucial to the
them “to live rightly,” while Big Tree and maintenance of their identity and lan-
Lone Wolf thanked the Baptists for com- guage. Missionaries also proved sensi-
ing to Rainy Mountain. Because of the tive to traditional rituals associated with
missionaries, said Lone Wolf, “the red births, deaths, and mourning, and they
528
worked to commemorate them with Mountain under a marker that reads “I

practices that combined Christian and Dwell Among Mine Own People.” Rev-
Native ways. Isabel Crawford, for exam- erend Perry Jackson was deeply loved by
ple, had the hot stones from Kiowa the Saddle Mountain congregation, so
sweatlodges brought to the Saddle much so that Sherman Chaddlesone
Mountain baptismal pool where they gave his own Kiowa name—Mipauta,
were ritually placed in the water in a which means “Higher than the other,” a
manner that suggested a joining of tradi- reference to the Kiowa Sun Dance pole—
tional and new rituals. to Jackson’s young son (ibid., 58, 60).
Mission stations also became the sites Missions were also successful because
of revivified communities linked by kin- they helped to fill a void in a chaotic
ship and shared experience. When influ- reservation political economy. Other
ential headsmen became deacons or spiritual forces competed for converts,
ministers, or when women from leading most notably the Ghost Dance and the
families converted, they typically Native American Church, but many
brought with them extended kin net- Kiowas agreed with a woman named
works that reflected traditional Kiowa Omboke, who observed in the late nine-
ideals of social prestige and power. Mis- teenth century that the “Jesus Way is the
sionaries also became members of the best way for Indians to travel.” But taking
Kiowa community in the most funda- the “Jesus Way” was not the same thing
mental sense. This was especially true of as replacing one set of beliefs with an-
women missionaries, who enjoyed a re- other. Rather, it was a more complex en-
markable rapport with the Kiowas and counter in which both sides made con-
Comanches. The Saddle Mountain cessions. As Stumbling Bear, a Kiowa,
Kiowas were so impressed with Isabel once reminded John J. Methvin, the
Crawford’s commitment that they called “white man’s road . . . [is] good, better
her among other things ah-pee, or “sis- than [the] Indian road. But not all of the
ter.” The Comanches at the Post Oak ways of the white man [are] better than
Mennonite Mission called Magdalena all Indian ways. Some Indian ways [are]
Becker tah-pah-see, “our older sister.” At best” (ibid., 19). Largely because they
their deaths, both women were buried in offer Kiowa people an important source
their mission’s cemetery. When Becker of spiritual support that can be accom-
died in 1938, she was mourned by more modated to their tribal ways and tradi-
than fifteen hundred Comanches, a tions, many of the missions established
larger number than had attended Qua- in the late nineteenth century survive in
nah Parker’s funeral twenty-seven years Kiowa country as testaments to the en-
earlier. In Crawford’s case, the Kiowas during power and adaptability of the
paid to have her body returned from Kiowa people.
Canada in 1961 and buried her at Saddle Clyde Ellis
529
Missionization, Northeast ____________________________________________________________________
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho; and the American Indian. 2 vols. Lincoln:
Christianity, Indianization of; Kiowa Indian University of Nebraska Press.
Hymns; Missionization, Northern Plains;
Sundance, Kiowa

Bowden, Henry Warner. 1981. American Missionization, Northeast
Indians and Christian Missions: Studies
in Cultural Conflict. Chicago: University Missionization in New England was
of Chicago Press. largely the work of English Anglican
Corwin, Hugh. 1968. “Protestant Missionary
Protestants who arrived in the area in the
Work among the Kiowas and
Comanches.” Chronicles of Oklahoma early seventeenth century. It is worth
46: 41–67. noting that these early colonies were
Crawford, Isabel. 1915/1998. Kiowa: A
founded by individuals who had begun
Woman Missionary in Indian Territory.
Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska their endeavors in colonial Ireland. In
Press. Ireland, they sought to control the in-
Hagan, William T. 1976. “The Reservation
digenous Irish population through reli-
Policy: Too Little, Too Late.” Pp.157–169
in Indian-White Relations: A Persistent gious conversion, suppression of Irish
Paradox. Edited by Jane F. Smith and Catholicism, and securing large land-
Robert M. Kvasnicka. Washington, DC: holdings worked by a docile Irish labor
Howard University Press.
———. 1990. United States–Comanche force. The American colonies were
Relations: The Reservation Years. guided by the principles and goals they
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. acquired in Ireland. Several of these fun-
Herring, Rebecca. 1986. “Their Work Was
Never Done: Women Missionaries on the damental assumptions would underlie
Kiowa-Comanche Reservation.” English missionary efforts in the New
Chronicles of Oklahoma 64: 68–82. World for centuries to come: first, they
Keller, Robert H., Jr. 1983. American
Protestantism and United States Indian assumed that indigenous cultures either
Policy, 1869–82. Lincoln: University of lacked a religion entirely, or, if they had
Nebraska Press. one, it was the work of Satan. They also
Kroeker, Marvin. 1997. Comanches and
Mennonites on the Southern Plains: A. J.
assumed that American Indians were ca-
and Magdalena Becker and the Post Oak pable, and even desirous, of conversion
Mission. Hillsboro, KS: Kindred and civilization. However, the most char-
Productions.
acteristic feature of English Protestant
Lasssiter, Luke Eric. 2001. “‘From Here On, I
Will Be Praying to You’: Indian Churches, missions (which set them apart from the
Kiowa Hymns, and Native American Jesuit missions in New France) was their
Christianity in Southwestern Oklahoma.”
insistence upon the complete assimila-
Ethnomusicology 45: 338–352.
Lassiter, Luke Eric, Clyde Ellis, and Ralph tion of Native people to English cultural
Kotay. 2002. The Jesus Road: Kiowas, practices, and the complete renuncia-
Christianity, and Indian Hymns. Lincoln:
tion of every aspect of traditional
Prucha, Francis Paul. 1984. The Great lifestyles, beliefs, and practices. It was
Father: The United States Government believed that such an approach to mis-
530
___________________________________________________________________ Missionization, Northeast
sionization would both create a cultur- English missions were formed within
ally cohesive society and, in turning Na- praying towns, sedentary agricultural
tive people into sedentary villagers, settlements in which Native people lived
farmers, and laborers, would free up Na- in nuclear families. Here Native women
tive land for English settlement. submitted to their husband’s rule, and
English missionaries thus made as English clergy were the final voice of au-
their first priority the cultural conversion thority. Praying towns centered on the
of Native people, seeking to convince the introduction of English cultural traits
various indigenous nations around them such as dress, family structures, lan-
to give up their nomadic or semino- guage, trade, and the introduction of a
madic modes of life and adopt an en- wage-labor economy. Native people
tirely sedentary and agricultural one. Mi- were trained to take up low-skill manual
gration between seasonal tasks such as labor positions, in preparation for their
hunting, gathering, and seasonal agri- integration into English colonial society
culture was seen as barbaric. English- as a servant class. Converts were given
men viewed the relatively easy and effi- new names, new laws, and (for men) hair
cient lifestyle of the Native people as cuts, so that they would no longer look
licentious, and they sought to encourage like “Ruffians, Wild Irish, and Barbarous
a life of hard work, discipline, and sacri- Indians” (Axtell 1986, 176).
fice. Native gender roles also disturbed Beginning in the late seventeenth cen-
English settlers, who saw women doing tury, English missionaries also began the
the majority of agricultural work, owning construction of residential boarding
homes, and maintaining a voice in local schools as a tool of conversion. The
politics. In most indigenous economies schools were based on the model of the
of the New England region, Native Irish Charity Schools, in which children
women owned the fields and the prod- were removed from their homes and
ucts of their labor. They often owned the taught English language and culture.
homes, had authority in tribal decision- Such schools were funded through the
making, and could claim a divorce, children’s own manual labor.
should they desire one. English mission- Praying towns and residential schools
aries sought to change these cultural in New England never achieved any great
gender codes, encouraging Native men success. The most immediately apparent
to take up what from an indigenous per- reason for this was that conversion
spective was the feminized task of agri- meant breaking almost entirely with
cultural labor. They sought to curtail ac- one’s family and community. Extended
cess to divorce, and encouraged private families and kinship networks formed
male ownership of individual family the most important structure of life for
farms, rather than communally held and Native people in New England. To join
women-controlled agricultural land. the English missions was to abandon
531
Missionization, Northeast ____________________________________________________________________
Moravian missionary David Zeisberger preaching to the Indians in Forest County, Pennsylvania,
1767. Hand-colored woodcut. (North Wind Picture Archives)
one’s culture and family, becoming iso- indigenous people willing to listen to
lated in the world. Converts were no their message.
longer a part of their own Native com- Additionally, English missionaries
munity, nor were they entirely a part of were extremely reluctant to travel far
English society. An additional reason for afield, as their Jesuit colleagues in New
the failure of residential schools was that France were prone to do. English clergy
they soon became concentrated loca- preferred to live within the colonies,
tions of disease, and few students sur- ministering to English settlers. Those at-
vived for long. Burials soon cost the tempts at missions that they did make,
schools more than tuition. such as praying towns and residential
Such high disease rates were part of a schools, were designed for those Native
larger series of epidemics sweeping people who were willing to come to
through New England in the seventeenth them.
century. It is estimated that New England Praying towns also encountered diffi-
Native nations were reduced by half from culties when a series of Native uprisings
1600 to 1650. Epidemics thus posed an- threatened English colonies, such as
other obstacle to the success of English Pontiac’s revolt in 1762. English colonists
missions. As populations declined, En- responded by blaming all Native people,
glish missionaries found fewer and fewer even those who had converted to Chris-
532
___________________________________________________________________ Missionization, Northeast
tianity and were attempting to become erarchy of creation. This emphasis on

good Englishmen and -women. So-called self-debasement held little appeal for a
praying Indians were removed to isolated people taught to value personal achieve-
encampments “for their own protection.” ment and collective success. The Protes-
Many found themselves no longer wel- tant notion of a single deity also proved
comed by the English colonists who had problematic for many Native people,
initially sought them out. who saw the world as animated by
The theology that the English offered countless spiritual beings, each of which
also proved problematic for many Native could be called upon in times of need,
people. First, the English saw complete and which offered spiritual power,
cultural conversion as a prerequisite to strength, and ability. To join the Protes-
religious conversion. Many Native peo- tant church was hence not only to aban-
ple were simply not interested in such a don one’s family and community but
dramatic shift in their way of life. Sec- also to break off relationships with pow-
ondly, the English notion of sin did not erful spirit-beings inhabiting the natural
have a precedent in Native philosophy. world. Such a break, within traditional
Right and wrong in Native traditions religious practice, could easily result in
were determined by cultural consensus: misfortune, sickness, or even death.
actions that secured a stable, healthy, The combination of all these fac-
and cohesive community were good. Ac- tors—epidemic diseases, the uncom-
tions that created discord and destruc- promising requirement of cultural con-
tion were bad. But every individual was version to English modes of life,
innately capable, in fact naturally in- philosophical and theological differ-
clined, toward doing good. Seventeenth- ences, as well as the English clergy’s re-
century English Protestantism, however, luctance to meet Native people in their
taught a doctrine of original sin: human- own land and on their own terms—ulti-
ity was innately sinful; human nature mately led to the general failure of En-
was naturally “filthy and loathsome.” Be- glish missions. After 1670 very few mis-
cause of this, one was in need of salva- sions continued to function, and English
tion. One could be saved only through clergy turned their attention to leading
grace, and through a life of diligent disci- churches within English colonies. En-
pline devoted to prayer and spiritual ob- glish clergy found virtually no success in
servance. For seventeenth-century En- Northern New England or the western
glish clergy, the greatest hindrance to New York frontier, either. Jesuit missions
salvation was the human sin of pride. had already established a foothold in
Hence, much of English missionary ef- those areas, and they proved much more
fort was geared toward stripping Native attractive to Native parishioners.
people of their pride and teaching them English missionaries maintained their
to take their place within an ordered hi- efforts among some groups, such as the
533
Missionization, Northern Plains ____________________________________________________________
Mohawk, throughout the eighteenth See also Missionization, Great Lakes; Oral
century, primarily to prevent French Je- Traditions, Northeast; Religious Leadership,
Northeast; Revitalization Movements,
suits from making inroads into English Northeast
territory. But such efforts were only mar- References and Further Reading
ginally successful. Conversions, when Axtell, James. 1986. The Invasion Within:
they did occur, appear to have come only The Contest of Cultures in Colonial North
America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
from those Native people who were ex- Bowden, Henry Warner. 1985. American
periencing such a degree of social and Indians and Christian Missions: Studies
spiritual crisis that they felt they had no in Cultural Conflict. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
other chance for survival. The English
Grumet, Robert. 1996. Northeastern Indian
experienced some lackluster success, Lives: 1632–1816. Amherst: University of
but only among small coastal groups Massachusetts Press.
Wallace, Anthony. 1972. Death and Rebirth
that were greatly weakened by disease
of the Seneca. New York: Vintage Press,
and warfare. Random House.
Native people in the region generally
rejected most attempts by Protestant
clergy to convert them to Christianity.
The most remarkable form of resistance Missionization, Northern
came in the form of Handsome Lake,
Plains
also known as Sedwa’gowa’ne (“Our
Great Teacher”), who brought the mes- During the 1700s, or earlier, the Kalispel
sage of Gaiwiio (“Good Word”) to his (Salish/Flathead) chief and shaman
Seneca people. Handsome Lake Shining Shirt received a prophetic vision
adopted certain elements of the Chris- from a Power that predicted that fair-
tian message, but he called for his peo- skinned men in long black skirts would
ple to return to traditional modes of life, bring major changes and teach them the
rejecting the corrupting influences of truth about religion. Other white men
Euro-American society, such as alcohol, would overrun their country and enslave
violence, and intermarriage. He pro- people. He was given a metal talisman
moted a moral code that has become inscribed with a cross. Between 1812 and
known as the Code of Handsome Lake, 1820, Christian Iroquois fur trappers set-
in which he called for a return to tradi- tled among the Flathead and taught
tional ways of life, morality, and spiritu- them a few Catholic rituals. In 1825, a
ality. The religious movement he began, young Spokane named Garry accompa-
known as the Longhouse tradition, con- nied a Hudson Bay Company brigade to
tinues to be a central part of New En- the Red River School in Canada run by
gland Native religious practice into the Anglicans of the Missionary Society of
twenty-first century. England; when he returned he estab-
Suzanne J. Crawford lished a church and school. Two Koote-
534
___________________________________________________________ Missionization, Northern Plains
nai youths traveled with Hudson Bay Arapaho, Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara.
Company Snake River excursions in the He served as a mediator, peacemaker,
Great Basin and California in the 1820s, and interpreter as well as priest.
where they made contact with Chris- Protestant groups began to extend
tians, perhaps a Roman Catholic mis- other active missionary work into the
sion. They returned bringing new ideas Northern Plains during the 1850s. Be-
about the Supreme Being, a feast dance tween 1853 and 1855 Orson Hyde and
on the seventh day of the week, and other Mormon missionaries were sent to
making the sign of the cross. Fur trader the Shoshoni, Flathead, Nez Perce, and
Nathaniel Wyeth took two youths, a Flat- Blackfeet. In 1856 Elkanah Mackey and
head and Nez Perce, to Boston in 1833. his wife were sent by the Presbyterian
Interested in Christianity, the Flathead Board of Missions to minister to the
and Nez Perce sent four delegations, in Blackfeet, but the mission lasted only six
1831, 1835, 1837, and 1839, to St. Louis to weeks. In 1858 the Lutheran Synod of
ask for Catholic “Black Robe” missionar- Iowa sent missionaries Johann J.
ies to come among them. Schmidt and Moritz Brauninger to work
Inspired by the Indian requests, be- among the Crow; the mission was aban-
tween 1834 and 1838 Jason Lee doned after a couple of years. In Min-
(Methodist) and Marcus Whitman and nesota and the Dakotas, Bishop Henry B.
Henry S. Spaulding (Presbyterians of the Whipple and others of the Protestant
American Board of Commissioners for Episcopal Church began work with Sioux
Foreign Missions) visited the Montana groups in the 1860s. John P. Williamson
Flatheads. They founded missions and Alfred R. Riggs (American Board of
among the Chinook, Nez Perce, and Commissioners for Foreign Missions)
Cayuse. In 1840, “Black Robe” Jesuit fa- began work at Santee, Nebraska, begin-
ther Pierre-Jean De Smet traveled to the ning in 1870, and Thomas L. Riggs estab-
Green River fur trade rendezvous and lished a Congregational mission at
was escorted to meet the main Flathead Cheyenne River and Standing Rock.
delegation along with Nez Perce, Pend William Wesley Van Orsdel, the famous
d’Oreilles, and Kalispels. In 1841 he es- Methodist “Brother Van,” began work
tablished St. Mary’s Mission among the among the Blackfeet beginning in 1872.
Flathead in the Bitterroot Valley. Under Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Fitch opened a school
his direction, the Lord’s Prayer, Ten Com- at Fort Peck (Assiniboine and Sioux) in
mandments, Hail Mary, and other litur- 1875 and were with the mission for a
gies were translated into the Flathead year. The Swiss Benedictine priest Mar-
language. De Smet began early to extend tin Marty, known as “the Apostle of the
missions to other tribes and eventually Sioux,” began work after the 1876 Little
made contact with Blackfeet, Assini- Big Horn battle. In 1876, C. L. Hall and
boine, Sioux, Crow, Cheyenne, Shoshoni, his wife established a Congregational
535
mission at Fort Berthold (Mandan, Hi- other customs. In the view of most Indi-
datsa, and Arikara). In 1880 George W. ans, the rituals, prayers, and hymns were
Wood established a Presbyterian mission equivalent. Tribal members hoped to
at Fort Peck, and Episcopalians began add the power of the new religion to their
work among the Lakota at Pine Ridge. own. They were especially interested in
Bishop William H. Hare (Episcopalian) application of this power in warfare,
began work with the Dakotas beginning health, and other personal and tribal
at Yankton Agency in 1883, and Philip J. concerns. Eventually, however, tensions
Deloria (Dakota) was ordained and put grew. The Indians were not willing to un-
in charge of the Standing Rock mission. dergo forced change, and they also wit-
John Roberts and others started Episco- nessed the contradictions and assaults
palian work with the Shoshones and Ara- of Euro-American culture. Intertribal
pahoes of Wind River between 1875 and and Indian-white conflicts, along with
1883. Father John Jutz began Catholic inconsistent funding and limited per-
work with the Arapaho of Wind River in sonnel, also were factors in the intermit-
1884, with Franciscan sisters as teachers. tent mission work.
St. Labre was established among the Missionary activity was connected
Cheyenne in 1884, with a school directed with treaty-making. Father De Smet was
by the Ursuline sisters, who also ex- a mediator at the 1851 Fort Laramie
tended work to the St. Xavier mission treaties and was a government represen-
among the Crow in 1887. The Catholic St. tative during the 1868 Laramie treaty ne-
Paul’s Mission was established in 1885 to gotiations; he met separately with a
serve the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre of Sioux village on the Yellowstone River, at
Fort Belknap. Mennonites began work which time he gave Sitting Bull a crucifix
among the Northern Cheyenne in 1904. as a gift. President Grant’s “Peace Policy”
The Federal Council of Churches estab- beginning in 1869–1870 followed advice
lished the Home Missions Council in of several Christian groups, including
1908, and fourteen denominations the Society of Friends (Quakers) on In-
joined. dian policy. The main purpose was to
Missionaries viewed many aspects of change from corruption to honest ad-
Indian culture as superstition and idola- ministration, and to gain Indian trust
try. Indians, as pagans, had to be rescued through conquest by kindness so they
from darkness and sin by conversion, could be worked with individually, edu-
baptism, and attendance at church ser- cated, and assimilated. Churches would
vices. Generally, missionaries also recommend reservation agents, who in
equated Western civilization with Chris- turn would coordinate choices for teach-
tianity and pressured Indians to become ers, farming advisors, and other person-
like white people in their dress, nel called for in the treaties. The Chris-
dwellings, socioeconomic practices, and tian layman Felix R. Brunot became
536
director of the Board of Indian Commis- reservation embittered after the winter
sioners, established in 1869. The “Peace of 1883, when six hundred Blackfeet died
Proclamation” by Grant in 1872 divided of starvation.
the reservations among various denomi- Under the 1884 Rules and Regulations
nations. Assignments were: Montana of the Secretary of the Interior, it was con-
Flathead and the Sioux agencies at sidered an “Indian offense” to hold give-
Standing Rock and Fort Totten to aways, feasts, Sun Dances, and most
Catholics; all other Montana reserva- other dances and ceremonies, or to be a
tions to Methodists; Sioux agencies medicine man. In 1889, Commissioner
along the Missouri to Episcopalians; Nez of Indian Affairs T. J. Morgan (a Baptist
Perce to Presbyterians; Hidatsa, Man- educator) stated: “The reservation sys-
dan, and Arikara of Fort Berthold to Con- tem belongs to a ‘vanishing state of
gregationalists. To be included in agency things.’ . . . The Indians must conform to
assignments became a status symbol, ‘the white man’s ways,’ peaceably if they
and churches competed for appoint- will, forcibly if they must . . .” (Morgan
ments. Sometimes, because there were 1889, 3–4). There was common agree-
not enough staff, other denominations ment that there could be no substantial
were allowed to work simultaneously on progress in civilization without the pres-
a reservation. For example, American ence of Christianity. The goal was detrib-
Board Presbyterian and Congregational alization and assimilation, and agents,
missions worked on the Sioux reserva- teachers, and missionaries worked to de-
tions along with Episcopalians. stroy tribal institutions, particularly gov-
As American territorial expansion ernment and religion in dances, festivals,
continued during the 1870s, the army and ceremonies, and to transform the
protected gold-seekers and emigrants economy of each Indian family. Children
and the buffalo dwindled; Indian de- were forced to attend boarding schools,
fense of their lands increased. The mili- such as those at Carlisle (Pennsylvania),
tary approach to Indian policy took the Haskell (Kansas), Santee (Nebraska), and
forefront, and the political “spoils sys- Chemawa (Oregon). Americanization
tem” was again used to appoint agents. also emphasized eliminating external
Indians were forced onto reservations by signs of Indianness, including names
the 1880s, resulting in economic depen- and personal appearance in clothing and
dence after extinction of the buffalo, long hair. From 1904 to 1916, Father John
malnutrition, disease, and social disinte- B. Carroll at St. Michael’s church
gration. Many missionaries were dis- launched an attack on Blackfeet tradi-
turbed by conditions that they witnessed tions, being especially critical of the Sun
and participated in. John Young, a Dance, and in 1934, Father Kane refused
Methodist minister and agent to the last rites to a woman who had been the
Blackfeet during 1876–1883, left the medicine woman at a Blackfeet Sun
537
Dance, until she publically confessed. religion among white men for us to un-
One Crow, a nominal Catholic, began at- derstand, and that scarcely any two white
tending Peyote meetings in 1916 and men agreed which was the right one to
eventually was excommunicated. learn” (Linderman 1930, 227–228).
Some missionaries were tolerant, sep- Conditions in the late nineteenth and
arated issues of language, kinship, and early twentieth centuries were frustrat-
dress from strictly religious issues, and ing to Indians. The Crow woman Pretty
were open to seeing equivalencies be- Shield said that the white man had
tween Indian and Christian beliefs and “changed everything for us, did many
practices. Father Peter Prando accom- bad deeds before we got used to him. . . .
modated many Indian cultural values We grew hungry and sick and afraid, all
when he worked with the Blackfeet, in one” (Linderman 1932, 249–250). In
Cheyenne, and Crow. In 1883 he told the spring of 1884, Louis Riel (French-
Blackfeet chief White Calf, who had be- Cree Metis) was teaching at the Catholic
come a Catholic, that a modified version St. Peters Mission in present Montana. A
of the Sun Dance would be acceptable. Metis delegation visited, requesting him
Yet by the end of the nineteenth century, to return to Canada to lead them in a po-
few Indians had converted fully to Chris- litical movement against the Canadian
tianity. Indian leaders noted the contra- government. In 1887 a young Crow war-
dictions within American society and the rior named Wraps His Tail led a brief re-
sectarian divisiveness among the bellion, and the Army was called out to
churches. A Sioux leader stated: “It is your help control him and his followers. When
people, who you say have the Great Ursuline nuns arrived at the Crow
Spirit’s book, who bring us the fire-water. Agency during the height of public ex-
It is your white men who corrupt our citement, some of the “hostiles” and
daughters. Go teach them to do right, other Crow escorted them to the new St.
and then come to us and I will believe Xavier Mission.
you.’’ Chief Joseph (Nez Perce) protested Based initially on the vision of Wovoka
against missionaries among his people, (Paiute), the Ghost Dance of 1889–1890
declaring: “They will teach us to quarrel spread to many tribes in the West. Wo-
about Great Spirit. . . . We may quarrel voka had been influenced by Presbyteri-
with men . . . but we never quarrel about ans and Mormons. Native and Christian
God. We do not want to learn that” (Arm- beliefs were combined in most tribes,
strong 1984, 110). In the view of chief and some Indians called it the “Dance to
Plenty Coups (Crow), who was a nominal Christ.” The Gros Ventre Ghost Dance in-
Catholic, the “Wise ones” of the White corporated Christian and Flat Pipe as-
man “said we might have their religion, pects as well as an associated hand
but when we tried to understand it we game. Catholic and Episcopalian priests
found that there were too many kinds of helped survivors of the Wounded Knee
538
massacre in December 1890. Charles Men’s Christian Association. The Ca-

Eastman (Dakota Sioux) served as resi- tholic Little Flower Chapel replaced St.
dent doctor at the Episcopal church, Michael’s near Browning in 1932, and
which served as a hospital. He writes that Blackfeet Indians, among them many
what he witnessed “was a severe ordeal old traditional leaders, arranged the cer-
for one who had so lately put all his faith emonies for the dedication.
in the Christian love and lofty ideals of During the late nineteenth and early
the White man” (Eastman 1977, 114). The twentieth centuries, a number of reli-
redemptive Native American (peyote) gious and social reform groups, broadly
Church was brought to the Northern called “Friends of the Indian,” worked to
Plains at the turn of the century. In most protect Indian rights at the same time
tribes, the predominant version became that they generally supported official
the Cross-Fire, which includes Christian federal policy to eliminate Indianness
elements such as prayers to Jesus and St. through an Americanization program.
Paul, identification of Chief Peyote with Members of these groups included In-
Jesus, and reference to the Bible. dian leaders, social scientists and re-
Indians have been active participants formers, and many authors, artists, and
in both Catholic and Protestant mis- poets, many of them Christian. The orga-
sions. In 1866, Yankton chiefs requested nizations included the Lake Mohonk
that Father De Smet establish a mission Conference, National Indian Defense As-
and school. In 1887 land was contributed sociation, Indian Rights Association, and
by Chief White Calf (Blackfeet) for build- American Indian Defense Association.
ing a school in connection with the Jesuit The most influential organization was
Holy Family Mission. In 1890 a group of the Society of American Indians, which
Crow petitioned the Secretary of Interior was active between 1911 and the early
to allow Jesuit missionaries to establish 1920s. Among the Indian members were
the Pryor/St. Charles Mission and Dr. Charles Eastman (Sioux, physician
school, so the children could be edu- and writer), Sherman Coolidge (Ara-
cated in their home community; in 1891, paho, Episcopalian minister), and Henry
Plenty Coups donated a portion of his Roe Cloud (Winnebago, Presbyterian
land for that purpose. Before 1900, chief minister). A major question discussed by
Washakie (Shoshone) gave land for an these organizations was whether Indians
Episcopal church school. In 1903, W. A. could remain Indian and yet become
Petzoldt of the Baptist Home Missionary part of the larger nation, or would have
Society established a church on the Crow to give up some or all aspects of Indian
Reservation with a day school requested culture in order to adapt to the American
by the Crow. In 1918 one Presbyterian world. There was a re-evaluation of Na-
Assiniboine from Fort Peck was a mem- tive religion and missions on the part of
ber of the board of directors of the Young Indians, the U.S. government, and
539
churches. The 1884 Rules and Regula- tween Indian and Catholic social and
tions (reissued in 1904), however, still religious systems. John Frost (Cree), a
gave the BIA authorization to control In- Baptist from the Crow Reservation, re-
dian religious practices. They were in ef- ported at the Chicago Coliseum in 1927:
fect in 1921 when, pressured by mission- “Great changes have taken place and
aries and others, Secretary of Interior many of the Crows are rejoicing in a
Albert Fall and Commissioner of Indian Saviour’s love. . . . [We] now have five
Affairs C. H. Burke ordered limits on the Indian churches and our own Indian As-
number and types of Indian social and sociation” (Hayne 1928, 99). In 1937 a
ritual dances, while at the same time banner was designed by Gros Ventres
being “somewhat tolerant” of the and the School Sisters of St. Francis for
dances. Although the reformers did not St. Paul’s Mission delegation to the Eu-
gain full religious freedom for Indians, charistic Congress in Great Falls, Mon-
they did achieve several benefits. These tana; the banner shows the Gros Ventre
included the Indian Citizenship Act of Flat Pipe and Feathered Pipe, subordi-
1924, the Meriam Report of 1928 (which nate to the cross but symbolically im-
generally praised missionary work, espe- portant and honored.
cially in education and health), and the Some Indians incorporated Christian
Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. practices into their lives, giving up most
As mediators and teachers, as well as Indian religious orientations but not
assimilationists, missionaries helped in necessarily Indian language and kinship
the adaptation to powerful cultural practices. In some cases converts op-
forces. Father Eberschweiler (who posed the Sun Dance, peyote religion,
founded St. Paul’s Mission) and the Bu- and other ceremonies. In 1918 a Presby-
reau of Catholic Missions aided the terian Assiniboine from the Fort Peck
Gros Ventre and Assiniboines in obtain- Reservation testified against peyote in
ing the Fort Belknap reservation in hearings before a U.S. House Committee
1888. Indians turned to missionaries for on Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C.
aid in establishing schools and in ob- Some Cheyenne Mennonites testified
taining loans, wage work, markets for against the Sun Dance between 1919 and
their farm products, and introduction 1927.
to other Christians for purposes of mar- During the 1930s, Commissioner of
riage. Bible translating gave a base to Indian Affairs John Collier issued orders
written Indian languages and thus in- to BIA field workers forbidding them to
terpretive struggle with theological is- interfere with Indian religious life; he di-
sues. The Catholic congresses of the rected that the culture of Indians is to be
early twentieth century, sponsored by considered equal to that of any non-In-
the Bureau of Catholic Missions, did dian group, and abolished the bureau re-
much to bring accommodation be- quirement that Indian students at gov-
540
ernment boarding schools attend Chris- ment, the American Indian Policy Re-
tian worship service. The key legislation view Commission, the American Indian
of his policy was the 1934 Indian Reorga- Religious Freedom Act, the Native Amer-
nization Act (Wheeler-Howard Bill), ican Graves Protection and Repatriation
which provided for tribal self-govern- Act, and voting rights. Political and cul-
ment. Recommendations against Indian tural persistence and revivals occurred
customs were sent to Collier from mis- as people moved between urban areas
sionary groups, politicians, and several and reservations. Vine Deloria, Jr.
Indians, who denounced him for return- (Standing Rock Sioux), wrote a chapter-
ing Indians to un-American alien reli- long caustic critique of missionaries in
gions and a degrading tribalism. Never- his book Custer Died for Your Sins (1969).
theless, the Indian New Deal allowed for In his God Is Red (1974 and 1994) he
continued persistence and revival of Na- wrote:
tive religion. During the 1930s the
Cheyenne Sacred Hat bundle was Tribal cultures have shifted to confront
opened, and groups of Blackfeet held the changes forced on the people by
Medicine Pipe smoking ceremonies and the tidal wave of white settlement . . . a
continuous conflict of two mutually
bundle openings. The Sioux Sun Dance
exclusive religious views of the world.
was revived in 1938. A Shoshoni version The validity of these two religious
of the Sun Dance at Fort Washakie, views is yet to be determined. One,
Wyoming, had integrated a number of Christianity, appears to be in its death
Christian elements between 1890 and throes. The other, the tribal religion, is
attempting to make a comeback in a
1905; it was brought to the Crow Reser- world as different from the world of its
vation in 1941. In 1945 the Cheyenne Sa- origins as is the present world different
cred Arrow (Mahuts) bundle was from the world of Christian origins.
opened, and a Gros Ventre Flat Pipe bun- (237–238)
dle opening ceremony was held in 1946.
Programs from the Depression and At the same time, most churches had
World War II to the 1990s included par- renewed interest in and re-evaluation of
ticipation of Indians in the military and their relations with Native Americans.
urban industries, reservation-to-urban Baptisms, weddings, and funerals are
relocation, “war on poverty,” regional performed by ministers and priests;
economic development, increased em- churches sponsor retreats and offer
phasis on education and civil rights, and counseling. Some priests and ministers
diversification of Indian programs incorporate Native traditions into
within the federal government and state church services through hymns sung in
agencies. All of these activities resulted Native languages, preaching sermons in
in more political involvement of Indians, a combination of English and tribal lan-
in the militant American Indian Move- guages and using items such as pipes
541
and tobacco, sage, cedar, and sweetgrass. under the influence of your Order.”
Some participate in Native ceremonies Today, Northern Plains Indian Christian
such as the Sun Dance and sweatlodge. religious activity centers on Catholic,
They do so as community participants to Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Mormon,
enhance their ministry. In 1961, with fi- and Pentecostal religions, with involve-
nancial aid from the Anglican Church of ment also by Presbyterians, Unitarians,
Canada, planning began for an Indian Quakers (Society of Friends), and others.
Ecumenical Conference as a pan-Indian During the 1990s, Indian religion was in-
religious integration. The first confer- cluded in a major review of the history of
ence was held at Crow Agency in 1970 religion in Montana, sponsored in part
with ninety-three official delegates from by the Montana Association of Churches.
forty-seven tribes. In Catholic belief, Paradoxical and ambivalent relation-
“fulfillment theology” has emerged, with ships continue. Missionaries are seen as
Lakota meditations such as the state- aggressors who tried to suppress Indian
ment by Edgar Red Cloud: “The Woman culture, yet who also offered sympathetic
who brought the Calf Pipe is the Blessed assistance. Some Indians see the two re-
Virgin Mary who brought Christ” ligious traditions as separate and con-
(quoted in Steinmetz 1984, 129) and that flicting, and popular bumper stickers
of Benjamin Black Elk: “The Sacred Pipe read “Custer Died for Your Sins” and
is a Symbol of Christ.” It is in this ecu- “Born-Again Pagan.” Most Indians com-
menical context that in 1986 two Crow bine or alternate Christianity with In-
men, flanked by leaders of a dozen faiths dian-oriented religions at various levels
from around the world, stood before the in what Powers (1987) calls dual organi-
pope in Assisi as part of a world ecu- zation and Grobsmith (1981) calls dual
menical gathering to pray for peace. participation. An Assiniboine from Fort
Northern Plains Indians participated in Belknap has been the regional coordina-
interfaith dialogue at the 1993 centen- tor of the Catholic Tekakwitha Confer-
nial of the World’s Parliament of Reli- ence. Some artists combine Native and
gions in Chicago. Christian imagery in their paintings. In
Christianity and missions continue to the view of some Crow, each religion is
exercise influence among Indians. In like the spoke of a wheel, each separate
1954 the St. Ignatius Mission celebrated and distinct but all connected to the
its centennial. The Confederated Salish hub—complementary and necessary to
and Kootenai Tribal Council wrote to the function of the wheel. The interac-
congratulate the resident priest on the tion between Indian religion and Chris-
service the Jesuits “have rendered to the tian missions has involved resistance,
spiritual, economic and educational ad- accommodation, assimilation, and syn-
vancement of the Salish and Kootenai cretism on both sides.
people. It has been a pleasure to live C. Adrian Heidenreich
542
__________________________________________________________________ Missionization, Northwest
See also Black Elk; Bundles, Sacred Bundle Linderman, Frank B. 1930. Plenty Coups,
Traditions; Christianity, Indianization of; Chief of the Crows. Lincoln: University of
Dreams and Visions; Native American Nebraska Press.
Church, Peyote Movement; Oral ———. 1932. Pretty-shield, Medicine
Traditions, Western Plains; Religious Woman of the Crows. Lincoln: University
Leadership, Plains; Spiritual and of Nebraska Press.
Ceremonial Practitioners, Plains; Mattison, Ray H. 1957. “Indian Missions
Sundance, Plains; Sweatlodge; Vision and Missionaries on the Upper Missouri
Quest Rites to 1900.” Nebraska History 38: 127–154.
References and Further Reading Morgan, Thomas Jefferson. 1889. Report of
Armstrong, Virginia I. (comp.) 1984. I Have the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Spoken: American History through the Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Voices of Indians. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Printing Office.
Press. Palladino, L. B. 1922. Indian and White in
Beaver, R. Pierce. 1988. “Protestant the Northwest: A History of Catholicity in
Churches and the Indians.” Pp. 430–458 Montana, 1831 to 1891. Lancaster, PA:
in Handbook of North American Indians: Wickersham.
History of Indian-White Relations, vol. 4. Powers, William K. 1987. “Dual Religious
Edited by Wilcomb E. Washburn. Participation: Stratagems of Conversion
Washington, DC: Smithsonian among the Lakota.” Pp. 94–125 in Beyond
Institution. the Vision. Norman: University of
Bowden, Henry Warner. 1981. American Oklahoma Press.
Indians and Christian Missions. Chicago: Price, John A. 1988. “Mormon Missions to
University of Chicago Press. the Indians.” Pp. 459–463 in Handbook of
Burns, Robert I. 1988. “Roman Catholic North American Indians: History of
Missions in the Northwest.” Pp. 494–500 Indian-White Relations, vol. 4. Edited by
in Handbook of North American Indians: Wilcomb E. Washburn. Washington, DC:
History of Indian-White Relations, vol. 4. Smithsonian Institution.
Edited by Wilcomb E. Washburn. Small, Lawrence F., ed. 1992, 1995. Religion
Washington, DC: Smithsonian in Montana: Pathways to the Present,
Institution. vols. 1 and 2. Billings, MT: Rocky
Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1969. Custer Died for Your Mountain College/SkyHouse Publishers.
Sins. New York: Macmillan. Steinmetz, S. J., Paul B. 1984. Meditations
———. 1994. God Is Red: A Native View of with Native Americans: Lakota
Religion, 2d ed. New York: Grossett and Spirituality. Santa Fe: Bear and
Dunlap. Company.
DeMallie, Raymond J., and Douglas R.
Parks, eds. 1987. Sioux Indian Religion:
Tradition and Innovation. Norman:
Eastman, Charles A. 1977. From Deep Woods Missionization, Northwest
to Civilization. Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press. The first Christian missionaries in the
Hayne, Coe. 1928. Red Men on the Big Horn. Northwest came in the late eighteenth
Boston: Judson Press.
Grobsmith, Elizabeth S. 1981. Lakota of the century, in the form of Catholic friars
Rosebud: A Contemporary Ethnography. participating in Spanish voyages of ex-
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ploration along the coast. Like the
Harrod, Howard L. 1971. Mission among the
Blackfeet. Norman: University of Spanish presence in general, these friars
Oklahoma Press. had little lasting impact on indigenous
543
Missionization, Northwest ___________________________________________________________________
societies. During the first years of the fur God-fearing farmers. Of course, many of
trade, Catholic priests often ministered their attempts failed, as Indian people
to traders and their families in forts and accepted only some of the missionaries’
outposts throughout the region. Some of offerings or ignored them altogether.
these “black robes” made quite an im- Native responses to missionaries,
pression on Native people; in 1831, for however, could also include violence, as
example, a mixed Flathead/Nez Perce in the case of the famous “Whitman
delegation traveled to St. Louis to re- Massacre” of 1847. American Board
quest “the book” and the priests who missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whit-
worshipped with it. More an example of man had led the founding of a mission
strategic political outreach than a plea at Waiilatpu, Place of the Rye Grass, a
for conversion, the delegation’s visit traditional Cayuse camping ground.
spawned intense interest in the Pacific There they both attempted to convert
Northwest among Christian churches the Cayuse—often by coercive means—
and organizations. In the years to come, and served as a stopover for emigrants
the missionaries sent by these groups following the newly blazed Oregon Trail.
would come to play a powerful role in The Whitmans’ tactics, combined with
Native life and in the non-Indian settle- the flood of settlers and the diseases
ment of the Pacific Northwest. that followed them, led more militant
During the 1830s, Christian mission- Cayuse to launch an attack on the out-
aries of many denominations came to post in 1847, killing the Whitmans and
the Northwest in search of souls. In what eleven others and destroying the mis-
would become the American Pacific sion. The attack made national head-
Northwest, the American Board of Com- lines and resulted in a minor war that
missioners for Foreign Missions and the lasted two years and inspired the cre-
Methodist Mission Society sent repre- ation of the Oregon Territory, which
sentatives—typically married couples soon became a destination for even
and families—to establish Protestant more settlers. The Cayuse were right,
outposts in what they perceived as a then, to see the coming of missionaries
“heathen” wilderness. (Such outposts as closely linked to the arrival of out-
were also an attempt to control the influ- siders and their diseases.
ence of the largely Catholic Hudson’s Bay Meanwhile, to the north, missionaries
Company.) Beyond converting Indian were fanning out into territories that
people to Christianity, men and women would become British Columbia. During
like Cushing and Myra Eells, Elkanah the same years that the Protestant Whit-
and Mary Walker, and Jason Lee sought mans were trying to convert the Cayuse,
to transform Native ways of life entirely Catholic priests circulated through Na-
by turning skilled hunters and gatherers tive communities such as those of the
with existing religious traditions into Cowichan and Sto:lo. Unlike their coun-
544
terparts to the south, however, Modeste

Demers, Francis N. Blanchet, Pierre De
Smet, and other Catholic missionaries in
the future Canada typically had only su-
perficial contact with Indian communi-
ties. As a result, when Christian ideas
took hold at all, they were often simply
worked into existing systems of belief—
stories about the Christian Creation, for
example, could easily be absorbed into
indigenous creation stories without
changing Native society. As in the south,
however, effective missionary work—
”effective” meaning capable of trans-
forming Indian ways of life—would only
come with large-scale white settlement
in the 1850s.
As missionaries of different denomi-
nations—Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Narcissa Whitman nursing a sick Native
Presbyterian, among others—came in American during a western missionary
increasing numbers to the Pacific North- expedition, 1840s. Hand-colored woodcut.
(North Wind Picture Archives)
west, they vied with each other for Native
souls. One of the most unusual and
telling artifacts of this religious competi- into damnation. The ladders, then,
tion was the “ladder,” an illustrated chart brought centuries-old religious conflicts
up to six feet long, depicting basic Chris- born in Reformation-era Europe into the
tian beliefs including the historical tra- homelands of Native people throughout
jectory between Creation and the estab- the Pacific Northwest.
lishment of missions among the Native Competition between Christian mis-
peoples of the Northwest. More than just sionaries only heightened with the es-
a tool for conversion, though, the ladders tablishment of settler towns and farm-
also represented long-standing animosi- ing communities in the 1850s and
ties between Protestants and Catholics. afterward. Increased settlement in the
Most ladders included depictions of Northwest added another facet to the re-
wayward souls falling into Hell; on lationship between missionaries and
Catholic ladders, it was Protestants Native people, however. As white com-
falling into the flames, while on Protes- munities began to be established in the
tant versions, Native audiences could see region, churches of varying denomina-
bishops, and even the Pope, being cast tions sent missionaries to attend not to
545
the spiritual development of nearby In- ple, the Catholics were given control over
dian communities but to that of the set- several reservations, including the Tu-
tlers themselves. One of their primary lalip, Lummi, and Swinomish, while
reasons for doing so was concern that Methodists became the “caretakers” of
male settlers, faced with a lack of avail- the Makah and Quinault and Congrega-
able white women, were intermarrying tionalist missionaries took over the
with local Native women and creating— Puyallup and Skokomish reservations. A
in church leaders’ minds—the wrong similar process took place in British Co-
kind of society in the Northwest. Mis- lumbia, as different Christian denomi-
sionaries in new American towns such nations became central forces in the
as Seattle became voices of racial purity daily lives of First Nations people. Re-
during the years of early settlement, ar- gardless of their churchly affiliations,
guing that the mixing of races led only to however, these missionary-bureaucrats
degradation and moral decay and call- shared many of the same goals: to put an
ing for segregation in the forms of end to traditional ways of life. Through a
treaties and statutes that outlawed in- wide range of policies and practices—
terracial marriage. Meanwhile, to the most notably boarding schools and the
north, Canadian settlers, frustrated with outlawing of traditional ceremonies
missionaries’ attempts to maintain vi- such as the potlatch—missionaries typi-
able, if assimilated, Native communi- cally did everything they could to “kill
ties, called for their government to ex- the Indian but save the man”(Pratt 1892)
tinguish indigenous title to traditional in the late nineteenth and early twenti-
territories, while also supporting the im- eth centuries.
portation of white women to “civilize” In a handful of cases, missionaries
communities that were at that point could also offer new opportunities to Na-
largely biracial. On both sides of the bor- tive communities. William Duncan, for
der, then, missionaries played central example, began a mission among the
roles in the dispossession of Indian Tsimshian of British Columbia in 1857,
lands. organizing it around a utopian, demo-
After the establishment of reserves cratic model. Although Native people
and reservations, Native people in the who joined Duncan’s community of Met-
Northwest found themselves increas- lakatla were required to renounce tradi-
ingly under the control of Christian mis- tional ways of life, they often benefited
sionaries. In the American Northwest, from the economic ventures that Dun-
Indian agencies were doled out to can coordinated, and some Metlakatla
churches and religious organizations community members went on to be-
under President Ulysses S. Grant’s “Peace come key leaders in the Native rights
Policy,” a major reform that began in movement in both British Columbia and
1877. In western Washington, for exam- Alaska. Metlakatla remains a distinct
546
community of Christian Native people on the Columbia River, far from any
today, suggesting that not all missionary reservation.
efforts resulted in a loss of Indian iden- Meanwhile, other indigenous political
tity. For most Christian missionaries, and religious movements developed in
though, the extinction of indigenous cul- the nineteenth-century Pacific North-
ture was an explicit goal. west, inspired both by missionary ideas
Ironically, the reports and journals of and settler injustices. On the Grande
these missionaries offer some of the best Ronde and Siletz reservations in western
eyewitness accounts, second only to oral Oregon, a movement known as the Earth
tradition, of the cultural practices they Lodge cult, or the South Wind Dance,
were trying to destroy. And even more emerged in 1871, inspired in part by ac-
ironic is the fact that, despite their best counts of Smohalla’s Dreamers but also
efforts, missionaries were often unable by Christian ideas of redemption and
to bring about complete assimilation in salvation. Spread between communities
the communities under their charge. In- by men like Depot Charlie, Sixes George,
deed, the presence of missionaries and Coquille Thompson, the Earth
could lead to new, vital forms of Native Lodge could be found among the Tilla-
religion. Throughout the Pacific North- mook, Coos, Siuslaw, and Lower
west, Christian theories—in particular, Umpqua by the late 1870s. Near Florence
concepts of sin and the belief in the Sec- on the Oregon coast, Earth Lodge follow-
ond Coming of Christ—gave Indian peo- ers built a massive dance house in 1878,
ple new ways of explaining the dramatic much to the concern of the handful of
changes taking place in their lives, and white settlers in the area, who saw such
new ways of resisting the missionaries movements as threats to both their su-
themselves. On the Columbia Plateau, premacy in the region and to their per-
for example, a Wanapam prophet sonal safety. Like the Dreamer religion,
named Smohalla became the leader of however, the Earth Lodge/South Wind
the Dreamer religion, which combined Dance movement, which declined after
traditional Wanapam beliefs with Chris- the 1880s, was a nonviolent but militant
tian ideas and symbols to create a pow- way for Indian communities to find
erful movement centered on purity and strength in a traumatic time.
the belief that whites would someday While the Dreamer and Earth Lodge
leave Native lands. Labeled “renegades,” religious movements eventually disap-
Smohalla and his Dreamer followers peared, another Pacific Northwest reli-
maintained their independence and re- gious movement, the Shaker Church, re-
fused to relocate to reservations. Al- mains a strong presence in the region’s
though the Dreamer religion faded after Indian communities to the present day.
Smohalla’s death in 1895, a Wanapam It was founded in 1882, when a Squaxin
community still remains at Priest Rapids man named John Slocum had a vision in
547
which the Christian God promised a have entered into dialogues of reconcili-
powerful new medicine to Native people ation with Native communities, both in
who renounced gambling, drinking, the United States and in Canada. In 1988,
smoking, and the ceremonies of tradi- for example, the Church Council of
tional shamans and healers. Along with Greater Seattle, comprising several
his wife, Mary—whose trembling prayers mainline Protestant denominations, is-
over her husband, who nearly died in sued a formal apology to tribal commu-
1883, provided the term “shaker”— nities for their institutions’ role in under-
Slocum became one of the leaders of this mining indigenous cultural traditions.
new Indian movement, which empha- And in Canada, landmark lawsuits de-
sized both clean living and indigenous manded restitution for the widespread
independence. Most missionaries and physical and sexual abuse of First Na-
agents hated the new Shaker movement, tions children in church-run boarding
and many outlawed it on the reserva- schools. The legacies of the missionary
tions they oversaw. Despite that, the movement in the Pacific Northwest re-
movement gained rapid momentum, be- main with us today, attesting to the cen-
coming a legal church in Washington tral role Christian missionaries have
state in 1892. By the 1930s, Indian Shaker played in the region’s Indian history.
Churches could be found throughout the Coll Thrush
Northwest, from the Hoopa Reservation
See also Boarding Schools, Religious
in northern California to the Umatilla Impact; Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest;
Reservation in eastern Oregon and the Christianity, Indianization of; Law,
Legislation, and Native Religion; Potlatch;
Musqueam communities of Lower Main-
Religious Leadership, Northwest;
land British Columbia. Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural
Today, most reservations and reserves Implications
in the Pacific Northwest are home to a References and Further Reading
number of religious communities. Tradi- Eells, Myron. 1985. The Indians of Puget
Sound: The Notebooks of Myron Eells.
tional religious practices have enjoyed a
Edited by George Pierre Castile. Seattle:
resurgence in recent decades, while University of Washington Press.
churches begun by missionaries remain Fisher, Robin. 1977. Contact and Conflict:
Indian-European Relations in British
landmarks and centers of everyday life;
Columbia, 1774–1890. Vancouver:
religious hybrids such as the Shaker University of British Columbia Press.
Church continue to combine traditional Hanley, Philip M. 1993. History of the
Catholic Ladder. Edited by Edward J.
and Christian beliefs and ideas. Often,
Kowrach. Fairfield, WA: Ye Galleon
this diversity of religious expression Press.
plays a large role in tribal politics, as dif- Jeffrey, Julie Roy. 1991. Converting the West:
fering philosophies vie for power and au- A Biography of Narcissa Whitman.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
thority in the community. Meanwhile, Murray, Peter. 1985. The Devil and Mr.
some mainstream Christian churches Duncan. Victoria, B.C.: Sono Nis Press.
548
___________________________________________________________________ Missionization, Southeast
Perry, Adele. 2001. On the Edge of Empire: ples in southern Florida, near present-
Gender, Race, and Making of British day Miami. These initial efforts by the Je-
Columbia, 1849–1871. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press. suits were not successful. After violent
Pratt, Richard C. 1892. “‘Kill the Indian, and confrontations between Indians and Je-
Save the Man’: Capt. Richard C. Pratt on suits, during which several Jesuits were
the Education of Native Americans.”
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4929. killed, the decision was made to remove
(Accessed November 30, 2004). the Jesuits from the area.
Ruby, Robert H., and John A. Brown. 1989. From 1573 to 1595 sporadic efforts
Plateau: Smohalla and Smolaskin.
were made to bring Franciscan friars to
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Florida to replace the departed Jesuits.
_____. 1996. John Slocum and the Indian With the arrival of twelve Franciscans in
Shaker Church. Norman: University of
1595, a stable missionary presence in
Oklahoma Press.
Florida came into effect. During the sev-
enteenth century, Franciscan missionar-
ies built two chains of missions in
Florida. One stretched from St. Augus-
Missionization, Southeast
tine along the Atlantic Coast as far north-
The encounter between Native peoples ward as Santa Elena in South Carolina.
and European religions that began in the The other ran from St. Augustine west-
sixteenth century and continued into the ward across northern Florida, reaching
twentieth century provoked several sig- as far as the Apalachicola River. By the
nificant religious and cultural responses late seventeenth century as many as 130
among the Native peoples of the South- separate mission stations had been
east. Roman Catholic missionaries ac- begun in Florida. Most of these were
companied the Spanish in their explo- short-lived, however, and scholars indi-
ration and settlement of Florida and cate that the number of 40 churches and
along the Atlantic coast as far as South 52 missionaries is a better estimate of the
Carolina. Protestant missionaries be- size of the Franciscan mission system by
came involved in missionary programs this time.
to Southeastern Native peoples during Several goals motivated the Spanish
the nineteenth century. Native peoples missionary endeavor. First, the mission-
in the Southeast responded to these mis- aries hoped to convert the Native peo-
sionaries in a variety of ways, ranging ples to Roman Catholicism. Through
from conversion, through syncretic their proselytizing efforts, the missionar-
blending, to outright rejection. ies understood themselves to be saving
Between 1567 and 1572, Jesuit mis- the Natives from incorrect religious be-
sionaries established the earliest mis- liefs and also to be introducing them to
sions in Florida. These outposts were set Spanish civilization. Second, by convert-
up among the Tequesta and Calusa peo- ing the Indians into Spanish Christians,
549
Missionization, Southeast ____________________________________________________________________
John Wesley statue, Savannah, Georgia. Wesley was a missionary among colonists and Native
Americans during the eighteenth century. Hand-colored woodcut. (North Wind Picture Archives)
the missionaries understood that they mission stations and their encourage-
were playing an important role in the ment of Indian converts to resettle adja-
successful development of Spanish cent to those missions, the missionaries
Florida. Their hope was that, in convert- recognized that Indians could be en-
ing to Christianity, the Indians were ticed, or, as often, coerced to provide
being transformed into reliable allies for labor for the Spanish settlements that
the Spanish, instead of the potential were coming into existence all along the
military threat they had previously mission trails.
posed. Indian attacks on Spanish settle- As the mission system developed in
ments during the late sixteenth century Florida under the auspices of the Fran-
and continuing into the seventeenth ciscans, it encountered Guale, Apala-
century demonstrated the threat that In- chee, and Timuca Native peoples. These
dians represented. Religious bonds groups had a relatively dense population
strengthened other commercial and po- when first encountered by the Spanish,
litical ties between the Spanish and the as well as an agricultural basis for their
Native peoples in these formerly Native economy. The stable and sedentary na-
lands. Finally, in their development of ture of these groups made them easier to
550
incorporate into the Spanish colonial demise of the Spanish missions. Imperial
economy. In addition, their agricultural competition between England and Spain
produce could be easily exchanged for had intensified during the sixteenth cen-
Spanish iron and other trade goods. Here tury, and by the late seventeenth century,
again, the religious missions of the Fran- Spanish missions in Georgia and Florida
ciscans functioned to reinforce the eco- had experienced raids by English sol-
nomic goals of Spanish colonialism. diers. The attacks continued, and, un-
Not all Florida Indians accepted able to maintain and defend their mis-
Christianity or were pleased with the ef- sion system, the Spanish mission
forts of the missionaries. In 1587, Guale enterprise came to an end by 1708. The
people revolted against the Franciscan Spanish cession of Florida to Great
attempts to convert them. These Fran- Britain in 1763 simply marked a change
ciscan missionaries, as was often the that had already occurred some years
case, sought to change not only beliefs before.
but also ways of life. In this case, the During the Anglo-American colonial
Franciscans attacked the Guale patterns era, fewer efforts were made toward the
of marriage and inheritance, with the re- missionization of Indians in the South-
sult being a rebellion in which five Fran- east. Responsibility for such work fell to
ciscans were killed. In 1656 another re- the Society for the Propagation of the
bellion broke out, among Timuca Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG). Super-
peoples. The revolt lasted eight months vised by Anglican officials in London, the
and was finally put down by Spanish SPG sent missionaries to the South.
military forces. As a result, several Timu- While these missionaries often came
can missions were abandoned or relo- into contact with Native peoples, they
cated to areas considered more secure. typically concentrated their efforts on
Disease also stalked the mission Indians the white colonial population rather
of Florida. Without immunity to Euro- than directly on Indians.
pean diseases, Florida Indians suffered A new period in the history of mis-
recurrent epidemics with much loss of sionization of Southeastern Indians oc-
life. Measles and smallpox devastated curred in the nineteenth century. In the
many groups, with casualties from a sin- new century, with the encouragement of
gle measles epidemic reported as high as the federal government, Protestant mis-
ten thousand. sionaries now actively pursued mission
By the beginning of the eighteenth programs. Moravians, Congregational-
century, as depopulation among Florida ists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Meth-
Indians severely reduced their numbers, odists were the Protestant groups in-
the Spanish mission system was waning volved among Choctaw, Chickasaw,
as well. However, military attacks rather Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee peoples.
than microbes were responsible for the Christianization and civilization were
551
Missionization, Southeast ____________________________________________________________________
often cited as the goals of these mission- While the Florida Seminoles did not
aries. As with their Catholic predecessors become the object of coordinated mis-
in Florida, these Protestants desired to sionary attention until the late nine-
preach the Christian Gospel and seek teenth century, the Cherokees received
converts among the members of the their first Christian missionary as early
tribes. Beyond that, the missionaries as 1801. In that year, after extended ne-
sought to teach Native peoples to read gotiations, the Moravians opened their
and write English and to adopt Euro- mission at Springplace, Georgia. Before
American ways of life. Thus Christianiza- removal on the Trail of Tears, missions
tion meant adopting the religion of the had been started by the Baptist Evan
whites, while civilization meant becom- Jones at Valley Towns, by the Congrega-
ing like the whites and forsaking Native tionalists Daniel Butrick at Brainerd and
ways. Samuel Worcester at New Echota, by the
Mission stations, once established, Presbyterian Gideon Blackburn at Hi-
often had schools connected to them. wassee, and by the Methodist circuit
Among the Choctaws four schools had rider James Trott, also at New Echota.
been founded by 1833, including the El- While most missionaries used inter-
liot mission, under the direction of Cyrus preters in their preaching, Jones, Butrick,
Byington, and the Mayhew mission, and Worcester mastered Cherokee suffi-
under the direction of Cyrus Kingsbury. ciently to preach in it and to make trans-
Alfred Wright set up a mission at Goshen lations of Christian Scriptures into the
and, together with Israel Folsom, trans- Cherokee language.
lated the Gospel of Luke into Choctaw. In Cherokee interest in the missionaries
the aftermath of removal, twelve addi- initially had more to do with a pragmatic
tional schools were developed. interest in the value of educational skills
Missionaries established schools than a thirst for spiritual salvation. Facil-
among the Chickasaws at Charity Hall ity in numbers and the English language
(1820), Monroe (1821), and Caney Creek assisted Cherokees in economic dealings
(1827). In the decades after removal, the with whites, and Chief John Ross realized
Chickasaw Academy opened in 1851 the importance of those skills in defend-
under Methodist auspices and the Wa- ing Cherokee rights and improving
panucka Female Institute began in 1852 Cherokee lives.
with Presbyterian support. Within the Cherokee responses to these missions
Creek nation there was considerable op- illustrate the range of reactions that the
position to the presence of missionaries, missionaries caused. While some Chero-
and all were expelled in 1836. However, kees embraced both the missionaries’ re-
in the 1840s, Baptists, Methodists, and ligion and education, others tried to split
Presbyterians all organized churches and the two apart or to reject them altogether
schools among the Creeks. in favor of Cherokee tradition. Mission-
552
ary reports from all Protestant groups less paternalistic and correspondingly
hailed their success in obtaining con- more enculturated model of mission-
verts, but Cherokee revitalization move- ization, sensitive to community needs
ments—such as White Path’s Rebellion in and aspirations, has emerged in recent
1827—expressed collective resentment decades.
against the missionaries and their Walter H. Conser, Jr.
schools, and called for a renewal of
Cherokee tradition. Additionally, syn- Revitalization Movements, Southeast; Trail
cretic blending of Cherokee traditional- of Tears
ism and missionary Christianity can be References and Further Reading
seen in various sacred stories, rituals, Berkhofer, Robert F. 1976. Salvation and the
and practices. Savage: An Analysis of Protestant
Missions and American Indian Response,
General patterns remain evident in 1787–1862. New York: Atheneum.
the twentieth century, and Protestant Foreman, Grant. 1934. The Five Civilized
and Catholic churches remain active Tribes. Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press.
among Native peoples in the Southeast. Gaillard, Frye. 1998. As Long as the Waters
In many areas, Baptists and Methodists Flow: Native Americans in the South and
predominate, as they do otherwise in the East. Winston-Salem, NC: John F.
Blair Publisher.
the Southeast. Recently the Pentecostal Kidwell, Clara Sue. 1995. Choctaws and
and Holiness traditions have estab- Missionaries in Mississippi, 1818–1918.
lished several congregations, while the Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Mormons, especially among the Cataw- Muskogees’ Struggle for a New World.
bas of South Carolina, are quite visible. Boston: Beacon Press.
Likewise apparent are calls for affirma- McLoughlin, William G. 1984. Cherokees
and Missionaries, 1789–1839. New
tion of traditional religious practices,
such as stomp dances or busk rituals, as ———. 1990. Champions of the Cherokees:
well as the blending of elements of tra- Evan and John B. Jones. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.
ditional Native and traditional Christian
———. 1994. The Cherokees and
religious practices. The installation of Christianity, 1794–1870. Athens:
Native Americans as pastors of largely University of Georgia Press.
Milanich, Jerald T. 1994. “Franciscan
Native congregations or the incorpora-
Missions and Native Peoples in Spanish
tion of tribal themes into the liturgy or Florida.” Pp. 276–303 in The Forgotten
ritual of services has served to reinforce Centuries: Indians and Europeans in the
the Indian identity of many churches. In American South, 1521–1704. Edited by
Charles Hudson and Carmen Chaves
the use of symbols, ritual, language, and Tesser. Athens: University of Georgia
community relations, for example, In- Press.
dian identity is expressed in culturally Phillips, Joyce B., and Paul Gary Phillips,
eds. 1998. The Brainerd Journal: A
powerful ways. Finally, in the develop- Mission to the Cherokees, 1817–1823.
ment of Native clergy and lay leaders, a Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
553
Missionization, Southwest ___________________________________________________________________
Williams, Walter, ed. 1979. Southeastern ment and even execution. The en-
Indians since the Removal Era. Athens: comienda system granted missions juris-
University of Georgia Press.
diction over Native families and commu-
nities within a given region. The
missions then had the legal right, with
military backing, to demand tribute,
Missionization, Southwest
labor, and personal services.
The establishment of Spanish missions Illness proved to be a key factor in the
in the American Southwest began as ability of the missions to maintain control
early as the sixteenth century, under the over their Native populations. Spaniards
direction of the Spanish local govern- brought devastating epidemic diseases to
ment. In the sixteenth century the Amer- the Native comities. The missions them-
ican Southwest was part of Northern selves were extremely unhealthy: large
Mexico and consedered the far northern numbers of people were forced to live
frontiers of the Spanish empire in the closely together in extremely unsanitary
new world. Franciscan fathers who set conditions. Such housing helped secure
out to establish missions in present-day social control, however: families were
New Mexico were accompanied by the placed in single-family unit dwellings,
Spanish military. The relationship be- disrupting traditional habitation patterns
tween the missions and the military was that included extended families. Single
a close one: missions were granted con- women and men were isolated into dor-
trol over all aspects of spiritual and tem- mitories, and the women were locked
poral affairs, so long as they honored an away every night to prevent what the fri-
agreement to provision the military out- ars saw as inappropriate behavior.
posts that accompanied them. This rela- Many commonalities exist between
tionship was possible because under the Pueblo religion and Christianity that
Spanish law, Native communities within could have been used as a basis for com-
the missions’ reach were required to pro- munication between the traditions. Both
vide tribute and labor to the mission fa- venerate priestly leadership; both use re-
thers. Missions were constructed to ligious buildings as the center of wor-
mimic a fortress convent, with the ship—the church and the kiva; both
church and military barracks, both built make use of altars, ritual chants, sacred
by Native labor, often placed on opposite utensils, and a religious calendar that
sides of the same plaza. regulates community life. The crucifixes
The Spanish government gave the fa- and rosaries of the Catholic Church
thers complete legal control over their could be said to resemble prayer sticks,
Native wards. Native people had the legal both used as mnemonic devices and vi-
status of children, and their missionary sual images of prayer. The two traditions
fathers had the right of corporal punish- share a veneration of water as holy, and
554
__________________________________________________________________ Missionization, Southwest
A portrait of Christ as a Mescalero Apache medicine man hangs above an altar in the Saint Joseph
Church, built by Mescalero Indians and Jesuit priests in New Mexico. 1992. (Dave G. Houser/Corbis)
both practice ritual bathing or baptism. conform to those divine laws (Bowden
The incense of Catholic traditions could 1981, 47).
be said to parallel the burning of tobacco Such common beliefs and practices
smoke in indigenous ceremonies. might partially account for the initial ac-
Catholic saints were once living people ceptance of missions by Puebloan com-
who had become powerful spiritual in- munities. The fathers were allowed to
tercessors, much like the Puebloan an- build on the fringes of Pueblo villages, ac-
cestral spirits. Both share a belief in companied by their military garrisons.
demons and witchcraft. Both believe However, rather than focusing on these
that the world was created by a divine similarities in faith and tradition, the
power, which organized the cosmos ac- Franciscan friars who led the missions fo-
cording to divine laws. Finally, both tra- cused on what made Christianity distinct
ditions share a belief that good and evil from Native faiths. Condemning indige-
exist insofar as they conform or fail to nous practices as the work of the devil,
555
Missionization, Southwest ___________________________________________________________________
the mission fathers demanded Native al- bration along with the veneration of
legiance to the Spanish Crown and Catholic saints.
church. With the Spanish military enforc- Seminomadic tribes throughout the
ing their decisions, friars raided kivas, de- Southwest proved the most difficult for
stroying ritual paraphernalia, masks, and the church to missionize. Some, like the
garments. Some kivas were filled with Karankawas in present-day Texas, used
sand to prevent their further use. Com- the missions as part of their seasonal
munity dances, celebrations, and festi- subsistence route. They visited the mis-
vals were forbidden. Neophytes were re- sions during certain times of year, where
quired to take Christian names and speak they could be assured of food, and then
Spanish, and all Pueblo community moved on to their other seasonal hunt-
members were required to attend daily ing and gathering locations.
Mass, or suffer corporal punishment. In Most early missions failed, largely be-
Baja California missions, traditional reli- cause of their attempts to instill such a
gious leaders were threatened with death radical change in way of life and beliefs.
and severely beaten for practicing rituals Challenging firmly established social,
or ceremonies. political, and subsistence activities with-
Increasing demands for tribute and out offering a viable alternative failed to
labor, increasing persecution of tradi- attract many sincere Native converts.
tional religio-political leaders, and a se- Additionally, the rapid population de-
vere drought and food shortage led to cline among many missions, caused by
the 1680 revolt. It was led by Popé, a illness, crowding, lack of sanitation, the
Pueblo spiritual leader, and the Spanish absence of medical doctors, and the per-
were expelled from Northern Mexico secution of traditional healers, left many
(present-day New Mexico) for twelve missions with few individuals to indoc-
years. The Hopi never allowed mission- trinate. By 1883 a more liberal Mexico,
aries to establish churches within their independent of Spain, secularized the
community again. When the Francis- missions in northern Mexico, distribut-
cans returned to other Pueblos, their ing mission land to settlers or military of-
evangelical efforts took a much more ficials. In the Pueblos, Native communi-
cautious approach. Living at the edges ties returned to their traditional homes
of Pueblo society, they promoted a tra- and modes of life. Other, seminomadic
dition that allowed for a degree of syn- tribes likewise deserted the missions, re-
cretism with traditional Pueblo reli- turning to traditional subsistence pat-
gious practice. Thus some Puebloan terns, while some families and individu-
communities began celebrating the als remained near the missions, working
Saints’ Days festivals, still practiced as laborers and farmers.
today, which encompass traditional no- For seminomadic tribal nations such
tions of spirituality and communal cele- as the Diné (Navajo) and Apache, mis-
556
__________________________________________________________________ Missionization, Southwest
sionization efforts were ineffectual until stream society. Seeing the process of
those nations were forcibly tied to reser- “civilizing” Native people as political,
vations by the U.S. government in the economic, social, and religious, mission-
middle to late nineteenth century. Prior aries and ministers seemed a natural fit
to that, their only interaction with the for the position. Further, plagued by cor-
Franciscan missions was to attack and ruption in the mid-nineteenth century,
raid them periodically. Once forced into the BIA hoped that Protestant mission-
more sedentary ways of life, Catholic ary-agents would purge corruption from
missions were able to have an impact on the reservation system, even as they
community life. Learning from their ex- brought the Natives to Christ. By 1895 a
perience with Pueblo communities, system of boarding schools had been es-
these missions, while insisting on the su- tablished with the intent of furthering
periority of the Catholic faith, allowed a this agenda. Many Native children from
degree of cultural syncretism between throughout the Southwest, including the
the two traditions. The contemporary Diné, Apache, and Puebloan communi-
image of Christ in the Mescalero Apache ties, were forcibly removed from their
Christ Church, founded in 1916 by Fa- families and sent to distant boarding
ther Albert, is indicative of this culturally schools, where they were taught Protes-
accommodating effort. Father Albert, tant Christianity, English, and Euro-
who gave his sermons in Apache, en- American social and cultural norms.
couraged the interaction of the Catholic Today, Catholic and Protestant churches
faith and traditional Apache culture. In exist alongside traditional religious prac-
the painting, Christ appears dressed as a tices on the Puebloan, Apachean, and
traditional Apache ceremonial singer, Diné reservations throughout the South-
with a deer hoof rattle, a basket holding west. In the last two decades Mormon
ceremonial objects, and the image of the missionaries have also made inroads
sun painted on his open palm. into Southwest communities. However,
In the 1880s, following the Civil War, traditional religious practice remains a
the Grant administration instituted its strong and viable part of Native life.
so-called peace policy. This policy called Many Native people feel comfortable at-
for reform of the Bureau of Indian Af- tending both Christian churches and in-
fairs, which entailed the assignment of digenous ceremonies, just as they might
Protestant Christian ministers to Indian consult both a Western medical physi-
agent posts, the establishment of board- cian and a traditional indigenous healer.
ing schools (so that Native children Suzanne J. Crawford
might be educated into Christian tradi-
tions without the interference of tradi- See also Boarding Schools, Religious
Impact; Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo; Hopi
tionalist relatives), and an overall policy Prophecy; Kachina and Clown Societies;
of assimilating Native people into main- Masks and Masking; Native American
557
Momaday, N. Scott ____________________________________________________________________________
Church, Southwest; Oral Traditions, gious peyote rituals (Ancient 1989,

Southwest; Religious Leadership, 229–230; House 1968, 110; The Way 1969,
Southwest; Religious Leadership,
Southwest, Pueblo; Reservations 39), and the ceremonial organization of
References and Further Reading Eagle Watchers Society (House 1968, 16),
Axtell, James. 1985. The Invasion Within: to name but a few.
The Contest of Cultures in Colonial North By drawing attention to the panoramic
America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bowden, Henry Warner. 1981. American
way in which Momaday portrays the
Indians and Christian Missions: Studies American Indian religion, we can appre-
in Cultural Conflict. Chicago: University ciate the spectacular reach of the writer’s
of Chicago Press.
knowledge of religious customs. These
Hoxie, Frederick. 1984. A Final Promise: The
Campaign to Assimilate the Indians, religious stories share two important fac-
1880–1920. Cambridge: Cambridge tors. First, they are transmitted from one
University Press.
generation to another by word of mouth.
Jackson, Robert H. 2000. From Savages to
Subjects: Missions in the History of the Second, they survive because they
American Southwest. London: M. E. evolve, becoming accepted and practiced
Sharpe.
by other tribes.
Rivera, Luis. 1992. A Violent Evangelism: The
Political and Religious Conquest of the One of the most useful means for
Americas. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press. catching glimpses of Momaday’s world
and spiritual views is through interviews.
In the following example we discover a
personal story in which Momaday re-
Momaday, N. Scott flects on the time when he was a boy and
(1934–) on his grandmother, Aho, who would
(Novelist) pray. The tenuous survival of religion
N. Scott Momaday mentions and devel- and culture rests on such fragile relation-
ops many American Indian religious ships. The grandmother’s influence, in
practices throughout his writings and in- turn, is seen in everything the writer has
terviews. Drawing from both old and produced:
new, he conveys a variety of traditions.
These range far and wide—for example, I remember very vividly the number of
in two of his best known novels, House occasions when I heard my
grandmother pray in Kiowa. We would
Made of Dawn and Ancient Child. In
be the only two in the room, and she
those works, religious practices are in- would be preparing me for bed and
delibly intertwined in the very fabric of preparing herself for the night. She
the plots, ranging from the religion of the never neglected to pray just before
Plains, called K’ado or Sun Dance (An- going to bed. She would pray aloud in
Kiowa, and I didn’t understand what
cient 1989, 20), and the sacred Sun
she was saying. But the quality of that
Dance doll Tai-me (ibid., 20–21; House language and the force that lay behind
1968, 96, 129; The Way 1969, 37) to reli- it, the great conviction and the
558
___________________________________________________________________________ Momaday, N. Scott
evokes as it is passed on to him. Spiritual

communication has few boundaries and
thus is unimpeded by language.
Similarly, storytelling from a fictional
grandmother to her grandson, John Big
Bluff Tosamah, in House Made of Dawn
reveals information on the Sun Dance
doll Tai-me: “My grandmother used to
tell me the story of Tai-me, of how Tai-me
came to the Kiowas. The Kiowas were a
sun dance culture, and Tai-me was their
sun dance doll, their most sacred fetish;
no medicine was ever more powerful.
There is a story about the coming of Tai-
me. This is what my grandmother told
me” (House 1968, 96). The oral sharing in
this instance is significant for several
reasons. First, John Big Bluff Tosamah, as
a pastor and a priest of the Sun, is narrat-
N. Scott Momaday, professor of English at
Stanford University, California, ca. 1990. The ing the story to his congregation, a group
son of a Kiowa father and a Cherokee mother, of American Indians holding services in
Momaday has been awarded both a Los Angeles, California; he is a priest for
Guggenheim fellowship and a Pulitzer Prize for
fiction. (MPI/Getty Images) Christians and Native Americans. Sec-
ond, Tosamah shares the story with his
parish, but the words are through his
profound belief in what she was doing,
grandmother, enforcing the oral sharing
the belief in the efficacy of language
implicit in her prayer, could not be of Tai-me: “The story of the coming of
doubted. I could not even as a child Tai-me has existed for hundreds of years
fail to understand that something by word of mouth” (ibid.). In The Way to
important was happening. I couldn’t Rainy Mountain, Momaday describes
say what it was in terms of meaning,
Tai-me in detail:
but it was not lost upon me.
(Schubnell 1997, 105–108)
The great central figure of the Kado, or
In this scene we discover the power Sun Dance, ceremony is taime. This is
that prayer had on a young Momaday. a small image, less than two feet in
length, representing a human figure
His grandmother is leading a Kiowan
dressed in a robe of white feathers,
prayer in the Kiowa language. While he with a headdress consisting of a single
does not understand the words, he feels upright feather and pendants of
the powerful impact that the prayer ermine silk, with numerous strands of
559
Momaday, N. Scott ____________________________________________________________________________
blue beads around its neck, and spiritual power—the capability of one
painted upon the face, breast, and culture to receive another religion—and
back with designs symbolic of the sun
Tai-me’s appearance in the Kiowa’s time
and moon. The image itself is of dark-
green stone, in form rudely resembling of need.
a human head and bust, probably The Sun Dance religion did not sur-
shaped by art like the stone fetishes of vive in more recent history. In an inter-
the Pueblo tribes. It is preserved in a view Momaday discusses the effect of
rawhide box in charge of the
the prohibition of the Sun Dance by the
hereditary keeper, and is never under
any circumstances exposed to view U.S. government (1890): “Their religion
except at the annual Sun Dance, when taken from them, the Kiowas had noth-
it is fastened to a short upright stick ing to sustain them; their spirit was bro-
planted within the medicine lodge, ken. With religion and independence
near the western side. It was last
gone, they degenerated, suffered the loss
exposed in 1888.—Mooney. (Momaday
1969, 37) of their ‘last hope—hope itself’” (Trim-
ble 1973, 7–8). Nevertheless, Momaday
Readers will find that throughout Mo- attributes the beginning of the end to
maday’s works, Tai-me is in the charac- 1832, when the Osage tribe stole Tai-me
ters’ lives, although in differing senses. (it was stolen again in 1868 by the Ute
The notion of Tai-me survives in spoken tribe), and then its first treaty with the
stories, but Tai-me appears to us in times United States, signed at Fort Gibson in
of need, offering salvation. The spirit and 1837. He tacitly seems to state that the
story of Tai-me, Tosamah reminds his lis- sharing, the theft, and the banning of the
teners, “represents a very rich literature, Sun Dance is another inevitable evolu-
which, because it was never written tion of religion.
down, was always but one generation Another moment of religious sharing,
from extinction” (House 1968, 97). this time from the Bahkyula tribe, reveals
Just as real and fictional grandmoth- how they have endured despite being
ers pass on religion and its accompany- decimated by a plague (House 1968, 15).
ing prayers from the old to the young, we While the Kiowa took the few remaining
discover that the Crow share their reli- survivors in, the Bahkyula, in turn,
gion with the Kiowa in a time of great taught the Kiowa the sacred practice of
need. They were “befriended by the the Eagle Watchers Society, which would
Crows, who gave them the culture and not have survived without the Kiowa.
religion of the plains. . . . They acquired Through the Eagle Watchers we discover
Tai-me, the sacred sun dance doll, from a social and religious ceremony involv-
that moment the chief object and sym- ing the capture of eagles. Unexpectedly,
bol of their worship, and so shared in the the ancient Eagle Watchers Society cere-
divinity of the sun” (ibid., 129). The shar- mony is threatened not by another tribe
ing and acceptance of Tai-me reveals its or government but by a Kiowa, Abel, who
560
___________________________________________________________________________ Momaday, N. Scott
fully participates in the ceremonial cap- Tolo knew then that he had been
ture but ends killing an eagle in a sacrile- led to the center of the Holy Season.
He thought again of his grandfather,
gious way. Two issues are gained from
who he knew was here among the
this incident. First, Momaday carefully trees, and of his parents, and of the
explains the ritual as it has been passed Christ Child, who had come to live the
down for many generations, surviving twelve days of Christmas in his home.
because of the Kiowa. Second, we see a Never before had Tolo’s heart been so
full of joy. (Momaday 1994, 36)
contemporary American Indian who
now threatens the existence of the sacred
Tolo has reconciled his religious views.
Eagle Watchers.
The experience is powerful because it re-
Momaday shows us how ancient prac-
veals a conciliation of American Indian
tices have survived, by intermixing of
within Christian religious practices. By
cultures and word of mouth. It should be
not abandoning one religion or the other,
no surprise that the other dominant
Tolo shows us that he has understood the
theme he portrays in his writings and in-
spirituality of religion.
terviews is the intertwining of American
Mentioned earlier, Big John Tosamah
Indian and Christian religions—and
is a telling example of an American In-
they, too, are passed down and shared in
dian who, like Tolo, has been able to har-
unpredictable ways.
monize the two religions. He is not a tra-
Perhaps the most revealing and uplift-
ditional priest in either religion; it is his
ing example is the syncretism of multiple
hybrid practice that places him in a his-
religious perspectives illustrated in his
torical class of American Indian spiritual
children’s book Circle of Wonder: A Native
survivors. A signboard outside a building
American Christmas Story. We share our
reads:
stories with each other to create a sense
of hope, communal togetherness, and Los Angeles
recognition of God with the spirits in our
HOLINESS PAN-INDIAN
life. Tolo, the child in the book, meets RESCUE MISSION
with an elk, a wolf, and an eagle, all noble
Rev. J. B. B. Tosamah,
and strong, but with scars from meeting
Pastor & Priest of the Sun
and battling with each other in the circle
Saturday 8:30 P.M.
of life:
“The Gospel According to John”
The boy, the bird, and the beasts made Sunday 8:30 P.M.
a circle of wonder and goodwill “The Way to Rainy Mountain”
around the real gift of the fire, and Be kind to a white man today.
beyond them were other, wider circles, (House 1968, 89–90)
made of the meadow, the mountains,
and the starry sky, all the fires and We discover that Masses are held in
processions, all the voices and silences
the basement of a two-story brick build-
of all the world.
561
Momaday, N. Scott ____________________________________________________________________________
ing. In his sermon on Saturday, “The a fire in the basement. We hear the vi-
Gospel According to John,” Tosamah sions of four characters after ingesting
elaborates on how John’s words of truth peyote, enforcing the notion of multiple
came from God. Tosamah feels that John shared experiences with religion as op-
should have left God’s truth alone, but posed to John’s single interpretation. We
expands, saying, “He [John] couldn’t see see in these two sermons Tosamah’s rec-
that he had come to the end of the Truth, onciliation of the American Indian with
and he went on. He tried to make it big- the Christian religion, solidifying Moma-
ger and better than it was, but instead he day’s thematic portrayal of ancient ways
only demeaned and encumbered it” evolving in order to survive.
(ibid., 93). The suggestion reiterates the We see in N. Scott Momaday that reli-
idea that one’s experience with religion is gious practices have their roots in tenu-
individual. As an American Indian he ously shared stories. For his contempo-
reconciles John’s individualized take on rary characters these stories often are
the words of God. difficult to relate to, but the struggles
On the following day Tosamah’s ser- they face to understand religion and cul-
mon, “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” is ture are ultimately what lead to under-
given in the same locale, but this time is standing. The revelatory moments are as
performed in an American Indian reli- painful as pleasurable, as ugly as beauti-
gion form: ful: in all cases they illuminate down-to-
earth contemporary American Indian re-
The Priest of the Sun spread a clean
white cloth before him on the floor,
ligious experiences. For the reader new
and on this he placed the things which to Momaday, his writings challenge ro-
he removed from the paraphernalia mantic versions and stereotypes of com-
satchel: plex practices.
1. A fine fan of fancy pheasant John Scenters-Zapico
feathers.
See also Literature, Religion in
2. A slender beaded drumstick.
Contemporary American Indian Literature;
3. A packet of brown cigarette papers. Missionization, Kiowa-Comanche-Apache
4. A bundle of sage sprigs. Reservation; Oral Traditions; Oral Traditions,
5. A smokestick bearing the sacred Pueblo; Oral Traditions, Western Plains
water-bird symbol.
6. A pouch of powdered cedar
Momaday, N. Scott. 1968. House Made of
incense. Dawn. New York: Harper and Row.
7. An eagle-bone whistle. ———. 1969. The Way to Rainy Mountain.
8. A paper bag containing forty-four Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
peyote buttons. (ibid., 110–111) Press.
———. 1976. The Names: A Memoir by N.
The ceremony continues until dawn, Scott Momaday. New York: Harper and
Row.
with Momaday describing this hybrid ———. 1989. The Ancient Child. New York:
tradition, down to the metal pan used for HarperCollins.
562
__________________________________________________________________________________ Mother Earth
———. 1992. In the Presence of the Sun: Scientific research underway on the Gaia
Stories and Poems, 1961–1991. New York: hypothesis corroborates some indige-
St. Martin’s Press.
———. 1994. Circle of Wonder: A Native nous philosophical components related
American Christmas Story. Santa Fe: to the notion of the earth and its bio-
Clear Light Press. sphere as living, integrated organisms.
Scarberry-Garcia, Susan. 1988. “Beneath the
Stars: Images of the Sacred.” Pp. 89–96 in Within a religious paradigm, Native
Approaches to Teaching Momaday’s “The Americans may strategically appropriate
Way to Rainy Mountain,” 11th ed. Edited the term “Mother Earth” to further their
by Kenneth M. Roemer. New York:
Modern Language Association.
interests by drawing upon the “noble”
Schubnell, Matthias, ed. 1997. side of hegemonic culture’s preference for
Conversations with N. Scott Momaday. the dualistic stereotype (savage versus
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
noble Indian) over the reality of Native
Scott, Hugh Lennox. 1911. “Notes of the
Kado, or Sun Dance of the Kiowa.” peoples. The term became controversial
American Anthropologist 13: 345–379. with the 1987 publication of Sam D. Gill’s
Spier, Leslie. 1921. “Notes on the Kiowa Sun
Mother Earth: An American Story and the-
Dance.” Anthropological Papers of the
American Museum of Natural History 16, sis “that Mother Earth has come into exis-
no. 6: 433–450. tence in America largely during the last
Trimble, Martha Scott. 1973. N. Scott
one hundred years and that her existence
Momaday. Boise State College Western
Writers Series, no. 9. Boise: Boise State stems primarily from two creative groups:
College. scholars and Indians” (Gill 1987, 7). One
Velie, Alan R. 1994. “The Return of the of the key critics of Gill’s book, Ward
Native: The Renaissance of Tribal
Religions as Reflected in the Fiction of N. Churchill, concedes that “the interpreta-
Scott Momaday.” Religion and Literature tion and reinterpretation of the Mother
26, no. 1: 135–145. Earth concept by succeeding generations
Woodard, Charles L., ed. 1989. Ancestral
Voice: Conversations with N. Scott of Euro Americans (such as Gill himself )
Momaday. Lincoln: University of had blocked any broad understanding of
Nebraska Press. the original indigenous meaning of it . . .
and carried the popular notion of Mother
Earth very far from any indigenous mean-
ing” (Churchill 1992, 200). However,
Mother Earth
Churchill argues that Gill’s book and the-
“Mother Earth” is a Euro-American term sis are flawed in that they deny “a well-de-
glossing an often ideological and stereo- veloped indigenous Mother Earth con-
typical understanding of the relationships cept [sic] operant in North America before
between Native Americans and their en- contact” (ibid.). Likewise, Gill fails to con-
vironments; however, the term can also sider “on-going and autonomous” Native
signify the religious, temporally deep, and American Mother Earth concepts apart
difficult to articulate concepts of tribally from “popular (mis)understandings”
specific relationships to the environment. (ibid.). Churchill also elaborates on the
563
Mother Earth ___________________________________________________________________________________
various rhetorical and research flaws un- not have widespread conservation prac-
derlying Gill’s premises and found tices or analogous concepts (ibid.).
throughout the book (ibid., 204–209). In terms of contemporary actions to-
Shepard Krech III deconstructs the ward the environment, Krech decries the
“Ecological Indian” stereotype, stating use of the “Ecological Indian” as “a foil
that it is one of the most persistent and for critiques of European or American
deeply embedded American stereotypes society” (ibid., 214). He presents an
in both popular and Indian imaginations overview of contemporary struggles by
(Krech 1999). The image is opposition- Native nations and peoples to protect
ally defined against that of the “Noneco- and restore specific ecosystems and ani-
logical White Man” (ibid., 22). Employing mal, bird, and fish populations (ibid.,
specific definitions of “conservation” 214–215; 217–222). As well, he cites sev-
and “ecologist,” he states that Indians, eral examples of serious and proposed
prior to contact with non-Indians, in environmental damage perpetrated by
some respects acted as conservationists Native nations and peoples (ibid.,
by setting fire to grasslands to increase 215–216; 219–220). Moreover, environ-
habitat for large game, and increased fa- mentalists and Native peoples have
vored plant species. He also details Na- often worked oppositional agendas over
tive actions that can not be considered timber, hunting, fishing, whaling, water,
“conservationist,” such as some buffalo and energy development (ibid.,
jumps, many uses of fire, and beaver and 222–227). Krech attempts to demystify
deer hunts driven by the desire for com- the “Ecological Indian” trope through
modities (ibid., 212). He underscores the historical research and analysis showing
point, however, that Native interactions that real Native American peoples dis-
with the environment “probably made play a spectrum of attitudes and prac-
little difference for the perpetuation of tices toward the environment.
species,” including Pleistocene species The core values, teachings, and prac-
whose demise likely derived in large part tices that may, in any indigenous nation,
from climatic factors (ibid., 213). It was underlie the notion of Mother Earth, are
not until contact and the introduction of often complex, interwoven among the
the commodity market that the concepts many aspects of the nation’s existence,
and practices of “waste” and “overkill” and difficult to separate analytically for
entered Native thought; when they did, the purposes of explicating the relation-
Native people actively sought ways to ship between that nation and the Earth.
avoid such practices as well as to restore However, such explications are present
depleted animal populations (ibid.). In in scholarly treatises. One example is A.
conclusion, however, Krech finds that Oscar Kawagley’s (Yupiaq) book A Yu-
under a specific definition of conserva- piaq Worldview: A Pathway to Ecology
tion, Native peoples prior to contact did and Spirit (1995). Describing the world-
564
__________________________________________________________________________________ Mother Earth
views of Alaska’s Native peoples, Kawa- worldview, the source of existence and
gley states that they “recognize that the all reproduction (hence her status as
land is a giver of life. The land has be- “mother”).
come their life and their metaphysic, to It is the unique and specific aspects of
the point that they live by the circadian each Native nation’s “cultural map” (con-
rhythms of the universe in which they tained in language, myths, legends and
are situated” (Kawagley 1995, 12). Main- stories, science and technology, and role
taining and sustaining a balance be- models from the community) that con-
tween the human, the natural, and the struct the nation’s relationship to the
spiritual worlds frames the original Yu- Earth (ibid., 17). Yet, that relationship
piaq worldview. Kawagley uses a tetrahe- and the corresponding concept of Earth
dral metaphor to illustrate this concept. is consistently one of “the fructifying fe-
(Structurally, the tetrahedral’s strength male manifestation of spiritual power, as
lends itself for Yupiaq use as a fish and ‘Grandmother’ or ‘Mother’” (Kidwell et
game storage/drying rack in the form of al. 2001, 127). Generally, the term “Earth”
a tripod [ibid., 15].) Within Kawagley’s in Native American spiritual concepts is
metaphoric structure the human being understood to include “land, sea, and
carries the responsibility of maintaining sky, and such presences as wind, rain,
the balance between the three points by fire and light, as well as human and ani-
learning to understand and communi- mal life” (ibid.). The Earth is seldom con-
cate with the other two, thus maintain- ceptualized as a deity and is not wor-
ing and (re-)creating the Yupiaq world- shipped, although it is seen as the source
view. Ritual and ceremony enhance the of spiritual and physical sustenance
communication and help to restore and (ibid.). Everything in Creation is spiritu-
maintain the balance. In the Yupiaq’s in- ally related. For the Lakota nations,
terconnected universe, “even the uncon- Takuskanskan is the unifying force draw-
scious is attuned to the forces of nature” ing everything into relation. It is under-
(ibid., 32). The Earth is a focal point for a stood as energy, or the “power that
synthesis of pragmatic, inductive, and moves everything that moves, but it was
spiritual knowledge (ibid., 33), gained also of a distinct being, a supreme spirit”
from “observation, experience, social in- (Walker 1980, 37). This same force may
teraction, and listening to the conversa- be called Skan, a common word glossed
tions and interrogations of the natural as “sky.” In Lakota cosmology, Maka is
and spiritual worlds with the mind” Earth and Inyan, Stone—the First Being
(ibid., 18). Thus the notion of the Earth creates both Maka and Skan simultane-
as a “mother” is literally, for the Yupiaq, a ously, by bleeding his veins. Again, it is
truth. Earth is the Ur-source of their the specifics within a Native nation’s
knowledge (critical for the maintenance worldview that infuse the concept of
of balance), and therefore, in the Yupiaq “Mother Earth” with meaning.
565
Mother Earth ___________________________________________________________________________________
When the term is divorced from an than not . . . overwhelmed by the singu-
understanding of a specific Native na- lar need to justify the conquest of the
tion’s worldview, it risks becoming in- lands and bodies of Native Americans”
fused with colonizing power. Gill’s (ibid., 143).
Mother Earth demonstrates this in its Parkhill also identifies another con-
thesis and in its own colonial possession text and meaning of the term by “neotra-
of the term. Churchill explains in his cri- ditional” Native peoples. He describes
tique of the book that “the realities at their use of the term as a “religious re-
issue are systematically supplanted, sponse to the experience of social injus-
negated and reconstructed to suit the tice rooted in colonialism” (ibid.). Used
psychological needs of the current crop within this context, the term “Mother
of colonizers, and the result reproduced Earth” embodies Native American “ap-
as ‘truth’ among both the oppressors and propriation of a montage of images”
the oppressed” (Churchill 1992, 211). drawn from colonizing stereotypes. Such
Thomas C. Parkhill identifies the rele- an appropriation of stereotypes is a
vant psychological needs of the hege- strategy to take some control over “one of
monic society and its use of “Native the most oppressive tools of the hege-
Americans” and colonial inventions of monic culture—the power to image Na-
Native American concepts with a focus tive Americans in ways that will meet
on the Mother Earth concept. Parkhill [the hegemonic culture’s] needs of the
theorizes that “urbanites feel discon- moment” (ibid.). Neotraditional use of
nected from nature, cut off from both the the “Mother Earth” term is a conscious
nurturing and ferocity that typifies life and religious strategy of identifying
connected to the land” (Parkhill 1997, themselves with the dominant culture’s
110). In the desire and need for place, the stereotype of the romantic, nature-cen-
non-Indian turns to stereotype, “the au- tered, mystical Indian and the corre-
thentic Indian,” the “Ecological Indian” sponding concept of Mother Earth. This
in Krech’s analysis, or the stereotype’s strategy recognizes the power of the
surrogate, the New Age guru, to invoke dominant culture’s construction and use
stereotypical nature-centered teachings of the dualistic Indian stereotype—ro-
to grant themselves a sense of place mantic versus savage—and seeks to
(ibid., 113). He concludes that the use of identify with the more positive aspect of
an essentialized concept of Mother Earth the stereotype (ibid., 144). Such a strat-
(that is, lacking in underlying tribal-spe- egy contains an awareness of the domi-
cific knowledge) can only refer back to nant society’s preference for their stereo-
the hegemonic culture’s story, which is types over the reality of Native peoples
about the lack of, and desire for, place and seeks to use this awareness to bene-
(ibid., 127). He adds, however, that the fit their people by opting for the more
need and desire for place is “more often positive image.
566
__________________________________________________________________________________ Mother Earth
The Gaia hypothesis, introduced to and the Gaia hypothesis: “The ecological
the scientific community in 1974, con- system is very delicate and interdepen-
ceptualizes the planet and the biosphere dent. James Lovelock’s ‘Gaia hypothesis
as one integrated, self-regulating orga- is that together the planet, its life-forms,
nism. The living organisms of the earth, and its atmosphere are interacting and
the earth’s surface materials, and the mutually creating, and have some of the
biosphere interact to regulate and main- properties of living tissue; that the earth
tain conditions necessary for life (Love- is like an organism.’ The Yupiaq desire
lock 1979). The theory’s author, James would be to have this ecological knowl-
Lovelock, states that “there is an obvious edge clearly presented and demon-
analogy between Gaia as a scientific the- strated. . . . Yupiaq knowledge can be
ory and the animistic [sic] beliefs of in- broadened, strengthened, and given
digenous cultures and their reverence for more detail by incorporating modern
the Earth as The Mother” (Spowers scientific knowledge” (Kawagley 1995,
2000). The theory “was scathingly at- 133). The scientific community’s resis-
tacked by the mainstream scientific tance to Gaia theory may, in part, be re-
community—partly because of its close lated to parallels between the Gaia hy-
parallels to animistic beliefs, seeing the pothesis and Native knowledges of the
planet as somehow alive, but also be- earth. One author suggests science’s
cause [Lovelock’s] holistic approach was “tacit, perhaps even unconscious, rejec-
in direct contrast to the reductionist, tion of the subversive symbolism of
mechanistic approach of conventional Gaia” (Bjornerud 1997).
science” (ibid.). Beginning in the late Despite its “deeply rooted scientific
1980s scientists began to take the theory taboos . . . a growing number of scien-
more seriously, in large part because of tists are recognizing its power . . . and
the efforts of Lynn Margulis, distin- following fruitful Gaia-inspired lines of
guished university professor of botany at inquiry” (ibid.). Today the theory is re-
the University of Massachusetts at searched and taught under the auspices
Amherst, who began collaborating with of geophysiology, systems science, or
Lovelock (Mann 1991). biogeochemistry, all of which conceive
The theory contains concepts such as of the earth as a system, but scientists re-
“autopoiesis,” “homeostasis,” and “sym- fuse to identify the system as Gaia, the
biosis,” which conceptualize relation- name of the Greek goddess of the earth
ships among and across organic and in- (Bjornerud 1997). According to the re-
organic groups to achieve harmony and spected Swiss historian of science
equilibrium within and across environ- Jacques Grinevald, Gaia “is the major
mental systems (ibid.). A. Oscar Kawa- cultural and scientific revolution of our
gley, a Yupiaq academic, writes of the time” (Mann 1991).
close affinity between Native worldviews Alexandra Witkin New Holy
567
Mounds __________________________________________________________________________________________
See also Ecology and Environmentalism; Margulis, Lynn, and Dorion Sagan. 1997.
Female Spirituality; Feminism and Slanted Truths: Essays on Gaia,
Tribalism; New Age Appropriation; Symbiosis, and Evolution. New York:
Retraditionalism and Identity Movements Copernicus.
McPherson, Robert S. 1992. Sacred Land
References and Further Reading Sacred View: Navajo Perceptions of the
Basso, Keith H. 1996. Wisdom Sits in Places: Four Corners Region. Salt Lake City, UT:
Landscape and Language among the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies,
Western Apache. Albuquerque: University Brigham Young University.
of New Mexico Press. Parkhill, Thomas C. 1997. Weaving
Bjornerud, Marcia. 1997. “Gaia: Gender and Ourselves into the Land: Charles Godfrey
Scientific Representations of the Earth.” Leland, “Indians,” and the Study of Native
National Women’s Studies Association American Religions. Albany: State
(NWSA) Journal 9, no. 3: 89, 102. University of New York Press.
Churchill, Ward. 1992. “A Little Matter of Spowers, Rory. 2000. “Living Planet.”
Genocide: Sam Gill’s Mother Earth, Geographical 72 (August): 25.
Colonialism and the Expropriation of Walker, James R. 1980. “James R. Walker:
Indigenous Spiritual Tradition in His Life and Work.” Pp. 3–61 in Lakota
Academia.” Pp. 187–213 in Fantasies of Belief and Ritual. Edited by Raymond J.
the Master Race: Literature, Cinema and DeMallie and Elaine A. Jahner. Lincoln:
the Colonization of American Indians. University of Nebraska Press.
Edited by M. Annette Jaimes. Monroe, Weaver, Jace, ed. 1996. Defending Mother
ME: Common Courage Press. Earth: Native American Perspectives on
Gill, Sam D. 1987. Mother Earth: An Environmental Justice. Maryknoll, NY:
American Story. Chicago: University of Orbis Books.
Chicago Press.
Kawagley, A. Oscar. 1995. A Yupiaq
Worldview: A Pathway to Ecology and
Spirit. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland
Press.
Kidwell, Clara Sue, Homer Noley, and Mounds
George E. “Tink” Tinker. 2001. A Native
American Theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis American Indians constructed earthen
Books. mounds as tombs for the dead, as foun-
Krech, Shepard III. 1999. The Ecological dations for temples, and as elevated sur-
Indian: Myth and History. New York: W.
W. Norton. faces for houses of important leaders.
Lovelock, James. 1979. Gaia: A New Look at Found mostly in eastern North America,
Life on Earth. New York: Oxford earthen mounds are distributed from
University Press.
———. 1988. The Ages of Gaia: A Biography
the prairie-woodlands of Manitoba east
of Our Living Earth. New York: Norton across the Great Lakes region to south-
Books. ern New England, south throughout the
———. 1993. “Gaia: Science or Myth?” New
Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico, and west
Statesman and Society 6, no. 237: 37, 39.
Mann, Charles. 1991. “Lynn Margulis: to eastern Oklahoma and Texas. By far
Science’s Unruly Earth Mother.” Science the greatest concentrations of earthen
252, no. 5004: 378, 381. mounds are in the great river valleys of
Margulis, Lynn. 1998. Symbiotic Planet: A
New Look at Evolution. New York: Basic the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and
Books. associated tributaries. Basketloads of
568
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Mounds
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site west of Collinsville, Illinois, preserves the burial mounds of
an Indian civilization that inhabited the area from A.D. 900 to 1500. (Michael S. Lewis/Corbis)
soil were piled to create mounds that mated to contain 21,700,000 cubic feet
were conical or dome-shaped, pyrami- of soil (Fagan 2000, 454).
dal and flat-topped, or in the form of an
animal effigy. Many mounds stand The Mound-Builder Myth
alone, but some are found in groups of a Euro-American settlers were impressed
dozen or more, sometimes arranged with the size and number of mounds
around open areas, or plazas. Low they encountered during the westward
earthen walls that form circular or rec- migrations of the 1800s. There was much
tangular enclosures surround some speculation about who had built the
mounds. Most mounds are quite small, mounds. Some attributed the mounds to
no more than a few feet high, and re- wandering Egyptians, Phoenicians, Is-
quired little labor or time to erect. Some raelites, or other groups from across the
mounds, however, are enormous. The Atlantic Ocean. Most popular was the
largest, Monks Mound at the Cahokia claim that the mounds were erected by
site near St. Louis, stands 100 feet high, “mound builders,” an ancient race of su-
covers 16 acres at the base, and is esti- perior peoples who had been wiped out
569
Mounds __________________________________________________________________________________________
by the American Indians. Although early ble mounds. The oldest earthen mounds
Spanish and French explorers had ob- are found in the lower Mississippi Valley.
served the use of earthen mounds by At the Watson Brake site in Louisiana,
American Indians, most Euro-Americans one mound 23 feet high and ten smaller
did not know that. Native peoples had mounds were erected atop a low earthen
ceased construction of large mounds by ring (Gibson 2000, 63). Most Archaic
the nineteenth century. This fact, to- mounds, however, are small, rounded
gether with the ethnocentric, racist, and domes. Whether large or small, these
“Manifest Destiny” values of the times, oldest mounds contain few artifacts or
ensured continued belief in the mound- other clues about why they were con-
builder myth. A small group of scholars, structed.
however, championed an American In- Archaic-period mound building
dian origin for the mounds. The U.S. reached a climax with establishment of
Congress provided funds to the Smith- the Poverty Point site in Louisiana
sonian Institution to settle the question around 3600 B.P. Poverty Point consists of
once and for all. Smithsonian archaeolo- a large central mound 70 feet high, sev-
gists dug into dozens of mounds, care- eral smaller mounds, and six ring-
fully recorded their finds, and published shaped earthworks arranged in a con-
their conclusions in a massive report is- centric pattern encompassing many
sued in 1894. Based on the similarity of acres (ibid., 83). Kitchen refuse and post-
burial practices observed in the mounds holes indicate that people lived on the
to those used by Native peoples, the ar- earthwork rings. The function of the
chaeologists demonstrated that Ameri- mounds is less certain, although ash,
can Indians had built the mounds; the postholes, and occasional fragments of
mound-builder myth was thoroughly human bone suggest a burial function.
discredited. Hundreds of pounds of stone, brought
from distant sources, reveal Poverty
Archaic Mounds (7000–3000 B . P.) Point to be the hub of an elaborate ex-
Mounds were first constructed in eastern change network.
North America during the Archaic pe-
riod. This was a time when technological Woodland Mounds (3000–1000 B . P.)
and climatic changes stimulated in- The Woodland period was a time when
creased use of aquatic foods along rivers cultivation of native plants increasingly
and shores, which resulted in more per- supplemented wild foods, and regional
manent settlements and population populations became linked together
growth. New concerns with community through “interaction spheres” of ex-
rights to territory and resources may changed products and ideas. Burial
have been expressed symbolically by mound ceremonialism became estab-
marking the landscape with highly visi- lished throughout the Eastern Wood-
570
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Mounds
lands. A set of symbolic artifacts, espe- B.P.,long, low effigy mounds in the out-
cially ornaments made of marine shell, line shapes of birds, bears, and other an-
copper, and stone, circulated widely and imals were built in the upper Midwest.
were deposited with the honored dead in Another form, the platform mound, de-
burial mounds. The core area of produc- veloped around 2000 B.P. Platform
tion and exchange of these artifacts was mounds have square, rectangular, or
the Midwest, but regional populations rounded forms with steep sides and flat
from Florida to Ontario incorporated the summits accessed by a ramp of steps.
symbols and burial mound practices Platform mounds were built in multiple
into their local traditions. construction episodes, or stages. Each
Woodland burial mounds are conical stage was the surface for special ritual
or dome-shaped and usually contain a activities, such as feasts, and they some-
central feature for processing or inter- times served as a foundation for wooden
ring the dead that, after use, was capped buildings. After a period of use, the old
over with a mantle of soil. These features stage was covered over by a new stage. As
vary with local traditions and include the cycle of building repeated again and
pits, log or stone-lined tombs, clay plat- again, the mound expanded in size. To-
forms, clay crematory basins, and ward the end of the Woodland period,
wooden charnel houses. Human re- platform mounds arranged around open
mains were cremated, defleshed and spaces or plazas began to appear in the
bundled, or deposited as fully articulated Southern states, a settlement form that
bodies. Some mounds contain few indi- was to become prevalent in the Missis-
viduals; others expanded in size as sippi period.
dozens or even hundreds of burials were
added over time. Some individuals re- Mississippian Mounds (1000–300
ceived special treatment as differences B . P.)
in social status became more pro- The Mississippi period was a time of in-
nounced. Mounds were sometimes tensified corn agriculture, large fortified
placed in groups enclosed by earthwork settlements, and powerful chiefs. Missis-
walls. The most elaborate earthworks sippian platform mounds were con-
were built by the Ohio Hopewell in the structed singly or in groups and func-
form of squares or circles enclosing tioned as political-ceremonial capitals.
many mounds spread over dozens of The Cahokia site had more than a hun-
acres. Most of these ceremonial centers dred mounds and was the largest Ameri-
show few signs of permanent habitation can Indian settlement north of Mexico
and were occupied only at the time of (Fagan 2000, 453). Wooden buildings
special rituals. were placed on the summits of Missis-
New mound forms appeared during sippian platform mounds. Based on
Woodland times. Beginning about 1700 early historical sources and evidence
571
Mounds __________________________________________________________________________________________
from archaeological research, mound- Northern Native peoples. Earth Diver is a

top buildings functioned as houses for turtle, duck, or other animal who swims
chiefs or other important people, as to the bottom of the primordial body of
mortuary temples for ancestral bones, water, retrieves a bit of mud, and from
and as council houses. Activities that the mud establishes the earth upon
took place on or adjacent to the mounds which people and animals dwell.
included feasts, craft production, and Episodes of mound construction, in
storage of corn. which multiple layers of sand and clay
serve to cover the remains of sacred
Mound Symbolism buildings and surfaces, suggest ceremo-
Although mound burial and mound nial cycles of world renewal in which
building was often initiated by the older polluted surfaces were replaced
deaths of important leaders, such events with new clean ones. These ritual func-
were permeated with deeper meanings. tions still survive today in the form of
Archaeology and Native oral tradition small mounds of earth found at ceremo-
provide insights into mound symbolism. nial square grounds in Oklahoma and
Mounds symbolize the fertile earth. other Southern states. These little
Construction and use of the earth- mounds, created by the annual scraping
mound symbols reveal an ancient con- and cleaning of the sacred grounds at the
cern with the cycle of birth and death, time of the Green Corn celebrations, are
pollution and purity, a multilevel cos- the legacy of the centuries-old mound
mos, and world renewal. In the creation ceremonial complex.
stories of Southern Native peoples, such John H. Blitz
as the Choctaws, animals led the first See also Archaeology; Ceremony and Ritual,
people out of the Below World and into Southeast; Mourning and Burial, Choctaw;
this Middle World through a hole in a Oral Traditions, Southeast
mound. A belief that mounds gave birth References and Further Reading
Bense, Judith A. 1994. Archaeology of the
to people underscores the fertility
Southeastern United States: Paleoindian
theme. Earthen mounds represent an to World War I. New York: Academic
axis mundi or passageway between the Press.
Fagan, Brian M. 2000. Ancient North
worlds of the living and the dead. In
America: The Archaeology of a Continent,
some earth-mound creation stories, the 3d ed. New York: Thames and Hudson.
hole closes before all the people can Gibson, Jon L. 2000. The Ancient Mounds of
Poverty Point: Place of Rings. Gainesville:
emerge. Thus mound burial may signify
University Press of Florida.
a ritual return of the dead to the earth Hall, Robert L. 1997. An Archaeology of the
home of ancestral spirits. Soul: North American Indian Belief and
Mound construction has also been in- Ritual. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press.
terpreted as a ritual re-enactment of the Knight, Vernon James, Jr. 1989. “Symbolism
Earth Diver creation story common to of Mississippian Mounds.” Pp. 279–291
572
_____________________________________________________________ Mourning and Burial Practices
in Powhatan’s Mantle: Indians in the Traditionally, and at the present time

Colonial Southeast. Edited by Peter H. as well, bodies are prepared for burial in
Wood, Gregory A. Waselkov, and M.
Thomas Hatley. Lincoln: University of different ways. In some tribes, family
Nebraska Press. members dress the body. Bodies may be
Lindauer, Owen, and John H. Blitz. 1997. wrapped in a special cloth, blanket, quilt,
“Higher Ground: The Archaeology of
North American Platform Mounds.” or hide. Among some tribes the names of
Journal of Archaeological Research 5, no. the dead are not spoken, and family
2: 169–207. members cut their hair. In many tribes
Silverberg, Robert. 1968. Mound Builders of
Ancient America: The Archaeology of a
the property of the dead is burned, given
Myth. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic away, or buried with the body. Some
Society. tribes have annual community obser-
Young, Biloine Whiting, and Melvin L.
vances of mourning. Traditional meth-
Fowler. 2000. Cahokia: The Great Native
American Metropolis. Urbana: University ods of burial included graves, pits,
of Illinois Press. mounds, cabins, death lodges, and
caves, as well as placing the body on a
scaffold, in trees, or canoes. Cremation
Mourning and Burial also occurred. As the Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
Practices
(NAGPRA) of 1990 continues to be im-
Death is a universal experience, yet there plemented, an understanding of the cul-
are no universal practices or beliefs re- tural importance of properly caring for
garding death among the Native peoples the departed is essential. By examining
of North America. Mortuary practices of the historical continuity of cultural prac-
Native Americans vary substantially. Tra- tices and beliefs surrounding death and
ditions, values, practices, and beliefs sur- mourning in two geographically and lin-
rounding death reflect the varied cul- guistically unrelated tribes, the Delaware
tures of Native peoples. However, some and the Lakota, we can see the centrality
generalities can be observed. For Native of caring for ancestors in those societies.
people, deaths and funerals tend to be
community events, bringing people to- The Delaware
gether. There is a sense of reverence for The Delaware Indians resided in the
the departed, the ancestors, that contin- Mid-Atlantic region for thousands of
ues long after death. There has been con- years. The term “Delaware,” after Sir
tinuity over time in traditions relating to Thomas West, Lord De la Warr, governor
death and mourning, despite centuries of Virginia, refers to the descendants of
of upheaval. There is an almost universal two groups of culturally similar Algon-
belief in the sanctity of life and, hence, of quin speakers, the Munsee and the
death and human remains, and a recog- Unami (sometimes called the Lenape).
nition of burial places as sacred sites. The Munsee occupied what is now
573
Mourning and Burial Practices _____________________________________________________________
northern New Jersey, Long Island, Penn- Grave goods, including pots, spoons,
sylvania, and southeast New York. The food, and money (wampum), were
Unami bands occupied southern New placed in the grave for the journey to the
Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania, Mary- other world. Wood was placed around
land, and Delaware. In the early seven- the body, then an earthen mound
teenth century, the Delaware lived in vil- topped with a fence. The burial places
lage bands of a few hundred members were secluded, carefully tended, and
each, with a total population of from venerated. It was considered wicked to
8,000 to 12,000 (Goddard 1978, 213). disturb burial places (Van der Donck
Information about Delaware mourn- 1968, 86–87).
ing and burials dates back to the early Relatives, especially women, cried for
seventeenth century. David de Vries, a long periods. People scratched and dis-
navigator and explorer for the West India figured their faces to show grief. Mothers
Trade Company between 1633 to 1643, who lost children might cry and call for
noted that the Delaware lined graves the child all night. Both men and women
with boughs of trees, in which the corpse cut their hair, kept the hair for a year, and
was laid. The grave was covered with then burned it on the graves in a large
clay, forming a mound seven or eight feet gathering. The bereaved painted their
high, and a fence was placed around it. faces black, and the names of the de-
Also during large ten-day gatherings, ceased were not mentioned. The
multitudes of people brought bones of Delaware believed that the spirit was im-
their ancestors bound in small bundles mortal, separating at death from the
with knives, arrows, kettles, and other body to go south. Voices and noises in
possessions for secondary burials. At the night were thought to be souls un-
these gatherings alliances were forged able to travel to the south. People did not
and strengthened. Relatives and friends travel alone at night without a lighted
from other groups attended the cere- torch to keep spirits away (ibid., 105).
mony, cementing relationships between Between 1654 and 1656, Peter Linde-
groups. Widows grieved and cried daily strom conducted a survey of the early
at the graves. The Delaware believed in colonies and observed Delaware funer-
the immortality of the soul (Jameson als. When someone died an announcer
1909, 223–224). spread the news, and the burial was a
Adriaen Van der Donck’s 1655 history few days later. The deceased was buried
of New York described a Delaware burial sitting on a stool, pipe in mouth, sur-
at which all village residents assembled. rounded by wampum and goods. Four
Relatives extended the limbs and closed tall poles were erected in the corners of
the eyes of the dead. After several days the grave and connected with scaffold-
and nights of wake, the body was buried ing. Mourners stayed at the grave, crying,
in a sitting posture on stone or wood. for a month, after which the body was
574
exhumed and the bones cleaned and John Heckewelder, a nineteenth-cen-

placed on the upper shelf. The mourners tury missionary among the Delaware of
stayed for another two weeks. The scaf- Pennsylvania, wrote about the death of a
folding was left as a monument until it woman. Women went through the village
fell or rotted. The names of the dead announcing the death, and lamentations
were not mentioned (Lindestrom 1925, erupted. The next day, the deceased was
249–250). painted with red color and dressed in
A 1683 letter from William Penn de- new clothing, silver jewelry, quilled moc-
scribed Delaware funeral practices. He casins, and wampum belts. The body
noted the mourners’ grief and love for was placed in the coffin along with cloth-
the deceased, which caused them to ing, buckskin, needles, a basin, and trin-
fling their most precious possessions kets. A small bag of red paint was in-
into the grave, blacken their faces, and serted into the coffin through a hole cut
tend the graves (Myers 1912, 233–234). out at the head. The hole was for the
In 1698, Gabriel Thomas published an spirit to enter and leave at will. Some
account of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. women brought food to the burial, and
According to Thomas, when Delaware other women served as principal mourn-
buried their dead, they included utensils ers, crying loudly. When the large funeral
and money. They carried bones of the procession reached the grave, the body
deceased great distances for burial, and was covered with white cloth. The group
they were careful to preserve and repair sat silently around the south side of the
graves. They did not mention the name grave. The coffin was lowered and a post,
of the deceased and used lead to blacken painted with scenes from the deceased’s
their faces. Thomas saw a memorial feast life, was placed at the head of the grave,
in which there was an altar with twelve facing east. Women filled the grave with
stones to symbolize twelve months of dry leaves and bark to keep animals out.
mourning (ibid., 340–341). Sometimes, bodies were later disin-
From 1679 to 1680, Jasper Danckaerts terred, wrapped in bark, and enclosed in
kept a journal of his travels through the a fence of poles. Deaths were announced
Mid-Atlantic states. He noted that the for distances of up to 200 miles, and
tops of the fences enclosing Delaware members of other Delaware villages and
graves were sometimes braided together other nations attended the ceremonies
to keep animals out. Mounds were (Heckewelder 1971, 195–203).
weeded daily. Sometimes markers, such Moravian missionary George Henry
as a child’s cradleboard, hung in nearby Loskiel described a typical late-nine-
trees. Danckaerts observed an entire teenth-century Delaware funeral. At
family sitting together, painted black, death, the deceased was immediately
and quietly mourning (Gehring and dressed in new clothing and laid in the
Grumet 1987, 109–111). middle of the lodge, the face and shirt
575
painted red. The deceased’s belongings tions of villages, and of political and lin-
were piled near the body. Graves were guistic groups. The remnants of larger
lined with bark. If there was no coffin, Delaware groups that coalesced and es-
the body was laid between four loose tablished themselves in distant locations
boards. A tall post was decorated to re- retained essential elements of their fu-
flect the deceased’s life and placed at the neral customs. Nora Thompson Dean
head of the grave, toward the east. Gifts (1908–1984), a Lenape (Unami Delaware)
were given to all who had assisted. Fe- of Dewey, Oklahoma, fluent in English
male relatives wept by the grave in early and Lenape, recorded the details and be-
morning and at dusk for a long period; liefs associated with contemporary
they also left offerings of food on the Delaware funeral customs. She also in-
grave. Widows observed a year of mourn- cluded practices that were discontinued
ing, during which they did not fix their in the early twentieth century. Her ac-
hair or wear jewelry. When an Indian of count illustrates how this contemporary
rank died, emissaries came from distant tribal group has retained the underlying
tribes (Loskiel 1794, 119–121). structure of traditional belief and prac-
David Zeisberger, also a Moravian tice. Although variations exist and
missionary, noted the arrival of a Chero- changes have occurred, the key elements
kee delegation after the death of the are intact after four centuries. The follow-
Delaware chief to express the sympathy ing description of contemporary
of their nation. If a chief lost a close rela- Delaware burial practices and beliefs is
tive, he was not to be consulted on “af- based on Dean’s work (Dean 1984, 63–71).
fairs of state.” Even formal visits from Delaware people begin to prepare for
other nations had to begin with condo- death after their late fifties, or if they
lence speeches and gifts of wampum and sense death is near. Women prepare by
cloth (Zeisberger 1910, 150–151). sewing a traditional burial outfit by
The 1758 Treaty of Easton stipulated hand, including a skirt, blouse, leggings,
that the Delaware leave New Jersey. In the and moccasins. A man may ask a relative
years following, Delaware Indians from or friend to help him prepare a shirt and
New Jersey lived varying lengths of time moccasins. There are signs that a person
in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, may be close to death. The personality
Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma, and may change. A person may get irritable
Canada. Many Munsee Delaware settled in order to make others dislike him, so
in Ontario, Canada. Today the largest re- that they will not grieve as much. The
maining groups of Delaware in the United small white semicircles at the base of the
States reside in Oklahoma at opposite fingernails (lenapeokani sekelenja, or
ends of the state, in Dewey and Anadarko. spirit fingers) begin to fade. If the person
The piecemeal westward migration in- was especially good, a white mist may
volved repeated divisions and consolida- appear around him. When the soul
576
(lenapeokan) separates from the body, noon and continues until the funeral.
the Lenape say that the heart has People view the body and then are
stopped, and that is the moment of seated for the vigil. Traditionally, the
death. Just before this, the lenapeokan moccasin game was played during
can leave the body and travel around to wakes. At midnight, everyone except the
visit people and places. Some metein- person at the head of the body is called
uwak (medicine men) can see this soul outside, and a rifle is fired. (This is sel-
and cause it to return to the body, so that dom done now, on account of restrictive
the person can live longer. laws.) Then everyone gathers around the
As soon as a person dies, a window body, and the speaker prays for the de-
near the body is opened for the soul to get parted and the bereaved. Next, the face
in and out. The face of the deceased is of the deceased is marked with olaman
covered with a handkerchief. Pictures and (red paint) to distinguish him as a
mirrors in the home are covered. The de- Lenape for the creator. The paint for
ceased’s clothing is gathered. One set of women is a small spot on each cheek and
everyday clothing is set aside to accom- a line in the part of the hair. The paint for
pany the coffin, and the rest is packaged men consists of three lines from the out-
into two bundles with tobacco. The com- side of the eye to the hairline. There is a
munity is involved in the funeral prepara- midnight meal, and the wake continues
tions. Women pound corn for corn bread, throughout the night. At dawn a male
which is then baked in outside ovens and helper may fire a rifle again, and break-
handled carefully for this sacred use. No fast is served. Cooking and other burial
salt is used in funeral foods. preparations are arranged so that the
The family appoints four nonrela- burial can occur by noon.
tives—two men and two women—to In the burial procession to the ceme-
perform specific tasks during the prepa- tery, the speaker, family, and friends go
rations, burial, and feast. The women first and the body last. If anyone looks
cook the food. The men make the burial back at the body, it may cause the spirit
post, get wood, and do the heavy work. to fall behind. The grave is dug after the
In addition, the family appoints a body arrives. Children are not to play
speaker, a respected elder, to conduct with the soil. The deceased is placed
the ceremonies and presents him with with the head toward the east. The
several yards of white cloth. The family speaker then speaks to the bereaved,
also appoints a special friend of the de- consoling them. At that point, the spe-
ceased to sit at the head of the body and cial friend, who sat by the head of the
not leave it unattended. body, kneels by the head of the deceased
The wake is held in the house or a fu- and says a final farewell. People circle
neral home for one or more nights. The the grave counterclockwise, beginning
wake generally starts in the late after- in the east.
577
Miniature houses, “spirit houses,” mark the graves in the cemetery at Eklutna Village, Alaska, 1995.
Here, the cultures of Russian Orthodoxy and Native Americans are blended. (Kevin Flemming/Corbis)
A notch is cut in the coffin near the the funeral feast. Food furnished by the
head as a passageway for the soul and family for all in attendance is placed on
painted red (this is similar to the 1762 ac- one sheet. Food donated by friends for
count of thrusting red paint through the the family is placed on the other, and it is
notch). The casket is lowered, and a set of important that the family eat only this
the deceased’s clothing is placed on top. food. Before the meal, large pans of the
Using only the soil that was removed, the choicest foods are presented to the four
men fill the grave. The grave post, kikin- helpers, the speaker, and the special
hikan, is set at the east, at the head of the friend. The best friend will “eat” for the
grave, and is painted red to help the de- deceased. What they cannot eat is taken
ceased find the spirit world. The post for home. After the speaker prays, the eating
a man is a straight board with a diamond begins. This ritual feasting is a central
at the top; for a woman it is a cross with part of the funeral.
diamonds on the three corners. After the meal, just before people leave,
Two canvas sheets are spread at the a small fire is started; it will be restarted
head of the grave and serve as tables for for the next three nights just before sun-
578
down. These fires keep the spirit warm as which the guests are “eating for the de-
it journeys to the spirit world. The two parted.” Once someone has held a Wi-
bundles of clothing of the deceased are hunge, it must be held annually.
given to two workers of the same sex as The Delaware believe that the real
the departed. The speaker then gives final soul, the lenapeokan, goes to the Milky
exhortations to the assembly, who after- Way, where the Creator lives, crossing a
ward leave. When the people get home, bridge guarded by spirit dogs. People
they should purify themselves with cedar who have mistreated dogs will not cross.
smoke. The home of the deceased, and The place where the Creator lives is simi-
anything used by the deceased, needs to lar to earth, but better. An evil person’s
be purified with red cedar smoke. spirit will go to the place where Mahtantu
There are still prescribed behaviors for (evil spirit) lives and will be tormented by
the bereaved family. The family does not insects. Mahtantu may tire of this person
fix their hair for the first three days of and turn him into an insect to torment
grieving. Extended mourning lasts a the living. Lenape may be reincarnated;
year, during which time immediate fam- elders look at the earlobes of newborns
ily do not attend social events. A deer for indentations showing where they may
hide string is tied onto the wrist of any- have been pierced before.
one close to the deceased and left to There is clear continuity in Delaware
come off on its own. At night, the family funeral customs between the early seven-
should sleep with a dim light. The name teenth century and the present. A few ex-
of the dead is not spoken at any time amples are people preparing for their
other than morning. A widow should own death, the red paint, the wake, the
wear her hair loose and not fix it for one notch in the casket, the funeral proces-
year. After the year of mourning, cedar is sion, the grave post, placing the body
burned and the surviving spouse is with the head to the east, the funeral
prayed for. He or she is then free to par- feast, and the intense year-long mourn-
ticipate in social events. The relatives of ing. While outward aspects have
the deceased may furnish new clothing changed, underlying elements have con-
to the widowed person, indicating that tinued. The Delaware believe that the de-
the person is no longer in their family parted are aware and can continue to act,
and is eligible to remarry. If the family and that the living have a responsibility
does not furnish clothes, it means that to care for the departed. As Dean stated,
they would like the person to stay within “We Lenape people hold our departed
the family. people in mind for a long time” (ibid., 63).
A special memorial feast, Wihunge,
may be held in one year, or if a family Lakota
member has recurring dreams of the de- Today, members of “The Great Sioux Na-
ceased. This Wihunge is a special feast at tion,” the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota,
579
reside primarily in reservations in South ceased. Francis Densmore’s (1918) de-

and North Dakota. They trace their roots tailed observations of a spirit keeping
to the Oceti Sakwin, the Seven Council ceremony at Standing Rock Reservation
Fires. These seven bands each speak one agree closely with those in Black Elk
of three dialects. The Santee speak (1974), as told to Brown in The Sacred
Dakota; the Yankton, Nakota; and the Pipe (1974). An individual, known as a
Teton, Lakota. The Teton, usually called spirit keeper, pledged to keep the spirit
the Lakota, include the Oglala, Brule, of someone who died. A lock of hair was
Hunkpapa, and Minneconjou bands. The cut from the deceased, wrapped in cloth,
Lakota were nomadic people who hunted and kept for one year. This bundle sym-
buffalo, the source of food, clothing, tepee bolized the deceased and the deceased’s
covers, and tools. According to their cre- spirit. The bundle was treated with care
ation story, the Lakota are relatives of the and respect, and the family accumulated
buffalo. Lakota tradition emphasizes bal- items to give away at the end of the year.
ance and views everything in the universe Spirit keeping was a way to keep the de-
as being related. Pte San Win, the White ceased closer for one year. In this transi-
Buffalo Calf Woman, brought the pipe tional state between the living and the
and seven ceremonies that are the foun- departed, the spirit could take messages
dation of Lakota spirituality. to others in the spirit world, and could
The contemporary memorial feast, actively help and teach the living. The
and the older spirit keeping ceremony, most important part of the year-long ob-
wanagi wicagluha (“to keep one’s own”), servance was the daily feeding of the
illustrates continuity in Lakota practices spirit.
connected to mourning and honoring After a year of keeping the spirit and
the ancestors. The spirit keeping cere- collecting materials for the final give-
mony was one of the ceremonies away, the people came together for the
brought by the White Buffalo Calf spirit releasing. A spirit post was carved
Woman; it is based on the belief that the and dressed to represent the person
spirit of the deceased lingers around the whose spirit was being released. The
place of death and that relationships be- post and give-away items were laid by
tween the living and dead continue after the spirit bundle. After prayers, a pipe
death. ceremony, and a final ritual meal, the
The spirit keeping ceremony was ob- spirit departed. The ceremony ended
served among the Sisseton Sioux in the with a feast for all who attended and a
1860s and among the Sicangu Sioux in give-away of all items accumulated, as
the 1870s (Yarrow 1881). Both accounts well as the belongings of the deceased
noted the keeping of hair of the deceased and the belongings of the spirit keeper.
by relatives, and that this hair was be- Although the first accounts of spirit
lieved to contain the spirit of the de- keeping date back to the 1860s, there are
580
earlier references to the carrying of bone talk about the deceased, pray, or sing.
bundles and smaller bundles similar to The family provides meals in the morn-
the spirit bundle, and also to give-aways. ing, and at noon, evening, and at mid-
Bushnell’s compilation (1883) included night. The wake is followed by the fu-
accounts that referred to the carrying of neral service and burial, which can
bones wrapped in skins adorned with follow a contemporary Christian format,
quillwork among Sioux in Minnesota in or be traditional, or a combination. The
1680. These bone bundles were “smoked funeral ends with the feast, give-away,
over” and covered with goods for a later and final hand shaking. Usually, almost
give-away. In 1843, bereaved were ob- everyone, except family members, re-
served giving away their best clothing ceives something during the give-away,
and possessions, as well as those of the with the best presents going to those
deceased. In 1849, “valuable presents” who had helped the deceased or sup-
were gathered after the death of a ported the family in their bereavement.
woman. Death in Lakota society is a community
With the establishment of Courts of event. It is not unheard of for hundreds
Indian Offenses in 1883, spirit keeping of people to participate.
and the accumulation of goods for give- Lakota who wish to especially honor a
aways became a punishable offense. This departed person pledge to hold a memo-
was recorded in winter counts (waniyetu rial around one year after the death; the
iyawapi), the pictographic histories kept memorial will include a religious service,
by bands that recorded significant events a feast, and a give-away. There is continu-
of the previous year. The winter count of ity between the traditional spirit keeping
No Ears calls the year 1888 waparta and pledging to hold a memorial. A set of
yublecapi, “the year they opened bun- obligations and responsibilities accom-
dles,” and Iron Crow’s winter count calls pany this pledge. The sponsor of a memo-
1888 waparta natalkapi, “the year bun- rial has an obligation to honor the spirit of
dles are forbidden” (Walker 1982, 151). the deceased. Some people set aside a
Yet, give-aways continued. small offering of food at every meal. If
Today, when someone passes away, food is accidentally dropped, this is an in-
the extended family immediately begins dication that the spirit may be hungry,
to prepare for the wake, funeral, feast, and the piece of food is placed outside.
and give-away. There are normally one to Tobacco is also used as an offering. Some-
two days and nights of wake, which are one who pledges to hold a memorial is to
announced to the community. When think and behave properly and to ensure
mourners come to the wake they offer that those living in the family home be-
condolences to the family, view the body, have properly. Often the sponsor will
and then take a seat in the circle of wear black and not attend social func-
chairs. Anyone at a wake can stand and tions. Women frequently cut their hair.
581
The pledge to hold a memorial entails circle, cut, and distributed. In the memo-
a considerable economic commitment. rial feast and spirit releasing, the food
A hundred or more people will be fed. that is served has meaning on several
The give-away after the meal includes levels. Food is the basis of hospitality and
presents ranging from socks and dish social conduct. It is a symbolic offering
towels to Pendleton blankets. The spon- on behalf of the deceased. As a dominant
sor of a memorial coordinates a united symbol, food, and all aspects of its
family effort to make and buy goods for preparation, cooking, and serving, be-
the give-away and food for the feast, as come charged with meaning and value.
well as to cover extra expenses such as In the process of cooking food for cere-
headstones. Other tasks include print- mony, secular ingredients are trans-
ing and mailing invitations; arranging formed into sacred life- and spirit-sus-
for newspaper and radio announce- taining foods. Some of the traditional
ments of the memorial; tending the foods served include wild turnips, buf-
grave; setting up an arbor; and arranging falo, tripe, dried meat, and pudding
for an announcer. made from native fruits including
Food preparation begins a day or two chokecherries, wild plums, and buffalo
before the memorial. Beef or buffalo is berries. These traditional foods are han-
butchered, large pots of soup are cooked, dled with care and fed to elders first.
and many other foods are prepared. On The give-away follows the feast. Peo-
the morning of the memorial, the food, ple are called forward, receive their gift,
flowers, give-away items, tables, and and shake hands with family members.
chairs are set up. Give-away items are Gifts may be given to categories of
arranged, and star quilts are draped over guests, such as pallbearers. After that
tables and clotheslines. A special place of there is a give-away of all remaining
honor may be set up, with pictures and items. Family members often walk
mementos of the deceased. The people around, passing items out, trying to en-
are seated in a circle, and the sponsor di- sure that everyone gets something. The
rects the activities. There are many varia- give-away ends when the family gives
tions in how a memorial may be carried away the empty trunks and laundry bas-
out. There may be a short Christian kets. At some memorials, the deceased’s
prayer service, or traditional prayers and furniture and household belongings are
a spirit releasing ceremony, or some given away. At a memorial, the give-away
combination. is an offering to others in honor of the
Food is served to the circle of guests, deceased, and, hence, a symbolic offer-
one food at a time, until none is left. ing to the deceased. The family honors
Guests often take home large amounts of the deceased by sharing, by indicating
food that they could not eat at the meal. that the deceased means more than
Decorated cakes are shown around the wealth or material possessions.
582
The gifts that are given away have sig- proper relationships will exist between
nificance; they reflect Lakota sentiment, the living and spirit realm, ensuring the
values, and beliefs. Tobacco, a symbol of continued existence of the people. Car-
respect and honor, may be given to eld- ing for the departed is a valued role in
ers. Other gifts include ribbon shirts, Lakota society.
shawls, household goods, and blankets.
Pendleton blankets, and especially star Desecration Issues
quilts, are the most highly prized gifts. Desecration of Indian remains began
Star quilts have come to assume the role with the first Europeans (Mihesuah 2000,
formerly held by buffalo robes in indi- 2), and plundering, looting, and excava-
cating honor. The eight-pointed star de- tions still occur. Little was heard about
sign, with historical roots in Anglo- the desecration issue, outside of Native
American culture, was appropriated and communities, until Vine Deloria’s (1969)
transformed into a Lakota symbol, simi- indictment of anthropologists in Custer
lar to the morning star design common Died for Your Sins. Since the 1970s, when
on ceremonial hide robes. Like hide AIM (American Indian Movement)
robes, star quilts are now a sacred sym- groups began to disrupt excavations,
bol, used in ceremonies, and a part of there has been increasing controversy
life from infancy to death. At funerals about the treatment of Native American
star quilts cover the body, and at memo- burial sites and of human skeletal re-
rials star quilts are given away to honor mains being in museums. Ronald Grimes
the deceased. sees the disagreement between Native
The memorial concludes with the Americans and archaeologists as a clash
final hand shaking. The family stands to- between conflicting philosophical foun-
gether, and all who attended file past, dations (Grimes 1986). The Western em-
shaking hands with each member of the phasis on scientific thought has led to
family. During this emotional inter- secularization, or lack of acknowledg-
change, people that the family may not ment of the sacred, laying the ground-
have seen for months or years embrace work for desecration. The landmark 1990
and cry, the loss of one being a loss to the Native American Graves and Repatria-
community. tion Act recognizes that human remains
Over time the memorial feast and and funerary items are connected to liv-
give-away have undergone transforma- ing people, and that descendants have a
tions, but they have retained those ele- spiritual, cultural, and lineal relationship
ments related to the underlying struc- with the deceased. The complexities of
ture of Lakota beliefs, symbols, practices, NAGRA implementation, however, are
and values. The symbolic feeding of the daunting. Effective implementation in-
spirits, the feeding of the people, and the volves developing an understanding of
giving away of goods ensure that the traditional and contemporary attitudes,
583
practices, values, and beliefs toward Heckewelder, John. 1971. “History,

death and ancestors, and appreciation of Manners and Customs of the Indian
Nations Who Once Inhabited
burial sites as sacred sites. Pennsylvania and the Neighboring
Mary Jane McDermott Cedar Face States.” Memoirs of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, no. 12.
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota; Cry Philadelphia: Historical Society of
Ceremony; Mounds; Mourning and Burial, Pennsylvania.
Choctaw; Mourning and the Afterlife, Jameson, J. Franklin, ed. 1909. Narratives of
Southwest; Repatriation, Spiritual and New Netherland, 1609–1664. New York:
Cultural Implications Barnes and Noble.
Kraft, Herbert C. 1986. The Lenape:
References and Further Reading Archaeology, History, and Ethnography.
Brown, John Epes. 1974. The Sacred Pipe. Newark: New Jersey Historical Society.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Lindestrom, Peter. 1925. Geographia
Press. Americae: With an Account of the
Bushnell, David I. 1920. “Native Cemeteries Delaware Indians Based on Surveys and
and Forms of Burial East of the Notes Made in 1654––1656. Philadelphia:
Mississippi.” Bureau of American Swedish Colonial Society.
Ethnology Bulletin no. 71. Washington, Loskiel, George Henry. 1794. History of the
DC: Government Printing Office. Mission of the United Brethren among the
Dean, Nora Thompson. 1984. “Lenape Indians of North America. London:
Funeral Customs.” Pp. 63–71 in The Brethren’s Society.
Lenape Indian: A Symposium. Edited by Mihesuah, Devon A. 2000. Repatriation
Herbert C. Kraft. South Orange, NJ: Reader: Who Owns American Indian
Archeological Research Center, Seton Remains? Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press.
Hall University.
Myers, Albert Cook, ed. 1912. Narratives of
Deloria, Vine. 1969. Custer Died for Your
Early Pennsylvania, West New Jersey
Sins. New York: Macmillan.
and Delaware. New York: Barnes and
Densmore, Frances. 1918. “Teton Sioux
Noble.
Music.” Bureau of American Ethnology
Van der Donck, Adriaen. 1968. A Description
Bulletin no. 61. Washington, DC:
of the New Netherlands. Syracuse, NY:
Government Printing Office.
Syracuse University Press.
Gehring, Charles T., and Robert S. Grumet. Walker, James R. 1982. Lakota Society.
1987. “Observations of the Indians from Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. Lincoln:
Jasper Janckaert’s Journal, 1679–1680.” University of Nebraska Press.
William and Mary Quarterly 44: Yarrow, H. C. 1880. Introduction to the Study
104–120. of Mortuary Customs among the North
Goddard, Ives. 1978. “Delaware.” In American Indians. Washington, DC:
Handbook of North American Indians, Government Printing Office.
Northeast 15: 213–230. Edited by Bruce ______. 1881. “Further Contributions to the
Trigger. Washington, DC: Government Study of Mortuary Customs of the North
Printing Office. American Indians.” Bureau of American
Grimes, Ronald L. 1986. “Desecration of the Ethnology Annual Report no. 1.
Dead: An Inter-religious Controversy.” Washington, DC: Government Printing
American Indian Quarterly 10, no. 4: Office.
305–318. Zeisberger, David. 1910. “History of the
Grumet, Robert S., ed. 2001. Voices from the North American Indians.” Ohio
Delaware Big House Ceremony. Norman: Archaeological and Historical Society
University of Oklahoma Press. Publications 19, no. 1–2:150–151.
584
______________________________________________ Mourning and Burial, Southeast (Choctaw)
Mourning and Burial, ple, at Ft. Walton Beach in northwest

Southeast (Choctaw) Florida). The environs of Nashville with
its numerous mounds served as a popu-
As with so many other customs in the lar “City of the Dead,” a kind of Native
Southeast, mourning and mortuary Jerusalem where as many as eight dis-
practices were never uniform. In the tinct tribes made pilgrimages. Such
Adena culture, concentrated farther mixed traditions, obviously expressive of
north in the Ohio River Valley, while most individual preferences and changing
dead persons were cremated, specific in- fashions, just like today, beggar any at-
dividuals were selected to be encased in tempts, however studious and well
log tombs that were subsequently cov- meaning, of the federal government and
ered by mounds of dirt. These varied tra- state archaeologists to assign pre-
ditions gave way to Hopewell and then Columbian human remains or funerary
Mississippian cultures. While it is true artifacts to the “relevant tribal culture.”
that the Yuchi buried their dead in indi- Many tribes also buried the placenta or
vidual stone-lined coffins in restful-ap- afterbirth.
pearing positions, facing west, the same This entry specifically describes
tribe sometimes buried them under the Choctaw mourning and burial customs,
floors of their houses, placed them on which illustrate the region’s great variety
scaffolds in the woods, or cremated them and continual synthesis of traditions,
on a funeral pyre. Others reused these notwithstanding the different origins
tombs, often placing two individuals in and lack of uniformity even within that
them. large group, probably the most populous
Sometimes the dead were buried one at the time of European contact.
where they fell: the eighty-five-year-old “The sun was the supreme being, and
Choctaw chief Puckshenubbe collapsed fire, its mate, gave the sun information
en route to Washington in October 1824. about human activities,” according to
In other cases, tribal and family burial Choctaw historian Kidwell. “It had the
grounds were used. Cherokee chiefs had power of life and death, which explains
caves made into tombs on the borders of its importance in the funeral customs of
the lands they ruled (present-day Blount the Choctaws. A dead body was exposed
County, Alabama). Moshulatubbee, the to the rays of the sun on a raised plat-
last grand chief of the Choctaws, was form and allowed to decay, thus giving
buried in 1838 under a pile of stones near itself back to the supreme power.” The
the spring on his farm in the Choctaw deceased were scaffolded in their best
Nation West (now LeFlore County, Okla- clothing and painted in an elaborated
homa). The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Yuchi, and personal fashion, so that the sun
and other groups continued the various would recognize them. Often a favorite
traditions of burial mounds (for exam- weapon or (in the case of a woman) her
585
Mourning and Burial, Southeast (Choctaw) _______________________________________________
beauty stone or household heirloom Choctaws divided themselves into two

was included on the bier. A period of moieties, or iksa. When Great Spirit cre-
mourning followed for family members. ated people, he placed half of them on
Signs of mourning included cutting the the north side of the mother mound
hair (which represented accumulated Nanih Waiyah and half on the west side.
memories), assuming a negligent ap- These two groups were the kashapa okla
pearance, not remarrying, staying segre- or imoklasha and the okla inholahta or
gated by sex, and being seen only by hattak inhaolahta, the “younger brother”
other clansmen. It did not entail visits to group and the “elder brothers.” Your
the scaffold, usually rather distant in the mother’s iksa determined which moiety
woods. In fact, the family was expected was yours, and you were expected to
to have little to do with the burial. After marry into the opposite one. The interde-
about a year, the bone picker, a revered pendence of the two was also observed in
figure of the Turkey Buzzard Society, death. When the charnel house was full,
scraped the bones clean with his long the opposite iksa carried the reliquaries
fingernails, a sign of rank and power, to a nearby burying ground, piled up the
then prepared a feast for the entire vil- bones, and covered them with a mound,
lage “only wiping his filthy, bloody using the reliquaries now as baskets to
hands on grass,” according to a French carry earth. Some rather recent burial
eyewitness in the eighteenth century. mounds of this type may be seen along
The cleaned bones were wrapped, often the Natchez Trace Parkway.
painted with red ochre, placed in a spe- From the middle to late nineteenth
cial willow reliquary, and hung or century, the Choctaw favored burying
shelved in the communal or clan bone- their dead directly in the ground. The de-
house. A coastal Virginian ossuary ap- ceased was buried in a seated position.
pears in John Smith’s drawings. Periodi- Seven men placed seven red poles about
cally, the relics were brought out and the grave, with thirteen hoops of grape-
made part of a mourning ceremony, vines and a small white flag. Mourning
ballplay, or other tribal occasion. went on for several weeks as the family
Males and females in the Turkey Buz- performed the required thirteen cries for
zard Cult were venerated and trusted, the dead. Then a feast and dance were
never feared, since their powers were be- given in the dead person’s honor.
nign and beneficial, unlike most witch- Like most indigenous people in North
craft. Often they were also healers. Only America, the Choctaws believed that it
they could perform the Turkey Buzzard took four days for a soul to become em-
Dance at festivals. Significantly, their bodied in a person, and four days for that
totem animal fed only on carrion and did soul to be prepared for its long and final
not kill for its meat as did the owl, eagle, journey. Ghosts were pitiful spirits some-
hawk, panther, and other carnivores. how lost or stuck in this world, often be-
586
______________________________________________ Mourning and Burial, Southeast (Choctaw)
cause their deaths went unavenged. would also carry the elder one’s spirit.
Witches had the ability to steal a person’s Once a relative was dead and mourned,
dying spirit and thus increase their his or her name was never spoken again.
power, defying death. In some traditions, This taboo was so strong among the
the entire town sang a funeral dirge to di- Choctaw that Indian agents could not
rect the released spirit to the other world. force mothers to name their dead chil-
Listening to this chorus, the spirit went dren on claims forms.
away from the music until it could no Many traditional Indians today dis-
longer hear sounds of the living. The miss the issue of repatriation by saying,
words of such a song by the Tihanama (a “Leave them be; they’ve already been
tribe often hired to conduct funerals) mourned.” In practice, most Indians of
may be translated as follows: Blanket old had a thousand taboos about death
him (her) with spirit/ Raise everything to and would go to great lengths to avoid
the highest sky. even the subject. For instance, it was un-
These lyrics are sung over and over to lucky to see an owl, and wise to avoid
a sad tune, often all night, with the par- cemeteries with a wide detour. None of
ticipants beating sticks together but no the clothing or effects of a dead person
other accompaniment, until the priest were kept, for fear of contagion. Suicides
senses that the spirit has taken its depar- were usually not honored with a proper
ture, at which moment the concluding funeral, as they were considered to have
verse is sung to a different melody, only squandered their life and cheated their
once: May he (she) never have need for families and community. It was believed
anything again, forever and ever. that the time and place of everyone’s
Like the Yuchi, Natchez, and other death was foreordained. This belief gave
surrounding tribes, the Choctaw be- warriors courage in battle but caused a
lieved in four distinct spirits, one of lot of superstitions concerning grave-
which remained in the bone marrow yards, journeys, and funerals.
after death and one of which went to an When the Choctaw first encountered
afterworld, conceived of as a beautiful the English, they could not understand
gathering place in the west with good why the Europeans had left the bones of
hunting, perpetual games, and plenty of their ancestors across the ocean. It hor-
food (legend’s “happy hunting ground”). rified them to see how casually and un-
The Milky Way was the path toward the feelingly the white people dealt with
Creator, and its multitudinous stars were death. The reason why many Natives
said to be the souls of the ancestors. buried their parents in the floors of their
Reincarnation was assumed without lodges—a practice that continues
thinking. Newborns often received the among the Maya in Central America—
name of a recently passed uncle or aunt was to remain close to them. Death was
in the hope or recognition that they a part of life, and the dead were still
587
Mourning and Burial, Southeast (Choctaw) _______________________________________________
members of the community. Thus the Implications; Spiritual and Ceremonial

Choctaw and many other tribal cultures Practitioners, Southeast
throughout the Americas practice a References and Further Reading

symbolic cannibalism. Whenever a new Barnes, Jim (Choctaw). 1982. The American
fire is kindled, the ashes of the ancestors Book of the Dead. Urbana: University of
Illinois Press.
are mingled with it and inhaled in its
Blitz, John Howard. 1985. An Archaeological
smoke by the descendants. Among the Study of the Mississippi Choctaw Indians.
Yanomami, a soup containing a small Jackson: Mississippi Department of
Archives and History.
amount of finely ground dust of the de-
Bushnell, David I. 1920. Native Cemeteries
ceased person’s remains is served. The and Forms of Burial East of the
intent is to keep a person’s spirit and Mississippi. Washington, DC:
power within the living circle of the
Cushman, Horatio B. 1899. History of the
community. Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez
If tribes had a “heaven,” they also had Indians. Greenville, TX: Headlight
a concept closely approximating the Printing House.
Halbert, H. S. 1900/1985. “Funeral Customs
Christian idea of hell, for they believed in of the Mississippi Choctaws.” Vol. 3, pp.
divine retribution, though they had no 353–366 in Mississippi Historical Society
corresponding devil figure. A very bad Publications. Reprinted in Peterson, John
H., Jr. 1985. A Choctaw Source Book. New
person’s spirit did not automatically go York: Garland.
to the happy hunting ground to join his Hall, Robert L. 1997. An Archaeology of the
kinsmen; it was judged by the Master of Soul: North American Indian Belief and
Ritual. Urbana: University of Illinois
Breath, then sentenced to torments Press.
commensurate with the pain he had Hughes, Laura Hill. 1982. Cherokee Death
wrongfully inflicted on others through- Customs. Master’s thesis, University of
Tennessee, Knoxville.
out his life. This punishment might last Hultkrantz, Ake. 1979. The Religions of the
for hundreds of years, while the ghost American Indians. Berkeley: University of
wandered in this world. At the end of California Press.
Innes, Pamela. 2001. “The Life Cycle from
those experiences, the soul was dis-
Birth to Death.” Pp. 245–249 in Choctaw
persed, never to be reborn. To the Native Language and Culture: Chahta Anumpa.
mind, that was the worst fate imagina- Edited by Marcia Haag and Henry Willlis.
ble—not only to die unmourned but also
Kidwell, Clara Sue. 1995. Choctaws and
for one’s spirit to be destroyed. This ap- Missionaries in Mississippi, 1818–1918.
parently had a cautionary effect on most Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
LePage du Pratz, Antoine Simon. 1758.
people.
Histoire de la Louisiane. . . . 3 vols. Paris:
Donald Panther-Yates De Burre. English edition by Joseph G.
Tregle, Jr. 1975. Baton Rouge: Louisiana
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast; State University.
Health and Wellness, Traditional Momaday, N. Scott (Kiowa-Cherokee). 1969.
Approaches; Oral Traditions, Southeast; The Way to Rainy Mountain. Albuquerque:
Repatriation, Spiritual and Cultural University of New Mexico Press.
588
___________________________________________________ Mourning and the Afterlife, Southwest
Swanton, John R. 1931. Source Material for tral beings and deities, and they facilitate
the Social and Ceremonial Life of the grieving without undo or lingering at-
Choctaw Indians. U.S. Bureau of
American Ethnology Bulletin no. 103. tachment. For these reasons, as well as
Washington, DC: Government Printing the speed with which decomposition be-
Office. gins in the open air, many tribal prac-
Tedlock, D. 1975. “An American Indian View
of Death.” Pp. 248–271 in Teachings from tices emphasize a ritually correct but
the American Earth. Edited by D. Tedlock prompt disposition of the dead and their
and B. Tedlock. New York: Liveright. belongings.
Wheeler-Voegelin, Erminie. 1944. Mortuary
Customs of the Shawnee and Other
The soul of a person is considered a
Eastern Tribes. Indianapolis: Indiana central source of life that must be cared
Historical Society. for properly, especially following death.
Yarrow, Harry Crécy. 1880. Introduction to
The number of souls per person varies
the Study of Mortuary Customs among
the North American Indians. Washington, across tribes: the Mojave identify four
DC: Government Printing Office. souls for each person, while the Havasu-
———. 1881. A Further Contribution to the
pai claim that a person has only one soul.
Study of the Mortuary Customs of the
North American Indians. Washington, The meanings and purpose of these
DC: Government Printing Office. souls can be understood with an exam-
ple from the Athapascan language
speakers of the Southwest—that is, the
Mourning and the Apache and Diné (Navajo)—for whom
the soul is believed to contain two parts.
Afterlife, Southwest
The first soul is associated with wind, air,
The universal experience of death and vapor, or breath, and it enters the body at
dying has diverse meanings for Native birth, giving it life. This soul, called “in-
Americans of the Southwest, yet tribes standing wind soul” by the Diné, disap-
do share some ideas about the power pears at death. Jicarilla Apache have ex-
and potential danger of the afterworld plained that this breath-soul leaves the
and those who inhabit it. In particular, body through the sole of the foot, in the
death (or its imminence) creates conform of a small whirlwind. Symbolism of
cern for the deceased’s soul, its journey the soul can be seen in many death ritu-
to the afterworld, and the safety of those als; for instance, the Hopi prepare a
kin who are still living and might be par- potavi, or “breath string,” which extends
ticularly vulnerable at that time to the from a feather on the mouth down along
forces of ghosts and the dead. Funda- the breast and stomach to the navel. An
mentally, ceremonies for the dead help eagle feather tied to the hair at the
to transform the relationship between crown of the head further symbolizes
the living and the deceased, recognizing the soul’s floating journey to the land of
the new status and enlarged power of the the dead. The second soul is considered
loved one who is now closer to the ances- evil and threatening, especially to family
589
Mourning and the Afterlife, Southwest ____________________________________________________
members of the deceased. This soul and food and water are among the items
lingers around the body, the place of interred along with the deceased. (These
death, or the grave for a brief period of items might be intentionally broken to
time after death or burial, creating dan- discourage grave robbers.) Cremation of
ger for family members who remain the body—practiced by several tribes in-
nearby or who might participate in the cluding the Mohave and Yumas as well as
preparations of the body and burial. The by ancestral Hohokam—allowed for in-
Paiute explained this evil intent as the cineration of the deceased’s belongings
preference of the dead to be alive or to along with the deceased. The dead was
take the living away with them. How- thought, in either burial or cremation, to
ever, that is not a universal perception; thus arrive in the land of the dead with
the Hopi feel the dead return regularly these important and personal items for
as clouds and rain, which are beneficial use in the afterlife. Other practices for
to the living. The Yoeme (Yaqui) also disposing of the body include taking the
hold a strong belief that the dead are deceased to remote or high places, or, for
helpful to the living. tribes living in areas with rocky or hard
Death rituals and customs also focus soil, to caves or rocky crannies, then cov-
on the management of danger associ- ering them with brush and stones. Some
ated with souls, largely through protec- ancestral Pueblos buried their dead in
tion of the body and through assisting the floors of their houses.
the soul in its journey to the land of the Ghosts are usually considered to be
dead. Burial and funerary customs of the the souls of the dead, though some tribes
Southwest region include removal of the specify that ghosts are the souls only of
body through a hole broken into the wall bad people—witches, thieves, murder-
of the dwelling; abandonment and pos- ers—since good people would not return
sible destruction of a dwelling in which a to harass the living. Some tribes—for ex-
person has died; the destruction or ritual ample, the Western Apache—have tradi-
purification of the personal property of tionally feared ghosts because they can
the deceased after death; or a taboo or frighten a person into sickness. Many
prohibition against speaking the name Apache tribes discouraged open crying
of deceased persons. Underground bur- as part of mourning because of its poten-
ial has occurred since the time of ances- tial for conjuring up ghosts. The Hopi
tral Mogollon and Anasazi peoples in the also limit open mourning to several suc-
Southwest. Since about A.D. 1000, the cessive days following the death, perhaps
dead have been placed in a specific posi- for similar reasons. The dead can also
tion: facing or with face turned eastward take the form of various animals, thus
for the Pima, facing south for the Tewa, disguising their presence to the unwary.
and for the initiated Hopi, facing west. Witches, for example, can take the form
Ornaments, jewelry, ceremonial regalia, of an owl, making those creatures unwel-
590
___________________________________________________ Mourning and the Afterlife, Southwest
come and frightening to the Mescalero fire; if the smoke rises straight up despite
Apache. But not all souls are evil-doing strong, blowing winds, the applicant is
ghosts, and the observance of All Soul’s considered dead. The Mohave are
Day—a Catholic tradition that is popular among the tribes believing that addi-
among many Pueblo tribes, the Yaqui, tional deaths might occur after depar-
and other communities with a strong ture from this world. Other ghosts per-
Catholic presence—promotes continued form the cremation, passing the soul
relationships with and the welcoming of along to its next stage. Ultimately, after
dead relatives to the community. varying numbers of deaths, a ghost
The location of the afterworld is dif- would end up as charcoal in the desert.
ferent for most tribes and can be subject An important characteristic about be-
to controversy within tribes. A few exam- liefs in death and dying is the way that
ples demonstrate the relevance of the funerals can combine traditional and
local landscape to tribal ideas about the modern beliefs, Indian and non-Indian
afterworld. The Mohave placed the land practices. The Yoeme (Yaqui) Indians are
of the dead in the sand hills downriver particularly skillful in blending Catholic
from the Mohave Valley. For the Zuni, it is doctrine and ideas with their traditional,
a lake at the confluence of the Zuni and naturalistic beliefs into a unified religion
Little Colorado rivers. The Diné concep- and funeral ceremony. Several details
tualize the afterworld as somewhere to about a funeral attended by anthropolo-
the far north, below the level of this gist William Curry Holden in 1936 illus-
earth, and either entered through the trate the point. The body was guarded
place of the progenitors’ original emer- during the three-day ceremony by mem-
gence or open like a valley and ap- bers of the Yoeme devil-chaser society.
proached from a trail down a steep cliff These guards wear traditional masks of
or hill—and not connected to the place bark and horse hair, deer hoof belts, and
of emergence. cocoon rattle anklets, but they recognize
The journey to the afterworld is con- their antagonists as Christian “devils.”
sidered to take several (often four) days. Chants performed by members of the
The traveler may be aided in this journey traditional Yoeme priest society are in-
by other dead relatives who come to terspersed during the funeral with
show the deceased the way. Some Diné prayers by the local Catholic priest. And
have reported that the deceased must the grand funerary procession on the
pass a test upon arrival at the place of the third day includes devil-chasers, tradi-
dead. If dirt is found in the traveler’s tional pascola dancers, and young boys
moccasins, the traveler is considered dressed in starched, white gowns in the
dead; if there is no dirt, the traveler is not appearance of angels. The ceremony
dead and must return to the living. An- takes place both within the church and
other test requires the traveler to light a in the open grounds of the plaza.
591
Mourning and the Afterlife, Southwest ____________________________________________________
Throughout, Christian and traditional See also Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo;
figures interact through ceremonial Kachina and Clown Societies; Kiva and
Medicine Societies; Mourning and Burial
drama and dance to the music of flutes, Practices; Oral Traditions, Pueblo; Yoeme
violins, traditional drums, and music (Yaqui) Deer Dance
sticks. Above these activities can be References and Further Reading
heard the popping of homemade fire Curtis, Edward. 1930. The North American
crackers, set off to aid the soul in its jour- Indian: Being a Series of Volumes Pictures
and Describing the Indians of the United
ney upward, each explosion offering an- States, the Dominion of Canada, and
other small boost. Alaska. Cambridge, MA: University Press.
All tribes of the Southwest have had to Dutton, Bertha P. 1983. American Indians of
the Southwest. Albuquerque: University
deal with nontraditional religious influ- of New Mexico Press.
ences over the centuries. The impact of Furst, Jill. 2001. Mojave Pottery, Mojave
these new influences on ideas about People. Santa Fe: School of American
Research.
death and dying are best seen in the in- Griffin-Pierce, Trudy. 2000. Native Peoples of
creasing use of the church for funerary the Southwest. Albuquerque: University
activities; nonobservance of traditional of New Mexico Press.
Holden, William Curry, et al. 1936. “Studies
taboos associated with the names of the of the Yaqui Indians of Sonora, Mexico.”
deceased, or of traditional practices such Texas Technological College Bulletin 12,
as burning the dwellings of the dead; inno. 1.
Hotvedt, Kris. 1993. Pueblo and Navajo
creased conversion to Christianity and Indian Life Today. Santa Fe: Sunstone
subsequent belief in Heaven as a final Press.
destination for souls; and in some cases James, H. 1956. The Hopi Indians. Caldwell,
ID: Caxton Printers.
a reduction in concerns about ghosts Ortiz, Alfonso. 1979. “San Juan Indians.” Pp.
and the evil actions of the dead. In addi- 1–4 in Handbook of North American
tion to Christian funeral services, many Indians, vol. 9. Edited by William C.
Sturtevant. Washington, DC: National
Native Americans now have a military Museum of Natural History.
service or military component added to ———. 1998. “Origins: Through Tewa Eyes.”
their preferred funerary ritual. Memorial Pp. 258–262 in Stars Above, Earth Below:
American Indians and Nature. Edited by
services among the Pima Indians, partic- Marsha Bol. Austin, TX: Roberts
ularly one year after the death, are seen Rinehart.
as an opportunity for family and friends Perry, Richard J. 1991. Western Apache
Heritage: People of the Mountain
to gather in a respectful but joyous cele- Corridor. Austin: University of Texas
bration of their deceased loved one. Press.
Memorial T-shirts are often printed and Smithson, Carma Lee. 1994. Havasupai
Legends: Religion and Mythology of the
worn by all in attendance, and local Havasupai Indians of the Grand
“chicken-scratch” bands with accordion, Canyon. Salt Lake City: University of
drums, and guitar play both religious Utah Press.
Spicer, Edward H. 1940. Pascua: A Yaqui
and secular music for the event. Village in Arizona. Chicago: University of
Carolyn M. Smith-Morris Chicago Press.
592
________________________________________________________________________________ Mourning Dove
Mourning Dove the Goodwin Mission School in Wash-

(?1888–1936) ington in 1895 and again in 1898–1899,
(Writer, Salishan) and she later attended the Fort Spokane
The Salishan writer Mourning Dove (Hu- School for Indians (1899–1902). In 1913
mishuma) is an important literary figure she attended a Calgary business school
in Native American and women’s litera- in order to improve her English language
ture. Mourning Dove’s Christian name and typing skills. Despite the uneven na-
was Christine Quintasket, and she was a ture of her formal schooling, Mourning
member of the Colville Confederated Dove’s education was not limited to mis-
Tribes of eastern Washington. Her three sion and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
books, Cogewea, the Half-Blood: A Depic- schools: Jimmy Ryan, a young white boy
tion of the Great Montana Cattle Range; adopted by her parents, introduced her
Coyote Stories; and Tales of the to the readerly pleasures of dime novels,
Okanogans, along with writings pub- and she learned traditional Okanogan
lished as her autobiography, Mourning beliefs from a female elder, Teequalt,
Dove, A Salishan Autobiography, offer who was also absorbed into the family.
compelling glimpses into the myriad dif- Mourning Dove’s autobiographical
ficulties facing a mixed-blood woman writing suggests that religion—both tra-
with literary aspirations at the beginning ditional Okanogan beliefs and Christian-
of the twentieth century. In ways both ity—was an important aspect of her per-
deliberate and unintentional, explicit sonal life and that the intermingling of
and half-hidden, Mourning Dove’s writ- various religious traditions caused her
ing intertwines Okanogan religious be- relatively little anxiety. Mourning Dove
liefs and oral traditions with Anglo- describes making her first communion
American Christianity, rendering our on Easter 1899: “I thoroughly believed in
contemporary understanding of the as- the Catholic creed. I honored it as much
similationist period in which she lived as my native tutor had taught me to re-
and worked ever more complex. vere the ancient traditions of my fore-
Mourning Dove claimed that she was bears. I saw no difference between them
born in 1888, but Tribal Enrollment Ser- and never questioned the priest”
vices records cited various years be- (Mourning Dove 1990/1933, 30). At the
tween 1882 and 1887 as her birth. same time, however, Mourning Dove
Mourning Dove claimed mixed ancestry, notes the vitality of Okanogan beliefs.
although again tribal records disagree; She describes the power of Native
certainly Mourning Dove believed that shamans when on one occasion she was
she was of mixed blood. Her access to made ill by a shaman who was punishing
formal education was both erratic and her for refusing to use her beauty “to at-
sometimes coerced. Pressured by a tract the envy of other shamans so he
Catholic priest, her parents sent her to could kill them” (ibid., 31). When she was
593
Mourning Dove _________________________________________________________________________________
finally cured by her granduncle, her losis, measles, and smallpox, Mourning
family was given the option of having Dove notes that “yet to some extent we
the shaman killed or having his power have tried to live in both worlds. An In-
taken away; being “good, compassion- dian knew he could be faithful to his na-
ate Christians, they asked only that he tive creed and still pray every day to the
lose his power. This was done” (ibid.). God of the whites. When in actual need
On another occasion, Mourning Dove from the troubles of the world, however,
dreamed that two local doctors, threat- he did not hesitate to turn to the sweat
ened by an old and popular shaman, lodge, never understanding how this
sent their spirits to hurt him. She fell ill could conflict with the white God, since
after the event but was able to warn the the missionaries always said that God
old shaman, who subsequently cured had many ways of helping people in dis-
her. These interwoven spiritual beliefs, tress” (ibid., 141).
“both Catholicism and shamanism,” In Cogewea, Mourning Dove’s fic-
prompted Mourning Dove toward her tional Western romance, Indian and
future as a writer: “Together these were Anglo-American religious beliefs con-
part of my childhood experiences and tinue to intermingle. The novel is rich in
made me resolve to help my people its integration of Okanogan beliefs,
record their traditions and gain all the which both support and at times chal-
rights they are entitled to” (ibid., 32). lenge the beliefs of Christianity. The
Key elements of Okanogan belief in- novel itself is based on an Okanogan tale
clude Coyote, the trickster figure, the called “Little Chipmunk and the Owl
concept of power, which “may be Woman,” and it also pays homage to the
thought of as a guardian spirit and oral traditions of the Okanogans even as
refers to the special relationship beit takes part in the written culture of lit-
tween an individual and an object, usu- erary publication.
ally an animal,” and the sweat house, Published in 1927, Cogewea is the re-
where people go to pray for success or sult of a collaboration between Mourn-
guidance (Fisher 1981, xi). Mourning ing Dove and her mentor and friend, the
Dove’s writing, both autobiographical white amateur ethnographer and activist
and fictional, bears this out. In her auto- for Native American rights Lucullus V.
biographical writing, Mourning Dove McWhorter. As a mixed-blood, the
describes the sweatlodge deity as “the novel’s heroine, Cogewea, embodies the
greatest of all deities” and discusses its multiple identities facing Native Ameri-
construction and use (Mourning Dove cans during the assimilationist period.
1990/1933, 136). Even when the sweat- Moreover, the text emphasizes multiplic-
lodge fails to cure diseases brought on ity in its religious approaches as well. Co-
by white colonization, such as tubercu- gewea, for instance, values her tradi-
594
________________________________________________________________________________ Mourning Dove
tional beliefs, but she is likewise drawn Cogewea has proven a difficult book
to the white world represented alterna- for readers and critics alike. Besides addi-
tively by her kind brother-in-law, John tions and revisions to the main narrative
Carter, and the villain Densmore, whose that frequently protest the U.S. govern-
goal is to wed, rob, and subsequently ment’s treatment of Native Americans,
abandon Cogewea, in the mistaken be- McWhorter extensively footnoted Co-
lief that she is wealthy. As a mouthpiece gewea with explanatory material aimed
for contemporary whites who find Indi- at uncomprehending whites; McWhorter
ans a vaguely interesting passing curios- also added literary epigraphs to each
ity at best and a cultural threat deserving chapter, inserted a “biographical sketch”
of genocide at worst, Densmore is dis- of Mourning Dove, and included her
missive, cynical, and derisive in his atti- photograph. The result, for most readers,
tudes toward Native beliefs. Cogewea is a fictional novel that has two compet-
recognizes Densmore’s ignorance, but ing voices that damage the novel’s liter-
she too is ambivalent about the place of ary quality. For early critics of the novel,
Native spiritual beliefs in the changing this narrative disjunction was considered
world. Seeking wisdom, Cogewea con- ruinous, and McWhorter’s contributions
structs a sweatlodge, but she fails to at- were seen as detracting from Mourning
tend to the warning she receives there. Dove’s authentic Native American text.
Cogewea’s grandmother, the Stemteemä, More recently, critics see their collabora-
receives a dream that confirms Dens- tion as embodying the strains of the his-
more’s duplicity. Eventually Cogewea re- torical time period in which they wrote,
alizes that she loves Jim, another mixed- helping us to recognize the ways in which
blood, when she hears a voice from a Native and white Americans were in-
buffalo skull. volved in relationships more complex
While the novel acknowledges the than oppressed/oppressor. Like Co-
presence of Christian beliefs alongside gewea’s treatment of religious intercon-
traditional Native beliefs, it also privi- nections, the novel also displays the ways
leges the oral storytelling traditions of in which Native and European ideas of
Mourning Dove’s culture in the figure of power, of literary standards, and of au-
the Stemteemä. Represented as the wise thenticity existed uneasily together.
storyteller who retells oral histories in In addition to Cogewea, Mourning
order to teach and comfort her beloved Dove also wrote a book of Native Ameri-
granddaughter, the Stemteemä’s first can stories she had collected from tribal
suspicions of Densmore are eventually members; she titled it Okanogan Sweat
proven correct, and her access to spirit House. It was first published as Coyote
powers ultimately aids in Cogewea’s res- Stories in 1933. As was the case with Co-
cue by Jim. gewea, the composition process of Coyote
595
Mourning Dove _________________________________________________________________________________
Stories included heavy editing by white Identity; Literature, Religion in

editors aiming to satisfy a white reader- Contemporary American Indian Literature;
Power, Northwest; Spirits and Spirit
ship. Coyote Stories focuses on individual Helpers, Plateau; Sweatlodge; Tricksters
tales featuring Coyote, the central trick- References and Further Reading
ster figure in Okanogan belief. As a trick- Allen, Paula Gunn. 1992. The Sacred Hoop:
ster, Coyote embodies oppositional qual- Recovering the Feminine in American
Indian Tradition, rev. ed. Boston:
ities: he is intelligent and creative, but he Beacon.
is frequently foiled by his greed, lust, or Ammons, Elizabeth. 1991. Conflicting Stories.
arrogance. Like all trickster figures, the New York: Oxford University Press.
Bernardin, Susan K. 1995. “Mixed Messages:
Okanogan’s Coyote transgresses bound-
Authority and Authorship in Mourning
aries and refuses limitations: he is both Dove’s Cogewea, The Half-Blood: A
sacred and profane, human and animal, Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle
Range.” American Literature 67, no. 3
a creator of life who remains fascinated
(September): 487–509.
with his own excrement. However, be- Brown, Alanna Kathleen. 1988. “Mourning
cause Mourning Dove’s editor, Dean Dove’s Voice in Cogewea.” Wicazo SA
Review 4, no. 2 (fall): 2–15.
Guie, aimed the text at a juvenile audi-
————. 1990. “Mourning Dove’s
ence, the figure of Coyote was signifi- Canadian Recovery Years, 1917–1919.”
cantly sanitized for publication. Coyote Pp. 113–122 in Native Writers and
Stories was so successful that it was Canadian Writing. Edited by W. H. New.
Vancouver: University of British
reprinted in 1934. In 1976, Donald Hines Columbia Press.
edited Mourning Dove’s manuscript ————. 1993. “Looking through the Glass
Okanogan Sweat House, which he pub- Darkly: The Editorialized Mourning
Dove.” Pp. 274–290 in New Voices in
lished as Tales of the Okanogans. Native American Literary Criticism.
Mourning Dove married twice in her Edited by Arnold Krupat. Washington,
life. Her first marriage was to Hector DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Donovan, Kathleen M. 1998. Feminist
McLeod in 1909. In 1919 she married Readings of Native American Literature:
Fred Galler. Apart from writing, Mourn- Coming to Voice. Tucson: University of
ing Dove worked most of her life doing Arizona Press.
Fisher, Dexter. 1981. “Introduction.” Pp.
physically laborious tasks, including car- v–xxix in Cogewea, The Half-Blood: A
ing for children and working as a migrant Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle
laborer. As she got older Mourning Dove Range. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press.
became increasingly interested in public Krupat, Arnold. 1983. “Native American
speaking and in local tribal politics, and Literature and the Canon.” Critical
in 1935 she became the first woman Inquiry 10 (September): 145–171.
————. 1985. “An Approach to Native
elected to the Colville Tribal Council. American Texts.” Pp. 116–131 in Critical
Mourning Dove died on August 8, 1936. Essays on Native American Literature.
Linda K. Karell Edited by Andrew Widget. Boston: G. K.
Hall and Co.
See also Boarding Schools, Religious Miller, Jay. 1989. “Mourning Dove: The
Impact; Christianity, Indianization of; Author as Cultural Mediator.” Pp.
596
________________________________________________________________________________ Mourning Dove
160–182 in Being and Becoming Indian: ————. 1990. Coyote Stories. Lincoln:
Biographical Studies of Native American University of Nebraska Press.
Frontiers. Edited by James A. Clifton. ————. 1990/1933. Mourning Dove, A
Chicago: Dorsey Press. Salishan Autobiography. Edited by Jay
Mourning Dove (Humishuma). 1976. Tales Miller. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
of the Okanogans. Edited by Donald Press. Reprint. Caldwell, ID: Caxton
Hines. Fairfax, WA: Ye Galleon Press. Printers.
————. 1981. Cogewea, the Half-Blood: A Swann, Brian, and Arnold Krupat, eds. 1983.
Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Recovering the Word, Essays on Native
Range. Lincoln: University of Nebraska American Literature. Berkeley: University
Press. of California Press.
597
N
Native American Peyote Nomenclature and Biota
The first descriptions of peyote followed
Church/Peyote Movement
the Spanish conquest of Mexico.
Native American Church is the name of Bernardino Sahagun first described the
the Peyote religion in the United States plant in 1560. Padre Jose de Ortega de-
and Canada. This was a revitalization scribed a Cora peyote meeting in 1690.
movement that took shape in Oklahoma And Francisco Hernandez, who was sent
in the 1880s and was incorporated there to the New World by King Philip II of
in 1918 as the Native American Church, Spain in 1638 to study Mexican Indian
at a time when Indian founders along pharmacology, identified it botanically.
with white supporters sought religious The first drawing of peyote did not ap-
freedom from state and federal efforts at pear until three centuries later. In 1845,
suppression. The opposition stemmed Charles Lemaire, a French botanist,
from Native American Church members’ whose scientific name for peyote
use of peyote (Lophophora williamsii), a (Echinocactus williamsii) did not stick,
spineless cactus that grows only in south- published the drawing in Curtis’s Botan-
west Texas and the adjacent chaparral ical Magazine. Credit for the modern
country of northern Mexico; it is eaten or taxonomic name goes to John M. Coul-
drunk during a weekly ceremony that ter in 1894 (Contributions from the U.S.
lasts all Saturday night. Archaeological National Herbarium 3: 1894, 131). He
evidence suggests nearly ten millennia of named it Lophophora (“I have crests”)
continuous use of peyote. But the Native because this leafless, branchless, spine-
American Church, like the powwow and less, turnip-shaped member of the cac-
Sun Dance, is recent, postreservation, tus family (Cactaceae) has tufts of mat-
and significant, if only for its “pantribal” ted grayish-white hair, not unlike artists’
unifying effect among Native Americans fine camel’s hair brushes on its above-
in North America and Mexico. ground top.
599
Native American Church/Peyote Movement _______________________________________________
wohoki; Delaware—biisung; Kiowa—

seni; Mescalero Apache—ho; Diné
(Navajo)—azee; Omaha—makan; Taos—
walena. More often than not these terms
translate as “medicine,” suggesting why
the Native American Church took shape
in North America.
Other terms for peyote can be men-
tioned. Because English speakers were
involved in its extensive trade, “turnip
cactus” and “dumpling cactus” are
found. But then, too, peyote was also
called “dry whiskey.” Most commonly,
however, the English phrase “peyote but-
tons” is employed—by reason of the
shape of the top of the cactus when cut
and dried or sold green.
Second only to the mistaken notion
that peyote is smoked is its confusion
with other plants used in personal and
ceremonial contexts by Native Ameri-
cans. The famous American historian
Bancroft, for example, perpetuated colo-
nial Spanish confusion by calling it a
“mushroom” (Psilocybe spp.). Among
Quanah Parker, Comanche chief, in front of
tepee. From Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology, other plants that peyote has been con-
ca. 1909–1932. (Library of Congress) fused with are mescal (Agave Americana)
and Sophora secundiflora. While the for-
mer was an intoxicating drink manufac-
The term “peyote” itself is thought to tured from the mescal bean, the latter,
derive from the Mexican branch of the the mountain laurel bush, sprouts the
widespread Uto-Aztecan language called very toxic red bean. In fact, Sophora’s red
Nahuatl: peyutl. Because of the plant’s bean, known in Spanish as frijolito,
chemical nature and ceremonial use, grows in approximately the same general
Weston La Barre (1989, 16), a pioneering area as Lophophora: the Rio Grande val-
scholar, suggested this derivation: “to ex- ley, in a lozengelike, irregularly shaped
cite.” Modern Uto-Aztecan speakers, area eastward from Deming, New Mex-
however, call peyote hikuli. Across the ico, to Corpus Christi, Texas, then south
international border, a wide variety of to Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila,
terms are found: Comanche—wokowi or Chihuahua, San Luis Potosi, Sombrerete,
600
______________________________________________ Native American Church/Peyote Movement
and Zacatecas in Mexico. And since it, searchers studied it. John Raleigh Briggs,
too, was historically associated with for example, a Dallas physician, experi-
complex ceremonialism—the Red Bean mented with “Muscale buttons” in 1887,
Cult—early Tex-Mexican Indian uses are purchasing peyote at $15 a bushel from
viewed as having shaped the origins as Vernon, Texas. Louis Lewin, a pharma-
well as spread of the Native American cologist at the University of Berlin, on
Church throughout North America. the other hand, had to travel to the
United States to obtain peyote; the
Native American Church Studies syrupy substance he extracted was called
Both ethnological studies of the ceremony anaholine (“without salt”). Lewin, along
and laboratory studies of the biochem- with an associate, P. Henning, who as-
istry of the cactus were conducted almost signed peyote to a different taxon (Ana-
immediately following the Native Ameri- holinium lewinii), also experimentally
can Church’s birth. James Mooney and sampled peyote.
Carl Lumholtz independently conducted We know that both early ethnologists
fieldwork among peyote-using tribes. In- also sent out samples from the field for
deed, according to Omer Stewart (1987, lab work. Mooney, for example, in 1893
34), another leading scholar, Mooney sent what he mistakenly called “mescal”
penned “the first objective description of to Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, chief of the Bu-
the peyote ceremony in the United reau of Chemistry of the Department of
States.” A few years after Mooney’s pio- Agriculture. And Wiley’s assistant’s expe-
neering 1891 investigation of the Kiowa rience eating peyote only served to con-
and Comanche Native American Church, firm the ethnologist’s own positive expe-
the Norwegian explorer Lumholtz (in rience, in the context of the Native
1898) wrote about the grueling, forty- American Church ceremony, a reitera-
three-day, 300-mile annual sacred pil- tion of what Kiowas told him—namely,
grimage of the Huichol (Wixarika) of Mex- that peyote is not a drug but is partaken
ico to obtain hikuli (peyote). Because as a sacrament.
contemporary Huichols essentially main- Lumholtz sent samples of peyote to
tain this tradition (Schaefer and Furst Arthur Heffter of Leipzig, who early on
1998), and trait-by-trait cultural analyses isolated some of its many alkaloids (for
suggest similarities between Mexican In- example, anhalonidiine, anhalonine,
dian uses of peyote and the Native Ameri- and lophophorine)—and especially
can Church ceremony, a historical re- mescaline, which is responsible for color
working of the former is assumed. visions. Because other alkaloids are re-
As to biochemical studies, three cen- sponsible for the tactile, auditory, and
turies after Hernandez originally de- additional “paranormal” sensory experi-
scribed “peyotl” under the heading De ences associated with ingestion of this
nanacatl seu Fungorum (“black mush- bitter-tasting cactus (which causes not
room”), American and German re- only vomiting but also a wakefulness
601
conducive to the all-night ceremony of huahua, Mexico, this son of a white cap-
the Native American Church), Richard tive was cured of high fever by a curan-
Schultes, a leading botanist, calls peyote dera with a peyote brew called woqui.
“the most complex and variable . . . of all Other Comanches are credited with this
hallucinogenic plants” (Schultes 1938, first version of the Native American
715). The controversy, or the objection of Church, so-named for the distinctive
Native American Church members to the half-moon shape of its sand altar. Old
term “hallucinogenic” notwithstanding, Man Paddy Quill, Desode, Tasipa, Char-
this type of research confirms what coal or Kuaheta, Mumshukawa, Co-
Lumholtz’s Huichol (Wixarika) consult- manche Jack, and notably, as well, Sit-
ants a century ago, and Native American chees-toque, or Billy Chwat, a war
Church members today, state—namely, captive of the Comanche (Stewart 1987,
that there are two different kinds of pey- 69–70).
ote or hikuli: Lophophora diffusa, which The second seminal figure in the Na-
grows around Querétaro, Mexico, and tive American Church was John Wilson
lacks mescaline, and L. williamsii, found (1840?–1901). Nishkuntu, or “Moon
in a larger area and whose properties Head,” was also of mixed ancestry. A near
have been responsible for more than a neighbor of Quanah Parker, in fact, this
century of attempted suppression. At the half-Delaware, one-fourth Caddo, and
same time, it is important to note that one-fourth Frenchman was born on the
within a year of peyote’s introduction to Wichita and Caddo Reservation in Okla-
Western science, Parke, Davis & Co., the homa. Following his own epic journey (to
leading North American pharmaceutical Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico), Wilson
firm, “discovered” what every Native returned home claiming to have had a
American practitioner already knew: its founding vision of his rival version of the
homeopathic value as a medicine. Native American Church ceremony: a
Delaware Indian dressed in traditional
Native American Church garb, who appeared and taught him how
Two distinct versions of the Native Ameri- to construct the “full moon” sand altar
can Church took shape in Indian Country, (Petrullo 1934, 44–46). Not only did this
“Indianhoma,” or the Oklahoma Territory religious innovator participate in the 1890
in the 1880s: (1) the Kiowa-Comanche Ghost Dance but he also belonged to and
Tipi Way, or “Half-Moon” Rite; and (2) acknowledged the Red Bean Cult. And
Caddo-Delaware “Big Moon,” which al- since John Wilson was also a Catholic, the
ternatively became the “Cross Fire” Rite. appearance of the Cross as well as other
Quanah (“The Eagle”) Parker (1845– Christian symbols distinguished the
1911) was the charismatic Comanche Caddo-Delaware, which spread north to
generally credited with the Tipi Way. the Winnebago and Lakotas and then was
Wounded by a bull in Mexico during a carried west across the Rockies by Sam
visit to his mother’s brother in Chi- Lone Bear (Sioux) to the Goshute and
602
other Great Basin tribes in the 1920s as ties include construction of sand altars;
the “Cross-Fire Rite.” feeding throughout the night of his te-
peelike arrangement of wood for the fire
Native American Church Peyote that is placed directly east of the sand
“Meeting” altar, behind which the Road Chief sits,
The Native American Church ceremony facing east; lighting corn shuck ciga-
is usually held in a Plainslike tepee. The rettes that are rolled in corn husks by
most common word used, however, is Cedar Chiefs and smoked at defined in-
“meeting,” which, along with the weekly tervals throughout the night; distribut-
scheduling on Saturday evenings (allowing (and emptying) tin cans used for the
ing Sunday to recuperate, though meet- spitting and vomiting; and, finally, (4)
ings on special occasions, such as birth- Cedar Chief, who sprinkles ground cedar
days, draft induction, and return to on the fire and distributes sage (Arteme-
school are also routinely held), suggests sia spp.), which is also used as incense
acculturation to the white man’s work- and in curing.
week. As to the structure of the all-night Although membership was historically
Native American Church ceremony, the all male, women today not only partici-
traditional (for many tribes) number pate but can also drum and even become
four is evidenced: Hayatinayo, the Open- “Road Men.” Ben Lancaster, Washo pey-
ing or “Welcome Song”; Yahiyano, the otist, was one of the first “Peyote Women
Midnight break or “Midnight Song”; Wa- Liberationists” (Stewart 1987). But even
hako, the Dawn break or “Dawn Song”; historically, the importance of women in
and Gayatina, “Closing Song.” the Native American Church is clear. At
But not only are songs sung four times. least once during the night, the “Water
Four is also the sacred number for dis- Woman” appears. She brings a bucket of
tinct ritual officials: (1) The Road Man, or water at midnight to the entrance of the
Road Chief, the person responsible for peyote tepee and is also required to pray
acquiring (purchasing) peyote, and at dawn. Subsequently reappearing,
through whose use of ceremonial para- then, the Water Woman delivers the three
phernalia (staff, gourd, eagle-bone whis- sacred foods consumed at the end of
tle, and feather fan) presides in shamanic every Native American Church meeting:
capacity as a healer throughout the night; meat (deer, beef ), corn (even popcorn),
(2) Drum Chief, or official drummer, who and fruit. Indeed, the very importance of
accompanies the Road Chief, as well as Woman as the discoverer of peyote is re-
other singers throughout the night by vealed by one of the seven types of more
rapid (140 beats per minute) drumming than fifty published foundational Origin
on a Number 6, three-legged, cast-iron Myths of the Native American Church
kettle drum filled with water that is cov- (Vecsey 1991, 153–165).
ered with animal skin; (3) the Fire Chief, “Everything represents,” Howard
or Door Man, among whose myriad du- Rain, a Menominee peyotist, succinctly
603
and profoundly related the essence of Tex-Mex Origins of the Native

Native American Church beliefs to the American Church
anthropologist J. Sydney Slotkin (1952, David F. Aberle (1966, 17), author of a ma-
582), a European Jew, who subsequently jestic study of forced livestock reduction
converted and became an Native Ameri- on the Navaho Reservation, which he felt
can Church official. Menominees, like led to their membership in Native Ameri-
the Lakota and other Native American can Church, wrote that by 1899 at least six-
communities, follow the Cross-Fire Rite, teen tribes were following either version of
in which the twelve-pole tepees symbol- the new religion. Since many of these peo-
ize the twelve disciples of Christ. ple did not use peyote until relocation
Whether a whole or half moon, the Road onto Oklahoma reservations in historic
Chief will place the largest peyote button times, the relation between archaeological
on top of the sand altar at the start of documentation of peyote and mescal (as
each ceremony, identifying it as “Father early as the first millennium A.D. in both
Peyote.” According to what La Barre Val Verde County and Edwards Plateau in
(1989, 47) was told, the sand altar repre- southwest Texas, and, indeed, as far back
sents the mountain on which Peyote as 7500 B.C. in Mexico) remains unclear.
Woman first discovered the sacrament. But James Howard (1957, 84) does feel, on
Bernard Ice (Lakota) recently told Father the basis of attending sixty Plains Native
Steinmetz (1990, 104) that the seven American Church meetings with “Red
marbles at the bottom of peyote drums, Bean Cult” prairie tribes, that their ritual
which were obtained originally in trade similarities (for example, ways of holding
with Europeans, represented the seven- bows, or bowlike staves, in one hand and
sided Morning Star—the number seven, small gourd rattles in the other while
in turn, representing these Indian sacra- singing) suggest this kind of historical
ments of life: Mother Earth, the Moon, continuity or reconfiguration of pre-exis-
Fire, Water, Corn, Meat, and Fruit. And tent ceremony; that goes along with the
while anthropologists continue to de- replacement of the less toxic peyote for
bate the timing and significance of mescal bean, which, as it contains the
Christianity in the formation of the Na- toxic crystalline narcotic alkaloid cystine,
tive American Church, the “double- can be fatal. Other researchers also feel
world” or syncretistic mind of the mod- that Red Bean Cults are postcontact, or
ern-day peyotist is perhaps best revealed too recent to have been the source of the
by another contemporary account: the Plains Native American Church.
Lakota Road Man, Leonard Crow Dog, Similarities between the Native Amer-
who told Richard Erdoes (1995, 99) that ican Church “meeting” and peyote use in
the drumstick not only represented the Mexico, on the other hand, were so strik-
stick used to whip Jesus but was also ing to Reuben Snake (Fikes 1996, 231), an
symbolic of the American government’s influential Winnebago peyotist and Na-
treatment of Native Americans! tive American Church leader, that he
604
wrote: “When I went to Mexico and reported the use of yellow ochre applied
watched the Huichols and the Tarahu- to the bodies of Arapaho worshippers
mara and the Tepehuan do their cere- and to gourds. Indeed, over a century
mony, I could see the roots of our Native later, Loretta Afraid-of-Bear Cook,
American Church there.” Lakota, told Steinmetz (1990, 32–37)
La Barre (1989, 56), for example, listed about her birth experience involving a
twenty-two of these similarities, and Stew- peyote vision of a “yellow covering” that
art (1987, 40–42) whittled down his origi- had to be peeled off her son.
nal list of eighteen to twelve. Even a glance Yet another important parallel is the
at these identical elements, found both in curative powers of peyote. Just as hikuli is
Native American Church ceremonies and used by the Huichol (and other Mexican
the Huichol, who are most frequently tribes) for snakebite, burns, wounds, in
used as a “baseline” for reconstructing the child delivery, for rheumatism, and to
origin of the Native American Church, is ward off injury (Lumholtz 1902, 359–
suggestive: use of a cleared sacred place; 360), the Kiowa used peyote for tooth-
seating by shaman on the ground west of and headache, hemorrhages, fevers, con-
the fire; the shaman’s/Road Chief’s assis- sumption, skin diseases, rheumatism, di-
tance by several men; ceremonial drink- abetes, pulmonary diseases, and even for
ing of water; placement of peyote on sym- the common cold (La Barre 1989, 28).
bols of the world scratched in the dirt, and Which tribes are believed to have been
the use of birds (hawks, water turkey, cor- influential in the historic spread of the
morants, scissor-tailed flycatchers, flick- Peyote Religion to Oklahoma and its re-
ers, wild and domestic turkeys, the eagle, formulation as the Native American
and even parakeet feathers loosely Church? Besides the Huichol, the follow-
bunched as fans (Lumholtz 1902, 359–372; ing Mexican tribes used peyote: the Aztec,
La Barre 1989, 20). Zacateco, Tarascans, Cazcan, Guachichil,
To be sure, there is no symbolic equat- Lagunero, Tepehuan, Tepecano, Cora,
ing of peyote with deer in the Native Acaxee, Tamaulipeco, Coahuilteco,
American Church as in Mexico—neither Tarahumara, Opata, Pima Bajo, Jumano
annual pilgrimages nor ritualistic hunt- or Concho, Julimeno, Lipan Apache, Car-
ing of it by shooting arrows over the rizo, Tonkawa, Karankawa, Mescalero
plant’s “head.” On the other hand, com- Apache, Caddo, Otomi, and Tlascalans. Of
monly used Mexican Indian peyote color these, six are considered the most impor-
symbolism—the color yellow, particu- tant in influencing the Native American
larly, whether intrinsically derived from Church: Carrizo or Coahuiltec or “shoe-
the biochemical properties of peyote— less” (they wore sandals instead of moc-
and its impact on users was reported by casins), Tonkawa, Karanka, Jumanos,
A. L. Kroeber (1907), in one of the earliest Lipan, and Mescalero Apaches.
studies of any North American Native Extinct today, the Carrizo lived in the
American Church community. Kroeber area of peyote growth. Jaliscan friars in
605
Coahuilteco, Mexico, persecuted them this contact with Mexico peyote tribes
for its use. They were then relocated in was what shaped the Kiowa-Comanche
1688 to a mission community called version of the Native American Church.
“Nombre de Jesus de Peyotes,” which Indeed, the name of a Lipan Apache
was renamed by Franciscans in 1698 as captive involved with the transmission
“Mission del Dulce Nombre de Jesus de both of peyote and its songs (McAllester
Peyotes.” Tonkawas in the 1830s lived in 1949) to the Comanche around Fort Sill
the “Peyote Gardens” (see below)—that (in western Oklahoma) is emphasized:
is, Laredo, Texas. Reportedly using pey- he was Civet, or Cheveta, or Billy Che-
ote in their religion as early as A.D. 1691, vatts, and he was even photographed in
Tonkawas were relocated with the a peyote meeting wearing a mescal bean
Caddo and Wichita onto a reservation in bandoleer.
Oklahoma in the fall of 1856—from the Kiowa and Comanche Indian agents,
latter two came John Wilson. Karan- in any event, reported a “narcotic cactus”
kawas reportedly used peyote early called wocowist used by the Comanche,
(1616). As for the Jumanos of the South as well as hoas or hose among the
Texas Plains, the “fruit like a bean” they Apache, in the 1880s.
reportedly used as a medicine and
drunk as a ritual beverage in their Two Inquisitions
“dances and festivities” was thought to On June 29, 1620, Licenciado D. Pedro
have been either mescal or peyote. Nabarre de Isla issued a ruling against
Lipan Apaches learned about peyote “the use of the herb or root called pey-
from the Carrizo and were thought re- ote.” Because peyote then was being
sponsible for transmitting it to the used by Indians for the “purpose of de-
Kiowa; between 1762 and 1771, they tecting thieves, of divining other hap-
were relocated from Austin, Texas, to an penings, and of foretelling future
area close to Eagle Pass, which is near events,” it was condemned as “an act of
the Mexican border, over which peyote superstition” in opposition to the “purity
is today brought into the United States. and integrity of our Holy Catholic Faith”
Finally there are the Mescalero (Stewart 1987, 20–21). Thus began the
Apaches, who Mooney mistakenly be- Spanish Inquisition against the “diaboli-
lieved introduced Quanah Parker’s Na- cal raiz.” Under the Office of the Holy
tive American Church version as a result See in Mexico, some fifty confessions
of Comanche raids for livestock, plun- were extorted (Leonard 1942). Stewart
der, and captives between 1840 and (1987, 18–21), on the other hand, re-
1870. Because for nearly a thousand ported ninety cases between 1614 and
miles southward from Kansas and Okla- 1779, spread across forty-five colonial
homa, Comanches raided into Durango, areas. Indeed, the earliest of these (from
Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Cuautla, Morelos), in 1614, was prior to
Tamaulipas, Mexico, scholars feel that the infamous 1620 edict. “The real au-
606
thor of vice,” according to Spanish Affairs (BIA) personnel: field matrons,

Catholic colonialism, of course, was the agency farmers, Indian police, and so
Devil, not the biochemical nature of forth. At least forty-four separate con-
peyote. victions resulted, as Johnson wrote
Colonial Spain’s expansion in what be- threatening letters not only to whole-
came the United States, in any event, led salers in Laredo, Texas, but to the super-
the Inquisition in 1710 to be applied to a intendent of Wells Fargo as well, whom
Texas Indian for using peyote to “induce he also threatened with persecution for
a vision” (Slotkin 1955, 220) and again at shipment. By his own authority he or-
the Isleta Pueblo in New Mexico, where dered Marcus Poco, peyotist, who was
Juan del Alamo (a.k.a. Juan Luxan) was working for Quanah Parker, not to bring
charged on February 3, 1720, with bring- peyote into the country from Mexico;
ing peyote to Taos following a sojourn Johnson even illegally threatened inter-
with the Hopi. He was whipped (fifty national prosecution upon learning of
lashes), then expelled along with a Taos shipments from Coahuila, Mexico. In
follower named Quara for using it (suc- one year he wrote of having “purchased
cessfully!) to find a lost object. and destroyed by burning, 176,400 pey-
The United States under the Treaty of otes [that year’s entire shipment!], for
Guadalupe-Hidalgo took over the which I paid $443.00” (Stewart 1987,
Southwest in 1848, and the American In- 139). Johnson’s actions clearly stemmed
quisition can be said to have begun or from BIA policies. Commissioner of In-
followed. By likening peyote to opium, dian Affairs Thomas Morgan, for exam-
Indian agents on the Kiowa and Co- ple, wrote to the Indian agent to the Sac
manche reservation in Oklahoma, be- and Fox as early as July 21, 1890 (ibid.,
ginning in 1886, attempted to control it 129), asking that peyote be treated “ex-
through antiliquor laws. William “Pussy- actly as if it were alcohol or whiskey.”
foot” Johnson, a former newspaper man That was followed by a directive dated
from New York, was reassigned from January 30, 1897 (29 Stat. 506), against
bootlegging duties by President T. Roo- the use of “intoxicating liquors” by these
sevelt. From 1906 to 1911 this “special “wards of the Government.”
officer,” in tails and a top coat, but- This view that peyote was even worse
tressed by an anti–liquor sales law than “intoxicating liquor”—that is,
passed by the Congress (34 Stat. L. 328) “dope,” since opiate addiction had be-
and with funds for one hundred come a national concern—then became
deputies, cajoled Indian students re- central to the Newberne Pamphlet
turning from boarding schools—who in (1922). Written by the Reverend Dr.
fact flocked to the Native American R. E. L. Newberne of the Omaha Reserva-
Church—to sign “temperance pledges.” tion, this BIA document was initially cir-
Also enjoined by him in this crusade to culated to 3,000 employees on the differ-
stamp out peyote were Bureau of Indian ent reservations. Reprinted in 1925, it
607
had an even wider distribution until and Omaha Indians were organized as a
1934. The entirely biased tone of the defense association by Albert Hensley.
Newberne Pamphlet (ibid., v) is revealed Hensley, a Winnebago, was the protege of
in the opening statement by Charles H. John Rave, who in turn was a charismatic
Burke, commissioner of Indian affairs, founder of the Cross-Fire Rite. The
who wrote that the “weight of evidence Omaha Indian Peyote Society was an-
pronounces it harmful to those who use other group; it was formed in 1915
it habitually, particularly to growing chil- (Hertzberg 1971, 249). Jonathan (Jack)
dren; therefore I warn the Indian people Koshiway (b. 1886) was another impor-
against the drug.” Its author himself wor- tant player in this legal strategy. A Sac and
ried about “strange orgies” and “pagan- Fox/Oto graduate of the Chiloco Board-
ism arrayed against Christianity” and the ing School who for a time was a Mormon
fate of Native American Church mem- missionary and a Presbyterian, Koshiway
bers who might “interpret the pleasing turned to the new Indian religion, and on
visions as reflection of the beauties of the advice of attorneys, he incorporated
paradise” (ibid., 8, 19). his peyote sect as the “Firstborn Church
Two additional BIA-biased documents of Christ” in Oklahoma in 1914.
can be mentioned. Circular No. 1522 (en- With an estimated 12,000 peyotists in
titled “Peyote”) was a questionnaire sent Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New
out on March 28, 1919, to agency superin- Mexico, North and South Dakota, Okla-
tendents for their reservation physicians, homa, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming,
field matrons, farmers, and missionaries when the BIA pressured Congress to draft
to answer. There were 302 negative replies. an antipeyote law in 1918, the Native
After the sampling of these, peyote was American Church was born (ibid., 252).
said to “make the users dead-headed and The date was October 10, 1918; the site
stupid” and to “produce certain diseases was El Reno. James Mooney reportedly
[that lead] to early decay and death” (p. helped to draft the charter, a four-page
30). While Bulletin #21 (1923) was a dia- document not forwarded to the commis-
tribe that outrageously reported immoral- sioner of Indian affairs until March 22,
ity and “poor health” (attributed to “spit- 1919 (Slotkin 1956, 62, 272–273). Interest-
ting on naked bodies of men, women, and ingly, the original name of the Native
children, including new-born infants” (p. American Church was the “Firstborn
5) by Native American Church members. Church of Christ.” Koshiway, who testified
before Congress, felt that an organization
Formation of the Native American “like the Mormons” was essential for sur-
Church vival. Hence he took the original name
By 1906, an organization of peyotists from the Bible (Hebrews 12:28). Because
stretching from Oklahoma to Nebraska so many early Native American Church
had been formed. Calling themselves members were Christianized, a biblical
“Mescal Bean Eaters,” these Winnebagos defense of peyote as a sacrament compa-
608
rable to bread and wine was frequently Then, in 1955, at which time there
given (for example, Romans 14:2–3). But were sixty-one Native American Church
since another faction preferred the Native chapters, the addition of two from west-
American Church, that became the name. ern Canada led to internationalization.
Also agreed upon was that two trustees Frank Eagle (Ponca) was elected first
from each tribe would be appointed to a president of the Native American Church
pantribal organization; that English of North America. Mack Haag
would be the lingua franca; and that fra- (Cheyenne) was vice president, George
ternity among Native American Church Pipestem (Oto) recording secretary, and
members was important. Other emphases Louis McDonald (Ponca) treasurer
reveal the degree of acculturation: the (Stewart 1987, 225–226).
value of “hard work” (for the white man) Federal attempts to suppress peyote,
and a proscription against alcohol, the use however, continued. Begun in the late
of which, indeed, all proselytizers argued 1880s, these intensified in 1912, when
that peyote alone cured. Finally, the Na- the Board of Indian Commissioners,
tive American Church charter claims that overseer of the BIA, lobbied for an an-
Truth and Revelation can come about only tipeyote bill. In March 1913, Congress at-
through ingestion of the cactus plant. tempted to add the phrase “and peyote”
Slotkin (1956, 60–61) wrote that be- to the Indian Appropriations Bill pro-
tween 1914 and 1955 there were so many hibiting alcohol in Indian Country. But it
different incorporated groups of the Na- was defeated. The BIA then pressured
tive American Church throughout the the Bureau of Customs to halt the impor-
country that the Oklahoma-based Native tation of peyote from Mexico. That, too,
American Church charter had to be failed, as did their attempt to include
amended. So, in 1943, they became the peyote in the Harrison Narcotic Act,
Native American Church of the United which was passed in 1914. But the De-
States. One year later, that charter was partment of Agriculture did issue a regu-
drawn up. Dues were to be ten dollars per lation in 1915 stipulating that any impor-
tribe per year, and membership cards tation from Mexico must be halted as a
were distributed; a yearly convention was danger to the heath of U.S. citizens—a
expected to be held the last Friday in No- regulation eventually rescinded in 1937.
vember, at El Reno. Interestingly enough, In 1917 the BIA also cajoled the Post Of-
the white anthropologist from Chicago fice into issuing an antipeyote order
and honorary Menominee, Slotkin, was “prohibiting the use of the mails”—that
selected in 1954 to serve on the Native order was rescinded in 1940 (Slotkin,
American Church board of trustees dur- 1956, 53; Hertzberg 1971, 25, 55).
ing the annual meetings held in Tama, The right to practice this religion was
Iowa, and upon his acceptance, pub- also threatened by the seventeen an-
lished a quarterly newsletter (La Barre tipeyote bills passed by Western states
1989, 171; Stewart 1987, 239, 242, 243). between 1899 and 1937. While these
609
were eventually repealed (Slotkin 1956, keel, an advisor to the new Indian com-
56), yet another front was the nine an- missioner, John Collier, “Documents on
tipeyote bills introduced in Congress be- Peyote” was published on May 18, 1937,
tween 1916 and 1937. Among those, two in the prestigious journal Science.
were most hotly contested: HR 2614, the Along with its scientific evidence about
Hayden Bill, in 1918; and the Chavez bill the use and innocuousness of peyote by
in 1937. illustrious anthropologists such as
During congressional hearings on the Franz Boas, A. L. Kroeber, Vincenzo
Hayden Bill, for example, Mooney lined Petrullo (who described a Delaware Na-
up Francis La Flesche, his Omaha eth- tive American Church peyote ceremony
nologist-colleague in the Bureau of in 1934), M. R. Harrington, Weston La
American Ethnology (BAE), to defend Barre, Ales Hrlicka, and John P. Harring-
the Native American Church. Gertrude ton, even the acting secretary of Inte-
Bonin and her more famous Lakota rior, Charles West, stated in the intro-
kinsman, the Santee physician Charles duction to this document: “The peyote
Eastman, opposed them. A decade after religion fully meets the description of a
the bill’s defeat, the massive study of In- religious institution.”
dian affairs undertaken in 1928 by the
Hoover Institute (the Meriam Report) Arrests and Court Cases
came out against peyote (Meriam 1928, State laws against peyote nonetheless
628). That, no doubt, led to the federal led to arrests and trials. These began with
or final attempt made by Congress to the Winnebago Mitchell Neck (a.k.a.
outlaw the Native American Church Nah-qua-tah-tuck), who was charged in
(Slotkin 1956, 54). March of 1914 with “introducing Peyote”
The Chavez Bill (S. 1399, “To Prohibit on the Menomini Indian Reservation in
the Interstate Transportation of An- Wisconsin and “causing the intoxication”
halonium in Certain Cases, and for of three Winnebagos. Neck’s self-defense
other Purposes”) was dramatically would be replicated in every other case:
challenged by Senator Elmer Thomas of peyote is a sacrament that “helped them
Oklahoma. Having participated in a to lead better lives and to forsake alco-
Native American Church ceremony, he holic drinks,” he testified. The case was
testified that Peyote was “not worse for thrown out of federal district court
the Indian than wine is for the whites, (Slotkin 1952, 676–677).
and I have never heard of an Indian One of the best-documented arrests
using peyote except in connection with took place at Taos Pueblo, New Mexico.
religious rites” (Anderson 1996, 193). There, confiscation of religious para-
Also of significance in the bill’s defeat phernalia from the “Peyote boys” (along
was a prepared statement in peyote’s with whipping and fines) in 1918 created
defense given by professional anthro- a controversy that persisted until 1936
pologists. Organized by Skudder Mer- and that would require mediation by the
610
new commissioner of Indian affairs, John was declared neither a narcotic nor a
Collier (Stewart 1987, 235–237). Despite habit-forming “drug, and in fact, associ-
issuing Circular 2970, affirming “Indian ated with bona fide religion.” In the sec-
Religious Freedom and Indian Culture,” ond of these landmark decisions, People
Collier found himself in a double bind v. Jack Woody, et al. (61 Cal 2nd 716:P 40
and wound up supporting the Navajo Cal. Rptr. 69: 394 P. 2d 813, 1964), thanks
Tribal Council’s ban against peyote and to the activism of the Crow Frank Takes
persecution of Native American Church Gun, the combination of ACLU involve-
members on their reservation. Their ment, favorable coverage by the New
tribal council’s ordinance against peyote, York Times, and, once again, expert testi-
which was passed in 1940 and remained mony provided by the above-mentioned
in effect until 1967, resulted in nearly 600 anthropologist (Stewart 1987, 308–314)
arrests between 1938 and 1960 (Aberle resulted in freeing Diné section hands on
1966, 116; Stewart 1987, 302–303). The the Santa Fe Railroad who had been ar-
wording of the ordinance is instructive: rested off-reservation in Needles, Cali-
peyote was defined as “non-traditional” fornia. The Diné were arrested during a
and “dangerous to health”; it was said to peyote meeting run in a hogan by Tru-
lead to “uncontrolled sexual behavior” man Daily, Oto performing “chief” in
and to constitute a “new form of intoxica- Disneyland and important Native Amer-
tion,” one that not only interfered with ican Church missionary. After they were
economic improvements but also al- originally found guilty for violation of
legedly made people “lazy and indiffer- California’s antipeyote law, the state’s
ent to their children’s education.” It Supreme Court justice J. Tobriner, on Au-
caused adultery, bootlegging, civil disgust 24, 1964, issued a judgment that
obedience via accusations of witchcraft, overthrew the constitutionality of the
family and community discord, and “ar- state law and protected the right of Na-
rogant and sarcastic” behaviors by prac- tive American Church members to prac-
titioners (Aberle 1966, 221). tice their religion.
Two famous Diné court cases led to
the overturning of laws against peyote in Closing of the “Peyote Gardens”
two Western states. Judge McFate, in Ari- Native American Church members call
zona vs. Attakai (Criminal Number 4098, the forty-mile swath along the Rio
Coconino County, July 25–26, 1960, Grande River from Laredo to Oilton, Mi-
Flagstaff, AZ), overturned a lower court’s rando City, Aguilares, Roma, and Rio
ruling in a domestic case that was only Grande City the “Peyote Gardens.” Ac-
partially about “possession.” Aided by a cording to George Morgan (1983, 84–85),
story in Time (1959) and the expert testi- who also converted to the Native Ameri-
mony of Omer Stewart, the Fourteenth can Church after studying it, a brisk
Amendment rights of these Diné-Ameri- trade in peyote was the very economy of
can citizens were upheld, and peyote this area at the end of the nineteenth
611
century. Based in Laredo, Texas, the each. Between September 1972 and Au-
Aguilares Mercantile Co., L. Villegos and gust 1973, Laredo suppliers reported sales
Co., and Wormser Bros. shipped peyote to of 1,113,221 buttons; the average price
Oklahoma, which became the distribu- was $20.00 per thousand, dried. From
tion point for Native American Church 1966 to 1976, there in fact was a dramatic
chapters, especially in states where pey- rise in cost, from $15.00 to $55.00 per
ote was illegal. The “Peyote trade” fol- thousand plants. The cost then rose to
lowed completion of the Texas-Mexican $60.00 in 1979, $80.00 (dried) in 1983, and
Railroad in 1881, and when its narrow $100.00 in 1986 (dried, or $20.00 more
east-west gauge between Laredo and Cor- than green) (Newberne 1922, 6; La Barre
pus Christi joined with the International 1989, 64, 195; Stewart 1987, 63; Mor-
and Great Northern Railroad, that, along gan1983, 84–86, 119; Aberle 1966, 215).
with subsequent rail mergers, made pos- Bulk figures are also available: La Barre
sible shipments directly to the Comanche (1989, 290), for example, reported that
section of the Kiowa-Comanche reserva- peyote was a $100,000 business in the
tion in Oklahoma. By 1908, Native Ameri- mid-1970s, run by eleven dealers. One in-
can Church members were even driving dividual paid $4,000 a year to ranchers to
to the Peyote Gardens, and increased ac- lease lands on which peyoteros, Mexican
cess by rail and automobile made possi- laborers, were paid $1.00 per thousand
ble the transportation of less expensive buttons. Leases on these private ranches
green peyote—cheaper because of the were for thirty days, and a collection of
time saved drying the “button.” 200,000 tons a year was possible. In 1995
Some idea of the cost of peyote over the four men reportedly collected 30,000
first century of the Native American plants on 25 acres of land in five hours,
Church can be provided. In 1905, for ex- selling them for $0.15 to $0.17 apiece, or
ample, dried “buttons” cost $0.12 per $150.00 to $170.00 per 1,000 dried but-
“load” of 300 plants in a basket. An esti- tons, plus $5.00 per 1,000 for shipping.
mated nine firms in Laredo sold 200,000 But according to Anderson (1996, 51),
buttons for $2.50 per thousand around even if a peyotero worked 200,000 to
1909. And that price rose to $5.00 during 300,000 acres in one year, collecting some
World War I. In the late 1930s the cost 300,000 buttons, that wouldn’t meet the
ranged between $2.50 and $5.00 per one needs of the Native American Church.
thousand. Peyote in the 1940s was sold for Further complicating the problem
$0.50 to $1.00 per gunnysack in the south- was the discovery of oil in 1921 in the
ern part of Texas, and between $5.00 and Peyote Gardens. Land was then leased in
$10.00 per thousand in the north—its cost the three important formerly Spanish
difference again being green versus dry. communities instrumental in the peyote
Between 1949 and 1953, the cost on the trade: Los Ojuelos, founded in 1891,
Diné Reservation was between $10.00 some 40 miles from Laredo; Torrecillas,
and $11.00 per thousand in bulk, or $0.10 which became Oilton in 1923; and Au-
612
guilares on the Tex-Mex railroad. The lat- of the plants—deep cuttings with crow
ter was a major trade center from 1920 to shovels that uproot the very taproot of a
1932, receiving peyote from Los Ojuelos plant otherwise capable of generating
by wagon, then shipping it via rail to “buttons” nearly indefinitely—has been
Laredo. Indeed, the town’s railroad sta- a problem. Yet another pressure on sup-
tion continued operations until 1938– plies ironically came from the swelling
1940, when it became the home of number of Diné converts, who probably
Amada Cardenas. purchase four out of every five plants
Called “Mom,” or “Queen Peyote,” this sold. And finally there was the invasion
revered Hispanic woman was the daugh- by hippies in the 1960s, which not only
ter of a former Los Ojuelos peyotero, and prompted ranch owners to lock off the
with her husband, Mrs. Cardenas for- peyote fields from Native American
merly hired workers in the 1930s to har- Church members but also prompted a
vest peyote for sale. Between 1957 and change in federal drug laws in 1966 (An-
her death in 1996, the Cardenas home derson 1996, 181). Guy Mount (1993,
was unofficial headquarters of the Native 67), for good reason then, warns that
American Church-NA. Individuals and with the Peyote Gardens disappearing in
families stayed there while harvesting or Texas at the rate of 20 acres an hour as a
purchasing the sacrament from this result of 20-foot-wide disk plows pulled
Mexican Catholic woman, who was in- by giant Caterpillar tractors, the very fu-
vited to serve on the Native American ture of the Native American Church is
Church board of trustees and was li- threatened. What every Native American
censed by the Texas Department of Pub- Church member in North America no
lic Safety and the Drug Enforcement Ad- doubt consequently longs for is passage
ministration (DEA) of the federal of legislation comparable to what was
government. In one month alone, Febru- recently enacted by the Mexican Con-
ary 1975, Amada Cardenas’s guest book gress in 1994: the protection of 182,108
recorded 350 Native American Church acres of land on which peyote/hikuli
guests (Morgan 1983, 125–126). grows “for the purpose of [Huichols]
Other factors disrupted and still conducting their ceremonies and gath-
threaten the peyote trade. The energy ering peyote, and preserving it from
crisis of 1973, for example, led to rising overexploitation by non-Huichols”
fuel costs and the importance of domes- (Schaeffer and Furst 1996, 15–19).
tic oil. Federal efforts to “improve” the
land involved reseeding of native with Conclusion
introduced grasses and sorghum; these The Native American Church presents an
impact peyote production, since chain- effervescent challenge to America’s recent
ing, brush control, and root plows are re- commitment to multiculturalism. After
quired. Then, too, commercial harvest- originally being suppressed as an “intoxi-
ing of peyote, with its improper cutting cating liquor,” the “divine cactus” that
613
Native Americans revere as a sacrament health programs among the Diné in

and call “medicine” today is defined as a 1971–1972 interviewed 200 Native Ameri-
“narcotic.” And while anthropologists can Church members and reported their
have rightly challenged both definitions, seeing “beautiful colors” in ceremonies
they tend to prefer yet another term also (Stewart 1987, 316); while in two well-
objected to by Native American Church known Indian autobiographies about Na-
members: “psychedelic” or “psycho- tive Americans, Crashing Thunder, the fa-
tropic” (La Barre 1989, 288). In fact, Sec- mous subject of Paul Radin’s pioneering
tion 201 of the Comprehensive Drug study of the Winnebago peyotist, related
Abuse Prevention and Control Act of his personality-transforming vision
1970 (Public Law 91–513) lumps peyote (Radin 1970) and Albert Hensley told that
along with mescaline, opium, LSD, mari- same anthropologist about his journey to
juana, and psilocybin as a Schedule 1 Heaven and rescue in Hell from being
“hallucinogenic substance.” Native crushed between two rocks by an eagle
American Church members continue to (Radin 1914, 19–20). There is even a vast
strongly object both to that classification literature on the types of visions experi-
and its alleged “high potential for abuse” enced by anthropologists while attend-
(Anderson 1996, 199). Peyote is not used ing/studying Native American Church
for getting “high,” they maintain; it is se- meetings, beginning with Mooney (1896,
rious religious business. Or, as the 10) and Lumholtz (1902, 178–179), and
prominent Winnebago peyotist Reuben running from Petrullo (1934, 88–89)
Snake (Fikes 1996, 26–27), a past presi- through La Barre (1989, 143–144), Slotkin
dent of the National Congress of Ameri- (1952, 565), and Aberle (1966, 228–230).
can Indians (NCAI), frequently has Certain recent legislation bears upon
stated: “Never has it caused me, or any the future of the Native American Church.
Church member I have ever heard of, to For example, passage of Public Law
hallucinate, and its directives have al- 95–341, the American Indian Religious
ways been to live cleanly and with a lov- Freedom Act of 1978, “prohibits any state
ing, compassionate heart . . . Ah-ho!” from prosecuting Native Americans when
Other debates regarding peyote have they use peyote for religious purposes.”
been about the cause of its recent spread: And when the conservative Supreme
is it attributed to the widespread, age-old Court in 1990 ruled in Employment Divi-
traditional quest for visions among Plains sion v. Smith that it is a crime for Native
Indians (Shonle 1925) or postcolonial de- American Church members in Oregon to
spair (Aberle 1966)? Cultural versus or- use or possess peyote (Lawson and Mor-
ganic (biochemical) definition of “vi- ris 1991), Congress enacted the Religious
sions” as they relate to peyote is another Freedom Restoration Act in 1993 as a di-
debate. Though “visions” are denied by rect response. Then, in 1994, an amend-
many Native American Church members, ment to AIGPRA (The American Indian
Dr. Robert L. Bergman, chief of mental Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
614
H.R. 4230) was passed in both houses and ducts a Native American Church “meet-
signed into law by President Clinton (PL ing” in the basement of “Holiness Pan-
103–344). But while Native American Indian Rescue Mission” in Los Angeles—
Church members no longer may be pros- while reading directly from La Barre’s
ecuted for transporting, possessing, or famous description of the Kiowa-Co-
using peyote for bona fide traditional cer- manche Tipi Way (Momaday 1969,
emonial purposes in connection with the 126–131). Among non-Indian writers,
practice of traditional Indian religion, the the poets Jerome Rothenberg and
important question of Indian sovereignty Michael McClure have used peyote im-
remains enjoined by church-statelike leg- agery, while the playwright Maxine Klein
islation protecting the Native American wrote Savages, which was performed at
Church: the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act, La Mama sometime around 1971 with an
for example, guarantees freedom of reli- entire first act that reproduces a peyote
gion, yet tribes organized under the meeting (La Barre (1989, 266–267).
Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934 maintain In painting, as well, given that cave art
the right through their tribal councils to suggesting ritual use of peyote can be
ban peyote from reservations—as, for ex- dated by carbon 14 in association with
ample, did the Washoe Tribe of Nevada Folsom projectile points and bison as far
and California in 1937; the White Moun- back as 8440–8120 B.C., it should come as
tain Apache, 1938; and Yerington Paiute no surprise that many contemporary
Tribal Council in 1940. Native American artists incorporate the
Finally, peyote and the Native Ameri- all-night peyote ceremony of the Native
can Church not only remain a vital part American Church in their oeuvre. Mon-
of Native cultures, but the American tap- roe Tsa (1904–1937) and Stephen
estry as well. Peyote music, for example, Mopope (1898–1974) are two such
has been studied by many ethnomusi- artists. The latter’s “Member of the Pey-
cologists (McAllester 1949) and has been ote Cult,” painted in 1929, hangs on an
recorded. “The Kiowa Peyote Meeting” is Oklahoma Historical Society wall in Ok-
available on Ethnic Folkways Library lahoma City. There are even three photo-
(Album No. FE 4601, 1973), while graphs of peyotists in Edward Curtis’s
Leonard Crow Dog, Lakota roadman, monumental collection.
and prominent for his involvement dur- Finally, Native American Church mem-
ing the American Indian Movement bers have fashioned a veritable home in-
(AIM) takeover of Wounded Knee in dustry of crafts: for example, metal orna-
1973, recorded “Crow Dog’s Paradise” ments (bolo ties, earrings, pins, and
along with his father, Henry, for Elektra pendants, etc.) that are worn to cere-
in 1972 (La Barre 1989, 267). mony, which itself is marked by the use of
In literature, N. Scott Momaday’s painted cloths for the display of beaded
Pulitzer-winning novel House Made of ritual paraphernalia such as gourds and
Dawn, the Reverend J. B. B. Tosimah con- staffs. And more widely known through
615
the commercial markets are Huichol yarn References and Further Reading
paintings, which in fact are inspired by vi- Aberle, David F. 1966. The Peyote Religion
among the Navaho. Chicago: Aldine.
sions (Schaefer and Furst 1996). Anderson, Edward F. 1995. “The ‘Peyote
The last words on the Native American Gardens’ of South Texas: A Conservation
Church, however, ought to belong to Na- Crisis?” Cactus and Succulent Journal 67:
67–73.
tive Americans. In echoing what his North ————. 1996. Peyote, the Divine Cactus. 2d
American Indian compeers, Native Amer- ed. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
ican Church members, universally say, Brito, Silvester J. 1989. The Way of a Peyote
Roadman. New York: Peter Lang.
Ramon Medina Silva, the well-known Hui- Crow Dog, Leonard, and Richard Erdoes.
chol (Meyerhoff 1974), told Schaefer and 1995. Crow Dog: Four Generations of
Furst (1996, 181–182): “Aspirina es droga. Sioux Medicine Men. New York:
HarperCollins.
Peyote es sagrado.” And Ben Lancaster
Fikes, Jay C. 1996. Reuben Snake, Your
(“Chief Gray Horse”), a controversial Na- Humble Serpent: Indian Visionary and
tive American Church leader (Stewart Activist. Santa Fe: Clear Light
Publishers.
1944; Hittman 1996), who encouraged his
Hertzberg, Hazel W. 1971. The Search for an
wife to become a Road Chief, told Stewart American Indian Identity: Modern Pan-
(1987, 275–285) what countless other Indian Movements. Syracuse: Syracuse
University Press.
members of this international Native
Hittman, Michael. 1996. Corbett Mack: The
American religion have attested in de- Life of a Northern Paiute. Lincoln:
fense of peyote as a sacrament and the Na- University of Nebraska Press.
tive American Church: “I am a firm be- Howard, James H. 1957. “The Mescal Bean
Cult of the Central and Southern Plains:
liever in Peyotism, for I once was a bad An Ancestor of the Peyote Cult?”
character, but since using peyote I am a American Anthropologist 59: 75–87.
reformed man. I want to spread Peyotism Kroeber, A. L. 1907. “The Arapaho: IV.
Religion.” Bulletin of the American
around for the uplift and betterment of Museum of Natural History 18, no. 4:
the Indians. . . . This is an old religious 279–454.
worship which all Indians subscribed to at La Barre, Weston. 1989. The Peyote Cult, 5th
ed. Norman: University of Oklahoma
one time. But when the white man came Press.
he took our land and everything else. He Lawson, Paul E., and C. Patrick Morris.
would take our religion, too.” 1991. “The Native American Church and
the New Court: The Smith Case and
Michael Hittman Indian Religious Freedoms.” American
Indian Culture and Research Journal 15,
See also Boarding Schools, Religious no. 1: 79–91.
Impact; Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions; Leonard, Irving A. 1942. “Peyote and the
Christianity, Indianization of; Dreams and Mexican Inquisition, 1620.” American
Visions; Drums; Health and Wellness, Anthropologist 44: 324–336.
Traditional Approaches; Herbalism; Lumholtz, Carl. 1898. “The Huichol Indians
Identity; Law, Legislation, and Native of Mexico.” Bulletin of the American
Religion; Oral Traditions; Power, Plains; Museum of Natural History 10: 1–14.
Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural ———. 1902. Unknown Mexico: A Record of
Implications; Symbolism in American Five Years’ Exploration among the Tribes
Indian Ritual and Ceremony of the Western Sierra Madre; in the Tierra
616
Caliente of Tepic and Jalisco; and among Schaefer, Stacy B., and Peter T. Furst, eds.
the Tarascos of Michoacan. 2 vols. New 1996. People of the Peyote: Huichol
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Indian History, Religion, and Survival.
McAllester, David P. 1949. Peyote Music. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Viking Fund Publications in Press.
Anthropology, no. 13. New York: Viking Schultes, Richard E. 1938. “The Appeal of
Fund. Peyote (Lophophora Williamsii) as a
Meriam, Lewis. 1928. The Problem of Indian Medicine.” American Anthropologist 40:
Administration. Baltimore: Johns 698–715.
Hopkins University Press. Shonle, Ruth. 1925. “Peyote: The Giver of
Meyerhoff, Barbara G. 1974. Peyote Hunt: Visions.” American Anthropologist 17:
The Sacred Journey of the Huichol 57–75.
Indians. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Slotkin, James S. 1951. “Early Eighteenth
Momaday, N. Scott. 1969. House Made of Century Documents on Peyotism North
Dawn. New York: Harper and Row. of the Rio Grande.” American
Mooney, James. 1896. “The Mescal Plant Anthropologist 53: 420–427.
and Ceremony.” Therapeutic Gazette 12, ————. 1952. “Menomini Peyotism: A
no. 11: 7–11. Study of Individual Variation in a
Morgan, George Robert. 1983. “The Primary Group with a Homogeneous
Biogeography of Peyote in South Texas.” Culture.” Philosophical Society 42, no. 4:
Harvard University Botanical Museum 565–700.
Leaflets 29, no. 2: 73–86. ————. 1955. “Peyotism, 1521–1891.”
Morgan, George R., and Omer C. Stewart. American Anthropologist 57: 202–230.
1984. “Peyote Trade in South Texas.” ————. 1956. The Peyote Religion: A Study
Southwestern Historical Quarterly 87, no. in Indian-White Relations. Glencoe, IL:
3: 270–296. Free Press.
Moses, L. G. 1984. The Indian Man: A Snake, Reuben, and Huston Light, eds.
Biography of James Mooney (chs. VII, 1995. One Nation under God: The
“The Peyote Controversy, 1913–1918,” Triumph of the Native American Church.
pp. 179–205, and VIII, “Recessional, Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishing.
1918–1921,” pp. 206–221). Urbana: Speck, Frank G. 1933. “Notes on the Life of
University of Illinois Press. John Wilson, the Revealer of Peyote, as
Mount, Guy, ed. 1993. The Peyote Book: A Recalled by his Nephew, G. Anderson.”
Study of Native Medicine, 3d ed. General Magazine Historical Chronicle
Cottonwood, CA: Sweetlight Books. 35: 539–556.
Newberne, Robert E. L. 1922. Peyote: An Steinmetz, Paul B. 1990. Pipe, Bible, and
Abridged Compilation from the Files of Peyote among the Oglala Lakota: A Study
the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 2d ed. in Religious Identity. Nashville:
Chilocco, OK: Chilocco Indian University of Tennessee Press.
Agricultural Institute. Stewart, Omer C. 1944. “Washo-Northern
Petrullo, Vincenzo. 1934. The Diabolical Paiute Peyotism: A Study in
Root: A Study of Peyotism, the New Indian Acculturation.” University of California
Religion, among the Delawares. Publications in American Archaeology
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania and Ethnology 40: 3. Berkeley: University
Press. of California Press.
Radin, Paul. 1914. “A Sketch of the Peyote —————.1987. The Peyote Religion: A
Cult of the Winnebago: A Study in History. Norman: University of
Borrowing.” Journal of Religious Oklahoma Press.
Psychology 7, no. 1: 1–22. Vecsey, Christopher. 1991. Imagine
————. 1926/1970. Crashing Thunder: Ourselves Richly: Mythic Narratives of
The Autobiography of an American North American Indians. New York:
Indian. New York: Appleton. HarperCollins.
617
Native American Church/Peyote Movement, Diné _______________________________________
Native American tribes and throughout the United States

Church/Peyote Movement, and Canada. Most Diné have member-
Diné ships in the Native American Church of
Navajoland, while others are members of
Peyote Religion among the Diné the Native American Church of the Four
The Navajos or the Diné (the People) of Corners or the Northern Navajoland Na-
the Southwest comprise one of the tive American Church Association. Over-
largest indigenous nations in the United all, the Diné have one of the largest
States today. With a population of more memberships in the Native American
than 250,000, Navajos continue to live Church, numbering 60,000 (Quintero
upon their ancestral homeland, speak 1995, 78; Davies 2001, 182; Iverson 2002,
the Diné language, and live in many 307).
ways as their ancestors instructed. While
the People live in much the same man- Ritual and Ceremony—the Diné
ner as their ancestors, they also have in- Experience
corporated new ideas and practices into The ritual and form of the peyote cere-
their existing way of life. The Diné follow mony has not changed much for more
the peyote road in much the same way as than 120 years (Smith and Snake 1996,
many other Native followers; yet the 79). The People conduct the peyote cere-
Diné have made the peyote religion a mony in much the same manner as other
distinctively Diné practice, one that re- tribes throughout the Plains and the
flects their abilities to hold on tena- Southwest (La Barre 1989; Stewart 1987).
ciously to their traditional beliefs and Peyote, a cactus found in Mexico and
customs while making a place for new Texas, is a sacrament used as a means to
things. communicate with God in a form that
The history of the peyote religion draws from Native traditions and Chris-
among the Diné, like that of other in- tianity. The Diné sponsor prayer meet-
digenous peoples, is a story of cultural ings for healing and spiritual renewal.
exchanges and revitalization (Irwin Specifically, a patient, the person for
1997). It is also a story of the struggle for whom the prayer is being conducted,
religious freedom. Among the Diné, the may request blessings for jobs, educa-
peyote religion is practiced alongside tion, and general well-being. Peyote
traditional Diné ceremonies and Chris- meetings are also held to cure illness and
tianity. It is not uncommon for the Diné mental depression. Peyotists also testify
to attend traditional ceremonies, Chris- that following the peyote road has meant
tian church services, or peyote cere- a decrease in alcoholism.
monies, for they are a people who take The Diné have made the peyote reli-
the best from different cultures to their gion a distinctly Diné practice by con-
own advantage. The Native American ducting meetings in their own language
Church has a following across many and incorporating their beliefs into the
618
______________________________________ Native American Church/Peyote Movement, Diné
Diné church members at a Peyote Ceremony in a hogan near Pinyon, holding nightlong rites at
which peyote cactus buttons are eaten and used as a sacrament. 1954. (Carl Iwasaki/Time Life
Pictures/Getty Images)
peyote way (Aberle 1983, 559; Davies and male is reflected in Native American
2001, 181). The key concept in Diné life, Church origin narratives and within the
sa’ah naaghaáii bik’eh hózhó, which can ritual itself. As mothers and grandmoth-
be translated as “in-old-age-walking-the ers, women are recognized as culture
trail-of beauty,” provides the template bearers and the givers of life. In the pey-
for how one should live. Diné peyotists ote religion, the peyote button placed at
utilize peyote or ‘azee’ (medicine) as a the center of the earth altar is called
means to establish and maintain hozho, shima ‘azee’, or mother medicine. Prayers
a life of balance and beauty (Quintero are conveyed to God and the Diné Holy
1995, 74). Thus the purpose of life is to People through shima ‘azee’. Diné pey-
live well and to reach sá, or old age. otists tell different versions of how the
The Diné are a matrilineal people who Diné were introduced to peyote. Accord-
order the world conceptually as female ing to one story, a long time ago a woman
and male, defined as complementarity traveling with her people became lost.
(ibid., 78). This importance of the female Alone and sick, the woman heard a voice
619
telling her to eat of a plant, the peyote, tury, the Diné were introduced to pey-
nearby. Doing so she had a vision otism in the most northern region of the
whereby she found her way back to her Diné reservation, along the borders be-
people, and she told them of the peyote’s tween New Mexico and Colorado, where
medicinal qualities (ibid., 82, 83). Diné and Ute live near each other. The
Diné men conduct the prayer meet- Diné found the peyote religion attrac-
ing and act as the roadman, the cedar- tive, and Diné men trained to conduct
man, the drummer, and the firechief; their own prayer meetings. However, just
however, a woman who is called Dawn as quickly as the Diné embraced the new
Woman brings in the morning water religion, officials from the federal, state,
and adds her prayers to those offered by and tribal levels sought to ban peyote by
the officiants and participants. The declaring that its use led to immorality
prayers for the morning water focus on and excess. Diné traditionalists joined
renewal, healing, and rebirth. As one together with Diné and non-Diné mis-
roadman notes, “The morning time is sionaries who claimed that the new reli-
the female part of the ceremony be- gion was contradictory to established
cause women give new life, a new day ceremonies and rituals (Aberle 1983,
breaks, and it is a new beginning. You 564–568). Diné peyotists continued their
need women and the morning to give prayer meetings in spite of arrests, con-
new life and to replenish what’s there” fiscation of peyote, court cases, and re-
(ibid., 81). While the nightlong cere- jection and ridicule from nonpeyotists.
mony centered on the patient’s prob- Their struggles to practice their religion
lems and the officiants prayed for heal- led to their participation in the move-
ing, Dawn Woman’s morning prayer ment for religious freedom. Diné Native
emphasizes renewal, the promise of American Church members, with the
new beginnings. Many scholars have help of their non-Indian friends and
defined the Native American Church as sympathizers, have worked with other
a pan-Indian movement; however, the Native peyotists and effectively lobbied
Diné peyote way is causing a re-evalua- Congress to make religious freedom a re-
tion because it indicates that the Diné ality (Davies 2001, 182; Smith and Snake
have retained the core of their belief 1996, 139–153).
system and have incorporated some- Historically, the Diné have been char-
thing different, like peyotism, to fit into acterized as loosely organized bands
their existing way of life (ibid., 84, 85). sharing common cultural traits who
spoke the Diné language. In the seven-
The Struggle for Religious Freedom teenth century Spanish observers re-
Religious freedom lies at the heart of the ported that the Diné planted cornfields
struggles between peyotists and their and hunted for food. In the eighteenth
opposition. In the early twentieth cen- century, the introduction of sheep and
620
horses into the Southwest resulted in sig- since 1868. The Diné had returned to the
nificant changes for the Diné, who be- reservation with 940 sheep, 1,025 goats,
came pastoralists as well as skilled and 1,550 horses; by the 1930s, Diné
horsemen and warriors. In fact, they be- flocks numbered more than 1 million
came so adept as warriors that the (Iverson 2002, 66, 67, 139). For the Diné,
Spaniards and then the Mexicans both their vast herds signified hard work,
failed to subdue them. In 1863 the Amer- careful management, and knowledge of
icans accomplished what the previous ceremonies and rituals (ibid., 142). Un-
conquerors had not been able to do— fortunately, national concerns about soil
militarily defeat the Diné and place them erosion, silt buildup in Hoover Dam, and
on a reservation to begin the assimila- plummeting prices for wool and mutton
tion process. were factors in the U.S. government’s
In 1864 white Americans who claimed forced livestock reduction program for
Navajoland for themselves imprisoned the Diné (ibid., 145). Thus federal man-
thousands of Diné at Bosque Redondo, dates in the 1930s to decrease Diné live-
an internment camp in northeastern stock caused great havoc that the Diné
New Mexico. Four years later, in 1868, equate with their experiences of the
Diné leaders signed a treaty with the Long Walk and imprisonment at Ft. Sum-
United States that allowed eight thou- ner, New Mexico. It was during the era of
sand Diné to return to their homeland forced livestock reduction that the Diné
and rejoin those who had remained be- began to accept the teachings of the pey-
hind. During the years at Bosque Re- ote religion.
dondo, more than two thousand Diné Traumatized by the livestock reduc-
had died from starvation, injuries and tion, some Diné turned to the peyote re-
shootings, and illnesses and diseases. ligion for healing and inspiration
The Diné returned to a reservation that (Aberle 1983; Davies 2001). The Diné
had been carved out of a portion of their first learned of the spiritual and healing
homeland to resume their former cul- qualities of the ‘azee’ from their Ute
tural practices. From 1868 to the 1930s, neighbors (Stewart 1987, 17–30). The
the Diné enjoyed a prosperity that was appointment of John Collier as Indian
reflected not only in their vast herds but commissioner marked a shift in the fed-
also in their own increased population. eral government’s attitude toward Na-
The Diné had managed to remain relative cultural practices and traditions.
tively self-sufficient in comparison to Whereas former policy had intended to
other native nations (White 1983). eradicate Native religions and lan-
During the early reservation period guages, the U.S. government endorsed a
the Diné prosperity and wealth was re- cultural pluralism that encouraged Na-
flected in the growth and size of their tive peoples to revive their traditions
flocks, which had substantially increased and religious practices. Thus the Diné
621
found an atmosphere of tolerance to- could limit freedom of religion (Aberle

ward the peyote religion under Collier’s 1983, 565). Thus, although Collier ac-
administration. cepted Diné self-government, including
It is difficult to determine why the their decree on religious freedom, he cir-
Diné embraced the peyote religion in the cumvented Diné sovereignty by refusing
1930s, and anthropologists like David to enforce the council’s ban on peyote
Aberle have argued that the trauma of and would not allow federal funds to be
livestock reduction was the impetus for used toward enforcement of the ban
its acceptance (Aberle 1983, 563, 564). (ibid., 565, 566).
Perhaps one of the reasons for the ac- Under tribal law, from the 1940s and
ceptance of the peyote religion was the into the 1950s, Diné peyotists faced ha-
cost of elaborate ceremonies such as the rassment and arrests. Vigilantes raided
Nightway, which required many sheep peyote meetings and sometimes confis-
and goats, both for payment and to feed cated paraphernalia. The peyotists, how-
participants and guests. While the cost of ever, fought back and challenged the
a traditional ceremony could be prohibi- tribal council’s resolution. Enlisting the
tive and required a commitment of time, aid of Frank Takes Gun, longtime presi-
a peyote meeting required one night of dent of the Native American Church of
prayer; costs were substantially lower. North America, they worked to nullify the
Initially the Diné tribal officials had 1940 Diné antipeyote ordinance through
not been aware of peyotism among the the U.S. Supreme Court. The Tenth Cir-
People. However, as reports circulated, cuit Court of Appeals in Denver reviewed
they became concerned enough to ban the case. In 1960 the case was reviewed
peyote, making it illegal to sell, use, or again, this time by the U.S. District Court
possess. During the tribal council’s for the District of Columbia. Finally it was
meeting to debate peyote use, only rejected for appeal by the U.S. Supreme
councilman Hola Tso spoke in favor of Court in 1963 (ibid., 566). The Supreme
peyote and cast the dissenting vote (52 to Court’s refusal to hear the case upheld
1) (Aberle 1983, 565, 566; Niezen 2000, tribal sovereignty. On another front, the
142–144). The Diné tribal council’s ban peyotists fought antipeyote legislation by
forced Indian Commissioner John Col- filing papers of incorporation in Utah,
lier to acknowledge the contradictions Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, a
inherent in the relationship between the procedure that peyotists had followed in
federal government and the Diné nation. other states since the 1920s (ibid.). The
Although Collier supported the peyotists charters of incorporation served as a tool
because he believed that Native religious for disputing arrests and justifying claims
traditions should be allowed to flourish, of religious freedom.
he also recognized that the Diné tribal In 1951 the Bureau of Indian Affairs
government retained sovereignty and (BIA) estimated that 12 to 14 percent of
622
Diné were participating in peyote cere- supported their religious use of peyote
monies. By 1965 between 35 and 40 per- and would act to protect their religious
cent of Diné took part in Native American freedom (Haskie 1990). The Navajo Na-
Church meetings (Davies 2001, 112). By tion made good on Haskie’s declaration of
1972, between 40 and 60 percent of the support by providing funding for the con-
population were peyotists (Aberle 1983, struction of a church (Iverson 2002, 307).
559). Presently at least half, if not more, of
the Diné population participate in peyote National Struggles for Religious
ceremonies (Davies 2001, 152). The Diné Freedom
have found the peyote religion appealing Diné peyotists faced intolerance on the
because it has helped them face problems reservation, and at the same time they
and issues imposed by colonialism. navigated complex state and federal laws
Through the Native American Church regulating peyote use. The Diné brought
they deal with the struggles of modern suits against states when they were ar-
life, including alcoholism. Finally, after rested for possession of peyote. These
decades of struggle with peyotists, in 1967 suits contributed toward the national ef-
the Navajo Tribal Council passed a resolu- fort of religious freedom that peyotists
tion that recognized peyotism (Aberle had sought for decades.
1983, 566, 567). Most likely, the election of Test cases such as the State of Ari-
Raymond Nakai as tribal chairman con- zona v. Mary Attakai (1960) and People
tributed to the council’s change in atti- v. Jack Woody et al. (1964) reaffirmed
tude. Nakai had run on a platform of reli- Native religious freedom at the state
gious tolerance, and peyotists had voted level (Pavlik 1992). In 1959, Mary At-
for him (Davies 2001, 114). takai was arrested for possession of
The peyote religion emerged on the peyote in Williams, Arizona. Attakai
Diné reservation to both an acceptance convinced Judge McFate in a Flagstaff,
and a rejection. Yet, by the 1980s, a water- Arizona, court of the integrity of the
shed occurred as the Navajo Nation rec- peyote religion. His decision was up-
ognized the widespread appeal of the held by the Arizona Supreme Court and
peyote religion to the Diné. In 1990, after set a sound legal precedent (Stewart
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Employ- 1987, 305, 306). In 1962, Jack Woody,
ment Division v. Smith that states are not Leon Anderson, and Dan Dee Nez were
required to recognize the religious use of arrested in a hogan during a peyote
peyote, Navajo Nation interim president meeting outside of Needles, California.
Leonard Haskie addressed the Native Frank Takes Gun, working on behalf of
American Church, acknowledging the im- the Diné men, enlisted the help of the
portance of the peyote religion to many American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Diné. He assured Native American of Los Angeles. While the California
Church members that the Navajo Nation court ruled unfavorably for the men,
623
the California Supreme Court rendered of the Native American Church of Nava-
a judgment that freed the men, once joland), and Robert Billie Whitehorse (for-
again upholding Native religious free- mer Native American Church president)
dom (ibid., 309, 310). petitioned the federal government and
In 1978 the American Religious Free- spoke to the Senate Select Committee on
dom Act was passed, and, as peyotists Indian Affairs in February 1993 (Davies
discovered, the law did little to protect 2001, 182, 183). Their efforts, combined
them. In particular, the Employment Di- with those of Native peoples nationally,
vision v. Smith case devastated the Na- convinced the House and Senate to ap-
tive American community (Hirschfelder prove H.R. 4230, which amended AIRFA.
and Molin 1992). In 1984, Alfred Leo Under the new law, states had to prove
Smith, a Klamath, was fired from his job “overriding interests” before violating Na-
as an alcoholism counselor because he tive American Church members’ rights to
and a coworker attended Native Ameri- religious freedom (ibid., 183). In 1994,
can Church meetings. Smith and his President Clinton signed the 1993 Reli-
coworker were denied unemployment gious Restoration Act, an amendment to
benefits. The Oregon State Supreme the 1978 American Indian Religious Free-
Court held that a denial of their unem- dom Act, prohibiting states from discrim-
ployment benefits violated their First inating against Native peoples who used
Amendment right of free exercise of reli- peyote for religious reasons. This act ush-
gious beliefs. Not satisfied, the Oregon ered in a new era for Native peoples, one
attorney general sought the legal opin- in which they are able to engage in a reli-
ion of the U.S. Supreme Court. The gious tradition that predates European
Supreme Court reversed the Oregon and American invasion.
opinion. It held that states were not re- The Navajo Nation remained active in
quired to uphold the First Amendment’s its support of the Native American
free exercise clause, that it is constitu- Church. It is becoming increasingly diffi-
tionally permissible for a state to exempt cult for Native American Church mem-
the religious use of peyote from drug bers to obtain peyote from Texas har-
laws, but it is not constitutionally re- vesters, called peyoteros. While the Texas
quired (ibid., 77, 78). Once again, the fol- Narcotics Law of 1969 had defined peyote
lowers of the peyote religion came toas a narcotic, Native American Church
gether to fight for their religious members are exempt. Here, again, the
freedom. Their efforts were not in vain. Navajo Nation provided support by se-
By the 1990s the Navajo Nation had be- curing safe and legal access to peyote in
come one of the most ardent protectors of Texas.
the Native American Church. Working to Native American Church members,
amend the AIRFA of 1978, Diné leaders with the assistance of the Navajo Nation
such as Peterson Zah (former Navajo Na- government, successfully lobbied the
tion president), David S. Clark (president Texas legislature to grant exemptions to
624
______________________________________________________________________ New Age Appropriation
their members and establish security La Barre, Weston. 1989. The Peyote Cult.
measures for the Texas peyoteros who Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Niezen, Ronald. 2000. Spirit Wars: Native
harvested the peyote (Stewart 1987, 246, North American Religions in the Age of
247; Davies 2001, 183). Today the Native Nation Building. Berkeley: University of
American Church faces challenges from California Press.
Parker, Christopher. 2001. “A Constitutional
non-Indians who claim discrimination Examination of the Federal Exemptions
because they cannot participate in the for Native American Religious Peyote
peyote religion by law and who claim to Use.” B.Y.U. Journal of Public Law 16:
89–112.
be road men, medicine men, or shamans Pavlik, Steve. 1992. “The U.S. Supreme
(Parker 2001; Jocks 2000). Court Decision on Peyote in Employment
Division v. Smith: A Case Study in the
Jennifer Nez Denetdale
Suppression of Native American
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Diné; Law, Religious Freedom.” Wicazo Sa Review 8,
Legislation, and Native Religion; Native no. 2: 30–39.
American Church/Peyote Movement Quintero, Gilbert A. 1995. “Gender, Discord,
References and Further Reading and Illness: Navajo Philosophy and
Aberle, David F. 1983. “Peyote Religion Healing in the Native American Church.”
among the Navajo.” Pp. 558–569 in Journal of Anthropological Research 51
Handbook of North American Indians: (spring): no. 1.
Southwest, vol. 10. Edited by Alfonso Smith, Huston, and Reuben Snake, eds.
Ortiz. Washington, DC: Smithsonian 1996. One Nation under God: The
Institution. Triumph of the Native American
Davies, Wade. 2001. Healing Ways: Navajo Church. Santa Fe: Clear Light
Health Care in the Twentieth Century. Publishers.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Stewart, Omer C. 1987. Peyote Religion: A
Press. History. Norman: University of
Haskie, Leonard. “Native American Church Oklahoma Press.
Report.” Navajo Times, June 28, 1990. ———. 1993. “Peyote and the Law.” Pp.
Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Paulette Molin. 44–62 in Handbook of American Indian
1992. The Encyclopedia of Native Religious Freedom. Edited by
American Religions: An Introduction. Christopher Vecsey. New York:
New York: Facts on File. Crossroad Publishing Co.
Irwin, Lee. 1997. “Freedom, Law, and White, Richard. 1983. The Roots of
Prophecy: A Brief History of Native Dependency: Subsistence, Environment,
American Religious Resistance.” American and Social Change among the Choctaws,
Indian Quarterly 21, no. 1: 35–55. Pawnees, and Navajos. Lincoln:
———. 2000. Native American Spirituality: University of Nebraska Press.
A Critical Reader. Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press.
Iverson, Peter. 2002. Diné: A History of the
Navajos, featuring photographs by New Age Appropriation
Monty Roessel. Albuquerque: University
of New Mexico Press. Since the 1980s, Euro-Americans in-
Jocks, Christopher Ronwanien. 2000.
“Spirituality for Sale: Sacred Knowledge volved in the New Age movement have
in the Consumer Age.” Pp. 61–77 in made huge profits marketing books,
Native American Spirituality: A Critical products, workshops, and ceremonies
Reader. Edited by Lee Irwin. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press. supposedly based on traditional Native
625
New Age Appropriation _______________________________________________________________________
American spirituality. Indian people are Many Native Americans refer to mem-
greatly offended by the disrespectful bers of the Rainbow Tribe, as well as oth-
mockery of these misappropriations of ers who want to act out their romanti-
their spirituality, as well as angered by cized notions of Native American life and
the commercialization of their valued spirituality, as “wannabees.”
traditions. Wannabees and Rainbow Tribe mem-
Although it is difficult to offer a con- bers are notorious among Native Ameri-
cise definition of the New Age, this can peoples for disrupting sacred cere-
movement is perhaps best described as a monies. They interrupt prayers with
varied collection of beliefs and practices loud talking and refuse to stand during
aimed at individual personal transfor- ceremonies. On a number of occasions,
mation and healing. New Agers often they have crossed through sacred cir-
treat the different cultures of the world as cles in the wrong direction, causing al-
a salad bar, picking bits and pieces of ready fatigued Sun Dancers to prolong
various religious traditions and then their fast. They have been known to
mixing them together without ever un- smoke marijuana in sacred pipes and
derstanding their meaning within their disturb sacred dances with improvised
cultural contexts. New Age practices in- Grateful Dead–style gyrations. In addi-
clude a wide spectrum of interests and tion, New Age women on their period
practices, including pagan nature wor- have sneaked into certain ceremonies
ship, healing through crystals, Zen medi- prohibited to menstruating women.
tation, goddess worship, extraterrestrial The Men’s Movement, led by figures
sightings, and the channeling of spirit such as Robert Bly, have instituted war-
beings. The majority of New Agers are rior weekends at which Euro-American
white and middle-aged, ranging from businessmen dress up as Indians to find
middle to upper-middle class. Studies their “manhood.”
estimate the number of people identify- Unlike the Rainbows and the week-
ing with the New Age range from ten to end warriors, the majority of New Agers
twenty million. It is difficult to know the pursue their interest in Native American
exact number because, unlike most spirituality through the consumption of
countercultural movements, people products. New Age interest in Native
generally participate in the New Age American spirituality has spawned nu-
through the purchase of products and merous products. Some products claim
services affiliated with the New Age. to assist the dabbler in Native American
Romanticization of Native American spiritual practices. For example, those
spirituality has played a huge role in the who don’t want to take the time and
New Age movement since its inception. trouble of building their own sweat-
Some of these New Agers identify them- lodge can order a sweat tent by tele-
selves as members of the “Rainbow Tribe.” phoning an 800 number. Offers for
626
products that will provide the experi- Native American medicine people.”
ence of Native American spirituality These “Shake and Bake Shamans,” as
abound: sage and cedar smudge sticks, some Native American activists have
herbal tea, books, CDs, and artwork. dubbed them, write best-selling books
Such products, their distributors prom- and lead expensive workshops claiming
ise, will provide “the experience” of Na- to teach their consumers “how to prac-
tive American ritual and wisdom tice Native American spirituality.”
through multisensual consumption. By far the biggest business in New Age
Entrepreneurs have found ways to appropriation of indigenous spirituality
blend American Indian spiritual themes takes place in the publishing industry,
with other New Age objects, such as “Na- where plastic medicine authors are big
tive American Tarot Cards.” They have sellers. Arguably the most successful, not
tapped into new markets, such as “care to mention notorious, is Lynn Andrews.
crystals” for domestic pets. Medicine Andrews has been dubbed the “Beverly
shields have been turned into earrings, Hills Shaman” by some of her New Age
and the sacred figure of Kokopelli now supporters and the less flattering epithet
serves as a wall clock. The advertisement “Beverly Hills Witch” by a number of Na-
for the Kokopelli clock asserts: “South- tive Americans who criticize her com-
west Native America’s playful ‘Spirit mercial exploitation of indigenous spiri-
Guide to the Fourth World’ adds a touch tual traditions. Controversy aside, she is
of almost-eerie immortality to home or a best-selling author, having made the
office!” (The Pyramid Collection: A Cata- New York Times and Los Angeles Times
log of Personal Growth, summer, 1994). best-seller lists on numerous occasions.
Perhaps the eeriness stems from the un- Andrews claims that her books are true
settling irony of what Pemina Yellowbird accounts of her mentoring experiences
and Kathryn Milun refer to as “imperial- with two Canadian Cree medicine
ist nostalgia.” In “Interrupted Journeys: women—Agnes Whistling Elk and Ruby
The Cultural Politics of Indian Reburial,” Plenty Chiefs. In the first two books,
Yellowbird and Milun define imperialist these two elderly women supposedly
nostalgia as a romanticization that as- teach Andrews Native American shaman
sumes a pose of innocent yearning, thus techniques to help her battle an evil sor-
concealing its complicity with often bru- cerer. In subsequent books, the trio en-
tal domination (Yellow Bird and Milun counters a flying horse capable of turn-
1994). ing into rainbow colors and dolphins
A number of what Native American that transmit Australian aboriginal
activists would call Plastic Medicine Peo- dream visions via a eucalyptus tree an-
ple have surfaced in the New Age move- tenna. Another plastic shaman author,
ment, and they are typically Euro-Ameri- Mary Summer Rain, claims that her
cans claiming mentorship by “authentic mentor, No-Eyes, entrusts her with a
627
mission to help lost spirits find their way claims to channel a Hopi Indian named
to the afterworld. In a stereotyped Tonto Barking Tree (as well as Bell Bell, a gig-
Speak, No-Eyes tells Summer Rain such gling six-year-old from Atlantis, and a
words of wisdom as: “No-Eyes gonna be being named Aeffra from Western Eu-
speakin ’bout spirits who be stupid- rope). A New Ager in Tampa, Florida,
dumb.” Native American activists have claims to channel an entity named Olah,
greatly castigated these works for their who is supposed to be a reincarnation of
trivialization and commercialization of both Edgar Cayce and the revered Lakota
Native American spirituality. Neverthe- spiritual entity White Buffalo Calf
less, the number of plastic shaman au- Woman.
thors and their commercial success con- Many Native Americans have been of-
tinue to swell. fended by the mockery these bastardized
Not all those designated as “plastics” versions make of their sacred cere-
by Native American activists are authors. monies. Some of the incidents de-
There are quite a number who run work- nounced as most offensive include Sun
shops, seminars, or centers claiming to Dances held on Astroturf, sweats held on
teach Native American spiritual practice. cruise ships with wine and cheese
For example, one non-Native American served, and sex orgies advertised as part
woman who calls herself “Mary Thun- of “traditional Cherokee ceremonies.” A
der” runs a New Age center in Texas typical advertisement for such a work-
where she conducts sweats, holds pipe shop promises an introduction to “core
ceremonies, and talks with space aliens shamanism—the universal and basic
through Max, the crystal skull. Another methods used by the shaman to enter
woman, referred to as Oceana, or some- non-ordinary reality for problem solv-
times O’Shinna, claims to have been ing, well-being and healing” (Michael
born in a crystal spectrum in Colorado; Harner workshop advertised in Omega:
she mixes Native American teachings Institute for Holistic Studies catalog for
with references to Atlantis, Tibetan Bud- summer 1994). Others make even more
dhism, and Theosophy. specific promises: for example, one
Some plastics produce videos explain- workshop guarantees that you will re-
ing their philosophies and offering “do- trieve your own personal power animal
it-yourself” instructions for Native in a trance. Native American activists
American ceremonies such as sweats. have also been angered by the commer-
There are also a number of New Age cial exploitation involved. A weekend vi-
channellers who claim to “channel” Na- sion quest workshop will currently run
tive American spiritual entities. If paid anywhere from $250 to $550 (accommo-
the requisite sizable fee, these chan- dations and meals not included). In
nellers access the wisdom of their Indian 1988, Singing Pipe Woman of Springdale,
guides for their clients. One woman Washington, advertised a two-week pil-
628
grimage that included study with a Hui- frontations instigated by Native Ameri-
chol woman; the price was $2,450. can activists. The Southwestern AIM
The commodification of Native Amer- Leadership Conference held in Window
ican spirituality seems to be the point of Rock in the Navajo Nation condemned
greatest contention and outrage among those who profit from American Indian
Indian peoples. There are a number of spirituality, listing many of the plastics
reasons why this commercialization up- by name, and adding: “We put them on
sets Native American activists. Some notice that our patience grows thin with
have pointed out the injustice of these them and they continue their disrespect
profiteers growing rich while the major- at their own risk” (reprinted in ibid.,
ity of Native Americans live below the 228). The National Congress of American
poverty level. Indians went even a step further, issuing
Some Native Americans take a differ- what they term “a declaration of war
ent tack, explaining that their spiritual against ‘wannabees,’ hucksters, cultists,
views can never be understood if they commercial profiteers, and self-styled
are seen as mere objects of consump- New Age shamans” (quoted in Shaw
tion. Along these same lines of argument 1995, 87).
is the frequent assertion that medicine Instead of respecting Native Ameri-
people within their own traditions do cans’ requests to leave their spirituality
not charge set fees for their services. alone, the majority of New Agers have
The stance against commercialization come back with defenses trying to justify
of Native American religion has been their misappropriation of these tradi-
consistently strong. At least two inter- tions. Some New Agers have based their
tribal groups of Native American elders claim of a right to Native American reli-
have issued proclamations warning the gion on the reasoning that spirituality
public that the teachings of these com- and “Truth” cannot be owned. As Gary
mercial profiteers may harm them. Some Snyder argued: “Spirituality is not some-
Native Americans have taken a harder thing which can be ‘owned’ like a car or a
stand. Scholar and activist Ward house. Spiritual knowledge belongs to all
Churchill has called for active resistance, humans equally” (quoted in Churchill
including public denouncement of plas- 1995, 219). This argument implies that a
tics, demonstrations and boycotts of cultural or spiritual tradition has to be a
their events, and demands that local “property right” before someone’s re-
bookstores stop carrying their works quest that it be respected as private be
(Churchill 1995, 222). Leaflets denounc- recognized.
ing the commercialization of Native One of the most common New Age de-
American religion have been distributed fenses is the assertion that they have a
at lectures given by plastics, and their “basic” or “fundamental” right to prac-
workshops have been disrupted by con- tice Native American religious traditions.
629
Gary Snyder, who has won literary destroying freedom of speech for
awards for poetry written from the Native Americans by ensuring that our
voices will never be heard. . . .
claimed persona of a “Native American
Feminists must make a choice, will
shaman,” argues the following: “Given they respect Indian political and
the state of the world today, we all have spiritual autonomy or will they
not only the right, but the obligation to promote materials that are
pursue all forms of spiritual insight, and fundamentally racist under the guise
of “freedom of speech”? (Smith 1991,
at every possible level. In this sense, it
44)
seems to me that I have as much right to
pursue and articulate the belief systems There has been a long history of ob-
developed by Native Americans as they session among Euro-Americans with im-
do, and arguments to the contrary strike ages of Indians. These images have
me as absurd in the extreme” (quoted in served as Rorschach blots onto which
ibid., 192). Other New Agers have prevailing sentiments, anxieties, and po-
couched their argument in First Amend- litical moods have been projected. The
ment terms, which is a bit ironic given images of Native Americans have
that Native American nations had no changed with the times and in response
say in writing or adopting the U.S. Con- to historical events and attitudes, but
stitution. these images have always reflected more
Native American activists have refuted about non-Natives’ desires than Native
these New Agers’ claims of a “right” to Americans’ lives or cultures. New Age
Native American religions. Russell misappropriation is steeped in late con-
Means flatly refuses the idea that New sumer culture. Many Euro-Americans
Agers have any “fundamental right” to feel alienation and loss of identity in this
Native American spiritual traditions. He fragmented and rapidly changing main-
asserts that Native American tribes have stream culture. Yet the only way they
good reasons for keeping spiritual tradi- know to achieve the attributes that they
tions private, and that Native Americans project onto Native Americans is
have a “human right” to deny New Agers through commodification and purchase.
access to them. Andy Smith offers a simi- This cycle does not end their alienation.
lar argument refuting New Age claims They are still so removed from any recog-
that they have a “right” to Native Ameri- nition of social relations (much less his-
can religion. torical conflict) that they cannot under-
stand why Native American peoples
Many white feminists have claimed themselves would object to their appro-
that Indians are not respecting priations. The individualism that has be-
“freedom of speech” by demanding
that whites stop promoting and selling
come characteristic of both capitalism
books that exploit Indian spirituality. and American political ideology cannot
However, promotion of this material is fathom political and social accountabil-
630
ity. Yet the kind of community that New References and Further Reading
Agers so desperately seek to relieve their Aldred, Lisa. 2000. “Plastic Shamans and
Astroturf Sun Dances: New Age
feelings of isolation would not be de- Commercialization of Native American
fined by superficial trappings, but by col- Spirituality.” American Indian Quarterly
lective accountability. 24: 3, 329–352.
Churchill, Ward. 1995. “Spiritual
Despite the New Agers’ professions of Hucksterism: The Rise of the Plastic
working toward social and cultural Medicine Men.” Pp. 215–230 in Fantasies
change, their commercialization of Na- of the Master Race: Literature, Cinema
and the Colonization of American
tive American spirituality articulates well Indians. Monroe, ME: Common Courage
within late-twentieth-century consumer Press.
capitalism. There is strong historical and Deloria, Philip J. 1999. Playing Indian. New
social evidence that the commodifica-
Green, Rayna. 1988. “The Tribe Called
tion of ideas and values, as well as the Wannabe: Playing Indian in America and
fetishized image of a social body per- Europe.” Folklore 99, no. 1: 30–55.
Huhndorf, Shari M. 2001. “Rites of
ceived to be ethnically “other,” stems in
Conquest: Indian Captivities in the New
part from thought and practices pro- Age.” Pp. 162–198 in Going Native:
duced within the context of late con- Indians in the American Cultural
Imagination. Ithaca: Cornell University
sumer capitalism. Although the New Age
Press.
spiritualists identify themselves as coun- Jocks, Christopher Ronwanièn:Te. 2000.
tercultural, their uncritical ideas about “Spirituality for Sale: Sacred Knowledge
commodification and marketing prac- in the Consumer Age.” Pp. 61–77 in
Native American Spirituality: A Critical
tices appear to have been shaped by the Reader. Edited by Lee Irwin. Lincoln:
larger capitalist market economy. More- University of Nebraska Press.
over, their imperialistically nostalgic Shaw, Christopher. 1995. “A Theft of
Spirit?” New Age Journal (July/August):
fetishization of Native American spiritu- 84–92.
ality hinders any recognition of their Smith, Andy. 1991. “For All Those Who Were
own historical and social complicity in Indian in a Former Life.” Ms. Magazine
(November/December): 44.
the oppression of indigenous peoples. Yellow Bird, Pemmican, and Kathryn Milun.
Lisa Aldred 1994. “Interrupted Journeys: The Cultural
Politics of Indian Reburial.” In
See also Healing Traditions, California; Health Displacements: Cultural Identities in
and Wellness, Traditional Approaches; Law, Question. Edited by Angelika Bammer.
Legislation, and Native Religion Durham: Duke University Press.
631
O
Oral Traditions Through the telling and performance of
these stories, patterns of experience are
American Indians have always told sto- generated that Silko (1977) describes as
ries. It is the thread that invisibly but ele- ceremonial acts in and of themselves.
gantly weaves together cherished people Such traditions serve additional pur-
and places, the ordinary and the extraor- poses, including the invaluable function
dinary, and moments of clarity, sorrow, of holding communities together, or cre-
and joy. American Indian writer and ating “mutually sustaining relationships
spokesperson Leslie Marmon Silko that ensure the continuing well being of
(1977) writes: “You don’t have anything if the world” (Cruikshank 1998, xii).
you don’t have the stories.” Historically,
oral traditions have played a central role Oral Narratives and Anthropology
in many American Indian communities. As a discipline, anthropology has always
An elder from the Great Basin explains, expressed an interest in oral traditions,
“We Indian people kept no books or particularly as they pertain to studies of
records of our historical accounts. The folklore and mythology. The father of an-
maintenance of tribal history depended thropology, Franz Boas, maintained that
primarily on oral tradition. We had our “oral tradition constituted a kind of auto-
own historians; these were the wise and biography of the people” (Dundes 1968,
knowledgeable old people of our tribe, 127), and Malinowski set forth the idea
who would gather the children together that oral traditions served multiple func-
to listen and commit to memory sacred tions within the societies from which
stories or tribal ceremonies, legends, and they sprang. In keeping with the convic-
traditions of great Indian leaders” (Inter- tion that oral traditions served impor-
tribal Council of Nevada 1974, iv). tant cultural functions, anthropologists
Today, oral traditions continue to per- of the early twentieth century typically
form important social functions. reported oral traditions as one dimen-
633
Oral Traditions ________________________________________________________________________________
cultural preservation (Anyon et al. 2000,

61–66; Ferguson et al. 2000, 45–60;
Vansina 1985, 186–197). Beginning with
the passage of the National Historic
Preservation Act in 1966, a series of fed-
eral laws have been effected with the aim
of recognizing, protecting, and preserv-
ing physical and cultural resources. In
conjunction with legislation enacted
over the last thirty-five years, American
Indians, anthropologists, and the gen-
eral public have raised a series of new
and old queries on the nature of their re-
lationship to each other, as well as the
physical and ideological terrain of the
past. The Archaeological Resource Pro-
tection Act of 1979, the Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
of 1990 (NAGPRA), and the 1992 Amend-
ments to the National Historic Preserva-
tion Act of 1966 have served as signifi-
Havasupai storyteller, ca. 1980–2001, Sedona,
Arizona. (Katherine Karnow/Corbis) cant catalysts in reintroducing these
questions. Sections 101 and 110 provide
methods for recognizing and protecting
sion of their fieldwork data. Neverthe- Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs) of
less, analyses of oral traditions failed to federally recognized tribes.
receive the distinction accorded to other In part this legislation signals the pro-
bodies of ethnographic knowledge. In gressive reconfiguration of the role of
the worst cases, oral traditions were American Indians in the stewardship of
summarily lumped into the ambiguous the past (Kelly 2000, 97–101). Concomi-
category of “myths and legends.” This tant with the growth of American Indian
categorization is problematic because in participation in historic and cultural
common speech myth is often equated preservation, the manners in which
with falsehood or fantasy. American Indians conceptualize the pre-
Increased awareness of and interest in historic past have begun to attract the in-
oral traditions among cultural anthro- terest of a growing number of scholars
pologists and archaeologists appears to (Anyon et al. 2000, 61–66; Ferguson et al.
correspond with the growing participa- 2000, 45–60; Vansina 1985, 186–197).
tion of American Indians in historic and While there has been a marked interest
634
_______________________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions
in the ways in which American Indians historical knowledge to which the

express their ideas of the past through speaker has a direct link, Tutavo and
oral traditions, there is little consensus Wuknavoti, which entail theology and
regarding their value in describing, inter- prophesy, and Tuuwutisi, which includes
preting, or making claims about the his- historical knowledge that is either
torical and archaeological record “learned from another person, or stories
(Simms 1995, 3; Goldstein 1996, 452–453; that non-Indians commonly label
and Deloria 1995, 37–61). myths” (Dongoske et al. 1993, 28).
Through the performance of an oral
Types and Functions of narrative, knowledge can be successfully
Oral Narratives transmitted from generation to genera-
Oral narratives can assume multiple tion. Stoffle et al. (1990, 22) write: “For
forms. In the realm of written texts, the thousands of years, Indian ethnic groups
stories of Indian people have been have orally transmitted their knowledge.
recorded as biographies, autobiogra- Great Basin people, including the
phies, and ethnic histories. With the de- Shoshone and Paiutes, focused much of
velopment of mass-communication their attention on where to locate vari-
technologies, particularly the worldwide ous natural resources and how to utilize
web, many Indian communities have them in ways that maximized the utility
found a new and effective medium for of the resource but did not violate the
presenting information to large audi- basic rights of the resource.”
ences. In order to preserve and revitalize Both the narrator and the audience
cultural information, cultural preserva- perform active roles in the knowledge
tion officers have also begun to record transmission process. Although it ap-
information of historical import on com- pears that the narrator plays the most ac-
pact disks. This information typically in- tive role in the oral performance, each au-
cludes oral histories and traditional dience member plays a special role as
songs. well. One product of active listening is a
Oral narratives can also be internally high degree of memory retention. Stoffle
delineated to indicate that different et al. (ibid.) confirm this finding, explain-
types of information are being provided ing: “Careful triangulation with original
through various storytelling mecha- documents, archaeology research, and
nisms. Sekaquaptewa (Sekaquaptewa geology research has led professional cul-
2001, pers. comm.) observes that among tural anthropologists and historians to
the Hopis, collaboration with archaeolo- the conclusion that Indian people (as well
gists has resulted in more clearly articu- as other people who have strong oral tra-
lating different types of oral tradition. ditions) are able to make accurate state-
The Hopi distinguish between four types ments about things that were made or oc-
of narratives. These include Navoiti, or curred long before the people were born.”
635
Oral Traditions ________________________________________________________________________________
Diné men impersonating myth characters during Yebichai dance, 1906. (Edward Curtis/Library of
Congress)
Oral narratives also allow the narrator about the profound joys of Indian people
and audience to explore knowledge do- living their lives, celebrating the lives of
mains that the storyteller considers im- those around them, and connecting with
portant. Some narratives relay informa- the earth, which is a constant source of
tion about how a particular community strength and renewal.
of Indians came to be and their deep Prior to the 1890s and the advent of
connections to the distant past. Others boarding schools and literacy, oral narra-
center specifically upon political, eco- tives served as the primary vehicle for
nomic, and social issues. Additional nar- transmitting indigenous forms of knowl-
ratives explore themes of identity: what edge from one generation to the next. El-
it means to be Indian, a person from a ders have always served as “repositories
particular ethnic background, or the of cultural, philosophical [and ecologi-
member of a family living under historical] knowledge,” (Medicine 2001, 71) that
cal conditions. These stories are also has always been transmitted through
636
_______________________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions
oral narratives frequently associated historical texts and the archaeological

with particular places. In addition to record. Oral traditions are thus irreplace-
serving as a fluid mechanism for trans- able, because in their absence certain
ferring knowledge, teaching morals, and “information would otherwise be lost.”
fostering group identities, oral narratives In addition, oral traditions are “sources
have been used for political means: from the inside” that convey human in-
“creat[ing] histories, justify[ing] political terpretations of people, processes, and
action, and link[ing] political issues to events. Vansina holds that by “collecting
the social context of the environment” oral traditions and studying them . . . in-
(Singer 1997, 79). Herein, the audience terpretations [of the past] become more
plays an important role in this performa- culturally specific, less anachronistic,
tive process, which is created for the pur- and ethnocentric.” Herein lies the chal-
pose of fully engaging the person to lenge as well as the promise of using oral
whom the narrative is spoken. histories in the social sciences.
Alex K. Carroll
Future Uses of Oral Traditions
See also Emergence Narratives; Oral
In the future, oral histories promise to Traditions, Haida; Oral Traditions,
play an important role in scholarship as Northeast; Oral Traditions, Northwest
well as in tribal histories. Research exam- Coast; Oral Traditions, Plateau; Oral
Traditions, Southeast; Oral Traditions,
ining the epistemological bases of in- Tlingit; Oral Traditions, Western Plains; Oral
digenous knowledge is an area that is still Traditions, Yupiaq; Tricksters
in its infancy. Sillitoe (1998, 223) con- References and Further Reading
tends that “new focus on indigenous Anyon, Roger, T. J. Ferguson, Loretta
knowledge augurs the next revolution in Jackson, and Lillie Lane. 2000. Pp. 61–66
in Working Together: Native Americans
anthropological method.” The ramifica- and Archaeologists. Edited by K. E.
tions issuing from the use of oral tradi- Dongoske, M. Aldenderfer, and K.
tions as a means of understanding or Doehner. Washington, DC: Society for
American Archaeology.
positing questions about particular as-
Cruikshank, Julie. 1998. The Social Life of
pects of the prehistoric and historic past Stories: Narrative and Knowledge in the
have yet to be fully delineated or realized. Yukon Territory. Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press.
Nonetheless, efforts to establish pa-
Deloria, Vine. 1995. Red Earth White Lies:
rameters for analyzing oral texts are al- Native Americans and the Myth of
ready well underway. Vansina (1985, Scientific Fact. New York: Scribner.
Dongoske, K., L. Jenkins, and T. J. Ferguson.
195–198) assesses the limitations as well
1993. “Understanding the Past through
as the unique properties of oral tradi- Hopi Oral Tradition.” Native Peoples
tions. He maintains that as sources, oral Magazine 6, no. 2: 24–31.
traditions provide valuable messages Dundes, Alan. 1968. Oral Literature. New
York: Houghton Mifflin.
that are not necessarily reflected in other Ferguson, T. J., J. Dongoske, M. Yeatts, and
bodies of evidence, including recognized L. Kuwanwisiwma. 2000. “Hopi Oral
637
Oral Traditions, California __________________________________________________________________
History and Archaeology.” Pp. 45–60 in Vansina, J. 1985. Oral Tradition as History.
Working Together: Native Americans and Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Archaeologists. Edited by K. E. Dongoske,
M. Aldenderfer, and K. Doehner.
Washington, DC: Society for American
Archaeology.
Goldstein, L., ed. 1996. “Ethics in Oral Traditions, California
Archaeology: Society for American
Archaeology Principles of Archaeological California’s Native heritage is varied and
Ethics.” American Antiquity 61, no. 3: complex, with every Native linguistic
451–452.
Intertribal Council of Nevada. 1974. family on the continent represented in
Personal Reflections of the Shoshone, the state. Therefore, the oral traditions of
Paiute, Washo. Salt Lake: University of the California Indian tribal groups are
Utah Printing Service.
Kelly, R. 2000. “Native Americans and
varied, as well. But there are some simi-
Archaeology: A Vital Partnership.” Pp. larities, both within the California Indian
97–101 in Working Together: Native experience and among Native commu-
Americans and Archaeologists. Edited by
nities throughout the nation. This essay
K. E. Dongoske, M. Aldenderfer, and K.
Doehner. Washington, DC: Society for will focus on the intra-California cate-
American Archaeology. gories that provide a sense of the rich-
Langness, L. L., and Gelya Frank. 1981.
ness that is California Indian history.
Lives: An Anthropological Approach to
Biography. Novato, CA: Chandler and I use the term “history” because the
Sharp Publishers. first aspect one should become aware of
Medicine, Beatrice. 2001. Learning to Be an
in terms of California orality is the no-
Anthropologist and Remaining “Native”:
Selected Writings. Urbana: University of tion among Native communities that
Illinois Press. these stories are true. The Chumash, for
Paytner, R. 2000. “Historical and example, use the term timoloquinash to
Anthropological Archaeology: Forging
Alliances.” Journal of Archaeological refer to these stories; it means “stories
Research 8, no. 1: 1–37. that are true.” While a particular tale’s
Silko, Leslie Marmon. 1977. Ceremony. New veracity can be debated from a Western
Sillitoe, P. 1998. “The Development of perspective, a perspective that privi-
Indigenous Knowledge: A New Applied leges objective evidence over subjective
Anthropology.” Cultural Anthropology meaning, for California Indian people
39, no. 2: 223–252.
Simms, S. 1995. “Letter to the Editor.”
their stories are as true as those that you
Society for American Archaeology 13, no. may have learned in your history books.
4: 3. These tales tell of the ongoing experi-
Singer, Wendy. 1997. Creating Histories: Oral
ence of their human community and its
Narratives and the Politics of History-
Making. Delhi: Oxford University Press. interaction with the other communities
Stoffle, R., D. Halmo, J. Olstead, and M. in their landscape. All people, human
Evans. 1990. Native American Cultural and other-than-human, have a story,
Resource Studies at Yucca Mountain,
Nevada. Ann Arbor: University of and that story is always imbedded in
Michigan. particular places.
638
_________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, California
California Indian stories often refer to it is that makes them who they are; and
specific features of their landscape, such there are stories that are primarily for en-
as mountains, rivers, and springs; these tertainment. Prior to the confusion and
features are as important to the tale as mental interference that tends to accom-
any other piece of information. The pany Euro-American culture, California
Karuk, for example, refer to the Klamath Natives had ample opportunity to pon-
River, the Salmon that run up and down der the universe and its implications,
that river, and themselves as integral ac- place these musings into the context
tors in a continuing story. Similarly, the provided by the land, and communicate
Washoe refer to Lake Tahoe in stories the resulting ideas to themselves, each
that are thousands of years old, and they other, and all subsequent generations via
continue to treat the lake as a sacred story.
place today. Often oral tradition is implicitly as-
There exists, then, an unbroken narra- sumed to be an inferior mode to the sup-
tive from time immemorial to the pres- posedly more sophisticated literate tra-
ent that represents the experience of the ditions. However, questions of why
people in their respective places. These Native people didn’t develop written
stories make up the history of the people forms of communication the likes of
in their place. California oral tradition, as which Euro-America brought to this
is the case with indigenous narratives continent can be re-formed to ask why
the world over, serves to orient the peo- the Native people would have developed
ple to the land that they are responsible writing. Writing is a tool developed
for, and that is responsible for them. As within particular contexts and for spe-
the plant and animal communities are cific purposes, beginning with the need
dependent on the land, so are the peo- to keep accurate economic accounts. For
ple. In addition, the land provides les- California Indian people, orally commu-
sons both about how to care for it and nicated narrative not only conveyed in-
how it cares for the people. So the second formation and accounted for the history
basic aspect of California oral tradition is of the people/place relationship but also
its use as a teaching tool. provided contexts for continuous socio-
Many Native tribes divide their stories cultural connections—for tradition.
into categories, and California Indian ex- The act of storytelling comes with its
perience is no different. Most tribal own set of protocols, the final category
groups have stories that are specifically we will address. Protocol, it can be said,
for teaching moral lessons; some encode is the act of doing things in the appropri-
important information about resources ate ways at the appropriate times. Most
and their management; tales describe California tribal groups have very spe-
the existential philosophy of the people, cific mandates as to when certain stories
such as where they came from and what are told, by whom, and for what purpose.
639
Oral Traditions, Haida _______________________________________________________________________
The Yokut tradition prohibits telling sto- again to edify and strengthen their own
ries involving Bear at certain times of the communities so that subsequent gener-
year, and the Tongva have similar pro- ations will have a strong sense of their
scriptions about Coyote tales. history and future.
In addition, some California tribal Dennis F. Kelley
groups regard certain stories as property, References and Further Reading
and to tell another family’s story without Gifford, Edward Winslow, and Gwendoline
their permission is a serious offense. For Harris Block, eds. 1990. Californian
Indian Nights: Stories of the Creation of
others, only certain members of the the World, of Man, of Fire, of the Sun, of
community are to tell some of the tales, Thunder. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
and it is their duty to maintain the in- Press.
Gunn Allen, Paula, ed. 1983. Studies in
tegrity of their stories from generation to American Indian Literature: Critical
generation. Certain stories are told only Essays and Course Design. New York:
during particular ceremonies and only Modern Language Association of
America.
by the proper ceremonial leader; others Lang, Julian, ed. 1994. Ararapikva:
are told at all of a certain class of cere- Traditional Karuk Indian Literature from
monies—healing ceremonies, for exam- Northwest California. Berkeley, CA:
Heyday Books.
ple—and some tribal groups use the in-
Luthin, Herbert W., ed. 2002. Surviving
vitation to tell a story as a way to honor through the Days: Translations of Native
certain people or families at particular California Stories and Songs: A California
Indian Reader. Berkeley: University of
times. During an initiation ceremony for
California Press.
a young person in some tribal traditions, Purdy, John L., and James Ruppert, eds.
an elder is honored by being asked to tell 2001. Nothing but the Truth: An
Anthology of Native American Literature.
the people’s creation story, and even
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
though all may know the tale by heart, it
is told in this way only when properly re-
quested and for the proper reasons.
The tendency of Western scholars to
Oral Traditions, Haida
assume a direct correlation between Cal-
ifornia Indian tales and Western litera- The Haida people are indigenous to what
ture has led to the theft of many private is now known as the Queen Charlotte Is-
stories, the improper reproduction of lands in British Columbia, Canada, and
tales, and the violation of important tra- the southern Southeast Alaska panhan-
ditions surrounding the telling of certain dle. On a clear day, the mountains of
stories. There has been a recent response Prince of Wales and Dall Island in Alaska
from within California Indian communi- are plainly visible from the north end of
ties to stem the improper treatment of Graham Island in the Queen Charlottes.
their tales and to take charge of the ways By the late nineteenth century the
in which these tales are used, so as once overall Haida population had been re-
640
______________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Haida
Chest made of argillite, with a raven bearing both human and birdlike attributes. The raven is the
trickster and cultural hero, who discovered mankind in a cockleshell. Haida, late nineteenth century,
carved by Charles Edenshaw. (Werner Forman/Art Resource)
duced by almost 90 percent (estimated at northward into the southern Southeast

between 10,000 and 15,000), primarily Alaskan panhandle. Although most pub-
because of epidemics such as influenza, lished sources place the migration
smallpox, venereal disease, and measles, northward in the late 1600s or early
to which Native peoples had little resis- 1700s, some Alaskan Haida oral accounts
tance. Sometime prior to contact with suggest a much earlier occupancy of the
Europeans, a group of Haida migrated area; stories tell of a “great flood” that
641
covered the islands in the area (Cogo and lands in the Southeast Alaska forests,
Cogo 1979, 9–13). with no recognition of Native title. Sub-
The word “Haida” (Xaadas) translates sistence fishing, hunting, and gathering
to “the people.” The Alaskan Haida are activities began to be necessarily supple-
sometimes called Kaigani, although they mented by a cash economy. Not until the
did not use that name at the time of con- Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
tact. Rather, non-Natives named them (ANCSA) was passed in 1971 were Alaska
for the Haida subsistence campsite lo- Natives compensated for lands taken, al-
cated at the southern tip of Dall Island at though areas traditionally used for sub-
Cape Muzon, which was also used as a sistence purposes were not always in-
trading area. The name is taken from a cluded in lands reclaimed.
former Tlingit village situated there. In The two remaining Alaskan Haida vil-
fact, many Tlingit place names remain in lages today are Hydaburg and (New)
the southern portion of Southeast Kasaan—both relocations from original
Alaska, because Tlingits once controlled sites. In 1902 the original village of (Old)
the area. Alaskan Haida oral traditions Kasaan was abandoned when the people
suggest significant cultural borrowing moved to a new site, (New) Kasaan, be-
and story exchange between the Tlingit cause of promised year-round employ-
and the Alaskan Haida. ment and a school. In 1911 the other vil-
The Alaskan Haida established at least lages consolidated at a new location they
five villages in the southern end of the named Hydaburg. The move was driven,
Alexander Archipelago and numerous in part, by a desire to provide better edu-
other seasonal food-gathering camp- cational opportunities for younger
sites. The area’s natural resources pro- Haida, recognizing that Western educa-
vide plentiful salmon, halibut, clams, tion was increasingly important for their
crab, shrimp, sea greens, deer, and children’s future well-being; yet they
berries. From the early 1900s forward, were not willing to send their children
the steady influx of non-Natives led to away to boarding school—the only other
rapid cultural and economic change for option then available. The U.S. govern-
all Southeast Alaskan Natives. With the ment agreed to establish a local school if
introduction of commercial fishing, the the villages consolidated. During this era
establishment of salmon salteries and there was both strong pressure to assimi-
canneries, and the discovery of precious late and recognition of the need to ac-
metals including copper and gold, a quire the skills to negotiate within and
wage economy soon developed. At the adapt to a rapidly changing world.
same time, the use of fish traps at the Consequently, the Haida language
mouths of streams destroyed many of and all other Southeast Alaska Native
the traditional fish streams. During this languages are no longer being learned as
time the U.S. government withdrew all a first language; few individuals under
642
the age of sixty speak their language flu- vitalize their oral traditions through writ-
ently, owing to past missionary and gov- ing. Set within the context of other polit-
ernment policies. Language loss, Chris- ical and literary activities—such as the
tian influence, and cultural changes have Civil Rights movement, Alcatraz Island’s
affected both the oral traditions and the occupation by Indian activists, and the
spiritual practices of contemporary beginning of what is now termed the Na-
Alaskan Haida people—many of whom tive American literary renaissance,
now live far from their respective vil- marked by N. Scott Momaday’s Pulitzer
lages. Still, the stories people tell, and the prize–winning novel House Made of
ones they have chosen to write down, Dawn, the Haida texts created in the late
suggest much about cultural and spiri- 1970s and 1980s also mark an important
tual values at the heart of what it means point in Alaskan Haida literary history, in
to be Haida. that they represent the people’s first at-
John R. Swanton, anthropologist and tempt to document their history and sto-
linguist, collected a great number of ries from their own perspective.
Haida oral stories in the Queen Char- An important figure in that era is the
lottes and Alaska in the early 1900s dur- now deceased Robert Cogo, who was
ing the “salvage ethnography” period, born in Klinkwan, Alaska, in 1906. He
when anthropologists sought to describe learned to speak English after moving to
the cultural practices of the apparently Craig, Alaska, in 1911. Nora, his wife, was
vanishing Natives. Most of the stories born in 1899 in Masset, British Colum-
were published in two separate volumes bia, and like her husband she learned
(1905b; 1908), with some Alaskan Haida Haida as her first language and later
stories included in his ethnography taught herself to read and write in En-
(1905a). Swanton collected the stories glish. The Cogos began writing about
after devastating population losses and Haida customs and traditional activities
after many Haida had converted to in 1972, when they became concerned
Christianity. His work marks the most that the Haida language and culture
comprehensive collection of Haida sto- would be lost without written materials
ries, compiled at a time when extending (1981, 1).
anthropological and scientific knowl- Within that context, the first Alaskan
edge was the primary aim. Later work, Haida texts written in both Haida and
collected and created in Alaska by the English emerged as part of a larger proj-
people themselves, suggests several en- ect to perpetuate Haida language and
during themes that highlight cultural cultural values. Because a core group of
continuity in the face of significant im- concerned Haida elders recognized the
posed and accelerated change. These need to take action, a body of written
texts were created in the 1970s, a time work—created by the people them-
when many Alaskan Haida sought to re- selves—now exists. These texts suggest
643
the intimate connection between mate- come across an eagle preening his feath-
rial and spiritual planes, and how the ers in the water. A huge salmon lay next
stories evoke a people’s beliefs and ways to him. Cogo says that his uncle “imme-
of ordering the world. diately arose to the occasion” and “un-
The story “Eagle Brings Good Luck” dressed and entered the pool near the
appears in Robert and Nora Cogo’s Haida eagle and bathed” (ibid.), with the eagle
Stories (1981, 10–11). It illustrates how watching closely. The hunters then took
belief, action, experience, and oral tradi- half the salmon and left the rest for the
tion are linked. The story tells the origin eagle, who watched their actions in-
of the Haida name of Robert Cogo’s uncle tently. Cogo’s uncle thanked the eagle in
Robinson Beatty—Guut K’áawgaas, Haida, saying, “Thank you, our benefac-
which Cogo translates as “eagle entering tor. To you we give our gratitude” (ibid.).
the water.” Previously, Cogo had ex- Cogo says that after this experience the
plained that the Haida clan system is hunters had good fortune, bringing
based upon two complementary moi- many “deer, ducks and fish” back to the
eties, or “halves,” known as “Raven” and village. The story ends with an explana-
“Eagle.” A newborn follows the mother’s tion of how Cogo’s uncle then formalized
line and would be expected to marry a the right to use his newly acquired name,
person of the opposite moiety. All rights “Eagle Entering the Water.”
are reckoned through the matrilineal Cogo writes that after returning from
line, rather than through the patrilineal hunting, his uncle had an eagle design
line as is practiced in the Western sys- tattooed on his back, commissioned
tem. Traditionally, at about the age of from artisans who would be paid for
ten, Haida boys went to live with one of their work during a “potlatch,” or cere-
their mother’s brothers. A child’s matri- monial gathering at which accumulated
lineal uncle, not the father, was responsi- wealth is distributed across opposite
ble for training the nephew, because the clans. During this ceremony the tattoo
uncle and nephew belong to the same would be revealed, the actual eagle en-
clan; the nephew would eventually as- counter story would be recounted, and
sume his responsibilities within it. the audience would acknowledge, vali-
Prior to telling the story, the Cogos date, and accept Beatty’s new name.
also explain that for those Haida who are Thus the story suggests how “belief,”
“Eagle” clan, the “eagle is a benefactor “action,” “experience,” and “story” are
. . . in food, valuables, and good luck” linked. The tattoo will commemorate
(ibid., 10). Accordingly, Eagle clan mem- the event and evoke the story. Only
bers have certain rituals they must follow through these linked events is he able to
directed toward actual “eagle” creatures. claim the new name and display the tat-
Robert Cogo tells of a time when he was too. Moreover, the crux of the encounter
out hunting with his uncle and they rests on the idea of yahkwdáng, or “re-
644
spect,” an important concept in Haida appreciation and never in a wasteful

thought. manner” (Bear 1982). Peele suggests that
“Respect,” from a Haida perspective, the natural world should be approached
should be the guiding force of one’s with an attitude shaped by an under-
everyday actions, not behavior reserved standing of the spirituality of life itself,
simply for special occasions or special and to honor that understanding by ex-
people. Indeed, respect embodies the pressions of gratitude in word and deed.
essence of correct living. As Cogo’s uncle Others have drawn attention to the
demonstrates in the previous story, “re- importance of yahkwdáng in Haida
spect” involves not only enacting the re- thought. Marianne Boelscher, in her
quired ritual behavior when entering the work with the Masset Haida, translates
water but also thanking the eagle and the term as “fit for respect” (1988, 70),
leaving half of the salmon. In other which she ties to the concept of high
words, gratitude and sharing are also im- rank linked to “respect, generosity, mod-
portant. Many other Haida people echo eration and obligation” (ibid., 82). In ad-
these sentiments. dition to pointing out that Masset Haida
For example, a video created in 1982 public speaking is characterized by re-
by Alaskan Haida people is revealing. peated expressions of thanking, she also
The video, entitled “Xadaas” (“Bear,” notes that the Haida word hawaa
1982), was constructed as a cooperative (“thank you”) is one of the few words that
venture between Haidas of both Hyd- has survived “right down to the toddler
aburg and Kasaan villages. The stated generation” (ibid., 85).
purpose of the video is to reaffirm Haida Similarly, another Alaskan Haida text,
values in the contemporary world. In it, The Transcribed Tapes of Christine
David Peele, Kasaan Haida elder, talks Edenso (ca. 1983), develops the signifi-
about the importance of maintaining the cance of yahkwdáng. This publication
respectful relationship between the peo- was created because Robert Cogo
ple and the land: “The Haida way is not wanted to make some of the information
to take more than you really need, to use now contained in a large audio tape col-
everything you take, to enjoy it and be lection available to those who might
thankful.” Hence it is important to have want to learn about the Haida. The tapes
an attitude of respect and gratitude to- themselves were recorded in Haida by
ward the natural world and what it pro- another now deceased elder, Vesta John-
vides. Peele also notes that the people son, as part of a larger work session that
“would never be cruel to animals. . . . Robert and Nora Cogo, Viola Burgess,
[So] it was there came to be, the ancient and Vesta Johnson had conducted earlier
animal spirits gave the Haida permission in the summer to collect information on
to take animals for food and clothing, Haida food gathering, preparation, and
but only as it was done with respect and other cultural activities.
645
Most especially, Edenso’s narratives the season of the year in which that kind
focus on the special foods unique to of fish is taken” (ibid., 21). Thus the peo-
Southeast Alaska. She tells of salmon, ple demonstrate their gratitude by link-
halibut, seaweed, berries, and sea ing the place’s name both to the spiritual
greens—the techniques once used to creature who shows the way and to the
gather them and the more recent tech- bountiful fish resource now available to
niques developed with contemporary in- them.
novations. She also stresses how impor- Numerous stories illustrate the con-
tant it is to embody yahkwdáng by not cept of respect, but perhaps one of the
wasting any part of the food gathered most enduring and best known among
and thereby depleting the landscape’s the Haida is the story of “Moldy Collar
natural resources. She says, “[My] Tip.” Many versions of the story exist, but
friend . . . used to say, ‘Let’s not pick the the basic story line is of a child who does
berries in any old way. Let’s pick them not live up to the expected yahkwdáng
right and leave some for the next genera- behavior, with resultingly severe conse-
tion’” (ibid., 42). Edenso also stresses quences. Children are raised to respect
how every part of the fish was put to the land’s natural resources upon which
use—the eggs, the head, the tails, the they are dependent for survival, and they
bones—and how “nothing was wasted” are taught “never say anything bad about
(ibid., 10–11). a salmon” (Coburn 2001); if they do, it
Embedded within Edenso’s narrative may bring bad luck in the people’s ability
is a clan story that illustrates the close re- to harvest them for food. According to
lationship among humans, spirits, and Cogo, “[In] the old days children were
the landscape and waterways upon put through a strict ritual of not com-
which food gathering takes place. She plaining about food. . . . Food was a gift
tells the story of how her people are led of the spirits and in no way were they to
mysteriously up a creek by a gaugiit, or be offended” (Cogo ca. 1981, 21).
“wild man,” a half-human, half–land In “Moldy Collar Tip,” as told by Victor
otter creature who takes them to a sock- Haldane, a child discovers a bit of mold
eye stream that empties into a lake. The on the fish he is about to eat and begins
story shows how her clan acquires access to disparage it, ultimately refusing to eat
to an important food source with assis- it. The people warn him that if he contin-
tance from a spirit-creature. The people ues his disrespectful talk the “fish people
follow him and are able to locate a food will do something to you” (Spatz et al.
source that can feed them in the winter 1999, 13). True to the people’s prediction,
months when some fish stay under the the child is playing on the beach one day
ice. Edenso explains that they named the and is taken into the sea by the salmon
place “Gwaaca . . . [because the name] people—spirit creatures—who change
has lots of meanings concerning fish and him into a salmon. After traveling a long
646
way with the salmon people, the child born, naming him “Dog Salmon” to ac-
eventually returns to the land from knowledge he is Nang Kwiyass returned
where he was abducted. He sees his from the sea.
mother upon the beach; she catches him Haida stories embody “respect” in
and starts to behead him, until she no- several ways. First, the people must
tices that the salmon has a small whet- demonstrate respectful behavior in both
stone around his neck. The village word and deed. Because there is a close
shaman is called, and it is he who tells spiritual connection and physical de-
her that this is the child she lost long ago. pendence upon the landscape and the
The shaman instructs her to lay him on creatures who inhabit it, the people train
the roof of the house, and when it rains their children to understand the conse-
her “child will return again” (ibid., 15). quences of disrespectful actions. Yahkw-
The people do as the shaman instructs, dang is a central Haida concept because
and true to his words the fish skin falls off it implies appropriate and respectful be-
and the child becomes human again. As havior based upon understanding how
the story goes, he eventually becomes closely connected are the spiritual and
one of the most powerful spiritual practi- material realms.
tioners in Kasaan (ibid., 17). Jeane Breinig
In a similar story, told by Robert Cogo See also American Indian Movement (Red
(1979), a child named Nang Kwiyass sim- Power Movement); Art (Traditional and
ilarly disparages a tiny piece of salmon Contemporary), Northwest Coast; Boarding
Schools, Religious Impact; Ceremony and
the people offer him during a time of Ritual, Northwest; Christianity,
great food shortage. Like the boy in Hal- Indianization of; Missionization, Alaska;
dane’s version of the story, Nang Kwiyass Momaday, N. Scott; Oral Traditions, Tlingit;
Oral Traditions, Yupiaq
ends up being seduced into the sea by
the salmon people with whom he lives Bear, Bill. 1982. “Xadaas.” Video. Juneau,
for a year. Although he longs to go home, AK: Alaska Department of Education.
“the barrier was now too great” (ibid., Boelscher, Marianne. 1988. The Curtain
Within: Haida Social and Mythical
18). Eventually a group of children from Discourse. Vancouver, Canada: University
his village catch him, kill him, and pack of British Columbia Press.
his dead salmon body back home. When Breinig, Jeane. 2001. “Alaskan Haida
Narratives: Maintaining Cultural Identity
they arrive with their fish, the townspeo- through Subsistence.” Pp. 19–26 in
ple recognize the abalone earrings at- Telling the Stories: Essays on American
tached to the salmon as belonging to Indian Literatures and Cultures. Edited
by Elizabeth Hoffman Nelson and
Nang Kwiyass. The shaman tells the peo- Malcolm A. Nelson. New York: Peter Lang
ple that it is Nang Kwiyass and that he Publishing.
wants to return; therefore his spirit will Bringhurst, Robert. 1999. A Story as Sharp as
a Knife: The Classical Haida Mythtellers
be reincarnated in a pregnant cousin. and Their World. Vancouver, Canada:
The people rejoice when the child is Douglas and Macintyre.
647
Oral Traditions, Lakota (Teton) ____________________________________________________________
Coburn, Julie. 2000. Haida elder. Personal Nakota, collectively referred to as Sioux.
communication. Kasaan, Alaska. July 11. There are further subdivisions within the
Cogo, Robert, and Nora Cogo. 1979. Haida
Storytelling Time. Ketchikan, AK: Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota, but for the
Ketchikan Indian Corporation. purposes of this essay, the oral traditions
——. ca. 1981. Haida Stories. Ketchikan, AK: described herein can be mostly attrib-
Ketchikan Indian Corporation.
——. 1983. Remembering the Past: Haida uted to the Lakota, or Teton, group.
History and Culture. Anchorage: Lakotas remember and repeat a wide
University of Alaska Material variety of stories in the oral tradition,
Development Center.
Eastman, Carol M., and Elizabeth Edwards.
from the creation stories that explain the
1991. Gyaehlingaay: Traditions, Tales and origins of the earth, the sun, the moon,
Images of the Kaigani Haida. Seattle: the stars, and the first people to humor-
ous family stories. Some of the stories are
Edenso, Christine. ca. 1983. The Transcribed
Tapes of Christine Edenso. Anchorage: sacred ones that explain, recall, and re-
University of Alaska Materials mind the Lakota of their origins; some
Development Center.
define relationships to the things that
Fair, Susan, and Rosita Worl, eds. 2000.
Celebration 2000: Restoring Balance surround all humans; some are meant to
through Culture. Juneau, AK: Sealaska teach life lessons; and still others are told
Heritage Foundation.
purely for fun. As with all human beings,
Spatz, Ronald, Jeane Breinig, and Patricia
Partnow, eds. 1999. Alaska Native Writers, stories underlie everything that is done
Storytellers and Orators. Anchorage: and thought. In the words of Severt
University of Alaska, Anchorage. Young Bear, “It’s like they’re the skeleton
Swanton, John R. 1905a. Contributions to
the Ethnology of the Haida, vol. 10, pt. 2. of everything” (Young Bear and Theisz
Publications of the Jesup North Pacific 1994, 35). That is true, not only of Lakota
Expedition. New York: G. E. Strechert. or Native American oral traditions in
——. 1905b. Haida Texts and Myths:
Skidegate Dialect, vol. 5. Publications of general, but among all people. Perhaps
the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. New Native American oral traditions are con-
York: G. E. Strechert. sidered unique in world societies be-
——. 1908. Haida Texts: Masset Dialect.
Bureau of Ethnology Bulletin 29. New cause Native Americans have become
York: Smithsonian Institution. literate—readers and writers of books in
the Euro-Western sense—only since
white contact. The written word—that is,
books, magazines, newspapers, and so
Oral Traditions, Lakota on—is only the stories that someone
wrote down. As James Wilson writes in
(Teton)
The Earth Shall Weep, “Although some of
The Skeleton of Everything this oral tradition has been lost and
The people of the Lakota tribe are a sub- much of it, like all histories, has been
group of a larger nation of people made modified over the centuries, it gives us a
up of the Lakota (or Teton), Dakota, and remarkable insight into the Native Amer-
648
___________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Lakota (Teton)
ican World and an indigenous under- servants of the gods and places them in
standing of events” (Wilson 1998, 99). All the underworld.
humans still tell stories, even if it is only That then, is the basic Lakota explana-
the story about what happened at the tion for the greatest question of all
movies last night, or that shocking thing mankind; the story is an explanation for
that Uncle So-and-So did at the family the origins of the earth, the sun, the
reunion. moon, and people. It is accepted on
Creation stories are probably the faith, much like the biblical creation
oldest oral traditions in any society, and story is a matter of faith for Christians.
the Lakota people have their own spe- The Lakota creation story might be con-
cial creation story that describes their sidered similar to the Genesis story in
cosmology: the Bible, with at least one important dif-
In the beginning, there was no time or ference. In the Christian version of cre-
space, only Inyan, the rock, surrounded ation, there is one God who creates
by Hanhepi, the darkness. Inyan wanted everything. In the Lakota creation story,
something to rule over, so he let out his there are two “gods” (Inyan, the rock, and
blood, the source of his power, and cre- Hanhepi, the darkness) in the beginning,
ated a circle out of himself, forming it but through his blood sacrifice, Inyan
around himself, and he named it Maka, starts a chain of events that leads to the
the earth and the waters on it. Now then, creation of several other gods including
he let out so much of his blood that he Mahpiyato, the sky, Anpetu Wi, the sun,
shriveled into a lump. The powers of the and Hanhepi Wi, the moon, as well as the
earth and the water on the earth could first man and first woman. Other gods,
not get along, so part of the powers de- such as the Four Winds, appear later in
parted, forming the sky, Mahpiyato. Now the story. This beginning to the creation
Mahpiyato is supreme, and when Han- story is only one version. There are other
hepi, the darkness, and Maka, the earth, versions, varying to greater or lesser ex-
get into a quarrel, Mahpiyato, the sky, tent depending on who is telling the
banishes Hanhepi to the underworld story, and that, too, is an important part
and creates Anpetu, the daylight. But of oral tradition: the core of a story re-
Maka complains that now she is cold, so mains the same, but the teller has a cer-
Hanhepi creates Wi, the sun (or moon) to tain amount of poetic license.
warm Maka. Now Maka complains that Further, while there is a single general
she is too hot, so Mahpiyato decides to interpretation for the creation story and
alternate daylight and darkness with An- other sacred oral traditions, people are
petu Wi, the sun, following Hanhepi Wi, free to interpret them in their own way,
the moon, around the Maka, the earth. and to perform whatever acts of worship
Next, Mahpiyato creates people (Wazi, and sacrifice the individual feels appro-
the first man, and his wife, Wakanka) as priate. There is no overarching dogma or
649
set of specific rules that must be followed hunter fell down on the ground, hum-
as in the Jewish, Christian, and Moslem bling himself. Then the woman spoke
faiths; however there are traditions, and and told him to return to his people and
anyone wishing to depart from those prepare a lodge for her, which he did.
would most likely consult an elder tribal After the lodge was built, the woman ap-
member or medicine man for advice be- peared carrying a bundle in her arms.
fore doing so. There is no punishment She invited the elders into the lodge and
other than community and tribal disap- taught them seven ceremonies that they
proval for failure to follow established must perform, promising them that if
traditions. Still, when it comes to the they followed her teachings, they would
style and content of a particular story, once again become powerful and strong.
there are disagreements between sub- She presented them with a sacred pipe
groups and even individuals themselves from her bundle, taught them how to use
as to which version is better or more true it, and then she left. The people watched
to the original sense of the story. her as she walked to the top of a hill and
Certain religious traditions and prac- disappeared into the mist, emerging
tices originate in stories from oral tradi- from the other side as a female white
tion. For example, the Lakota reverence buffalo (Marshall 1992, 17–18).
for white buffalo calves comes from the This story is still told, and the cere-
story of White Buffalo Woman: monies that White Buffalo Woman
Long ago, there was a time of great taught are still practiced with the pipe as
famine among the people. The land had an important part of many of these ritu-
dried up and the animals disappeared, als. William K. Powers writes in Yuwipi:
and the people were down hearted, weak Vision and Experience in Oglala Ritual:
in body and spirit. They forgot the ways “It [the pipe] is the most significant in-
of the people and became angry and strument of prayer in all of the rituals,
confused. Two young warriors were out and without it it is impossible to make
hunting without success far away from contact with the benevolent spirits that
their village when, on top of a hill, they live beneath the earth, on the surface of
saw a floating white mist. Out of the mist the earth, or between the earth and the
came a young, beautiful woman, and she sky” (Powers 1982, 15).
was naked. One of the warriors ap- Beyond the ceremonies, the above
proached her with bad intent, but before story is meant to teach humility and the
he could reach her, the mist rolled down idea that people should live their lives “in
and hid him and the woman. When it a good way”—that is, with generosity, re-
rolled back, the other warrior was spect, and understanding for all life that
shocked to see that nothing of his friend surrounds them, including plants, ani-
was left but his skeleton. Snakes crawled mals, sky, earth, and water, as well as
in and around the bones. The second people. The date of the origin of this
650
story is of little or no significance to the deer, the white-tailed deer and the black-
Lakota; however, since buffalo are an im- tailed deer. These two deer and the two
portant aspect of the story, it probably faces of Anukite represent proper and
dates to the first westward movement of improper sexual conduct, and men who
the Lakota tribe from the eastern wood- have sexual relations with the deer
lands onto the Great Plains. women are said to become disorderly or
The story of White Buffalo Woman crazy. Women who dream of Anukite, or
contains elements of another earlier Deer Woman, have unusual powers of
story that is part of Lakota sacred oral sexual attraction. Young Bear elaborates
tradition—that of Anukite, or the Deer on women’s dreams of Winyan Numpa
Woman. Knowledge of the earlier story (Double Woman), writing that: “Women
provides a clearer understanding of the who would see this Winyan Numpa ap-
White Buffalo Woman story. pear in a dream in some way had to
Wazi, the first man, and Wakanka, the make a decision about their future, and if
first woman, had a beautiful daughter they made the right choice, the Double
named Ite (face), and Tate (Wind), who Woman would give them special artistic
was a god, fell in love with this mortal powers” (ibid., 24). A tradition has
woman and married her. Ite gave birth to evolved out of this idea. Women who are
quadruplets, the Four Winds. Not con- recipients of a Double Woman vision or
tent merely to be the parents of a woman dream sometimes create one-of-a-kind
married to a God, Wazi and Wakanka artworks, usually beadwork, that is then
conspire with Inktomi (Spider), the trick- presented as a special gift to a loved one
ster, to become gods themselves. Ink- (ibid., 25). Thus, for a woman to dream of
tomi promises Wazi and Wakanka power the Deer Woman can be interpreted as a
if they will help him make the people good thing, as it grants the dreamer the
look foolish. Now, Anpetu Wi (Sun) is special abilities of sexual attraction or
married to Hanhepi Wi (Moon), but Ink- artistic talent; however, the results of
tomi causes Anpetu Wi to fall in love with such a gift may not be good, if, for exam-
Ite, the first people’s daughter. At a feast, ple, the dreamer uses her sexual attrac-
Ite sits in Hanhepi Wi’s place, a sign of tion to engage in improper sexual rela-
disrespect, so Mahpiyato (Sky) banishes tions. For a man, visions or dreams of the
Ite to the earth and makes one half of her Deer Woman are always bad.
face horribly ugly. Now, she is called The Lakota say that if a man meets a
Anukite, or the Double Face Woman. She lone woman out in the countryside, he
appears to men in visions and in the real must avoid her, in case she is the deer
world in the form of a deer, or two deer woman. According to Marla Powers,
women, one black and one white. “The belief is that deer have a peculiar
The two deer aren’t really all white or odor in their hooves that becomes fine
all black, but are two different types of perfume when a deer becomes a woman.
651
This perfume acts as a medicine and dangerous supernatural woman. The

works an evil spell on men. Sometimes older stories are, as Young Bear suggests
even wishing to make love to the deer in a slightly different context, skeletons
woman can be fatal” quoting Wissler that are added to or fleshed out with
1912). newer stories derivative of and depen-
Knowledge of this second story pro- dent upon the older ones.
vides a clearer understanding of the Trickster stories are common in any
White Buffalo Woman story. The warrior Native American oral tradition, and the
who was killed did not heed the lessons Lakota version of the trickster is Inktomi,
of the Anukite/Deer Woman story and the Spider. The character of Inktomi de-
resist the temptation of the woman volves from the original creation story, as
alone on the plains. His improper sexual related earlier, and so, it has a quasi-sa-
behavior caused his own death. There cred designation, at least in the context
are other stories, quasi-sacred ones, that of that story. Later Inktomi stories, how-
are derivative of these older stories, such ever, are not considered sacred, although
as the story of Koskala, a young man who they are certainly didactic, meant as
went hunting and met the Deer Woman tools to teach proper forms of behavior
(Marshall 2002). As with all Lakota oral and to illustrate the consequences of
traditions, there are variations of Deer misbehavior. Writing about trickster fig-
Woman stories. In Dakota Texts, Ella C. ures in general, and Coyote (a trickster
Deloria offers two other versions of the figure in Southwestern oral traditions) in
story (Deloria 1932, 163–166); one is particular, Karl Kroeber states: “Coyote
from the Teton (Lakota) oral tradition, [is] a being who is simultaneously ridicu-
and one is from the Yankton oral tradi- lous and empowering, a foolish butt of
tion. Deloria comments rather tartly in a jokes and a self-injuring buffoon who
footnote: “The Yankton style in both ora- nonetheless releases the profoundest
tory and story-telling is markedly vigor- potencies of a community even while
ous, plain and terse, as compared with making people laugh at his misadven-
the Teton which is flowery, and often tures” (Kroeber 1997, 20–21).
weakened by padding and needless ro- Trickster figures, whether they are em-
mancing” (ibid., 165). Deloria’s com- bodied in Inktomi, the Spider, or as Coy-
ments are an example of that personal ote or Raven, as in some other tribal oral
privileging of one style of story-telling traditions, have certain attributes in
over another, but it should be noted that common. They are all gluttons, insa-
in spite of her editorializing, she does tiably curious, sexually promiscuous,
present both stories. obsessed with their own bodily func-
More modern stories of the Deer tions, braggarts, and thieves. They can be
Woman are personal accounts of men male or female and sometimes switch
who believe that they, too, have met this gender roles when it serves their pur-
652
pose. They are the Native American ver- heavy. It had wheels made of iron, and it
sion of con men. drove right between me and that girl!”
The following is a trickster story of “You are right,” Coyote says. “That was
Inktomi: a very bad dream” (Erdoes and Ortiz
Once Coyote was visiting Inktomi, the 1984, 381–382).
Spider, and Inktomi woke Coyote up in This particular story has no sacred sig-
the middle of the night. Inktomi is in a nificance. It is a funny story but meant
panic saying that he had a bad dream. also as a teaching tool, a subtle warning
Coyote asks what the dream was about to the listener that improper sexual
and Inktomi says he dreamed he saw a acts—Inktomi’s taking advantage of a
winchincala (young girl) about to take a young girl—have dangerous conse-
bath in a stream. Coyote says that doesn’t quences. There is a connection, however
sound like a bad dream to him. Inktomi tenuous, to the sacred stories in that this
goes on. story is a continuing example of Ink-
“She took her clothes off, and I saw her tomi’s grasping, selfish nature that was
naked.” first demonstrated in the sacred story
Again Coyote protests that the dream when he conspired with the first man
doesn’t sound bad to him. and woman to use their daughter for evil
Inktomi goes on, “I was hiding in some purposes.
bushes far away. Then my penis began to These stories are part of the collection
grow like a long snake and started wind- of Lakota oral tradition that is alive and
ing towards her.” thriving, with new variations and new
“There is nothing wrong with this stories constantly being added. They are
dream,” Coyote says. lessons for living, as Marshall points out
“My penis was like a long, long rope,” in his book The Lakota Way (2002). To re-
Inktomi continues. “It kept growing and member the stories is to remember a
growing until it went into the water and person’s place in family, in community,
touched her.” in larger society, and in the world and to
“Oh,” Coyote says, “I wish I had such a remind the listener of how to live in har-
dream.” mony and respect with all things.
“Then the tip of my penis entered her, Frances Washburn
and she didn’t even notice at first.”
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota;
“This is the best dream I ever heard,” Emergence Narratives; Mother Earth; Oral
Coyote yelps. Traditions; Oral Traditions, Western Plains;
“But then,” Inktomi says, “I heard a Power, Plains; Religious Leadership, Plains;
great noise. I hadn’t noticed in my dream Plains; Tricksters
that a team of horses and wagons was
coming. It was a wasicu (white man’s) Deloria, Ella C. 1932. Dakota Texts. New
wagon. It came very fast, and it was very York: G. E. Stechert and Sons.
653
Oral Traditions, Northeast __________________________________________________________________
Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz. 1984. ods of clustering information around
American Indian Myths and Legends. memorable characters and melodies are
New York: Random House.
Kroeber, Karl. 1997. Traditional Literatures the easiest way to remember the often
of the American Indian: Texts and enormous amount of wisdom. Songs
Interpretations. Lincoln: University of and stories are also flexible, changing
Nebraska Press.
Marshall, Joseph M., III. 2002. The Lakota
over time and conforming to the needs
Way: Stories and Lessons for Living. New of the wisdom keeper and his/her audi-
York: Viking. ence for each performance.
Powers, Marla. 1986. Oglala Women.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Oral traditions of the Northeast are
Powers, William. 1982. Yuwipi: Vision and located in narrative stories of two cate-
Experience in Oglala Ritual. Lincoln: gories: worak (“what is recounted”) and
waika (“what is sacred”). Worak stories
Wilson, James. 1998. The Earth Shall Weep.
New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. are told of heroes, human tragedy, and
Wissler, Clark. 1912. Societies and memorable events and can be done in a
Ceremonial Associations in the Oglala
casual manner. Waika stories, on the
Division of the Teton-Dakota.
Anthropological Papers, vol. 11, pt. 1. other hand, tell the sacred tribal lore
New York: American Museum of Natural and are therefore told only during cere-
History.
mony. The spirits of animals and ances-
Young Bear, Severt, and R. D. Theisz. 1994.
Standing in the Light. Lincoln: University tors that can be aroused by the speech
of Nebraska Press. of a religious leader have to be honored
and treated correctly. It is considered
very dangerous to tell a story or sing a
song that you do not have the right to
Oral Traditions, Northeast
perform, but the power of the spoken
The daily life of oral cultures is domi- word when wielded correctly is awe-
nated by the stories that animate and ex- some. To this end, stories and songs are
plain the land around them. Native regarded like spiritual currency. They
American cultures in the Northeast, have power that is invoked by their per-
though no longer exclusively oral, main- formance, and that power must always
tain a vital tradition of storytelling that be respected.
serves to connect them to their home- The act of speaking is respected and
land and guide them in moral issues. In a thought capable of invoking power and
culture without written records, all the healing. Power is intimately connected
wisdom that generations past have ac- with the land. Culture heroes and deities
crued must be preserved in the memo- that create or protect the people are
ries of the people. Indigenous societies often credited in stories with shaping
have shown that the most effective way prominent landmarks in the area. This
to keep that knowledge intact is to can- association with the deity bestows them
onize it in stories and songs. These meth- with a sanctity that is honored by every-
654
_________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Northeast
one, just as the perception of the land- often accomplished by a character who
mark is shared. Sacred geographies serve embodies them all—the trickster. Trick-
to integrate physical and spiritual land- sters make us laugh with their often vul-
scapes, infusing the land with sacred gar exploits while teaching us valuable
meaning remembered in stories and lessons in what not to do. Tricksters bend
songs. These stories serve to orient the and shape reality, sometimes creating
indigenous person in the world. With life and land, bestowing invaluable gifts
these explanations, the landscape that to the human race, and then displaying
envelops her is not dead or void of petty banality. They have their own per-
meaning, but a living, breathing entity sonalities and desires and, most of all,
that watches and guides her. eccentricities.
Stories and songs are handed down, The Abenaki trickster is Glooscap
told and retold, and in this way they pro- (Gluskap), a shapeshifting, all-knowing,
vide for the cultural continuity that writ- ambivalent figure of mighty strength. He
ten accounts provide in literate societies. created the animals and taught the peo-
In oral cultures each individual can con- ple how to live in their environment. In
nect with ancestors through the words in one myth he rescues the people’s water
the stories and songs, and those ances- from a greedy croaking monster.
tors are being honored and remembered Glooscap painted his body and put eagle
each time the story is told and the song feathers in his hair; he wielded a knife
performed. These performances also made from a mountain of flint and ac-
function to bring people together at the costed the monster, demanding that he
specified times for communal gathering release the river that he had blocked and
and to invite everyone to participate. If polluted.
the songs can be sung only by initiated
members of a sacred society, the beauty When the monster refused with his
croaking voice, they fought, and when
of the songs may inspire a young person
the monster opened its huge mouth to
to pursue membership in that group. catch Glooscap, he made himself
The oral tradition of an indigenous soci- taller than the tallest tree.Then
ety is the framework for the links that Glooscap smote the monster with his
connect people to each other and to knife and a wild river roared out,
down the valley, through the village,
their past.
and out to the sea. Glooscap then
The oral tradition of stories and songs grasped the monster and squeezed
holds a people’s way of life together. They him so hard that his skin became
combine and transcend Western cate- wrinkled and threw him into a
gories of experience, juxtaposing the sa- swamp.He became the bullfrog, who
croaks all night in slimy water and
cred and profane, creation and destruc-
whose skin is still wrinkled because
tion, the solemn and the silly. This Glooscap squeezed him so hard.
interweaving of the elements of reality is (Erdoes and Ortiz 1984, 181–184)
655
Oral Traditions, Northeast __________________________________________________________________
Glooscap was also believed to grant he could make. But soon he realized that
wishes to anyone who could make it to the noise issued forth from him unbid-
his home, which was sometimes imag- den. It spooked animals that he hunted
ined as a mist-covered island. The mist is and he arrived home hungry and frus-
the smoke from his pipe. In this myth his trated. The people found his talent amus-
home is in the forest and he grants three ing at first, but he became unpopular
wishes in typical trickster fashion. Three when they realized it was out of his con-
men spent seven years searching for trol. Depressed, the third man killed him-
Glooscap’s home, hoping to have their self in the woods. “But the first man who
wishes granted. When they reached him, asked for success in hunting marched all
each asked for a special power: the first the way home with his magic pipe, secure
for skill in hunting; the second for sexual in the fact that he would never be hun-
prowess; and the third for the ability to gry” (Erdoes and Ortiz 1984, 367). He be-
make people laugh. Glooscap gave them came a fine hunter and his family was al-
each a gift. To the first man, he gave a ways well fed.
magical flute that attracts animals. To the The major food crop for agricultural
second man he gave a package but people in the Northeast is corn. The sto-
warned him not to open it until he was ries about corn exemplify the multivocal
safely home. To the third man he gave a apparatus that weaves practical matters
“magical root which, when eaten, would and spiritual/moral guidelines together.
permit the man to make a sound like The Penobscot tale of the Corn Mother
breaking wind and make everyone describes the origin of corn, the staple,
laugh, but he was warned not to touch sacred food and the focus of many cere-
the root until he returned home” (Erdoes monies.
and Ortiz 1984, 365). Before there were humans, Glooscap
Although he had been warned not to, lived on the earth with his nephew who
the second man opened his package was born from the foam of the waves.
right away, desperate to see what was in- After a time they were joined by a beauti-
side that would give him the power to sat- ful young woman. “A drop of dew fell on
isfy women. “Out flew hundreds of beau- a leaf and was warmed by the sun, the
tiful girls, wild and passionate. They giver of life, and this girl came into being.
embraced him, kissed him, and crowded She declared to the two men: ‘I am love. I
around him.More and more beautiful am a strength giver, I am the nourisher, I
girls surrounded him growing wilder into am the provider of men and animals.’She
a frenzy until he could not breathe and married the nephew and had many chil-
was smothered” (Erdoes and Ortiz 1984, dren, becoming known as First Mother”
366). The third man could not wait as he (Erdoes and Ortiz 1984, 12).
was told either. He ate the root and was “Then Glooscap thanked the Great
delighted with the loud trumpeting noise Mystery Above for having sent them the
656
_________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Northeast
maiden. And Glooscap, the Great Uncle, said:‘Remember and take good care of
who teaches humans all they need to First Mother’s flesh, because it is her
know, taught their children how to live. goodness become substance. Take good
Then he went away to dwell in the north, care of her breath, because it is her love
from which he will return sometime turned into smoke. Remember her and
when he is needed” (Nicholar). Now the think of her whenever you eat, whenever
people were prosperous and they had you smoke this sacred plant, because she
many children. Soon they were too nu- has given her life so that you might live.
merous and the lands they hunted were Yet she is not dead, she lives: in undying
empty of animals. First Mother wept for love she renews herself again and again’”
her hungry children. Her husband asked (Nicholar).
what he could do to make her happy. She The value of studying these myths is in
offered to sacrifice her own body so that learning to appreciate the way that they
her children would have food. shape the lived experience of indigenous
“First Mother said, ‘Tomorrow at high people. The enveloping landscape is the
noon you must do it. After you have most immediate and most significant en-
killed me, let two of our sons take hold of tity for land-based cultures. Their myths
my hair and drag my body over that connect them to that land and provide a
empty patch of earth. Let them drag me framework for appropriate interaction
back and forth over every patch of that with it and with the spirit beings that
earth until all my flesh has been torn share it. They also learn of the follies and
from my body. Afterwards, take my misdeeds of their fellow people and how
bones, gather them up and bury them in to avoid them. The memorable antics of
the middle of the clearing. Then leave the tricksters make them laugh while in-
that place’” (Nicholar). When they came stilling a sense of respect and apprecia-
back in seven months “they found her tion for the world that was made possible
flesh on tall plants and it was tasseled by their exploits. The oral tradition is a
with her golden hair. It was corn; and guiding force for the people that has been
even now when you eat corn you are eat- maintained by the wisdom of the elders.
ing First Mother’s flesh” (Erdoes and Brian Clearwater
Ortiz 1984, 13).
See also Oral Traditions, Ojibwe;
Where they buried her bones they Storytelling; Tricksters
found another plant. When they drew
close to it they heard the voice of her References and Further Reading
Abram, David. 1996. The Spell of the
spirit tell them that this plant was made Sensuous: Perception and Language in a
from her breath and that if they smoke More-Than-Human World. New York:
the leaves the smoke will carry their Vintage Books.
Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz. 1984.
prayers to the heavens. The plant was to- American Indian Myths and Legends.
bacco. “First Mother’s husband spoke.He New York: Pantheon Books.
657
Oral Traditions, Northern Athabascan ____________________________________________________
Grim, John A., and Donald P. St. John. 1987. ries were told almost exclusively during
“North American Indians: Indians of the the winter, especially in early midwinter.
Northeast Woodlands.” Pp. 476–485 in
The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 10. While other genres such as mountain
Edited by Mircea Eliade. New York: stories might be told only during the
Macmillan. summer or personal narratives told any-
Nicholar, Joseph. 1998. Corn Mother: How
Corn Was Given to the Penobscot.
time, these ancient stories were reserved
http://aihc1998.tripod.com/pen.html. for night when the long, cold winter was
(Accessed December 7, 2004.) coming on. Distant-time stories could be
told by both men and women, and many
oral traditions expected that a second
Oral Traditions, Northern elder would guide and correct the story-
teller. Generally, the audience was ex-
Athabascan
pected to verbalize its appreciation of
Northern Athabascan peoples speak the narrative while the narrator spoke,
around twenty-three different languages but not to interrupt him or her. Folklorist
spread over Northern and Western Anna Birgitta Rooth documents the exis-
Canada and Alaska. These languages tence of two storytelling voices or styles
were similar to other Athabascan lan- of presentation. One uses a monotone
guages spoken by peoples in California voice that hypnotizes and transfixes the
and the American Southwest. The listeners, transporting them into an oth-
Alaskan Athabascan peoples discussed erworldly experience. The second style
in this entry are bordered by Eskimo- uses gesture, dramatic mood changes,
speaking peoples to the north and the and the assumption of the voices of dif-
west, and even to the south, along part of ferent characters (Rooth 1976, 75–76).
the Gulf of Alaska. Also to the south lived This style tries to act out the story and
the Eyaks, who were not Athabascans entertains through dramatization. Some
but who spoke a language that was dis- cultural traditions emphasize one or the
tantly related to those of modern other, but examples of each have been
Athabascan speakers. To the southeast, found in most groups.
the major cultures bordering both Common to most storytellers in the
Alaskan and Yukon Athabascans are Tlin- region is the use of what has been
git and Tsimshian. In lifestyle, culture, termed High Language. High Language
and narrative tradition, Athabascan peo- raises the level of formality by using
ples of the North have had and continue many archaic words restricted to story-
to have much in common. telling. High Language is also very
metaphoric, with many of the phrases
Context of Storytelling having reference to riddles and songs.
In South Central and Interior Alaska, and Many of the Athabascan oral traditions
in the Yukon Territory, distant-time sto- had a formulaic ending for distant-time
658
___________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Northern Athabascan
narratives that amounted to a prayer for as an essential link between the human
a short winter. and the spiritual worlds. The act of
Local storytelling traditions have telling stories creates a harmony among
flourished, and often there are rules that all realms of life, often by creating heal-
might not extend to all of the Athabascan ing in the human community and har-
oral traditions. For instance, Jette men- mony between the human and animal
tions Koyukon storytellers dropping realms demonstrated by luck in hunting.
sticks into a pile to mark sections of sto- Equally important is that hearing and
ries. Koyukon storyteller Catherine Attla contemplating the old stories promote
notes that storytellers should not inter- the proper method of thinking about the
rupt their recounting of a tale for fear of world.
bad luck. Chad Thompson has com- Often Native elders will speak of the
mented that bad luck could befall the vital importance of traditional narra-
Koyukon listener who fell asleep or left tives. They fear that if their children do
before a story ended. While these expec- not hear the stories, they will not turn
tations might influence specific Koyukon out to be good, moral people and will not
groups, they do not of necessity repre- understand their Native identities as
sent the oral traditions of all the Athabas- Koyukon, Gwich’in, and so forth. Such
can peoples in South Central Alaska and elders emphasize the educational char-
along the Yukon River. acter of the stories. This instruction
through narrative continues throughout
Functions of Storytelling an individual’s life and helps to clarify
Perhaps the best way to begin to under- how the spiritual and human worlds in-
stand something about Northern teract. Central to the instructional pur-
Athabascan oral narratives is to review pose is the necessity of charting the com-
how they function in their own social plex relationships between the human,
frameworks. Oral narratives are individ- animal, and spiritual worlds: to show
ual performances that engage cultural what was, how things started, what
conversations, ongoing discourses, and processes made them change, and how
group values. One useful way to think those processes exist today.
about the narratives is to see them as The stories might also function to il-
serving three functions in their commu- luminate the lines of social interaction
nities. First, they entertain in ways com- when they explore what Barre Toelken
mon to most verbal communication. calls “culturally moral subjects” (Toel-
Second, oral narratives enlighten listen- ken and Scott 1981, 86), such as the exe-
ers with cultural, social, and practical cution of social duties, the relationships
wisdom. Lastly, many storytellers them- between kin, the difficulties and respon-
selves speak of how important the act of sibilities of marriage, the conflict of loy-
telling the narratives can be. They see it alties between clans and spouses, the
659
necessity of cooperation, and the pitfalls were hard, people would appeal for
of relying on others. Many stories tell of mercy by telling stories. It was their way
the origin of a social custom or of the es- of praying” (Attla 1983, 27). In short, they
tablishment of an institution such as the heal, re-establish spiritual/human bal-
potlatch or council of elders. ance, and foster hunting luck.
A significant number of the distant-
time stories include animal actors. Genres
Through such narratives, the bonds of When one looks at the body of oral nar-
relationship are extended into the ani- ratives of the Eyak and the Athabascan
mal/spiritual world. Since animal and people of South Central and interior
human societies are structured simi- Alaska and the Yukon Territory, there ap-
larly, social instruction can merge seam- pear to be two broad categories by which
lessly into spiritual instruction. The sto- the people think of them. The first genre
ries can reveal and reinforce some of the I will refer to as distant-time stories, tak-
basic elements of a world view, such as ing the name from the translation of the
the awareness that it is in the animal/ Koyukon term kk’edonts’ednee. These
spiritual world that humans will find stories tell of the origin of the world and
truth and knowledge or that one must all its inhabitants, and they function in
obey spiritual directives over human the manner of sacred history. A second
ones. The stories remind the listener grouping concentrates what we might
that since human perception is so lim- call “historical” narratives that recount
ited and the animal/spiritual world so events of known people in specific loca-
powerful, one must be careful not to tions. Many of these may be personal ex-
take illusion for reality. periences or descriptions of events that
A more elusive function of storytelling may have come to an individual story-
is its ability to promote healing, har- teller from a trusted source. Other, more
mony, and hunting luck. Many story- specific narrative genres might be estab-
tellers believe that the very act of story- lished by context, such as Dena’ina
telling, whatever its content, serves to Athabascan mountain stories that are
keep the community in harmony with defined by place and season told. The
the sacred processes of the world. In- Koyukon term for this genre is Yooghe
deed for most Native groups the stories done, and they embody narratives set in
of the distant-time function like a body the recent past, often personal narra-
of sacred texts that describe sacred his- tives. Sometimes they emphasize the
tory. Their recounting can have a reli- mistakes people can make or the suc-
gious flavor even if they are not told in a cesses they achieve by overcoming ob-
ritual context. Mrs. Attla, who compares stacles. They might transmit knowledge
the distant-time stories she was told to vital for hunting success or for prosper-
the Bible, says, “Long ago, when times ous living in a complex world. The two
660
___________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Northern Athabascan
broad classes seem to be common for all language and can talk to each other. Sto-
the peoples discussed here. ries from this origin era establish the
However, these Native oral genres are fundamental structures of the world we
not defined by immutable criteria, and know today. While referring to this era as
the dividing line between them varies the Origin Era, we should note that many
according to the oral tradition con- Native oral traditions do not actually de-
sulted. Indeed, we might think of the scribe the creation of the world. Rather, it
body of oral tradition as a spectrum rep- is assumed that the world exists, and the
resenting the content of the stories, as il- narrative emphasis falls instead upon
lustrated by the figure below. This figure subjects such as the nature of the celes-
has proven useful in creating a visual tial bodies, the creation of humans, the
representation of the varieties of Native beginning of death and procreation. Un-
narratives. natural creatures and monsters are often
On the left we have origin stories. eliminated as the world is made safe for
These stories explore the beginning of human culture.
things, such as how humans came to be, In stories from the Transformation
the origin of death, the origin of the ce- Era, the basic outlines of human and
lestial bodies, the functions of the body, animal life are already in a fixed and
the relationship between men and stable form. Animals and humans have
women, and the nature of spiritual natures that are consistent. They no
power. The world depicted in the stories longer transform at will, and characters
is one of creative flux, in which the es- act with qualities that are either human
sential nature of things can change. It is or animal. However, the relationships
usually inhabited by characters who ap- between humans, animals, and the
pear to be both animal and human. spiritual powers of the world have not
These characters are not locked into one been completely formalized. Stories
fixed form or nature but are free to trans- from this era establish a reciprocal rela-
form at will. They all share a common tionship between the human and the
Figure 1 Varieties of Native Narratives

Origin Era Transformation Era Historical Era
Distant Time Movement toward Memory Personal and Communal
Flux Social Forms Fixed Natures
The content of Native stories varies as does the degree of transformation possible.
661
animal/spiritual worlds. They clarify If considered as a chronological spec-

how humans should behave toward ani- trum, the sweep of narratives is clearly to
mals and spiritual powers. When hu- move from flux to fixed natures, from the
mans think and act in appropriate ways, lack of social institutions and cultural val-
then humans, animals, and spiritual en- ues to their establishment, and from a
tities exist in harmony. Often the stories world hostile to humans and human cul-
tell of the origin of human social institu- ture to a world in which humans have a
tions, such as marriage, hunting, and place. Some readers might be tempted to
potlatches. Throughout these narratives, categorize the stories from the Origin Era
a series of covenants and institutions is as myths and the narratives from the His-
initiated that define a human being’s torical Era as personal reminiscences and
place in the world while delineating the perhaps legends, but such Western terms
origin of human culture and its values. promote an attitude that could consider
Stories from this era might fall into a va- the former to be false and the latter true
riety of Native genres, depending upon or possibly true. However, in Native
the specific oral tradition. American storytelling, the distinction is
Stories from the Historical Era are not made between truth and falsehood
mostly concerned with the actions of but between distant time and recent time.
named and known people. They may be All the stories are regarded as true to their
the narrator’s experiences or those of a respective eras, but reality (and thus
specific ancestor, relative, or famous per- truth) was of a completely different order
son. The narratives may concern hunt- during the Origin Era than it is today. The
ing, warfare, spiritual activity, or rela- world was different back then. Different
tives. Their function is to carry on the rules governed the interactions between
process of developing and defining the beings, but the processes, values, and
nature of man’s experience in the world. truths of that era are as real to that time as
In the sphere of these narratives, human contemporary personal experiences are
and animal nature is fixed in forms we to ours—probably even truer and more
recognize today. Transformation is lim- real to both eras, since they are sacred his-
ited to special occasions, such as tory, and they explain the unseen, eternal
shamanistic healing, and humans must world of spirit. It is equally possible that
be constantly attentive if they are to ex- some readers might perceive this chrono-
perience power. Ritual and personal vi- logical presentation as a model of cultural
sion help connect humans to the spiri- progress from an animal world to human
tual world. However, the basic principles culture, or as a fall from an idealized para-
and processes that created the world as dise. Neither of those interpretations is
we perceive it today are still functioning. accurate. The stories explain the changes
These stories serve as a contemporary in the world in a very nonjudgmental
link to the ancient times. manner, highlighting valuable knowl-
662
_________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Northwest Coast
edge. They tell of the natural and foreor- Alaska; Women’s Cultural and Religious
dained processes of the world without the Roles, Northern Athabascan
constrictions of Western definitions of References and Further Reading

Attla, Catherine. 1983. Sitsiy Yugh Noholnik
Good and Evil or the concept of evolution. Ts’in’ (As My Grandfather Told It).
Besides these general genres of Native Translated by Eliza Jones and Melissa
oral narrative, there are numerous story Axelrod. Fairbanks: Yukon Koyukuk
School District and Alaska Native
cycles common and a number of local Language Center.
genres. Raven, of course, holds a position De Laguna, Frederica, ed. 1995. Tales from
of central interest in the world of distant- the Dena: Indian Stories from the
Tanana, Koyukuk, and Yukon Rivers.
time narratives. As the trickster, creator,
transformer of that era, Raven estab- Jette, Jules. 1908. “On Ten’a Folk-lore.”
lished many of the essential characteris- Journal of the Royal Anthropological
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 38:
tics of the world as we know it, from the
298–367 and 39 (1909): 460–505.
creation of human existence to the uses Rooth, Anna Birgitta. 1976. The Importance
of common northern trees. Most North- of Storytelling: A Study Based on Field
Work in Northern Alaska. Studia
ern Athabascan oral traditions contain
Ethnologica Upsaliensia 1. Uppsala,
an Earthdiver story about the time of the Sweden: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis.
great flood, when Raven gathered the an- Ruppert, James, and John Bernet. 2001. Our
imals who didn’t perish and renewed the Voices: Native Stories from Alaska and the
Yukon. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
world. Also extremely common is a cycle Press.
of stories about an Ancient Traveler who Thompson, Chad. 1985. “Athabaskan Oral
acts like a culture hero and transforms Literature.” Pp. 4–7 in Sitsiy Yugh
Noholnik Ts’in’ (As My Grandfather Told
animals, establishes customs, and kills It): A Teacher’s Guide. By Niki McCurry
monsters, cannibals, and giants. Local and Eliza Jones. Fairbanks: Yukon
oral tradition might also reflect popular Koyukuk School District and Alaska
Native Language Center.
story genres, such as stories about a dog Toelken, Barre, and Tacheeni Scott. 1981.
husband or about the episodes in the life “Poetic Retranslation and the ‘Pretty
of a stolen woman. A number of stories Languages’ of Yellowman.” Pp. 65–116 in
Traditional American Indian Literatures:
abound about people who go to live Texts and Interpretations. Edited by Karl
within the animal world, and about Kroeber. Lincoln and London: University
bushmen—wild quasi-human creatures of Nebraska Press.
who like to steal things and people from
remote camps. Together these elements
make for a rich oral literature that carries
practical, cultural, and spiritual wisdom Oral Traditions,
into the present century.
Northwest Coast
James Ruppert
See also Oral Traditions; Potlatch; Potlatch, On cold winter nights the peoples of the
Northern Athabascan; Religious Leadership, Northwest Coast have gathered, since
663
Oral Traditions, Northwest Coast __________________________________________________________
time immemorial, by the firelight in vironment to information regarding

cedar-planked longhouses to feast on legal claims and disputes. It encom-
salmon and other seafood, to celebrate passes all aspects of ceremonial and so-
or sometimes mourn, to sing and dance, cial life, including medicine and healing
and above all, to instruct and entertain and beyond. Oral traditions as such were
one another with mythic stories and his- and continue to be central to identity
torical tales that remind those gathered formation and community reproduction
where they come from and who they are. within Native North American commu-
Coast Salish speakers, like other North- nities. Here we will consider both the
west Coast groups, distinguish linguisti- function and form of oral traditions
cally between these two categories of among some of the cultures of the cen-
story, although such distinctions are not tral Northwest Coast of the Pacific
meant to separate “truth” from “fiction.” Northwest .
Stories without any basis in fact may The distinction between mythic and
nonetheless be true for individuals who historical stories is such that myths are
empower them with great meaning. (For often set in the very distant past, when
instance, Western scientists might find animal people dominated the world,
little basis in fact for the possibility of vir- while historical tales refer to named an-
gin birth, but the narrative of Mary and cestors, places, and events occurring
Jesus nonetheless possesses deep when human beings became firmly es-
“truths” for practicing Christians.) In- tablished in the world. In both historical
deed many “true” stories contain refer- and mythic tales, time is often reckoned
ences to remarkable displays of power in relative terms, so that the narrative
made possible by intervention from the content takes precedence over concerns
spirit world. Similarly, everyday details about specific dates or historical periods.
anchor the setting for fantastic mythic The function of stories, songs, and
accounts of nonhuman creatures and dances is to bind people to each other
transformations. and to the social, physical, and spiritual
Early non-Native authors and ob- worlds in which they are placed and
servers often referred to the oral tradi- where they interact with each other and
tions of the Northwest as “legends” or the nonhuman world. Oral narratives of
“folktales”—unfortunate nomenclature all varieties are forms of family wealth,
that diminished the rich significance of because they provide the power to define
tribal oratory and performance. The the boundaries between families and
term “oral narrative” or “tradition,” how- communities and between humans and
ever, belies the complexity of the subject, spirits. Oral traditions may be used to af-
as it includes an extremely broad spec- firm social convention or to dispute cer-
trum of traditions: from teachings about tain claims. Family-owned stories of ori-
history, morality, economics, and the en- gins, for example, convey legal rights to
664
essarily owned by specific kin groups;

they may be told by anyone throughout
the year. Transformer, or Changer, is a
character unique to the Coast Salish
peoples of the central and southern
Northwest Coast (Boyd 2001; Miller
1999; Bierwert 1999). He is credited with
remaking the world of the animal peo-
ple—the first inhabitants—for the
human people who arrived later. Often
he is described as “a man,” although in
some narratives transformers appear in
pairs. It is through the work of Changer
that ancient relationships between hu-
mans and nonhumans, including the
places where they resided, were first es-
tablished and defined. By telling and
retelling mythic stories of Changer, the
indigenous cultural and physical land-
scapes are imbued with the evidence
Dancer wearing raven mask and coat of necessary to provide meanings. This no-
cormorant skins during the Numhlin ceremony, tion of history-in-place marks an essen-
1914. (Edward Curtis/Library of Congress)
tial method through which people the
world over have made sense of local en-
ceremonial privileges as well as access to vironments and histories (Basso 1996).
specific lands and resources. To own a In addition to transformer charac-
story about an ancestor who fished for ters, the animal people of Pacific North-
salmon at the mouth of a certain river is west narratives embody traits that are
to possess the right of telling the tale. To unique to their “species” yet also reflect
tell stories at a potlatch and pay wit- certain human qualities and desires.
nesses to listen with respect reinforces Hence they are not strictly animals or
family claims to exercise these rights and people but animal people who possess
privileges. Some stories might be told the power to appear in either form. For
only seasonally or in restricted social set- instance, salmon people may have gills
tings (Seaburg and Amoss 2000, 100). and fins and live under the water in vil-
Other narratives, particularly mythic lages, or they may remove their salmon
tales of the heroic deeds of transformers “cloak” and walk on land. (In traditional
and the animal people—including trick- stories the metaphor of putting on or re-
sters like Raven or Coyote—are not nec- moving cloaks is used to describe the
665
transformation from one state of being information about subsistence activities,

to another.) Animal people may marry resource sites, and significant historical
within and outside of their species. In events. In this regard the stories about
their humanlike form, animal people specific places effectively provide a sys-
have been known to trick human be- tem for mentally mapping a region.
ings, and indeed, kin groups sometimes Knowing the location of places triggers
trace their origins or possess family sto- memories of stories about specific mi-
ries of unions between humans and an- croenvironments, and together these are
imal people. Other stories tell of young a means for preserving and transmitting
people who leave their families to live historical, economic, and environmental
with animals or are stolen and as a re- knowledge within oral cultures (Thorn-
sult come to embody nonhuman traits. ton 1997; Basso 1996).
In one story from the Chinook people, Because the animal people arrived
whose homeland includes the mouth of first in the world, they remain today as
the Columbia River, a young boy be- the spirit relatives of the animals that hu-
came lost while his family mended their mans continue to hunt and fish and with
canoe. His parents searched for him in whom they share the environment. Fish-
vain, and some years later he was found ers and hunters in turn are taught to treat
living on an island with the seals. Long them with respect. This hints at the man-
after he was rescued, the boy retained ner in which peoples of the Pacific
his special relationship with the seal Northwest organized relationships be-
people, calling them by their individual tween space, place, and time. The soci-
names and threatening to leave the olinguist Dell Hymes utilizes the model
world of humans to return to them of a center and periphery to illustrate
(Ramsey 1990, 73–74). this: the “established world is the center,
The animal people experience the full which the events and beings of the nar-
range of emotions and are driven to ac- ratives encircle at a distance” (1990, 593).
tion by familiar “human” sentiments At one time the animal people were the
such as love, anger, hate, lust, fear, joy, earth’s stewards and occupied its center.
and loyalty. These sorts of stories provide After Changer transformed the world,
moral and intellectual training for chil- the human beings came to occupy the
dren and youth and also serve to remind center and the animal people retreated
all community members of proper deco- to the periphery. However, animal peo-
rum. Stories of Raven’s ribald antics, for ple and humans remained in contact
instance, or Coyote’s greed are lessons in with one another in significant ways. For
how not to behave, and they therefore example, during guardian spirit quests,
work to reinforce the moral contours of when young people sought personal re-
society. Other stories, such as those of lationships with different spirit powers,
the salmon or bear people, convey vital they journeyed away from the winter vil-
666
lage “center” and toward the nonhuman Moreover, oral traditions were teach-
“periphery,” where spirits dwelled. On ing devices through which healers
mountains, near waterfalls, and in other shared knowledge of ethnobotanical
remote places, girls and boys sought the medicines and ceremonies. Women with
aid and protection of lifelong spirit certain kinds of healing powers were the
helpers who would bring them wealth most knowledgeable concerning plants
and help them find their unique power and their medicinal properties, and they
as great fishermen, basket makers, war- were called on to cure all kinds of ail-
riors, healers, and more. ments, from headaches and sore throats
On the Saanich Peninsula on Vancou- to arthritis and pregnancy-related con-
ver Island, for instance, “hummingbird cerns. However, in the event that plant
power” made good warriors by making medicines failed to produce the desired
men “fast on [their] feet,” while the fe- effect or when people were diagnosed
male wolf spirit helped women become with spirit sickness, different kinds of
expert weavers and mat makers. Spirit healers were called upon for assistance.
powers could take many forms, includ- Such healers—often referred to as In-
ing insects such as lice and hornets, nat- dian doctors by indigenous peoples of
ural phenomena such as wind, light- the Northwest—journeyed to the land
ning, and thunder, or mythical creatures of the dead to retrieve lost souls and re-
such as Thunderbird. The power of stored them to the bodies of the af-
guardian spirits was fully manifested flicted. (The use of the word “shaman”
through winter ceremonies in which in- here is problematic, as it refers specifi-
dividuals were compelled to eat certain cally to healers of central Asian origin.
foods and perform specific songs and “Indian Doctor” is a term more specific
dances revealed to them by their spirit to the Pacific Northwest [cf. Elmendorf
power (Elmendorf 1993; Jenness 1955, 1993].) The special talents of a Kalapuya
48–70). Even though the use of these Indian doctor illustrate how power was
manifestations was restricted to certain used in service to communities. In this
individuals, songs and dances related to instance, the “shaman” had “dead peo-
the guardian spirit complex were—and ple for his power” and thus was able to
are—a part of a community’s oral tradi- locate where a drowned person lay be-
tion. Today, many of these beliefs and neath the water (Seaburg and Amoss
practices continue to inform the Smoke- 2000, 262–263). In some cases Indian
house religion, practiced throughout the doctors became the subjects of fright-
Pacific Northwest. Knowledge about, or ening cautionary tales, as they used
membership in, these societies is re- their power to cause harm to their ene-
stricted for the most part to the initiated mies through the manipulation of for-
“spirit dancers” and leaders of the reli- eign objects or by “shooting” illness into
gion (Kew 1990, 476–480). the victim’s body (Elmendorf 1993, 204).
667
Therefore those who relied on Indian Anthropologists and folklorists note

doctors for healings but feared their that even the most transparent oral nar-
ability to cause—and not cure—ill- ratives, mythic or real, may be altered by
nesses, viewed their power rather am- new generations of mythmakers to em-
bivalently. phasize novel or even radical meanings,
The winter villages were the centers of which should not diminish the strength
ritual life and, as such, were the sites of of the traditions or their significance to
complex ceremonials in which extended community life. If written texts can be
families and their invited guests gathered compared with containers made of
to potlatch—that is, to pray, sing, dance, stone, oral traditions are more like
feast, make speeches, and give away loosely woven baskets (cf. Goody 2000).
wealth. Rituals such as the “Black They are inherently more flexible and
Tamanous” evoked the power of the past easily defy attempts to shape them into
by inviting spirits into the village center singular definitions of “the truth.” This il-
(Williams 1916). Tamanous is the Chi- lustrates the multiplicity of cultural
nook jargon word for “power.” Tamanous meanings and power struggles sur-
rituals initiated men and women into se- rounding beliefs in immutable historical
cret societies. Williams (1916) provides a “truth” and reminds us that people inter-
rare early description of these cere- pret differently the form and function
monies among the Klallam people of the that “history” will take within their com-
Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. munities (Cruikshank 1998, 2; Basso
Williams was initiated and then later 1996, 30–33; Trouillot 1995, 1–30).
converted to Christianity and no longer Certainly inasmuch as oral traditions
believed in the proscriptions against function to transmit significant informa-
telling sacred knowledge. One Katzie tion about the past, they also provide
man from a Fraser River community in- models for framing contemporary cir-
dicated to an ethnographer in 1936 that cumstances and cultural change. Even
“He Who Dwells Above” gifted each In- when the medium of transmission is the
dian community with unique cere- English language, mythology and oral
monies. Over time through intermar- traditions are more than simple relics. In-
riage, the right to perform certain dances, deed, the arrival of non-Natives to the Pa-
for instance, had spread to numerous vil- cific Northwest did not signal the end of
lages (Jenness 1955, 71). Among the “narrative creativity” (Hymes 1990, 601).
Coast Salish, villages were composed of In fact, oral narration provided a power-
extended families, so “village” was at one ful method through which people negoti-
time more or less synonymous with “kin ated and offered commentary on the
group.” Even though family groups origi- consequences of Euro-American contact
nally owned these, they later spread to (Boyd 2001). For instance, the horrors of
many different places. contagious diseases unleashed after the
668
arrival of the first Europeans are ex- When oral traditions are preserved
pressed in stories of “monsters” that through writing, they may be removed,
cause children’s bodies to become cov- sometimes problematically, from local
ered in spots, or “smallpox ships” that contexts in which their uses and mean-
contaminated the villages of unsuspect- ings are best understood and most
ing Coast Salish peoples and their neigh- deeply felt. Stories created to convey
bors (Ramsey 1990, 111–112; Lambert as knowledge of specific places sometimes
quoted in Gorsline 1992, 204). lose potency and relevancy when re-
Since many of these narratives have searchers attempt to use them in more
been transformed into written texts, it is general and nonspecific ways, or treat
important to discuss how the acts of narratives as though they are emblem-
writing and reading obscure the perfor- atic of all Native cultures and peoples
mance aspect of oral traditions. In a sto- rather than specific groups in certain
rytelling setting audience members may places and eras (Cruikshank 1998,
freely interact with raconteurs by signal- 45–70). However, for researchers working
ing their approval through laughter and within or in behalf of indigenous com-
applause, repeating verbatim story lines, munities’ Traditional Environmental
or even by contributing their own ver- Knowledge—or TEK—there may be in-
sions of plots, characters, voices, and valuable applications within fields such
other sounds. The process contains an as anthropology, history, law, ecological
essence of dialogue. In addition, numer- studies, and geology. That will be so as
ous variations of the same story exist long as scholars remember that stories
within communities, further suggesting serve very specific purposes within in-
that individual style or expression, tal- digenous communities, and that their
ent, setting, and interest all play roles in use is often mediated by local cultural
storytelling, although “core items” must beliefs and practices.
be apparent for a story to be recogniza- Narratives from the people of the
ble to listeners (Vecsey 1991, 21). For in- Northwest, for instance, offer startling
stance, numerous versions of Coyote clues pertaining to the seismic history of
stories exist, but storytellers essentially this volatile region. For example, many
agree about his complex character: he is Native communities living in the vicinity
helpful and sly, foolish and wise. Once of the Cascade Range and the Olympic
stories are transformed into written Mountains tell stories of Mountain Peo-
texts, much of this “live” context is lost. ple who quarreled loudly in the past and
So as important as folklore and linguistic moved around—metaphors that de-
studies are to the preservation of oral tra- scribe the violent creation of local land
ditions, those alone will never replace forms (cf. Ames and Maschner 1999). At
the need for stories to function actively the same time local knowledge of ani-
within indigenous communities. mal behavior is assisting efforts to save
669
Pacific salmonidae (Lichatowich 1999, Bracken 1999; Mills 1994). Children in

24–37), while historians and legal schol- the United States and Canada were re-
ars search archived transcriptions of tra- moved from their natal homes and
ditions for supporting evidence in land- placed in state or church-run boarding
claims cases in Canada and the United schools in which they were physically
States (Miller 1997; Mills 1994). Indeed, abused for speaking their languages
learning to better interpret stories of tra- (Kelm 1998). Even children in day
ditional land use is all the more urgent schools were encouraged to forget and
since the U.S. Congress passed the Na- even to despise their own cultures and
tive American Graves Protection and histories (cf. Sioui 1995, xx). Despite such
Repatriation Act in 1990 (NAGPRA 25 draconian pressures, potlatches contin-
USC 3001). For the first time in U.S. fed- ued in secret while people clung tena-
eral law, tribal oral traditions are admis- ciously to their stories and languages, re-
sible in evidentiary proceedings. There- sisting efforts to eradicate uniquely
fore properly and meticulously indigenous ways of life. Postcontact
translating and decoding the knowledge movements in the Northwest such as the
embedded in indigenous narratives is Indian Shaker Church created safe
paramount if tribes and First Nations spaces in which indigenous languages
hope to have their complaints heard and and narratives, including stories, songs,
understood in courts of law. Court offi- and movement, were transformed to re-
cials have sometimes found oral tradi- flect indigenous values in a changing,
tions entered as evidence to be vague, more accepted colonial context. Simul-
too metaphoric, or simply inaccessi- taneously, Euro-American contact has
ble—to the dismay of Native peoples required the protection of cultures and
and their legal advocates (Miller 1997). languages through ongoing legal and so-
Thus oral traditions remain important cial battles at local and national levels.
to the survival of twenty-first-century In addition to protecting their rights,
U.S. tribes and Canadian First Nations as First Nations and tribes throughout the
unique cultures within the fabric of Pacific Northwest are revitalizing lan-
North American life. Nineteenth-century guages and traditions. Today, language
legislation enacted in the United States and culture programs are active in most
and Canada and the product of genera- Native communities (cf. Miller 1999;
tions of failed Indian policies directly im- Smyth and Ryan 1999). Cultural special-
peded the survival of Native languages ists utilize computer and video tech-
and oral traditions. For instance, pot- nologies to preserve the spoken words of
latch ceremonies in which people sang, elders as well as visual components of
danced, orated speeches, and told sto- their oral traditions, while geographic in-
ries were outlawed on both sides of the formation systems (GIS) specialists are
international border (cf. Ostrowitz 1999; consulted for mapping specific tradi-
670
tional geography, including original site Western Apache. Albuquerque: University

names and their associated stories. Dur- of New Mexico Press.
Bierwert, Crisca. 1999. Brushed by Cedar,
ing the summer months the Native peo- Living by the River: Coast Salish Figures
ples of the Pacific Northwest are travel- of Power. Tucson: University of Arizona
ing once again in cedar dugout canoes to Press.
Boyd, Colleen. 2001. Changer Is Coming:
villages in the United States and Canada History, Identity and the Land among the
where people gather in ceremonial long- Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe of the North
houses to sing, dance, feast, and tell sto- Olympic Peninsula. Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Washington, Seattle.
ries (cf. Neel 1995). In addition, organi- Bracken, Christopher. 1999. The Potlatch
zations such as the Sealaska Heritage Papers: A Colonial Case History. Chicago:
Foundation in Alaska have hired actors University of Chicago Press.
Cruikshank, Julie. 1998. The Social Life of
and writers to create and interpret inno-
Stories: Narrative and Knowledge in the
vative scripts in order to produce video Yukon Territory. Lincoln: University of
productions of Northwest Coast stories Nebraska Press.
Elmendorf, William. 1993. Twana
(cf. Sealaska Heritage Foundation, 1990).
Narratives: Native Historical Accounts of
These innovations and community-cen- a Coast Salish Culture. Seattle: University
tered approaches toward the indigenous of Washington Press.
Goody, Jack. 2000. Power of the Written
people of the Pacific Northwest are being
Tradition. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
adopted to ensure that new generations Institution Press.
of listeners on the Northwest Coast learn Gorsline, Jerry, ed. 1992. Shadows of Our
to become active participants in the re- Ancestors: Readings in the History of
Klallam-White Relations. Port Townsend,
production of traditional knowledge and WA: Empty Bowl Press.
histories. Gunther, Erna. 1925. Klallam Folk Tales.
The author wishes to thank friends of Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Hymes, Dell. 1990. “Mythology.” Pp.
the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe of Port 593–601 in Handbook of North American
Angeles, Washington, for sharing their Indians: Northwest Coast, vol. 7. Edited
knowledge of Klallam history and the by Wayne Suttles. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Institution.
Olympic Peninsula environment. Jenness, Diamond. 1955. “The Faith of a
Colleen E. Boyd Coast Salish Indian.” In Anthropology in
British Columbia Memoir 3. Edited by
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Anishnabe; Wilson Duff. Victoria: British Columbia
Religious Leadership, Northwest; Provincial Museum.
Whaling, Religious and Cultural
Kelm, Mary-Ellen. 1998. Colonizing Bodies:
Implications
Aboriginal Health and Healing in British
References and Further Reading Columbia, 1900–50. Vancouver:
Ames, Kenneth, and Herbert D. G. University of British Columbia Press.
Maschner. 1999. Peoples of the Kew, J. E. Michael. 1990. “Central and
Northwest Coast: Their Archaeology and Southern Coast Salish Ceremonies since
Prehistory. London: Thames and 1900.” Pp. 476–480 in Handbook of North
Hudson. American Indians: Northwest Coast, vol.
Basso, Keith. 1996. Wisdom Sits in Places: 7. Edited by Wayne Suttles. Washington,
Landscape and Language among the DC: Smithsonian Institution.
671
Oral Traditions, Ojibwe ______________________________________________________________________
Lambert, Mary Ann. 1992. Pp. 204–206 in Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays.
Smallpox Ship: In Shadows of Our Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Ancestors. Edited by Jerry Gorsline. Port ———, ed. 1990. “The Central Coast Salish.”
Townsend, WA: Empty Bowl Press. Pp. 453–475 in Handbook of North
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1978. Myth and American Indians, vol. 7, Northwest
Meaning. New York: Schocken Books. Coast. Edited by Wayne Suttles.
Lichatowich, Jim. 1999. Salmon without Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Institution.
Crisis. Washington, DC: Island Press. Thornton, Thomas. 1997. “Native American
Miller, Bruce G. 1997. “Culture as Cultural Place Naming.” American Indian
Defense: A Sacred Site in Court.” Quarterly 21, no. 3: 213–228.
American Indian Quarterly 22, no. 1: Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. 1995. Silencing the
83–97. Past: Power and the Production of
Miller, Bruce-Subiyay.1999. “Seeds of Our History. Boston: Beacon Press.
Ancestors.” Pp. 25–43 in Spirit of the First Vecsey, Christopher. 1991. Imagine
People. Edited by Willie Smith and Esme Ourselves Richly: Mythic Narratives of
Ryan. Seattle: Jackstraw Publications. North American Indians. San Francisco:
Mills, Antonia. 1994. Eagle Down Is Our Harper San Francisco.
Law: Witsuwit’en Law, Feasts and Land Williams, Johnson. 1916. “Black Tamanous
Claims. Vancouver: University of British and the Secret Society of the Clallam
Columbia Press. Indians.” Washington Historical
Neel, David. 1995. Great Canoes: Reviving a Quarterly 7, no. 4: 296–300.
Northwest Coast Tradition. Seattle:
Ostrowitz, Judith. 1999. Privileging the Past:
Reconstructing History in Northwest
Coast Art. Seattle: University of Oral Traditions, Ojibwe
Washington Press.
Ramsey, Jarold, ed. 1977/1990. Coyote Was All religious traditions include some
Going There: Indian Literature of the form of mythology—sacred tales that
Oregon Country. Reprint, Seattle: communicate meaning and value and so
Seaburg, William R., and Pamela T. Amoss, are, in some sense, existentially “true.”
eds. 2000. Badger and Coyote Were Myths reflect and determine the lives of
Neighbors: Melville Jacobs on Northwest the people who create them. For the
Indian Myths and Tales. Corvallis:
Oregon State University Press.
Ojibwe, mythology is an ongoing story,
Sealaska Heritage Foundation. 1990. “The one that began long ago and continues
Box of Daylight: A Tlingit Myth of today. The Ojibwe, or the Anishnabeg as
Creation.” Video. Juneau, AK: Pacific
they call themselves, never told their
Communications and Marketing.
Sioui, Georges E. 1995. For an Amerindian myths, their sacred tales, simply in order
Autohistory. Translated from the French to entertain one another. That is not the
by Sheila Fischman. Montreal: McGill- purpose of mythology. Nor is it the pur-
Queen’s University Press.
Smyth, Willie, and Esme Ryan, eds. 1999. pose of students of myth to try to figure
Spirit of the First People: Native American out whether myths are true in any factual
Music Traditions. Seattle: University of or historical sense. “Did this story hap-
Washington Press.
Stewart, Hilary. 1993. Looking at Totem pen just that way?” is the wrong question
Poles. Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre. to ask about Ojibwe mythology—or
672
_____________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Ojibwe
the universe is one described and experi-

“Things are going wrong enced in Ojibwe mythology, and it is a
when people think of the dynamic, not a static, worldview. Conse-
land as a pie that can be quently, the myths the Ojibwe tell form a
sliced up in pieces. . . . No particularly dynamic collection of tales.
matter how you cut a pie, It is safe to say that this vigorous nature
comes from at least two qualities that
in the end there’s nothing characterize Ojibwe myth.
holding it together. It gets First, Ojibwe mythology is an oral tra-
eaten up like pop and dition, and even while many tales have
chips, like raisins. It’s better been transcribed by Europeans and
for people to live as if Euro-Americans and, more recently,
written down by the Ojibwe themselves,
they’re inside a ball. The
there is no definitive version of any story.
sky, upstairs and down- The stories change each time they are
stairs, the four directions: told, and they grow and metamorphose
these will hold everything in order to include new experiences. A
together . . . because a ball good example of this sort of change is
has a top to cover us and a found in the stories of Nanabush (vari-
ants include Menabojou and Nanabo-
bottom to hold us, and
hzo), the trickster and culture hero
everything works together.” whose reaction to the European invasion
—Ron Geyshick is told in the myth of the Sleeping Giant.
In this story, Nanabush travels west to
Thunder Bay and lies down there as a
about any mythology. Perhaps the best huge promontory. He sleeps now, wait-
questions to ask are: “What does this ing for the rebirth of Ojibwe culture and
story mean? What does it say about how spirituality. There are many Ojibwes who
the tellers of the tales understand them- would say that he has been stirring in his
selves and the world? What may we learn sleep lately as his people work to realize
from the story and how best may we the prophecy of his resurgence. Some-
learn to listen to it?” And when we listen times, of course, the changes are smaller,
to Ojibwe myth we are listening to the as when is, in another story, Nanabush
words of storytellers like Ron Geyshick, gets tangled up in telephone wires rather
whose speech describes a world—in this than in the bass wood ropes that caught
case a “ball” that adheres to the strict him in the older versions. This aspect of
definition of cosmos: that is, a universe the dynamic quality of Ojibwe myth is
that is formed and acts as a balanced, the ability to be flexible, to remain rele-
harmonious whole. This conception of vant and meaningful. And it illustrates
673
An image of a bird, common in oral traditions, is painted on a drum. Birds, namely Thunderbirds,
were a symbol of the Thunderers, a myth of the Ojibwe that included hundreds of intricate stories.
Nineteenth century. (Burstein Collection/Corbis)
the fact that the Ojibwe, while they re- populated both by human persons and
member their myths, are not, them- by a plethora of other-than-human per-
selves, mythic figures caught in the past. sons. These persons, who have the ability
Second, Ojibwe mythology is dynamic to act, to communicate, to do harm and
because it describes not only a cosmos good, and above all, to form relation-
but also the people who live and act in ships, include the manitous or spirit be-
that cosmos. For the Ojibwe, the world is ings, animals, plants, and what Euro-
674
Americans call natural phenomena of all usually because he is incautious of the

kinds. These people are not forces per- spring ice, falls into a lake and is killed by
sonified, forces to which human quali- the underwater manitous, led by their
ties are ascribed, but coinhabitants of a chief, or ogimaa, Mishebeshu. Mishe-
planet, fellow travelers and neighbors in beshu is a very powerful person, the
that “ball” that Geyshick describes. They owner of the water world, who appears
act in mythology in all sorts of ways, as a horned serpent or an enormous
sometimes hindering but most often half-cat and serpent—a sort of dragon.
helping humans who are, in most cases, His name means Great Lynx, and he is so
less powerful than they. In order to un- powerful that his name should be men-
derstand this peopled place and the role tioned only in winter when he is impris-
of humans in it, it’s helpful to look to a oned under thick ice. For in the Ojibwe
few kinds of myths. These include cre- world, one should never call a person’s
ation tales, tales of the powerful mani- name if one does not want that person to
tous who help hold that ball together, appear.
and tales of Nanabush, the trickster who Mishebeshu is not evil, but nor is he a
acts out models of human behavior even friend to humans. He has his own world,
while he shows us what not to do. and it is best for humans to treat that
All cultures have creation tales, also world with great respect when they ven-
known as cosmogonic narratives, that ture into it. The wolf, arguably, does not
describe how the world came to be. show proper respect, and so he falls prey
Across North America there are many to the underwater manitous. Nanabush
different understandings as to how the is devastated and angered by the loss of
world was created, and many people in the wolf, and he takes his revenge. He
the Eastern Woodlands and Great Lakes travels, often disguised as a frog, to
area share the Ojibwe idea that this pres- Mishebeshu’s lair and kills him. Since
ent earth is a re-creation, a world that Mishebeshu is a manitou, and since his
was salvaged from the destruction of a name describes one person and many,
previous one. This type of tale is called he regenerates or his people flood the
an Earth Diver narrative, because during earth in response. Nanabush is forced to
the course of the plot a creature must climb a tree, to build a raft, or to take
dive to the bottom of the waters that refuge on the back of a turtle. And it is
have flooded the old world in order to re- from this position that he calls the diving
trieve earth, with which a new world may animals to his aid. Sometimes loon
be made. In the Ojibwe versions, charac- helps, sometimes otter or beaver, but
ters shift, variations occur, but a core usually the strongest creatures fail to re-
plot line always repeats itself. The story trieve some earth; it is the lowliest diver
always includes a friendship or kinship of all—the muskrat—who succeeds.
between Nanabush and a wolf. The wolf, Nanabush then takes the earth, spreads
675
it about, and breathes life into it. Later he or box. When we listen to the tales of the
is sometimes said to have a hand in cre- powerful manitous who hold the world
ating humans (though often Kitche Man- together, we see that even more clearly.
itou, Great Manitou, does that), other Some of the most discussed and power-
animals, and even more manitous. ful manitous are the Thunderers, or
In this myth we see the multileveled Thunderbirds, who are understood as
nature of the world. There is a sky realm, the storms, the sound of the storm, the
an underwater/underground one, and a makers of the storm, giant birds, and
fragile island of an earth that rests be- spirit beings all at the same time. At the
tween. The myth tells us that humans heart of their being, the Thunderers are
must respect the world and those who grandparents, powerful manitous who
dwell within it. It instructs us that the assist those humans who know enough
earth is precarious and that anger and to respect them. The Thunderers are said
revenge have consequences. It tells us to dwell in the West, but, along with the
that we must care for the earth and treas- winds, to stand also at the four corners of
ure it by never upsetting its balance as the cosmos. They bring life-giving rain,
Mishebeshu and Nanabush did. It re- they signal the warm months, and they
minds us that creation and survival are speak to humans and protect them from
cooperative enterprises. And, finally, the the threats of Mishebeshu and his peo-
story shows us that humans are latecom- ple. In a short myth, Nanabush creates
ers to this island. The animals and the the Thunderers in order to keep the peo-
manitous are our older siblings and our ple, whom he has made, from disappear-
grandparents, and we must seek their ing. The Thunderers are instructed to
guidance and show them our respect. watch over the humans and to strike
Contemporary Ojibwe people have against Mishebeshu.
noted that the destruction of the envi- In all their myths the Thunderers are
ronment is owed to an inability to hear at odds with Mishebeshu, but they also
the lessons of this myth—and their point feed upon the underwater manitous
is well taken. But as we can see, this story they kill; thus they also need those peo-
is not just an explanation of how the ple. The Thunderers speak with their
present world came to be, or even an en- thunderclaps, and humans who listen
vironmental caveat. It is a description of may understand the message. That is im-
the balance of the world and a prescrip- portant, because it is a good illustration
tion for human behavior. of the way in which human behavior—
The descriptive and prescriptive as- especially ritualized behavior—is pre-
pects of Ojibwe mythology are never mu- scribed in myth. Humans should stay out
tually exclusive. And one of the hall- of the way of the Thunderers. They
marks of Ojibwe myth is its ability to step should sit down and listen quietly to the
outside what might be called an either/ voice of the Thunder, and they should
676
offer respect and thanksgiving by burn- was the voice of the Thunderers. After his
ing or burying tobacco as a gift for their recovery, Mr. Pontiac spoke to an elder
grandparents. There is an old story, who told him that if he had heard his
found in the earliest collections, that is name called once more, a fourth time, he
still being told by elders today about hu- would have died and been taken up by
mans who got it into their heads to go the Thunderers (Smith 1995, 90).
and visit the Thunderers on their moun- This story is not so different from a
taintops. Those humans who went well-known myth of a woman who, in a
boldly were struck down by their grand- storm on a lake, is threatened by death in
parents, while those who fasted, asked the form of rough water/Mishebeshu.
permission, and approached with re- She strikes with her oar, invoking the
spect were welcomed, sheltered, and fed Thunderers and saying that, since in her
by the community of Thunderers. youth she dreamed of the Thunder, she
There are hundreds of stories about was using the power of the Thunderers
the Thunderers, some set long ago and against the threat. Is one story a personal
some told as personal memories of en- reminiscence and another a myth? I
counters with Thunderers. The stories think they are both part of an ongoing
are often combined, woven together, be- mythic conversation, threads that are
cause Ojibwe myths are like that—they connected, or, perhaps, just pieces of
are not discrete narratives that follow the one long thread.
foreign dictates of Aristotle’s Poetics. To understand better the long thread
Rather, they are threads of a fabric that of Ojibwe myth and the Ojibwe refusal to
connect with one another and have no live in an either/or box, it might be help-
beginning, middle, or end, because they ful to close with a discussion of the
are ongoing conversations. Angus Pon- mythic character whose adventures
tiac, one of the elders of Manitoulin Is- never end, Nanabush. For many years
land, who told me some old myths of mythographers were frustrated by the
Thunderers, also told me this story: Mr. idea that in Native American myth, the
Pontiac had been in the hospital with a figure of the culture hero, the one who
fever. He had a vision in which the room creates things and who teaches humans
filled with smoke. Standing in the smoke how to live, and the trickster, the one
were two figures. “Two old-timers well who upsets the balance and breaks
dressed in leather jackets, jet black hair taboos, were one and the same person.
well combed. They looked at me real Nanabush, who appears in myth as a
stern. They didn’t say a word.” At this man and as a rabbit and who has the
point, Mr. Pontiac glanced out the win- ability to take on many other forms, is a
dow and saw it was storming. The light- great hero. We have seen how he remakes
ning flashed, the thunder rolled, and he the world, fixes humans on earth with
heard his name called three times. This the help of the Thunderers, and struggles
677
against mighty manitous. But he is also a in Latin rather than French. Granted,
fool, a greedy and vindictive character Nanabush’s humor is not sophisticated,
who is a true hedonist and who will em- and it is often cruel—but just as often it
ploy trickery to get what he wants. And is extremely funny. And the butt of the
what does Nanabush want? He wants the joke is usually Nanabush himself.
basics, really: food, sleep, and sex. How In the famous tale of “The Shut-Eye
can a hero be a fool? It’s a natural balanc- Dance” or “Hoodwinked Dancers,”
ing act for this person. Nanabush’s hero- Nanabush tricks ducks into dancing with
ism is usually an accidental thing, or it their eyes closed so that he may kill and
occurs because he has put himself into a eat them. By the time they get wise to his
position in which he must act in order to trickery, Nanabush has a feast ready to
save himself. His character refuses to fall roast. He leaves the ducks to cook slowly
into the categories that the mythogra- in the embers of his fire while he sleeps,
phers set for him, and this is what makes and, of course, some foxes come along
him interesting. He is the epitome of the and steal his dinner. The most amusing
dynamism and flexibility of Ojibwe myth part of the story is that Nanabush tells
that I described above. And he is great his rectum to stand watch during the
entertainment as well. night and to warn him of danger. The
Some of the earliest collectors of poor rectum does so by emitting gas.
Ojibwe myths were Jesuit missionaries Nanabush, who seems always caught up
who faithfully recorded their interac- in the pleasure of the moment, berates
tions with the Native peoples of the his rectum and, finally, burns it with a
Americas in The Jesuit Relations. This fire stick in order to punish it. The result-
collection is a problematic gold mine, ing pain he experiences coupled with his
inasmuch as it necessarily includes a Je- discovery of the loss of his meal is funny
suitical interpretation of all that the mis- in many ways. We laugh because he is a
sionaries experienced. The Jesuits were greedy fool, because he does not under-
both enthralled and troubled by the peo- stand his own body, and because the
ple they met, and they were especially trickster has been tricked. But true to his
confounded by the character of Nana- culture hero status, Nanabush rubs his
bush. They found the sexual and scato- bottom on some rocks and leaves a red
logical humor of the Nanabush tales to stain, which one can still find today: it is
be, at best, in poor taste, and at worst, a type of lichen that is both edible and
sinful. In order to “protect” casual read- high in protein. That is just one of many
ers from the scandal of Nanabush’s es- accidental gifts that Nanabush leaves in
capades, which frequently include refer- his wake.
ence to excrement, flatulence, and So what are we to make of this frac-
extraordinary sexual feats, they would tured character? I think we are to under-
sometimes record problematic sections stand that he is not fractured at all but
678
that he stands between the manitous of the dynamic and multilayered char-
and humans and that he speaks to the acter of Ojibwe mythology and the
best and worst parts of human nature. Ojibwe cosmos. For in the end, Ojibwe
He provides a model not in spite of but myths describe a sacred landscape. And
because of his ambiguity. He is said to be that landscape has a voice—or I should
half-spirit and half-human, and he is a say, voices, that speak with power and
living presence in the lives of contempo- urgency, confirming the identity and
rary Ojibwe people. He provides laughter purpose of the Ojibwe people.
even as he transforms reality and in- Theresa S. Smith
structs human behavior. The myths that
See also Manitous; Oral Traditions, Ojibwe;
feature Nanabush form a long cycle and Tricksters
one that is never finished, so long as the
Ojibwe continue to tell the old myths Barnouw, Victor. 1977. Wisconsin Chippewa
and to create new ones. Nanabush is Myths and Tales and Their Relation to
sleeping now, but he is not dead—and he Chippewa Life. Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press.
is not lost in the past. Perhaps the most Benton-Banai. 1988. The Mishomis Book:
helpful lesson he teaches about Ojibwe The Voice of the Ojibway. St. Paul, MN:
mythology is that these stories are alive Red School House Press.
Geyshick, Ron, with Judith Doyle. 1989. Te
and meaningful, not artifacts to be col- Bwe Win: Truth Stories by an Ojibway
lected and preserved in museums. Nor Healer. Toronto: Summerhill Press.
do they constitute a canon but an ongo- Hallowell, A. Irving. 1967. Culture and
Experience. Philadelphia: University of
ing speech event in which listeners hear Pennsylvania Press.
of a peopled cosmos that is experienced Johnston, Basil. 1976. Ojibway Heritage.
as one dwells on this continent. And it is New York: Columbia University Press.
Jones, William. 1917. Ojibwa Texts, Part I.
worth noting that if there is anything that Edited by Truman Michelson.
approaches the status of a “definitive” Publications of the American
text for any Ojibwe myth, it is the land- Ethnological Society no. 7. New York:
American Ethnological Society.
scape of the Great Lakes region. One may
———. 1919. Ojibwa Texts, Part II. Edited by
look to the Sleeping Giant and read Truman Michelson. Publications of the
Nanabush’s story; one may gaze at rough American Ethnological Society no. 7. New
York: American Ethnological Society.
water and see the power of Mishebeshu;
Kegg, Maude. 1991. Portage Lake: Memories
and one may watch the storm clouds as of an Ojibwe Childhood. Edited and
they approach from the West and experi- transcribed by John Nichols.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
ence the visit of the Thunderers. This in-
Press.
scription on the land should not be seen Morriseau, Norval. 1965. Legends of My
as a romanticizing of the natural world, People, the Great Ojibway. Edited by
nor as an etiological framework through Selwyn Dewdney. Toronto: McGraw Hill,
Ryerson.
which one may understand natural Overholt, Thomas, and J. Baird Callicott.
forces. Rather, it is one more indication 1982. Clothed in Fur and Other Tales: An
679
Oral Traditions, Plateau _____________________________________________________________________
Introduction to an Ojibwa World View. human peoples themselves. In their

Lanham: University of Maryland Press. deeds and misdeeds, the Animal Peoples
Redsky, James. 1972. Great Leader of the
Ojibwe: Mis-quona-queb. Edited by also exemplify what is proper and im-
James Stevens. Toronto: McClelland and proper behavior, establishing “teach-
Stewart Ltd. ings” and ethical codes for human con-
Smith, Theresa S. 1995. The Island of the
Anishnaabeg. Moscow: University of duct. Those codes of conduct are given
Idaho Press. further definition in the actions of
human heroes who provide examples of
courage, perseverance, and hope in the
face of seemingly overwhelming adver-
Oral Traditions, Plateau
sity. With the handing down of these oral
The oral traditions of the Plateau refer to traditions, the stories at once entertain,
a vast body of stories that chronicle the providing an emotional tone to life and
actions of what are often referred to as an outlet for expression; they also edu-
the Animal Peoples or the First Peoples, cate, instilling and reiterating a sense of
such as Coyote, Chipmunk, Salmon, identity and heritage, as well as practical
Grizzly Bear, Crane, Sweat Lodge, and skills and knowledge. As one Coeur d’A-
Chief Child of the Yellow Root, as well as lene elder stated, “The stories are our
the actions of human heroes, buffoons, textbooks.” In the very act of retelling
and other characters. These oral tradi- those stories, meaning and vitality are
tions are often categorized into stories of reinvested and perpetuated into the
the creation time—that is, of the Animal human communities as well as the land’s
Peoples before the coming of human various features and inhabitants. Hence
people—and stories of the time of hu- the phrase “Stories make the world.”
mans—that is, after the coming of The land was once a barren and in-
human peoples. It is the powerful Ani- hospitable place, inhabited by a variety
mal Peoples who subdue dangerous of “man-eaters” and other dangerous
monsters, transform a barren land, and monsters, such as Rock Monster and
prepare the world for the coming of Swallowing Monster. It is the Animal
human peoples. They exhibit both ani- Peoples, and in particular the Coyote,
mal and human qualities, with the who with great dexterity and cunning,
names of animals, yet are able to speak, and occasionally deception and trickery,
have human desires and frailties, and slay these beasts. Although there are no
live in “tribes” with their “families.” With clear descriptions of the images of the
their tremendous spiritual powers, the Animal Peoples, they typically have ani-
Animal Peoples create what now consti- mal names and many animal-like fea-
tutes and inhabits the world—the many tures, yet they often walk erect, with
mountains and rivers, the various ani- arms, legs, and hands. They display the
mals and plants, and eventually the full range of human emotions and moti-
680
____________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Plateau
vations, engage in fishing, hunting, and The last to be created, from the blood of
gathering, live in tule-mat lodges, are the grass, are the people most despised
adorned in clothing, travel by canoe, ad- or ridiculed by the storyteller. As in the
dress each other in terms of kinship rela- instance of the Nez Perce, the heart can
tions, and live in tribes. And they have still be observed as a particular earthen
language with which to speak to one an- knoll along a bend in the Clearwater
other. With their great “medicine” pow- River. As Coyote continues his travels, he
ers (for example, suumesh—Coeur d’A- brings salmon to those rivers where the
lene; weyekin—Nez Perce), the Animal people allow him to “marry” one of their
Peoples mold the mountains and chan- “daughters,” but he creates great falls
nel the rivers upon which the human and withholds salmon from those tribes
peoples will hunt, fish, and travel. With who deny their women to the Coyote.
their transformative powers the Animal Hence Post Falls and Spokane Falls are
Peoples successfully challenge and van- created along the Spokane River, pre-
quish all sorts of “man-eaters” and mon- venting salmon from entering Lake
sters, and they render a dangerous land Coeur d’Alene.
safe for the “human peoples who are In the instance of the Coeur d’Alene, it
coming.” With the wisdom that comes is Chief Child of the Yellow Root who
from such powers, it is the Animal Peo- journeys around a great lake and kills
ples who originate the great ceremonies, such monsters as Pestle Boy, Foolhen,
subsistence practices, and family struc- Comb, Awl, and Bladder, telling them no
tures that the human peoples will need longer to be man-eaters but to help the
in order to properly relate to one an- people who are coming. Lake Coeur d’A-
other, and to the animal and plant peo- lene is prepared for the coming of the
ples. And it is from their actions that the Coeur d’Alene people. Among many of
human peoples themselves are created. the Plateau tribes we learn that it is
In a widely shared account, it is Coy- Salmon who first taught the people how
ote who releases the salmon who had to build the scaffolds and use the dip
been captured by the Swallow Sisters at nets and three-pronged spears to fish the
Celilo Falls along the Columbia River. rivers. And it is Sweat Lodge who taught
The salmon are freed to go upriver and the people how to construct and use the
eventually provide food for the humans. sweatlodge to communicate their needs
It is also Coyote who slays a huge Swal- to him, and who then transformed him-
lowing Monster and from the parts of its self into the structure of the sweatlodge
body—its legs, arms, stomach, etc.—cre- itself.
ates the various human peoples, all or- In addition to the great transforma-
ganized along their tribal affiliations. tions brought about through their ac-
From the heart of the monster the people tions, the Animal Peoples also establish
of the particular storyteller are created. and embed in the world what the Coeur
681
d’Alene term the my-yp, the “teachings counts of Coyote are thus provided im-
from all things.” It will be these teach- portant teachings. When defending one’s
ings that guide the people, defining family in the face of an enemy or seeking
what it means to be Indian, as well as to benefit the other members of one’s
providing the knowledge of the skills family, it is appropriate to be the “Coy-
needed to subsist and thrive. Among the ote”—applying his skills of strategy, cun-
most important of these teachings, ex- ning, and trickery. But when those same
hibited throughout the Plateau, is the skills are applied against the members of
ethic of sharing. It entails the value of one’s own family or tribe and only self-
giving unselfishly to all those in need, rewards are sought, Coyote’s example
without thought of being reciprocated. only points the way to failure and what is
When the village is without food, the most inappropriate behavior.
chief’s daughters go to Crane for help. A common theme in the human hero
Upon hearing of the starvation, Crane tales is the account of a young boy who,
hunts deer, though not killing more than in the face of intimidation from a camp
is necessary, and feeds all the villagers, bully or certain defeat at the hands of an
without expecting to receive anything in enemy, uses his courage and tenacity to
return. But when Coyote hunts, often overcome his adversary. This theme is
asking, “What’s in it for me?” he tries to well illustrated in the Coeur d’Alene
take too many deer, or shoots only story of Four Smokes. While the men of
fawns, and is ridiculed as a result and the camp are in Crow country buffalo
goes home hungry. hunting, the camp becomes surrounded
In the character of Coyote are critical by enemy warriors. A young boy, “tall for
examples of what is proper and im- his age,” is asked to “use a stick like a
proper behavior. Coyote is the trickster rifle” and to attempt to divert the war-
par excellence, using his great skills of riors away from the camp while the rest
physical prowess, strategy, deception, of his family escapes. Out of care for his
and chicanery to outwit his opponent. In family, the young boy reluctantly ac-
the many accounts of Coyote, it is often cepts. But he also knows that the Crows
the case that when he is self-effacing and are great marksmen and that he will
helps others, as when he frees the surely be killed. On each of four at-
salmon from the Swallow Sisters at Celilo tempts, the young boy gives a war cry
Falls or rids the land of the Rock Monster, and, with lead bullets flying about him,
he is successful in his schemes. But when runs to a nearby bush. On each occasion,
Coyote is selfish and seeks only rewards he makes it to the bush “without a
for himself, as when he desires the chief’s scratch.” The warriors come to believe
daughter or hunts more deer than he that this “man” has “special powers,” and
needs, he fails, duped by his own decep- they give up on their raid. That evening
tion, and is made the “fool.” In these ac- in a council of elders the young boy is
682
given the name Four Smokes, in honor of the listeners of the story into partici-
the four times the Crow rifles discharged pants within the story. Listeners travel
smoke but failed to hit the boy, thus sav- with the Coyote as he plays a trick on
ing his family. some “younger brother” or slays some
With the completion of the creation of “man-eater” threatening the other Ani-
the world, the activities of the Animal mal Peoples and the human peoples who
Peoples had not come to an end. The An- are coming. Listeners witness the cre-
imal Peoples became the actual animals, ation time anew. As oral tradition, the
birds, and fishes of the forests, prairies, modes of presentation thus directly con-
and rivers, as well as the Animal Spirit tribute to the meaning conveyed within
Peoples themselves. It would be an Ani- the stories, as well as to the role and sig-
mal Person, such as the Wolf or Eagle, nificance the oral traditions play in the
who might come to a fasting vision lives of Plateau Indians.
quester on a distant mountain summit Among the storytelling techniques are
and grant him or her a powerful suumesh the skillful use of voice and intonation
(Coeur d’Alene) or weyekin (Nez Perce) fluctuations, distinguishing one char-
song. That Animal Person would become acter from the next and adding a dy-
a guardian spirit, nurturing and protect- namic to the telling. Along with ani-
ing the person all his or her life. mated hand gestures and body language,
The Animal Peoples would also come the judicious use of tempo and pauses
“alive” and engage the human people helps to build tension and to spotlight
each time a storyteller retells the ac- the actions of the characters. Among
counts of Coyote, Salmon, Four Smokes, many tribes, the storyteller would con-
or the other Animal Peoples and human tinue telling the story only as long as the
heroes. The storytellers in the commu- listeners were indeed participants. The
nity have a special responsibility as care- involvement of listeners was cued by pe-
takers of the oral traditions. While some riodic signals to the storyteller from the
oral traditions are family stories and are listeners, such as voicing or giving the
told only among relatives, the vast body hand sign equivalent to “yes.” Should
of stories are widely shared, and every- such acknowledgments cease, so too
one has the potential to become an ac- would the story, regardless of whether
complished raconteur. Typically, Coyote the story was completed or not.
stories are told only during the winter The listeners often witness stylistic
months, often associated with the hold- phrase and verse repetitions in the nar-
ing of the Jump Dances. Some elders are rative structure. The sacred numbers
particularly adept and widely recognized among the Plateau peoples are predomi-
for their storytelling abilities. The varied nantly three and five, while four is used
techniques and styles used by story- occasionally. It takes Coyote either three
tellers all coalesce and seek to transform or five attempts to break the dam at
683
Celilo Falls. Each episode is told in detail to the rivers. What had been witnessed in
and then repeated, with the last episode the storytelling is now free to return to
conveying success in breaking the dam. the mythically endowed landscape.
When five brothers attempt some en- When the word fibers of a story are
deavor, it is typically the last of the five, woven into a fine tapestry, the meaning
often the youngest, who succeeds. The and vitality of that oral tradition are rein-
repetitions build until it is on the last of fused back into the landscape’s carpet.
the series that fruition is obtained. In ad- The retelling of the oral traditions en-
dition, when told in the native language riches the Indian peoples both effec-
of the storyteller, the entire narrative or- tively and didactically. The act of sharing
ganization might be grouped into verses the stories offers listeners a sense of sus-
of three and five lines within each scene. pense and anticipation, of tragedy and
A verse might be marked by an intona- despair, of hope and optimism, and of
tion contour in the storyteller’s voice. A comic delight and humor. In the laughter
structured rhythm in the speech pattern that so characteristically comes from the
thus marks the presentation of the story. storytelling, listeners are allowed to
The participatory involvement of the “lighten the load” in what can be chal-
listeners is particularly facilitated in the lenging circumstances and “explore the
creative poignancy attributed to Native heavy issues.” Humor is also the most
words and language itself. Words not difficult element to translate into the En-
only describe or refer to the images of the glish language and sensibilities. The sto-
world; they also have a power to bring ries thus entertain, providing an emo-
forth that which they name. This under- tional outlet and focus and contributing
standing is reflected in an Indian name. to the community’s ethos.
The descriptive “Indian name,” ritually The retelling of the oral traditions ed-
bestowed, has a volition to help the per- ucates, as the listeners learn of their
son become his or her name. Within the tribal heritage and identity. The stories
narratives themselves there is a clear un- anchor a people to their particular cre-
derstanding of this capacity. Upon saying ation and to a particular landscape, reaf-
he wanted to look a particular way, Coy- firmed in the waterfalls at Celilo, in the
ote was transformed into that image. hill of the “heart of the monster” along
When he sang the words of a particular the Clearwater River, or in the shoreline
song referring to travel, the song was of Lake Coeur d’Alene. The oral tradi-
able to transport him to a distant locations also provide the practical knowl-
tion. At the close of the storytelling sea- edge of the skills necessary for survival,
son, and having thus spoken of all the as well as the ethical teachings needed
Animal Peoples, an elder might say that for the “good life.” It is Salmon who in-
it is time for the animals to go to the structs in the proper use of fishing scaf-
forests, the birds to the sky, and the fish folds, dip nets, and three-pronged
684
spears. The way of the Sweat House cere- The act of retelling the oral traditions
mony is conveyed through its story. The is akin to canoeing the waterways of the
cunning and deceptive Coyote shows Plateau. When the story comes to its con-
how to face and overcome an enemy, clusion for an evening, the storyteller
while how not to face a relative. The val- might say, “Its time to tie up the story.”
ues of sharing and caring for others are Upon resuming the storytelling the next
well demonstrated by Four Smokes and evening, the storyteller would say, “Now
Crane. let’s untie the story.” And when the story-
While there are some stories specifi- teller gets off course, on some tangent, a
cally meant for children, the storyteller’s listener might respond by saying, “Get
intended audience are all members of on course or you might float away.” In
the community, children and adults. the act of speaking the story to life, the
Young and old would gather around the listeners travel the unfolding rivers of the
storyteller well into the evening hours. story’s landscape, running with the Coy-
The children would come and go, babies ote and witnessing the creation of the
would fall asleep in the arms of their world as if for the first time. The canoe is
mothers, and elders would laugh as if certainly kept on course under the guid-
they had never heard the story before. As ance of the storyteller, but it also takes
each oral tradition is deeply embedded the paddling of the canoe’s participants
with multiple layers of teachings, each to bring the story to life.
time a listener engages a story his or her When the story is tied up for an
own experiences have changed, and evening or a season, the landscape re-
something new awaits discovery. At the vealed and traveled is brought to bear as
conclusion of a story there are typically the story’s listeners walk beside the
no specific, Aesop-like moral commen- “heart of the monster” or along the
taries offered by the storyteller. To pre- shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene. It becomes
scribe a single moral lesson would be to a landscape revitalized and re-embed-
limit the significance the story held for ded with the teachings of Coyote and
the idiosyncratic members of an audi- Chief Child of the Yellow Root. The land-
ence. Each traveler within the story was scape that occurred in the mythic past is
allowed to discover for himself or herself continued and perpetuated into the
the appropriate lessons. The teachings present. Any distinctions between the
are to be actively sought out by the travels occurring within the story during
story’s travelers, and not passively the act of storytelling and the travels oc-
handed to them by the storyteller. In so curring after the story is tied up become
doing, the young are educated and blurred and indistinguishable, as the
guided, while the mature are rejuvenated travelers are well integrated in this
in the identities, skills, and teachings in- perennial landscape. The Animal Peo-
grained within the oral traditions. ples are always close at hand, for it is
685
Oral Traditions, Pueblo ______________________________________________________________________
their stories, assisted by canoe travelers, Phinney, Archie. 1934. Nez Perce Texts. New
that make the world. York: Columbia University Contributions
to Anthropology 23.
Rodney Frey Ray, Verne. 1933. “Sanpoil Folk Tales.”
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Coeur Journal of American Folk-Lore 46, no.
d’Alene; Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce; 180: 129–187.
Dance, Plateau; Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Reichard, Gladys. 1947. “An Analysis of
Plateau; Spiritual and Ceremonial Coeur d’Alene Indian Myths.” Memoirs of
Practitioners, Plateau; Tricksters the American Folk-Lore Society no. 41.
Philadelphia. Reprint, New York: Kraus,
References and Further Reading 1969.
Aoki, Haruo. 1979. Nez Perce Texts. Berkeley: Robinson, Harry. 1989. Write It on Your
University of California Publications in Heart: The Epic World of an Okanagan
Linguistics, vol. 90. Storyteller. Edited and compiled by
Aoki, Haruo, and Deward Walker. 1989. Nez Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver:
Perce Oral Narratives. Berkeley: Talonbooks/Theytus.
University of California Publications in ———. 1992. Native Power: In the Spirit of
Linguistics, vol. 104. an Okanagan Storyteller. Seattle:
Boas, Franz, and A. Chamberlain. 1918. University of Washington Press.
“Kutenai Tales.” Bureau of American Teit, James. 1898. Traditions of the
Ethnology Bulletin 49. Washington, DC: Thompson River Indians of British
Smithsonian Institution. Columbia. Memoirs of the American
Frey, Rodney, ed. 1995. Stories that Make the Folk-Lore Society, vol. 6. Boston.
World: Oral Literature of the Inland ———. 1912. Mythology of the Thompson
Northwest. Norman: University of Indians. Memoir of the American
Oklahoma Press. Museum of Natural History, vol. 8.
———. 2001. Landscape Traveled by Crane Leiden.
and Coyote: The World of the Teit, James, and Franz Boas, eds. 1917.
Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene). Seattle: “Folk-Tales of Salish and Sahaptin
University of Washington Press. Tribes.” Memoirs of the American Folk-
Frey, Rodney, and Dell Hymes. 1998. Lore Society, no. 11. Lancaster, PA.
“Mythology.” In Plateau, Handbook of
North American Indians. Washington,
DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Hanna, Darwin, and Mamie Henry. 1996.
Our Telling: Interior Salish Stories of the Oral Traditions, Pueblo
Nlha7kapmx People. Vancouver:
University of British Columbia Press. Appreciating Puebloan oral traditions is
Hymes, Dell. 1981. “In Vain I Tried to Tell
integral to understanding Puebloan cul-
You:” Essays in Native American
Ethnopoetics. Philadelphia: University of tures, for there is an intricate link be-
Pennsylvania Press. tween the mythology and the practices
Lifelong Learning Online—Lewis and Clark of these cultural groups. Myths are at the
Rediscovery Project, “The
Schitsu’umsh—Coeur d’Alene Indians,”
basis of organizing sacred societies, such
http://www.L3-lewisandclark.com/Sites/ as medicine and kiva groups, as well as
ShowOneSite.asp?SiteID=50. (Accessed justifying the enactment of an array of
July 30, 2002.)
rituals and ceremonies. The oral tradi-
Mourning Dove. 1990. Coyote Stories. Edited
by Heister Dean Guie. Lincoln: tion also accounts for how each Pueblo
University of Nebraska Press. group came to settle its ancient home-
686
_____________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Pueblo
Although it would be inaccurate to

claim that all Pueblos have the same
mythology, they do nonetheless share a
remarkable number of elements in com-
mon. That is in spite of the fact that there
are currently twenty-two distinct Pueblo
communities throughout the Colorado
Plateau, covering modern-day north-
eastern Arizona and northern New Mex-
ico. Moreover, Pueblo groups are also
distinguishable by differences in dialect.
Edward P. Dozier points out that “from
west to east, the languages of the Pueblos
are as follows: Hopi, Zuni, Keres (Kere-
san), Tiwa, Jemez (Towa), Tewa” (Dozier
1970, 121). But as Fred Eggan observes,
the Pueblo communities demonstrate a
greater amount of unity than their neigh-
bors in the Southwest and Lower Plains.
“Pueblo culture is both highly distinctive
Hopi petroglyphs on a boulder at Willow and uniform in its externals” (Ortiz 1979,
Springs, Tuba City, Arizona, 1980s. (Tom Bean/ 224). This uniformity extends to the oral
CORBIS)
tradition itself, beginning with the cre-
ation story.
land, and how its pattern of settlement All Pueblos have an emergence myth
became the basis for each group’s cus- tradition, in which the first people mi-
toms and beliefs. Indeed, what Ruth grated upward through a succession of
Bunzel said about the Zuni oral tradition worlds, usually three, before arriving in
may be said about the Pueblos in gen- the fourth world, which is the world of
eral. “There is little speculative interest today. The people in each of the previous
in the origin and early history of the worlds were typically compelled to move
world . . . although there is great interest on because several among them were
in the early history of mankind, and the guilty of various transgressions against
origin of laws, customs, and rituals” the sacred. However, whereas the culpa-
(Bunzel 1992, 488). In fact, a custom is ble would be left behind for their behav-
seen as all the more authentic if it can be ior, others would be assisted in their
said with respect to the oral tradition quest for the next world by sacred beings
that “it came up with us” (Parsons 1996, who often came in the form of animals.
210). Moreover, the animals who lend their
687
support play not only a logistical role in alities” (Ortiz 1979, 577). That is what
the people’s migration but also an edify- Hultkrantz means when he asserts that
ing one. The latter occurs when the peo- Zuni “rituals are firmly rooted in Zuni
ple become more spiritually developed cosmogony and cosmology” (Hultkrantz
in terms of their understanding of the 1987, 93). This is to say that there is not
world, as well as gaining practical knowl- simply a precedent set for particular ritu-
edge regarding rituals and ceremonies. als in mythology, but that they were in-
Particularly in the case of the Western augurated with the group’s ongoing wel-
Pueblos, such as Hopi and Zuni, they fare in mind.
would acquire the knowledge necessary Among the Hopi each of the four
for summoning the rain. worlds would have a name, beginning
With respect to the concern for rain, with Tokpela, “Endless Space” (Waters
Dozier points out that because there was 1977, 3). In this world there “was no be-
a significant environmental difference ginning and no end, no time, no shape,
between the Eastern Rio Grande River no life” (ibid.). Only after Taiowa, the Sun
Pueblos and the Western Pueblos, there and Creator, made his nephew, Sotuk-
were corresponding differences in their nang, the God of the Universe and Cre-
respective worldviews. Specifically, the ator of all ceremonies, did the world of
Eastern Pueblos relied heavily on irriga- substance emerge out of this nothing-
tion for their sustenance needs, whereas ness. On this world would be placed a
the Western Pueblos did not. Conse- helper, Kokyangwuti, Spider Woman.
quently, as Dozier states, the Western Kokyangwuti would also possess the
Pueblos “attempt to cope with these power of creation, using her abilities to
basic concerns by magical practices; the make the world ready for human habita-
Rio Grande Pueblos, especially the tion. In addition then to creating “trees,
Tanoans, by more practical ones” bushes, plants, flowers, all kinds of seed-
(Dozier 1970, 133). With that in mind, bearers and nut-bearers,” Kokyangwuti
Ake Hultkrantz said about the Zuni that also created a pair of hero twins: Pöqáng-
their “myth outlines the major aspects of hoya and Palöngawhoya (ibid., 5). They
the Zuni understanding of the nature of would protect the people from enemies,
the cosmos.” This understanding is ex- keeping the integrity of their culture.
pressed through customs and beliefs While in Tokpela, the people multiplied
that are considered necessary for the and began speaking different languages;
well-being of the community, be they soon even the animals grew apart from
“magical” or not. Puebloan religion, as humans. This was also a time when the
Louis A. Hieb proclaims, “is felt to be not people learned about illness. Things
only logically true but also empirically were not as they should be. The people
true, that is, its validity is equally deriv- emerged into Tokpa, “Dark Midnight,”
able from its relationship to everyday re- which was not quite as beautiful as the
688
first world; nonetheless, the people mul- for having become too self-important
tiplied as before, building villages, stor- when he was in charge of the third world,
ing food, and bartering with one another. Kuskurza. With that in mind, Másaw re-
Consequently the people became minded the people of the higher powers
greedy, always wanting more material to whom they owed deference, then told
possessions. Things once again were not them that he would be the one to take
as they should be. the world away if the people degenerated
The people, who were the few who re- into immoral behavior again. With that
membered the song of creation, Másaw sent the people on their way, hav-
emerged into the third world, Kuskurza, ing first divided them into groups and
a name whose meaning has long been clans (ibid., 3–22).
forgotten. Once again the people multi- When Andrew Peynetsa told the Zuni
plied, this time building great cities and creation story to Dennis Tedlock, he por-
countries. Some even knew how to fly trayed the Sun as being unsatisfied with
through the air on special shields. Be- a world in which no one offered him ei-
cause of this mammon, the people ther prayer sticks or prayer meal. So the
fought and became corrupt. For the third Sun brought people out of the “second
time things were not as they should be. room,” whose “lightning smell” killed the
After the Kuskurza world was flooded, people of the first room. But the second
the people, the chosen few, made it into room people were also not mindful
the fourth world, Tuwaqachi, “World about making offerings to the Sun, so
Complete,” through a hollow reed. Once this world was destroyed by a flood.
there, Sótuknang revealed to the people When the people of the third room were
that Tuwaqachi was “not all beautiful brought out, their lightning smell killed
and easy like the previous” worlds. the second room people. Also during this
Tuwaqachi “has height and depth, heat time, the Sun spotted a waterfall at the
and cold, beauty and barrenness; it has base of which suds and foam were form-
everything for you to choose from.” ing. “It was there,” as Peynetsa tells it,
Whether or not this world would be de- “where the suds were made / that the
stroyed like the others would be all up to two Bow Priests / sprouted. / There the
the people themselves. But first the peo- two Ahayuuta / received life” (Tedlock
ple would have to complete their migra- 1972/1999, 247). Although they were
tions in search of the center, which they twins, one was known as the elder
embarked on after receiving Másaw’s brother, Ma’asewi, while the other was
permission to live in this world. For known as the younger brother, Uyuyuwi.
Másaw was “the caretaker, the guardian Together they were charged with the
and protector of this land.” Másaw, mission of bringing the people from the
moreover, was the deity of the under- fourth room into the day world. The
world, who was here to redeem himself Ahayuuta were uncertain as to how to go
689
about doing this. So, looking for help, Edmund Nequatewa tells a story about
Ma’asewi and Uyuyuwi took turns going how the Hopi picked Shung-opovi as
to the four sacred rain priests of the their home. Mockingbird gave the peo-
north, west, south, and east, representa- ple different languages and let them
tives of the rain-bringing Uwanammi choose their own culture by choosing
who live along the shores of the four their primary food, among which the
oceans (ibid., 283). Hopi had chosen the short-ear corn.
All of the rain priests said that unfor- With regard to that it should be noted
tunately they did not know what to do. that when the Hopi picked the short-ear
However, the rain priest of the east said corn they picked a life of hardship, but a
that maybe the Ahayuuta knew how to life of endurance in spite of adversity.
escape from this world, after all. The “Thus the Hopis chose Hopivotskwani
Ahayuuta were doubtful but said that . . . and [Másaw] and Mockingbird in-
they would “try something.” So every- structed them on how to live” (Sheridan
one, including the rain priests, was asked and Parezo 1996, 241). All were sent to
to gather their belongings and head for find their proper homeland. The Hopi
the east, where the Ahayuuta first then separated into various parties and
emerged. Then, just as they were ap- headed east. The first group out hap-
proaching their destination, the Ahayu- pened upon a dead bear, and so decided
uta asked the people to rest while they to call themselves Hona-wunga, the Bear
went on by themselves. The Ahayuuta Clan. The next group found the same
went to the north, where they planted bear, but because they used the hide to
yellow prayer sticks, after which a fir tree make straps to carry all their belongings,
grew that enabled everyone to enter the they decided to call themselves Bia-
third room. This process would be re- quois-wungwa, the Strap Clan. These
peated when the Ahayuuta went to the were followed by other groups who
east and planted blue prayer sticks, fol- found the same site, and depending on
lowed by an aspen that grew up to the what they saw, named themselves ac-
second room. Lastly, the Ahayuuta went cordingly. Thus came the Chosh-wunga,
to the south and planted red prayer the Bluebird Clan, the Koking-wungwa,
sticks, then watched as a cottonwood the Spider Clan, the Mui-wunga, the Go-
grew into the first room. Indeed, the cot- pher Clan, and the Wikurs-wungwa, the
tonwood “stood out into a / place full of Greasy-Eye-Cavities-of-the-Skull Clan
the color of dawn / full of yellow” (ibid., (Nequatewa 1936/1994, 22–25).
269). Eventually the Hona-wunga spotted
What typically happens next once the the Eastern Star, but still they were not
people have made it into the fourth quite certain where to settle. What they
room or world is that they still have to decided, however, was to depend on the
migrate in search of the “Middle Place.” rain for their crop cultivation. In light of
690
that they headed for the Painted Desert, that might want to attack them (ibid.,
to Shung-opovi, which means “the place 26–28). The way that John C. Connelly in-
by the spring where the tall weeds grow.” terprets this series of events is in terms of
Because the place was desolate, the the dynamics of social organization.
Hona-wunga thought that they would be More specifically, Connelly observes:
safe from other tribes. Nevertheless, the “Clan lore describes the admission of
Bia-quois-wunga tracked the Hona- each clan on the basis of its negotiations
wunga to their settlement. A messenger and commitments for certain ceremo-
was then sent to ask permission to join nial and secular services to the residence
the Hona-wunga. Although the Hona- community. The clusters of associated
wunga were cautious, they granted the clans thus surround the prime clan in an
Bia-quois-wunga permission to join orbital arrangement of dependency and
their settlement, giving them land of support, and a clan’s social distance from
their own. the center is determined by the signifi-
The other clans over time discovered cance of its contribution” (Ortiz 1979,
the settlement at Shung-opovi, each in 543).
turn asking for a place in the community. Peynetsa, in his story, tells of how the
Each clan, though, was asked about its Ahayuuta summoned the water strider
rites and ceremonies; more specifically, for help in determining if they had found
they were asked what they did to bring the Middle Place. The Ahayuuta told the
about the rain. If a clan leader was hum- water strider: “You / must bend over
ble and deferential with respect to the here. / You must stretch out your arms
sacred beings, they were allowed into and legs. / By the position / of your heart
Shung-opovi. But if they bragged about / the Middle Place will then become
their own power, they were denied ac- known” (Tedlock 1999, 300–301). Once
cess to the village. However, every time a the water strider had done as he was
clan was admitted, they were given land asked, the Ahayuuta were able to con-
farther out along the periphery of the vil- firm that they had finally found the place
lage. This was especially true for the that was destined for them. Only then
clans without any high priest or cere- could the people finish their migrations.
monies that had a difficult time convinc- What finally emerges out of this epic
ing village leaders that there was a place narrative is a worldview that is marked by
for them. One clan in particular, the Sun six sacred directions, which are in turn
Forehead Clan, asserted that they did not distinguished by a complex spectrum of
have time for rites and ceremonies be- beings. More specifically, using the Zuni
cause they were all warriors, who would as an example, at each of the four cardi-
be abundantly useful to the people of nal directions one will find an ocean, and
Shung-opovi because they could provide in the four oceans are four mountains
a line of defense against any enemies that are symbolized by different colors.
691
The oceans, moreover, are connected by compels the scholar of Pueblo oral tradi-
underground passages that sprout along tions to do is reorient research away
the landscape in “seeps, springs, ponds, from a text-based paradigm and focus
and caves.” “At the water outlets and on more on storytelling as drama and act-
mountaintops,” Tedlock notes, “are the ing. Lastly, what has often been over-
telassina’we, ‘sacred old places,’ or looked is the connection between myths
shrines, of the world” (Tedlock 1979, 499). and places. In other words, Pueblo
With regard to the array of sacred beings mythology may be regarded as a kind of
who inhabit the world, Arlette Frigout cosmography insofar as the events re-
notes that in the Hopi world there are counted in myth are locatable in the sur-
some 300 kachinas, as well as “the mythi- rounding landscape.
cal heroes” and “numerous gods.” Among David Martínez
those that Frigout lists are the sun, god of
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Pueblo;
germination, god of death (that is, Emergence Narratives; Kachina and Clown
Másaw), sand-altar young woman (the Societies; Tricksters
earth), Spider Woman, Dawn Woman, and References and Further Reading
the Twin War Gods (Frigout 1979, 564). Bunzel, Ruth L. 1992. Zuni Ceremonialism.
As a source of intellectual enlighten- Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press.
ment, the myths of all Pueblos should Courlander, Harold. 1987. The Fourth World
not be regarded in the same way that of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi
Scripture is in the Western Judeo-Chris- Indians as Preserved in Their Legends
and Traditions. Albuquerque: University
tian tradition. For as Dennis Tedlock has of New Mexico Press.
gone a long way in demonstrating with Cushing, Frank Hamilton. 1988. The Mythic
his work in the Zuni oral tradition, the World of the Zuni. Albuquerque:
stories are not only performed rather
Dozier, Edward P. 1970. The Pueblo Indians
than read but also express a multiplicity of North America. New York: Holt,
of voices, as opposed to being reducible Rinehart and Winston.
Frigout, Arlette. 1979. “Hopi Ceremonial
to the voice of a single Supreme Being. As
Organization.” In Alfonso Ortiz, ed.
performance, the oral tradition takes on Handbook of North American Indians,
an aural existence, which is facilitated by vol. 9, Southwest. Washington, DC:
the storyteller’s tone and gestures. “Once
Hultkrantz, Ake. 1987. Native Religions of
a tale has been told,” Tedlock observes, North America. San Francisco: Harper
“it recedes into its own time again, but it San Francisco.
waits there, ready to return to conscious- Lomatuway’Ma, Michael, and Lorena
Lomatuway’Ma, eds. 2001. Hopi Animal
ness. . . . ‘Past’ though a tale may be, its Stories. Lincoln, NB: Bison Books.
characters did not so much live out their Lomatuway’Ma, Michael, Lorena
lives in the past of the present world as Lomatuway’Ma, and Sidney Namingha,
eds. 1993. Hopi Ruin Legends:
they go on living and dying in a parallel Kiqotutuwutsi. Lincoln: University of
world” (Tedlock 1999, xxiv). What this Nebraska Press.
692
__________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Southeast
Nequatewa, Edmund. 1936/1990. Truth of a agricultural base. Nowhere else except

Hopi: Stories Relating to the Origin, possibly in California did so varied a pat-
Myths, and Clan Histories of the Hopi.
Flagstaff: Northland Publishing. tern of intermingling cultures emerge,
Ortiz, Alfonso, ed. 1979. Handbook of North with Creek, Choctaw, and other so-called
American Indians, vol. 9, Southwest. Civilized Tribes, roving Siouan bands, Al-
Institution. gonkins from the north, proud neutral
Parsons, Elsie Clews. 1996. Pueblo Indian states like the Yuchi, and remains of an-
Religion, vol. 1. Lincoln, NB: Bison cient empires (for example, Calusa,
Books.
Peynetsa, Andrew, and Walter Sanchez.
Natchez Indians). Not all of these tribes
1972/1999. Finding the Center: The Art of were “Indian.” Very ancient European
the Zuni Storyteller. Translated by Dennis contributions to New World DNA are re-
Tedlock. Lincoln, NB: Bison Books.
flected in the X-gene recently discovered
Sheridan, Thomas E., and Nancy J. Parezo.
1996. Paths of Life: American Indians of by population geneticists. C. S. Rafin-
the Southwest and Northern Mexico. esque in his Ancient History long ago
Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
proposed Kentucky and Tennessee as the
Tedlock, Barbara. 1992. The Beautiful and
the Dangerous: Dialogues with the Zuni center of an antediluvian Western-style
Indians. New York: Penguin Books. civilization, as evidenced by their nu-
———. 1979. “Zuni Religion and World
merous mounds, circular stone temples,
View.” In Alfonso Ortiz, ed., Handbook of
North American Indians, vol. 9, and other monuments. Curtis’s The Indi-
Southwest. Washington, DC: ans’ Book (1907) first popularized Ameri-
Smithsonian Institution. can Indian oral traditions, creating the
York: Penguin Books. earliest anthology of “oral literature.” But
Zuni People, The. 1973. The Zunis: Self- inclusions from Southeastern Native
Portrayals. Translated by Alvina Quam. people were few, and they have contin-
Press. ued to be underrepresented.
It is hard for modern-day readers to
imagine the world of Native speakers.
Word of mouth enjoyed the same pri-
macy as a medium of knowledge and
Oral Traditions, Southeast
means of religious practice as do literacy
Although displaced from the land they and Scripture in Old World religions.
celebrated, Southeastern indigenous Storytelling, chant, song, ceremony,
people had stories, songs, and forms of “talks,” and visions were originated and
oratory that were once incredibly rich perpetuated by the common people
and advanced. This diversity reflected rather than reserved to a privileged few.
the vast size and density of populations Religion permeated everything. Orality
interacting with one another, as well as ensured the communal, continual, and
the region’s thriving towns, trading egalitarian nature of tribal religions (a
paths, unique waterways, and ancient better term might be “spiritualities”).
693
Oral Traditions, Southeast ___________________________________________________________________
For Indians, oral tradition is sacrosanct, Ward Churchill (Creek-Cherokee Metis),

like transmission of texts and writings in Robert Conley (Cherokee), Todd Down-
the West and Orient. If Christianity is ing (Choctaw), Jimmy Durham (Chero-
book-based, the religions of the South- kee), Momfeather Erickson (Cherokee),
east are oral-based. Paper, books, and Jack D. Forbes (Powhatan-Delaware-
laws were quickly recognized as inimical Saponi), Diane Glancy (Cherokee), Joy
to indigenous ways. Language itself was Harjo (Creek), Jamake Highwater
taught to people by God (Creek: “Master (Cherokee-Blackfoot), Linda Hogan
of Breath”). The second highest rank in (Chickasaw), Betty Mae Jumper (Semi-
any community was the politico-reli- nole), N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa-Chero-
gious dignitary called “speaker” (Chero- kee), Ralph Salisbury (Cherokee), and
kee: skalilosken), and all towns had criers Marcellus Bear Heart Williams (Creek:
and greeters, usually wise old men The Wind Is My Mother: The Life and
skilled in tribally specific markings and Teachings of an American Shaman).
intertribal protocols. The equivalent Recording artists with a spiritual bent are
term for priest or scribe is “keeper.” Even Rita Coolidge (Cherokee), Joy Harjo
laws (Adair’s [1930] “beloved speech”) (Creek), Lisa LaRue (Cherokee), Bill
were oral. There is no theology in Indian Miller (Mohican), and Ulali (Saponi?).
society because nothing is written (Delo- Marian Anderson, the opera singer who
ria 1994). By the same token, there are no popularized Negro spirituals, was a black
lawyers: forensic oratory, so prized in the Cherokee. (For storytellers, see Duncan
West, did not develop (Kennedy 1998). 1998.)
History is the story of the people as a Scholars today divide American In-
whole—men, women, and children. It dian stories into sacred and entertain-
rarely follows the Latin model of deeds of ing, truth and fiction, but it is unclear
famous men (res gestae). Only occasion- whether such distinctions were observed
ally is it a Herodotean collection of times by Native storytellers or originated as a
and travels. Never does it approach the Western construct projected onto Amer-
Augustinian City of God model. The past ican Indian culture. Generally, the whole
is seen as a place rather than a time. In- body of oral tradition of a given tribe or
deed, most stories are about places— clan is seen as being of one piece and
mountains, caves, streams, pools, lakes, purpose. Indian sign talk has two words
cliffs, islands—often as a way of explain- for truth—“something I know and have
ing their sacredness. verified and am telling you from my
Contemporary authors heavily influ- heart” versus “something I have heard
enced by their people’s oral traditions tell but cannot vouch for myself.”
who occasionally pursue religious Probably the most important oral tra-
themes include Te Ata (Chickasaw: Baby ditions are creation, emergence, or origin
Rattlesnake), Jim Barnes (Choctaw), stories (called “cosmogonic myths” by
694
Mooney [1982]). Each is the distinctive maps showing spiritual pathways; couri-
patrimony of a cultural group, defining, ers carried wampum belts reminding
for instance, what it means to be Chero- them what to say; and all girls received
kee, or Creek, or Yuchi. Before conquest religious-instructive dolls (similar to the
by the white man, Indians deemed sto- katsina of the Hopi).
ries sacred, having a spirit and life of their The Yuchi carved ancestral and ani-
own. They had to be passed properly and mal heroes out of stone, making totem
intact to worthy receivers if passed at all. figurines that were used in the sweat-
Oral traditions were regarded as gifts lodge and around the fire to tell stories.
from the spirit world (Cherokee: Clans kept “talking” rocks, crystals, and
kalu[n]lati; lit., “the Up-Above Place”) or other heirlooms in their treasuries, each
from ancestors (usu.: “the Old Ones”), object with a legend and a lesson. Vari-
held in common, often owned by a clan. ous accounts containing migration
Most begin and end formulaically—for records and other tribes’ embassies were
example: “One time long, long ago . . . preserved in the inner sanctum of coun-
and that’s all there is.” They were not cil houses and chiefs’ lodges and dis-
viewed as individually authored works played and recited on special occasions.
fixed in media and subject to interpreta- The Walam Olum of the Delaware Indi-
tion and variety. Versions were highly ans represents that people’s annals and
standardized and static across genera- is kept even today in various longer and
tions, often incorporating archaic vocab- shorter compilations, on wampum belts,
ulary and performed ritualistically with prayer sticks, and birchbark. The oldest
rattle, stick, or drum. No mistake or de- version resides today in Canada with
parture from the original wording was al- William Commanda, chief of the Seven
lowed. The presence of words for wooly Algonkin Nations and spiritual head of
mammoth and other extinct megafauna all North American Indians. Wampum
shows their extreme antiquity. belts were originally made from purple
Both esoteric knowledge and everyday and white mussel beads sewn with sea-
communications were occasionally writ- weed on cotton or hempen fabric. Pre-
ten down or otherwise preserved in ma- served as emblems of sovereignty, they
terial forms. However, these acted as only were among the first things destroyed by
a personal mnemonic device, not a codi- invaders. The last such known to the
fication or publication. The same could Cherokee were remade by the Kee-
be said of calendar keeping and astron- toowah Society in Oklahoma after many
omy, highly engrossing activities at reli- of the other sacred bundles were re-
gious sites like Coosa, Echota, and Nanah moved to Scotland. Few if any of these
Waiyah Mound. Conjurors (Cherokee: artifacts survive.
adawehi; lit., “they fly around”—they Winter was the prime time for story-
often became owls) made medicine telling, whose main purpose was the
695
moral instruction of the young. The and symbol of office; the most recent
sexes were usually separated. Joel Chan- under Chief Billy was named Harjo
dler Harris’s Uncle Remus stories capture (“warrior”). The trees that stayed awake
just such a scene. They are based on in the same creation story were the
Yuchi and Cherokee stories mixed with cedar, pine, spruce, laurel, and holly;
African and European traditions from a there was a taboo against using them as
middle Georgia plantation. The trickster fuel.
in the Southeast is usually the rabbit, The “old ways” among most groups
sometimes the fox, corresponding to the lasted until the early 1800s. Not until
spider among the Lakota, the coyote in 1810 was the first Cherokee converted to
the Southwest, and the jackal in Africa. Christianity. About the same time clan
The oral traditions of the Cherokee, justice was repealed, and a traditionalist
Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Shawnee, ghost-dance movement began under
Yuchi, Natchez, and Seminole are still chief Pathkiller. Although the Spaniards
rich today beyond measure, though thought original Indian populations re-
dying out and constantly endangered by markably spiritual and pious, by the
failure to be passed along. Moreover, mid-1700s, Adair [1930] complained that
there is an ingrained resistance to trans- they were almost completely “aposta-
lating into English or sharing with out- cized” and quite irreligious. Curiously,
siders. Much survives in unlikely places, missionaries and Indian agents discov-
such as Puerto Rico and on other islands ered many Jewish practices, especially
in the Caribbean, where the last mem- among the Southeastern tribes. When
bers of a tribe might have been deported D. S. Buttrick conducted ethnological
as slaves by the English. collections around 1820, his informants
Traditionally, the Cherokee imbued made more of Moses than Jesus. It is
the owl (huhu, uguku, uku) and panther likely that the “mixed blood” hierarchies
(chlu[n]tachi) with special powers be- dominant at the time of Indian removal
cause those two animals stayed awake were mostly descended from crypto-
during the creation of the world. The Jewish traders and Melungeons (largely
principal chief of the nation was the Portuguese Jews, according to recent
Uku. Many stories are told of how the DNA studies). Sequoyah’s father was a
panther guided the people on their mi- crypto-Jewish trader, spy, and linguist
grations. Baby boys were cradled in from Baltimore, Nathaniel Gist. (A Gist
panther skins to make them good war- cousin in Kentucky married into the rab-
riors. Among the Muskogee, there were binical Gratz family of traders in
three distinct cat clans. Even today the Philadelphia and Lancaster.) Crypto-Ju-
principal chief on the Big Cypress Semi- daism, like Native American spirituality,
nole Indian Reservation in Florida was entirely oral, being an underground
keeps a Florida panther as his mascot religion.
696
Religious instruction was usually the asin in Lakota), and man is not the crown
duty of maternal grandparents, who dis- of creation but just one being in the cir-
ciplined children by scratching them cle of life. Accordingly, students of Indian
with gar teeth or turkey claws. Among eloquence have usually suspected
migratory Siouan bands intersettled (white) editorial tampering when a piece
with the major tribes (for example, of writing contains beautiful and elabo-
Biloxi, Occaneechi, Saponi, Catawba), vi- rate figurative language and symbolism.
sion quests and coming-of-age ordeals Chief Joseph’s words, for instance, were
were common. All tribes believed in greatly “improved.”
sharing dreams and enacting or avoiding The following is an English version of
the prophecies contained in them. the Cherokee origin story in its entirety,
Young people were taught to speak as told to the author by Paul Russell of
slowly and deliberately in public. Indian Hartsville, Tennessee, about 1995. It of-
speech is exceedingly polite. Few “curse fers many features common to other leg-
words” exist in American Indian lan- ends—a certain unadorned style, circu-
guages. Traditional Indians will not uti- lar structure, emphasis on place instead
lize oaths, either privately or publicly. of time, a teaching purpose, argumenta-
The Cherokee’s strongest oath was “I af- tion based more on credibility than logic,
firm it, I so say, I have spoken” (to-e-oo- and thoroughgoing “solemnity”:
ha or skeh!). Taboos and euphemisms Before the Great Flood there lived a
were frequent; for instance, the Chero- man and his wife in a land now below the
kee called the white man the “Nothings” waters called Lami. There were no
and addressed poison ivy as kanali, Cherokee at that time. The people of that
“friend,” upon entering the woods. place were a single nation with one
For the most part, Southeastern In- tongue. Many had become wicked. They
dian language was down-to-earth and turned to witchcraft to satisfy their de-
plainspoken. Metaphors and similes sires. This man and his wife kept to the
were uncongenial to traditional speakers old ways and were faithful. They had a
because of the Indian worldview, which dog that was loyal to them, that they
was profoundly holistic. Southeastern loved very much.
Indians do not divide the world into the The dog spoke to the man and his wife
natural and supernatural. Nor do they in their dreams. One night it told them
distinguish between the physical and the the world was going to be destroyed.
metaphysical. The visible and the invisi- They should make preparations to save
ble have the same order of being. Mind their family. The man did not want to be-
and body, matter and spirit, are non-In- lieve this. When he saw the dog in the
dian dichotomies. Everything is spirit, morning he asked the animal what he
and all spirit is one. All things are related meant. The dog whimpered and cowered
(taha ganino in Tihanama; cf. mitake oy- and tried to show fear. The man shook
697
his head. He petted the dog but the dog 1969), origin of the races story (with dif-
was not to be comforted. Finally, the dog ferent tribal versions, although the red
took the man down to the river and race is always the Maker’s favorite), the
jumped into the rushing water. To show Cherokee story of Kanati and Selu
the man what he meant, he tore his arm (Mooney [1982]—notice “Divine Twins”),
and leg muscles with his teeth and the story of the origin of medicine (the
drowned. The dog gave his life to save the animals visit illness on mankind in re-
lives of his people. venge, while plants help the Indians—
The man now knew what he was to do. Cherokee), and a creation story in which
He began building a boat. He put food a water beetle (Cherokee) or muskrat
and other necessities on it. The neigh- (Seminole) brings up land and a spark of
bors laughed at him because the ocean fire out of the primordial waters.
was far away even though they lived on In deliberative oratory, treaty making,
an island. The stream was too small to and polemics (which is to say, the bulk of
carry his boat. When the man tried to all discourse in the postcontact period),
warn them, they made fun of him for the separate creation of the Indian was a
talking with dogs! It began to rain, and favorite topic, as was the avowed role of
they ridiculed him all the more. The man speaking for the Great Spirit. Models in
quietly gathered his family and loaded the Southeast were Tecumseh and Ten-
their things onto the boat. skwatawa (twin brothers whose grandfa-
The flood waters swept them down ther was a white trader among the
the river to the sea. It rained for many Creeks), Hillis Harjo (Josiah Francis,
months. There were earthquakes, and their cousin); Attakullakulla, Oconos-
the entire earth was covered with water. tota, Dragging Canoe, John Ridge, Young
Finally, their boat came to rest on Mon- Tassel (John Watts, who had flaming red
terey Mountain. This is why the Chero- hair), Elias Boudinot, John Ross, and
kee still live in the mountains, because Sam Houston (Cherokee); Alexander
they are afraid of another flood. They do McGillivray and Red Eagle, or William
not like to live where there are no cedar Weatherford (Creek); Red Shoes, Push-
trees either. mataha, and Moshulatubbee (Choctaw);
The man and his wife had children, and James, George, and Levi Colbert (Scot-
the children had children. The Cherokees tish crypto-Jews) and Piomingo (Chicka-
spread out to the east and settled the saw); and Billy Bowlegs, the several Wild-
Cherokee outlet to the sea along the Sa- cats or Big Cats, and Osceola (Seminole).
vannah River. They are called the Principal Unusual productions are autobiogra-
People [ani yu(n)wiya] to show they are all phies of a people, oral histories in the
descended from this couple. The original first person plural that speak for all Indi-
Wolf Clan is still the most common. ans (see Perdue 1993). Some modern-
Similar stories in this vein are the day “speakers” or “seers” such as Archie
Muskogee migration narrative (Gatschet Sam (Cherokee-Creek-Natchez Indian,
698
1914–1986) have been placed on video- special languages that could not be
tape and even broadcast. The intertribal translated. Powwow vocables such as
body of knowledge passed to them—the “hey” and “ho” preserve fragments of
seer tradition—can concern past, pres- these languages. Strangely, certain com-
ent, or future and pertain to any of three munications were heard once and never
worlds, or dimensions—upper, middle, repeated (chiefs’ songs, death songs).
or lower. A prophet (for example, Josiah Some were even uttered in imaginary
Francis) is thus someone who sees the languages and composed of animal
future, correctly interprets the past, or cries.
discerns the meaning of current events. Charms and sayings are an additional
Often he is helped by medicine beings area of traditional language. Researchers
such as the Tie-Snakes, which appeared have found a paucity of proverbs in most
from a pool of water to the Tuckabatchee preliterate societies. Riddles are practi-
Creeks when Tecumseh pressured them cally unknown. Most sayings are about
to go to war. breaking a taboo, couched in a deliber-
Oratory, like song, formed part of rit- ately ambiguous fashion. Southeastern
ual ceremonies, “an attempt to order the Indian humor is spontaneous and so-
spiritual and physical world through the phisticated. There are some good sam-
power of the word, whether chanted, ples in Adair [1930], while in modern
spoken or sung” (Ruoff 1990). Songs times Cherokee vaudevillian Will Rogers
could be social or sacred, personal, has been justly celebrated. Humor was
tribal, clan-owned, or intertribal. The not thought inappropriate even to seri-
first question asked of a returning trav- ous occasions.
eler was often, “Did you learn any good The following genres can only be
songs?” The Creeks looked to the barely mentioned here: stories about the
Choctaw as a source for new songs and Little People, or Indian fairies, or other
dances for their annual busks. Ornate races (Moon People), animal fables
speeches were expected at child naming (“How Possum Lost His Tail,” with a
ceremonies, military decorations and moral about boasting, is probably the
promotions, dedications of new lodges, best known Cherokee story), clan and
conciliation and friendship ceremonies, family tales, ancestor exploits (often
chiefs’ councils or peace talks, and today about the Trail of Tears), “anom-
treaty-making deliberations. Short alous creature” or monster stories (for
speeches were proper for general assem- example, the Tlanuwa, or Great Hawk, at
blies and festivals, bonding ceremonies Chattanooga), witch tales (Stonecoat),
(weddings), military harangues, ballplay never-ending or audience-participatory
pep talks and victory speeches, funeral stories (very popular among Siouan
orations, busks or giveaways, and sweat- tribes), love stories, travelers’ tales (“In
lodge ceremonies (Cherokee: asi, “winter Mexico there live six different tribes of In-
house”). Medicine men speeches were in dians and they are all cannibals . . .”), war
699
stories (many about the Iroquois, or Geiogamah, Hanay (Kiowa), and Michael
Northerlies), women’s stories, and drama- Grant. 1994. “The Native Americans: The
Southeast: No Matter How White.”
tizations (sometimes pantomime). Television program. Atlanta: Turner
Donald Panther-Yates Home Entertainment.
Hudson, Charles. 1976. The Southeastern
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast; Indians. Knoxville: University of
Dance, Southeast; Religious Leadership, Tennessee Press.
Southeast; Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Kennedy, George A. 1998. Comparative
Plateau; Spiritual and Ceremonial Rhetoric: A Historical and Cross-Cultural
Practitioners, Plateau Introduction. New York: Oxford
References and Further Reading University Press.
Adair, James. 1775/1930. Adair’s History of Kidwell, Clara Sue, Homer Noley, and
the American Indians. Edited by Samuel George E. Tinker. 2001. A Native
Cole Williams. Reprint, Johnson City, TN: American Theology. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Watauga Press. Available online through Books.
American Memory at Kilpatrick, Jack F., and Anna G. Kilpatrick.
http://www.loc.gov. 1967. Run toward the Nightland: Magic
Allen, Paula Gunn. 1994. Voice of the Turtle: Rituals of the Oklahoma Cherokees.
American Indian Literature, 1900–1970. Dallas: Southern Methodist University
New York: Ballantine Books. Press.
Brown, John P. 1938. Old Frontiers. Lankford, George E., ed. 1987. Native
Kingsport, TN: Southern Publishers. American Legends: Southeastern Legends:
Capps, Walter Holden, ed. 1976. Seeing with Tales from the Natchez, Caddo, Biloxi,
a Native Eye: Essays on Native American Chickasaw, and Other Nations. Little
Religion. New York: Harper and Row. Rock, AR: August House.
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. 1995. Lewis, Thomas M. N., and Madeline
“Cultural Tidbits” series in its newsletter Kneberg. 1958. Tribes that Slumber.
on its home page at Knoxville: University of Tennessee
http://www.cherokee.org. Press.
Chiltosky, Mary Ulmer. 1991. Aunt Mary, Methvin, J. J. 1927. “Legend of the Tie-
Tell Me a Story: A Collection of Cherokee Snakes.” Chronicles of Oklahoma 5, no. 4:
Legends and Tales. Cherokee, NC: 391–396.
Cherokee Communications. Mooney, James. 1982. Myths of the Cherokee
Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1994. God Is Red: A Native and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees.
View of Religion: The Classic Work Nashville: C. Elder Bookseller.
Updated. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Perdue, Theda. 1993. Nations Remembered:
Publishing. An Oral History of the Cherokees,
Duncan, Barbara R. 1998. Living Stories of Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and
the Cherokee: With Stories Told by Davey Seminoles in Oklahoma, 1865–1907.
Arch, Robert Bushyhead, Edna Chekelelee, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Marie Junaluska, Kathi Smith Littlejohn, Powers, William K. 1986. Sacred Language:
and Freeman Owle. Chapel Hill: The Nature of Supernatural Discourse in
University of North Carolina Press. Lakota. Norman: University of
Einhorn, Lois J. 2000. The Native American Oklahoma Press.
Oral Tradition: Voices of the Spirit and Rossman, Douglas Athon. 1988. Where
Soul. Westport, CT: Praeger. Legends Live: A Pictorial Guide to
Gatschet, Albert S. 1969. A Migration Legend Cherokee Mythic Places. Cherokee, NC:
of the Creek Indians: With a Linguistic, Cherokee Communications.
Historic, and Ethnographic Introduction. Rountree, Helen. 1996. Pocahontas’s People:
New York: Kraus Reprint Co. The Powhatan Indians of Virginia
700
_____________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Tlingit
through Four Centuries. Norman: hundred people, and also in larger cities
University of Oklahoma Press. such as Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka.
Ruoff, A. LaVonne Brown, ed. 1990.
American Indian Literatures: An Coastal Tlingits live in and on the edge
Introduction, Bibliographic Review, and of a rain forest—the most extensive tem-
Selected Bibliography. New York: Modern perate rain forest in the world, reaching
Language Association.
Swanton, John R. 1911. Indian Tribes of the from Puget Sound to Kodiak Island—and
Lower Mississippi Valley and Adjacent this environment has shaped their way
Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Bureau of of life and material culture, along with
American Ethnology Bulletin no. 43.
Washington, DC: Bureau of American
those of other cultures of the region.
Ethnology. Known as the Northwest Coast, the cul-
———. 1995. Myths and Tales of the ture area extends roughly from South-
Southeastern Indians. Norman:
east Alaska to Puget Sound and the
University of Oklahoma Press. Also
available online through net Library. mouth of the Columbia River.
———. 1922/1998. Early History of the Creek After California, the Northwest Coast
Indians and Their Neighbors. Reprint,
is the second most diverse linguistic area
Gainesville: University of Florida Press.
———. 1927/2000. Creek Religion and of aboriginal North America. Although
Medicine. Lincoln: University of the groups are linguistically distinct, the
Nebraska Press/Bison Books. Also
cultures are strikingly similar. With their
available online through net Library.
immediate neighbors to the south, the
Haida and Tsimshian, the Tlingit consti-
tute a northern subgroup of Northwest
Oral Traditions, Southwest Coast culture. Native American culture
See Emergence Narratives of the Northwest Coast has captured the
imagination of explorers since first con-
tact. These are the people of totem poles,
elaborately carved wooden bowls and
Oral Traditions, Tlingit
bentwood boxes, plank houses, ocean-
The Tlingit Indians live in Southeast going canoes, Chilkat robes, button
Alaska from Yakutat to Dixon Entrance, blankets, and other well-known cultural
predominantly on the coast but with in- features, especially the ceremony known
land communities along the Chilkat and in English as potlatch. To the extent that
Stikine rivers in Alaska, as well as in South- the visual art and its role in potlatch were
west Yukon and Northwest British Colum- connected with traditional religion, both
bia. This part of Alaska is an archipelago art and potlatch became targets of attack
roughly the same size and shape as by some (but not all) missionaries.
Florida, with few communities connected Because the region is famous for its
by road, so that contact is primarily by totem poles, and totem poles are part of
ferry or air. Native people live in scattered, Tlingit mythology, a few words about
predominantly Native villages of several them are in order. Totem poles were
701
Oral Traditions, Tlingit ______________________________________________________________________
is that which is sacred and true, usually

in the remote past, with divinities, super-
humans, or nonhumans as characters;
legend is that which is historical and
true, with human characters; memorate
is a remembrance of limited distribu-
tion, usually personal or family; folktale
is fiction. Folktales and deliberate fiction
are conspicuously absent in traditional
Tlingit oral literature. But, as a given nar-
rative may change categories over time,
it is safe to say that a story considered
true in the past may not be considered
true by contemporary Tlingits. The
Canoe prow ornament representing Land- above, of course, are Western folklore
Otter-Man. In Tlingit mythology he features as genres. The Tlingit terms for narratives
a powerful being who rescues souls of drowning
people and turns them into land otters. are tlaagoo, specifying a narrative of an-
Collected from Nass River. 1918. (Werner cient origin or time; and shkalneek, re-
Forman/Art Resource) ferring to any story or narrative in gen-
eral. As a final distinction in terminology,
we are treating myth here as narrative
mistakenly equated with “graven images” form, in contrast to a discussion of Tlin-
by some missionaries, but totem poles git religion in general.
were never worshipped or prayed to. Briefly, then, traditional, precontact
They were and are essentially heraldic, Tlingit religion was shamanism of a clas-
referring to the genealogy of the person sical circumpolar or Siberian type. All
or group that commissioned the pole to nineteenth-century observers stressed
be carved and erected. The images do not the centrality of the shaman to the entire
“tell” a story as much as allude to stories Tlingit sociocultural order. The source of
already known, much as the Christian the shaman’s power was his control over
cross does not “tell the Easter story” but powerful spirits, called yéik, who served
alludes to a story familiar from other as his helpers. The spirits had the capac-
sources. Totem poles are one of the many ity to choose the person whose helpers
forms of Tlingit visual art that allude to they wished to become, and it was ex-
narratives from Tlingit myth and legend. tremely dangerous to refuse such a call.
Many of the stories from what we call
Terms legendary time record how clan ances-
In this discussion we use the conven- tors or progenitors acquired particular
tional folklore definitions—that is: myth spirits.
702
In many shamanic traditions, the right the status of a community or national

to hunt and engage in other subsistence legend. Likewise, recent historical, non-
activity is typically established in ancient mythic events may be understood or re-
convenants (myth); continuing luck or shaped according to the mythic and
success is confirmed through ritual ob- mythologizing patterns of the culture.
servances and correct personal thought That is as true for traditional Tlingit his-
and behavior in remembering those tory as it is for American national history
covenants. Myth is the single event in the of the twenty-first century. Over even
past that establishes the covenant; the longer periods of time, legend may
ritual is the ongoing imitation, remem- blend with myth.
brance, or representation—much like
the Jewish seder, Christian communion, Early Myth Time
the Tlingit koo.éex’ (“potlatch”), and This is a convenient way to group what
other personal or private observances in now seem like the “odds and ends” of
the spiritual tradition. Discussion of the Tlingit mythology: creation accounts
structure of the traditional Tlingit belief involving cosmic phenomena (sun,
system, and of syncretism in contempo- moon, thunder, earthquakes, wind, the
rary Tlingit religion, is beyond our limits milky way, and so forth) and stories of
here. For more on this, see R. Dauen- monsters and marvelous creatures,
hauer (2000). such as the sea monster or “Lucky
Lady.” Stories in this group are the most
Myth Types enigmatic in Tlingit mythology and
Narratives in Tlingit oral literature may warrant further study. They are outside
be grouped into four broad categories, of the Raven cycle, or they describe
based on style, content, and the internal events prior in time to the Raven cycle.
relationship of the narratives: (1) early The cosmic phenomena described
myth time; (2) Raven myth time—Raven were created before Raven entered the
as culture hero and Raven as trickster; scene. Also, most of these stories seem
(3) legendary time; and (4) historical “un-Tlingit” in their absence of per-
time. Other than historical time, these sonal names and clan affiliation, so
are all types of Tlingit mythology. These characteristic of the narratives from
categories are descriptive and not pre- legendary time. The motifs are not
scriptive; while not arbitrary, neither are unique to Tlingit (for example, Sun and
the boundaries rigid. Tlingit oral litera- Moon being brother and sister who
ture as we know it today seems to have committed incest), and it is unclear if
involved flow between the categories these myths are very ancient or are bor-
over time. For example, history may be- rowings from other Native American
come legend. Thus a personal or family groups. For more on this category, see
memorate of recent origin might attain N. M. and R. Dauenhauer (1998).
703
Raven Stories It is important to notice that Raven’s

The most popular character in Tlingit motives are not altruistic. He is driven by
mythology is certainly Raven, and the lust, gluttony, ego, and greed. Benefits to
most significant feature of Tlingit Raven the rest of creation are entirely acciden-
is his dual or multiple personality. In tal, coincidental, or created from left-
many societies, the roles of culture hero overs as an afterthought. Raven cheats
and trickster are filled by two different and manipulates his fellow creatures,
persons. In Tlingit, they combine in whence the term “trickster.” He is inca-
Raven. This has intrigued and confused pable of having a “meaningful relation-
observers from the earliest Western ac- ship” with others. In the Tlingit language,
counts to the present day. Raven stories the stem for “Raven” and “liar” are the
can be divided into two categories: “cul- same. The best one can hope for in a
ture hero” and “trickster.” The culture partnership with Raven is to emerge
hero is a character in mythology who alive and simply hungrier—and with
gives the world its present shape. Raven damaged pride from having been robbed
is popularly called a “creator,” although or cheated. Raven tricks the small birds
he actually creates little or nothing. He is out of their share of the King Salmon,
certainly not godlike, much less himself and he redesigns their plumage as a con-
a god. Raven is the great rearranger, a solation prize. (See Nora Dauenhauer
mythic handyman and jack-of-all- 2000 for a contemporary version of this
trades. Levi-Strauss described him with story.) Many are not so lucky: Cormorant
the French term bricoleur. Typically, loses his tongue; Deer becomes Raven’s
Raven redistributes things, and he makes dinner when he slips off the high log
the already created world more user- Raven dares and tricks him into crossing;
friendly for people and animals. Thus the Brown Bear dies a painful death after
world as we know it today was largely Raven tricks him into cutting off his gen-
shaped by Raven out of the elements that itals for fishing bait; Brown Bear’s Wife
already existed but were inaccessible. dies a horrible death when Raven tricks
Fresh water, fire, low tide, the salmon her into swallowing hot rocks whole
run, the sun, moon, and stars—all ex- (telling her they are his special fish
isted, but were hoarded by one individ- recipe). Raven, of course, eats them.
ual who refused to share it with the rest Many Raven stories are quite provoca-
of creation. Through trickery Raven tive, dealing with Raven’s sexual appetite
steals and redistributes them. In the and (exploitative, of course) endeavors,
process, other features of the world are and the reshaping of the human body
often created, such as rivers, the hydro- parts. To avoid problems with censor-
gen cycle, and various animals and their ship, Victorian scholars published these
characteristics. There is often an etiolog- episodes in Latin. For more on Raven
ical aspect to Raven stories. and tricksters, see Babcock-Abrahams
704
(1975), Babcock and Cox (1994), N. M. derstand and appreciate them, and gain
and R. Dauenhauer (1998), Pelton their power as a spiritual guide. Some-
(1989), and Radin (1972). times the humans die, as do the Woman
in the Ice in the “Glacier Bay History”
Legendary Time and the Woman Who Married the Bear
A large and important category of Tlingit (Dauenhauer and Dauenhauer 1987);
myth deals with the acquisition of clan sometimes the human returns from this
spirits and the crests representing them “out of body” experience and becomes a
visually by human ancestors in what spiritual mediator or a shaman, as does
might be called legendary time. This Aak’wtaatseen, the boy who is taken by
genre is extremely important in Tlingit the Salmon People (Swanton 1970:
oral literature and world view. Techni- 301–320). In all cases, the clan of the an-
cally, these narratives are legends by def- cestor involved gains exclusive access to
inition because the events happened to the particular spirits involved. Typically
the human ancestors and progenitors of the mythic event remembered in the
today’s clans, but they overlap with myth story is ritually re-enacted through be-
in their concern with the acquisition of havior in daily life or in special ceremo-
spirits. Through their human element, nial events. For examples of the acquisi-
the stories are owned by the various tion of such stories and their ritual and
clans, and protocols concerning the ceremonial use, see Dauenhauer and
rights to claim, use, and display the crest Dauenhauer (1987, 1990, 1994b).
art related to the stories remain central We can assume that in oral tradition as
in Tlingit culture today. These animals, in written literary history, and as in con-
places, and spirits are the figures com- temporary popular culture, the appeal of
monly depicted on totem poles and certain genres may wax and wane over
other visual art. There are usually songs time (like TV westerns, detective shows,
and dances to accompany the story and sit-coms, and so forth) and that certain
visual art. In this genre of Tlingit myth, classics will endure. Swanton’s storyteller
humans are the main characters, and Katishan explains at the end of his Raven
their actions and encounters with the cycle that since the time of the Raven
animal, natural, and spiritual worlds stories, “everything is about spirits”
have established the covenants by which (1970: 154). We understand this to mean
humans interact with animals and the that the spirit acquisition stories had
environment, and that govern human been gaining in popularity over time. It
behavior and thought. also implies a concept of time-depth,
The general pattern of these stories is with the spirit and crest acquisition sto-
that a human offends some animal or ries being more recent than the Raven
force of nature and is taken by that form stories and increasingly capturing the
of life to live among them, learn to unpopular imagination.
705
Historical Time fish for him is a classic pattern of transac-

When we enter historical time, in which tional analysis called “let’s you and him
events can be recorded orally and also be fight”: one player manipulates two others
confirmed with other ethnohistorical to fight so that they both lose and the in-
documentation, we leave the categories stigator (Raven) wins at their expense. As
of myth. We can touch on only two con- for the human heroes of Tlingit myth and
siderations here. One consideration is legend, ideally we live according to the
the extent to which any culture shapes, spiritual and ecological covenants they
interprets, and reinvents its history and established with the spirits of animals
its current events in terms of its mythic and the land. The wisdom they pass on
structures and contemporary needs. was hard won and often purchased at the
(See, for example, Jaroslav Pelikan, Jesus cost of life, so that we might live.
through the Centuries.) The other consid- Richard Dauenhauer and Nora Marks
eration is how we understand mythic Dauenhauer
truth. Do we accept the myth and legend See also Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest;
described above as true, or not? Does Masks and Masking; Oral Traditions; Oral
mythic truth need to be literal, or can a Traditions, Northwest Coast; Power,
Northwest Coast; Religious Leadership,
story be metaphorically and spiritually Alaska; Spiritual and Ceremonial
true, even if people are no longer inclined Practitioners, Northwest Coast and
to accept it literally? A classic example Southeast Alaska; Tricksters
from Western religion is how various de- References and Further Reading
Babcock-Abrahams, Barbara. 1975. “‘A
nominations in the Judeo-Christian tra- Tolerated Margin of Mess’: The Trickster
dition understand and interpret Genesis. and His Tales Reconsidered.” Journal of
As a trickster, Raven is alive and well. He the Folklore Institute 9: 147–186.
Babcock, Barbara, and Jay Cox. 1994. “The
is a negative role model, an example of
Native American Trickster.” Pp. 99–105 in
how not to behave. His antics address Dictionary of Native American Literature.
and embody the psychological and social Edited by Andrew Wiget. New York:
Garland.
forces, the personal and cultural anxi-
Dauenhauer, Nora Marks. 2000. Life Woven
eties and strategies, at work and at play in with Song: Poetry, Prose, and Plays.
all of us. Tricksters like Raven are sacred Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Dauenhauer, Nora Marks, and Richard
clowns who can help us “work through
Dauenhauer. 1987. Haa Shuká, Our
our dark side” as we create meaning in Ancestors: Tlingit Oral Narratives. Seattle:
our own present lives. As hackneyed as University of Washington Press.
the story of Raven’s theft of the sun, ———. 1990. Haa Tuwunáagu Yís, For
Healing Our Spirit: Tlingit Oratory.
moon, and stars can seem at times, it still Seattle: University of Washington Press.
cuts to the heart of the anxieties of inter- ———. 1994a. Haa Kusteeyí, Our Culture:
generational relationships. The story in Tlingit Life Stories. Seattle: University of
Washington Press.
which Raven gets Seagull and Crane to ———. 1994b. “‘Glacier Bay History’ Told by
fight each other and spit up a swallowed Amy Marvin and ‘Speech for the
706
___________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Western Plains
Removal of Grief’ Delivered by Jessie tau), and jokes or catch stories (bae-
Dalton.” Pp. 151–175 in Coming to Light: baeyat). The Crow divided tales into
Contemporary Translations of the Native
Literatures of North America. Edited by myths (told over and over)—such as the
Brian Swann. New York: Random House. Old Man Coyote cycle, the Buffalo Wife,
———. “Tlingit Origin Stories.” Pp. 29–46 in and the Lodge Boy and Thrown-Away
Stars Above, Earth Below: American
Indians and Nature. Edited by Marsha C. tales, and traditions (stories based on di-
Bol. Niwot, CO: Roberts Rinehart rect experience). The Crow term for sto-
Publishers. Published for the Carnegie rytelling is “retelling one’s own”
Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh.
Dauenhauer, Richard. 2000. “Syncretism,
(baaeechichiwaau). Other categoriza-
Revival, and Reinvention: Tlingit tions include creation myths, migration
Religion, Pre and Postcontact.” Pp. legends, tales (of animals, tricksters, he-
160–180 in Native Religions and Cultures
roes), songs, oratory, biographies, and
of North America. From the Series
Anthropology of the Sacred. Edited by others. Modern categories include po-
Lawrence E. Sullivan. New York: etry, use of originally oral sources in nov-
Continuum.
els, movies, plays, and picture books,
Pelikan, Jaroslav. 1987. Jesus through the
Centuries: His Place in the History of and oral histories related to cultural re-
Culture. New York: HarperCollins. source management.
Pelton, Robert D. 1980/1989. The Trickster
The context of oral traditions is im-
in West Africa: A Study of Mythic Irony
and Sacred Delight. Reprint, Berkeley: portant. In most tribes, the best “right
University of California Press. time” for storytelling, especially of sa-
Radin, Paul. 1972. The Trickster: A Study in cred texts, was winter, although some
American Indian Mythology. With
Commentaries by Karl Kerény and C. G. stories were told at any time of year, any
Jung. New York: Schocken Books. place, during a meal, a sweat, a pow-
Swanton, John. 1909/1970. Tlingit Myths wow, or driving to town. Many stories
and Texts. Reprint, New York: Johnson
Reprint Corporation. and songs are associated with perfor-
mances, complex ceremonies, and rit-
ual actions, such as bundle openings,
sweatlodge, sun dance, and war parties.
Oral Traditions, Western Music was considered a form of com-
munication. Talking was done by the
Plains
flute (called Siyotanka by Lakota) to
Conceptions of Oral Tradition charm lovers, and sounds of rattles and
As in most of North America, Western drum accompaniment had meaning,
Plains oral traditions and mythology can such as the heartbeat or buffalo run-
be divided into several types. Among the ning. Vocables, rhythmic patterns and
Arapaho, there were ancient stories pauses, as well as costumes, were as im-
(haetaedau) dealing with legendary portant to some stories, songs, or per-
characters including the spider trickster, formances as the explicit verbal con-
stories relating to recent events (hauci- text. So were voiced intonation and
707
Oral Traditions, Western Plains ____________________________________________________________
emphasis, telling and listening, and inter- quill or beaded robe along with oral ex-
action between performer and audience. planations of symbolic design narrative.
Oral literature is mythic and sacred, Sometimes oral traditions are tied to in-
conveying deep cultural truths. Stories terpretations of rock art (pictographs
functioned to entertain, teach lessons, and petroglyphs), sacred sites such as
and reinforce tribal values. When Old the Big Horn and Sun River medicine
Man Coyote is creating the world and wheels, and sacred landscapes such as
says, “It is bad that I am alone,” the un- the Backbone of the World (the Rocky
derlying Crow value is that a person Mountains on earth and the Milky Way in
should not be an orphan, one without the sky), Sweetgrass Hills, Chief Moun-
relatives, and that everyone, even a cre- tain in Glacier Park, and Bear Butte (Paha
ator, needs someone to give him/her ad- Sapa) in the Black Hills.
vice. One of the most sacred numbers in Often there were esoteric and popular
all tribes is four, which represents com- versions of stories, including versions
pletion or wholeness. Some myths por- told for children. Narratives were based
tray a reversal of the everyday social on the memory and creativity of the
order (tangled hierarchy). A woman who tellers. Variations of some stories are told
draws buffalo to their deaths over a cliff by many different tribes, portraying es-
based on human need for food in turn sentially the same characters, plots, and
gives them life through song and dance. themes but with different details. These
Other attributes of Western Plains myth include earth-diver creation stories,
are personification and the spiritual in- grandmother’s grandchild or lodge boy,
terrelatedness of all beings (mitakuye oy- rolling heads, brothers and sisters who
asin, “we are all related,” according to the become stars, and many others.
Sioux), ambivalence and shape-shifting,
and the need to remain vigilant. Traditional Oral Accounts
Sioux and Blackfeet historians used Creation of the universe is explained by a
pictorial “winter count” or “summer supreme being, such as Akbaatatdia
count” calendars as mnemonic devices (Crow), Wakan Tanka (Sioux), Tam Apo
with narrative oral history. The Sioux (Shoshone), and Maheo (Cheyenne). The
said, “The picture is the rope that ties more visible creation is accomplished by
memory to the stake of truth.” A man a culture hero, such as Old Man Coyote,
might use a robe decorated with pictures Isaahkawuattee (Crow), Old Man, Napi
of his war exploits and shield designs (Blackfeet), and Flat Pipe Man (Ara-
based on his spiritual visions to reinforce paho). Each sends animals such as ducks
biographical accounts of his actions. A or turtles diving beneath water that cov-
woman, especially a member of a select ers the earth, knowing in their hearts
group, such as the Cheyenne robe- that there is something below. Finally
quiller’s society, might use a porcupine- one brings up mud, from which is cre-
708
ated the land surface. Humans, animals, some time before the covenant between
birds, and fish, mountains, lakes, and humans and animals was reestablished.
rivers, stars (constellations), seasons, Another Blackfeet account tells how the
and finally customs are created by a vari- buffalo drive originated as a gift to a
ety of beings. After Napi created the woman picking berries when she heard a
world, he retired to his favorite gambling song and found a buffalo stone (iniskim)
spot in the Backbone of the World that would locate buffalo to be led over a
(northern Rocky Mountains) and Sun cliff. In the Blackfeet story of the buffalo
Chief took over guidance of humans. dance, the buffalo are lured over the buf-
Among the Northern Shoshone, Our Fa- falo jump (pishkun) when a young
ther (Tam Apo) created the world, and woman promises to marry one of them.
the sun is his manifestation; an Indian A magpie is the messenger between the
chief disguised as Wolf arranged and su- girl and her father, who follows her to the
pervises the world. herd. After he is trampled and she sings
The creation process takes place grad- him back to life, an agreement is reached
ually and is ongoing. The Assiniboine to do the same for the buffalo. It is said
and Crow tell how summer came to be that Old Man Coyote taught the Crow
when the northern people sent five ani- how to kill many buffalo by tricking them
mals south to steal the summer and into running over a cliff. Another Crow
made a deal that the northern and legend is that Running Coyote received a
southern people would each keep it for buffalo jump technique in a vision. The
six months. On the origin of the Big Dip- Cheyenne culture hero Erect Horns (Red
per constellation, the Cheyenne say that Tassel or Standing on the Ground) jour-
bison chase Quillwork Girl and her seven neyed to the Black Hills, where he was
brothers, who escape into the sky. given the Sacred Buffalo Hat (Is’siwun),
Among the Blackfeet, Crow, and Assini- along with the related buffalo cere-
boine, a bear chases a sister and her monies, the sweatlodge, and Sun Dance
seven brothers, and in some Crow and (Renewal Lodge). The bear also is an
Arapaho stories, the seven stars are awesome and spiritually powerful ani-
seven buffalo bulls. mal portrayed by many tribes in rock art,
There are many stories of human-ani- on shields, in ceremonial bear dances,
mal relationships. One Blackfeet myth and in stories.
tells of animals taking human form and The Little People, known as Awakkule,
feeding White Eagle and his starving or keepers of the earth by the Crow be-
family during one winter, on the condi- cause they live in caves, and Ninnimbe by
tion that people behave correctly toward the Shoshone, are spiritual beings who
the animals. When White Eagle’s son can take the form of small human Dwarfs
picks up a flint-tipped hunting arrow, with great physical strength and spiritual
this condition was violated, and it was knowledge; they also are considered
709
makers of pictographs and petroglyphs. as social customs such as those relating

They can be dangerous, mischievous, or to marriage and cooking. She is respon-
helpful. The Crow legend of Shoot the sible for the buffalo that sustain the peo-
Arrow Rock has it that a small boy fell off a ple; she also told stories to children. Ac-
travois when the dog pulling it chased a cording to the Cheyenne, the buffalo are
rabbit or deer. He was found and adopted controlled by Ehyophstah, the master
by the Little People, and when he re- spirit of the animals. In one Cheyenne
turned to the tribe as an adult he brought legend, when the people were starving
many teachings and skills. an old woman beneath a spring filled
Hero stories abound that show the im- the land with buffalo and corn. The
portance of spiritual connections, Crow believe that a woman identified
courage, skill, and vigilance in facing or- the sacred tobacco that had been seen in
deals and overcoming obstacles and ene- the vision of the man No Vitals. The
mies. According to the Crow, Old Sioux heroine Changing Woman, who
Woman’s Grandchild is the son of the Sun has manifestations as heroine and
and a human mother, adopted by an old witch, moral woman and temptress,
woman; he chops off the heads of snakes brought the art of quilling to women of
that crawl into people’s bodies, is sucked the tribe. Likewise the Cheyenne and
into a buffalo or other monster who swal- Blackfeet quilling societies, members of
lows people so he can stab it from the in- which are select women, were estab-
side, tricks an old woman who uses a lished by a sacred woman. Members of
magical pot to boil people so that she is the Native American Church, which
boiled by her own pot, tames a ferocious moved onto the Northern Plains about a
bear, and challenges and kills other bad hundred years ago, look to a woman
things. Then he ascends to the sky and who called attention to peyote, the
becomes a star. Other stories pit a skillful sacramental “medicine.”
Indian against a water monster or dragon Relations between men and women
that is killed by throwing hot stones into also are told of. According to Blackfeet
his mouth. A common theme is the poor legend, in the beginning Old Man (Napi)
orphan, pitied and adopted by a super- created men and women living sepa-
natural helper to become successful. rately. Both chased buffalo herds off cliffs
Women are heroines. Among the (pishkun); men used bows and arrows as
Blackfeet, Napi’s wife, Old Woman, well, but dressed poorly and did not keep
helped Napi and emphasized the exis- clean, whereas women tanned buffalo
tence of frailty, difficulty, death, and hides, made tepees, used porcupine
sympathy. The most important Sioux quills for decoration, and were clean ex-
legend about a woman is White Buffalo cept when butchering buffalo. Eventu-
Calf Woman, who brought the Sacred ally men and women were united, along
Pipe and associated ceremonies, as well with their unique skills.
710
There are biographical legends. In a the mountains, where his people be-
Blackfeet story, Mia-wa, plagued by bad came the nomadic buffalo-hunting
luck, goes on a vision quest and obtains Crow. An ancient Cheyenne legend tells
an animal helper to become a successful of travel along a rocky coast, crossing a
and respected hunter and warrior. In the large body of salt water in bull-boats
Crow story of Big Metal, a boy thrown off made of bison skin revealed to an old
a cliff by his stepfather is rescued by man in a vision; then they traveled south,
seven bighorn rams and given sacred with subsequent accounts of migrations
powers. Plays With His Face, known as from eastern woodland farming villages
the bravest of all Crow men, was both re- to the Black Hills as nomadic buffalo
spected and feared by fellow tribesman hunters.
and enemies from other tribes because Stories are told of the origin of rituals
of his aggressiveness and ridicule of and instruments. The Nez Perce sweat
death; mothers would get their children house began as a man who gave charac-
to behave just by mention of his name. teristics to each animal and then placed
Shield-bearing warriors are ubiquitous himself on the ground for the use of hu-
in rock art; they may be combat warriors mans in gaining power. The Crow sweat-
or visionary shaman-warriors. Ledger lodge is a way of healing, and stories
drawings of their own exploits and trav- have it that an alligator or boy was found
els were done by Four Bears (Mandan), at the bottom of a lake or drowned and
Sitting Bull (Sioux), Medicine Crow taken into the sweatlodge; he was re-
(Crow), and others. There were personal stored and remembered that he was a
songs related to honor, war parties, man who would float rather than sink.
death, and victory dances. Other picto- The Flathead/Kalispel tell of the origin of
rial and oral traditions tell of war exploits the drum: when a hunter threw a green
and defense, and stories of intertribal elk hide over a pine stump, he was angry
conflict include the Pryor Creek (Fence when it dried and would not come off, so
Lodges) battle between Crow under he hit it with a stick. The people recog-
siege by Sioux, the Grapevine Creek bat- nized it as sounding like the Thunderbird
tle of Crow versus Blackfeet, and Black- and buffalo feet pounding the earth, and
feet versus either Shoshone or a com- that the drum spoke the quiet thoughts
bined force of Gros Ventres, Plains Cree, in their hearts.
and Crow at Writing-On-Stone (Keyser). The Big Horn Medicine Wheel is iden-
Several tribes have migration legends. tified as an early Sun Dance–based struc-
Two Hidatsa brothers had visions. In his, ture by Cheyenne and Crow traditions.
Red Scout was given corn seeds and told Crow legend attributes the Fort Smith
to go to the Missouri River and farm. No Medicine Wheel to Burnt Face, who con-
Vitals was given tobacco seeds, identi- structed it while on a vision quest to heal
fied also with stars, and told to journey to his disfigurement. Blackfeet associate
711
the Sun Dance (Medicine Lodge) with obeying rules can lead to troubling
Star Boy (Scar Face), the son of Morning consequences.
Star (in turn the son of Father Sun and Tribal names have legends associated
Mother Moon) and the human Feather with them. The division of the Crow Tribe
Woman. After rejection by the woman he called Kicked in the Bellies (an offshoot
loves, Scar Face traveled to the Sun’s of the Mountain Crow) was named from
Lodge, his scar was removed, and he was an incident when they saw their first
given the ceremony for the health of the horse, when a man stepped too close to
people. In some accounts, it is Feather the hind legs of a horse and was kicked.
Woman who gives the Sun Dance to the Crow clan names have stories associated
Blackfeet. with them: Ties The Bundle comes from
Trickster stories involve humor and the characteristic fast packing by quickly
lessons. Plains tricksters include the laying out a blanket, putting possessions
universal coyote, and sometimes spi- on it, and tying the four corners together,
der, magpie, and raven, and specifically ready for travel; Greasy Mouth from
Iktome (Spider) (Sioux), Veeho (Spider) being such good hunters that they al-
(Cheyenne), Old Man Coyote (Crow), ways have good buffalo fat in their
and Old Man Napi (Blackfeet). The mouth; Sore Lips from working outside
Trickster is clever and insatiable: his es- so much that they are sunburned. For
sential urge is a desire to be unbound most tribes, the name a person was given
and without limitations, exhibited in also functioned as a story, a path, or a
greed and selfish urges, hunger, sexual- dream to live by.
ity, laziness, and a tendency to roam.
Trickster does both good and bad, is at Interaction of Indians and
the same time creator and destroyer, a Non-Indians
thief who yet is able to be helpful, who There are traditions associated with the
dupes others and who is always duped coming of, and the effects of, the white
by himself or others. Everything he man. Shining Shirt (Kalispel/Salish/Flat-
does involves irony and humor. In Sal- head) received a prophetic vision in
ish-Kootenai stories he tricks Giants to which he saw a metal talisman inscribed
save people, animals, and even Wood with a cross and predicted fair-skinned
Tick. In the Cheyenne story of juggling men in long black skirts who would bring
eyeballs, trickster Veeho once threw his changes in their religion and lives. The
eyeballs into the air to get a better look; prophet Wooden Cup (Sioux) and the
he could not get his own eyes back, so culture hero Sweet Medicine (Cheyenne)
he replaced them with a mouse eye and prophesied the coming of strangers with
a buffalo eye, each of which view the light skins and powerful ways who would
world very differently. Trickster stories radically change things. In a vision,
teach that being too clever and not Plenty Coups (Crow) saw cattle come out
712
of a cavern to replace buffalo. The 1877, Chief Joseph (Nez Perce) made his
Cheyenne identify the white man, who is famous surrender speech, in which he
both clever and dangerous, with Veeho, said, “From where the sun now stands, I
the spider/trickster. Likewise, the Black- will fight no more, forever.” Picture-writ-
feet call the white man Napikwan, simi- ing included oral stories that accompa-
lar to the trickster Old Man. nied winter counts and other pictures.
The battle of the Rosebud, which oc- Sioux “winter count” pictures show
curred In 1876 and involved the Sioux “smallpox used them up winter”
and Cheyenne against General Crook’s (Mallery 1893, 308) in 1779–1780, and
men with Crow and Shoshone scouts, is the “first issue of goods winter” (ibid.,
called by the Cheyenne “Where the Girl 323) in 1851–1852, when the Fort
Saved Her Brother,” because Buffalo Calf Laramie Treaty was signed.
Road Woman rescued her brother, Ghost Dance songs and symbolic de-
Comes In Sight. Another Cheyenne tale signs on clothing among the Arapaho,
pertains to an 1890 incident involving Cheyenne, Sioux, and other tribes not
Head Chief, a young man in his twenties, only emphasized the poverty, starvation,
and Young Mule, a boy of fourteen. Hun- and misery forced on Indians by the U.S.
gry, they shot a cow and killed the man Army and Bureau of Indian Affairs but
who discovered them butchering it. also contact with the spiritual world and
Singing their death songs, both of them rejuvenation of life. Sitting Bull traveled
rode toward the U.S. soldiers sent to ar- with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and
rest them. Women made the brave-heart was given a trained white horse. Accord-
cry as they died with honor. ing to legend, when the leader Sitting
Oratory and treaty speeches often em- Bull was shot in December 1890, it began
phasize territorial protection, defense of dancing like a circus horse.
Indian culture, and spiritual issues. The
Crow leader Sits in the Middle of the Modern Oral Tradition
Land said in 1867: “My grandfathers ad- Contemporary Indian poetry is an exten-
vised the nation of the Crows to be good. sion of the oral tradition, as is use of oral
How can we be good, when you take our tradition stories or styles in novels,
lands, promising in return so many movies, and plays and other perfor-
things which you never give us?” Black mances. They are informed by tradi-
Moon (Sioux) stated in 1868: “The tional, intercultural, postcolonial, and
whites . . . are cruel to our people, mal- postmodernist themes.
treat and massacre them without reason, Some poems are nostalgic, being about
or for the slightest cause. . . . They are ru- the past, as when Minerva Allen (Assini-
ining our land. . . . This soil is ours, and boine) refers to smoke around camp
we are determined not to yield an inch of poles, the smell of sweetgrass, and the
it.” After the Battle of the Bear Paw in buffalo hunt as central to the meaning of
713
life. Others relate to historical events. In a with historical, spiritual, and ritual tradi-
poem by James Welch (Blackfeet/Gros tion. Eight Crow students gave poetry
Ventre), “The Man from Washington” was readings at the Library of Congress Poetry
a slouching dwarf with rainwater eyes and Literature Series program in Washing-
who came to make false treaty promises. ton, D.C., in 1994. The stories and jokes of
Novels that express Native traditions in- announcers at powwows are a modern ex-
clude Cogewea, The Half Blood (1927) by pression of oral tradition, as are emerging
Mourning Dove (Salish), The Surrounded Native theater and musical performances,
(1936) by D’Arcy McNickle (Salish), and such as the play Trickster at Dirty Corner
Fools Crow (1986) by James Welch (Black- by Vic Charlo (Salish) in 1991, the Eastern
feet/Gros Ventre). Plains movies that in- Montana College 1993 adaptation of
clude Native traditions include Before the Hanay Geiogamah’s play 49 (see Geio-
White Man Came (1920), Walks Far gamah 1980), and the PBS broadcast of
Woman (1980), and Dances with Wolves the intertribal Spirit in 1999.
(1990).
Intercultural conflicts and racism are Oral Traditions, Historic Studies, and
dealt with in some poems. The phrase Cultural Resource Management in
“your hate for the wild who bring you Modern Times
money” in Jim Welch’s poem about Traditional stories have been handed
Harlem, Montana, refers basically to the down to modern times, sometimes being
conflict that non-Indians have about In- adapted to current themes. Many of the
dian drinking versus the profit motive to Western/Northern Plains stories pub-
sell them liquor. Other poems and novels lished in the book American Indian
deal with accommodation of traditional Myths and Legends (Erdoes and Ortiz
and modern worlds, as in Winter in the 1984) were gathered during the period
Blood (1974) by James Welch (Black- from 1890 to 1910; others were recorded
feet/Gros Ventre). from the 1960s to the 1980s, including
Oral tradition continues contemporary “Coyote and the Mallard Ducks” (Nez
influence in widely read spiritual autobi- Perce), “Doing a Trick with Eyeballs”
ographies such as the Crow elders Plenty (Cheyenne), “Quillwork Girl and Her
Coups and Pretty Shield (Linderman 1930, Seven Star Brothers” (Cheyenne), and
1932), the Sioux holy man Black Elk (1932 “The Legend of Devil’s Tower” (Sioux).
and 1971), and in the stories and style of During the early twentieth century, In-
Lame Deer (Sioux), Seeker of Visions (John dians and non-Indians published writ-
Fire Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes 1972). ten forms of traditional stories. Sioux
Hank Real Bird (Crow) is one of the best stories were set down by Charles East-
known of cowboy poets. In Rising Voices, man, Luther Standing Bear, and Zitkala-
Hirschfelder and Singer (1992) include Sa (Gertrude Bonnin). Other traditions,
many poems by young people connecting mythology, and tales were recorded from
714
the Blackfeet by Clark Wissler and D. C. and poems, with an intertribal editorial
Duvall (1909), Blackfeet and Cheyenne board that includes Assiniboine, Black-
by George Bird Grinnell (1892 and 1926), feet, Cheyenne, Chippewa, Cree, Crow,
Arapaho by George Dorsey and Alfred Lakota Sioux, and other tribal members.
Kroeber (1903); Salishan and Sahaptin by Individual tribes record and publish sto-
James Teit (edited by Boas 1917), and ries in connection with oral history or
Crow by Robert Lowie (1918). bilingual projects for use in schools, in-
Today, a number of oral traditions are cluding the Crow Bilingual Materials De-
being published in texts “as told to” or velopment Center, the Flathead Culture
compiled by Native authors. These in- Committee of the Confederated Salish
clude The Sun Came Down (1985) by and Kootenai Tribes, and the Blackfeet
Percy Bullchild (Blackfeet), From the Culture Committee. In 1991, Native
Heart of the Crow Country (1992) by Voices Public Television Workshop pro-
Joseph Medicine Crow (Crow), and Sto- duced Transitions, a Blackfeet documen-
ries that Make the World (1995) by Rod- tary film exploring the relationship be-
ney Frey (who worked with inland north- tween languages, thoughts, and culture,
west storytellers from the Coeur d’Alene, and the impact of language loss.
Crow, Klikitat, Kootenai, Nez Perce, San- Several stories with accompanying
poil, Wasco, and Wishram tribes). pictures have been published as illus-
Since the 1970s, bilingual education trated children’s books. Among these are
books and pamphlets have been pro- the versions retold by Paul Goble of The
duced in Native languages and English, Great Race of the Animals (1991)
often with illustrations. An Indian read- (Cheyenne and Sioux), Star Boy (1991)
ing series was developed by the Pacific (Blackfeet), and Her Seven Brothers
Northwest Indian Reading and Language (1993) (Cheyenne). Joseph Medicine
Development Program, Northwest Re- Crow (Crow) wrote Brave Wolf and the
gional Educational Laboratory, and Thunderbird (1998).
sponsored by the U.S. National Institute Oral traditions inform historical stud-
of Education. Booklets written by mem- ies and cultural resource management.
bers of various tribes and published be- Sometimes these come into court as tes-
tween 1978 and 1983 include How the Big timony by expert witnesses for ethno-
Dipper and North Star Came to Be graphic and historical perspectives.
(Assiniboine), Napi’s Journey (Blackfeet), Comparative studies of Native oral
Birds and People (Crow), How Horses history and archaeological findings
First Came (Gros Ventre), Coyote Gets have been done relating to Sioux migra-
Lovesick (Salish Kootenai), and Inkdomi tions and use of the Black Hills, the
and the Buffalo (Assiniboine). The Coun- 1876 Little Big Horn battle, the 1878
cil for Indian Education in Billings, Mon- Northern Cheyenne breakout from im-
tana, has published numerous stories prisonment at Fort Robinson, Indian
715
use of Yellowstone Park, U.S. Bureau of De Mallie, Raymond J., and Douglas R.
Land Management supervision of the Parks. 2001. “Tribal Traditions and
Records.” Pp. 1062–1073 in Plains, vol.
Sweetgrass Hills (sacred to the Blackfeet, 13, part 2, of Handbook of North
Cree, and other tribes), and the U.S. For- American Indians. Edited by William C.
est Service management of the Big Horn Sturtevant. Washington, DC:
Medicine Wheel. Tribal colleges such as Dorsey, George A., and Alfred L. Kroeber.
Little Big Horn College and Salish-Koote- 1903. Traditions of the Arapaho. Chicago:
nai College have sponsored projects to Field Columbian Museum.
Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz. 1984.
study oral history and folklore, including American Indian Myths and Legends.
geographical names for places on the New York: Pantheon.
land, the origins of those names, and sto- Frey, Rodney. 1987. The World of the Crow
Indians: As Driftwood Lodges. Norman:
ries relating to the places.
Once traditions were told and retold ———. 1995. Stories that Make the World:
orally, with pictorial and performance Oral Literature of the Indian Peoples of
the Inland Northwest. Norman:
manifestations. Still told orally today,
they also are put down on paper and in Geiogamah, Hanay. 1980. “49.” Pp. 83–133 in
electronic media. They carry cultural val- New Native American Drama: Three Plays.
ues and expressions into land manage-
Goble, Paul. 1991a. The Great Race of the
ment and museum programs, court- Animals. New York: Simon and Schuster.
rooms, and classrooms, as well as daily ————. 1991b. Star Boy. New York: Simon
and ceremonial life. and Schuster.
———. 1993. Her Seven Brothers. New York:
C. Adrian Heidenreich Simon and Schuster.
Grinnell, George Bird. 1892/1962. Blackfoot
See also Art (Traditional and
Lodge Tales. Reprint, Lincoln: University
Contemporary), Plains; Drums; Literature,
of Nebraska Press.
Religion in Contemporary American Indian
———. 1926/1971. By Cheyenne Campfires.
Literature
Reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska
References and Further Reading Press.
Boas, Franz, ed. 1917. Folk-tales of Salishan Hirschfelder, Arlene B., and Beverly R.
and Sahaptin Tribes. Lancaster, PA: Singer, eds. 1992. Rising Voices: Writings
American Folklore Society of Young Native Americans. New York:
Brown, Joseph Epes. 1971. The Sacred Pipe: Scribner’s.
Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Sacred Keyser, James D., and Michael A. Klassen.
Rites of the Oglala Sioux. New York: 2002. Plains Indian Rock Art. Seattle:
Penguin Books. Reprint, University of University of Washington Press.
Oklahoma Press. Lame Deer, John Fire, and Richard Erdoes.
Bullchild, Percy. 1985. The Sun Came Down. 1972. Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions. New
San Francisco: Harper and Row. York: Simon and Schuster.
Charlo, Vic, and Zan Agzigian. 1991. Linderman, Frank Bird. 1930. American: The
Trickster at Dirty Corner. Play. Dixon, Life Story of a Great Indian, Plenty Coups.
Montana. New York: John Day.
Clark, Ella E. 1966. Indian Legends from the ———. 1932. Pretty Shield: Medicine
Northern Rockies. Norman: University of Woman of the Crows. New York: John
Oklahoma Press. Day.
716
_____________________________________________________________________ Oral Traditions, Yupiaq
Lowie, Robert H. 1918/1993. Myths and Museum of Natural History, New York,
Traditions of the Crow Indians. vol. 2. Reprint, New York: AMS Press.
Anthropological Papers of the American Zolbrod, Paul G. 1995. Reading the Voice:
Museum of Natural History, New York, Native American Oral Poetry on the Page.
vol. 25, part 1. Reprint, Lincoln: Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
Mallery, Garrick. 1893 “Battiste Good’s
Winter Count” Pp. 287–328 in Picture-
Writing of the American Indians. Tenth
Annual Report of the Bureau of
Oral Traditions, Yupiaq
Ethnology, 1888–1889. Washington, DC:
U.S. Government Printing Office. The closest analogy to religion in Yupiaq
Reprint: New York: Dover Publications, culture is the concept of Yuuyaraq (The
1972. Way of Human Being), the central guid-
Medicine Crow, Joseph. 1992. From the
Heart of the Crow Country: The Crow
ing principle or philosophy of the Yupiaq
Indians’ Own Stories. New York: Orion. nation of Alaska. The expression of Yuu-
———. 1998. Brave Wolf and the yaraq is a body of concepts especially
Thunderbird. Illustrations by Linda R.
about human life that begins to define
Martin. New York: Abbeville Press.
Native Voices Public Television Workshop. the notion of Yupiaq culture. Through a
1991. Transitions [video]. Bozeman: discussion of Yupiaq oral tradition, this
Montana State University.
short essay defines Yuuyaraq and, by ex-
Neihardt, John G. 1932. Black Elk Speaks:
Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the tension, Yupiaq ideology.
Oglala Sioux. New York: William Morrow. The central guiding principle of the
Reprint, University of Nebraska Press,
Yupiaq is Yuuyaraq. Within that central
1961.
Northwest Regional Educational principle are embedded such words as
Laboratory. 1978–1983. Indian Reading Ak’a tamani, “A Long Time Ago at That
Series. Developed by Pacific Northwest Place”; Nunaput, “Our Land”; Tanger-
Indian Reading and Language
Development Program, sponsored by the yaraput, “Our Way of Seeing”; Kinakuci-
U.S. National Institute of Education. yaraput, “Our Way of Knowing Who We
Portland, Oregon. Are”; Tulukaruk, “Raven, the Creator of
Purdy, John L., and James Ruppert, eds.
2001. Nothing But the Truth: An Yupiaq Universe and All That Dwells
Anthology of Native American Literature. Within”; and Angalkugyaraq, “The Way
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. of the Angalkuq” (the Yupiaq medicine
Teit, James, Marian Gould, Livingston
Farrand, and Herbert Spinden. 1917.
people). Within these words are con-
“Folk-tales of Salishan and Sahaptin cepts of who the Yupiaq are, and it is
Tribes,” edited by Franz Boas. Memoirs these words that give us a snapshot of
of the American Folklore Society, no.
our identity. The further exploration of
11.
Velie, Alan R., ed. 1991. American Indian these phrases is a complex linguistic ex-
Literature: An Anthology. Rev. ed. ercise. In this essay the notion of the an-
galkuryaraq will be explored. I will begin
Wissler, Clark, and D. C. Duvall. 1909/1975.
Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians. in the manner of my people, the Yupiaq,
Anthropological Papers of the American with a recent story:
717
Oral Traditions, Yupiaq ______________________________________________________________________
Long ago there was a shaman [An- community understood the story I have
galkuq] named Issiisaayuq who directed just told reflects how each generation in-
his people to carve a mask depicting a terprets that story. To get the inner
freight ship. This was unfamiliar to the meaning of this story, one must consult
people, but they followed his instruction. elders who were on the fringes of cul-
On the forehead of the mask was a boat tural change at the time of contact be-
with three masts. The center mast had a tween the newcomers and traditional
platform with a man in it. On the deck of Yupiaq. These elders I refer to are the
the ship was a caribou. The following true Yupiaq language masters, whose
summer a ship, exactly like the carving, primary language is the Yupiaq mother
arrived from the sea. On the sides of the tongue. As the true masters, these elders
ship were images of half human faces. instruct younger Yupiaq people in the
When it arrived at the mouth of the meaning and interpretation of such oral
Kuskokwim River the people warned traditions.
each other not to desire or want the When the elders are consulted, this
goods from the boat, because they would oral tradition takes on much greater
come to no good. One day one of the depth and meaning. My parents learned
men came to the boat, and he noticed from their elders that the Angalkut
that the eyes on the faces were turning (medicine people), such as the one men-
toward the sea. The ship sailed away, and tioned in this story, were endowed with
all the trade goods acquired disap- special powers as healers, teachers, and
peared. Issiisaayuq’s daughter cried for a forecasters of events, distance seers, and
necklace that she saw on the boat. Since ritual/spiritual leaders. They were also
she would not stop crying for a necklace, mediators between the concrete and the
Issiisaayuq instructed his wife to spread abstract, between the physical and un-
a skin outside. When she did so, it began seen realms. With their spirit helpers, the
to hail. The hail that landed on the Angalkut transcended the physical and
ground melted but the hail that landed spiritual realms to accomplish various
on the skin did not. They brought these tasks to benefit the Yupiaq communities.
into the qasegiq and made a necklace for In this story the Angalkuq calls for a
the daughter. The ornament did not last certain mask to be carved. The keggi-
long, and the following summer a real naquq (mask) was used by an Angalkuq,
freight ship arrived as prophesied by Issi- and was an essential part of her or his rit-
isaayuq (Ali and Active 1982). ual. The elders teach us that when the
I use this story to illustrate in part how mask is worn a transformation occurs,
my generation has heard of our An- and the wearer not only looks like the in-
galkut (traditional religious leaders)— tended symbol but also actually becomes
that is, through our stories. The depth that image. According to my father, the
with which different individuals within a Angalkuq would have a kegginaquq
718
carved by a skilled carver, or if skilled of the drum are powerful and mysteri-
himself (as in my grandfather’s case) ous, and they help to provide the link be-
would carve it himself, guided by the vi- tween different worlds. The mind’s eye
sion he received either in a dream or in conjures the many unseen elements of
trance. In the qasegiq (men’s community the Yupiaq world. The yua of human and
house), my father heard various stories nonhuman beings and the forces of ella
about creation and later about that exist within the universe are a drum-
agayuliluteng, which were masked beat away.
dances performed with songs to help Oral traditions are not merely spoken
make animals available for the hunters or or written literary texts. An essential part
to do something good for the people. of these verbal expressions, in addition
According to my father, in the story to proper dress, vocalization, and drum-
described above a seal gut rain parka ming, was movement. The Angalkuq also
would have been used by the Angalkuq danced, sometimes alone but at times
as part of the ritual regalia during some also accompanied by members of the
ceremonies. This parka indicates a sym- community. The movement of the body
bolic connection to the imarpek (liter- through dance transforms energy and
ally, “big container, ocean”), a powerful distorts space. The visual symbolic rep-
place where some of the important ani- resentation of the mask and regalia cou-
mals needed by the Yupiaq reside. With a ple with the collective mind-power of all
mask and a seal gut rain parka, the An- of the participants of the specific ritual
galkuq is symbolically transformed be- and enable them to transcend time and
fore the participants in the ceremony. space. In the ritual dancing, the dancers
The ceremony would have been held in hold in their hands the taruyamaarak,
the qasegiq, illuminated by whatever two circular dance fans, one for each
light would have come through the seal hand. The dance fans use the black and
gut window in the central ceiling. It is white wing feathers from the anipak
through this window that the yua (“per- (snowy owl, the messengers of spirits). In
son,” or “spirit”) of the Angalkuq would the dance, the men are on their knees
enter the realm of the unseen to perform facing the people, and the women stand
whatever task it set out to do. behind them symmetrically moving in
As would have been the case in the synchrony with each other to the beat of
story described above, the drum was al- the drums. Along the back wall of the
ways used by the Angalkuq, or some- qasegiq are the benches where the drum-
times by his assistant. For the Yupiaq, ac- mers sit. There is powerful imagery in the
cording to my father, the drum was the movement of the dance fans with the
instrument that helped the Angalkuq to snowy owl feathers accentuating the
transport themselves between the physi- symbolism of body language. For the Yu-
cal and spiritual worlds. The vibrations piaq participants, the movements of the
719
dance and the sound speak a timeless from a story told by Cyril Alexie, a close
language of their own. cousin of my father, that was recorded on
The power of the spoken word was audio tape in 1993. Cyril Alexie recalled
used by the Angalkuq and coupled with traveling with his father on the tundra in
the all-powerful vibrations of the song the fall and finding a mouse colony with
and drum. The metaphorical Tulukaruk a store of anlleret (mouse food, the roots
(Raven, the Creator), also known as of marsh grass), which has a sweet-tast-
Ellum Yua (The Person of the Universe), ing white center and is used in soups and
created the spoken word and song at the in akutaq. When they dug up the mouse
time of creation. It is understood that food, they found that the earthworms
Ellum Yua is only a vibration away from were eating the roots. Mr. Alexie’s father
its creatures, and connected through the told him to kneel down and put his
spoken word, song, drum, and cere- hands into the mass of wiggling worms.
mony. Ellum Yua taught that thoughts The worms would have melded into his
are real and that words have power, and body, and it was believed that he would
warned that words have to be used have acquired the power to heal. And as
wisely and carefully. Since thoughts are he put it, “I would have even been able to
real and words have power, it stands to heal broken bones.” He said with a smile
reason that Ellum Yua’s creations must that he just couldn’t do it: qungvagnar-
not use words to injure the feelings of qisciyagtellrut (“they were just too tick-
others, human or nonhuman. It is taught lish”). He was modest and did not even
that the feelings generated in the re- directly say that he could have been an
ceiver by the words spoken to her or him Angalkuq if he had allowed himself to
have power, and they will return to the meld with the earthworms. According to
speaker in the manner spoken. Mr. Alexie, being an Angalkuq takes great
responsibility; in his words he implied
How the Medicine People Acquired that he was not ready at that time to un-
Their Power dertake such a journey.
The Angalkut acquired their power from I will stray for a moment and inject an
family stories. Some Angalkut were born additional story related to healing. Heal-
with the power. The gifted child had an ing was one important work of an An-
unmistakable, intense gaze that an An- galkuq. While Mr. Alexie does not desig-
galkuq identified. However, oral tradi- nate himself as an Angalkuq, he is known
tions and stories remain a central vehicle by his people as “one who helps people
for the transmission of power. Some sto- to feel better.” Mr. Alexie performs the
ries were inherited within the family and Yupiaq surgical procedure known as
passed from parent to child, or in some qapluki (poking them). He locates by
cases from the grandparents to the sensitive touching with the tips of his fin-
grandchild. In another example, I draw gers an area of indisposition along the
720
spine of his believing and willing patient. things for people. Dr. Ann Fienup-Rior-
He pierces the folded epidermal skin dan has also written an article on Yupiaq
with a scalpel-like instrument. The pa- elders’ memories of Angalkut.
tient’s skin is stretched tight and held by As a Yupiaq person living in the
an assistant. He then manipulates and twenty-first century, I have been influ-
massages the pierced area, and a milky- enced mainly by the encounter of two
white bloodless liquid is squeezed out. cultures, the Yupiaq and the Euro-Amer-
According to my siblings, he performed ican. By the middle of the nineteenth
this procedure on my father several century, most of the non-Native external
times in the early 1990s. I watched this forces that would begin affecting the Yu-
same procedure being performed by my piaq world were well underway. Mission-
father on his youngest brother, Ben- ization, assimilation, and acculturation
jamin, in the late 1940s while we were in policies of the U.S. government were just
our winter camp. Mr. Alexie still per- a few of those forces. I was hit on the
forms this healing ritual but no longer palm of my hands with a wooden ruler
uses the scalpel; he now uses only his for speaking Yupiaq in the second grade.
hands. My younger sister, Uyuruciaq (Mary
Most present-day Yupiaq have been Stachelrodt), and I were sent to a Bureau
Christianized, yet they still tell stories of of Indian Affairs boarding grade school
the Angalkut and the powers they had. in Wrangell, Alaska, a town in Tlingit ter-
There are rumors that there may be a ritory of southeastern Alaska for one
powerful Angalkuq in one of the lower year. In Wrangell I was taught table man-
Kuskokwim villages. What is interesting ners, to iron a white shirt, and to tie a
to me is that the area that the rumors double Windsor necktie without looking
refer to is known for its strict adherence in the mirror. In a carving class, I was
to the doctrines of the Moravian Church. forced to carve Tlingit totem poles, al-
The Moravian Church is a Pre-reforma- though I wanted to carve something Yu-
tion Protestant Church, founded in 1457. piaq. We were lined up according to
It is an evangelical mainline denomina- height and marched to our meals daily.
tion and ecumenical church (Henkel- The assimilation and acculturation
man and Vitt 1985). The Yupiaq in these policies of the U.S. government were ef-
villages do not sing or dance the old Yu- forts to Westernize Alaska Native chil-
piaq songs or perform the dances. I had dren, and those polices further added to
the opportunity to meet Kirt Vitt, the the cultural suppression practiced in the
coauthor of the book Harmonious to missionization process. There were relo-
Dwell, and he told me that he took a con- cation and termination policies carried
troversial stand when he stated in the out by the federal government that
book that the Angalkut were not all evil, added to the cultural suppression of Na-
since some of them tried to do good tive Alaskan as well as other Native
721
Americans. Relocation took the form of In February of 1994, when I had to re-
various training programs for nonman- turn to Bethel, Alaska, on a personal fam-
agerial positions, such as bookkeeping, ily emergency, I attended the First Tradi-
automobile repair, and cooking. The tional Yup’ik Healing Conference, at
trainees were given one-way tickets to the which two Yupiaq elders spoke about the
job site, and it was hoped by the Bureau of “poking” process and how they still prac-
Indian Affairs that these people would as- tice it. They are recognized traditional
similate into the dominant society. The healers. One of these men had a friend
termination policies were implemented who travels with him, and that man at-
by the U.S. Department of Interior when tested to the healing of the procedure. The
it determined that a particular “Indian” man who made this statement added that
tribe would no longer be recognized as a he makes sure he is never far from yung-
federally recognized tribe, and its tribal caristika (“[my] doctor”). In the audience
status was “terminated.” Its members were medical practitioners from the local
were then expected to integrate into the health organizations and two nursing in-
dominant society. These federal policies structors from the University of Alaska,
resulted in loss of culture and identity. Anchorage. Despite the cultural suppres-
Even today, the residue of colonization sion that was practiced by the external
persists in what is called the “certificate of forces, the Yupiaq culture is still alive. It
degree of Indian blood.” Native Ameri- has survived through these oral traditions,
cans who belong to federally recognized in the form of family stories and songs,
tribes within the United States carry a dances, rituals, and artistic expressions.
card that shows blood quantum in order Ciulanka ciumik quyaviksuganka (My
to get various social services. My family first ones, first, I want to thank).
members and I carry such a card. Kanaqlak (George P. Charles)
Despite the cultural suppression and
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Yup’iq;
genocide that was practiced by these ex- Hunting, Religious Restrictions and
ternal forces, the Yupiaq culture is still Implications; Oral Traditions; Religious
alive. This survival has been made possi- Leadership, Alaska; Spiritual and
Ceremonial Practitioners, Northwest Coast
ble through the Yupiaq language and oral and Southeast Alaska
tradition, and has taken the form of family
remembrances, stories and songs, dances, Ali, Elizabeth, and John Active. 1982. The
rituals, and artistic expressions. As an in- Bethel Native Dancers in Performance.
Bethel, Alaska: Bethel Council on the
sider who comes from the Yupiaq culture
Arts.
and with first-hand experience in my fam- Barker, James H. 1993. Always Getting
ily’s ways of living, I have written this essay Ready, Upterrlainarluta: Yup’Ik Eskimo
to contribute to the growing body of pri- Subsistence in Southwest Alaska. Seattle:
mary information on the Yupiaq/Cupiaq Fienup-Riordan, Ann. 1994. Boundaries and
society. Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup’iq Oral
722
__________________________________________________________________________________ Owens, Louis
Tradition. Norman: University of example, place is important to the spiri-

Oklahoma Press. tual identity of Indian people; among In-
———. 2000. Hunting Tradition in a
Changing World: Yup’ik Lives in Alaska dian writers only Erdrich and Momaday
Today. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University rival Owens in ability to invoke place and
Press. in how place figures into the identity of
Henkelman, James W., and Kurt H. Vitt.
1985. The History of the Alaska Moravian indigenous characters.
Church 1885–1985: Harmonious to Owens integrates spirits so seamlessly
Dwell. Bethel, Alaska: Moravian that readers may be unable to tell if a
Seminary and Archives.
character is a spirit, or of flesh and blood.
A Pathway to Ecology and Spirit. That is appropriate, because to tradi-
Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press. tional indigenous people there is little or
Kessing, Roger M. 1979. “Linguistic
no distinction between the spirit and
Knowledge and Cultural
Knowledge.”American Anthropologist 81, physical worlds. Many of Owens’s tribal
no. 1 (March). elders seem part of the land, and as
closely connected to their nonhuman
relatives as to their human descendants.
They work to protect and guide their de-
Owens, Louis scendants, but also to ensure that
(1948–2002) younger, mixed-blood Indians recognize
(Novelist/scholar, Choctaw/Cherokee) their connections to the land and the an-
Louis Owens, Choctaw/Cherokee/Irish imals that share their homes with them.
novelist and scholar, is known as a writer In Owens’s first novel, Wolfsong
of Native American novels with violent (1991), Jim Joseph, who received wolf as
themes, but Owens was especially effec- his guardian spirit, is an important fig-
tive in evoking indigenous tradition and ure. Jim actively resists development of a
identity as a means of coping with events wilderness and river valley that he re-
imposed upon Indian people from out- gards as sacred. While resisting, he is
side of tribal culture. His overlying theme called home by wolf and “drummers and
was the meaning of mixed-blood iden- dancers” in the woods. After Jim’s pass-
tity, coping simultaneously with tribal ing, his nephew Tom is attended by a
cultures and traditions and those of the wolf, presumably his uncle in spirit form.
dominant American culture with every Wolfsong’s conflict between white
fiber of your being. prodevelopment forces, the resistance to
Among Owens’s strengths is his incor- development by traditional Indians, and
poration of nonhuman elements of the a confused acquiescence to the white
community as vital presences, so that ways of acculturated Christian Indians is
concepts important to indigenous iden- important, but this is the only time that
tity, but often ignored by other Indian Owens employed such a theme. Tom’s
writers, are important in his stories. For mother tries to survive as a Christian
723
Great Basin
The Great Basin culture refers to an arid inland region encompassing much
of the western United States. Consisting of a vast natural basin, with occa-
sional rocky uplands breaking up long stretches of mostly barren desert, the
region is surrounded by the Sierra Nevada range on the west, the Rocky
Mountains on the east, the Columbia Plateau on the north, and the Col-
orado Plateau on the south. The region includes the open expanse of the
Mojave Desert in the southwest, which provides a stark exception to the
general ecological makeup of the area.
The river systems of the Great Basin drain from the high country into the
central depression and disappear into sinks and thus have no outlet to the
oceans (hence the “basin” characterization). The mountains to the east and
west block the rain clouds, leading to both low rainfall and high evapora-
tion. The Great Basin once contained dozens of lakes, some quite large, as
evidenced by their remnants, including Great Salt Lake. In the western part
of the Great Basin is Death Valley, where temperatures in the summer often
exceed 125°F. Sagebrush dominates the sparse vegetation throughout the
Great Basin, with some piñon and juniper trees in the higher elevations.
This somewhat harsh environment produces more nomadic tribes than
regions to the west, and these tribes speak variations of the Uto-Aztecan
family. The one exception is the Washoe to the west who speak a Hokan di-
alect. The major tribal groups of the Great Basin are the Paiute, Shoshone,
and Ute, each with various subdivisions and offshoots. Although dialects
vary throughout the region, their similarities have made it possible for dif-
ferent groups to maintain diplomatic relations for trade and intermarriage.
Great Basin Indians adopted their nomadic lifestyles in order to fully
exploit wild food resources as they became available. Social organization
for this type of resource management tends to be smaller than that of
more settled groups, with the extended-family group being the primary
source for identity. Leadership is provided through “headmen,” who are
often capable and wise individuals who oversee the affairs of the family in
trade negotiations and the like. Regular gatherings of these family groups,
for practical purposes such as “rabbit Drives” (mass rabbit hunts requiring
the labors of many), seasonal observations such as solstice and equinox
continues
__________________________________________________________________________________ Owens, Louis
Great Basin, continued

ceremonies, or weddings often doubled as the group’s religious system,
and the bands’ spiritual advisors would preside over general rites of propi-
tiation and thanksgiving.
The relatively difficult day-to-day circumstances lead to less overall time
spent in philosophical pondering, but by no means should this fact be as-
sumed to equate less religiosity. The daily gatherings and hunting done by
the family group are accompanied by ritual activity, personal spiritual inter-
action, and the diplomatic interaction between the human and the other-
than-human world.
while also maintaining an identity as a (LaLonde 2002, ch. 1); however, ravens
tribal person. accompany wolves regularly in their ac-
Owens did not write about Indians as tivities, serving both as an early warning
victims; his Indian characters are em- system and as locators of food (Heinrich
powered, and only when they lose touch 2000). Owens employs this relationship
with their tribal identities and connec- to illustrate that the ravens accompany
tions to the land do they become victims. and warn Jim and Tom, human heirs of
One theme in Owens’s writing is that the wolf spirit.
whites accept “progress” and develop- Owens followed Wolfsong with The
ment as inevitable outcomes of their way Sharpest Sight (1992), one of the greatest
of life. In contrast, even though some ac- novels ever published by a Native Ameri-
quiesce to development, all Indians are can writer. Sharpest Sight introduces
troubled spiritually by its implications, Cole McCurtain, mixed-blood Choctaw
and some actively resist. and Owens’s most autobiographical
Tom Joseph’s continuance of his character. The main theme is social
uncle’s surveyance (monitoring road forces that lead to violence, and the spir-
construction in a sacred area) leads him itual reverberations of violent acts to sur-
into conflicts with whites, who harass viving family members and their com-
and pursue him. Tom is attended and munity. When Cole’s older brother Attis
guarded by wolves, who may or may not returns from Vietnam, he is so damaged
be spirits. Both Jim and Tom Joseph are by his experience that he kills his girl-
accompanied by ravens who observe friend and is imprisoned. In attempted
and comment on the action. This has vengeance, her family orchestrates Attis’s
been interpreted as an effort to intro- “escape,” kills him, and throws his body
duce “trickster” figures into the narrative in the Salinas River. Cole flees to avoid
725
Owens, Louis ___________________________________________________________________________________
the draft and hides out with his “uncle” of traditional elders. Nalusachito, the
Luther Cole in the Yazoo country, where soul catcher, was aroused by Attis’s
he is pursued by the FBI. death, and both it and the shilombish
Overseeing these events are a number can be appeased only by the return of
of elders, some living, others not, who at- Attis’s bones to Mississippi—which must
tempt to guide their descendants, and be done by Cole and their father, Hoey.
who provide an overarching historical Sharpest Sight is a complex, multifac-
perspective. The story is nonlinear, in- eted story involving Indians who, al-
volving local Indians, whites, and His- though not powerful in the sense of the
panics—for example, deputy Mundo dominant culture, are perfectly capable
Morales, a friend of Attis’s and the only of taking care of themselves in extreme
person actually to see his body in the circumstances; they draw their strength
river; his entanglement in the plot brings from their understanding of the land and
his grandfather’s spirit and others to what they know of their cultural and
counsel him. spiritual traditions. In contrast, white
In Mississippi, Cole learns Choctaw characters are conflicted, and their at-
ways through interactions with tribal tempts to control situations succeed
elders Luther Cole and Onatima Blue only in provoking violence and destroy-
Wood. These sections of the story show a ing their own economic and psychologi-
strong combination of humor and spirit cal security.
power, and they go to the essence of In Bone Game (1994), Owens returns
tribal identity by showing that tribal eld- to Cole’s story twenty-five years after
ers are powerful in ways completely sep- Sharpest Sight, when Cole is a professor
arate from the political and economic at the University of California at Santa
power wielded by whites. Learning how Cruz. Cole is spiritually troubled, di-
to live from traditional elders heals and vorced from his wife and living apart
strengthens the confused Cole, while from his daughter. He suffers from
giving him a sense of identity. dreams in which owls call to him from
In Sharpest Sight the animal spirit is the forest, and he sees images of grizzly
Nalusachito, the black spirit panther that bears and painted Indian gamblers.
appears on the bridge over the Salinas to Unbeknownst to Cole, white male stu-
alert Mundo about Attis’s body in the dents obsessed with Indian traditions
river; it also reappears in the Mississippi have been killing other whites in some
swamps. Attis’s shilombish (ghost) trav- sort of unspecified ritual sacrifice. Their
els to Luther’s cabin, where it waits for activities link them synergistically with
his physical remains to be brought the vengeful spirit of Venancio Asisara,
home. The straightforward manner in an Ohlone spiritual leader, “a conscious-
which Luther and Onatima deal with ex- ness awakening and looking around at a
traordinary events illustrates the power world entirely familiar and entirely alien
726
__________________________________________________________________________________ Owens, Louis
simultaneously, . . . the way the Ohlone spirits are powerful symbols, familiar to
were forced in a single generation to see the indigenous peoples. Asisara and the
the destruction of their cultural world, by bear represent a conjunction of powerful
the Spanish” (L. Owens, personal com- spirits exterminated from their home-
munication April 2002). Monterey Bay land, whose spiritual power can be
remains the Ohlone homeland, but one tapped by murderers.
made alien by urban sprawl, which has To counteract this spirit power,
created a place of unstable power. Luther, Hoey, and Onatima are called
Owens employs a premise from the ac- from Mississippi to help Yazzie rescue
tivities of two serial killers who plagued Cole and his damaged spirit. Luther and
Santa Cruz in the early 1970s. Asisara’s Hoey travel through New Mexico and en-
spirit is linked with whites murdering counter a Diné elder, and they also res-
other whites. Again we have the scenario cue a Diné woman from witches in a
in which Euro-American (and Spanish) scene referential to Silko’s novel Cere-
hubris and past violence leads to yet mony. Onatima, who inhabits a different
more violence. Venuto (1998) argued that physical reality, appears in California to
“Venancio’s continued presence demon- serve as advisor to Cole’s daughter Abby,
strates that evil, which will always exist, teaching her about traditional Choctaw
must be acknowledged in order to main- ways and how to deal with Indian men.
tain the world’s balance”; however, that is Abby and Alex join forces, working to-
an interpretation of the dominant culture gether to rescue Cole, who has become a
that emphasizes a dichotomy between focal point around which the two mur-
good and evil. Asisara is “immense anger derers and Asisara revolve. After the
and power . . . a holy person . . . warped deaths of the two murderers, Cole’s
into uncontrolled anger . . . out of the Choctaw family takes Cole back to New
very earth itself . . . awakened by the vio- Mexico, away from the haunted shores of
lence of the murderers” (Owens, personal Monterey Bay. Asisara’s spirit remains,
communication April 2002). roaming the forests and mountains that
Alex Yazzie, a cross-dressing tradi- surround the town of Santa Cruz and the
tional Diné (Navajo) and visiting scholar bay.
at the university, is a trickster figure Nightland is about loss and spiritual
(LaLonde 2002) who recognizes Cole as a madness loose in Indian New Mexico; it
troubled Indian and reconnects Cole to deals with drug dealing and double-
his indigenous roots, while also provid- crossing, driven by historical desires for
ing him with a true colleague. In Bone vengeance by Southwestern peoples.
Game the powerful animal spirit is griz- Caught in this spiritual chaos are the
zly bear, appearing with, or as, Asisara. mixed-blood Cherokees Billy Keene and
Like wolf in the North Cascades, grizzly Will Striker. Given the same first name
bear is now extinct in California, yet both by their parents, they are children of
727
Owens, Louis ___________________________________________________________________________________
Cherokees who married whites and At their ranches Will finds buzzards
moved from Oklahoma to escape racial hanging about, but Billy finds crows at his
prejudice and share ranchland. The land place. Siquani explains: “Old Buzzard was
contains a spring where the Spanish real important back in the beginning. . . .
massacred Apaches, after which the Buzzard flew around to see where ani-
water dried up. mals could live.” The buzzards recognize
Will and Billy have spent their lives to- differences between Will’s place, where
gether, growing up as two aspects of the animals can live, and Billy’s ranch, where
same person, but different in personal- Billy has given up on his animals, and on
ity. Will keeps community together, car- his human people. Will’s ranch is the
ing for his animals, whereas Billy has earth itself, cared for so that animals can
sold all his cattle and keeps no animals. live there, whereas Billy has lost his spiri-
Billy lives with “Grandpa” Siquani, a tual connections, thinking of himself as
Cherokee elder who apparently partici- American rather than as Cherokee.
pated in the Trail of Tears and experi- Significant in Nightland are discus-
enced the lives of the Cherokee before sions of history, combined with recogni-
the arrival of whites. tion of the spiritual costs of the American
Nightland refers to the “land to the way of life. Paco Ortega, an Indian drug
west,” the Cherokee land of the dead. dealer, believes that running drugs is
Will and Billy are hunting in Cibola Na- “sending the smallpox infested blankets
tional Forest when a man and a suitcase back to the whites,” and that money
containing a million dollars fall from the gained from selling drugs is “the white
Western sky. Billy claims the money is a man’s weapon which we must learn to
“gift from the Great Spirit,” whereas Will use against him in the long war.” Dis-
calls it “corpse money” and wonders cussing Wounded Knee as a “battle,”
what Siquani would think about it—and Paco contends that “[t]he answer has to
also what to do about the man’s body, be in the way Americans conceive of
impaled on a juniper. themselves, and I think that everything
Arturo Cruz, the man who fell from the in the psyche of this country tells people
sky, joins Siquani after his death to dis- they can just put the past behind them,
cuss the action that takes place. Owens and that they aren’t responsible for yes-
wrote Nightland to explore his Cherokee terday” (180). Americans must face the
heritage, and Siquani is the spiritual em- consequences of their actions, and stop
bodiment of the Tsalagi. Siquani explains denying that Wounded Knee and the
that Billy’s father asked him to come Trail of Tears were acts of genocide; how-
along when they left Oklahoma, and he ever, reprisal can also be destructive.
agreed, “to see how the story ends.” Si- That point is reinforced by the intro-
quani places things in perspective for duction of Owens’s most manipulative
Will, but he cannot save Billy from folly, and destructive Indian character: Odessa
and from his desire to “be American.” Whitehawk, a beautiful full-blood Mes-
728
__________________________________________________________________________________ Owens, Louis
calero Ph.D. from Berkeley, who plays off the living is ambiguous, as are those of
all against each other and kills other In- other characters in Owens’s writing).
dian people. Odessa is the flesh and Will’s animals kept him from being alone
blood spiritual descendant of Venancio when he lived without human company,
Asisara; even her love bites are toxic. She and his responsibilities to them kept him
is from the Apache people whose mas- functioning. When Siquani meets Will at
sacre established Spanish ownership of the finish, he explains: “I had to help Billy
the land containing Will’s and Billy’s find the path. . . . They been piling up
ranches. Confronting Will after killing things to hide it for all these years now,
Billy, she says, “You deserve everything but our world is still here. Sometimes we
that’s happening to you. . . . This land was forget because we got to look so hard to
the home of my ancestors. They never see it and people get tired . . . but the an-
pretended to own it, but their bones are imals know and they don’t forget. We got
in the earth you call yours. You and Billy to listen.” The animals tried to warn Will
aren’t supposed to be here. You’re no bet- and Billy; buzzards came to Will’s ranch,
ter than the whites. You let them push and crows kept flying over Billy, but he
you off your own land in the east and lost the path and his connections to the
march you into the homes of other In- living world, which is how he became
dian people in that so-called Territory, “American.”
and you became just like them. . . . You Owens’s final novel, Dark River (1999),
live on top of my people’s bones now.” returns to Apache country, with a
Siquani conducts rituals and cere- Choctaw protagonist. Jacob Nashoba is
monies to protect Billy, who is in great alone, spiritually and physically. His
danger; however, Billy is determined to Apache former wife, Tali, is becoming a
“be American,” when survival requires tribal leader, and although they maintain
acknowledgment of his Indian heritage. a sexual relationship they do not live to-
Siquani can protect Billy against Paco, gether. Jake survives only through con-
but not against Odessa. Will is saved by nection to place, his relationship to the
his nonhumans, who attack and distract titular river and the canyon through
Odessa, so Will is able to kill her before which it flows.
she kills him. Jake rejects his heritage. Mrs. Ed-
Odessa’s death breaks the curse on the wards, an Apache elder, confronts Jake
land. Siquani conducts a Cherokee water about his troubled relationships by ask-
renewal ceremony with Arturo as he ing: “Why didn’t you ever tell your wife or
buries him. The massacre of Apaches led her children about your own culture? Did
to a drought, and the water renewal cere- you forget everything, or don’t those
monies bring the rains back, restoring Choctaw people you come from have
the spring. Will’s connections allow him stories?” His response is: “Look Grand-
to survive where everyone else but Si- mother, I’m no Indian. My people have
quani has died (Siquani’s connection to stories of leprechauns and something
729
Owens, Louis ___________________________________________________________________________________
called the sidhe.” This reference to Irish with Jim Joseph’s being called by wolf as
heritage is a deflection, acknowledging his spirit passed, and Dark River ends
spirits and stories of a foreign land while with Jacob Nashoba dying and falling
refusing to acknowledge spirits and sto- into the earth. “To an Apache, coyote
ries of his native land. might have been disturbing. If they
Jessie, a young Apache using Jake as a knew what Nashoba meant, they’d be
role model, runs “vision quests” for Eu- even more disturbed by him” (124).
ropeans. Unlike Jake, Jessie is part of the Jessie employed wolf in his vision quests
community, and one of his “vision and comes back as a wolf after his death;
quests” goes wrong. The tribal chairman, perhaps Jake taught him more than ei-
in collusion with tribal police, rents Dark ther of them knew.
River canyon to militia who want to use Raymond Pierotti
it for war games. In the canyon, wearing
See also Literature, Religion in
a wolf costume to give his client a “gen- Contemporary American Indian Literature;
uine” vision, Jessie is shot and killed by Oral Traditions; Oral Traditions, Pueblo;
militia who think they are rescuing his Symbolism in American Indian Ritual and
Ceremony; Tricksters
client. The militia then holds the client
and Jake’s granddaughter, Alison, who is References and Further Reading
Heinrich, Bernd. 2000. The Mind of the
in the canyon on her own vision quest. Raven: Investigations and Adventures
Jake goes to rescue Alison. After passing, with Wolf-Birds. New York: Harper
Jessie returns as a shapeshifter who can Collins.
LaLonde, Chris. 2002. Grave Concerns,
take the form of an actual wolf, and the Trickster Turns: The Novels of Louis
two of them help Alison escape from the Owens. Norman: University of Oklahoma
militia. Jake is mortally wounded and Press.
Owens, Louis. 1991. Wolfsong. Albuquerque:
falls into a hole in the earth. Exactly how
West End Press.
Dark River ends is unclear, because ———. 1992. The Sharpest Sight. Norman:
Owens posits several endings to let the University of Oklahoma Press.
———. 1994. Bone Game. Norman:
Indians decide which one is most appro-
priate spiritually. Jake is with grand- ———. 1996. Nightland. New York: Penguin
mother spider, helper of the Apache hero Books.
———. 1998. Mixedblood Messages:
Monster Slayer, who takes him home
Literature, Film, Family, Place. Norman:
into the earth. After Jake passes, Jessie University of Oklahoma Press.
changes into a proper ghost and leaves ———. 1999. Dark River. Norman:
as well. University of Oklahoma Press.
———. 2001. I Hear the Train: Reflections,
Nashoba means “wolf” in Choctaw. Inventions, Refractions. Norman:
Wolves are prominent presences in University of Oklahoma Press.
Owens’s first and last novels, which may Venuto, Rochelle. 1998. “Bone Game’s
Terminal Plots and Healing Stories.”
be important in understanding the arc Studies in American Indian Literature 10:
of Owens’s writing. Wolfsong started 23–42.
730
P
Parrish, Essie One anthropologist of the Bole Maru
contends that although revivalist, the
(1903–1979)
Bole Maru is also assimilationist; it
(Prophet/doctor, Kashaya)
cleared the way for further acculturation
A Kashaya Pomo prophet and doctor
and Christianization (DuBois 1971, 499).
from northern Sonoma County, Essie
However, Dr. Greg Sarris, Essie Parrish’s
Parrish led the Kashaya people between
great-grandson through marriage and
1943 and the time of her death in 1979, a
Bole Maru adherent, understands it to be
period of religious and cultural upheaval
a political and nationalistic movement
marked by the widening influence of
incorporating Victorian ideology and
Mormonism, Pentecostalism, and eco-
biblical religion only so far as they pro-
nomic and social hardships. Essie Par- tected and corroborated Kashaya ways
rish was the fourth, and last of the of life (1993, 67–68).
Kashaya Pomo Bole Maru dreamers. She Born Essie Pinola, or Pewoya in the
differed from the previous three Kashaya Pomo language, she was six
Kashaya dreamers by favoring more years old when the Kashaya acknowl-
open relationships with non-Indians edged her as their fourth dreamer. The
and Western education. Like the dream- Santa Rosa Press Democrat names her as
ers before her, she insisted on the main- one of the “50 people who shaped our
tenance of the Kashaya language and century” (Santa Rosa Press Democrat
traditions. In addition to her Bole Maru 2000). Her ability to prophesy and inter-
roles, she was one of a handful of twenti- pret dreams attracted anthropologists,
eth-century Pomo doctors, or shamans. including Alfred Kroeber and Samuel
She diagnosed and cured sickness Barrett. Her knowledge of Kashaya lan-
through song, trance, dance, the use of guage and traditions drew linguist
her hands, and the extraction of “poi- Robert Oswalt into collaboration with
son” from her patients. Essie and resulted in the publication of a
731
Parrish, Essie __________________________________________________________________________________
Kashaya Pomo dictionary and a book of rish’s dream flags, which flew above the
teachings. Her desire to leave accurate ceremonial roundhouse, were ripped
records of her knowledge involved her in down and then soaked in human excre-
the production of more than twenty ment and placed on her porch step”
ethnographic films, numerous sound (ibid.). However, at one point in her life,
recordings, and a documentary of her Essie converted to Mormonism and in-
life that won a Cannes Film Festival fluenced a number of other Kashaya to
award in 1969. do the same (ibid., 178).
In 1968, Essie Parrish met with Robert Dreamers dream dances, songs, and
Kennedy on the Kashaya rancheria dur- regalia essential for the well-being of the
ing his trip to investigate conditions in community; they also organize the
Indian schools. She took him into her tribe’s social and political life based upon
roundhouse and made him a gift of one their dreams, leading the tribe in all
of her baskets. Her teachings are still in- ways. Each dance is different, although
fluential among a number of Kashaya basic patterns underlie the various
families and continue to inform Kashaya dances, such as counterclockwise move-
ways of life, even among Kashaya who do ment, sets of four, and lines of female
not strictly adhere to her teachings. dancers. Ritual regalia and instruments
The Bole Maru came to the Kashaya include dresses, vests, flags, staffs, and
Pomo by way of the Earth Lodge cults of ribbons decorated with symbols specific
northern California in the winter of to the dreamer and dance. Essie Parrish’s
1871–1872; they in turn derived from the Bole Maru and doctoring ceremonies
Ghost Dance movements originating in often took place on the Kashaya
1869 with the Paviotso Paiute of Pyramid rancheria in a ceremonial roundhouse
Lake, some 230 miles southeast of the 45 feet in diameter and 12 feet in height,
Kashaya. The Kashaya refer to them- with a large center pole. The floor is
selves as win-.ma-bake ya, “the people hard-packed earth, there is a fire, and
who belong to the land” (Sarris 1993, benches line the walls. Elements of Bole
176). In the Bole Maru, each Native Maru ritual include male singers, female
group has a local dreamer who intro- dancers with ribbons tied on their fin-
duces his or her own ceremonial proce- gers, clapper rattles, drums, prayer, song,
dures and doctrines. In general, Bole and a concluding feast. Following the
Maru doctrine includes a Supreme Being teachings of the Bole Maru, the round-
and afterlife; both stem from Pentecostal house that Mrs. Parrish used still stands
influence. In part because the Bole Maru but has been locked and left disused
is not considered “Christian,” Kashaya since her death. Her dream symbols,
who converted to Mormonism or Pente- songs, and dances can also no longer be
costalism persecuted Essie Parrish and used, unless she granted explicit permis-
followers of the Bole Maru. “Essie Par- sion to the contrary before her death. If a
732
_______________________________________________________________ Petrographs and Petroglyphs
new dreamer-prophet is identified Goodrich, Jennie, Claudia Lawson, and

sometime in the future, the roundhouse Vana Parrish Lawson. 1996. Kashaya
Pomo Plants. Berkeley: Heyday Books.
may be reopened and songs revived if Oswalt, Robert. 1964. Kashaya Texts. Vol. 36
the new prophet dreams it so. in University of California Publications
The prohibition on using a dreamer’s in Linguistics. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
instruments, prayers, dances, and songs Pomo Shaman. 1964. Videocassette,
after that dreamer’s death can function directed by William R. Heick, David
to permit “continuous reinvention of the Wayne Peri, and Robert Walter Wharton.
Berkeley: University of California,
tradition” (ibid., 70). The lack of shared Extension Media Center.
ritual may, however, exacerbate tribal di- Santa Rosa Press Democrat. 2000. “50 Who
vision and leave young people without Shaped Our Century: Essie Parrish,”
www.pressdemocrat.com/top50/parrish.
spiritual grounding and meaningful con-
html. (Accessed August 17, 2002.)
nection to their tribal heritage. In fact, Sarris, Greg. 1993. Keeping Slug Woman
Sarris describes such conditions among Alive: A Holistic Approach to American
Indian Texts. Berkeley: University of
Kashaya today (ibid., 177). Still, much to
California Press.
the consternation of some of Essie’s ———. 1994. Mabel McKay: Weaving the
daughters and other relations who con- Dream. Berkeley: University of California
Press.
tinue to live at Kashaya, former Mormon
Kashaya have built another roundhouse
on the rancheria, using it for Kashaya re-
ligious activity. Petrographs and
Alexandra Witkin New Holy Petroglyphs
See also Dreamers and Prophets; Ghost
Dance Movement; Healing Traditions, Several terms are used for markings
California; McKay, Mabel; Power, Barbareño made on cliffs and in rock shelters. “Pet-
Chumash; Retraditionalism and roglyph” refers to marks made by remov-
Revitalization Movements, California
ing a portion of the rock surface by peck-
ing, incising, or grinding. “Petrograph”
Beck, Peggy V., Anna Lee Walters, and Nia
Francisco. 1977. “The World Out of refers to marks made by adding paint or
Balance.” Pp. 164–187 in The Sacred: other substance to the rock surface. The
Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life. Tsaile,
word “pictograph” is also sometimes
AZ: Navajo Community College Press.
Dream Dances of the Kashia Pomo used the same way, but it more correctly
(American Indian Films. Series in refers to picture writing in any medium.
Ethnology). 1964. Videocassette, directed “Rock art” is a general term for all marks
by Clyde B. Smith. Berkeley: University of
California, Extension Media Center. made on or in rock surfaces, whether or
DuBois, Cora. 1971. “The 1870 Ghost not they constitute “art” in the Western
Dance.” Pp. 496–499 in The California sense.
Indians. Edited by Robert F. Heizer and
Mary Anne Whipple. Berkeley: University Most American Indian rock art was
of California Press. made or used in a religious context.
733
Petrographs and Petroglyphs ________________________________________________________________
Some rock art conveyed simple mes- dinary person, but he or she may need
sages, such as a group’s whereabouts, the help of a religious specialist to un-
and some recorded warriors’ exploits or derstand it. These beliefs assume that
a group’s visit to a particular place; most the rock art mysteriously changes to
other types were directly related to reli- convey the correct message—or, from
gious beliefs. Since all activities, includ- another perspective, that the spirits
ing warfare and travel, traditionally in- change how the viewer sees the image.
cluded elements of ritual and prayer, Other Indians view rock art as a mes-
one cannot draw a strict line between sage deliberately left to them from the
secular and religious rock art. For exam- ancestors, or more generally as a window
ple, Hopi clan symbols at Willow to their past. Outside of prayer, they do
Springs, Arizona, record expeditions to not try to interpret the symbols. A Zuni
acquire salt and yellow paint as part of man told anthropologist M. Jane Young,
winter solstice rituals. “I don’t know what it means, but I know it
Primarily religious Indian rock art falls is important.” Lakota Sioux historian
into several categories: rock art created James LaPointe expressed a similar view.
during ceremonies; rock art used in indi- He said that his people believed that an-
vidual devotion, such as the vision quest; cient, intelligent people made the marks
images of mythic beings or stories; im- on the rock so that later people could
ages of ceremonies or items used in cere- learn something of their ancestors. His
monies; and depictions of religious ex- people did not worry about the meaning
periences such as visions or trances. of rock art, because not all mysteries are
Many Indians believe that spirits create meant to be solved before one dies and
the markings as messages to the people enters the spirit world.
from the spirit world. In some cases, this Rock art and landscape are inextrica-
may mean that the rock art is very old bly linked, because rock art is believed to
and thus associated with the time before appear at places where the spirits dwell.
people. It may also have reference to In Lakota religion two spirit beings, Dou-
people creating rock art while imperson- ble Woman and Spider (Iktomi), create
ating a spirit being. Religious specialists rock art. The Crees assert that Little Peo-
and ordinary people might take on the ple create the markings. Dakotas attrib-
role of a spirit being to validate or publi- ute some rock art to the Thunder Beings.
cize their visions. In that role they might It is never clear whether the spirits in-
make rock art on behalf of the spirit habit a place because it has sacred mark-
being. A widespread belief is that rock art ings or whether the sacred markings ap-
will reveal a message about the future to pear because the rock is a spirit home.
holy men or women who have fasted and Some rock art in the Americas is thou-
prayed nearby. At other times the rock sands of years old and thus difficult to in-
art will convey a sacred message to an or- terpret using information about historic
734
clearly linked to particular groups, such

as images of the Apsoroke sacred to-
bacco in eastern Montana. The more
clearly a style of rock art is linked to a
particular culture, the more successful
will be attempts to interpret its meaning.
In some cultures, however, the use and
meaning of rock art images have been
closely guarded secrets not shared with
outsiders. Religious art often is highly
symbolic or metaphorical, making its in-
terpretation especially difficult. In some
cases, tribal historians have retained de-
tailed knowledge of old symbols and are
experts on their meaning.
In the Great Basin, boys and girls cre-
ated rock art as part of their puberty cere-
monies. Girls and women making bone
tools at sites associated with a spirit being
called Double Woman probably created
some “tool grooves” and similarly
Anasazi Puebloan petroglyphs of whipping
abraded hoofprints and vulvas in the
kachinas. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.
(North Wind Picture Archives) Great Plains. This gave the women special
abilities in tanning and decorating hides.
A related type of rock art found in Califor-
or modern tribal traditions. The farther nia and the Great Basin consists of pits
back one goes in time, the less likely it is and grooves abraded into the “baby
that historically recorded information rocks” or “rain rocks,” places where
will pertain to the rock art. Nevertheless, women could pray for rain, fertility, or the
some ancient rock art can still be recog- sex of an unborn child. Other rock art ap-
nized as religious because it shows cere- pears to record visions. Pictures of cere-
monial activities or religious symbols monies are rare; however, an Elk Dreamer
that persisted into historical times, such society ritual is shown in western South
as the thunderbird. Rock art comprising Dakota rock art, and Yeibichai dancers
the abstract designs and colorful images appear in Navajo rock art in New Mexico.
typical of trance states is often assumed Some rock art shows sacred items or
to have a religious origin. An example is plants, such as tobacco or peyote.
the painted rock art of southern Califor- Much Indian rock art depicts myths or
nia. Other rock art is more recent and mythical beings. Caves in Missouri and
735
Petrographs and Petroglyphs ________________________________________________________________
Wisconsin depict a culture hero called trance states occur in art unrelated to
Red Horn. Petroglyphs in the Cave Hills trance, as well as in art produced under
of South Dakota illustrate myths con- altered states of consciousness. Con-
nected to eagle trapping, and others in versely, images of animals and other rec-
western Wyoming show mythical beings ognizable objects may occur in trance-
such as Water Ghost Woman. Images of related art, as well as in art that has no
kachinas (spirit beings that control rain, religious motivation. Some images that
fertility, and well-being) appear in appear abstract may represent objects
Southwestern rock art. unfamiliar to researchers, such as a tool
Concerns about rock art research gen- not preserved archaeologically or a map
erally focus on whether researchers can of garden plots.
construe accurate interpretations of it. Researchers have yet to develop reli-
Over the years rock art has been called able methods for determining the age of
on to “prove” many fallacious ideas, such rock art. Most promising so far is acceler-
as the arrival of ancient astronauts on ator mass spectrometry–aided radiocar-
earth or the presence of ancient Egyp- bon dating. Tiny amounts of pigment
tians in North America. That made some can be collected and dated through the
researchers reluctant to work with rock radiocarbon method, but only if the pig-
art, and the emphasis on scientific ar- ment contains residues of organic mate-
chaeology in the 1960s through the 1980s rial such as charcoal, albumin, or blood.
further discouraged rock art research. It may eventually be possible to measure
Today many researchers are turning to the rate of chemical change to the rock
the methods of history and art history in surface initiated when the surface was
trying to understand Indian rock art. broken in creating a petroglyph. Dating
This emphasizes the physical contexts of methods in use now include measuring
time, place, landscape, and the presence the age of buried archaeological material
or absence of other rock art, as well as that covers rock art panels or contains
the cultural context that produced the bits of fallen rock art; measuring the age
symbols. Recently, much Indian rock art of materials covering rock art, such as
has been interpreted as shamanic (made wasp nests or cliff swallow nests; and
by persons believed to have special pow- correlating the stranding of rock art pan-
ers of communication with the spirit els with episodes of erosion. These meth-
world). Such conclusions have some- ods yield only minimum ages rather than
times ignored other possibilities. For ex- absolute ages.
ample, a winged person or a person with Other clues to the age of a petroglyph
a rayed head may represent a mythical or petrograph come from the items de-
being or spirit, rather than illustrating a picted. If an extinct animal is pictured,
shaman’s trance experience. The geo- the rock art presumably was made be-
metric designs associated with various fore the species died out. If European
736
trade goods or horses are shown, then by planned development, some Indians
the image must have been made after believe that if the locations become
those items arrived in the Americas. known outside the community the sites
Sometimes an unusual motif found in will lose their spiritual potency. Some ef-
rock art is also found in portable objects forts at preservation change the larger
from the same area that can be more environment of the rock art, spoiling its
readily dated. If one style of rock art con- sacred nature. For example, a dome built
sistently superimposes another, the style over a petroglyph site in the Great Lakes
“on top” is assumed to be younger. area of Canada now forms an artificial
Weathering, amount of soil displace- barrier between the rock and the sky.
ment, and amount of lichen also provide Rock art has been removed from its
clues to the relative ages of styles occur- natural setting and placed in museums in
ring together. advance of dam construction. This may
Important issues surrounding rock art preserve the rock as an artifact, but it
concern its preservation and its contin- hardly preserves it as a place of worship.
ued use by Indians. Because it is exposed Traditional beliefs hold that rock art, like
to the air, weather, and the actions of everything else, should gradually fade
people, rock art is extremely vulnerable away; thus, some tribal people oppose ag-
to damage. Well-meaning people have gressive conservation measures. State or
applied chalk or other substances to pet- federal preservation regulations often re-
roglyphs and petrographs or have at- quire that the land manager make a state-
tempted to make rubbings or casts, ment of the site’s significance. Such a
causing permanent damage. Thieves statement might require information that
have stolen some rock art, while other Indians are unwilling to make public.
sites have been lost to dam or highway Another problem is the appropriation
construction. People building fires below of rock art sites by adherents of the New
the rock art panels, rubbing against Age movement. Some Indians feel that
them, touching the rock art, or trampling this devalues or desecrates sacred sites
or looting archaeological deposits near and makes it difficult for Indians to use
the rock art have damaged some sites. them in traditional ways. Some also ob-
Because many Indian people consider ject to the use of sacred images on
rock art sites sacred places, they abhor T-shirts, coffee mugs, and other items.
such desecration. Although in some Linea Sundstrom
ways Indians and archaeologists are al-
See also Academic Study of American
lies in their efforts to protect and pre- Indian Religious Traditions; Archaeology;
serve rock art sites, problems can arise First Menses Site; New Age Appropriation
from this alliance. While public land
managers must know the locations of Bostwick, Todd. 2002. Landscape of the
sites to ensure that they are not damaged Spirits: Hohokam Rock Art at South
737
Pipe, Sacred ____________________________________________________________________________________
Mountain Park. Tucson: University of and especially formal gift-giving. How-

Arizona Press. ever in more recent anthropological and
Chippendale, Christopher, and Paul S. C.
Taçon. 1999. The Archaeology of Rock Art. to some extent popular Native and non-
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Native usage, the term has come to signify
Diaz-Granados, Carol, and James R. a ceremonial distribution of gifts by the
Duncan. 2000. The Petroglyphs and
Pictographs of Missouri. Tuscaloosa: hosts to the guests, aimed at reaffirming
University of Alabama Press. or raising the hosts’ social status and rank.
Francis, Julie E., and Lawrence L. Loendorf. The potlatch is generally seen as a
2002. Ancient Visions: Petroglyphs and
Pictographs of the Wind River and
unique institution of the indigenous
Bighorn Country, Wyoming and peoples of the Northwest coast (from
Montana. Salt Lake City: University of southeastern Alaska to coastal Oregon)
Utah Press.
and their neighbors (especially in the in-
Schaafsma, Polly. 1980. Indian Rock Art of
the Southwest. Santa Fe: School of terior). Despite regional and local varia-
American Research. tions, the potlatch did have certain basic
Shafer, Harry J. 1986. Ancient Texans: Rock
general features. Ceremonial formalities
Art and Lifeways along the Lower Pecos.
Houston: Gulf Publishing. were observed in inviting guests,
Sundstrom, Linea. 2004. Storied Stone: Rock speechmaking, and the distribution of
Art of the Black Hills Country. Norman:
goods by the donor(s) according to the
Vastokas, Joan M., and Romas K. Vastokas. social rank of the recipient. The former
1973. Sacred Art of the Algonkians: A and the latter represented different kin-
Study of the Peterborough Petroglyphs. ship groups, with the guests often re-
Peterborough, Ontario: Mansard Press.
Whitley, David S. 2000. The Art of the cruited from both the local community
Shaman: Rock Art of California. Salt Lake and more distant ones. The size of the
City: University of Utah Press. ceremony, the amount of food served,
Young, M. Jane. 1988 Signs from the
Ancestors: Zuni Cultural Symbolism and and the number of gifts distributed re-
Perceptions of Rock Art. Albuquerque: flected the donors’ rank. In addition, the
University of New Mexico Press. potlatch usually involved a display of
crest-bearing sacred regalia as well as a
recitation of formal speeches, the
singing of ceremonial song, and the per-
Pipe, Sacred
formance of elaborate dances by both
See Sacred Pipe the hosts and the guests. By accepting
gifts, the guests signified their agree-
ment with the hosts’ claims to these cer-
emonial prerogatives and particular po-
Potlatch sitions within the social hierarchy.
“Potlatch” is a term that entered English A potlatch was given by a successor to,
from the Chinook Jargon, the trading lan- or an heir of, a deceased head of a kin-
guage of the North Pacific coast. It re- ship group (chief ) to validate his or her
ferred to any ceremony involving feasting newly assumed social position and name
738
________________________________________________________________________________________ Potlatch
A child being named by the hosts/mourners prior to their distribution of money and gifts to the
guests at a Tlingit potlatch in Angoon, Alaska. 1991. (Sergei Kan)
or title. Important events in the life of the petition as well as cooperation, and
community and its high-ranking mem- artistic creativity. Not surprisingly it has
bers—such as births, puberty rites, mar- been a favorite subject of anthropologi-
riages, initiation into secret societies, cal research and theorizing from the
totem pole raising, house building, and time Boas first took part in Kwakiutl
especially deaths—were the main occa- (Kwakwak’wakw) potlatches at Fort Ru-
sions for potlatches. While the occasion pert, British Columbia, in the mid-
itself was important, the validation of 1890s. Until fairly recently most scholars
claims to social rank was central to the have focused on this ritual’s economic
ceremony. Hence even such relatively and sociopolitical dimensions and func-
minor life-cycle events as the piercing of tions. Thus some have interpreted its
an aristocratic child’s ears could be used lavish feasting as a mechanism for a pe-
as a reason for a potlatch. riodic redistribution of resources from
The potlatch was the central institu- one kinship or regional group to an-
tion of the aboriginal Northwest coast other. Others have focused on the fact
societies, stimulating intense economic that goods given away at potlatches
production, inter- and intragroup com- were supposed to be returned later
739
Potlatch _________________________________________________________________________________________
when the original recipients held a pot- Tlingits, Haidas, and Tsimshians), where
latch of their own and have argued that most potlatches constituted the last
the potlatch was an economic exchange stage in a cycle of rites aimed at dispos-
that strengthened intragroup coopera- ing of the remains of, mourning, and me-
tion and especially intergroup solidarity morializing a deceased person of high
and reciprocity. They have also empha- rank (Kan 1989a; Blackman 1977; Seguin
sized the potlatch’s sociopolitical func- 1985; Beynon 2000). The matrilineage
tion by trying to correlate ceremonial (house) or clan of the deceased acted as
exchanges between groups with the es- the mourners and were assisted and
tablishment and maintenance of mar- comforted by one or several matrilineal
riage ties and other types of alliances. groups from the opposite moiety linked
Ironically it was the great French to them through marital and ritual ties.
“armchair” ethnologist Mauss who, in The matrikin of the deceased were
1925, was the first to emphasize the pot- strictly prohibited from touching the
latch’s spiritual significance by charac- corpse; they had to rely on their “oppo-
terizing it as a “total social phenome- sites,” who cremated it and performed
non,” one that was simultaneously all of the other death-related services, for
mythological, religious, social, eco- which tasks they were publicly thanked,
nomic, and legal. As he correctly pointed feasted, and generously remunerated in
out, because most of the tangible and in- the potlatch. Thus the latter was seen as
tangible ceremonial privileges dis- the only proper way of completing the
played, invoked, and legitimized in the mourning cycle, and a failure to perform
potlatch (for example, rights to food- it was believed to be not only an embar-
producing areas, sacred narratives, rassment for the mourners and an insult
songs and dances, and regalia) belonged to their opposites but also a show of dis-
to the participants’ ancestors, who in respect to the recently deceased, whose
turn were believed to have obtained death was said to remain “incomplete.”
them in the mythical past from the su- Such conduct was thought both to un-
perhuman beings, the potlatch was first dermine the mourners’ status and to
and foremost an elaborate ritual drama bring them more deaths and other su-
in which the living impersonated and pernatural misfortunes.
even incarnated the spirits, whose This memorial emphasis of the north-
names those bore, whose dances they ern potlatch was underscored by the fact
performed, and who sometimes were that its initial stage was devoted to the
reincarnated through them or possessed chief hosts’ final ritualized mourning of
them. their recently departed loved one. Other
This “religious” essence of the pot- members of the hosting group used the
latch was most clearly manifested in its opportunity to grieve publicly over their
northern version (that is, among the own deceased matrilineal kin, whose
740
________________________________________________________________________________________ Potlatch
memorials were often combined with was expressed in a variety of other ritual
the potlatch commemorating their acts and observances. Thus, for example,
higher-ranking relative. The most dra- the Tlingit potlatch was supposed to be
matic part of this segment of the pot- conducted only at night—that is, the
latch was the hosts’ performance of the time when the spirits residing in the land
most sacred songs of their matrilineal of the dead were awake. The high point
group, which often referred to some of the entire ceremony was the bestow-
tragic incidents in its mythic or more re- ing of the deceased aristocrats’ ceremo-
cent history. Following that the guests nial tile and regalia upon their heirs. Like
comforted the hosts with their elaborate other Northwest coast potlatches, the
speeches of condolence, which invoked northern ones did have important politi-
the speakers’ own ancestors and sacred cal functions and were not immune from
crests. Through a skillful use of rhetorical interpersonal and intergroup competi-
devices, the guests linked the ancestors tion. However, the presence of the dead
on both sides with their living descen- (whose names were invoked whenever a
dants, the mythical past with the pres- disagreement between participants
ent, and the social and the spiritual do- threatened to disrupt the ceremony)
mains of the culture (Dauenhauer and helped sacralize them (Kan 1989a).
Dauenhauer 1990). Among the central and southern peo-
Throughout the northern potlatch, ples of the North Pacific coast, the death
the presence of the ancestors was re- of a high-ranking person was only one of
peatedly invoked. While the guests’ ora- several major occasions for having a pot-
tory emphasized that it was not really latch. Moreover, among some of these
they but their deceased matrilineal kin groups, especially the Kwakwak’wakw,
who were comforting the hosts and ac- the nineteenth-century potlatch ap-
cepting their gifts, the hosts served their peared to have been more politicized
own ancestors’ favorite foods, some of and much more competitive than in the
which was sent to them directly through north. Because so much data had been
the medium of the fire. In fact, the guests collected on the Kwakwak’wakw version
were believed to be consuming only the of this ritual and because of its very dra-
material form of the delicacies offered to matic nature (especially an occasional
them, while their own as well as the competitive destruction of property), it
hosts’ ancestors were supposed to par- came to be seen as the quintessential
take of the food’s spiritual essence. potlatch, whose primary functions were
The fate of the goods given to the economic and sociopolitical. It has even
guests was perceived in a similar fashion. prompted some psychologically ori-
The notion that the ancestors were presented anthropologists to speak of the
ent during the ceremony and benefited “megalomaniac Kwakiutl.” Subsequent
greatly from its periodic performances research by Helen Codere demonstrated
741
Potlatch _________________________________________________________________________________________
that the aggressive conduct and rhetoric redirecting it for human benefit” (ibid.).
of some of the participants in the Kwak- The spiritual significance of the Kwak-
wak’wakw potlatches of the mid to late wak’wakw and other central and south-
nineteenth century had a lot to do with ern Northwest coast potlatches (for ex-
an increased competition over high- ample, those of the Heiltsuks, Nuxalks,
ranking titles and positions in the social Nuu-chah-nulth, and Salish) was further
hierarchy caused by such postcontact underscored by the fact that they were
changes in Native life as a population de- often combined with a complex series of
cline and the rise of the nouveaux riches, ceremonies known as “winter ceremoni-
who had benefited from trading with the als” or “spirit dances.” As in the case of
Euro-Canadians. Nonetheless, until the the other ceremonial prerogatives fea-
1970s anthropologists tended to ignore tured in the potlatch, membership in
the rich symbolism and heightened spir- these societies was inherited, and the
ituality of the Kwakwak’wakw potlatch. right to perform a particular dance or
However, thanks to the work of several wear a mask depicting a particular spirit
scholars, who reinterpreted Boas’s data had to be validated through a potlatch
by focusing on the potlatch’s mythic and ceremony (Suttles 1991; Amoss 1978).
ritual symbolism, the interrelationship The “wasteful” nature of potlatch and
between “politics” and “religion” in it is the dramatic “heathen” performances
now much better understood . involved in it prompted missionaries
Thus Walens describes the rituals of and Indian agents to advocate banning
the Kwakwak’wakw potlatch, especially the ceremony. In Canada it was officially
the masked dances, as “vividly dramatic forbidden by the Indian Act of 1885 (Cole
and theatrically powerful” (1991, 83). In and Chaikin 1990), and in Washington
his view, its war-related ritual acts and and Oregon, Indian agents did their best
oratorical metaphors expressed “impor- to prevent potlatches and winter dances
tant ideas as to how the Kwakiutl envi- on Native reservations. Although in
sioned their world. They imagined it a southeastern Alaska the ritual was never
place of violence and turmoil and their officially outlawed, it did come under
own lives as a continual struggle. Just as a heavy criticism from the Euro-American
salmon has to struggle upstream against reformers and some of the more Ameri-
the torrent in order to fulfill its destiny, canized younger Native leaders them-
they had to struggle to fight the forces selves (Kan 1999). While some coastal
that threatened their way of life. The families and communities did stop the
Kwakiutl therefore believed a chief, who practice, many secretly maintained the
was responsible for the financial and time-honored ceremony by scaling it
spiritual well-being of his kin, needed to down and incorporating some non-Na-
be a spiritual warrior, capable of taking tive elements into it. Because of this di-
power of the world onto himself and rect persecution as well as the more indi-
742
________________________________________________________________________________________ Potlatch
rect forces of economic, sociopolitical, the present. Moreover, today the pot-
and ideological change that took place latch has an important new function as a
between the late 1800s and the 1950s to key symbol of a distinct indigenous iden-
1960s, the potlatch did lose many of its tity, political and intellectual sovereignty,
overtly religious elements. Some of the and tribal survival (Kan 1989b, 1999;
traditional occasions for holding it were Webster 1991).
no longer marked by one or disappeared Sergei Kan
altogether. However, death-related pot- See also Art (Traditional and
latches have survived in many of the Contemporary), Northwest Coast;
Northwest coast societies, having been Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest; Dance,
Northwest Winter Spirit Dances; Masks and
incorporated into a cycle of mortuary rit- Masking; Missionization, Northwest; Power,
uals that now begin with a Christian fu- Northwest Coast; Sacred Societies,
neral (Kan 1989b; Stearns 1977; Kew Northwest Coast; Totem Poles
1990; Roth 2002). References and Further Reading
In fact, as Native economic and so- Amoss, Pamela T. 1978. Coast Salish Spirit
Dancing: The Survival of an Ancestral
ciopolitical life continued to undergo Religion. Seattle: University of
dramatic changes, the competitive as- Washington Press.
pects of the ritual have tended to decline Beynon, William. 2000. Potlatch at
Gitsegukla: William Beynon’s 1945 Field
while its cooperative, emotional, and Notebooks. Edited by Margaret Anderson
spiritual dimensions have persisted. and Marjorie Halpin. Vancouver:
Since the 1960s a political revitalization University of British Columbia Press.
Blackman, Margaret B. 1977. “Ethnohistoric
in the indigenous societies of the region Changes in the Haida Potlatch
combined with a heightening of ethnic Complex.” Arctic Anthropology 14, no. 1:
pride and a dramatic renaissance of the 39–53.
Cole, Douglas, and Ira Chaikin. 1990. An
Native arts (carving, the manufacturing Iron Hand upon the People: The Law
of ceremonial regalia, and so forth) has against the Potlatch on the Northwest
contributed to a significant increase in Coast. Vancouver: University of British
Columbia Press.
the frequency and scale of potlatches as
Dauenhauer, Nora Marks, and Richard
well as their revival in those communi- Dauenhauer. 1990. Haa Tuwunaagu Yis,
ties in which they had virtually disap- for Healing Our Spirit: Tlingit Oratory.
peared. Even though the potlatch is no
Kan, Sergei. 1989a. Symbolic Immortality:
longer as central to the lives of the abo- The Tlingit Potlatch of the Nineteenth
riginal coastal peoples as it once had Century. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press.
been—and an idealized image of the Na-
———. 1989b. “Cohorts, Generations, and
tive society and cosmos that it presents is Their Culture: Tlingit Potlatch in the
further removed from the reality of their 1980s.” Anthropos 84: 405–422.
everyday life than in the past—the pot- ———. 1999. Memory Eternal: Tlingit
Culture and Russian Orthodox
latch continues to bring individuals and Christianity through Two Centuries.
families together and link the past with Seattle: University of Washington Press.
743
Potlatch, Northern Athabascan _____________________________________________________________
Kew, J. E. Michael. 1990. “Central and nials, each known by specific terms in
Southern Coast Salish Ceremonies since their own languages, are practiced by
1900.” Pp. 476–484 in Handbook of North
American Indians, vol. 7: Northwest northern Athabascans throughout
Coast. Edited by Wayne Suttles. Canada and Alaska. The following de-
Washington, DC: Smithsonian scribes some of the most commonly
Institution Press.
Roth, Christopher F. 2002. “Goods, Names, known northern Athabascan memorial
and Selves: Rethinking the Tsimshian potlatches in Alaska, where approxi-
Potlatch.” American Ethnologist 29, no. 1: mately half of the northern Athabascan
123–150.
Seguin, Margaret. 1985. Interpretive
population resides.
Contexts for Traditional and Current Each nation, and in some cases each
Tsimshian Feasts. Mercury Series, village, formulates its own particular cer-
Canadian Ethnology Service Paper 98.
emonial structure, most of which are
Ottawa, Canada: National Museum of
Man. deeply rooted in local traditions; others
Stearns, Mary Lee. 1977. “The are not. Of these one form is more com-
Reorganization of Ceremonial Relations
mon than others: feasts sometimes last-
in Haida Society.” Arctic Anthropology 14,
no. 1: 53–63. ing for three or four days sponsored by
Suttles, Wayne. 1991. “Streams of Property, an extended family and sometimes a lin-
Armor of Wealth: The Traditional
eage-based kin group. At such potlatches
Kwakiutl Potlatch.” Pp. 71–135 in Chiefly
Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl Potlatch. many gifts are distributed to all of the
Edited by Aldona Jonatis. Seattle: guests in hierarchical order depending
University of Washington Press. on the nature of their personal or family
Walens, Stanley. 1991. The Kwakiutl. New
York: Chelsea House. relationship to the deceased, as well as
Webster, Gloria Cranmer. 1991. “The their social status in the family, commu-
Contemporary Potlatch.” Pp. 227–250 in nity, or region. In some areas the pre-
Chiefly Feasts: The Enduring Kwakiutl
Potlatch. Edited by Aldona Jonaitis. colonial practice was to distribute all or
Seattle: University of Washington Press. most of the family belongings at the end
of the potlatch in a stark demonstration
of central northern Athabascan cultural
themes: generosity and altruistic love.
Potlatch, Northern Both reinforce a common belief that one
must give away everything in order to re-
Athabascan
place the value of the one who is gone.
In the contemporary world most north- Some communities host memorial
ern Athabascan nations make use of the potlatches that honor all those who have
term “potlatch” to signal a community died in the past year, and thus they do not
gathering of distinction often aligned centralize a specific family or person. The
with funerals, memorials for those who Koyukon villages of Kaltag and Nulato on
have been deceased for a year or more, the lower Yukon River in western Alaska
and life cycle events. Memorial ceremo- are well known for their village potlatches
744
____________________________________________________________ Potlatch, Northern Athabascan
known as stick dances or the HiYo. Stick honored roles at important Athabascan
dances are annual events held between sacred and social events. Giveaways are
midwinter and early spring. They are not part of the teas.
elaborate ceremonials that honor each Theologically, there are four basic
deceased person through relatives or tenets of northern Athabascan religious
friends who dress like and otherwise imi- traditions that are manifest in varying
tate the decedents. Like other memorial degrees throughout the region. The most
potlatches, stick dances last for several common of these is that all relations, in-
days and include a feast every day. On the cluding those in the spirit world, follow
fifth day the men of the host community complex rules of reciprocity, particularly
harvest a tree, strip off its bark, and deco- what Sahlins has designated as general
rate it with ribbons and feathers. The reciprocity. Secondly, northern Athabas-
stick dance features fourteen traditional can languages create structured, asym-
songs. When the fourteenth song is being metrical relations between humans and
sung the men set up the pole in the mid- unseen, unknowable forces of power and
dle of the room. Those imitating the dead knowledge. Thirdly, northern Athabas-
wear special handmade clothing and re- can religious traditions are merit-based.
ceive food in unopened containers in Athabascan tradition holds that unseen
preparation for the long journey the de- forces judge the merit of the individual
ceased make to the spirit world. At the based on his or her thoughts, behaviors,
end of the evening the men carry the pole and relations with the natural world. Fi-
to the Yukon River, and those imitating nally, some northern Athabascan tradi-
the dead remove the special clothing to tions include a belief in the reemergence
bags and take it to the river, make a ges- or reincarnation of the spirits of humans
ture as if they were discarding it, and then and other creatures after death.
return with the bag to the ceremonial Notions of reciprocity are pivotal to all
hall. When they return, the “giveaway,” northern Athabascan cultures. These in-
which is traditional in all memorial pot- clude expectations based on certain kinds
latches, begins. of family relations (such as uncle to
A variation on the northern Athabas- nephew or mother to daughter), as well as
can potlatch is teas, small gatherings in actions, thoughts, and gifts. In matrilineal
churches and private homes held during communities the reciprocal relations in
the days leading up to the funeral service potlatches are linked to patterns of ex-
or burial of a deceased individual. The change between lineages. Many varia-
purpose of such teas is to spare the im- tions occur. For instance, Simeone (1995)
mediate family from large, unexpected observes about the Upper Tanacross pot-
expenses, to accommodate the irregular latches that matrilineal relations are not a
arrivals of people traveling long dis- dominant feature in everyday life, partic-
tances, and to allow more people to take ularly since many circumstances can
745
Potlatch, Northern Athabascan _____________________________________________________________
cloud issues of clan affiliation. The ideal- are essential for family subsistence (such
istic format of a potlatch in a matrilineal as hunting, trapping, or sewing), the the-
Athabascan community is that members ory behind this draconian action is that
of the widow’s or widower’s lineage take the spirit world might reciprocate in
charge of the expenses and preparation of equal measure. While some families may
a funeral potlatch; they are reciprocated have starved to death as a result of this
at a memorial potlatch sometime later, practice, northern Athabascan theories
ideally within a year of the funeral. Values of reality hold that starvation is a part of
of openhanded generosity and sharing life and death. Honoring the dead by
with everyone inform all potlatches burning everything is a sanctioned
through the simple device of making sure demonstration of absolute reciprocal de-
that there is enough of everything: every- pendency on the greater power of spiri-
one leaves feeling well fed and comes tual forces.
away with a memento, large or small, of The nature of the spiritual force takes
the deceased and the potlatch. Typical form through Athabascan languages as
memorial potlatch gifts include rifles, verb-based relationships between that
blankets, hand-crafted items, and T-shirts which is unseen but powerful and the
and caps personalized with the name of speakers. For instance, the Gwich’in lan-
the potlatch. guage articulates concepts of supreme
One of the present-day hallmarks of power that control and benefit all crea-
potlatches originated in the colonial era: tures as Vit’eegwaahchy’aa, meaning
the cloth dance. Most memorial pot- “that upon which we depend.” Vit’eeg-
latches call for the use of a bolt of cotton waahchy’aa is a verb-based term that
muslin that participants grip as they posits a reciprocal relationship between
dance. After the dance, potlatch matrons a dominating force and the speaker.
cut the bolt into handkerchief-size sec- Vit’eegwaahchy’aa is neither a person
tions and distribute them to whoever nor a being, but rather a dynamic force
asks. The spirits of the deceased are like- and relationship.
wise included in reciprocal relations. An Language places emphasis on sacred
enduring Athabascan mortuary custom relationships not only through word for-
is to burn something with the belief that mation but also through those who
the object burned will transform into an might have the privilege of creating and
analogous product in the spiritual realm. employing certain words or utterances—
Some northern Athabascan precolo- such as prayers or songs—and when
nial traditions, such as those of the they might do so. Nowhere is this
Gwich’in, called for burning everything demonstrated more clearly than at me-
physical belonging to the deceased, in- morial potlatches. As an example, the
cluding the house, body, and all posses- Tanana Athabascans divide potlatch
sions. Since many of those possessions songs into two categories. The drat-
746
____________________________________________________________ Potlatch, Northern Athabascan
ach’leek are memorial dance songs that hunted or a fire to be lit. Animals are di-
are sung at any and all potlatches. Older rected to the hunter not merely through
dratach’leek songs are used as greetings the forces of the sacred but also by the
to incoming mourners as well as to re- willing cooperation of the hunted. It is a
member events of the past. On the other notion akin to the idea of doing unto
hand, the huteetlch’leek are potlatch others as you would have them do unto
songs composed by significant Tanana you, with a necessary added component:
elders to be sung and danced by partici- acknowledging that the “others” include
pants at the memorial potlatch of the environmental forces, such as weather,
decedent for whom the song was cre- land, and water. The consequences of
ated. Huteetlch’leek are not to be sung one’s failure to respect and love all things
after the memorial potlatch for the hon- occur in merciless and unsubtle forms in
ored deceased. The huteetlch’leek are Athabascan country, where tempera-
composed of a few key words that inspire tures can reach –80° Fahrenheit without
the individual asked to compose the taking into account the wind.
song. As Nelson (1979) has documented
Closely linked to the themes of reci- about the Koyukon, the northern
procity and the primary spiritual forces Athabascan world is alive with spiritual
at memorial potlatches is the idea that forces. Embedded in this concept are
all human relations with the sacred are theories of reincarnation that vary from
merit based. All thoughts and behav- region to region and generation to gen-
iors—especially those related to subsis- eration. Northern Athabascan elders
tence activities such as hunting, fishing, provide verification of the rebirth of an-
and keeping warm enough in the harsh cestors through their dreams and vi-
northern climate—are judged by every- sions, as well as by observation of unique
thing in the environment, including all behaviors in the newborn that seem di-
animals, spirits, and other humans. A rectly related to a deceased individual.
key tenet of Athabascan cultures is that Dreams about deceased relatives are re-
everything in the environment is living, spected, sought after, and recited with
conscious, and self-determinant. Two awareness of the power of the spiritual
other tenets of Athabascan culture are force implied in such dreams.
important in this context: respect and Northern Athabascan potlatches epit-
love, which traditional Tanana Athabas- omize Athabascan religious traditions in
can chief Peter John refers to as ch’eghwt- all ways, and in every way reflect the dy-
sen (selfless love of all things). Merit, namic tension between the living envi-
therefore, derives from respecting and ronment and the human dwellers within
loving the interactive and voluntary rela- it. During the colonial era northern
tionships between oneself and another, Athabascan potlatches have become
whether the other is a game animal to be one of the few means by which ancient
747
Power, Barbareño Chumash __________________________________________________________________
beliefs continue on in the younger gen- ———. 1981. “Kutchin.” Pp. 514–532 in
erations. By use of contemporary tech- Handbook of North American Indians,
Vol. 6, the Subarctic. Edited by June
nology, northern Athabascan elders Helm. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
throughout Alaska and Canada educate Institution.
their descendants about the meaning Wright, Miranda H. 1995. “The Last Great
Indian War” (Nulato 1851). Unpublished
and form of traditional ceremonials. The master’s thesis. Fairbanks: University of
Tanana elders of Minto, Alaska, for in- Alaska.
stance, asked videographer Curt Madi-
son to produce a video entitled Hitting
Sticks/Healing Hearts (1991) to help
young Athabascans understand tradi- Power, Barbareño
tional concepts of grieving that give
Chumash
essence to a memorial potlatch.
Phyllis Ann Fast Native North America has many diver-
See also Mourning and Burial Practices; gent modes with which to express con-
Potlatch; Women’s Cultural and Religious cepts of power. In Barbareño Chumash,
Roles, Northern Athabascan the primary word for power is ‘ateswen.
References and Further Reading This is known to be something people
Guédon, Marie-Françoise. 1994. “La
Pratique du Rêve chez les Dénés must pray for over their entire lives, and
Septentrionaux.” Anthropologie et it is something that exists outside their
Sociétés 18, no. 2: 75–89. bodies, often manifesting itself in a
John, Peter. 1996. The Gospel according to
Peter John. Edited with commentaries by
charm worn as a neck pendant, which is
David J. Krupa. Fairbanks: Alaska Native also called ‘ateswen. When the Chumash
Knowledge Network. leaders of the contact era observed the
Madison, Curt. 1991. Hitting Sticks/Healing
Mission and Presidio complexes and the
Hearts. Minto, AK: Minto IRA Council.
Nelson, Richard. 1979. Make Prayers to the organization and labor required to build
Raven. Fairbanks: University of Alaska them, they may have felt that these
Press.
Spanish people had prayed for very pow-
Osgood, Cornelius. 1959. “Ingalik Mental
Culture.” Yale University Publications in erful ‘ateswen, which they could use ei-
Anthropology, no. 56. New Haven: Yale ther to dream (ateswech) or to poison
University Press.
(ateswecchish) or both. Very likely they
———. 1966. “The Ethnography of the
Tanaina.” Yale University Publications in viewed the Franciscan padres as being,
Anthropology, no. 16. New Haven: Yale like themselves, ‘a’lateswenich, people
University Press. who pray for and wield the natural pow-
Simeone, William E. 1995. Rifles, Blankets
and Beads: Identity, History and the ers of this world. These Chumash men
Northern Athapaskan Potlatch. Norman: (and sometimes women) who attained
University of Oklahoma Press. the status of wot or ‘antap were powerful
Slobodin, Richard. 1970. “Kutchin Concepts
of Reincarnation.” Western Canadian in this way (Hudson and Underhay,
Journal of Anthropology 2, no. 1: 67–79. 15–19). The old stories tell us that these
748
__________________________________________________________________________ Power, Great Basin
were people whose words could help many medicinal plants, such as tobacco
sick weather heal itself (Blackburn 1975, (Nicotiana spp.) and jimsonweed
27–43; Hudson and Underhay), and who (Datura spp.), both of which are used in
had developed a science of astronomy prayer, as psychoactive sacraments, to
comparable to that of the Maya and far treat arthritis pain, to kill bacteria, and to
beyond the advancements in astronomy heal wounds—but which are also highly
in Europe at that time and one that the toxic, powerful members of the night-
Spanish refused to comprehend (Hud- shade family. As with any medicine, the
son and Underhay, 19–20). When they difference between cure and poison is in
encountered the Spanish they witnessed the dosage. The word for power, like the
a sort of power different from what they word for health, in this Chumash linguis-
had seen before, but certainly no greater tic ontology is a verb with chemically ac-
or lesser than their own; it was simply a tive constituents that can be wielded to
part of their world not yet seen. cause flourishing or death.
Domination, the form of power that is Julianne Cordero-Lamb
used to place people beneath one’s own See also Power, Northwest Coast; Power
status, is often understood in Western- Places, Great Basin; Power, Plains; Power,
ized societies as the sole definition of Southeast
power. That, however, is a very limited References and Further Reading

Blackburn, Thomas. 1975. December’s Child:
understanding of the term. Power is not A Book of Chumash Oral Narratives.
something that an individual simply Berkeley: University of California Press.
holds over others; it is something that
occurs within relationships between be-
ings. Power requires these relationships.
When an individual dominates another,
Power, Great Basin
he or she has power over the other per-
son and yet is simultaneously dependent “Power”—booha in Northern Paiute,
upon the other to give the dominant poha in Shoshone, puwa in Southern
master power. When an individual has Paiute, and wegaleyu in Washo, the only
power in mutual, reciprocal correspon- non-Uztecan language spoken in the
dence with another being, she or he uses Great Basin—is both a philosophical con-
power to support—or to poison to cept and a praxis or practice. Linguists
death—the entire matrix of the ontologi- most often translate these words, which
cal context in which one exists. they liken to “energy,” as “power.” Great
A systemic approach requires partici- Basin Indian men and women either de-
pants to exercise power with, rather than liberately sought power or were found by
power over. The Barbareño Chumash it. Those who deliberately sought power
conception of power can also be seen to visited caves, mountains, or bodies of
qualitatively parallel the properties of water, while fasting and undergoing other
749
Power, Great Basin ___________________________________________________________________________
forms of sensory deprivation to obtain a item from the medicine bundles they
vision. Of these sources of power, Jay owned, which would invariably spell the
Miller (1983, 344) wrote that Water was loss of power, if not the death of the
“the keystone of the religion because holder. And wittingly or unwittingly, in-
power as the life force-and-energy has a dividuals might also use power for nefar-
very great affinity for all living things, all ious purposes, that is, the practice of sor-
of which depend on water.” If unsolicited, cery (Whiting 1950). Power was routinely
power ordinarily came in dreams. displayed during the healing ceremony.
Power was believed to emanate from A shaman called into the house of a pa-
nearly everything in the universe: the tient smoked and danced during one- or
planets (the Sun and Moon); natural two-night ceremonies. Shamans were
phenomena (lightning, clouds, rain); capable of entering trancelike states, in
and animals, including Wolf and Coyote, which power was used to divine the
creator figures. One even sought and ob- cause of illness. If sorcery were diag-
tained power from Spirits of the Dead nosed as the cause, the shamans might
and demonic figures. Of the latter, water also be asked (and paid accordingly) to
babies and dwarf women figured promi- remove the object believed shot into the
nently in the Washo religion. Shoshones, patient. Extraordinarily powerful
according to Ake Hultkrantz (1986, 633), shamans were capable of traveling to the
similarly sought power from a lake- land of the dead to restore life. In this in-
dwelling “little dwarf spirit with poison- stance, a patient would be diagnosed as
ous arrows,” whom they feared more having suffered soul loss. Isabel Kelly
than ghosts. Yet oddly enough, although (1936, 129) reported that Southern
plants arguably were more important in Paiutes had four different kinds of
Great Basin Indian economies for ten shamans: three specialists (rattlesnake,
thousand years, with only one exception, arrow wounds, and horses) and the gen-
none conferred power. eral practitioner.
Reasons for seeking power included Cures, like ceremonies, were always
becoming a healer, exercising control held at night. Darkness, hence, night-
over the weather, achieving invulnerabil- time, was intrinsic to the concept as well
ity in battle, attaining gambling and sex- as the practice of power. As explained to
ual prowess, or charming antelopes as the anthropologist Willard Z. Park (1938,
bosses of cooperative antelope hunts. 16) by Joe Green, a Northern Paiute con-
Often the same individual owned or sultant, “There are two nights. The sec-
practiced distinct types of power, which ond comes behind the night that every-
in every case was understood to be dan- body sees. This second night is under the
gerous. These individuals needed to fol- darkness. It tells the shaman where the
low the instructions from power source pain is and what caused the sickness.
scrupulously and also avoid losing an When the second night comes it makes
750
__________________________________________________________________________ Power, Great Basin
the shaman feel that he is a doctor. The Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and parts of Cali-
power is in him to doctor. Only shamans fornia and Oregon, it can be shown that
can see this second night. The people the concept and practice of power con-
can only see the darkness. They cannot tinues even to the present day. In the two
see the night under it.” religions that arose as protest move-
Funeral rites illustrate another social ments among Northern Paiutes in
arena for the demonstration of power. A Nevada and spread throughout the na-
good talker, for example, was expected to tion, the prophet Wodziwob (Tavibo) of
ease the mourner’s pain with his words 1870 Ghost Dance fame prophesied that
or prayer, both by hastening the depar- the Indian dead would be resurrected
ture of the deceased’s soul to the other and invading whites destroyed in an
world at the gravesite and by assisting apocalypse. The 1890 Ghost Dance
the living “not to think about me [the de- prophet (Wovoka), who obtained power
ceased] any more.” from Wolf, clouds, eagle, and the Judeo-
Power was also essential to Great Christian God, was believed capable of
Basin Indian ceremonialism. In the controlling the weather and invulnerable
Round Dance, the most important ritual to the white man’s bullets.
in this culture area because these gather- Years later, when the Native American
ings invariably took place in association Church was introduced, each of its three
with anticipated food harvests, good proselytizers, the Lakota named Lone
talkers were believed capable of influ- Bear, and two Great Basin Indians (Ralph
encing the outcome with spoken prayer. Kochampanaskin, Ute, and Ben Lan-
During the Bear Dance, a ten-day cere- caster, Washo) were seen as shamans. In-
mony that took place in the spring and deed, whether adopted by Great Basin
was practiced only in the eastern part of Indians or not, the hallucinogen peyote
the Great Basin (among Shoshones and these individuals brought was defined in
Utes), shamanizing occurred as it did in the traditional sense of medicine, that is,
the four-day Sun Dance, which Great power, by Great Basin Indians. The same
Basin Indians learned from Plains Indi- holds true for the Christian religions that
ans. Joseph Jorgensen (1972, 192) wit- were missionized among Great Basin In-
nessed a participant being lifted off his dians. A Pentecostal minister, for exam-
feet, which reportedly reached the same ple, is seen as powerful, when he or she
level with his head before he hit the can bring about cures in Christ’s name,
ground after he had been struck with much in the same sense that shamans
buffalo power generated by the center were formerly evaluated.
pole of the ceremonial lodge. Great Basin Indians continue to em-
Although Great Basin Indians were ploy the concept and practice of power in
rapidly acculturated and displaced onto several ways. Any number of shamans are
reservations and colonies in Nevada, simultaneously active in such seemingly
751
Power, Northwest Coast ______________________________________________________________________
distinct religions as the Native American Stewart, Omer C. 1956. “Three Gods for
and Episcopalianism (cf. Stewart 1956). Joe.” Tomorrow: Quarterly Review of
Psychical Research 4 no. 3: 71–76.
There are genuine examples of transcul- Sturtevant, William C. ed. 1978. Handbook
tural healing, as illustrated, for example, of North American Indians. Washington,
by the career of Henry Rupert, who ex- DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Whiting, Beatrice Blyth. 1950. Paiute
panded his shamanic practice from tradi- Sorcery. New York: Viking Fund
tional Washo sources of power (water) to Publications in Anthropology.
curing Mexicans and whites with a de-
ceased Hindu and Hawaiian volcano god
as his new powers (Handleman 1967).
Michael Hittman Power, Northwest Coast
See also Power, Barbareño Chumash;
Power, Northwest Coast; Power Places, The Need for Power
Great Basin; Power, Plains; Power, A common Northwest coast mythical
Southeast
theme is the pathetic and impoverished
Handleman, Don. 1967. “The Development human being who obtains supernatural
of a Washo Shaman.” Ethnology 6, no. 4: power and becomes rich and powerful.
444–461. This represents the fundamental view that
Hultkrantz, Ake. 1986. “Mythology and
Religious Concepts.” Pp. 630–640 in human beings, by themselves, are inca-
Indians of the Great Basin XI. Edited by pable of effectively coping in a hostile
Warren L. d’Azevedo. world. Only by the acquisition of exoge-
Jorgensen, Joseph G. 1972. The Sun Dance
Religion: Power for the Powerless. nous power can humans carve out a
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. meaningful existence for themselves. The
Kelly, Isabel T. 1936. “Chemehuevi main animal food species—salmon, hal-
Shamanism.” Pp. 129–140 in Essays in
Anthropology Presented to A. L. Kroeber ibut, oolichan (a common, oily fish
in Celebration of his 60th Birthday (11 species; also spelled “eulachon”), stur-
June 1936). Berkeley: University of geon, seal, deer, and mink—were unob-
California.
Miller, Jay. 1983. “Basin Religion and
tainable except with the cooperation of
Theology: A Comparative Study of the animals themselves, who would sacri-
Power (Puha).” Journal of California fice themselves to those with the proper
and Great Basin Anthropology 5:
power. Such power was generally ob-
66–86.
Mooney, James. 1896. “The Ghost Dance tained during the myth age, when hu-
Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of mans and animals could change forms
1896.” Fourteenth Annual Report (Part 2)
and easily communicate, and it was
of the Bureau of Ethnology to the
Smithsonian Institution, 1892–1893, by J. passed down through inheritance. Upon
W. Powell, Director. Washington, DC: such power was founded human society.
Certain outcasts, particularly slaves, were
Park, Willard Z. 1938. Shamanism in
Western North America. Evanston and excluded from this power, and thus seen
Chicago: Northwestern University. to be dependent upon others for their sur-
752
_____________________________________________________________________ Power, Northwest Coast
Nineteenth-century Heiltsuk Raven Rattle. (Brooklyn Museum of Art/CORBIS)
vival. For most people, however, power somewhat less common for power to in-
was an integral aspect of their lives, even if here in otherwise inanimate objects, as
it was held primarily by high-ranking rela- in other regions such as the Plains, al-
tives. At the very least, every effective though that did occur with certain
hunter and fisher, as well as artists and ar- classes of objects. Quartz crystals were,
tisans, warriors, and other occupational for instance, considered a conduit and
groups, required a modicum of power to possibly a source of shamanic power.
be successful, and possessed rituals de- Copper was an inherently powerful sub-
signed to conserve and fortify that power. stance, connected with the ability to
gain wealth. In addition, a range of man-
Forms of Power made objects were connected with
On the Northwest coast most manifesta- power. Some, such as the Raven Rattle,
tions of superhuman power were inte- common throughout most of the North-
gral attributes of living beings, either west coast, seemed to be loci of power in
human or other-than-human (this and of themselves (that is, anyone
would include natural species as well as wielding one would be empowered).
monsters and mythical beings). It was Most objects, including masks and other
753
Power, Northwest Coast ______________________________________________________________________
portrayals of supernatural beings, are and took many different forms. This
better viewed as representations of complexity can be managed by positing
power deriving from several sources, in- two dimensions along which power types
cluding the being portrayed, the wearer may be located. The first, the level of indi-
or bearer, and the artist who made it. In viduality or communality, defines the de-
an extended sense, even utilitarian ob- gree to which power was shared among
jects and structures were vessels of members of a group. Thus, for example,
power; a house, for example, was myths attaching to noble houses describ-
thought of as a powerful being that ing the creation of ancestors in a particu-
maintained the family structure intact lar place were relatively widely shared.
and, moreover, displayed the important Although a chief would have greater ac-
family crests, themselves commemora- cess to that power, and would probably
tions of relations with spiritual beings. know additional esoteric knowledge un-
Moreover, objects connected with hunt- known to others, the power nevertheless
ing and fishing, such as hooks and clubs, provided an umbrella of sorts for the en-
were necessarily infused with power. tire group. This had implications for ma-
A second—and perhaps more funda- terial matters such as rights to territory
mental—form of power is found in sto- and economic productivity. On the other
ries. These generally recount the experi- hand, certain forms of power were spe-
ence of an ancestor obtaining power cific to an individual. Shamanic power,
from an original donor during the myth witchcraft, and special animal powers
age. The mere recitation of such stories were individual. These latter were more
revitalized that power for its contempo- common among southern tribes, espe-
rary owner. It related to such real-world cially the Salish-speaking ones. Private
dimensions of power as territorial owner- knowledge and power would be con-
ship and chiefly legitimacy. Plastic art nected to one person alone. This princi-
forms were usually intended as represen- ple was represented in Salishan “Spirit
tations of such stories, which were fre- Dances.” Intermediate forms could be
quently re-enacted as masked dances. found in the dance societies of the cen-
However, neither plastic nor verbal arts tral coast: Tsimshian, Heiltsuk, Nuxalk,
could be entirely reduced to the other. Kwakwak’wakw, and Nuu-chah-nulth. In
Each encompassed manifestations of those societies, more than one dancer
power that could produce “ripple effects” may be possessed or inspired by a single
in the world. Together, they are particu- powerful being. Performances were less
larly potent materializations of power. individualistic and often took the form of
dramatic enactments that entailed the
Types of Power cooperation of various performers.
Most people had access to some type of A second dimension is the opposition
power. Power was thus widely distributed between order-destroying and order-af-
754
_____________________________________________________________________ Power, Northwest Coast
firming power. This opposition is em- save him. Healers and spiritual leaders
bodied in the Heiltsuk terms náwálakw themselves often underwent initiatory ill-
(meaning “sacred power,” with the possi- nesses and were thought to die. Death
bility of undermining order) and gwiylás and rebirth were thus under their
(meaning “routine authority”). Chiefly purview. Naturally, healers employed
power was of the second type. Power considerable sleight-of-hand as well as
held by spiritual practitioners was gener- theatrical effects. This did not imply that
ally of the first sort. However, this is com- their powers were nonexistent; many
plicated by several issues. First, estab- people, including they themselves, be-
lished power did at one point consist in lieved in their healing powers. Indeed, the
overturning a particular order and re- ability to perform an illusion effectively,
placing it with something that made pos- such as pretending to suck a substance
sible the order that replaced it. Stories of from a patient’s body, was considered by
outcasts who come to eclipse their erst- many a manifestation of that power. The
while betters are examples. Second, healer’s main gift was the ability to see the
some power that is potentially, even in- world as it really was, as a vast web of
herently, disruptive could be put to the power connecting beings together. Diag-
ends of established order. Doctors who nosis involved seeing the absence or pres-
used their power to heal, or to assist the ence of such connections, as soul loss or
chief in the realization of communal sorcery. Although healers could them-
goals (for example, by sending magic selves be sorcerers, one major function
against enemies) were examples. How- was to detect sorcerers and witches who
ever, shamanistic power was generally used power secretly for selfish ends.
threatening to the established order. The dance societies of the Heiltsuk and
Such healers and spiritual leaders Kwakwak’wakw dramaturgically repre-
tended to live apart from society. These sented the opposition between those two
individuals could turn to sorcery, as poles, the shamanic and chiefly. These
could nonhealers; this represented the dances, taking place during the sacred
extreme antisocial pole. Chiefs, on the winter season, entailed the manifestation
other hand, performing rituals such as of shamanic powers. And within those
the First Salmon Ceremony, designed to dances these powers became available
ensure the return of food species, or un- widely to nonhealers. The nature of this
dertaking the potlatch, a celebration of power was destructive: themes of death,
collective powers, represented the ex- disease, anthropophagy, and other
treme order-affirming pole. threats to human existence were por-
Shamanic power, whatever its end, had trayed. In the end, these forces were kept
a destructive aspect, in that it involved the at bay by the forces of order controlled by
breaking down of the subject (often expe- the chief, just as the world around them
rienced as temporary death) in order to transformed from the dark barren winter
755
Power Places, Great Basin ___________________________________________________________________
to the productive, human-friendly Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays.

spring. This annual drama represented Seattle: University of Washington Press.
———, ed. 1990. The Handbook of North
the precarious nature of human exis- American Indians. Vol. 7: The Northwest
tence, and human dependence upon ex- Coast. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
ogenous powers, which had their own Institution Press.
imperatives.
Michael Harkin
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest; Power Places, Great Basin
Dance, Northwest Winter Spirit Dances;
Guardian Spirit Complex; Masks and Power, places, and rituals in the Great
Masking; Oral Traditions, Northwest Coast
Basin can be understood as three related
components of the world, which to-
Blackburn, Thomas. December’s Child: A
Book of Chumash Oral Narratives. gether serve to maintain balance. This
Berkeley: University of California Press, essay illustrates these relationships by
1975. discussing a very old balancing cere-
Boas, Franz. 1966. Kwakiutl Ethnography.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. mony place that supported an intereth-
Crumrine, N. Ross, and Marjorie Halpin, nic Ghost Dance in 1890 (Stoffle et al.
eds. 1983. The Power of Symbols: Masks 2000).
and Masquerade in the Americas.
Vancouver: University of British Every Indian child in the Great Basin is
Columbia Press. taught a few basic ideas so they can act
Fogelson, Raymond, and Richard Adams, appropriately anywhere in nature. The
eds. 1977. The Anthropology of Power.
New York: Academic Press. lesson begins with the idea that the
Harkin, Michael. 1996. “Carnival and world is alive, as it has been since Cre-
Authority: Heiltsuk Cultural Models of ation. Everything in the world has its
Power.” Ethos 24: 281–313.
Kan, Sergei. 1989. Symbolic Immortality:
own puha (power), which may also be
The Tlingit Potlatch of the Nineteenth translated as energy. With that energy
Century. Washington, DC: Smithsonian everything in the world can talk, act,
Institution Press.
move, respond, and exert its will. Puha is
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1963. “The Sorcerer
and His Magic.” Pp. 167–185 in Structural distributed unevenly yet purposefully
Anthropology. New York: Basic Books. throughout the universe and flows in a
Mauzé, Marie, Michael Harkin, and Sergei
netlike pattern wherein certain points or
Kan, eds. 2004. Coming to Shore:
Northwest Coast Ethnology, Traditions nodes concentrate power. Individual
and Visions. Lincoln: University of components of the world such as plants,
Nebraska Press.
animals, springs, rocks, kinds of wind,
McIlwraith, Thomas F. 1992. The Bella Coola
Indians. 2 vols. Toronto: University of and people have different kinds of puha,
Toronto Press. which is useful alone and in combina-
Seguin, Margaret, ed. 1984. The Tsimshian: tion with other elements for achieving
Images of the Past, Views for the Present.
Vancouver: University of British goals. Tobacco, for example, is a power-
Columbia Press. ful plant that likes to be near dramatic
756
__________________________________________________________________ Power Places, Great Basin
volcanic cliffs, and so the two are often children are told to stay away from them
found together along with the presence until they are older, initiated, and learn
of rock peckings and paintings, which in- what such places can do to and for them.
dicate the presence of multiple powers. So we begin with the idea that there
Puha has the following key dimensions are types of powerful places and that
(Miller 1983; Fowler 1992): they are ritually marked to communicate
something about where they are and
• Puha is useful in many types of what they have done with Indian people
ritual and physical settings to keep in the past. That is a cultural fact. It is
in balance the lives of individuals, basic and shared by all adult tribal mem-
communities, nations, and the bers. From this point on, interpretations
world itself. of the place markings vary among Indian
• People go to places that have the people today. Some people just do not
power to solve or help solve know what the specific markings mean;
specific problems through others will not tell, because you are not a
appropriate rituals. tribal member, or are not a woman, or
• All power places are alive and from are not initiated. Often even close friends
them come the knowledge and will not tell each other, because they fear
strength to restore balance. Some that the knowledge will become public
places provide the rituals through and that people will come and partici-
visions and trances that are pate in culturally inappropriate behav-
needed to engage and use their iors that will insult the place. Other peo-
power properly. ple fear for the welfare of non-Indians
who may come to the site because the
Since power places are alive, they non-Indians, like children, do not know
need to be talked with, given verbal and how to prepare themselves for the visit,
physical thanks, and ritually marked. how to interact while at the site, and how
The message of the marking is: “This is a to leave the area.
power place that is willing to share with Given this perspective, we can begin
humans if it is treated with respect.” It is to understand why questions about the
extremely dangerous for humans not to meaning of rock markings are so prob-
know where such places are. Discussions lematic, while they still tell us so much
of power and power personalities occur about the places where they are located.
between parents and children, so that by There are marking symbols that are con-
age five or six each Indian child knows sistently associated with types of power
not to disturb crystals, yell while on a places and ritual activities. Whitley
mountain, or throw rocks into a river or (2000) maintains that mountain sheep
spring. Rocky places are especially sin- are often associated with rain-making
gled out as powerful (dangerous), and and thus associated with places where
757
Power Places, Great Basin ___________________________________________________________________
rain-making power comes from, which quired may have only one or two old
are in turn marked by pecking (generally markings.
not by paintings). There are also places The movement of a traveler shaman is
where a young man is to shoot his first in great contrast with the shaman who is
mountain sheep, and those are marked involved in a balancing ceremony—such
with sheep that symbolize it as a place as the round dance, which is the founda-
for singing the mountain sheep song as tion ceremony of the Ghost Dance. Such
a part of the initiation ceremony. These a shaman holds still and opens himself
places are visited by men and boys up to his spirit helpers, who come while
whose families own the territory, and he is in a trancelike state. An Indian med-
thus the killing of the sheep and the ical doctor also stays still. He becomes
singing of the song are confirmations of like a window so that powers from his
ownership. So the place where moun- spirit helpers can come to the sick per-
tain sheep are pecked could be used to son and combine with the power of the
help make rain or transform a boy into a sick person to restore balance. Thus
man and give him territorial rights and there are trances during ceremony and
obligations. healing that do not involve travel. Other
If a place has rainmaking powers, it is kinds of trances are involved in space
possible that a pecking of a “killed travel. Most learning about songs, plants
sheep” is symbolic of a shamanic trance. for medicine, and power itself involves a
It also may be that the rainmaking trance state in which a person (who has
shaman has to go into the place to find already gone through considerable cere-
his spirit helper, and that act involves monial preparation) goes to a place such
transformation. At this time, our analy- as a cliff face or a cave and then goes
sis would be well served by talking about through the rock or the back of the cave
a specific place rather than a general to meet powerful spirits.
pattern. There is an 1890s Ghost Dance site lo-
There is an element of trance in all cated in Kanab Creek near the northern
medicine. There are places where the rim of the Grand Canyon that has hun-
shaman moves into the rock and travels dreds of rock paintings and peckings.
to other worlds—the stars. Such places They span thousands of years and repre-
are covered with paintings—they almost sent dozens of kinds of ritual events.
never have peckings; they are usually People have gone there because it is a
small, low-roofed rock shelters in which special power place. It is not a place for
the shaman lies face upward during the space travel; it is a balancing ceremony
travel and then paints the experience site. There are two wonderful, awe-in-
just afterward. Each trip seems to be spiring caves down the canyon toward
painted. By contrast, a place where a the Colorado River that are used exclu-
mountain sheep spirit helper can be ac- sively for space travel. A large deposit of
758
_________________________________________________________________________________ Power, Plains
white paint occurs at the site, probably no one was left to bury them. The pres-
defining it as a place for balancing cere- ence of thousands of whirlwind spirits
monies. The white paint was used on the must have weighed heavily on the minds
bodies of the ritual dancers, but it seems of Indian people who participated in the
to have been used mostly in association Ghost Dance. Were those whirlwinds the
with the Ghost Dance. Dancers more headless white figures that had been
commonly use red paint, and the great killed by Euro-Americans? Did people re-
majority of rock paintings at the site are turn to the Kanab Creek site because it
of that color. was a powerful balancing place? There
Headless figures painted in white are are many questions yet to be answered
symbolic of death, and it is generally be- about the Ghost Dance and the places
lieved that they are Indian people who where this type of balancing ceremony
were killed by whites. After a normal In- was held.
dian death, a community sings the spirit Richard W. Stoffle
of the person to the afterlife. This cere- See also Cry Ceremony; Health and
mony is called the Salt Song (or Cry), and Wellness, Traditional Approaches
it involves the physical movement of the References and Further Reading
spirit over a thousand-mile path to the Fowler, Catherine. 1992. In the Shadow of
Fox Peak: An Ethnography of the Cattail
afterlife. Is that flying? It certainly in- Eater Northern Paiute People of
volves movement. Is the spirit in a Stillwater Marsh. Cultural Resource
trance? Probably not. Do the singers go Series, no. 5. Fallon, NV: U.S.
Department of the Interior, Fish and
into trance? Yes, the lead singer visits the Wildlife Service.
spirit at various times and of course at Miller, Jay. 1983. “Basin Religion and
various physical places during the cere- Theology: A Comparative Study of Power
(Puha).” Journal of California and Great
mony and asks how he (or she) is; the
Basin Anthropology 5, nos. 1, 2: 66–86.
lead singer then brings back to the as- Stoffle, Richard, Lawrence Loendorf, Diane
sembled community members partici- E. Austin, David B. Halmo, and Angelita
Bulletts. 2000. “Ghost Dancing the Grand
pating in the funeral the spirit’s thanks
Canyon: Southern Paiute Rock Art,
for helping the spirit to travel to the af- Ceremony, and Cultural Landscapes.”
terlife. Note here that nothing ever dies; Current Anthropology 41, no. 1: 11–38.
Whitley, David S. 2000. The Art of the
it just changes form.
Shaman: Rock Art of California. Salt Lake
Indian people killed by whites were City: University of Utah Press.
often not buried in a traditional Salt
Song Ceremony. Thus they became spir-
its angry that they could not get to the af-
terlife and thus lost souls that presented
Power, Plains
a problem for the living. They become
whirlwinds. There were times when No term in English can adequately trans-
whole villages died from diseases, and late Plains Indian religion; however, the
759
Power, Plains __________________________________________________________________________________
tional animals and plants as well as the

Sun, Moon, Evening Star, and Morning
Star.
Obviously, power among Plains Indi-
ans had a compelling cosmological
character that also provided orientation
in everyday life. The pervasive character
of this mysterious power demands a
closer interpretation than simply label-
ing it “sacred power.” That is, the idea of
power among Plains Indians suggests
not only vertical axes of power implying
transcendent forces or beings beyond
the human and the earth but also hori-
zontal axes in which power is expressed
both in the realms of natural materiality
and in the social and political orders. In
an effort to understand these extraordi-
narily complex and beautiful ideas, this
Four Piegan fringed leather medicine bags
hung on tripod. 1910. (Edward Curtis/Library of discussion will address the concept of
Congress) power among Plains Indians as having
cosmological, experiential, natural, and
communal dimensions.
concept of “power” comes closest to pro-
viding an interpretive frame for under- Cosmological Power
standing these diverse Native American One of the most evocative descriptions
religious beliefs and practices. Origin of Plains Indian power is in Alice Fletcher
stories of Plains Indians tell of powerful and Francis La Flesche’s comprehensive
mythic presences, such as Tirawahat, study The Omaha Tribe. They describe
the Creator, of the Pawnee peoples, wakanda, the Omaha term for a univer-
whose creative power remains present in sal life force, saying:
the medicine bundles of priests and
healers. Sacred power, according to an- An invisible and continuous life was
other Plains people, the Ponca, referred believed to permeate all things, seen
to anything mysterious, ineffable, or un- and unseen. This life manifests itself in
two ways: First, by causing to move—
canny. Thus the Ponca sense of wakkada
all motion, all actions of mind or body,
referred not only to a sacred transcen- are because of this invisible life;
dent power but also to various types of second, by causing permanency of
spiritual beings in nature, such as excep- structure and form, as in the rock, the
760
_________________________________________________________________________________ Power, Plains
physical features of the landscape, finements in Plains Indian thought often

mountains, plains, streams, rivers, associated with the emergence of special-
lakes, the animals and man. This
ists in handling and thinking about
invisible life was also conceived of as
being similar to the will power of power, such as priests or shamans.
which man is conscious within These assessments of power are found
himself—a power by which things are among other members of the Siouan-
brought to pass. Through this speaking language family. For example,
mysterious life and power all things
the Teton Lakota call sacred power
are related to one another and to man;
the seen to the unseen, the dead to the wakan and say that it manifests itself
living, a fragment of anything to its broadly throughout nature. The Lakota
entirety. This invisible life and power is also speak of the mysterious, creative
called wakon’da. (Fletcher and La presence of this power in a unified form
Flesche 1911, 134)
as Wakan Tanka. The Winnebago, San-
tee, Oto, and Missouria, all Siouan-
The Omaha think of wakon’da, the speaking peoples, use variations of
power of all life, as being in movement, wakanda. Among other Siouan speakers
constantly changing, ineffable, and in- such as the Mandan, however, the term
comprehensible. The conceptual depth of for power is xopri, whereas the Crow (Ab-
Plains Indian thinking about these ideas saroka) speak of power as baxpe (mascu-
is evident in their comprehensive view of line) or maxpe (feminine). These linguis-
wakon’da both as underlying all move- tic distinctions suggest gendered
ment and as the source of stable, perma- encounters with power that have not
nent realities such as mountains and been clarified in the ethnography. For
rivers. Also, the use of human will power the most part Plains Indian ethnography
is an analogy for cosmological power sig- has heavily emphasized male preroga-
nals that manifest both intention and de- tives with power. The Arikara, a Cad-
termination. Finally, there is a religious doan-speaking people, call power awa-
ecology embedded in this understanding haxu?, and the Uto Aztecan–speaking
of power that recognizes the inherent in- Shoshone peoples call power puha. The
terrelationship of all life forms. Some Algonquian Plains peoples such as the
Plains peoples, such as the Siouan-speak- Arapaho call power beetee, and the
ing Ponca, distinguish the gratuitous, un- Cheyenne (Tsistsistas) speak of vonoom
expected experience of cosmological as the order of the Creator, Maheo.
power as wakkada from the personal ex- Some scholars suggest that the cos-
pression of power—for example, in a war- mological dimensions of sacred power
rior’s prowess. The Ponca call this inten- among Plains Indians may be pervaded
tional manifestation of power by an now by the spiritualizing ideas of Chris-
exceptional hunter or warrior xube. These tianity, especially the concept of a super-
conceptual distinctions demonstrate re- natural Supreme Being in whom all
761
Power, Plains __________________________________________________________________________________
power resides. There is no doubt that concepts of cosmological power among

Christianity has interacted with, and in- themselves both before and after contact
fluenced, Plains Indian religious thought with the West. In these considerations of
from the late eighteenth century on- cosmological power it is also important
ward. It is also the case that ideas about to emphasize experiential modes as the
sacred power were shared at intertribal validation for any claim to power.
gatherings. It would seem, therefore, that
ideas about Wakan Tanka among the Experiential Modes
Lakota and Maheo among the Cheyenne, Plains Indian societies have been strik-
for example, present indigenous ways of ingly egalitarian in the sense that anyone
thinking about cosmological power might be called to the experience of sa-
among many Plains Indians. These per- cred power. Yet a creative tension exists
spectives suggest that Plains Indians saw between those egalitarian understand-
power as both immanent in the natural ings of power and the fact that certain in-
order and, simultaneously, transcendent dividuals embodied power in excep-
and beyond the relative, changing world. tional ways. Thus in many of the Plains
Rather than in abstract theological Indian societies there are charismatic in-
discourse, Native Americans shared their dividuals, such as shaman-healers, who
reflections on cosmological power in control and direct sacred power. These
more experiential and ritualized modes. individuals may have received dreams or
First and most significant is the sense visions that communicated instructions
that Plains Indian oral traditions trans- about the assembly of material objects
mitted teachings in narrative forms that into symbolic bundles of power. Among
probed ideals for refining the psycholog- the Ponca, healers are called waxube—
ical self in relation to the cosmological that is, those who control their manifes-
self. That is, the cosmological narratives tation of power (xube). The Crow now
that described the powerful beings and call these healers akbaalia, or “a person
the ways that those beings communi- who can accomplish things.” Among the
cated their powers to humans pro- Lakota those healers who have excep-
foundly influenced the daily, formative tional abilities to re-enact their experi-
ethics of the self among these peoples. ences of cosmological power are called
The ethics of power, then, can be likened wichsha wakan, or “wakan persons.”
to living life as a story. Second, concepts Among Plains Indians the human ex-
about power were embedded in ritual perience of power stands in an axial rela-
modes such as the search for personal tionship with cosmological power. The
experience of sacred power in the vision vertical axis suggests an other-power
quest as well as community ceremonials that spontaneously and gratuitously
for re-enacting the great stories of power. manifests itself to the human in dreams
In the Sun Dance, Plains peoples shared or visions. These existential experiences
762
_________________________________________________________________________________ Power, Plains
of power typically do not remain in an

abstract or simply personal realm;
rather, they bring about relationships of
authority and prestige between individ-
uals and groups within Plains societies.
In this sense, power among Plains peo-
ples cannot simply be understood in
terms of a vertical axis oscillating be-
tween the cosmological and the experi-
ential. A horizontal axis of power is evi-
dent in which the life-force becomes
embedded in the material world, espe-
cially in objects gathered from the natu-
ral world and assembled by humans in
bundles of power.
Materiality and Power

Some of the most striking manifestations
of power among Plains Indians are the
Apache medicine cap and fetish, 1907. (Edward
many collections of objects in bundles Curtis/Library of Congress)
that have been gathered by individuals
or by select societies of men and women.
Among the Crow, for example, an indi- ally become more complex as the bundle
vidual may receive a power dream or vi- is ritually “sold” or transferred to another
sion during a ritualized vision quest. owner. Over the years a bundle and its
Others may experience power partici- power may “travel” through many own-
pating in a ceremonial such as a Sun ers in different locations and among dif-
Dance or spontaneously during daily ferent Indian nations.
life. For the Crow, a power dream author- Material expressions of sacred power
izes the collection of objects into a bun- are experientially grounded in the col-
dle (xapaaliaa). These objects may in- lected substances of the bundle, such as
clude animal parts, plants, and minerals buffalo horns, birds’ wings, tobacco
that are associated with the cosmologi- plants, and stones with fossils. This ma-
cal powers of the dream. Typically, a terial embodiment of sacred power,
“medicine bundle” also has songs at- while related to cosmological power
tached to it, as well as modes of opening, through dreams and visions, is linked to
arranging, and displaying the objects. ways of imaging the natural world. Each
The performance of the bundle, then, is time the bundle is opened, the material
a complex set of actions that may actu- bundle is obviously directly related to the
763
Power, Plains __________________________________________________________________________________
cosmological powers that it embodies as has been noted that among Plains Indi-
well as the experiences of power that are ans power is primarily a male preroga-
re-enacted. Thus ritualized expressions tive. Exceptions are evident, as there are
of power among Plains Indians may be women healers, female warriors, and
understood as the skillful and complex mixed-gender religious specialists called
interweavings of different modes of two-spirits or berdache in the earlier lit-
power. It is also crucial for understand- erature. Regardless of their sex, however,
ing the cultural differences on the Plains all of these ritual roles depend upon the
to consider the interplay of these differ- personal experience of power and the
ent expressions of power in the sociopo- capacity to make present that power at
litical or communal order. appropriate moments.
Interactions of diverse expressions of
Communal Order power become evident in social struc-
From a Western analytic perspective, the tures, institutions, and social practices
sociopolitical dynamics of power are the that manifest power relationships. Indi-
most significant because all other modes viduals and groups in the Plains clearly
of power are culturally constructed and recognize the privileges of particular
personally subjective. From a traditional charismatic individuals and religious so-
Native American perspective, however, cieties that claim advantages based on
the experience of power is not simply cosmological, experiential, and material
subjective but validated by its source in power. Plains Indian age-grade warrior
the surrounding world that sustains all societies during the times of intertribal
life. Thus the sociopolitical order from a warfare are conspicuous examples of
Native American perspective is not a normative social groups that set the
separate, secular realm void of cosmo- stage for power experiences among boys
logical power. Rather, the communal and men as they matured.
order constitutes a lifeway that overlaps Sacred clowns among the Lakota,
with the natural and cosmological or- called heyoka, are a striking example of
ders. Plains Indian lifeways are pervaded power manifestation that appears to op-
by the same powers that create and sus- pose normative social values. Power in
tain the world. Social and political lead- the sociopolitical order typically vali-
ers of the Plains Indian lifeway are iden- dates the dominant social arrangement.
tified and validated in terms of their The Lakota heyoka, as well as sacred
experience of cosmological power. Thus clowns found among other Plains peo-
a Sun Dance guide, a military leader, or a ples, are “contraries” who manifest a re-
Peace Chief achieves those positions by sistance to normative behavior. Their rit-
bringing together experiences of sacred ual clowning often entails doing daily
power with his or her own personal skill tasks backward and speaking in seem-
and maturity with that power. While ingly nonsensical or inappropriate ways.
both sexes have been suggested here, it This type of liminal power among Plains
764
_____________________________________________________________________________ Power, Southeast
peoples appears to mount resistance to Fletcher, Alice C., and Francis La Flesche.
dominant modes of power and to open 1911. The Omaha Tribe. 27th Annual
Report of the Bureau of American
pathways that empower the powerless. Ethnography, 1905–1906. Washington,
Interestingly, the major ceremonial DC: GPO.
pathway for the experience of power Holdrege, Barbara. 1990. “Ritual and Power:
A Special Issue of the Journal of Ritual
among Plains Indians—namely, the vi- Studies Based on the Proceedings of the
sion quest at puberty—has embedded Santa Barbara Conference on Ritual and
within it all of these complementary ex- Power.” Journal of Ritual Studies 4, no. 2.
Irwin, Lee. 1994. The Dream Seekers: Native
pressions of power. The vision quest not American Visionary Traditions of the
only affirms normative perspectives re- Great Plains. Norman: University of
garding the experience and acquisition of Oklahoma Press.
Kracht, Benjamin R. 2000. “Kiowa Religion
cosmological power for a successful life
in Historical Perspective.” Pp. 236–255 in
but also brings new visions to the people Native American Spirituality: A Critical
that challenge the normative sociopoliti- Reader. Edited by Lee Irwin. Lincoln:
cal order. Although much changed and
diminished by contact with dominant
American societies, the complex interac-
tions of power in their cosmological, ex- Power, Plateau
periential, material, and sociopolitical
See Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau
expressions in Plains Indian religious life
continue into the present.
John A. Grim Power, Southeast
Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota; Health and Most of the indigenous groups from the
Wellness, Traditional Approaches; Oral Southeastern United States share a gen-
Traditions, Western Plains; Power,
Barbareño Chumash; Power, Great Basin; eral concept of religious power. It flows
Power, Northwest Coast; Power, Southeast; through all creation and directly impacts
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, everything in This World, the World Above
Plains; Vision Quest Rites; Yuwipi
Ceremony (or Upper World), and the World Below (or
References and Further Reading Under World), including both the physical
DeMallie, Raymond, ed. 2001. Handbook of and metaphysical, the seen and unseen.
North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13,
Southeastern Native Americans con-
parts 1 and 2. Series Editor William C.
Sturtevant. Washington, DC: ceptualize the universe as consisting of
Smithsonian Institution. This World, the World Above, and the
DeMallie, Raymond J., Jr., and Robert H. World Below, with each world intricately
Lavenda. 1977. “Wakan: Plains Siouan
Concepts of Power.” Pp. 153–165 in The connected to the other two. This World is
Anthropology of Power: Ethnographic the place in which humans currently
Studies from Asia, Oceania, and the New live. Humans interact with the visible
World. Edited by Raymond D. Fogelson
and Richard N. Adams. New York: and the invisible (the physical and meta-
Academic Press. physical) every day. The unseen, spiritual
765
Power, Southeast ______________________________________________________________________________
aspects of This World contain entities ous. The users of power, be they human
that either permanently exist here or or otherwise, choose the nature of its
sometimes visit from the World Above employment. Because power ebbs and
and the World Below. Additionally, every- flows throughout the universe, individ-
thing in This World has a spirit. That in- ual humans, human groups, and nonhu-
cludes animals, plants, rivers, and man entities need periodic renewal. For
places, and all those spirits are intercon- human societies, their behavior, their
nected and interdependent. Most of the thoughts, and special ceremonies en-
southeastern groups believe that This hance and control their individual and
World is flat and circular, and that it geo- community levels of power.
graphically centers upon their specific Therefore the loss of life (human or oth-
group. This World sits between the World erwise) means a loss of power. When indi-
Above and the World Below. The World viduals from a community die an unnatu-
Above is like This World only better. ral death, the community loses more than
Everything there is in balance and makes the labor, the experience, or the comfort-
sense. The World Below is the opposite of ing familiarity of those individuals. It also
the World Above, where disorder and loses power. That power can be regained
chaos exist. In order for the universe to only through the proper ceremonies,
continue to exist, balance must be main- thoughts, and actions (which includes
tained between all three worlds. As the what a person eats). For instance, if an
center of the universe, each group be- enemy kills a war leader, revenge must be
lieves that they, and they alone, must taken upon that enemy, but, in addition,
maintain this balance through proper someone in the community must perform
actions and proper thought and by per- the correct ceremonies to be able to re-
forming the right ceremonies at the ap- place the missing leader physically, to as-
propriate times. By doing those things, sume the spiritual/power status of the
they guarantee the correct flow of fallen leader to guarantee continued suc-
“power” throughout the three worlds. cess in warfare and to reacquire the ap-
Religious practices for the indigenous propriate aspect or type of power lost to
inhabitants of the Southeastern United the community. Likewise when animals
States center upon controlling the flow are hunted and killed, ritualism accompa-
of power. Power, as Native peoples of the nies the process to ensure that the loss of
Southeast understand it, fills the uni- power among the community of animals
verse, and it guides and is guided by is restored. In all cases, failure to perform
human and nonhuman behavior and the appropriate ceremonies can throw the
thought. Power in this sense is like en- three worlds out of balance and could
ergy or a life essence that all things need cause This World and possibly all three
to exist. This power in and of itself is nei- worlds to come to an end.
ther solely benevolent nor solely nocu- Dixie Ray Haggard
766
________________________________________________________________________________________ Powwow
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast; gathering of Native people, and in the
Dance, Southeast; Green Corn Ceremony; twentieth century it has taken on its cur-
Masks and Masking; Menstruation and
Menarche; Power, Great Basin; Power, rent meaning, describing a gathering of
Northwest Coast; Power, Plains; Spiritual one or more tribal nations for competi-
and Ceremonial Practitioners, Southeast; tive dancing, drumming, singing, and
Vision Quest Rites
socializing.
Chaudhuri, Jean, and Joyotpaul Chaudhuri.
Powwows are typically sponsored by
2001. A Sacred Path: The Way of the one tribe or band, and they welcome Na-
Muscogee Creeks. Los Angeles: UCLA tive people from around the country.
American Indian Studies Center.
Many Native people join the “powwow
Fogelson, Raymond D. 1977. “Cherokee
Notions of Power.” Pp. 185–194 in The circuit,” in which they travel from pow-
Anthropology of Power. Edited by wow to powwow (primarily in the sum-
Raymond D. Fogelson and Richard N.
mer) to compete as dancers and drum-
Adams. New York: Academic Press.
Haggard, Dixie Ray. 2000. “Internalizing mers and to celebrate Indian culture
Native American History: with people of other nations. Powwows
Comprehending Cherokee and
can range from small, local affairs lasting
Muscogulge Identities.” Indigenous
Nations Studies Journal 1, no. 2 (fall): a single day to enormous national gath-
3–29. erings that might last as long as a week.
Hudson, Charles. 1976. The Southeastern While styles of dress and dancing vary
Indians. Knoxville: University of
Tennessee Press. broadly from region to region, some
Lewis, David, Jr., and Ann T. Jordan. 2002. dances and styles are held in common. A
Creek Indian Medicine Ways: The variety of dances can be seen at a pow-
Enduring Power of Mvskoke Religion.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico wow, including the Two-Step, Round
Press. Dance, and Gourd Dance, as well as per-
formative dances such as the Spear and
Shield Dance, Hoop Dance, or Eagle
Dance. The most common dances stem
from the nineteenth-century Plains War
Powwow
Dances. In the mid-nineteenth century
Powwow gatherings are an important these War Dance traditions spread
part of contemporary American Indian throughout the Plains, often referred to
life, centering on drumming, dance, as the Omaha Dance, Grass Dance, or
song, community, and celebration of In- Crow Dance. These War Dance traditions
dian identity and history. The name have taken several forms in the twentieth
“powwow” is derived from the Algon- century, depending on regional styles
quin pawauogs, referring to healing cer- and expressions. Oklahoma and Ne-
emonies conducted by a skilled spiritual braska nations developed the Straight
practitioner. Euro-Americans later in- Dance, while among western Oklahoma
correctly used the term to refer to any nations the dance evolved into the Fancy
767
Powwow _________________________________________________________________________________________
expressive and creative mode, as

women’s Fancy Dances have become in-
creasingly common—in particular, the
Shawl and Jingle Dress Dance.
The powwow is typically character-
ized as a secular event. The dances and
competitions are not overtly religious,
and gatherings are open to all. The event
is generally not directed by a spiritual
practitioner, nor is a powwow a sacred
ceremony. However, powwows still play
an important role in contemporary
American Indian spirituality. Powwows
are places where American Indian peo-
ple can affirm their ties to community,
celebrate and rediscover their Native
identity, and reconnect with traditional
Native culture. For many Native people,
carefully making their regalia, practicing,
and participating in powwows is a spiri-
tual activity. Sobriety is an important
A woman wears traditional clothing as she
dances in a dance competition at an Ottawa part of powwow life, as drugs and alcohol
powwow. Harbor Springs, Michigan, ca. are not allowed on powwow grounds. For
1980–1990. (Macduff Everton/CORBIS) many Native people seeking sobriety
and strength within their Native culture,
Dance, or Feathers Dance. Northern the powwow circuit offers a path toward
Tribes were largely responsible for con- spiritual and cultural integrity. Children
temporary Grass Dances (characterized are taught about the values of traditional
by braids of sweetgrass hanging from culture and about respecting elders and
dancers’ belts and bustles), and the community, and they are encouraged to
Northern Plains Traditional Dances in take pride in their indigenous heritage.
which dancers’ regalia includes full face For many individuals, dancing works
paint and dress to mimic the appearance as a space for prayer and contemplation,
of animals or birds. Women’s Dances for reflection and personal expression. In
have changed as well. Traditional it, physical expression can be both per-
women’s dancing was primarily support- sonal fulfillment and prayerful worship.
ive, moving gracefully and succinctly in There is no prescribed dogma of what
time with the drumbeat. Since the 1960s dances must mean or symbolize for indi-
women’s dancing has taken on a more vidual dancers. For some dancing may
768
________________________________________________________________________________________ Powwow
be a purely secular, competitive en- awarding of prizes. Warrior societies and

deavor. For others it is a profoundly spir- the honoring of warriors have long
itual one, and a central part of their reli- played an important role in American In-
gious and spiritual life. It is up to the dian religiosity.
individuals to determine the meaning
and role that dancing will have in their Regalia
lives. Individuals participating in powwows
Another important aspect of pow- generally make their own regalia, or out-
wows that can carry spiritual signifi- fits. One’s regalia is deeply personal,
cance is the giveaway. Giveaways provide crafted through hours of labor and care by
an opportunity to honor one’s commu- oneself and one’s family. The individual
nity and the elders who have played an artistic expression within a dancer’s re-
important part in one’s life. One’s inter- galia is an expression of that individual’s
dependence with one’s community, and own identity, family, tribal community,
one’s obligations to others, are a central and life experiences. Family or commu-
part of Native culture and spirituality. nity members might give a dancer pieces
During powwows, individuals and fami- of their regalia. To receive such a gift is a
lies will take time to honor and thank great honor. One’s regalia might change
others. Young people who achieve great from year to year, and it is a constantly
accomplishments, such as graduations, evolving part of one’s life as a dancer.
can be recognized in such a setting as Powwow fashions combine the tradi-
well. It is important to note that rather tional with the contemporary, as well as
than honoring a graduate, for instance, with images from pre-Christian Native
with gifts, the graduate is honored by traditions and Christian traditions. It is
gifts given to others in the graduate’s important to note that regalia is never re-
name. Gifts are given to those who ferred to as a “costume,” which implies
helped the person reach a goal. Through that the dancer is dressing up, putting on
such giveaways, everyone is reminded of a show, or participating in a kind of fakery.
the importance of community, of help- Regalia, and the careful crafting of one’s
ing and relying on one another. A special regalia, are a genuine expression of cul-
honor song will be sung, and partici- ture and identity, not play-acting.
pants will shake hands with the honored
individual. Gifts such as money, blan- The Drum
kets, ribbon shirts, or dance outfits will In American Indian traditions, the beat
often be given. of the drum is an extension of the heart-
Powwows are also an important place beat of Mother Earth. Drumming, or
for honoring Native veterans, who play dancing to the beat of the drum, places
an important role in the gathering— an individual in rhythm with the earth.
from the grand entry to the judging and As you move, you step into the proper
769
Powwow _________________________________________________________________________________________
beat and harmony of all of creation. The sent the sponsoring tribe or nation.
drum likewise carries the heartbeat of They work to bring all the elements of a
the Indian nation. To dance in rhythm is powwow together: drummers, dancers,
to be in step with the wider community food, crafts, entertainment, booths, and
of Native people. Drumming and danc- the important elements of running a
ing thus can be experienced as a spiri- powwow, such as security, parking, and
tual, prayerful practice, one that brings camping facilities. The powwow itself is
one back into synchrony with the Earth run by a master of ceremonies, who di-
and one’s community. Drums are often rects when dances begin, makes an-
said to contain a female spirit, and they nouncements, and keeps everyone in
must be treated with care and respect. order. Arena directors likewise help to
Singers and drummers must follow care- keep the event going smoothly, offering
ful protocols when entering, participat- direction to dancers, drummers, and
ing in, or leaving a drum circle. judges alike. Most powwows are com-
The drum itself is a large base, covered petitive, and judges determine winners
with hide. The drummers (typically only for each category based upon their abili-
men) form a circle of eight or more indi- ties, regalia, rhythm, and ability to stop
viduals around the drum. As they strike dancing on the final beat of the drum.
the drum, they sing in unison. Songs are Lead Singers play an important role in
often in Native languages, or have been the powwow, as mentioned above. They
reduced to vocables so that members of will determine what songs and what
other tribal nations can sing along. The dances are played. Head Man Dancer
Lead Singer begins each song and deter- and Head Woman Dancer lead the danc-
mines which songs will be sung. Both ing, directing when individuals should
local songs and songs known more join the circle.
widely are included.
The Lead Singer will begin each song Dances
with a lead line. This indicates to the Grand Entry
singers and dancers which song will be Every powwow begins with the Grand
following. As the song is taken up, the Entry. Flags and eagle staffs are raised,
dancers begin to enter the circle. Drum- and the drums beat a grand entry song.
mers will occasionally strike the drum The first to enter the arena is the tribal
particularly loudly; at such moments chair of the local sponsoring tribe, as well
they are offering so-called honor beats to as any visiting guests of honor. Color
the drum. guard veterans follow, behind which
come any royalty (princesses, warriors)
People who have been chosen to represent their
Powwows are organized by a powwow home community. Elder men will then
committee, members of which repre- enter the area, followed by men’s tradi-
770
________________________________________________________________________________________ Powwow
tional dancers, grass dancers, and fancy women’s powwow dancing. This type of
dancers. Women elders will then enter, regalia is indicated by a fringed shawl,
followed by women’s traditional dancers, held over one arm, a feather fan, and an
jingle dress dancers, and fancy shawl awl and knife case on the belt. In the
dancers. Teenage boys and teenage girls Southern and Oklahoma style, women’s
will then enter, followed by younger chil- traditional dancers will wear cloth or
dren. As each group enters the master of buckskin outfits. Regalia is carefully and
ceremonies introduces them. Finally, elaborately beaded in styles and patterns
when all have assembled, the prayer song that reflect their home nations, commu-
and honoring song for veterans is sung. nities, and families. Women’s traditional
dancers may wear a hair bone pipe
Men’s Traditional Dance breastplate and glass beads hanging to
Generally considered the oldest type of their waist or ankles. Beaded hair bar-
dance, men’s traditional regalia is said to rettes, beaded fur hanging from the hair,
represent various kinds of animals and beaded crowns (for women who have
to present the image of a warrior fitted been powwow princesses), and beaded
for battle. The movements of the dance moccasins complete the regalia. When
itself are intended to portray actions dancing, women’s traditional dancers
such as hunting, or a warrior searching must demonstrate grace, stamina, and a
for an enemy. They are actions associ- smooth flowing movement. They must
ated with men’s sacred obligations to move slowly, in time with the drum,
protect and provide for the community. keeping their feet close to the ground.
Typically, men’s traditional dancers will Dancers dance in rhythm to the drum,
wear a neck choker, a breastplate made bobbing to its beat, as the long fringe of
of animal bones or shell, jingling hooves their shawls sways with the beat of the
or ankle bells, and a hide shield. They dance. They dance swaying slightly,
may also wear a bustle of eagle feathers, bending at the knees in carefully con-
as eagle feathers are associated with trolled but fluid swaying movements.
bravery and honor, and a porcupine hair Women raise their eagle feather fans to
roach. Armbands and cuffs will be either honor the drum and their male relatives
beaded or metal, and breechcloth whenever the drummers strike honor
aprons will be either leather or cloth and beats.
generally elaborately decorated. Many
dancers wear beaded knee bands and Men’s Grass Dance
angora furs around their ankles. It is often said that the Men’s Grass
Dance originated as dancers sought to
Women’s Traditional Dance smooth down the grass on a new dance
The Women’s Traditional Dance, or site. The dance was originally a warrior
Buckskin Dance, is the oldest form of society dance, and it reflects that origin,
771
Powwow _________________________________________________________________________________________
as dancers’ movements are low and fluid, helpers instructed him to make the dress
as though they were stalking game. Every and have her dance in it. His granddaugh-
movement danced to one side is re- ter put on the dress and danced. Although
peated on the other, an indication of the at first she was very weak, by her fourth
need for balance in one’s life. The regalia circuit around the room she was cured.
itself harkens back to an older custom, The regalia is made of cloth, leather, or
when dancers would wear braided grass velvet and covered with shiny metal jin-
in their belts. Today a Grass Dancer will gles, generally made from cone-shaped
wear long fabric or ribbon strands at the shiny metal, often from the lids of snuff
base of the outfit to represent grass. The cans. One dress will be covered in hun-
outfit will be beaded and decorated with dreds of jingles. When in motion the
belt and armbands, cuffs, and side tabs, dress will sound like wind and rain. The
as well as a front and back apron, head- dance itself is composed of carefully
band, and moccasins. Front and back controlled steps in a zigzag pattern. The
aprons are very striking, being decorated Jingle Dress dancer, like Women’s tradi-
with complex beadwork and ribbons, the tional dancers, will raise her eagle
ends hanging loose two to three feet. A feather fan when the drummers play
beaded H-harness will fall from the “honor beats” to the drum. She must
shoulders to below the knees, beaded carefully stay with the rhythm, listening
and decorated with tassels or ribbons. to the drum and keeping in step with the
Grass Dancers will also wear a porcupine other dancers, ending with her final step
hair roach, or headdress, that has two on the final beat of the drum.
feathers attached to it. These feathers
and fringe will spin and sway as the Men’s Fancy Dance, Fancy Bustle Dance
dancer moves, and a good dancer will be Men’s Fancy Dance, or Fancy Bustle
able to keep the motions consistent, Dance, is a strenuous and athletic dance.
steady, and constant until the final beat The dancer must demonstrate stamina
of the drum. A grass dancer’s regalia is and athletic agility, jumping, twirling,
distinct from that of other dancers by and dancing at great speed. The dancer
virtue of the nearly complete absence of wears two feather bustles, with ribbon
feathers, other than the roach feathers. and feathers added for color, and arm-
bands and headbands repeating the pat-
Women’s Jingle Dance, Prayer Dance terns of the bustles. The regalia repre-
The women’s jingle dress dance originated sents rainbow spirits, indicated by the
in northern Minnesota with the Ojibwe; it feathers, ribbons, and bright colors. A
is also called a Prayer Dress. According to headdress roach is worn, also brightly
one tradition, a traditional healer colored, with two eagle feathers that
dreamed the dance during a time when should be kept rocking and spinning
his granddaughter was very ill. His spirit throughout the dance.
772
________________________________________________________________________________________ Powwow
Women’s Fancy Shawl Dance, Northern hair and red or white deer hair. Regalia
Shawl Dance also includes bells mounted on a leather
The Women’s Fancy Shawl Dance is a strip and moccasins, as well as a tail stick
newer, athletic form of dance, some- or mirror board carried in the right hand.
times called the Northern Shawl, or The Straight Dance is proud, slow, and
blanket dance, because of the shawl that characterized by its precise and smooth
the dancers wear over their shoulders. It motions.
was performed in the 1960s and called
Graceful Shawl but was characterized by Women’s Cloth Dancing
much smaller movements than is the Women’s Cloth Dancing is another mode
case today. It is very similar to Men’s of Southern powwow dancing, intro-
Fancy Dance, with its strenuous jump- duced by the Kiowas, Ponca, and Osage. It
ing, twirling, kicks, spinning at great is graceful and slow, and a champion
speed, and bright colors. Fancy Shawl Cloth Dancer will be able to maintain a
Dancers wear high moccasins with intri- steady, smooth rhythm. Regalia is typi-
cate beaded patterns representing indi- cally composed of a cloth or wool dress
vidual, familial, and tribal symbols. with high-top moccasins and open
Dancers wear their shawls over their sleeves. At the waist the Cloth Dancer
shoulders and spin gracefully around, wears a wrap, often fringed. The regalia is
keeping up with the rhythm of the drum. completed with a dual-sided breastplate
Fancy Shawl Dancers will decorate their and a belt of silver conchos with an awl
shawls with elaborate designs of bead- case and tobacco pouch attached.
work, ribbon work, and appliqué. Long Dancers will carry a shawl, purse, and fan.
fringes on the shawl will fly out from the Suzanne J. Crawford
dancer as she spins, emphasizing her Dennis F. Kelley
movements.
See also Dance, Great Basin; Dance, Plains;
Dance, Plateau; Dance, Southeast; Drums;
Oklahoma Straight Dance Giveaway Ceremonies; Health and Wellness,
Oklahoma Straight Dance is a Southern Traditional Approaches; Kinship; Song;
Warfare, Religious Aspects; Yoeme (Yaqui)
dance, as is indicated by its formal, care- Deer Dance
fully coordinated motions and regalia. It
evolved from Ponca Hethuska dances. Ancona, George. 1993. Powwow. San Diego:
Clothing regalia is carefully matched and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Browner, Tara. 2002. Heartbeat of the People:
made up of garters and side tabs. Ribbon
Music and Dance of the Northern Pow-
work will run down the aprons, leggings, wow. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
trailer, and otter dragger. Regalia will dif- Kavanagh, Thomas W. 1985. “The
fer from tribe to tribe, indicating which Comanche Pow-wow: Pan Indianism or
Tribalism?” Haliksa’i 1: 12–27.
nation the dancer comes from. Dancers ———. 1992. “Powwows.” In Encyclopedia
will likewise wear a roach of porcupine of Native American Religions. Edited by
773
Prison and Native Spirituality _______________________________________________________________
Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin. the way of alcohol, drug, and tobacco
New York: Facts on File. abuse], we are slowly drained of life,
Lassiter, Luke. 1998. The Power of Kiowa our spirit becomes silent, and death
Song: A Collaborative Ethnography. follows quickly on our heels. When we
Tucson: University of Arizona Press. make a conscious decision to walk in
Marra, Ben. 1996. Powwow: Images along
the spirit (The Red Road or Beauty
the Red Road. New York: Harry Abrams
Road), our life is changed and the
Press.
Pflug, Melissa. 2000. “Pimadaziwin: Great Spirit fills us with a greater
Contemporary Rituals in Odawa portion of life than we’ve previously
Community.” In Native American experienced (Bartlett 1998).
Spirituality: A Critical Reader. Edited by
Lee Irwin. Lincoln: University of Religious discrimination has always
Nebraska Press.
Powers, William K. 1970. “Contemporary
been a fact of life for Native Americans,
Oglala Music and Dance: Pan-Indianism and it is no different in prison than in the
versus Pan-Tribalism.” In The Modern “free world.” For most Native American
Sioux. Edited by Ethel Nurge. Lincoln:
prisoners, the blunt, raw reality is that
Web sites on pow wows: http://www. the average prison in this country—es-
powwows.com; http://www.ktca.org/ pecially at the local level—neither recog-
powwow; http://www.gathering-
nizes American Indian spirituality as a
ofnations.com.
legitimate religion nor allows Native in-
mates to practice their religion, even on
an individual basis. That contrasts
Prison and Native sharply with the general attitude of
prison administrators toward Christian,
Spirituality
Islamic, and Jewish prisoners, who al-
Following the path of Native American most always are allowed to attend weekly
spirituality and cultural identity in services, possess Korans, Bibles, and
today’s prison system in the United holy pictures, celebrate major religious
States is usually impossible, often holidays, and otherwise participate in a
banned, and always very, very difficult. religious life.
And yet, for some Native American Over the course of the last two cen-
prison inmates, walking the red road in turies, three different levels of jails and
the white man’s iron house is the path to prisons have been created in the United
salvation, the way of beauty, and the only States, in part to deal with the “Indian
road to rehabilitation and survival. problem”: federal, state, and local. The
latter are the most numerous, ranging
For those [prisoners] who attend the
from small-town “drunk tanks” and city-
Inipi [sweatlodge], they must be
willing to forsake the Black Road and and county-run jails to large, for-profit
become a new man or woman. We call prisons run by Wackenhut Corrections,
this the Red Road, or the Beauty Road. Corrections Corporation of America, and
When we walk the Black Road [that is, other private companies. Incarceration
774
______________________________________________________________ Prison and Native Spirituality
monies, most local jails and prisons do

not allow Native Americans to practice
their religion. Some of the state and
county prisons, and most federal pris-
ons, do permit their Native American in-
mates to attend weekly Inipi ceremonies
and otherwise participate in religious life
in a limited fashion, but they are far out-
numbered by the state and local prisons
that do not. Some prisons even allow
biannual solstice ceremonies when fam-
ilies are allowed to bring in traditional
foods. A few prisons have actually been
innovative in their approach to Native
American religion, but it always takes a
sympathetic chaplain or understanding
administrator who recognizes that far
from being a danger to security, tradi-
tional Native American religion is actu-
ally the road to rehabilitation and a rela-
The Inipi ceremonial grounds in a New Mexico tively easy way to control inmate
prison usually includes a tarp-covered behavior. But prison chaplains and ad-
sweatlodge supported by a frame of willow ministrators come and go, or they lose
saplings, a small earth altar, and a large fire pit
where lava rocks are heated until they glow red.
their fire and give up trying, and what
The rocks are then taken into the lodge and was allowed under one regime is taken
placed in a central pit, where cold water is away by another.
poured over them, producing the hot breath of
the creator. 1998. (Courtesy of Joe Winter)
That is exactly what happened at the
Lea County Correctional Facility in New
Mexico in 1999, where a chaplain fresh
has become a big business in America, out of divinity school helped the Native
with profit, rather than rehabilitation or Americans at this large private prison to
even punishment, the key motivating develop a religious-based rehabilitation
factor. program that included daily pipe ritu-
Aside from a few notable exceptions, als, weekly Inipi ceremonies, Talking
such as the city correctional facility in Circles, drumming sessions, history and
Gallup, New Mexico, which encourages culture classes, and Red Road To Sobri-
the use of a sweatlodge, a ceremonial ety meetings, as well as biannual family
hogan, and visits from Navajo medicine solstice ceremonies. Unfortunately, just
men who perform curing “ways” or cere- as the program was starting to jell, a
775
new warden concluded that the Native families, as well as men who have gone
American religious group was actually a berserk and murdered their families, or
gang, so he systematically began dis- raped and killed young girls. They de-
mantling their program, leaving only serve to be in prison for a long, long time,
the weekly Inipi ceremony. The last but the blunt truth is that the average
straw was when he took away their Native American in prison today is there
water drum. What was then intended as because he or she made a mistake that
a peaceful demonstration of “counting would have earned a white offender
coup” was perceived as a direct attack nothing more than a slap on the wrist:
by the guards, and in the ensuing fracas maybe a night in jail and a phone call to
several prisoners and guards were seri- daddy, who contacts the family lawyer,
ously injured. Twelve young American who contacts his friend the judge. Most
Indian men were sent to the maximum Native Americans are in prison today be-
security, total lockdown unit at the Pen- cause of alcohol, drug, and related
itentiary of New Mexico at Santa Fe, crimes, and because they lack the money
where most of them languish today, and expertise to manipulate the legal
without the right to have sweatlodge system. Many Native Americans were
ceremonies or pipe rituals or anything born into a culture of incarceration, in
else; the only time a few of them can which brothers and cousins and fathers
meet, perhaps to share a little tradi- and grandsons go to prison because
tional tobacco, is when they are taken that’s the way it is in America. And with
out of their individual cells once a week the privatization of prisons into big,
and are allowed to work out in small, moneymaking corporations, the cycle
separate cages in an enclosed yard. Sev- and culture of incarceration has ex-
eral have gone on hunger strike, and at panded even more.
the time of this writing (February 2002), Breaking this cycle—breaking the ac-
one is in very serious condition at the ceptance of a culture of incarceration,
prison hospital in Los Lunas, where he both on the part of whites as well as Na-
is being force fed. tive Americans—is absolutely essential if
Many of the prisons and jails in this Native American society and religion are
country are nothing more than ware- going to survive. Somehow, somebody
houses for young, jobless Native Ameri- has to convince the state department of
cans, who are often jailed for vagrancy corrections or the state health depart-
and public intoxication, driving while in- ment or the state or federal legislature or
toxicated (DWI), shoplifting alcohol, or the city or county council or whomever
driving with a tail light out and “looking that halfway houses for men and women
like a drunk Indian.” And yes, there are getting out of prisons, as well as inter-
repeat DWI offenders who have driven cept programs for at-risk youth who
the wrong way on I-40 and killed whole could end up in prison, are absolutely
776
______________________________________________________________ Prison and Native Spirituality
necessary. We have to convince some- produced, Eagle feathers or other Eagle

one—anyone in the white power estab- parts will be considered contraband.
After six (6) months, any inmate in
lishment who cares—that preprison in-
possession of Eagle feathers or other
tercept programs and postprison Eagle parts without a valid permit, will
halfway house programs with Inipi cere- have those items confiscated as
monies and pipe rituals and Talking Cir- contraband. Confiscated Eagle feathers
cles and Red Road To Sobriety programs or Eagle parts will be turned over to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for
and culture and history classes and eagle
proper disposition.
feathers and the celebration of holy days
are all very good indeed. The roots of the current pattern of reli-
But with only a few exceptions pro- gious discrimination against, and the
grams like that don’t exist, even in the large-scale incarceration of, Native
twenty-first century. There are only a few Americans are sunk deep in the fabric of
intercept programs on the streets of our Euro-American history. Beginning with
reservation towns, and there are very few genocide and outright extermination, the
sweatlodges and safe havens where we culture of incarceration evolved as a re-
can Walk the Red Road, in or out of the sult of the large-scale and frequent exe-
White Man’s Iron Houses. And when they cution of Native American men and the
do exist, they are soon taken away: imprisonment of entire tribes on distant,
inhospitable military posts. Today Native
Effective Date—January 2, 2002 American men still have the highest in-
ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS—
carceration rate of any ethnic or racial
Inmate Notification
A recent review of the store and group, and the rates increase dramati-
property list has resulted in a change cally from south to north. In Oklahoma,
regarding possession of Eagle feathers. for example, where Native Americans
Pursuant to federal law, persons may make up 4 percent of the population,
not possess Eagle parts without a
they account for 9 to 10 percent of the
permit from the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service. Prior to authorization state’s prison inmates (Hilligross 1987). In
to receive or possess an Eagle feather, Montana, North Dakota, and South
or any other Eagle parts, inmates must Dakota, where Native Americans consti-
produce a lawful permit from the U.S. tute 5 to 8 percent of the population, they
Fish and Wildlife Service, issued in their
account for 16 to 21 percent of the states’
name. Permits are not transferable.
In the case where an inmate is prison inmates (Foundation for National
currently in possession of an Eagle Progress 2002). And the situation is even
feather or other Eagle parts, the worse in Canada, where First Nations
inmates will be given six (6) months people account for less than 3 percent of
from the effective date of the policy
change to obtain and produce a lawful
the country’s population yet make up
permit. If within six (6) months a more than 13 percent of the provincial
lawful permit is not obtained or prison population and over 18 percent of
777
the federal prison population (Correc- crimination merely the current version
tional Service of Canada 2002). Then of a far longer pattern that has become
there is Alaska, where one out of every institutionalized in American society.
three state prisoners is an Inuit, Aleut, or As long as Native Americans are treated
American Indian (Foundation for Na- differently in our legal and prison systems
tional Progress 2002); only 16 percent of than blacks, Hispanics, or whites—as
the state’s population is Native American. long as their basic human rights and reli-
Native American arrest rates are also as- gious freedoms are denied them—our
toundingly high—more than three times prisons will remain warehouses used to
that of blacks and ten times that of whites. control young Native Americans. And the
In rural settings, the arrest rate of Native streets of our reservation towns will be
Americans is four times that of whites; in filled with the human debris produced by
urban settings, it is thirteen times that of a national tragedy.
whites. And once an Indian has been Intercept programs that incorporate
jailed, he or she will serve an average of 35 Native American spirituality work.
percent more time before parole than will Halfway houses and detox centers with
a non-Native for a similar crime. When sweatlodges and pipe ceremonies and
they’re out, Native Americans have a re- culturally relevant substance abuse
cidivism rate that is often more than 50 treatment programs work. Native Ameri-
percent (U.S. Department of Justice 1982; can religious societies in prisons work, as
Hilligross 1987; Reed 1993). do religious-based rehab programs. In
Why are these rates of arrest, incarcer- Canada, where healing lodges are often
ation, and return to prison so horribly provided in the provincial and federal
high? Alcohol abuse, drug addiction, re- prisons, the recidivism rate for the Na-
lated crimes, extreme poverty, and de- tive inmates who used them is 6 percent,
spair are obviously contributing factors, compared with a national average of 11
but there are other deeper and more in- percent for all offenders (Correctional
sidious factors at work as well. One of the Service of Canada 2002).
most fundamental is that Native Ameri- Healing, hard work, a positive spiri-
cans have always been subjected to op- tual attitude—that is what it is all about,
pression, violence, incarceration, and an that is how we Walk the Red Road, in or
environment in which drug addiction out of the White Man’s Iron House.
and alcoholism are not only tolerated by
white Americans but are actually en- When people make the choice to
couraged by them, as a means of control. attend an Inipi Ceremony, they must be
Incarceration is a way to control Native willing to suffer and be prepared to give
all of their strength, prayers, and songs
American men (and when necessary,
to the Creator. It is the only way they
women), with today’s pattern of large- can expect to receive a blessing and
scale imprisonment and religious dis- benefit from the experience. It is said
778
______________________________________________________________________________________ Puhagants
by the Old Ones that the purer a man culate through all living forces serves as
becomes, the closer to the Creator he is. the basis for Numic healing practices.
This is one of the first rules taught to
The Numa have always understood that
those who choose to walk the Red
Road, and it is also the first basic tenet people are born with puha, which is un-
of the Inipi Ceremony. It is the starting equally distributed among them (Stoffle
point on the spirit trail, a way of life for et al. 2002, 19) and most heavily concen-
those who choose it, or, as I like to say, trated in individual Puhagants (“where
if the Spirit chooses you. (Bartlett 1998)
power sits,” or “shaman”), sacred objects,
Joseph Winter spiritual beings, and sacred sites within
See also Christianity, Indianization of; the landscape (Powell 1877, 14–15; Stof-
Native American Church; Power, Barbareño
fle et al. 1997; Bonvillain 2001, 294). This
Chumash; Power, Northwest Coast; Power,
Plains; Power, Southeast; Reservations, unequal distribution of power may be
Spiritual and Cultural Implications; explained in part by the fact that there is
Sweatlodge; Termination and Relocation;
no real death among the Numa, only the
Vision Quest Rites
transformation of life forces from one
Bartlett, Erwin. 1998. “Sweating in state to another. Accordingly, a Numic
Perspective.” Big House Bulletin medicine man could return to the earth
(Penitentiary of New Mexico, Santa Fe) 4, in the form of a hummingbird, while re-
no. 2: 3, 8.
Foundation for National Progress. 2002. taining the power of a great shaman. In
“Debt to Society: The Real Price of addition to obtaining power through
Prisons.” http://www.motherjones.com/ birth, Puhagants receive gifts of puha
news/special_reports/prisons/index.
html. (Accessed January 9, 2005.) through dreams and vision questing
Hilligross, David. 1987. “Racism, Cultural (Whitley 1998, 15).
Genocide, and the Case of the Native The Numa have traditionally held
American Religious Freedom.”
Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Puhagants in high esteem. As mediators
Reed, Little Rock. 1993. The American between the phenomenal world and the
Indian in the White Man’s Prisons: A Story unseen forces of the universe, Puhagants
of Genocide. Taos, NM: Uncompromising
Books.
have often used their powers to effect
U.S. Department of Justice. 1982. “The healing and to restore balance within in-
Inequality of Justice: A Report on Crime dividuals, whole communities, and the
and the Administration of Justice in the
living physical environment, which in-
Minority Community.” Special
Commission Report. cludes diverse landforms, minerals,
plants, animals, water sources, and even
the air that people breathe. Restoring
balance may occur through multiple acts
that range from the healing of sick peo-
Puhagants
ple to the control of the weather (ibid.,
The capacity to effectively engage and 15). Because of this extraordinary re-
direct the forces of puha (power) that cir- sponsibility, many Puhagants were killed
779
Puhagants _______________________________________________________________________________________
during the encroachment period when told Powell that he would talk about an
their interventions failed to keep pace illness until a hummingbird sang a song
with the rapid proliferation of diseases in his head. Thereafter he would begin
introduced by Euro-Americans. the curing (Fowler and Fowler 1971). The
In times of hardship as well as times of Numa also called the helpful south wind
peace, Puhagants have served as cru- Pa’-vaiyo-ga sha’-gai-yu, or Humming-
cibles of knowledge for the Numic peo- bird (ibid.), and Corbin Harney, a con-
ple. A cornerstone of this knowledge is an temporary Western Shoshone spiritual
understanding of the interconnected- leader, has written extensively about his
ness of all life forms. When John Wesley special relationship with hummingbirds
Powell interviewed Northern Paiutes (Harney 1995).
from western Nevada in the 1870s, the American Indians outside the Great
Paiutes explained that the Numic people Basin also attribute a sacred role to the
are the progeny of the Numwad (Fowler hummingbird. In the oral traditions of
and Fowler 1971). These mythic ances- the Hopi, who have two Paiute clans, it
tors spoke the Numic language and as- was the hummingbird that helped the
sumed many physical forms, including Hopi to survive along their journey from
rocks, trees, sagebrush, birds, and human the first to the fourth world. “One day a
beings (for living rocks, see Lowie 1924, hummingbird came to some people
24–26; Stoffle et al. 2002, 19). In addition working in their fields and said, ‘My mas-
to shamans, Powell described two other ter, Maa’saw, Ruler of the Upper World,
forms of Puhagants, which included Caretaker of the Place of the Dead and
prophets of peace such as White Cloud the Owner of Fire, observed that your
from the Panamints of western Nevada, crops do not grow well because you have
and witches, who may practice sorcery no warmth. I was sent to teach you the
for evil purposes (Powell 1877, 14). secret of warmth’” (Courlander 1971).
The Puhagant of today and yesterday Among American Indians more gener-
is a gifted medicine person who wields ally, the hummingbird formed a sacred
the capacity to engage multiple life alliance to tobacco plants that are com-
forms directly, ranging from power spots monly associated with healing. John-
within the landscape to plants, animals, stone (2002) writes,
and the diverse forces of nature. Among
the Shoshone, for example, it is under- The Humming Bird is the Tobacco Bird.
stood that the hummingbird contains In many Native cultures throughout the
Americas, the Hummingbird has
the spirit of a medicine man, and al-
traditionally been associated with
liances between Puhagants and hum- Tobacco plants as guardians and
mingbirds were not uncommon. Simi- cultivators, earning them fame
larly, one Northern Paiute medicine man throughout the world and honourable
780
______________________________________________________________________________________ Puhagants
names; Tobacco Birds, Medicine Birds, ers to be used in “curing, sorcery,

Doctor Birds, Birds of Magic, Rain weather control, clairvoyance, control-
Makers, Life Givers, Sun Catchers and
ling game animals, finding lost objects,
more. . . . Wherever Tobacco grows the
Hummingbird lives. These birds and and so on” (ibid., 15). During times of
the Tobacco plants are so related, that drought and famine, control of the
should the Tobacco plant die, so would weather was a particularly sought-after
the Hummingbird or vice versa. (We form of medicine. Wovoka, the Northern
have already lost the knowledge carried
Paiute prophet of the 1890s Ghost
on the wings of the Hummingbirds that
are already extinct.) They share a soul Dance, represents a Puhagant who spe-
with one and other. cialized in weather control.
During a total eclipse of the sun in
Many Puhagants of the Great Basin 1889, Wovoka received five songs while
also share a personal spiritual connec- in a trance state. Each song gave Wovoka
tion with the bighorn sheep. Archaeolo- a means to re-establish balance in the
gist David Whitley (1998, 13) indicates natural world. James Mooney (1896, 15)
that “the bighorn sheep is the most com- “learned that Wovoka has five songs for
mon zoomorphic motif at Great Basin making rain, the first of which brings on
sites.” He maintains that rock art panels a mist or cloud, the second a snowfall,
of certain bighorn sheep represent the the third a shower, and the fourth a hard
shaman in a transformed state in which rain or storm, while he sings the fifth
he changes into “his spirit helper alter song the weather becomes clear.” Fol-
ego, the bighorn” (ibid.). lowers of the Ghost Dance later recalled
Using data gathered from independent seeing Wovoka riding a beautiful white
weathering rind organics, AMS radiocar- horse down a mountain near a cele-
bon assays, varnish microlamination brated Ghost Dance site. It is probable
studies, cation-ratio dating, and ancillary that this animal served as one of Wo-
geomorphological data, Whitley confirms voka’s helper animals.
that “Great Basin Tradition engravings The close relationship developed be-
were made as early as 16,500 B.P.” (Whitley tween a Puhagant, animals, and the nat-
et al. 1996). Whitley has also traced a basic ural environment manifests through the
ethnographic pattern in far-Western rock confluence and concentration of puha
art production that involves “the produc- sources at sacred sites throughout the
tion of rock-art by shamans to depict al- Great Basin. For example, at Gypsum
tered state of consciousness (ASC) experi- Cave near Las Vegas, Nevada, where
ences of their vision quests and ritual” Puhagants would regularly go for vision
(Whitley 1998, 14). quests, contemporary cultural experts
By means of birth, vision questing, identified a sacred tobacco plant grow-
and dreaming, Puhagants acquire pow- ing out of the rock adjacent to the mouth
781
Puhagants _______________________________________________________________________________________
of this song cave. The significance of the Mooney, James. 1896. The Ghost Dance
observation lies in the convergence of Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890.
Chicago and London: Phoenix Books.
potent sources of puha in a single loca- Powell, John Wesley. 1877. Outlines of the
tion. Today Puhagants continue to play a Philosophy of the North American
central role in healing individuals, com- Indians. New York: Douglas Taylor.
Stoffle, Richard W., David Halmo, and Diane
munities, and the physical environment. Austin. 1997. “Cultural Landscapes and
Alex K. Carroll and Richard W. Stoffle Traditional Cultural Properties: A
Southern Paiute View of the Grand
See also Dance, Great Basin; Ghost Dance Canyon and Colorado River.” American
Movement; Oral Traditions; Power Places, Indian Quarterly 21, no. 2: 229–249.
Great Basin; Religious Leadership, Great Stoffle, Richard W., Rebecca S. Toupal, and
Basin M. Níeves Zedeño. 2002. East of Nellis:
References and Further Reading Cultural Landscapes of the Sheep and
Bonvillain, Nancy. 2001. Native Nations: Pahranagat Mountain Ranges: An
Cultures and Histories of Native North Ethnographic Assessment of American
America. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Indian Places and Resources in the Desert
Prentice Hall. National Wildlife Range and the
Courlander, Harold. 1971. “The Four Worlds” Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge of
from The Fourth World of the Hopis. Nevada. Prepared for Nellis Air Force
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Base and Range Complex and Nevada
Press. Test and Training Range by BARA.
Fowler, D., and C. Fowler, eds. 1971. Tucson: University of Arizona.
Anthropology of the Numa: John Wesley Whitley, David S. 1998. “Finding Rain in the
Powell’s Manuscripts on the Numic Desert: Landscape, Gender and Far
Peoples of Western North America, Western North American Rock-Art.” Pp.
1868–1880. Smithsonian Contributions 11–29 in The Archaeology of Rock Art.
to Anthropology, no. 14. Washington, DC: Edited by Paul S. C. Taçon and
Smithsonian Institution Press. Christopher Chippindale. Cambridge:
Harney, Corbin. 1995. The Way It Is: One Cambridge University Press.
Water, One Air, One Mother Earth. Whitley, D. S., et al. 1996. “Recent Advances
Nevada City, CA: Blue Dolphin in Petroglyph Dating and Their
Publishing. Implications for the Pre Clovis
Lowie, Robert H. 1924. Notes on Shoshonean Occupation of North America.”
Ethnography. New York: American Proceedings of the Society for California
Museum Press. Archaeology 9: 92–103.
782
R
Red Power Movement who is thought of as the greatest of the
seven Tlingit men to inherit the title of
See American Indian Movement (Red Chief Shakes. He lived sometime in the
Power Movement) sixteenth century, before Euro-Ameri-
cans arrived in Alaska, as detailed by
Tlingit oral tradition. The southern end
Religious Leaders, Alaska
of southeast Alaska has long been a trad-
With more than 200 Alaska Native nations ing, meeting, and war zone of the
and 20 major languages, cultural diversity Tsimshian, Haida, and Tlingit nations.
and shortcomings in education often Several generations ago, at the end of a
leave Alaska Natives uncertain about who war in what is now British Columbia, the
qualifies as a spiritual leader. One ele- Nisq’a chief We-Shakes, in a move to
ment common to all customary defini- avoid the humiliation of becoming a
tions of Alaska Native spiritual leaders, slave to the victorious Tlingit chief, re-
however, is the notion of having a mission moved his “killer whale” hat and placed
that goes beyond human endeavors. The it on his enemy’s head—that of Tlingit
men and women listed below represent chief Gushklin of the Stikine River near
only a fraction of those identified as spiri- Wrangell. As he placed the killer whale
tual through oral tradition, positions hat on Nan-yan-yi Gushklin’s head, the
held, or election. They all conducted their Nisq’a chief gave the Tlingit leader his
lives and maintained religious traditions own name, “We-Shakes.” For unclear
in a matrix of cultural theories, para- reasons, the title has since been short-
digms, ontologies, and epistemologies. ened to “Shakes.” The position maintains
traditional Tlingit spiritual, military, and
Ka-shishk (Tlingit) political dimensions.
One of the earliest Alaska Native spiritual This title has passed from Chief
leaders in recorded history is Ka-shishk, Shakes I to the present-day Chief Shakes
783
Religious Leaders, Alaska ____________________________________________________________________
VI according to the customary laws of they use their roles as leaders to bring
the Tlingit: through men of the maternal these important elements into the clinics
line. Chief Shakes I died in a smallpox and hospitals of southeastern Alaska.
epidemic soon after receiving the title.
He was succeeded by his brother, Ka- Walter T’aaw Chán Soboleff (Tlingit)
shishk. Ka-shishk was renowned be- Walter Soboleff was born on November
cause of his benevolence and considera- 14, 1908, in Killisnoo, Alaska, to Anna
tion for his people, thus living the Hunter Soboleff (Shaaxeidi Tláa), a Tlin-
paradigmatic life of Tlingit religious tra- git woman, and Alexander (Sasha)
ditions as a “crystal person.” He died Soboleff, of Russian and German de-
after a long reign when he was killed by a scent. Dr. Soboleff’s common Tlingit
falling tree on his return from a trading name is T’aaw Chán, and his ceremonial
expedition on the Stikine River. Indicat- name is Kaajaakwti. He is of the
ing his stature at the time of his death, Aanx’aakhittaan house (People of the
many slaves were sacrificed at his fu- Center of the Village House) of the
neral in order to serve him in the next L’eineidi (Dog Salmon) clan in the Raven
world. (Excerpts from a pamphlet first moiety. Perhaps inspired by his father,
printed in 1940 by the Wrangell Sentinel who was a Russian Orthodox priest, Dr.
and written by E. L. Keithahn.) Soboleff pursued his interest in Chris-
While Ka-shishk and his successors tianity at the University of Dubuque in
met, or attempted to meet, expectations Iowa, where he received a bachelor of
set on them as chiefs through ancient arts degree in 1937 and a bachelor of di-
Tlingit notions of power, human moral- vinity degree in 1940. In that same year
ity, and the numinous, contemporary he was ordained as a Presbyterian minis-
Tlingit spiritual leaders have had to face ter, and he served at the Memorial Pres-
the challenges of postcolonial suppres- byterian Church in Juneau for twenty-
sion of indigenous religious practices. seven years. In addition, he served as
Some of them, like Walter Soboleff, have chaplain for the Alaska National Guard,
combined formal Christian training with achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel
equally formal Tlingit customs in order prior to his retirement. Dr. Soboleff re-
to meet the spiritual needs of their fol- ceived an honorary doctor of divinity de-
lowers. On the other hand, some spiri- gree from the University of Dubuque in
tual leaders strive to meet the needs of 1952, and in 1968 he received an hon-
justice beyond their own cultural bound- orary doctor of humanities degree from
aries. One such leader was Elizabeth Per- the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
atrovich. Still others, like Ethel Lund, From 1970 to 1974 he headed the Alaska
have recognized the practical impor- Native Studies Program in Fairbanks. At
tance of Tlingit theories of spiritual the age of ninety-five, Dr. Soboleff re-
power with respect to medicine, and turned briefly to Fairbanks from his
784
___________________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Alaska
home in Juneau to be the 2003 com- legislators to pass the Anti-Discrimina-

mencement speaker at the graduation tion Act on February 16, 1945, a day that
ceremony of the University of Alaska at has since been named Elizabeth Peratro-
Fairbanks. vich Day by former Alaska state governor
Dr. Soboleff married Genevieve Ross, Tony Knowles. Although her life was rela-
a Haida woman. Genevieve, born De- tively short (she died in 1958 of cancer),
cember 17, 1914, died on January 27, memory of her lives on in annual cere-
1986. She and her husband had four chil- monies, plays, stories, and other media
dren: Janet Soboleff Burke, Sasha, Walter events.
Jr., and Ross. Dr. Soboleff married Stella
Atkinson, Tsimshian, in 1997. For more Ethel Aanwoogeex’ Shtoo.aak Lund
information, consult Dauenhauer and (Tlingit)
Dauenhauer (1994). Another Tlingit leader whom many
might not view as spiritual is Ethel Aan-
Elizabeth Jean Wanamaker woogeex’ Shtoo.aak Lund. Lund was
Peratrovich (Tlingit) born in Wrangell, Alaska, to Carl Lund of
Although most would not consider Eliza- Sweden and Maartha Ukas Lund of
beth Jean Wanamaker Peratrovich Wrangell. She is of the Tlingit nation,
(1911–1958), whose Tlingit name was Raven moiety, Frog clan. Granddaughter
Kaaxgal.aat, a spiritual leader, her im- of Thomas Ukas, a totem carver and
pact on Alaska has a strong spiritual Tlingit historian, Dr. Lund has three
component for all Alaskans. She was children: David, Diane, and Leah. Dr.
born and reared in Petersburg, in south- Lund suffered with severe illness as a
east Alaska, having been born to the child, and she was not expected to sur-
Lukaax.adi clan in the Raven moiety and vive to adulthood. But survive she did,
adopted in early childhood by Andrew and with determination to enter the
Wanamaker of the Kaagwaantaan clan health field. She attended the Good
(Eagle moiety). She married Roy Peratro- Samaritan School of Nursing in Port-
vich in 1931 in Washington state, and in land, Oregon. Throughout her lifetime
1941 they moved to Juneau, where they she has combined Tlingit cultural meth-
discovered that racial discrimination in ods of healing with Western medicine.
Alaska prevented them from buying or One of the founders and president of the
renting certain homes and that “No Na- Southeast Alaska Regional Health Con-
tive” signs were often displayed in store sortium (SEARHC), she has overseen its
fronts. Both Elizabeth and her husband regional operations, which include the
initiated efforts toward an Anti-Discrim- Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital in Sitka, the
ination Act in the Alaska Territorial Leg- outpatient medical facilities in Juneau,
islature in 1943, although Elizabeth is in Haines, and on Prince of Wales Island,
credited with the testimony that moved and the village-based health programs
785
in outlying communities. To retain Tlin- Kobuk region of northwestern Alaska off

git cultural doctrines of medicine, she Kotzebue Sound near a place called Qala.
established an elder’s council as a man- Born to an Inupiaq woman named
agement advisory group. Qupilguuraq and a father whose name
Dr. Lund served as chair of the Alaska has been lost, Maniilaq was the oldest of
Native Health Board from 1978 to 1981, three children. He was celebrated as a
and she developed a landmark Memo- great prophet, and the Maniilaq Associa-
randum of Agreement with the Indian tion (a nonprofit agency sponsored by
Health Service in 1978. She served as the Northwest Arctic Native Association
chair of the Alaska Tribal Health Direc- [NANA]) is named for him. His many
tors and vice chair of the National Indian prophecies included the passing or
Health Board. In addition, she served on change in the powers of the agnatkut_
President Carter’s Mental Health Com- (the Inupiaq word for medicine people),
mission. Dr. Lund served as grand presi- as well as travel on water without the use
dent of the Alaska Native Sisterhood of paddles and in boats through the air.
(ANS) Grand Camp, as well as local pres- Maniilaq and his wife had two sons,
ident of the ANS Camps 1 and 70. In 1984 Uqquutaq and Itluun, as well as a daugh-
she was selected Woman of the Year by ter, Piqpukpak. According to oral tradi-
the Business and Professional Women, tion, Maniilaq traveled throughout the
Juneau Chapter, making her the first Kotzebue Sound area telling people of
Alaska Native woman to receive that his prophecies. Before the arrival of
honor. In 2001 the University of Alaska, Euro-Americans in this region (1850s),
Anchorage, offered Dr. Lund an hon- he disappeared without a trace (Terry
orary doctor of laws degree. Dr. Lund has and Anderson 2001). Legends about his
a life of service in the field of health care life and prophecies are still an important
to Alaska Native people, and a commit- part of Inupiat education.
ment to retaining cultural input in pres-
ent-day programs. Dr. Della Puyuk Keats (Inupiat)
A half-century later, in 1906, the late Dr.
Maniilauraq, or Maniilaq (Inupiaq) Della (Puyuk) Keats was born near Mani-
There have been many other Alaska Na- ilaq’s homeland on the Noatak River,
tive spiritual leaders in other regions of north of the Kotzebue Sound. Keats
Alaska, each following paths that meet served the people of Alaska for more
the needs of both their times and their than sixty years as a bridge between
cultural traditions. One of the best modern medical techniques and tradi-
known of Alaska’s spiritual leaders is tional practices. Her hands were her pri-
Maniilauraq, or Maniilaq as he was more mary diagnostic tool. By touching the
commonly called, an Inupiaq man of the area of pain on a patient, Dr. Keats could
early 1800s. He came from the Upper help by locating the trouble, describing
786
it, performing a curative maneuver or a well-known Chandalar Gwich’in Atha-

prescribing herbal remedies, or by using bascan medicine man known as Albert
massage or exercise. Her hands “were so Edward Tritt was born around 1880 near
strong they could move the powerful Smoke Mountain, in a place close to
muscles of a man who worked all his life. Vashraii K’oo, or Arctic Village. He was
They were delicate enough to feel the born about twenty years after the Cana-
walls of an organ inside a person’s body. dian Anglican missionary Robert Mc-
They were so exacting they could move Donald began translating the Bible into
an umbilical cord wrapped around the Takudh, an eastern Gwich’in dialect. Mc-
neck of a baby inside a mother’s womb” Donald finished his translation in 1898,
(Mauer 1986, B-1). when Tritt was very young. By carefully
In the 1970s, Della Keats spent many comparing the Takudh Bible with the
hours recording stories by Inupiat elders King James version, Albert Tritt taught
along the Kobuk River in northern himself to speak English in what Robert
Alaska, as well as in the Senior Center in McKennan (1965, 86) described as a
Kotzebue, where she was a board mem- “truly biblical manner”; he referring to
ber. When she was in her seventies, she women as “damsels” and “virgins” when
worked for Maniilaq Association (the McKennan visited him in 1962 (ibid.).
nonprofit organization in Kotzebue At some time in the early 1900s, Tritt
named for the nineteenth-century Inu- converted to Christianity, and he
piaq prophet) as a healer and teacher. brought copies of McDonald’s Bible and
Her teachings led to the development of hymnals from Gwichyaa Zhee (Fort
the Della Keats Summer Enrichment Yukon) to Vashraii K’oo in order to teach
Program at the University of Alaska, An- Gwich’in children to read and write. One
chorage, a scholarly course designed to of his greatest projects was to ensure that
help Native students study for health-re- the people of Vashraii K’oo had enough
lated professions. Della Keats received food; at that time they were enduring ter-
an honorary doctorate of humane letters rible epidemics, loss of viable hunters,
in health sciences from the University of and long periods of starvation. Tritt’s
Alaska, Anchorage, in 1983. She died in project, which took several years, ended
March 1986 in Kotzebue. in 1914 with the construction of a long
caribou fence at the base of one of the
Albert Edward Tritt (Chandalar nearby mountains. The fence, built ac-
Gwich’in Athabascan) cording to traditional Gwich’in stan-
To the east and south of the Inupiat of dards, was used to snare caribou of spe-
northern Alaska are northern Athabas- cific sizes on their migration routes
cans, of which there are eleven language through the mountain passes. Traces of
areas, and at least as many traditional the fence are still in place. Besides the
nations. Near the Canada/Alaska border, caribou fence, Tritt also had villagers
787
construct a small chapel in Vashraii K’oo. ing of new federal legislation to create re-
The chapel was finished in 1922. Since serve lands for Indians, Fredson recog-
trees of sufficient size are not abundant nized the potential and solicited support
in the area, logs had to be hauled from as from Gwichyaa Zheh, Viihtaii, Vashraii
far away as twenty miles from the village. K’oo, and Zheh Gwatsal. As a conse-
His last proposal, to cut a wide, straight quence of his efforts, the 1.8-million-
road to Gwichyaa Zhee, met with too acre Venetie Reserve was officially cre-
much opposition in the community; it ated in 1943 (MacKenzie 1985, 170). John
was never completed. Fredson died of pneumonia two years
Despite Albert Tritt’s conversion to later in 1945, at the age of fifty. He is ven-
Christianity, many of his activities as a erated in his community through oral
leader in northeastern Alaska followed tradition, schools, and other public facil-
traditional Athabascan religious tradi- ities that bear his name, and in the
tions, insofar as he believed that his mis- ethnographies of Cornelius Osgood.
sions were directed by sacred forces.
However, although he had many follow- Chief Andrew Isaac (Tanacross
ers, other spiritual leaders in the com- Athabascan)
munity eventually withdrew their sup- Chief Andrew Isaac was born in 1898 in
port of his visions and mandates. Tritt’s Ketchumstock, Alaska, near the Canada/
legacy is carefully guarded by his descen- Alaska border, 70 miles south of the
dants. He compiled an early Gwich’in Yukon River and south of the Gwich’in
lexicon, and he wrote the story of his life nation. He lived there with his family
in several ledgers that are accessible for until 1917, when an epidemic claimed
study only by the Venetie Tribal Govern- the lives of many people in his family
ment (IRA). and community. The survivors moved to
While Tritt’s knowledge of Christianity Mansfield Lake, now thought of as the
was primarily self-taught and informed spiritual home of the Tanacross Athabas-
by prophecies and visions, other can people, for whom Chief Andrew
Gwich’in leaders of that era were edu- Isaac is a beloved ancestor. In 1942 the
cated, and often raised, by an Episco- entire community moved to Tanana
palian missionary—Hudson Stuck. One Crossing, now called Tanacross. Isaac
such was John Fredson (1895–1945), learned English and worked for the U.S.
whom Stuck hoped would become a fu- military during the 1940s as a construc-
ture Native leader and missionary. Fred- tion worker; later he worked in coal
son, who came from a community a little mines near Eagle and Chicken Creek and
to the south of Tritt’s birthplace, became in gold mines at Fortymile.
successful in creating public facilities, In the years following World War II An-
such as schools, a medical clinic, mail drew Isaac became a leader of the
service, and finally a reservation. Hear- Tanacross Athabascans and traveled
788
often to Washington, D.C., where he ad- throughout Alaska, and some from other
vocated for personal development and cultures and nations, go there to learn
education. He became the chief of the Athabascan ways as well as to refresh
United Crow Band (one of the six matri- themselves spiritually. He is particularly
lineages of the Tanacross people), hold- attentive to the needs of children and
ing that position for fifty-nine years. In has achieved remarkable results with al-
1972 he was named a traditional chief of coholic and drug-addicted children, as
the interior Athabascans, a role that he well as with the children of addicts. In ac-
maintained until his death in 1991 at the knowledgment of his work, he received
age of ninety-two. The Alaska Native the Alaska Social Worker of the Year
medical clinic in Fairbanks is named for Award in 1993, and an honorary doctor-
him. In 1979 he received an honorary ate of humane letters from the University
doctorate in humanities from the Uni- of Alaska, Fairbanks, in 1996. In addition
versity of Alaska, Fairbanks, and in 1990 to his work at Gaalee’ya Camp, Dr. Luke
he was named Citizen of the Year by the volunteers in classrooms at all levels of
Alaska Federation of Natives. education, teaching the Tanana Athabas-
can language and culture. His snow-
Howard Luke (Tanana Athabascan) shoes, sleds, fish wheels, and other tradi-
Fairbanks, one of the three large popula- tional tools form an important part of his
tion areas of Alaska, is home to the lectures and discussions.
Tanana Athabascans, and now it is home Less is known about southwestern
to Howard Luke. Luke is one of the most precolonial Aleut spiritual leaders than
influential spiritual leaders in interior those from anywhere else in Alaska,
Alaska. The Howard Luke Academy, an since Russian Orthodoxy has become the
alternative public high school, is named religion of choice throughout that exten-
after him. Born in Linder Lake, a Tanana sive coastal and islandic region. Two lin-
Athabascan community near Fairbanks, guistic regions compose the Aleut re-
Alaska, Howard was raised in a tradi- gion, and within them are several
tional subsistence way of life. Although smaller nations. The two languages are
he was unable to finish a Western educa- Unangan and Alutiiq (also known as Sug-
tion at St. Marks boarding school in Ne- stun). The nations include the Unangan
nana, his mother taught him to read and of the Aleutian Chain, the Unangan of
write at home while she and other rela- the Pribiloff Islands, the Alutiiq of Kodiak
tives taught him the Tanana Athabascan Island, the Alutiiq of Prince William
cultural ways. Sound, and the Alutiiq of Cook Inlet. De-
Dr. Luke developed the Bear Child spite the devastating effects of history,
Gaalee’ya Camp on grounds of the origi- Unangan religious traditions are known
nal Old Chena Village, just outside the and taught to young people. These in-
Fairbanks city limits. People from clude respect for elders, recitation of
789
Northeast
As with most Native American groups, Northeastern tribal groups varied
greatly. However, the region has a fairly unified cultural history, resulting in
some important similarities across tribal groups.
Since 1000 BCE, the areas encompassing what are now the states east of
the Mississippi River, north of the Mason-Dixon line, and bordered to the
north by the Great Lakes and the east by the Atlantic Ocean have been occu-
pied by relatively sedentary agricultural communities. Corn has been culti-
vated by the region’s Native peoples from the Adena (1000 BCE–200 CE) and
Hopewell (300–700 CE) periods of prehistory, to the arrival of Europeans to
the area in the early 1500s. In fact, the United States owes much of its gene-
sis to the interactions between the first European settlers and the Native
peoples of the Northeast.
The mound-building Adena and Hopewell cultures contributed a re-
gionally interactive collection of independent nation-states to the Native
history of the area, culminating in the Mississippian influence, mostly lim-
ited to the southern portion of the area, in which hierarchical societies over-
seen by religious leaders dominated. From the north came more aggressive
hunting cultures, which vied for control of the fertile and game-rich Missis-
sippi and Ohio river valleys. This can be seen as a model for the Native his-
tory of the region: a tension between the tribal groups adhering to the more
sedentary agricultural aspects of the southern influence and those that car-
ried on the hunting traditions of their northern tribal cultures.
By the time European contact was made with the northeast region, Al-
gonquin-speaking tribal groups were moving into the region and putting
pressure on the more sedentary Iroquoian peoples, a situation that both
the English and the French immigrants exploited for their own purposes.
The Iroquoian tribes generally occupied the area that is now upstate New
York and the lower Great Lakes, growing pumpkins, beans, squash, and
corn in the extremely fertile soil. Algonquin speakers tended to settle near
the coast in what is now New England, hunting and trapping inland and
fishing at the coast. The arrival of Europeans increased the tendency for the
Algonkin tribes to move west into Iroquoian regions, displacing those tribal
continues
790
Northeast (continued)
groups and prompting the creation of what came to be known as the Iro-
quois Confederacy, a formal cohort of tribal groups in which each tribe had
representation.
Religiously, the northern tribal groups tend to maintain an array of spir-
itual beings associated with the tasks of hunting cultures, with religious pro-
tocols, the proper behaviors dictated by the beings, dominating much of
daily life. To the south, seasonal cycles associated with the agricultural
needs of the people take precedence, owing to the need for continued fertil-
ity in the land. Both the Algonkin groups of the north and the Iroquoians to
the south participate in annual or semiannual memorial ceremonies for im-
portant leaders who have died. These regular ceremonies serve to provide
centripetal focus where the tendency is to favor difference and indepen-
dence and to allow for the meeting of trade and potential marriage partners
and the formation of other types of important allegiances.
The Native peoples who inhabited the region at the time of contact sus-
tained perhaps the longest and most intense pressure to conform to the
colonialist project, from the Plymouth colony and French fur trappers of the
sixteenth century, to colonial law and French-English hostilities, to Amer-
ica’s war for independence from England.
usually shamanic oral traditions, and in 1919 during the flu epidemic, follow-
medicinal knowledge. ing her father’s death in 1914. In that year
Anfesia married the Russian Orthodox
Anfesia Shapsnikoff (Aleut) deacon Michael Tutliakoff, who died in
Among the Aleuts’ many respected spiri- 1934 during the wreck of the Unmak Na-
tual leaders is Anfesia Shapsnikoff tive. A few years later she married Sergie
(1900–1973), who was born at Atka. Her Shapsnikoff. Anfesia learned to read and
father, Avakum Lazarov, was from Atka, write English, Unangan, and Russian,
while her mother, Mary Prokopeuff, was highly prized skills in Unalaska as well as
from the island of Attu near the western throughout the Aleut region. She was or-
end of the Aleutian Chain. When Anfesia dained a reader of the Orthodox Church
was six her mother took her and her and often conducted services when the
brother John to Unalaska, a large island priest was absent. Throughout her life-
near the mainland. Anfesia’s mother died time she taught and promoted Unangan
791
culture, and she was called on to lecture more information, see K’tl’egh’i Sukdu, A
in California, Arizona, Oregon, and the Dena’ina Legacy: The Collected Writings
Yukon Territory of Canada. Her pattern of Peter Kalifornsky (Kalifornsky 1991).
for a child’s rainproof kamleika (hooded The Alaska Native spiritual leaders
jacket) made of young sea lion or seal in- named in these pages are but a few of the
testine is included in Unugulux Tunu- hundreds of people who have informed
sangin (Hudson 1992). the lives and history in every Alaskan
community. Some, such as the nine-
Peter Kalifornsky (Dena’ina teenth-century Inupiaq agnatkut_ Mani-
Athabascan) ilaq, never saw Euro-Americans but told
Like so many other Alaska Natives from of the cataclysmic changes that would
Alaska’s southern coastal area, Athabas- occur because of their imminent arrival
can leader Peter Kalifornsky (1911–1993) in northwestern Alaska. Another, Ethel
would not have considered himself a Lund of southeastern Alaska, became a
spiritual leader, but he is included here spiritual leader by virtue of her survival
because of his extensive knowledge from a terrible illness in childhood and
about Dena’ina Athabascan philosophy her frequent testimony to her belief in the
and culture. He was born on October 12, extraordinary powers of traditional Tlingit
1911, at Kalifornsky Village on the Cook medicine in combination with Western
Inlet bluff on the Kenai Peninsula, in knowledge. Still others, such as Paul John,
south-central Alaska, at a place he called traditional chief of Tooksook Bay in
Unhghenesditnu (“farthest creek over”). southwestern Alaska, and Peter Kaliforn-
His mother, Agrafena Chickalusion Kali- sky of south-central Alaska, have devoted
fornsky, died when he was two years old, much of their lives to explaining the spiri-
and he was raised by his father, Nick, his tual roots of their cultural practices. In so
aunts, and an uncle. Kalifornsky spent doing, they have become leaders in spirit,
most of his life in Kenai, working at vari- political action, public and traditional ed-
ous construction- and fishing-related ucation, as well as language.
jobs, as well as subsistence hunting, Phyllis Ann Fast
trapping, and fishing. Although he at-
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Yup’iq;
tending public school only through fifth Missionization, Alaska; Oral Traditions,
grade, he worked closely for almost Haida; Oral Traditions, Northern
twenty years with linguists Kari and Bo- Athabascan; Oral Traditions, Tlingit; Oral
Traditions, Yupiaq; Potlatch; Potlatch,
raas to record and study his language Northern Athabascan
and the oral traditions of his ancestors.
In addition to his work on Dena’ina cul- Dauenhauer, Nora Marks, and Richard
tural traditions, Peter Kalifornsky was an Dauenhauer. 1994. Haa Kusteeyi, Our
Culture: Tlingit Life Stories. Seattle and
accomplished poet in both English and
London: University of Washington Press;
Dena’ina. He was an inspiration to many Juneau, AK: Sealaska Heritage
generations of Athabascan people. For Foundation.
792
_______________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, California
Fast, Phyllis Ann. 2002. Northern leader,” is an important question when

Athabascan Survival: Women, discussing American Indian spiritual
Community and the Future. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press. and cultural leaders. The individuals
Hudson, Ray. 1992. Unugulux Tunusangin: mentioned in this essay might not all be
Oldtime Stories: Aleut Crafts and what many anthropologists would call
Traditions as Taught to Students at the
Unalaska City School by Augusta shamans. Many of these people are doc-
Dushkin, Sophia Pletnikoff, Anfesia tors, writers, educators, political ac-
Shapsnikoff, Agnes Sovoroff, Sergie tivists, basket weavers, mothers, and fa-
Sovoroff, Annie Tcheripanoff, and Bill
Tcheripanoff. Unalaska, AK: Unalaska
thers. What they share is a common
City School District. commitment to preserving the tradi-
Kalifornsky, Peter. 1991. K’tl’egh’i Sukdu, A tional lifeways and spiritual practices of
Dena’ina Legacy: The Collected Writings
their people. Spirituality takes many
of Peter Kalifornsky. Edited by James Kari
and Alan Boraas. Fairbanks: Alaska forms: prayers offered when collecting
Native Language Center. plants for weaving a basket, healing a
Mauer, Richard. 1986. “Death Stills Healing
sick child, or leading people into war.
Hands. Tribal Doctor’s Skill Known
Statewide.” Anchorage Daily News, These individuals are important leaders
March 13, 1986, p. B-1. because they have worked to maintain a
McClanahan, A. J. 1986. Our Stories, Our
continuity with traditional California In-
Lives: A Collection of Twenty-Three
Transcribed Interviews with Elders of the dian culture, and they carry those tradi-
Cook Inlet Region. Anchorage, AK: CIRI tions into the present. What follows are a
Foundation. few brief biographies of some important
McKennan, Robert. 1965. “The Chandalar
Kutchin.” Technical paper 17. Toronto: cultural and spiritual leaders in Native
Arctic Institute of North America. California. This collection is by no
Osgood, Cornelius. 1936. Contributions to means inclusive. Many, many more indi-
the Ethnography of the Kutchin. New
Haven: Yale University Press. viduals should have been included. This
Terry, Steven B., and Jill K. Anderson. 2001. is but a small selection of some of the
Maniilaq: Prophet from the Edge of central figures.
Nowhere. Seattle, WA: Onjinjinkta
Publishing.
Elsie Allen (Pomo)
Born in 1899, Elsie Allen was a renowned
Pomo basket weaver and cultural expert.
Religious Leaders, Basin
She was active in the Pomo Women’s
See Winnemucca, Sarah Club, which worked to provide financial
and social support for individuals and
families within the Pomo community.
Religious Leaders, She took up basket weaving at the age of
sixty-two, having been trained by her
California
mother. Her book Pomo Basketry: A
What constitutes “religion,” and like- Supreme Art for the Weaver was published
wise, what constitutes a “religious in 1972. She was a primary consultant for
793
Religious Leaders, California ________________________________________________________________
the Warm Springs Cultural Resources

Study, and she received an honorary doc-
torate of divinity for her work as a tribal
scholar and basket maker. She was the
first to teach the art of Pomo basket mak-
ing to people outside the Pomo commu-
nity, breaking with an older practice but
ensuring that the art of this tradition
would be known and respected through-
out the country and the world.
Curly Headed Doctor (Modoc)

Born in 1890 on the Modoc Reservation,
Curly Headed Doctor was a powerful
spiritual leader among his community
who played an instrumental role in the
Modoc War of 1873. Curly Headed Doc-
tor was believed to have the ability to
protect his followers from death and in- Curly Headed Doctor (Modoc) was a powerful
jury, and to draw a line that the enemy spiritual leader whose followers believed he had
the ability to protect them from death and
could not cross. Through his instigation injury. 1873. (Louis Heller/Library of Congress)
the Modoc pursued a course of war
against the U.S. Army that ultimately
failed. base with limited resources. Discour-
During the 1860s the U.S. government aged by reservation life, Captain Jack, a
was aggressively seeking the separation Modoc tribal leader, left the reservation
of Native people from their traditional and returned to Lost River near Tule Lake
homelands and their consolidation on in the Modoc’s ancestral homelands.
reservations. The United States sought to Delegations from the U.S. Army, led by
place the Modoc on the Klamath Reser- Superintendent Meacham, sought to
vation along the California-Oregon bor- convince them to leave. While Superin-
der. The Modoc people at first refused to tendent Meacham was speaking with
be separated from their ancestral home- Captain Jack, Curley Headed Doctor
lands and the spiritual and cultural tra- stood and announced that the Modoc
ditions that they contained. When they would not go back to the reservation. At
were later relocated, the Modoc found that sentiment shifted, and Captain Jack
themselves as unwanted guests among and the rest of the community likewise
the Klamath, who were themselves refused to leave Lost River. Captain Jack
struggling to survive on a reduced land- preferred to resist nonviolently, but Cur-
794
ley Headed Doctor advocated violent re- her family’s rights to ownership were de-
sistance and encouraged the Modoc to nied with the arrival of the Spanish mis-
kill the army delegation. sions and later the Euro-American set-
Meacham and his party called for re- tlers. They were frequently forced to
inforcements, and the Modoc fled to the move as more and more settlers entered
lava beds on the south shore of Tule the area. Cuero moved with her family to
Lake, where they established a strong- Baja California, where she lived a diffi-
hold. The army was unable to dislodge cult life. With the assistance of Florence
them. General R. S. Canby sought to es- Shipek, Cuero wrote her biography, pre-
tablish peace, and he met with Captain serving knowledge of the traditions and
Jack. At Curley Headed Doctor’s instiga- natural surroundings of her Kumeyaaye
tion, Captain Jack killed Canby. The army people. She also narrated the difficulties
responded by sending in fifteen hundred faced by Native women and children in a
additional troops. Curley Headed Doctor changing world characterized by
told his followers that the army would be poverty, inequality, wage labor, and abu-
unable to cross a tule rope that he sive homes. She was able to establish her
painted red and laid around the strong- right to U.S. citizenship through the
hold. He promised as well that none publication of her book, and she re-
would be injured by gunfire. He then led turned to live in the San Diego area. She
the community in a night-long circle died in 1972.
dance around a central medicine pole
and medicine flag, in preparation for Doctor Charley (Modoc)
battle. On April 15, Curley Headed Doc- Born around 1880, Doctor Charley
tor’s power was discredited when the played an important role as a Modoc
army crossed the threshold of the com- spiritual leader and healer, empowered
pound and a Modoc man was killed by a by spirit powers of dog and frog. Through
cannonball. Curley Headed Doctor sur- his spiritual abilities he was able to dis-
rendered on May 23, 1873, and soon after cern an illness affecting many Modoc in-
led the army to Captain Jack’s hideout. fants. Children’s hearts, he explained,
He was exiled to Indian Territory in pres- were linked to an object in the supernat-
ent-day Oklahoma, where he lived until ural realm. This caused their hearts to
his death in 1890. become irritated. A nightmare of either
parent prior to the infant’s birth could
Delfina Cuero (Diegueño Kumeyaaye) cause this ailment. Doctor Charley was
Born around 1900 in the San Diego area able to cure the infant by means of a cer-
in the Diegueno Kumeyaaye nation, emony involving the infant’s entire fam-
Cuero was one of the few to survive the ily, who grasped a cord representing that
forced removal of her people. Having which bound the infant to the spiritual
lived on the land for thousands of years, realm. During an era of rapid change
795
characterized by reservations, disease powerful Luiseño spiritual leader and

and malnourishment, and the loss of tra- healer. He trained with his father, who
ditional cultural practices, Doctor was also a powerful healer, and began to
Charley’s mode of curing met an impor- receive power visions early in his life.
tant need. It enabled parents and fami- Domenico was known to have the ability
lies to come together to create healthy to hear conversations taking place miles
infants. Many California Indians during away, to control the weather, and to be
this time suffered from the spiritual and an effective and powerful healer. When
cultural trauma of changing ways of life. healing his patients he would take on
Doctor Charley’s cure was a means of their symptoms, sharing in their suffer-
strengthening the bonds between fami- ing. He was able to communicate with
lies and communities during this diffi- powerful curing and disease-causing
cult time. spirits and to effect cures through that
communication. People of all ethnic and
Doctor George (Modoc) racial backgrounds sought out his assis-
Born in the mid-nineteenth century, Doc- tance in curing physical, emotional,
tor George was an important spiritual mental, and spiritual illnesses. He main-
leader and healer among his Modoc peo- tained an amiable relationship with
ple. He was initiated as a healer during a Euro-American physicians and referred
traditional five-night ceremony attended his patients to local doctors whom he
by hundreds of people. Doctor George trusted. He saw traditional and Western
was widely known for his abilities to cure medicine as working cooperatively, and
and also to change the weather. A local he had great success with his patients.
white cattle rancher asked him to pray for He did not charge for his curing services,
rain, and Doctor George was successful. though appreciative patients often of-
The cattleman paid him for his services fered him gifts. He died in 1963.
with money and food. He was a leader of
the Dream Dance, a local variation of the Florence Jones, Pui-lu-li-met (Wintu)
1870s Ghost Dance brought to the area Born in 1909 within the Wintu commu-
from the Paiute. His wife, Sally George, nity, Florence Jones is widely known for
who also served as a singer, as well as his her work as a doctor proficient in the
son, Usee George, assisted him in all his Wintu tradition. In her early childhood
ceremonial activities. (For more on the Jones encountered powerful spirit pow-
Dream Dance, see “Ghost Dance Move- ers, and at seventeen she entered her
ment,” and “Dreamers and Prophets.”) first trance. During such trances the
spirit powers of animals, deceased rela-
Domenico (Luiseño) tives, and the powers inherent in sacred
Born in the mid-nineteenth century on places would come and speak with her,
the Rincon Reservation, Domenico was a teaching her songs and rituals for curing.
796
She was able to diagnose illness as these granddaughters and seven grandsons.
spirit powers worked through her hands, She worked as cultural demonstrator for
as well as locate lost objects. She was also Yosemite National Park, educating the
a skilled herbalist. She trained several public as well as future generations of
other Wintu in the traditional healing Pomo children in the art of California In-
practices of her people. Florence Jones dian basketry. She studied with many
held public ceremonials at Mount Shasta well-known California Indian basket
for many years before retiring in 1995. makers, including Carrie Bethel and
Minnie Mike (Mono Lake Paiute and
Ruby Modesto, Nesha (Desert Southern Sierra Miwok); Mabel McKay
Cahuilla) (Cache Creek Pomo); Molly Jackson
Born in 1913 to her Desert Cahuilla fa- (Yokavo Pomo); Ida Bishop (Mono Lake
ther and Serrano mother, Modesto grew Paiute); and Elsie Allen (Cloverdale
up speaking the Cahuilla language and Pomo). She has been instrumental in the
learning the traditions of her father’s preservation of Yosemite Miwok and
people. She received her spirit helper, Paiute traditions. Julia Parker has taught
the eagle (Ahswit), when she was ten demonstration classes at national parks,
years old. As a young child she entered museums, colleges, and the Smithsonian
into a deep trance-sleep that lasted sev- in Washington, D.C.
eral days. It required the work of a tradi-
tional Cahuilla healer to bring her out of Somersal, Laura (Wappo/Pomo)
her sleep. She chose to devote her life to Born in 1892, Laura Somersal (Wappo
pul, the traditional spiritual practice of and Dry Creek Pomo) grew to become a
her Cahuilla people. As a healer she was valued cultural expert, hand game
widely known for her ability to cure peo- player, and internationally known bas-
ple made ill by demonic influences. She ket weaver and teacher among the Na-
was a teacher of her Native language and tive communities of Sonoma County.
guest lecturer at colleges and universi- Somersal was a linguistic expert, fluent
ties. She also wrote a book, Not for Inno- in Wappo (her first language) and sev-
cent Ears: Spiritual Traditions of a Desert eral other Indian dialects, as well as En-
Cahuilla Medicine Woman. Modesto glish, Russian, and Spanish. She began
lived on the Martinez Reservation until her training as a basket maker when she
her death in 1980. was only eight or nine years old, study-
ing with her paternal uncle Jack Woho
Julia Parker (Pomo) and later with her sister-in-law. During
Born in 1919, Julia Parker is widely her lifetime she lectured on Pomo and
known for her work as a Pomo basket Wappo cultural traditions and basketry
weaver and cultural expert. She reared techniques at colleges and universities
four children and helped to rear two throughout California. Her work as a
797
cultural and linguistic expert made pos- widely known and feared among her
sible the preservation of the Wappo lan- people as a powerful spiritual leader and
guage, and she coauthored a Wappo-En- ceremonial practitioner. Toypurina was
glish dictionary. When the Army Corps of believed to have the power to kill as well
Engineers proposed to flood an area as to cure, and she was considered a
where Wappo people traditionally gath- powerful threat to the invading
ered basketry materials (present-day Spaniards. She was able to divine the fu-
Lake Sonoma), Somersal led efforts to ture, protect her people through the use
transplant those native plants to safer lo- of a sacred bundle, as well as exert con-
cations. Along with her brother George trol over the weather. Through the use of
and her mother, Mary Eli, Somersal col- datura, or jimsonweed, Toypurina was
laborated with Harold Driver to write able to enter the supernatural realm,
Wappo Ethnography (Driver 1936). communing with spirits and gaining su-
pernatural power. On October 25, 1785,
Lucy Parker Telles (Miwok/Mono when she was only twenty-five, she
Lake Paiute) helped to lead a rebellion against San
Born around 1870, Lucy Park Telles Gabriel Mission. As a spiritual authority
would become a well-known expert in acknowledged by her own tribe as well as
the art of California Indian basketry. By other local tribes, she was sought out by
the time she was in her forties she had tribal leaders and warriors for her pro-
earned the reputation as the finest tection and empowerment in their at-
weaver in the Yosemite region. She intro- tack on the mission. By means of her
duced new designs, which other weavers spiritual power, Toypurina was to kill the
soon began following. She worked for soldiers and padres, returning local con-
many years as cultural demonstrator and trol to the Native people. She entered the
weaver for the Yosemite Valley National mission compound along with a group
Park Service. She produced hundreds of of warriors, but news of the rebellion had
baskets during her lifetime and was in- already reached the mission fathers. The
strumental in passing on this important group was intercepted and arrested, and
aspect of traditional California Indian fifteen people were taken into custody,
cultural life. including two indigenous chiefs and
Nicolas Jo’se, a newly converted neo-
Toypurina, Regina Josefa Toypurina phyte. At her trial, Toypurina severely
(Gabrieliño) castigated the Spanish fathers, denounc-
Born around 1760 in the area of presenting them for trespassing on land owned
day Long Beach, California, Toypurina by and sacred to indigenous people. Jo’se
was an important spiritual and political likewise spoke out against the Spanish,
leader for her Gabrieliño people. The their prohibitions against the practice of
daughter of a Gabrieliño chief, she was Gabrieliño religious traditions, and their
798
coerced conversions of Native people. ancestry to Tsupu, including David Peri;

When called before the territorial gover- Bill Smith (former professor and director
nor, Pedro Fages, Toypurina reportedly of American Indian Studies at Sonoma
kicked over a stool that had been offered State University); Kathleen Smith (tribal
her and proudly acknowledged her part scholar and artist); and Greg Sarris (pro-
in the rebellion and her anger at the in- fessor of English, UCLA).
vasive presence of the Spanish. Toypu- Suzanne J. Crawford
rina was held in custody at the mission See also Basketry; Ceremony and Ritual,
until two years later, when she converted California; Datura; Dreamers and Prophets;
to Christianity and was baptized. Shortly Dreams and Visions; Ghost Dance
Movement; Health and Wellness, Traditional
thereafter she was pardoned and de- Approaches; McKay, Mabel; Menstruation
ported to San Carlos Mission in northern and Menarche; Missionization, California;
California, where she lived until her Parrish, Essie; Power, Barbareño Chumash;
Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural
death on May 22, 1799, at the San Juan
Implications; Spiritual and Ceremonial
Bautista Mission. Jo’se was imprisoned Practitioners, California; Termination and
along with two other rebellion leaders at Relocation; Vision Quest Rites
the San Diego presidio. References and Further Reading
Allen, Elise. 1972. Pomo Basketmaking: A
Supreme Art for the Weaver. Naturegraph
Tsupu (Miwok) Publishing.
Born in 1815 near Petaluma California, Bataille, Gretchen, and Laurie Lisa, eds.
Tsupu was fluent in the language and 2001. Native American Women: A
Biographical Dictionary. New York:
cultural traditions of her Miwok people. Routledge.
She passed on her cultural and linguistic Cuero, Delfina. 1970. Autobiography of
knowledge to her sons Tom and Bill Delfina Cuero: A Diegueno Woman.
Smith and their families. Thomas ———. 1991. Delfina Cuero: Her
Comtechal (Tom Smith) would become Autobiography: An Account of Her Last
an important Coast Miwok spiritual Years and Her Ethnobotanic
Contributions. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena
practitioner and healer. Because of her
Press.
knowledge and successful transmission Dillon, Richard H. 1973. Burnt-out Fires:
of that knowledge to her children and California’s Modoc Indian War.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
descendants, traditional Miwok cultural
Driver, Harold E. 1936. Wappo
traditions survive to this day. Her grand- Ethnography. Berkeley: University of
daughter Sarah Smith Ballard was the California Press.
Heizer, Robert F. 1978. Handbook of North
last fluent speaker of Bodega Miwok, and
American Indians. Vol. 8. Washington
she taught much of her knowledge to her DC: Smithsonian Institution.
grandson David Peri, Coast Miwok tribal Johnson, Troy. 2002. Distinguished Native
scholar and anthropology professor at American Spiritual Practitioners and
Healers. Westport, CT: Oryx Press.
Sonoma State University. More than one Modesto, Ruby. 1989. Not for Innocent Ears:
thousand Native people can trace their Spiritual Traditions of a Desert Cahuilla
799
Religious Leaders, Great Lakes _____________________________________________________________
Medicine Woman. Rev. ed. Cottonwood: Odawa (Adawe, Odawe, Odawu,

CA: Sweetlight Books. Ottawa, Outaouact)
Sawyer, Jesse O. 1965. “English-Wappo
Vocabulary.” University of California Pontiac (ca. 1720–1769). A traditional
Publications in Linguistics 43 (August): Odawa military leader, Pontiac used the
1–128. Delaware prophet Neolin’s revitalization
message to organize a military resistance
to the British presence in the Great Lakes
and Ohio River Valley region, and Pon-
Religious Leaders, Great tiac’s legacy continued to instill and in-
spire Odawa religious and cultural iden-
Lakes
tification to the end of the twentieth
Collectively known as the “Three Fires,” century and beyond.
the Odawa, Ojibway, and the Potawa- In the 1760s, Neolin, a Delaware
tomi have lived throughout the Great prophet, began urging the Delaware to
Lakes region since before the arrival of return to their traditional ways, which
Europeans, and many of their communi- included restoring the proper exchange
ties still located in the region cling to tra- relationships within the Delaware com-
ditional religious practices. At the same munity, with other tribes, with the natu-
time, others of the Three Fires’ commu- ral world, and with their ancestors. He
nities have either adopted one form or also preached a rejection of Anglo-Amer-
another of Christianity or syncretized ican culture and urged Native people to
Christian and traditional elements to- resist Anglo-American settlement on an-
gether while maintaining their indige- cestral lands. Pontiac took Neolin’s mes-
nous identity. In some cases, as they sage to heart and carried it back to his
came into contact with new and differ- people. He used it to provide a spiritual
ent Native groups they merged spiritual foundation for an elaborate plan to unite
elements from those other indigenous all of the tribes in the Great Lakes and
groups with their own. The best example Ohio River Valley region to attack and de-
of that occurred when, as members of stroy the British garrisons there and then
the Three Fires moved west, they began drive Anglo-Americans back beyond the
to adopt religious traits from the Plains Appalachian Mountains. All but two of
tribes. In general, the traditional reli- Great Britain’s fortifications, Detroit and
gions of the Odawa, Ojibway, and the Pittsburgh, fell to Pontiac’s alliance.
Potawatomi were not organized to any However, since those two installations
great degree, and they centered upon held out, the Native military alliance
shamanism in which individual spiritual eventually disintegrated, and British ex-
leaders chose and trained their succes- peditions into the interior re-established
sors based upon their individual areas of control in the region. A price was placed
expertise and insights. on Pontiac’s head, and in 1769 he was
800
____________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Great Lakes
vicinity of Mackinac, and his home com-

munity was probably in that area. Even-
tually he came to have significant influ-
ence among the L’Arbre Croche
community located on the northeast
shore of Lake Michigan. Finally, after set-
tling in Peoria, Mayagaway disappeared
from the historical record.
Often associated with the Shawnee
prophet Tenskawatawa, Mayagaway
preached a rejection of Anglo-American
materialism and alcohol, and he urged an
Odawa return to ritual relationships with
the natural world. Eventually this mes-
sage embraced the complete, physical de-
Ottawa chief Pontiac holding a wampum belt, struction of the Anglo-American pres-
in council. Hand-colored woodcut. (North Wind
ence in the western Great Lakes region.
Picture Archives)
Along with Pontiac’s military and spiritual
crusade, Mayagaway’s prophetic move-
killed by a member of another tribe at ment became a cornerstone for a contin-
Cahokia, Illinois. Despite the lack of a ued, traditional Odawa identity and a re-
military victory by Pontiac and his al- vitalization effort that has lasted to the
liance, his movement provided lasting present day.
inspiration to the Odawa people; along
with the later revitalization movement of Ojibway (Chippewa, Mississauga,
The Trout in the early nineteenth cen- Saulteur, Saulteaux)
tury, it created a culture and religious Copway, George (Kahgegagahbowh)
foundation for sustaining Odawa iden- (1818–ca. 1869). George Copway worked
tity throughout the nineteenth and as a Christian missionary to Native peo-
twentieth centuries. ple but gained fame as a lecturer and
writer in the mid-eighteenth century. He
The Trout (Mayagaway) (Early 1800s). A was one of the earliest Native Americans
religious figure that sought to return the to gain fame as an intellectual, speaker,
Odawa to traditional beliefs and life pat- and author.
terns, Mayagaway (The Trout) first began Born at Rice Lake in Ontario, Copway’s
teaching the rejection of Anglo-Ameri- father served as chief and medicine man
can culture in 1807. The Trout seems to for the Rice Lake band of Ojibway. Both
have been connected initially with the his mother and father converted to
Odawa communities that lived in the Methodism from their traditional Ojib-
801
Apostles into the Ojibway language,

while working at the La Pointe Mission
on Madeline Island. After that, Copway
attended Ebenezer Manual Labor School
in Jacksonville, Illinois, from 1837 until
his graduation in 1839. From there he
went back to Ontario, where he met and
married Elizabeth Howell, an English
woman. Her family did not approve of
the marriage, but that did not deter the
couple. Before and after the marriage,
Copway worked at various missions for
Native Americans in the United States
and Canada. Several times during the
1830s, he performed his missionary du-
ties with his cousins, John and Peter
Marksman.
In 1846 the Saugeen Mission on Lake
Huron and his own tribe accused Cop-
way of embezzling funds, for which
George Copway (Kahgegagahbowh), 1860.
crime he was tried, found guilty, and
Dopway was one of the earliest Native served several weeks in prison. As a result
Americans to gain fame as an intellectual, of this scandal, the Canadian Conference
speaker, and author. (Marian S. Carson
of the Wesleyan Methodist Church ex-
Collection/Library of Congress)
pelled him. After his imprisonment, Cop-
way published his life story, entitled The
way beliefs on account of the missionary Life, History, and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-
efforts of Peter Jones, among others. gah-bowh (George Copway) in 1847. Be-
Copwell received his initial education at cause of the success of his autobiogra-
the mission school built for the Rice Lake phy, Copway became a popular fixture on
Natives. Eventually, in 1830, George Cop- the lecture circuit. One of his favorite
way also converted to Methodism, and at subjects for lectures was the need to use
the age of sixteen, in 1834, he began to education and Christianity to improve
work as an interpreter at the Lake Supe- the plight of Native Americans in both
rior Mission of the American Methodist Canada and the United States.
Church along with his uncle and his In 1850, Copway published the Orga-
cousin. A year later he assisted the Rev- nization of a New Indian Territory, East of
erend Sherman Hall in the translation of the Missouri River, in which he argued for
the Gospel of St. Luke and the Acts of the a self-controlled Indian territory gov-
802
erned by educated Native Americans to promote the spread of Christianity

that would one day join the United States and education among Native people in
as a state. Later, after touring Europe, he the Great Lakes region of both Canada
published an account of his travels and the United States. Sunday toured
called Running Sketches of Men and Great Britain to raise funds for the
Places (1851). In the early 1850s, Copway Methodist missionary efforts in the
remained a popular attraction on the Great Lakes area and even had an audi-
lecture circuit, associated with the likes ence with Queen Victoria in 1836. He was
of James Fenimore Cooper, Washington effective at preaching to his people be-
Irving, and Henry Wadsworth Longfel- cause he did so in their own language.
low. However, before the end of the Sunday was just as zealous in protecting
decade, he fell from celebrity because Native rights as he was in converting his
the novelty of his being an educated In- people to Christianity. He retired to
dian had worn off. Interestingly, Copway Alderville, Ontario, in 1867 but remained
was alleged to have been the model for active as a defender of Native rights and
Longfellow’s poem The Song of Hi- as missionary until he died, on Decem-
awatha (1855). He spent the last years of ber 14, 1875.
his life moving among the Native tribes
in the northern territories of the United Steinhauer, Henry Bird (Shawah-
States and in Canada, fulfilling the duties negezhik) (1816–1884). Henry Stein-
of an itinerant healer. Finally, Copway hauer worked as an interpreter, mission-
worked as an interpreter for the Roman ary, and teacher among his people for
Catholic mission near Lake of Two more than fifty years.
Mountains in Canada. There he is said to Shawahnegezhik was born at Lake
have converted to Catholicism and died Simcoe in Ontario, and he converted to
days later, on January 17, 1869, although Methodism in 1828. For his initial educa-
some reports have him dying at Pontiac, tion he went to the Methodist mission
Michigan, in 1863. school located on Grape Island in the
Bay of Quinte. While there he became
Sunday, John (Shahwundais) (ca. 1795– known as Henry Steinhauer, after the
1875). John Sunday was a Mississauga Philadelphian that paid his educational
Ojibway chief and a Methodist mission- expenses. Beginning in 1832 he contin-
ary to his people. ued his education for two years at New
Born in New York state but a member York’s Cazenovia Seminary and after that
of the Mississauga Ojibway in Upper attended the Upper Canada Academy at
Canada, Shahwundais became a leader Cobourg, which is now known as Victoria
of his people and fought in the War of College.
1812 before converting to Methodism in Steinhauer began work as a teacher in
1824. From that point forward he worked 1836 and as a missionary in 1840. For the
803
rest of his life he made his living as an in- sion school. At some point while receiv-
terpreter, missionary, and teacher, shifting his education, Pahtahsega took the
ing from one mission school to the next name Peter Jacobs and converted to
every year or so as he was assigned. Dur- Methodism. Before he left the Credit
ing this period, while working at Norway Mission school, he served as an inter-
House, he helped James Evans translate preter and led prayers. Jacobs continued
the Bible into the Cree syllabary, and he his education under the guidance of the
helped establish a new mission known as Dorcas Missionary Society in 1829. He
the Oxford House at a Hudson’s Bay began his own missionary work in 1836,
Company post in 1850. Steinhauer mar- and over the next two decades, Jacobs
ried a Cree named Jessie Mamanu- worked at and helped found several mis-
wartum in 1846. He toured Great Britain sions, primarily in upper Canada; even-
in 1854 to raise money and make presen- tually he was ordained in England in
tations to various audiences. Finally, 1842. He wrote and published his valu-
upon returning to Canada the next year, able autobiography, Journal of the Rev-
the Canadian Conference in London, On- erend Peter Jacobs, Indian Wesleyan Mis-
tario, ordained Steinhauer. Although he sionary, in 1853, and throughout his
continued his mission work and teaching missionary career, Jacobs assisted other
in his later years, Steinhauer became an missionaries with translations into and
important fund-raiser for the Canadian out of the Ojibway language.
mission effort among Native Americans. Jacobs’s first wife, Mary, was a mem-
He died on December 30, 1884. ber of the Credit Band of Mississauga
Ojibway, and he had a daughter by her
Jacobs, Peter (Pahtahsega) (ca. 1807– before she died in 1828. He remarried in
1890). Peter Jacobs served as an indige- 1831 to Elizabeth Anderson, and they
nous missionary to the Ojibway early in had five children. Two of his sons by Eliz-
life, before suffering from poverty and al- abeth later became missionaries for the
coholism later in life. His autobiography Church of England. Unfortunately for Ja-
continues to be a valuable primary cobs, in 1858 the Methodist Conference
source for the Mississauga Ojibway of dropped him for purportedly raising
the mid-eighteenth century. funds in the United States without the
Pahtahsega was orphaned as a young permission of the conference. Although
child, and as a result his early years were he may have reconverted in 1867, this in-
marked by poverty and lack of direction. cident helped lead Jacobs down the path
Sometime around 1825, Pahtahsega toward alcoholism and the poor house,
began his education at Belleville, close to which marred his last few years.
the Bay of Quinte, with the help of bene-
factors that covered the cost of his edu- Marksman, Peter (Kahgoodahahqua or
cation. Later he attended the Credit Mis- Madwaqwunayaush) (ca. 1815–1892).
804
Peter Marksman was an interpreter and Gagewin was a member of the White
influential missionary to Native Ameri- Earth Reservation band of Ojibway in
cans for the Methodist Episcopal Church Minnesota. He introduced Densmore to
in the Great Lakes area during the mid the Midéwiwin concept that living the
and late eighteenth century. correct way physically and spiritually led
Born Khagoodahaqua in the Fond du to a long life. Gagewin also provided in-
Lac region in the western Great Lakes, formation on how the young were in-
Marksman’s father was an Ojibway structed in the ways of the Midéwiwin by
hereditary chief from Mackinac Island. use of sacred scrolls. He died on October
His mother was also Ojibway. Because 23, 1919.
Marksman was a twin (his brother died at
birth) and twins were seen as spiritual Fiddler, Jack (ca. 1820–1907). Of Cree-
beings with special power, his parents Saulteaux heritage, Jack Fiddler was a
prepared him to became a shaman in the well-known shaman and leader of his
Ojibway Midéwiwin religion. However, people during the last half of the nine-
Marskman had different ideas after being teenth and early twentieth centuries.
introduced to Christianity as a child, and A member of the Red Sucker band,
he finally converted in 1833. Throughout Jack Fiddler was the son of the shaman
his life he worked as an interpreter, mis- Porcupine Standing Sideways. The Red
sionary, and teacher in the Great Lakes Sucker band as a group generally re-
region, bringing the Methodist doctrine mained aloof from contact with Euro-
to the Ojibway and other Great Lakes peans and maintained traditional life-
tribes. In 1844, Marksman married Han- ways. As a leader of this group, Fiddler
nah Morien, who helped with his mis- was noted for being a traditionalist, and
sion. The Potawatomi of the Upper as a shaman he built a reputation for his
Peninsula of Michigan were so grateful ability to heal, communicate with ani-
for the couple’s work in their behalf that mals, and foretell the future. His family
they named their town after Hannah, received their surname for their ability to
calling it Hannahville. After working al- play the fiddle. In 1907, Canadian au-
most his entire adult life as a missionary, thorities arrested Jack Fiddler and his
Marksman died on May 28, 1892. brother, Joseph Fiddler, for the murder of
Joseph’s mentally ill daughter-in-law,
Gagewin (ca. 1850–1919). A practitioner Wahsakapeequay. The Fiddler brothers
of the Ojibway Midéwiwin religion, thought that she was a windigo. Windi-
Gagewin became an important inform- gos were feared spirits in the Algonquian
ant on the traditional Ojibway religion belief system that ate human flesh, and
and culture for the ethnographer according to tradition, they had to be
Frances Densmore in the early twentieth eliminated to protect the people. The
century. two brothers admitted to killing Wah-
805
sakepeequay, and Jack Fiddler admitted of a medicine man until two years after
to killing fourteen other windigos during the death of his first wife in childbirth,
his lifetime. Later that year Jack Fiddler when he had remarried. Through train-
committed suicide because he could not ing and later through the process of fast-
face life apart from his people. One of as ing, Zhonii’a Giishing (the name given to
many as twelve children left behind him by his maternal grandmother)
when Jack Fiddler died was Adam Fid- learned a multitude of medicines and sa-
dler, who also became a spiritual leader cred songs for healing the sick among his
of their people. people. Mink became an important in-
formant on Ojibway spiritual and heal-
Fiddler, Joseph (Pesequan) (ca. 1856– ing practices late in his life. Casagrande
1909). A mixed Cree-Saulteaux, Joseph wrote a short biography of Mink called
Fiddler was a shaman and a leader of the “John Mink Ojibway Informant,” which
Red Sucker band, located in northwest- appeared in the book In the Company of
ern Ontario. Man: Twenty Portraits of Anthropological
Pesequan was the son of Porcupine Informants (1960). After living more than
Standing Sideways, and as a leader of the ninety years, Mink passed away in 1943.
Red Sucker band he helped limit their
contact with Europeans and urged them Gordon, Philip B. (Ti-Bish-Ko-Gi-Jik)
to follow traditional religious beliefs. (1885–1948). One of only a handful of
With his brother, Jack Fiddler, Joseph Native American Roman Catholic priests
was jailed and sentenced to be executed in the country during the late nineteenth
for the murder of his daughter-in-law and early twentieth centuries, Philip
Wahsakepeequay, whom the two be- Gordon used his position in the Catholic
lieved to be a windigo. Later his death Church to improve the condition of Na-
sentence was commuted to one of life tive Americans in the United States.
imprisonment; Fiddler died in prison on Born into a family with fourteen chil-
September 4, 1909. dren in Gordon, Wisconsin, Philip Gordon
went to the St. Mary’s Mission School at
Mink, John (Zhonii’a Giishig) (ca. 1850– the Bad River Reservation in Odanah, Wis-
1943). An adherent of the Ojibway consin. After attending seminary, Gordon
Midéwiwin religion and the Drum reli- was ordained in 1913, and he later at-
gion, John Mink was a local Medicine tended Catholic University in Washington,
Lodge leader for the Lac Courte Oreilles D.C. He then served at the Carlisle Indian
Reservation in Wisconsin throughout School in Pennsylvania, worked for the
most of his adult life. He was also an im- Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions tour-
portant informant for the ethnologists ing Indian schools and Indian agencies in
Joseph B. Casagrande and Robert the Midwest, and finally served at the
Rittzenthaler in the early twentieth cen- Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas.
tury. He did not begin seeking the ways While in Lawrence, Gordon began to func-
806
tion as an activist to better conditions at Reservation in Wisconsin, Wayjohniema-

Indian schools, missions, and reserva- son converted to Roman Catholicism and
tions, because of what he had experienced served various missions as a nun for al-
at Haskell. In 1918 he began to assist his most seventy years.
own people at the Lac Courte Oreilles Given the name Fabiola at birth,
Reservation in Wisconsin. Gordon worked Larush received her initial education at a
with Sister Larush (also a converted Ojib- mission school near her home, and she
way) to rebuild the Catholic church that followed this up by later attending the
had burned down there. Finally, in 1923, Hayward Indian School. In 1908, Larush
Gordon began work with the Committee joined a convent in Milwaukee and later
of One Hundred, which was a reform worked at a mission in Nebraska before
group appointed by the secretary of the returning to her reservation in 1925.
interior to help revise the federal Indian Upon returning to her home, she re-
policy. After spending a lifetime serving stored the Catholic community and
the Catholic Church and half his life advo- raised funds to rebuild the Church,
cating reform of the federal Indian policy, which had burned down a few years ear-
Gordon died in 1948. lier. In her later years, Larush served the
Catholic community at missions in
Fiddler, Adam (1865–1959). Continuing Chicago and Mississippi before she
the family tradition, Adam Fiddler fol- passed away in 1976.
lowed his grandfather (Porcupine), his
father (Jack Fiddler), and his uncle Redsky, James, Sr. (Eshkwaykeezhik)
(Joseph Fiddler) by practicing as a tradi- (1890–?). James Redsky was a medicine
tional medicine man or shaman for the man that practiced the Midéwiwin reli-
Red Sucker band, but he also served as a gion among the Canadian Ojibway at the
Methodist lay minister in Ontario. Shoal Lake Reserve and eventually
After experiencing a vision in 1901, helped interpret many sacred scrolls of
Fiddler merged Christian elements with the Ojibway into English. He also wrote a
traditional Cree-Saulteaux beliefs. Inas- biography of the Ojibway leader Mis-
much as he was the only person to intro- quonaqueb.
duce Christianity to his isolated people Born at Rice Bay in the Lake of the
for a long period of time, he successfully Woods region of Canada, Redsky
led a syncretism of the two religions that started studying the Midéwiwin reli-
was palatable to both Christians and tra- gion under the tutelage of his uncle
ditional followers. Fiddler served his (Baldhead Redsky) when he turned
people as a religious leader until 1952. twelve. He also attended the Presbyter-
He died in 1959. ian mission school near his home. Dur-
ing World War I, Redsky served in the
Larush, Sister M. Sirilla (Wayjohniema- Canadian Infantry. After the war he fin-
son) (1892–1976). Born on the Lac Courte ished his Midéwiwin education and
807
eventually was given all of his uncle’s sa- American education. He initially began
cred scrolls. Because the number of par- his primary education at a Catholic mis-
ticipants in the Midéwiwin religion was sion school, but after attempts to convert
decreasing and he did not have an ap- him his grandparent transferred him to
prentice to whom he could pass on his the Hayward Indian School in Wiscon-
knowledge, Redsky helped interpret and sin. Mustache went from Hayward to the
publish the scrolls in Sacred Scrolls of the Tomah Indian School, where he finished
Southern Ojibway (1975) with Selwyn his Western education. He then enlisted
Dewdney. Later Redsky converted and in the military for four years and after-
was ordained a Presbyterian elder in ward served in the Indian Civilian Con-
1960, and afterward he wrote the biogra- servation Corps at Lac du Flambeau
phy of Misquonaqueb in Great Leader of Reservation. At Lac du Flambeau he met
the Ojibway: Mis-quona-queb (1972). and married the daughter of a spiritual
leader, Rising Sun, which further
Reflecting Man, John (?–1956). A medi- strengthened his ties to traditional Ojib-
cine man that practiced the Midéwiwin way culture. Eventually Mustache be-
religion, John Reflecting Man carried on came civil and spiritual leader for the
the traditions of his people on the Turtle Ojibway and other tribes in the region,
Mountain Reservation in North Dakota and he was a delegate to the National
until his death in 1956. Congress of American Indians. Later in
life he worked to use computer technol-
John-Paul (ca. 1900–?). The grandson of ogy to record and teach Ojibway culture
the legendary shaman Shawwanosway and language.
and a resident of the Birch Island Reserve
in Canada, John-Paul became a shaman Jackson, Jimmy (ca. 1910–?). A tradi-
in his twenties and later in life turned to tional medicine man and religious
mysticism as his life’s calling. leader, Jimmy Jackson became an impor-
tant ethnographic informant when he
Mustache, James (Opwagon) (1904–?). was interviewed in the 1980s by Larry
The grandson of John Mink, James Mus- Aitken and Edwin Haller. Jackson used
tache served his people as a traditional dreams to garner information and medi-
Ojibway religious leader and cultural cine for healing the sick.
preservationist.
Born on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reser- Fortunate Eagle, Adam (ca. 1930–). An
vation in Wisconsin, Opwagon was the Ojibway from the Red Lake Reservation
grandson of a midwife, Iikwezens, and in Minnesota, Adam Fortunate Eagle
Midéwiwin medicine man, Zhonii’a Gi- worked as an activist, sociologist, and
ishing (John Mink). Mustache was spiritual leader.
trained at an early age to be a spiritual Fortunate Eagle received his initial ed-
leader, but he also received an Anglo- ucation at the Indian boarding school in
808
Pipestone, Minnesota, and while still communications from the enemy. After
young he learned pipemaking and its leaving the military, Stillday studied ele-
ceremonial vestiges. After graduating mentary education at the University of
from the boarding school, he continued Minnesota, Morris. As a traditional reli-
his studies at the Haskell Institute in gious practitioner, he gradually rose to
Lawrence, Kansas. After leaving Kansas, prominence in his community, which
Fortunate Eagle moved to the Bay Area of eventually led to his being appointed of-
California. In California he taught sociol- ficial chaplain of the Minnesota state
ogy at the University of California, legislature in the mid-1990s. Stillday’s
worked with prison inmates, and for a duties included providing the opening
decade was chairman of the Council of prayer for new sessions of the legislature.
Bay Area Indian Affairs. In 1969, Fortu- This was the first time that an indigenous
nate Eagle participated in the American religion had received official recognition
Indian occupation of Alcatraz to publi- in Minnesota.
cize the condition of Native Americans
and how they were treated by the federal Dowd, Donny (ca. 1940–). A spiritual
government. Finally, he became a leader among the Ojibway in the late
pipeholder and ceremonial leader in twentieth century, Donny Dowd spent
1972. As a religious leader, Fortunate his early years seeking a direction for his
Eagle conducted only ceremonies that life, and this led him to enlist in the mili-
he defined as intertribal. Later he moved tary and participate as an activist with
to Fallon, Nevada, to run the Round- the American Indian Movement before
house Gallery. finally finding his path within the Ojib-
way Midéwiwin religion.
Stillday, Thomas, Jr. (1934–). A leader of Dowd grew up on the L’Anse Reserva-
the Midéwiwin religion among the Ojib- tion in Michigan, although a portion of
way on the Red Lake Reservation in his childhood was spent in a Catholic or-
Minnesota, Thomas Stillday became the phanage. In his late teens Dowd
first indigenous and non–Judeo Chris- dropped out of high school and enlisted
tian religious practitioner to become in the U.S. Navy, where he pulled two
the official chaplain of the Minnesota tours of duty in Vietnam. Suffering from
legislature. posttraumatic disorder after being dis-
Stillday spent his childhood learning charged, he could not keep a job and suf-
the traditional ways of his people before fered a failed marriage that produced
serving in the military for twelve years, two children. In the late 1960s, Dowd
which included a tour of duty in Korea. joined the American Indian Movement
While in Korea he served as a “code- in Minneapolis. Eventually, after attend-
talker,” in which he and other Native ing a Midéwiwin ceremony, he found his
Ojibway speakers used a coded form of calling and sought training in this tradi-
their language to protect their radio tional religion. Finally, Dowd moved to a
809
Michigan reservation with a new wife but after the war, Shabona advised ac-
and became a religious leader and cul- commodation of Anglo-Americans and
tural educator for the community. peaceful coexistence.
Hascall, John (1941–). In the late twenti- Medicine Neck (early 1900s). A practic-
eth century, John Hascall successfully ing Peyotist, Medicine Neck introduced
syncretized traditional Ojibway beliefs peyote to the Menominee Reservation in
with the tenets of Roman Catholicism to Wisconsin during the early part of the
became a successful practicing medicine twentieth century.
man and Catholic priest. He conducted In 1914, Medicine Neck was arrested for
Mass for Native Americans. bringing peyote and peyotism to Wiscon-
sin, on charges of breaking a federal law
Potawatomi that forbade the introduction of intoxi-
Main Poc (ca. 1765–1816). Born without cants to Native reservations. The judge
fingers on his left hand, which marked eventually ruled that the law applied only
him as having special powers provided to alcohol and set Medicine Neck free.
by the Creator, Main Poc used his gift to
become a shaman and war leader Negahnquet, Albert (1874–1944). Ne-
among his people, and for a period of gahnquet was one of the earliest full-
time in the early nineteenth century, he blooded Native Americans to be or-
used his influence to resist Anglo-Amer- dained by the Roman Catholic Church.
ican encroachment. In 1874, Negahnquet was born in
Topeka, Kansas, near St. Mary’s Mission.
Pokagon, Leopold (ca. 1775–1841). A Eventually he joined the Citizen Band of
charismatic leader of the Potawatomies Potawatomi in Oklahoma and received
during the era of removal, Leopold Pok- his early education at the Sacred Heart
agon worked to preserve a place for his Mission school located near the Pota-
band of Potawatomie to remain in watomi Reservation. From there he went
Michigan, to maintain peace with their to the College of Propaganda Fide in
Anglo-American neighbors, and to con- Rome and was ordained in 1903. Upon
vert his people to Roman Catholicism. becoming a priest he returned to the
United States to work with Native people
Shabona (ca. 1775–1859). Born of a in Minnesota and Oklahoma.
Seneca mother and an Odawa father, Dixie Ray Haggard
Shabona became a leader among the See also Ceremony and Ritual, Anishnabe;
Potawatomies through marriage. Prior to James, Peter; Manitous; Missionization, Great
Lakes; Oral Traditions, Ojibwe; Women’s
the War of 1812, he advocated joining Cultural and Religious Roles, Great Lakes
Tecumseh’s Native alliance against fur-
ther Anglo-American encroachment and Aitken, Larry P., and Edwin W. Haller. 1990.
in rejection of Anglo-American culture, Two Cultures Meet: Pathways for
810
______________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Northwest
American Indians to Medicine. Duluth: centuries have often blended their an-
University of Minnesota Press. cient beliefs in ways acceptable to im-
Casagrande, Joseph B. 1960. “John Mink,
Ojibwe Informant,” Pp. 467–488 in In the posed Christianity. Most have sought
Company of Man. Edited by Joseph B. some kind of compromise or reforma-
Casagrande. New York: Harper and tion satisfying to old and new beliefs.
Brothers.
Clifton, James A. 1998. The Prairie People:
Continuity and Change in Potawatomi Ivan Pan’kov (1770s–1850s)
Indian Culture, 1665–1965. Enl. ed. Iowa On April 23, 1828 (the Feast of Alexander
City: University of Iowa Press. Nevsky), Ivan Pan’kov, Aleut leader
Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Pauletter Molin.
(toion, toyon) in the Fox Islands of the
2000. Encyclopedia of Native American
Religions. Rev. ed. New York: Facts on File. Aleutian chain, arranged a remarkable
Lyons, William S. 1996. Encyclopedia of meeting. For two years he had been
Native American Healing. Denver, CO: working with Fr. Ioann Veniaminov (now
ABC-CLIO.
Malinowski, Sharon, and Anna Sheets, eds. St. Innokentii), a Russian Orthodox
1998. Gale Encyclopedia of Native priest, on an Aleut (Unagan) translation
American Tribes. Vol. I: Northeast, of the catechism. At this meeting, Veni-
Southeast, Caribbean. New York: Gale
aminov listened carefully as Pan’kov
Research.
Paper, Jordan. 1980. “From Shaman to translated the words to a famous shaman
Mystic in Ojibway Religion.” Sciences named Smirennikov. After serious reflec-
Religieuses/Studies in Religion 9, no. 2: tion, the priest wrote his bishop that the
185–199.
Pflug, Melissa A. 1998. Ritual and Myth in sixty-year-old man seemed to be doing
Odawa Revitalization: Reclaiming a the work of God. Later, when he pub-
Sovereign Place. Norman: University of lished the first ethnography of Native
Oklahoma Press.
Trigger, Bruce G., ed. 1978. Handbook of
North America in 1840, Veniaminov con-
North American Indians. Vol. 15: tinued to hold that there were both good
Northeast. Washington, DC: Smithsonian and bad shamans, a sensitive admission
Institution.
for a extraordinary missionary, who later
became supreme head of his church.
Even more significant is the contribu-
tion of Pan’kov in establishing literacy and
Religious Leaders, Great trust in a new faith that has since become
Lakes and Northeast embraced by Aleutians in the succeeding
century. Important in this process have
See Jones, Peter; Tekakwitha, Kateri
been Creoles such as Iakov Netsvetov
(1804–1864), mixed race clergy who used
Native fluency to further indigenize Or-
Religious Leaders, thodoxy in Alaska.
Northwest Bini (?–1870s)
The best known religious leaders in the During the 1830s, at the south end of
Northwest for the past two and a half coastal Alaska, a Carrier prophet named
811
Religious Leaders, Northwest _______________________________________________________________
Bini (“mind”) caused a stir along the avoid another’s hunting grounds, do not
Skeena River and the coast, preaching a murder, respect elders and chiefs, and
blend of Catholic, Orthodox, and Native stop war.
beliefs. He had been a successful Bini left to visit far and wide. He con-
hunter, shaman, and gambler until he tinued to use an unknown language, and
lost everything by betting his goods, his nephew translated. Tsimshians
nephews, parents, and family. He went learned his message and spread it to
into the deep woods, where he dropped other coastal tribes when they took can-
from exhaustion. He had a vision of a dlefish together on the Nass River. In this
man dressed all in white who came from way, Bini’s preaching went much farther
the Sky, charged Bini to take up preach- than he actually did.
ing for a better world, and taught Bini Before Bini several upriver women
something like the sign of the cross by had received visions, as did his older
touching his forehead, shoulders, and brother. But Bini became a chief of the
heart. Beaver crest and thus earned prestige
A search party found Bini’s clothes and respect for his message. He hosted
and assumed he had frozen to death. a great potlatch and set up a carved
Later they found him buried in snow, pole to confirm his rank. After preach-
with barely a pulse. They carried him ing for fifteen years, he installed aides
home, placed him beside a fire, and a and tried to introduce public confes-
shaman worked on him for two days. sion and whipping. Too many hard-
When he revived, Bini spoke an un- ships and fights followed from these
known language and taught new songs disclosures, however, so he ended
and dances. His feet were together and them. He died about 1870, perhaps
his arms outstretched, and he swayed his from sipping poisoned water while try-
body as though crucified. ing to cure a woman.
Bini’s nephew spoke for him, as was His nephews and others, including at
appropriate for his heir. In this region, least one woman, assumed the Bini
kinship was traced through mothers, so name and continued to preach until
uncle (mother’s brother) and nephew Catholic clergy arrived in the region and
(sister’s son) were very close. Bini pre- supplanted their efforts with mission
dicted the advent of new things such as churches.
flour (dry snow) and horses, as well as
special days like Sunday. People gath- Captain Campbell, Skagit,
ered and feasted at this house for sev- (c. 1850–c. 1880)
eral days. Some danced so strenuously Just across the border from southern
that they ended by rolling on the floor. British Columbia, Upper Skagit Native
Then Bini preached five command- villages were politically and religiously
ments: be faithful to one’s home life, centralized through the efforts of Cap-
812
tain Campbell, the Skagit prophet who a famous male relative and went every-
founded the present Campbell or Camel where with an escort of body guards and
family. His father came from eastern attendants who acted in her behalf.
Washington, supposedly fleeing a threat
of sorcery directed against him. He John and Mary Slocum and the
moved across the Cascade Mountains Shaker Church, 1882
and married a woman from the town at Near Olympia, the capital of Washing-
the mouth of the Snohomish River. The ton territory, John Slocum, a man of
prophet was born and raised there be- chiefly family, died but soon revived to
fore he married a woman from the vil- found the Indian Shaker Church. Bril-
lage on Clear Lake on the Upper Skagit liantly combining outward forms of
River. During one of his frequent visits to Catholicism, Protestant hymns and no-
his Interior Salish relatives, he met Fa- tions of personal salvation, and core
ther Eugene Casimir Chirouse, an early Native beliefs, several thousand inter-
and important oblate missionary active national Shakers still worship from
at the Catholic mission among the northern California to southern British
Yakama just before the 1855 Treaty War. Columbia.
Fr. Chirouse moved to the Tulalip Reser- John Slocum died and revived on Oc-
vation in 1863, then ended his career tober 20, 1882. Later, Mary received the
among the Canadian Okanagans. healing trembling (“the shake”) that dis-
The prophet worked closely with tinguishes this faith—a manifestation
Chirouse, particularly in translating akin to the trembling of the original
liturgy into Lushootseed Salish. Appar- Quakers and other ecstatic cults. Presby-
ently, the priest and the prophet com- terians, particularly in Olympia, were
municated with each other using the initially supportive, but relations cooled
Okanogan dialect of Interior Salish. The after Natives entered the state capitol in
prophet established his own longhouse a Sunday-afternoon Christmas proces-
near Marblemount, at the junction of sion led by a man on a horse with his
the Cascade and Skagit rivers, where he head bent and arms extended, followed
led Catholic services in the summer by his wife, identified as either Mary or
and Native spirit dances in the winter. Eve. Their behavior and “strong fish
His links with Chirouse expanded his smell” embarrassed the minister who
basis of authority into Euro-American had invited them, and he lost all sympa-
contexts. thy with their beliefs.
When the prophet’s first wife died, he Together, the Slocums revealed the
married the daughter of Petius, who word of the Christian God for Natives,
widened his political base, although she protected by being legally incorporated
seems to have outranked him. This in 1910 within Washington state. Its
woman had assumed the chiefly name of tenets strictly identify the church as an
813
Indian religion inspired by the Christian Overall, Shakerism is devoted to cur-

God and Jesus Christ, as well as another ing, temperance, and the conversion of
supernatural figure they address as the Native people to their avowedly Chris-
Spirit, who is compatible both with the tian belief. Shaker curing specifically ad-
Holy Ghost and the aboriginal immortals dresses ghosting, sorcery threats, de-
who acted as guardian spirits. pression (feeling sorry), soul loss, and
The Spirit enters members during unwanted spirits. In the modern Native
public ceremonies when they manifest community its specialty is curing, espe-
the “shake,” augmented by “gifts” and cially of addictions, but unlike the an-
“helps.” At death, this same Spirit “takes cient shamanic tradition that also con-
them home.” Gifts include candle hold- tinues, Shaker curing is much more
ing, bell ringing, curing, interpreting the universal and democratic in the sense
cause of sickness, baptizing, divination, that it is performed by all believers and
shaking, and ridding a home or a room of is free of charge, whether in a patient’s
evil spirits. Each varied “help” depends own home or a Shaker church. A basic
on the quality and amount of supernatu- tenet grants the truth of individual in-
ral ability that a member is able to ex- spiration, though a continual tension
press, and, in this, most corresponds to exists between this autonomy and
the aboriginal possession of distinct hopes for unanimity as institutionalized
guardian spirits. Whenever Natives join in the authority of the Shaker bishop
the Shaker Church, their aboriginal spirit and council.
powers convert with them, thus continu-
ing that source of ancestral religious tra- Old Pierre (1860s–1946)
dition into the new practice. Old Pierre, a Katzie (Sta:lo, Fraser River)
Its forms are a brilliant blend of reli- spiritual leader, most fully articulated
gions. Many of its overt public gestures Salishan genesis to Diamond Jenness of
reflected Catholic worship—such as al- the National Museum of Canada in 1936.
tars, albs, candles, and making the sign A few significant details were provided
of the cross by placing fingers to fore- by Simon Pierre (a son born in the 1880s)
head, shoulders, and chest. Some mirror to Wayne Suttles in 1952.
Protestantism—such as personal salva- His mother, a spiritual practitioner
tion, local language use, hymns, and herself, sent Pierre out questing from
plain steeple churches. Influences from the age of three and paid three of their
schoolrooms include the use of hand oldest and best informed relatives to
bells to accompany such hymns during teach him sacred epics from the age of
circular processions. Candles for light eight. As a result, among his powerful
and wood-burning stoves for heating helpers was the Father Of All Trees, the
and cooking have kept Shakers self-re- only arboreal being who could grant
liant, avoiding costly electric bills. power. Another time, he tripped over a
814
rock that turned out to be the pillow of pecially concentrated at the heart. The
the Leader of the Earth, gaining power in Lord Above created evergreen trees at the
his hands and wrists to draw out sick- beginning of the world so humans would
ness, power in his mouth to swallow it, have a strong source of vitality, mani-
and power to see all over the world to re- fested by the constant green of the fo-
cover “minds” that had strayed from liage. During the winter, when the world
their bodily homes. is cold, ceremonials were held because
Pierre learned to diagnose sickness they also provided warmth.
depending on its causes, either from (1) Because they were transformed from
lost vitality or mind, (2) impurity or of- the first people, the original members of
fense to a spirit or ghost, or (3) a probe the various species were sacred and able
shot into a victim by a hostile shaman. to share their talent-power with particu-
More important, Pierre grasped a sys- lar humans. The more remote the home
tematic account of the Sta:lo Universe, of the being was from humans, the more
from a Katzie perspective. powerful it was. Humans needed these
Humans were instructed to pray to powers to cope with the unseen hazards
deities in sequence, beginning with the and dangers that filled every life. A
Lord Above, then moving to the Sun, human without power was like a cork
Khaals, Moon, and personal spirit pow- floating helplessly in the water, subject
ers. Humans owed their existence to the to all kinds of pulls, crosswinds, and un-
Lord Above, who created each of them dercurrents.
endowed with a soul, vitality-thought, a The Fraser River valley became a huge
certain talent-power, and a shadow-re- dish filled with food through the work of
flection. At death, the breath and special the Lord Above, who decided to send
talent perished with the body, the soul specific groups of people under a named
returned to the Lord Above, and the vi- leader to particular locales along the
tality and shadow merged to produce river. Instead of one pair, like Adam and
the shade or ghost that roamed as a Eve, there were many couples, each en-
barely visible form in the neighborhood trusted to form a set community at spe-
of its old home, feared by the surviving cific places.
relatives. Initially, the Katzie world was grim
Vitality, which was inseparable from and silent, with only shellfish to feed
thought, pervaded the entire body. Any these first people. There were no birds,
loss of the body was accompanied by a animals, or winds. The Lord Above made
proportional loss of vitality. The loss of a the sun to give warmth, the moon to
limb or the cutting of the hair, therefore, measure time, and the rainbow to indi-
decreased its manifestation as warmth, cate weather conditions.
closely linked with the sun. While it was In time, a leader called Swaneset
diffused throughout the body, it was es- emerged to “fix” the earth, marrying
815
wives from the earth such as Sockeye ninety-four in 1897, and the daughter of a
Salmon and the sky such as a Star. Then Puyallup chief. His parents were Roman
the Lord Above prepared the way for hu- Catholics, but he became a Presbyterian.
mans by sending Khaals to further make In 1875 he started as a printer’s devil for
things right. Through the power of the Olympia Daily Echo but was the butt
thought, Khaals changed beings. Bluejay of many practical jokes because of his
prophesied his arrival, assembling most deep faith. When this press moved to
of the beings so that Khaals, who was al- Tacoma to become the Herald, he served
ways just, could sort the good from the as a printer. Seeking further education,
bad and make the world a better place, he joined other Puyallups at the start of a
allowing those people who showed re- regional federal boarding school. Later
spect to remain human. The humans he became a reporter, describing a
have overpopulated their world several Skokomish Potlatch of October 22–28,
times, suffering starvation, disease, and 1878. During the costly Seattle/Tacoma
extermination before they were able to rivalry over the name of the tall mountain
reform into respectful communities. often called Rainier, Stanup added that
Through his work and teaching, Old the Puyallup word Ta-ko-ba means “the
Pierre provided the most detailed and mountain,” but earlier Rainier had been
systematic account of Coast Salish be- called Tu-wak-hu, or Twa-hwauk. His
liefs on record. Native terms and perspective, however,
only further confused city boosters.
Native Clergy After he returned from school, Peter
Several Protestant churches in Canada served as interpreter for the Presbyterian
have had Native clergy, particularly Peter missionary to the Puyallups and himself
Kelly (Haida), George Edgar (Tsimshian), studied for that ministry. Peter served in
William Henry Pierce (Tsimshian), and two state Republican conventions and
Edward Marsden (Tsimshian). The ca- was considered as a candidate for gover-
reer of the Reverend John Kilbuck, a nor at the 1890 state Republican caucus.
Delaware who helped found the success- He married, but four of his six children
ful Moravian Church among the Yup’ik died. He became involved in the sell-off
Eskimo, has more human interest be- of his reservation and made a financed
cause he fell away for part of his career. trip to Congress in 1893. He became
Equally fascinating is the thwarted life of wealthy from these land sales, but also
the Puyallup Reverend Peter Stanup, took to alcohol. He was preparing to take
who lived near Tacoma, Washington. the bar and add law to his credentials
when his body was found in the Puyallup
Peter Stanup (1857–1893) River on May 23, 1893. Although no mur-
Peter Stanup was the son of Jonah, a vig- der charge was ever made, many sus-
orous leader who died at the age of pected foul play.
816
Petius (1904–1989) the late 1800s, from the Plateau came

Until 1989, the most honored shaman in word of the teachings of a Kootenai
the American Northwest carried the fa- woman who dressed and acted like a
mous name of Petius, once father-in-law man, of Smohallah along the Columbia
to the Skagit prophet and the recognized River, of Jake Hunt and the Feather
leader of the Native Samish town where dance, and of the Ghost Dances of 1870
Bayview now stands. Living at Lummi and 1890. Coquelle Thompson (1849–
but with kinship ties among the 1946) preached an 1870 version known
Lushoosteeds, Petius and his large family as the Warm House along coastal Oregon
served as Bible Shakers, a Pentecostal for a year after April 1877. Natives of the
choir on radio, and lay preachers until Oregon coast had been particularly dev-
their father led them back to Winter astated and sought succor in new faiths,
Dancing when he took up an expected including the Indian Shaker Church.
family career as a Native doctor. Drawing Jay Miller
on family privileges, he rapidly became See also Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest;
successful through his use of painted Christianity, Indianization of; Dance,
power boards and an inherited ability as Northwest Winter Spirit Dances; Guardian
Spirit Complex; Healing Traditions,
a medium who was able to deal with Northwest; Indian Shaker Church;
troubling ghosts. Missionization, Alaska; Missionization,
Helped by his large family of daugh- Northwest; Religious Leaders, Alaska;
Sbatatdaq (Sqadaq)
ters, he founded his own smokehouse
and began initiating new dancers. When Amoss, Pamela. 1982. “Resurrection,
his older son married the daughter of an- Healing, and ‘the Shake’: The Story of
other Native doctor, both their families John and Mary Slocum.” Pp. 87–109 in
Charisma and Sacred Biography. Edited
enhanced their careers. As other chil-
by Michael Williams. Journal of the
dren married into other reservations this American Academy of Religion, Thematic
network expanded, and it continues to Studies XLVIII (3/4): 87–109.
Barnett, Homer. 1957. Indian Shakers, A
do so.
Messianic Cult of the Pacific Northwest.
Late in his career, Petius was given Carbondale: Southern Illinois University
medical privileges at hospitals in Van- Press.
Collins, June. 1974. Valley of the Spirits.
couver, Canada, and in several cities in
Washington state. Native patients in Jenness, Diamond. 1955. The Faith of a
these impersonal surroundings immedi- Coast Salish Indian. Anthropology in
ately began to improve. At his death, the British Columbia Memoir 3. Victoria:
British Columbia Provincial Museum.
eldest son assumed the mantle of his fa- Jilek, Wolfgang. 1982. Indian Healing:
ther, but has yet to enjoy the same wide Shamanic Ceremonialism in the Pacific
fame. Northwest Today. Surrey, British
Columbia: Hancock House Publishers.
Finally, the impact of other “minor” Miller, Jay. 1999. Lushootseed Culture and
prophets should be mentioned. During the Shamanic Odyssey: An Anchored
817
Religious Leaders, Plains ____________________________________________________________________
Radiance. Lincoln: University of position as a healer was established

Nebraska Press. when he healed his uncle, Yellow Man,
Ruby, Robert, and John Brown. 1996. John
Slocum and the Indian Shaker Church. when he was extremely ill. After having
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. cured nineteen people he was presented
Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays. with the Feathered Pipe, and he held the
———, ed. 1990. Handbook of North office of Pipe Chief medicine man, a very
American Indians: Northwest Coast, vol. important honor. He died at eighty-five
7. Washington, DC: Smithsonian years of age, having foretold his own
Institution Press.
Waterman, Thomas. 1924. “The Shake
death. His daughter, Garter Snake, dic-
Religion of Puget Sound.” Smithsonian tated his life story to Frederick Gone, a
Report for 1922: 499–507. Gros Ventre tribal member. The volume,
edited by George Horse Capture, was
published as The Seven Visions of Bull
Lodge in 1980.
Religious Leaders, Plains
Bull Lodge James Blue Bird (c. 1887–?)
A spiritual leader and warrior said to One of the first peyote roadmen among
possess the ability to heal and prophesy, the Lakota, James Blue Bird was first ex-
Bull Lodge kept two of the central sacred posed to the peyote faith in 1902, at the
symbols within Gros Ventre religiosity: age of fifteen. Quanah Parker, a Co-
the Feathered Pipe, or Chief Medicine manche peyote roadman, led this cere-
Pipe, and the Flat Pipe. Such pipes are monial meeting. His father, who was an
kept in sacred bundles, which are Episcopal minister, did not protest his
wrapped in outer wrappings along with son’s newfound faith, seeing in it the
other sacred objects. symbols of Christianity: the cross, the
Bull Lodge was born in 1802 and died fire, and prayer to a Great Spirit. He spent
in 1886. He distinguished himself in his years learning about the tradition from
early life as a powerful warrior, and he John Rave and Albert Hensley in Ne-
sought spiritual empowerment as well, braska. When James Blue Bird returned
undergoing seven different fasts in seven to his community in 1916, he was quickly
different sacred spaces of the Gros Ventre acknowledged as a peyote roadman. In
landscape. As a result he received power- 1918 the Native American Church was
ful visions that aided the Gros Ventre officially incorporated, so as to protect
people through difficult eras of change its followers under the constitutional as-
and colonization. Because of his role as surance of freedom of religion. Subse-
keeper of the sacred Flat Pipe and Feath- quently, Blue Bird organized and di-
ered Pipe, Bull Lodge was able to influ- rected the Native American Church of
ence the weather, cure illnesses, and South Dakota, a position that he held for
protect the community from danger. His fifty years. His church ultimately com-
818
___________________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Plains
prised sixteen local chapters. The year of customs of Euro-Americans. In 1892, with
his death is unknown. his father’s approval, he became an Epis-
copal priest. In 1873 he founded Wojo
Davéko (1818–1897 or 1898) Okolakiciye, The Planting Society, which
Davéko, an Oklahoma Kiowa-Apache was later known as the Brotherhood of
who lived from about 1818 until 1897 or Christian Unity. He was elected chief of
1898, was a powerful healer and spiritual the Eight Band of the Yankton Sioux, and
leader. As an adolescent, Davéko under- in 1888 he was placed in charge of the
took the four-day vision quest, receiving Episcopal missions of South Dakota. He
the spirit-powers of turtle, owl, and served as a missionary and priest for forty
snake. Davéko used a black handkerchief years on the Standing Rock Reservation,
in his healing ceremonies; it helped him before dying in 1931. He married Mary
to locate the disease-causing object. He Sully Bordeau and had five daughters and
healed patients through the use of herbs, one son, Vine Victor Deloria, Sr.
roots, songs, prayers, and through the lit-
eral sucking out of the object that was Vine Victor Deloria, Sr. (1901–1990)
causing the disease. His success at heal- Vine Victor Deloria, Sr., was born in 1901,
ing, as well as his ability to find lost indi- and, following in his father’s footsteps,
viduals or objects, enabled him to be- he became an Episcopal priest. In 1926,
come a powerful spiritual leader during Deloria played a key role in the govern-
a tumultuous century. ment hearings at Lake Andes and Pipe-
stone Quarry, the quarry where many
Philip Deloria (Tipi Sapa) Plains tribes secure the pipestone
(1853–1931) needed to carve the bowls of sacred
Born in 1853, Philip Deloria (Yankton pipes. With his assistance as a translator,
Sioux) was raised in the traditional way, the tribes were able to secure access to
and he was apprenticed to his father to the quarries. Following his ordination as
become a traditional spiritual leader and a priest, Deloria served for seventeen
healer. His mother, Siha Sapewin, was years at the All Saints Mission, and then
Lakota of the Rosebud band. When he for an additional three years at the Sisse-
was three years old, while his father was ton Mission in South Dakota. He was ap-
away, Philip became very ill and died. pointed to the Episcopal National Coun-
When his father returned, he carried cil in 1954 and oversaw all Episcopal
Philip to a high hill, where he prayed for Indian mission work in his position as
his son’s life. Philip was restored to life, assistant secretary for Indian Missions of
and the next day he and his father re- the Episcopal Church of America. Later
turned to the community. When he was he was also appointed archdeacon of the
seventeen, Philip converted to Christian- American Indian parishes in South
ity, adopting the dress and many of the Dakota.
819
Vine Deloria, Jr. (1933–) Movement, and for other Indian activists
Vine Deloria, Jr., has been described as of the era. Other important publications
one of the most influential voices among include God Is Red: A Native View of Reli-
contemporary American Indian authors. gion (1973); Behind the Trail of Broken
He has acted as an advocate for Ameri- Treaties (1974); American Indian Policy
can Indian religious rights, the preserva- in the 20th Century (1985); Red Earth,
tion of sacred land, and tribal sover- White Lies: Native Americans and the
eignty, and against the cultural Myth of Scientific Fact (1997); and For
assimilation of Native people. Born in This Land: Writings on Religion in Amer-
1933, he received his bachelor’s degree ica (1999).
from Iowa State University before earn-
ing a master’s degree in theology from Frank Fools Crow (1891–1989)
Lutheran School of Theology, Rock Is- Born around 1891, Frank Fools Crow was
land, Illinois. He decided against becom- an important spiritual leader among the
ing ordained, arguing that following the Lakota. He led Sun Dances, yuwipi cere-
white man’s religion had failed to grant monies, and was a healer (wapiye) for
Indian people social or political equality, more than sixty years. In addition to
nor had Christianity succeeded in lifting maintaining his traditional faith, in 1917
the United States out of a spiritual, he became a Catholic, and he saw no dif-
moral, and ecological crisis. He urged in- ficulty in practicing both faiths. He was
stead a return to traditional Native reli- faithful to both traditions until his death
giosity, and, for non-Natives, a complete in 1989. A nephew of the famous Lakota
change in social and theological outlook. spiritual leader Black Elk, Fools Crow
Non-Natives as well, he argues, should was taught the traditional Lakota spiri-
return to a tribal-communal approach to tual path. He was trained by his father
life that seeks an ecologically balanced and grandfathers, as well as by Iron
relationship with the environment. Cloud, a Lakota leader, and Stirrup, a fa-
Deloria is a founding member of the mous Lakota medicine man of the early
National Congress of American Indians twentieth century. During his vision
(NCAI); he served as a professor of law quest in 1905 he received a powerful vi-
and political science at the University of sion that would empower him in his spir-
Arizona; and he is currently a professor itual practice. And in 1913 he received
of American Indian Studies, History, another vision while riding in the midst
Law, Political Science, and Religious of a thunderstorm. His second vision
Studies at the University of Colorado, quest in 1914 likewise empowered him
Boulder. His first book, Custer Died for with another powerful spirit. These vi-
Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, pub- sions and spiritual relationships would
lished in 1969, served as an inspiration enable him to be a powerful leader and
for the newly emerging American Indian intercessor for the Lakota people.
820
Fools Crow played an important role

in the American Indian Movement of the
1970s, particularly in the occupation of
Wounded Knee in 1973. He blessed the
efforts of the occupiers, and offered en-
couragement to them as a spiritual
leader. He, along with other Lakota eld-
ers, also sought to achieve a peaceful rec-
onciliation by negotiating with federal
representatives. He delivered the pro-
posed settlement to those occupying the
Knee, and facilitated a peaceful conclu-
sion. However, he himself was disap-
pointed with the terms of the negotia-
tion, because it failed to achieve their
goals: the reinstatement of the agreed-
upon treaty relationship, as established
in the 1868 treaty with the federal gov-
ernment. Fools Crow, following instruc-
tions he received in a vision, dictated his
life story to Thomas E. Mails, with the as-
sistance of Dallas Chief Eagle. The book, American writer Mary Crow Dog in Paris.
(Sophie Bassouls/Corbis Sygma)
Fools Crow, was published in 1979.
Albert Hensley (1875–?) gion. He was a founding member of the

Born in 1875, Albert Hensley (Win- peyote church when the Winnebago in-
nebago) was a peyote roadman and mis- corporated the church, the first tribe
sionary. As a roadman, he helped to es- outside of Oklahoma to do so. It was later
tablish his particular mode of ceremony, renamed the Native American Church of
the Cross-Fire or Big Moon ritual, Winnebago, Nebraska. The church in-
throughout the northern Plains, among cludes both Half-Moon and Cross-Fire
the Ojibwa, Chippewa, and Lakota. He ceremonial traditions.
also introduced the use of the Christian
Bible into the ceremony, and he crafted a Emily Hill (1911–?)
more Christianized expression of the Born in 1911, Emily Hill was a remark-
peyote meeting. He was involved both able woman who worked as a spiritual
spiritually and politically, writing letters leader, healer, and preserver of cultural
to the federal government and Bureau of knowledge. Hill spent nearly all her life in
Indian Affairs defending the peyote reli- the Little Wind River area in Wyoming,
821
though she briefly attended boarding after the dances had ceased to be held.
school on the Wind River Reservation. Along with other women, she also sang
Hill was the granddaughter of a at Sun Dances, supporting the efforts of
Shoshone warrior woman who was well young Shoshone men as they prayed and
known for her bravery in battle and her suffered for their communities.
fierce advocacy for mistreated women in Throughout her life she continued to
her community. Hill herself married and pray and heal using the sacred songs
had three children. After her husband’s from the Ghost Dance, the Sun Dance,
death, she lived with her half-sister, the Women’s Dance, and the Wolf Dance.
Dorothy. The two of them lived together By singing these songs she was able to
for the remainder of their lives, support- cultivate healing power and renew rela-
ing and caring for each other. Together tionships with the powerful spirits pres-
they drove teams of horses, cut and ent in the natural world. Along with four
stacked hay, irrigated fields, and dragged other Shoshone women, Hill collabo-
and cut large logs for firewood. After rated with Judith Vander to produce a
Dorothy was injured in the 1950s, Emily book, Songprints, which was published
took care of her until her death, thirty in 1988.
years later.
Hill was a powerful medicine woman Kee’Kah’Wah’Un’Ga (Reuben A.
and healer. While at boarding school as a Snake, Jr.) (1937–1993)
child, she witnessed a measles epidemic. Born in 1937, Kee’Kah’Wah’Un’Ga (Win-
She helped to care for the other children nebago) was an important religious and
and gained a respect for certain aspects political leader. He fought throughout
of Western medicine. As an adult she his adult life for religious and political
practiced traditional Shoshone medi- freedom for American Indian people. He
cine, curing people through powerful was a national chairman of the American
songs that she acquired within dreams Indian Movement in 1972 and national
and visions. She was trained by a president of the National Congress of
Shoshone woman elder, who taught her American Indians from 1985 to 1987.
traditional modes of healing and the use Kee’Kah’Wah’Un’Ga was a prayer chief
of herbs, as well as the procedure for and roadman of the Native American
procuring spirit power. Inspired by what Church, as well as the elected tribal
she had seen at boarding school, Hill chairman of the Winnebago nation. As
combined aspects of Western medicine roadman and spiritual leader, he fre-
with that of traditional Shoshone medi- quently led all-night prayer services to
cine, creating a unique mode of healing. seek peace and justice for American In-
Hill and her sister were also believers dian people. He served as a founding
in the Ghost Dance religion, and she trustee and spiritual adviser within the
continued to sing the sacred songs long American Indian Ritual Object Repatria-
822
tion Foundation. He traveled throughout rejection of white culture and its vices,
the country lobbying for legislation that such as drinking.
would ensure American Indian people Kicking Bear and his brother-in-law
the right to religious freedom. It was in Short Bull received a vision instructing
part due to his efforts and advocacy that them to make a Ghost-Shirt. The shirts,
the American Indian Religious Freedom they believed, would protect them from
Act (1978), the National Museum of the bullets. They brought these shirts with
American Indian Act (1989), the Native them to the Lakota when they taught
American Graves Protection and Repa- them the Ghost Dance. The militaristic
triation Act (1990), the Native Language overtones that Kicking Bear inspired in
Act (1990), and the Native American Free the dance aroused fear in government
Exercise of Religion Act (1993) were suc- officials, and they sought to curtail the
cessfully passed. religious practice. They attempted to
arrest Kicking Bear, but he eluded
Kicking Bear (1846–1904) them, which added to his fame and his
Born about 1846, Kicking Bear (Lakota) followers’ belief in the new religion. In
was an important medicine man and 1890 he and his followers fled to the
warrior. He was an advocate of the Ghost Badlands in South Dakota, hoping to
Dance among the Lakota, and in 1889, avoid persecution.
along with several others, he visited the Fearing that Kicking Bear’s uncle, Sit-
Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka. He be- ting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake), would join
came convinced of the truth of Wovoka’s them, the Standing Rock Indian agent at-
claims and returned to the Rosebud and tempted to have him arrested. In the en-
Standing Rock reservations to teach the suing struggle, Sitting Bull was murdered.
new religion. The Ghost Dance taught Following that, the Minneconjou leader
that all Native people, the living and the Big Foot (Si Tanka) decided to move his
dead, would soon be reunited. The world people to the Pine Ridge Reservation, to
would soon be remade and all white peo- seek protection. The army however, mis-
ple removed from the land. The buffalo takenly believed that Big Foot was on his
would return, and the earth would be re- way to join Kicking Bear and intercepted
stored. Followers were to dance in a tra- them. The next day, on December 29,
ditional circle-dance and sing. Periodi- 1890, the U.S. Seventh Cavalry massacred
cally dancers would fall to the ground more than two hundred children,
and be given visions in which they were women, and men of Big Foot’s band, in-
transported to the spirit world. There cluding Big Foot himself. Afraid for their
they were taught new songs, dances, and safety, Kicking Bear and his people sur-
rituals that they were to teach to the peo- rendered to the army. In 1891 he was in-
ple. The movement also called for the re- carcerated. However, his sentence was
turn to a traditional mode of life, and a commuted on the condition that he join
823
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show for two to her tribal community. Her sense of
years. He did so, returning to Wounded communal obligation and responsibility
Knee Creek in 1892, where he lived with guided her in all her actions, and she
his family until his death in 1904. sought to improve the welfare and well-
being of the Omaha people.
Susan La Flesche Picotte (1863–1915)
Born in 1865 on the Omaha Reservation, John Fire Lame Deer
Susan La Flesche Picotte was the daugh- John Fire Lame Deer was born on the
ter of the Omaha chief Joseph La Flesche. Rosebud Lakota Reservation in the late
As a child she studied with both Presby- nineteenth century. He was a powerful
terian and Quaker missionaries, who fa- Lakota spiritual leader who received his
cilitated her entrance into school. She spiritual power from the thunder beings,
graduated from the Elizabeth Institute for or wakinyan. At sixteen he underwent his
Young Ladies in New Jersey, the Hampton first vision quest; he was told in a vision of
Institute in Virginia, and in 1889 from the his great-grandfather that he would be-
Women’s Medical College of Pennsylva- come an important spiritual leader and
nia. She was the first American Indian instruct many more medicine men who
woman to become a medical doctor would follow him. Throughout his adult
trained in the European-American tradi- life he was a healer, using traditional
tion. She worked as a reservation doctor herbs as well as traditional ceremonies
on the Omaha Reservation and as a med- such as the yuwipi to heal his patients. He
ical missionary to her tribe. She was an was the father of Archie Fire Lame Deer,
advocate for Indian rights, speaking to who also went on to become an impor-
Congress and to many religious congre- tant spiritual leader in his community.
gations. She lobbied for resources to end Lame Deer remained a practitioner of tra-
tuberculosis among Native communities, ditional Lakota religion, preferring not to
for increased access to education, and for follow any Christian traditions or the Na-
the prohibition of alcohol on reserva- tive American Church. Remaining true to
tions. She also advocated for local, Indian the Lakota traditions, and practicing
control of their own lands and for the them in a faithful way as they should be
right of individual Indian people to lease done, was, he said, more than enough for
or sell their land without government su- him. His commitment to his community
pervision. In 1913 she founded a hospital and to their traditional way of life has
on the Omaha Reservation that, following helped to ensure its survival through a tu-
her death in 1915, was named after her. multuous century.
While she was deeply entrenched in and
able to navigate the white world of Low Horn (Atsitsi) (1822–1846/1899)
schools, congressional halls, and Born around 1822, Low Horn (Blackfoot)
churches, she also remained committed was one of the most important spiritual
824
leaders of his generation, along with and healers in his community and be-
such individuals as Black Eagle and the came a powerful healer. He had the abil-
medicine woman Kitsin’iki. He was a ity to cure gunshot wounds, even those
powerful healer who doctored through that white physicians could not heal. He
the spirit-powers of sparrow hawk, rab- died in 1899.
bit, thunder, and mouse. He undertook a
successful vision quest at thirteen, when Mon’Hin Thin Ge
he acquired his first spirit-power, thun- Mon’Hin Thin Ge (Omaha) was born in
der. In a dream he was given the spirit the early 1800s, and was an important
songs of sparrow hawk, and in other vi- spiritual leader and keeper of the Sacred
sions that of jackrabbit and mouse. He Tent of War. Three sacred tents within
was a powerful medicine man and suc- Omaha tradition encompasses the most
cessful warrior. In 1846 he was killed in a important elements of Omaha spiritual-
battle with the Cree. Fearing his great ity: the tent for the Sacred Pole, the Sa-
power, the Cree dismembered his body cred Tent of War, and the Sacred Tent of
and attempted to burn the remains. A the White Buffalo. Mon’Hin Thin Ge was
burning ember from his body flew from chosen to keep the Tent of War. As an
the fire, and where it landed a bear adolescent, Mon’Hin Thin Ge underwent
emerged from the ground. The bear the traditional Omaha vision quest, or
killed five of the Cree. No’zhi zho, which literally means “to
Low Horn was so powerful that he stand sleeping.” The vision that he re-
was able to reincarnate himself into a ceived empowered him in his office as
young Blackfoot, named Only Person spiritual leader. During and just prior to
Who Had a Different Gun. When he was his life, the Omaha experienced a num-
six, Different Gun met Low Horn’s ber of devastating blows: in 1802 white
widow, and he told those around him traders brought smallpox to the Omaha,
that she had once been his sweetheart. and the resulting epidemic decimated
The next day, he and his family crossed the community. The population dropped
the site where Low Horn had been from 3,500 to fewer than 300. The na-
killed. The boy began to cry, and told his tion’s cultural continuity was further
family that this was where he had been threatened by the U.S. government’s re-
killed. To prove his identity he in- location policies, by which the Omaha
structed elders in his community to find were forced west of their original home-
certain objects that Low Horn had hid- land. They were resettled on the Omaha
den before his death. Eventually the Reservation in Nebraska in 1854. The
community accepted Different Gun as federal government forced them to cede
the reborn healer and began to call him the northern half of the reservation in
Low Horn. From that time, Low Horn 1865, for the resettlement of the Win-
was apprenticed to the spiritual leaders nebago Nation.
825
These devastating events brought she determined that her own children
enormous cultural changes. In 1884, would choose their own spouses. She left
Mon’Hin Thin Ge feared that the knowl- her first husband and married Bad Soldier,
edge of Omaha ceremonialism would be with whom she had eleven children. Xe-
lost with him, and with it the proper care háchwinga had an active faith that inte-
and respect for the Sacred Tent of War. grated three traditions: traditional Win-
Afraid that the objects would be neg- nebago spirituality, the peyote religion,
lected or abused, he gave them to and Christianity.
Omaha physician Francis La Flesche and Her father, who taught his daughters
ethnologist Alice Fletcher. The sacred to observe certain ritual practices and
objects held within the Sacred Tent of prayers, introduced her to traditional
War were placed in the Peabody Mu- Winnebago spirituality. Her grandfather,
seum at Harvard University. The con- Náqiwankwa’xo’piniga, who was a medi-
tents of the Sacred Tent of the Sacred cine man and who passed on his spiri-
Pole were likewise bequeathed to tual power to her, also instructed her in
Peabody Museum by their keeper, Shu’- traditional Winnebago healing practices.
Denaci, in 1888. Happily, since 1989 the In 1908 she was first introduced to pey-
sacred pole, which is the most sacred ob- ote, which she used during the birth of
ject of Omaha ceremonialism, as well as her third child. The experience was so
the objects of the Sacred Tent of War, positive that she became an adherent of
have been repatriated to the Omaha by the peyote faith. While attending a pey-
the Peabody Museum. ote ceremony, she had a powerful vision
of Jesus. The experience was profoundly
Mountain Wolf Woman (Xeháchwinga) moving, and following the experience
(1884–1960) she was convinced of the sacrality of the
Si’ga’xunuga (Winnebago) was born in peyote way. After that she became a pey-
1884 and was a traditional healer and peyote leader. Her reputation as a peyote
ote leader. When she was three years old, leader spread widely, and people came
she became very ill and nearly died. An In- from far away to join the meetings. She
dian medicine woman, named Wolf integrated Christianity within her faith
Woman, healed her. The woman then in peyote and continued to believe that
gave Si’ga’xunuga her healing powers and peyote was a holy faith, blessed by Jesus,
a new name, Xeháchwinga, which roughly that would help Indian people to over-
translates as Mountain Wolf Woman. She come alcoholism and other destructive
spent eight years in a Lutheran mission behavior. Throughout her adult life she
school and was baptized there. She left the continued to practice both as a tradi-
school to enter into a marriage arranged tional Winnebago medicine woman and
by her brothers, and did so against her as a peyote leader with a faith in Jesus
will. The experience was unpleasant, and Christ. She died in 1960, just before her
826
life story was put to press. Mountain Wolf woman, Sharp-Skin, healed her, and the
Woman: Sister of Crashing Thunder, was experience left her with a sensitivity for
edited by her adopted niece, Nancy healing the illnesses of others. As a
Oestreich Lurie. young wife, she experienced the death of
a baby girl. During her mourning period,
Porcupine (Hishkowitz) (1847–?) she fasted and slept very little. She
Born around 1847, Porcupine (Chey- prayed for a vision that would give her
enne) was an important healer, spiritual comfort and also be a blessing to her
leader, and spokesperson for the community.
Cheyenne nation for more than forty While in a medicine dream state, she
years. Following a visit to Wovoka at had a vision of a spirit woman. The
Walker Lake, Nevada, he became a be- woman instructed her in a number of rit-
liever in the Ghost Dance, and he re- uals that she was to perform. Once she
turned to his people as an advocate for had done them, Pretty Shield was in-
the faith. His father was Arikara and his structed to enter a beautiful lodge that
mother Lakota, but he joined the had a war eagle at its head. Following
Cheyenne nation when he married a that, Pretty Shield was given the spirit-
Cheyenne woman. He is well known for power of war eagle. Later she was also
his bravery as a warrior, as well as for his given the spirit-power of ants, a powerful
leadership in the Ghost Dance. He led spirit that enabled her to do great things.
dances until the turn of the century, She became a wise elder and respected
when he was arrested and sentenced to medicine woman. When Pretty Shield
hard labor for practicing a faith that the was seventy-four, she told her life story,
federal government had outlawed. He describing the ways of the Crow people
was a successful healer within his com- as well as traditional passages of life,
munities until the end of his life, and well such as childhood, courtship, marriage,
known for his ability to cure. He healed and childbirth, to Frank Linderman. The
his patients with the use of spirit-power resulting book, Red Mother, was pub-
songs, sweet grass, a sacred rattle, a sa- lished in 1932. It was reprinted in 1972
cred pipe, and medicinal teas and roots. and retitled Pretty Shield: Medicine
Woman of the Crows.
Pretty Shield (1857–?)
Pretty Shield (Crow) was born around Quanah Parker (1850–1911)
1857, and was a powerful medicine Quanah Parker was born around 1850,
woman among her people. She was one the son of Peta Nocona, a chief of the
of three sisters, all of whom married a Quahada band of Comanche, and a
man named Goes-Ahead. When she was white woman, Cynthia Ann Parker. Cyn-
sixteen, she was struck with smallpox thia Ann Parker was captured in 1836
and nearly died. A Crow medicine along with her brother when she was
827
nine years old and later married Peta No- doning his faith in the peyote religion or
cona. She was recaptured by a white man his belief in the value of the traditional
in 1860. She repeatedly begged to be al- Comanche way of life.
lowed to return to the Comanche and
her husband and children but was never Sanapia (1895–1968)
allowed to do so. She died in 1864. Parker Sanapia (Comanche) was born in 1895
was known for his success as a warrior, as and was a powerful medicine woman.
well as for his role in promoting the pey- She attended the Cache Creek Mission
ote religion throughout the Plains. School, before undertaking four years of
Parker fiercely resisted white encroach- intensive study to become an Eagle Doc-
ment on Comanche lands, surrendering tor. She trained with her mother, a Co-
only after years of resistance. Following manche-Arapaho, and her mother’s
his surrender, however, Parker quickly older brother, both of whom were Eagle
adapted to the white world. He encour- Doctors. During her training she was
aged the Comanche to be educated in closely observed by her mother, uncle,
white schools and to learn to navigate maternal grandmother, and paternal
the white world. By 1867 he was chief of grandfather. When they all approved, she
the Kwahadi band of the Comanche. was accorded a blessing ceremony and
The peyote faith would have been a granted the status of Eagle Doctor.
part of Comanche culture throughout In her training she studied the diagno-
his life, as the Comanche had been sis of illness, the use of medicinal plants,
using peyote since the early 1800s. But it and important ritual actions and restric-
was not until 1884, when Parker became tions. She doctored with the use of
seriously ill and was cured with the aid herbal medicines; sacred songs; the
of peyote, that it became an important spirit power of the eagle, which was
part of his life. From that time on, he de- called forth through her medicine songs;
fended the use of peyote against gov- and by sucking the object that had
ernment and Christian opposition. He caused the illness out of the patient’s
saw it as a means by which Native peo- body. She was particularly skilled at cur-
ple could not merely talk about Jesus, ing Ghost Sickness, a dangerous ailment.
but speak directly to Jesus. Parker went In her religious life, she was exposed to
on to be a judge in the Courts of Indian the traditional Comanche faith by her
Offences, which was established by In- mother and uncle, the peyote religion by
dian agents on Indian reservations. He her uncle and grandfather, and Chris-
was a chief representative for the Co- tianity by her father. She incorporated el-
manche people during the Dawes Act of ements of all these traditions within her
1887, and he later became a successful worldview and approach to healing. Al-
businessman and friend of President though she completed her training to be
Theodore Roosevelt, while never aban- an Eagle Doctor when she was seven-
828
teen, she was not able to begin her work chita, and Kiowa. Participants received
as a healer until after menopause. Her visions of the spirit world and communi-
first healing took place in the late 1930s, cated with departed relatives. In 1890,
when she healed her sister’s child. She Sitting Bull advised the Arapaho to sell
died in 1968. their reservation lands to the U.S. gov-
ernment for needed money. He firmly
Sitting Bull (Haná cha-thí ak) believed that the land would soon be re-
(1854–1932) stored to them with the coming of the
Sitting Bull (Arapaho) was born around messiah and the re-creation of the world.
1854; he was an important Ghost Dance When the lands were not soon returned,
leader and prophet. One should not con- and when the Ghost Dance movement
fuse him with the Hunkpapa Sioux prin- entered into a rapid decline following the
cipal chief Sitting Bull. Haná cha-thí ak massacre at Wounded Knee, Sitting Bull
accompanied several other men, includ- lost influence and his position as spiri-
ing Kicking Bear, to visit the prophet Wo- tual leader. He died in 1932.
voka, who had founded the new Ghost
Dance religion. He returned to the Ara- Tenskwatawa (c. 1775–1836) and
paho and began teaching the songs, Tecumseh (c. 1768–1813)
dance, and message of the Ghost Dance. Born in 1775, Tenskwatawa was an im-
The Ghost Dance taught that a messiah portant Shawnee spiritual leader who
was coming, that soon the world would worked alongside his brother Tecumseh
be remade, that the white people would toward a revitalization of Shawnee cul-
be removed from the land, and that the ture and a political alliance with other
dead would return to life, joining their liv- Native people. In 1806, Tenskwatawa
ing relatives. The buffalo would return became ill and died. He revived sud-
and the world would be reborn. Wovoka denly, telling his people that he had had
taught that Indians should live peacefully a vision from the Master of Life that
with whites but maintain their traditional showed him a beautiful country re-
way of life. They should abstain from al- served for those who lived honorable
cohol, gambling, and violence. Sitting lives, and a world of fiery torture for
Bull received a vision that when this great those who led wicked lives. He taught
event came, the whites would be removed that the Shawnee should turn from
from the land by a great wall of fire. Native drinking, intertribal violence, poly-
people would be protected from the fire gamy, intermarriage with whites, and
by sacred eagle feathers, and a great rain promiscuity, and return to traditional
would then put the fire out. Shawnee ways of life. He demonstrated
Sitting Bull held large Ghost Dances at his spiritual power by accurately pre-
which thousands of people attended, in- dicting the total eclipse of the sun that
cluding Arapaho, Cheyenne, Caddo, Wi- took place on June 16, 1806.
829
Wellness, Traditional Approaches;

Missionization, Northern Plains; Native
American Church, Peyote Movement;
Power, Plains; Retraditionalism and
Revitalization Movements; Sacred Pipe;
Sweatlodge; Tobacco, Sacred Use of; Vision
Quest Rites; Yuwipi Ceremony
Axelrod, Alan. 1993. Chronicle of the Indian
Wars: From Colonial Times to Wounded
Knee. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Deloria, Vine. 1969. Custer Died for Your
Sins: An Indian Manifesto. New York:
Macmillan.
———. 1973. God Is Red: A Native View of
Religion. New York: Grosset and Dunlap.
———. 1974. Behind the Trail of Broken
Treaties: An Indian Declaration of
Shawnee mystic Tenskwatawa served as a Independence. New York: Delacorte Press.
spiritual guide and inspiration for his brother ———. 1999. For This Land: Writings on
Tecumseh. Early 1800s. (North Wind Picture Religion in America. New York:
Archives) Routledge.
Fikes, J. C., ed. 1998. Reuben Snake: Your
Humble Serpent. Santa Fe: Clear Light
Publications.
Tenskwatawa’s religious movement Fletcher, Alice C., and Francis La Flesche.
served as a spiritual guide and inspiration 1911. The Omaha Tribe. Washington, DC:
for his brother Tecumseh’s political goal of Grinnell, George Bird. 1962. The Cheyenne
forming a pantribal confederacy. The Indians: Their History and Ways of Life.
brothers hoped to form an alliance that New York: Cooper Square Publishers.
Hittman, Michael. 1990. Wovoka and the
would prevent further expansion of white Ghost Dance. Carson City, NV: Grace
settlers. He and his brother traveled Dangberg Foundation.
widely, from present-day Wisconsin to Horse Capture, George. 1980. The Seven
Visions of Bull Lodge. Lincoln: University
present-day Florida, advocating their reli- of Nebraska Press.
gious and political visions. Tenskwatawa Johnson, Troy. 2002. Distinguished Native
lost influence after a failed military en- American Spiritual Practitioners and
Healers. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.
gagement with U.S. troops. In 1813 he Jones, David E. 1972. Sanapia: Comanche
fled to Canada, and his religious move- Medicine Woman. Prospect Heights, IL:
ment came to an end. Waveland Press.
Lame Deer, Archie Fire, and Richard Erdoes.
Suzanne J. Crawford and 1994. Gift of Power: The Life and
Karen D. Lone Hill Teachings of a Lakota Medicine Man.
Santa Fe: Bear and Company.
See also American Indian Movement (Red Lame Deer, John Fire, and Richard Erdoes.
Power Movement); Bundles, Sacred Bundle 1972/1994. Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions.
Traditions; Ecology and Environmentalism; Reprint, New York: Washington Square
Ghost Dance Movement; Health and Press.
830
__________________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Plateau
Linderman, Frank B. 1972. Pretty Shield: that inspired the new religion. In Hunt’s
Medicine Woman of the Crows. Lincoln: vision he saw Lishwailait, a Klickitat
Lurie, Nancy Oestreich. 1961. Mountain prophet. Lishwailait was standing in the
Wolf Woman: Sister of Crashing Thunder. center of a circular disk of light that sym-
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. bolized an expanse of land, the earth.
Mails, Thomas. 1990. Fools Crow. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press. Lishwailait was dressed in traditional
McAllister, J. G. 1970. Davéko Kiowa Apache clothing, wore two eagle feathers in his
Medicine Man. Austin: Texas Memorial hair, and carried a small drum and
Museum.
Neeley, Bill. 1995. The Last Comanche Chief:
drumstick. Following the vision, Hunt
The Life and Times of Quanah Parker. stopped grieving for his wife and son,
New York: Wiley. both of whom had died within months of
Paper, Jordan. 1989. Offering Smoke: The
each other, and built a longhouse.
Sacred Pipe and Native American Religion.
Moscow: University of Idaho Press. The Waptashi, or Feather Religion,
Steinmetz, Paul B. 1990. Pipe, Bible, and drew on elements of Waashat traditions
Peyote among the Oglala Lakota: A Study
and the Indian Shaker Church. Like
in Religious Identity. Knoxville:
University of Tennessee Press. other Dreamer Prophets of the time,
Stewart, Omar. 1990. Peyote Religion: A Hunt advised his followers to reject white
History. Norman: University of
acculturation and return to Native tradi-
Oklahoma Press.
Sugden, John. 1998. Tecumseh: A Life. New tions. Like the Shaker Church, the Wap-
York: Henry Holt and Company. tashi advocate abstaining from alcohol;
Tong, Benson. 2000. Susan La Flesche healing is a central part of worship, and
Picotte, M.D.: Omaha Indian Leader and
Reformer. Norman: University of services are held in a longhouse. Like the
Oklahoma Press. Waashat, Waptashi adherents continue
Vander, Judith. 1988. Songprints: The Musical to honor first foods ceremonies, cele-
Experience of Five Shoshone Women.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press. brating the first salmon, berries, roots,
and game of the year.
The Waptashi can be distinguished
from the Waashat, or Seven Drums reli-
Religious Leaders, Plateau
gion practiced throughout the Plateau,
Jake Hunt, Klickitat (c. 1860–1910 by its use of feathers and spinning (wask-
or 1914) liki) in rituals. These elements are in-
Jake Hunt founded the Waptashi, or tended both to purify individuals and to
Feather Religion. Born on the White help them attain spiritual assistance.
Salmon River near Husum, Washington, Eagle feathers are held during services,
in the 1860s, Hunt was raised in the and hand mirrors, which were also pres-
Washani or Longhouse religion. He was a ent in Hunt’s vision, are used as well.
follower of Smohalla, the Wanapum Hunt traveled widely throughout the
Dreamer prophet. Following the death of Plateau, teaching about his new religion.
his wife and son, Hunt received a vision When he was unable to cure a man on
831
Religious Leaders, Plateau __________________________________________________________________
the Umatilla Reservation, the reservation

agent banished him from the reservation
and destroyed Hunt’s sacred objects. He
died sometime between 1910 and 1914.
Chief Joseph, Nez Perce (1840–1904)

Chief Joseph was born in the Wallowa
Valley in 1840 and was named Hin mah
tooyah lat kekt, or Thunder Rolling Down
the Mountain. Chief Joseph led the Nez
Perce during an era of rapid change and
white encroachment on Native lands.
While not an official religious leader,
Chief Joseph was a central cultural and
spiritual leader to his people during a
time of violence, oppression, and forced
relocation. His resistance to white en-
croachment on Native lands, and his in-
sistence on fighting for his people’s right
to their Native homeland, continues to Chief Joseph (Hin mah tooyah lat kekt, or
be a powerful symbol of Native strength, Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain), Nez
Perce. Chief Joseph was a central cultural and
endurance, and commitment to their spiritual leader who sought to preserve Nez
traditional spiritual values. Perce lands and traditions. 1900. (Gill, De
Throughout their history with white Lancey/Library of Congress)
settlers, the Nez Perce had been cooper-
ative and peaceful, remaining neutral or
even assisting the government in their clude their homeland in the Wallowa Val-
Indian wars. In 1855, Joseph’s father co- ley. Furious over the betrayal, Joseph’s fa-
operated with the territorial governor of ther destroyed his U.S. flag and Bible and
Washington to establish a reservation for refused to leave the valley.
the Nez Perce, one that stretched from Threatened with military force, Chief
Oregon to Idaho, covering 5,000 square Joseph regretfully agreed to move to the
miles and including their Wallowa Valley new reservation. But on the way, a group
homeland. In 1863, following the discov- of frustrated Nez Perce men attacked and
ery of gold in the Wallowa Valley and a killed several white settlers. This began
sudden rush of white settlers, the federal the war between the Nez Perce and the
government produced another treaty. U.S. Army that lasted a year and covered
This treaty reduced the reservation to a 1,400 miles. By the end many Nez Perce
tenth of its former size and did not in- had been killed, in battle or by cold and
832
lack of food. Joseph bitterly surrendered people a home where they can live in
at the Bear Paw Mountains in 1877. In his peace and take care of themselves. I
am tired of talk that comes to
often quoted speech, he said: “I am tired
nothing. It makes my heart sick when
of fighting. . . . Hear me, my chiefs, my I remember all the good words and all
heart is sick and sad. From where the sun the broken promises. If the white man
now stands I will fight no more against wants to live in peace with the Indian
the white man” (Joseph 1995). he can live in peace. There need be no
trouble. Treat all men alike. . . . All
Despite promises that they would be
men were made by the same Great
returned to their reservation, Joseph and Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The
his followers were incarcerated and sent earth is the mother of all people, and
to Oklahoma, where many died of all people should have equal rights
malaria and starvation. In 1879, Joseph upon it. You might as well expect all
rivers to run backward as that any
pleaded his case in Washington, D.C., be-
man who was born a free man should
fore President Rutherford Hayes. But it be contented penned up and denied
was not until 1885 that Joseph and the liberty to go where he pleases. If you
268 remaining nontreaty Nez Perce were tie a horse to a stake, do you expect
allowed to return to the Northwest. Even he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian
up on a small spot of earth and
then, only half of them were allowed to
compel him to stay there, he will not
go to the Nez Perce reservation. Joseph be contented nor will he grow and
and half of his followers were sent to the prosper. . . . I only ask of the
Colville reservation in northern Wash- Government to be treated as all other
ington, where he died in 1904. men are treated. . . . We only ask an
even chance to live as other men
Chief Joseph remains a pivotal char- live. . . . Let me be a free man, free to
acter in the history and cultural identity travel, free to stop, free to work, free
of Native people of the Plateau. His 1879 to trade where I choose, free to
speech before federal officials in Wash- choose my own teachers, free to
follow the religion of my fathers, free
ington, D.C., remains a powerful state-
to talk, think and act for myself—and
ment of the ethical and spiritual position I will obey every law or submit to the
upon which he based his actions and his penalty. . . . Then the Great Spirit
leadership: Chief who rules above will smile upon
this land and send rain to wash out
I have heard talk and talk but nothing the bloody spots made by brothers’
is done. Good words do not last long hands upon the face of the earth. For
unless they amount to something. this time the Indian race is waiting
Words do not pay for my dead people. and praying. I hope no more groans
They do not pay for my country now of wounded men and women will
overrun by white men. They do not ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit
protect my father’s grave. They do not Chief above, and that all people may
pay for my horses and cattle. Good be one people. Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-
words do not give me back my kekht has spoken for his people.
children. Good words will not give my (ibid.)
833
Kau’xuma’nupika (Kokomenepeca), under the designation of ‘Manlike

Kutenai (c.1780–?) Woman.’ Being young, and of delicate
As a prophet and religious leader, Kau’x- frame, her followers attributed her ex-
uma’nupika sought to encourage Native ploits to the possession of supernatural
resistance to white settlement and the power, and therefore received whatever
survival of Native culture on the Colum- she said with implicit faith” (Spier 1935,
bia River. She predicted the arrival of epi- 26–27). In 1811 she arrived in the Co-
demics brought by white immigrants, lumbia River Valley with “a young wife,
the imminent devastation of Indian of whom she pretended to be very jeal-
lands, the destruction of the world, and ous” (Tyrell 1916, 512–513, 920). Kau’xu-
the subsequent arrival of a golden age in ma’nupika was a powerful prophet who
which Indian peoples would be restored mobilized early resistance to white cul-
to their former strength and the dead tural encroachment and encouraged
would return to life. Several early written Native resistance to Christian mission-
records from the early nineteenth cen- ization during a time of epidemic dis-
tury mention Kau’xuma’nupika. Ross ease and the arrival of large numbers of
Cox was one Euro-American who met white settlers.
Kau-xuma-nupika in person. As he re-
called: “Among the visitors who every Lillian Pitt, Warm Springs and
now and then presented themselves Yakima (1943–)
were two strange Indians, in the char- Born in 1943 on the Warm Springs Reser-
acter of man and wife. . . . The husband, vation in Oregon, Lillian Pitt spent much
named Kocomenepeca was a very of her life on the Columbia River Plateau.
shrewd and intelligent Indian, who ad- A nationally recognized artist, she now
dressed us in the Algonquin language, lives and runs her gallery, Kindred Spirits
and gave us much information respect- Gallery, in Portland, Oregon. Her work is
ing the interior of the country.” Ross inspired by and reflective of the living
noted shortly thereafter that “they were spiritual and cultural tradition of the
both females” (Cox 1831, 92). Plateau. Her masks and sculpture are in-
Kau’xuma’nupika was a Kutenai spired by the stories, symbols, and spiri-
woman who had been briefly married to tual traditions she learned growing upon
a white trader. She soon left her hus- the Warm Springs Reservation. She is a
band, declaring that she was at heart a recipient of the Governor’s Award of the
man and would live the life of a prophet. Oregon Arts Commission.
She joined, and led, a number of war Her ceramic masks and “Shadow
parties among the Kutenai, gaining sta- Spirit” totem images are based on the
tus as a spiritual leader and warrior. symbolic and spiritual traditions of her
Leslie Spier argued that “at length she Columbia River heritage. Her mixed-
became the principal leader of her tribe, media installations make use of natural
834
materials in order to memorialize her an- describes the piece: “She Who Watches is
cestors. As she describes her approach: a pictograph found along the Columbia
River. She overlooked the village where
The focus of my current sculptural my great-grandmother lived. Because she
work is to combine diverse materials
wanted to watch over my people forever,
to create a rich visual context for the
stoneware forms I hand build and fire. Coyote changed her into a rock. Under
I combine beads, feathers, shells, her watchful gaze, my people remember
strands of copper wire, stones, thread, her as the last woman chief of the Colum-
and peeled or weathered wood— bia River People” (www.lillianpitt.com).
materials which allow for startling
juxtapositions of texture and color that
Her work, which translates traditional
move the eye. With these materials, Plateau symbolic and spiritual traditions
sometimes I adorn the work; at other into artistic form, is in several major col-
times I mend or reassemble things lections throughout the world, including
that have been torn asunder. My aim is
the Burke Museum at the University of
to heal the things of this wounded
planet by creating a consciousness of Washington, the Heard Museum in
the need for healing and a sense of the Phoenix, Arizona, and the Sapporo City
transformative magic in ordinary Hall, in Sapporo, Japan.
things and beings. I orient my work in
relation to the four winds, the seven
Skolaskin (also Kolaskin), Sanpoil
directions, and at times celebrate the
ancient stories of my Warm Springs, (1839–1922)
Wascho, and Wishxam ancestors in the Skolaskin, a Sanpoil, was born around
imagery I create. There are also times 1839 in the village of Sinakialt on the Co-
when new characters are born in lumbia River. Like Smohalla, Skolaskin
response to the contradictions caused
received a vision and messages for his
by remembering traditions that reveal
the madness of current culture which people from the Creator during a near-
destroys so much that has sustained death experience. His message called for
life in our world. These characters tell an adherence to traditional lifeways, a
their own stories, and new myths are repudiation of private land ownership,
born as I reflect on their meaning. In
and a return to traditional subsistence
this work, I aim to create a visual
language that will translate the stress patterns such as salmon fishing, root
on things in the natural world into a gathering, and hunting. His message
voice that will make everyone aware of also provided a strict moral code and ad-
the responsibility we all have to work vocated peaceful resistance against the
inside the circle of things that supports
life on earth. (http://www.stonington-
encroachment of white settlers and the
gallery.com/artists/pitt.htm) U.S. government. Incarcerated on Alca-
traz Island from 1889 to 1892, Skolaskin
Perhaps her most famous piece, “She was accused by the government of incit-
Who Watches,” is inspired by the well- ing reservation unrest and resistance to
known Columbia River petroglyph. As she white control. After his release, Skolaskin
835
returned to the Colville Reservation and ple was ensured when an earthquake,
continued to demand that the people re- which he had predicted, occurred in 1872.
turn to traditional modes of spirituality On November 21, 1889, frightened by
and subsistence. his influence over his followers and his
Like Smohalla and other Plateau continued resistance to non-Native en-
Dreamer prophets, Skolaskin played a croachment on Native lands, the federal
pivotal role in the survival of traditional government arrested Skolaskin and im-
indigenous beliefs and practices into the prisoned him without trial on Alcatraz
colonial era. These prophets adopted cer- Island.
tain elements of Christianity, such as Sun- In his later life, Skolaskin himself con-
day meetings in a permanent structure verted to Catholicism. However, the faith
(the longhouse) and the occasional incor- that he inspired and helped to set in mo-
poration of Christian symbols like the tion, now called the Longhouse, or Seven
bell, the cross, or the Bible. These outward Drums, religion, is still widely practiced
symbols made the evolving tradition a vi- on the Colville Reservation and through-
able alternative to Christianity for many out the Plateau.
Native people. These prophets also facili-
tated the survival of traditional lifeways, Smohalla (Smowhalla), Wanapum
by demanding that their followers con- (1815–1895)
tinue traditional modes of dress, subsis- Smohalla, a Dreamer prophet on the Co-
tence food gathering, family and kinship lumbia Plateau in the mid-nineteenth
networks, marriage, and other rites of century, is often credited with having
passage. Their message of sobriety, originated the Waashat religion, also
health, and healing also came at a pivotal known as the Seven Drums or Long-
time, when many Native people’s well- house religion. He was born between
being was threatened by the importation 1815 and 1820 in Wallula on the Colum-
of alcohol and disease by white settlers. bia River in Washington state and gained
As a young man, Skolaskin suffered an power through the traditional mode of a
injury that permanently disabled him, vision quest, or wot, when he was still
making it difficult for him to stand up- young. He was given the spirit-powers of
right or walk without the assistance of a shah (crow), and speelyi (coyote). He was
staff. It was during his recovery from this known by many names, including
illness that he nearly died. He visited the Wak’wei or Kuk’kia when he was young.
Creator Spirit (or Quilentsuten), who ad- When he took up his role as a prophet, he
vised him to return to his people and became known as Smohalla, which
preach this message: the people should translates as “dreamer” or “preacher.” He
reject the imposition of white culture in was also known by his people as Yuyu-
all its forms. His authority among his peo- nipitqana, or Shouting Mountain.
836
for the institution of Sunday services,

seasonal holidays to celebrate the first
foods (salmon, berries, roots, game), and
the return to a traditionalist way of life
(Hunn 1990, 253). He condemned the re-
striction of Native people to reservations
and the loss of traditional modes of sub-
sistence. Smohalla’s message of an apoc-
alyptic cataclysm with the return of the
dead and a righteous life and strict ad-
herence to tradition was particularly
powerful because it came at a time when
Native communities of the Plateau were
threatened by encroaching white set-
tlers, the U.S. military, and vast epi-
demics that swept through the region.
Smohalla based his community of fol-
lowers at the village of P’na, at Priest
Rapids on the Columbia River. When
Euro-American settlers and military at-
tempted to coerce Smohalla and his fol-
A portrait of Mourning Dove from Mourning
Dove, a Salishan Autobiography. (Courtesy of lowers into a life of agriculture on reser-
Jay Miller/University of Nebraska Press) vations, he responded with a clear
religious and ethical doctrine which de-
manded that the earth be treated with
On two occasions, Smohalla died and respect. “You ask me to plough the
traveled to the spirit world, where he was ground? Shall I take a knife and tear my
given a vision and message to take back mother’s bosom? Then when I die she
to his people. He called for a return to will not take me to her bosom to rest. You
traditional Native ways of life and a re- ask me to dig for a stone? Shall I dig
jection of efforts to forcefully assimilate under her skin for her bones? Then when
Native people into white society. He I die I cannot enter her body to be born
taught his followers that the world would again. You ask me to cut the grass and
soon be made new. All faithful Native make hay and sell it, and be rich like
people would return to life, European white men, but how dare I cut off my
settlers would be removed from the land, mother’s hair?” (MacMurray 1887, 248).
and the earth would be restored to its During his life Smohalla interacted
previous strength and beauty. He called with and inspired many prophets
837
throughout the Plateau, who carried of the state on reservations. Dreamer

similar messages of spiritual revival to prophets provided an ethical code, a
their own people. These included Koti- traditionalist way of life, and a mode of
akan, who worked closely alongside worship that enabled indigenous cul-
Smohalla. This Yakima Dreamer prophet ture and spirituality to survive through
taught his followers at Pa’kiut village on this devastating era.
the Yakima River. Following a death and Smohalla died in 1895 and was suc-
rebirth experience similar to that of Smo- ceeded by his son, Yoyonan (also
halla, he heard a voice telling him that he Yu’yunne), who carried on the move-
was to worship the Great Spirit with song ment until he died in 1917. Yoyonan was
and dance, and to do so on Sundays. A succeeded by his cousin, Puck Hyah
Tyigh Dreamer prophet named Queah- Toot, who continued as a central Washat
pahmah was also active at this time, ad- leader well into the twentieth century. In
vising his more than 200 followers to re- 1989, Smohalla was selected for the state
fuse the allotment of farms and annuity of Washington’s Hall of Honor, as one of
goods from the government and to return 100 people whose life had significantly
to traditional hunting, fishing, and gath- influenced the state and the nation.
ering. A Umatilla prophetess Luls (also Suzanne J. Crawford
Lals) advised her own people to maintain
their traditional ceremonies, celebrating D’Alene; Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce;
the first roots, berries, fish, and game of Gender and Sexuality, Two Spirits; Ghost
the year. Like these other prophets, Smo- Dance Movement; Guardian Spirit
Complex; Indian Shaker Church; Masks and
halla’s central message remained a call Masking; Mourning Dove; Oral Traditions,
for the preservation and veneration of Plateau; Retraditionalism and Revitalization
the land and its eventual return to Native Movements, Columbia Plateau.
people; his authority came from visions References and Further Reading
received while in a ceremonial setting or Axtell, Horace, and Margo Aragon. 1997. A
Little Bit of Wisdom: Conversations with
near-death experience.
a Nez Perce Elder. Lewiston, ID:
Smohalla and other Dreamer pro- Confluence Press.
phets were central in revitalizating in- Beal, Merrill. 1998. I Will Fight No More
Forever: Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce
digenous religious and cultural prac-
War. Seattle: University of Washington
tices during a time of intense stress. Press.
Illness brought by white settlers ran Cox, Ross. 1831. Adventures on the
rampant among Native communities. Columbia River, Including the Narrative
of a Residence of Six Years on the Western
The U.S. military and growing numbers Side of the Rocky Mountains, among
of white settlers and missionaries Various Tribes of Indians Hitherto
placed an enormous amount of pres- Unknown; Together With a Journey Across
the American Continent. Two Vols.
sure on Native communities to assimi- London: Henry Colburn and Richard
late into white culture, or become wards Bentley.
838
___________________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Pueblo
DuBois, Cora. 1938. The Feather Cult of the Plateau.” Ethnohistory 42, no. 4:
Middle Columbia. General Series in 197–229.
Anthropology 7. Menasha, WI: George
Banta.
Hunn, Eugene S., with James Selam and
Family. 1990. N’ch’i-Wana, “The Big
Religious Leaders, Pueblo
River”: Mid-Columbia Indians and
Their Land. Seattle: University of Thomas Banyacya (Hopi) (1909–1999)
Washington. Thomas Banyacya was born June 2, 1909,
(Chief) Joseph. 1995. That All People May Be in the Hopi village of Moencopi, Arizona,
One People, Send Rain to Wash the Face
of the Earth. Sitka, AK: Mountain
and was part of the Fox, Coyote, and Wolf
Meadow Press. clan from his mother’s side. The name
Lillian Pitt Art Gallery. “About the Artist.” Banyacya refers to his father’s clans, the
http://www.lillianpitt.com. (Accessed
Corn and Water clans (the name evokes
September 15, 2002.)
MacMurray, Major Junius Wilson. 1887. the image of corn plants in a field of
“Dreamers of the Columbia River Valley standing water). As a child, Banyacya at-
in Washington Territory.” Transactions of
tended the Sherman Indian school in
the Albany Institute 11: 248.
Mooney, James. 1965. The Ghost Dance Riverside, California, and in 1930 he at-
Religion. Vol. 2: Fourteenth Annual tended Bacone College in Oklahoma. Re-
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the
sponding to the lack of classes and re-
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
1892–93. Chicago: University of Chicago sources on Native culture, language, and
Press. religion, Banyacya and his fellow stu-
Relander, Click. 1956. Drummers and dents joined together to build a medi-
Dreamers. Northwest Interpretive
Association. Caldwell, Idaho, Caxton cine lodge on campus and began per-
Printers. forming ceremonies and songs.
Ruby, Robert, and John Brown. 1989. During the 1940s, because tradi-
Dreamer Prophets of the Columbia
Plateau: Smohalla and Skolaskin. tional Hopi beliefs do not condone par-
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ticipation in war, Banyacya refused to
Spier, Leslie. 1935. The Prophet Dance of the register for the draft in World War II. As
of the Ghost Dance. American
a result he spent seven years in prison.
Anthropological Association. General When he was released, Banyacya suc-
Series in Anthropology, 1. cessfully petitioned the federal govern-
Stonington Gallery. “Lillian Pitt Biography.”
ment to allow Hopi people conscien-
http://www.stoningtongallery.com/
artists/pitt.htm. (Accessed September tious objector status, excusing future
15, 2002.) Hopi men from registering.
Tyrell, J. B., ed. 1916. David Thompson’s In 1948 traditional Hopi leaders, the
Narrative of His Explorations in Western
America, 1784–1812. Toronto: The Kikmongwis, gathered to discuss the
Champlain Society. state of the world. Deeply disturbed by
Vibert, Elizabeth. 1995. “‘The Native the events of the previous years and in
Peoples Were Strong to Live’:
Reinterpreting Early Nineteenth Century particular the dropping of the atomic
Prophetic Movements in the Columbia bomb on Japan, Hopi elders noted that
839
Religious Leaders, Pueblo ____________________________________________________________________
their own oral traditions, prophecies, calling upon world leaders to heal the
and religious traditions spoke directly to ravages of environmental destruction, to
the ominous developments of the day. put an end to warfare, and to feed and
From this meeting, four spokespersons care for the poor and hungry. Excerpts
were appointed, of whom Thomas Bany- from his speech to the General Assembly
acya was the last survivor. follow (See Hopi Prophecy):
Banyacya spent half a century travel-
ing throughout the United States and the The traditional Hopi follows the
world, discussing the protection of in- spiritual path that was given to us by
Massau’u the Great Spirit. We made a
digenous cultures, the need to protect
sacred covenant to follow his life plan
Mother Earth, and the dangers of con- at all times, which includes the
temporary consumerism and militarism. responsibility of taking care of this
Throughout his travels in other coun- land and life for his divine purpose. . . .
tries, Banyacya refused to use a U.S. We still have our ancient sacred stone
tablets and spiritual religious societies
passport. Rather, he used a Hopi pass-
which are the foundations of the Hopi
port that he had helped to design. way of life. . . . What have you as
Beginning in the summer of 1952, individuals, as nations, and as the
Banyacya helped to organized a series of world body been doing to take care of
six caravans that traveled across the this Earth? In the Earth today, humans
poison their own food, water and air
United States. These caravans traveled with pollution. Many of us including
with the intent of provoking interest and children are left to starve. Many wars
pride among Native communities in are still being fought. . . . Nature itself
their religious and cultural heritages. does not speak with a voice that we
can easily understand. . . . Who in this
These convoys traveled from reservation
world can speak for nature and the
to reservation, and city to city, having an spiritual energy that creates and flows
enormous effect on the development of through all life? . . .The native peoples
American Indian retraditionalism and of the world have seen and spoken to
cultural identity in the latter half of the you about the destruction of their lives
and homelands, the ruination of
twentieth century. The caravans gath-
nature and the desecration of their
ered together some of the most impor- sacred sites. It is time the United
tant cultural, spiritual, and political lead- Nations used its rules to investigate
ers in Indian Country at that time, and these occurrences and stop them now.
helped to revive Native languages, cul- (Banyacya 1992)
tures, and religious practice. The cara-
vans served as the foundations for what Juan de Jesus Romero, Deer Bird
was in the 1960s and 1970s to become (Taos Pueblo) (1874–1978)
the American Indian Movement. Born in 1874, Romero belonged to a
On December 10, 1992, Thomas Bany- hereditary family of caciques. As cacique,
acya spoke to the UN General Assembly, or spiritual leader, Romero was responsi-
840
___________________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Pueblo
Juan de Jesus Romero (center), religious leader of the Pueblo, and interpreter Paul Bernal witness as
President Richard Nixon signs a bill on December 15, 1970, that gives the Taos Pueblo Indians title to
their sacred Blue Lake and 48,000 acres of land surrounding it in New Mexico. Washington, D.C.
(Bettmann/Corbis)
ble for carrying out the complex cere- ple were allowed to occupy and use the
monies and rituals of the Taos Pueblo. land only with a permit, while hunters
The ceremonial cycles, oral traditions, and tourists had unrestricted access. As
and rituals have existed since the Taos Taos elder member Paul Bernal testified
emerged from the underworld. This at a 1969 congressional hearing, “We are
emergence, they believe, occurred at probably the only citizens of the United
Blue Lake (Maxolo), the sacred center for States who are required to practice our re-
the Taos people. It was there that the ligion under a permit from the Govern-
world was created. Because of this, it is ment. This is not religious freedom as it is
the location of annual ceremonies cele- guaranteed by the Constitution” (http://
brating the creation of the world and the www.sacredland.org/taos_blue_lake.
Taos people. html). Such access, the Taos people felt,
Despite their long-lasting tie to Blue violated the sacred nature of the place.
Lake, the lake was made part of the Car- Beginning in 1906, Juan de Jesus
son National Forest in 1906. The Taos peo- Romero led an effort by the Taos people
841
Religious Leaders, Pueblo ____________________________________________________________________
to regain ownership of this traditional War Captain by the village leaders, and
sacred site. As he himself argued, “[If ] he carried out a great many social and
our land is not returned to us, if it is spiritual obligations within that role. He
turned over to the government for its soon became aware of the increasing
use, then it is the end of Indian life. Our threat that Spanish colonization posed
people will scatter as the people of other to the traditional Pueblo way of life, the
nations have scattered. It is our religion Spanish having first entered the area in
that holds us together” (http://www the 1590s. Spanish settlers and the mili-
.sacredland.org/taos_blue_lake.html). tary that accompanied them coerced In-
He argued that in taking Blue Lake, dian people into forced labor. The
which is inherently tied to his people’s Pueblo people were compelled to con-
cultural traditions, the government tribute their labor to building Spanish
threatened to erode Pueblo unity and churches and were required to give food
their very identity. For many years he and labor to Spanish settlers. The en-
met with little success, rejecting offers comienda system required Pueblo peo-
from the federal government to buy the ple to provide Spanish settlers with a
land. In 1970, at the age of ninety-six, he portion of the pueblo’s crops, as the
went to Washington, D.C., and pleaded Spanish were not able to grow enough
his case before Richard Nixon. In July food to support themselves. Spanish
1970, President Nixon endorsed legisla- colonial authorities also exerted a sys-
tion to return the lake to Taos ownership. tem of repartimiento, whereby Pueblo
Following Senate approval, Blue Lake Indians were forced to work for Spanish
and 48,000 acres of surrounding wilder- settlers, tending their homes, animals,
ness were returned to the Taos people in and gardens without payment. Spanish
1971, in very large part because of missions likewise exerted enormous
Romero’s unceasing efforts. Romero died pressure on Pueblo people to abandon
in 1978. He was 104 years old. their traditional religious practice.
Pueblo people were coerced into attend-
Popé, Po’pay (Tewa, San Juan ing services, and traditional worship
Pueblo) (c. 1630–c. 1690) centers were vandalized or destroyed by
Born around 1630 in San Juan Pueblo, Spanish militias. Priests boasted of hav-
Popé (Po’pay, or Ripe Squash) was raised ing destroyed traditional Pueblo reli-
within the traditional Tewa culture, spiri- gious regalia and ritual equipment.
tually honoring the cycles of seasons, the In 1675, frustrated by their lack of suc-
planting of crops, and praying with corn cess in converting the Pueblo people,
pollen. As a young man he was made as- Spanish officials arrested forty-seven
sistant to the tribal War Captain, learning Pueblo religious leaders, charging them
the ceremonial war dances and how to with sorcery. Four men were condemned
supervise them. He was soon appointed to death, and the remaining forty-three,
842
_______________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Southeast
including Popé, were publicly lashed. Mails, Thomas. 1997. The Hopi Survival Kit.
The Pueblo people were forced to witness New York: Penguin Press.
Parsons, Elsie Clews. 1996. Taos Tales. Dover
these punishments being carried out. Publications.
After his release, Popé began organiz- Sando, Joe S. 1995. Pueblo Profiles: Cultural
ing the Pueblo people to resist and over- Identity through Centuries of Change.
Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishers.
throw the Spanish colonial presence. At Spicer, Edward Hollard. 1982. Cycles of
his direction, two messengers were sent Conquest: The Impact of Spain, Mexico
out to all the Pueblo villages to gather and the U.S. on the Indians of the U.S.,
1533–1960. Tucson: University of Arizona
support for the resistance. When colonial Press.
governor Antonio de Otermin learned of Waters, Frank. 1942. The Man Who Killed
the resistance, he arrested the two mes- the Deer. Athens: Ohio University Press.
———. 1977. The Book of the Hopi. New
sengers. In fear and anger, the villagers
York: Viking Press.
responded by killing a Spaniard and their Waters, Frank, and R. C. Gordon-McCuthan.
padre, Juan Baptisto Pio. That day, Au- 1991. The Taos Indians and the Battle for
Blue Lake. Santa Fe: Red Crane Books.
gust 10, 1680, the revolt began. Pueblo
Indian warriors laid siege to Santa Fe,
trapping the Spaniards inside, and
blocking their water supply. After several Religious Leaders,
days the city fell, and the Spanish left the
Southeast
area. The Pueblo once again ruled over
their own land. The Spanish would not The tribes of the Southeast region of the
attempt to regain control over the region United States had lived in the area for
again until 1692. centuries before the arrival of Euro-
Suzanne J. Crawford peans, and some of those communities
still exist within the region to this very
See also Hopi Prophecy; Kachina and Clown
Societies; Missionization, Southwest; Oral day. Many others were forcibly removed
Traditions, Pueblo; Sacred Sites and Sacred from the Southeast by the U.S. govern-
Mountains; Spiritual and Ceremonial
ment during the 1830s and 1840s and
sent to the Indian Territory, which later
became the state of Oklahoma. Many
Banyacya, Thomas. 1992. “The Hopi
Message to the United Nations General American Indian communities still cling
Assembly” delivered December 10 to traditional religious practices, while
(available at http://www.alphacdc.com/
others have either adopted one form or
banyacya).
Ellis, Florence Hawley. N.d. Anthropological another of Christianity or syncretized
Data Pertaining to the Taos Land Claim. Christian and traditional elements while
New York: Garland Publishers.
maintaining their indigenous identity.
Geertz, Armin. 1994. The Invention of
Prophecy: Continuity and Meaning in In general, the traditional religions of
Hopi Indian Religion. Berkeley: the Southeast tribes were highly orga-
University of California Press. nized, and their religious practices and
843
Religious Leaders, Southeast ________________________________________________________________
ceremonies were conducted by a select tain peace between her people and the
priesthood that perpetuated itself by United States, because she believed that
training each succeeding generation, was the only way that the Cherokees
usually recruits from their own clans. could survive as a nation.
The desire to guarantee the continua- Born into an important clan and the
tion of traditional practices led many re- maternal niece of the influential leader
ligious leaders in the late nineteenth Attakullakulla, Ward became the Ghigau,
and twentieth centuries to record their which also means War Woman, of Chota
knowledge in manuscript form, and also at an early age because she picked up the
to work with ethnographers that wanted musket of her husband after he was
to study traditional, indigenous culture killed and helped lead the Cherokees to
in the Southeast. victory over the Muskogees at the battle
of Taliwa in 1755. As Ghigau, Ward’s re-
Catawbas Religious Leaders sponsibilities included deciding the fate
Hagler (Arataswa, Oroloswa) (ca. 1690– of prisoners of war, preparing the Black
1763). An important leader among the Drink (a ritual, purifying tea) for cere-
Catawba during the eighteenth century, monies, voting in the general council of
Hagler remained a staunch British ally to her town, leadership of her town’s
his death, but he insisted that his people women’s council, and a position of im-
resist adopting Christianity and con- portance on delegations to outsiders,
tinue to practice traditional, Catawba re- which included other tribes, the colonial
ligious beliefs. powers in the Southeast, and eventually
the United States. As the ultimate deci-
Cherokees sion-maker on the fate of prisoners,
Arch, John (Atsi) (?–1825). In 1820, John Ward spared the life of a Mrs. Bean in the
Arch helped found the Creek Path Mis- 1760s, and after befriending her, Ward
sion for the Chickamauga Cherokees in learned many of the skills that Anglo-
Alabama after briefly working at the American women performed, including
Brainerd Mission from 1818 to 1820. He weaving and husbandry. Over time, Ward
served as an interpreter and an assistant became convinced that the Cherokees
to the missionaries and helped translate needed to adopt some of the ways of
passages of the Bible into the Cherokee Anglo-Americans to survive, and that
language. Arch died of tuberculosis on war with the United States needed to be
June 18, 1825. avoided. As the Ghigau, she used her in-
fluence to bring about some change in
Nancy Ward (Nan’yehi) (ca. 1738–1824). the Cherokee Nation. Later she married a
The Ghigau (Beloved Woman) of Chota, Scots-Irish trader named Bryant Ward,
Nan’yehi, called Nancy Ward by Anglo- and with him she began keeping an inn
Americans, constantly strove to main- near Chota. After the death of her hus-
844
band, Ward returned to live in Chota ceived a vision from the spirit world. As
until she died around 1824. a result of that vision, he preached a re-
turn to traditional ways and renounced
Kaneeda (John Wickliffe) (ca. early 1800s). the use of alcohol. In 1829, based on the
Originally a priest in the traditional provisions of an earlier treaty, Yona-
Cherokee religion, Kaneeda converted to gusta and his followers abandoned the
Christianity, became a Baptist mission- Cherokee Nation and became U.S. citi-
ary, and participated in the Cherokee at- zens on a reservation in Haywood
tempt to resist removal in the 1830s. County, North Carolina. That act along
It is not known when Kaneeda was with help from his adopted son (Will
born, but upon reaching adulthood he Thomas), a lawyer, kept Yonagusta’s
became a priest in the traditional Chero- band from being removed. They later
kee religion. He later converted to Chris- became known as the Eastern band of
tianity, was baptized in 1829, and was Cherokees.
given the name John Wickliffe. Eventu-
ally Wickliffe was ordained in 1833. Also Boudinot, Elias (Galagina, Buck Watie,
during the 1830s he became a member of Stag Watie) (ca. 1802–1839). A Christian
the Cherokee Council and participated missionary to his people, Elias Boudinot
in the Cherokee Nation’s efforts to avoid is best known as the editor of the Chero-
removal from their homeland in and kee Phoenix and as a leader of the Treaty
around the southern Appalachian Party that advocated removal to Indian
Mountains to Indian Territory (modern Territory as an effort to preserve the
Oklahoma) by the U.S. government. Cherokee Nation.
After removal Wickliffe headed the con- A full-blood and born near Rome,
gregation of the Delaware Town Church Georgia, Galagina attended the Foreign
in the Cherokee Nation as its minister Mission School in Cornwall, Connecti-
from 1847 to 1857. cut, between 1818 and 1820. While there
he took the name Elias Boudinot, after a
Yonagusta (ca. 1760–1839). A prophet supporter of the school. Later, from 1822
and peace chief among the Cherokees of to 1823, Boudinot went to the Andover
North Carolina, Yonagusta successfully Seminary to continue his education.
kept his followers from being removed Upon returning home to the Cherokee
to Oklahoma in the 1830s by the U.S. Nation, he worked with Samuel Worces-
government. ter in translating the Bible into the syl-
At approximately the age of sixty, labary of the Cherokee language.
Yonagusta fell into a coma after being Boudinot edited the Cherokee Phoenix
seriously sick, and many of his followers between 1828 and 1832. Along with sev-
thought he had died. He recovered, eral other people, Boudinot signed the
however, and stated that he had re- removal treaty of 1835. They (the treaty
845
Born in the Cherokee town of Amohee

at the turn of the nineteenth century,
Bushyhead attended school in Ten-
nessee, where he converted to Christian-
ity. Beginning in 1832, he served as an as-
sistant missionary with the Baptist Board
of Foreign Missions for eleven years.
Bushyhead was ordained by the Baptist
Church in 1833, and over the course of
his life he translated many passages of
the Bible into Cherokee. On several occa-
sions he served as a representative for
the Cherokee Nation to the U.S. govern-
ment in Washington, D.C. Furthermore,
Bushyhead held several positions in the
Cherokee national government, includ-
ing a position as a justice of the Cherokee
Supreme Court. After the Cherokee re-
Elias Boudinot, a Christian missionary to his moval to Oklahoma, Bushyhead helped
people and editor of the Cherokee Phoenix. re-establish the Baptist missionary effort
Steel engraving by J. W. Paradise after painting
by Waldo and Jewett. (Library of Congress) there and also founded the National
Temperance Society within the Chero-
kee Nation in the West. He died on July
party) believed that eventually the 17, 1844.
United States would remove the Chero-
kee people to the Indian Territory any- Gahuni (?–ca. 1857). Gahuni practiced
way, and therefore they needed to get the the traditional Cherokee religion as a
best deal they could for the Cherokee medicine man, and he also practiced
Nation. After Boudinot moved to Indian Methodism. Furthermore, he was an im-
Territory, he, along with other members portant informant for the ethnologist
of the treaty party, was assassinated on James Mooney. Gahuni recorded many
June 22, 1839, for violating the Cherokee sacred formulas and biblical verses in
law against giving away land. the syllabary of the Cherokee language,
and after his death his family gave most
Bushyhead, Jesse (Unaduti) (?–1844). A of his writings to the Bureau of American
political and Christian missionary Ethnology.
among the Cherokees, Jesse Bushyhead
was the first ordained Baptist minister Tanenolee (mid-1800s). An abolitionist,
from the Cherokee Nation. Baptist missionary, and Cherokee politi-
846
cian, Tanenolee lived in the mid-nine- to preserving Cherokee culture and tra-
teenth century, in a period of great tur- ditions. During the Civil War, Downing
moil for the Cherokee Nation during reserved as a chaplain with the rank of
moval and the Civil War. lieutenant colonel in the Union army. He
Tanenolee converted to the Baptist re- later served as acting principal chief be-
ligion and most often assisted Evan fore being elected to the position in 1867.
Jones in his missionary work. He helped His primary achievement during his
resist the removal process, and when all time as the principal leader of the Chero-
other options failed, Tanenolee and kees was to reunify the nation by encour-
Jones led one of the traveling parties dur- aging former Confederate and Union
ing the removal. After removal he was or- soldiers and sympathizers to serve to-
dained as a Baptist minister and served gether in the Cherokee government.
as pastor at Taquohee, Dsiyohee, and
Long Prairie. At one point he also served Forman, Stephen (1807–1881). An or-
in the Cherokee national legislature. Be- dained Presbyterian minister, educator,
cause of his abolitionist views, Tanenolee missionary, and translator, Stephen
may have been killed in 1862 by Chero- Foreman was one of the most influential
kees that supported the Confederacy. leaders of the Cherokee Nation before
and after the removal to the Indian Terri-
Downing, Lewis (Lewie-za-wau-na-skie) tory in present-day Oklahoma.
(1823–1872). A Baptist minister and one Foreman’s mother was Cherokee and
of the founders of the Ketoowah Society, his father was a Scottish trader. Foreman
Lewis Downing served as principal chief was born near Rome, Georgia, before the
of the Cherokee Nation in the turbulent family moved to Cleveland, Tennessee.
years following the Civil War from 1867 He attended a mission school near his
to 1872, and he eventually reunified the home in Tennessee that was run by the
nation under one government. Congregationalist Church. Upon the
Downing was born in eastern Ten- death of his father, Foreman studied
nessee. Like most of the Cherokee Na- under the Congregational missionary
tion, Downing and his parents, Samuel Samuel Worcester in New Echota, Geor-
and Susan Daugherty Downing, were re- gia. Later he attended the College of
moved to the Indian Territory. After at- Richmond in Virginia and the Princeton
tending Baptist mission schools he was Theological Seminary, and finally he was
ordained as a minister, and in 1844 he ordained in 1835 as a Presbyterian min-
became the minister at Flint Church in ister. When he returned to the Cherokee
the Indian Territory. Downing spoke and Nation, Foreman began his efforts to as-
wrote in the Cherokee language, and he sist his people in their opposition to
eventually helped create the Cherokee forced removal; as a result, the govern-
Ketoowah Society, which was dedicated ment of Georgia imprisoned him for his
847
efforts. During the Trail of Tears, he James Mooney for preservation by the
headed one of the parties that set out for Bureau of American Ethnology.
the Indian Territory in present-day Okla-
homa. Swimmer (Ayunini) (ca. 1835–1899). An
Once there he developed a public Eastern Cherokee, Swimmer was a priest
school system for Cherokee children, and healer in the traditional religion of
and Foreman also helped Worcester the Cherokees, and he was an important
translate the Bible into the Cherokee syl- informant for the ethnologist James
labary. Foreman served on the Cherokee Mooney.
Supreme Court beginning in 1844, and Ayunini, known to Anglo-Americans
he acted as executive councilor for the as Swimmer, trained at an early age to
tribe from 1847 to 1855. He chose to live become a Cherokee holy man, and by
in Texas during the Civil War, where he the end of his life he had become the
acted as a missionary. At the conclusion leading authority on sacred Cherokee
of the war, Foreman purchased Elias ceremonies and religious beliefs. He kept
Boudinot’s old home and converted it to a record of Cherokee traditions, includ-
a church. He preached there until his ing folk stories, formulas, prayers, and
death in 1881. songs written in the syllabary of the
Cherokee language. Late in life, Swim-
Black Fox (?–1895). A conjurer, Methodist mer met James Mooney, the ethnologist
preacher, soldier, and keeper of public from the Smithsonian Institution’s Bu-
records, Black Fox, as well as being one of reau of American Ethnology. He was
the ethnologist James Mooney’s inform- Mooney’s primary informant on Chero-
ants, created numerous records of kee tradition and ceremonies. Through
Cherokee history, culture, and religion. Mooney, the Smithsonian purchased
A full-blood Cherokee, Black Fox was Swimmer’s manuscripts, which continue
ordained by the Methodist Episcopal to be valuable sources of information on
Church around the year 1849, but he Cherokee culture. Swimmer died in
never abandoned traditional Cherokee March of 1899.
ceremonial life. He kept the letters, min-
utes, and reports for the Echota Smith, Redbird (1850–1918). A spiritual
Methodist Mission on the Qualla Bound- and political leader of the Cherokees,
ary. During the Civil War he joined the Redbird Smith struggled his entire life to
North Carolina Infantry, in which he re- maintain the political independence and
ceived the rank of sergeant. At the time of cultural persistence of his people.
his death in 1895, Black Fox still prac- The son of Cherokee parents, Smith
ticed the traditional Cherokee religion. continued their tradition of supporting
After his death, Black Fox’s granddaugh- the Keetoowah Society. The Keetoowahs
ter gave his records and documents to were a resistance organization that
848
sought to maintain Cherokee cultural labary. Later Long attended the Hamp-
and religious traditions and political in- ton Institute in Virginia from 1895 until
dependence. His father, Pig Smith, chose 1900, and afterward he lived in New En-
Creek Sam, a Natchez medicine man, to gland until 1904.
train Redbird Smith. Redbird Smith In 1887, Long began a relationship
eventually became a member of the Kee- with James Mooney as an informant on
toowah Society and rose in its ranks of Cherokee culture; the relationship lasted
leadership; later he helped lead Chero- until Mooney’s death. After 1904, Long
kee resistance to the Curtis Act and the began learning as much as he could
Dawes Act, which eventually ended about Cherokee culture from friends and
tribal sovereignty and gave tribal land to relatives. His cousin, Charley Lawson,
individuals of the tribe and to Anglo- taught him how to sing traditional songs
Americans. Smith was briefly impris- and how to make the Booger Masks used
oned for his resistance to the implemen- in spiritual ceremonies. Long passed this
tation of these acts. Finally the information on to Mooney and other
Keetoowahs withdrew from political ethnographers such as Leonard Bloom,
matters, and Redbird Smith established William H. Gilbert, Mark R. Harrington,
a ceremonial grounds in 1902. In 1908, Frank G. Speck, and John Witthoft. He
Smith became the principal chief of the died on March 14, 1947.
Cherokee Nation, and later he estab-
lished the Four Mothers Society to aid Choctaws
and promote communication between Oakchiah (ca. 1810–1849). Born a full-
traditional members of the Cherokees, blood Choctaw and converting to Chris-
Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Muskogees. tianity at an early age, Oakchiah served
Redbird Smith died in 1918. his people as a minister and ordained
deacon in the Mississippi Conference of
Long, Will West (Willi Westi) (ca. 1870– the Methodist Episcopal Church in Mis-
1947). A spiritual leader and cultural sissippi before the removal of his people.
preservationist among the Eastern Afterward he served in Indian Territory.
Cherokees, Will West Long also became He died at Fort Smith, Arkansas, on No-
an important informant for several vember 2, 1849.
ethnographers.
Born into a Cherokee family, Long was Dukes, Joseph (1811–ca. 1861). Joseph
trained by his mother and his maternal Dukes served as an interpreter for sev-
uncle in the traditional ways of the eral missions to the Choctaws after at-
Cherokee people. He briefly attended tending the Presbyterian mission school
Old Trinity College in Randolph County, at Mayhew as a youth. He also played an
North Carolina. While he was there, a important role in creating a Choctaw
classmate taught him the Cherokee syl- grammar book and dictionary and trans-
849
lating parts of the Old and New Testa- Wright, Frank Hall (1860–1922). A Pres-
ments into Choctaw. byterian minister, Frank Wright founded
missions first among his own people, the
Wright, Allen (Kiliahote) (1825–1885). Choctaws, and then to several different
Allen Wright served the Choctaws in Ok- Indian nations in the United States and
lahoma as a Presbyterian minister for Canada during the late nineteenth and
most of his adult life and as principal early twentieth centuries.
chief from 1866 to 1870. Wright received his initial education
Orphaned as a child, Wright was from local missionaries near his home at
raised by a Presbyterian minister named Boggy Depot in the Indian Territory (Ok-
Cyrus Kingsbury. Kingsbury named him lahoma) and later attended Spencer
Allen Wright after an early missionary to Academy in the Choctaw Nation. After-
the Choctaws. Initially educated at local ward, Wright went to Union College in
mission schools, Wright continued his Schenectady, New York, and he then at-
education first at a school in Delaware tended and graduated from Union Theo-
and later at Union College in Schenec- logical Seminary in New York City (1885).
tady, New York. He graduated from He spent the rest of his life establishing
Union College in 1852. Wright then at- missions and spreading the Christian
tended Union Theological Seminary in message among various Native groups in
New York City and graduated in 1855. the United States and Canada for the
Upon being ordained by the Presbyter- Women’s Executive Committee of the Re-
ian Church in 1856, Wright returned to formed Church. Finally, Wright was
Indian Territory. awarded his doctorate of divinity degree
After returning to the Choctaws, from Westminister College in Fulton, Mis-
Wright at different periods served in the souri, in 1917. He died on July 16, 1922, in
Choctaw House of Representatives, in Muskoka Lakes in Ontario, Canada.
the Senate, and as treasurer. In 1866 he
represented the Choctaw Nation in Belvin, B. Frank (b. 1914). A Choctaw by
treaty negotiations with the United birth, B. Frank Belvin served as a mis-
States. Later Wright suggested the name sionary for the Baptist Church to the
oklahoma for the Indian Territory as it Muskogee (Creek) and Seminole na-
prepared for statehood. The word means tions in Oklahoma. He published The
“red people.” He served as principal chief Status of the American Indian Ministry,
of the Choctaw from 1866 to 1870. He War Horse along the Jesus Road, and The
published a Choctaw dictionary in 1880 Tribes Go Up.
and translated the Choctaw and Chicka-
saw constitutions, legal codes, several Muskogees (Creeks)
hymnals, and portions of the Bible. He Francis, Josiah (Hildis Hadjo) (ca.
died on December 2, 1885. 1770s–1818). A prophet and a leader of
850
the nativist Red Stick movement during the Muskogee Confederacy an indepen-
the War of 1812, Josiah Francis sup- dent state, but the British government
ported Tecumseh’s effort to unite all of chose to solidify relations with the
the Eastern tribes. After the Red Sticks’ United States instead. Upon returning to
defeat in 1814, he eventually moved into North America, Francis took up resi-
Spanish Florida, where he continued to dence near St. Marks in Spanish Florida.
resist U.S. expansion. Pursuing Natives that had been raiding
Although he was a mixed-blood (his the U.S. frontier in 1818, Andrew Jackson
mother was Muskogee and his father was invaded Spanish Florida and burned St.
white), Francis chose to follow the path Marks. He then hanged Francis on April
of his Muskogee ancestors; throughout 18 for supporting and inciting the raids
his life he resisted the advance of the U.S. on the U.S. frontier.
frontier and culture into Muskogee terri-
tory. He preached a return to traditional Winslett, David (ca. 1830–1862). Born
Muskogee ways as well as armed struggle just after his parents arrived in Indian
against whites. Francis’s spiritual powers Territory after removal, David Winslett
were reported to include his ability to eventually became a Presbyterian minis-
disappear underwater for long periods of ter and an interpreter for missionaries
time and the ability to fly. He received vi- among his people.
sions from a spirit who helped him de- Winslett went to school at the Coweta
feat his enemies. and Tallahassee missions in Oklahoma,
In 1811, when Tecumseh visited the and by 1851 he had been appointed the
Muskogee Confederacy, Francis encour- ruling elder at the Tallahassee school. Fi-
aged his people to join Tecumseh’s In- nally he was ordained as a Presbyterian
dian alliance against the United States, minister on September 6, 1858, and was
but he failed to motivate a majority of his placed in control of the Coweta Mission.
people. Afterward he helped lead the Red Winslett served in the Confederate army
Stick movement, which culminated in during the Civil War; he became ill and
the Red Stick War of 1813–1814 against died while on furlough in 1862.
accommodationists within the Musko-
gee Confederacy and eventually against Perryman, James (Pahos Harjo) (?–ca.
the United States. During the war, Fran- 1882). The son of a prominent leader
cis founded the sacred towns of Ecun- among the Muskogees, James Perryman
chattee (Holy Ground) as havens pro- was a Baptist minister and an interpreter
tected by the Great Spirit for traditional for the missions among his people.
Creeks. These towns were burned during Perryman was educated in mission
the war. schools near his home in Oklahoma. Per-
After the war Francis went to Great ryman worked as an interpreter for Pres-
Britain to secure a treaty that promised byterian missionaries to his people, and
851
he helped translate the first books into for the South Presbyterian Synod. For
the Muskogee language, as well as por- unknown reasons, Perryman abandoned
tions of the Bible. Later Perryman the Presbyterian faith for the Baptist de-
switched to the Baptist faith and served nomination in 1878 and was eventually
his people as a minister for three ordained in his new faith.
decades.
Perryman, Thomas Ward (1839–1903).
Checote, Samuel (ca. 1819–1884). Thomas Ward Perryman was a Presbyter-
Samuel Checote served the Muskogee ian minister, political leader, and transla-
people as a Methodist minister and prin- tor in the Indian Territory during the last
cipal chief during the mid- and late- half of the nineteenth century.
nineteenth century. Perryman gained his early education
Born in Alabama but removed to In- at the Tallahassee Mission school near
dian Territory with his family while he his home. After fighting for a time for the
was still a child, Checote received his ed- Confederacy during the Civil War, he
ucation in the local mission schools in switched sides and joined the Union
the Indian Territory. In 1852 the army on December 7, 1862. He studied
Methodist Church licensed him to with the Reverend William Schenck
preach. After fighting on the side of the Robertson and became a licensed minis-
Confederates during the Civil War, ter in 1875; he was ordained the next year
Checote worked to bring together by the Kansas Presbytery. In addition to
Muskogees that had fought on different his religious duties, Perryman served the
sides during the war. On and off, Checote Muskogee people for several terms in the
held the position of principal chief be- Creek House of Warriors, beginning in
tween 1867 and 1884. He died in 1884. 1868; he was also a district attorney, and,
in 1891 and 1896, presiding officer of the
Perryman, Joseph Moses (1883–?). The House of Kings. He later moved to
son of Moses Perryman and the grand- Kansas City, where he died on February
son of the Muskogee chief Benjamin Per- 11, 1903.
ryman, Joseph Perryman worked among
his people as a minister in both the Pres- Smith, Stanley (ca. 1940s). From the
byterian and Baptist faiths. Muskogee town of Arbika in Oklahoma,
Perryman was educated at the Coweta Stanley Smith traveled to Florida in 1943
Mission in the Indian Territory. After at the behest of the Muskogee, Wichita,
studying for a number of years, he was and Seminole Baptist Association to
ordained by the Presbyterian Church. He spread the gospel to Seminoles there. He
created the North Fork Presbyterian delivered his sermons in the Muskogee
Church and ran the local mission school language, and as a result of his elo-
852
quence, he began to gain converts im- sisting of elders from numerous tribal
mediately. Smith shifted his denomina- nations in the United States. Deere con-
tional affiliation to the Southern Baptist tinued to practice the traditional Musko-
in 1945, and during that time his con- gee religion until his death on August 16,
verts numbered almost two hundred 1985.
Florida Seminoles.
Seminole
Deere, Phillip (?–1985). A traditional Bemo, John (1800s). A nephew of Osce-
Muskogee medicine man and tribal ola, John Bemo served the Baptist and
leader, Phillip Deere actively cam- Presbyterian churches in the mid-nine-
paigned to improve conditions for all teenth century as a missionary to his
Native Americans throughout his life. people.
A descendant of participants in the Captured as a youth during the Sec-
Red Stick War (1813–1814) that fought to ond Seminole War, Bemo was adopted by
stop the infiltration of Anglo-American a French ship’s captain. After traveling
culture and Anglo-American seizure of throughout his youth, he gained an edu-
Muskogee land, Deere participated in cation in Philadelphia. Bemo then went
Chitto Harjo’s opposition to U.S. control to Indian Territory to establish a Presby-
of Muskogee affairs in Oklahoma during terian mission among his people, the
the early years of the twentieth century. Seminoles. Some years later Bemo
Deere saw himself as continuing the tra- switched to the Baptist faith and contin-
ditionalist movement and the resistance ued his mission to the Seminoles as a
efforts of his ancestors into the twentieth teacher and minister.
century. He traveled extensively in the
United States and Europe to lecture on Arpeika (Sam Jones) (ca. 1765–1860). A
the conditions confronting Native Amer- Seminole medicine man and war leader
icans in the United States. Deere acted as in the Second Seminole War, Arpeika,
a spiritual advisor for the American In- along with Billy Bowlegs, successfully re-
dian Movement in the late 1960s and sisted the U.S. attempt to remove him
early 1970s, and in 1979 he began bring- and his followers. As a young man,
ing the Youths and Elders Conference to Arpeika was a revered hillis hay, or med-
his Muskogee roundhouse to promote icine man, before the three Seminole
Native traditionalism among the genera- Wars. At an advanced age he became a
tions. He was also associated with the In- war leader for his people because of his
ternational Indian Treaty Council, which religious knowledge and strong spiritual
was affiliated with the United Nations, power. After resettling his people in the
and Deere was involved with the Circle Everglades and successfully resisting at-
of Traditional Indian Elders, a group con- tempts to remove them to the Indian
853
Territory, Arpeika died of natural causes press Reservation in 1943 and 1944. At
in 1860. the same time, he was forced to give up
his medicine bundle to his brother.
Jumper, John (ca. 1822–1896). John Billie converted to the Baptist faith in
Jumper served the Seminoles as princi- 1943. He was heavily influenced by Stan-
pal chief and a Baptist minister. ley Smith, a Muskogee missionary from
Descended from a long line of impor- Oklahoma. Eventually the Southern Bap-
tant leaders, Jumper was one of the first tists licensed him as a preacher, and in
Seminoles to be removed to Indian Terri- 1948 he was appointed the assistant pas-
tory. Because he saw the value of educator at a church near the Big Cypress
tion, he later asked the Presbyterian Reservation. Because of his extensive
Church to build schools among the knowledge of Seminole culture and reli-
Seminoles. Jumper converted and be- gion, Billie became an important in-
came a Presbyterian in 1857. Later he formant for the ethnologist William C.
switched to the Baptist Church. He aided Sturtevant.
the Confederacy during the Civil War and Dixie Ray Haggard
served in the First Seminole Mounted
Volunteers as a major, eventually achiev- See also American Indian Movement (Red
Power Movement); Ceremony and Ritual,
ing the rank of acting colonel. After the Southeast; Christianity, Indianization of;
war Jumper was ordained as a Baptist Health and Wellness, Traditional
minister. Jumper died on September Approaches; Missionization, Southeast;
Native American Church, Peyote
21,1896. Movement; Power, Southeast; Spiritual and
Ceremonial Practitioners, Southeast
Billie, Josie (ca. 1887–?). Josie Billie was a
medicine man and an assistant pastor
Bataille, Gretchen M., and Laurie Lisa, eds.
among the Muskogee and Miccosukee 2001. Native American Women: A
Seminoles in Florida. Biographical Dictionary. 2d ed. New
York: Routledge.
A member of the Tiger clan, Billie
Corkran, David H. 1962. The Cherokee
began his training as a medicine man at Frontier: Conflict and Survival, 1740–62.
the age of fifteen when he began fasting Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
———. 1967. The Creek Frontier: 1685–1815.
to prepare to learn sacred information; a
few years later he began an apprentice- Cotterill, R. S. 1954. The Southern Indians:
ship with Tommy Doctor. For many years The Story of the Civilized Tribes before
Billie studied with several medicine mak- Removal. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press.
ers, learning everything that he could Covington, James W. 1993. The Seminoles of
from each. After some trouble in which a Florida. Gainesville: University of Florida
relative was accidentally killed, Billie Press.
Debo, Angie. 1961. The Rise and Fall of the
moved away from his home community Choctaw Republic. 2d ed. Norman:
along the Tamiami Trail to the Big Cy- University of Oklahoma Press.
854
_______________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Southwest
Dockstader, Frederick. 1977. Great North Southeast, Caribbean. New York: Gale
American Indians. New York: Van Research.
Nostrand Reinhold. Martin, Joel W. 1991. Sacred Revolt: The
Evans, E. Raymond. 1977. “Notable Persons Muskogees’ Struggle for a New World.
in Cherokee History: Stephen Foreman.” Boston: Beacon Press.
Journal of Cherokee Studies 2, no. 2: May, Katja. 1990. “Nativistic Movements
230–239. among the Cherokees in the Nineteenth
Fenton, Harold W. 1975. Nancy Ward: and Twentieth Centuries.” Journal of
Cherokee. New York: Dodd, Mead. Cherokee Studies 15: 27–40.
Foreman, Grant. The Five Civilized Tribes. McClary, Ben Harris. 1962. “The Last
1934. Norman: University of Oklahoma Beloved Woman of the Cherokees.”
Press. Tennessee Historical Society 21: 352–364.
Hendrix, Janey B. 1983a. “Redbird Smith Perdue, Theda. 1998. Cherokee Women.
and the Nighthawk Keetoowahs.” Journal Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
of Cherokee Studies 8, no. 1: 22–39. Reeves, Carolyn Keller, ed. 1985. The
———. 1983b. “Redbird Smith and the Choctaw before Removal. Jackson:
Nighthawk Keetoowahs.” Journal of University Press of Mississippi.
Cherokee Studies 8, no. 2: 73–86. Tucker, Norma. 1969. “Nancy Ward,
Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Paulette Molin. Ghighau of the Cherokees.” Georgia
2000. Encyclopedia of Native American Historical Quarterly 53: 192–200.
Religions. Rev. ed. New York: Facts on Wells, Samuel J., and Roseanna Tubby, eds.
File. 1986. After Removal: The Choctaw in
Hudson, Charles. The Southeastern Indians. Mississippi. Jackson: University Press of
1976. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Mississippi.
Press.
Irwin, Lee. 1997. “Different Voices Together:
Preservation and Acculturation in Early
19th Century Cherokee Religion.” Journal
of Cherokee Studies 18: 2–26. Religious Leaders,
Johansen, Bruce E., and Donald A. Grinde,
Jr. 1997. The Encyclopedia of Native Southwest
American Biography: Six Hundred Stories
of Important People from Powhatan to Hosteen Klah (1867–1937)
Wilma Mankiller. New York: Henry Holt Hosteen Klah, also known as Azaethlin,
and Co. was born on the “Long Walk Home” from
Kidwell, Clara Sue, and Charles Roberts.
1980. The Choctaws: A Critical Bosque Redondo at Fort Wingate. His
Bibliography. Bloomington: Indiana great grandfather Narbona was also a
University Press for the Newberry well-known healer and leader of the Diné
Library.
Mails, Thomas E. 1992. The Cherokee
(Navajo). Hosteen Klah was recognized
People: The Story of the Cherokees from early as a traditional healer through his
Earliest Origins to Contemporary Times. work with his Apache uncle, married to
Tulsa: Council Oak Books.
one of Hosteen Klah’s mother’s sisters. It
Malinowski, Sharon, ed. 1995. Notable
Native Americans. Detroit: Gale was during this visit with the Apache uncle
Research. that it was discovered that Hosteen Klah
Malinowski, Sharon, and Anna Sheets, eds., also possessed qualities that would permit
with Jeffrey Lehmant and Melissa Walsh
Doig. 1978. The Gale Encyclopedia of him to attain knowledge usually taught to
Native American Tribes, vol. 1: Northeast, the women of his family. Hosteen Klah’s
855
Religious Leaders, Southwest ________________________________________________________________
interest in healing led him to study with tive power, or evil in Ruby’s words. For
all of the Diné healers he knew of or the Desert Cahuilla, healers come into
heard of. At the age of forty-nine in 1917, their source of healing power and re-
Klah performed his first complete sponsibilities at approximately forty
Yeibichai, a nine-day-long healing cere- years of age and continue gathering
mony. That is the most complex and stature throughout their lifetime.
lengthy Diné healing process, and it es-
tablished him as the most knowledge- Geronimo, Goyatholay (One Who
able and powerful of all known or re- Yawns) (1829–1909)
membered Diné healers. In his last thirty Chiricahua Apache of the Nednhi band
years of life, Klah transferred his knowl- and a Bedonkohe Apache (grandson of
edge onto the visual format of rug weav- Mahko), Geronimo was an influential
ing, a traditional Diné craft. Klah’s weav- leader of a band of Apache who consis-
ings are known far and wide and depict tently refused to be bound to a specific
many of the sacred portions of the Diné piece of real estate known in modern
healing and religious rites. times as a reservation. Because of a
speech impediment, Geronimo often
Ruby Modesto (1913–1980) spoke for his brother, Juh, who was re-
Ruby Modesto was a member of the ported as being a hereditary leader.
Desert Cahuilla tribe of indigenous peo- Geronimo was quoted on one occasion as
ples and known among her people as a saying, “I was born on the prairies where
healer. As a young child, around the age the wind blew free and there was nothing
of ten, she experienced what she de- to break the light of the sun. I was born
scribed as dreams, a precursor to the where there were no enclosures.” Many of
world of a Desert Cahuilla healer. As a the Indian leaders of the late 1800s made
member of the Dog clan, Ruby came statements of this nature when they and
from a long line of Desert Cahuilla heal- their people were rounded up and con-
ers, or puls. These individuals—men and fined to reservations where they could no
women—were highly respected clan longer practice their sociocultural and re-
leaders capable of performing their spe- ligious way of life. Geronimo epitomized
cialties in the areas of hunting, singing the reluctant individual who stepped up
for specific needs, and ceremonies. A pul to care for and lead his people during ex-
is chosen by Umna’ah, Creator, and has a tremely difficult times. Despite surren-
helper; in Ruby’s case her helper Ahswit, dering to the U.S. Army three times and
Eagle, is a very powerful helper. Puls can leading small groups of Chiracahua back
heal a variety of ailments from menstru- to their homeland each time, Geronimo
ation problems to epilepsy, known as was captured and interred in Fort Marion,
tookisyl, with excellent results. In Desert Florida, in 1886.
Cahuilla oral history, passed on by Ruby In 1894, Geronimo and the balance of
to her family, Frog is the center of nega- the Chiracahua who had survived were
856
_______________________________________________________________ Religious Leaders, Southwest
died a prisoner of the U.S. government at

Ft. Sill on February 17, 1909, and was
buried in the Apache cemetery there.
Barboncito (Hástiin Dághá [Man with

the Whiskers]
Bislahalani [The Orator]; Hozhooji Naata
[Blessing Speaker]; Ma’ii deeshgíízhiníí
[Coyote Pass People, Jemez Clan]; and
Hashke yich’í Dahilwo [He Is Anxious to
Run at Warriors]) (1820–1871)
Barboncito served his clan and the
Diné in many capacities during his life-
time. He appears to have begun his for-
mal responsibilities in 1860, when he
joined Manuelito in a reprisal attack
over the loss of a number of their horses
that had been slaughtered by soldiers
Geronimo, Goyatholay (One Who Yawns) was a from Fort Defiance. In 1862, Barboncito
revered Chiricahua Apache medicine person and his brother Delgadito informed the
and spiritual leader. 1907. (Library of Congress)
commander of Fort Defiance, General
James H. Carlton, of their intention to
moved to Mt. Vernon in Alabama, where live peacefully with the fort. That only
many more were exposed to tuberculosis led to their forced movement to Bosque
and died. As a revered leader, medicine Redondo, at which point Barboncito and
person, and spiritual and intellectual Delgadito once again joined Manuelito
leader, Geronimo lived out the balance of in rebellion. In 1864, Barboncito was
his life as a prisoner of war (political pris- captured by Colonel “Kit” Carson, a fa-
oner) because of his ability to escape, mous Indian scout during the 1863–
evade, and lead his people out of govern- 1866 Navajo War, as a war chief. In June
ment control and into what little freedom of 1865, Barboncito left Bosque Re-
they could find in their ancestral lands. dondo, leading a group of 500 Diné to
Geronimo, as a prisoner, was forced to their ancestral lands. In November of
appear in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase 1866, Barboncito once again surren-
Exposition in St. Louis and actually rode dered at Fort Wingate, with twenty-one
in the 1905 inaugural parade for Presi- of his followers.
dent Theodore Roosevelt. Geronimo was In 1868, Barboncito was appointed as
later transferred to Ft. Sill in Oklahoma, the lead signatory to the final peace
where he died near the Apache on their treaty between the Diné and the U.S.
reservation north of Ft. Sill. Geronimo government. Barboncito lived out his
857
Religious Leaders, Southwest, Pueblo ______________________________________________________
last few years after signing a peace treaty References and Further Reading
that placed the Diné back on their ances- Alvord, Dr. Lori Arviso, and Elizabeth Cohen
Van Pelt. 1999. The Scalpel and the Silver
tral lands. Bear. New York: Bantam Books.
Barboncito. 1968. Treaty between the United
States of American and the Navajo Tribe
Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord (1958–) of Indians: With a Record of the
Dr. Alvord, who considers herself a tradi- Discussions that Led to Its Signing. Las
tional Diné, is also a board-certified and Vegas: K. C. Publications.
Faulk, Odie. 1993. The Geronimo
well-respected physician. In her own Companion. Oxford: Oxford University
words, the “words Navajo and surgeon” Press.
are rarely heard together, and never asso- Iverson, Peter. 2002. Diné: A History of the
Navajo. Albuquerque: University of New
ciated with each other. During the ten Mexico Press.
years between 1981 and 1991, Dr. Alvord Modesto, Ruby, and Guy Mount. 1980. Not
studied and learned her surgical skills at for Innocent Ears: Spiritual Traditions of
a Desert Cahuilla Medicine Woman.
Stanford University and in the Stanford Arcata, CA: Sweetlight Books.
area. From 1991–1997, Dr. Alvord plied Newcomb, Franc Johnson. 1989. Hosteen
her skills in Gallup, New Mexico, and in Klah: Navajo Medicine Man and Sacred
Sand Painter. Norman: University of
the process gained a new understanding Oklahoma Press.
of her traditional Diné healing responsi-
bilities, working in concert with known
traditional healers. It was during those
Religious Leaders,
ten years that Dr. Alvord was able to re-
connect with her traditional early teach-
Southwest, Pueblo
ings and become involved with, among See Religious Leaders, Pueblo
others, Thomas Hatathlii at the Tuba City
Medical Center. She relearned the power
of traditional healing, both sharing her Religious Leadership,
knowledge with Hosteen Hatathlii and
Alaska
learning from him the power of tradi-
tional healing. Dr. Alvord credits Hosteen See “Angalkuq”
Hatathlii with reintroducing her to the
many traditional Diné healing cere-
monies, in particular Kodi’s Prayer. Dr. Religious Leadership,
Alvord is currently a guest lecturer at Great Basin
Dartmouth Medical School.
Historical analyses of Great Basin Ameri-
Tasiwoopa ápi
can Indian religious leaders have in-
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Apache; volved profiling powerful leaders who
Ceremony and Ritual, Diné; Health and achieved a place in Euro-American soci-
Wellness, Traditional Approaches;
Missionization, Southwest; Mourning and ety through either fame or controversy.
the Afterlife, Southwest; Sandpainting In this essay we depart from that model
858
_________________________________________________________ Religious Leadership, Great Basin
in order to examine the equally impor- Two concepts need to be narrowly de-
tant foundations of Indian religious fined in order to keep this essay within
leadership roles in Numic society, and bounds. First, when talking about Basin
how those roles changed over time. We religious leaders, this essay is restricted
examine this issue by looking at how reli- to those who speak the Numic language.
gious leadership manifested during four Thus some Great Basin tribes are not
distinct historical periods—(1) tradi- considered, while certain Numic tribes
tional times, defined as being before Eu- residing far from the Basin are included.
ropeans arrived; (2) encroachment Numic people traditionally lived from
times, which include the early occupa- the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Califor-
tion of indigenous territories by Euro- nia to the front range of the Rocky Moun-
Americans; (3) conversion times, when tains in Colorado. Numic groups include
Europeans began to use religious con- the Northern Paiutes in Bend, Oregon;
version as a tool of conquest/salvation; Owens Valley, California, Paiutes and
and (4) multicultural times, when Indian Shoshones; Western Shoshones from
people can choose among various reli- Wyoming to Death Valley, California;
gious options without fear of retribution. their cousins the Goshutes in Utah;
Our main thesis is that the role-rela- Southern Paiutes in Utah, Arizona,
tionship expectations and possibilities Nevada, and California; and the Utes of
confronting Great Basin religious leaders Utah and Colorado. A second point is
were seriously altered by forces beyond that among Numic peoples the once
their control during four historical peri- clear line between religious and political
ods. Within a context of change induced leadership shifted until they became in-
by Euro-American encroachment, rela- distinguishable roles, and they have
tionships between religious leaders and once again become distinct roles only in
members of Indian communities were recent times. Given the changes in role
constantly renegotiated. As Numic reli- definition over time, this essay always at-
gious leaders were exposed to other In- tempts to specify what time frame is
dian religions (for example, the revital- under consideration.
ization movement of Smoholla and the In view of the paucity of relevant stud-
Native American Church), Western reli- ies of Numic religious practices, this
gious tenets introduced by Christian mis- essay is necessarily speculative. One
sionaries, and U.S. society at large, study, however, needs to be highlighted
Numic religious leaders adapted them- because it informs this issue directly. It
selves to serving the needs of their peo- took the scholarly lifetime of Omer C.
ple. Basin Indian religious leaders were Stewart, but once he had published Pey-
not victims of their times, but instead ote Religion: A History it became unique
were recognized as leaders exactly be- as a source for understanding how reli-
cause they adjusted to the times and con- gious leaders in the Peyote religion (Na-
tinued to serve their people effectively. tive American Church) survived various
859
Religious Leadership, Great Basin __________________________________________________________
U.S. national polities designed either to ancing ceremonies that are needed by
suppress or to support that particular re- groups and nature. Persons who special-
ligion. Stewart traced the lives and shift- ize in bringing balance back to individu-
ing religious roles of hundreds of Peyote als are called shamans or medicine doc-
religious leaders, including many from tors, but the process of restoring balance
Great Basin tribes. The book also clearly is fundamentally the same regardless of
illustrates a widely shared religion and the problem’s scale.
an irreversible trend toward pan-Indian The power of religious leaders is not
cultural patterns in North America. primarily their own, although they may
have been especially selected as a per-
Traditional Times: Before 1492 son who will know how best to use this
Religious leadership is not usually seen power, and they do bring their own
in the archaeological record of the Basin, power to balancing ceremonies. The
so one must guess at how Indian reli- term Puhagantu, which is often used for
gious leadership functioned based on religious leaders and shamans, is re-
what was first observed by Europeans vealing because it translates as “to have
and the basic beliefs of Numic religion puha” or even “where puha sits.” Reli-
and authority. Puha (which glosses in gious leaders, like shaman, are basically
English as “power” or “energy”) was windows through which power passes
made as the force that causes everything on the way to balance an individual,
to be alive and have agency. Puha came group, or aspect of nature. This power
at the time of Creation when it, the land, tends to arrive as spirit helpers that can
and the Numic people came into being be an animal, such as a mountain
and relationship. Religion is basically an sheep, a mineral, such as crystal, or a
understanding of how puha works to spirit, such as a water baby. Places of
keep the world in balance as it was de- power also add their puha to balancing
fined at Creation, and how ceremony can ceremonies.
be used to restore balance. Individuals, Traditionally, when religious leaders
groups, plants, animals, and all else in accepted the responsibility of being the
nature can become out of balance and window of power, they understood the
thus need a curative ceremony; the most risks involved. Failure to control puha, as
common balancing ceremony is the cir- evidenced by things getting worse or
cle or round dance. more out of balance, indicated that the
The concept of a religious leader, leader/shaman was losing control over
which in European culture usually the sources of power being used to bring
means a single person who is the head of balance. Repeated failure eventually re-
a church, does not directly translate into sulted in their friends and relatives
traditional Numic culture. The closest killing them. This act has been inter-
description is a person who is primarily preted by Euro-Americans as retribution
responsible for calling and leading bal- for failure to cure or fix the world, but
860
_________________________________________________________ Religious Leadership, Great Basin
quite a different interpretation comes shone illustrates the federal policy of

from Numic epistemology. First, when only taking from—not giving to—the In-
people accept the responsibility of being dian people.
a religious leader or shaman, they know As Indian people became increasingly
what they must do as the “window of marginalized in the Basin, they re-
puha.” They also recognize that if they sponded by working together through
begin to fail it is because they are a bro- big balancing ceremonies. Indian reli-
ken window and they will be killed. This gious leaders combined efforts with po-
second point is also misunderstood be- litical leaders to organize the largest pan-
cause mater cannot be destroyed, it Indian movement since the 1680
merely transforms. With reincarnation All-Pueblo Revolt (Nabokov 1981). Un-
the killed leader becomes an animal, and like that armed conflict, this was to be a
when the animal dies it can come back religious conflict fought with puha in-
as a person. In fact, there is evidence that stead of guns. The first well-known such
a shaman becomes a hummingbird, and ceremony was the Ghost Dance move-
this shaman’s helper can become a ment of 1870. Twenty years later the 1890
shaman at death. Ghost Dance (Dobyns 1967; Hittman
1997) was to become the largest pan-In-
Encroachment Times: 1776–1890 dian joint balancing ceremony ever, be-
During this period Indian religion and cause it involved up to thirty-two ethnic
ceremony was largely irrelevant to Euro- groups (Mooney 1991). Both ceremonies
American society, despite the 1776 expe- were fundamentally traditional round
dition of fathers Escalante and dances scaled up to address the greatest
Dominguez, during which they were problem that had ever confronted
pleased to find friendly Southern Paiutes Numic peoples and lands (Stoffle et al.
looking like Pueblos with rancherias and 2000).
irrigated farming—and thus more easily The federal government responded to
converted than the more mobile and these efforts with physical force, such as
hostile Apaches. More important to most the Wounded Knee massacre among the
outsiders, however, was that Indian peo- Sioux. The safety of white society and
ple not restrict the economic activities of commerce was the priority, and Indian
Europeans who passed through the travel and ceremony were suppressed. In
Basin looking for beaver furs and pre- many portions of the Basin, local Indians
cious minerals. When the former were still outnumbered their non-Indian
trapped out and the latter was found in neighbors. Nevertheless, Euro-American
California, Indian people were simply hegemony prevailed. The famous
pushed back from major sources of prophet of the 1890 Ghost Dance move-
water and away from the routes of travel- ment, Wovoka, was put under house ar-
ers. The 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley (Har- rest, and a manned fence was built
ney 1995, 193) with the Western Sho- around Wovoka’s home at Yearington,
861
Religious Leadership, Great Basin __________________________________________________________
Nevada, to restrict his travel and that of were all but invisible to the outside
his community. Soon the federal govern- world.
ment would add Christian missionaries
to the efforts to civilize and pacify the Multicultural Times: 1960 to Today
tribes. After the Civil Rights movement
achieved major successes for African
Conversion Times: 1890–1960 Americans in the mid-1950s, many ac-
The Ghost Dance of 1890 along with an tivists took heart and moved on to other
increasingly hostile boundary between issues. Some moved to the environment
whites and Indians in the Basin caused and became instrumental in arguing
the Federal government to outlaw the against and even stopping dams along
practice of Indian ceremonies of all the Colorado River, efforts that partially
kinds (Crum 1994, 51–52). Thus the role resulted in the passage of the National
of Indian religious leader had to be sub- Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Others
sumed under that of a political leader or lent their voices and energies to Ameri-
even a labor leader. Religious leaders can Indian movements of various kinds,
could be jailed for public practice of including efforts to achieve religious
ceremonies, so their activities became freedom. After a decade of these efforts,
largely unknown to the dominant soci- Congress passed the American Indian
ety. Indian people hid their religion Religious Freedom Act of 1979, which in-
within the context of social events that cluded both a national apology for past
were legal. Ghost Dance songs contin- efforts to eliminate Indian religions and
ued to be sung, but they had to be a commitment not to stand in the way of
buried within nonthreatening public Indian religious practice in the future.
activities (Vander 1988). Some religious While it is impossible to characterize
leaders became the heads of Euro- all of the Indian leaders who emerged
American churches that permitting during this time, it is clear that it became
them to continue to serve in a modified increasingly acceptable for Indian lead-
traditional role. It is clear, however, that ers to perform non-European religious
some of these new Indian converts to ceremonies publicly. It is also clear that
Western religions truly rejected tradi- many religious leaders in the Great Basin
tional religions and ways of life. Unlike became associated with religions that
European religious practice, Indian reli- did not derive from Numic culture. Ex-
gions permitted adding alternative ap- amples include most leaders of the Pey-
proaches to understanding the world, ote religion, including members of the
so it is possible that an Indian religious Duncan family (Utes) who served both
leader could in good faith participate in as Sun Dance religious leaders and road-
both religious systems. Still, during this men in the Native American Church.
period, traditional religious leaders Many of the non-Numic religions were
862
___________________________________________________________ Religious Leadership, Northeast
led by Indian people who were not Nevada City, CA: Blue Dolphin
Numic. Nevertheless, Numic-based reli- Publishing.
Hittman, Michael. 1997. Wovoka and the
gions flourished during this period as Ghost Dance. Edited by Don Lynch.
more and more situations occurred in Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
which their religious leaders could step Mooney, James. 1991. The Ghost-Dance
Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890.
forward to present Numic religious prin- Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
ciples and be positively received by both Nabokov, Peter. 1981. Indian Running:
their own people and people from the Native American History & Tradition.
Santa Fe, NM: Ancient City Press.
general society—and even the world. An Stewart, Omer C. 1987. Peyote Religion: A
example is Corbin Harney (Western History. Norman: University of
Shoshone), who was called to be a leader Oklahoma Press.
Stoffle, Richard, et al. 2000. “Ghost Dancing
and eventually became a world icon; at
the Grand Canyon: Southern Paiute Rock
one time he was visualized in a Sting Art, Ceremony, and Cultural
(Gordon Sumner) concert held in honor Landscapes.” Current Anthropology 41,
no. 1: 11–38.
of indigenous people.
Vander, Judith. 1988. Songprints: The
Today Indian people still respect and Musical Experience of Five Shoshone
follow the tenets of their traditional reli- Women. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press.
gions, but they are also likely to draw
upon the insights of the Peyote religion
and that of friends and family members
from other Indian religions. Many fami- Religious Leadership,
lies and all local groups contain people
Northeast
who share religious perspectives that
originate far from the Basin. Just as the Native American religious leaders fulfill a
people have become multicultural, so multiplicity of functions, yet non-Native
many religious leaders practice more observers have tended to place all reli-
than one religion. gious leaders in the same category. The
Richard W. Stoffle and Alex K. Carroll earliest colonists and missionaries usu-
ally described them as witches or ser-
See also Power Places, Great Basin; Ghost
Dance Movement vants of the Devil. This category has
transformed over time and has become
Crum, Steven J. 1994. Po’I Pentun Tammen identified with the term “shaman.” That
Kimmappeh, The Path on which We word comes from the Tungus people of
Came: A History of the Western Shoshone. Siberia, for whom the saman is a spiri-
Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
Dobyns, Henry F. 1967. The Ghost Dance of tual leader who can travel to the spirit
1889: Among the Pai Indians of world and ascertain the desires and de-
Northwestern Arizona. Prescott, AZ: mands of the spirits. While some Native
Prescott College Press.
Harney, Corbin. 1995. The Way It Is: One American religious leaders are clearly
Water . . . One Air . . . One Mother Earth. engaged in similar practices, the blanket
863
Religious Leadership, Northeast ____________________________________________________________
category of “shaman” for all medicine Near-death experiences are also often
people is inappropriate. The myth of a the points at which a prophet has a first
unified, coherent religious tradition of vision.
soul travel by shamans that traveled While the oral histories of tribes in the
with Arctic people over the Bering land Northeast are no doubt full of the kind of
bridge and survived in the Americas is medicine people described above, the
unsubstantiated. recorded history of the Northeast is filled
Religious leadership in Native Ameri- with the characters of Christian Indians,
can communities is almost always asso- those who sought to bring the good news
ciated with the ability to heal. That abil- of the new, white religion to their
ity can be obtained in multiple ways; it brethren. Many Native people close to
can be inherited, developed as a result the early New England colonies were
of dreams or visions sent by animals or quite open to the god of the English and
good spirits, or the person may be cho- developed their own leadership by incor-
sen by an actual event such as a near- porating Christian ideas into traditional
fatal encounter with a dangerous or poi- belief systems. Of course, there were also
sonous animal. In each case the those who struggled against the intru-
medicine received cannot be used sion of Christianity into their communi-
properly until the person has cultivated ties and who led movements to revitalize
a familiarity with it. The spiritual medi- and reinstate the ancestral religious
cine that a plant or animal offers tends foundation that had sustained them for
to be aligned with its actual behavior generations.
and attributes. Religious leaders often fulfilled multi-
The lifetime commitment to becom- ple roles. Aiowantha (Hiawatha) was
ing a medicine person is not pursued one such individual who acted as a
half-heartedly. In fact it is dangerous, healer, prophet, tribal leader, diplomat,
and some have tried to escape it. Many and orator for the Mohawk Nation in the
tribes have stories of potential medicine 1500s. Aiowantha was a captivating
people who became critically ill be- speaker who allied with a Huron leader,
cause they refused to accept the respon- Deganawida, to establish an alliance
sibility. They describe the ultimatum among their neighboring tribes. De-
given to them, of choosing to become a ganawida preached a message of peace,
healer or dying. These kinds of ordeals and he wanted to unite the tribes to stop
are interpreted as tests of the individ- the cycle of revenge killing that plagued
ual’s strength and will by the Creator or them. Aiowantha, with persuasive diplo-
by the relevant spirit. Many healers de- macy, and Deganawida gathered to-
scribe a kind of death of their former gether the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga,
self followed by a rebirth in which they Cayuga, and Seneca nations into a con-
take on the body and spirit of a healer. federacy known as the League of the Iro-
864
___________________________________________________________ Religious Leadership, Northeast
quois. When it was later joined by the flicts between the French and British, in
Tuscarora, it also became known as the 1762 she returned to her homeland and
Six Nations; it became the most powerful helped maintain peace between the Pig-
force in the Ohio River valley region until wacket band of Abenaki and the English
it sided with the British during the Amer- colonists that had settled there. Her flu-
ican Revolution. When peace was at- ency in English and her commitment to
tained, Aiowantha put the principles of her own people enabled her to help them
Deganawida’s vision of peace into ac- immensely. She was a skilled healer who
tion, developing a representative system was known for treating anyone, white or
of governance with laws and ceremonies Indian, at any time. She was also an ex-
for negotiating and settling disputes. The cellent hunter and was remembered for
framers of the U.S. Constitution admired being generous with her catch. Ockett
the Iroquois League’s success in uniting can be understood as a peacemaker who
its groups together and utilized several of facilitated a good relationship between
the league’s principles in formulating the two colliding cultures.
new American government, including A Native American who took a differ-
political equality, separation of govern- ent route to sponsoring good relations
mental power, checks and balances, and between whites and Indians was Sam-
political freedom. son Occum (1723–1792). Occum was a
Molly Ockett was an Abenaki healer Mohegan who became the first Indian
and herbalist who mingled in both the formally trained and ordained as a
world of her Native family and the white Christian minister. He was ordained by
world colonizing it. Born with an the Presbyterian Church in 1759 and
Abenaki name, Singing Bird, she grew up began recruiting Native youths for mis-
in Pigwacket Wabanaki country in pres- sionary Eleazor Wheelock’s educational
ent-day Maine. While her family sought project, Moor’s Indian Charity School,
refuge in Massachusetts because of war which later became Dartmouth College.
between the French and British, she Occum became disillusioned with the
learned English and Christian religious school when it started focusing on train-
beliefs. Because her people had sided ing missionaries instead of Indians. He
with the French, she was taken hostage traveled with his family, preaching
by the British and sent to live with an En- Christianity among the Algonquian peo-
glish family in Boston. When she was re- ples of New York and New England,
united with her family at about the age of eventually establishing a religious com-
ten, she had become accustomed to the munity called Brotherton. Occum be-
white way of living, but she went back to lieved that Indians should minister to
her Native ways, learning the healing arts Indians, and his community focused on
from her mother and others. Although training Native people to lead their own
her family was killed during further con- communities. In 1772 he published a
865
Religious Leadership, Northeast ____________________________________________________________
speech, “Sermon Preached at the Execu- riod of white domination. Handsome

tion of Moses Paul,” in which he criti- Lake’s grandson became the leader of the
cized white traders for bringing alcohol Longhouse religion after Handsome
into Native communities. He continued Lake’s death, and it is still practiced on
preaching to the Indians at Brotherton several reservations today.
until his death in 1792. Joseph Onasakenrat (White Feather)
Another Christian Indian who fought was a Mohawk chief and Methodist mis-
against the exploitation of whites was sionary in the l860s and 1870s. He was
William Apess, a Pequot born in 1798 who raised in the Catholic Church in Quebec
became a Methodist missionary to the and groomed for missionary work. After
Mashpee tribe, encouraging them to expel attending college for three years, he was
the corrupt white missionaries. He also elected principal chief of the Iroquois in
fought to forbid whites to cut timber on 1868, at the age of twenty-two. The
Mashpee land. His confrontational lead- young leader accused the Catholic
ership earned him the respect of Indian Church of keeping the Natives in poverty
people and thirty days in jail. His story be- and led a campaign to renounce them.
came well known when he published an As a result, most of his people converted
autobiography and several other books. to the Methodist Church, of which he be-
Widely known as the visionary who came a leader. He continued to fight
led a successful revitalization movement against the Sulpician Catholic order that
among Iroquois people in the early nine- controlled the Oka missionary settle-
teenth century, Seneca prophet Hand- ment where he lived, challenging their
some Lake acknowledged Christian ownership of the land in court, their
ideas but stressed a return to the tradi- wood-cutting rights, and their settle-
tional Iroquois ceremonies and moral ment claims. He was accused of burning
ideals. Seneca land, population, and cul- down the Sulpician church in 1877, but
ture were being devastated by white in- the case was later dismissed. He spent
truders after the Revolutionary War. his last years translating Scripture from
Without a powerful leader and a new vi- French into Iroquois and preaching to
sion, the Iroquois way of life was threat- Iroquois communities in Caughnawaga
ened with extinction. Handsome Lake and St. Regis. He died in 1881.
received a vision that articulated a new There are few other reliable historical
religion and a new way of life for his peo- accounts of Native medicine people
ple that combined elements of Chris- from the Northeast. Presumably, if they
tianity with the traditional Seneca songs, avoided contact with whites their stories
dances, and ceremonial calendar. He be- were not recorded. Warfare destroyed
lieved that by consciously acculturating many Northeastern tribes before schol-
to some American ways, the Iroquois ars were present to record cultural infor-
would be better able to survive this pe- mation. However, beginning in the late
866
___________________________________________________________ Religious Leadership, Northwest
1960s, a religious/political faction sources of power and spirit beings that

known as the American Indian Move- enabled them to change conditions for
ment (AIM) gained national attention the better—and sometimes for the
and pan-Indian participation. Anna Mae worse, if they had a selfish reason to do
Pictou Aquash was a Mi’kmaq woman so. Although often called shamans or In-
from Nova Scotia who became an AIM dian doctors, they once included a range
leader in the 1970s. A tireless and proof specialists much like those of the
ductive worker for Indian rights and cul- modern medico-religious profession.
tural sovereignty, Aquash helped orga- With massive die-offs as a result of Euro-
nize the Boston Indian Council, a service pean diseases and dislocations, ordinary
agency for Indian alcoholics. She was an spiritual practitioners who survived
important “female warrior” during the began to assume more and more of the
FBI siege of Wounded Knee on the Pine functions and practices of these special-
Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in ists. Formerly, those functions included
1973. She later taught at the Ojibwa’s Red that of curer of various types, medium
School House project and was director of who communed with the dead, song
AIM’s West Coast office in Los Angeles. In master who untangled tunes, puberty
February 1976, Aquash was found dead preceptor, baby broker who understood
under suspicious circumstances and be- babies’ needs, and that of priestly figures
came a martyr to the AIM cause. who conducted rites such as the First
Brian Clearwater Salmon and other return foods festivals.
Power Movement); Missionization, Great Tsimshians
Lakes; Revitalization Movements, Northeast Along the North Pacific coast, for Tlingit
References and Further Reading and Haida, masks were worn by
Johnson, Troy R. 2002. Distinguished Native
American Spiritual Practitioners and shamans while working. The neighbor-
Healers. Westport, CT: Oryx Press. ing Tsimshians, however, used many
Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Paulette Molin. masks more generally as manifestations
2000. The Encyclopedia of Native
American Religions. Rev. ed. New York:
of rank and power. Tsimshian culture
Facts on File. was imaged as a beam of light from
Matthiessen, Peter. 1980. In the Spirit of Heaven that refracted into several
Crazy Horse. New York: Viking Press.
branches whose emblems were posi-
tioned on the model of a head. Crests
were passed through mothers and were
embodied as hats; carvings of chiefly
Religious Leadership,
rank and power were worn on the fore-
Northwest head; and masks covered the face. Spiri-
Throughout the Northwest, certain peo- tual practitioners themselves were
ple maintained constant contact with known as “blowers,” using the mouth,
867
Religious Leadership, Northwest ____________________________________________________________
Mask used in the naxnox dance series, which involved the dramatization of a name. The eyes have
three positions: open, closed, and copper covered (shown here). The movable jaws reveal teeth or a
copper band. Tsimshian culture. (Werner Forman / Art Resource, NY)
but their power resided in their hair, devoted to fishing and harvesting wild
which remained unkempt and uncut. foods, followed by winter religious and
For Tsimshians, the primordial beings communal events. A chief, as head of a
are called naxnox, and the powerful re- cedar plank house, therefore had two
fracted light is halaayt. During the 1800s, guises. During the summer he coordi-
halaayt took six manifestations. It was nated dispersed food gathering, but with
personalized as a blower—a curer who the onset of winter he became Smha-
could be either a man or a woman who laayt (real halaayt) and took over a more
served year-round. The Tsimshian year priestly role that included religious du-
was divided between summer activities ties involved with feasting, displays of
868
heirloom art, and intertribal entertain- named couples, these beings floated
ments. Members of high rank also be- down to tops in the human homeland,
longed to one of four secret orders then set up villages along waterways and
known as Wutahalaayt (great halaayt), began families. At death, a Nuxalk sepa-
which crossed local allegiances to be in- rated into corpse, shadow, and ghost.
ternational and privileged in scope. Since names were inherited, the ghost
These six roles do not exhaust the went back through an unbroken line that
realm, however, since various groups led back up to Nusmatta.
and guilds of artists who made the crests, When a Nuxalk took seriously ill, spe-
emblems, and embellishments also had cial healers had the ability to get to Nus-
religious functions to perform, often in matta and inspect the patient’s pole and
private. Indeed, the penalty for stum- basin. If the pole leaned, the acuteness
bling upon a secluded workshop was im- of the angle indicated the outcome of
mediate death unless the person was of the illness. If possible, the pole was set
high enough rank to demand immediate upright again, and the water in the basin
initiation. was renewed. Failing that, a doctor
The Northwest coast included this typ- would sacrifice grease, bark bowls, and
ical distinction between summer chief tiny wooden figures to the dead, who
and winter priest for all its leaders. Most lived under the earth. With their help, a
detailed information is a consequence of sucking cure would suddenly become
the length of time, personalities, and rap- effective.
port that characterized any fieldwork sit-
uation. Outstanding for the coast is that Lushootseeds
for the Nuxalk (formerly Bella Coola), the For the Lushootseeds of Puget Sound,
northernmost member of the Salishan immortal beings provide career or cur-
Language Family, which also includes ing abilities. Leaders had spirits, them-
Lushootseed and Tillamook. These three selves leaders, that empowered them to
well illustrate the diversity once seen give wise council and acquire wealth, as
even among related languages. well as to hunt the most dangerous of
animals.
Nuxalk The Lushootseed term for both spirits
At birth, each Nuxalk person’s soul or and their human allies derived from the
spirit took up residence in a thin bone at Lushootseed for “name” or “call”: in the
the back of the neck. Other spiritual as- Native system of medicine, to designate
pects were located above. In the begin- (“name”) the cause of an illness correctly
ning, the Creator at Nusmatta (a huge was to diagnose the cure. Healers and
house in the upper world) set up a tally curing spirits were always at the ready,
post and a section in a water basin for unlike career powers whose closeness
every named person who would live. As varied with the seasons.
869
Religious Leadership, Northwest ____________________________________________________________
Just as European noble families sent warned of calamity. This medium con-
sons into the church, into business, into ducted rituals in which food and clothes
banking, or into the military to widen were burned in a fire to send them to the
their power base, so too did Lushootseed dead. While such burnings were once
nobles try to have members in all posi- held separately, they have now become
tions of authority; leadership was multi- managed by spiritual practitioners as
plex, depending upon the task. More- the first event at modern power displays,
over, modern Salish families extend this memorials, and potlatches.
strategy to include many contemporary Dicta were a set of enchantments (in-
options, particularly religious ones. cantations and formulas) for influencing
Thus, while families continue to attend or directing the world and its inhabi-
winter ceremonials to welcome the re- tants. They were passed down family
turn of spirit partners, on Sunday they lines to influence the minds and hearts
devotedly attend Protestant, Catholic, of all living things.
Bahai, or other services. In modern Salishan religion, the High
Lushootseed had at least four overlap- God now features in the Indian Shaker
ping systems of power and consequent Church and various Christian funda-
specialists concerned with guardian mental denominations. Belief in an ulti-
spirits, ghosts, dicta (word formulas, mate power, however, was ancient and
spells), and the High God. Each spirit has known as xa’xa—which means anything
two aspects, as being and as song, with a sacred and holy as well as forbidden—
third term used to personify the vision it- taboo in such a way as to provide a deifi-
self. The song came from the east in the cation of power.
fall, moved slowly north, westward, and Puberty preceptors have faded out
then south during the winter; in late under Christian influence, yet many fea-
April or so, it headed east again. tures from traditional puberty seclusion
Ghosts were the souls of the dead, have been incorporated into the modern
who were tormented by hunger, loneli- initiation of Winter Dancers. While a
ness, and nostalgia for their possessions boy’s coming of age was marked by
and relatives. Those ghosts who were still changes in his voice and body, girls once
in contact with the living roamed the observed great restrictions. Placed in a
earth between about 3:00 P.M. and 3:00 special hut, a girl’s bed was made of fresh
A . M . Ghosts were particularly attracted fir boughs. Every night, she left her hut to
by human gatherings, especially when go to a creek to bathe and scrub with rot-
people were eating. A ghost was closest ten cedar to make herself clean. During
of all when its name was being inherited the day she kept very busy, weaving mats
by a descendant. Certain humans once or blankets, making yarn, or coiling bas-
acted as mediums because they had a kets. This effort made her industrious her
special relationship with a ghost, who whole life, and desirable as a good wife.
870
If it was ripe berry season, a first men- Tillamooks

struant picked with a stick (called a “bri- Along the Oregon coast, the Tillamook
dle”) between her teeth; the stick was in- once had five types of practitioner, each
spected by older women at the end of concerned with healing, poisons, spirits,
each day to see if she had stained it by love, and the baby (Seaburg and Miller
eating any forbidden berries. Her strict 1990, 565). The first three wore the in-
diet included food that was allowed to signia of a braided human hair belt with
cool if it was cooked. She ate very little, its ends hanging behind like a tail. Al-
mostly roots, but nothing fresh or warm, though these specialists became wealthy
using special dishes that were destroyed by their efforts, they were generous at
afterward. Fresh and bloody foods were winter ceremonials and so never amassed
particularly avoided. a hoard.
Toward the end of her month of seclu- Healers were both men and women,
sion, her grandmother invited other old who would blow while curing. Only men
women to sing, dance, and feast to enter- used their hands to extract illness, while
tain the girl, who could not herself join women would only suck, specializing in
in. Because of her supercharged condi- the removal of blood, black ooze, or white
tion, she was under strong taboos. She ooze, which was thrown into a fire or
could not look at anyone or they would drowned in a basket. In severe cases, it
become sick. She never touched her own was both drowned and burned. These
hair. She used a stick of ironwood to women received their power from a being
scratch. called Wild Woman, whose emblem was
Every day the girl was instructed by tattooed on their breasts. Male healers
older women about how to conduct her- carved or painted their emblem on their
self calmly when she was married, as headboard, which stood at the healer’s
well as techniques for drying fish, pick- bed until brought into use during a cure.
ing berries, digging clams, weaving, bas- Poison doctors were always men,
ketry, and keeping a household running with the ability to send their own “poi-
smoothly and well. She was told to be sons” or to extract that sent by other
good to her mother-in-law, other affines, shamans. Their medical kit included
and all elders, while showing kindness deer hoof rattles tied on a stick layered
and compassion to everyone. with eagle feathers, carved humanoid
After her first seclusion a girl was re- poles with faces inset with abalone shell
garded as dark or light for six weeks, ac- eyes, and a headdress made of fringed
cording to the phases of the moon. On cedar bark or red male hummingbird
dark days, when the moon waned, her scalps. A poison itself was sometimes
face was painted red, and on light days, represented as a tiny bone humanoid
when the moon waxed, she was visited doll or as a fish. Their treatment went on
by other women. for five nights.
871
Religious Leadership, Plateau _______________________________________________________________
Spirit doctors, always men, journeyed Radiance. Lincoln: University of

in human daytime to the afterworld to Nebraska Press.
Seaburg, William, and Jay Miller. 1990.
retrieve the souls of patients who were ill “Tillamook.” Pp. 560–567 in Handbook of
but not dead. This spirit could be re- North American Indians: Northwest
turned only after human dark, when it Coast, vol. 7. Edited by Wayne Suttles.
was safe from recapture. In difficult Institution Press.
cases, he sometimes sucked out a pur- Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays.
plish ooze sent from the dead. Seattle: University of Washington
Press.
Only women served as love doctors,
able to manipulate affections and sexual
abilities. A baby broker was a man who
could converse with babies and dream of Religious Leadership,
events in Babyland, where fetuses lived
Plateau
until they went to be born from human
mothers. Visions and spirit power have always
Today, throughout the Northwest, the been essential for religious leadership in
aboriginal variety of religious func- the Plateau (Walker 1978, 1980, 1998).
tionaries now appears in the diversity of They are the most ancient and funda-
leaders of church denominations, be- mental forms of religious belief and
liefs, and spiritual practices, as else- practice in the Plateau. The vision quest,
where in the modern world. winter spirit dances, and sweatlodge cer-
Jay Miller emony form a foundation for all other
traditional belief and practice through-
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest;
Dances, Northwest Winter Spirit Dances; out the region. Before participation in
Masks and Masking; Oral Traditions, any activity associated with the spirit
Northwest Coast; Power, Northwest Coast; world, people cleansed themselves in
Societies, Northwest Coast; Sbatatdaq the sweatlodge, a structure used to
(Sqadaq) achieve purity of body, mind, and spirit
References and Further Reading (Walker 1969).
Miller, Jay. 1988. Shamanic Odyssey: The Vision quest sites are also scattered
Lushootseed Salish Journey to the Land of
throughout the Plateau and are espe-
the Dead, in Terms of Death, Potency, and
Cooperating Shamans in North America. cially concentrated in mountains and
Anthropological Papers 32. Menlo Park, along rivers where stone cairns, pic-
CA: Ballena Press. tographs, and petroglyphs often mark
Sound.” Caduceus (Winter) 8: 1–15. places where tutelary spirits have been
———. 1997. Tsimshian Culture: A Light encountered. Tutelary spirit power is
through the Ages. Lincoln: University of often accompanied by a spirit sickness,
Nebraska Press.
———. 1999. Lushootseed Culture and the and trusted healers assist in dealing with
Shamanic Odyssey: An Anchored it by instructing the neophyte in the
872
______________________________________________________________ Religious Leadership, Plateau
proper ways to honor and employ the women in the Plateau sought guardian
power they have acquired in vision spirits as children. Both genders could
quests and dreams (Walker 1989). aspire to become healers, although in
Midwinter ceremonies provided op- some groups there were not as many fe-
portunities not only for neophytes but male practitioners as there were male.
especially for religious leaders to drama- Both could become prophets and exer-
tize and honor their spirit power cise leadership in all spheres of religious
through symbolic costumes, songs, and activity. Some religious leaders also spe-
dances. Although any person could at- cialized in ceremonies for a particular re-
tend, only those with spirit power would source, such as salmon or camas roots,
participate in these dances, while others and would lead the first fruits ritual cere-
in attendance cooked, served, and lent mony. This ceremony involved procur-
support in various way. The curing of ill- ing a particular food when it first ap-
nesses of various types customarily took peared, primarily during spring and
place in these ceremonies; in addition, summer, worshipfully carrying it back to
ceremonial leaders officiated during the settlement, and conducting a public
both life cycle and other calendrical cer- ritual over it. Each such ceremonial
emonies associated with the changing leader must have the proper guardian-
seasons and subsistence activities—es- spirit power to perform these rituals,
pecially fishing, hunting, and the gath- whose principal purpose was to secure
ering of roots and berries. continuation of the resource.
The spirit powers that made a reli-
gious leader successful as a healer were The Prophet Dance and Religious
also a source of potential harm. If a pa- Leadership
tient died and the healer was judged to Most historians have assumed that the
be evil or inept, he or she might be killed. visits of early explorers such as Meri-
In addition to curing, some religious wether Lewis and William Clark in
leaders were thought to be able to 1805–1806 marked the beginning of
change the weather, foresee the future, Plateau contact with Euro-Americans,
impart unusual powers to inanimate ob- but that assumption is open to question
jects, and possess other miraculous abil- (Spier 1935). An increasing body of evi-
ities. The primary tests for religious lead- dence points to the protohistoric (that is,
ership in the traditional Plateau was the the time immediately before the histori-
ability to heal magically and to foretell cal period begins: A.D. 1500–1800 in the
the future from visions and dreams. Plateau) as a time when cultic innova-
Men and women occupied similar tions described as the “Prophet Dance”
leadership roles in the Plateau religion. by Spier (ibid.) were already underway
Each complemented the other, and they (Relander 1986; Walker 1969). This hy-
had similar spirits. Most men and pothesis is supported by the diversity of
873
cults and prophetic figures already pres- He came to a kind of gateway and
ent in the Plateau during the early con- asked for food. The people turned him
away and told him it wasn’t time for
tact period, the archaeological evidence
him to come in yet. So they directed
from altered burial practices, increasing him to another place a long way off.
non-Indian trade goods in the region, He travelled and finally he reached
the extinction or catastrophic reduction there. They told him when he asked for
of various groups through epidemic dis- food that they didn’t eat there. They
looked thin and raw boned and didn’t
ease, and surviving records from oral tra-
say much. They said, “We are people
dition among historical and contempo- called angels.” They told him to go
rary Plateau religious leaders. back where he came from. “We can’t
The growing intensity of contacts in take you in,” they said. He felt bad and
the protohistorical period and later dur- went back. When he came to his place
he came to life again. But his people
ing the nineteenth century created
thought he was dead. He followed
major cultural crises in Plateau religious them. He surprised them. The first
life that brought changes in religious place he went to was Hell. The second
leadership (Stern 1993). One example is place was Heaven. (Spier 1935, 17)
a Cathlamet Chinookan text that de-
scribes how the informant’s grandfather Such newly inspired religious leaders
had died during a smallpox epidemic, typically communicated a code of wor-
visited the after-world, and then re- ship that involved a distinctive dance,
turned to life bringing messages, all in usually circular, and prophecies obtained
good Prophet Dance fashion (Boas 1901, in deathlike visions; participation in cere-
247–251). This dying and reviving of reli- monies was by whole settlements, and
gious leaders in times of cultural crisis is great emphasis was placed on a creator
common in the Plateau, but it is nowhere spirit or god who reigned above the other
more prevalent than among the Sahap- spirits. In some cases confession of sins
tians of the Southern Plateau, where it was required, and prophecies of a coming
has been explicitly related to population world transformation were regular fea-
decimation and the consequent re- tures of these new developments. Cult ac-
sponse of religious leaders such as the tivities were periodic, with an emotional
following account indicates: heat being generated; with a failure of
prophecy, however, there was a waning of
There was an epidemic of smallpox interest, only later to be regenerated (ibid.;
among the Yakima and people were Du Bois 1938). Spier’s so-called Prophet
dying and leaving the country. One old Dance is significant in this regard and
man, a chief, took sick and was left must be understood as a general term that
behind. He died. In his dream he
travelled and came to a place where
is inclusive of various local cultural mani-
people were gathered eating lots of festations led by various “prophets” (from
good things. He was awfully hungry. both the protohistorical period and the
874
early historical period) who appeared Indian Shaker Church leaders are
among at least the following groups: Nez closely linked to the Northwest Coastal
Perce, Umatilla, Spokane, Colville, Coeur groups first led by John Slocum and Mud
d’Alene, Kootenai, Wanapam, Yakima, Bay Louie. The Yakama and Warm
Klikitat, Wayampam, Palouse, Sanpoil- Springs reservations have been centers
Nespelem, and probably certain Chi- of Shaker influence, which more recently
nookan groups on the Lower Columbia. has been extended to the Colville and
They included such well-known figures as Umatilla reservations. Indian Shaker
Shuwapsa, Dla-upac, Spokane Garry, leaders are often prominent both in the
Kootenai Pelly, Nez Perce Ellis, Colville Ko- Shaker and the Seven Drum religion
laskin, Wiletsi, Hununwe, Jim Kanine, (Barnett 1957).
Shramaia, Lishwailait, Ashnithlai, the A more recent development in the
Tenino Queahpahmah, Luls, Smohalla, Plateau has been the introduction of the
Wiskaynatowatsanmay, Kotiahkan, Patio, Native American Church through such
Toohoohoolsote, Jake Hunt, Martin religious leaders as Leonard Crow Dog
Speedis, Yo-Yonau, and especially Puck from Pine Ridge. Such leaders have been
Hyat Toot. Puck Hyat Toot was the most instrumental in establishing a regular
influential in the development of what has presence among the Colville, Coeur d’A-
come more recently to be called the Seven lene, and Yakama (Stewart 1988). Ted
Drum religion, the Long House religion, or Strong has been a major leader in the Na-
the Washani/Washat religion, the domi- tive American Church among the
nant traditional religion now functioning Yakama, as has David Mathesen among
widely among southern Plateau tribes the neighboring Coeur d’Alene. Other
(Ruby and Brown 1989; Walker 1978, 1980, leaders include Peter George, George
1985). It has preserved most of the earlier Nanamkin, and Vance Robert Campbell
religious beliefs and practices of the pre- on the Colville Reservation. Members of
historical period, with additions empha- these tribes regularly assemble on vari-
sizing prophecy, nativism, revitalization, ous reservations for Native American
and some ceremonial features apparently Church services. There is also some cere-
borrowed from Christianity during the monial interaction among these tribes
protohistorical and early historical peri- and the tribes of southern Idaho, where
ods. Recent leaders include Andrew the Native American Church has been
George, Palouse; Clarence Burke, Walla established much longer. Tommy Sope
Walla; Amos Pond, Umatilla; Gail Ship- and Don Dunbar are principal leaders at
pentower, Cayuse and Walla Walla; Fer- Duck Valley and Fort McDermitt Indian
more Craig, Cayuse; Armand Minthorn, Reservations, but there are many others
Cayuse; Ron Pond, Umatilla; Steve So- among the Northern Paiute and
happy, Wanapum; and Dallas Dick, Wana- Shoshone on the Wind River Reservation
pum, Palouse, and Nez Perce. and the Fort Hall Reservation who, from
875
time to time, interact with leaders of the cause of old age; the Reverend Mark
Plateau Native American Church. Arthur, pastor of the Lapwai Church; the
Reverend Peter Lindsley, without charge;
Christian Leadership the Reverend James Hayes, pastor of the
Although little reported by anthropolo- First Church of Kamiah; the Reverend
gists, numerous Christian communities Moses Monteith, pastor of the Second
with well-known Indian leaders have de- Church of Kamiah; the Reverend Robert
veloped among many Plateau tribes and Parsons, pastor of the Meadow Creek
date from the nineteenth century. The Church; the Reverend William Wheeler,
Catholic and Protestant missionaries of stated supply of the Stites Church; the
the first half of the nineteenth century Reverend Enoch Pond, stated supply of
have been the subject of much historical the North Fork Church at the time of his
writing, but that writing rarely reveals death, March 20, 1907; and the Reverend
much about Indian Christian leadership Silas Whitman, died in June 1905 (Mc-
among Plateau tribes (Burns 1966; Beth 1908). They served in most tribes
Raufer 1966; Drury 1936, 1937, 1940, throughout the Plateau as well as among
1949). Christian missionaries’ programs the Shoshone and Paiute of the Northern
of educating tribal pastors and priests Great Basin.
led to large-scale conversions of tribes Father Brown, a Blackfoot Catholic
and the formation of permanent Chris- priest, is an example of the much less
tian ecclesiastical structures among such common Catholic tendency to train an
groups as the Nez Perce, Yakima, Indian priesthood in the Plateau. There-
Umatilla, Coeur d’Alene, Spokane, Flat- fore, Catholic missionizing has histori-
head, Warm Springs, and Colville in the cally been, and continues to be, primarily
Southern Plateau, as well as others in the in the hands of non-Indian priests such
Canadian (Northern) Plateau. Nez Perce as Fathers Cataldo, De Smet, O’Malley,
Christian leaders include the following and Connolly (Burns 1966). In contrast,
preachers who not only served the Nez Nez Perce preachers Cecil Corbett, Walter
Perce Presbyterian churches but also Moffett, and Mose Thomas are more re-
served as missionaries: The Reverend cent seminary-trained missionaries who
Archie Lawyer was pastor of the Second continue to operate in various tribes
Kamiah Church at the time of his death throughout the West and even Canada on
in the spring of 1893. The Reverend behalf of the Presbyterians.
Robert Williams, the first ordained min- Small Indian-dominated Pentecostal
ister, ordained in 1879, was pastor of the churches have been formed and are
First Church of Kamiah at the time of his closely tied to the Indian Shaker
death in 1896. That was his only charge. churches at Yakama, Warm Springs,
The Nez Perce ministers were the Rev- Colville, and elsewhere. In some cases
erend James Hines, honorably retired be- Pentecostal leaders are found as leaders
876
in both the Indian Shaker Church and ———. 1949. A Tepee in His Front Yard: A
Pentecostal churches. The Pentecostal Biography of H. T. Cowley, One of the Four
Founders of the City of Spokane.
Bible and the Doctrine of the Holy Ghost Portland, OR: Binfords and Mort.
have also been introduced into some In- Du Bois, Cora. 1938. The Feather Cult of the
dian Shaker ceremonies. Unlike the Middle Columbia. General Series in
Anthropology 7. Menasha, WI: George
major tests for traditional religious lead- Banta.
ership in the Plateau—magical healing McBeth, Kate. 1908/1993. The Nez Perces
and prophecy—the Christian Indian reli- since Lewis and Clark. Reprint, Moscow:
University of Idaho Press.
gious leaders have depended on formal Raufer, Maria Ilma, Sister, O. P. 1966. Black
confirmation by non-Indian church au- Robes and Indians on the Last Frontier: A
thorities for legitimation. In contrast, the Story of Heroism. Milwaukee, WI: Bruce
Publishing Company.
generally less educated Pentecostal
Relander, Click. 1986. Drummers and
Christian religious leaders more often Dreamers. Seattle: Pacific Northwest
establish their legitimacy by healing and National Parks and Forests Association.
Ruby, Robert H., and John A. Brown. 1989.
visions.
Deward E. Walker, Jr. Plateau. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press.
Spier, Leslie. 1935/1979. The Prophet Dance
d’Alene; Ceremony and Ritual, Nez
of the Northwest and Its Derivatives: The
Perce; Oral Traditions, Plateau;
Source of the Ghost Dance. General Series
in Anthropology 1. Reprint, New York:
Movements, Columbia Plateau; Spiritual
AMS Press.
and Ceremonial Practitioners, Plateau;
Stern, Theodore. 1993. Chiefs and Chief
Vision Quest Rites
Traders: Indian Relations at Fort Nez
References and Further Reading Percés, 1818–1855. Corvalis: Oregon State
Barnett, Homer G. 1957/1972. Indian University Press.
Shakers: A Messianic Cult of the Pacific Stewart, Omer C. 1988. “Peyotism in Idaho.”
Northwest. Reprint, Carbondale: Northwest Anthropological Research
Southern Illinois University Press. Notes 22, no. 1: 1–7.
Boas, Franz. 1901/1977. “Kathlamet Texts.” Walker, Deward E., Jr. 1969. “New Light on
Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin the Prophet Dance Controversy.”
26. Reprint, St. Clair Shores, MI: Ethnohistory 16, no. 3: 245–255.
Scholarly Press. ———. 1978. Indians of Idaho. Moscow:
Burns, Robert Ignatius, S. J. 1966. The Jesuits University of Idaho Press.
and the Indian Wars of the Northwest. ———. 1980. Myths of Idaho Indians.
New Haven and London: Yale University Moscow: University of Idaho Press.
Press. ———. 1985. Conflict and Schism in Nez
Drury, Clifford M. 1936. Henry Harmon Perce Acculturation: A Study of Religion
Spalding, Pioneer of Old Oregon. and Politics, 2d ed. Moscow: University
Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers. of Idaho Press.
———. 1937. Marcus Whitman, Pioneer ———. 1989. Witchcraft and Sorcery of the
and Martyr. Caldwell, ID: Caxton American Native Peoples. Moscow:
Printers. University of Idaho Press.
———. 1940. Elkanah and Mary Walker, ———. 1998. “Plateau.” Handbook of North
Pioneers among the Spokane. Caldwell, American Indians, vol. 12. Washington,
ID: Caxton Printers. DC: Smithsonian Institution.
877
Repatriation, Spiritual and Cultural Implications _______________________________________
Repatriation, Spiritual and them is that the dead should not be

Cultural Implications bothered except for legitimate and com-
pelling purposes. In 1850s, Chief Seattle,
Today’s academic disciplines of archae- responding to the U.S. government’s de-
ology and physical anthropology share a mands that the Suquamish and Du-
legacy with museums rooted in desecra- wamish peoples of Washington cede
tion, sacrilege, and violations of indige- their lands, declared, “To us the ashes of
nous human rights. American Indians our ancestors are sacred and their rest-
and Native Hawaiians have battled the ing place is hallowed ground. . . . Our
collective might of these imperialistic dead never forget the beautiful world
entities and won a number of important that gave them being. They still love its
religious freedom and human rights vic- verdant valleys, its murmuring rivers, its
tories in the political arena. Federal and magnificent mountains, sequestered
state laws resulting from these struggles vales and verdant lined lakes and bays,
have enabled Indian nations to repatri- and ever yearn in tender, fond affection
ate ancestral human remains, funerary over the lonely hearted living, and often
objects, and cultural items belonging to return from the Happy Hunting Ground
them that were lost to the hands of oth- to visit, guide, console and comfort
ers. Laws have also extended burial pro- them.” As Seattle noted, cemeteries are
tections to federal lands and to some sacred places. A Shasta’s final words,
states. Museums and academics have recorded in 1877, explain the religious
become more receptive to Indian con- significance of a proper and lasting bur-
cerns, but this cultural war is far from ial for many California Indians. After
having been won. Many museums, uni- telling his companions not to bury him
versities, and federal agencies continue away from his home village, the dying
to hold, and have the final say over, the man gave a passionate “adjuration to
disposition of items belonging to Indians them not to let his body molder and his
and Native Hawaiians. Consequently, spirit wander homeless, friendless, and
mistrust, fear, and doubt continue to alone in a strange country.”
plague this relationship. More impor- Indigenous groups shared many be-
tant, the desecration of Indian graves liefs regarding tampering with the dead.
continues in the name of progress. Many expect a lasting burial in which
Like people everywhere, indigenous their remains would deteriorate within
peoples of the U.S. and other places have Mother Earth. Some believe that disin-
spiritual beliefs associated with the dead terment stops the spiritual journey of the
and the places where they are buried. dead, causing the affected spirits to wan-
These views and mortuary traditions dif- der aimlessly in limbo. Pawnees, Diné
fer in many respects from Indian nation (Navajos), Apaches, and others assert
to nation, but a common theme among that anyone who disrupts a grave is an
878
______________________________________ Repatriation, Spiritual and Cultural Implications
evil, profane, and demented person who left thousands of Indian graves unpro-
plans to use the dead as a means of tected from the shovels of looters. Mor-
harming the living. Sickness, emotional ton’s craniometrics research sought to
distress, and death are the possible ef- prove the intellectual and cultural supe-
fects of such activities. Many Indians riority of Anglo Saxons over other races.
stress that disinterment may occur only Others used the pseudoscientific find-
for a compelling reason. For example, ings of Morton and his followers to write
Pawnees occasionally opened a grave of racial studies that denigrated Indians as
one of their deceased relatives to reposi- intellectually or culturally inferior. These
tion an incorrectly placed holy object. works supported the self-serving claim
However, Europeans who entered of white America that it had a God-given
the Americas had scant regard for the right to expand its borders and civiliza-
host population’s rights. Their invasion tion across the hemisphere. In 1867, the
occurred under the color of a racialized Army Medical Museum (AMM) began to
mindset that relegated Indians to the collect Indian remains for study. Prizing
lowly position of savages and pagans. crania, field surgeons often went to the
The invaders, by virtue of the “doctrine scene of battles and decapitated the
of discovery,” claimed a God-given bodies of fallen Indians. By the early
right of preeminence to the land. 1890s, field surgeons and others had
Graves of Indians also became fair shipped AMM curators Indian crania
game. English violations of Indian buri- and bodies representing approximately
als occurred shortly after the landing of 4,000 individuals.
the Mayflower at Plymouth Bay in 1620. During the late 1800s and 1900s, pro-
The sacrilege escalated dramatically fessional and amateur archaeologists,
after the founding of the United States joined by museum curators, joined the
in 1776. Throughout the colonial and sacrilege in larger and larger numbers.
early republic periods, men of high so- Individuals of this bent sought to en-
cial standing such as Thomas Jefferson dear the work of Morton by calling him
disrupted Indian graves for the sake of the father of American physical anthro-
curiosity and trophies for home display. pology. University graduate programs in
As the nineteenth century progressed, physical anthropology and archaeology
the looting of Indian graves became a produced scholars trained in the crafts
cottage industry, an honored profession, of exhuming and studying indigenous
and an undertaking sanctioned by law bodies and grave contents. Amateur ar-
and public opinion. Beginning in the chaeologists scoured the countryside in
1830s, Samuel G. Morton paid soldiers, search of Indian burials. Digs often
federal Indian agents, and settlers to drew large crowds, and some exposed
steal skulls from Indian graves. The fed- cemeteries became tourist attractions
eral policy of moving Indians westward and state parks. Museums acquired, dis-
879
played, and warehoused stolen skulls, them in distant boarding schools.

bones, and grave goods for educational School personnel employed corporal
purposes. These profane operations gave punishment, education, and strict mili-
rise to what can be termed the archaeol- tary regimentation in an attempt to
ogy/museum industry. These professions force the children to forget their native
shared a common value rooted in the ex- languages, to accept Christianity, and to
ploitation of deceased Indians and Na- adopt white American ways. Codes of
tive Hawaiians and the taking of cultural Indian offenses criminalized Indian rit-
objects under a cloud of federal oppres- uals and healing ceremonies.
sion. The rise of professional organiza- Facing oppression and destitution,
tions including the Society of American some Indians began to sell religious ob-
Archaeology (SAA) and the Association of jects to museum curators and private
American Physical Anthropology (AAPA) collectors who went to reservations for
promoted scholarship involving the ex- that purpose. The Antiquities Act of 1906
cavation, warehousing, study, and dis- essentially turned over the ownership of
play of Native remains and funerary ob- indigenous graves to the federal govern-
jects. Rather than telling the story of ment. Under that law, potential diggers
Indians from an indigenous perspective, on federal lands, including reservations,
these studies cast this history in the had to apply for a permit in which they
realm of Western intellectual thought. agreed to turn over the fruits of their
The sacrilege did not stop there. Be- labor to public institutions for study in
lieving that Indians were a vanishing perpetuity. State governments followed
race, museums also became heavily en- the federal example of compelling exca-
gaged in the business of acquiring cul- vators to surrender unearthed objects
tural objects from Indians subjected to found on state lands to public facilities.
the heavy hand of federal oppression. By Through these efforts, federal and
the 1890s most Indian nations had been state agencies, universities, and private
confined on reservations, where their museums amassed enormous collec-
people lived in dire poverty and faced an tions of human remains and cultural ob-
uncertain future. These lands often rejects at the expense of Indian religious
sembled prisoner of war camps, with freedom and burial rights. A national
U.S. military and Indian police forces in mindset, complete with laws, sanctioned
place to suppress Ghost Dance and the desecration and oppression. The
other spiritual activities seen as rebel- granting of citizenship rights to Indians
lious and uncivilized. Federal agents, in the late 1800s and 1900s did nothing
following a national policy committed to to impede the growth of the archaeol-
eradicating all vestiges of traditional In- ogy/museum industry. It took a move-
dian culture, took thousands of Indian ment that surfaced in the 1960s to ac-
children from their families and placed complish that purpose.
880
Indian challenges to discriminatory braska Unicameral Legislature agreed to

laws and the archaeology/museum in- repatriate human remains in their col-
dustry emerged with the rise of the In- lections to Indian nations.
dian movement. Along with demanding The successes of the repatriation ini-
religious freedom, a return to treaty rela- tiatives created a crisis in the archaeol-
tionship with the federal government, ogy/museum industry. Its affiliates di-
and full sovereignty, Indian activism also vided, taking positions ranging from flat
focused on ending the scientific theft of resistance to compromise. The Ameri-
indigenous graves and regaining control can Committee for the Preservation of
of the collections in museums. Members Archaeological Collections (ACPAC)
of the American Indian Movement (AIM) viewed the conduct of archaeologists
and others periodically disrupted digs who participated in repatriation as trea-
and protested the mistreatment of their sonous. It presented its membership as
ancestors and the discriminatory laws victims of irrational attacks on their
that denied many deceased Indians a ability to tell the story of prehistory.
lasting burial. American Indians Against Waving the banner of academic free-
Desecration (AIAD) surfaced as an or- dom, ACPAC sought to maintain profes-
ganization committed to the protection sional solidarity by blackballing the
of Indian burials. In Hawaii, Hui Malama “sellouts” and raising funds to support
I Na Kupuna O Hawai’i Nei was founded the legal defense of members accused of
to protect the sanctity of iwi kupuna violating burial laws. A 1986 ACPAC
(ancestral Native Hawaiian remains) newsletter declared:
and ensure their proper return to ka
Archaeologists, your profession is on
‘aina (the land) through the practice of
the line. Now is the time to dig deep
traditional values, spiritual beliefs, and and help ACPAC with its expenses for
practices. legal fees. Next year or next month will
Fortunately, the message carried by be too late; we have to act immediately
AIM, AIAD, Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O to fight this issue. This one will be
resolved in court, not by the press. We
Hawai’i Nei, and burial protection advo-
will be able to cross-examine Indians
cates about the disrespectful and abu- on their tribal affinities, religion, and
sive treatment of deceased Indians grad- connection to the archaeological
ually resonated with the American remains they seek to destroy. We will
public. Despite strong opposition from be able to challenge anti-science laws
based on race and religion. We can
elements of the archaeology/museum make a strong case, but it takes money.
industry, a growing number of states re- Send some!
sponded by extending burial protection
laws to include unmarked Indian ceme- Those who advocated compromise
teries. A few universities, the North sought to continue their work by gaining
Dakota Historical Society, and the Ne- the respect and trust of Indians.
881
As the 1980s closed, the United States some that are needed for ongoing reli-
became more receptive to Indian and gious ceremonies.
Native Hawaiian demands for the repa- Repatriating human remains has
triation of human remains, funerary ob- forced the next of kin to address the
jects, and sacred cultural objects. In issue of how the reburials should take
1989, American Indians and the Smith- place. After all, Indians never before had
sonian Institution reached a landmark to conduct reburial ceremonials. Does a
repatriation agreement. Later that year ceremony need to be conducted?
Congress implemented the agreement Should the remains be spiritually fed?
by enacting the National Museum of the Should non-Indians, the perpetrators,
American Indian Act (NMAIA), requiring be allowed to attend the reburials?
the Smithsonian Institution to repatriate Should the press be allowed to attend, so
human remains and funerary objects in that the reburial can be publicized for
its collections linked to present-day In- educational purposes? Indians and Na-
dian nations by a preponderance of evi- tive Hawaiians have devised reburial
dence. The following year Congress procedures that are culturally appropri-
made repatriation a national policy ate for them. Basically, reburials are
when it passed the Native American often spiritual observances accompa-
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act nied by reverence, prayer, and song.
(NAGPRA). This bipartisan measure re- They are both sorrowful and joyous oc-
quired all entities receiving federal fund- casions. Those in attendance sense the
ing to inventory the human remains, fu- disturbing history involving the disin-
nerary objects, objects of cultural terment and confinement of their an-
patrimony, and sacred objects in their cestors in boxes, on public display, and
collections. Upon receiving those inven- on shelves. Unlike funerals for the re-
tories, Indian nations could begin the cently departed, however, reburials
process of repatriating items linked to evoke feelings of elation for the sacred
them. In 1996, Congress created statu- act of returning ancestral remains to the
tory uniformity by amending NMAIA to womb of Mother Earth. These services
enable Indian nations and Native Hawai- bond the living with their ancestors in
ian organizations to repatriate objects of ways that are both spiritual and sym-
cultural patrimony and sacred objects bolic. Some groups exclude non-Indians
from the Smithsonian. These laws have from attending, while others want the
provided a legal avenue for Indians and occasion recorded to teach others about
Native Hawaiians to repatriate thou- the shameful legacy of grave looting.
sands of their ancestors and funerary ob- Despite these laws and the successes
jects. These indigenous peoples have re- of the repatriation movement, serious
claimed cultural objects that are central problems continue to hamper Indians
to their identity as a people, as well as and Native Hawaiians in their quest for
882
burial rights, repatriation, and religious Spirit Cave Man now coveted by the ar-
freedom. First, the Society of American chaeology/museum industry, by rejecting
Archaeology, professional archaeolo- evidence submitted by indigenous peo-
gists, physical archaeologists, and others ples. Additionally, SAA members com-
remain committed to preserving the prise the majority of the staffing within
privileged status they acquired through the National Park Service (NPS) office re-
the history of scientific racism and cul- sponsible for NAGPRA implementation
tural genocide. In an August 26, 1999, let- authority. Indians and Native Hawaiians
ter, G. A. Clark, head of the Archaeology feel that this arrangement constitutes a
Division of the American Anthropologi- conflict of interest that allows the NPS to
cal Association, declared bitterly: render administrative decisions in favor
of archaeologists against native interests.
I have no patience with, nor sympathy
A second issue is that museums often
for, NAGPRA and the political
correctness that underlies it. Moreover, applied deadly pesticides to masks and
I am deeply embarrassed for, and other cultural objects. This means that
ashamed of, American archaeology the keepers and wearers of poisoned reli-
and physical anthropology. One gious objects could suffer the health
might’ve thought the various
consequences of contact with the toxins.
professional societies would’ve done a
better job contesting this lunacy when Third, in some states, including Texas,
it was possible to do so. Academics are legislation protecting Indian burials is
not very politically adept, however, missing, leaving property owners the
and when erstwhile Smithsonian owners of Indian cemeteries.
Secretary Robert Adams agreed to
repatriate the Smithsonian’s skeletal
Finally, NAGPRA left the fate of tens of
collections, it knocked the pins out thousands of human remains up to the
from under any efforts the SAA and NAGPRA Review Committee, a body
AAPA might’ve undertaken to prevent composed of Indians and academics,
it. This is what happens when politics
sometimes one and the same. This com-
is allowed to take precedence over
rational and disinterested evaluation mittee is supposed to submit its determi-
of the credibility of knowledge claims nation to the secretary of the interior for
about the human past. approval. To date, however, the commit-
tee has considered five draft recommen-
Individuals who oppose repatriation dations without approving any of them.
are often found in museums and federal The last draft elevates the interests of sci-
agencies. NAGPRA assigns these people ence above those of Indians by making
the responsibility to determine the cul- the repatriation of the “culturally uniden-
tural affiliation of human remains in their tifiable” human remains voluntary.
collections. This means that they have the Meanwhile, representatives of Indian
ability to stop the reburial of human re- nations adopted their own recommen-
mains, especially the older ones such as dations for consideration in a December
883
Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural Implications _______________________________________
2002 meeting at Arizona State Univer- ples continue to view the archaeol-
sity’s law school. The recommendations ogy/museum industry with mistrust and
state: apprehension.
James Riding In
1. Culturally unidentifiable Native See also Archaeology; Identity; Kennewick
American human remains are Man; Law, Legislation, and Native Religion
culturally affiliated to contemporary
Native peoples, including federally
recognized tribes, nonfederally
recognized tribes, Native Alaskan
peoples, and Native Hawaiian people. Reservations, Spiritual and
2. All Native American human remains
and associated funerary objects, Cultural Implications
including those deemed “culturally
unidentifiable,” shall be under the In this essay, the labels First Nations and
ownership and control of Indigenous Peoples are used to name the
contemporary Native peoples. Aboriginal peoples of the United States.
3. All “culturally unidentifiable” Native Labels such as “Indians,” “American Indi-
American human remains shall be
ans,” and “Native Americans” are used only
speedily repatriated to Native peoples
in accordance with procedures to be when directly quoting another source. The
determined by contemporary Native substitution of labels is crucial because the
American groups. names Indians, American Indians, and
4. All scientific study of “culturally Native Americans are “counterfeit identi-
unidentifiable” Native American
ties” resulting from the hegemony of Euro-
human remains shall immediately
cease. pean American colonialism and linguistic
5. The federal government shall be imperialism (Yellow Bird 1999). Indige-
responsible for funding the costs of nous Peoples are “not Indians or American
this repatriation. (Recommendations Indians because they are not from India.
for Disposition of “Culturally
Unidentifiable” Native American
They are not Native Americans because In-
Human Remains under NAGPRA) digenous Peoples did not refer to these
lands as America until Europeans arrived
In closing, the repatriation movement and imposed this name” (Yellow Bird
has dramatically altered the privileged 2001, 61). The change in terminology is a
status of the archaeology/museum in- matter of historical and linguistic justice.
dustry in ways that support the religious Indigenous Peoples have struggled, and
freedom and beliefs of American Indians continue to struggle, against the oppres-
and Native Hawaiians. Yet the repatria- sive paradigms of American linguistic
tion battle is still raging in institutions colonialism that ignores individual tribal
and the courts. The fate of the so-called identities and falsely names Indigenous
culturally unidentifiable human remains Peoples to serve the needs and history of
is still unresolved. Many indigenous peo- the colonizer. Counterfeit labels are dan-
884
______________________________________ Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural Implications
Entrance road sign for the Nez Perce Reservation, Idaho. (Joseph Sohm/ChromoSohm Inc./Corbis)
gerous because “they are historically en- (Merriam Webster’s 2000; Pevar 1992).
tangled in American racist discourses that However, this definition fails to reveal
claim Europeans discovered a new world that use and possession of, and benefits
that needed to be settled, claimed, and civ- from, reservation lands are largely deter-
ilized. This myth-making has promoted mined and controlled by the U.S. Con-
the notion that the original inhabitants gress, which exercises plenary authority
were unable to settle, claim, and civilize over those territories through the U.S.
these lands because they were nomadic, Department of the Interior and the Bu-
unsettled, savage peoples” (Yellow Bird reau of Indian Affairs. And in order for
1999, 86). Therefore, this essay does not use these lands to be declared public, a term
the labels Indians, American Indians, or that suggests they are open and accessi-
Native Americans. ble to all, control and ownership had to
be first taken from the owners. Indeed,
A reservation is often defined as tract of by using the force of their courts, con-
“public” land set aside by the U.S. federal gressional removal policies, warfare, and
government for the “use,” “possession,” the violation of treaties, land-hungry, re-
and “benefit” of Indigenous Peoples source-starved American colonizers
885
A woman in a white robe symbolizes Manifest Destiny. On the ground below, Native Americans and
bison run in front of her. The philosophy of Manifest Destiny, that U.S. expansion to the Pacific
Ocean was inevitable and even divinely inspired, enabled Americans to justify their colonization of
indigenous lands. (John Gast/Corbis)
often illegally drove Indigenous Peoples because they had been created for use by
off their lands and claimed them. “Mani- the white races according to the inten-
fest Destiny,” the accepted belief that tions of the Creator (Benton, 1846). In
U.S. expansion to the Pacific Ocean was 1500, when Europeans began arriving in
inevitable and even divinely inspired, this country, Indigenous Peoples con-
enabled Americans to justify their theft trolled billions of acres of land. By 1887
and colonization of indigenous lands. their land base was down to 140 million
Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton, a acres, and by 1931 it had shrunk to less
fierce proponent of this philosophy, de- than 48 million acres (Olson and Wilson
clared that white Americans had alone 1986).
received the divine command to subdue Failures by the U.S. Congress to ratify
and replenish the earth, while Indige- land agreements made with Indigenous
nous Peoples had no rights to the lands Peoples also caused these groups to lose
886
hundreds of millions of additional acres stances, were not regarded or intended

of land. The amount of land stolen from to be places where Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous Peoples by the citizens and could reside indefinitely. In fact, many
governments of the United States is influential nineteenth-century white
shocking and shameful. By 1980 the U.S. policy-makers believed that these
federal government held only 52 million groups must assimilate into white soci-
acres of Indigenous Peoples’ land in trust ety if they were to survive, and that “the
(ibid., 209). However, struggles for the biggest obstacle to Indian assimilation
land between Indigenous Peoples and was the reservation system” (Adams
the United States are not over, and many 1995). Over many generations, poverty,
tribal nations continue to work for the lack of opportunity, federal government
return and protection of their aboriginal neglect and relocation policies, and iso-
territories. Today’s reservations repre- lation caused many First Nations People
sent the last remaining lands belonging to flee reservation life. At the inception of
to people who once owned and occupied this system the majority of Native Peo-
all that is now the contiguous United ples lived on reservations. By 1990
States and Alaska (Snipp 1996, 39). slightly less than 22 percent of the in-
Most reservations were created by digenous population resided on those
treaty, presidential order, or an act of lands (ibid.).
Congress, and the majority are located While it was asserted by white policy-
west of the Mississippi River in mainly makers that reservations were estab-
isolated, rural areas. There are two types lished to protect Indigenous Peoples
of reservations: federal and state. These from encroaching white settlers, during
entities are referred to as colonies, com- their early development in the mid to
munities, pueblos, ranches, rancherias, late 1800s, reservations were also estab-
reservations, reserves, tribal towns, and lished to serve as holding pens or con-
villages (U.S. Census Bureau 2000). In centration camps where Indigenous
2000 there were 315 federal and state Peoples were detained and confined by
reservations around the nation. Reserva- the U.S. government. Many tribes who
tions vary in size, “ranging from only a had resisted the American invasion into
few acres, such as the small rancherias their lands were herded, often under
scattered around California, to the heavily armed military guard units, onto
Navajo reservation in the four corners these lands and treated as “hostiles” or
area, which is approximately the size of prisoners of war. Whether individual
the state of West Virginia or the nation of tribes had been friendly or at war with
Ireland” (Snipp 1996). the United States made little difference in
Reservations were established on these environments; most received poor
some of the poorest, more remote lands treatment, such as inferior food, housing,
in the United States and, in many in- and medical care. Reservation life took a
887
terrible toll on the physical, emotional, possible the political and economic dis-
psychological, and spiritual lives of the crimination and manipulation of First
residents. Conditions were so bad that Nations peoples, they could, by defini-
they would cause an often embarrassed tion, be regarded as the earliest form of
U.S. Congress to launch numerous inves- government-sponsored apartheid in this
tigations to study these problems. How- nation. In fact, the reservation system
ever, little was ever done to correct or im- was so effective at controlling Indige-
prove these environments. nous Peoples that it is believed that Nazi
When reservation life had weakened leader Adolph Hitler researched Indian
Indigenous Peoples to their lowest point reservations as models for his concen-
of resistance, almost every social, politi- tration camps (Means 1999).
cal, and economic aspect of tribal life Until the early 1970s, when a major
came under the most pointed and ag- resurgence of indigenous identity and
gressive attack. Without any regard or re- cultural renewal occurred, the effects
spect for Indigenous Peoples’ former that reservations had upon Indigenous
customs and beliefs, “Bureau of Indian Peoples’ religious lives were almost ex-
Affairs” superintendents, who were clusively negative (Nagel 1997). Concen-
sometimes corrupt, and federally subsi- trating these groups in one area made it
dized missionaries imposed changes in much easier to control and oversee their
all aspects of Native life. To ensure that activities and made Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous Peoples could not escape a captive audience for missionaries. The
from this situation and would conform ethnocentrism of white policy-makers
to the subjugation of the reservation sys- and Christian missionaries caused them
tem, the federal government enacted to look upon Native religious practices as
harsh laws and penalties. For instance, primitive, barbaric, superstitious, and
commissioner of Indian Affairs Francis inferior, as well as preventing moral and
A. Walker, in his 1872 annual report, de- religious development. Indigenous Peo-
clared, “In the first announcement made ples, it was argued, “must be taught the
of the reservation system, it was ex- knowledge, values, and habits of Chris-
pressly declared that the Indians should tian civilization” if they were to be saved
be made as comfortable on, as uncom- (Adams 1995, 141–143). As more and
fortable off, their reservations as it was in more missionaries arrived on reserva-
the power of the Government to make tions for the purpose of religious conver-
them; that such of them as went right sion of Indigenous Peoples to Christian-
should be protected and fed, and such as ity, the spiritual lives of Indigenous
went wrong should be harassed and Peoples faced considerable and continu-
scourged without intermission” (Prucha ing disruption.
1975, 139). Because reservations created The souls of Indigenous Peoples were
a system of racial segregation and made divided up between various religious
888
groups, beginning with the Quakers in mand existed, however, for the people to
1869. By 1872 government agents had as- go into the world and inform or instruct
signed 238,899 individuals from seventy- other people in their rituals and beliefs
three different reservation agencies to of the tribe. The people were supposed to
thirteen Euro-American Christian reli- follow their own teachings and assume
gious groups (Prucha 1975). Family that other people would follow their
members, both nuclear and extended, teachings. These instructions were rigor-
were often divided between different ously followed and consequently there
competing religious denominations, was never an instance of a tribe making
which created spiritual conflicts and reli- war on another tribe because of religious
gious arguments between people where differences” (Deloria 1999, 262).
none had existed before. In fact, Lakota Perhaps the greatest reply to the im-
scholar Vine Deloria, Jr., asserts, “No deposition of white religious beliefs upon
Leo Yellowhair stands outside his hogan on the Hopi Indian Reservation. Yellowhair and his mother,
Joanne Yellowhair, live day to day along the rim of Blue Canyon about twenty miles southeast of
Tuba City, Arizona. Their home is a small octagonal dirt and wood traditional Diné hogan. Living
without plumbing or electricity, their life centers on tending their eighteen sheep and goats and one
horse. In the summer they raise crops irrigated with water carried from Tuba City. Ca. 1996. (Kevin
Fleming/Corbis)
889
Indigenous Peoples was delivered by as one tribal community. It was just

Seneca leader Red Jacket, who said the natural for us to all be together at this
time. The church just happened to be
following to a preacher from the Evan-
the place we went to. After the services
gelical Missionary Society in 1805: were over we would all sit down
together in the church basement in
Brother, you say that you are sent to the winter, or outside in the summer,
instruct us how to worship the Great to eat a meal and visit before going to
Spirit agreeably to his mind, and, if we pray at the next church. At first the
do not take hold of the religion which ministers at the different churches
you white people teach, we shall be didn’t mind us going from place to
unhappy hereafter. You say that you place. I think they were just glad that
are right and we are lost. How do we they had so many of us in their
know this to be true? We . . . only know congregation singing, praying, and
what you tell us about it. How shall we thanking them for their good words.
know when to believe, being so often But it didn’t take long for them to
deceived by the white people? Brother, figure out what we were doing and
you say there is but one way to pretty soon they began to tell us that
worship and serve the Great Spirit. If we could not come to their services if
there is but one religion, why do you we were not members of their church.
white people differ so much about it? Of course this bothered the people
We are told that your religion was because they were so used to being
given to your forefathers, and has been together whenever something holy
handed down from father to son. We was going on. So, what happened
also have a religion, which was given changed how we viewed religion and
to our forefathers, and has been it’s when we started to become really
handed down to us, their children. We divided in our spiritual beliefs. So now
worship in that way. It teaches us to be I’m a Catholic, one of your aunties is a
thankful for all the favors we receive; Lutheran, and your grandma belongs
to love each other, and to be united. to the United Church of Christ. Of
We never quarrel about religion. course some still attended tribal
(Wright 1992, 231–232) ceremonies but didn’t tell the Christian
ministers about it, because they were
More recently, Sahnish (Arikara) elder always saying we were going to go to
Magdalene Yellow Bird recounts as a hell if we practiced these ways.
(Interview with Magdalene Yellow Bird
young girl how all the people in her 1990)
community would come together to
pray and worship in any of the Christian
Since time immemorial, “sacred land-
churches on a given Sunday and how
scapes, rivers, forests, stories, songs,
white religious leaders then prohibited
plants (medicines), dances, and symbols
this practice.
have been at the center of Indigenous
It didn’t matter to our people what
spirituality helping First Nations Peoples
church they attended because we were find wholeness and renew their cultures”
all accustomed to prayer and worship (Yellow Bird 2001, 66). However, when
890
Our Lady of the Little Rockies Church, Fort Belknap Reservation, Hays, Montana. 1994. (Dave G.
Houser/Corbis)
Indigenous Peoples were confined to territory by the federal government. For

reservations, access to these places, several generations the only sacred pil-
practices, and materials was often not grimages to this area were done in secret,
possible. Holy pilgrimages to sacred sites under the cover of night, and at great risk
or the collection of plants necessary for to the individual. During the 1970s, tribal
various ceremonial purposes either members who were interested in reviv-
ceased or had to be done in secret. ing their traditional religious practices
“Thunder Butte,” a sacred landscape to approached the owner of these lands
the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Sahnish of the and gained permission to resume sacred
Fort Berthold Reservation in North use of the site. However, there often re-
Dakota, is located just outside the west- main periods of time when the owner
ern borders of the reservation on land will not allow such visits.
now belonging to a white rancher. At one The religious practices of Indigenous
time this site was located on the lands of Peoples, who were virtual prisoners on
these tribes, but it was taken away dur- the reservation, were continually at-
ing one of the many reductions of their tacked and threatened by government
891
A bumper sticker on a vehicle in Neah Bay, a town on the Makah Indian Reservation in the
northwest corner of Washington state. (Ed Eckstein/Corbis)
Indian agents and Christian missionar- spiritual culture to younger generations,

ies. To discourage the practice of tribal re- a group of prominent Sahnish leaders
ligious life, laws were imposed that and chiefs petitioned the commissioner
banned the singing of tribal songs, of Indian Affairs in 1913, requesting per-
dances, and religious ceremonies. Tradi- mission to be allowed to resume that
tional religious leaders were condemned, practice: “Sir; Whereas the old time
jailed, and ridiculed by white missionar- songs and music are being forgotten,
ies and government agents, and they and in order not to have them forgotten
were removed from any influential posi- entirely, we, the undersigned do hereby
tion they had held among their commu- respectfully request permission to meet
nity. Those leaders that abandoned their once a month to practice the said songs,
religious tribal beliefs and turned to so as to give the younger generation a
white religious practices were especially chance to learn them, and to let them in
useful to white colonizers. turn teach them to the next generation.
Banned from singing songs that were Also we wish to perpetuate these songs
an important means of transmitting to sing to Historians when they chance
892
to come here and want to hear old time sionary working among the Mandan,
songs. Hoping that this request will be Hidatsa, and Sahnish on the Fort
granted to us we sign ourselves” (Gilman Berthold Reservation in the late 1800s
and Schneider 1987, 224). Recognizing declared that “they are a generous peo-
that the necessary degree of assimilation ple and feel their responsibility toward
had taken hold among this group, the their brother. But the mission work is
commissioner later gave his permission. gradually overcoming this” (ibid., 128).
However, most tribal groups that made The ceremony called the Sun Dance,
such requests were not so fortunate. practiced by many Plains tribes, was out-
Sharing and generosity were, and re- lawed by federal authorities among the
main, important spiritual values among Sahnish, Hidatsa, and Mandan tribes in
many First Nations Peoples. Helping the early 1900s. It was considered by
others by sharing of what one has, white missionaries to be a heathen prac-
whether it is time, resources, or knowl- tice of self-mutilation of the worst sort.
edge, is a way in which many groups re- Anyone guilty of participating in the Sun
inforce their respect and appreciation Dance had rations withheld and was
for one another. Such actions helped in- jailed for a second offense. Those who
spire good relationships and con- were caught practicing traditional medi-
tributed to peace, harmony, and the cine were jailed for ten days (Gilman and
well-being of all tribal members. Many Schneider 1987). The ban on the Sun
Indigenous Peoples use give-away cere- Dance was maintained for several gener-
monies to extend their good fortune. ations, and it was not until the 1980s that
Items such as food, clothing, blankets, the Mandan and Hidatsa resumed that
money, and cookware are shared be- religious practice. The Sahnish did not
tween people. For many groups, sharing return to the ritual until 1998, almost 100
and generosity are part of their original years after the original ban.
religious tribal teachings. For instance, Sahnish historian and scholar Loren
among the Sahnish a holy being named Yellow Bird explains that his tribe en-
Mother Corn taught them “to provide dured many difficult trials throughout
for those who should be dependent their history and that their religious tra-
upon them . . . to be generous and for- ditions have lapsed; most sacred cere-
bearing, to practise hospitality to monies are no longer practiced because
strangers, to be kind to the poor” of the impact of reservations upon Sah-
(Gilmore 1930, 108). In the past, the nish religious life (Yellow Bird 2003).
sharing and generosity of Indigenous However, he explains that, like many
Peoples were regarded as cultural de- different tribal peoples, “our medicine
fects, and many attempts were made by men a long time ago in ceremonies pre-
whites to extinguish those values dicted” that the “destruction of our tra-
(Meyer 1977). In one instance a mis- ditions” would occur with the coming
893
A warning sign nailed to a tree at the edge of the Mount Currie Indian Reserve, British Columbia,
Canada. The sign reads “WARNING No outside white visitors allowed because of your failure to obey
the laws of our tribe as well as the laws of your own. This village is hereby closed.” (Gunter Marx
Photography/Corbis)
of whites who would bring with them center of “cultural identity,” “ceremonial
their own beliefs. Still, he maintains, “It activity,” and “an essential symbol of
isn’t over for us. . . . I, for one, am con- tribal life” (Snipp 1996, 39). It is now a
tinuing the best that I can with the his- place where new and old sacred and sec-
tory that was passed down and look at ular ceremonies are being created and
what we need to carry on our tradi- re-created and passed between genera-
tions” (ibid., 13). tions of tribal peoples. However, it is im-
Although reservations were once portant to not over-romanticize reserva-
places where Indigenous Peoples were tion life, since many continue to carry on
confined against their will, for many they life and death struggles with poverty, iso-
“have since become places whose im- lation, social ills, and lack of economic
portance cannot be overestimated.” opportunity. In many respects, the
Today, for many Indigenous Peoples who chronically poor conditions on many
reside on these lands, as well as for many reservations reinforce the feelings of
who do not, the reservation remains a many Indigenous Peoples that the U.S.
894
government has no more interest in the the loss and suppression of traditional
well-being of these lands, or the people religious beliefs and practices. The
that live here, than it did during the early reservation enabled Christian mission-
reservation period, when these lands aries and government agents to enforce
were used as holding pens and concen- the introduction of many different
tration camps. white, Christian belief systems upon Na-
Despite the humble environment of tive Peoples, which divided many fami-
most reservations, Indigenous Peoples lies and communities. Despite all the di-
continue to reside on these lands, and vine inspiration and assistance from
many former residents return often dur- God given to whites, their philosophy of
ing their lifetime. Today, many come back Manifest Destiny, and their theft of in-
to the reservation from urban environ- digenous land, the reservation system
ments to get reconnected with their reli- was not enough to eradicate Indigenous
gious traditions, while others return to be Peoples’ traditional religious lives.
buried. Many use these lands and sacred Today, Indian reservations remain, as do
sites to overcome despair and oppression all the lands of this nation, the cultural
brought on by forces outside their cul- birthright and spiritual stronghold of In-
tures, and many come to celebrate who digenous Peoples.
they are and to reaffirm their identity. For Michael Yellow Bird
instance, a Native person living in the San See also American Indian Movement (Red
Francisco area for many years returned to Power Movement); Law, Legislation, and
Native Religion; New Age Appropriation;
the reservation. “I became a Sun Dancer,
Retraditionalism and Identity Movements;
a museum curator. My boys are Sun Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains;
Dancers. One is a keeper of our sacred Termination and Relocation
tribal pipe. . . . I brought them back to References and Further Reading
Adams, David Wallace. 1995. Education for
live on the reservation so they will know
Extinction: American Indians and the
racism, pain, the hardcore stuff of life Boarding School Experience,1875–1928.
around here. . . . A real Indian lives in an Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.
Benton, Thomas Hart. 1846. Speech on the
Indian environment, learns spiritual Oregon Question, May 28, 1846, U.S.
ways, is discriminated against because of Congress, Senate, Congressional Globe,
his looks, is shaped when he’s young to be 29th Cong., 1st Sess. Washington, DC,
1846, 915–917.
quiet because of racism. We pay a Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1999. “Is Religion Possible?
penalty. There’s a positive aspect—the An Evaluation of Present Efforts to
spiritual side. . . . That’s what I came back Revive Traditional Tribal Religions.” In
For This Land: Writings on Religion in
for” (Nagel 1997, 191). America. New York: Routledge.
The reservation system has had an Gilman, Carolyn, and Mary Jane Schneider.
enormously negative effect on the reli- 1987. The Way to Independence:
Memories of a Hidatsa Indian Family,
gious lives of Indigenous Peoples. It has 1840–1920. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical
been directly responsible for much of Society Press.
895
Retraditionalism and Identity Movements _________________________________________________
Gilmore, Melvin. 1930. “The Arikara Book of Clark Expedition. May 28–30 at
Genesis.” Papers of the Michigan Academy University of Montana, Missoula.
of Science, Arts, and Letters 12: 95–120. Yellow Bird, Michael. 1999. “Indian,
Means, Russell. 1999. “Navajo Nation American Indian, and Native Americans:
Jurisdictional Lawsuit.” Letter to the Counterfeit Identities.” Winds of Change:
Editor of the Navajo Times. A Magazine for American Indian
Meyer, Roy, W. 1977. The Village Indians of Education and Opportunity, 14 (1).
the Upper Missouri. Lincoln: University ———. 2001. “Critical Values and First
of Nebraska Press. Nations Peoples.” In Culturally Competent
Nagel, Joane. 1997. American Indian Ethnic Practice: Skills, Interventions, and
Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence Evaluations. Edited by Rowena Fong and
of Identity and Culture. New York: Oxford Sharlene Furuto. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
University Press.
Olson, James S., and Raymone Wilson.1986.
Native Americans in the Twentieth
Century. Urbana: University of Illinois. Retraditionalism and
Pevar, Stephan L. 1992. The Rights of
Indians and Tribes: The Basic ACLU Identity Movements
Guide to Indian and Tribal Rights. 2d ed.
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University American Indians are the only Ameri-
Press. cans whose entire heritage is in the
Prucha, Francis Paul. 1975. Documents of United States, has always been here, and
United States Indian Policy. Lincoln:
is to be preserved here and nowhere else.
Snipp, C. Matthew. 1996. “The Size and While it is important to realize that the
Distribution of the American Indian term “American Indians” is a sometimes
Population: Fertility, Mortality, and
problematic reference to a continental
Residence.” P. 39 in Changing Numbers,
Changing Needs: American Indian population actually composed of many
Demography and Public Health. Edited nations, it is also true that there is a mea-
by Gary D. Sandefur, Ronald R. Rindfuss,
sure of collective identity to be expressed
and Barney Cohen. Washington, DC:
National Academy Press. in terms of aboriginality. A common way
U.S. Census Bureau. 2000. United States of speaking about this is “pan-Indian-
Census 2000. “Glossary.” http://www ism,” but that term tends to gloss a
.census.gov. (Accessed July 2003.)
United States Senate. 1989. A Report of the plethora of interrelated issues of legal,
Special Committee on Investigations of economic, and cultural import. For
the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, some, pan-Indianism is the “pow wow
Final Report and Legislative
Recommendations. 101st Cong., 1st Sess.,
culture,” a broad set of practices and cul-
Rep, 101–216. tural referents, heavily influenced by
Wright, Ronald. 1992. Stolen Continents: The Plains cultures, dubbed in the 1960s “In-
New World through Indian Eyes. New
dians of All Tribes.” For others the term is
Yellow Bird, Loren. 2003. “Now I Will Speak a nod to the growing cross-tribal and in-
(nawah ti waako’): An Arikara deed international movement toward re-
Perspective on What the Lewis and Clark
turning indigenous communities all over
Expedition Missed.” Paper delivered at
Confluence of the Cultures: A Native the world to a sense of self-determina-
American Perspective of the Lewis and tion. Regardless of which area of the dis-
896
________________________________________________ Retraditionalism and Identity Movements
course this term occupies, “pan-Indian- cultural circumstances. For some Indian
ism” has its genesis within a set of histor- nations, extreme poverty and accompa-
ical circumstances that opened the door nying disease remain at the forefront of
for multinational communication, on communal concern. While undoubtedly
this continent as well as others, regard- most advocates, both inside and outside
ing the current state of indigenous peo- Indian Country, would place cultural re-
ples and what the future holds for them. newal at the heart of any return to eco-
One key area of this discussion is the nomic and social normalcy, the reality is
effort being made in many contempo- that many communities find themselves
rary Indian communities to return to a in a veritable fight for survival that may
self-defined set of traditions—collective hinder the process. One of the dirty little
identity, worldview, spiritual practices secrets in the United States is the level of
and beliefs, etc.—that range from lan- misery experienced in some reservation
guage revival, to seasonal ceremonies, to communities, and indeed by individuals
traditional leadership or economic of Native American heritage that find
views. This set of phenomena has been themselves away from any community
referred to by D’Arcy McNickle, Robert whatsoever in the larger cities.
N. Wells, Jr., and Joane Nagel (among In fact, the dispersal of Indian people
others) as “renewal,” and it varies in from their communities, both geo-
character from group to group. graphic and human, provides a final fac-
Renewal can take many forms and tor in the range of successful renewal ef-
proceed in many directions; however, forts among contemporary American
the participation level of various com- Indians. As I will discuss in more detail
munities is governed by several factors. below, the U.S. government made a con-
One is that there is a range of continuity certed effort to strip Indian people of
experienced by these groups, with those their culture. From the Dawes (Removal)
enjoying long-term land tenure and lan- Act, to tribal “disenrollment” and termi-
guage retention, such as the Diné, only nation policies, to treaty violations, the
relatively recently feeling the pressure to U.S. government embarked upon, and
make concerted efforts in behalf of cul- indeed continues along, a path toward
tural renewal. There are other tribal the marginalization and dissolution of
groups, on the other hand, such as those separate Indian communal identities.
in California, for whom missionization Therefore renewal also occurs at the in-
created a fairly wide cognitive rift be- dividual level, with many of the patterns
tween ancestral knowledge and contem- mirroring those of the generation that
porary Indians. W. C. Roof has called “seekers,” in that a
Another factor affecting levels of re- post–Viet Nam culture in the United
newal efforts being mounted by particu- States has raised issues of individual
lar communities is their current socio- spirituality and religious choices to a
897
meta level; Roof’s “baby-boomer” cate- 228,000 American Indians were recorded
gory, of course, also includes American in the United States, less than one-tenth
Indians, both reservation and urban. of the population only four centuries
American Indians are not immigrants. earlier. While the census no doubt failed
There are no “homelands” preserved to account for thousands of American
overseas to which they may go for cultural Indians living independently, off of
information. The sole guardians of their reservations, and either “passing” in
languages, religions, material creations, some other census category or avoiding
and customs, only they are capable of the census altogether, the substantial
preserving their ancestral cultures. Amer- drop in population belied an openly
ican Indians have been battling attempts racist paternalism, coupled with corrup-
to obliterate their cultures from the time tion, all over the country that often
of the arrival of the first Europeans. The erupted into open violence against Indi-
first wave of invaders, in the sixteenth and ans. Indians were kept thoroughly en-
seventeenth centuries, brought military sconced in dire poverty and malnourish-
incursions that were soon amplified by ment, living in woefully inadequate
the ravages of disease. The second wave, conditions; children were forcibly taken
from the mid-eighteenth through the from their parents to be kept in boarding
mid-nineteenth centuries, brought Euro- schools, forbidden to speak their own
American populations large enough to languages or practice their religions.
warrant well-supported military cam- Mortality among Native Americans was
paigns along the series of western “fron- very high, with diseases such as in-
tiers.” The official position of the United fluenza and tuberculosis common.
States during its first 150 years was articu- The notion of cultural evolution dic-
lated by the Supreme Court’s chief justice tated that Indians should be trained in
John Marshall in his decision in Johnson v. menial labor tasks before they would be
McIntosh (1823) when he wrote: “The able to “progress” to higher pursuits.
tribes of Indians inhabiting this country Western mono-crop farming was im-
were fierce savages, whose occupation posed upon Indians no matter the envi-
was war and whose subsistence was ronment of their particular reservation.
drawn chiefly from the forest. To leave Any success, and there was success be-
them in possession of their country was cause of the presence of agriculture
to leave the country a wilderness; to gov- among some tribal groups for millennia,
ern them as a distinct people was impos- was mitigated by racist white locals or by
sible” (Hobson et al. 1998). ultimately unworkable capitalist
The late nineteenth century would schemes. For example, Indian small-
prove to be the low point in American In- scale cattle or pig concerns were often
dian life in many ways. According to the second-guessed by BIA managers who
U.S. census website, in the 1890 census, instructed Natives to resist taking ani-
898
mals to market in the fall on a gamble academic education to manual labor

that prices would rise in the spring—only and to place them in factory work.
to have those small-production reserva- The contemporary American Indian
tion outfits collapse under the weight of identity reached, in some ways, a water-
extra care for the animals over winter shed during the New Deal of Franklin
when prices dropped in the long run. Roosevelt. John Collier, commissioner of
While a large-scale capitalist venture the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) begin-
might be able to play the market that ning in 1934, was in many ways as pater-
way, absorbing losses or passing them on nalistic as his predecessors, but rather
to other portions of their system, small- than being guided by the supposed
scale farmers like reservation-based moral superiority of Christianity he ro-
American Indian farms would go bank- manticized Indians, seeing them as
rupt. That, of course, would provide both Noble Savages who should be returned
“proof” of the inadequacies of Native to their “primitive democracy”; that no-
American farming, and cheap goods tion became a large part of the national
when the market enjoyed the BIA-spon- imagination with regard to Indian peo-
sored buyout of Native concerns. ple. He was aided in his efforts by
Many Indians were forced into the wealthy liberals who thought they were
manual labor pool, especially as agricul- finally doing it right, and all federally rec-
tural laborers, and at wages and in camp ognized tribes were pressured into writ-
conditions that would have been unac- ing a constitution and electing a tribal
ceptable to Euro-Americans. The Indian council to govern their respective reser-
boarding schools taught boys manual vations. Truly traditional forms of self-
and girls domestic work, graduating government including hereditary leader-
young adults with an education level of ship were strongly discouraged. Tribal
eighth grade or less. One illuminating members who opposed these ideas, in-
case is that of Beloit College, which be- cluding elders who made up the “library”
tween 1871 and 1884 accepted Dakota of traditional identity, showed their dis-
youths selected and prepared by the approval by avoiding tribal elections al-
Riggs family of missionaries in Min- together, thereby giving small minorities
nesota. Ohiyesa, called Charles Eastman of “progressives” apparent victories.
in English, earned top status in mathe- Collier did, however, manage some re-
matics at Beloit, went on to Dartmouth, forms, including early legislation honor-
and took an M.D. from Boston University ing non-Christian religious practice;
in 1890. The Bureau of Indian Affairs supporting tribal language, arts, and
took offense at Beloit’s efforts to give manufacture programs; ending the dam-
such opportunities to Indians and cut off aging boarding school system; and re-
support for the program when college ducing the role of non-Indian BIA agents
officials refused to limit Indian students’ in the day-to-day lives of reservation
899
communities. Unfortunately, inasmuch found just the opposite, as factory and

as the country was in the depths of the industrial work was occupied by white
Great Depression, many of these reforms workers. Like African Americans on the
were far less effective than they might so-called Northern migration, they
otherwise have been, and with the onset found themselves in even more dire cir-
of World War II, much of the work he cumstances. Families were torn apart by
began in the area of BIA reform was cur- the need to be mobile in order to find ad-
tailed. The war also provided opportuni- equate work, and when that proved diffi-
ties for Indians in both industry and cult, the opportunistic social diseases of
military service, and this period can be poverty—depression, alcohol and other
said to have given birth to the modern drug abuse, domestic violence, and disil-
Indian identity. lusioned youth—followed quickly. Back
Much of Indian Country remained on reservation lands poverty levels soon
somewhat isolated, both from the events surpassed those of the pre-Collier years,
of the world in general and, more impor- and many who remained were forced to
tant, from each other. Nations that had accept government-sponsored buyouts
become involved in Collier’s reservation of land rich in mineral resources, or
reforms had begun to meet regionally long-term, low-yield lease arrangements
prior to the war, and factories, military with ranchers and farmers.
training facilities, and the armed services The Indians’ experiences during the
all provided an opportunity for Indian war encouraged them to begin taking a
people to interact on a level never before more proactive stance. Given their new-
possible. At the end of World War II, it found national identity as American In-
seemed to most Americans returning to dians, they began by forming a pantribal
a postwar society that a booming econ- political organization called the National
omy and progressive industrial develop- Congress of American Indians (NCAI).
ment would provide the means for pro- Somewhat bolstered by familiarity with
viding for their families. American U.S. government policy and modes of
Indians expected to be released from the civil action, acquired after Collier’s In-
gripping poverty of the previous century. dian Reorganization Act brought many
The American government capitalized more Indians into federal employment,
on this development, offering Natives the NCAI persisted as a moderate but
the “opportunity” to move off of reserva- firm voice. Ironically, the mainstream
tion land and become trained in the new presence of Indians and their newfound
industrial skills needed by U.S. compa- “noble” status resulted in intense efforts
nies. However, that would not prove by the government to terminate Indian
fruitful. federal status and to force Indians out of
Most Indians who left their ancestral all traditional communal practices. Laws
lands looking for economic security preventing the sale of alcohol on reserva-
900
tions were rescinded, BIA-sponsored pri- doctors, and even U.S. government offi-
vate land grabs were intensified, and the cials, in order to aid their tribal commu-
general sense that Native people would nities. The postwar generation’s struggles
be better off without their traditional in colleges that neither remedied poor
culture and communal practices became preparation in Indian schools nor hon-
the guiding notion of government policy. ored non-Western cultures led to pro-
With the new goal of assimilation as a grams in the 1970s assisting Indian stu-
directive, the Eisenhower administration dents and bringing about new attitudes
and Congress began enacting legislation about American history, indigenous cul-
to terminate Indian tribes. Washington tures, and human rights. Groups such as
began to rank federally recognized tribes AIM began high-profile struggles for Na-
according to the proportion of educated tive American rights, and changes in offi-
and economically independent mem- cial recognition of Indian identity al-
bers, on the premise that those qualities lowed for more people to turn to their
indicated adequate assimilation into ancestral roots to answer contemporary
mainstream American society. Follow- questions about how the universe works
ing typical national politics, another and what their place might be in it.
large factor in termination was the de- At the turn of the new millennium,
sire of state politicians to disenroll par- much of the pan-Indian identity is tem-
ticular tribes. Lobbying by state and in- pered by a sharp return to tribal-specific
dustrial interests intent on the land that themes. Many Indian people see express-
would be available to them if a given ing themselves culturally and spiritually
tribe were terminated intensified, stack- in their own languages, styles, and pat-
ing the deck against the relatively voice- terns as key to their future as Indian peo-
less reservation tribes at the level of na- ple; there are many individual programs
tional policy-making. and processes—from language revival
At the culmination of termination in and education programs to traditional
the mid-1960s, the long-term outcomes arts and craft cooperatives—that promise
of changes begun during the New Deal to provide the next generation with a new
began to bring about changes in Ameri- set of tribal memories. Rather than only
can Indian identity, ushering in a sort of struggling to survive, perhaps they will
renaissance. During World War II, Indi- find new avenues for communication in
ans, such as the famed “Navajo Code their own languages, for traditional artis-
Talkers,” had demonstrated their abili- tic self-expression, and for the expression
ties and been respected. Becoming tribal of ancestral religious worldviews.
leaders upon their return, they began to Dennis F. Kelley
plan for the future of their people, in-
cluding the completion of higher educa- Power Movement); Health and Wellness,
tion that they might become lawyers, Traditional Approaches; Identity; Native
901
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, California ____________________________
American Church, Peyote Movement; whites in the East as their ultimate desti-
Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural nation, there was rapid and often violent
Implications; Retraditionalism and
Revitalization Movements, Columbia change for virtually all of California’s Na-
Plateau; ; Retraditionalism and tive inhabitants with the large-scale in-
Revitalization Movements, Plains; flux of Americans.
Revitalization Movements, Northeast;
Termination and Relocation Prior to that, of course, there had
been smaller and more focused incur-
sions into the territory, primarily by
Hobson, Charles F., et al., eds. 1998. The
Papers of John Marshall, vol. 9: Spain and Russia. This focused immigra-
1820–1823. Chapel Hill: University of tion, forming “pockets” of non-Indians
North Carolina Press.
with specific resource desires, had vari-
McNickle, D’Arcy William. 1973. Native
American Tribalism: Indian Survivals ously severe implications, as with the
and Renewals. New York: Oxford Spanish mission system; there were also
University Press.
milder shifts, such as those surrounding
Nagel, Joane. 1997. American Indian Ethnic
Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence the Russian fur trade and the first few
of Identity and Culture. New York: Oxford gold prospectors in the Sierra Nevada
University Press. foothills.
Wells, Robert N., Jr. 1994. Native American
Resurgence and Renewal. Metuchen, NJ: Spain’s Catholic missions in Alta Cali-
Scarecrow Press. fornia began as an attempt to create
pueblos—towns full of potential subjects
that would populate and work the lands
for the Crown. However, the process of
Retraditionalism and missionization took longer than ex-
Revitalization Movements, pected, and the padres’ own writings at
the time reflect the ongoing battle with
California
the Indians over the residual Native reli-
California is somewhat unusual in terms gious traditions. In fact, Spain was un-
of its Native history because the large va- able, as was Mexico after the revolution,
riety of tribal groups that call the state to rid the Native populations of all of
home make for a rich and varied set of their traditions, and the practice of forc-
religious traditions. From the high desert ing the Indians to abandon their lan-
Mojave to the coastal Chumash to the guages in deference to Spanish actually
woodland Karuk, there are many tradi- provided the mission populations with a
tional practices that continue today. sort of lingua franca. In 1824, for exam-
However, owing to the state’s relatively ple, the missions were caught off guard
late entry into the union (1850, after the by a simultaneous revolt at several mis-
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo struck be- sions that began with a vision by a Chu-
tween the United States and Mexico) and mash holy woman and the appearance
the fact that California was seen by most of a comet in the night sky. The vision
902
___________________________ Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, California
A Hoopa basket maker shows a child how to weave baskets from straw on the Hoopa Indian
Reservation in northern California, 1993. (Phil Schermeister/Corbis)
and the celestial event were taken as a pan into the fire. U.S. systems of control
sign by the people, and it surprised the were intolerant of both language use and
padres just how well the Indians com- cultural participation among Indian peo-
municated between missions, and how ple, and many Natives of various tribes
much of the traditional belief and social suffered not only bigotry and oppression
cohesion remained intact. but also injury and death if found to be
For the Indian populations that were speaking their own languages or practic-
not under the rule of Spanish Catholicism, ing their own religions. In some areas offi-
religious practices provided a context for cial laws were passed barring those prac-
cultural continuity in the face of shifting tices, and children were forcibly removed
power paradigms; in the northern part of from their homes to be taught English,
the state, there is much photographic and Christianity, and manual labor skills, often
audiorecorded evidence of regular cere- at the business end of a leather strap.
monial participation. Unfortunately, These boarding schools and legal tactics
when California became a U.S. state, the forced Indian people in California to find
Native population went from the frying innovative and even clandestine ways to
903
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, California ____________________________
maintain their cultural traditions, and in tive ammunition with which to do battle,
some areas many people found it neces- Indian activists set about the task of forc-
sary to abandon the overt practice of these ing local, state, and federal legislators to
traditions altogether. take this issue seriously, after many years
Although many California Indians still of toe-to-toe confrontation between de-
experience bigotry toward their tradi- velopers and their bulldozers and Indi-
tional beliefs and practices, the general ans and their courage. A significant shift
cultural liberalization that occurred in occurred only during the Clinton admin-
this country in the post–Viet Nam era and istration, when the Native American
the subsequent reinvigoration experi- Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
enced by ethnic communities through- (NAGPRA) was given additional enforce-
out the land had a particularly strong in- ment capabilities through amendment.
fluence on Native cultures. Perhaps the It was during the battles for small victo-
result of equal parts cultural stimulus ries among some devastating losses that
among Indian people and the realization California Indian people began to get bet-
of the oppressive nature of the Christian ter acquainted with their tribal traditions.
influence on American culture among In other words, there was a distinct shift
non-Indians, places like California were in identity from the more generalized Na-
ripe for cultural renewal. Furthermore, tive American to more tribal-specific self-
California in particular had the kind of identification. Activists sought out elders,
political atmosphere that allowed for In- learned their traditional languages,
dians to become much more active in the songs, and ceremonies, and continued to
revitalization of their tribal traditions. adhere to them after they had unchained
There were two main avenues for this re- themselves from the construction equip-
traditionalism: external political activism ment. This cultural awareness coincided
and internal cultural awareness. with that of Indian people who had gone a
For California Indians, the nature of different path to the same place—a path
the “Golden State” and its place in the that took the form of personal spiritual
American economy in the latter part of searches, art and craft skills, or both. A
the twentieth century provided one good example is the art form that Califor-
main issue to which all tribes needed to nia Native people are best known for—
respond—the disposition of their sacred namely, basketry.
places. Developers had long been turn- For most California tribal groups, bas-
ing the state, particularly the highly de- ketry is not simply a practical craft
sirable coastal regions, into a condo- (though, of course, it is that as well) but
minium and luxury home mecca, at the also a cultural practice. From the aware-
expense of Native sacred places. Burials ness of the plant resources, their habitats
were disturbed, springs ruined, and and management needs, to proper pro-
gathering areas paved. With little legisla- tocol for approaching basket makers for
904
_________________ Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, Columbia Plateau
instruction and advice, making is much California; Health and Wellness, Traditional
more than the weaving. Many tribes Approaches; Indian Shaker Church;
Missionization, California; Oral Traditions;
have very specific methods for preparing Oral Traditions, California; Power,
to become a weaver, with songs and cer- Barbareño Chumash; Prison and Native
emonies (that need to be learned from Spirituality; Reservations, Spiritual and
Cultural Implications; Retraditionalism and
elders who are properly approached, a Revitalization Movements, Columbia
propriety that also needs to be learned) Plateau; Retraditionalism and Revitalization
accompanying the plant interaction, the Movements, Plains; Termination and
Relocation
gathering process, the materials prepa-
ration, and the actual weaving. Weavers Eargle, Dolan H., Jr. 1992. California Indian
in some tribal groups are required to Country: The Land and the People. San
present the baskets they make to specific Francisco: Trees Company Press.
Lowery, Chag, and Rebecca Lowery. 2003.
people for specific reasons when they “Original Voices.” http://www
first begin, and some gift baskets are ac- .originalvoices.org/Homepage.htm.
companied by particular stories or songs (Accessed June 12.)
Margolin, Malcolm, and Yolanda Montijo,
devoted to that basket and its gathering eds. 1995. Native Ways: California Indian
and weaving. We can see, then, that an Stories and Memories. Berkeley: Heyday
Indian person who wants to learn basket Press.
Nagel, Joane. 1997. American Indian Ethnic
weaving learns as much, if not more, Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence
about her tribal culture and spiritual tra- of Identity and Culture. Oxford: Oxford
ditions as she does about baskets. University Press.
Trafzer, Clifford E., and Joel R. Hyer. 1999.
This notion can be replicated in any of
Exterminate Them: Written Accounts of
a number of similar processes. Dancing Murder, Rape, Slavery of Native
and regalia, traditional foods, language Americans during the California Gold
Rush, 1848–1868. Michigan State
acquisition, and singing are all governed
University Press.
by the same type of protocols described Vane, Sylvia Brakke, and Lowell John Bean.
above for basketry. People who decide to 1990. California Indians: Primary
“get in touch” with their Indian heritage Resources, A Guide to Manuscripts,
Artifacts, Documents, Serials, Music, and
via these or other means embark upon a Illustrations. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena
journey of traditional education and Press.
spiritual development that brings them
into the presence of their ancestors, con-
necting them not only to a time before
invasion but also to the kind of spiritual Retraditionalism and
traditions that enabled their people to Revitalization Movements,
survive that invasion.
Columbia Plateau
Dennis F. Kelley
See also American Indian Movement (Red From colonial times to the present, Na-
Power Movement); Ceremony and Ritual, tive revitalization and retraditionalizing
905
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, Columbia Plateau __________________
Showing some influence from Christianity, Chief Smohalla’s movement, also known as the Washat,
met every week on the Sabbath in longhouses that in some ways resembled churches. (Government
Printing Office, 1896)
movements have been characteristic of dian Shaker, “Feather cult,” and the Na-
the American cultural landscape. Ottawa tive American Church movements, are
chief Pontiac used teachings of the primary examples.
Delaware Prophet to justify military ac- One of the first scholars to provide a
tions against British forts in the Great definition of revitalization movements
Lakes region in 1763. Handsome Lake, was Ralph Linton (1943). He described
the Seneca prophet, was publicly active nativistic movements as “any conscious,
from 1799 to 1815. Tecumseh’s brother, organized attempt on the part of a soci-
the Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa, was ety’s members to revive or perpetuate
a catalyst in the formation of an Indian neglected aspects of its culture.” That,
alliance to drive out whites and re-estab- said Linton, happens when cultural
lish societies based upon traditional Na- groups come into contact with one an-
tive ways and values. The Paiute prophet other (Linton 1943, 230).
Wovoka is well known for his association Anthony Wallace incorporated Lin-
with the Ghost Dance (1888–1896). Revi- ton’s ideas into a broader framework. Ac-
talization and retraditionalizing move- cording to him, revitalization move-
ments are well known on the Columbia ments are a “deliberate, organized,
Plateau as well. Washat, along with In- conscious effort by members of a society
906
to construct a more satisfying culture” that external pressures alone are not nec-
(1956, 265). Among the wide range of so- essarily powerful explanatory tools, for
cial phenomena that might fit such a they do not consistently produce revital-
definition, Wallace includes “nativistic ization movements. Therefore, contem-
movements,” “revivalistic movements,” porary scholarship increasingly high-
“cargo cults,” “millenarian movements,” lights the influence of internal processes
and “messianic movements.” Nativistic in a given group as well. Only through an
movements tend to concentrate on examination of cultural systems already
“alien persons, customs, values, and/or in place can a particular manifestation of
material” from the cultural fabric. Re- revitalization “make good sense” within
vivalistic movements generally promote the larger context of deprivation or op-
ways of life and values that were once vi- pression (Schwarz 1997, 750–751).
brant but now seem to be missing. Cargo
cults are so labeled because of their char- Plateau Background
acteristic importation of alien values, Dreams, visions, and guiding spirits con-
practices, and material culture. Millenar- stitute the oldest and most basic aspects
ian movements call for societal change of spiritual belief and practice on the Co-
within the context of “an apocalyptic lumbia Plateau. Vision quests and “med-
world transformation engineered by the icine sings” or “winter spirit dances” are
supernatural.” Messianic movements among the bedrock cultural materials
focus attention on single individuals un- upon which all other indigenous spiri-
derstood to be divine saviors manifest- tual and religious convictions in the re-
ing in human form. Wallace points out gion are erected (Walker and Schuster
that these categories are not at all mutu- 1998, 499).
ally exclusive. To the contrary, they may In Nch’i-Wana, The Big River: Mid-Co-
well act in overlapping and mutually re- lumbia Indians and Their Land, Eugene
inforcing ways (ibid., 267). Hunn reports that powers obtained
Academic discussions about revitaliza- through guardian spirits supplied mid-
tion movements over subsequent Columbia peoples with the strength nec-
decades have characterized such move- essary for a successful life. Vision quests
ments as based in conscious change. were solitary ventures intended, through
They are also understood to travel physical deprivation and altered states of
through cyclical stages: steady state, consciousness, to place a person in con-
stress, cultural distortion, and revitaliza- tact with guardian spirits. Death and re-
tion, ultimately returning back to a steady vival or rebirth was a recurrent theme in
state once more. Furthermore, the impe- achieving spiritual awareness. According
tus for this is generally considered to be to Robert Boyd, “Middle Columbia na-
deprivation or oppression by the domi- tives viewed a loss of consciousness,
nant society. However, evidence suggests entry into a trance state, or recovery
907
from a debilitating illness as potential death, and renewal are commonly visi-
avenues for making contact with the su- ble in Columbia Plateau revitalization
pernatural. . . . Many times in the ethno- movements. The first of these to come
graphic literature from the Upper Chi- onto the scene was Washat, followed by
nookan area, various forms of altered Indian Shaker, “Feather cult,” and finally
states are described by native observers the Native American Church.
as varieties of ‘death’” (Boyd 1996, 119).
Spirit power was a prerequisite for Washat
participation in winter dances. At this Washat, also known as Seven Drum or
ritual event, perhaps the most impor- Longhouse religion, is a nativistic move-
tant religious occurrence of the year, in- ment deriving quite directly from an
dividuals with new spirit guides began older tradition referred to in the aca-
to experience “spirit illness.” A medi- demic literature as the Prophet Dance
cine man then diagnosed the sickness (Walker and Schuster 1998, 501–502).
and gave the individual a song. Dancing Leslie Spier (1935) described the Prophet
followed (ibid., 129–131). Again, cere- Dance as a “cult” characterized by a
monial purification and death are dance, often circular, and inspired lead-
found intertwined. Thomas Farnham’s ers who offered prophecies received
description of winter dances at Wasco in through visions usually experienced dur-
1843 is instructive: ing “death-like trance states” succeeded
by a reviving or “rebirth.” A hierarchical
Various and strange are the bodily arrangement of spirits was ruled over by
contortions of the performers. They a “creator spirit.” Sometimes Prophet
jump up and down, and swing their
arms with more and more increases,
Dance rituals prioritized the confession
and yelp, and froth at the mouth, till of group members’ sins. In almost all in-
the musician winds up with the word stances, however, they revolved around
“ugh”—a long guttural grunt; or until prophecies of world renewal. Rituals
some one of the dancers falls
were frequently directed toward bringing
apparently dead. When the latter is the
case, one of the number walks around that renewal to fruition (Walker 1969,
the prostrate individual, and calls his or 245; Walker and Schuster 1998, 500).
her name loudly at each ear, at the The Prophet Dance has been corre-
nose, fingers and toes. After this lated with occurrences in the Plateau
ceremony, the supposed dead shudders
during the period immediately following
greatly, and comes to life. And thus they
continue to sing, and thump, and Lewis and Clark. Included among these
dance, and die, and come to life events are epidemic disease, the intro-
through the night. (quoted in ibid., 132) duction of the horse, trade, the arrival of
Christianity and other “alien” beliefs and
Concepts and experiences involving practices, and the existence of various
spiritual entities, ritual purification, Native prophets. However, evidence
908
strongly suggests that the Prophet Dance diseases broke out among us. . . . The
was stimulated by precipitous popula- Indians killed Dr. Whitman [at the so-
called Whitman massacre], but it was
tion declines within indigenous commu-
too late. He had uncorked his bottle
nities before 1800 (Walker and Schuster and all the air was poisoned. Before
1998, 499–500). It appears that later that there was little sickness among
forms of the dance, such as Washat, were us, but since then many of us have
born of such onslaughts of death as well. died. I have had children and
grandchildren, but they are all dead.
In the Sahaptin language, waashat
My last grandchild, a young woman of
means “dance.” This tradition is associ- 16, died last month. If only her infant
ated with the “dreamers” of the middle had lived. . . . I labored hard to save
Columbia Plateau, known as such be- them, but medicine would not work
cause of the trancelike psychological as it used to. (quoted in Hunn 1990,
242)
states in which their visions were ob-
tained. By the 1830s, Washat rituals were
containing distinctly Christian elements. With such death, and with the great
Adherents were speaking of “the Creator,” threats it presented to family and com-
services were held on Sunday, and Long- munity survival, Plateau peoples turned
house leaders were using a handbell as to dreamer-prophets. Visions were em-
an integral part of ritual procedures. Yet ployed to shape a response to the chal-
Washat maintained a very strong empha- lenges and, if possible, chart a return to a
sis on older traditions. These included a traditional way of life (ibid.). In addition
reliance on guiding spirits, “shamanistic” to death from disease, there were also
curing, and a determination to maintain stresses induced by conflict with the U.S.
group language, behavioral expectations, military, treaty signings, and forced con-
ethical precepts, beliefs, values, and ways finement to reservations. This was the
of life (ibid., 501–502). context in which Smohalla and his con-
Smohalla of the Wanapum, a people temporaries lived.
living at Priest Rapids on the Columbia Smohalla first appears in the pubic
River, is probably the most famous record in 1861, when he is mentioned in
Washat leader of the nineteenth century. a military report listing Indians hiding in
Speaking of events in the early nine- a place called “Smoke Hollow.” Much
teenth century, Smohalla commented more is known of him through the
late in his life: ethnographic work of James Mooney,
printed in 1896. Mooney’s writings are
The whites have caused us great grounded largely in talks held between
suffering. . . . Dr. Whitman many years
Smohalla and Major J. W. MacMurray in
ago made a long journey to the east
[1842] to get a bottle of poison for us. 1884–1885 (ibid., 253). It was during the
He was gone about a year, and after course of those conversations that Smo-
he came back strong and terrible halla is famously quoted as denying the
909
value of white civilization, by saying: “My ans would return to life and whites would
young men shall never work. Men who be removed from Indian territories
work cannot dream, and wisdom comes (Walker and Schuster 1998, 505).
to us in dreams” (ibid., 254). Further, in Another significant figure was Sko-
response to the major’s exhorting the In- laskin (or Kolaskin) of the Sanpoil. When
dians to settle down and farm, Smohalla he was around twenty years old, Sko-
stated: laskin fell desperately ill. After two years
he dropped into a coma. Burial prepara-
Those who cut up lands or sign papers tions were begun, but consciousness re-
for lands will be defrauded of their turned the night before he was to be in-
rights and will be punished by God’s terred. Skolaskin had returned to life
anger. You ask me to plough the
from the land of the dead. He told assem-
ground? Shall I take a knife and tear
my mother’s bosom? Then when I die, bled family and friends that his illness
she will not ask me to her bosom to was gone. Furthermore, he said that he
rest. You ask me to dig for stone. Shall I had been instructed by the Creator to
dig under her skin for her bones? Then bring a message to the people: “All of the
when I die, I cannot enter her body to
Indians, he had been told, must change
be born again. You ask me to cut grass
and make hay and sell it and be rich their ways; they must no longer drink,
like white man, but how dare I cut off steal, or commit adultery. But it was
my Mother’s hair? It is a bad law and most important that they pray to their
my people cannot obey it. (quoted in new god. . . . Moreover, every seventh
Relander 1986, 139)
day must be devoted to prayer and
singing exclusively. . . . [A]ll were to
Smohalla was famous across the gather together to pray and sing, and to
Plateau for his ability to enter a trance and listen to Kolaskin, prophet of their god”
return to consciousness—after traveling (Ray 1936, 68–69).
to the land of spirits—with songs and Skolaskin sought and found converts
messages for his followers. These were among the Spokane, Sanpoil, and South-
used in their ceremonial in order to ern Okanogan. There were no dancing
quicken the coming world renewal. Smo- and no bells. His prophecies were gener-
halla is credited with prophesying earth- ally apocalyptic. In one, he proclaimed
quakes and eclipses (Hunn 1990, 253). He
called for people to wear traditional cloth- that at the end of ten years’ time the
ing, adhere to time-honored means of world would be enveloped in a great
subsistence, resist being placed on a reser- flood. To avoid destruction, he
vation, and to be loyal to traditional forms continued, they were to build a
sawmill near the church and saw the
of spiritual belief and practice. In return lumber for a great boat. Before the end
he guaranteed a revitalization of Native of ten years the boat would be
cultures in the process of which dead Indi- completed and all followers would
910
gather inside at the appointed time. Springs, Umatilla, and Nez Perce reser-
Also, a male and female of every vations. Collier’s Indian policies in the
animal and bird would be included.
1930s had the effect of reducing oppres-
Then the rain would come and flood
the earth but all those in the boat sive tactics against Native American be-
would be saved. (ibid., 71) liefs and practices. Washat expanded ac-
cordingly. By World War II its presence
For approximately ten years, between was very notable across the Plateau.
1870 and 1880, his movement had a sub- During the 1990s Washat bloomed as a
stantial impact on the local region. Fol- centerpiece of resistance to pressures of
lowing legal trouble, however, Skolaskin assimilation. It remains at the core of a
embraced more traditional ways before neotraditionalism on the Yakama,
the movement faded (ibid., 75). Umatilla, Warm Springs, Nez Perce, and
There were many dreamer-prophets nearby Salishan reservations, particu-
on the Columbia Plateau, and they were larly the Colville, where a number of Nez
found among virtually every group. At a Perce and Palouse have lived since
minimum, the Nez Perce, Umatilla, treaties were signed in 1885 (ibid.,
Spokane, Kootenai, Wanapum, Yakama, 505–506).
Klickitat, Wayampam (skin village),
Palouse, Sanpoil-Nespelem, and some Indian Shaker
Chinookan groups on the Lower Colum- The Indian Shaker religion originated on
bia such as the Wishram at Celilo Falls the Pacific Northwest Coast and later
were all represented. A list of prominent crossed the Cascade Mountains into the
personalities would include Shuwapsa, Plateau. Experiences of deprivation and
Dla-upac, Spokane Garry, Kootenai Pelly, oppression contributed to its emer-
Nez Perce Ellis, Skolaskin, Wiletsi, Hu- gence. Even though this revitalization
nunwe (a woman), Jim Kanine, Shra- movement was promoted by its leaders
maia, Lishwailait, Ashnithlai, the Tenino and followers as a form of Christianity, it
Queahpahmah, Luls, the Wanapam contained significant elements bor-
Smohalla (smuxala), Wiskaynatowatsan- rowed from extant local systems of Na-
may, and the Yakima Kotiahkan (Shaw- tive belief.
away Kotiahkan) (Walker and Schuster The 1870s were difficult times for Na-
1998, 499). tive Americans on the Northwest Coast.
Washat emphasis on maintaining and In the wake of Euro-American contact,
promoting a nativistic vision of the world treaty signings, and confinement to
led its leaders and membership to play reservations, many people had lost their
significant roles in wars of resistance aboriginal territories and access to vital
during the 1800s. Christian missionaries subsistence resources. Villages were dec-
and federal agents responded by acting imated by disease, and ancient ways of
against them on the Yakama, Warm life and values were under assault from
911
missionaries and federal agents. It was a Trembling or “shaking” became a distin-

period of profound change, deepening guishing characteristic in the developing
powerlessness relative to the dominant Shaker ritual, along with bell-ringing,
society, and great uncertainty. singing, and the stamping of feet. Shak-
John Slocum was a Squaxin (Southern ing was and is seen as a gift from God, in-
Coast Salish) living near Olympia, Wash- tended to provide believers with physical
ington. He was exposed to Catholic and spiritual well-being (ibid., 147).
teachings in his younger years. As an Word of “the shake’s” curative powers
adult, Slocum watched eleven of his thir- quickly spread. Congregations were soon
teen children die from disease. In 1881 established in Skykomish, Chehalis,
he himself became quite sick and, ac- Puyallup, Nisqually, Clallam, and other
cording to available accounts, died. Dur- Native Pacific Coast communities in
ing the extended funeral service, Slocum Washington (ibid., 7–8; Walker and
awoke. After telling family and friends Schuster 1998, 507).
there that he had indeed died, he de- John Slocum’s teachings recognize the
scribed how his soul had traveled to Trinity, emphasize good works, promote
heaven, been met and judged by an brotherly love, and draw from Christian
angel, and told to return home. In conse- eschatological visions (Barnett, 285–
quence of leading a sinful life, he was in- 286). They do not typically promote Na-
structed by the angel to lead other stray tive spiritual traditions. However, Indian
sheep into this new church (Barnett Shakerism does contain elements de-
1957, 5–6). rived from Native traditions. An open-
About a year after his first sickness, ness to spiritual transformation through
Slocum fell terribly ill again. Death ap- altered states of consciousness was dis-
peared imminent. His wife, Mary played by Mary Thompson over Slocum’s
Thompson, was convinced of the verac- body (ibid., 308). Arguably, this openness
ity of her husband’s teachings and was characteristic of vision quest and
shaken to the core by the prospect of his other indigenous ritual practices.
passing. “[T]he crisis induced in her a Converts to the Indian Shaker religion
hysterical seizure in the course of which were made on most of the reservations in
she approached Slocum’s prostrate body Washington and Oregon, and in north-
praying, sobbing, and trembling uncon- western California and parts of British
trollably” (ibid., 7). Upon being touched Columbia (ibid., 7–8; Walker and Schus-
by her, he revived. Mary and others at- ter 1998, 507). Shakers were invited to
tributed divine power to this apparently the Yakama Reservation in 1892. A Wasco
miraculous occurrence. That event brought the religion to Warm Springs in
marked the beginning of “shaking.” 1893. From there it spread to the Kla-
Slocum soon began preaching again, math (Barnett, 70, 74). By 1908, Indian
and the Indian Shaker Religion was born. Shakerism was found throughout the
912
Plateau (Walker and Schuster 1998, 508). Shakers were invited to come down to
With a continuing emphasis on curing, the Columbia River from the Yakama
and manifesting a strong array of Chris- Reservation. Although resistant to Shak-
tian elements set within an ancient Na- erism, Hunt allowed himself to be con-
tive context, it remains a vibrant religion verted in the hope of saving his beloved
across the region. wife and child. It was to no avail. The
child died several weeks later. As the
“Feather Cult” group surrounded the open grave, pray-
Unlike the Washat and Indian Shaker, the ing, one of Jake’s nieces brought her
Feather cult does not seem to originate hands together as if she had grabbed
in response to external pressures, much something. She reportedly said:
less those related to deprivation and op-
pression. Instead, it was born largely My eyes were shut, yet it was as
from the experiences, ideas, and force of though a lighted match were held at
personality of one man—Jake Hunt of night before my eyes. There was a
Husum, Washington. large flat bright disk of light and in the
center was a man. This circle was a
Hunt was a Klickitat who was born
piece of land (titcam). The man wore a
into a Washani family between 1860 and buckskin shirt and trousers. In his left
1870. Klickitat prophets Lishwailait and hand was a drum and in his right, the
Ashnithlai, dreamer-prophets and con- drum stick. . . . Jake Hunt then took
temporaries of Smohalla, were influen- the disk from her and claimed it as his
own. . . . Jake . . . began to shake
tial in shaping Hunt’s outlook (Du Bois
violently. He then seemed to seize
1938, 16, 20; Walker and Schuster 1998, something between his upraised
511). In the Sahaptin language of the hands, after which he spun rapidly in
Plateau, the Feather cult is known as place. When Jake stopped, he
both the waskliki (spin) and waptashi announced that he had Lishwailait’s
soul. (ibid., 22)
(feather). In English, adherents are spo-
ken of as the bum-bum or pom-pom
Shakers. The name, says Du Bois, is a Despite all their continuing efforts,
recognition of the two sources from Hunt’s wife also died within a month.
which the Feather cult arose (Du Bois While the Shakers were in his house, one
1938, 5). of his sisters had a vision and began to
The conversion experience that led spin. At this time, in deep mourning, he
Hunt to found this “cult” in 1896 came as lay on his wife’s grave, fell asleep, and had
a consequence of his exposure to the In- a dream. He saw his wife and child telling
dian Shakers. That year his third wife and him to cease grieving. He also heard the
son were deathly ill from tuberculosis. voices of his ancestors instructing him to
On the basis of the curative powers reconstruct a rawhide tambourine. “He saw
putedly associated with their religion, again a disk of light . . . which was
913
brought down from the sky by an eagle. rowed. And any attempts to slow accul-
The persons who appeared to him were turation came far too late. That, she im-
singing some of the old Washani songs. plies, is made clear in the fact that the
He was commanded to convert people in “cult” never spread any farther than
seven lands” (ibid., 23). Hunt himself carried it. “The whole
Hunt built a longhouse and, with his movement,” says Du Bois, “impresses
sisters, founded the Feather cult. Its one as a one-man affair whose force was
focus was primarily ecstatic healing. Ide- individual, appealed to no growing so-
ology and rituals were borrowed from cial need, and was correspondingly
ancient Plateau beliefs, Washat, and the ephemeral” (Du Bois 1938, 43).
Shakers. Curing was undertaken through
possession of spirit power. Washani ele- Native American Church
ments were very similar to those associ- Peyote’s use as a vehicle for spiritual or re-
ated with Lishwailait. Exposure to the ligious purposes among indigenous peo-
Shakers provided moralistic precepts ples of the Americas apparently originated
and an emphasis on curing, particularly in Mexico. There, as Weston La Barre ex-
where alcoholism was concerned (ibid., plains, it played a role in an agricultural-
43; Walker and Schuster 1998, 511–512). hunting religious ceremony, preceded by
Hunt soon began seeking converts “in a ritual pilgrimage to find the plant.
seven lands.” By 1905 he had won over Around 1870 peyote diffused to the United
adherents on the Yakama Reservation, States. It was especially popular with Na-
and in the following year on the Warm tive groups living in the Plains. Following
Springs Reservation. His efforts on the the loss of territory and with confinement
Umatilla were disappointing to him, to the dreary reality of reservation life,
however, and afterward he spent the re- there was severe cultural fragmentation in
mainder of his life with his fourth wife at the Plains. Kiowa, Comanche, and Caddo
Spearfish, just upstream from Husum peoples were primarily responsible for the
(Du Bois 1938, 20; Walker and Schuster expansion of peyote use across the Plains
1998, 512). Some families on the Yakama and into portions of southern Canada and
Reservation were still following the the Great Basin (La Barre 1975, 7). An Oto
Feather ways in the 1990s, and they may by the name of Jonathan Koshiway estab-
still be doing so today. The core of lished a Christianized derivative of pey-
Feather cult activity, however, is located otism in the early twentieth century. He
on the Warm Springs Reservation founded a “Church of the First-born.”
(Walker and Schuster 1998, 513). From that the “Native American Church”
Cora Du Bois, perhaps somewhat un- emerged (ibid., 7–8).
generously, describes the Feather cult as There was strong resistance on the
unoriginal and artificial. Virtually all ide- part of missionaries and federal offi-
ological and ritual aspects were bor- cials. However, Indian Peyotists de-
914
fended their religious practices. One 1998, 513). Lakota Peyotists were con-
notable speaker was Albert Hensley, a tacted. Leonard Crow Dog and Gilbert
Winnebago and graduate of the Carlisle Steward from the Rosebud Reservation
School. By 1908, Hensley and other and Rufus Kills Crow Indian of the Pine
Winnebago understood peyote as si- Ridge Reservation came to teach the
multaneously a Holy Medicine and a Cross Fire ceremony on the Colville
Christian sacrament. “To us,” he said, “it Reservation. The very next year, in 1978,
is a portion of the body of Christ, even Paul Small and Joe Stanley, both of whom
as the communion bread is believed to were Cree, traveled to Nespelem on vari-
be a portion of the body of Christ by ous occasions to instruct people in the
other denominations. Christ spoke of a Half Moon ritual (ibid.).
Comforter who was to come. It never Whether deriving from Peyote tradi-
came to Indians until it was sent in the tions found in Arizona, as in the case of
form of this Holy Medicine” (Stewart Ted Strong, or from those on the Plains,
1987, 157). as seen in the Colville example, the use of
The Native American Church (see also peyote as a religious sacrament has suc-
the entry by that title) spread into the cessfully spread into the Columbia
Columbia Plateau by the 1970s. While at- Plateau in relatively recent years. Since
tending a peyote ritual in Arizona, a the 1970s, Native American Church
Yakama named Ted Strong had a vision meetings have also occurred on the Nez
of Mount Adams, a dramatic snow- Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs, Spokane,
capped volcanic peak that dominates Coeur d’Alene, Klamath, and Salish-
the skyline of the Yakama Reservation. Kootenai reservations, and in off-reser-
When he spoke of what he saw, the vation places (ibid.).
image was interpreted as meaning that
the Native American Church would be Conclusions
brought to the Yakama. And in 1977 it While certainly building upon very old
was. Roughly contemporaneous with and culturally specific traditions in the
Strong, a group on the Colville Reserva- Columbia Plateau, revitalization move-
tion was also seeking to found a Native ments have at the same time sprung
American Church. They too filed articles forth largely in response to external
of incorporation in 1977. Walker and pressures of deprivation and oppres-
Schuster state that the reasons behind sion. Personal power derived from
incorporation were identical with those guardian spirits and practices associ-
motivating Native Americans in Okla- ated with medicine men or dreamers
homa in 1918: “To foster and promote re- was and is relied upon by Washat adher-
ligious beliefs in Almighty God . . . with ents, reformulated and repackaged as
the sacramental use of peyote for reli- “the shake” by Indian Shakers, trans-
gious purposes” (Walker and Schuster formed into “the spin” by members of
915
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, Northwest ___________________________
the Feather cult, and sought in various Schwarz, Maureen Trudelle. 1997. “Holy
rituals by Peyotists. Continually rocked Visit 1996: Prophecy, Revitalization,
and Resistance in the Contemporary
by external challenges from the domi- Navajo World.” Ethnohistory 45: 4,
nant society and by internal social pres- 747–793.
sures resulting from a combination of Spier, Leslie. 1935. The Prophet Dance of the
prior and ongoing colonial experiences, of the Ghost Dance. General Series in
many Native Americans on the Plateau Anthropology 1. Menasha, WI: George
turn to revitalization movements, just as Banta.
Stewart, Omer C. 1987. Peyote Religion: A
they have since the time of Lewis and History. Norman: University of
Clark. Oklahoma Press.
Thornton, Russell. 1982. “Demographic
Joel Geffen
Antecedents of Tribal Participation in the
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Nez 1870 Ghost Dance Movement.” American
Perce; Dance, Plateau; Dreamers and Indian Culture and Research Journal 6:
Prophets; Dreams and Visions; Indian 79–91.
Shaker Church; Native American Church, ———. 1993. “Boundary Dissolution and
Peyote Movement; Religious Leadership, Revitalization Movements: The Case of
Plateau the Nineteenth Century Cherokees.”
References and Further Reading Ethnohistory 40, no. 3: 359–383.
Barnett, H. G. 1957. Indian Shakers: A Walker, Deward E., Jr. 1969. “New Light on
Messianic Cult of the Pacific Northwest. the Prophet Dance Controversy.”
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Ethnohistory 16, no. 2: 245–256.
Press. ———. 1968/1985. Conflict and Schism in
Du Bois, Cora. 1938. The Feather Cult of the Nez Perce Acculturation: A Study of
Middle Columbia. General Series in Religion and Politics. Reprint, Moscow:
Anthropology 7. Menasha, WI: George University of Idaho Press.
Banta. Walker, Deward E., and Helen H. Schuster.
Hunn, Eugene. 1990. Nch’i-Wana, The Big 1998. “Religious Movements.” Pp.
River: Mid-Columbia Indians and Their 499–514 in Handbook of North American
Land. Seattle: University of Washington Indians. Edited by William C. Sturtevant.
Press. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
La Barre, Weston. 1975. The Peyote Cult. 4th Institution.
ed. Enlarged. North Haven, CT: Archon Wallace, Anthony F. C. 1956. “Revitalization
Books. Movements: Some Theoretical
Linton, Ralph. 1943. “Nativistic Considerations for Their Comparative
Movements.” American Anthropologist Study.” American Anthropologist 58, no.
45: 230–241. 2: 264–281.
Ray, Verne F. 1936. “The Kolaskin Cult: A
Prophet Movement of 1870 in
Northeastern Washington.” American
Anthropologist 38, no. 1: 67–75.
Relander, Click. 1986. Drummers and
Dreamers. Seattle: Caxton Printers. Retraditionalism and
Ruby, Robert H., and John A. Brown. 1989. Revitalization Movements,
Plateau: Smohalla and Skolaskin. Northwest
Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press. See Indian Shaker Church
916
_______________________________ Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, Plains
Retraditionalism and
Revitalization Movements,
Plains
The best description of Indian meta-
physics was the realization that the
world, and all its possible experiences,
constitutes a social reality, a fabric of life
in which everything has the possibility of
intimate knowing relationships because,
ultimately, everything is related. This
world is a unified world, a far cry from
the disjointed, sterile, and emotionless
world painted by Western science. Even
though we can translate the realities of
the Indian social world into concepts fa-
miliar to us from the Western scientific
context, such as space, time, and energy,
Scholar and writer Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude
we must surrender most of the meaning Bonnin), Dakota, ca. 1843. (Library of Congress)
in the Indian world when we do so. The
Indian world can be said to consist of
two basic experiential dimensions that, forces and the consequent devastating
taken together, provide a sufficient cultural imperialism. The retention of
means of making sense of the world. traditional metaphysics has been cen-
These two concepts are place and power, tral to the maintenance of that cultural
the latter perhaps better defined as spiri- autonomy. Contrary to popular miscon-
tual power or life force. Familiarity with ceptions, the traditional spiritual world
the personality of objects and entities of views and practices of Plains Indians are
the natural world enabled Indians to dis- alive and in many cases thriving, al-
cern immediately where each living though often still subjected to constant
being had its proper place and what and significant assaults. The resistance
kinds of experiences that place allowed, to Eurocentric attempts to impose
encouraged, and suggested. And know- Christianity has not ceased since the
ing places enabled people to relate to the first conversion attempts began. This
living entities inhabiting it (Deloria and ongoing refusal to be subjected to Chris-
Wildcat 2001, 2–3). tian imperialism can be examined dur-
First Peoples have always maintained ing four historical eras: the initial geno-
varying degrees of social autonomy in cide, reorganization, awakening, and
their lives, in spite of powerful colonial renaissance.
917
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, Plains ________________________________
I love a people who have always made me welcome to the best they had.
I love a people who are honest without laws, who have no jails and no
poorhouses.
I love a people who keep the commandments without ever having read
them or heard them preached from the pulpit.
I love a people who never swear, who never take the name of God in vain.
I love a people who love their neighbors as they love themselves.
I love a people who worship God without a bible, for I believe that God loves
them also.
I love a people whose religion is all the same, and who are free from
religious animosities.
I love a people who have never raised a hand against me, or stolen my
property, where there was no law to punish for either.
I love a people who have never fought a battle with white men, except on
their own ground.
I love and don’t fear mankind where God has made and left them, for there
they are children.
I love a people who live and keep what is their own without locks and keys.
I love all people who do the best they can.
And oh, how I love a people who don’t live for the love of money!
(George Catlin (1796–1872)
The initial genocide on Turtle Island “capture, vanquish, and subdue the sara-
and adjacent land began with the first Eu- cens, pagans, and other enemies of
ropean contact as early as the 1400s. Cul- Christ,” “to put them into perpetual slav-
tural genocide or ethnocide began when ery,” and “to take all their possessions and
Spanish conquistadors and other early property.” A second papal bull, issued in
imperialistic explorers brought with them 1493, gave further support to the violent
representatives from the Catholic Church subjugation of “brute animals” by “civi-
in the 1400s and 1500s. The inhumane lized conquerors.” These edicts, which
acts of these first colonizers was justified came to be called the Doctrine of Discov-
by a religious doctrine, a Eurocentric the- ery, a legal principle rooted in a Judeo-
ological justification for murder, misog- Christian dogma, were used not only by
yny, homophobia, and land grabs. In a the Spanish but also by the Portuguese,
papal bull of 1453, Pope Nicholas sanc- the English, the French, the Dutch, and
tioned such acts, giving clear direction to ultimately the Euro-Americans.
918
Less than fifty years after the forma- spiritual ceremonies ranging from the
tion of the United States, in 1823, the Inipi (sweatlodge), the Yuwipi or Lowanpi
Supreme Court quickly incorporated the (healing ceremonies that, like the Inipi,
Doctrine of Discovery into U.S. Law. In enlist the aid of holy spirits), to the
Johnson v. McIntosh, Chief Justice John Winanayag Wachapi (Sun Dance). For the
Marshall used the Christian doctrine to most part, however, Plains nations were
justify the newly formed nation’s further among the last of the First Peoples to have
erosion of American Indian rights and to face the ethnocide of the colonizers;
the denial of First Peoples’ sovereignty— thus traditional roles and cultural prac-
thus with a sweep of his pen making tices were still a vital part of Plains peo-
them into dependent peoples because of ples’ lives when the last of the Plains
their “heathen” condition. reservations were instigated in the late
From the beginning of contact, the co- 1800s. During that period the well-known
ercive and exclusive nature of the Euro- Ghost Dance and, in the Plains, the North
centric religion as well as its lack of re- American Indian Church movements
spect for women was much noted; as emerged, while, for the most part, the
early as the 1600s, American Indian practitioners of the traditional ways such
women, in contrast to most Indian men, as the Inipi, Yuwipi, and Winanayag
resisted Christian conversion. For exam- Wachapi went underground. In reaction
ple, historian Carol Devens has docu- to the Ghost Dance Movement, Christian
mented how Upper Great Lakes women imperialism sparked the Wounded Knee
who resisted Jesuit control were sub- massacre; Christian officers and soldiers
jected to torture and hardship. In return, killed women, children, and elders.
these women sometimes torched the Young Plains people who had knowl-
homes of Christian missionaries. Many edge of the old ways and whose spirits
of the descendants of these women had not been broken by the boarding
would later be expelled into what would schools began to return to the old ways.
come to be known as the Great Plains For example, from 1900 to 1902, Gertrude
area of the United States. Simmons Bonnin, Zitkala-Sa (Red Bird,
Both before and after the inception of Yankton Sioux), who had succeeded as a
the reservation system, Christian scholar and writer in the Waschiu world
churches became one of the chief arms of but had chosen to return to her people
the U.S. military and state. A significant and her traditional spirituality, wrote a
number of the infamous Indian schools series of essays for the Atlantic Monthly.
were missionary schools, funded largely One particularly poignant and telling
by the federal government. The Depart- piece, published in 1902, is entitled “Why
ment of War and later the Bureau of In- I Am a Pagan.”
dian Affairs, Department of Interior, The reorganization period, the second
quickly forbade the practice of traditional era, coincides with John Collier’s political
919
reorganization in the 1930s, through ated by Christians and academics about

which indigenous peoples were granted traditional spiritualities, ways of life, and
more autonomy, although the limited the relationship to the land—in particu-
means of self-determination were still lar sacred land. During this era, Plains
largely dependent on Euro-American so- Indian religious rights activists, descen-
cial institutions. By law, traditional prac- dants of the original inhabitants as well
tices were no longer prohibited; in fact, as of those who had been forced by the
Christian forces still made open acknowl- colonizers into the Plains, laid the foun-
edgment of adherence to traditional spir- dation for the passage of the Freedom of
itualities very difficult and often impossi- Religion Act in 1978, a major accom-
ble, if practitioners wanted employment plishment albeit a rhetorical act that
and social acceptance. In addition, contained no remedies for enforcement.
openly flouting the new laws, Christian The fourth period in the history of revi-
fundamentalists continued to intrude talization movements, the era of modern
and brazenly break up traditional cere- renewal or renaissance, in the Plains as
monies, in particular the Sun Dance. well as nationally is still unfolding. New
Thus many people continued to attend indigenous Plains writers such as Ed
Wasichu (white) churches and secretly McGaa, Tilda Long Soldier, Mark St.
participate in the old ways. Pierre, and Dan Wildcat and non-Indian
The Civil Rights era, the third histori- allies such as Carl A. Hammerschlag have
cal period, can be linked to a period of added their voices to the earlier ones,
awakening in which empathetic postsec- continuing to refute academic and Chris-
ondary faculty, American Indian Move- tian claims that traditional spiritualities
ment members, War on Poverty workers, have been romanticized or destroyed. In
radical Christians, sensitive social scien- this period, the national effort to ensure
tists, and social service professionals the realization of First Amendment free-
began to assist medicine people in pro- dom of religion rights has produced a
viding relatively safe environments for number of legal enactments, such as the
the open performance of traditional cer- National Museum of the American In-
emonies and other cultural practices. dian Act of 1989, the Native American
Based upon oral history, experiential Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of
knowledge, and the unbiased observa- 1990, and the Indian Self-Determination
tions of early Europeans such as artist Act Amendments of 1994.
George Catlin, who lived among the Such political and legal steps have
Assiniboine and other Plains peoples in helped protect the expression of tradi-
the 1800s, the scholarly writings of Plains tional spirituality as well as conscious
Indian intellectuals such as Henrietta synergetic combinations of traditional
Mann, Bea Medicine, and Vine Deloria, metaphysics with compatible elements
Jr., began to refute the myths perpetu- of Christianity. During Plains ceremonies
920
recognition is usually given to Jesus as a ways have spread beyond the Plains.
holy man, albeit not as the only holy per- Diné, Apache, and others participate in
son and not as the only way to a spiritual the Sun Dance. Plains-style sweats are
life. A growing number of Christian de- held in East Los Angeles and other urban
nominations are also becoming more in- centers throughout the United States.
clusive of traditional indigenous rituals. Recognizing a common metaphysics,
Fundamentalist Christians are now ac- the Bear Dancers in California include
knowledging the church’s sins commit- Plains people. And fundamentalist
ted against First Peoples and permitting Christians are beginning to ask indige-
indigenous music and dance as part of nous leaders for permission to preach,
worship. This new sensitivity may be par- promising that they will not repeat the
tially explained by two influences: (1) ef- old overt name calling and condemna-
forts by churches to address the human tion practices, although most Christians
rights critiques of the alliance between have not yet reached a level of under-
organized Christian religion and colo- standing at which they can make a fully
nization and (2) the influence of knowl- informed critique of their religious im-
edge associated with the new medical perialism, which while destroying tradi-
science of psychoneuroimmunology tional Plains spiritualities has also
(PNI), the findings of quantum physics, seeded the ground for its resurgence.
and other Western scientific fields that Mitakuye Oyasin (All of relations, all of
now recognize the connections between my relations, Lakota).
mind, body, and spirit—an intersection Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are one spirit!
that traditional spiritualities and healers Wyandot).
have always recognized. Karren Baird-Olson
However, the new inclusiveness of
See also Retraditionalism and Identity
Christian churches does not challenge Movements; Retraditionalism and
its basic theology. For example, nowhere Revitalization Movements, California;
is White Buffalo Calf Woman recognized Retraditionalism and Revitalization
Movements, Columbia Plateau;
as a legitimate holy person. To do so Retraditionalism and Revitalization
would be Christian heresy. Given the vast Movements, Southeast; Revitalization
differences in Eurocentric and First Peo- Movements, Northeast
ples’ world views, Deloria and Wildcat References and Further Reading
point out that an in-depth synergetic Baird-Olson, Karren, and Carol Ward. 2000.
combination of American Indian meta- “Recovery and Resistance: The Renewal
of Traditional Spirituality among
physics with Christian theology may American Indian Women.” American
never be possible. Indian Culture and Research Journal 24,
Today Plains spiritual practices are no. 4: 1–35.
Bonnin, Gertrude Simmons (Zitkala-Sa).
not only blossoming again in Plains In- 1902. “Why I Am a Pagan.” Atlantic
dian Country but, in addition, the old Monthly 90: 801–803.
921
Great Plains
The vast region known as the Great Plains culture area stretches from the
Mississippi River valley west to the Rocky Mountains and from present-day
central Canada to southern Texas. Dominated by rolling, fertile tallgrass
prairies in the east, where there is adequate rainfall for agriculture, the land-
scape shifts to short grasses in the drier high western plains. Some wooded
areas interrupt these vast fields of grass, mostly stands of willows and cot-
tonwoods along river valleys, and in some places highlands rise up from the
plains and prairies, such as the Ozark Mountains in Missouri, and the Black
Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. The region is remarkable, however, for
the extent and dominance of its grasslands. For thousands of years tens of
millions of bison grazed the grasses of the Great Plains.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, most occupants of the Great Plains
lived along rivers in the eastern regions. Predominantly farmers, these cul-
ture groups hunted bison and other game seasonally to augment their diets
with dried meat and to make use of the hide, bones, and fat of these enor-
mous animals.
The region is known for its diverse Native cultures, some of which have
resided in the Plains region longer than others. The Hidatsa, and Mandan,
both speakers of Siouan linguistic dialects, as well as Caddoan-speaking
Pawnee and Wichita made use of the river banks for small-plot farming and
they hunted in large cooperatives once or perhaps twice a year.
More hunting-oriented peoples eventually moved into the region and
developed cultural and philosophical traditions based on the bison and
warfare/raiding warrior cultures. These include the Algonquin-speaking
Blackfeet from the north and the Uto-Aztecan-speaking Comanche from
the northwest. After, and in some cases because of, the arrival of Europeans
in North America, Eastern tribal groups such as Siouan-speaking Assini-
boine, Crow, Kaw, Osage, Quapaw, and the various tribal groups often incor-
rectly glossed as “Sioux” (Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota) from the Great Lakes
region moved to the region. From the Northeast came the Algonquin-speak-
ing Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Gros Ventre. To be certain, this is an abbrevi-
ated list. The key issues are that movement into the region coincided with
continues
922

the entrance of horses to the Great Plains and the groups that call the Plains
home have all participated in a development of regional, seminomadic cul-
tural traditions that have come to be erroneously lumped together. This
tragic loss of a sense of tribal diversity on the Great Plains has been exacer-
bated by the “Hollywoodization” of Indian issues, itself merely a continua-
tion of nineteenth-century dime novels about the West.
After European contact, some Great Plains peoples continued to farm,
and many groups hunted a variety of game, fished rivers, and gathered wild
plant foods. However, with the spread of horses as a means of transporta-
tion to follow the seasonal migrations of bison herds over great distances,
bison meat became the staple food.
Most Great Plains tribes consisted of bands of related families, often
with several hundred members. Tribal leadership was typically divided be-
tween a peace chief and a war chief (or several war chiefs). Peace chiefs
tended to internal tribal affairs. War chiefs, usually younger men, conducted
warfare and led raids on enemies. The bands lived apart in smaller family
groups most of the year, coming together in the summer months for com-
munal bison hunts, ceremonies, or councils. In opposition to the idea that
Indian people never owned land, tribal groups often took responsibility for
particular regions, sharing hunting lands with friendly tribes, but protecting
them from enemies.
Another myth is that all Indians of the Plains lived in tepees prior to con-
tact. The tepee is a portable shelter that served its purpose for most groups
for portions of the year. Earth and grass lodges were also frequently used
dwellings before Euro-American arrival, providing large communal
dwellings and ceremonial structures.
Religion among the Plains peoples is as diverse as the linguistic tradi-
tions represented there, however, there are also some similarities. With
the important role that bison play in the lives of these tribal groups, it is
no wonder that that animal would be an important spirit being and rela-
tive, as well. In addition, the migratory nature of bison, and consequently
that of the peoples who rely upon them, support a seasonal and cyclical
continues
923
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, Southeast ____________________________

philosophical system wherein the circle is a key element. Plains Indian re-
ligious culture is often represented by circles, sun-wise directional
prayers, and cyclical senses of time and space.
Major ceremonies include the Sun Dance, a regular gathering of bands
for communal propitiation of the spirit beings, and the more recent reli-
gious innovation known as the Ghost Dance, wherein visions and ecstatic
dancing propels the tribal culture forward in the face of the difficulties aris-
ing from modernity.
The Great Plains, often viewed as the exemplary Native American cul-
ture area, is far more diverse and multilingual than popular culture depicts,
and the Plains peoples have many localized and territorial traditions that
represent specific regional differences.
Davenport, Frances Gardiner. 1917. Ourselves and Our World. San Francisco:
European Treaties Bearing on the Harper Collins.
History of the United States and Its ———. 1992. Rainbow Tribe: Ordinary
Dependencies to 1648 . Vol. 1. People Journeying on the Red Road. San
Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution of Francisco: Harper San Francisco.
Washington. ———. 1995. Native Wisdom: Perceptions of
Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1973. God Is Red: A Native the Natural Way. Edina, MN: Four
View of Religion. New York: Grossett and Directions.
Dunlap. Medicine, Bea. 1980. “American Indian
Deloria, Vine, Jr., and Daniel R. Wildcat. Women: Spirituality and Status.” Bread
2001. Power and Place: Indian Education and Roses 2: 15–18.
in America. Golden, CO: Fulcrum. Newcomb, Steve. 1992. “Five Hundred Years
Devens, Carol. 1992. Countering of Injustice.” Shaman’s Drum (fall):
Colonization: Native American Women 18–20.
and Great Lakes Missions, 1630–1900. St. Pierre, Mark, and Tilda Long Soldier.
Berkeley: University of California Press. 1988. Walking in the Sacred Manner:
Hammerschlag, Carl A., M.D. 1988. The Healers, Dreaming, and Pipe Carriers—
Dancing Healers. San Francisco: Harper Medicine Women of the Plains Indians.
and Row. New York: Simon and Schuster.
High Bear, Martin. 1983. “The White Buffalo
Calf Woman as Told by Martin High Bear,
Lakota Spiritual Leader.” Recorded
December 1983 in Pipestone, Minnesota.
Johnson v. McIntosh, 21 U.S. 543, 5 L.Ed.
Retraditionalism and
681. 1823. Revitalization Movements,
McGaa, Ed (Eagle Man). 1998. Eagle Vision:
Return of the Hoop. Edina, MN: Four
Southeast
Directions Publishing.
———. 1990. Mother Earth Spirituality:
Revitalization is a term that scholars use
Native American Paths to Healing to describe the process whereby mem-
924
___________________________ Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, Southeast
bers of a culture perceive a loss of power

and attempt to recoup it through a vari-
ety of ways, most often through religious
revivals. In many ways, revitalization is a
recurrent theme in the history of the Na-
tive Southeast. Cultures and societies
have risen and fallen since the first peo-
ple moved into the region thousands of
years ago. Generally speaking, however,
scholars have tended to look for Native
American revitalization movements in
their history after contact with Euro-
peans. Across the American Southeast,
Native societies sought to use sacred
power to control the European and
American invasion of their land.
Success on the deer hunt, flourishing
fields of corn, and victory on the battle-
field resulted from people’s ability to ac-
quire, manipulate, and deploy sacred
power. When diseases introduced by Eu-
ropeans decimated Native populations, Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief 1768–1813. (Library
of Congress)
when Native people came to depend on
European goods for survival, and when
they began to lose their land to expand- Revitalization movements swept the
ing settlements, leaders across the Southeast in the early 1800s and fol-
Southeast began to question their ability lowed three distinct paths. Many Creeks
to effectively wield the sacred power that made common cause with prophets
for centuries had underwritten their so- from the Shawnee nation of the Great
cieties’ faith and power. Many Native Lakes region to fight the expansion of the
leaders, particularly a number of self- United States. Choctaws tried to fuse
styled prophets, proclaimed that people American and Choctaw ways of thinking
had to return to older ways of living in and believing in order to defend their
order to restore their independence, au- land from settlement. And Cherokees re-
tonomy, and mastery of sacred power. vitalized their society by adopting a con-
Others sought to restore sacred power by stitution based on the American one, by
reforming customary political, social, publishing a newspaper to advocate for
and economic relationships in ways that their cause, and by carrying the defense
integrated the knowledge and power of of their power and sovereignty to the
the United States. Supreme Court of the United States.
925
In the fall of 1811 the Shawnee war killed livestock and tore down fences as
leader Tecumseh visited the Creeks. They part of their attempt to purge their soci-
welcomed him as their kin because his ety of alien influences. When they began
mother was Creek. Tecumseh had initi- to kill Creek opponents of their program,
ated a revitalization movement in the the Redsticks risked civil war. An assault
Great Lakes country and wanted Creek on Big Warrior’s town and followers com-
help to resist U.S. expansion. Some pleted the transformation of acts of spo-
Creeks refused to support his cause, but radic violence into a full-fledged war
others followed him back north to hear among Creeks.
the vision of his brother Tenskwatawa, At the same time the United States
the prophet. was engrossed in a war against Great
The Creeks who were sympathetic to Britain, the War of 1812, and both British
Tecumseh’s mission believed in Ten- support for the Redsticks and Redstick
skwatawa’s opposition to alcohol, his attacks on U.S. settlements pulled the
mistrust of Euro-American ways of life, U.S. army into the Creek civil war. Forces
and his struggle to resist American set- under the command of General Andrew
tlement. On their way back to their Jackson invaded Creek country, devas-
homeland, they killed some settlers in tated the countryside, and crushed the
Tennessee. Big Warrior, a prominent Redsticks. At the Battle of Horseshoe
Creek chief who disagreed with Tecum- Bend, Jackson’s forces, augmented by
seh, attempted to capture the guilty war- Creeks and Cherokees who opposed the
riors, many of whom were killed in a fight Redstick cause, crushed the remaining
with their pursuers. Redsticks. Many of the survivors fled to
A number of prophets whom Tecumseh Florida, where they found refuge among
had inspired called for Big Warrior’s death. the Seminoles and continued to resist
Josiah Francis, Paddy Walsh, and other U.S. expansion.
Creek prophets began dancing Shawnee The Choctaws had refused to take up
dances and singing Shawnee songs in the hatchet that Tecumseh had extended
order to acquire the power that had to them when he visited as part of the
strengthened their friends to the north, tour that took him to the Creeks in 1811.
power that they would need to fight their The three chiefs who governed the na-
enemies. They also avoided alcohol, live- tion preferred to side with the United
stock, cotton cultivation, and other facets States. As American settlers invaded
of U.S. material culture in order to show their land and as American politicians
the Great Spirit that they had taken a new pressured them to move to the west,
path to a righteous and proper life. they, like the Creeks, experienced a crisis
In 1812 and 1813, the Creek revitaliza- of power and faith. Instead of rejecting
tionists, who came to be called Redsticks U.S. culture and endorsing the kind of
because of the color of their warclubs, revitalization preached by Tenskwatawa,
926
___________________________ Retraditionalism and Revitalization Movements, Southeast
Tecumseh, and the Redsticks, many

Choctaw leaders urged their followers to
incorporate agriculture, Christianity,
and written laws into their lives in order
to give them access to the sacred power
that made the United States such a for-
midable opponent.
To reinforce the link between tradi-
tional forms of sacred power and new
ways of life, Chief Greenwood LeFlore
called a national council at the Nanih
Waiya mound, the place where,
Choctaws believed, the Great Spirit had
created them. While standing on the
mound, LeFlore issued a series of written
laws that brought Choctaw life into con-
formity with Anglo-American law. Chief John Ross was among the Cherokee
In addition, LeFlore embraced the leaders who wrote a constitution for the
Cherokee people to govern their nation in its
message preached by American mission-
struggles with the U.S. government. (Library of
aries who had opened schools in the na- Congress)
tion. He and his supporters, however,
pushed the missionaries aside and
began preaching that Choctaws ought to songs, and preparing for a new life in a
turn their prayers to the Christian god for new land.
help in their struggle. Insofar as the mis- Like the Choctaws, the Cherokees also
sionaries helped them in the cause, the experienced a revitalization movement
Choctaws considered them to be mes- that emphasized what historians call
sengers of the Great Spirit. The combina- syncretism. That is, unlike the Redstick
tion of the Great Spirit and of God in a Creeks, who rejected much of Euro-
new religious movement upset many American culture, the Cherokees merged
Choctaws, and the nation teetered on facets of U.S. and Cherokee culture in an
the brink of civil war. attempt to find new sources of sacred
Before the two sides could begin fight- power. Like the Choctaws, Cherokees
ing, however, the U.S. government identified written laws as a source of
forced the Choctaws to cede their re- power in their struggle against the fed-
maining land in Mississippi and to re- eral government.
move to the West. Across the nation European colonization and American
Choctaws gave up their new faith in God, settlement had upset the ways in which
began dancing old dances, singing old Cherokees had lived for centuries. Some
927
Cherokees, particularly the Chickamau- and elected executive to govern the na-
gas, sided with the Shawnees and Creeks tion in its struggles with the United
and fought the United States in the 1790s States. Elias Boudinot edited a new
and early 1800s. Most Cherokees, how- Cherokee newspaper, the Cherokee
ever, followed a rising group of leaders Phoenix, to defend his nation in the pop-
who sought to revitalize their society and ular press of the period. The reforms and
sovereignty by initiating a broad reform Boudinot’s editorials enabled the na-
movement that focused on politics but tional government to defend in a more
touched equally on the spiritual founda- concerted fashion Cherokee land and
tions of the nation. power. They also reflected the degree to
Legal and political reform began in which the Cherokees hoped to appropri-
the early 1800s. The national govern- ate sacred power from their adversaries.
ment created a police force to secure The power of the new Cherokee na-
Cherokee property and to patrol the nation alarmed its neighbors. In 1831 the
tion’s boundaries. Eventually the govern- state government of Georgia declared
ment also removed the clans’ authority the Cherokee Nation to be null and void,
to adjudicate legal disputes and to over- so that the state could survey and sell
see property inheritance. Such reforms the Cherokees’ land. In response, Chief
reflected leading chiefs’ close relation- Ross launched two cases in the Supreme
ship to the U.S. market economy and Court, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia in
their support of missionary schools that 1831 and Worcester v. Georgia in 1832.
instilled in their children U.S. values and Despite the Court’s finding in favor of
Christian precepts. the sovereignty and legitimacy of the
Critics of the reforms organized a Cherokee national government in the
broad coalition to resist changes to Worcester decision, the federal govern-
Cherokee law and practice under the tit- ment and the government of Georgia re-
ular leadership of a healer named White fused to abide by the Court’s decision.
Path. The so-called White Path’s rebellion Unwilling to fight as the Redsticks had
pitted shamans, clan leaders, and others done twenty years earlier and thor-
who resented the degree to which chiefs oughly dispirited by the failure of their
had abandoned old ways for new ones new sacred power to protect them and
and the spread of Christianity by the their homes, the nation acceded to the
missionaries. Support for the rebellion, fraudulent treaty of New Echota in 1835
however, was too diffuse to halt the re- and embarked on the Trail of Tears four
formist and revitalizing agenda of chiefs years later.
like John Ross and George Lowry. James Taylor Carson
In 1827, Ross, Lowry, and other leaders
wrote a national constitution that cre- Dance, Southeast; Missionization,
ated a bicameral assembly, a judiciary, Southeast; Power, Southeast; Trail of Tears
928
_________________________________________ Retraditionalism and Revitalization, Northeast
References and Further Reading firm traditional ways of being and cele-
Carson, James Taylor. 1999. Searching for brating abundance are inevitably seen as
the Bright Path: Mississippi Choctaws
from Prehistory to Removal. Lincoln: meaningless by some. For those, the
University of Nebraska Press. process of religious conversion is a logi-
Dowd, Gregory Evans. 1992. A Spirited cal step. But for others, the loss of tradi-
Resistance: The North American Indian
Struggle for Unity, 1745–1815. Baltimore: tional ways is lamented. Those men and
Johns Hopkins University Press. women who feel a strong connection to
Edmunds, R. David. 1983. The Shawnee their cultural heritage and long for the
Prophet. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press.
health and balance their communities
Green, Michael D. 1982. The Politics of enjoyed before contact are often inspired
Indian Removal: Creek Government and by a dream or vision to return their peo-
Society in Crisis. Lincoln: University of
ple to the ways of their ancestors, which
Nebraska Press.
Kidwell, Clara Sue. 1995. Choctaws and provided them with social stability and
Missionaries in Mississippi, 1818–1918. cultural vitality for generations. People
are creative; they synthesize the things
Muskogee’s Struggle for a New World. around them into coherent, manageable
Boston: Beacon Press. systems. It is a natural response to use
McLoughlin, William G. 1986. Cherokee
the icons, ideas, and imagery of the Na-
Renascence in the New Republic.
Princeton: Princeton University Press. tive religious tradition combined with an
———. 1994. Cherokees and Christianity, acknowledgment of the unpleasant real-
1794–1870. Athens: University of Georgia ities caused by external forces to chart a
Press.
Wallace, Anthony F. C. 1956. “Revitalization new course. This courageous attempt by
Movements: Some Theoretical charismatic leaders to bring their com-
Considerations for Their Comparative munities back into traditional order by
Study.” American Anthropology 58:
264–281. spreading a message of a new vision with
a new promise for prosperity is what
scholars call a Revitalization Movement.
Such movements often incorporate
Retraditionalism and some elements of the invading culture’s
ideology and are spread by prophets who
Revitalization, Northeast
tell of a vision that forebodes a great suf-
One of the primary effects of coloniza- fering and end of the world if the new
tion is that it often destroys indigenous message is not heeded.
peoples’ ability to survive and thus One example of a Revitalization
leaves their culture and religion irrele- Movement among Native Americans of
vant. When a people’s self-sufficiency the Northeast Woodlands is the Seneca
has been usurped and they must rely on religious revival led by Handsome Lake
an occupying force for goods and ser- around the turn of the nineteenth cen-
vices, the religious ceremonies that reaf- tury. This was in response to the loss of
929
Retraditionalism and Revitalization, Northeast __________________________________________
Iroquois culture and religion precipi- to 1763 the Iroquois maintained a prof-
tated by continued exploitation by itable neutrality, whereby they played
British and U.S. colonists. Handsome the European imperial powers off
Lake and his followers began a new reli- against each other for their own gain.
gion, one that incorporated limited as- Their strategic position, considerable
pects of Christianity into the traditional power, and influence over other tribes
Iroquois ceremonial calendar and were capitalized upon by Iroquois diplo-
moral code. The revitalization of mats. Although their eventual military
Seneca society that resulted facilitated support was pivotal in the British victory
the endurance of their cultural identity over France, the Iroquois were consider-
while advocating changes deemed nec- ably weakened by the sustained conflict.
essary to survive reservation life. To un- The British now controlled all the terri-
derstand fully and to interpret the tory around Iroquois land, which re-
meaning and value of Handsome Lake’s duced their strategic importance, and
movement, it is important to know the the British no longer needed Iroquois
historical circumstances to which he men as warriors.
was responding. The Iroquois split allegiances when
The Iroquois Confederacy, made up of the American Revolution broke out in
the Six Nations—Mohawk, Seneca, Tus- 1775. The Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayu-
carora, Oneida, Onondaga, and gas, and Senecas remained loyal to the
Cayuga—was founded in the 1560s and British, while the Oneidas and Tuscaro-
became the most powerful force in the ras sided with the Americans. This divi-
New York region’s fur-trading empire. sion, along with the eventual victory of
Initially allied with the Dutch, the Iro- the United States, was a devastating blow
quois later became trading partners with to the Iroquois Confederacy. All the
the British when they defeated the Dutch major Iroquois towns were destroyed by
in 1664. Armed with Dutch and British the John Sullivan expedition in 1778, and
weapons, the Iroquois attacked neigh- they were forced to flee to British refugee
boring tribes in the mid-seventeenth camps. With the Fort Stanwix Treaty of
century, gaining access to rich fur-trap- 1784 and later land cessions, the Iro-
ping territory while making enemies of quois were deprived of all their land with
the French- and Algonquian-speaking the exception of a few small reservations.
peoples they defeated. When French- By 1797 the Iroquois Confederacy was
British competition escalated, the Iro- scattered; the remaining tribes were di-
quois, who remained allied with the vided on relations with the new United
British, found themselves in the center of States and whites in general. There was
the series of French and Indian Wars, no effective leadership to reunite the
which lasted from 1689 to 1763 with in- bands that had been forced to retire to
termittent periods of peace. From 1701 the small tracts of land available to them.
930
It was in this historical setting that supplying Columbus with “Five Things”
Handsome Lake lived. He was born in that were to benefit the new race of peo-
1735 to a noble Seneca family of the Alle- ple that lived across the sea. The five
gany band, a half-brother to the famous things were rum, playing cards, money,
Chief Cornplanter. Iroquois society had a violin, and a decayed leg bone. These
been ravaged by European diseases and things were carried by many ships to the
abuse of alcohol. Handsome Lake was no Indians. According to Handsome Lake’s
exception. His life was plagued by illness message, they were the downfall of his
and alcoholism. He spent four years as a people. The rum turned their minds to
debilitated invalid after years of drinking waste; they gambled their lands and
and intemperance. It was perhaps dur- homes away with the playing cards; the
ing this time that he had the opportunity money made them greedy and dishon-
to reflect on the entrance of European est, forgetting the old ways; the violin
culture and religion into Iroquois society, made music that made them dance and
the effects of alcohol, and the complex gossip idly; and the bone was the secret
cultural decisions of accepting or reject- poison that took their lives. The Creator
ing European ways. had pity for his people and sent the Four
In 1799, Handsome Lake received the Messengers to tell Handsome Lake the
first of his visions. Although he had truth and give him the vision and power
been sick in bed for four years, he was to lead his people to the good religion of
seen to rise and walk outside, where he the longhouse.
appeared to collapse dead. He lay as Handsome Lake spread a teaching
though dead until the next day, when, collected in the Gai’wiio’, the Code of
surrounded by his family, he awoke. An- Handsome Lake. Every priest in this new
other version is that Handsome Lake religion memorized this code and deliv-
went into a coma after days of drunken- ers it at periodic ceremonial gatherings
ness, during which he received a vision. held in a rectangular wooden structure
He immediately arose and began to called a longhouse. The teachings seem
preach the message sent to him by the influenced by Quaker ideology, which
Four Messengers, emissaries of the Cre- was being spread from a Quaker mission
ator sent to Earth to instruct the on the Allegany band’s land. It indicted
prophet of the will of the Creator. In- the Iroquois people for falling into moral
spired by his visions of these messen- ruin and espoused repentance for sins.
gers, Handsome Lake told a new story of Handsome Lake’s next vision, a few
history; he traced the origin of the evils weeks later, laid out a strict moral code
that the Europeans had brought to outlawing alcohol, gambling, quarreling,
America as conceived by Hanîsse’ono, gossip, and sexual misconduct, and em-
the evil one. According to the story, this phasizing respect for children. He con-
devil had tricked a young preacher into sistently expressed an extreme dislike of
931
Retraditionalism and Revitalization, Northeast __________________________________________
boasting and always stressed humility vision. At one point in his visionary trav-
and gratitude. els, Handsome Lake encounters Jesus
The recorded message of Handsome Christ, whom he regarded as the
Lake tells of a struggle between the Great prophet of the Creator to the whites.
Ruler, the Creator, and the evil-minded This explicit association with Christian-
spirit for the will and minds of humans. ity, along with the analogous concepts
The code also sets forth proper ways to he employed—such as the imagery of
treat one’s wife, the poor, and the elderly. heaven and hell, confession, and absti-
Handsome Lake’s message was tailored nence—may have simply reinforced
to the struggles that his people were fac- ideas already present in Iroquois belief.
ing at the time. For example, they had It is clear, however, that his message in-
less land because of their loss in the corporated an awareness of Christian
American Revolution, and the land had beliefs and utilized them to forge new
been overhunted for nearly two hundred ground upon which his followers could
years for the sale of fur. Handsome Lake’s stand comfortably in relation to whites.
messengers advised adopting some He formulated a system that confirmed
means of survival employed by whites, and revitalized the old ways while show-
such as building a permanent house, ing their compatibility with the social re-
cultivating the soil for food, and keeping forms necessary to survive in their cur-
livestock. These practices had already rent colonized situation.
been forced upon the Seneca by the Although it may seem that Handsome
United States government after the Lake was imitating or lobbying for accul-
American Revolution, so Handsome turation to white ways of life, he may
Lake’s message was to peacefully adapt have been shrewdly preparing his people
to the current situations. He eventually to survive reservation life until a stronger
endorsed the Quaker mission and rec- political situation manifested itself. To
ommended sending children to their that end he accepted the reorganization
schools. of the family structure that had begun in
The messengers told Handsome Lake the midcentury from strong matrilineal
that the people should return to their clans, which were instrumental in main-
traditional ceremonial calendar. The taining territory and trade relationships,
penalty for noncompliance was al- to nuclear families, which were more
legedly to be the apocalypse of the world conducive to farming. The traditional
by fire. The messengers told how the political power of clan matrons to nomi-
world was full of sin and that if the entire nate chiefs and lead ceremonies was not
world repented the world would be challenged, but the new economic strat-
made new again. Handsome Lake egy that resembled the Protestant work
prophesied that the world would end in ethic was more easily facilitated by nu-
the year 2100, three centuries after his clear families, in which the man worked
932
the fields and the woman attended to Retraditionalism and Revitalization

household duties. Movements, Columbia Plateau;
In effect, then, Handsome Lake’s Movements, Plains; Retraditionalism and
movement was an attempt to revitalize Revitalization Movements, Southeast
the traditional religious system while References and Further Reading
adapting social life to the everyday reali- Mohawk, John. 2003. “The Power of Seneca
ties of reservation life. It was a religious Women and the Legacy of Handsome
Lake.” Pp. 20–34 in Native Voices:
response to the devastation caused by American Indian Identity and
colonization, but it did not take an ex- Resistance. Edited by Richard A.
tremist position. Rather, Handsome Lake Grounds, George E. Tinker, and David E.
Wilkins. Lawrence: University Press of
articulated a realistic means of main- Kansas.
taining Iroquois cultural identity in the Parker, Arthur C. 1913. The Code of
face of concerted, though implicit, ef- Handsome Lake, the Seneca Prophet.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/
forts to eradicate it. His moderate path of iro/parker/index.htm. (Accessed August
selective acculturation paired with a re- 25, 2003.)
vival of the old ways was successful, in Wallace, Anthony F. C. 1956. “Revitalization
Movements: Some Theoretical
that his new religion continues to func- Considerations for Their Comparative
tion today, saving the integrity and self- Study.” American Anthropology 58:
respect of the Iroquois as a minority with 264–281.
_____1969. The Death and Rebirth of the
their adherence to a foundational iden-
Seneca. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
tity-structuring religious system. _____1978. “Origins of the Longhouse
Religion.” Pp. 442–448 in Handbook of
Brian Clearwater
North American Indians. Vol. 15,
See also Retraditionalism and Identity Northeast. Edited by William C.
Movements; Retraditionalism and Sturtevant. Washington, DC:
Revitalization Movements, California; Smithsonian Institution.
933
S
Sacred Pipe son’s body into a tube. Tubular pipes
were used throughout the Americas in
The Sacred Pipe is so important in many the past and continue in ritual use in the
American Indian religious traditions that western part of North America.
it has become the contemporary symbol Tubular pipes are commonly made
for Native religions in general, similar to of stone, sometimes with a slim, round,
what the cross is for Christianity. There bone mouthpiece. Pipes made from the
are many types of pipes used ritually, but leg bones of animals were ritually
the pipe that separates into two parts— smoked in the Plains into the twentieth
the separation and rejoining of bowl and century by Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa,
stem itself is of ritual and symbolic sig- Lakota, and Piegan. Bone pipes are
nificance—is preeminent in pan-Indian usually wrapped with rawhide or sinew
rituals (those rituals that bring together to prevent the bone from splitting as a
people from different traditions). For result of the heat of the burning to-
this reason, although all pipes used in bacco. Ceramic and stone tubular pipes
rituals are inherently sacred, the term is remain in use in Pueblo rituals. The
often specifically applied to pipes with coastal California ritual pipe is a tubu-
separable stems and is so used here. lar one of wood, often with a stone bowl
insert.
Types of Pipes
Tubular Pipes One-piece Elbow Pipes
The original pipe was a simple tube with Bending the pipe allows gravity to keep
tobacco placed in one end and the the tobacco in the bowl so that the
smoke sucked out of the other; it dates to smoker’s head can remain at a normal,
at least 4,400 years ago. This pipe type is comfortable angle. With pottery, the
related to tubes for sniffing tobacco snuff tube can be bent before the clay hard-
and for sucking sickness from an ill per- ens, and ceramic elbow pipes were used
935
Sacred Pipe _____________________________________________________________________________________
throughout the pottery-making regions George Catlin, the first Euro-American to

of both North and South America. describe the major quarry), symbolizing
Bending the pipe also brought the the blood of life, or black or blackened
bowl into the view of the smoker, en- stone, symbolizing Earth. The stone itself
couraging developments in decor. When represents Earth, and its function as a
Europeans sailing up the St. Lawrence vessel for holding tobacco, as well as
River and into Lake Ontario encountered having a hole that is a receptacle for the
Iroquoian-speaking peoples, they found stem, continues the female imagery.
them to smoke ceramic elbow pipes in A number of bowl shapes have been
council. The tribal “flat pipe” of the Hi- traditionally made. The simplest is a tu-
datsa and the Arapaho are unusually bular pipe bowl with a long stem. It is an
long one-piece elbow pipes, made of ei- archaic shape that continues in impor-
ther wood or stone. tance among Cheyenne and some of the
other Plains traditions for particularly
Pebble and “Monitor” Pipes sacred rituals, such as the Thirst Dance
Besides bending the pipe, a second (Sun Dance).
means of creating a pipe with an upward- Most common is the elbow shape.
directed bowl is to drill a stone from two Many have a projection away from the
directions, meeting in the middle, with a stem receptacle end, either rounded or
hollow wooden or reed stem then in- pointed. Several hundred years ago,
serted into one of the holes. Such pipes some pipes were made with projections
with short stems were used over much of as long as the stem end, both ends taper-
North America and continue in ritual use ing toward the bowl in the middle, with
among the Pueblo peoples. About 2,000 the bowl having a double taper. That is
years ago, flat stone pipes with an upright probably the basis for the T-shaped pipe
bowl in the middle began to be used bowl, common since the second half of
throughout the Midwest, the tradition the eighteenth century. Bowls of this last
lasting about 600 years. Archaeologists shape were made near the red-stone
termed these pipes monitor, after the quarry at Pipestone, Minnesota, in a fac-
Union’s Civil War steel warship. tory with drill presses for trade with Na-
tive people. (Now they are made there by
Separate-stemmed Pipes local Natives, the quarry being a national
About 1,500 years ago, pipes began to be monument.) The T-shape became ubiq-
made with a long reed or wooden stem. uitous; most souvenir pipes are of that
Bowl and stem are kept apart, save when type. A rare variation of the elbow pipe is
ritually used, and both are laden with a pipe with double bowls, the meaning of
significance. the two bowls varying with each pipe. A
The bowls are commonly made of red different variation of the elbow shape is
stone (called “catlinite,” after the artist for the bowl to be carved into the shape
936
____________________________________________________________________________________ Sacred Pipe
of an animal body or head, or a human projection away from the stem end. This
head. shape is to be contrasted with a vertical
In ritually used sacred pipes, those disk, which is a variation of the elbow
with an effigy either carved on the bowl shape and also uncommon.
or projecting from the stem, it may be Pipe bowls have been decorated in a
seen by the smoker when the stem is number of ways, some of which have
pointed toward the recipient of the been mentioned above. After contact
smoke offering. That is because it is the with Europeans, bowls began to be inlaid
prayer and offering that is the most im- with lead or German silver, particularly
portant part of the ritual. On tourist in the area of the Great Lakes. Some
pipes, the symbolic image often faces the black bowls were inlaid with catlinite
smoker when the pipe is being smoked, and silver. Early elbow pipes often had a
which is but a secondary aspect of the flange at the top of the stem end of the
ritual use. bowl, of varying sizes, sometimes incised
Another relatively common bowl form or perforated.
is the keel shape. Some of the early vasi- Stems are commonly made from
form separate-stemmed pipes had a pro- wood, although early ones were made
jection at the bottom with a hole for the from long reeds. Stems can be round or
attachment of feathers and other sacred flat and as long as a meter in length.
objects. This led to two variations, each Round stems are created by pushing out
with a flat projection at the bottom the the pith, leaving a smoke channel in the
length of the bowl, often with one to four center of the stem. The earliest extant
holes for thongs to be attached. One type stems are of that type—hence the term
was common along the St. Lawrence from the French, calumet, meaning
River, in the Atlantic Provinces, and “reed.” Flat stems are generally made by
Maine. It has a tall vasiform bowl; a splitting the wood, gouging out a chan-
thong, often beaded, is tied from the nel for the smoke, and then joining the
bowl projection to the stem, to prevent two halves together with glue, sinew, or
the bowl from dropping off and break- brass tacks. The second method allows
ing. A second type is common in the for elaborate pierced designs as well as
Northern Plains, particularly among the steaming, to twist the stem into a spiral.
Blackfoot tribes. Here the bowl has a Since the late nineteenth century, stems
double taper, and there tend to be multi- have also been made from catlinite, with
ple holes on the projection. wood inserts at both ends, particularly
A rare, archaic form, although com- for the tourist trade.
mon in Osage sacred bundles, is a hori- A favorite wood for stems, especially
zontal disk shape that may be quite round and square ones, is sumac. The
large, although the bowl itself tends to be pith of sumac is very soft and relatively
shallow. The bowl may or may not have a easy to push or burn out with a thin rod.
937
Sacred Pipe _____________________________________________________________________________________
Willow and red osier were also used for The ceremony is relatively similar in
thin, round stems. Flat stems are made pan-Indian and in specific cultural tradi-
from a variety of hardwoods, especially tions throughout North America, exclud-
ash. During the 1960s and 1970s, most of ing Mexico, the American Southwest,
the tourist pipes made in Pipestone, and the Arctic. It is identical in general to
Minnesota, had stems made from Cali- the Euro-American descriptions of such
fornia redwood obtained from a local rituals from the late seventeenth century
lumberyard. But the Pipestone pipemak- to the present, and each specific con-
ers have since been using sumac again. temporary action described is attested to
When inserted into the pipe bowl for in the ethnohistorical literature. Presum-
ritual use, the stem represents male en- ably, these rituals have remained un-
ergy and creative potential. But as the changed in the main since the inception
channel for the smoke offering, the stem of the separate-stemmed pipe over the
represents our voice and, as in Pawnee last millennium and a half. While a com-
culture, may be decorated with black cir- munal ceremony will be described, the
cular lines along the entire stem repre- ritual would be similar if only a single
senting the trachea. The stem also repre- smoker were involved.
sents the journey of life and may so be The ritual implements are kept either
symbolized by a red line the length of the in a pipe-bag or wrapped in a bundle. The
stem along its top. ceremony begins with the opening of the
The most common stem decoration is bundle or bag and the laying out of the
a coating of red ocher mixed with bear paraphernalia. Sacred herbs are either di-
grease, each symbolic of life-giving spiri- rectly lit or placed over a glowing coal
tual energy. More elaborate stem decora- from a fire. The resulting smoke is first
tion includes a variety of carvings based spread in the four directions plus zenith
on individual visions, colored porcupine and nadir, then the locale of the ritual—
quill decorations, or beads obtained for example, the perimeter of the room in
from trade and suspended feathers, es- which the ceremony is being held—then
pecially of the eagle. over each of the implements, and finally
around each of the participants. The pur-
Sacred Pipe Ritual pose of the smudging is to purify, in the
There are four significant aspects to the sense of removing any and all negativity.
ritual of the Sacred Pipe: that the two Once the purification has taken place, at
parts of the pipe are separable, that the any point in the ceremony sacred songs
purpose of the pipe is to make a smoke of- may be sung, with or without the use of
fering, that the pipe links the smoker and hand drums or shakers.
the recipients of the offering, and that the When the preliminary laying out of
pipe is frequently used communally. the ritual paraphernalia and purifica-
938
____________________________________________________________________________________ Sacred Pipe
tion has been completed, the stem and a fire, a smoldering chip of dried bison
bowl will be joined together. Only when dung, a glowing braid of sweetgrass, or
the male stem is inserted into the female the glowing tip of a stick of cedar or other
bowl, when the two major complemen- especially sacred wood. Nowadays some
tary spiritual forces in the universe are ignite the tobacco in the pipe directly
conjoined, is the pipe spiritually potent. with the flame of a match or a lighter.
This awe-inspiring act creates a sacred A solo smoker, or the one leading the
moment in time, a time out of time, and ritual, offers smoke through the pipe to
determines the space where the ritual is the six directions and other spiritual re-
taking place to be temporarily the sa- cipients. This is done by taking in the
cred center, the axis mundi, of the smoke and blowing it in the appropriate
world. A feeling of reverence permeates directions. Simultaneously the stem of
the congregants. the pipe is usually pointed in the direc-
The pipe bowl is then filled, often with tion of the offering. This particular aspect
the bowl resting on the sacred Earth or a of the ritual is open to a variety of varia-
symbol of Her. Each pinch of tobacco is tions, depending on both tradition and
smudged with the purifying smoke and inspiration received directly from the
dropped into the bowl. The first six spirits by the one making the offering.
pinches of the tobacco offering, dedi- In a communal ceremony the partici-
cated to the sacred directions—Four Di- pants will be seated in a circle, usually
rections, Sky, and Earth—are spoken to. with women and men each forming half
Other pinches may or may not be specif- the circle and facing each other. The
ically dedicated, depending on the tradi- pipe is passed in the direction of the
tion, the purpose of the ceremony, and path of the sun from one participant to
the one making the offering. A tamper is another. Each in turn holds the pipe
used to settle the tobacco in the pipe with both hands and takes one or four
bowl. The filled pipe is held in both puffs. They may brush the smoke over
hands with the stem pointing in the di- themselves with one hand, speak the
rection of the primary recipient(s), and words “All my relations” in the tribal lan-
relevant prayers are spoken. At this point guage—acknowledging their connec-
the filled pipe may be put aside, if the action with the spirit realm—or turn the
tual smoking will take place in the con- pipe in a circle. Participants will carry
text of other rituals, such as during one out these secondary rituals only if they
of the breaks in a Spirit Lodge (sweat- have been specifically so taught by the
lodge) ceremony or at the completion of spirits; to do so without the “right” is
a vision fast. considered irreverent.
When the pipe is smoked, tradition- The pipe will continue around the cir-
ally the tobacco is lit with an ember from cle until it returns to the one leading the
939
Sacred Pipe _____________________________________________________________________________________
ritual. If it is a large circle, the tobacco in for thousands of years. A mechanism

the bowl may have become ash before was needed to allow traders to travel
the circuit is completed. But even if safely through territories of other cul-
empty, the pipe will be taken by each tures and to allow trade to take place be-
participant in turn and brought to the tween people of different groups. Begin-
lips. When the pipe reaches the ritual ning some 2,000 years ago, a common
leader, if tobacco is still present the pipe shape, the monitor, continued in
leader will smoke until all the tobacco is use for half a millennium throughout the
consumed. With further prayers and region of the Ohio and upper Mississippi
statements of thankfulness, the pipe is valleys, as well as in the Great Lakes. This
taken apart, the stem and bowl sepa- suggests that the pan-Indian use of the
rated. At this point the ritual is complete, separate-stemmed pipe had its an-
although all of the ritual paraphernalia tecedents hundreds of years earlier, for
must still be wrapped back into a bundle Sacred Pipe ceremonies served as rituals
or returned to the pipe-bag. of intertribal adoption for as far back as
Pipe rituals are carried out for a num- we can trace their use. Even cultures like
ber of purposes. Because it is a major those in the Southwest, which do not tra-
means of both offering tobacco to the ditionally use the separate-stemmed
spirit realm as well as communicating pipe, will carry out this ritual in inter-
with the spirits, it often forms a major tribal contexts.
part of larger rituals. Indeed, there are The use of a common pipe shape over
few major rituals that do not include virtually all of North America north of
pipe rituals as a subsidiary part. Pipe rit- the Rio Grande River, east of the Rocky
uals are also carried out when a simple Mountains, and south of the sub-Arctic
ritual is desired to bring people together, existed side by side with a common pipe
or there is a felt need for a ritual to re-cre- ritual. Clearly, the two are intimately
ate or strengthen the relationship with connected. Euro-Americans quickly
the spirit realm. The pipe ritual, when learned that they could safely travel
carried out communally, not only makes throughout this area by carrying a Sacred
possible communion between humans Pipe, a practice they often abused. The
and the spirits through the medium of ritual smoking of the pipe as delineated
the shared tobacco smoke but also cre- above, when carried out by persons of
ates a communion among the congre- different tribes, was understood to create
gants through the passing of the pipe a relationship among the participants; it
and the sharing of the tobacco smoke. was a ritual of adoption. By becoming a
Pipe rituals serve another important relation, one was no longer an enemy
function: to allow for peaceful intertribal and not subject to attack.
relationships. Long-distance trade has This should not be understood to
been a major part of Native economies mean, however—as is often the case in
940
___________________________________________________________________ Sacred Pole of the Omaha
the literature—that the Sacred Pipe was Pipe as Spirit, Object & Art. Santa Fe:
used only for peaceful purposes; it was Freesoul Art Studio.
Hayes, Charles F., III, ed. 1992. Proceedings
also necessary for raiding and war. All ac- of the 1989 Smoking Pipe Conference.
tivities required the assistance of the Research Records no. 22. Rochester, NY:
spirit realm, and the Sacred Pipe was a Rochester Museum and Science Center.
McGuire, Joseph D. 1899. “Pipes and
major means for requesting assistance Smoking Customs of the American
for martial activities. Thus the Sacred Aborigines, Based on Material in the U.S.
Pipe was used to bring groups together National Museum.” Vol. 1, pp. 351–645 in
Annual Report of the Smithsonian
as allies in warfare, as it also was to bring Institution, 1899.
former enemies together for peace. Paper, Jordan. 1988. Offering Smoke: The
This ancient tradition of intertribal Sacred Pipe and Native American
Religion. Moscow: University of Idaho
use of the Sacred Pipe continues in mod-
Press.
ern pan-Indian rituals. These cere- Springer, James Warren. 1981. “An
monies have often been mistaken by the Ethnohistoric Study of the Smoking
Complex in Eastern North America.”
dominant culture as being an ersatz
Ethnohistory 28: 217–235.
modern ritual, rather than having an an- West, George A. 1934. “Tobacco, Pipes and
tiquity at least as old as, if not older than, Smoking Customs of the American
Indians.” Bulletin of the Public Museum
Christianity. In contemporary intertribal
of the City of Milwaukee 17: 1–994.
meetings, as well as in prisons and hos-
pitals, the ceremony of the Sacred Pipe is
a religious ritual that can be subscribed
to by virtually all the Native peoples of
Sacred Pole of the Omaha
both Canada and the United States. As
with the Spirit Lodge, the Sacred Pipe Omahas are one of the five Diegha
ceremony allows people of different Na- Siouan tribes. Their Sacred Pole is an em-
tive religious traditions to share a com- blem of tribal identity. Today the Oma-
mon ritual and bond together meaning- has call their Sacred Pole Umon’hon’ti,
fully as relatives in the larger scope of the “Real Omaha.” He is a physical ob-
“All my relations.” ject, a cottonwood pole—but he is also a
Jordan Paper person with a life of his own. His life
touched the lives of the Omahas when
Oral Traditions, Western Plains; Power,
they moved from a homeland east of the
Plains; Sweatlodge; Tobacco, Sacred Use of; Mississippi to their present location on
Vision Quest Rites the Missouri River several hundred years
References and Further Reading ago. He continued to stand for their
Blakeslee, Donald J. 1981. “The Origin and tribal identity during the good times
Spread of the Calumet Ceremony.” when they controlled trade up and down
American Antiquity 46: 759–768.
Freesoul, John Redtail, and Riverwoman the Missouri River. He was with the Om-
Freesoul. 1984. Breath-Made-Visible: The ahas through years of war and epidemic
941
Sacred Pole of the Omaha ____________________________________________________________________
disease. He accompanied them on the Smoke said, “their chiefs met in council
great tribal buffalo hunts of the eigh- to devise some means by which the
teenth and nineteenth centuries. When bands of the tribe might be kept together
the Omahas were forced to abandon and the tribe itself saved from extinc-
their buffalo-hunting way of life in the tion.” While they were in council, a
1870s, elders of the tribe were uncertain young man, the son of a chief, was hunt-
how they could continue to honor ing in the woods. At night he lost his way.
Umon’hon’ti. They knew that to avoid He stopped to rest and to find the “mo-
being forcibly removed to “Indian Terri- tionless star” (the pole star) for his guide.
tory” they would have to learn the ways Suddenly, he was attracted by a light.
of the Americans under whose jurisdic- When he approached the light he saw
tion they now found themselves. that it was “a tree that sent forth light. He
In 1888 a young Omaha named Francis went up to it and found that the whole
La Flesche approached the Sacred Pole’s tree, its trunk, branches, and leaves, were
last keeper, Yellow Smoke, with a pro- alight, yet remained unconsumed.” The
posal. Francis was one of the first Native young man watched the luminous tree
Americans to become a professional “until with the rising of the sun the tree
ethnographer. He began his study of with its foliage resumed its natural ap-
Omaha culture in collaboration with pearance.” He remained by it throughout
Alice Cunningham Fletcher, a researcher the day. “As twilight came on it began to
and writer from Harvard’s Peabody Mu- be luminous and continued so until the
seum. He reports his conversation with sun rose again. When the young man re-
Yellow Smoke in a 660-page comprehen- turned home he told his father of the
sive ethnography, The Omaha Tribe, wonder.” The young man’s father told the
which he and Fletcher coauthored in chiefs of all the tribes:
1911. “Why don’t you send the ‘Venerable
Man,’” La Flesche asked Yellow Smoke, My son has seen a wonderful tree.
“to some eastern city where he could The Thunder birds come and go upon
dwell in a great brick house instead of a this tree,
ragged tent?” After thinking about the making a trail of fire
that leaves four paths on the burnt
proposal, La Flesche reports, Yellow
grass
Smoke agreed. So it was that in 1888,
that stretch toward the Four Winds.
Umon’hon’ti came into the care and keep-
When the Thunder birds alight on the
ing of the Peabody Museum in Cam-
tree
bridge, Massachusetts. Following the it bursts into flame and the fire mounts to
transfer, Yellow Smoke told Fletcher and the top.
La Flesche the story of the Pole’s origin. The tree stands burning,
“When the Omahas still lived in but no one can see the fire except at
wooded country near a lake,” Yellow night.
942
___________________________________________________________________ Sacred Pole of the Omaha
Then they cut the tree down “and four the bowstring shield. It indicates also
men, walking in a line, carried it on their that the man thus symbolized was one
shoulders to the village.” They made a who was both a provider for and a pro-
tent for the tree and set it up within the tector of his people” (Fletcher and La
circle of lodges. “The chiefs worked upon Flesche 1992, 225).
the tree; they trimmed it and called it a In 1988, a century after Yellow Smoke
human being. They made a basketwork handed Umon’hon’ti to Francis La
receptacle of twigs and feathers and tied Flesche, Omaha hands once again
it about the middle.” They placed a large touched their Sacred Pole. Tribal chair-
scalp lock on top of the pole for hair. man Doran Morris, who is Yellow
“Then they painted the Pole and set it up Smoke’s great-great-grandson according
before the tent, leaning it on a crotched to the Omaha system of reckoning kin-
stick which they called imongthe (a ship, and Edward Cline, a former chair-
staff ).” When the people were gathered, man, wept as they held Umon’hon’ti in
the chiefs stood up and said, “You now prayer in a little courtyard outside the
see before you a mystery. Whenever we Peabody Museum. They wept because of
meet with troubles we shall bring all our the break in ceremonial order caused by
troubles to Him (the Pole). We shall make his long absence from his people. They
offerings and requests. All our prayers wept for the lack of respect that had been
must be accompanied by gifts. This (the shown to the Pole, just as Yellow Smoke
Pole) belongs to all the people, but it had wept more than a century before
shall be in the keeping of one family in when a boy named Francis La Flesche
the Honga (Leader) clan.” nearly ran down the Pole and its keeper
Umon’hon’ti is a person who accumu- with his father’s horses. They wept for the
lated many stories during his long life. Pole’s century of confinement. They
You can “read” some of these stories in wept for joy at his release. And they wept
his very appearance. He bears the signa- to see him refreshed by sun and wind
ture of much devotion. For many years, after so many years within the walls of
people “fed” him with buffalo meat. Each the “great brick house.” While in Cam-
year they painted him with buffalo fat bridge, they began negotiations for the
mixed with red pigment. They wrapped Pole’s return. Following some months of
him with a piece of leather called a’shon- deliberation, the Peabody faculty an-
depa, “the word used to designate the nounced a unanimous decision to ap-
leather shield worn on the wrist of an In- prove the request.
dian to protect it from the bowstring.” On July 12 of the following year, 1989,
Fletcher and La Flesche explain: “This Mr. Joe Johns, a Creek artist-in-residence
name affords unmistakable evidence at the Peabody, escorted Umon’hon’ti
that the Pole was intended to symbolize back to the Omaha tribal arena in Macy,
a man, as no other creature could wear Nebraska. Tribal chairman Doran Morris
943
Sacred Pole of the Omaha ____________________________________________________________________
received the Pole on behalf of all Omahas versity over the issue of reburial. Omaha
in the hope that his return to the tribal elder Lawrence Gilpin spoke to the tribe
circle will bring all his relations a “bless- about Umon’hon’ti in 1989:
ing for a long time to come.” The suc-
The way I would refer to the Sacred
cessful completion of the transfer was
Pole is that it is a being. This was
not without some difficult moments. done with God after our people
Close cooperation between Omaha realized that in the days of the
tribal historian Dennis Hastings and beginning they talked to nature. They
Peabody curator Ian Brown turned out to talked to the trees, they talked to the
birds, they talked to the sky and they
be essential to the process. Initially the
talked to Mother Earth. Everything
tribe had hoped to obtain temporary here was created by what they
storage in Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum, referred to as the Holy Spirit. And
but at the last moment that plan fell they came to realize that this Holy
through. A resolution of the problem Spirit was the Creator of all living
things here on earth. He made it
came when Dennis Hastings made con-
possible for everything that they
tact with the University of Nebraska at could see on Mother Earth here. They
Lincoln and requested that they provide took and cut a tree down, taking life
the Pole and associated ceremonial ob- from the ground itself, this tree. They
jects with interim curatorial care on be- took this tree and made it into what
we today refer to as the Sacred Pole.
half of the tribe. The university agreed to
The people made their pact, or
house the Pole until such time as the agreement, with the Great Spirit that
Omahas are able to realize their long- this tree here as they took life from it.
range plan of building a tribal cultural
center on the reservation. The Sacred Pole now has stories to tell
The Omaha interpretation of these about life in our own times. Contempo-
events was that the Pole had found his rary Omahas have touched him and
way to Lincoln for his own reasons— prayed over him. Contemporary aca-
namely, that the university also held the demics have marveled at the power of
remains of more than a hundred Oma- motion and of life that remains strong
has from the late-eighteenth- and early- within him. Even more than the Twenty-
nineteenth-century “Big Village” site of seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ton’wontonga. By returning to Lincoln American Ethnology, Umon’hon’ti offers
rather than to Omaha, the Pole found himself as a text for reading and inter-
himself back among the people who had pretation by people alive today. The son
cared for him a century before he went to of an Omaha chief long ago read what
the Peabody. His return to where his peo- was to become the Sacred Pole as “a
ple were housed also had the benefit of wonderful tree.” His father read the
easing what had been a potential con- same object as “a tree that stands burn-
frontation between the tribe and the uni- ing.” The older man understood it as sa-
944
________________________________________________________ Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains
cred, a place where “the Thunder birds See also Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho;
come and go . . . making a trail of fire Kinship; Missionization, Northern Plains;
that leaves four paths on the burnt grass Plains; Religious Leaders, Plains;
that stretch toward the Four Winds.” Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural
Fletcher and La Flesche read him as the Implications; Spiritual and Ceremonial
Practitioners, Plains
relic of “a past once so full of human ac-
tivity and hope.” Now more than a cen- Fletcher, Alice C., and Francis La Flesche.
tury has passed since they read the Sa- 1911/1992. The Omaha Tribe. Twenty-
cred Pole as a relic of a dying culture. seventh Annual Report of the Peabody
Museum. Lincoln: Bison Books.
The Omahas have survived as a people.
Ridington, Robin. 1992. “A Sacred Object as
They still face the problem of devising Text: Reclaiming the Sacred Pole of the
“some means by which the bands of the Omaha Tribe.” American Indian
Quarterly 17, no. 1: 83–99.
tribe might be kept together and the
Ridington, Robin, and Dennis Hastings.
tribe itself saved from extinction.” In 1997. Blessing for a Long Time: The
times gone by, Umon’hon’ti guided them Sacred Pole of the Omaha Tribe. Lincoln:
toward that goal. If people continue to
come to him in the right frame of mind,
they will be gifted with what elder Clif-
ford Wolfe called “a blessing for a long
time to come.” Sacred Sites and Sacred
The Sacred Pole is remarkable be-
Mountains
cause he is a physical object that has sur-
vived from a distant past. He is remark- For traditional Native peoples the land-
able because he is sacred and alive with scape includes not only the physical
meaning. He is remarkable because he is world of rocks, trees, mountains, and
a person to members of the Omaha tribe. plains but also the spirit world. Native
He is remarkable because he is a gift Americans felt obligated to protect and
from Wa’konda, “a power by which defend the graves of their ancestors and
things are brought to pass.” He speaks to sacred locations where the Great Spirit
people today from a time in the tribe’s both resides and communicates with
past when “a great council was being them: locations such as Mt. Graham in
held to devise some means by which the Arizona, Bear Butte and Harney Peak in
bands of the tribe might be kept together South Dakota, and Hesperus Peak in Col-
and the tribe itself saved from extinc- orado. Centuries spent living in the Great
tion.” He was central to the tribe’s cere- Basin or on the Great Plains brought
monies during their buffalo-hunting about a deep love and understanding of
days. Now he has returned to the tribe as the landscape in which Indians believed
a carrier of Omaha identity. themselves inseparable from the land
Dennis Hastings and Robin Ridington and sky.
945
Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains _________________________________________________________
Devils Tower, the first national monument named by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, is a
sacred site known as Bear Lodge to many Native American tribes. (Bill Ross/Corbis)
In seeking and guarding access to sa- the powerful, enduring presence of sa-
cred sites, American Indians need a cred geography (see Gulliford 2000).
guarantee of religious freedom for cere- For most tribes a sacred place is a lo-
monies, festivals, medicinal plant gath- cation made holy by the Great Creator,
ering, and pilgrimages that differ from by ancient and enduring myth, by re-
Christian traditions. Because most Amer- peated rituals such as Sun Dances, or by
icans have not understood the unique- the presence of spirits who dwell in deep
ness of Indian religions, we have violated canyons, mountaintops, or hidden
their free exercise of them. We need to caves. An entire landscape may be sa-
understand landscapes in the context of cred, because for thousands of years In-
traditional Native American religion and dians migrated from place to place in
946
search of food on seasonal rounds that For traditional tribal peoples, spirits
took them into the high country in the exist and can help or hurt the living. For
summer and to lower elevations in the the Shoshone those spirits may be the
winter. Sacred sites remain integral to elfin NunumBi. Different tribes have
tribal histories, religions, and identities. other names for spirits, but in every case
Indians honor oral traditions linked to the spirit world intimately links to place.
specific sites such as Ribbon Falls at the What compromises are possible to pro-
bottom of the Grand Canyon, where the tect sacred sites and to preserve a sacred
Zuni believe they emerged from the cen- landscape? How do we address signifi-
ter of the earth as a people. A sacred site cant issues of the free exercise of religion
is always sacred, and human burials or for Native peoples? To answer these
village sites remain hallowed ground. If questions, Native American sacred sites
shamans carved rock art panels to evoke must first be defined by type so that they
spirits in southern Utah or at the bottom can be identified.
of Echo Park in Dinosaur National Mon-
ument in Colorado, those places remain Religious Sites associated with Oral
special and should not be disturbed. Traditions/Origin Stories
They are sacred sites where the living The first category of sacred sites would
communicate with the dead or with be religious sites associated with ancient
powerful animal spirits of deer, elk, and myths and oral traditions that figure
mountain lions that the rock artist came prominently in emergence and migra-
to see in his visions. tion stories. To use nomenclature from
the National Register of Historic Places,
Continuity over Time which is administered by the National
Repetition and tradition, unbroken conti- Park Service, these sites are “traditional
nuity over time—these elements define cultural properties” that have deep
traditional Indian spirituality, whether it meaning for tribal identities (see Parker
is a young man seeking a vision at a re- and King 1990). Examples would include
mote vision quest site, a tribe such as the the huge stone monoliths in Navajo
Shoshones or the Utes at their annual Sun Tribal Park in Monument Valley called
Dances, or Miwok leaders on a pilgrimage “Big Hands,” or symbolic barrels, with
to collect plants for religious purposes as spouts essential in legend for storing and
they visit sacred shrines in California. In- providing rain for the Diné (Navajo).
dian religions—not religions in the sense Rainbow Bridge near Navajo Mountain
of rules and dogma, but rather highly in- has sacred qualities for Diné, because the
dividualistic approaches to honoring the arch comprises two beings, a male and a
Creator—are intricately bound to a tight female, and “from their union come the
web of place and an intimate, subtle, even rain people, rainbows, clouds, and mois-
secret understanding of landscape. ture that originates here and spreads over
947
the reservation” (see McPherson 1992; cairns as each passing traveler would say
Kelley and Francis 1994). a prayer and add another rock to the pile
On the 17.5 million acres of the Navajo for both personal good luck and respect
Nation, sacred places may be associated for their ancestors who had gone before.
with the origin stories of clans, the origins Along the Columbia River in Washing-
of ceremonies, the origin of specific cus- ton, tall cairns of basalt represent kin-
toms, and the general Diné creation story. ship and family lineage for the Yakama,
Other Southwestern tribes such as the as well as fishing boundaries for different
Zuni, Hopi, and Walapai also have spe- Plateau bands of Indians. Native peoples
cific places linked to their clan migrations believe that cairns contain the essence of
and creation stories. the builder and must be approached
Each tribe has its own story of emer- with care, because they offer comforting
gence and migration. For the Kiowa, the proof that ancestors passed through the
story was of a long migration eastward area generations earlier.
from the headwaters of the Yellowstone
River to the Black Hills and south to the Traditional Gathering Areas
Wichita Mountains. Part of that journey A third category of religious sites would
took the Kiowa to Devils Tower, Wyoming, include gathering places for fish, wildlife,
which became the first national monu- sacred plants, and materials to quarry,
ment in the United States set aside in 1906 such as mineral deposits that provide
by President Theodore Roosevelt. More sources for face and body paint. Crucial
than twenty tribes have stories about to religious ceremonies, Great Plains
Devils Tower as part of oral traditions, and paint mines would be neutral territory,
Native Americans believe that Devils and warring tribes could gather red, yel-
Tower should be renamed according to its low, and black clay in peace. Sacred paint
Indian name, Bear Lodge. sources include the Paint Mines near
Calhan, Colorado, and in Wyoming at
Trails and Pilgrimage Routes Sunrise and Rawlins. Shield Cave in Col-
A second category of religious sites orado represents a rare site that contains
would be trails and pilgrimages through every clay color needed in Ute religious
sacred landscapes such as the trail to ceremonies.
Zuni Heaven or the Ute Trail. Cairns as Diné gather hematite and special dirt
trail markers are particularly important and sand for sand paintings used in heal-
for migratory peoples who remembered ing ceremonies. Most Southwestern
the cairns as a place to pause and medi- tribes also have sacred places where men
tate, as Nez Perce guides did along the gather salt. There are sacred gathering
Lolo Trail with Lewis and Clark in 1806. areas at which clans gather special roots
Indians also reverently added to the and herbs, as well as family-use sites.
948
There are gathering areas for willows to Offering Areas: Altars and Shrines
be used for baskets, wild tea for medici- Native peoples also make offerings ei-
nal purposes, and places to retrieve spe- ther privately or within ceremonial cy-
cial water from sacred springs or snow- cles when they gather sacred materials.
melt from high elevations. For their Jish, At certain times of the year, American In-
or medicine bundles, Diné medicine dians offer prayer sticks and special
men may also collect projectile points foods to the Creator to keep the people in
and pieces of petrified wood. The gather- harmony, to heal the sick, and to provide
ing of such items is always done with general balance and prosperity. Offer-
gratitude and prayer. ings are also left for powerful animals
Because Native peoples use plants in like bears and buffalos. Archaeologists
religious ceremonies, traditional gather- sometimes consider such offering sites
ing areas for sacred sage, sweetgrass, and prehistoric, assuming that they are no
other herbs must be protected. Tribal sa- longer used, but Native peoples consider
cred sites include these traditional cul- such time distinctions irrelevant. Altars
tural property areas where for genera- are never abandoned; they represent ac-
tions tribes have gathered food, whether tive conduits to the spirit world.
it be salmon among the Plateau Indians,
bitterroot among the Shoshones, camas Vision Quest and Other Individual
roots among the Nez Perce, or huckle- Use Sites
berries among the confederated tribes of A fifth category of religious sites would
Warm Springs and the Yakama Nation. be sites used by single individuals, such
These sites retain their sacredness, be- as vision quest sites. These sites are often
cause they bring the people together composed of stones 18 to 24 inches high,
each year at harvest time to gather plants placed in a horseshoe or circular shape.
for the first feasts and to initiate young The young man or woman seeking a vi-
girls as women and young men as sion enters the earth or stone enclosure,
hunters or fishermen. Indians in the remaining without food or water until
Northwest are acutely conscious not the arrival of the animal or bird spirit,
only of their reservation lands but also of which then becomes the source of his or
lands ceded by treaty, lands that guaran- her personal power or medicine. Indians
teed Natives the perpetual right to hunt built most vision quest sites on high
and fish in their “usual and accustomed precipices with panoramic views, sites
places.” Tribal members exercise those that “are among the most common
rights yearly. Gathering roots and berries forms of sacred geography in North
in the old way keeps the people physi- America,” according to Deward Walker
cally strong and knitted together by so- (1998). Small, individually used sweat-
cial tradition. lodges or wooden tree platforms used by
949
medicine men for meditation and heal- cred place. Ten months out of the year,
ing exist in deep canyons or on moun- no one visits the sites (see Jorgensen
tain ridges. 1972).
Vision quest sites can be found at re- Just as with the routes taken by the
mote locations throughout the Rocky Shalako spirits at Zuni or the Deer
Mountains, and Indians who visit them Dancers at Taos Pueblo plaza, what is
today often leave offerings of sacred sacred is the reconstruction of tradition
sage, tobacco, or water to placate the through meditation and performance.
spirits. An Indian might reuse the site for Building the Sun Dance lodge anew
a modern vision quest or leave it undis- brings people together. Ancient cere-
turbed, but in either case a seeker of vi- monial sites include Serpent Mound
sions has made it a sacred place. National Monument in Ohio and
Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon in
Group Ceremonial Sites: Sweatlodges, Chaco Culture National Historic Park in
Dances and Sings New Mexico. Men’s societies still ac-
Ceremonial dance sites such as Sun tively use kivas in the Southwest to initi-
Dance, Bear Dance, or other dance sites ate young boys, and, on the high
are also sacred places, and usage may mesas—such as the village of Walpi on
date back for decades or centuries. First Mesa at Hopi—ancient plazas still
Plains Indians erect the Sun Dance lodge reverberate with the dance steps of the
at the same spot in a lengthy ritual that Katsinas.
includes a virtuous woman selecting the
forked aspen or willow tree for the cen- Ancestral Habitation Sites
tral lodge support. Another category of sacred sites to be re-
Once the dance has been completed, spected and protected would include
prayers have been offered, and people ancient Puebloan ruins, as well as tepee
have been healed, the dancers leave the rings where Plains people once set up
lodge by midafternoon of the last day. A large seasonal encampments. Brush
permanent Sun Dance structure is not shelters, or wickiups, for Great Basin
the traditional Shoshone, Ute, or Ara- tribes or Utes in Colorado would also
paho way. The Sun Dance lodge loses its qualify as sacred village sites. Zuni tribal
religious purpose, because after the leaders closed to visitors the ancient site
dancers have left the space is no longer of Hawikuh, which is now protected by
hallowed. Their sacrifice over, the cos- the Zuni Preservation Department, al-
mic spell has been broken. What en- though other ancestral Puebloan sites—
dures is the process, the community rit- such as those at Mesa Verde National
ual, and the repetition of the Sun Dance, Park or Canyons of the Ancients Na-
with each group of committed dancers tional Monument—are open to respect-
sacrificing themselves at the same sa- ful visitation.
950
Petroglyphs and Pictographs— passage of the Native American Graves

Ceremonial Rock Art Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990,
Many petroglyphs, pictographs, and pic- unmarked graves found on public lands
tograms qualify as sacred. The Eastern now come under federal protection.
Shoshone believe that petroglyphs rep- While some tribes find every individual
resent messages from the spirit world burial sacred, for the Diné in the South-
and that only properly trained medicine west, burials are to be protected, also
men or shamans can decipher them. being places to avoid out of respect.
Ceremonial rock art often illustrates ori- In addition to Indian burials, another
gin and creation stories and can be sacred category includes massacre sites
found on the tops of mountain peaks, on and mass burials such as the Marias
boulders in the bottom of drainages, and River Massacre site in Montana; Sand
along pilgrimage routes—anywhere, in Creek in eastern Colorado; Washita River
fact, the rock surface can be incised in Oklahoma; the Camp Grant Massacre
down to the desert patina under ledges site in Arizona; and Wounded Knee at
protected from weathering. Pine Ridge, South Dakota. These sites of
The Spanish priests Fray Francisco shame, where armed military forces at-
Atanasio Dominguez and Fray Silvestre tacked sleeping Indian villages, rarely re-
Velez de Escalante, traveling north from ceive protection or interpretation. With-
Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1776, encoun- out question these sites are sacred to
tered a variety of Fremont-era and Ute Native Americans who feel an obligation
rock art south of present-day Rangely, to tell the living about past atrocities.
Colorado, in a canyon that they named
Canyon Pintado because of the colored Observatories and Calendar Sites
drawings. In their journals they specifi- Massive stones atop Fajada Butte at
cally noted the famed kokopelli, or flute Chaco Canyon National Historical Park
player, represented in stylized form in New Mexico functioned as a solar and
throughout the Southwest. Much rock art lunar calendar, designed by ancient
symbolism has been analyzed and de- Puebloan peoples to mark the passage of
scribed, and distinct motifs vary among time and the seasons. Throughout the
cultural and geographical regions. Petro- Southwest, stone alignments and con-
glyphs and colored pictograms also rep- centric circles on rock art indicate sol-
resent living tribal traditions, and some stice markers. For the Fremont people
examples of historical rock art may help who once lived near Rangely, Colorado, a
to validate tribal claims to ceded lands. ridgetop observatory may have helped
determine their very limited agricultural
Individual Burials and Massacre Sites season at high elevations on the north-
As with all cultures, human remains are ern boundary of the Colorado Plateau. In
sacred to tribal peoples, and with the southern Colorado, Chimney Rock near
951
the Southern Ute Reservation is high in mountain springs, adjacent canyons,

elevation and was used as a solstice crystal blue lakes, and on the tops of
marker. In the South, the misnamed Old peaks. Mountains in the Appalachians
Stone Fort near Manchester, Tennessee, and Adirondacks had meaning for tribes
represents a sacred earthen enclosure east of the Mississippi, but because Pres-
from the Mississippian period with an ident Andrew Jackson forcibly relocated
entrance to the east constructed to many tribes after 1830, case studies will
admit maximum sunlight on June 21, the be drawn from Western mountains still
longest day of the year. accessed today by Native peoples.
One of the most powerful sites in
North America is the Medicine Wheel in San Francisco Peaks: Home of the
northern Wyoming, which is aligned to Katsinas
both the summer solstice and to the ris- The highest peaks in Arizona rise to the
ing of the summer stars Aldebaran, Rigel, west of the Colorado Plateau and stand
and Sirius, though the wheel has been as silent sentinels, catching the morning
periodically altered over the centuries. sun and reflecting the last light of day
The Medicine Wheel must be considered near Flagstaff. Sacred to the Hopi and the
as an entire religious complex including Zuni, the San Francisco Peaks are also
vision quest sites, sacred trails, and even revered by the Diné, whose traditional
stone cairns in the shape of an arrow homeland is bounded by four mountains
pointing to the site from more than 40 with the San Francisco Peaks as the
miles away across the Big Horn Basin. boundary mountains to the west. Soli-
According to Fred Chapman, Native tary volcanic mountains, the peaks can
American liaison with the Wyoming be seen 80 miles away by the Hopi who
State Historic Preservation Office, the live on high mesas and who for centuries
Medicine Wheel represents an “arche- have made annual pilgrimages back to
typal form of religious architecture” the peaks to leave offerings for the Katsi-
(Chapman 1993). nas who dwell there. Former Hopi chair-
man Vernon Masayesva writes that the
Sacred Mountains peaks are “the shrine we look to because
A special landform sacred to Native peo- it is the home of ancient Katsina spirits,
ples is mountains, which have important emissaries of life. Sometimes we felt we
meanings because they represent di- could touch the mountain near Flag-
verse ecological niches in which a variety staff” (Masayesva 1998).
of plants and animals can be found, de- Attempting to utilize both the Na-
pending upon the elevation. Desert peo- tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966
ples understood that mountain snows and the American Indian Religious Free-
and summer storms created their main dom Act of 1978, the Hopis filed suit
source of water, and spirits reside in against the U.S. Forest Service in 1982 to
952
Aerial view of Serpent Mound National Monument in Ohio, which is an ancient ceremonial site.
(Richard A. Cooke/Corbis)
prevent the expansion of a ski resort that cause under U.S. Forest Service rules,
would alter ancient shrines, religious such gathering is now subject to federal
ceremonial sites, and gathering areas jurisdiction.
held sacred by Hopi clans. The tribe lost Leigh Kuwanwisiwma explains: “It
in court. Frustrated by a judge who de- bothers me because I have been as-
termined that ski area expansion and signed by my clan to lead pilgrimages to
more parking spaces would have little the peaks. The last time I led a pilgrimage
impact on religious sites, Hopi cultural we were supposed to get a permit, but a
officer Leigh Kuwanwisiwma found that Hopi goes where his heart tells him to—
“there is no final, absolute protection not where he is told to gather spruce
under either act.” Equally grating to the branches.” He adds that there are nu-
Hopis, who, according to Kuwanwisi- merous trails from Hopi villages to the
wma, “once used to go to the mountains San Francisco Peaks, and though some
unhindered,” is the demeaning require- trails are no longer used, “ceremonial ac-
ment for a special-use permit to gather tivities deified the trails that then came
the sacred plants they have collected for into disuse with better maintained roads
millennia. The permit is required be- into Flagstaff. Now when pilgrimages are
953
made we think of the trails and offer spe- compared with their aboriginal territory
cial prayers so that the trails do not lose of hundreds of square miles. Mount
their significance.” Pilgrims originally Shasta was an important feature in the
came to the mountains on foot and then mythology of all groups whose territories
by burro, horse, and horse-drawn bordered the mountain, and today’s use
wagon. Now the clans come in pickup of the mountain is rooted in traditional
trucks, but their purpose is the same as it practices and values.
has been for centuries. The Wintu have maintained the clos-
Leigh Kuwanwisiwma argues: “Re- est ties to the mountain, and they be-
gardless of its use or not, in our prayers lieve, along with the Pitt River Indians,
and ceremonies the trails still have in- that Mount Shasta is the home of the “lit-
tegrity because you always have a spiri- tle people” who reside inside the peak. A
tual element. Clans have living memo- powerful Pitt River spirit called Mis Misa
ries and hold specific place names for is said to live inside the mountain and
ancestral sites.” Offering areas are asso- has served to keep the universe in bal-
ciated with the sacred peaks, and on the ance. Some tribes bury their dead toward
ancient trail from Oraibi to Wupatki Na- the mountain because it points the way
tional Monument, formal shrines with toward the spirit world, and when the
distinct characteristics mark the route Wintu dance and pray they always face
for male Hopi travelers. Because of the Mount Shasta. Pitt River Indians believe
prominent San Francisco Peaks, an en- that spirits of the deceased fly on the
tire sacred landscape exists across the backs of eagles to the top of the moun-
Colorado Plateau. tain as a way station before leaving for
the Milky Way.
California’s Mount Shasta Wintu spiritual leader Florence Jones,
Visible from much of northeastern Cali- who is in her mid-80s, still conducts cer-
fornia, 14,162-foot volcanic Mount emonies and teaches tribal culture on
Shasta glitters white with snow half of the mountain, as did her great-great-
the year and is considered sacred to grandfather. An important ceremony is
northern California Indians including held at Panther Meadow because of the
the Shasta, Modoc, Pitt River, Hupa, healing power of its spring, which forms
Karuk, and Wintu. Because Californians the headwaters of the McCloud River,
brutally exterminated Indian tribes in which flows through original Wintu
the nineteenth century, and the Califor- tribal lands.
nia legislature even considered legaliz- Indian tribes and the Save Mount
ing Indian slavery, several tribes inter- Shasta Citizens’ Group wanted Mount
ested in protecting Mount Shasta are not Shasta in its entirety listed on the Na-
federally recognized: today they are few tional Register of Historic Places as a
in number and have only a tiny land base National Register Multiple Property,
954
which would include Panther Meadow, Gloria Gomes, secretary of the Wintu
a small subalpine meadow that is a spir- Tribe of Shasta County, explains: “Mount
itual quest/ceremonial site, and the top Shasta is the most sacred area to our peo-
of the peak. There are twenty-three as- ple. Our creator lives there, and that’s
sociated sites, including Coonrod Flat where our spiritual leader receives her
on Pilgrim Creek, where Wintu camp, power.” Merely to preserve the moun-
visit, and entertain as part of a four-day tain’s summit dissatisfies local tribes as
spiritual preparation prior to ascending well as Gomes, who says, “Declaring only
to upper Panther Meadow Spring. De- the top of the mountain significant is like
bate has swirled around exactly how considering only the steeple of the
much of Mount Shasta is sacred in the church. Why not respect the whole
context of the legal boundaries neces- church?”
sary for designation on the National
Register of Historic Places. The develop- Taos Pueblo Blue Lake
ment of a ski area has sparked a debate High in the mountains above Taos, New
and pitted tribes with centuries of occu- Mexico, at nearly 14,000 feet in elevation,
pation and use against developers and a lake rests between granite stones and
local residents. tall spruce trees. Sacred to the Taos peo-
The 1994 designation of the entire ple who have lived at their pueblo since
mountain as a sacred site pleased the In- at least A.D. 1300, Blue Lake and its water-
dians and New Age religious users but shed symbolize cultural continuity for
infuriated non-Native locals and a Cali- the tribe and the source of all their health
fornia congressman. The Mount Shasta and spiritual well-being. It is from this
listing has since been cut to a 40-acre sacred lake that the tribe emerged, and
site at Panther Meadow and a 19,000- the lake is the source of their origin as a
acre “Native American Cosmological people. Taken by the U.S. Forest Service
District” within a preexisting 38,000- as public land and incorporated into the
acre wilderness area reaching from the Carson National Forest in 1906, the Blue
8,000-foot contour at timberline to the Lake area has stood as a symbol of the
14,000-foot summit. Only the top of the denial of Native American religious free-
mountain has been totally preserved. dom. As novelist Frank Waters explained,
These new boundaries reflect the origi- “The quest for Blue Lake brought Indian
nal proposal by the California State His- religion to the forefront of national con-
toric Preservation Office and the Shasta- sciousness. And it was crucial to the Indi-
Trinity National Forest, although other ans’ success that they convince the gen-
types of cultural properties are not in- eral public that religion lay behind their
cluded and have not yet been evaluated claim.”
for their archaeological or ethnographic The pueblo’s cacique, or religious
importance. leader, worked for more than sixty years
955
Mount Shasta in the Cascade Range is considered sacred to northern California Indians.
ca. 1992–1994. (David Muench/Corbis)
to have legal title to the sacred The pueblo proclaimed: “Our tribal
turquoise lake, Ba Whyea, restored to government is responsible to this land
Taos Pueblo. The cacique is responsible and to the people. We have lived upon
for the tribe’s spiritual life, and he this land from days beyond history’s
knows all the rituals and mythic stories records, far past any living memory deep
that begin with tribal emergence from into the time of legend. The story of my
their sacred lake. According to the reli- people and the story of this place are one
gious leaders, Blue Lake and the sur- single story. No man can think of us
rounding area “is an ancient place of without also thinking of this place. We
worship. It is where our ancestors dwell, are always joined together.” Each year
the source of our life giving water and the August Ceremony took place at Blue
the heart of Taos Pueblo religion and Lake, and tribal members of all ages
life.” made their annual 25-mile-long pilgrim-
956
age to its deep blue waters, which flow our land is not returned to us, if it is
through the pueblo as Blue Lake Creek, turned over to the government for its
or Rio Pueblo de Taos. use, then it is the end of Indian life. Our
Believing that a U.S. Forest Service people will scatter as the people of other
designation would help protect their nations have scattered. It is our religion
property, especially from rampant over- that holds us together” (quoted in
grazing, Taos Pueblo acquiesced to the Brookover 1996).
U.S. government’s incorporation of the After years of political delays, in 1969
Blue Lake area into the Carson National Congress finally reintroduced the Blue
Forest in 1906. But the agency’s mandate Lake Bill, or House Bill 471, which rec-
of multiple use of forest resources soon ommended passage of the law as the
distressed pueblo leaders, who came to cornerstone of a new Indian policy of
regret the inclusion. Serious disagree- self-determination. President Richard
ments arose between local Indians and M. Nixon signed the bill into law on De-
Forest Service personnel who demanded cember 15, 1970, returning 48,000 acres
visitation permits and treated Native of forest land known as the Blue Lake
Americans condescendingly. Taos peo- Wilderness Area to federal trust status for
ple increasingly felt as if they were tres- Taos Pueblo and granting an exclusive-
passing on their own sacred lands, but in use area, making the lake and adjacent
fact it had been non-Natives who had mountains off-limits to anyone not an
trespassed and squatted on pueblo land. enrolled member of Taos Pueblo. At the
Tribal leader Seferino Martinez ex- symbolic signing of the bill, President
plained: “We don’t have beautiful struc- Richard Nixon said, “Long before any or-
tures and we don’t have gold temples in ganized religion came to the United
this lake, but we have a sign of a living States, for 700 years, the Taos Pueblo In-
God to whom we pray—the living trees, dians worshipped in this place. We re-
the evergreen and spruce, and the store this place of worship to them for all
beautiful flowers and the beautiful the years to come.” As it has since time
rocks and the lake itself. We have this immemorial, the War Chief’s Office pa-
proof of sacred things we deeply love, trols Blue Lake and associated sacred
deeply believe.” shrines and pilgrimage trails.
Taos Indians could visit the lake, but A major legislative accomplishment
so could tourists, hunters, campers, lum- without parallel in Indian history, the re-
berjacks, and cattlemen. Their sacred turn of Taos Blue Lake could not have
area—and the source of water for the been accomplished without the stead-
Taos village—was no longer under the fast support of tribal members, tribal
pueblo’s control as it had been for cen- leaders, non-Native attorneys, and sym-
turies before recorded history. Cacique pathetic outsiders who respected Indian
Juan de Jesus Romero feared that “[if ] religious beliefs and felt that Taos Pueblo
957
had clearly been wronged. Frank Waters sociated Angel Mirror Laboratory, which
noted that the return of Blue Lake “was is considered one of the most important
the first land claims case settled in favor astrophysical projects in the world.
of an Indian tribe based on the freedom The Apaches lost by providing too lit-
of religion.” tle cultural information, too late, on the
Although the Blue Lake area is re- mountain known to them as “Big-Seated
stricted to enrolled Taos Pueblo mem- Mountain,” or Dzil Nchaa Si An. Indians
bers, the ancient village is not, and Taos claimed that the mountain is one of four
Pueblo welcomes tourists to enjoy “a sacred Apache mountains, and that it
thousand years of tradition.” It is this contains the burial sites of medicine
openness to the larger society that cre- men, the homes of spiritual beings in-
ated the necessary coalition to achieve cluding Gaan Dancers, and that it is a sa-
the return of Blue Lake. The sixty-year cred pilgrimage site for the collection of
struggle resulted in an enormous bur- plants and medicines. “There are songs
den, but there was never any hesitation about Mount Graham that are an impor-
about the effort or the goal. By protecting tant part of our religious practice,” stated
Blue Lake and their sacred watershed, Apache medicine man Franklin Stanley.
the people of Taos Pueblo are protecting “There are herbs and sources of water on
themselves and ensuring that future Mount Graham that are sacred to us.
generations will be firm in their identity Some of the plants on Mount Graham
and rooted in a special sacred place. As that we use are found nowhere else.” He
Cacique Juan de Jesus Romero said, “It is explained: “The mountain is part of spir-
our religion that holds us together” itual knowledge that is revealed to us.
(quoted in Brookover 1996). Our prayers go through the mountain,
through and to the top of the mountain.
Mount Graham: Telescopes and the Mount Graham is one of the most sacred
Big-Seated Mountain mountains. The mountain is holy. It was
The failure of Apaches to stop the con- holy before any people came, and in the
struction of two telescopes high atop mountain lives a greater spirit.” Eighteen
10,720-foot Mount Graham in the varieties of plants and animals are found
Pinaleno Mountains of southeast Arizona there that live nowhere else.
represents a critical defeat for Native A formidable environmental alliance
Americans and environmentalists, and a to stop the telescopes included Defend-
resounding victory for the University of ers of Wildlife, Earth Island Institute,
Arizona, expensive lobbyists, and Wash- Greenpeace, National Audubon Society,
ington, D.C., lawyers willing to play hard- National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra
ball to protect their clients. A small tribe Club, and the Wilderness Society. Other
of Apaches challenged the Mount Gra- opposition came from the National
ham International Observatory and its as- Council of Churches, the Unitarian Uni-
958
versalist Association of Congregations, response. The University of Arizona and

and tribal groups including the Apache other institutions involved with the tele-
Survival Coalition and Apaches for Cul- scopes do not deny Apaches their reli-
tural Preservation. Commentators ar- gious beliefs; instead, this is the familiar
gued that environmentalists sought In- dilemma of restricting access to sacred
dian alliances only after earlier attempts sites on public land. James Welch, historic
to stop the construction on environmen- preservation officer for the Fort Apache
tal grounds had failed. Reservation, argues that non-Apache “ex-
In a June 1991 letter to the U.S. Forest perts” should not decide issues of cultural
Service, the San Carlos Apache Tribal significance for Apaches, and that Native
Council demanded that construction of oral traditions must be recognized on a
the telescopes be stopped because of par with academic findings.
Mount Graham’s “vital importance for
maintaining the integrity of our Apache Colorado’s Hesperus Peak, or
culture and tradition.” The council ar- Dibe’nsta
gued, “Any permanent modification of Hesperus Peak in the La Plata Mountains
the present form of this mountain con- is one of the four sacred mountains in
stitutes a display of profound disrespect Diné cosmology; it represents the north-
for a cherished feature of the Apache’s west boundary of the Diné cultural area.
original homeland as well as a serious vi- In 1868, when the Diné were incarcerated
olation of Apache traditional religious at Bosque Redondo, chief Barbacito said
beliefs.” Along with the Zunis, for whom that they would do anything if only they
Mount Graham is also a sacred site, the could go home and not be sent to Okla-
San Carlos Tribal Council called for an homa. In his speech to General William
assessment of the mountain under Sec- Tecumseh Sherman, he described the
tion 106 of the National Historic Preser- boundary areas including Hesperus Peak
vation Act, but construction permits had as one of the Four Sacred Mountains.
already been approved. Hesperus Peak, 13,232 feet high, fig-
Apache silence about their religious ures in Diné lore not only from the
traditions did not help in this legal battle. treaty’s nineteenth-century date but also
Because Native Americans had previously much earlier in Diné myth and legend.
not objected to change on the mountain One of the most important of all Diné
and had not discussed or described their ceremonies, the Yei Bi Chai, or Nightway
sacred sites, federal officials had assumed Ceremony, is performed only certain
that no important sites existed; they acted times of the year; it is one of two major
accordingly. The U.S. Forest Service sent healing ceremonies held only during the
letters to the tribal council after locating winter months, when the snakes are hi-
two rock cairns and a shrine on the bernating and there is no danger of light-
mountain, but they received no written ning. This ceremony is performed for
959
eight days and nine nights, being initi- Diné medicine men go to the area to
ated when a patient first seeks the help of gather sacred dirt and special plants for
a hand trembler, who can sense and feel their medicine bundles, because the
symptoms of a certain nature. heart and soul of the Diné start with the
By midafternoon of the second day of four sacred mountains. Diné medicine
the ceremony, sand is used to make fig- man George Blueeyes explains, “These
ures on the four sacred mountains, and mountains and the land between them
the sand is placed in all directions begin- are the only things that keep us strong. . . .
ning with the east, south, west, and fi- We carry soil from the sacred mountains
nally north. Talking God enters the in a prayer bundle that we call dah nidi-
hogan where the ceremony is being per- ilyeeh. Because of this bundle, we gain
formed, and he rotates himself around possessions and things of value:
the patient four times in a clockwise mo- turquoise, necklaces, and bracelets. With
tion, beginning with the east and finish- this we speak, with this we pray. This is
ing in the north. where the prayers begin.”
A small church and cemetery with white crosses for grave markers stands in the desert below Black
Mesa in New Mexico. ca. 1980–1990. (Macduff Everton/Corbis)
960
According to legend, the sacred moun- After centuries of religious oppression

tains were the pillars that held up the sky; and denial of Indian religious freedom, it
thus as pillars they had to be fastened is time to respect tribal traditions. Former
down. The sacred north mountain, or Hopi Chairman Vernon Masayesva ex-
Hesperus, was tied down with a rainbow, plains, “If an Indian says a rock contains
black beads, and mist; many plants and the spirit of God, courts and judges must
animals were added. A dish of black not dismiss this as a romantic descrip-
beads, paszini, held two blackbird eggs tion. Keep in mind, to a Catholic conse-
under a cover of darkness, and on crated bread is no longer bread but the
Dibentsaa lived Pollen Boy and Grasshop- very physical body of Christ.” He adds,
per Girl. Because of the sacred nature of “No court would challenge the Catholic
Hesperus, “sacred mountains should not belief in that regard.” Masayesva con-
be climbed unless it is done in a proper cludes, “And no court should challenge as
way through prayer and song, and they romantic overstatement that places or
should be returned to by medicine men things contain the spirit of God either.”
every twelve years to renew their Bless- Andrew Gulliford
ingway prayers,” wrote Robert S. McPher-
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Diné;
son (see McPherson 1992). Ecology and Environmentalism; Hopi
Prophecy; Identity; Mother Earth; Oral
Sacred Sites Today Traditions; Religious Leadership,
California; Religious Leadership,
If the term “sacred site” has multiple Southwest, Pueblo; Reservations, Spiritual
meanings for tribal peoples, it is a term and Cultural Implications; Sacred Sites and
that is generally misunderstood by Sacred Mountains, Black Hills; Termination
and Relocation
non-Indians, who do not easily com-
prehend how Native Americans value
Brookover, Linda. 1996. “Desert Claims.”
their lands and landscapes. Perhaps OneWorld Magazine.
through the use of the term, despite its http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/focus/
deserts/pueblo2.htm. (Accessed February
ambiguity, Indian sites can be better
14, 2005)
protected. Certainly Presidential Exec- Chapman, Fred. 1993. “The Medicine
utive Order No. 13007 on Indian Sacred Wheel: Tourism, Historic Preservation,
and Native American Rights.” Wyoming
Sites (May 1996), signed by President
Annals 65, no. 1 (spring).
William Clinton, provides new protec- Gulliford, Andrew. 2000. Sacred Objects and
tions to special areas and helps to ac- Sacred Places: Preserving Tribal
commodate American Indians in the Traditions. Boulder: University Press of
Colorado.
free exercise of their religions. As De- Jorgensen, Joseph G. 1972. The Sun Dance
ward Walker has noted, “Clearly sacred Religion: Power for the Powerless.
geography is a universal and essential Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kelley, Klara B., and Harris Francis. 1994.
feature of the practice of American In- Navajo Sacred Places. Bloomington:
dian religions” (Walker 1998). Indiana University Press.
961
Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains, Black Hills _________________________________________
Masayesva, Vernon. 1998. “We Have Black Hills. The traditional story tells of a
Electricity, Jobs, and Clean Air.” High time when the people lived beneath the
Country News 30: 6.
McPherson, Robert. 1992. Sacred Land, earth. This place beneath the earth had
Sacred View: Navajo Perceptions of the been their home for thousands of years.
Four Corners Region. Provo: Brigham They emerged through Wind Cave,
Young University.
Parker, Patricia, and Thomas King. 1990. which is located in the southern Black
“Guidelines for Evaluating and Hills. Once they emerged, they were no
Documenting Traditional Cultural longer able to return to their ancestral
Properties.” In National Register Bulletin
no. 38. Washington, DC: U.S.
home. The people had left their leader
Department of the Interior, National behind, underground. He foresaw the
Park Service, Interagency Resources hardships that his people would soon
Division.
encounter, the cold and the hunger. Sac-
Walker, Deward. 1998. “American Indian
Sacred Geography.” Indian Affairs: rificing his secure and comfortable exis-
Special Supplement—American Indian tence, the leader emerged through Wind
Religious Freedom, no. 116 (summer).
Cave. As he did so, he took on the form of
the buffalo. The buffalo would then sus-
tain the Oceti Sakowin during their first
Sacred Sites and Sacred years on the earth and for generations to
come, providing food, shelter, clothing,
Mountains, Black Hills
tools, and all the other necessities of life.
The Black Hills, which cross the borders The Black Hills are known to the Oceti
between western South Dakota, north- Sakowin as Paha Sapa, or “the heart of
east Wyoming, and southeast Montana everything that is.” The hills contain all
are sacred spaces for the Oceti Sakowin the curing elements necessary for the
(the peoples collectively referred to as psychological and physical well-being of
Sioux), particularly the Lakota, as well as the people. Sites within the Black Hills of
the Northern Cheyenne and Omaha. particular importance are Harney Peak,
According to the Lakota Sioux, they Devils Tower, and Bear Butte. Lakota oral
have always lived in the northern Great traditions tell of the creation of these
Plains area. Any migration was purely lo- places, and of their importance in Lakota
calized, they say, outward from the Black religious life. Ceremonies are conducted
Hills into the regions surrounding them. at these sites. Their timing is in accor-
For the Oceti Sakowin, the Black Hills are dance with the movement of the constel-
profoundly religiously and spiritually lations, beginning in the spring and con-
significant. The Lakotas are the chosen tinuing throughout the summer.
protectors and caretakers of the Black The Oceti Sakowin first encountered
Hills—largely because the Black Hills are Euro-American settlers in the eighteenth
recognized as their birthplace. century, and trade with Euro-American
According to Lakota oral tradition, the traders reached its peak between 1825
Oceti Sakowin first emerged from the and 1839. A struggle with the U.S. govern-
962
________________________________________ Sacred Sites and Sacred Mountains, Black Hills
ment began in earnest in the mid–nine- with cyanide and left open pits through-
teenth century, as the United States began out the hills. Very often, companies are
to seize land through treaties. These doc- permitted to leave sites without any ef-
uments set boundaries for tribal lands, forts at environmental clean-up.
constraining the Natives’ freedom and Today, Bear Butte (Mato Paha) and
traditional ways of life. A series of treaties Devils Tower are popular tourist destina-
with the Oceti Sakowin set the boundaries tions for hikers and climbers. For tens of
of the so-called Great Sioux Reservation, thousands of years, Bear Butte has been
which encompassed the western half of the site of tribal gatherings, vision
present-day South Dakota. quests, and ceremonies. Hikers have
However, when gold was discovered in been requested to stay on designated
the Black Hills, which were within the trails and to avoid ceremonial areas.
agreed-upon boundaries of the Great However, restrictions are not enforced.
Sioux Reservation, the U.S. government The American Indian Religious Free-
sought to convince the Oceti Sakowin to dom Act has failed to protect these sites
sell the Black Hills. The Oceti Sakowin from incursions and to preserve them as
were unconvinced. Without a legal ceremonial and sacred places. Politicians
agreement, the U.S. government pushed continue to permit the violation of sacred
a treaty through a gathering representing places in the Black Hills, allowing mining
only 10 percent of the adult male popu- companies to abandon depleted mines
lation, removing the Black Hills from the without restoring the land. Only 0.8 per-
Great Sioux Reservation. The govern- cent of the Black Hills are protected from
ment seized the land, resulting in a long logging, and the U.S. Forest Service per-
and bloody war. Since that time the Oceti mits logging throughout the region.
Sakowin have continued to protest the Suzanne J. Crawford and
seizure of their sacred lands, and to re- Karen D. Lone Hill
fuse any monetary compensation.
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota;
In 1980 the Court of Claims, the Indian Kinship; Oral Traditions, Western Plains;
Claims Commission, and the Supreme Oral Traditions, Lakota; Reservations,
Spiritual and Cultural Implications; Sacred
Court acknowledged the illegality of the
Sites and Sacred Mountains; Termination
seizure. Instead of ordering that the land and Relocation; Vision Quest Rites
be returned, the Lakota were offered a
monetary sum: the value of the land in Brown, Brian Edward. 1999. Religion Law
1877 plus interest: $570 million. Arguing and Land: Native Americans and the
Judicial Interpretations of Sacred Land.
that a people cannot sell sacred land, the
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Oceti Sakowin refused to accept the sum. Gulliford, Andrew. 2000. Sacred Objects and
The Black Hills have been subject to Sacred Places: Preserving Tribal
logging, mining, and recreation, despite Traditions. Boulder: University Press of
Colorado.
protests from the Lakota. Gold, coal, and Neihardt, John G. 2000. Black Elk Speaks:
uranium mining have polluted the water Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the
963
Sacred Societies, Great Lakes _______________________________________________________________
Oglala Sioux as Told through John G. the rituals or on the social value of the
Neihardt. Lincoln: University of societies. What the rituals meant to indi-
Nebraska Press.
Walker, James R. 1991. Lakota Belief and viduals within the societies, rather than
Ritual. Lincoln: University of Nebraska to the community as a whole, is difficult
Press. to uncover. Furthermore, the historical
development of the societies is also diffi-
cult to determine, as the documentary
Sacred Societies, Great record, which began in the seventeenth
century, contains only the impressions
Lakes
of observers who were not usually privy
Sacred Societies (sometimes known as to the meaning of the ceremonies. Iro-
Medicine Societies) were formed by Iro- quoian Sacred Societies were certainly
quoian and Anishnabeg nations in the active from the early seventeenth cen-
Great Lakes region to convey the bless- tury, and the Anishnabeg from at least
ings of a particular Spirit to members of the middle of the seventeenth century.
their communities. Members of both Scholars and First Nations communities,
groups believed that humans shared the however, disagree among themselves
universe with powerful beings who, al- and with each other over when the soci-
though occupied with concerns of their eties actually began.
own, sometimes helped humans. Sacred The Iroquois Confederacy was and
Societies, which owned particular songs continues to be served by many medi-
and dances and followed certain rules, cine societies, including the False Faces,
were devoted to serving and pleasing the Bear, the Buffalo, the Chanters for the
various spirits. The societies attended Dead, the Eagle, the Husk Face, the Little
annual festivals as a group to appease People, the Otter, and the Society of
discontented Spirits and to honor benef- Women Planters. Most of these societies
icent ones. While the entire community have procured special abilities from their
benefited from the intervention of the patrons. The Husk Faces, for example, re-
societies, individuals could also ask ceived agricultural skills and shared
them for special healing, though some them with the community. Other soci-
payment for the rite was usually required eties served a protectionist role. The Lit-
to fulfill obligations to the Spirit. The Sa- tle People Society protected their com-
cred Societies continue today and are es- munity by ensuring that their potentially
pecially prominent in Minnesota and on malevolent patrons received enough at-
Manitoulin Island, where their members tention. Anishnabeg First Nations, on
guard the teachings and rituals of the so- the other hand, developed only two
cieties from the view of nonmembers. major societies: the Midéwiwin, or
Most studies of the religion of First Grand Medicine Society, and the
Nations concentrate either on details of Wabeno, or People of the Dawn. In the
964
______________________________________________________________ Sacred Societies, Great Lakes
viduals spontaneously took on spiritual

leadership after receiving Spirit dreams.
Most of the Iroquois and Anishnabeg
societies told stories about the origins of
their society. One of the most famous is
the Iroquoian story about False Face and
his Creator brother. When the Creator
was busy making the world, his brother
False Face grew annoyed and began to
follow him around, taking things apart
after his brother had made them and
adding unpleasant animals to the grow-
ing collection of useful ones. Eventually,
when the world was complete, the two
brothers got into a fight about who had
actually made it. The Creator suggested a
duel of power. Each would try to move a
mountain. Whoever succeeded clearly
was the creator. False Face tried first and
failed. His brother then told False Face to
turn his back. Being by far the more pow-
Carved wood figure with rectangular opening erful, the Creator moved the mountain
in the chest, used by the Midéwiwin secret up behind False Face’s back, and when
society. From Leech Lake, Minnesota. (Werner False Face turned around he smashed
Forman/Art Resource, NY)
his nose on it.
False Face admitted that he was the
weaker and asked his brother to allow
nineteenth century, Anishnabeg com- him to live. The Creator assented but in-
munities incorporated the Drum Dance sisted that in return for his life, False Face
and Peyote rituals from other First Na- should take care of humans. False Face
tions into their rituals. Alongside the so- agreed to give humans the power to ma-
cieties, the Anishnabeg maintained less nipulate hot coals, to survive the cold,
structured personal networks between and to fight disease, witches, and bad
people who had dreamed of the same weather, so long as they demonstrated
Spirit. Dependants of the powerful Bear their respect and affection for him by
Spirit, for example, shared a sweatlodge giving him tobacco and corn mush. The
ceremony renowned for its brutal tem- False Face Society in turn took as its first
peratures. The Anishnabeg also had a vi- responsibility the creation and mainte-
sionary religious tradition in which indi- nance of Masks with which they could
965
act out the relationship between hu- and offered gifts of tobacco and corn
mans and False Face prescribed in the soup to prevent the False Faces from be-
origin story. coming resentful and turning on the vil-
The story of the two brothers demon- lage. Thus the relationship between the
strates a common perception of the rela- villagers and the False Face Society who
tionship between humans and Manitous served them mirrored the relational
in the Great Lakes area. False Face was structure of reciprocal obligations be-
motivated to become the guardian of his tween humans and Manitous.
society by circumstances foreign to the In the twentieth century, many of the
human Iroquois. The Society accepted False Face Masks were photographed;
his help with the knowledge that it was others were displayed in museums for
offered, not out of affection or inclina- the amusement and education of non-
tion, but as part of a bargain; it would Iroquois people. Some Iroquois leaders
continue only as long as they fulfilled charged that such actions abused the
their half of the agreement. Spirits associated with the Masks, and a
Not all Iroquois became members of number of scholars lost the support of
the False Face Society. But those who did their Iroquois informants. Museums
reflected their patron’s combination of holding Masks and other religiously
hostility and helpfulness while spreading significant pieces were forced to begin
the protection of False Face to their com- the long, slow process of self-examina-
munity at the Midwinter festival. The So- tion that has led to the return of some
ciety members, themselves called False religious objects. However, some Iro-
Faces, ritually purged their community quois believe that the people who gave
of the malevolent power of both unseen the Masks to the museums will be de-
Mysteries and antisocial humans. In one prived of Spirit blessings until the
dramatic ritual the False Faces organized Masks are returned.
themselves into two groups at opposite Like the False Face Society, the An-
ends of the village. Each group began to ishnabeg Grand Medicine Society, or
walk toward the center, entering every Midéwiwin, offered spiritual protection
house on their path. Inside the homes to members and nonmembers alike.
the False Faces yelled to frighten malevo- However the Midéwiwin incorporated a
lent spirits away and shook rattles into broader cross-section of society into its
the darkest corners to eradicate all dan- general membership than did the False
gerous human and spiritual forces. The Faces. Possibly that was because the
False Faces also jostled sick people to Midéwiwin helped people to live well in
their feet and teased layabouts. When order to prepare them for death. In one
the houses were all visited the Faces met version of the Midéwiwin origin story, a
in the center, where a representative of human named Cutfoot had a vision of
the villagers quickly thanked the Faces terrified Anishnabeg being turned away
966
______________________________________________________________ Sacred Societies, Great Lakes
from Ishpeming, the land of the dead, be- people entered the lodge and sat down
cause they were not at peace. Nan- between fires lighted at each entrance.
abozho, the trickster Spirit credited with Mide leaders played drums and led the
creating the earth and the Anishnabeg, assembly in singing and dancing. Even-
gained permission from the other Spirits tually the adolescent initiates walked to
to give Cutfoot birch bark scrolls con- the center, where a Mide leader charged
taining knowledge of herbal healing, rit- them to remember to fast faithfully. Then
uals, and teachings that would enable the assembled Mide took out their medi-
the Anishnabeg to approach death with cine bundles, or Kahshkekeh mahahke-
equanimity and enter Ishpeming. Mem- moot, and circled the lodge. The leaders
bers of the Midéwiwin learned and passed by the initiates, shooting migis
passed on the wisdom given to the An- shells into the initiates’ bodies by touch-
ishnabeg by Cutfoot. ing them with their medicine bundles.
Joining the Midéwiwin entailed either The shells were believed to have come
purchasing a curing ritual from the Mide from the Great Ocean and to contain the
leaders or undergoing an initiation cere- power of life. At each touch the children
mony. Mide curing ceremonies lasted fell, overwhelmed by the power suddenly
for several days and featured an incre- in their bodies.
mental recitation of the Mide origin After each fall the initiates stood
story. The Anishnabeg believed that again, ready for the next. When the last of
telling stories about the Manitous pro- the Mide leaders had passed by, the chil-
moted healing because the Manitous dren remained prone on the ground
visited people who spoke about them. until a woman who was standing behind
Once cured, the patient became a mem- them throughout raised them by singing
ber of the first order of the Midéwiwin. in their ears and drawing their attention
Through initiation into the Midéwiwin, to the four directions and then to the
even children could gain the general earth. Once the initiates were raised, the
blessings of the Society. Mide initiation head Mide distributed pieces of medi-
ceremonies began with the construction cine from his own bag to the Mide lead-
of a Mide lodge, or a Midewagamig, a ers. The Mide leaders all chewed their
rectangular tent built with doors open- medicine, then spat the juice onto the
ing toward the east and west. In the mid- initiates’ chests, necks, and backs, trans-
dle of the tent stood one or two poles ferring their power to the initiates. Fi-
hung with figures of humans ready to be nally each leader addressed the children,
filled with medicine. identifying them as members of the
To open the ceremonies the gathered Mide and welcoming them to all of the
community shared a large feast. When ceremonies of the Mide.
the meal was over, the Mide leaders went Leadership in the Midéwiwin fell to
into the woods alone to sing. At night the men and women known for having
967
dreams of powerful beings. Such people the fur trade began, increased central-
received instruction in the meaning of ization allowed influential leaders to
birch bark scrolls marked with detailed establish a priestly order. While the rea-
line drawings, like the ones given to soning is sound, the initial argument
Cutfoot by Nanabozho. The scrolls con- rested on the presence of a cross figure
tained teachings corresponding to four in Midéwiwin scrolls. However, other
degrees of initiation. Higher degrees of scholars have pointed out that in the
the Midéwiwin included instruction in context of Anishnabeg beliefs, the cross
herbal remedies, in curing victims of symbolized the four directions and the
witchcraft, and in traveling over dis- four wind Manitous who presided over
tances without physical bodies. The first them. Later scholars have argued that
two degrees of the Midéwiwin were as- the Anishnabeg received the Midéwi-
sociated with the earth and water Mys- win before the arrival of Europeans in
teries, Otter and Weasel. The more pow- North America, independent of outside
erful Mysteries, Bear and Mink, influence.
watched over the second two degrees, Catherine Murton Stoehr
known as the sky degrees. As students
progressed through the levels of the Dreams and Visions; Manitous; Masks and
Midéwiwin, their powers both to heal Masking; Sacred Societies, Northwest Coast;
Sacred Societies, Plains; Sweatlodge;
and to harm others grew. As a result,
Tricksters
people known to have achieved the
third and fourth degrees could easily Angel, Michael. 1997. “Discordant Voices,
become suspected of sorcery. Like the Conflicting Visions: Ojibwa and Euro-
False Faces, high-level Mide priests American Perspectives on the
Midéwiwin.” Ph.D. diss., University of
could never be uniformly beloved by
Manitoba.
their community. Danford, Joanne. 1989. “Will the ‘Real’ False
Scholars are divided over the origins Face Please Stand Up?” Canadian
Journal of Native Studies 9, no. 2:
of the Midéwiwin. Several, drawing on
253–272.
the work of anthropologist Harold Landes, Ruth. 1968. Ojibway Religion and
Hickerson, have concluded that the the Midewiwin. Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press.
Midéwiwin began as a spiritual revival
Mogelon, Alex. 1994. The People of Many
motivated by cultural changes resulting Faces: Masks, Myths and Ceremonies of
from the arrival of European traders the Iroquois. Lakefield, Ontario:
and settlers. Such scholars argue that Waapoone Publishing and Promotion.
Vecsey, Christopher. 1983. Traditional
before the advent of the Midéwiwin, Ojibwa Religion and Its Historical
small kin groups, each with local spiri- Changes. Philadelphia: American
tual leaders, observed ritual practices Philosophical Society.
Wallace, Anthony. 1969. The Death and
according to directions they received Rebirth of the Seneca. New York: Vintage
personally from the Manitous. When Books.
968
_________________________________________________________ Sacred Societies, Northwest Coast
Sacred Societies, Regional Variations

Northwest Coast Many features of Northwest coast cul-
ture run along a north-south axis. In the
Sacred, or secret, societies were common case of sacred societies, the northern
throughout the Northwest coast, with tribes tended to practice a more commu-
the exception of the far northern reaches nal and highly structured type of perfor-
of the Alaska panhandle and among mance, while in the southern region it
some of the more southerly groups. tended to be more individualistic. In the
Gatherings of these societies invariably south, winter performances fade into a
took place in winter. The Kwakwak’wakw type of generic guardian spirit complex,
(Kwakiutl) viewed the world as a disk where at some point they cease being
that was flipped over in the winter, re- “societies” at all. In the north, not only
vealing a dark underside. This was the are the dances organized communally
natural milieu of superhuman spirits but, in addition, they represent commu-
that were often threatening, although nal themes. The source for many of the
who also offered important gifts. This dances performed in the northern coast
world was fundamentally hostile to hu- region is the north-central region, espe-
mans. It was dark, especially in the cially the Heiltsuk, who apparently in-
higher latitudes, and stormy; the re- vented flesh-eating dances and other
sources upon which humans relied were dances that are found regionally. This
either absent or difficult to obtain. Dur- area is also the richest in terms of a num-
ing this period humans relied upon ber of distinct societies. It is likely that
stored food, especially dried salmon, the idea of sacred societies itself origi-
which was eaten in large quantities at nated in this area and diffused south and
feasts and potlatches associated with the north, reaching limits in what is now
sacred society dances. Late winter, after southern Washington and southern
the conclusion of the ceremonies, was a Alaska.
period of hunger, even famine, as well as
ritually prescribed fasting. Not until the Southern Region
first run of salmon or oolichan (a com- In the southern half of the Northwest
mon, oily fish species; also spelled “eula- coast—from southern Oregon through
chon”) in the spring did life return to a southern British Columbia—sacred soci-
normal, human-centric routine of food eties were a rather loose organization of
procurement. The unifying theme of sa- individuals holding superhuman power,
cred societies, and thus their diagnostic usually from zoomorphic donors. That
criterion, is the dramatic representation was the basic pattern of the southern
of possession by spiritual power and the Salish Spirit Dances, in which dancers
ability of the group and individual to displayed evidence of the powers be-
overcome that possession. stowed upon them by a guardian spirit.
969
Sacred Societies, Northwest Coast __________________________________________________________
Only people of chiefly lineage were eligible to take the role of a Hamatsa, or Cannibal Dancer. To
indicate his hunger for human flesh, his costume had carved wooden skulls attached. The depicted
skull on the wooden arc would have been carried by Kinqalalala, his female attendant. With this she
would subdue Hamatsa. (Werner Forman/Corbis)
They did so in an organized fashion that Spirit powers were used to cure the suf-
superficially resembled the more com- ferer. However, spirit powers were equally
munal societies of the central and north- capable of inflicting harm, and they could
ern Northwest coast. However, the indi- in fact become an instrument of sorcery.
vidual spirits “sung” were unique to the One function of Spirit Dances was thus to
holder, and thus they did not constitute channel the spirit power toward positive
series or subgroups within the dance. ends. The performances varied by group
Adolescent boys and girls obtained and according to the type of power, but for
spirit power of their own accord through many Coast Salish it involved the rhyth-
vision quests, and they displayed it in mic shaking of deer hoof rattles and beat-
public for the first time at winter dances. ing of roof planks, the use of “spirit
These dances were ultimately therapeutic, boards” to represent the guardian spirit
in that they were sponsored by someone power (which became animated during
suffering from the effects of spirit power. the course of the dance), and some degree
970
of bodily mutilation, often the piercing of the Winter Ceremonial. The highest-
flesh with a knife. Certain tricks, such as ranking and best-known dance society in
bleeding in the mouth and hanging from this region was the Hamatsa, or Cannibal
ropes, were performed. Specific cere- Dance. This originated with the Heiltsuk
monies were performed to retrieve souls and was acquired by the Kwakwak’wakw
from the land of the dead. in the nineteenth century. It epitomized
In the region of the central Coast Sal- the theme of spirit power as threatening
ish, the dances took on a more commu- to humans. Initiates were “grabbed” and
nal form. Rather than acquiring power taken to the bush for training. They were
through vision quests, initiates were said to be dead, to have been eaten by the
“grabbed” by veterans of the society and cannibal spirit. Upon return they demon-
taken away for seclusion and training. strated their possession by biting people,
During this period the initiates were appearing to cannibalize a corpse, and
thought of as dead, and thus their return other “wild” behavior. Although theatri-
represented a rebirth. A song revealed to cal tricks were used, there was undoubt-
the initiate in a vision is a mark of power, edly some eating of human flesh. Since
and the initiate is classed according to the initiates were believed to be pos-
the type of power revealed in the song. sessed by the cannibal spirit, they were
Elaborate costumes and face paint, but not considered human at the time. Over
no masks, were worn by the initiates. several days initiates were “tamed,” be-
They danced for the remainder of the coming more manageable. For the re-
winter season, while remaining secluded mainder of the winter season, initiates
and engaging in frequent bathing and fasted, drank seawater, and otherwise
other purificatory practices. purified themselves in order to reenter
Among the northern Coast Salish, human society.
masked dancing was practiced. There, the Other similar dance societies involved
basic principle of the sacred society trans- sickness, war, predation by animals, and
formed from an individually acquired death. With the exception of the
guardian spirit to an inherited privilege, Hamatsa, who was minimally clothed in
although among some local groups the cedar bark, these were all masked
characteristic southern form persisted. dances. As a rule, these most powerful
Groups such as the Comox of Vancouver dances entailed existential threats to hu-
Island practiced the Sxwayxwey masked manity. These threats were, in a sense,
dance, which represents cultural diffusion brought into human society, where they
from the neighboring Kwakwak’wakw. were ultimately defeated. In the Heiltsuk
version of the Winter Ceremonial, two
Northern Region distinct series, called the Tsaika (mean-
In the north, a number of separate dance ing “shamans”) and the Dluelaxa (mean-
societies were typically incorporated into ing “second down”—that is, from
971
Sacred Societies, Northwest Coast __________________________________________________________
heaven) were opposed as forces of de-

struction and restoration of order. The
threatening dances were generally in the
former; the latter allowed hereditary
chiefs to use their power to bestow bless-
ings and to “heal” the community. The
Kwakwak’wakw had these two series as
well; the latter was sometimes called the
Weasel Dance, referring to fur-decorated
headdresses worn by the chiefs (rather
than masks).
Among the Tsimshian a similar oppo-
sition pertained, although dances were
organized into four separate societies. A
Dog-eating Dance took the place of the
Heiltsuk Cannibal Dance. Among the
Nuxalk (Bella Coola), two dance series
were held, although not all of the
dances were derived from the neighbor- Kwakwak’wakw man kneeling on one knee
ing Heiltsuk. The Haida of Queen Char- dressed in skins, hat, and other garments, 1910.
lotte Islands performed Winter Ceremo- (Edward Curtis/Library of Congress)
nial dances, but they apparently simply
borrowed them directly from the Heilt- cognate) and northern Coast Salish
suk. They had more the quality of enter- Spirit Dancing. Like the latter, it focused
tainment than dances on the mainland. more on actual healing, rather than on
The Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) of west- the defeat of existential threats to
ern Vancouver Island and their Makah human existence.
cousins to the south had a community One commonality among all these
masquerade called the Tlukwana, or dance societies is the notion of transfor-
Wolf Ritual. This reenacted events from mation. This was more evident in the
the mythical age, involving the acquisi- masked dances, but it pertained as well
tion of supernatural power by human in unmasked versions of Spirit Dancing
ancestors. Most male members of the and performances such as the Hamatsa.
community would be involved. In addi- With masking, the effect is more obvi-
tion, central and southern Nuu-chah- ous—the dancer is no longer human, or
nulth and Makah possessed a second at least no longer his or her “normal”
“shamans” series, the Cayiq. This was self—but other features make it obvious
influenced by both the Heiltsuk and that even unmasked dancers are psycho-
Kwakwak’wakw Tsaika (the names are logically and spiritually in an altered
972
state. With most dances—the spiritually ditional dances were invented in re-
more potent ones, especially—an initi- sponse to European contact, and certain
ate is not thought to be impersonating a dances (for example, those dealing with
spirit but rather possessed by that spirit. disease and death) became more impor-
The dance is thus a performance of limi- tant. Additionally, influences from out-
nality—of a person moving in and out of side the culture area led to the develop-
a social identity. ment of indigenous religious societies.
Such transformation is a cosmological Most important was the influence of the
principle. The very seasonality that pro- widespread Ghost Dance, which, in the
vides the backdrop for sacred society Northwest, became the Warm House
performances is itself an example. More- cult in Oregon and the Prophet Dance in
over, living things transformed them- the Plateau. Syncretistic religious move-
selves, both originally in the myth age ments, such as the Indian Shaker
and through reincarnation. Humans and Church, had their origins in indigenous
their prey are likewise transformations of sacred societies.
one another, as salmon, for instance, are Most sacred societies were discour-
thought to live in societies much like aged or, especially in Canada, prohib-
those of humans. In one sense, the Can- ited from the late nineteenth through
nibal Dance represents the completion the mid-twentieth century. Since the
of this transformation, in which humans 1960s, many of these performances
become prey. A class of Kwakwak’wakw have been revived, or, in some cases,
masks, called “transformation masks,” il- have become public again after decades
lustrates this principle visually. An ani- of secrecy. These undeniably are contin-
mal mask may open up and turn into a uous with the precontact societies, al-
spirit, and then into another species; though they have undergone consider-
likewise, benevolent and malevolent be- able change as well. Gone are even
ings may appear in the same mask. This theatrical renditions of anthropophagy
represents a high form of religious in the Hamatsa, as well as, generally, the
thought, in which seemingly contradic- bloody aspects of all dances. At the
tory ideas may be held simultaneously. It same time, they have adapted to
stands, moreover, as a metaphor for the changed circumstances—for example,
interconnectedness of the human and Spirit Dances have been used to treat
natural worlds. substance abuse and behavioral prob-
lems in Salish youth.
Historical Variations Michael Harkin
These traditional sacred societies were See also Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest;
themselves subject to historical Dances, Northwest Winter Spirit Dances;
Guardian Spirit Complex; Masks and
processes, such as diffusion and, later, Masking; Oral Traditions, Northwest Coast;
prohibition by colonial authorities. Ad- Power, Northwest Coast
973
Sacred Societies, Plains ______________________________________________________________________
References and Further Reading alized process throughout nineteenth-

Boas, Franz.1966. Kwakiutl Ethnography. century, prereservation Plains commu-
Drucker, Philip. 1951. The Northern and nities, although those who possessed
Central Nootkan Tribes. Bulletin 144. similar powers usually convened in sa-
Washington, DC: Bureau of American cred societies: doctors’ societies per-
Ethnology.
Elmendorf, William. 1948. “The Cultural formed curing rituals, and medicine
Setting of the Twana Secret Society.” bundle societies maintained tribal spiri-
American Anthropologist 50: 625–633. tuality through shared rites of intensifi-
Harkin, Michael. 1996. “Carnival and
Authority: Heiltsuk Cultural Models of
cation. United by spirit-derived powers
Power.” Ethos 24: 281–313. obtained spontaneously and involuntar-
———.1997. The Heiltsuks: Dialogues of ily, or through the vision quest, members
Culture and History on the Northwest
of sacred—and usually secret—societies
Coast. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press. guarded their collective esoteric knowl-
Jilek, Wolfgang G. 1982. Indian Healing: edge from outsiders (Irwin 1994, 78–79).
Shamanic Ceremonialism in the Pacific
Other societies, less sacred in nature,
Northwest Today. Surrey, British
Columbia: Hancock House. were associated with a common feature
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1982. The Way of the of Plains Indian social organization: the
Masks. Seattle: University of Washington
formation of non-kin groups, or associa-
Press.
Mauzé, Marie, Michael Harkin, and Sergei tions. Plains peoples lived as semiseden-
Kan, eds. 2004. Coming to Shore: tary horticultural villagers, or as eques-
Northwest Coast Ethnology, Traditions trian bison hunters. Tribal kinship
and Visions. Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press. patterns varied from unilineal descent—
McIlwraith, Thomas F. 1992. The Bella Coola patriclans, matriclans, moieties, and
Indians, 2 vols. Toronto: University of phratries—to bilateral descent—bands
Toronto Press.
Seguin, Margaret, ed. 1984. The Tsimshian: and villages—crosscut by men’s age-
Images of the Past, Views for the Present. graded or nongraded military societies
Vancouver: University of British (sodalities) and women’s age-graded or
Columbia Press.
Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays. nongraded societies. Whether member-
Seattle: University of Washington Press. ship was voluntary or restricted to col-
———, ed. 1990. The Handbook of North lective powers, societies shared common
American Indians: The Northwest Coast,
vol. 7. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
animatistic/animistic beliefs pertaining
Institution Press. to the acquisition and accumulation of
spiritual power and its connection to
success in warfare, hunting, curing, and
social activities. Steeped in these princi-
ples, Plains societies, even those labeled
Sacred Societies, Plains
“secular,” had sacred components.
Acquiring supernatural power through Medicine bundle societies among the
spiritual intermediaries was an individu- horticulturalist Plains Village Tradition
974
_____________________________________________________________________ Sacred Societies, Plains
Six men participate in the Arikara medicine ceremony, the Bears. 1908. (Edward Curtis/Library of
Congress)
peoples consisted of priests and ceremo- Quapaw and the Chiwere Siouan-speak-
nial leaders representing clans, bands, or ing Iowa and Oto/Missouria also had rit-
villages. In the Upper Missouri region, ual specialists and keepers of sacred clan
villages of northern Siouan-speaking or village bundles (see DeMallie 409, 423,
Mandan and Hidatsa were subdivided 470, 480–481, 502, 439, 448–449). Unique
into exogamous matrilineal clans and for villagers, the Caddoan-speaking
moieties. Keepers of personal and sacred Arikara and Pawnee reckoned bilateral
tribal bundles belonged to different kinship and organized at the village level;
clans, conducting important tribal cere- each autonomous village had an origin
monies connected with their bundles myth and a sacred bundle owned by a
(Wood and Irwin 2001, 357; Stewart priest who maintained the spiritual in-
2001, 335–336). Characterized by patri- tegrity of the community. Pawnee and
lineal clans, the Dhegiha Siouan-speak- Arikara cultures were stratified, so
ing Omaha, Ponca, Kansa, Osage, and priests and leaders derived from the
975
upper class (Parks 2001a, 373, 375; Parks McCollough 2001, 931). Two of the four
2001b, 530–532, 534). In all these cul- important tribal ceremonies of the Algon-
tures, rituals conducted by village and quin-speaking Cheyenne were related to
clan leaders spiritually unified exoga- the Medicine Hat and Sacred Arrows
mous kin groups, and on a larger level, bundles, protected by full-time priests;
the tribe. the Sacred Arrow Renewal was the most
Among equestrian peoples there were important Cheyenne ceremony (Moore,
priestly keepers of Sun Dance and other Liberty, and Straus 2001, 873–875).
sacred bundles, but most tribes lacked Doctors’ societies comprising individ-
the medicine bundle societies typical of uals sharing common shamanic curing
the predominantly clan-based villagers. powers were widespread throughout the
The Crow, linguistically related to the Hi- Plains. Such secret societies existed
datsa, were unusual for equestrians be- among the Arikara and their Caddoan
cause of the formation of matrilineal Pawnee and Wichita relatives. Below
clans, which perhaps explains medicine chiefs and priests in status among the
bundle societies uniting those with simi- Arikara were doctors, particularly the
lar powers: the Tobacco, Sacred Pipe, and leaders of the eight doctors’ societies—
Horse Dance societies (Voget 2001, 707). Ghost, Black-Tailed Deer, Shedding Buf-
In contrast, their Siouan-speaking falo, Cormorant, Duck, Owl, Din of Birds,
Northwestern Plains neighbors, the and Bear—which coalesced in the medi-
Assiniboine, had six to eight Holy Men— cine lodge during important tribal cere-
ceremonial leaders, diviners, dream in- monies held in mid-August (Parks 2001a,
terpreters, and practitioners of malign 381–382). Similar distinctions acknowl-
shooting magic—who did not form a so- edging priests as bearers of sacrosanct
ciety (DeMallie and Miller 2001, 578). bundles pertaining to tribal welfare, and
Also unique among equestrians were the shamans as the recipients of curing pow-
Kiowa-Tanoan-speaking Kiowa, dis- ers, were found in Pawnee culture, where
tantly related to the Taos Pueblo peoples an amorphous association of doctors
of the Southwest; tribal unity and spiri- was superseded in importance by the
tual well-being were maintained by a Doctors’ (or Medicine) Lodge, which
priestly society of ten men, keepers of held two-day ceremonies in the spring
the sacred Split Boy or Boy Medicine and summer, followed by a month-long
bundles, who met periodically to renew early fall ceremony conducted by leaders
the bundles (LaBarre et al. 1935). Shield who publicly displayed their magical
societies linked to power visions also ex- powers (Parks 2001b, 532).
isted, a trait shared with their linguisti- Semisecret, open-membership soci-
cally unrelated Southwestern Plains al- eties related to various aspects of tribal
lies, the Athabascan-speaking Plains well-being existed among the Wichita.
Apache (Levy 2001, 913–915; Foster and Notable was the Deer Dance—extinct
976
after 1871—led by a Deer shaman, which who had received power visions from
ensured overall good health and pros- certain animals (ibid., 808). Although
perity for the tribe. Possible use of the Crow medicine bundle societies had spe-
mildly hallucinogenic mescal bean cific medicine powers related to victories
(Sophora secundiflora) enhanced visions against enemies, acquisition of horses
from power animals (Newcomb 2001, and wealth, and longevity, they also func-
558). Doctors’ societies also existed tioned like doctors’ societies in their em-
among the Omaha, Ponca, Quapaw, and phasis on curing and well-being (Voget
Osage (DeMallie 2001, 410, 424, 502; Bai- 2001, 706–707).
ley 1995, 45–48). The Iowa Medicine Other equestrian groups with doctors’
Dance and the Medicine Lodge of the societies included the Kiowa (Levy 2001,
Oto/Missouria were similar to the Cen- 915) and Plains Apache (Foster and Mc-
tral Algonkin Midéwiwin Society: curing Collough 2001, 931); their comrades the
through sacred bundles, ceremonial Uto-Aztecan-speaking Comanche had a
song and dance, and herbal medicines number of “medicine societies” com-
characterized the former, whereas the posed of up to twelve individuals sharing
elite members of the Medicine Lodge the same power (Wallace and Hoebel
employed sorcery to control deviant be- 1952, 165; Kavanagh 2001, 892), such as
havior (Wedel 2001, 440; Schweitzer the Eagle doctors (Jones 1972, 27–30).
2001, 451–452). One of the four major ceremonies of the
Siouan equestrian tribes with doctors’ Cheyenne, the Massaum, or Crazy
societies included the Assiniboine, San- Lodge, was performed by shamans
tee, Yankton, Yanktonai, Teton, and Crow. dressed like the animals from which
Assiniboine Horse Society rites pertained their powers derived (Moore, Liberty,
to doctoring people and horses, and Fool and Straus 2001, 874). The Arapaho were
Society ceremonies held during the sum- linguistically related to their Cheyenne
mer Sun Dance included a special heal- confederates; near the end of the nine-
ing ceremony for people with vision teenth century, Southern Arapaho doc-
problems (DeMallie and Miller 2001, tors’ societies were created by shamans
579). The Santee Midéwiwin Society con- sharing the same powers, although they
ducted curing and renewal ceremonies could belong to several societies (Fowler
and held feasts for the dead (Albers 2001, 2001, 844). Perhaps the last tribe to
769). Another version of the Central Al- emerge onto the Plains, the Algonquin-
gonkin Midéwiwin, the Yanktonai (and speaking Plains Ojibwa, bison and
perhaps Yankton) Medicine Dance, in- moose hunters organized into patrilineal
volved curing performances by Tree- clans, maintained numerous Woodland
Dweller dreamers (DeMallie 2001a, traditions including the Midéwiwin, or
789–790). Teton doctors’ societies were Medicine Lodge ceremony (Albers 2001,
loosely organized groups of individuals 650).
977
Most common among doctors’ soci- Some tribes even had exclusive
eties were those related to curing powers women’s societies. Prior to coalescence
received from animals, particularly, Buf- in Like-a-Fishhook Village in 1845, the
falo, Bear, and Black-Tailed Deer. Buffalo Hidatsa and Mandan inhabited matrilin-
societies existed among the Ponca, eal, clan-based villages crosscut by age-
Omaha, Iowa, Oto/Missouria, Quapaw, graded men’s and women’s societies,
Mandan, Pawnee, Teton, Arapaho, and largely secular in function but with some
Kiowa. The Plains Cree, a transitional spiritual elements. Since Mandan and
Plains culture linguistically related to the Hidatsa women had access to supernat-
Plains Ojibwa, practiced a Buffalo Dance ural power, each culture had four age-
unrelated to curing, unique for Plains graded women’s societies: post-
tribes. Tribes with Bear societies and Griz- menopausal Mandan women formed a
zly Bear Doctors included the Ponca, shamanistic healing society, the White
Omaha, Iowa, Quapaw, Arikara, Pawnee, Buffalo Cows, and members of the pow-
Wichita, Teton, and Arapaho. Black-Tailed erful Hidatsa Holy Women Society, in-
Deer societies were found in the Arikara, cluding berdaches, participated in all
Pawnee, Mandan, and Teton cultures important tribal rituals (Stewart 2001,
(DeMallie 2001, 360, 381–383, 410, 424, 337, 344; Wood and Irwin 2001, 360). The
440, 451–452, 502, 538, 647, 808, 844, 915). Wichita, Arikara, and Ponca each had
That Plains cultures recognized three women’s societies; membership in
women as eminent healers was evident the Ponca Tattooed Women society con-
by several doctors’ societies with female sisted of the daughters of chiefs and af-
membership. The Buffalo Doctors’ fluent men (Newcomb 2001, 558; Parks
Lodge of the sedentary Oto/Missouria 2001a, 378; Brown and Irwin 2001, 424).
and the Buffalo Society of the Iowa in- Among the equestrian tribes, the
cluded male and female shamans Kiowa were represented by women’s so-
(Schweitzer 2001, 451–452; Wedel 2001, cieties (Levy 2001, 912). The Plains
440), as did the Deer Dance of the Wi- Apache had the Izuwe, a secret society
chita (Newcomb 2001, 558), and the comprised of twenty elderly women who
Medicine Dance of the Yanktonai (De- prayed for sick people and departing
Mallie 2001a, 789–790). Both genders warriors (Foster and McCollough 2001,
likewise participated in the Cheyenne 930–931); the Blood and Northern Black-
Massaum Ceremony dressed like the an- foot divisions organized the Women’s So-
imals representing their shamanic pow- ciety (Ewers 1982, 61, 106). Presided over
ers (Moore, Liberty, and Straus 2001, by elderly women, the Assiniboine
874), and men and women belonging to Dance without Robes—similar to the Old
the Assiniboine Horse Society special- Women’s Society dance of the Kiowa—
ized in doctoring horses and humans included male dancers, and the sacred
(DeMallie and Miller 2001, 578). Female Elk Society performed yearly fer-
978
tility dances (DeMallie and Miller 2001, and other distinguishing regalia. Al-
579; Kracht 1989, 183–188). More secular though some societies were sacred, most
women’s societies included quilling soci- were secular organizations that spon-
eties that emphasized decorative sewing sored social dances featuring variant
skills, as found among the Kiowa, performances of the War Dance follow-
Cheyenne, and Teton (Kracht 1989, 247; ing the safe return of war expeditions, or
Grinnell 1923, 159–169; DeMallie 2001b, during summer Sun Dances and other
808). tribal ceremonies. Societies were often
Men’s military and dancing societies called upon to safeguard tribal encamp-
existed in at least twenty of the semi- ments or to police the summer bison
sedentary and equestrian Plains tribes, hunts to prevent individual hunters from
and they were all similar in form and scattering the herds preceding the de-
function, notwithstanding variations of parture of organized hunting parties; op-
age-grading. Age-graded men’s societies timal control ensured the maximal gain
were present among the equestrian of buffalo meat for the community. In
Blackfoot, Arapaho, Gros Ventre, and certain tribes there were elite fighting so-
Sarcee, whereas the six Kiowa sodalities cieties composed of men with outstand-
were loosely graded (DeMallie 2001, 615, ing combat records and suicide warriors
633, 683, 844, 846, 912). Among semi- with no-retreat rules compelling them to
sedentary peoples, Mandan and Hidatsa fight rearguard skirmishes with their
societies were age-graded; when young flowing sashes staked to the ground: the
boys formed a new cohort, the other Assiniboine No Flight Society (DeMallie
grades advanced in rank (Wood and and Miller 2001, 579); the Teton Lance
Irwin 2001, 360; Stewart 2001, 334–335). Bearers (DeMallie 2001b, 802–803); the
When the Arikara joined Like-a-Fish- Comanche Lobo Society (Kavanagh
hook Village in 1862, they differed from 2001, 893–894); the Plains Apache Klin-
the Mandan and Hidatsa because they tide Society (Foster and McCollough
were subdivided into nongraded men’s 2001, 931); the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers
societies (Parks 2001a, 375, 383). Besides (Moore 1996, 112, 126–127, 132); and the
the Arikara, nongraded men’s societies Kiowa Principal Dogs (Levy 2001, 912;
were found among the Pawnee, Omaha, LaBarre et al. 1935). Crow men losing the
Ponca, Iowa, Assiniboine, Stoney, Plains will to live became exalted Crazy Dog
Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Crow, Teton, Chey- Wishing to Die warriors (Lowie 1935,
enne, Comanche, and Plains Apache 331–332).
(DeMallie 2001, 411, 423–424, 440, 532, The following is a brief sketch of sa-
579, 597, 645, 704, 802–803, 876, 893–894, cred societies among the prereservation
931). Kiowa of southwestern Oklahoma,
Plains military societies possessed largely based on the ethnographic field
distinctive songs, dances, staffs, lances, notes of James Mooney (1891–1904) and
979
Weston LaBarre (et al. 1935), located in left side of the horse. Since the bundles
the National Anthropological Archives, disliked disturbances from playing or
Smithsonian Institution. Kiowa orthog- crying children, the tepees were pitched
raphy is consistent, wherever possible, outside village limits; only the wives of
with Merrill (et al. 1997). the keepers or Mexican captives were al-
Nineteenth-century Kiowa religious lowed to handle the bundles, because
beliefs centered on the Sun Dance held their powers were greatly feared.
in mid-June to unite the coalesced Kiowa Revered as holy men, the Ten Medi-
bands spiritually and socially. It was be- cines keepers were expected to be pleas-
lieved that successful performances of ant, peaceable, nontruculent, patient,
the ceremony regenerated the Kiowa and helpful. Taboos followed by the
people and the bison herds on which keepers included the avoidance of bear
they depended. The Taimek’i, or “Taime meat, hides, or any part of the bear, since
Man,” was the full-time priest who cared the bundles allegedly contained bear
for the Taime Sun Dance bundle and di- claws—but mostly because the Kiowa
rected the ceremony. Equal in impor- have always been brothers and sisters to
tance to the sacrosanct Taime were the the bear. Eldest sons or other close rela-
ten zaidethali “Split Boy” or talyi-da-i tives inherited the bundles, but if a
“Boy Medicine” bundles—also known as keeper died without naming a successor,
the Ten Medicines—created in mytho- the other nine convened to select an heir.
logical times when the culture hero Sun- Until a new recipient was named, the de-
Boy, the son of Sun, and one of the Split ceased keeper’s widow or daughter cared
Boys transformed himself into the eu- for it. New owners did not necessarily
charistic bundles (Mooney 1979, 239). possess dw'dw', though they could seek
The Ten Medicines sometimes were reit through the vision quest or through
ferred to as adalbehya, “lots of hair, or transferal sweatbaths.
scalps,” because people offered enemy Individually, Ten Medicines keepers
scalps and other gifts to the bundles served as civil servants who settled dis-
along with prayer requests. Human- putes within the villages by offering
shaped figurines inside the bundles were lighted, long-stemmed pipes to the ag-
the principal source of dw'dw', or grieved parties. These were expected to
“power,” of the bundles, respectfully smoke together and resolve their differ-
treated as if they were people. Strict ences, as witnessed by the spirit world
taboos accompanied the bundles: only a and connected by the rising tobacco
keeper’s wife could erect the twenty-four smoke. Individually and collectively, the
pole tepee that housed his bundle, which keepers prayed for the well-being of the
hung suspended on the west side of the Kiowa people, especially after first Thun-
lodge; transported bundles were care- der in the spring signaled the new year.
fully fastened over the back and to the Power existed equally in the ten bundles,
980
so offerings to one bundle symbolized later that night she slipped away by walk-
the power of all ten; supplicating the ing on buffalo chips to cover her tracks.
bundles with gifts that included scalps, The next day she crawled under the rib
meat, horses, and blankets put dw'dw' in cage of a decomposing buffalo bull car-
prayer requests, which typically related cass, then while dozing received an in-
to good fortune on war expeditions, re- voluntary power vision. Since Kiowa
covery from illness, the birth of a child, women could not possess dream shields,
or infertility. In most instances sweat- Etda-i-tsonhi manufactured a shield
lodge ceremonies were held for individ- from buffalo bull hide and presented it to
ual bundles; during emergencies or epi- her husband, who eventually passed it to
demics, bringing together at least four their son, Pa-gyato, “Buffalo Old Man,”
keepers provided powerful enough who made seven shields for his sons and
prayers to protect the entire tribe. Ten three for his brother’s sons based on the
Medicines keepers aspired to attend an- original shield design. The Buffalo Medi-
nual sweatlodges, and every two to three cine Society originated with the ten buf-
years the ten bundles were brought to- falo shields.
gether in the Sun Dance encampment War parties departing south into
inhabited by the aggregated Kiowa Texas and Mexico seeking captives and
bands, the Plains Apache, and visitors livestock typically recruited one or more
from other tribes. Pledges to sponsor the buffalo doctors. Prior to battle, the buf-
sacred sweat for the ten bundles were falo doctors made medicine by painting
made well in advance, often during aus- the left sides of their bodies red and the
tere times of illness or near annihilation right sides white while singing a buffalo
by enemies. During the four-day perfor- song. They fought like other warriors
mance of the Sun Dance proper, the but assisted fallen comrades by spewing
keepers assisted the Taimek’i. red paint (clay) on open wounds to
Recognizing Buffalo as the most pow- stanch the bleeding. Although they
erful terrestrial animal, about twenty often worked alone, up to fourteen buf-
Kiowa shamans formed a powerful doc- falo doctors worked together on emer-
tors’ society, the Buffalo Society, or the gency cases, each doctor applying his
Buffalo Medicine Lodge, inspired by the own special healing technique. Until re-
power vision of Etda-i-tsonhi, “Old covery, patients were expected to as-
Woman Who Has Medicine On Her,” sume the taboos of the doctors, includ-
sometime between 1750 and 1770. Ac- ing the avoidance of “wounded meat”
cording to the myth, Etda-i-tsonhi and and other animal parts. Like other bun-
another woman, fleeing from Pawnee dle owners, the buffalo doctors prayed
warriors, encountered a bear that ate her daily to their bundles, but they also as-
companion, and she barely escaped, sembled during the Sun Dance to con-
using a cedar tree to climb a large rock; duct sweatlodge ceremonies. Every few
981
years they congregated to renew the Many advanced to the second society, the
bundles, repair old ones, or create new Adaltoyui, “Young (Wild) Sheep,” where
ones. Attendance was mandatory at they spent a brief time prior to being kid-
these assemblies. napped by a higher-ranked society, per-
Like the buffalo shields, several dream haps the Tsentanmo, “Horse Head-
shield societies existed that were linked dresses,” the Tonkonko, “Black Legs,” or
to original power visions and inheritance the T’anpeko “Skunkberry People.”
of replica shields. Notable were the Sun Tonkonko membership was restricted, its
Dance shields: seven Taime shields in- high status represented by a no-retreat
troduced after 1834 and carried by the staff, and the equally important T’anpeko
demguk’o, “yellow breasts,” shield keep- Society owned several no-retreat sashes.
ers; the seven Kowde shields resulting Not to be outdone, the K’oitsegun, “Real
from Poor Buffalo’s 1839 vision; and the Dog” or “Crazy Dog,” Society, represent-
five Hotoyi shields derived from the vi- ing the most outstanding and oldest war-
sion of Hotoyi, or Akopti, “Timber Moun- riors, owned ten suicide sashes. As in
tain,” and introduced in 1869. These other Plains cultures, societies above the
shields were carried by the owners, who rank of Rabbits were frequently called
danced during the Sun Dance proper. upon to police tribal encampments,
Other dream shields included eagle monitor communal hunts, enforce deci-
shields, fish-hawk shields, and others sions concerning domestic disputes wit-
that were forgotten following the Kiowa nessed by the Ten Medicines keepers,
surrender at Fort Sill in May 1875 and the and to assist during the Sun Dance—a
confiscation of weapons and war regalia period when the societies held social
by the U.S. Army. Shield societies died dances inside large tepees with the flaps
out shortly afterward because of the at- rolled up so that female supporters could
tenuation of their power. join the ceremonial song and dance.
Virtually every Kiowa male belonged Several women’s societies also existed.
to a warrior society, since possessing Defunct after 1905, the Bear Society, sup-
dw'dw' or war honors was not a prerequi- posedly connected to the Ten Medicines,
site for membership. Sodalities were conducted clandestine meetings greatly
founded in the principle of kom, “blood- feared by men. More popular was the Old
brothers,” friends who paired off for life Woman’s Society, whose membership
upon initiation into a society. All boys was extended to postmenopausal
able to walk belonged to the Polanyup, or women renowned for their great dw'dw'
“Rabbits” Society, and attended feasts at and obscene dances because they had
which they were taught Kiowa virtues. “no shame.” Warriors departing on war
After boys reached the age of twelve, they expeditions vowed feasts for both soci-
were “kidnapped” by other societies, ex- eties upon the procurement of scalps,
cept the K’oitsegun, the highest ranked. whereas individuals sought the help of
982
the Old Woman’s Society when family Francis LaFlesche. Norman: University of
members were sick, especially since this Oklahoma Press.
Brown, Donald N., and Lee Irwin. 2001.
society was related to the power of “Ponca.” Pp. 416–431 in Handbook of
Taime. Finally, the Industrious Women North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13.
Society, composed of five or six middle- Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
aged women acclaimed for their tanning Institution Press.
skills, made the suicide sashes for the DeMallie, Raymond J. 2001a. “Yankton and
K’oitsegun Society; they were also Yanktonai.” Pp. 777–793 in Handbook of
North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13.
known as skilled midwives. Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
Unfortunately, the passing of the Washington, DC: Smithsonian
horse and buffalo culture of the nine- Institution Press.
———. 2001b. “Teton.” Pp. 794–820 in
teenth century brought about the de-
Handbook of North American Indians:
mise of most Kiowa societies. The Sun Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
Dance has not been performed since DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press.
1887, although Taime is still cared for, as
DeMallie, Raymond J. ed. 2001. Handbook
are the Ten Medicines, even though there of North American Indians, vol. 13.
is no formal society. Only two warrior so- Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press.
cieties remain, the T’anpeko, known
DeMallie, Raymond J., and David Reed
today as the Kiowa Gourd Clan, and the Miller. 2001. “Assiniboine.” Pp. 572–595
Tonkonko, or Kiowa Black Leggings Soci- in Handbook of North American Indians:
ety. These societies have been kept alive Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
by the warrior spirit that continues in Institution Press.
Kiowa veterans and soldiers serving in Ewers, John D. 1982. The Blackfeet. Raiders
the armed forces. on the Northwestern Plains. Norman:
Benjamin R. Kracht Foster, Morris W., and Martha McCollough.
2001. “Plains Apache.” Pp. 926–940 in
See also Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions;
Dreams and Visions; Power, Plains; Spiritual
Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
and Ceremonial Practitioners, Plains; Vision
Quest Rites
Institution Press.
References and Further Reading Fowler, Loretta. 2001. “Arapaho.” Pp.
Albers, Patricia C. 2001. “Santee.” Pp. 840–862 in Handbook of North American
761–776 in Handbook of North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited by
Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington, DC:
Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Smithsonian Institution Press. Grinnell, George Bird. 1923. The Cheyenne
Bailey, Garrick A. 2001. “Osage.” Pp. 476–496 Indians: Their History and Ways of Life,
in Handbook of North American Indians: vol. 1. New Haven: Yale University
Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J. Press.
DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Irwin, Lee. 1994. The Dream Seekers: Native
Institution Press. American Visionary Traditions of the
———, ed. 1995. The Osage and the Great Plains. Norman: University of
Invisible World: From the Works of Oklahoma Press.
983
Jones, David E. 1972. Sanapia: Comanche Handbook of North American Indians:

Medicine Woman. New York: Holt, Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
Rinehart, and Winston. DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Kavanagh, Thomas W. 2001. “Comanche.” Institution Press.
Pp. 886–906 in Handbook of North Newcomb, William W., Jr. 2001. “Wichita.”
American Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited Pp. 548–566 in Handbook of North
by Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington, American Indians: Plains, vol. 13.
DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
Kracht, Benjamin R. 1989. “Kiowa Religion: Washington, DC: Smithsonian
An Ethnohistorical Analysis of Ritual Institution Press.
Symbolism, 1832–1987.” Unpublished Parks, Douglas R. 2001a. “Arikara.” Pp.
dissertation, Southern Methodist 365–390 in Handbook of North American
University, Department of Anthropology. Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited by
LaBarre, Weston, Donald Collier, Jane Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington, DC:
Richardson, William Bascom, Bernard Smithsonian Institution Press.
Mishkin, and Alexander Lesser. 1935. ———. 2001b. “Pawnee.” Pp. 515–547 in
“Notes on Kiowa Ethnography.” Handbook of North American Indians:
Washington, DC: National Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution. Institution Press.
Levy, Jerrold E. 2001. “Kiowa.” Pp. 907–925 Schweitzer, Marjorie M. 2001. “Otoe and
in Handbook of North American Indians: Missourai.” Pp. 447–461 in Handbook of
Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J. North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13.
DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
Institution Press. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Liberty, Margot P., W. Raymond Wood, and Institution Press.
Lee Irwin. 2001. “Omaha.” Pp. 399–415 in Stewart, Frank Henderson. 2001. “Hidatsa.”
Handbook of North American Indians: Pp. 329–348 in Handbook of North
Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J. American Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited
DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian by Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington,
Institution Press. DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Lowie, Robert H. 1935. The Crow Indians. Voget, Fred W. 2001. “Crow.” Pp. 695–717 in
New York: Rinehart. Handbook of North American Indians:
Merrill, William L., Marian Kaulaity Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
Hansson, Candace S. Greene, and DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Frederick J. Reuss. 1997. A Guide to the Institution Press.
Kiowa Collections at the Smithsonian Wallace, Ernest, and E. Adamson Hoebel.
Institution. Smithsonian Contributions 1952. The Comanches: Lords of the
to Anthropology, no. 40. Washington, DC: Southern Plains. Norman: University of
Smithsonian Institution Press. Oklahoma Press.
Mooney, James. 1891–1904. “Kiowa Heraldry Wedel, Mildred Mott. 2001. “Iowa.” Pp.
Notebook: Descriptions of Kiowa Tipis 432–446 in Handbook of North
and Shields.” Washington, DC: National American Indians: Plains, vol. 13.
Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
Institution. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
———. 1979. Calendar History of the Kiowa Institution Press.
Indians. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Wood, W. Raymond, and Lee Irwin. 2001.
Institution Press. “Mandan.” Pp. 349–364 in Handbook of
Moore, John H. 1996. The Cheyenne. North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13.
Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
Moore, John H., Margot P. Liberty, and Terry Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Straus. 2001. “Cheyenne.” Pp. 863–885 in Institution Press.
984
__________________________________________________________________________________ Sandpainting
Sacred Societies, leaders paint sand designs on their al-

Southwest tars. In southern California, sandpaint-
ings are made as part of initiation cere-
See Kiva and Medicine Societies monies and puberty rites. The designs
are abstract renditions of the universe
and astronomical phenomena. Sacred
sandpaintings appear extensively
Salishan Shamanic among Uto-Aztecan speakers from
Odyssey Guatemala north to California; as an art
and religious form, however, they are
See Sbatatdaq
most developed in the American South-
west, where the designs and the tech-
nique are highly valued by Puebloan,
Apachean, O’Odham, and Cahitan peo-
Sandpainting
ples. Materials used to make the sacred
Sandpaintings—or drypaintings—are drawings include pulverized sandstones,
sacred ephemeral paintings made of dry, ocher, sand, corn pollen, and pulverized
pulverized materials strewn onto a level flower petals and leaves. Designs center
surface primarily for medical and reli- on important symbols and include de-
gious ceremonies that include divina- pictions of deities required by ritual.
tion, disease diagnosis, and curing. Pow- The group that has the richest reper-
erful gifts of deities, sandpainting are toire of sandpaintings, as both a religious
also referred to as sand altars, sand mo- act and a secular art form, are the Diné or
saics, ground paintings, earth pictures, Navajo. Drypaintings, or iikaah, which
and sand pictures. They also serve as means “the place where the gods come
mnemonic devices used for teaching and go,” are the gifts of the Holy People
and are always made under the direction to Earth Surface People. How each of the
of a religious specialist. Many groups more than 1,200 designs was given to
throughout the world, including Native Earth Surface People and the rules that
peoples living in Australia, Africa, Cen- accompany their appropriate use is
tral America, India, and North America, recorded in the sacred texts that accom-
make some form of sacred drypainting. A pany each Navajo ceremonial cycle (see
few also use them for secular purposes, Ceremony and Ritual, Diné).
including birthday greetings, personal In general the first sandpaintings were
blessings, and maps. said to be “sewings” (naskha) composed
Use of drypaintings in the Americas of five or six kinds of materials. These in-
predates European contact and contin- cluded buckskin, unwounded deerskin,
ues to the present. Cheyenne and Arapa- cotton, black or white clouds, sky, or spi-
hos, for example, use them during the der webs. The Holy People unrolled these
Sun Dance, and Native American Church materials during a prototype ceremony
985
Sandpainting ___________________________________________________________________________________
Hataali Gray Squirrel ritually blends the sands of a sandpainting, as part of a four-day ritual to
bring rain. Two children then rest atop sheepskins spread over the blended sands during the ensuing
three days of the ritual. Each summer, Gray Squirrel does one or two full ceremonies to bring rain.
Farmington, New Mexico, 1978. (Ted Spiegel/Corbis)
recounted in the sacred texts of each them anew for each ritual use. The other
chantway. They showed the paintings to reasons given for this decree were that
the protagonist following his or her ad- the naskha might be stolen, soiled, over-
ventures who memorized it and took the used, damaged, lost, or quarreled over.
knowledge of the design and how it must Paintings might also become material
appropriately be used to invoke healing possessions that outsiders could steal
back to Earth Surface People. After the and evil beings (including witches) could
ceremony the Holy People rolled up each misuse to the detriment of the Diné. To
naskha and carried them away to their further ensure that the sacred designs de-
homes. Because of the delicacy, value, picted in a sandpainting were safe and
and sacredness of the naskha, the Holy that the powers within them would not
People decreed that Earth Surface People be misused, the Holy People decreed that
should use ephemeral sandpaintings misuse would lead to blindness, illness,
made of powdered rock and similar ma- and death to the individual and disaster
terials, and that they should produce and drought to the People.
986
__________________________________________________________________________________ Sandpainting
Sandpaintings are simultaneously the in the paintings symbolize humanlike

place where ritual behavior is carried out portrayals of protagonists of the origin
and symbolic representations of power- myths that accompany each ceremo-
ful supernaturals used in many curing nial, figures of the Holy People (Diyin
ceremonies. They serve as a temporary dine), yeis (a special class of Holy People
holy altar and a means of attracting the who help humans), and various person-
Holy People who are invoked to cure and ified beings, animals, and plants whom
bless. Each of the approximately 1,200 the protagonist met on his or her trav-
paintings used in fifty-six different Holy- els. These may also be the etiological
way and Blessingway ceremonial cycles factors that cause illness, for like can
is a visual, mythical statement and cure like. Holy People are the most com-
mnemonic device. A specific painting mon power and are depicted as person-
has a specific name, generally based on ified plants, animals, anthropomorphic
the main theme symbol—for example, beings, natural or celestial phenomena,
Arrow People from Female Shootingway. mythological creatures, or natural ob-
The paintings all use similar symbolic jects. Animals and plants may be
and artistic conventions yet are specific painted in the different manifestations
to a song ceremonial that in turn is re- of their power, either naturalistically or
lated to a particular set of etiological fac- as Holy People. They are also made in a
tors and supernatural powers. The spe- semistylized form as subsidiary figures;
cific painting chosen by a hataatli (a the most common plants are corn,
highly trained religious specialist who beans, squash, and tobacco.
chants or sings during ceremonies and Sandpaintings also symbolically por-
oversees the curing process), in consul- tray an episode in the sacred text that
tation with a patient’s family, depends on accompanies each curing ceremony.
the nature of the illness, the sex of the The action is played out in Dinétah, the
patient, seasonality, when the painting traditional and sacred homeland of the
was last used, the length of the total cere- Diné, which is bounded by the four sa-
mony, and the hataatli’s ability to con- cred mountains. These are shown in
trol the use of powerful symbols. sandpaintings as colored circles placed
Subject matter in Diné sandpaintings in the corners between the main theme
consists of symbolic representations of symbols. Mountains as a generic land-
powerful supernaturals who are in- scape feature are black ovals on which
voked to cure the patient and restore Holy People stand. Reading location
hozho—restore balance, goodness, symbols is like reading a mythological
beauty, and harmony and bring those road map. In the center of radial paint-
things that causes sickness under ritual ings is a local symbol representing
control—and of portrayals of beings or water, a mountain, a house, or a haji-
powers who assist this process. Figures inaí, the place of emergence. In linear
987
Sandpainting ___________________________________________________________________________________
compositions, the locality symbol is the likened to a spiritual osmosis in which

bar placed to the west, beneath the feet the evil and sickness in an Earth Surface
of the Holy People. Location, rain, sym- Person and the goodness and holiness in
bols of movement, and other critical fea- Holy People penetrate the sandpainting
tures are used to place the painting in from both directions. During the process
mythological and historical time and sickness is neutralized by holiness, but
space. Locations can be any place in the only if the exact conditions for the trans-
Diné (Navajo) sacred geography or cos- fer have been fulfilled. Universal rules of
mology. While sandpaintings are illus- reciprocity govern this exchange. If the
trative of events occurring in the sacred sandpainting is made flawlessly, the Holy
texts, few are narrative or realistic in People are drawn irresistibly to their pic-
their figurative style, in the Western tures; they view the gifts and offerings of
sense of the term. Also, while they are the participants and then become the
depictions of past events and episodes, beings depicted in the paintings. They
they re-create these events in the pres- are then compelled to come to the sa-
ent, thereby visualizing Diné concepts cred site and cure in exchange for the ap-
of cyclical time as well as sacred settings. propriate gifts. Because of this ability to
Gifts of the Holy People, sandpaint- take on supernatural power or holiness,
ings are to be used only under the direc- sandpaintings are considered living enti-
tion of the hataatli and treated with re- ties when consecrated, and hence they
spect because of their inherent power. are revered as beautiful in the sense of
They are very dangerous if misused. hozho. They are not, however, consid-
They must be made perfectly in order to ered “art” in the strictly Euro-American
be efficacious; they are destroyed at the sense of the term: something to be sim-
end of a ceremony because they are full ply looked at and admired.
of transferred sickness. The paintings are A sandpainting ceremony is per-
blessed by the hataatli using pollen and formed once during a two-night chant
cornmeal offerings when complete. In and successively on the last four days of
addition, large and elaborate paintings a five- or nine-night ceremonial cycle.
are used to cast out illness, to prevent One painting is made each day during
evil from intruding into a person’s life, for Holyway ceremonies in order to receive
blessing, and for harmonizing a person the sun’s blessing. For exorcistic rituals
and the community with nature. the paintings are made at night. A differ-
Sandpaintings can be viewed as the ent design, representative of a group of
ceremonial membrane that allows the Holy People and events, is used on each
transference of goodness for evil to take occasion; the same design is never used
place during a Holyway ceremony; they twice in the same ceremonial round.
help the patient identify with the healing Male relatives of the patient, assistants of
powers. This ritual process has been the hataatli, and any other men in the
988
__________________________________________________________________________________ Sandpainting
community with the requisite skill and used, because the painting will be ritu-
knowledge produce the painting under ally destroyed at the end of the cere-
the direction of the hataatli. Women sel- mony. A sandpainting is made freehand,
dom help unless they are curers or ap- except for the occasional use of a taut
prentices. Although women are not string to make guidelines straight and to
barred from painting, they are usually ensure that the main figures will be the
reticent to participate if they are of child- same size. Extreme coordination and
bearing age, for fear of inadvertently speed are necessary to make a thin, even
harming an unborn baby. All assistants line of sand.
should have previously been patients in Although paintings vary in size from a
a ceremony; that means they have some foot in diameter to more than 12 feet
ritual preparation for being around the square, most are approximately 6 by 6
concentrated power residing in a sand- feet, the floor area of the average hogan.
painting. The typical sandpainting requires the
At the beginning of the sandpainting labor of three to six men and takes
ceremony, a sandpainting setup is roughly four hours to complete. The
erected in front of the hogan door. This more elaborate the composition, the
setting-out ritual occurs at dawn and no- more time it takes to construct; the most
tifies both Earth Surface People and Holy complex and powerful require as many
People that sacred portraits are about to as forty painters each working ten hours.
be made. To the accompaniment of Larger paintings are preferred because
prayers, the bundle prayer sticks from supernatural power is increased by the
the hataatli’s Jish are stuck in an upright repetition of figures, but smaller and
position in a small mound outside the simpler compositions are also effective.
hogan to the east of the door. The hogan The factors determining the size of the
has already been cleaned and the central sandpainting include the amount the
fire moved to one side. Next the floor is sponsoring family can afford to spend on
covered with clean riverbed sand and gifts for the painters, the number of peo-
smoothed with a weaving batten. Col- ple available to paint, and finally, the
ored pigments—which have been col- chant in which the painting is used.
lected by the family sponsoring the cere- Construction, placement of figures,
monial and previously ground with a composition, and the use of ritualized
mortar and pestle on the northwest side artistic designs are strictly prescribed by
of the hogan—are placed in containers the Holy People for each painting. These
near the central area. These colored pig- rules must be followed explicitly in order
ments include pulverized sandstones, for the cure to be effective. The painting
mudstones, charcoal from a hard oak hit is begun in the center, with the painting’s
by lightning, cornmeal, powdered flower location symbol, and constructed out-
petals, and plant pollens. No adhesive is ward in a sunwise sequence (east, south,
989
Sandpainting ___________________________________________________________________________________
west, and finally north). Next the main painting by sprinkling sacred pollen on
figures and secondary figures are painted. the composition in the specific order in
Finally an encompassing guardian figure which it was made, ending with the pro-
(often a rainbow) is painted around the tective guardian.
entire composition but left open at the After the painting is blessed the pa-
east. This ensures that the concentrated tient enters the hogan and reconsecrates
power in the painting is protected from the painting. He or she sits on a specified
evil and that the painting has a boundary. portion of the painting, facing east.
The eastern opening allows for the trans- While praying and chanting, the hataatli
ference of power during the ceremony. To touches parts of the painting with herb
future help the hataatli control the trans- medicine on his palm and then the cor-
ference process, the paired guardians responding part of the patient’s body,
(messengers of the Holy People) are con- matching parts of the body. Usually he
structred at the east opening. The same works from the feet to the head, and
construction sequence is used for each from right to left, emulating the growth
figure in the composition: when a picture of plants and the rotation of the sun. This
of a Holy Person is made, the entire torso procedure is repeated four times, along
is painted first in one color. Then the fig- with other ritualistic acts and prayerful
ure is clothed by means of a technique chanting. The healing hozho in the
called overpainting. Finally, decoration— painting moves through the hataatli into
masks, headdresses, symbols—are added. the patient while the illness in the pa-
All of these designs, figures, and symbols tient is simultaneously transferred into
must be perfect (that is, made as the Holy the painting. The painting in effect ab-
People have taught) in order for the cere- sorbs the sickness.
mony to be effective. The only allowable These procedures identify the patient
individual artistic deviations are in the kilt with the deities represented in the paint-
design and the decoration of the medi- ings. Their supernatural strength and
cine bags that hang from the waist of Holy goodness are transferred via the hataatli
People. to the patient. The patient becomes like
When completed, the painting is re- the Holy People, for he or she has been
viewed for mistakes, which will be cov- able to partake of the nature of their di-
ered over with clean background sand vinity and hozho. As a result the patient is
and the figure begun again. After the made strong and immune from further
hataatli is satisfied that the painting is harm but also becomes potentially dan-
error-free, he intones a Blessingway gerous to anyone who is not similarly rit-
prayer to neutralize any unknown errors ually prepared to come into contact with
that could be harmful to the makers or concentrated supernatural power. The
inadvertently invalidate the ceremony. patient must follow a number of prescrip-
He will also bless and consecrate the tions, including using special eating uten-
990
__________________________________________________________________________________ Sandpainting
sils, for four days before returning to soci- Fred Stevens, Jr., a Diné Nightway
ety. Violations of these requirements may hataatli, and Luther A. Douglas, an Anglo
reinfect the patient or injure other people. artist, Diné secular sandpaintings—
Upon completion of the sand applica- which are permanent paintings made of
tion the patient leaves, and relatives may pulverized dry materials glued onto a
hastily apply some of the painting to sand-covered wood backing—have be-
their own bodies. After the women leave come an established art tradition. While
the hogan, the hataatli erases the paint- not as extensive an industry as weaving
ing in the opposite order from which the or silversmithing, several million dollars
figures were laid down. The sand is de- worth of paintings have been sold each
posited north of the hogan under a light- year since the 1980s; more than six hun-
ning-struck tree, where it becomes a bar- dred Diné men and women have been or
rier against the evil and sickness that has are painters. While primarily men or
been driven away. The use of the sand- women past childbearing age make the
painting usually takes less than an hour. sacred sandpaintings, Diné artistic sand-
Like other religious paraphernalia that painting is a Diné art form that is pro-
can be imbued with sacredness, such as duced equally by both sexes.
masks and medicine bundles (jish), While artistic sandpaintings developed
sandpaintings must be treated with re- from sacred sandpainting designs, they
spect. They are feared as well as revered are not conceptualized as the same thing,
(Reichard 1950). The painting never re- although both are beautiful. They are felt
mains in a pristine form unattended; the to be art in the Western sense and are
longer it remains intact, the greater the made intentionally for sale to non-Diné.
possibility that someone will make a A process of secularization has resulted in
mistake in its presence and cause unin- this new category of art. The singers and
tentional harm. artists intentionally make the paintings
During the twentieth century, how- imperfect, by changing symbolism
ever, permanent forms of sandpainting through simplification, elaboration,
have been developed to both preserve transposition, and several other symbolic
Diné sacred designs and as a form of sec- devices to accomplish this transforma-
ular art. At first, reproductions were tion. The design symbolism is changed so
made by religious specialists and anthro- that the resulting composition does not
pologists to ensure that the knowledge call the Holy People, and so the Holy Peo-
contained in the designs is preserved for ple will recognize that the designs are not
future generations. Based on technologi- intended for a curing ceremony. The
cal changes in the backing and adhesive, paintings, however, are clearly recognized
artistic sandpaintings have been made as deriving from sacred templates and
for the regional and international ethnic therefore as containing hozho.
art market since the 1960s. Originated by Nancy J. Parezo
991
S b a t atdaq (Sqadaq) ____________________________________________________________________________
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Diné; Sbatatdaq (Sqadaq)

Emergence Narratives; Health and Wellness,
Traditional Approaches
Distinctive of Puget Sound, Sbatatdaq
Griffin-Pierce, Trudy. 1992. Earth Is My (Sqadaq) was a symbolic journey under-
Mother, Sky Is My Father: Space, Time and taken by cooperating spiritual practition-
Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting. ers who traveled to the spirit world to re-
Press. cover the soul of a sick person.
Haile, Berard, Maud Oakes, and Leland Erroneously called Spirit Canoe Cere-
Wyman. 1957. Beautyway: A Navajo mony, Sbatatdaq involved a space de-
Ceremonial. New York: Pantheon Books.
Joe, Eugene Baatsoslanii, Mark Bahti, and
fined by planks and effigies to provide a
Oscar T. Branson. 1978. Navajo vehicle to the land of the dead. There the
Sandpainting Art. Tucson: Treasure ceremonialists regained some vitality, de-
Chest Publications.
pending on the severity of the illness (var-
Newcomb, Franc Johnson. 1964. Hosteen
Klah, Navaho Medicine Man and Sand iously a lost guardian spirit, soul, or
Painter. Norman: University of mind), and returned it to their patient.
Oklahoma Press.
During the entire ritual, the patient rested
Newcomb, Franc Johnson, and Gladys A.
Reichard. 1975. Sandpaintings of the unobtrusively on a cedar mat at the rear
Navaho Shooting Chant, 1937. New York: of the house. Sbatatdaq was last held in
Dover Publications.
full form in 1900, though a more personal
Parezo, Nancy J. 1983. Navajo
Sandpainting: From Religious Act to version still occurs today. To add to the
Commercial Art. Tucson: University of confusion, local pioneers often called this
Arizona Press. ritual the Ghost Dance, though it has no
Reichard, Gladys A. 1939. Navajo Medicine
Man: The Sandpaintings of Miguelito. relation to the national spiritual revivals
New York: J. J. Augustin. of 1870 or 1890 that originated in Nevada.
———. 1950. Navaho Religion: A Study of Each occasion of the rite was cus-
Symbolism. New York: Pantheon Books.
Wyman, Leland. 1960. Navaho tomized to local conditions of that pa-
Sandpainting: The Huckell Collection. tient, community, dwelling, drainage, and
Colorado Springs, CO: Taylor Museum. current events. Each rite was therefore
———. 1970. Sandpaintings of the Navajo
Shootingway and the Walcott Collection. distinctive, though each relied on com-
Smithsonian Contributions to mon beliefs about the reversed conditions
Anthropology, no. 13. Washington, DC: between the worlds of the living and that
———. 1983. Southwest Indian of the dead. When it was summer there, it
Drypainting. Albuquerque and Santa Fe: was winter here; day was night; low tide
School of American Research and was high tide; and what was whole was
Wyman, Leland, and Clyde Kluckhohn. broken. This public ceremony, therefore,
1938. Navajo Classification of Their Song was set during the coldest, wettest months
Ceremonials. Memoirs of the American of the year, often in January.
Anthropological Association, no. 50.
Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Originally, the cedar plank house was
Association. either owned by the patient or loaned for
992
___________________________________________________________________________ Sbatatdaq ( Sqadaq)
Plateau
The native people of the Plateau are linguistically and culturally diverse.
Many aspects of their lives are unique adaptations to the mountains and
valleys in which they live. However, these people were strongly influenced
by the Plains people to the east and the Northwest Coast people to the west
prior to Euro-American contact. Most of the Plateau people lived in small
villages or village clusters, with economies based on hunting, fishing, and
wild horticulture.
The Plateau culture area is an upland region that encompasses the Co-
lumbia Plateau and the basins of the great Fraser and Columbia Rivers. The
Columbia Plateau is surrounded by the Cascade Mountains to the west, the
Rocky Mountains to the east, the desert country of the Great Basin to the
south, and the forest and hill country of the upper Fraser River to the north.
The mountains bordering the Columbia Plateau catch large amounts of
rain and snowfall. This precipitation drains into a great number of rivers and
streams, many of which feed the Columbia River on its way to the Pacific
Ocean. The mountains and river valleys have enough water to support
forests of pine, hemlock, spruce, fir, and cedar, while the land between the
mountain ranges consists of flatlands and rolling hills covered with grasses
and sagebrush. The climate varies greatly depending on proximity to the
ocean and the altitude. Game animals are generally small, except in the
mountain areas. However, nutritious plant foods such as tubers and roots
can be found in meadows and river valleys. Seasonal runs of salmon in the
Columbia, Fraser, and tributary rivers significantly enhanced the region’s
available food supply, providing both a staple food and a key sacred symbol.
The Plateau was not as densely populated as the Northwest Coast cul-
ture area to the west before contact, yet many different tribes have called the
region home. Two language groups are dominant: Penutian speakers such
as the Cayuse, Klamath, Klickitat, Modoc, Nez Perce, Palouse, Umatilla,
Walla Walla, and Yakama in the interior portions, and Salishan speakers, the
Columbia, Coeur d’Alene, Flathead, Kalispel, Shuswap, and Spokane to the
northwest.
continues
993
Plateau (continued)
More than two dozen distinct tribal groups inhabited the Columbia
Plateau at the time of European contact. Ancestors of peoples speaking lan-
guages of the Penutian linguistic family probably settled the area more than
8,000 years ago. Over the centuries these groups have been influenced by the
landscapes of the Plateau region in the development of their religious cul-
tures, often centering on the sharing of the salmon runs. First Salmon cere-
monies are fairly typical in the region, wherein the people celebrate and give
thanks for the new salmon run with a religious ritual prior to partaking in the
resource. This activity, while displaying an appreciation for the gift from the
sacred beings that salmon represent, also ensures that adequate numbers of
fish get to villages farther upstream, and that the strongest fish arrive at the
spawning grounds, maintaining a strong genetic line for the future.
Localized variations on this ceremony abound, as well as region-specific
rituals and ceremonies of thanksgiving and propitiation appropriate to lo-
calities. The extended-family group nature of the tribal system, along with
the numerous tribes in the region, also point to the need for extended coop-
erative trade relationships and intermarriage.
The Plateau cultural area, like all of the cultural regions used to discuss
Native American peoples, is really a diverse and varied one with linguistic,
cultural, and religious differences from area to area within the region.
However, there is enough ecological similarity in the region to inspire
some common traits among the tribal groups. Groups of the region often
sacralize these commonalities in regular intertribal gatherings for trade
and intermarriage.
the occasion. Its floor space was cleared were the “owners” of the earth itself. Be-
so that a middle aisle was bordered by cause they were of the earth, they could
paired planks. These handmade cedar draw the doctors back to it.
boards, shaped and painted, were stood What was unique about this enactment
up so that carved effigies of each practi- was that, while doctors usually worked
tioner’s Little Earth could be placed be- alone, here several doctors worked simul-
tween them. These Little Earths con- taneously. To balance the depicted vehi-
ferred the ability to go to the land of the cle an even number of practitioners, usu-
dead and return safely, because they ally four or six, co-officiated during the
994
rite, although one of them took the lead. cosity. Whenever they sang or talked,
In addition to their power from Little their breath escaped as bubbles, repre-
Earths, their other spirit allies were also sented as these painted dots, moving
called upon periodically to help, so that through this thickness. Poles were also
the doctors could safely go to the after- made for or by the doctors to serve mul-
world and return. Almost all of the doc- tiple purposes during the rite—as bows,
tors were men. Women were not prohib- punts, probes, spears, paddles, or place
ited from joining the rite, but very few markers.
female spiritual practitioners had the Every spiritual practitioner possessed
necessary spirit helpers. Only two such a carved humanoid figure about a yard
women are still recalled. high representing his Little Earth. Before
Everyone in the community was in- an odyssey, this figure was cleaned, re-
volved in the preparations. Meanwhile, painted, and dressed, as appropriate, to
the practitioners, or that practitioner as- look its best. When the Little Earths, pri-
sociated with the house, went into the mordial male and female spirits who
woods and selected a large cedar tree, lived in forest marshes, heard the practi-
which was hauled or floated to a conven- tioners singing as they departed for the
ient location near the community. There afterworld, they rushed into the house
it was split into planks, each shaped into to help out by lodging within their
a particular tribal (river-specific) form, carved effigies. According to common
particularly with a top that had either a belief, these earthlings actually made
curve, a snout, or a disk. Every drainage the voyage that was merely depicted by
had its own style of plank. For example, the doctors.
the Snohomish cut out the snout be- While helpers readied the room for the
cause they traced descent from a leg- ritual, often digging up the floor to make
endary marine mammal. it loose enough to implant artifacts,
Each plank was coated with a chalky, spectators had to keep very still, since
white layer of paint to provide a back- these actions were fraught with danger.
ground before thick black outlines were Much could go wrong, because worlds
drawn along the edges. The day before were about to be breached, and that
the ceremony, each doctor was assigned might lead to fatal consequences.
a plank on which he painted an image of When all was prepared, practitioners
his primary power in the middle in red, and their human helpers lined up out-
white, and black. Sometimes dots in red side, ready to march in and set up the
or black surrounded the figure to repre- paraphernalia so that they could start
sent the song that linked doctor and their odyssey. Engulfed by drumming
spirit. Since humans were alien in the af- and singing, this procession entered the
terworld, doctors felt as though they house. The doctors were wearing special
were traveling through an engulfing vis- cedar-bark headbands and face paint.
995
Long strips of woven cedar bark were powers and kin yearned for their rela-
sometimes draped around the neck like tives.
scarves. At the very start, each curer car- Since this was the initial encounter
ried his Little Earth, with an assistant with the “other side,” everyone was re-
carrying the painted plank. Sometimes minded that it was the spiritual (and
the planks were held so that they ap- sung) aspects of existence that were the
peared to peek inside the door, making most important, a logical beginning
their power seem more lifelike. Each place for any such journey, and for life in
doctor placed his figurine in a line down general.
the center aisle of the outfit and sat down After some time the trip continued,
on the side. until they got to a berry thicket where
Helpers arranged the planks in pairs bird-size berries were hopping about in
so that each spiritual practitioner could the shape of human babies. Spiritual
face the image on his centrally painted practitioners tried to pluck a berry or two
spirit power. The boards at the ends were with their poles, and their clumsy antics
painted on only one side, while those in created much humor for the audience. If
the middle were painted on both. When they managed to get just one, there would
the schematic vehicle had been con- be a plentiful berry harvest the next fall.
structed in the middle of the floor, the Continuing on, the practitioners next
practitioners stood in the cubical spaces came to a lake where their vehicle was
between each board and acted out their reconfigured into a flat-water canoe. A
departing. They had to hurry, because in practitioner with a lake-dwelling spirit
Lushootseed belief, any illness was a like Otter called out its name to speed
prelude to death, not a brief disability. the canoe across this water.
Their patient was wasting away, without Next, they came to a wide prairie
any obvious cause, because the dead where the practitioners used their poles
were sapping the patient’s vitality. At this as bows and seemed to hunt meat. If they
point, the Little Earths occupied the were successful, there would be plenty of
aisle. Later, during various stops and ac- game in the fall.
tivities, the figures and doctors switched Fifth they came to Mosquito Place,
places. where they were attacked by these in-
At the first stop, doctors visited a place sects, the size of birds, fighting them off
filled with the spirits of artifacts, each of with their poles. Any sting would be fatal.
which sang its song. Moving among Mosquitoes were doctors in the spirit
them, these healers learned and re- world because of their ability to suck out
peated these songs to help people to use blood. Moving on, the doctors came to
tools more efficiently. Tools and foods Beaver Den, where they hunted using
were attracted to people, just as spirit- their poles as spears. If they killed a
996
beaver, furs would be of high quality the by a member of the audience, who was
next year. out picking berries. A ghost walked by
Afterward, the doctors braced to meet crossing and recrossing the feet. Pre-
the Dawn after they had been traveling tending that they too were ghosts, they
most of the night. The curers had to “lift asked for news and learned the quality
the daylight” by passing their poles over and name of the newest occupant and
their heads. Because Dawn had increas- where it dwelled. This newcomer was the
ing intensities, they had to lift it several soul, mind, or spirit of the patient. Then
times to safely move on. What was dawn the practitioners quickly killed the ghost
for the spiritual practitioners was sunset and buried it in a shallow grave. Such
for the ghosts. After their exertion, the ghosts went to other lands of the dead
practitioners rested all day, since it was until all memory of them faded away.
night in the land of the dead, preparing Having learned from the ghost what
to resume the next evening. Sometimes they were after, the doctors planned for
the lead practitioner, if he had great visiting the town. Sometimes they cre-
power, would make a quick trip to this af- ated a diversion by having one of their
terworld to plan the final assault. spirit powers appear in front of the town
During the next day’s journey, the as an elk, deer, or beaver. Every ghost
major difficulty was a raging river with rushed to the river to hunt that animal.
collapsing banks and rolling boulders. Acting like a ghost, the most powerful
The doctors quickly conferred and de- doctor entered the deserted house to
cided to tip up one end of a plain cedar lead out the patient’s vitality. Other doc-
plank to serve as a ramp to help them tors protected the retreat as they rushed
jump across the river, using their poles to to the vehicle. Once aboard, a doctor
vault. A doctor was most vulnerable at “threw his meanness” at the ghosts, who
the moment when he was suspended in swarmed to fight for the vitality. Appar-
the air, supported only by his spirits. If a ently, by successfully fighting for the lost
doctor slipped or fell, he was expected to spirit, doctors were able, in fairness, to
die within the year. keep it.
By now the crew was close to the town In some towns, this final battle was
of the dead, whose physical setting enacted with long flaming splinters shot
sometimes became the nearest human at the doctors by youngsters acting the
graveyard. The vehicle was beached. part of the ghosts. Any doctor hit or
While a few spiritual practitioners re- burned died within the year. Since the
versed the enclosing planks and figures enactment took place at night, often in-
so they could head back home, the rest side a house, these flames were both dra-
went along the trail to the town. They matic and dangerous inside the old
sometimes encountered a ghost, played wooden buildings.
997
The spiritual practitioners paddled tioner died was the Little Earth left for-
hard, with their Little Earths providing ever in the forest to rot away.
heightened protection. Sometimes they In Puget Sound, intertribal contacts
took a short cut used by those who died enhanced local social, political, and reli-
suddenly that brought them back in a few gious complexity. Important leaders fos-
hours instead of days. The practitioners tered these interchanges by hosting
arrived, each quivering with power. Their feasts, namings, marriages, funerals, cult
leader came forward with the missing vi- initiations, and winter dances. These ac-
tality and acted as though he was pouring tivities in turn engendered the larger en-
it into the head of the invalid. Slowly at vironment that made possible the inter-
first, then with renewed vigor, the victim national spiritual connections basic to
began to sing his or her power song. this complex odyssey.
Sometimes, while away, doctors re- Jay Miller
trieved the souls of other “healthy” peo-
ple, carried back in a shredded cedar Dances, Guardian Spirit Complex; Health
scarf, and restored it to the owner. These and Wellness, Traditional Approaches;
unintended patients liberally compen- Healing Traditions, California; Healing
Traditions, Northwest; Masks and
sated their healer. Masking; Missionization, Northwest;
Once the vessel returned safely, every- Northwest Winter Spirit Dances; Oral
one in the house heard about future con- Traditions, Northwest Coast; Potlatch;
ditions. Any artifacts, berries, or meat Societies, Northwest Coast; Vision Quest
brought back were given out to families Rites
who might need them. Predictions were References and Further Reading
also made, both to delight or to warn Jilek, Wolfgang. 1982. Indian Healing:
everyone. Shamanic Ceremonialism in the Pacific
Northwest Today. Surrey, British
Although the doctors might rest Columbia: Hancock House Publishers.
briefly, the used paraphernalia had to be Miller, Jay. 1988. Shamanic Odyssey: The
dismantled to close off the route to the Lushootseed Salish Journey to the Land of
the Dead, in terms of Death, Potency, and
afterworld. Planks were left in a remote Cooperating Shamans in North America.
area of the woods to rot, returning to Anthropological Papers 32. Menlo Park,
their elements. The poles may have also CA: Ballena Press.
been abandoned, but some seem to have
Sound.” Caduceus (Winter) 8: 1–15.
been reused in later rites. ———. 1999. Lushootseed Culture and the
Kept for a lifetime career, Little Earth Shamanic Odyssey: An Anchored
Radiance. Lincoln: University of
figurines were carefully washed, losing
Nebraska Press.
much of their paint, and hidden in spe- Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays.
cial places in the woods, often in a hol- Seattle: University of Washington Press.
———, ed. 1990. “Northwest Coast.” In
low tree. There each awaited the next
Handbook of North American Indians,
ceremonial use by its spiritual practi- vol. 7. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
tioner partner. Only after the practi- Institution Press.
998
_____________________________________________________________________________ Scratching Sticks
Waterman, Thomas. 1930. “The The earliest archival reference to

Paraphernalia of the Duwamish ‘Spirit- scratchers comes from the ethnographic
Canoe’ Ceremony.” Indian Notes 7, no. 2:
129–148, 295–312, 535–561. work of Leslie Spier, who in 1930 identi-
fied four types of Yurok “head” scratch-
ers (sado’ktcuts) used by girls in puberty
rites (Spier 1930). Spier’s illustration
shows four oblong-shaped bone pen-
Scratching Sticks
dants that are strung by a cord and
Extensive ethnographic studies on in- “tucked under the left wristband or hung
digenous girls’ puberty rites have identi- about the neck” (ibid., 69). His illustra-
fied a number of “marginal survival tions indicate a plain scratcher and three
traits” that are distributed throughout elaborately decorated ones. I contend
North and South America. The theory of that they represent two distinct versions
“marginal survivals” was first used by Er- of the same thing—a private and a public
land Nordenskiold in 1912 to explain dis- scratcher. The cross-hatching designs
tribution traits occurring throughout the may not be merely decorative but may in
Western Hemisphere (Driver and fact elaborate how many times a woman
Riesenberg 1950, 1–31). The most readily has participated in menstruation seclu-
identifiable ritual object in rites of sion rites. I base my theory on Janet
menarche is the widespread use of deer Spector’s (1991) study of similarly in-
hoof or dew-claw rattles. However, cul- cised, cross-hatching designs on Sioux
ture-element surveys frequently over- women’s sewing awls (Gero and Conkey
look the field of meaning in various 1991, 389). In Spector’s analysis, each in-
forms of scratching sticks, scratching cised line on the awl was a record of the
stones, or scratchers used in puberty material goods produced in seclusion; it
rites and menstruation seclusion prac- was proudly worn as a public record of
tices. Typologies of women’s ritual ob- women’s diligence to ritual and material
jects are invariably catalogued and iden- production.
tified as symbols of subsistence, fertility, In 1942, Harold Driver’s “culture-ele-
power, influence, and privilege (Maschio ment distributions” for girl’s puberty
1995, 131–161). Less studied have been rites in Western North America provided
the ways in which material ritual objects a broad survey of ritual objects used by
attend to aspects of self-oblation, pri- California Indians; the survey includes a
vacy, autonomy, and transcendence description of shell scratchers used by
while women are in ritual seclusion. A Southern California Diegueños and
comparative analysis of archival data Luiseños. Unfortunately, Driver did not
and field research reveals the extent to provide an illustration, and he failed to
which scratching implements are com- elaborate on the function or religious
mon in both puberty and menstrual significance of the oblong scratchers he
seclusion rites. describes (Driver 1942, 59).
999
Scratching Sticks ______________________________________________________________________________
The Tlingit of Alaska used scratchers Isánáklèsh Gotal also include a scratch-
made of bone or stone. Frederica de La- ing stick (tsibeecichii) as one of the ritual
guna identified “mouth stones” and objects used by young girls during their
“body scratchers” that were used by men eight-day initiation process. Willetto An-
in hunting rites and by women during pu- tonio, the ritualist who “sings” the young
berty rites (De Laguna 1972, 521, 538, 598, girl through her transformation from
666, 689–690). The stones were used to girlhood to deity and back to woman-
symbolically scratch the inside of an initi- hood, tells us that the young girl is never
ate’s mouth as a reminder never to gossip allowed to scratch herself, because if she
maliciously about another human being. touches her skin it will wrinkle prema-
They were quickly buried after ritual use, turely; if she scratches her head, her hair
so that “ugly thoughts” would be buried will turn gray (personal communication,
along with them. De Laguna also de- June 1991, May 1992). The Mescalero
scribed “a long thin stone” that was used Apache scratching stick is carved by the
while a girl was in seclusion “to scratch initiate’s father and is made from
herself, apparently to avoid self-contami- sycamore, oak, or cottonwood. She
nation from her fingers” (ibid., 521). wears it suspended from the right side of
Taking a different form and different her leather-fringed blouse and uses the
material are the scratchers used by Chu- scratching stick only when scratching is
mash women in puberty ceremonies. necessary. The Lipan and Chiracahua
Chumash scratchers were made from Apache of Arizona also use a similar
the outer rim of an abalone shell and scratching stick in rites of passage cere-
worn like a pendant. Using a standard monies known as “Changing Woman” or
anthropological approach, Travis Hud- “White Shell Woman” (Basso 1966, 145).
son and Phillip Walker record that a Interpretation of the symbolism or
menstruating girl was “not allowed to “form meaning” of scratching sticks calls
touch her head directly with her fingers to mind what Victor Turner identified as
and was required instead to use a pen- “the smallest units of ritual which still re-
dant made from the rim of an abalone tain the specific properties of ritual be-
shell to scratch herself” (Hudson and havior; it is a ‘storage unit’ filled with a
Walker 1993, 104). Hudson and Walker vast amount of information” (Turner
do not determine where the “pendant” 1967, 19, 50–52). What this study reveals is
fits into the ritual symbolic system, other that scratching sticks are more than just
than to add that restrictions associated simple tools that satisfy a bodily itch, or
with menstruation were “intended for an amulet to ward off evil or contamina-
the good health and well-being of the en- tion. Scratching sticks are seen to assist
tire household” (ibid.). women in regenerating and actualizing a
In New Mexico, contemporary Mes- transcendent mode of consciousness. A
calero Apache puberty ceremonies of concept that has not been fully explored
1000
_____________________________________________________________________________ Scratching Sticks
in cross-cultural context to any extent, tions fully conscious and intentional. ‘You
nor has its implication for religious stud- should feel all of your body . . . exactly as
ies theories been developed, is the idea it is . . . and pay attention’” (Buckley 1988,
that while scratching sticks may represent 190).
a worldly and mundane tool, their use in According to this description, the
women’s rites serves to remind women of scratching stick may be seen as a tool that
Creator’s presence. allows a participant to maintain the
Avoiding the extreme objectivity char- proper liminal space while in focused
acteristic of Boasian descriptions, which meditation. Scratching sticks incorporate
tend to discard exegetical (the indigenous vital energy, and they reflect their role as
interpretation), operational (the way they “energizing nodes.” A scratching stick is a
are utilized within ritual context), and po- “tool for making the intangible concrete”
sitional (the position in the total symbolic (Rubin and Pearlstone 1989, 16). Used in
system) meanings entirely, I prefer a de- ritual meditation, the proper function of
scriptive schema that can elaborate on the scratching stick becomes a method
the religious dimension of scratching by which to suppress the unconscious re-
sticks in the context of what women hope sponse to the mundane act of satisfying a
to achieve or enjoy in the rituals they cele- bodily itch while in mindful prayer. Med-
brate. Dominant interpretations con- itation is the moment-to-moment
cerning ritual objects are that they are ei- awareness of self within the cosmos. To
ther all psychological or sociological in scratch the body or head unconsciously
nature (as in Victor Turner’s model). But would automatically break the conscious
can the meaning of ritual objects extend connection with the divine in nature.
beyond the representational or symbolic, Once a participant had achieved a state
or the psychological or sociological? How of unusual mental calm, she would very
are moments of transcendent experience consciously pick up the scratching stick
and regenerative action achieved through and very consciously scratch that dis-
the use of scratching sticks? Cultural an- comforting itch, remaining conscious of
thropologist Thomas Buckley illustrates each moment and each movement. The
the religious dimension of scratching practice of “mindfulness” and the pat-
sticks as they are used by Yurok women in tern of meditation, bathing, and ritual
the context of a communicational trans- scratching are foundational for the re-
action between sacred and profane generation and reformation of spiritual
worlds when he states that “a woman and moral action that can than be carried
must use a scratching implement, instead back into everyday life.
of scratching absentmindedly with her The persistence of ancient traditions,
fingers, as an aid in focusing her full at- and moral and aesthetic values, are em-
tention on her body . . . by making even bodied in the nascent revivalism of tra-
the most natural and spontaneous of ac- ditional gender religious practices that
1001
Song ______________________________________________________________________________________________
require ritual scratching sticks. The val- Gero, Joan M., and Margaret W. Conkey, eds.
ues of the past have evolved and Engendering Archaeology: Women and
Prehistory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
changed, yet they continue. It is hoped Hudson, Travis, and Phillip Walker. 1993.
that these values may be seen and ad- Chumash Healing. Banning, CA: Malki
mired, appreciated, and even under- Museum.
Maschio, Thomas. 1995. “Mythic Images
stood. In Native American culture, and Objects of Myth in Rauto Female
women are honored as the central site of Puberty Ritual.” In Gender Rituals:
creation, and they are highly esteemed Female Initiation in Melanesia. Edited by
Nancy C. Lutkehaus and Paul B. Roscoe.
for their acts of piety and devotion to New York and London: Routledge.
community well-being. For Native Rubin, Arnold, and Zena Pearlstone. 1989.
American women, scratching sticks help Art as Technology. Beverly Hills, CA:
Hillcrest Press.
to maintain a purposeful and conscious
Spector, Janet D. 1991. “What This Awl
contact with the divine. Means: Toward a Feminist Archaeology.”
In Engendering Archaeology: Women and
Mary V. Rojas
Prehistory. Edited by Joan M. Gero and
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Apache; Margaret W. Conkey. Oxford: Basil
Female Spirituality; Female Spirituality, Blackwell.
Apache; Female Spirituality, Dakota; Spier, Leslie. 1930. “Klamath Ethnography.”
Feminism and Tribalism; Menstruation and University of California Publications in
Menarche; Women’s Cultural and Religious American Archaeology and Ethnography
Roles, Northern Athabascan 30.
References and Further Reading Turner, Victor. 1967. The Forest of Symbols:
Basso, Keith H. 1966. “The Gift of Changing Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Ithaca:
Woman.” In Anthropological Papers. Cornell University Press.
Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin
no. 76. Washington, DC: U.S.
Buckley, Thomas. 1988. “Menstruation and
the Power of Yurok Women.” In Blood Song
Magic: The Anthropology of
Menstruation. Edited by Thomas Buckley Music and dance remain at the center of
and Alma Gottlieb. Berkeley: University
how Native Americans maintain cere-
of California Press.
De Laguna, Frederica. 1972. “Under Mt. monies and traditions of all kinds. To
St. Elias.” In Smithsonian Contributions sing to the Creator or to guardian spirits
to Anthropology, vol. 7. Washington,
is to bring the past into the present. Per-
DC: Smithsonian Institution
Publications. forming religious Native music almost
Driver, Harold E. 1942. “Culture Elements always requires employing techniques
Distributions: XVI Girls’ Puberty Rites in
and evoking sounds that are distinctly
Western North America.”
Anthropological Records 6, no. 2. Native, so that a given song is both sa-
Driver, Harold E., and S. H. Riesenberg. cred in function and an important
1950. “Hoof Rattles and Girls’ Puberty marker of tribal or general Native iden-
Rites in North and South America.”
National Journal of American Linguistics tity. It is true that most Native Americans
16, no. 4. enjoy—and some perform—recreational
1002
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Song
music that matches or draws heavily on mained fluid in terms of culture. With the
white or black genres, such as country considerable outmigration from reserva-
music, types of rock music, and the like. tions during the twentieth century,
In addition, the music of Christian music has become a tool of ever-increas-
churches that Native Americans attend ing importance both for marking specific
(as a minority or majority) may sound Indian populations and for allowing Na-
much like the church music of their tive peoples to express shared experi-
neighbors of other ethnic groups, ences in a shared way. It has proved to be
though some words and meanings will easier to mark Native culture as distinc-
likely have been modified for Native pur- tive through music and dance than in
poses. Further, there are a few distinc- any other way.
tively Native genres of music that are ex- The uses of music in ritual or in cere-
plicitly secular—for instance, courting monies with any kind of sacred connec-
songs played on the flute or social dance tion are legion. In fact, the overarching
music that is fiddle-based in certain cul- function of song in Native American cul-
tures. Nevertheless, substantial bodies of ture is to mediate between man and his
Native religious song remain in use. In spiritual and physical universe. Songs
fact, most Native song that remains dis- record myths and legends. Parts of the
tinctively Native in sound is sacred, and life cycle may be marked through
the composition of songs, formerly often singing, and most funeral traditions in-
done during vision quests, still fre- clude music. Songs often invoke celestial
quently involves prayer. aid in hunting and placate the spirits of
Evidence of the importance of music the harvested animals. Many animal
to Native Peoples reaches back millen- dances involve considerable pan-
nia. And despite the great variety in all tomime. Activities loosely associated
aspects of Native culture over the cen- with hunting need songs, too. For in-
turies, there has been considerable unity stance, in sub-Arctic Canada, singing
too. Inasmuch as North America was specific songs eases the considerable
long a land of seminomadic or entirely labor involved in moving the massive
nomadic populations, with anything re- carcasses of whales. Songs are the princi-
sembling cultural borders in constant pal means of communication with spirit
flux, cultural interaction of all types was helpers, are integral to curing cere-
common. In fact, songs seem to have monies, and may help to foretell the fu-
crossed from one Native group to an- ture. The Inuit use songs to influence the
other fairly often, whether bringing asso- weather. From California to the Great
ciated performance characteristics with Basin to the Southwest, song helps men
them or not. Later on, when tribal maintain or renew harmony with nature.
boundaries were imposed by outside Song is integral to all religious cere-
forces, those artificial boundaries re- monies, new and old, public and private.
1003
Song ______________________________________________________________________________________________
And even song-driven ceremonies that entirely by men or by men supported by

may seem relatively secular to outsiders women singers, who generally double
may be infused with religion. In particu- the men’s melody at the octave.) The unit
lar, the powwow may not appear to be re- of performance is the individual song,
ligious to the casual outsider observer, generally of five minutes or less in
but its purely secular moments—snake length, so that many ceremonies consist
dances and 49s and such—are in the mi- of a mosaic of songs.
nority. Flag songs and ceremonies to re- Men may sing alone or as a group in
trieve fallen important feathers are unison, or they may take turns singing
clearly religious, and some partici- (either one man’s voice alternating with
pants—particularly in the North and another, or a soloist to whom a chorus
East—speak of the meat-and-potatoes responds); alternatively, in a texture
intertribals (war dances) as having reli- common today and well known through
gious overtones. powwow style, a soloist may start a song
The musical details of the many Na- or section of a song, with a group of other
tive song styles tend to be differentiated, men joining in within a few seconds.
as are the broad culture areas in general; Most songs also include the sounds of
in fact, the anthropological definition of percussion instruments, ranging from
the term “culture area” was based to bells attached to dancers’ feet, to rattles
some extent on those musical styles. or small hand-held drums, to the large
More recently, styles have come into drum of the modern powwow. The word
being that span culture areas—in order “drum” refers both to the instrument it-
of appearance, the music for the Ghost self and to the ensemble, the few to a
Dance, for the Native American Church, dozen or so men striking the instrument
and for powwow culture. There is not in unison. (The formal umbrella term for
enough room here for a meticulous list- this array of textures is monophony—
ing of musical traits according to culture that is, melody lacking any sort of har-
area; the interested reader can best ex- monizing accompaniment, either ex-
plore these details in the many articles plicit or implied.)
on Native music in the third volume of Most songs either remain steady in
the Garland Encyclopedia of World tempo or, more often, gradually speed
Music, the volume covering the United up, and they may also become gradually
States and Canada. What follows is a a bit louder. Subdivisions of a given song
summary description. are marked by accents in the percussion
The principal sound source in Native accompaniment or in the volume of the
music is the voice, generally the male voice(s), or, also frequently, by repeti-
voice. (While there are a very few types of tions in the contours of pitches that the
songs that women sing alone, most per- melody traces. These contours—that is,
formance of sacred Native song is either the broad sweep of melody—tend to
1004
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Song
start high and end low, though certain have emerged naturally from a certain
styles found in parts of California and Native language or group of languages.
elsewhere in the Southwest feature the When there are specific words in a song,
“rise,” portions of a song that reach up in these often come at predictable places in
pitch level for a few moments here and a given musical form. For instance, in the
there. Nearly all song forms contain Plains-style singing of powwow music,
plenty of repetition of patterns of the forms are strophic, with each verse
pitches. When these repetitions seem (strophe) first descending in a terraced
about as long as a verse of a song, we call contour, then proceeding in what is
the form strophic. Forms can be literally called an incomplete repetition. That is,
strophic, as in powwow songs: one ex- when the voices get to the bottom of the
tended section of music repeats several range of the song, and go high again
times to make up the song, whether that within the verse, they do not go quite all
section has new words each time or not. the way back to the beginning. In most
Other basically strophic forms can be powwow songs that have words, those
more complicated, as in the involved words occur only in that section of in-
forms of the Southeast. And forms that complete repetition.
cannot reasonably be called strophic still While pitch sets employed in Native
contain much repetition. For instance, songs may be diatonic (like the major
songs of the Northwest coast contain scale, having seven different pitches per
short patterns that recur, and both Great octave), most styles and individual songs
Basin and Peyote songs contain some use fewer pitches, from four to six
paired phrases. pitches per octave. Since seven-pitch di-
Most songs that have any words at all atonic scales permeate the art music
have just a few phrases of them, though most familiar to the musicologists who
those few phrases are very carefully cho- coined Western musical terminology, the
sen. In fact, many songs are made up sorts of scales employed in Native music
mostly or entirely of vocables—of have come to be called “gapped” scales.
sounds made by the voice but that do not Such scales allow more room in some
have a specific concrete meaning that is Native styles for a very wide vibrato and
known at this time. In many cases we for pulsations of various kinds. Indeed,
may think of the voice singing vocables while the usual performance forces can
as an instrument. In rarer instances, be thought of as tightly circumscribed—
sounds that the voice emits once bore only male voices and a few percussion
more specific meanings, but those have instruments—the amazing range of
been forgotten. But patterns of vocables techniques that the voice employs
often retain a more general meaning, makes it an unusually versatile and ex-
that of tribal or regional identity mark- pressive sound source. The voice may be
ers, since a given array of vocables will relatively relaxed (as in much of the
1005
Song, Kiowa ____________________________________________________________________________________
music found on both coasts), or, more Song, Kiowa

often, nasal or tight, which are qualities
See Kiowa Indian Hymns
that allow sound to carry far without am-
plification. Interjections of moans or
gasps infuse a few styles, and pulsations
Sovereignty
of many kinds can either permeate a per-
formance or be employed to mark the The idea of sovereignty is typically under-
formal divisions of a song. stood in the European sense of worldly
Native American song is now in a pe- rights or powers deriving from the Deity, a
riod of expansion and diversification. matter most clearly expressed in the me-
More and more newly composed pow- dieval assertion that monarchs rule by di-
wow songs have relatively involved con- vine right. All Western constructions of
tours, and more and more are word the concept have evolved directly from
songs. And Native populations that have this basic premise. Hence, at a number of
lost much of their expressive culture are levels, it matters little whether modernist
working actively to recover, acquire, or depictions of sovereignty frame it in ac-
create materials to replace what has been cordance with the Hegelian proposition
lost. For instance, the Occaneechi- that it consists of certain prerogatives nat-
Saponi of central North Carolina, a popu- urally vested in the state, or, as Jean-
lation of about five hundred, are rebuild- Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson, and
ing their music and dance repertoire in Karl Marx alike insisted, as a property in-
several ways. While they are a woodlands hering exclusively in “The People.” Within
people, they have the gift of Plains-style the parameters of mainstream discourse,
powwow music, and they arrange several the concept of the sovereign ultimately
traditional powwows each year. In addi- devolves, as nazi legal theorist Carl
tion, tribal leaders have acquired wood- Schmitt rather famously observed during
land songs from tribes with which they the 1920s, upon questions of political the-
share some parts of their history, such as ology. Self-described postmodernist
the Cayuga (a group now geographically thinkers, given their recent propensity to
distant); they are also seeking the help of swallow Schmitt more or less whole,
the Creator to compose new songs. Even would appear to have little to add.
among this tiny Native population, just Given the Eurocentrism with which
as throughout Native America, sacred the word “sovereignty” has been both
Native song is thriving today. conceived and applied, as well as the
Chris Goertzen fact that no known indigenous language
evidences a terminological equivalent, it
See also Dances, Great Basin; Dances, has been widely believed—indeed, ac-
Northwest Winter Spirit Dances; Dances,
Plains; Dances, Plateau; Dances, Southeast; tively contended—that American Indi-
Drums; Kiowa Indian Hymns ans possessed no true conception of
1006
____________________________________________________________________________________ Sovereignty
sovereignty, at least until such time as it both the individual and the group will re-
was inculcated among them by Euro- main unfettered in their fulfillment of
peans. A closer, and perhaps more hon- their obligations to the Creator.
est, inspection of Native belief systems The theme is recursive, resounding
reveals the falsity of such conclusions, throughout the oral teachings of virtually
however. Merely because something is every people native to North America
not seen or appreciated for what it is by and endlessly committed to paper from
an observer or group of observers hardly the point European stenographers first
means it is therefore nonexistent. Put began to record the statements of indige-
most simply, the indigenous notion of nous leaders. While the range of specific
sovereignty has been, and for the most applications of the principle at issue is at
part remains, incomprehensible or in- least as great as the number of cultures
visible to those of the Western tradition, applying it, it nonetheless forms what
largely because it tends to reverse the may be accurately portrayed as a funda-
polarity of that which presumptively in- ment of indigenous law, irrespective of
heres in the sovereign. variations (real or apparent). At base, this
As Onondaga faith-keeper Oren Lyons is always and everywhere an injunction
once responded to a young Euro-Ameri- that the group—and, by extension, each
can New Ager demanding that he respect individual within it—must conduct their
what she considered her right to acquire affairs in ways allowing them to pass
the innermost secrets of Onondaga spiri- along the creation as they encountered it
tuality, “We Haudenosaunee have no to their posterity several generations in
conception of rights. Our tradition gives the future (just as their ancestors did for
us only an understanding of our respon- them). From this flows the oft remarked
sibilities.” (Haudenosaunee refers to the Native preoccupation with apprehend-
Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy—of ing and preserving the natural order and
which the Onondagas are part—situated the placement of a high social value on
in upstate New York and southern On- personal attributes such as humility, re-
tario.) In other words, this time para- spectfulness, and generosity (for exam-
phrasing the late Oglala Lakota principal ple, absence of material covetousness).
chief Frank Fools Crow, that which the Taken as a whole, every formulation
Creator—or Great Mystery, as the Lakota of tribal law embodies a bedrock in-
approximation of Deity is usually sight that only through the conscious
known—endows the people, individually protection of nature by each generation
and collectively, is more properly viewed can there be assurance that it will re-
as a divine responsibility rather than a main sustaining in coming generations.
right of any sort. To the extent that some- In practical terms, for any people to
thing resembling a right may be said to comport themselves in the manner indi-
exist, it amounts to an expectation that cated, they must enjoy what amounts to
1007
Spirit Canoe Ceremony ________________________________________________________________________
complete control vis-à-vis other human eradication process. Whether there is a

groups over the geography comprising way out of this particular box remains to
their environment. Such control adds be seen, but, all things considered, the
up, regardless of the name assigned it, to prognosis is exceedingly grim.
the exercise of sovereign prerogatives. Ward Churchill
Assertion by another culture of control See also American Indian Movement;
over or ownership of the land base of a Identity; Law, Legislation, and Native
given people is by definition preemptive Religion; Retraditionalism and Identity
Movements
of the ability of the usurped people to
meet the range of responsibilities dic- Armstrong, Virginia Irving. 1971. I Have
tated by their spiritual tradition to the Spoken: American History through the
land itself and thus abridges their sover- Voices of Indians. Chicago: Swallow Press.
Deloria, Vine, Jr. 1973. God Is Red. New York:
eignty in the most elemental way con- Grosset and Dunlap.
ceivable. This is all the more true when Fowler, Michael Ross, and Julie Marie
the usurping culture is, as has been the Bunck. 1995. Law, Power, and the
Sovereign State: The Evolution and
case with European Christendom in its
Application of the Concept of Sovereignty.
invasion and continuing occupation of University Park: Pennsylvania State
the New World, one that takes transfor- University Press.
Means, Russell. 1995. “For the World to Live,
mation of nature into the form of con-
Europe Must Die: Fighting Words on the
sumable commodities as the cardinal Future of Mother Earth.” Appended to
signifier, not only of virtue and value, but Russell Means and Marvin J. Wolf, Where
White Men Fear to Tread: The
of its intrinsic superiority to the cul-
Autobiography of Russell Means. New
ture(s) upon whose land it settles. York: St. Martin’s Press.
Contemporary Native Americans are Schmitt, Carl. 1988. Political Theology: Four
thus presented with an unfathomable Essays on the Concept of Sovereignty.
Cambridge: MIT Press.
dilemma. To assert their sovereignty Vecsey, Christopher, and Robert W.
within the paradigm of Eurocentric un- Venables, eds. 1980. American Indian
derstanding is to nullify themselves in Environments: Ecological Issues in Native
American History. Syracuse: Syracuse
terms of their own traditions and identi- University Press.
ties as distinct peoples. At the same time,
failure to advance such assertions, insofar
as it allows Euro-America’s devastation of
Spirit Canoe Ceremony
the land to go unchallenged, is guaranteed
to produce essentially the same result. See Sbatatdaq
Since both routes lead to the continuing
dissolution and eventual disappearance
of indigenous cultures and societies, the Spirits and Spirit Helpers,
choice appears to be between acceptance
Great Lakes
of their own genocide on the one hand
and an autogenocidal participation in the See Manitous
1008
________________________________________________________ Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau
Spirits and Spirit Helpers, vidual with enhanced and physical or

Plateau mental abilities. Spirit Helpers may be-
stow gifts of knowledge, spiritual power,
The role of Spirits or Spirit Helpers in an or medicine.
individual’s life is a relationship of great Song is the primary medium through
significance within the Plateau region. which Spirit Helpers communicate a
The association between an individual particular power. Within the Plateau,
and his or her Guardian Spirit is remark- Spirit and song are so closely identified
ably intimate and ever present. An indi- with each other that they are often de-
vidual’s Helper is not held in reserve scribed by the same word. Song is con-
only to be called upon as needed, but is sidered the embodiment of the Spirit,
consistently used as a powerful ally em- and a person rarely exists apart from it.
bodied within its holder throughout the Among the Klamath, Swis, or song, is
day. also the term for the Spirit who imparted
For Indian people, the Spirit world is the song. The bestowal of Swis by the
not something to explain, prove, or de- Spirit Helper establishes the relation-
construct. The Spirit world and its ship between the individual and the
power is alive, real, and encompassing. Guardian Spirit.
Spirits are not viewed as foreboding but Spirits and spiritual powers are re-
are accepted as part of the life circle. ferred to by diverse terms specified by
Spirit is the glue that binds all circles to- each cultural group and location within
gether, the circles shared by the animal the Plateau region. Various Salish peo-
world, physical world, Spirit world, and ples tend to refer to Spirit powers as su-
humans. umesh. Within the ethnographic litera-
The varied tribes on the Plateau be- ture there are several different spellings
lieve that one would lead an unsuccess- of the term suumesh, including somesh,
ful or unproductive life without the aid of sumex, and sumi’x. Suumesh is the most
one or more Spirit Helpers. Spiritual common currently. Among the Wishram
power is used or needed for essentially the term Walu’tk is used to describe life,
every domain of life; consequently, lack- Spirit, wind, and breath. The Kootenai
ing the assistance of a Spirit Helper is refer to Spirits as Nupik’a (Spier and
considered a grave predicament. Sapir 1930). Guardian Spirits and the
Within Plateau cosmology, animals, powers bestowed to their holders are
plants, and particular inanimate objects termed Wéyekin by the Nez Perce, Taax
are believed to have a spiritual aspect or by the Umatilla, and Sukat by other Co-
quality. Visions, Spirits, and power are lumbia River Sahaptin people.
shared by those entities in the forms of The concept of the Guardian Spirit or
song, dreams, or visitations. Through Spirit Helper among Plateau Peoples is a
such sacred connections, these entities multidimensional complex that goes
or Spirit Helpers might provide an indi- beyond simply acquiring a particular
1009
Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau _________________________________________________________
Spirit Helper on a quest. Schuster (1998) back to transmit the Spirit power (Stern
articulated the Guardian Spirit complex 1998a).
among the Yakama as consisting of the Before and during puberty, male and
Sweatlodge, Vision Quest, and the Win- often female children were sent on a Vi-
ter Spirit Dance. The Sweatlodge is used sion Quest. It was important for a child
by both men and women and is consid- to gain a Spirit Helper while still young. If
ered one of the most powerful of the a child failed to gain the power of a Spirit
Guardian Spirits because it possesses Helper in time, the opportunity to gain
the ability to protect and restore one’s that power vanished, and the individual
spiritual power and purity (ibid.). Addi- was to live without the protection of a
tionally, Spirits might come to an indi- Spirit forever (Spier and Sapir 1930). Very
vidual during a Sweat to deliver a mes- early in a child’s life, he or she learned
sage or offer a particular power. The that “a successful Spirit experience is in-
Vision Quest was practiced by prepu- dispensable to any valued achievement
bescent or pubescent boys and often as an adult, indeed to avoid complete so-
girls. During the Vision Quest, neo- cial insignificance” (Ray 1939, 68).
phytes would attempt to obtain a Spirit Verne Ray describes a Sanpoil
Helper. The Winter Spirit Dances, held shaman’s first vision experience as a
at the beginning of each year, provided young boy:
individuals an opportunity to give
thanks and to honor their Guardian A young boy was often sent down to
the river at night. He did not know
Spirits, cure illness, ask for protection,
what he was to do on these ventures.
and gain good fortune for the upcoming He wandered aimlessly along the
year. The composition of the Guardian banks of the river. One evening he met
Spirit complex consisting of the Sweat- a handsome young fellow who spoke
lodge, Vision Quest, and Winter Spirit to him and asked him where he was
going. The boy answered that he did
Dance was common throughout the
not know. The stranger said, “Well, you
Plateau region. had better listen to me. I’m not a
friend of yours now but I will be. I’m
The Quest for Spirits not who you think I am. I’m going to
Children had close contact with the tell you something. When you grow up
you will be lucky. If you take
Spirits from an early age. Turney-High
something from someone else you will
documented that, among the Kootenai, not be caught. You will be able to get
even a very young child could be sent food easily. You will be favored by
from the lodge if he was disobedient, in women. You will be sharp eyed. You
the hope that some Spirit might correct will be able to see (know) what is going
on at night. When you are in danger I
him (1941). A parent, in his old age, will warn you.” He gave him a song
may teach a song to a young child and and left. It was Wood Rat. (Ray 1932,
then dance with the child upon his 183–184)
1010
Among the Yakama, it is documented longer. Among the Kootenai, the quest
that Guardian Spirit power could be was rarely longer than a single night. If the
sought on a Vision Quest, or it could be child was unsuccessful on the first night,
inherited from another person. There the quest was prolonged until success
was a tendency for similar powers to be was achieved. One of the single most im-
found within the same family (Schuster portant aspects of obtaining the power of
1998). The Kootenai, Cayuse, Umatilla, a Spirit Helper and being successful was
Walla Walla, and Yakama believed that an acquiring a song imparted by a Spirit dur-
individual usually had no choice which ing the quest. During a quest, a Spirit, tak-
Spirit powers he or she obtained. Never- ing the form of an animal, insect, or ob-
theless, individuals attempted to influ- ject, might take pity upon the child and
ence the type of power they would re- bestow a song with instructions on how to
ceive by engaging in activities to attract a use the power the song conveyed or what
particular Spirit, such as taking a token taboos to observe (Schuster 1998).
from a relative’s Spirit bundle who pos- Spirit Helpers can appear to their
sessed the desired power (Burnton 1998; holder in various forms. A Spirit may
Stern 1998a). In all cases, the Spirit become in the physical form of an animal,
stows the power, as Spiritual Helpers or plant, or tree, or in the nonphysical form
Powers cannot be bought or obtained of a ghost, heavenly body, or act of na-
unless the Spirit is willing to bestow it ture such as lightning, floods, or ice
upon the individual (Schuster 1998). (Walker 1998).
In some tribes it is believed that the Spirits are specialized and grant pow-
Spirits have no specific dwelling place. ers that vary considerably. A man may be
Among the Klamath and other Salish given special hunting powers, fighting
peoples, children would be sent to tradi- powers, medicine powers, fishing pow-
tional places where a Spirit might appear ers, the power to move stealthily, hide
or where specific spiritual powers would readily, the power of invulnerability, or
be found: on mountaintops, near the capacity to win at gambling or attract
streams, in whirlpools, or in caves (Ray women. Women may be given special
1939; Stern 1998a). root digging, berry picking, or medicine
The novice must enter upon a Vision powers (French and French 1998; Spier
Quest with proper intentions and atti- and Sapir 1930; Walker 1998). Having
tude. Walker (1998) identified that if the more than one spiritual power is possi-
child was hostile or jealous he might be ble, and often Coeur d’Alene and Flat-
visited by an undesirable Spirit, who head adolescents would go on multiple
could bestow powers that may be used quests to obtain greater spiritual power.
for malicious purposes.
Typical Vision Quests lasted one night, A lad on a quest met Magpie, who
although some quests lasted five days or said, “My nest is built high in a tree. It
1011
is of brush. Once my enemies were power (Walker 1998). Medicine bags

shooting arrows at me. But the arrows among the Nez Perce, as well as among
went right through the nest and didn’t
other Plateau tribes, were often carried
hurt me. It will be the same for you.”
Then the boy saw Flint Rock. He said, into battle, and the skins or feathers of a
“Arrows and bullets can hit me but Spirit Helper were frequently affixed to
they don’t go through me. It will be an individual’s clothing or hair (Walker
that way with you.” Then he saw 1998).
Grizzly Bear. “You will be like me,”
The quests to gain a Spirit Helper
Grizzly Bear said: “strong, brave and
quick tempered.” So he got three ended after puberty, and the Suumesh or
powers at one time. (Ray 1932, 184) Wéyekin was not to be recalled or re-
vealed. The manifestation and exhibi-
Holders of particular Spirit powers tion of one’s Spirit Helper did not occur
could use their powers for extraordinary until adulthood, when the Spirits reap-
purposes. Some may change the weather peared to the individual. An exception to
or the outcome of battles, help plants this practice is the Kootenai, which did
grow, create love magic, end a famine or not have a pattern of “forgetting” one’s
bring a famine to an enemy, heal terminal Spirit Helper until maturity (Ray 1939).
illness, or maliciously create an illness. When the Spirit Helper returned to the
individual, he or she would fall ill with
For clairvoyant powers, Klamath
shamans relied upon the Spirits such
Spirit sickness, often feeling an overall
as Bear; to find lost objects, Dog was sense of despondency. Among the San-
useful. A shaman with Eagle or Weasel poil this Spirit illness was called Kélem-
power could predict the outcome of an sasumixu (Ray 1932). During this time
impending battle. To abate cold
the Spirit Helper would sing the power
weather, the aid of tutelaries such as
West Wind, Rain, and Thunder was song and instruct an individual to spon-
invoked. Appropriate tutelaries might, sor or sing at a Winter Spirit Dance, thus
upon appeal, bring snow upon helping the individual overcome the
enemies. During the Modoc War, a Spirit sickness. The Winter Spirit Dance
shaman acted to bring down a
and the curing of Spirit sickness are
shielding fog against the army’s
advance (Stern 1998, 460). closely linked. The Okanogan referred to
the Winter or Guardian Spirit Dance as
It is documented that men kept vari- the Snixwam, which means “to take sick-
ous representations of their Guardian ness and drop it down” (Kennedy and
Spirits, including claws, feathers, bones, Bouchard 1998).
and roots. For the Nez Perce, an essential It is documented that, among the Nez
aspect of spiritual power was possession Perce, when a child obtained a Spirit
of a collection of sacred objects. This col- Helper the public came to know the na-
lection needed proper care and appro- ture of his Spirit Helper for the first time
priate use, since they possessed great when the child sang a new song at the
1012
Guardian Spirit Dance (Spinden 1908). tent and fluctuate. Spiritual powers had
James Teit, in his invaluable ethnography to be used to remain effective, although
of the Okanogan, reported that during the excessive use of one’s power could di-
Guardian Spirit Dance the individual minish its strength. If the Spirit Helper’s
would sing the song that he acquired, power were neglected, it could not pro-
show his powers, and imitate his Guardian vide the necessary protection or guid-
Spirit while dancing, yet not announce ance. Ray (1932) illustrated by explaining
who his Guardian Spirit was (1928). that if an individual possessing arrow
Within the Colville, Okanagon, and immunity were wounded by an arrow in
other Plateau tribes, the exact nature of combat, his wound could be attributed
one’s Spirit Helper was not announced to the individual’s not thinking of his
during the annual Winter Spirit Dance. protective power when struck.
Hunn (1990) documented that among The use of the Sweat Lodge ceremony
the Sahaptin peoples it was essential that continues as the primary means of
young persons not reveal their visions to maintaining communication with one’s
anyone. If the Spirit Helper was revealed, Spirit. Tobacco is also utilized to show
sickness, spiritual loss, or death might gratitude and to honor the Spirits. It is
occur. It was not until the point of death believed among the Kootenai that when
that the individual could reveal the mys- the Indians took over the land, the Spirits
teries of his or her Spirit Helper. This could no longer gather tobacco. Since
practice was common among Salish the spirits needed tobacco, they pro-
peoples as well, where—as among the vided tobacco seeds and taught man
Klamath—individuals were free to dis- how to grow it (Turney-High 1941).
cuss their Spirit Helpers in public (Spier In healing, doctors cured illness by ex-
and Sapir 1930; Teit 1928). tracting malignant Spirits that invaded
The Winter Spirit Dances were occa- the person’s body. Among the Wishram,
sions for those with Spirit power to sing however, a shaman could cure an indi-
their Spirit songs and to dance. The pur- vidual bewitched by a Spirit only if his
poses of the Winter Spirit Dances were to own Spirit Helper was more powerful
give thanks, honor one’s Guardian Spirit, (Spier and Sapir 1930). Among the Kla-
cure illness, ask for protection and heal- math, the curing procedure involved
ing, and gain good fortune for the up- searching for the Spirit responsible for
coming year. During the Winter Spirit causing the illness. Multiple Spirits
Dances those with Spirit Helpers would might be invoked in an attempt to find
often renew their connection with their the culpable Spirit (Kroeber et al. 1930).
Spirits, as well as provide an opportunity Spiritual powers were not always used
for validating the Spirit power of novices. for a good cause. The Nez Perce believed
Throughout life, the strength of one’s that spiritual power could be used by
spiritual power could become inconsis- most individuals to cause sickness or
1013
disasters (Walker 1998). It was believed The Spirit is what lights the fire in the
that Rattlesnake and Spider could give an middle of our circle. “A small little tiny
individual the power to kill others (Stern ant might come to me, turn around and
1998). A Wishram man with a Snake Spirit dance, and a song would come. He’d give
could have the ability to send his Spirit to me a song, that tiny little ant; just a
bite someone (Spier and 1930). speck. It doesn’t have to be a big grizzly
Contemporary Indian people of the bear, a big moose, or a mountain lion. It
Plateau still go into the mountains in is the Spirit that is in the heart, which is
search of a Spirit Helper, but the number found in the smallest little thing” (ibid.).
of those with a Guardian Spirit has de- Aaron Denham
creased significantly in modern times. It
See also: Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce;
is apparent that “with the traditional Dances, Plateau; Song; Spiritual and
context largely destroyed, young people Ceremonial Practitioners, Plateau; Vision
are no longer able to benefit from the Quest Rites
guidance, assistance, and powers of their References and Further Reading

elders in their own search for meaningful Boas, Franz, and James Teit. 1996. Coeur
d’Alene, Flathead, and Okanogan
spiritual links to their social and natural Indians. Fairfield, WA: Ye Galleon Press.
environment” (Hunn 1990, 239). Burnton, Bill B. 1998. “Kootenai.” Pp.
Although many traditional ways of liv- 223–237 in Handbook of North American
Indians: Plateau, vol. 12. Edited by
ing have disappeared, many Plateau peo- Deward E. Walker, Jr. Washington, DC:
ple still seek out and obtain Spirit Helpers Smithsonian Institution.
and powers much like those of yester- French, David H., and Kathrine S. French.
1998. “Wasco, Wishram, and Cascades.”
year. The Spirits today are just as power- Pp. 360–377 in Handbook of North
ful as the Spirits of the past. A Coeur d’A- American Indians: Plateau, vol. 12. Edited
lene consultant remarked that for him, by Deward E. Walker, Jr. Washington, DC:
“Spirit is still the core of life itself.” Spirits Frey, Rodney. 2002. The World of the
and Spirit Helpers are very real to Plateau Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene Indians):
Indian people. The American Indian Landscape Traveled by Crane and Coyote.
might have changed in appearance, but
Hunn, Eugene S. 1990. Nich’i-Wana: The Big
Spirit Helpers still play the same quintes- River. Seattle: University of Washington
sential role they did during precontact Press.
Kennedy, Dorothy I. D., and Randall T.
times (personal interview, June 2002).
Bouchard. 1998. “Northern Okanagan,
The Spirit world is something greater Lakes, and Colville.” Pp. 238–252 in
than human beings. We are just small lit- Handbook of North American Indians:
Plateau, vol. 12. Edited by Deward E.
tle things. We don’t try to question it; we
Walker, Jr. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
simply accept it. As you lie there and lis- Institution.
ten to the wind blow through the trees, Ray, Verne F. 1933. The Sanpoil and
you begin to see how small we are, how Nespelem. Seattle: University of
Washington Press.
pitiful we are as human beings. We need ———. 1939. Cultural Relations in the
the power that Spirit put into our circle. Plateau of Northwestern America. Los
1014
_____________________________________ Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, California
Angles: Southwest Museum Spiritual and Ceremonial

Administrator of the Fund.
Schuster, Helen H. 1998. “Yakima and
Practitioners, California
Neighboring Groups.” Pp. 327–351 in
Handbook of North American Indians: The vastness of the California aboriginal
Plateau, vol. 12. Edited by Deward E. cultures and the variety of traditions
Institution. within them make a comprehensive ac-
Spier, Leslie. 1930. Klamath Ethnography. counting of all ceremonial practitioners
Berkeley: University of California Press. virtually impossible here. As a result,
Spier, Leslie, and Edward Sapir. 1930.
Wishram Ethnography. Seattle:
broad comparisons will be drawn utiliz-
University of Washington Press. ing specific information from three dis-
Spinden, Herbert Joseph. 1908. The Nez tinct regions: the communities along
Perce Indians. Lancaster, PA: American
portions of the Klamath River, the Karuk
Anthropological Association.
Stern, Theodore. 1998a. “Cayuse, Umatilla, and the Hupa; the high desert–dwelling
and Walla Walla.” Pp. 395–419 in Chemehuevi; and the south coastal vil-
lages in Chumash country.
Walker, Jr. Washington, DC: Smithsonian The role of ceremonial leader varies in
Institution. most Native communities by what kind
———. 1998b. “Klamath and Modoc.” Pp.
of ceremony it is that they are leaders of.
446–466 in Handbook of North American
Indians: Plateau, vol. 12. Edited by California Indian religious ceremonies
Deward E. Walker, Jr. Washington, DC: can be general community events that
Smithsonian Institution. occur on a regular schedule, or they can
Turney-High, Harry Holbert. 1941.
Ethnography of the Kutenai. Mensha, be smaller, more specific rituals such as
WI: American Anthropological those that accompany physical healing
Association. or birth/death ceremonies.
Walker, Deward E., Jr., ed. 1998. Handbook
of North American Indians: Plateau, vol. Villages along the Klamath River and its
12. Washington, DC: Smithsonian tributaries are linked by a cyclical ritual
Institution. system referred to by anthropologists as
“World Renewal” ceremonies. The cycle
consists of several ceremonies held every
year encompassing a wide range of ritual
Spiritual and Ceremonial performances including the White Deer-
Practitioners, Alaska skin and Jump Dances, which, among
other things, afforded opportunities for
See Angalkug
wealth display and costuming. These are
all presided over by particular Native prac-
titioners, whose authority is tied to their
Spiritual and Ceremonial knowledge of the particular aspects of the
ceremonies, as well as to their timing. The
Practitioners, Basin
leaders of these ceremonies take responsi-
See Puhagants bility for arranging the date and time of
1015
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, California ______________________________________
Sam Lopez, wearing Tolowa costume including a redheaded woodpecker scalp headdress and strings
of dentalia shell beads. He holds a traditional painted bow and an obsidian blade, a sign of wealth.
ca. 1923. (Library of Congress)
each ritual performance, as well as for as- an annual cycle and to specific locations.
sembling the proper personnel and seeing These elaborate rituals are intended to
that all materials are gathered properly show respect for the gifts of the earth,
and readied for the ceremony. Thus, for thus ensuring their regular arrival. Al-
World Renewal rituals, the leader con- though each ceremony is different from
venes, emcees, and provides authority the others, and there exist multiple vari-
both prior to and during the ceremony. ations in ceremonial detail, all tend to in-
These roles are often passed from father to clude two parts: a private part followed
son, but initiates into the leadership roles by a public performance of one or both
all apprentice with an expert for some of two distinct rituals, the Jump Dance
time before they are considered compe- and the White Deerskin Dance. In the
tent enough to lead a ceremony. private part, the ritualist visits sacred
World Renewal rituals also include sites and recites “formulas”—a sort of in-
various “first fruits” ceremonies tied to cantation/prayer that acknowledges the
1016
_____________________________________ Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, California
first performance of the ceremony in sa- speak to the assembly, and see to it that
cred time and its benefit to the people, singers, dancers, and musicians are all
thereby establishing the logic of its conti- paid for their participation. The feast
nuity. The sacred history of the people is that follows these ceremonies is also or-
thus invoked in virtually all such cere- ganized by the key leader, though the
monial situations. This requires that the food itself is usually sponsored by an-
priest/ritualist can be trusted by the other person.
community to perform these functions Other, less elaborate observances, are
properly, in order to ensure the efficacy also held in this region. Among the
of the ceremony. Hupa, an Acorn Feast is held in the au-
Following the private rituals, the tumn, when the nuts begin to fall from
dancing begins and goes on every day for the oaks, and a First Salmon ceremony
up to ten days or more, when possible. takes place when the spring run of fish
Modern life often requires a change in begins. The acorns or salmon are care-
this pattern, and it is the ceremonial fully obtained, especially for these ritu-
leader who makes that decision and an- als, and various prayers are said and sa-
nounces the schedule after consulting cred acts performed. Until these
with the participants. The Karuk dance procedures are completed no one eats
regalia is fairly standardized by custom, the food, and the harvesting and fishing
and it is also up to the ceremonial leader cannot continue until the ceremonies
to ensure that all participants are within are held. The leaders for these cere-
compliance. Dancers in the White Deer- monies are often village elders and im-
skin Dance wear regalia of deer hide or portant family members who will also
wildcat skirts and dentalium shell neck- oversee the season’s take for that area.
laces; wolf fur and woodpecker scalps Extended families possess rights to cer-
form the headdress. The name of the tain areas along the river and in oak
dance derives from the fact that all groves, but with those rights come the
dancers carry poles from which hang responsibilities to the larger community
white deerskins, complete with the head that proper respect be paid and all mem-
of the deer at the point. bers of the community be cared for.
The Jump Dance regalia consists of a For the Chemehuevi, the seasonal arc
headdress made from woodpecker differs from that of the riverine environs
scalps and white feathers along the fore- of the Karuk and Hupa. Clearly, the envi-
head. Dentalia are also worn, and a skirt ronment plays heavily into the ceremo-
of deerskin. The ceremonial leader is re- nial cycle of any traditional community;
sponsible for seeing that all of this takes the available resources and topography
place according to custom, and the associated with the Mojave Desert are
leader makes the proper speeches and best managed via small extended-family
invocations during the ceremony. He groups through much of the year, with
will often invite honored attendees to regular, seasonal gatherings of larger
1017
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, California ______________________________________
scale. For the Chemehuevi, day-to-day exemplary tradition, the coastal Chu-
religious life takes on a particularly per- mash. For the grouping of loosely inter-
sonal quality, and one can seek the assis- connected and independent villages that
tance of a Spirit Helper to aid one in the have come to be known as Chumashan,
navigation of the world; each person has the key cultural aspect that helps to de-
particular ritual obligations to that fine ceremonial leadership is the exten-
helper. sive trade relationships that were central
In terms of broad religious leadership, to Chumash life prior to the influence of
those roles are either inherited, as with Spanish missionaries. These trade part-
the lineage’s “head man,” who presides nerships, partnerships that crossed lan-
over the larger seasonal ceremonies hav- guage groupings within Chumash coun-
ing to do with observances of the sol- try, were maintained via a series of guilds
stices and equinoxes by several lineages that oversaw the material and cultural
in a region, and smaller, intralineage rit- products of the villages. From basket
uals for hunting, water control, or heal- weavers to ritualists, the guilds served to
ing. In the former, the captain of a line- unite what would have otherwise been a
age is chosen to preside over a regional disparate cultural region. The priesthood
ceremony and is in charge of all the de- tended to fall into several categories: cer-
tails, much like the Karuk World Renewal emonial presider, often the role of the
ceremonial leader. For the latter, the des- presiding village’s political leader (whose
ignation as ritualist is most often derived membership in the priestly guild was as-
from dreams, but such dreams can be sumed); astronomers, who were charged
brought on from the ceremonial use of with keeping constant the people’s
the Jimsonweed plant. These are most awareness of seasonal changes and ce-
often male, but female healers and water lestial events via extensive knowledge of
priests are not uncommon. Hunter the cosmos and its movement; and the
priests, as can be inferred from the title, ubiquitous healers, whose specialties
perform certain rituals to ensure success ranged from treating snake bites to bro-
in hunts. Water priests can either ken bones. The most typical healing
“dowse” for springs and oases, or invoke priest in California, the suck doctor,
spiritual help to start or stop the rains. tends to have a “general practitioner” ap-
Healer priests are able to manipulate proach in Chumash country, in that she
spiritual and medicinal factors for pur- or he sucks the illness-causing agent
poses of physical healing, and they over- from the person’s body, either directly or
see birth and death ceremonies as well. through a hollow reed or tube.
Their power is concentrated in cane Initiation into the priesthood that over-
staffs that are used in all ritual situations. sees the spiritual aspects of these ritualists
The Chemehuevi’s use of Jimsonweed, involves, as with the Chemehuevi, con-
in some respects, mirrors that of the final sumption of a concoction derived from
1018
__ Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Northwest Coast and Southeast Alaska
the Jimsonweed plant. The result of this Environmental Management by Native

ceremonial consumption is a mild coma, Californians. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena
Press.
during which the initiate receives his or Dixon, R. B., and A. L. Kroeber. 1971. The
her Spirit Helper and the songs associated California Indians: A Source Book.
with the particular ceremonial role. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Eargle, Dolan H., Jr. 1986. The Earth Is Our
As can be seen from these brief de- Mother: A Guide to the Indians of
scriptions, ceremonial leaders through- California, Their Locales and Historic
out California are in their positions be- Sites. San Francisco: Trees Company
Press.
cause of their ability to do what is ———. 1992. California Indian Country:
needed for the overall health of the peo- The Land and the People. San Francisco:
ple. Whether that means keeping track of Trees Company Press.
Forbes, Jack. 1982. Native Americans of
the proper ritual protocols from season
California and Nevada. Happy Camp:
to season so that they are always per- CA: Naturegraph Publishing.
formed properly, or enduring potentially Laird, Carobeth. 1976. The Chemehuevis.
Banning, CA: Malki Press.
deadly initiation ceremonies so that
Sarris, Greg, ed. 1994. The Sound of Rattles
their Spirit Helper may put them at the and Clappers: A Collection of New
service of their communities, ritualists California Indian Writing. Tucson:
among most California Indian peoples
Vane, Sylvia Brakke. 1990. California
approach their role as a “vocation”: to be Indians: Primary Resources: A Guide to
in the role of ceremonial leader means a Manuscripts, Artifacts, Documents,
lifelong commitment to proper mainte- Serials, Music and Illustrations. San
Francisco: Ballena Press.
nance of the power invested in them by
the universe on behalf of the people.
Dennis F. Kelley
See also Ceremony and Ritual, California;
McKay, Mabel; Oral Traditions, California; Practitioners, Northwest
Parrish, Essie; Power, Barbareño Chumash; Coast and Southeast
Religious Leaders, California;
Retraditionalism and Revitalization Alaska
Movements, California
Northwest coast religious practitioners
may be divided into roughly a half-dozen
Arnold, Mary Ellicott, and Mabel Reed.
1980. In the Land of the Grasshopper categories by function. The one factor
Song: Two Women in the Klamath River that links them all is contact with and
Indian Country in 1908–9. Lincoln: use of some type of supernatural power.
Blackburn, Thomas C., ed. 1980. December’s Although these functions are discrete,
Child: A Book of Chumash Oral individuals may have carried out more
Narratives. Berkeley: University of than a single one. The categories are: first
California Press.
Blackburn, Thomas C., and Kat Anderson, fruits/hunting and fishing magic practi-
eds. 1993. Before the Wilderness: tioner; domestic cult leader; shaman;
1019
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Northwest Coast and Southeast Alaska ___
witch/sorcerer; winter ceremonial dancer;

and artist. Considerable variation occurs
along a north-south axis, from southeast-
ern Alaska, through coastal British Colum-
bia, to the Oregon coast. Within this area
there exist ten major ethnolinguistic
group, and scores of “tribal” groupings.
Thus any discussion of the area in general
terms necessarily involves simplification
and abstraction.
First Fruits/Hunting and Fishing

Magic
This function was often fulfilled by a
hereditary chief in his role as owner and
steward of productive territories. Occa-
sionally, other high-ranking persons
might fill the role of priest. However, in-
dividual hunters and fishers usually
Nuu-chah-nulth man taking a ceremonial bath
practiced some rituals in preparation for before a whale hunt. Clayoquot, Vancouver
their endeavors, and consumers ob- Island, British Columbia. 1843. (Library of
served certain rules of food preparation, Congress)
eating, and disposal. First fruits rituals

had the dual function of honoring the appearance of the first salmon of a given
species, usually and most importantly species was of the greatest importance
salmon, and of effectively opening the to a group; it often gave rise to a “first
season on that species. Salmon were salmon” ritual, in which the fish was cer-
universally thought to be a sentient emonially prepared and served. In addi-
being whose existence paralleled that of tion to first fruits rituals, which honored
humans. The five species of salmon pro- the collective “run” of fish, individual
vided the main staple for all coastal salmon were treated with respect by
groups. Thus the question of how they having their bones returned to the
were taken was of fundamental impor- water, which, it was believed, ensured
tance. Salmon knew and communicated their regeneration.
to others whether they were treated well Hunters and certain types of fishers
or badly by particular local groups. If (generally, those who fished from boats)
they were ill treated, they would absent practiced a variety of ritual preparations.
themselves in future years, thus with- These usually involved multiple absti-
drawing that group’s sustenance. The nences—from food (especially of the
1020
same type as that to be pursued) and the chief’s wife or other noblewomen
sexual intercourse. In addition, bathing would carry on the ritual in the shrine.
and other purificatory practices were This was considered essential to the suc-
adopted. This may have had a practical cess of the hunt and to fending off disas-
effect of making the hunter less easily ter. The woman, who had ritually pre-
detectable by keen-scented land ani- pared herself for this, remained
mals, and certainly was connected to immobile in the shrine. At this point she
cultural ideas about purity. By appearing was explicitly identified with the whale.
as purely human, as opposed to human If she moved, the whale moved, making
mixed with the nonhuman essences of it more difficult to catch; in addition, this
foodstuffs, the hunter appeared in an was an action that could, if it occurred at
unambiguous form, facilitating ex- the wrong moment, capsize the canoe
change, the basis of all hunting and fish- and kill the crew.
ing. Fish and game animals willingly
gave themselves up to humans as part of Domestic Cult Leader
a cosmic exchange that was imagined Most religious practice was connected
differently in different cultures but that with the domestic unit. These units var-
generally viewed humans as one among ied in composition and organizing prin-
many communities of sentient and so- ciples, but they were composed mini-
cial beings. In addition to abstinence, mally of a household of persons related
prayer was commonly employed both by blood and through marriage. Larger
before and after the kill. Hunters and groupings, such as extended lineages
fishers attempted to ensure not only and clans, brought multiple households
their immediate success but also the together into a single structure. For il-
long-term welfare of their community. lustrative purposes, I will here discuss
The most elaborate example of hunt- the Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl) nu-
ing magic comes from the Nuu-chah- maym, or “house,” a cognatic or bilat-
nulth (Nootka) of the west coast of Van- eral descent group. Leadership in the
couver Island. In preparation for numaym (as in other such groups) was
open-sea whaling (which only they and vested in a senior male and his close
their southern kinsmen the Makah en- kin. Senior position was determined by
gaged in), a hereditary chief, who was primogeniture, with a patrilineal prefer-
also the leader of whaling expeditions, ence; thus, eldest sons of eldest sons of
would bathe, pray, and fast in secret eldest sons, and so on back into the ge-
places, including special shrines erected nealogical depths, were preferred as
away from the village. These shrines con- chiefs. However, matrilineal descent
tained human remains, as well as carved was also considered. The head chief was
representations of humans and whales. also the steward of the numaym’s sym-
When the chief and his party embarked, bolic property, which included religious
1021
paraphernalia, knowledge of origin sto- of shamans, at least from the standpoint

ries (both genealogical and mythologi- of nonshamans, was to heal illness, espe-
cal), the use of certain crest designs cially illness caused by taboo violations
(which appeared on houses, poles, but- or witchcraft. The job of the healer was
ton blankets, and movable property), thus to diagnose the spiritual cause of
and the right to perform certain dances the disease and to restore the patient’s
during the winter ceremonial. As the soul, the loss of which was the proximate
guardian of this property, the head chief cause of the illness. More powerful spiri-
was responsible for displaying it under tual practitioners could, however, use
proper circumstances. The most impor- their ability to cause illness, or to “throw”
tant such context was the potlatch, a power into enemies. In some cases
great giving-away feast to which other shamans worked for chiefs, and carried
numayms were invited. Other occasions out warfare by other means. In other
included weddings, funerals, and nam- cases shamans became powerful sorcer-
ing ceremonies. The prosperity and ers who could use their powers to obtain
prestige, as well as the health and spiri- what they wished. Such spiritual practi-
tual power, of the group was considered tioners were frequently wealthy, since
a direct result of the effectiveness of the few would refuse them payment. Ironi-
head chief in his role as domestic cult cally, these individuals were also the per-
leader. secutors of witches and sorcerers, whom
only they could detect. In the north espe-
Shaman (Spiritual Healers) cially, the persecution and torture of per-
Shamans, or spiritual healers, were ubiq- sons suspected of witchcraft and sorcery
uitous on the Northwest coast. They op- was commonplace. Among the Tlingit of
erated independently of both the secular southeastern Alaska, such spiritual prac-
and religious structures of society. In titioners are remembered today. They
some extreme cases, healers did not were especially active during the disease
dwell with others in a village but lived pandemics of the late nineteenth cen-
alone in the bush, where they kept tury, which most Tlingits blamed on sor-
shrines. Many healers were peripatetic. cery.
Spiritual healers possessed one or more
“helpers,” usually the spiritual form of Witch/Sorcerer
animals such as bears, wolves, and killer Witchcraft and sorcery—a distinction
whales. Shamans constituted a sort of that rests on whether or not spells and
guild that transcended tribal and com- esoteric knowledge are used (sorcery), or
munity boundaries. Intergroup competi- whether it is merely a type of spiritual
tions were held, in which elaborate malevolence (witchcraft)—was wide-
sleight-of-hand techniques were prac- spread on the Northwest coast. It was not
ticed and judged. The primary function considered a religious practice by most
1022
Northwest coast people, but it certainly more that had moving parts and could
fits within our definition. Moreover, as even change appearance. These “trans-
we have seen, shamans, who were the formation” masks illustrated the concept
most powerful religious practitioners, of the interconnection between the
might “turn” and become sorcerers. human, spirit, and animal worlds. Other
Power over the victim is increased if one dances were performed with little cos-
has access to objects associated with that tume; these tended to emphasize a state
person, such as clothes, or, even better, of spiritual possession or the inherent
body parts, such as hair or nail clippings. sacredness of the dancer.
For this reason, such items were usually A further distinction between dances
disposed of carefully. Although generally was between those that were shamanis-
malevolent, with the intent to cause dis- tic in character and those that were
ease, misfortune, or death, some witch- closely related to the domestic cult. The
craft took the form of love medicine. This shamanistic series of dances, called by
form at least is still practiced today in groups such as the Kwakwak’wakw and
areas of the Northwest coast. the Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) by the word for
“shamans,” replicated in collective form
Winter Ceremonial Dancer the spiritual encounter of practicing
The winter was the sacred season on the shamans. This did not make the partici-
Northwest coast. The pervasive dark- pants any more than “honorary
ness, bad weather, and relative lack of shamans,” however. The most powerful
food made it a poor time for productive such performance was the Hamatsa, or
activity. The Kwakwak’wakw envisioned “Cannibal Dance,” which employed the-
the world’s turning over during the win- atrical and perhaps actual anthro-
ter, with an effect similar to that of turn- pophagy. Other dances appeared closer
ing over a rock and finding slugs and to the themes of the domestic cult and
worms. The spirits likewise came out in were often led by hereditary chiefs. Such
the winter, and humans impersonated dances invoked supernatural ancestors
them or were, in some cases, possessed and other heavenly beings and asked for
by them. Most adolescent and adult blessings upon the community. Groups
males of respectable but not necessarily such as the Heiltsuk and Nuxalk (Bella
noble lineage participated in winter Coola) kept the two types of dances en-
dances; in some groups women likewise tirely separate, while other groups mixed
participated. A wide variety of dances them together.
and dance types existed among different
groups. Many involved masks and elabo- Artist
rate theatrics. The Kwakwak’wakw were The role of artist was an explicitly sacred
especially well known for constructing one throughout the Northwest coast. On
masks weighing a hundred pounds or the one hand, artists were in contact
1023
with the sacred as they manufactured entity represented—in addition to the

ritual objects, including masks, and dec- frequently powerful personage commis-
orated even utilitarian surfaces with the sioning the work. Many surfaces were
crests of the clan. More than that, painted, and that too involved potent
though, artists were masters of a special forces. Paint—red and black were the
type of power akin to shamanism. Like main colors employed—was made from
shamans, their ability to “see” the spirit elements such as charcoal and red ocher,
world enabled them to operate on a which were themselves not devoid of
spiritual plane, apart from normal hu- power. For certain powerful masks, men-
mans. The Tsimshian of northern British strual blood—an immensely potent and
Columbia called artists gitsontk, people dangerous substance—was sometimes
with secret power. The Northwest coast used.
world was a profoundly aesthetic one; Michael Harkin
house interiors were suffused with ob-
jets d’art. Since each such design repre- Dances, Northwest Winter Spirit Dances;
sented—in a literal sense—spiritual be- Guardian Spirit Complex; Masks and
Masking; Oral Traditions, Northwest Coast;
ings, the artists could be seen as one
Power, Northwest Coast; Sacred Societies,
important way in which humans and Northwest Coast
nonhuman spiritual beings were References and Further Reading
brought into contact. Even the most util- Boas, Franz. 1966. Kwakiutl Ethnography.
itarian of objects, such as cedar storage Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Harkin, Michael. 1997. The Heiltsuks:
boxes, which were the universal con- Dialogues of Culture and History on the
tainer for everything from preserved Northwest Coast. Lincoln: University of
food to masks, were decorated with sa- Nebraska Press.
Jonaitis, Aldona. 1999. The Yuquot Whalers’
cred designs. And yet these were no Shrine. Seattle: University of Washington
mere designs; the box was thought to Press.
become the spirit represented on its Kan, Sergei. 1989. Symbolic Immortality:
The Tlingit Potlatch of the Nineteenth
front, and thus to look over and protect
Century. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
the contents. Similarly, the ancestral Institution Press.
crests on the fronts of houses sheltered McIlwraith, Thomas F. 1992.The Bella Coola
Indians, 2 vols. Toronto: University of
the occupants as much as did the roof
Toronto Press.
and walls. Seguin, Margaret, ed. 1984. The Tsimshian:
Almost all important artwork was Images of the Past, Views for the Present.
Vancouver: University of British
done with wood, usually a type of cedar
Columbia Press.
or alder. The artist thus stood at the Suttles, Wayne. 1987. Coast Salish Essays.
nexus of several streams of spiritual Seattle: University of Washington Press.
power: that of the tree, that of the tools ———, ed. 1990. The Handbook of North
American Indians: The Northwest Coast,
(traditionally made of stone or bone be- vol. 7. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
fore the advent of metal), and that of the Institution Press.
1024
__________________________________________ Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Plains
Spiritual and Ceremonial the Northern Siouan Mandan and Hi-

Practitioners, Plains datsa, albeit they employed different
terms (Wood and Irwin 2001, 357; Stew-
To this day, spiritual and ceremonial art 2001, 335). The Caddoan-speaking
practitioners—possessors of supernatu- villagers, the Arikara, Pawnee, and Wi-
ral powers linked to magical protection, chita, also identified a supreme being
good fortune, success in warfare, and and a hierarchy of power (Parks 2001a,
curing—maintain, to varying degrees, 381; Parks 2001b, 536; Newcomb 2001,
the metaphysical integrity of Plains In- 557).
dian communities. Although prereserva- Among the nomadic equestrian
tion, nineteenth-century Plains peoples tribes, the Athabascan-speaking Sarcee
were semisedentary, horticultural/ and Plains Apache acknowledged an all-
bison-hunting villagers or were eques- powerful creator—Maker of the Earth—
trian, nomadic hunters and gatherers, and the Uto-Aztecan Comanche referred
they shared the common belief in an an- to their creator—sometimes identified
imatistic power force permeating the with Sun—as Niatpo, “My Father”
universe, obtainable by humans through (Dempsey 2001b, 633; Foster and McCol-
the assistance of animistic, spiritual be- lough 2001, 931; Kavanagh 2001, 892). Al-
ings represented by animals or natural gonkin tribes likewise recognized a cre-
forces. Individuals receiving “power” ator as possessor of the greatest powers:
through dreams, visions, inheritance, or Napi, or “Old Man” (Blackfoot); a non-
purchase typically possessed sacred personified spirit creator (Plains Cree);
“medicine” bundles representing per- The One Above Thought (Gros Ventre);
sonal, clan, band, village, or tribal pow- Maheo (Cheyenne); and Pipe Person
ers; these healers or spiritual leaders (Arapaho) (Dempsey 2001a, 616; Darnell
were frequently summoned to mediate 2001, 646; Fowler and Flannery 2001,
on behalf of their brethren. 682; Moore, Liberty, and Straus 2001,
Sacred power, often associated with a 873; Fowler 2001, 843). Conversely, the
creator, was identified by Dhegiha Siouan-speaking Assiniboine, Santee,
Siouan-speaking peoples—Omaha, Yankton/Yanktonai, and Teton recog-
Ponca, Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw—as a nized the animatistic powers connected
variant of wakkanda or wakanda (Lib- with variant forms of the Lakota wakan
erty, Wood, and Irwin 2001, 408; Brown “holy,” the “common denominator of
and Irwin 2001, 423; Bailey and Young oneness,” and wakan tanka, “big holy,”
2001, 469; Bailey 2001, 480; Young and or the totality of everything (DeMallie
Hoffman 2001, 503). The Chiwere and Miller 2001, 578; Albers 2001, 768;
Siouan-speaking Iowa and Oto/Mis- DeMallie 2001a, 790; DeMallie 2001b,
souria also believed in wakanda (Blaine 806). To the Crow, also Siouan speakers,
1979, 192; Schweitzer 2001, 450), as did Sun, or “father,” was the most important
1025
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Plains __________________________________________
Brown and Irwin 2001, 420, 423;

Schweitzer 2001, 449–450; Bailey and
Young 2001, 469–470; Bailey 2001, 481;
Young and Hoffman 2001, 502). Pawnee
and Arikara social organization centered
on endogamous villages unified by ori-
gin myths and bundles that passed from
father to son (Parks 2001a, 373; 2001b,
530). The equestrian Cheyenne and
Kiowa, keepers of Sun Dance bundles
and other sacred tribal icons, chose sons
or close male relatives to maintain the
medicines after their death. Cross-cul-
turally, Plains peoples believed that the
continuation of individual power was
contingent on heirs who assumed re-
sponsibility for bundles, songs, tech-
niques, and sacred knowledge; other-
wise, power died with its owner.
Throughout the Plains, power was in-
formally obtained through “involuntary
The site of a Crow Sun Dance Circle. Crow
Agency, Montana. 2001. (Marilyn “Angel” Wynn/ or spontaneous visions” initiated by
Nativestock) spiritual forces, and formally through
the institutionalized vision quest, a near
pan-Plains phenomenon (Irwin 1994,
spirit power (Voget 2001, 706), a concep- 78–79). Vision quests usually involved
tion similar to the Kiowa belief that Sun self-sacrifice by fasting and thirsting an
possessed the strongest dw'dw', “power” average of four days and nights in re-
(Kracht 2000, 237). mote, often elevated locations by young
Despite different etymologies, power male supplicants who offered prayers to
was attainable through inheritance, the spirit world, accompanied by wisps
dreams and visions, or purchase. Among of tobacco smoke drawn from long-
the Hidatsa, the Mandan, and the stemmed pipes. Mandan, Crow, and Hi-
Dhegiha and Chiwere tribes, clan bun- datsa seekers often took self-sacrifice to
dles were inherited according to unilin- extremes, by severing finger joints as of-
eal descent rules—some bundles were ferings (Wood and Irwin 2001, 357; Voget
tribal, others were personal (Stewart 2001, 706; Stewart 2001, 335). If fortu-
2001, 335; Wood and Irwin 2001, 357; nate, novices gained pity from animal—
Liberty, Wood, and Irwin 2001, 409; or other—spirits and were bestowed
1026
with power visions. Afterward, it was not Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, and
unusual for new ecstatics to seek further Comanche (Stewart 2001, 337; Wood and
knowledge from experienced individuals Irwin 2001, 361; Frey 1987, 77; Albers
in the community, especially those with 2001, 768; Irwin 1994, 80–81, 176–177).
similar powers. Healers, male or female, usually derived
Becoming understudies to power their powers from spirits represented by
keepers, providing them with gifts, and certain animals, especially Bear, Black-
replicating their power symbols, bun- Tailed Deer, and, notably, Buffalo. Bear
dles, and related ceremonies was an- and Buffalo doctors existed among the
other way in which individuals gained Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, Oto/Missouria,
access to power. Perhaps the most un- Quapaw, Pawnee, Wichita, Santee, Teton,
usual form of power transference, prac- Arapaho, and Kiowa (Liberty, Wood, and
ticed by the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Irwin 2001, 410; Brown and Irwin 2001,
Gros Ventre, and Crow, involved ritual in- 424; Wedel 2001, 440; Schweitzer 2001,
tercourse between a seeker’s wife and a 451–452; Young and Hoffman 2001, 502;
bundle keeper (Wood and Irwin 2001, Parks 2001a, 537–538; Newcomb 2001,
357; Stewart 2001, 337; Parks 2001a, 383; 558; Albers 2001, 768–769; DeMallie
Fowler and Flannery 2001, 684; Voget 2001b, 808; Fowler 2001, 844; Levy 2001,
2001, 706–707). Regardless of its source 915; Kracht 2000, 239). Other power ani-
or strength, acquired power could en- mals related to healing powers were Pan-
sure successful hunting, lucrative raid- ther, Elk, Beaver, Owl, and Snake.
ing and horse-stealing, warrior prowess In the ensuing sketch, the concept of
over enemies, longevity, and overall well- power and its use by spiritual and cere-
being; however, the strongest power be- monial practitioners—shamans and
longed to shamans, the principal Plains tribal bundle keepers—among the pre-
healers (Irwin 1994, 72–73). reservation Kiowa of southwestern Okla-
Power was largely male-dominated, homa is described. This reconstruction
although Hidatsa, Mandan, and Crow is largely based on the ethnographic field
women deliberately sought visions. notes of James Mooney (1891–1904) and
Among the Santee Sioux, Gros Ventre, Weston LaBarre (et al., 1935), housed in
Lipan Apache, Arapaho, Assiniboine, the National Anthropological Archives,
Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche, Smithsonian Institution. Kiowa orthog-
Pawnee, Teton, and Dhegiha tribes, raphy is consistent, wherever possible,
women gained power, often through in- with Merrill (et al. 1997).
voluntary spontaneous visions. More- Nineteenth-century Kiowa religious
over, male shamans could not function beliefs were centered in the notion of
properly without their primary assis- dw'dw', “power,” an impersonal spirit
tants—their wives; husband-wife force permeating the universe, including
shaman pairs existed among the Crow, plants, animals, the sun, moon, stars,
1027
earth, water, and rocks. Dw'dw', largely ically supported Sun and his retinue and
obscure to humans, was sometimes re- controlled the movements of rain clouds
vealed in lightning, thunder, tornadoes, and the stars. Thunder, Whirlwind, Tor-
directional winds, and other natural nado, or tseigudl, “Red Horse,” and the
phenomena, as well as in animals, birds, four directional winds dwelled in Wind’s
and reptiles. In a hierarchical spirit world domain, as did Eagle, Hawk, and Falcon,
in which greater and lesser powers coex- symbols of war power, and Crow, whose
isted, Sun was recognized as the princi- powers included the ability to dodge
pal life force because everything else de- bullets. Feathers from these and other
pended on its dw'dw' in order to live. In birds were used in most Kiowa rites, in-
Kiowa cosmology, the combined powers cluding curing rituals. Dom, “Earth,” ad-
of Sun and Wind brought rain, causing dressed in prayer as “mother,” domi-
the grasses to grow, which fed the bison nated the lower level of the universe,
upon which the Kiowa depended. Sun inhabited by surface, underground, and
was also linked to the creation of the sa- underwater creatures coexisting in a
cred thali-da-i, “boy medicine” bundles, predator-prey hierarchy. Among the ter-
known today as the Ten Medicines. As fa- restrial beings, Buffalo Bull was domi-
ther to the bison and grandfather to the nant because he received his power di-
Kiowa, Sun was presented buffalo meat rectly from Sun and could endow male
offerings and petitioned for good health vision seekers with war power from Sun.
and well-being with personal sacrifices Otherwise, Buffalo had great medicine
of human flesh. Young male recipients of powers transferable to men who became
Sun-inspired visions acquired war buffalo doctors, or buffalo medicine
power, developed into great warriors, men. Other earthbound power animals
and often became band leaders of the included Elk, Antelope, Deer, Prairie
ten to twenty Kiowa bands. Sun power Dog, Beaver, Wolf, Mountain Lion, Bad-
provided invulnerability, so warriors ger, Wolf, and Horse. Snake and Snap-
painted solar designs on their bodies, ping Turtle represented healing power.
war shields, and war ponies. Sacred Power animals feared by the Kiowa in-
shields and dancers were also adorned cluded Owl, the messenger of death;
with sun motifs during the Sun Dance, Coyote, whose howling implied sick-
the most important tribal ceremony, ness; Gopher and Mole, diggers of poi-
performed to regenerate the bison herds sonous burrows; Underwater Monster;
and the Kiowa people. and Bear, still regarded by the Kiowa
Living in the upper level of the uni- with ambivalence.
verse with Sun were the lesser powers, Regardless of how power was ob-
represented by Moon (female) and other tained—purchase, inheritance, or the vi-
stars. Beneath them dwelled Wind, the sion quest—the Kiowa believed that a
authority of the middle realm who phys- man received war power or curing
1028
power—two distinct, mutually exclusive shaman’s torso, ready to be coughed up,

categories of dw'dw'. For those who at- on demand, in the form of stones, paint
tained either type of power, public dis- (colored clays), moles, lizards, snakes,
closure was considered improper be- toads, pieces of buffalo horn, and hide.
cause of the conviction that newly Osonte, “No Voice,” possessed the ability
acquired power would manifest itself at to spit out a miniature bison as part of
the appropriate time: for instance, a war- his magic. During healing episodes,
rior returning from a fierce battle un- shamans discharged gietso from their
scathed, or a novice shaman called in as mouths to demonstrate the strength of
the last resort to cure a patient. their particular dw'dw', and likewise
Notably, shamans, as doctors, had the spewed gietso at the end of the session
ability to accumulate different powers; highlighted by the “sucking” technique,
powerful shamans often specialized in the magical extraction of disease agents
several specific disorders—for instance, from the patient’s torso. This was a prac-
a shaman who treated fevers and battle- tice founded in the notion that sickness
field wounds. was caused by supernatural beings or
Those who acquired curing dw'dw' human sorcerers who selected victims,
and became shamans were obligated to then discharged foreign objects into
live according to the dictates of their their bodies; the objects could be re-
helping spirits, who imposed stringent tracted only by shamans and spat out
taboos on their particular medicine with their medicine. When a shaman
powers. Dietary and behavioral taboos died, gietso shot out of his mouth and
included the avoidance of bear, mole, was lost forever, unless an apprentice
and fish meat, and certain animal parts, was there to receive a mouth-to-mouth
such as brains and marrow; some transference.
shamans could not use knives as eating Curing ceremonies in behalf of sick
utensils. Each shaman also adhered to persons were initiated by any male rela-
specific behavioral taboos: prohibiting tive who lit a long-stemmed pipe before
people from walking behind them while approaching a shaman; the shaman re-
they were eating, or disallowing visitors spectfully listened to the problem and
whose feet touched the ground while asked appropriate questions about
doctoring. Breaching these and other symptoms. If the shaman felt his powers
taboos could result in sickness and, ulti- could help, he accepted the pipe,
mately, the death of the shaman, who smoked, and prayed to his spirit powers
also did not treat his own family mem- for assistance in curing the patient. Prior
bers because of the concern that he to examination, the shaman purified his
would become sick instead. hands in sweetgrass smoke, then took a
Magical doctoring powers, gietso black handkerchief, or perhaps a buffalo
(meaning “unknown”), resided in the calfskin, and placed it over his eyes while
1029
scanning the patient’s torso to locate the ored clay on the torsos of their patients.
“poison.” Buffalo doctors usually accompanied
Once the source of affliction was de- war parties because of their talents for
termined, the shaman took sharpened treating arrow and bullet wounds. Before
flint, incised the skin, and began sucking skirmishes with enemies, those buffalo
the wound, although each practitioner doctors in attendance sang a buffalo
had his own eccentricities: some song while painting their bodies red and
shamans did not make incisions, others white to symbolize the power of Buffalo,
placed hot embers in their mouths be- derived from rolling in the dirt. Buffalo
forehand, used hollowed-out bison doctors usually worked alone to assist
horns for sucking, or applied feathered fallen warriors by spewing red paint
fans smudged in cedar smoke to the (clay) on open wounds to stanch the
smitten area. Patients screamed from ex- bleeding; in severe cases, as many as
cruciating pain as the entity was extri- seven or eight worked together. Most
cated and spat out for display to the as- buffalo doctors employed the sucking
sembled family members supporting the technique, though other treatments in-
healing process. The object, perhaps a volved rubbing buffalo tails, fur, or even
stone, a piece of deerskin or black hand- buffalo bundles across the patient’s
kerchief, or exuviae from human body. After successful treatment ceremo-
corpses, including hair, skin, teeth, and nial paint was applied to the patient, ac-
fingernail pairings, was displayed to companied by the healing power of buf-
show that the shaman had successfully falo songs. The patient was expected to
removed the entity. Afterward, family follow the taboos of the buffalo doctors:
members rewarded the shaman with they could not eat “wounded” meat—the
horses, blankets, or other gifts, unless location of the fatal wound—raw livers,
the patient’s condition worsened, upon kidneys, and gizzards, raw meat, or un-
which nothing was said. A shaman lost cooked blood. Nobody was allowed to
prominence, however, after repeated break bones in their vicinity, nor could
failures. Convalescing patients were ex- they place buffalo tails, horns, or hooves
pected to adhere to their practitioner’s into fires. Violating these taboos was
personal taboos until the completion of considered dangerous to patient and
a ritual feast sponsored by the shaman. practitioner alike.
Notable among Kiowa shamans were Another group of shamans, the owl
the buffalo doctors. The power of Buffalo doctors, received their dw'dw' from that
resides in the cud, or in the hair balls in dreaded bird and understood Owl lan-
its stomachs coughed up and swallowed guage, permitting them to communicate
during the digestive process, as symbol- with deceased spirits using owls as medi-
ized in the magical healing rite of buffalo ums. The so-called owl prophets some-
doctors who spewed Indian paint or col- times conducted nighttime seances by
1030
summoning owl spirits into miniature the restrictive taboos of an adversary to

tepees placed at the western end of a his advantage, sketched an outline of the
special tepee pitched for a divination rite intended victim on the ground; then,
designed to find lost comrades and based on the principle of sympathetic, or
horses, or to predict the future outcome image, magic, placed a blade of grass,
of a war expedition. Owl doctors typi- needle, small feather, or other object into
cally treated individuals bewitched by a pipe stem and blew it into the desired
owls and ghosts, responsible for facial area. Sorcerers could also “shoot” bones
twisting or paralysis. Other healers were into the bodies of their victims, or cause
those with Snake power, including harm by pointing and chanting in the
women, who treated snake and spider person’s direction. These practices were
bites. consistent with Kiowa etiology that ill-
Besides healing episodes, shamans ness was caused by intrusive supernatu-
often displayed their dw'dw' in power ral entities, oftentimes sent by shamans
contests, a practice that continued well practicing sorcery. The well-docu-
into the twentieth century. Such public mented deaths of Kicking Bird in 1875
expositions typically were performed by and Joshua Given in 1893 under mysteri-
men who possessed their own unique ous circumstances have been attributed
powers and did not belong to medicine to shamans punishing them for allegedly
societies: Tsodltoi, “Spotted Wing,” a betraying the Kiowa people.
snakebite doctor, could magically spew Once smitten by malign magic, part of
four large rattlesnakes from her mouth; the cure involved identifying the culprit,
Pododlte (meaning unknown), one of who might avoid the victim, or treat him
the intermittent Owl doctors, kept a spi- especially well to cover his sorcery. If the
der, centipede, turtle, butcher knife, and perpetrator was unknown, certain
pistol in his stomach; and the remark- shamans were hired to perform divina-
able Tonakwt, “Turtle,” a recipient of Tur- tion ceremonies involving the placement
tle and Underwater Monster powers, of black handkerchiefs over their eyes
withstood a point-blank rifle shot to the while examining the patient’s body. The
face—a story that survives in oral tradi- hope was that a suspect would be
tions today. named, his poisonous gietso sucked out,
Most Kiowas feared these individuals, spat into a fire, and destroyed. After the
a fear founded in the belief that medi- sorcerer’s identity was revealed, there
cine powers could be used for good or were several options: he was stalked and
evil, and that shamans who did not be- forced to rescind the spell at gunpoint; or
long to medicine societies had a pen- the services of a more powerful shaman
chant for sorcery. Anyone foolish enough were engaged to bewitch him. To this
to offend such a person expected to get day, the Kiowa believe that those engag-
sick and possibly die. A sorcerer, using ing in sorcery would eventually succumb
1031
to malevolent powers, bringing about Leading several horses, or carrying pres-

their own demise. ents for the opposing party, the kinsman
Unlike shamans, who possessed cur- pleaded for the keeper to fill his long-
ing dw'dw' and employed individualized stemmed pipe with tobacco, seek out the
healing techniques, keepers of the disputing factions, and offer them the
eleven tribal bundles offered spiritual as- lighted pipe—a request impossible to re-
sistance and intervention in personal fuse, because smoking together symbol-
and tribal affairs; individually and col- ized the agreement to resolve their dif-
lectively, they performed sacred rituals ferences, as witnessed by the spirit world
in behalf of the Kiowa people. Keepers of that was contacted by the smoke carry-
the ten “boy medicine” bundles, or Ten ing the prayers of the Ten Medicines
Medicines, were holy men who prayed keeper.
for everyone’s welfare, especially in the The keeper of the sacred Taime Sun
early spring, when Thunder first ap- Dance bundle, the Taimek’i, “Taime
peared. Individual keepers were often man,” prayed for the people, as did the
summoned to pray for sick persons Ten Medicines keepers. Likewise, gifts
being doctored by shamans, and in the and prayer requests were brought to
winter encampment, people brought of- Taime, and sometimes Taime was in-
ferings of scalps, tobacco, calico, blan- vited to sweatlodge ceremonies for one
kets, beads, dried meat, buckskin, or of the Ten Medicines. Most important
sticks symbolizing horses to an owner’s were pledges to erect medicine lodges
tepee and placed them on the bundle for Taime, signifying a forthcoming Sun
with prayer requests. Sick persons were Dance in mid-June. The Sun Dance—
then allowed to inhale the contents of not necessarily an annual ceremony be-
the inner bundle, after loosening the cause of extraneous factors such as
outer covering. The next morning, the drought, bison availability, and the pres-
keeper kept some of the offerings or gave ence of enemies—was performed to re-
them to relatives, and summoned chil- generate the buffalo herds and the
dren to eat the meat for well-being and Kiowa people. During the six-week pe-
longevity. Symbolically, gifts to one bun- riod following the aggregation of the dis-
dle were inclusive to all ten, so a popular persed Kiowa bands into a single en-
offering was ten balls of meat. campment and concluding with the
Ten Medicines keepers also served as three-and-a-half-day Sun Dance proper,
tribal civil servants, because their ser- the Taimek’i became the high priest
vices were solicited to facilitate conflict overseeing all activities. Under his au-
resolution. Whenever disputes arose in thority violence was prohibited, based
the encampments, relatives of one of the on the belief that any bloodshed would
aggrieved parties dispatched a gift-bear- attenuate the ceremony. In addition,
ing relative to find the nearest keeper. only communal bison hunting was per-
1032
mitted, since solitary hunters dispersed Brown, Donald N., and Lee Irwin. 2001.
the bison herds before enough animals “Ponca.” Pp. 416–431 in Handbook of
North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13.
could be dispatched to feed the assem- Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
bled bands. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
The Kiowa Sun Dance has not been Institution Press.
Darnell, Regna. 2001. “Plains Cree.” Pp.
performed in its entirety since 1887, al- 638–651 in Handbook of North American
though the Taime bundle still exists, as Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited by
do the Ten Medicines, which are still Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington, DC:
consulted with prayer requests. Indeed, DeMallie, Raymond J. 2001a. “Yankton and
Kiowa belief systems have changed over Yanktonai.” Pp. 777–793 in Handbook of
the last century, with the advent of Chris- North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13.
Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
tianity, the Native American Church, and
other religious movements filling the Institution Press.
void following the demise of the Sun ———. 2001b. “Teton.” Pp. 794–820 in
Dance. Today, dw'dw' assumes many
Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
guises as spiritual and ceremonial prac- DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
titioners—whether shamans or minis- Institution Press.
ters—continue ministering to people’s DeMallie, Raymond J., and David Reed
Miller. 2001. “Assiniboine.” Pp. 572–595
needs. in Handbook of North American Indians:
Benjamin R. Kracht Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
See also Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions; Institution Press.
Dreams and Visions; Power, Plains; Sacred Dempsey, Hugh A. 2001a. “Blackfoot.” Pp.
Societies, Plains; Vision Quest Rites 604–628 in Handbook of North American
References and Further Reading Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited by
Albers, Patricia C. 2001. “Santee.” Pp. Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington, DC:
761–776 in Handbook of North Smithsonian Institution Press.
American Indians: Plains, vol. 13. ________. 2001b. “Sarcee.” Pp. 629–637 in
Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. Handbook of North American Indians:
Washington, DC: Smithsonian Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
Institution Press. DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Bailey, Garrick A. 2001. “Osage.” Pp. 476–496 Institution Press.
in Handbook of North American Indians: Foster, Morris W., and Martha McCollough.
Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J. 2001. “Plains Apache.” Pp. 926–940 in
DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Handbook of North American Indians:
Institution Press. Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
Bailey, Garrick A., and Gloria A. Young. DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
2001. “Kansa.” Pp. 462–475 in Handbook Institution Press.
of North American Indians: Plains, vol. Fowler, Loretta. 2001. “Arapaho.” Pp.
13. Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. 840–862 in Handbook of North American
Washington, DC: Smithsonian Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited by
Institution Press. Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington, DC:
Blaine, Martha Royce. 1979. The Ioway Smithsonian Institution Press.
Indians. Norman: University of Fowler, Loretta, and Regina Flannery. 2001.
Oklahoma Press. “Gros Ventre.” Pp. 677–694 in Handbook
1033
of North American Indians: Plains, vol. to Anthropology, no. 40. Washington, DC:
13. Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. Smithsonian Institution Press.
Washington, DC: Smithsonian Mooney, James. 1891–1904. “Kiowa Heraldry
Institution Press. Notebook: Descriptions of Kiowa Tipis
Frey, Rodney. 1987. The World of the Crow and Shields.” Washington, DC: National
Indians: As Driftwood Lodges. Norman: Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian
University of Oklahoma Press. Institution.
Getty, Ian A. L., and Erik D. Gooding. 2001. Moore, John H., Margot P. Liberty, and Terry
“Stoney.” Pp. 596–603 in Handbook of Straus. 2001. “Cheyenne.” Pp. 863–885 in
North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Handbook of North American Indians:
Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
Washington, DC: Smithsonian DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press. Institution Press.
Irwin, Lee. 1994. The Dream Seekers: Native Newcomb, William W., Jr. 2001. “Wichita.”
American Visionary Traditions of the Pp. 548–566 in Handbook of North
Great Plains. Norman: University of American Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited
Oklahoma Press. by Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington,
Kavanagh, Thomas W. 2001. “Comanche.” DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Pp. 886–906 in Handbook of North Parks, Douglas R. 2001a. “Arikara.” Pp.
American Indians: Plains, vol. 13. 365–390 in Handbook of North American
Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited by
Washington, DC: Smithsonian Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington, DC:
Institution Press. Smithsonian Institution Press.
Kracht, Benjamin R. 2000. “Kiowa Religion ———. 2001b. “Pawnee.” Pp. 515–547 in
in Historical Perspective.” Pp. 236–255 in Handbook of North American Indians:
Native American Spirituality: A Critical Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
Reader. Edited by Lee Irwin. Lincoln: DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
University of Nebraska Press. Institution Press.
LaBarre, Weston, Donald Collier, Jane Schweitzer, Marjorie M. 2001. “Otoe and
Richardson, William Bascom, Bernard Missourai.” Pp. 447–461 in Handbook of
Mishkin, and Alexander Lesser. 1935. North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13.
“Notes on Kiowa Ethnography.” Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie.
Washington, DC: National Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution Press.
Institution. Stewart, Frank Henderson. 2001. “Hidatsa.”
Levy, Jerrold E. 2001. “Kiowa.” Pp. 907–925 Pp. 329–348 in Handbook of North
in Handbook of North American Indians: American Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited
Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J. by Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington,
DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Institution Press. Voget, Fred W. 2001. “Crow.” Pp. 695–717 in
Liberty, Margot P., W. Raymond Wood, and Handbook of North American Indians:
Lee Irwin. 2001. “Omaha.” Pp. 399–415 in Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J.
Handbook of North American Indians: DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J. Institution Press.
DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Wedel, Mildred Mott. 2001. “Iowa.” Pp.
Institution Press. 432–446 in Handbook of North American
Merrill, William L., Marian Kaulaity Indians: Plains, vol. 13. Edited by
Hansson, Candace S. Greene, and Raymond J. DeMallie. Washington, DC:
Frederick J. Reuss. 1997. A Guide to the Smithsonian Institution Press.
Kiowa Collections at the Smithsonian Wood, W. Raymond, and Lee Irwin. 2001.
Institution. Smithsonian Contributions “Mandan.” Pp. 349–364 in Handbook of
1034
________________________________________ Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Plateau
North American Indians: Plains, vol. 13. party is foreseen, and the community is
Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. protected against malignant spirits” (Spier
Institution Press. and Sapir 1930, 118). There often were sev-
Young, Gloria A., and Michael P. Hoffman. eral practitioners within each particular
2001. “Quapaw.” Pp. 497–514 in band or cultural group, specializing in a
Plains, vol. 13. Edited by Raymond J. particular domain. Because they pos-
DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian sessed only select specialties, most spiri-
Institution Press. tual practitioners did not practice all the
above ceremonies. Only those with the
proper spiritual powers were allowed to
Spiritual and Ceremonial conduct specific ceremonies.
Ray (1939) reported that the quest to
Practitioners, Plateau
obtain Spirit Helpers and become a doc-
The physical landscape among the tor was identical to that of a layperson’s
Plateau people is a world deeply imbued spirit quest, except that the doctor is dis-
with spiritual qualities. Spiritual life is tinguished by his amount of power and
not separate from mundane existence, the results that power was able to obtain.
as all entities, actions, and phenomena Men and women doctors, known as twa-
occurring within the physical world have tima within the Western Columbia River
a spiritual connection. These close rela- Sahaptin, were recognized as possessing
tionships are often recognized through “extraordinary spiritual powers by virtue
ceremonies utilized to facilitate life tran- of numerous and particularly powerful
sitions and offer necessary prayers. spirit allies gained through a charismatic
Because of the rich physical and spiri- calling and repeated vision questing”
tual landscape the Plateau people embod- (Hunn et al. 1998, 388).
ied, spiritual and ceremonial practitioners Despite the strength of a practitioner’s
were involved in the numerous realms of power or how many Guardian Spirits he
their existence. The ceremonial practi- may possess, other attributes must be
tioners were responsible for conducting or present to differentiate a doctor from a
facilitating the diverse number of cere- layperson. An individual was not consid-
monies within the Plateau region. In addi- ered a capable practitioner unless he had
tion to using their powers for curing, spiri- received a specific spirit, had been com-
tual practitioners conducted individual or missioned by the spirit during a vision
communitywide ceremonies including quest, or had received the power by
the first food ceremonies, Winter Spirit heredity (Ray 1939, 93).
Dances, love rituals, war ceremonies, and An individual’s spiritual powers were
gambling rituals. “The weather is con- known to most members of the commu-
trolled, fish are made to run, lost articles nity. Often practitioners gave perfor-
and thefts discovered, the fate of a war mances to demonstrate the strength of
1035
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Plateau _________________________________________
their powers during community events ment. A curing practitioner would con-
or ceremonies such as the Winter Spirit sult with his or her Spirit Helper to deter-
Dances. Occasionally, rivalries would de- mine the cause of the illness or the sor-
velop between doctors, and claims of su- cerer responsible for causing it.
perior power were made. Tricks would be Treatment could include manipulation,
played against other doctors, attempting sucking at the site of illness, sweating,
to usurp or undermine their power. smudging, dancing, singing, giving the
At times, doctors might be accused of patient medicine to drink, massaging the
causing sickness, a serious accusation area of illness, and extracting the foreign
that could result in the death of the of- substance from the body and plunging it
fending doctor. Spiritual practitioners into water to render it harmless (Ross
that were known to have intentionally 1998; Schuster 1998, Spier and Sapir
used their powers to kill were called 1930; Walker 1998). Ross (1998) charac-
wataytam, or sorcerers, among Western terizes the curing rituals as psychodra-
Columbia River Sahaptin (Hunn et al. mas in which practitioners employed
1998). Unnatural illnesses or events ventriloquism, hypnotism, legerdemain,
caused by magical poisoning are called and demonstrated their power through
ptax by the Lillooet. The power of ptax, glossolalia, various dramatic and even
practiced by women of postmenopausal painful proofs of ordeal, or by transfor-
age, can be used to alter events for both mation (280).
good and evil ends (Kennedy and An enormous amount of pressure was
Bouchard 1998). placed upon the healer. “Because a med-
icine doctor has the potential to help or
Healing Practitioners cause harm, a great deal of ambivalence
It was commonly accepted that illness was surrounded his role” (Schuster 1998,
caused by natural or supernatural causes, 342). An unsuccessful doctor could be
although most illness among the Plateau accused of being a sorcerer or be judged
people was considered spiritual in origin. as being careless or inept. Such an indi-
Principal explanations for illness could in- vidual could be killed by the patient’s
clude spirit or soul loss, intentional or un- family (Schuster 1998).
intentional spirit intrusion, object intru- The most important ceremonial prac-
sion, moral transgressions, or spirit titioner among the Nez Perce, the tiwét,
possession (Hunn et al. 1998; Ross 1998). was known to cure illness (Walker 1998).
In the event of an illness, curing prac- Among the Umatilla the most feared of
titioners, known as Idiaxi’lalit among spiritual practitioners were the isxipin,
the Wishram (Spier and Sapir 1930) or whose powers derived from the tutelary
twati by the Yakama, were called upon to of a dead shaman or from his own ghost.
provide diagnosis, prognosis, and treat- Their powers were very dangerous.
1036
Through their powers of divining, an isx- or some people or some person and
ipin was able to locate lost objects and the way to do that is to confront them
and make yourself humble and try to
foretell future or distant events (Stern
increase your knowledge of a
1998a, 411). particular thing or human being. This
Among the Nez Perce the ‘isxíipit was is what she was doing and to see if
highly respected and played a role that Lewis and Clark were really the people
involved several complex attributes. they really said they were. Are they
bringing peace, are they bringing these
Walker (1998) notes that “this shaman
good things to us and are they going to
was temperamental, much opposed to treat us well? This is what she was
disorder, and very desirous of property. If trying to find out. There is a reason
an ‘isxíipit shaman commented on the why she did that. She wanted to gain
attractiveness of an object belonging to knowledge about these strange people
and that’s the way she was doing it.
another, it was advisable that it be given
(http://www.L3-lewisandclark.com)
up immediately. Otherwise, he would
become offended and sick, sometimes
going into a tantrum in which he might Food-Related Ceremonies
lose control, cutting himself and cursing It is believed that the spiritual and cere-
the object’s possessor” (426). monial practitioners’ most important
Lewis and Clark encountered an task lay in maintaining the series of sea-
‘isxíipit while passing through Nez Perce sonal, religious ceremonials (Walker
country. William Clark wrote in his jour- 1998). Ceremonies often followed or
nal: “Tuesday October 9th . . . The Indi- were structured upon the seasonal
ans and our party were very mery this round. Among the Coeur d’Alene, the
after noon a woman faind madness &c. people would come together to celebrate
&c. Singular acts of this woman in give- the first gathering of berries, roots, or
ing in Small potions all She had & if they salmon of the year. Spring marked the
were not received. She would Scarrify her first salmon and roots ceremony. During
Self in a horid manner &c. . . .” (Clark the summer, the ceremonial gathering of
2001). the first fruits was celebrated. Autumn
Members of the expedition concluded often marked various hunting cere-
that this woman was crazy because she monies. The nature of these specific cer-
started giving away all her possessions, emonies embraced and reflected the es-
went into incantations, slashed herself, sential teachings of the first people.
and passed out. A Nez Perce consultant Gathering of the particular fruit or
discusses the nature of ‘isxíipit. root was not allowed until the first fruits
ceremony had been held. Before any
And what this is, is that you want to hunting, fishing, berry-picking, or root-
increase your knowledge of something digging season was initiated, a prayer
1037
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Plateau _________________________________________
was offered giving thanks to the Creator that “Coyote said the ceremony should
as well as the plant or animal and asking be done so, and so it is” (Cline 1938, 17).
for a plentiful harvest. A simple cere- Throughout the Plateau, the First Salmon
mony called skpu’tenem among the Ceremony is necessary to guarantee the
Sanpoil and Nespelem was performed salmon runs. If the First Salmon Cere-
during the initial gathering of the first mony is not observed the salmon might
fruits and roots. All were called together not return in the future: Salmon traveled
for an offering of thanks and for a feast a long distance for the Indian people, and
of the particular food (Ray 1932). recognition of the Salmon’s sacrifice is es-
The Kootenai celebrated the Grizzly sential (Cline 1938).
Bear Dance. Held at the beginning of the Additional ceremonies included songs
berry-picking season, this three-night and rituals associated with hunting and
dance served as a prayer for plenty. The the various stages of butchering. When
power of the Grizzly Bear was called food was scarce, ceremonial practition-
upon because berries are its primary ers with the proper powers would lead
source of food. A special spiritual practi- specific ceremonies to bring game, par-
tioner, known as the Grizzly Bear ticularly deer, to their people.
shaman, facilitated the ceremony (Tur-
ney-High 1941). War Ceremonies
The salmon season was initiated with A war dance or ceremony was held to
the first salmon ceremony, known as seek supernatural protection during bat-
snxa’wi’lem among the Sanpoil. This tle, to predict success, to enlist recruits,
multiday celebration brought many peo- or as a procession before battle or after
ple together to feast and celebrate the ar- victory. An individual with specific war
rival of the salmon. A ceremonial head- powers would pray and sing for the suc-
man, known as the Salmon Chief, or cess of the war party. Depending on the
xa’tu’s, was in charge of the selection of cultural group, those going on the war
materials for the traps and the collec- party would join in with the same song,
tion, proper butchering, and distribution or sing their own Guardian Spirit song. A
of the salmon. It was the duty of the war shaman did not have to be the leader
xa’tu’s to see that no salmon were taken of the war party to lead a war-related cer-
before the snxa’wi’lem ceremony had emony (Ray 1932).
been performed. It was also his responsi-
bility to ensure that all fish were distrib- Stick or Hand Game Practitioners
uted equally (Ray 1932). The Stick Game is a widespread game of
The Southern Okanogan believed that skill and chance that has been played
Coyote taught the First Salmon Cere- since precontact times. Games can take
mony to their ancestors. It is believed place in any location, often occurring
1038
whenever there is a large gathering of power songs and dance in honor of their
people, such as at first food ceremonies or Spirit Helper. The various spiritual and
at powwows. The game consists of two ceremonial practitioners, such as healers
teams sitting in a row and facing each and the hunting and salmon leaders,
other. The object of the game is to guess in would sing their particular power songs
which hand an opposing team member is during curing ceremonies and ask for a
hiding the striped bone or stick. A correct successful deer hunt or salmon catch
guess wins a stick from the opposing (http://www.L3-lewisandclark.com).
team. The winning team is the one that Spiritual leaders sponsored Winter
acquires all the opposing team’s sticks. As Spirit Dances, acted as masters of cere-
play commences, songs are sung and mony, and helped those with new Spirit
other personal rituals are practiced so as Helpers express their spirit powers in
to bring forth one’s power in guessing or dance and song (Hunn et al. 1998;
deceiving the opposing team. Stick game Kennedy and Bouchard 1998). Among
players often possess distinct powers or the Yakama, the twati helped the neo-
songs specific to bone handling or guess- phyte bring out the power he or she had
ing. For the Plateau, “all material manifes- received and express it at the Winter
tations are mirrored in spirit. It is thus un- Spirit Dance (Schuster 1998).
derstandable that the stick game is not Aaron Denham
merely a material event. The ideas of See also Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce;
spirit and power are as much a part of the Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau; Vision
game as is strategy” (Brunton 1998, 579). Quest Rites
Brunton, Bill B. 1998. “Kootenai.” Pp.
Winter Spirit Dance 223–237 in Handbook of North
The Winter Spirit Dances were occasions American Indians: Plateau, vol. 12.
for those with spirit power to sing their Edited by Deward E. Walker, Jr.
spirit songs and dance. The purposes of Institution Press.
the Winter Spirit Dances were to give Clark, William. 2001. The Journals of Lewis
thanks, honor one’s Guardian Spirit, cure and Clark, vol. 5. Edited by Gary
Moulton. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
illness, ask for protection and healing,
Press.
and gain good fortune for the upcoming Cline, Walter. 1938, “The Subsistence
year. During the Winter Spirit Dances, Quest.” Pp. 9–34 in The Sinkaietk or
Southern Okanagon of Washington.
those with Spirit Helpers would often
Edited by Leslie Spier. Menasha, WI:
renew their connection with their Spirits, George Banta.
as well as provide an opportunity for val- Frey, Rodney. 2002. The World of the
Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene Indians):
idating the Spirit power of novices.
Landscape Traveled by Crane and
Each midwinter, individuals attending Coyote. Seattle: University of Washington
the Winter Dances would sing their Press.
1039
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Southeast _______________________________________
Kennedy, Dorothy I. D., and Randall T. Walker, Deward E., Jr., ed. 1998. Handbook
Bouchard. 1998. “Northern Okanagan, of North American Indians: Plateau, vol.
Lakes, and Colville.” Pp. 238–252 in 12. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Handbook of North American Indians: Institution Press.
Institution Press.
Life Long Learning Online. “The Lewis and
Clark Rediscovery Project.” http://www
.l3-lewisandclark.com/ShowOneObject
.asp?SiteID=34&ObjectID=139. (Accessed Spiritual and Ceremonial
July 28, 2002.) Practitioners, Southeast
Ray, Verne F. 1932. The Sanpoil and
Nespelem: Salishan Peoples of Whether one uses the term medicine
Northwestern Washington. Seattle:
man, shaman, healer, conjurer, or
———. 1939. Cultural Relations in the priest—all have been rejected, both by
Plateau of Northwestern America. Los scholars and practitioners themselves—
Angeles: Southwest Museum
the Southeast presents a dizzying variety
Administrator of the Fund.
Ross, John A. 1998. “Spokane.” Pp. 271–282 of traditional spiritual specialists. To take
in Handbook of North American Indians: but one culture, some labels in the
Cherokee culture are adawehi (“one who
Institution Press. goes about freely,” magician, conjurer,
Schuster, Helen H. 1998. “Yakima and counselor, wiseman), kuniakati (wound
Neighboring Groups.” Pp. 327–351 in doctor; lit.: “he follows the arrow”), uku
Plateau, vol. 12. Edited by Deward E. (priest; lit.: “owl”), nunnehi (Little Peo-
Walker, Jr. Washington, DC: Smithsonian ple, fairies, immortals, and those who
Institution Press. communed with them—for example,
Spier, Leslie. 1930. Klamath Ethnography.
Berkeley: University of California Press. Beloved Woman Nancy Ward [Nanyehi,
Spier, Leslie, and Edward Sapir. 1930. Ghigau, or Tsitunagiski, ca. 1738–1824]),
Wishram Ethnography. Seattle: dinadanu(n)wiski (conjurer, healer,
Stern, Theodore. 1998a. “Cayuse, Umatilla,
curer), and (a)tskili (witch, owl, shape-
and Walla Walla.” Pp. 395–419 in shifter, sorcerer). All healers ascribe their
Handbook of North American Indians: powers and any success they may have
to a gift from the Creator. There were also
Institution Press. some highly specialized practitioners,
———. 1998b. “Klamath and Modoc.” Pp. such as eagle-feather gatherers (Chero-
446–466 in Handbook of North American
kee) and bone pickers (Choctaw Buzzard
Indians: Plateau, vol. 12. Edited by
Deward E. Walker, Jr. Washington, DC: Cult).
Smithsonian Institution Press. The most powerful practitioner in the
Turney-High, Harry Holbert. 1941. prehistoric Native world was a South-
Ethnography of the Kutenai. Mensha,
WI: American Anthropological eastern woman. Big Jar (Ko-ke-lus),
Association. queen of the Calusa Indians in Spanish
1040
______________________________________ Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Southeast
Florida, was reputed to know the secrets Herbs were not named or classified as
of the ages. She was summoned by the in Western science, nor were they
Natchez Indians to cure unfamiliar dis- thought to have only one beneficial prin-
eases introduced by the French, died at ciple or to operate on just one part of the
the age of 110, and is buried in a mound body. Most uses were regulatory, sys-
built for her palace on the Tennessee temic, and restorative. Herbs were di-
River, near Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. vided into men’s and women’s medicine.
Until the American Indian Freedom of Confusingly to modern people, the same
Religion Act became law in 1979, the name might be used for a dozen different
practice of Native religion and cere- species; only an herb walk with the prac-
monies was illegal in the United States. titioner will sort them out. For instance,
Traditional healers and seers were in Cherokee, tsoliyusti can refer to
trained secretly, often under the guise of mullein or any tobacco-like plant.
learning card tricks. Apprenticeship The difference between a spiritual
could last seven years or more, and enor- healer (shaman) and herbal healer
mous feats of memory were required. (often “root doctor”) lies in their respec-
Today many practitioners are dying tive tool chests. The former invoke spiri-
without having trained a follower. tual forces and helpers to defeat the
Chief Billy, a Seminole healer, was em- spiritual and material causes of disease,
ployed as a consultant by the pharma- often traveling to the upper or lower
ceutical industry because of his vast world and suffering a symbolic death.
range of knowledge concerning herbal Varieties depend on the different spirit
drugs. However, by the time his pharma- guides, helpers, powers, experience,
cological virtuosity was tapped in the training and divining abilities. For in-
mid-1990s, the majority of the plants stance, there might be a spirit healer
known to him were no longer to be found with spider medicine. All are trained as
growing anywhere. the sole successor of a master healer and
Southeastern tribes are credited with are usually chosen early in life. Herbal-
having introduced tobacco (a Cherokee ists drew on their knowledge of plants,
monopoly, used extensively as an anti- prescribed in the form of smudges, teas,
septic until the last century), goldenseal tinctures, topicals, and powders, and
(which grows best in the Blue Ridge often chewed, applied with spittle,
Mountains), ginseng (traded to the Chi- blown through a tube, or otherwise ap-
nese since the Han dynasty), and echi- plied in a hands-on fashion. Signifi-
nacea (the term is thought to derive from cantly, their knowledge is proprietary
the Cherokee language). Southeastern and hereditary, often commanding
tribes also understood the concepts of handsome fees.
hygiene and holistic, diagnostic, and Dhyani Ywahoo (Etowah Band Chero-
preventive medicine. kee) claims to be the twenty-seventh of
1041
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Southeast _______________________________________
her lineage to practice her particular phi- bacco, a protector stone or fetish, and a
losophy of spiritual wellness. According snakebite cure. The occupation of healer
to her book, she was instructed by her was rarely pursued as one’s sole liveli-
grandfather, Eonah Fisher, who received hood but rather combined with being a
the teachings from his father-in-law, Eli farmer, hunter, and warrior.
Ywahoo. Vernon Cooper, a Lumbee “faith Nicolas Chiviliu Tacaxoy, the Tzutujil
doctor” alive in 1995, is a good example Mayan shaman described in Prechtel’s
of the combination of the two types of Secrets of the Talking Jaguar (1998), ran
practice with Bible Belt Christianity. many businesses in his hometown of
Many traditionalists became ministers of Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala, becom-
the Gospel, whether out of sincerity or ing a principal chief and one of its richest
subterfuge. For instance, Black Fox citizens. Typical of his profession, he was
(Enola) of Wolftown, North Carolina, be- said to have been a high liver, not partic-
came a Methodist minister in 1848. ularly saintly or even honest, and with
Conventionally, a diagnosis is first many enemies.
performed, the traditional fee being one A certain degree of showmanship or
dressed deerskin. Later this was com- magic went with the turf. To keep a par-
muted to a blanket. Most scrupulous rot, even among northern Indians, was a
practitioners operate on the basis of per- medicine man’s privilege, equivalent to
mission. If they do not have spiritual per- hanging out a shingle. In prehistoric vil-
mission to heal, or the treatment is not lages, the shaman’s lodge was often on
within their scope of activities, the deer- the edge of town; he was regarded as
skin is returned. A diagnosis may take irascible and antisocial. Sequoyah was
several days. The traditional answer to disliked. Yet the practitioner’s standing
repeated queries is “I have taken it to the in the eyes of the village could rise very
spirit lodge.” The religious basis of all Na- high. In many tribes, the roles of priest
tive medicine is thus apparent. More- and king were united. One of the time-
over, treatments work in the original (sa- honored duties was purifying young
cred) Native language only, though some men for the warpath and conferring
would say they work best that way. military decorations upon their return.
Every nation, tribe, clan, band, and European soldiers had standing orders
family maintained its own specific reme- to shoot the “medicine men” and “witch
dies. In this respect, Southeastern Indian doctors” first, the effect proving most
society was egalitarian and nonspecial- demoralizing.
ist. The woman was usually the guardian Shamanism is international, and there
of a family’s nostrums. Every individual appears to be a silent code of recognition
knew the virtues of a handful of herbs for and cooperation among its practitioners.
self-medication. Nearly everyone carried You might have a convention of shamans
a medicine pouch with at least some to- from Africa, South America, and Siberia,
1042
______________________________________ Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Southeast
and they would all understand each (Bear Heart), was able to produce snow
other. Mooney notes conjurers’ ex- for a Colorado ski resort and cause chok-
change of secrets, mercenary interests, ing fits from a distance in those with evil
and competitive tensions. When Chero- intentions. Rolling Thunder (John Pope,
kee medicine men learned that the Cherokee, 1916–1996), a brakeman for
Potawatomi had lost their lands and pos- the Southern Pacific Railroad during
sessions, they set out from the Tennessee most of his life, cured a woman of multi-
mountains to bring herbs, formulas, and ple sclerosis; acted as spiritual advisor to
ceremonial objects. By the same token, pop singer Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead
Indians in the Southeast were open to re- rock band, and Muhammad Ali; and
vivalists from other tribes. The Plains caused it to rain on several Western In-
Ghost Dance religion popularized dian reservations. Jamake Highwater
among the Cheyenne and Sioux by Wo- (probably Cherokee, foster name Jay
voka, a Paiute, can be traced to Cherokee Marks, ca. 1932–2001) was a prolific
antecedents in the age of Dragging artist, crossing many boundaries, from
Canoe and White Path. Native religion poetry and philosophy to dance, music,
was thus ecumenical and synthesizing. and film.
The range of an old-time Cherokee Paul Russell (Two White Feathers, Ti-
shaman was large. In 1887, Mooney’s hanama-Potawatomi-Shawnee-Chero-
principal informant, Swimmer (Ayunini, kee, b. Saginaw, Michigan, 1938), an
d. 1899), had a 240-page book of old elder of the Thunderbird Clan of the Ti-
prayers, songs, and prescriptions cover- hanama people of middle Tennessee and
ing the following subjects: herb gather- southern Florida, is a spiritual healer,
ing songs, medicine preparation songs, herbalist, principal chief (since 1990),
divination, worms, chills, rheumatism, storyteller and teacher, ceremony chief,
frostbites, snakebites, black and yellow conjurer, traditional grass and straight
bile, childbirth, wounds, bad dreams, dancer, keeper of seer traditions, ama-
witchery, love charms, fishing charms, teur astronomer and geophysicist,
and hunting charms (for which he painter, leather worker, jeweler, mechan-
charged patients $5 apiece), as well as ical engineer, computer programmer,
prayers to make corn grow, to frighten third-level Midéwiwin Lodge priest, flute
away storms, to drive off witches, to de- and drum maker, songwriter, singer,
stroy life, to help warriors, to know one’s composer, recording artist, stone carver,
place of death, for long life, for safety potter, mask and mandela maker, knife
among strangers, and for acquiring in- maker and gunsmith, bow and arrow
fluence in council and success in the maker, and woodworker/carpenter. His
ballplay. wife, Penny Russell (Ojibwa-Seminole, b.
A Muskogee medicine man from mod- Isabella Indian Reservation, 1939), is a
ern-day Oklahoma, Marcellus Williams Bear Clan mother, women’s spiritual
1043
Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Southwest ______________________________________
workshop leader, weaver, jeweler, bead- Bandelier (1922): Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de
work artist, dreamcatcher maker, and Vaca and His Companions, from Florida
to the Pacific 1528–1538. New York:
dream consultant. Allerton Book Co.
Space forbids describing divination Eliade, Mircea. 1964. Shamanism: Archaic
processes among seer-healers or the Techniques of Ecstasy. Translated by
Willard R. Trask. Princeton: Princeton
paraphernalia used by them. However, University Press.
one might mention crystals, cowry shell Gattuso, John, ed. 1993. A Circle of Nations:
beads (which came from the Pacific), Voices and Visions of American Indians:
North American Native Writers and
stargazing, snake handling, rattles (of Photographers. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond
gourd for men, tortoiseshell for women), Words Publishing.
drums (always one-sided for a shaman), Halifax, Joan. 1980. Shamanic Voices: A
Survey of Visionary Narratives. New York:
mad stones, medicine sticks, protector Dutton.
stones, spirit brushes, tobacco, and Mails, Thomas E. 1992. The Cherokee
greenstone pipes. Clients today are most People: The Story of the Cherokees from
Earliest Origins to Contemporary Times.
interested in knowing about love mat- Tulsa, OK: Council Oaks Books.
ters, dream interpretation, and where Mooney, James. 1972. Myths of the Cherokee
they will die, most indigenous people and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees.
Nashville, TN: C. Elder Bookseller.
being convinced that the time and place Prechtel, Martin. 1998. Secrets of the Talking
of their death is fixed and unalterable. Jaguar: Memoirs from the Living Heart of
a Mayan Village. New York: Penguin
Donald Panther-Yates
Putnam.
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast; Swan, Jim. 1987. “Rolling Thunder at Work:
Health and Wellness, Traditional A Shamanic Healing of Multiple
Approaches; Oral Traditions, Southeast; Sclerosis.” Pp. 145–157 in Shamanism:
Power, Southeast; Religious Leaders, An Expanded View of Reality. Edited by
Southeast; Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Shirley Nicholson. Wheaton, IL:
Plateau Theosophical Publishing House.
References and Further Reading Ywahoo, Dhyani. 1987. Voices of Our
Arden, Harvey, and Steve Wall. 1994. Ancestors: Cherokee Teachings from the
Wisdomkeepers: Meetings with Native Wisdom Fire. Edited by Barbara Du Bois.
American Spiritual Elders. Hillsboro, OR: Boston: Shambhala.
Beyond Words Publishing.
Bear Heart (Marcellus Williams). 1996. The
Wind Is My Mother: The Life and
Teachings of a Native American Shaman.
New York: Clarkson Potter. Spiritual and Ceremonial
Boyd, Doug. 1974. Rolling Thunder: A
Personal Exploration into the Secret
Healing Powers of an American Indian
Medicine Man. New York: Random House. The topic of spiritual and ceremonial
Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Nuñez. 1550. practitioners in the American Southwest
Naufragios de Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de covers a broad range of cultures, prac-
Vaca y Relación de la Jornada que hizo a
la Florida con el Adelantado Panfilo de tices, concepts, and beliefs. Historically,
Narvaez. English translation by Fanny the “Southwest” is taken to mean the
1044
_____________________________________ Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners, Southwest
areas of Arizona and New Mexico, digenous concepts and how they might
though many of the cultures in those be glossed in English and related to more
states are also represented elsewhere to generic terms.
the immediate north and south. Perhaps To begin, it is important to recognize
the best-known cultures are the various that there is not simply one “Apache” cul-
“Pueblo” cultures, such as Hopi, Zuni, ture within the Southwest, and that
and the southern Athabascan groups of Navajo culture, while somewhat more
the Apache and Diné (Navajo). However, uniform, also has wide latitude for varia-
many other cultures are found within tions and regional practices and under-
this region as well. Because of the great standings. Historically, “Apache” cultures,
cultural diversity, this short essay cannot or Inde, “The People,” have been grouped
be a comprehensive study of the South- in the Southwest into “Western Apache”—
west. Instead, the focus here will be a such as the Cibecue Apache, White Moun-
comparative overview of spiritual and tain Apache, and San Carlos Apache in
ceremonial practitioners in the southern Arizona—and the “Eastern Apache”—
Athabascan cultures of the Apaches and such as the Chiricahua Apache, Mescalero
Navajos. Apache, Lipan Apache, and Jicarilla
Anthropological works on spiritual Apache. While Apache cultures share
and ceremonial practitioners in the many aspects of ceremonial practices and
Southwest make use of a variety of in- oral tradition, each culture is unique.
digenous terminology, titles, concepts, Some of the Eastern Apache, such as the
and names. However, equally as com- White Mountain Apache, have been de-
mon are the uses of such generic terms scribed as being somewhat closer to
as “shaman,” “medicine man/woman,” Navajo ceremonial practices than other
“healer,” “singer/chanter,” and even Apache cultures, with their use of sand-
“priest.” One of the goals of anthropol- paintings, while the Jicarilla Apache have
ogy and the comparative study of cul- been described as being more influenced
tures and religion has been to develop by Pueblo ceremonialism than the Chiric-
and employ non–culture specific termi- ahua or Mescalero. Among the Navajo, or
nology to facilitate general understand- Diné, “The People,” families are grouped
ing and to ease the process of compara- according to regional clans in which dif-
tive research. Yet the use of such generic ferent ceremonial repertoires may be em-
terms can obfuscate as much as it can phasized. Thus it is important to under-
educate, for in the process of rendering stand that diversity and variation are the
Native terms and concepts in generic norm and not the exception.
terminology, the indigenous subtleties Several of the ceremonial practitioners
and nuances are often glossed over. In an in these Athabascan cultures, and Pueblo
effort to highlight the specific over the cultures as well, have been referred to as
general, this essay will emphasize in- “priests” by many anthropologists—a
1045
Little John, a revered Diné medicine man. Monument Valley, Arizona, 1994. (Arne Hodalic/Corbis)
concept that has been contrasted with In both Apache and Navajo contexts,
“shamans” or “medicine people.” This those who are classified as “priests” are
anthropological distinction has been almost always referred to as “singers” or
made on the basis that certain cere- “chanters” in the indigenous languages.
monies, such as Navajo “chants” or Singers are identified as gutaal’n among
“chantways,” and Navajo and Apache pu- the Chiricahua and Mescalero, gokaalii
berty ceremonies, are conducted by among the Jicarilla, and other linguisti-
trained specialists who do not necessar- cally related terms in the other Apache
ily possess any particular spirit “power.” groups—all of which can be glossed in
Instead, such practitioners rely on codi- English as “one who sings/chants” or a
fied bodies of knowledge, oral traditions, “singer” or “chanter.” Among the Navajo
song repertoires, and ritual practices. In this same designation is found with the
contrast, “medicine people” and term hataatli. Such singers are generally
“shamans” are those whose practice is contrasted in Apache cultures with diyin,
more individualized and based on the or “holy people,” commonly called
practitioner’s personal connection to “medicine people” or “shamans” in En-
some source of “power” or “spirit helper.” glish and anthropological literature.
1046
Diyin are individuals who have a per- memorization of the proper construc-
sonal connection with some source of tion and use of highly elaborate sand-
spiritual power outside of themselves; paintings and tradition-specific symbol-
they base their ceremonial or spiritual ism. Once that is mastered, the new
practices on this direct spiritual connec- singer is given the right to perform his
tion. The concept of diyin in Apache cul- (singers are most often males) new cere-
tures should not be confused with the mony. He need not be inspired or di-
Diyin Dine’é, “Holy People,” of the rected by a spiritual power and does not
Navajo, which term refers to sacred per- generally enter into altered states of con-
sonages in Navajo oral tradition. sciousness, though intense concentra-
Apache and Navajo singers perform tion is required. Furthermore, cere-
preestablished ceremonials that often monies performed by singers are not
combine elements of recitation of oral considered to be open to personal
traditions, the singing of a designated change or innovation. Singers should
corpus of songs, and engaging in partic- perform the ceremony as taught, for the
ular ceremonial activities such as the ceremony is passed down in a lineage
construction and use of sandpaintings, from the original “Holy People” to the
directing ceremonial dancers, and per- contemporary practitioners. Such cere-
forming puberty ceremonials for young monies are highly conservative, and any
women. The overall emphasis in such introduced change is widely regarded as
ceremonial acts is on precision and cor- improper, potentially invalidating of the
rectness. Navajo “chantways,” which are ceremony and practitioner; it is also
numerous, and Navajo and Apache pu- dangerous for practitioners and insult-
berty ceremonies are understood by Na- ing to the spiritual powers.
tive practitioners to be re-creations of In contrast to the “priestly” function of
ceremonies that were originally estab- singers and chanters, Apaches use the
lished by sacred beings. To be considered designation of “holy person,” or diyin, to
authentic leaders of these ceremonies, indicate a practitioner who operates
individuals must apprentice themselves from individual spiritual inspiration.
to experienced singers. During that ap- This term has most often been glossed as
prenticeship, the novice is instructed on “shaman” or “medicine person” in the lit-
the proper procedures, oral traditions, erature. When speaking English, many
songs, and ceremonial activities that are Apaches will use the term “medicine
to take place within the ceremonial. man/woman” when speaking of a diyin,
Such an apprenticeship is often a long and, in fact, that is a fairly reasonable
and difficult process that requires an ex- gloss. Diyi has been translated as
treme dexterity of oral memory and “power,” “holy,” “medicine,” and so forth,
recitation as well as, among the Navajo depending on the context and the writer.
and some Western Apache, intricate A diyin is therefore “one who has
1047
power/medicine” or “one who is holy,” struct. The abilities of diyin also vary
and therefore “medicine person” is greatly—from healing to diagnosing ill-
somewhat accurate. However, both ness, performing protective ceremonies,
Navajo and Apache ceremonial singers finding lost objects, performing bless-
are often called “medicine men” as well, ings, and so forth. Some diyin may em-
with Navajo singers currently forming phasize treatment through herbs and
the “Navajo Medicine Men’s Associa- roots, ceremonial procedures, or various
tion.” The fact that such singers are also healing practices such as sucking, blow-
called “medicine men” can be a source of ing, removal of witchcraft objects, or any
some confusion, especially when there is number of other culturally significant
a contrasting indigenous term. practices. Just as with doctors in the
In Apache cultures, a diyin is someone mainstream medical profession, diyin
who has had, and may continue to have, are understood to have specialties and
direct contact with spiritual forces, such primary interests. It should also be noted
as through dreams, visions, auditory ex- that there is a great deal of intercultural
periences, and so forth, and who may be exchange in the Southwest, and that
initiated either intentionally, such as medicine people and singers commonly
through a vision fast, or through sponta- perform for people outside their specific
neous spiritual experience. While a culture.
singer in the girl’s puberty ceremonial or The “medicine people” of the various
the Mountain Spirit ceremony may be Apache cultures tend to play more
diyin, that is not a necessity. prominent roles within their cultures
The practices of diyin tend to be than the spiritually inspired practition-
highly individualized, as each practi- ers in Navajo culture. Apache medicine
tioner follows his or her own spiritual in- people perform ceremonies, healings,
spiration. Even when two different prac- and other common practices, whereas
titioners claim to have a similar spirit inspired practitioners in Navajo culture
power, it does not mean that their pow- tend to perform more limited diagnostic
ers, abilities, or ceremonial actions and functions. In English, such Navajo prac-
songs will be the same. It is widely un- titioners are referred to as “crystal” and
derstood that the power itself will in- “star gazers,” “hand tremblers,” and
struct the individual in his or her prac- generically as “diagnosticians,” such as
tices, and thus those can be highly those who use the vision-inducing
individualized. Even when a novice diyin datura plant. These practitioners tend to
apprentices himself to a more estab- find lost objects and diagnose diseases
lished diyin, which is common, the according to indigenous disease etiol-
novice will introduce many personalized ogy. The diagnostician will consult with
elements into his or her own practice, ac- spiritual forces or manipulate symbolic
cording to how the spirits and powers in- and spiritual elements to determine the
1048
cause and course of treatment for a dis- spiritual beings, and their visual appear-
ease. He or she then informs the patient ance and ceremonial actions vary greatly
of what ceremonial repertoire or chant- from one Apache culture to the next.
way is required to bring about the However, like Navajo masked dancers,
restoration of balance and harmony, the Mountain Spirits are danced by men
known as hozho in Navajo. Thereby the and are commonly understood to pos-
patient is referred to a singer or chanter sess the ability to bless, heal, and protect
who can perform the requisite ceremo- those for whom they dance.
nial procedure to effect restoration. While anthropologists have tended to
Another highly significant aspect of associate both Apache and Navajo
Navajo and Apache ceremonial practice masked dancers with Pueblo influ-
is the use of masked dancers. In Navajo ences, it is important to recognize that
culture, masked dancers often play a they should not be classified as “kachi-
part in the performances of the various nas,” as Pueblo masked dancers are
chantways. All chantways have sacred generically designated; Pueblo masked
oral traditions to which they are related dancers tend to be grouped into spiri-
wherein the deeds and actions of various tual societies. Among the Apache, for
Diyin Dine’é are described and re- example, Mountain Spirit dancers are
counted. At specific portions of the separated according to dance group, led
chantways, masked dancers such as by a singer or medicine person, and
“Talking Gods” and “Calling Gods” and generally not according to specific spiri-
other personages may make a ceremo- tual societies. Furthermore, whereas
nial appearance. Such dances are always anthropologists have referred to both
performed by men, even when the per- Navajo and Apache masked dancers, as
sonage represented is understood to be well as Pueblo kachinas, as “imperson-
female. ators” of mythological figures, the in-
One such Navajo masked dancer type digenous understandings emphasize
is referred to as hasch’ééh, which has embodiment of spiritual forces whereby
been compared to the Apache “Moun- the dancers are understood to directly
tain Spirits” or “Mountain Gods.” Terms manifest the powers of the spirit em-
for these figures vary in Apache cultures, bodied in the dancer. In this sense,
with Western Apaches using the terms dancers are themselves transformed
gan, gaan, and ga’an; Mescalero and during the ceremonials into spiritually
Chiracahua tend to use gaahe. However, powerful beings.
at times hastchin, hactcin, and haastch’i Martin Ball
are also used by Apache cultures to indi-
cate the Mountain Spirits. Each Apache See also Art (Contemporary), Southwest;
Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions;
culture has its own oral traditions de- Ceremony and Ritual, Diné; Ceremony
scribing the origins and natures of these and Ritual, Pueblo; Clowns and Clowning;
1049
Sun Dance ______________________________________________________________________________________
Herbalism; Kachina and Clown Societies; Sun Dance

Kiva and Medicine Societies; Masks and
Masking; Oral Traditions, Pueblo;
Religious Leaders, Southwest; The Sun Dance is a ceremony of com-
Sandpainting; Vision Quest Rites; Yoeme munity solidarity and renewal that is
(Yaqui) Deer Dance found among many Native American
peoples of the Plains, Prairie, and Great
Ball, Martin. 2000. “Sacred Mountains, Basin regions of North America.
Religious Paradigms, and Identity among Dancers enter into a sacred structure in
the Mescalero Apache.” Worldviews,
which they undergo ordeals that draw
Environment, Religion, Culture 4: 264,
282. together personal resolve, community
Basso, Keith H. 1970. The Cibecue welfare, and cosmic spirits. The primary
Apache. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
purpose for participation in this cere-
Winston.
Farella, John R. 1984. The Main Stalk: A monial is to acquire sacred power for
Synthesis of Navajo Philosophy. Tucson: the community. Generated through the
sufferings of the dancers, this power is
Farrer, Claire R. 1991. Living Life’s Circle:
Mescalero Apache Cosmovision. not simply personal. Rather, the cre-
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico ative potential of the Sun Dance flows
Press. throughout the community just as ma-
Goodwin, Grenville. 1938. “White Mountain
Apache Religion.” American terial wealth flows from redistribution
Anthropologist 40: 24, 37. rituals during and after this ceremonial.
Griffin-Pierce, Trudy. 1992. Earth Is My These traditional concepts of sacred
Mother, Sky Is My Father: Space, Time,
and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting. power evoked in the Sun Dance relate to
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico religious, economic, and social ideas
Press. and practices that are not separate from
Kelley, Klara Bonsack, and Harris Francis.
1994. Navajo Sacred Places. each other. Rather, religion, trade, and
Bloomington: Indiana University Press. subsistence activities mutually interact
Mails, Thomas E. 1974. The People Called as a lifeway that orbits around an axis of
Apache. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
sacred power. Currently, some Native
McNeley, James Kale. 1981. Holy Wind in Americans associate the Sun Dance
Navajo Philosophy. Tucson: University of with resistance to the cultural domi-
Arizona Press.
nance of mainstream America. Com-
Opler, Morris Edward. 1941. An Apache Life-
Way. Chicago: University of Chicago mercial exploitation of the phrase “Sun
Press. Dance” by non-Indians concerns tradi-
———. 1969. Apache Odyssey. New York:
tional American Indians. In recent
Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Sandner, Donald. 1991. Navaho Symbols times Native Sun Dance leaders have
of Healing. Rochester: Healing Arts brought non-Indians into this cere-
Press.
mony in both reservation settings and
Witherspoon, Gary. 1977. Language and Art
in the Navajo Universe. Ann Arbor: nontraditional locations such as Ari-
University of Michigan Press. zona, Oregon, Mexico, and Europe.
1050
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sun Dance
Great Plains Sun Dance lodge. Rocky Boy, Montana. 2003. (Marilyn “Angel” Wynn/Nativestock)
The tribal ceremonies referenced by the and capture of the cottonwood tree that
phrase “Sun Dance” are actually quite dif- becomes the center of the Sun Dance
ferent, but there are several striking simi- structure. The tree is addressed as a liv-
larities—namely, they are communally ing person and often treated as an hon-
based, cosmologically comprehensive, ored enemy. Among some people a ritual
and personally transformative. Sun apology is offered to the birds that nest in
Dances are performed in particular sea- the tree before it is cut down. The tree is
sons of the year, such as the full moon of then placed upright at the center of the
late spring or early summer. Particular designated Sun Dance grounds, where a
ceremonies were used as pictographic lodge, corral, or arbors will be built. The
markers on buffalo robe calendars in the center tree becomes the focus of prayer
nineteenth century to record historic and the place for the experience of trans-
events. During the Sun Dance a se- formative power.
quence of rituals over a multiday period A redistribution of goods begins with
builds solidarity by evoking sacred pow- extensive giveaways and feasts before
ers to renew the community of all living and after Sun Dances, involving the par-
beings. One such ritual is the discovery ticipation of extended families, clans,
1051
Sun Dance ______________________________________________________________________________________
and often the larger band or village com- as traditional Sun Dance songs. The
munity. Individuals who have had dancers themselves often coalesce in
dreams or other experiences vow to groups to care for one another physi-
dance in the ceremonial. Dancers under- cally, share tobacco in sacred pipe ritu-
take instruction by intercessors regard- als, and provide the setting for the narra-
ing the completion of their vows. tion of personal experiences. At the back
Dancers determine to undergo bodily of the lodge or in designated arbors or
deprivation or physical pain as acts of teepees the sponsor, leaders, and healers
commitment to the community and as at the Sun Dance form a special coterie
the means to bring about visionary expe- of wisdom keepers and guides for the
riences. Typically, dancers attend sweat- ceremony. Dancers often have face and
lodge ceremonies before the Sun Dance body painting on different days of the
for purification and as a way to focus on Sun Dance that has clan and individual
the challenges they face. visionary significance. The roles and ac-
The dancers’ commitments parallel tivities of all the participants and the at-
the distributive giving of the community, tendant community manifest an excep-
as well as the community’s intentions to tional religious intensity that is strikingly
evoke those cosmological forces that cre- beautiful and deeply moving.
ated the world and sustain life. Such a The phrase “Sun Dance” is first re-
spiritual presence is embodied in a buf- ported in a memoir of the trader Jean-
falo skull or hide placed on the center Baptiste Trudeau. In 1794–1796 he noted
pole or at its base as part of an altar. The that this ceremony was found among
lodge, moreover, is charged with cosmo- Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and neigh-
logical symbolism in the number and boring tribes on the upper Missouri
arrangement of the timbers used in the River. George Catlin also used the term in
structure. The dynamics of groups both 1833 for a ceremony named wiwanyang
within and without the lodge interweave, wacipi, or “gazing at the sun.” Catlin saw
contest, and coordinate their spiritual this ceremony at the mouth of the Teton
roles to augment the power of the cere- River, held by a division of the Sioux
monial. Families outside the lodge stand (Lakota). In 1849, Mary Eastman de-
as witnesses to the sacrifice of the partic- scribed a ceremony of the Santee Dakota
ipants. Elders may sit at the entrance of as a Sun Dance (Archambault 2001, 983).
the Sun Dance lodge in silent support of Since that time, the term has been used
the dancers. Announcers may also be as a classificatory name for these diverse
found at the eastern-facing entry of the ceremonies. However, among the ap-
Sun Dance lodge, calling out to the par- proximately thirty tribes known to have
ticipants in encouragement and with in- practiced such a ceremonial dance, few
structions. Singers gathered around the concentrated on the Sun or even refer-
drum sing personal power songs as well enced it during their ceremony.
1052
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sun Dance
The Sun Dance can be understood as affairs sporadically acted in league with
having three historical phases. First, from missionaries, Indian agents, and the
the precontact period into the 1880s, dif- military to ban all Indian ceremonials
ferent Native groups performed Sun throughout this period.
Dances that manifested distinct tribal In 1934 the Sun Dance was publicly re-
lifeways. These ceremonials undoubt- vived with the passage by Congress of the
edly changed with migratory pressures Indian Religious Freedom and Indian
related to the early contact period with Culture act. Revitalization was possible
Euro-Americans. Intertribal warfare because several peoples, such as the
flared in response to the movements of Shoshone, Lakota, Cheyenne, and Ara-
peoples westward. Different Sun Dances paho, had taken the Sun Dance under-
display characteristics associated with ground, performing it far from Indian
clan revenge, warrior initiations, and re- police, government agents, and resident
newal of the living world that accord Christian missionaries.
with those dynamic and troubled cen- While legislative action and more ac-
turies. Among the Crow and Kiowa, for cepting attitudes eased pressures on the
example, obtaining a warrior vision re- Sun Dance, it did not entirely eliminate
venging a clan death was a primary mo- the “Christianizing” and “civilizing”
tivation for the dance. Among the agendas that had suppressed the Sun
Cheyenne, Lakota, and Arapaho, the Sun Dance. Native leaders took the lead in
Dance was more of a community vision reestablishing confidence in the public
quest and initiation of warriors. Among performance of the Sun Dance. From
the Shoshone, healers often competed traditional dances among the Canadian
during the ceremonial, both to demon- Blackfeet/Blood, the Plains Cree, and
strate and to augment their curative Plains Ojibwa, the Sun Dance was re-
powers. The Sun Dance definitely stands stored to many Canadian tribes. Two in-
in continuity with established tribal un- digenous restoration moments were pri-
derstandings of creative powers associ- mary in the resurgence of the Sun Dance.
ated with animals located in land, wa- This first pulsation reverberated from
ters, sky, and adjacent realms of the the turn of the twentieth century, when
cosmos. several tribes resisted the suppression of
From 1883, both the Canadian and Native American religious life by per-
U.S. governments suppressed the Sun forming the Sun Dance and other cere-
Dances. For example, in 1883, Secretary monials in remote areas. The second
of the Interior H. M. Teller wrote Com- restorative pulse came in the 1960s, from
missioner of Indian Affairs Hiram Price, intertribal political and religious move-
condemning the Sun Dance, medicine ments on the Plains often associated
men, and traditionalists who supported with the American Indian Movement
them. The U.S. commissioner of Indian (AIM). The Sun Dance revival signaled a
1053
Sun Dance ______________________________________________________________________________________
political renewal of Indian identity that Assiniboine call this ceremony “lodge-
attracted both Indian youth and non- making dance,” whereas the Cheyenne
Indians disaffected from the dominant name it the “new life lodge” or “medicine
society. lodge ceremony.” The Gros Ventre say
In 1870 at least nineteen groups were “sacrifice lodge” or “prayer lodge,” while
practicing the Sun Dance—namely, the Arapaho call it “sacrifice lodge” or
Blackfoot, Northern and Southern “offerings lodge.” The old Crow Sun
Cheyenne, Northern Arapaho, Gros Ven- Dance, which is no longer practiced, was
tre, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Arikara, called the “fringed ankle dance” or
Sarcee, Kiowa, Hidatsa, Crow, Ponca, “miniature lodge,” whereas the cere-
Assiniboine, Santee (Sisseton and Cana- mony acquired from the Shoshone in
dian Sioux), and Teton in the Plains; as 1941 is called “imitation lodge.” The
well as the Eastern Shoshone and Ute in Arikara call their ceremony “house of
the Great Basin. The Omaha Hedewachi, whistling.” The Sioux and Ponca defi-
the Pawnee “Four Pole” ceremony, and nitely reference the Sun in their name
the Mandan Okipa are considered closely for their ceremony, but for other nations
related ceremonies. It was reported by the Sun has little or no overt mention in
Margot Liberty in 1965 that Sun Dances their name for the ceremony. The Sun,
among twelve of these groups were ex- however, is a major symbolic presence
tinct. However, by the end of the twenti- at Sun Dances that have a dawn greeting
eth century all but the Ponca, who held ritual.
their last Sun Dance in 1908, had recov- Despite the ambiguity of the term
ered their traditional dance or adopted a “Sun Dance” in academic usage, the
modified form of the ceremony from an- sheer volume of the literature on the
other tribe when their own original Sun Sun Dance warrants consideration and
Dance was lost. In addition, tribes like use of the term. Even more important,
the Comanche, Kootenai, Mandan, the pan-Indian movements of the twen-
Arikara, and Pawnee, which may not tieth century have led many Native
have practiced a traditional Sun Dance, American elders to emphasize the inter-
obtained the ceremony from nearby In- tribal, and for some, the interracial
dian religious leaders. foundations of their particular version
Some of the names for the Sun Dance of the Sun Dance (Yellowtail 1991,
among tribal groups give some indica- 177–183). It can be stressed, however,
tion of the different perspectives on this that the religious and spiritual dimen-
ceremony. For example, the English sions of the Sun Dance are central and
phrase among the Ute, Shoshone, Plains take precedence over any social or polit-
Cree, and Plains Ojibwa is “thirsting ical interpretations. The religious as-
dance” or “thirst lodge”; the Sioux and pects of the Sun Dance can be said to
Ponca say “sun-gazing dance.” The refer to the interwoven cultural, organi-
1054
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sun Dance
zational, and logistical concerns are singers and others who maintain the
whereby the ceremony is conducted. fire during the nights of the ceremonial.
Spiritual dimensions suggest more per- There are those who police the camp-
sonal and experiential interpretations ground, maintaining order. There are
that transmit the intentions and pur- usually camp criers or announcers.
poses of participants. The following sec- Some people still have sacred clowns at
tions explore these dimensions, espe- their Sun Dances who bring humor into
cially in communal, cosmological, and the dramatic settings of the ceremonial.
personal expressions. Through these diverse roles and varied
responsibilities, a community unites in
Communal Basis the performance of a Sun Dance, mani-
The communal nature of the Sun Dance festing communal solidarity as a conduit
is evident in the following statement of for sacred benefits.
Lakota elders in 1896: “The Sun Dance is From the late nineteenth century, Na-
the greatest ceremony that the Oglalas tive American Sun Dance communities
do. It is a sacred ceremony in which all have been affected by the introduction
the people have a part. It must be done of Christian denominations on reserva-
in a ceremonial camp. It must be con- tions and an increasing secularization
ducted by a shaman who knows all the brought on by the dominant society’s
customs of the people. He must know all consumer individualism and scientific
the secret things of the shamans. He is worldviews. Changes in traditional Sun
chief and wakiconza [intercessor] of the Dance patterns can result from employ-
ceremonial camp. Other shamans ment. Thus the Sun Dance is often held
should help him as his council” (Walker now over weekends to accommodate
1980, 181). While the shaman has a spe- work schedules. Moreover, Christian
cial role, traditionally everyone in the values may intrude into traditional in-
local village or band community would terpretations of the Sun Dance. How-
be connected to preparations for a per- ever, the Sun Dance as a means for
formance of a Sun Dance. Such defined bringing benefits for the whole commu-
positions as the Thunder-men among nity of living and nonliving beings con-
the Ponca led the ceremonial after they tinues to be a central purpose of this cer-
had been invited to dance four times. emony. The Crow elder and Sun Dance
Among the Blackfeet a Sacred Woman is chief Thomas Yellowtail expressed it this
the sponsor and the one who initiates way: “In the Sun Dance way, the individ-
the ceremonial. Other roles at the Sun ual benefits from his prayers, but this is
Dance include mentors for the candi- not all. The entire tribe benefits from the
dates, the Sun Dance chief, and shamans Sun Dance, because one part of our
who might join him in the lodge. Along prayers is especially for the tribe and for
with the participants as dancers, there all creation. Without these prayers from
1055
Sun Dance ______________________________________________________________________________________
all of the different Indian tribes, the ity, and strength is central to the cosmol-
world might not be able to continue” ogy of the Sun Dance. In the older Sun
(Yellowtail 1991, 103). This statement re- Dances the buffalo hunt and collection
flects the changing character of the Sun of buffalo tongues were central events
Dance from a communal exchange with leading up to the actual dance.
sacred powers and a major ceremonial
redistribution of goods to an intertribal Cosmological Context
prayer for the continuation of the world On or near the central cottonwood tree
as a whole. Communal motivations for of the Sun Dance lodge a rawhide effigy
the Sun Dance are exemplified in the of a buffalo is hung, or a buffalo skull
preparations prior to the Sun Dance. altar is prepared, or the head of a buffalo
Preparations for the Sun Dance in- is mounted on the tree. The dancers
clude instruction of the candidates who draw inspiration from the buffalo. A
have made vows, gathering of the mate- stuffed eagle may also be placed in the
rial necessary for constructing the lodge, fork of the central tree where the rafter
and organizing pledges from clan and poles will rest. Such animal and bird fig-
village groups (for example, tiospaye) of ures are not presented as symbols of ab-
food and assistance during the cere- sent spiritual agents. Rather, they make
mony and afterward at the feasts. These present the sacred powers that originally
preparations for the Sun Dance are often gave the Sun Dance to the people. These
coordinated at rituals of smoking to- cosmological powers are named and
bacco with sacred pipes and the opening evoked by the shamans in their healing
of sacred bundles. Medicine bundle rituals in the lodge during the Sun
openings are conducted many times Dance. Thus the Sun Dance becomes at
(typically four) over the months before times a healing ceremony, and at other
the actual dance. Usually at the full times it appears to be a communal vision
moons before the Shoshone-Crow Sun quest. At times the ordeal of an individ-
Dances, a sequence of “outside dances” ual pledger seems central in his or her ef-
are held at which pledgers gather to wit- fort to break free of personal problems
ness the sponsor and a family member and to be restored to the larger cosmos of
dance in full regalia. The return of the power.
buffalo hunt as a preparatory feature of These cosmological concerns are evi-
the Sun Dance has resulted from the de- dent in the ceremonial speech of Pete
velopment by many tribes of private buf- Catches, a Lakota healer and Sun Dance
falo herds. Moreover, the close associa- intercessor. Addressing those at a Sun
tion of the buffalo with most tribal Sun Dance, he said,
Dances marks continuity with tradi-
tional practices. The buffalo as the major My relatives, this Sun Dance is a very
symbolic presence of abundance, fertil- great ceremony. . . . The Sun Dance is
1056
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sun Dance
the greatest of all, the highest of the and children pass by. These pledgers
Lakota prayers which they direct continue the old Sun Dance ethos of
toward Tunkasila [Grandfather] Wakan
warriors who protect the people by en-
Tanka [the Presence of Mystery]. For
this they [those to be pierced] select tering into the sacrifice of themselves for
the ropes they will need on that day. the good of the people. Their sacrifice is
They attach the selected ropes to the the culmination of the space of the Sun
selected trees and they lay them down Dance lodge, which joins with cosmo-
on a buffalo robe or a bear robe which
logical reflections on time.
is painted red; and pregnant women
pass by, singing and speaking a prayer The number of days of the Sun Dance
for generation; and then in the ceremonies varies a great deal. Some
morning they gather to pray, and the Plains Ojibwa have been described as
children touch the tree at each having three days of dance. The
direction as they walk around it. And
Cheyenne speak of four or eight days, the
they pray, to Wakan Tanka they pray.
Then that tree around which Wakan Shoshone-Crow of four nights, the Co-
Tanka will cause them to dance, is manche and Kiowa of twelve preparatory
here set in the ground. There the days and four actual dance days. No def-
people come in and make the ground inite length united the different tribal
smooth, for they have come together
groups, although each Sun Dance com-
to pray to Wakan Tanka, they have
been waiting to show themselves to plex shows a concern for multiples of
Wakan Tanka. The people burn sweet four. This numerical symbolism makes
grass, and they pray for the poor, and present cosmological thought of the four
they clear a space on the ground. (Rice directions so prevalent in Plains religious
1989–1990, 68)
ideas. The correspondence of colors, an-
imals, winds, stones, and virtues with the
Here a powerful picture emerges of four directions varies within and among
those who will submit themselves to the the Plains peoples in their Sun Dances.
sacrifice of the Sun Dance by being In a related symbolism, the dancers walk
pierced and attached by ropes to the into and out of the lodge in a sunwise
central tree. They, like their ropes, are (clockwise) direction, to place them-
laid down on buffalo robes, pierced, and selves correctly in relation to the cosmo-
attached to the tree. They will be logical powers.
“burned” away like the sweet grass; they
will be wiped smoothe like the ground Personal Transformation
that the people have prepared for them. From that moment when the partici-
With the people they will show them- pants enter the Sun Dance lodge in a
selves to the sacred powers who are one sunwise direction they begin a test of
and many, and this showing is in prayer- their endurance. Participants take a
ful hope of re-creating the people, of re- vow (either publicly or privately) to un-
newal and fertility as pregnant women dertake the suffering involved in the
1057
Sun Dance ______________________________________________________________________________________
ceremony so as to help others. The vow contemporary quest for personal power
to enter the Sun Dance includes fasting in the face of the powerlessness created
from food and water at the same time by dominant societies. Behind both
as participating in strenuous dancing ideals is a commitment to the larger
to and from the center pole. This fast community within which one’s personal
from food and water may last for two, transformations find their deepest
three, four, or even five days among the meanings.
Crow, Kiowa, and Shoshone. John A. Grim
Among the Lakota and Cheyenne who See also Ceremony and Ritual, Arapaho;
practice piercing of the body during the Dances, Plains; Oral Traditions, Lakota
(Teton); Oral Traditions, Plateau; Oral
Sun Dance, a vow may be taken by a Traditions, Pueblo; Oral Traditions, Western
male dancer to have an incision made Plains; Spiritual and Ceremonial
on his chest, skewers inserted, and ropes Practitioners, Plains; Sun Dance, Crow; Sun
Dance, Kiowa; Sweatlodge; Vision Quest
attaching the skewers to the center tree. Rites
The dancer then exerts himself until the
flesh tears and he breaks free of the at- Amiotte, Arthur. 1992. “The Sun Dance.” Pp.
tached line. A vow may also be made to 135–136 in Native American Dance:
pierce the shoulder area and drag buf- Ceremonies and Social Traditions. Edited
by Charlotte Heth. Washington, DC:
falo skulls until the flesh tears. Vows also National Museum of the American
may be made by women to cut pieces of Indian.
skin from their arms in support of Archambault, JoAllyn. 2001. “Sun Dance.”
Pp. 983–995 in Handbook of North
dancers or in fulfillment of their own American Indians: Plains, vol. 13, pt. 2.
promises to assist others. Women Edited by Raymond DeMallie.
dancers regularly dance at the Crow Sun Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press.
Dance and at some Fort Hall Shoshone
Brown, Joseph Epes. 1987. “Sun Dance.” In
dances. In Sun Dances related to the Encyclopedia of Religion, vol. 14:
American Indian Movement, especially 143–147. Edited by Mircea Eliade. New
York: Macmillan.
on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reserva-
Dorsey, George Amos. 1903. The Arapaho
tions of the Teton Sioux, women have Sun Dance: The Ceremony of the
begun to play a more active role in danc- Offerings Lodge. Field Columbian
Museum Publications, no. 75. Chicago:
ing and piercing.
Field Museum of Natural History.
Participation in the Sun Dance brings _______. 1905. The Cheyenne: II, The Sun
to completion the dream injunction or Dance. Field Columbian Museum
invitation to dance from elders, cere- Publications, no. 103. Chicago: Field
Museum of Natural History.
monial organizers, or spiritual beings. Gill, Sam D., and Irene F. Sullivan. 1992.
Personal transformation relates to both Dictionary of Native American
the older Sun Dance ideal of the warrior Mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-
CLIO.
who sought a vision for revenge or for Harrod, Howard L. 1987. Renewing the
acquiring military abilities, and the World: Plains Indian Religion and
1058
_____________________________________________________________________________ Sun Dance, Crow
Morality. Tucson: University of Arizona Yellowtail, Thomas. 1991. Yellowtail: Crow

Press. Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief. As
Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Paulette Molin. told to Michael O. Fitzgerald. Norman:
1992. The Encyclopedia of Native American University of Oklahoma Press.
Religions. New York: Facts on File.
Hoxie, Fred E., ed. 1996. Encyclopedia of
North American Indians. New York:
Houghton Mifflin.
Jorgensen, Joseph G. 1972. The Sun Dance
Religion: Power for the Powerless.
Sun Dance, Crow
Lowie, Robert H. 1915. “The Sun Dance of The Crow (Apsaalooke) name for the tra-
the Crow Indians.” Pp. 1–50 in ditional Sun Dance is Baaiichkiisapili-
Anthropological Papers of the American olissuua, “fringed ankle dance,” and the
Museum of Natural History, vol. 16, pts.
1–5. New York: The Trustees.
contemporary ceremony is called Ash-
Mails, Thomas E. 1978. Sundancing at kisshilissuua or Ashkisshe, “Big Lodge.”
Rosebud and Pine Ridge. Sioux Falls, SD: The traditional Crow and contemporary
Center for Western Studies, Augustana
Shoshone-Crow and Sioux-Crow forms,
College.
Markowitz, Harvey, ed. 1994. American like Sun Dances of other tribes, are cere-
Indians, vol. 3. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: monial prayer rituals of intensification
Salem Press.
and renewal for individual worship and
Pettipas, Katherine. 1994. Severing the Ties
that Bind: Government Repression of the general welfare of the tribal commu-
Indigenous Religious Ceremonies on the nity. Prayer, sacrifice, and suffering are
Prairies. Manitoba Studies in Native
involved through fasting, effort, and tra-
History, no. 7. Manitoba: University of
Manitoba Press. ditionally by sacrificial piercing. During
Powell, Peter John. 1969. Sweet Medicine: the nineteenth century, it took place at
The Continuing Role of the Sacred the time of tribal reunion, hunting, feast-
Arrows, the Sun Dance, and the Sacred
Buffalo Hat in Northern Cheyenne ing, and visiting, when the tribal bands
History, 2 vols. Norman: University of came together between early summer
Oklahoma Press. and early fall.
Rice, Julian. 1989–1990. “Words for the Sun
Dance: Pete Catches, 1969.” Melus 16, no. Some Crow consider the Big Horn
1 (spring): 59–76. Medicine Wheel in the mountains of
Spier, Leslie. 1921. “The Sun Dance of the northern Wyoming to be “the Sun’s
Plains Indians: Its Development and
Diffusion.” Pp. 449–527 in Lodge”; it is associated with spirit people
Anthropological Papers of the American who had no iron or fire, called “the Little
Museum of Natural History, vol. 16, pt. 7. People” in popular writing. One story is
New York: The Trustees.
Voget, Fred W. 1984. The Shoshoni-Crow Sun
of Red Feather, who fasted at the Medi-
Dance. Norman: University of Oklahoma cine Wheel and was instructed by them.
Press. The early Kiowa and Crow Sun Dances
Walker, James. 1980. Lakota Belief and
appear to have been related from the
Ritual. Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie
and Elaine A. Jahner. Lincoln: University time in the 1700s when the two tribes
of Nebraska Press. were allies. The Taime (Sun Dance doll)
1059
Sun Dance, Crow ______________________________________________________________________________
three or four years, or several times a

year. It was done when a man sponsored
it, usually following the death of a rela-
tive, based on the need for spiritual un-
derstanding, power, and revenge. In the
1860s young people liked it, and some
older people were distressed by it.
Following the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty,
the Crow were located on a reservation,
and in 1875 they were relocated to an-
other agency. The government stressed
farming rather than hunting as a way of
life, and there was discouragement of tra-
ditional ceremonies by the Bureau of In-
dian Affairs. The Crow discontinued the
Sun Dance “voluntarily,” but they contin-
ued other ceremonies such as the vision
quest, sweatlodge, and Tobacco Planting
Apsarokee man, with strips of leather attached and Adoption ceremonies. Sun Dances
to his chest and tethered to a pole secured by
remained in the people’s hearts, and in
rocks, all part of the piercing ritual of the Sun
Dance, 1908. (Edward Curtis/Library of some tribes they were held in secret or
Congress) modified so as to obtain permission of the
U.S. government to perform them (for ex-
ample, by discontinuing piercing and
of the Kiowa was obtained from the adding Christian elements). Some Crow
Crow. The Wind River Shoshone received participated in the Sun Dance cere-
the Sun Dance about 1800 from a Co- monies of other tribes. A twenty-four-
manche, Yellow Hand, who in turn had year-old Crow rebel named Wraps His
been familiar with the Kiowa Sun Dance. Tail, or Sword Bearer, participated in a
During the nineteenth century, the Cheyenne Sun Dance about 1887. A
Crow Sun Dance was a prayer for group Shoshone form of the Sun Dance on the
welfare including food, raising of chil- Wind River Reservation in Wyoming inte-
dren, health, freedom from disease, and grated a number of Christian elements
protection from enemies. Gradually it between 1890 and 1905, and a number of
became more related to warfare as a cer- Crow attended during the following
emony to test and prove individual brav- decades.
ery and fortitude, and a prayer for Following the 1934 change in Bureau
vengeance against the enemy tribes that of Indian Affairs policy, to no longer in-
surrounded them. It might be held every terfere with Indian religion, there was a
1060
_____________________________________________________________________________ Sun Dance, Crow
revival of Sun Dances. In the summer of and exert themselves by praying with to-
1941, a Sun Dance was sponsored on the bacco cigarette smoking and by charging
Crow Reservation with an invited toward and backing away from the cen-
Shoshone leader to guide it. It was the ter pole with sincerety and determina-
fulfillment of a prayer by the sponsor for tion (diakaashe). The goal is to worship,
survival of his young son, who had been encounter, and receive sacred power
sick. The entry of the United States into (xapaaliia), a vision, or adoption by a
World War II led to sponsorships with an Medicine Father (Iilapxe). A dance usu-
emphasis on prayers for safety by sol- ally lasts three days, and sometimes four.
diers preparing themselves to enter the Attire is a combination of traditional and
service or by their relatives, or vows to contemporary clothing: skirts (kilts) for
sponsor a Sun Dance if they returned men and dresses for women, along with
safely. The 1955 Sun Dance at Crow sheets and Pendleton blankets, beaded
Agency was dedicated to Korean War vet- belts, chokers, eagle bone whistles, and
erans and preservation of the peace. finger plumes. Face and body painting is
During and after the Vietnam and Desert done on the third day.
Storm wars, the Crow and other tribes Between 1941 and the 1960s, at least
continued to pray for safety or give two dances were usually held each sum-
thanks for the successful return of sol- mer on the Crow Reservation. Since the
diers by sponsorship or participation in mid-1970s there have been from 85 to
Sun Dances. 120 dancers in each ceremony; there
Sun Dances are given when a sponsor have sometimes been more than one
makes a pledge (vow) for a specific pur- each year in different communities.
pose, such as aid for the sick, health, Women began to participate within the
good luck in finding work, peace for lodge itself during the 1950s. The major-
mankind, or gratitude for a previous ity of participants in the Crow Sun Dance
healing. Dancers make their own deci- are members of the tribe. Indians from
sions about participation. Preparation other tribes and non-Indians sometimes
begins during the winter and continues participate, however. Both young and
into early summer with four Medicine old attend, as well as people from every
Bundle ceremonies: four Outdoor Dance social stratum. As many as a thousand
Prayer services, obtaining lodgepole people might camp and provide support
pine, aspen, fir trees, and the sacred for a Sun Dance. In 1991, the Golden An-
forked cottonwood tree center pole. The niversary Sun Dance was sponsored by
lodge is constructed the day of the the son of the 1941 sponsor.
dance, which begins in the evening. A There are variations and controver-
buffalo head and cloth offerings are sies about the Crow Sun Dance and
placed on the center pole; in the fork is other spiritual practices. In the theology
the nest of the eagle. Participants fast of some, interpretations of symbols are
1061
Sun Dance, Crow ______________________________________________________________________________
traditional. Others accept Christian in- pate in the ceremonies within the lodge,
terpretation, such as lodge rafters but rather witness or help with building
equated with the disciples of Christ and the lodge and other activities.
the center pole with the cross. Still oth- Such ceremonies as the Sun Dance
ers believe that each religion (for exam- serve to express and maintain both spe-
ple, Sun Dance, Peyote, Catholic, Bap- cific Crow tribal and intertribal identi-
tist) is like the spoke of a wheel: each ties. Involvements with Sun Dances and
separate, distinct, and not to be mixed, other spiritual activities are a symbolic
but all connected to the hub. Most par- commitment to the adaptation to every-
ticipants are tolerant of syncretism. day stresses and modern life, as well as
There has been debate into the twenty- persistence, revival, and renewal of tra-
first century between those who feel that dition and community survival.
the Crow Sun Dance should be held only The Sun Dance of the Crow and other
on the reservation by formally accepted tribes has been portrayed in literature,
leaders and those who feel that Sun photography and film, and on stage.
Dances can be sponsored and held any- During the 1950s, several Crow traveled
where they might be desired. Crow peo- to Europe, where scenes of the Sun
ple visit and participate in Sun Dances Dance were performed on stage along
and other rituals of other tribes. By the with other dance exhibitions. Hyemey-
mid-1980s, relationships between Crow ohsts Storm’s controversial novel Seven
and Sioux, partly through involvement Arrows (1972), a popular book among In-
with the intertribal political American dian and other American countercul-
Indian Movement, grew strong, and ture/New Age adherents, is a fictional-
some Crow sponsored a Sioux (Lakota) ized story incorporating ideas from the
(or Sioux-Crow) piercing version of the medicine wheel, from Crow and
Sun Dance on the Crow Reservation. Cheyenne Sun Dances, shields, and
Other Crow turned to an individual vi- teaching stories, as well as Jung and Ori-
sion quest/Sun Dance with piercing. ental thought.
The first off-reservation Shoshone-Crow Key works on the Crow Sun Dance in-
Sun Dance was held in Arizona for a clude Lowie (1915), Voget (1984), and
group of counselors involved with trou- Frey (1987). There is a biography of the
bled youth. Another was held in the prominent Sun Dance leader Thomas
East, led by an off-reservation Crow Yellowtail (1991). Documentary works
man. About 1990 a variation of the Crow include the videos “The Gift of the Big
Sun Dance was held in England. There Lodge” (1989) and “The Crow/Shoshone
have been increasing numbers of visi- Sun Dance, A Traditional Ceremony”
tors from Germany and other countries (1992), and Crummett’s (1992) Sun
to the Sun Dances held on the Crow Dance photographs and commentary.
reservation. Most visitors do not partici- C. Adrian Heidenreich
1062
____________________________________________________________________________ Sun Dance, Kiowa
See also Christianity, Indianization of; the year; it was the occasion for ritually
Kinship; Missionization, Northern Plains; and symbolically important ceremonies
Plains; Retraditionalism and Revitalization that ensured good health, prosperity,
Movements, Plains; Spiritual and good hunting, success in war, and happi-
Ceremonial Practitioners, Plains ness (Kracht 1989, 258–265). “This was a
References and Further Reading dance of thanksgiving,” writes Maurice
Crummett, Michael. 1993. Sun Dance: The
50th Anniversary Crow Indian Sun
Boyd. “For those who had been spared in
Dance. Helena, MT: Falcon Press. battle, had survived a serious illness, or
Frey, Rodney. 1987. The World of the Crow had been rewarded with good hunting,
Indians: As Driftwood Lodges.
the dance was an expression of gratitude.
Norman:University of Oklahoma Press.
Lowie, Robert H. 1915. “The Sun Dance of For those whose family members needed
the Crow Indians.” Anthropological to be healed, whose women desired the
Papers of the American Museum of
blessing of children, whose camps
Natural History no. 16. New York:
American Museum of Natural History. needed food, or whose tepees sought re-
Old Coyote, Lloyd G. “Mickey,” director. venge . . . the Sun Dance ritual . . . of-
1992. (video recording) The
fered strength for the fulfillment of sa-
Crow/Shoshone Sun Dance: A Traditional
Ceremony. New York: Thunderous cred vows for the new year” (Boyd 1981,
Productions. I: 37).
Old Elk, Dan, director. 1989. The Gift of the The Kiowas called their dance Skaw-
Big Lodge. Rotterdam, The Netherlands:
Blue Horse Productions. tow. The first scholars to work with the
Storm, Hyemeyohsts. 1972. Seven Arrows. Kiowas, however, often failed to hear the
New York: Ballantine Books. softly pronounced “s” at the beginning of
Voget, Fred W. 1984. The Shoshoni-Crow Sun
Dance. Norman: University of Oklahoma the word, and it was subsequently
Press. recorded as “Kaw-tow,” or as James
Yellowtail, Thomas. 1991. Yellowtail: Crow Mooney and Hugh Lennox Scott put it,
Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief, An
Autobiography. Norman: University of “ka’do,” or “kado” (Mooney 1898, 237,
Oklahoma Press. 242–244; Scott 1911, 345). The original
meaning of the word is unclear, but ac-
cording to Billy Evans Horse, it means
“We’re building an abode, a house, or
dwelling that we all meet in” (Lassiter
Sun Dance, Kiowa
1998, 91). Kiowas also called the dance
The Kiowa Sun Dance was the tribe’s Daw-s’tome, or “procession-entering-
most important ceremony until its sup- the-lodge,” an interpretation that echoes
pression by federal authorities in the late Billy Evans Horse. The Kiowas associated
nineteenth century. Like the Sun Dance their dance with Pahy, the sun, because it
complex widely shared by Plains people, was Pahy that entrusted the Kiowas with
the Kiowa version brought the entire the care of the “Taime,” a two-foot-long
tribe together for the only time during figure representing a female human that
1063
Sun Dance, Kiowa _____________________________________________________________________________
is central to the Kiowa Sun Dance rituals. gave the Tai-may and Sun Dance to her
Tribal historians have described the rit- people. Recognizing Tai-may’s power,
ual as “a dance of thirst and self-denial,” the tribe “adopted it as our most sacred
and they note that it is related to the sun medicine, and regarded it as the most
“only at the moment of sunrise and sun- important symbol used in our great
set, when certain songs in the ceremo- Skaw-tow . . . ceremony.” According to
nial ritual coincided with the action of tradition, the keepers of the Tai-may are
the sun. Although the ritual was not con- the descendants of that Arapaho man
cerned primarily with the sun, the and Kiowa woman (Boyd 1981, I: 31–32;
dancers did stare incessantly at the sun Mooney 1898, 240–241).
or the medicine bundles at the top of the In an alternative version, Scott’s con-
center lodgepole” (Boyd 1981, I: 35; sultants told him of an elderly Arapaho
Mikkanen 1987, 6–7). couple who accompanied the Kiowas on
Kiowas say that both the Tai-may and a visit to the Crows but were too poor to
the Sun Dance came to them through the make the return trip. Out of kindness, a
Crow people, among whom the Kiowas Crow chief gave them the Tai-may, and
lived before acquiring horses in the early when the Kiowas returned on a subse-
eighteenth century and migrating onto quent visit, the Arapaho couple went
the Plains. James Mooney estimated that with them and gave them the Tai-may
they learned the dance around 1765, as and Sun Dance. As in the first version,
did the tribal historians who assisted their descendants became the tradi-
Maurice Boyd on Kiowa Voices (1981). tional keepers of the Tai-may bundle,
Based on his conversations in the early which became the mediator between the
twentieth century with elderly Kiowas, Kiowas and the power of the sun (Scott
Hugh Scott believed that the Kiowas ob- 1911, 350, 368–369).
tained the Tai-may and Sun Dance a cen- The Tai-may was maintained in a sa-
tury earlier, in 1670 (Mooney 1898, 241; cred bundle by a hereditary keeper who
Scott 1911, 369–372). In any case, tribal determined the year’s Sun Dance site,
historians give several accounts of its ori- usually during midwinter, to give ample
gin. In one, a poor Shoshone man at- time to those who had made vows to
tended a Crow Sun Dance and prayed dance or otherwise assist with the cere-
with great sincerity before the Tai-may. mony. (By some accounts, he could also
Taking pity on the man, the Crow Sun appoint an honored warrior to make the
Dance priest gave him the Tai-may, an decision.) The timing of the dance was
act that brought the man great spiritual determined by one of several signs, in-
powers and wealth. Angered, other cluding the appearance of downy white
Crows stole the Tai-may back. The fluff on the cottonwoods, or when the
Shoshone man made a copy of the Tai- sage grass was about a foot high and the
may, later married a Kiowa woman, and ponies were fat. The site had to be within
1064
____________________________________________________________________________ Sun Dance, Kiowa
four days of the most distant Kiowa ually cleansed in the sweatlodge led four
camps, and it had to provide enough bands of mounted warriors on the
water and pasture for the tribe as well as search. Once the tree—which needed to
its large pony herds (Kracht 1989, 265; be about twenty feet tall—and campsite
Scott 1911, 349; Boyd 1981, I: 37–38; were identified, the bands set up their
Mikkanen 1987, 5–9). lodges, each claiming a designated place
The date usually fell near the summer as part of a large circle, in the center of
solstice, but that was not a strict require- which would stand the Sun Dance pole
ment. In 1873, for example, the dance and lodge (Kracht 1989, 275–311; Boyd
began on June 16; in 1874 it began on 1981, I: 38–42).
July 3 (Scott 1911, 349). Although every On the second day, a young buffalo
effort was made to hold the dance, in bull was killed and its hide brought to
some summers it proved impossible. In the Sun Dance lodge. Protocol dictated
1833, for example, the Osages stole the that a man with war honors kill the bull
Tai-may and prevented the dance from with no more than two arrows. More-
being held again until the Tai-may was over, the animal had to be chased in
returned in 1835. In another example, such a way that when it died it faced east
Mooney’s consultants told him that be- and fell on its belly. Finally, the shot had
cause the tribe was constantly on the to be into the heart, to prevent bleeding
move in the summer of 1841, no dance from the animal’s nose or mouth, some-
was held. There was no dance in 1852 or thing that was considered an ill omen
1860, or in 1871, 1872, 1880, 1882, 1884, and a harbinger of illness. The bull was
1886, or between 1888 and 1892, when skinned, and a wide strip of skin from
federal authorities finally suppressed the the tail to the head (including the hide
ceremony. Conversely, two Sun Dances around the entire head) was taken to the
occurred during the same summer in Tai-may keeper, who took it into the
1842 and again in 1878 (Mooney 1898). sweatlodge and blessed it prior to plac-
Once the site and time were known, ing it at the Sun Dance pole (Boyd 1981,
the Kiowa bands gathered in one large I: 38–43; Scott 1911, 356–360; Meadows
encampment for about two weeks. In a 1999, 71).
typical year, the ceremony required four On the third day, an elaborate sham
to six “getting ready days” and another battle, or “laugh fight,” was held between
four “dancing days.” The “getting ready warriors on foot and on horse around the
days” began with the search for the tall, sacred tree, which had not yet been cut.
forked cottonwood tree that served as After a series of charges by the mounted
the center pole in the Sun Dance lodge, riders, the tree was surrendered by the
and also for an appropriate campsite for warriors on foot. A woman—often a cap-
the assembled Kiowa bands. Two men tive, to ensure that any miscues in the
from a warrior society who had been rit- felling would not affect any Kiowas—cut
1065
Sun Dance, Kiowa _____________________________________________________________________________
it down and limbed it, and the tree was of the screen, and the Tai-may and other
tied to the mount of a warrior, who ceremonial objects were prepared (Boyd
dragged it to the center of the camp. As 1981, I: 47; Scott 1911, 350).
with many other Plains tribes, the war- On the sixth day, the “Mud Head” cer-
riors ritually charged the tree and emony was held, during which men dis-
counted coup on it as it was moved. guised under mud-coated buckskin
Members of the Calf Old Woman Society masks rode through the camp teasing
dug a hole, members from the warrior people and acting out practical jokes.
societies raised the tree, and then the This was followed by a symbolic buffalo
women danced (Boyd 1981, I: 43–46). hunt, during which men covered in buf-
The fourth and fifth days were for the falo robes were herded into the Sun
construction of the Sun Dance lodge. On Dance lodge, which they circled four
the fourth day, a large circular arbor of times before lying down as if they had
cottonwood trees twelve to fifteen feet in been killed. Members of the Buffalo
height was built around the center tree, Medicine cult then searched under the
and brush was dragged to the camp cir- buffalo robes for the man who had the
cle to cover the walls of the Sun Dance most war honors. His name was an-
lodge. During this time, young men and nounced to the assembled tribe, and the
women were allowed to mingle unchap- entire affair was repeated four more
eroned, and social regulations about times to honor the four greatest Kiowas
courting practices were relaxed (ibid., I: “who had struck their enemies the great-
47; Scott 1911, 352; Meadows 1999, est number of times during the past
74–76). On the fifth day the walls and year.” The preparations for the dance
roof of the lodge were completed and were now almost complete, and the Tai-
covered with brush, and a cedar screen may keeper unwrapped the Tai-may
was erected close to one side of the lodge from its bundle, tied it to a six-foot-long
on a north-south axis behind which the pole, covered it, and prepared it to be
dancers and officials would rest during placed in the center of the Sun Dance
the ceremony. The Calf Old Woman Soci- lodge (Boyd 1981, I: 48–49).
ety and children from the Rabbit Society At sunset, the Tai-may keeper and his
cleaned the arbor and covered its floor assistants entered the lodge, circled it
with sand. The Rabbits’ job for the re- four times, and placed the Tai-may to the
mainder of the Sun Dance was to keep left of the center pole and in front of the
the lodge clean, a practice that is carried cedar screen. The first of the four danc-
on to this day at the annual meeting of ing days began at sunset and continued
the Tiah-piah, or Gourd Dance Society. until midnight. The next three dancing
The Sun Dance shields were hung on the days began at dawn and continued to
cedar screen, two earthen censers for midnight, except for the final day, when
burning cedar were erected at either end dancing ended at sunset. The dancers,
1066
____________________________________________________________________________ Sun Dance, Kiowa
who were under the command of the Tai- and fell unconscious. With luck, the
may keeper and his assistants, were men dancer would have a vision that he
who had made vows the previous year to would later share. Dancers chosen for
dance. Bareheaded, with their torsos and the honor of the “feather killing” were ex-
arms painted white, dancers wore white- pected to have a long life and good
painted buckskin shirts and blue aprons health (Boyd 1981, I: 52–53).
that reached to the ground. Standing in a Near the end of the fourth dancing
line facing the Tai-may, they danced in a day, spectators piled goods around the
bobbing motion, blowing eagle bone base of the Sun Dance pole in order to
whistles with outstretched arms. gain protection and power from the cer-
Dancers moved about the arena, and emony. Dancing ended just before sun-
could perform more or less freely. This set; the Tai-may was packed into its bun-
continued from noon to sundown, when dle, and clothing and other goods were
there was a brief break. Dancing re- tied to the Sun Dance pole as offerings. A
sumed until midnight, when spectators large social dance was held that night,
retired to their lodges while the dancers and raiding parties were organized to
and officials remained in the Sun Dance leave the next morning, when camp was
lodge. Dancers fasted during the entire broken and the bands went their sepa-
ceremony but were given water lilies to rate ways. Just prior to departing on the
cool their bodies. Unlike other Plains raids, the men would perform the Buf-
Sun Dances, the Kiowa version strictly falo Dance “in hopes of receiving
avoided bloodshed, scarification, and strength and courage from the Buffalo
piercing. Bloodshed of any kind was an Guardian Spirit” (ibid., I: 53; Kracht 1989,
ill omen and could bring the entire cere- 341–342). With that, the Skaw-tow
mony to a halt (ibid., I: 50–52; Scott 1911, ended, and as Billy Evans Horse put it,
353–354). “Every society felt renewed through the
The second and third dancing days prayers that they offered and the dances
featured several acts of symbolic death. they did. They rejuvenated their spirit, so
In one instance, a middle-aged man to speak, and they were ready to go
wearing a buffalo robe entered the lodge wherever. And they knew that the follow-
and reenacted the death of the buffalo ing year they were going to have it again”
killed on the second getting ready day. (Lassiter 1998, 91).
Staring at the sun, he danced more and The Skaw-tow ended in the late nine-
more rapidly until he collapsed and fell teenth century, when federal authorities
on his stomach, facing eastward as in the suppressed it (Kracht 1989, 725–733). As
actual hunt. In another instance, a noted above, for example, between 1871
dancer was symbolically killed, usually and 1892 the Kiowas failed to hold the
once each afternoon, after being chased dance on at least eleven occasions. And
by the Tai-may keeper until he collapsed in years when they did hold it in that era,
1067
Sun Dance, Kiowa _____________________________________________________________________________
they were increasingly under the hold a Sun Dance in June 1997, tribal eld-
scrutiny of federal troops and several ers opposed her. Harding Big Bow noted
times had to resort to buying the buffalo that when Kiowas put away the dance in
bull whose hide they needed for the cer- the nineteenth century, they agreed
emony. When the dance was suppressed, never to speak of it again. Big Bow noted
however, its songs and rituals were not that the prayers and rituals had been
forgotten but were folded into surviving lost, and that the dance could be per-
ceremonies, most notably those of the formed only when all of the bands were
Tiah-piah Society (also called the Taim- camped together. “We respect our ances-
pego Society, which means “Gourd tors,” he said. “Our society depends on
Dance Society” or “Gourd Clan”), a men’s it.” In a resolution that passed by a vote
warrior society that had a prominent role of 178 to 173, Kiowa elders criticized “the
in the old Sun Dance. Tiah-piah mem- continued stripping of culture by . . . am-
bers began to hold dances in 1912, and bitious individuals . . . creating an evil
they continued to do so until 1938. When humiliation of tribal customs and reli-
members revived the society in 1957, gions.” Jennings rejected the resolution,
they did so by including some of the old saying it wasn’t “a case of . . . tradition, of
Sun Dance’s most meaningful practices, respect—it’s male domination” (“Tribal
including the timing (July 4, which coin- Elders Fight Resurrection” 1997; Brink-
cides roughly with the traditional timing man 1997). The dance was not held, and
of the old dance), dancing for four days, there have been no subsequent attempts
using Sun Dance song traditions such as to organize another attempt.
Brush Dance Songs, having members of Clyde Ellis
the Rabbit Society clean the arena, and See also Bundles, Sacred Bundle
performing the Buffalo Dance at the end Traditions; Ceremony and Ritual,
of the Gourd Dance (Lassiter 1998, 119; Arapaho; Christianity, Indianization of;
Kinship; Kiowa Indian Hymns;
Meadows 1999, 136–139). Since the Missionization, Kiowa-Comanche-Apache
1970s, Gourd Dancing has become one Reservation; Oral Traditions, Western
of the most important expressions of Plains; Power, Plains; Sacred Pipe; Sun
Dance
identity in the Kiowa community; it also
enjoys nationwide popularity as part of
Battey, Thomas C. 1875/1968. The Life and
the pan-Indian powwow complex (Ellis Adventures of a Quaker among the
1990). Indians. Reprint, Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press.
In 1997 an attempt to revive the Kiowa
Boyd, Maurice. 1981. Kiowa Voices:
Sun Dance produced strong objections Ceremonial Dance, Ritual, and Song, vol.
from tribal elders. When Vanessa Jen- 2. Ft. Worth: Texas Christian University
nings, a Kiowa, announced plans to in- Press.
Brinkman, Lillie-Beth. 1997. “Kiowas Ban
vite a Crow-Shoshone Sun Dance priest Dance, Veto Land Lease.” Daily
to her home in Ft. Cobb, Oklahoma, to Oklahoman, November 18.
1068
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sweatlodge
Ellis, Clyde. 1990. “‘Truly Dancing Their America. It entails prayer, physical and
Own Way’: Modern Revival and Diffusion spiritual cleansing, preparation for
of the Kiowa Gourd Dance.” American
Indian Quarterly 14: 19––33. other sacred events, healing, and social
Kracht, Benjamin. 1989. “Kiowa Religion: An and spiritual interaction. Participants
Ethnohistorical Analysis of Ritual are exposed to high temperatures in a
Symbolism, 1832–1987.” Ph.D. diss.,
Southern Methodist University. dark, tightly enclosed structure for sig-
———. 1994. “Kiowa Powwows: Continuity nificant amounts of time. In wide use
in Ritual Practice.” American Indian before European contact, this ceremony
Quarterly 18: 321–348.
Lassiter, Luke Eric. 1998. The Power of
was deliberately suppressed by civil and
Kiowa Song: A Collaborative religious authorities in the 1800s and
Ethnography. Tucson: University of early 1900s, along with other rituals, but
Arizona Press.
it has come out from hiding, has re-
Mikkanen, Arvo Quoetone. 1987. “Skaw-
Tow: The Centennial Commemoration of vived, and continues to be important to
the Last Kiowa Sun Dance.” American a wide variety of Native groups. The
Indian Journal 9: 5–9.
structure of the lodge and the ceremony
Mooney, James. 1898. Calendar History of
the Kiowa Indians. Seventeenth Annual itself varies according to the cultural
Report of the Bureau of American group, the time period, and the inspira-
Ethnology. Washington, DC: Government
tions of specific spiritual leaders. De-
Printing Office.
Nye, Wilbur. 1934. “The Annual Sun Dance spite cultural, temporal, and personal
of the Kiowa Indians: As Related by variations, the ceremony itself has re-
George Hunt.” Chronicles of Oklahoma mained fairly consistent over time. The
12: 340–358.
Scott, Hugh Lennox. 1911. “Notes on the greatest flexibility and variability for
Kado, or Sun Dance of the Kiowa.” this ritual lies in the purposes for which
American Anthropologist 13: 345–379. it is performed.
Spier, Leslie. 1921. “Notes on the Kiowa Sun
Dance.” Anthropological Papers of the Scholars have distinguished two types
American Museum of Natural History 16: of sweats used by Native North Ameri-
433–450. cans: direct heat and steam. Direct fire
———. 1967. “The Kiowa Sun Dance.” Pp.
503–513 in The North American Indians: baths are found primarily among Natives
A Sourcebook. Edited by Roger C. Owen, in Alaska, California, and the Plateau.
James J. F. Deetz, and Anthony D. Fisher. Steam baths are found in the rest of
New York: Macmillan.
“Tribal Elders Fight Resurrection of Long
North America. There are a few groups in
Banned Ceremony.” Ojibway News. May the Southeast and Southwest as well as
30, 1997. Mesoamerica who did not use this ritual,
or about whom we know too little to be
sure if they used the ritual or not.
Sweating is a circumpolar phenome-
Sweatlodge non; it is found in other parts of the
The sweatlodge ritual is found among a world as well. Russians, Latvians, Estoni-
wide variety of Indian groups in North ans, Finns, and Swedes all utilize saunas.
1069
Sweatlodge ______________________________________________________________________________________
be material artifacts, such as spears and

canoes, or social customs such as mar-
riage rules or kinship terms. Rituals are
an important category of culture, and
the sweatlodge is thus a trait (or feature)
within that larger category. In this ency-
clopedia, elements of Native culture are
identified as traits for ease of interpreta-
tion and to focus each article on different
elements of Native religions. Note, how-
ever, that in contemporary religious and
anthropological studies, the focus on
studying a ritual is on how it relates to
other elements within that culture—
such as the social order, kinship, politics,
health and healing, economics, history,
folklore, and, indeed, other rituals. While
we can analytically separate the sweat-
lodge from its cultural nexus, in reality it
is always part of a complex social whole.
Luna Harrington, a Pima Medicine Man, in a
sweatlodge during a purification ceremony. Studying Rituals
Monument Valley, Arizona. 1994. (Arne
Hodalic/Corbis)
Native peoples and scholars often differ
in their interpretations of and interests
in this ritual. Native people focus on
proper (respectful) use of the sweat and
What is distinctive about Native Ameri- its power, while scholars often focus on
can sweats is that they have retained ritual structures and procedures,
their religious orientation; except in the changes in the ritual over time, as well as
case of neopaganism and Jewish purifi- the distribution and diffusion of this cer-
cation baths, contemporary European emony. For example, anthropologists
sweating is secular, although in places suggest that the sweat may have origi-
such as Russia sweating was once a reli- nally come from Asia or from Europe,
gious practice. while Native peoples often explain that
their ancestors were taught the ritual by
Traits and Trait Analysis a divine entity, or that the ritual was
Nineteenth-century anthropology called given to someone through a dream or vi-
for the analysis of cultures by their sion to improve the life of the people or
“traits” or component parts. Traits could to heal or revivify someone.
1070
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sweatlodge
The Nature of the Ritual preciated and respected, and so that they
Today, ritual sweating according to a Na- not again suffer the suppression imposed
tive tradition is becoming more preva- upon them both by the U.S. government
lent, both on reservations and in urban and by Christian churches. So I gratefully
areas. Non-Natives will sometimes join acknowledge my welcome to the sweats,
Native people for sweats, and, at times, and I seek to use my own scholarly work
non-Natives will conduct their own to make appropriate information known
sweat rituals. This has caused much con- for the sake of understanding and toler-
troversy in Native communities as they ance on all sides. I ask in advance for for-
try to protect their spiritual traditions giveness for any shortcomings or omis-
from exploitation by outsiders as well as sions in this article. I do not speak for
from other Natives. Natives, nor do I define their ritual prac-
Because of its increasing prominence tice. Rather, I seek to share what I have
and popularity, the sweat has become a learned from Native practitioners of the
very important ritual, though not as cen- sweat, as well as research that shows the
tral a ritual as the Sun Dance or vision wide variety of sweat practices. I seek also
quest (to use the Plains tribes as an exam- to highlight the importance of these rit-
ple). It acts as a transitional or boundary ual procedures, to consider controversies
ritual, allowing people to move from one surrounding the sweatlodge today, and to
state (profane) to another (sacred), and, let Native and other voices speak through
indeed, to be transformed and to trans- my own work.
form the social order. Outsiders may be
invited to participate if they have a con- Historical Descriptions of the
nection with the group who are sweating Sweatlodge
and are “respectful.” Respect includes One source of our knowledge of early
being in the proper ritual disposition sweatlodge ceremonies derives from ob-
(there are certain restrictions on when servations of the ritual by European ex-
one may sweat and how one prepares), plorers, diplomats, missionaries, military
acting properly, and following directions. personnel, government agents, fur
Writing about the sweat, as in writing traders, and, much later, anthropologists.
about anyone’s religious belief, also re- Europeans, and especially missionaries,
quires respect. The author of this article is had an ambivalence about this ritual.
a non-Native who has been honored to They were interested in its physical and
be invited to many sweat rituals and has curative properties, but they rejected its
attempted, to the best of his ability, to be use in worship and belief; the early mis-
respectful in his writings. Many Native sionaries were quite intolerant of non-
people have stressed that outsiders Christian belief, worship, and ritual prac-
should have an understanding of their tices. The descriptions that these
rituals and beliefs so that they may be ap- individuals left are one source for a
1071
Sweatlodge ______________________________________________________________________________________
broader knowledge of the ritual. Another The Jesuit Relations: Hurons and
source of information has been oral liter- Montagnais
ature that was generally kept within tribal One of the first groups to interact inten-
groups, although sometimes it is shared sively with Native peoples for an extended
with sincere and interested outsiders. period of time, in what they referred to as
Native people have been engaged in New France, were the Jesuits, members
recovering their past through accessing of a Roman Catholic religious order that
both local oral historians and more re- came to spread their faith and culture.
mote non-Native archival and pub- They became students of Native lan-
lished descriptions of their cultures. guages and cultures both with a genuine
While descriptions by outsiders are interest and sometimes to refute their
often partial and in some ways flawed, beliefs and replace them with Catholi-
Native peoples make use of non-Native cism. Jesuit priests wrote detailed ac-
archival and published descriptions of counts of Native custom and behavior as
their cultures. A blurry photograph of a reports for their superiors and as guides
loved one taken by a photographer not for others in their order who would take
known to you is better than no photo- up their work.
graph at all. While the imprecise image Jesuit Father François Joseph Le
is not the person, the picture can be Mercier, S.J., quotes a letter from fellow
added to the heart and mind along with missionary Fr. Pierre Pijart, who de-
memories, oral reports, and other scribes a sweatlodge ceremony he ob-
knowledge to create a better composite served in 1637 while among the Hurons:
picture of the past.
We will look at sweating in three dif- Here is something quite remarkable:
ferent geographical areas during three Towards evening of the 26th (of May),
different eras, through the eyes of a vari- they prepared a sweat, which was
followed by a feast. I never saw
ety of non-Native observers. This will
anything like it in my life; 20 men
help us to appreciate the historical entered, and almost piled themselves
depth and variety of forms of this ritual, upon one another. Even the sick man
which some Native societies date to the dragged himself thither, though with
foundations of their cultural orders. considerable difficulty, and was one of
the troop; he also sang for quite a long
This will also help us to understand the
time, and in the midst of the heat of
goals and biases of various collectors of this sweat he asked for water with
this information and how their view- which to refresh himself,—a part of
points color their descriptions and un- which he drank, and the rest he threw
derstandings. Finally, it will give the over his body. An excellent remedy,
forsooth, for a sick man on the verge of
reader a method for studying sweat-
death! So the next day I found him in a
lodge practices of other groups in the fine condition; indeed it was a fine
future. condition for him, since God then gave
1072
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sweatlodge
to him the grace to conceive the they slip entirely naked into these
importance of the concerns of his sweat boxes. The women occasionally
salvation, and to me to put into my sweat as well as the men. Sometimes
mouth the words to explain to him our they sweat all together, men and
principal mysteries. women, pell-mell. They sing, cry and
groan in this oven, and make
Le Mercier pays most attention to the speeches; occasionally the sorcerer
medicinal efficacy of this ritual; he beats his drum there. I heard him
once acting the prophet therein,
seems less aware of its spiritual dimen-
crying out that he saw Moose; that
sions. When a cure is effected, the Jesuit my host, his brother, would kill some.
interprets it through his own cultural I could not refrain from telling him,
lens as the result of his preaching of or rather those who were present and
Christianity rather than the efficacy of listened to him as if to an oracle, that
it was indeed quite probable that
the Native prayer ritual. Note the other
they would find a male, since they
elements of the sweat—specifically had already found and killed two
Huron—that are revealed: singing, females. When he understood what I
drinking water, and feasting afterward was driving at, he said to me sharply,
are important elements of the sweat. The “Believe me, this black robe has no
sense.” They are so superstitious in
sweat is also social: a large number of
these uproars and in their other
people crowd in with the sick man. Fi- nonsense, that if they have sweats in
nally, Le Mercier reveals his European order to cure themselves, or to have a
fascination with this “odd” ceremony, a good hunt, or to have fine weather,
fascination with the exotic that contin- [they think] nothing would be
accomplished if they did not sing,
ues to hold many Europeans to this day. and if they did not observe these
Father Le Jeune, S.J., writes a very de- superstitions. I have noticed that,
tailed description of the sweatlodge of when the men sweat, they do not like
the Montagnais in his report of 1634: to use women’s robes with which to
enclose their sweat boxes, if they can
They sing and make these noises also have any others. In short, when they
in their sweating operations. They have shouted for three hours or
believe that this medicine, which is thereabout in these stoves, they
the best of all they have, would be of emerge completely wet and covered
no use whatever to them if they did with their sweat.
not sing during the sweat. They plant
some sticks in the ground, making a
sort of low tent, for, if a tall man were We learn a lot about Fr. Le Jeune here
seated therein, his head would touch as well as about the sweat. He has no
the top of this hut, which they tolerance for Native religious practices,
enclose and cover with skins, robes, equating them with superstitions and
and blankets. They put in this dark
room a number of heavy stones,
nonsense. He is not above interfering
which they have had heated and with the spiritual leader, denigrating his
made red-hot in a good fire, then predictions as obvious. Jesuits were
1073
Sweatlodge ______________________________________________________________________________________
trained in debate throughout their new religion, continuing prayer and

philosophical and theological studies, recitation in the sweat, but in Christian
to use refutation in verbal combat not metaphor. Fr. Lalemant describes an
only with Native Americans but also early instance of this phenomenon in
against European Protestants. Never- 1640:
theless, we learn some more important
elements about the sweatlodge. Singing This good Christian,—having returned
is vital to the process. In addition to some months ago from a journey that
he had made to the
healing, there is supplication and prog- Khionontateronons (the Tobacco
nostication. Drums are sometimes Nation), whither he had gone to assist
used. Women and men sometimes our Fathers in the preaching of the
sweat together. Le Jeune also provides a Gospel,—seeing himself wearied with
travel, took a sweat (this is a certain
detailed description of the construction
kind of bath which these Savages use,
of the sweatlodge enclosure. He tells us with which to refresh themselves).
that there are multiple uses for the Having entered this bath, it was a
sweat: curing, success in hunting, pre- pleasure to hear him,—not singing of
dicting where game will be found, and dreams, and war songs, as all his
fellow countrymen do on this
to bring about good weather. Other Je-
occasion, but animating himself to a
suits point out that the Natives used the new combat; resolving to die for the
sweat to get knowledge of a patient’s defense of the Faith; promising God to
disease, to gain the help of spiritual scour the whole country, and
forces (referred to at that time as announce everywhere his holy name.
In a word, what is deepest in the heart
“demons”), to make the medicine more
is the most ordinary subject of his
effective, and to predict future events conversation, of his songs, of his most
such as occurrences in warfare and to affectionate intercourse.
diagnose illness.
While the Jesuits were sometimes tol- Like many other Europeans, Jesuits
erant of Native social customs, they were demonstrated an interest in the medical
most intolerant of their ritual life. They practices of the Indians. Jesuits were
set about refuting these practices among generalists and particularists, describing
the Natives and making enemies of the the specific details of local customs
traditional spiritual leaders, and pro- among specific tribes but also some-
scribing their use by converts to Chris- times generalizing for all Natives they
tianity. Nevertheless, the missionaries encountered.
did recognize some natural curative effi- The study of primary documents, de-
cacy to these baths. Contemporary Na- spite the limitations of their authors, is
tive Christians also make accommoda- essential to reconstructing early sweat
tions and transferences as they enter this ceremonies. The more different sources
1074
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sweatlodge
one can use in the reconstruction (Na- Catlin reports that the sweater made a
tive and non-Native, textual and oral, verbal utterance, the door was opened,
written, drawn, and photographed), the and the occupant plunged himself into a
fuller a picture we can derive. river. He considered this a rather satis-
factory remedy for about every disease
Explorers and Ethnographers: known to the Mandan.
Mandan and Hidatsa The explorer Maximilian, Prince of
The explorer-artist George Catlin visited Wied, spent the winter of 1833–1834 with
the Mandan Indians in 1832, when he the Mandan and the culturally related
noted the use of sweatlodges among Hidatsa, whom he referred to as the
those people. The baths were located Manitarie. He concurs with Catlin on the
near villages along the banks of the river. extensive medical use of the sweatlodge.
Inside the lodge, there was a double row He provides more extensive data for uses
of rocks about three feet apart on which of the Hidatsa sweatlodge:
rested a “crib” in which the bather sat.
When a man intends to undertake
Outside the lodge, a woman heated rocks
anything, and to implore by medicine
and brought them in, placing them the aid of the higher powers, he builds a
under the bather and then dashing cold small sudatory of twigs, which is
water on the rocks to produce an abun- covered all over with buffalo hides.
dance of steam. The lodge was sealed Before the entrance is a straight path,
forty feet long and one broad, from
tight during this process. Catlin further
which the turf is taken off and piled up
describes the process: in a heap at one end opposite the hut.
Near this heap a fire is kindled, in which
He [the bather] is enveloped in a large stones are made red hot. Two rows
cloud of steam, and a woman or child of shoes, sometimes, thirty or forty pair,
will sit at a little distance and are placed along the path. As soon as
continue to dash water upon the the stones are hot, they are borne into
stone while the matron of the lodge is the hut, where a hearth has been dug,
out preparing to make her on which the hot stones are laid. The
appearance with another heated whole population sits as spectators on
stone. He will sit and dip from a either side of the path, where are placed
wooden bowl, with a ladle made of a number of dishes with provisions,
the mountain-sheep’s horn, and such as boiled maize, beans, meat, &c.
throw upon the heated stones, with
his own hands, the water which he is Maximilian points out that a medicine
drawing through his lungs and pores. man conducted the ceremony. He
The steam distills through a mat of walked to the sweat on top of the shoes.
wild sage and other medicinal and
aromatic herbs, which he has strewed
The supplicant for whom the sweat was
over the bottom of his basket, and on created lamented in front of the sweat.
which he reclines. The older men then went into the sweat,
1075
Sweatlodge ______________________________________________________________________________________
Sweat lodge frame. Chief Plenty Coups State Park, Montana. 2001. (Marilyn “Angel” Wynn/
Nativestock)
and women covered it tightly. Inside, the When we move to anthropological

men sang, using a rattle for an accompa- texts, we get a fuller picture of the reli-
niment. When the door was opened a gious dimension that Catlin missed in
buffalo head was carried over the row of his description. Anthropologist Alfred
shoes and placed on the mound in front Bowers, who worked with Mandans and
of the lodge. Offerings were put on a pole Hidatsas from the 1920s to the 1940s,
behind the sweatlodge. The sweat itself provides a Mandan story about a young
was located outdoors, but in winter man named Black Wolf, who was
sweats were constructed within the earth brought into a sweatlodge by Black Bear
lodges. and a group of animals. They sang in the
Maximilian noted the religious import sweat, prayed to the animals, poured
of this ceremony, which included self-tor- water on themselves, and then came out.
ture to ensure spiritual help and success Black Wolf was told that the sweat was a
from “higher powers” that Maximilian, in place to refresh oneself as well as to heal
his ethnocentric view, unfortunately de- people who were sick. Note that prayer is
scribed as “superstition.” an essential element of the sweat in the
1076
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sweatlodge
story and should not be separated from coals, a cover is put over the smoke
healing, as both are integral to a success- hole in the roof and the men sit naked
about the room until they are in
ful cure in Native understanding. The Hi-
profuse perspiration; they then bathe
datsa held that the sweatlodge could in the urine, which combines with the
bring blessings, good fortune, new life, oil on their bodies, and thus takes the
good homes, health, success against en- place of soap, after which they go
emies, and material wealth. Sweats were outside and pour water over their
bodies until they become cool. While
also used in ceremonial preparation for
bathing they remain in the kashim
catching eagles, according to ethnomu- with the temperature so high that their
sicologist Francis Densmore, who skin becomes shining red and appears
worked with the Mandans and Hidatsas to be almost at the point of blistering;
in 1912, 1915, and 1919. then going outside they squat about in
the snow perfectly nude, and seem to
enjoy the contrasting temperature. On
Missionaries, Explorers, and several occasions I saw them go from
Anthropologists: Yup’ik the sweat bath to holes in the ice on
The Yup’ik of Central Alaska traditionally neighboring streams and, squatting
used the qasegiq, or men’s house, for there, pour ice water over their backs
and shoulders with a wooden dipper,
sweating. This structure is also known as
apparently experiencing the greatest
the kashim. This building was also used pleasure from the operation.
for religious ceremonies such as the
Great Feast to the Dead and the Bladder The author also describes how bathers
Festival, for recreation, and as a living protect themselves from the intense heat
space for men. by using a cap of waterfowl skins, and
Edward William Nelson, meteorolo- respirators:
gist, explorer, and part-time ethnogra-
pher, lived from 1877 to 1881 among the Throughout the region visited the
men, while taking their sweat baths,
Bering Strait Eskimo. He provides an
are accustomed to use a cap made of
early account of their sweats: the skin of some water fowl, usually
the red- or black-throat loon. The skin
In these buildings (the kashim) sweat is cut open along the belly and
baths are taken by men and boys at removed entire, minus the neck,
intervals of a week or ten days during wings, and legs; it is then dried and
the winter. Every man has a small softened so as to be pliable and is
urine tub near his place, where this fastened together at the neck in such a
liquid is saved for use in bathing. A way that it can be worn on the head.
portion of the floor in the center of the Owing to the intense heat generated in
room is made of planks so arranged the fire pit, the bathers, who are
that it can be taken up, exposing a pit always males, are obliged to use
beneath, in which a fire of drift logs is respirators to protect their lungs.
built. When the smoke has passed off These are made of fine shavings of
and the wood is reduced to a bed of willow or spruce bound into the form
1077
Sweatlodge ______________________________________________________________________________________
of an oblong pad formed to cover the changes in social and religious life, but
mouth, the chin, and a portion of the shows how sweating continues to be an
cheeks. These pads are convex
important hygienic and social activity
externally and concave within;
crossing the concave side is a small and serves as a marker of cultural iden-
wooden rod, either round or square, so tity. Men still sweat together, but there are
that the wearer can grasp it in his teeth also family sweats and sweats with out-
and thus hold the respirator in siders, Native and non-Native. There is
position.
joking, and challenges are thrown out to
cosweaters to endure the heat. Men en-
John Henry Kilbuck, a Moravian mis-
gage in the sweat and sweating is an im-
sionary of Mohican and Delaware Indian
portant topic of discussion. Note that the
descent, worked among the Yup’ik from
sweat is a highly flexible social and reli-
1885 to 1922. He wrote this description
gious institution, adjusting to shifts in
of the direct fire bath:
family structure and gender relations.
Sweats, like other rituals, are transformed
The heat is sometimes so intense as to
by contemporary need in dialogue with
blister the ears—before perspiration
takes place. When the wood is dry and structures of the past. Tradition does not
piled properly—there is quick invalidate but rather guides present prac-
combustion with a minimum amount tices, as we will see in looking at more
of smoke, and the bathers in the midst contemporary sweatlodge phenomena.
of such enjoyment—set up a
lamentation which is so like the
howling of a pack of huskies or wolves. Personal Experience: Lakota
This lamentation is for the dead Eber L. Hampton is a Chickasaw and
because they are missing such a Euro-American from Oklahoma. He
luxurious sweat-bath. grew up in California, and his primary
From experience the Eskimos have
learned which embers and partially
teacher in traditional ways is a Kiowa.
burned pieces of wood produce Hampton writes of the respect necessary
distressing headaches—and these are in learning about the sweat, analyzing it,
carefully put out—before the window and representing it in textual form, but
is replaced.—Boys are not permitted to
he also stresses that the sweat is primar-
take these sweatbaths.—After the
sweat—the men go out into the open ily an event, not a description: “The
air—and roll in the snow in learning, the transformation takes place
wintertime—or plunge into the nearby at a level deeper than words. Everything
stream in summer. related to the sweat has a purpose and an
effect. Its reality is not a symbol with a
Anthropologist Chase Hensel worked meaning. It is real at all levels and works
in this region in the 1980s and 1990s. He with our actions to have real effects.”
describes how the qasegiq fell into disuse As I have learned from my own teach-
by the early 1990s because of radical ers, one should speak one’s opinion
1078
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sweatlodge
about spiritual matters. So this article heated outside the sweat and brought in
will shift from formal academic research by a doorkeeper, who may or may not
to a reflection on my own participation join the rest of the group for the sweat.
in the sweat. I have sweated and con- The sweatlodge itself is a dome-shaped
tinue to sweat primarily with Lakota frame of willow or cherry branches cov-
people, mostly on the Pine Ridge Reser- ered with tarps and blankets so as to be
vation. I want to be careful to speak only airtight. The entrance faces a specific di-
from my experience, understanding, and rection, usually west or east. Sage and
what I was taught. I do not universalize sometimes carpets are placed on the
my own experience into a “standard seating area. A pit in the center of the
sweat”; nor do I claim any authority over lodge holds the hot rocks, and there is an
what is right or wrong practice. Each exterior fireplace in line with the pit and
sweat I have attended was structurally the entrance outside. Sometimes an altar
the same, involving prayer, song, intense is formed outside of the lodge in line
heat, and intense emotions, from sorrow with the door from the stones excavated
to joy. Each sweat was also unique. from the interior pit.
What strikes me most about the cere- People are expected to be in good rela-
mony is its intensity, not only in terms of tionship with each other when entering
heat but also in terms of religious and so- the sweatlodge together. Negative
cial experience. The ceremony forges thoughts or feelings are amplified in the
close spiritual and social bonds among sweat, as are positive ones, so one should
participants. People come together to not bring negativity into the lodge, ac-
form sweat groups for various needs and cording to my teachers. The Lakota ask
concerns: personal, tribal, and even cos- that women who are menstruating ex-
mic. The sweatlodges that I have at- clude themselves from the sweat, for
tended are primarily places of prayer, they have a different power at that time.
whether it be petition or thanksgiving. In The people with whom I work are quick
Christian churches, one recites a creed to to point out that this means nothing neg-
establish a harmony of belief; the sweat- ative or judgmental, but that the mixing
lodge provides for a harmony of prac- of powers is dangerous.
tice—all undergo the same difficult rit- Everyone enters the lodge before the
ual, regardless of how they pray or what rocks are brought in. The first six or some-
they believe. While anthropology often times seven rocks are arranged in a spe-
focuses on the social and cultural ele- cial way, with prayers and incense. Some-
ments of this ritual, at root it is essen- times a sacred pipe is touched to each
tially religious. rock. The rest of the rocks are then
Lakota sweats generally have four brought in, and a bucket of water and a
rounds, periods marked by closing and ladle are also introduced. Singers bring
then opening the single door. Rocks are hand drums with them. Once the water is
1079
Sweatlodge ______________________________________________________________________________________
blessed, the door is shut and the first mind participants that in the sweat we
round is begun. The leader of the sweat are all equal: we have no color in the
welcomes the participants, tells what the darkness, and we are all humbled and re-
sweat is being “put up” for, and some- born. This is not merely rhetoric, but re-
times mentions his or her qualifications ality in the sweatlodge. Others respect
for leading the sweat—always in a hum- the universality of the ritual but ask out-
ble and self-effacing way. The four rounds siders to honor their own traditions in
are conducted with prayers, singing, their own ways, rather than to partici-
sometimes talks between rounds, and the pate in Native rituals.
pouring of water to create an intense There are any number of published
steam heat. Leaders are careful not to works describing different forms of
scald anyone, and they encourage people sweats; each has unique elements as well
to say “Mitakuye Oyasin” (“all of my rela- as a consistent format. The Lakota sweat
tives”) if it becomes too uncomfortable, is sometimes cited as the most prevalent
so that someone can open the door. Peo- type. It endured when other groups
ple in the sweat open their hearts and ceased sweating and then was learned by
lives to each other. What is said and those groups. But other Native groups
prayed about during a specific sweat is also continue their own precontact
kept confidential. Intimate prayer sharing sweat rituals, all incorporating both past
amid the physical suffering in the lodge practice and contemporary needs. Both
brings participants release from their suf- on and off reservations, there is wide in-
ferings and intensifies spiritual and com- terest in the ceremony.
munal support. Between rounds, water is Simply learning about the sweatlodge
drunk, speeches may be given, and peo- ceremony does not entitle one to partici-
ple sometimes converse and joke. Humor pate in the ritual, nor does it give a per-
is an essential part of every Lakota ritual, son the authority to construct or con-
and it certainly has its place in the sweat. duct a sweat. Different tribes have
At the same time, the sweatlodge is a different criteria for who may lead a
place where Natives encounter not only sweat, who may be taught how to do so,
spiritual reality in an intense way but and who may participate. I have always
also social reality. Many sweats are gath- entered the sweat as a participant, some-
erings of family members, voluntary as- times called upon to pray in a special
sociations, veterans, or people enhanc- way or to speak between rounds—but I
ing their own sobriety. The sweat is also a have always been an invited participant,
place where outsiders, non-Indians, can not the one who conducts the ritual.
meet and pray with Native people if they
are invited and properly prepared. Thus Contemporary Uses
the sweat can be a place of reconcilia- Historical accounts teach us that the
tion. I have often heard Lakota people re- sweatlodge was used for a variety of
1080
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sweatlodge
purposes: spiritual, medical, and social. Abuses and Protests

Native societies did not necessarily con- The Lakota I have met have a broad ac-
sider these to be separate categories, as ceptance of people who sincerely seek a
modern Western cultures do. Thus it is spiritual path. Hospitality is valued in rit-
not surprising that Natives continue to ual as well as in social life. Problems over
adapt the ceremony for additional pur- ritual participation are likely to arise
poses. On the Pine Ridge Reservation, when people force themselves into situa-
where I sweat, some of the uses of the tions, begin taking over, or exploit what
lodge include healing family crises, con- they have been privileged to experience.
soling mourners, preparing people who Mistrust of outsiders is justified. Both the
will engage in other rituals such as the U.S. government and Christian churches
Sun Dance or vision quest, honoring once vigorously opposed and sup-
veterans and healing the traumas they pressed Native religious practices. A se-
may have encountered, consulting with ries of people, non-Native and Native,
spirits for guidance, healing people have exploited Native religion for per-
physically and emotionally, and incor- sonal gain. Memories of abuse are long.
porating new group members from the Healing is sometimes slow.
reservation or, depending on the group, Some Lakota cite the four colors used
sometimes from off-reservation. Lakota to designate the sacred directions—red,
not raised in traditional ways sometimes white, yellow, and black—as evidence of
use the sweat as the first step toward the inclusivity of the sweatlodge ritual,
reincorporating themselves into tradi- both symbolically and ethnically. Oth-
tional ritual practice. ers stress that the whites have taken
Beyond the boundaries of the reser- everything from the Lakota, and that
vation, the sweatlodge can be found their religion is the last thing they have
today throughout North America and in left. Understandably, they and other
Europe. Natives from cities and rural tribal groups are very guarded about
areas make use of this ceremony. The non-Indians participating in the sweat,
sweatlodge ceremony is practiced by and they distrust some of their own
Natives in many prisons as well as in people who misuse spiritual ways. Red
drug and alcohol treatment centers, Cherries, a Northern Cheyenne Sun
personal growth and therapeutic pro- Dance/Arrow Priest and Elk Society
grams, and in men’s and women’s Headman, had this to say about the ex-
groups. The controversy arises when ploitation of Native ceremonies, specifi-
non-Natives appropriate the sweat- cally the sweatlodge:
lodge for their own purposes, or some-
The sweat lodge was given by the
times when Natives actively spread the Creator: we have oral history as well as
use of this and other rituals among non- ceremonial proof and testimony, that
Natives. it ascended from certain Tribes.
1081
Sweatlodge ______________________________________________________________________________________
Although there are similar forms of nity approbation or nonattendance at

sweat lodges in other tribes, it is the rituals. With the expanded use of the
Plains Warrior Sweat of the Cheyenne
sweatlodge ceremony off reservations
and Lakota Nations that seems to be
the most often exploited, he said. and, in some cases, out of local Native
The Plains ceremonies are imitated control, new modes of regulation of the
and exploited by non-Native, and at sweat ceremony and protection of sa-
times Native, New-Age shamans who cred ceremonies have arisen. Lists of
are self proclaimed priests or
proscribed leaders, newspaper articles,
priestesses molding it to there [sic]
wild agendas. documentaries, books, the Internet, and
I have heard of sweats termed as even legal action in tribal or non-Indian
new moon sweats and solstice sweats, legal systems have been resorted to.
somewhere this non-sense must be There is a large and growing literature
challenged. I don’t think our elders
on the appropriation of Native religious
who fought so hard and paid the
ultimate price with their blood and culture. Some Non-Natives hold that
lives so that we could continue to they have a right to spiritual practice and
carry on our ceremonies have ever that it cannot be owned culturally. Some
heard of these types of sweats. Natives hold that non-Natives be com-
Non-Natives have been charged with pletely restricted from any Native cere-
misappropriating the sweatlodge for fi- mony—either to observe, participate, or
nancial gain and with conducting unau- lead. It is safe to say that all Natives
thorized ceremonies, or with abuse of the would agree that ceremonies such as the
ceremony itself through inappropriate sweatlodge should be conducted prop-
innovations. Different tribes and individ- erly. The proper role of non-Natives is
uals within tribes have various views and currently being settled in many places
opinions about this issue. Some allow and in many different ways. Just as there
non-Natives to participate in sweats, or is no single, simple answer from the vari-
even to conduct them, while others more ety of Native communities to the ques-
strictly regulate who may conduct and tion of whether non-Natives can engage
participate in sweats and restrict those in sweats and other ceremonial activi-
privileges to members of their own ties, there is no one opinion from the
group. Some groups allow one to lead a non-Native scholarly, professional, and
sweat based on his or her personal spiri- practicing communities.
tual experiences, while others regulate
leadership socially, by passing down the Conclusion
right to conduct the ceremony—some- The sweatlodge is a uniquely universal
times referred to as pouring water— example of Native ritual. Practiced
among members of the group. widely among tribal groups in the past,
On reservations, sweats and other cer- and now again in the present, the cere-
emonies are regulated through commu- mony is easily replicated. As a boundary
1082
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Sweatlodge
or transitional ritual, it is ideal for mov- ————. 1992. Hidatsa Social and
ing people between profound and sacred Ceremonial Organization. Lincoln:
worlds—and, when appropriate, be- Brown, Joseph E. 1953. The Sacred Pipe:
tween Native and non-Native realities. Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Rites of
The ritual is transformative, and many the Oglala Sioux. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press.
have found physical, spiritual, and even Bruchac, Joseph. 1993. The Native American
cultural healing in its warm embrace. In Sweat Lodge: History and Legends.
the past, geography, language, dress, and Freedom, CA: Crossing Press.
Bucko, Raymond A. 1998. The Lakota Ritual
custom allowed for clear boundaries be- of the Sweat Lodge: History and
tween groups, Native and non-Native. Contemporary Practice. Lincoln:
Religion remains one of the unique iden- University of Nebraska Press.
Catlin, George, ed. 1975. Letters and Notes
tifiers for Natives. Despite the ravages of
on the North American Indians. New
colonialism, the sweatlodge allows Na- York: Clarkson N. Potter.
tive people to establish and recognize Clements, William M. 2001. “The New Age
Sweat Lodge.” Pp. 143–162 in Healing
boundaries, both sacred and profane, to
Logics: Culture and Medicine in Modern
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them—and sometimes allow others to Logan: Utah State University Press.
Densmore, Frances. 1972. Mandan and
cross, as well.
Hidatsa Music. New York: Da Capo
Raymond A. Bucko, S. J. Press.
Driver, Harold E. 1975. Indians of North
See also Academic Study of American America, 2d ed. Chicago: University of
Indian Religious Traditions; Architecture; Chicago Press.
Ceremony and Ritual, Lakota; Ceremony Fitzhugh, William W., et al. 1982. Inua: Spirit
and Ritual, Yup’iq; Christianity, World of the Bering Sea Eskimo.
Indianization of; Health and Wellness, Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Traditional Approaches; Identity; Kinship;
Institution Press.
Law, Legislation, and Native Religion;
Hampton, Eber L. 1981. “The Sweat Lodge
Menstruation and Menarche; Mother Earth;
and Modern Society.” Dissertation
New Age Appropriation; Oral Traditions;
qualifying paper, Harvard University.
Prison and Native Spirituality; Reservations,
Hensel, Chase. 1996. Telling Our Selves:
Spiritual and Cultural Implications; Sacred
Ethnicity and Discourse in Southwestern
Pipe; Spirits and Spirit Helpers, Plateau;
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Quest Rites; Warfare, Religious Aspects
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Symbolism in American Indian Ritual and Ceremony ____________________________________
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Eskimo about Bearing Strait.” Pp.
19–518 in Eighteenth Annual Report of
Ceremony
the Bureau of American Ethnology to the
Symbolism connects rituals and cere-
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
1896–1897. Edited by J. W. Powell. monies to the sacred stories of the peo-
Washington, DC: Government Printing ple and to the kinship systems told about
Office. in the stories. These kinship relations in-
Norrell, Brenda. 2002. “Fake Lakota
Medicine Men Hold Sun Dance clude plant and animal relatives, along
Ceremonies: Cheyenne Headsman Calls with human relatives and spirit relatives
1084
___________________________________ Symbolism in American Indian Ritual and Ceremony
who are other-than-human. Rituals and lishes the people’s way of looking at the
ceremonies are chiefly concerned with world, at the whole of existence, and at
the renewal and maintenance of these the meaning of life and death. This set of
kinship connections, which are funda- signifiers functions as a symbolic sys-
mental for the survival of every people. tem, and the power of symbols can come
Rituals and ceremonies establish and into play through ritual words and acts
orient a people in relation to (1) their that (1) recall and renew the formative
place in the world by means of the sacred relationships with the primordial spirit-
directions, and (2) the important person- persons as told about in the sacred sto-
ages in their kinship network by means ries, and (2) call forth the protective and
of appropriate reciprocities. regenerative forces of those relation-
The meaning of any symbolism de- ships to be operative in behalf of the
pends on the sacred stories underlying people in the circumstances of the pres-
the symbols. All ritual life and ceremo- ent moment.
nial traditions are based on the stories The symbolic systems of American In-
that the people hold as sacred, so that dian peoples differ from those of Euro-
rites and ceremonies are a sort of replay pean-derived cultures because of the dif-
of, or re-engagement with, the experi- ference in the stories. The sacred stories
ences related in those sacred stories. Sa- of any people will include creation stories
cred stories originate from (1) unusual that tell of the origin and structuring of
dreams or visionary experiences of indi- the universe. Each story about the origin
viduals that may be described as of the universe always includes, either ex-
prophetic, revelatory, mystical, or plicitly or implicitly, an account of the
shamanic, or (2) unusual group experi- cosmology of the universe, which is a
ences that dramatically transform the narrative that tells how the universe
communal life of the group. In either came to be structured as an orderly, func-
case, a sacred story relates the experi- tioning cosmos. While each indigenous
ence as an oral narrative of an encounter people has its own distinctive creation
with nonordinary reality that establishes stories that result in a particular cosmol-
a relationship with other-than-human ogy which shapes the signifying system
beings who possess power over life and of that people, there are similarities
death. The primary narrative features in among these indigenous cosmologies
these sacred stories are shaped and re- that mark them collectively as distinct
shaped by the people through an ongo- from the European-derived cosmology.
ing process of remembering and re- In modern times that European cosmol-
counting these narrative elements as ogy has taken the form of a scientific
they relate to the day-to-day existence of story of creation (the big-bang theory)
the people. In this way, a set of signifiers and of cosmology (a sought-after unified
is formed from the stories that estab- field theory). A scientific cosmology too
1085
often dismisses all forms of human con- spirit persons. Each place is a location
sciousness and experience other than a that is symbolically tied to the special
cognitive perception of an objectified kinship interactions “taking place”
world, so that it includes no respect for (whether past, present, or future) in
dreams and visions or for transformative some intimate association with that lo-
moments in communal self-perception. cation. In symbolizing persons, an indi-
Because the cosmology of a people gov- vidual person is not seen as a subjec-
erns the signifying system of that people, tively separate self whose existence is cut
the discourse or accepted way of com- off from, and incapable of, any intimate
municating in a European-derived cul- identification with other humans,
ture will function differently from the dis- plants and animal relatives, or sacred
course of an American Indian culture. For beings. Instead, indigenous symbolism
this reason, it is vital that our under- includes sacred systems of metamor-
standing of symbolism as it functions in phosis by which a mask, a song, or a
the rites and ceremonies of indigenous dance introduces you to stunning shifts
peoples be clearly derived from indige- in identity; momentarily, but authenti-
nous cosmologies and avoid the dis- cally, you become the face, voice, and
course patterns of the dominant culture. persona of an other-than-human per-
Cosmologies of American Indian peo- son, thus affirming in the face of all evi-
ples commonly feature systems of kin- dence to the contrary that such a person
ship relations that give priority to inclu- is your very real kin.
siveness and interconnectedness, so that It is virtually universal among indige-
all oppositions and separations are sec- nous peoples of North America to orient
ondary to the fundamental relatedness the symbolism of place around four sa-
of all beings. Kinship-centered symbol- cred directions. These four directions
ism influences the symbolic role of would be misunderstood if we equated
places and of persons in indigenous rit- them to the four cardinal points of north,
ual and ceremony. In symbolizing place, east, south, and west in the manner of
this world is not seen as an impersonal mere coordinates. Instead, these four
landscape where the physical processes should be understood in the personal
of nature play out in a closed system of mode of kinship as the four sacred
cause and effect; instead, this world is winds, or the four sacred mountains, or
characterized by a sacred geography in whatever set of four is known in a peo-
which all places are related in one way or ple’s stories as the four distinctive forces
another to episodes in the sacred stories that give all places their own particular
about the ongoing relationships con- features and that empower places with
necting human persons to their plant possibilities for encountering significant
and animal relatives, their deceased an- others when they are invoked in ritual
cestors, and the other-than-human and ceremony.
1086
In Lakota tradition the west wind has posing tepee he finds six old men and is
priority in ritual status, so that prayer told: “Your Grandfathers are having a
will be directed first to the west, followed council” (Neihardt 1932, 24). He real-
by ritually facing and addressing in se- izes that “these were not old men, but
quence the north, east, and south, and the Powers of the World” (ibid., 25).
completing the cycle by once again fac- Each of these “Grandfathers” addresses
ing the west. Lakota people pay kinship him in turn, beginning with “the Power
respect to fellow beings of all four quar- of the West.” Each gives him a gift that
ters of the cosmos by saying the ritual represents a specific power, and each
words mitakuye oyasin, commonly ex- subsequently leaves the tepee and un-
pressed in English as “all my relations,” dergoes metamorphosis into an animal
and by ritually making a full turn of the form, the sixth transforming into a like-
body so that all relatives of the four quar- ness of Black Elk himself. These six sa-
ters are acknowledged. This cycle of cred persons empowering the Lakota
fourness is so formative in indigenous universe are described with the kinship
cosmologies that it may be extended term of “grandfather,” and the gifts they
symbolically to designate four seasons of give and the forms of their metamor-
the year, four stages in a human life, or phoses symbolically indicate their spe-
other ways of periodizing time by cialized powers. These six “grandfa-
fours—such as the four openings of the thers” include, besides the standard
doorway to a sweatlodge, marking the four, two “grandfathers” named “the
four stages of the ceremony or the four Spirit of the Sky” and “the Spirit of the
days of a contemporary Sun Dance. The Earth” (ibid., 29–30). The ritual se-
fourness that permeates indigenous sto- quence for the six begins with the four
ries signals that temporality as well as lo- representing the horizontal plane of ex-
cation is framed by the personalizing istence and shifts to the vertical by in-
considerations of kinship. cluding the sky above and the earth
Beginning with the ubiquity of sets of below as the fifth and sixth sacred di-
four throughout North American tradi- rections, thus encompassing the whole
tions, the complexity of indigenous of the real world.
cosmologies typically moves beyond While all six sacred beings are gen-
this basic fourness to embrace two ad- dered as male in Black Elk’s story, Lakota
ditional directions, for a total of six. The tradition customarily treats the sixth of
kinship quality of these six is memo- these as female, as “grandmother,” and
rably evident in the well-known vision- other traditions also commonly identify
story of the Lakota holy man Nicholas the sky, the sun, and the realms above as
Black Elk, in which he reports a male and the earth, its navel, and the
shamanic or out-of-body journey to a realms below as female. Both the above
cloud-tepee in the sky. Within this im- and the below are considered to be sacred
1087
realms that are off-limits for ordinary While indigenous symbolism of place
human existence, though accessible to and time conveys a sense of the whole-
individuals through dreams and vision- ness of the created order and its kinship
ary journeys. Ordinary people may re- network by way of the six sacred direc-
late to these sacred realms symbolically tions, some traditions highlight the im-
in ceremonies in which a sacred moun- portance of a seventh “direction,” which
tain, a sacred tree, a lightning bolt, or a functions as a focal point for the set of
falling star may represent an access six. The Zuni story of the water strider
route for relations with sacred beings identifies its six legs as signifying the four
from above, and a sacred spring or a sa- horizontal and two vertical directions
cred cave may represent an access route and specifies that the itiwana (center) of
for relations with sacred beings from the universe lies at the place where the
below. The sacred realms of both the six vectors of the water strider’s legs con-
above and the below may be repre- verge, which is the water strider’s own
sented as multilayered. Stories about middle, or “heart.” The water strider re-
human emergence from a series of vealed to the Zunis the location of the sa-
worlds below our present middle world cred middle place of the universe, thus
characterize the Pueblo traditions of the concluding their migration history. They
Southwest, whereas stories about had been searching for this convergence
human origin through a woman falling point where all true orientation of place
from the world above can be found and time begins and where life is engen-
among Iroquoian peoples of the North- dered and empowered. This seventh “di-
east. Other traditions identify sacred rection” becomes the most propitious lo-
realms existing at the extreme perimeter cation for ritual acts, since it is the true
of the middle world, marking a domain convergence place of relatedness for
normally inaccessible to humans in a each of us to the whole range of our cos-
way similar to the above and the below. mic kin.
Kwak’wak’wakw people of the North- The seventh “direction,” as the focal
west coast expect Baxbakwalanuxsiwae, point for renewing ritual relations on a
the Man-Eater Spirit from the North End cosmic scale, can be a specific geo-
of the World, to fly in bird-form from the graphic location, or it can be ceremoni-
extreme north in order to make a ritual ally construed as the center of the uni-
appearance at the tsetseqa (winter sol- verse by addressing and invoking in turn
stice ceremony). That ceremony sym- each of the six winds or mountains or
bolizes the renewal of life and all of its cosmic forces—thus making that spe-
relationships, when the power of winter cific place of ceremony an empowered
is reversed and the birthing light once location where the six powers of the uni-
again defeats darkness. verse converge. When the cosmic pow-
1088
ers of the six sacred mountains are in- ceived within the mutual reciprocities of
voked in Diné (Navajo) ceremony a kinship system. When you eat animal
through sacred chants and replications or plant foods, you are eating your rela-
of sacred mosaics (called sandpaint- tives and incur an obligation to them
ings) on the floor of the ceremonial that you discharge by respectful treat-
hogan (the traditional Diné dwelling), ment and ritual acts of giving back to
ordinary space and time are opened up your plant and animal relatives so that
to the nonordinary realities acknowl- your kinship ties with them are main-
edged in Diné sacred stories. When the tained and renewed.
person to be healed enters the sacred Contemporary Lakota communities
mosaic and sits in the center of that rit- celebrate the annual Sun Dance in
ual space, he or she is understood to which the male dancers are pierced so
have stepped into an ancient world of that wooden or bone skewers are in-
story in which the principal powers of serted through the flesh of the upper
this world are enacting or re-enacting chest or of the upper back (there are al-
creative moments of balancing the life- ternative modes of piercing available to
and-death factors that connect all rela- contemporary female dancers). Thongs
tionships and that bring order to ordi- are attached to the skewers and the
nary existence. Sitting at the center of thongs are connected to a rope tied to
things, where the sacred world momen- the central tree (when piercing the
tarily impinges on the ordinary realm, chest) or to one or more buffalo skulls
is to be at the ritual place where the (when piercing the back). To dance until
fundamental relationships that shape the flesh gives way was understood by
all life are specifically engaged. These the dancers to be a voluntary act of sac-
relationships possess the intimacy and rifice by which reciprocity with your
reciprocity characteristic of kinship, buffalo relatives was carried through.
while also conveying the profound ca- The buffalo people had given away their
pacity to extend beyond the boundary lives to their relatives; these hunters
of the human so as to embrace those were obligated to emulate their buffalo
other-than-human beings who tran- relatives with similar acts of generosity.
scend ordinary space and time. The give-away of the buffalo brought
Besides telling about the beginnings life-sustaining food to the human rela-
of the universe and the shaping of place tives, and the give-away of the Sun
and temporality, sacred stories include Dancers is understood by contemporary
narratives about hunting and fishing and Lakota people to bring life-enhancing
the harvesting of plants. Food is funda- benefit to the entire kinship system of
mental to survival, and all food is under- the dancers, while recognizing that such
stood in these stories as given and re- a system extends not only to the buffalo
1089
people but also to all the beings of the the plants revealed to Black Elk pos-
universe. sessed power to heal illness when used
In one of his dream-vision episodes, in a ritually appropriate manner, which
Black Elk describes how the camp of would include a respectful acknowl-
people he is leading transforms into edgment of kinship reciprocity with
“buffalo and elk and even fowls of the those plant persons possessing medi-
air” (DeMallie 1994, 126). In an aside to cine power.
his narrative, Black Elk explains to John Among peoples who cultivate food
Neihardt that this metamorphosis plants, there are stories that tell how we
means “that the Indian generations have are related to Corn Mother. There is a
dreams and are like unto the animals of common storyline to these stories,
this world. Some have visions about elks, claims George Tinker, that “involves the
birds, and even gophers or eagles. People willing self-sacrifice (vicarious suffer-
will be like the animals—take the ani- ing) of the First Mother (Corn Mother)
mals’ virtues and strengths” (ibid., 127). on behalf of her children” (Tinker 1998,
Because all humans dream, the univer- 150). Tinker notes that this implies “the
sality of dreaming consciousness with its sacramental nature of eating. Corn and
characteristic signature of metamorpho- all food stuffs are our relatives,” and he
sis fosters the recognition that our kin- points out our reciprocal obligation—
ship relations extend well beyond the that is, “[O]ne can never eat without re-
strictly human community. By engaging membering the gift of the Mother”
these kinship reciprocities, Sun Dancing (ibid., 151). Tinker wishes to emphasize
and other rituals open the door of the symbolic role of gender in the ritual
dreaming consciousness to a psychic acknowledgment of Corn Mother’s
and symbolic depth beyond the merely give-away, admonishing us “to pay at-
human. tention to the inherent valuing of fe-
Black Elk’s narrative of his visionary male gifts and wisdom in our commu-
journey to the realm of the Six Grandfa- nities. We are to remember forever that
thers includes instances of his being healing in the form of both food and
given plants (herbs) with extraordinary spiritual sustenance has come to us tra-
powers. Plants play a variety of sym- ditionally not through men but through
bolic roles in indigenous ritual and cer- a woman” (ibid., 152). Tinker also ac-
emony. The “four smokes” of Great knowledges that the example of the
Plains traditions include the protective White Buffalo Calf Woman among the
and purifying roles of sage and cedar, Lakota people establishes the impor-
along with the roles of sweet grass and tance of the feminine within the rituals
tobacco in attracting, pleasing, and of kinship among a hunting people
propitiating spirit relatives. Some of (ibid., 149). She functions as the Buffalo
1090
Mistress, the one who looks after the All sacred stories, all symbolic systems,
welfare of the buffalo people and medi- and all ritual and ceremony exist in time
ates between them and the human and, therefore, within the processes of
community by providing the Lakota change from generation to generation.
with a set of appropriate kinship ritu- Recent decades have been times when
als, including the Sun Dance. various American Indian peoples have
Another powerful plant being has taken the opportunity to reclaim ritual
come to play a prominent role in con- practices once suppressed or reduced to
temporary indigenous ritual and cere- clandestine observance. Recovery of tra-
mony, based on stories with relatively re- ditional ways can function as a renewal of
cent origins. The peyote cactus is the force of the old stories and the sym-
featured in traditions beginning in the bol systems vested in those stories, and
1870s and 1880s on the Southern Plains. this cultural and religious renewal can
Not only are the stories linked with pey- serve to differentiate a people’s identity
ote of more recent origin than most sa- from the imposed stories and symbols of
cred stories; they also differ from the the dominant culture; it can even mark a
norm by the pantribal reach of their sym- political resistance to the globalizing in-
bolism and by the openness to inclusion terests of the world’s governing elite, who
of elements borrowed from the Christian are living by their own, quite different
stories of Euro-Americans. By providing story, a story that values commodities in-
an alternative symbol system for Ameri- stead of kinship. However, the old stories
can Indian peoples whose traditional rit- and their symbolic meanings will survive
uals and ceremonies were rapidly disap- only if they serve the actual life of their
pearing in the face of a cultural communities, and this matter of surviv-
destruction that included geographical ing always faces practical realities and re-
displacement and military suppression, quires a process of both validating and
in addition to the loss of the kinship reci- adapting the stories and symbols in order
procities with the vanishing buffalo and for the rituals and ceremonies to con-
other increasingly scarce game, peyote tinue to be powerful and true.
represented a way of spiritual survival. Dale Stover
The new symbolic structures of peyote
ritual included much that was familiar, See also Dreams and Visions; First Foods
and Food Symbolism; Hunting, Religious
such as the healing and wisdom-giving Restrictions and Implications; Kinship;
powers of a plant relative and the recipro- Masks and Masking; Native American
cal kinship obligations toward such a rel- Church, Peyote Movement; Sandpainting
ative. In a time of cultural distress, the
Peyote Spirit offered stabilizing forms of Bucko, Raymond A. 1998. The Lakota Ritual
story, symbol, and ceremony. of the Sweat Lodge: History and
1091
Contemporary Practice. Lincoln: Nation Building. Berkeley: University of

University of Nebraska Press. California Press.
DeMallie, Raymond J. 1984. The Sixth Stover, Dale. 2001. “Postcolonial Sun
Grandfather: Black Elk’s Teachings Given Dancing at Wakpamni Lake.” Journal of
to John G. Neihardt. Lincoln: University the American Academy of Religion 69, no.
of Nebraska Press. 4 (December): 817–836.
Neihardt, John G. 1932. Black Elk Speaks: Tinker, George. 1998. “Jesus, Corn Mother,
Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the and Conquest: Christology and
Oglala Sioux. Lincoln: University of Colonialism.” Pp. 134–154 in Native
Nebraska Press. American Religious Identity: Unforgotten
Niezen, Ronald. 2000. Spirit Wars: Native Gods. Edited by Jace Weaver. Maryknoll,
North American Religions in the Age of NY: Orbis Books.
1092
T
Tekakwitha, Kateri terest in conversion when, in 1675, Je-
suit father Jacques de Lambertville
(1656–1680)
started a mission in Kateri’s village. Fa-
(Spiritual leader/Mohawk)
Kateri Tekakwitha, also known as Kateri ther de Lambertville started to prepare
Tegaquitha, Catherine Tekakwitha, Tekakwitha for baptism into the
Catherine Tegahkouita, La Sainte Sauva- Catholic faith, and a year later, on Easter
gesse, and the Lily of the Mohawks, was Sunday, 1676, she was christened and
born in 1656 in the Mohawk village of named Kateri (Catherine). As her con-
Ossernenon near present-day Au- version was not accepted by her ex-
riesville, New York. Tekakwitha was the tended family, de Lambertville sug-
daughter of an Iroquois chief and an Al- gested that she relocate; in a heroic
gonkin Christian mother. Her parents escape she fled north to the St. Lawrence
and younger brother died of smallpox Jesuit reduction, Sault St. Louis/Kah-
when she was four, and she was left crip- nawake, near Montreal, Quebec.
pled, with poor eyesight, and horribly Tekakwitha became a central figure in
disfigured by pockmarks. Her name, the Christian community and perse-
Tekakwitha, has variously been trans- vered in trying to live a life of Christian
lated as meaning “she-pushes-with-her- perfection. Although she was ineligible
hands,” “who walks groping for her way,” to become a nun because she was In-
“hard-working woman,” or “gathering- dian, she observed the life of hospital
things-in-order”(Vecsey 1997). nuns in Montreal, which increased her
After the death of her immediate fam- desire to take a vow of chastity and to get
ily, Tekakwitha lived with an uncle, Iow- closer to her self-avowed spouse, Jesus
erano, an ally of the Dutch and a critic of Christ. After much instruction she was
the Catholic Church and of Catholic allowed to take the long-desired vow and
conversions. He was particularly critical was indeed the first Iroquois to take the
of Tekakwitha for taking an intense in- vow of chastity. She subjected herself to
1093
Tekakwitha, Kateri ___________________________________________________________________________
extreme mortifications, such as flagella- and miracles that have happened in her
tion, exposure to the elements, fasting, name, but they are awaiting one more
and sleeping on thorns. Although her confirmed miracle before she can be ele-
confessors urged her to reduce her mor- vated to sainthood.
tifications, she continued with more ex- Tekakwitha, over time, has functioned
treme asceticism and became mortally as a healing force for Native Americans
ill. As she weakened, she received last within the Catholic Church. Many Na-
rites and died on April 17, during the tive Americans find her identity as In-
Holy Week, in 1680. She was twenty-four. dian particularly appealing. The annual
It is documented by her confessors that Tekakwitha Conference began in 1939.
within half an hour of her death her Initially it was an advisory group of non-
pockmarks disappeared and her beauty Native priests looking for ways to incor-
overcame those around her. porate Native American spirituality with
Within a few weeks of her death, Christianity. Over time the conference
Tekakwitha’s confessors, Jesuits Pierre embraced a board of both Native Ameri-
Cholenec and Claude Chauchetiere, cans and non-Native clergy. The man-
wrote Tekakwitha’s biography as hagiog- date is now to unify Native American
raphy. Those writings contain most of Catholics while accepting and nurturing
the information that is known about tribal differences. They also pray for
Tekakwitha today. Shortly after the ha- Tekakwitha to be elevated to sainthood.
giographies were written, Tekakwitha Out of the conference has developed so-
was transformed from a Mohawk girl called Kateri Circles. These are indepen-
whom few knew to a symbol, Kateri dent, local gatherings of Native Ca-
Tekakwitha, the first Iroquois virgin and tholics who focus on Kateri’s virtuous
a saint-in-the-making. She became a example and pray for her canonization.
symbol for the Jesuit mission’s success in Pragmatically, these circles also do good
Catholic conversion. Her story grew over works within the community, helping
time, and in 1884 the Jesuits petitioned the infirm, the poverty-stricken, and the
for her canonization, the first step on the dying.
road to becoming a saint. In 1932 her Donna Cameron-Carter
dossier was presented to the Vatican, and See also Christianity, Indianization of;
after careful deliberation Pope Pius XII Missionization, Northeast; Religious
declared her Venerable in 1943. In 1980 Leadership, Northeast
the Vatican beatified her, and she offi- References and Further Reading
Bechard, S.J., Henri. 1992. Kaia’tano: ron:
cially became the Blessed Kateri Tekak- Kateri Tekakwitha. Khanawake, Quebec:
witha, with her feast day being July 14. At Centre Kateri.
present she is one miracle away from be- Greer, Allan. 2000. The Jesuit Relations:
Natives and Missionaries in Seventeenth-
coming a saint. The Vatican is carefully Century North America. Boston:
weighing evidence of her intercessions Bedford/St. Martin’s.
1094
________________________________________________________________ Termination and Relocation
Koppedrayer, K. I. 1993. “The Making of the living in an ideal nuclear family, paying a
First Iroquois Virgin: Early Jesuit mortgage on a ranch-style house in a
Biographies of the Blessed Kateri
Tekakwitha.” Ethnohistory 40, no. 2: democratic, industrialized society. As the
277–306. rise of the Soviet Union challenged U.S.
Vecsey, Christopher. 1997. The Paths of democracy with the launching of Sputnik
Kateri’s Kin. Notre Dame, IN: University
of Notre Dame Press. in 1957 and nuclear testing, many Ameri-
can Indians felt more a part of the main-
stream, since an estimated 25,000 Indian
men served in the armed services of the
Termination and United States in World War II. That tradi-
tion of Native patriotism was repeated
Relocation
with another 10,000 who served proudly
Federal termination and relocation poli- in the Korean War. An estimated 43,000 In-
cies profoundly influenced the religious dian men served in Vietnam, and the Na-
beliefs of American Indians during the tive tradition continued with the Persian
1950s and 1960s. Even after those two ef- Gulf conflict and the war with Iraq. This
forts were replaced during the 1970s with Native tradition in the armed services
a new federal Indian policy called Indian convinced bureaucrats and congressmen
self-determination, their effects contin- that Native Americans were ready to leave
ued for the remainder of the twentieth reservations to join the American main-
century. The results have netted a polar- stream by living and working in cities
ized situation in many Indian communi- where jobs were plentiful.
ties between old ways and new ways of
life. The dilemma of the new and old Goals of Termination and Relocation
originated with the arrival of Columbus Termination of tribal status had a finality
and the introduction of new ideas and about it, and its implication had serious
values to Native peoples. This continu- results. Termination had several versions
ous binary situation was accelerated be- that included liberating American Indi-
cause of termination and relocation. ans from the constraints of federal trust
restrictions. Policy-makers in the Bureau
The 1950s of Indian Affairs claimed that Indian
The world witnessed great changes fol- people had changed and that a termina-
lowing World War II as the United States tion would lift the trust restrictions by re-
positioned itself as the leading industrial locating eighteen- to forty-five-year-old
power. This modern transition involved adults with their children to cities with
undertaking new ideas and considering federal assistance. Additionally, termina-
new values as America launched the tion worked with federal action in 109
atomic age. American leaders envisioned cases to permanently nullify the special
a standard way of life involving suburban minority status that American Indians
1095
Termination and Relocation _________________________________________________________________
held because of their 389 treaties and part of the focal point in urban Indian
agreements made with the United States areas alongside the typical American In-
between 1778 and 1871. dian Center.
Those responsible for introducing ter- The newness of living in cities and its
mination and relocation proved to be urban culture threatened the nativism of
congressmen from Western states moti- American Indians. Indian values, dis-
vated by their interests in the natural re- tinct for each tribe, became vulnerable,
sources on reservations. Senator Arthus including American Indian religious be-
Watkins of Utah, Congressman E. Y. liefs. Many American Indians adopted
Berry of South Dakota, Senator Patrick urban values and began to attend
McCarran of Nevada, and Congressman churches of various denominations in
William Harrison of Wyoming intro- cities, while others joined the Native
duced House Concurrent Resolution 108 American Church (NAC), based on the
in the House of Representatives, and Southwestern sacrament of peyote. Fed-
Senator Henry Jackson of Washington eral government action continued termi-
sponsored the bill in the Senate. Com- nation and relocation until the early
missioner of Indian Affairs Dillon S. 1970s, when President Richard Nixon de-
Myer, formerly of the War Relocation Au- clared a halt to termination. In 1970,
thority, which relocated Japanese-Amer- President Nixon signed over 45,000 acres
icans to camps farther within the United to the Pueblo, the Sacred Taos Blue Lakes
States during World War II, came into the located in New Mexico. This important
BIA to initiate the relocation program. land return included three other in-
Essentially, Myer and other govern- stances of the federal government’s re-
ment officials believed that reservations turning land to Native peoples.
could not support a postwar economy The early 1970s saw the rise of the
for tribes and that it was time for Ameri- American Indian Movement (AIM),
can Indians to join the mainstream soci- which began in the summer of 1968 in
ety. In addition to assistance from the Minneapolis as an urban Native effort to
government, churches and civic groups stop police brutality against Indian peo-
helped Indians to adjust to urban life in ple. By the mid-1970s, the federal gov-
large cities such as Chicago and Los An- ernment had begun to recognize Ameri-
geles. More than 100,000 Native Ameri- can Indian religious rights with the
cans participated in the relocation pro- passage of the American Indian Reli-
gram from 1951 to 1973. As a part of their gious Freedom Act in 1978 during the
new lives in cities, American Indians Jimmy Carter administration. Federal
found themselves attending churches court decisions followed to support
and starting their own in urban Indian American Indian religious practices, but
areas, such that an Indian church of Bap- legislation and court battles focused
tist, Methodist, or Lutheran belief was a mainly on cultural and treaty rights.
1096
________________________________________________________________ Termination and Relocation
As mentioned, other Indians joined dian Missions and Friends Committee

the Native American Church. The history on National Legislation in the District of
of the NAC began with the introduction Columbia; Commission for Multicultural
of peyote in the Southwest and became Ministries of ELCA Native American Pro-
increasingly popular in the 1880s. Two gram in Illinois; Associated Executive
versions of the Native American Church, Committee of Friends in Indiana; Men-
the Half Moon and Big Moon (also called nonite Indian Leaders’ Council in
Cross Fire), developed as the NAC be- Kansas; Council for American Indian
came widely recognized in the early Ministries (CAIM)/United Church of
twentieth century. By 1922, the NAC had Christ in Minnesota; Assemblies of
22,000 members. As more Indians God/Division of Home Missions in Mis-
searched for belief in something relevant souri; Tekakwitha Conference National
to life, this modern Indian religion grew Center in Montana; American Indian
with a membership currently estimated Bible Missions, Inc., in New Mexico;
at 250,000. American Bible Society, Episcopal Coun-
Christianity made a great impact on cil of Indian Ministries, Interreligious
urban Indians. One survey in 1950 of Foundation for Community Organiza-
Christian Missions indicated thirty-six tions (IFCO), National Council of the
Protestant denominations housing Church of Christ in the United States of
39,200 Indian Christians. By the early America, Native American International
1990s there were several hundred or- Caucus/United Methodist Church, and
dained Christian ministers of American Native American Ministries, United Pres-
Indian descent. In 1974 the United Pres- byterian Church USA in New York; Na-
byterian, Protestant Episcopal, United tional Native American Ancestral Reli-
Methodist, American Baptist, United gion in North Carolina; American Baptist
Church of Christ, and Reformed and Indian Caucus and Native American
Christian Reformed indicated 452 Indian Field Office of the Episcopal Church in
parishes operating with a staff of 177 Oklahoma; American Friends Service
missionaries. Committee in Pennsylvania; Church of
By the end of the twentieth century, at Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Indian
least seventeen states had major Indian Committee in Utah; and North American
Christian organizations: the Alaska Na- Indian Mission (NAIM) Ministries in
tive Brotherhood in Alaska; American In- Washington.
dian Bible College, Chief Inc., and United Since the introduction of Christianity
Indian Missions, Inc., in Arizona; Ameri- to American Indians, many Native peo-
can Indian Liberation Crusade, Inc., and ples have converted from their Native
the Native American Ministry Project in beliefs, as noted by the famous conver-
California; Four Corners School of the sion of Black Elk of the Oglala to Catholi-
Bible in Colorado; Bureau of Catholic In- cism. Since termination and relocation,
1097
Termination and Relocation _________________________________________________________________
an increasing conversion among Ameri- adopting mainstream values, tribal lan-

can Indians has occurred to establish guages are spoken less all the time and
their own kinds of Christianity, such as cultural ways are being lost. Specifically,
Hopi Catholics, Choctaw Methodists, fewer American Indians are learning the
Muskogee Creek Baptists, and the like, languages of their people or practicing
while many Indian people have con- traditional ways. At the end of the twen-
verted to the mainstream way of Episco- tieth century, an estimated 210 tribal
palians, Lutherans, and Pentecostals. languages were spoken among the 562
Such conversions are too numerous to federally recognized tribes in the United
estimate. However, many scholars and States.
community members have continued to Borrowing the ways of other people
argue that American Indians frequently has been an effective means of cultural
have more than one religious belief, survival for Native peoples in the United
practicing Native religions and Chris- States. Adopting the technologies of oth-
tianity simultaneously and without ap- ers to better meet the needs of daily life,
parent contradiction, a dual mode that such as hunting, has enhanced Indian
most non-Native people would see as a life while introducing new material
clash of religious ideologies. items to Native cultures.
Traditionalism of tribal beliefs has As American Indian people live adja-
persisted in spite of the mainstream in- cent to and within the American main-
fluence on Native Americans. Various in- stream, their identities as Native people
dividuals such as Sanapia of the Co- are held intact. They have changed many
manche, Philip Deer of the Muskogee of their cultural ways to adjust to mod-
Creek, and Willie Lena of the Oklahoma ern times, but they are still American In-
Seminole have carried forward the tradi- dians. Religion remains an integral part
tional beliefs and cultural practices of of their lives.
their people. While it is typical that elders Donald L. Fixico
of a community practice the old cultural
See also Black Elk; Christianity,
ways of the people, new generations of Indianization of; Law, Legislation, and
Indians are finding it increasingly diffi- Native Religion; Religious Leadership,
cult to know what is traditional. A renais- Plains; Reservations, Spiritual and Cultural
Implications
sance began during the 1970s to increase
the knowledge about tribal histories, References and Further Reading
Burt, Larry W. 1982. Tribalism in Crisis:
family genealogies, and cultural tradi-
Federal Indian Policy, 1953–1961.
tions. Relocated Indians in cities found it Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
increasingly difficult to maintain con- Press.
nections with those on the reservations. Fixico, Donald L. 1986. Termination and
Relocation: Federal Indian Policy,
With each generation of American In- 1945–1960. Albuquerque: University of
dians becoming more urbanized and New Mexico Press.
1098
______________________________________________________________________ Tobacco, Sacred Use of
———. 2000. The Urban Indian Experience Tobacco is classified botanically as the
in America. Albuquerque: University of genus Nicotiana Linnaeus, named after a
New Mexico Press.
Irwin, Lee. 2000. Native American sixteenth-century French ambassador to
Spirituality: A Critical Reader. Lincoln: Lisbon, Jean Nicot; it belongs to the
University of Nebraska Press. nightshade family (Solanaceae), which
LaGrand, James B. 2002. Indian Metropolis:
Native Americans in Chicago, 1945–75. includes the potato and eggplant. Most
Urbana: University of Illinois Press. of the sixty-four species in the genus are
Smith, Houston, and Reuben Snake, eds. native to the Americas.
1995. One Nation under God: The
Triumph of the Native American Church.
Although it is questionable whether
Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishers. tobacco is technically a psychoactive
Weibel-Orlando, Joan. 1991. Indian substance, it is used in healing practices
Country, L.A.: Maintaining Ethnic
among Native peoples in Central and
Community in Complex Society. Urbana:
University of Illinois Press. South America in ways similar to their
use of powerful psychoactive plants.
Nicotine liberates the neurohumor nor-
epinephrine, which is chemically related
to mescaline, and it releases the hor-
Tobacco, Sacred Use of
mones epinephrine, dopamine, and
The single feature unique to American serotonin.
Indian religions is the ritual use of to- Euro-American domestic tobacco is
bacco smoke (a variety of tobacco is derived from N. tabacum L. from the
chewed but not smoked by Native Aus- Caribbean; in eastern North America,
tralians). Elsewhere in the world one can the native plant is N. rustica L. In the
find such relatively common aspects of Plains, three other varieties were grown,
American Indian religion as the ritual and several yet different varieties were
use of sweat ceremonials, fermented cultivated on the West Coast.
beverages, dog sacrifice, shamanic N. rustica L. is an attractive plant that
trance, and so forth. The focus on to- varies in height from two to four feet, de-
bacco as the primary sacred plant is pending on climate and soil, and has
ubiquitous throughout the Americas medium-size leaves and small, yellow
save for the Arctic and the southern tip of blossoms. Both the dried leaves and the
South America. blossoms are smoked. The leaves dry
The word “tobacco” comes from a lin- green, the preferred color, in shade. The
guistic misunderstanding by Christo- plant is hardy and self-seeding. The
pher Columbus, who thought that a seeds are quite tiny, similar to mustard
Carib word for a Y-shaped inhaling in- seeds in size.
strument meant the plant itself. The In discussing tobacco in Native reli-
early French explorers used petun, a gion, one is considering not only vari-
Brazilian Tupi word for the plant. eties of the genus Nicotiana but also
1099
Tobacco, Sacred Use of _______________________________________________________________________
A medicine bundle belonging to the weasel chapter of the Crow Tobacco Society. During ceremonies
the bundle is opened and women dance with the weasel skins to obtain supernatural powers that
ensure the fertility of the sacred tobacco and so the growth of the Crow tribe as a whole. (Werner
Forman/Corbis)
other substances either mixed with Nico- have an association with red, symboliz-
tiana or smoked in its place when it was ing blood, the essence of life: the outer
not available. Those alternatives include bark of red osier is red; sumac leaves turn
the inner bark of certain trees of the brilliant red in autumn; and bearberry
genus Cornus, such as red osier, the has red berries and the dried leaves are
leaves of one of the sumacs (Rhus glabra) similar to the green of shade-dried to-
when they have turned red in the au- bacco leaves. The Algonquin language
tumn, and the leaves of bearberry (Arc- word kinnikinnick is applied to smoking
tostaphylos uva-ursi). All these plants mixtures as well as individual elements.
1100
______________________________________________________________________ Tobacco, Sacred Use of
Tobacco is the oldest domesticant in inhaling of the powdered leaves or a liq-

the Americas, dating to more than 8,000 uid infusion. Chewing tobacco or plac-
years ago in central South America. It ing powdered tobacco in the mouth,
probably reached the middle of North usually mixed with lime, was practiced
America some 4,000 years ago. The culti- from California south through much of
vation of tobacco is generally quite dis- South America.
tinct from the growing of plant foods. In The most common means of offering
some Plains cultures only tobacco is tobacco smoke to spirits is the most di-
grown, and it is cultivated by men; rect: throwing the leaves on fire or plac-
plants for food, with few exceptions, are ing them on coals. Other methods in-
everywhere traditionally grown by volve those making the offering bringing
women. Frequently, tobacco is but sown the tobacco smoke into themselves and
and allowed to develop with no further then blowing it toward the spiritual re-
human assistance or allowed to self- cipient. The sharing of the smoke be-
seed. Tobacco horticulture requires spe- tween the one making the offering and
cial rituals and is an especially sacred the spirit receiving it creates commun-
act; those who grow it often belonging to ion between the two.
ritual societies. In being thrown on fire or coals, to-
The purpose of offering tobacco, ei- bacco in North America becomes similar
ther directly or as smoke, is for commu- to the sacred fumigants. These include
nication with the spirits. The primary cedar leaves in the East, sweetgrass in
mode of offering tobacco is to place the the Central region, sage in the Plains,
leaves directly in or on the earth, water, and juniper and pine needles in the
sacred stones and plants, and the re- Southwest; presently, the use of these
mains of animals/spirits. Whenever substances is not limited to specific geo-
herbs, trees, animals, or stones are taken graphic areas. This smoke is used to pu-
for use, especially sacred use, tobacco is rify the place, participants, parapherna-
placed by the requested substance as it is lia, and offerings used in ceremonies.
asked to offer itself for human needs. There are several methods of smoking,
Other nonsmoking uses of tobacco in- often indicating regional preferences.
clude snuffing the powdered leaves into The simplest is to place one’s head over
the nasal passages, chewing the leaves, burning leaves and inhale. Next in order
ingesting the powdered leaves mixed of complexity is the cigar, a roll of leaves
with other substances, as enemas, and ignited at one end, with the smoke drawn
imbibing liquid infusions from the into the mouth through the other. This
leaves, often as a purifying emetic. Snuff was the most common method of smok-
was common to a number of areas of the ing in the Caribbean and Mesoamerica,
Caribbean and South America, where a and cigars are still used ritually by the
forked pipette was used to facilitate the highland Maya. Next in complexity is the
1101
Totem Poles ____________________________________________________________________________________
placing of shredded tobacco in a tubular, which has become the stereotypical

combustible container as a reed or rolled Northwest coast artwork. It turns out
corn husk. This method of ritually smok- that the totem pole as we think of it
ing tobacco is found from the American today—a tall, elaborately carved and
Southwest through much of South Amer- painted crest monument erected out-
ica. Finally, there are manufactured doors—is a relatively recent develop-
smoking devices—that is, pipes—that are ment in Northwest coast art history,
the most common form of containing to- emerging from the coalescence of sev-
bacco for smoking in North America. eral different aboriginal artistic tradi-
Jordan Paper tions. In 1791, John Bartlett, a seaman on
See also Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions; the ship Gustavus III, drew the earliest
Healing Traditions, California; Health and known depiction of a totem pole, a 40-
Wellness, Traditional Approaches; foot-high frontal pole in the Haida vil-
Herbalism; Sacred Pipe
lage of Dadens on Haida Gwaii. While
Haberman, Thomas W. 1984. “Evidence for that was the first recorded image of a
Aboriginal Tobaccos in Eastern North totem pole, two years earlier, John
America.” American Antiquity 49: Meares had sighted and briefly men-
269–287.
Linton, Ralph. 1924. Use of Tobacco among
tioned an exterior pole on North Island.
North American Indians. Natural History Before that time no traveler had de-
Leaflet 19. Chicago: Field Museum. scribed or illustrated exterior poles. By
Lowie, Robert H. 1919. “The Tobacco
1829, Skidegate had thirty to forty poles
Society of the Crow Indians.”
Anthropological Papers of the American in what was clearly a proliferation of that
Museum of Natural History 21: 2. type of carving. By the 1880s, Haida vil-
Paper, Jordan. 1988. Offering Smoke: The
lages boasted forests of poles.
Sacred Pipe and Native American
Religion. Moscow: University of Idaho The Northwest coast totem pole as we
Press. now know it appears to have developed,
Robicsek, Francis. 1978. The Smoking Gods:
shortly after contact, out of several abo-
Tobacco in Maya Art, History and
Religion. Norman: University of riginal types of art: interior house posts
Oklahoma Press. that depicted esteemed crests stacked
Wilbert, Johannes. 1987. Tobacco and one atop the other, free-standing funer-
Shamanism in South America. New
Haven: Yale University Press. ary sculptures that stood outside houses,
and painted house facades that illus-
trated crests to all who passed the struc-
ture. With metal tools artists could carve
larger and more complex works of art,
Totem Poles
and commercial paints could facilitate
One of the most frequently illustrated their decoration. The wealth that poured
and commonly photographed types of in as a result of the fur trade contributed
Northwest coast art is the totem pole, to the production of these status sym-
1102
___________________________________________________________________________________ Totem Poles
the Haida, whose every village had an

abundance of poles, the Tlingit to the
north had relatively few poles. Only the
southern Tlingit included totem poles as
part of their cultural landscape, presum-
ably because of their proximity to the
Haida. In contrast, residents of Klukwan,
one of the most conservative Tlingit
communities, considered poles foreign
and thus limited their heraldic carvings
to house posts, such as those from the
Whale House (see Art [Traditional and
Contemporary], Northwest Coast). The
Wakashan-speaking Kwakwak’wakw
and the Nuu-chah-nulth as well as the
Nuxalk also had relatively few totem
poles at this time. Among the Nuu-chah-
nulth, most were simple poles sur-
mounted by birds. By the first decade of
the twentieth century, however, the
Kwakwak’wakw produced numerous
A totem pole carved by members of the Haida
Nation in the village of Skidegate, British poles, perhaps as defiant expressions of
Columbia. (Christopher Morris/Corbis) cultural sovereignty.
During the early twentieth century,
both the Canadian and U.S. govern-
bols, which became among some groups ments recognized the value of totem
increasingly abundant as the century poles as tourist attractions, and they
progressed. By the second half of the supported projects for their restoration.
nineteenth century, totem poles—which Between 1926 and 1930 the Canadian
combined the form of the housepost, the government collaborated with the Cana-
freestanding exterior sculptures of the dian National Railway to restore thirty
funerary monuments, and the public Tsimshian poles along the railroad’s
declaration of crest imagery of the house Skeena River route. Although during the
front—had become significant cultural first few years the restorations were car-
features of the Haida, Tsimshian, and ried off relatively successfully, by 1927
some southern Tlingit villages. antagonism toward the project began to
Totem poles were not uniformly fa- develop. Some Tsimshian were particu-
vored throughout the Northwest coast larly incensed that the government,
during the nineteenth century. Unlike which just a few years earlier had
1103
Totem Poles ____________________________________________________________________________________
Tsimshian Indians use guide ropes to put a totem pole into place at a gathering of three clans in
Metlakatla, Alaska. (Bob Rowan/Progressive Image/Corbis)
strongly discouraged totem pole carving, ported the retrieval of poles from aban-
now spent money on their preservation. doned villages, their restoration by Na-
Across the border in southeast Alaska, tive artists, and their erection along the
another totem pole project got under- ferry route.
way a few years later. In 1933, President By around 1940 museums had begun
Roosevelt had approved the founding of to play increasingly larger roles in
the Indian Civilian Conservation Corps totem pole salvage. In 1957 an effort to
(CCC). In Alaska the first projects under salvage some Haida totem poles from
this New Deal program, such as con- Ninstints brought some exquisite art-
struction of housing for teachers and works to Victoria for safekeeping. Un-
nurses in Hoona, were intended to im- like those who had earlier shown no
prove the social conditions of the Na- sensitivity toward the Natives whose
tives. By 1938 the Indian CCC had moved cultural treasures they were collecting,
into the more aesthetically oriented ac- Wilson Duff of the British Columbia
tivity of restoring totem poles. That proj- Provincial Museum (now the Royal
ect, managed by the Forest Service, sup- British Columbia Museum) first ap-
1104
___________________________________________________________________________________ Totem Poles
proached the Skidegate Band to obtain Columbia campus in Vancouver, were

their permission for the project. Only innovative in this respect. In 1947,
after receiving their approval did Duff Kwakwak’wakw master Mungo Martin
and a crew including artist Bill Reid and began restoring some old poles and
Harry Hawthorne of the University of carved some new ones for the University
British Columbia Museum of Anthro- of British Columbia’s Museum of An-
pology travel to the southernmost tip of thropology. Five years later Martin went
Haida Gwaii and remove poles to be to the British Columbia Provincial Mu-
preserved in museums. seum in Victoria as the chief carver in
In addition to salvage projects, muse- that museum’s totem pole restoration
ums have become involved in sponsor- program. Martin’s legacy at the Royal
ing totem pole restoration or carving. British Columbia Museum is impressive,
The two major British Columbia muse- for his successors there include Kwak-
ums, the Royal British Columbia Mu- wak’wakw artists Henry Hunt, Tony
seum in Victoria and the Museum of An- Hunt, and Richard Hunt, and Nuu-chah-
thropology on the University of British nulth Tim Paul.
Mungo Martin’s Big House and Dzoonokwa totem pole in Thunderbird Park, outside the Royal
British Columbia Museum at Victoria. 1993. (Gunter Marx Photography/Corbis)
1105
Trail of Tears __________________________________________________________________________________
Today totem poles flourish, with ex- Trail of Tears

pert carvers of every group creating new
monuments. Many Native villages up The Trail of Tears, in its most commonly
and down the coast have poles declaring used meaning, refers to the 1838–1839
the cultural strength of their inhabitants. forced migration of the Cherokee people
Recently carved poles stand in cities and from their traditional homeland in Geor-
towns in Alaska, British Columbia, and gia, North Carolina, and Tennessee to
Washington state, having been commis- “Indian Territory” west of the Mississippi
sioned by museums, municipalities, and River—territory that later became
private donors. One can find contempo- Arkansas and Oklahoma. Because ap-
rary Northwest coast totem poles proximately one in four of the more than
throughout the United States and 16,000 Cherokee people who began the
Canada, as well as in Europe, Asia, and journey died as a result of the ordeal, the
the Pacific. Cherokee came to call their removal
Aldona Jonaitis Nunna-da-ul-tsun-yi, “The trail where
we cried”—hence the English name, Trail
See also Art (Traditional and
Contemporary), Northwest Coast; of Tears.
Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest; Healing Taken more broadly, the term “Trail of
Traditions, Northwest; Oral Traditions, Tears” refers to the larger experience of
Northwest Coast; Power, Northwest Coast;
Religious Leaders, Northwest; Sacred Indian Removal set in motion by the Re-
Societies, Northwest Coast moval Act, which passed the U.S. Con-
References and Further Reading gress in 1830. In particular, the five tribes
Darling, David, and Douglas Cole. 1980. that resided in the Southeastern states—
“Totem Pole Restoration on the Skeena, the Choctaw, the Muskogee (Creek), the
1925–30: An Early Exercise in Heritage
Conservation.” BC Studies 47: 29–48. Chickasaw, and the Seminole, as well as
Drucker, Philip. 1948. “The Antiquity of the the Cherokee, collectively known to the
Northwest Coast Totem Pole.” Journal of people of the United States as the “Five
the Washington Academy of Sciences 38:
389–397.
Civilized Tribes”—have all used the term
Garfield, Viola, and Linn Forrest. 1948. The “Trail of Tears” to refer to their forced re-
Wolf and the Raven. Seattle: University of moval. While the actual name “Trail of
Washington Press.
Tears” was said to have been first used by
Halpin, Marjorie. 1981. Totem Poles: An
Illustrated Guide. Vancouver: University the Choctaw during their removal ordeal
of British Columbia Press. in 1831, more than likely each tribe re-
Jonaitis, Aldona. 1999. “The Northwest
moved used some name for their experi-
Coast Totem Pole.” In Unpacking
Culture. Edited by Ruth Phillips and ence that could warrant the expression,
Christopher Steiner. Los Angeles: whether or not that name is known to us
University of California Press.
today. Certainly the number of deaths
Wright, Robin. 2001. Northern Haida
Masters. Seattle: University of that each tribe endured must have left
Washington Press. behind a trail of tears for every mile the
1106
_________________________________________________________________________________ Trail of Tears
Cherokee Trail of Tears memorial overlooking the Arkansas River, Cadron Settlement Park, Conway,
Arkansas. (North Wind Picture Archives)
people traveled. The impact of the Trail Indian policies, without consultation
on the peoples who walked it, and on with the federal government. In Georgia,
their religious and spiritual traditions, where gold was discovered in the same
lingers to haunt their tribes and descen- year that Jackson took office, state legis-
dants even in the present day. lators moved with great speed to write
laws claiming jurisdiction over Chero-
The Election of Andrew Jackson and kee lands and resources. They began to
the Beginnings of Removal survey Cherokee lands and divide them
Andrew Jackson was elected president in into sections to distribute to incoming
1828 on a platform of Indian removal, settlers.
and in his inaugural address he called The U.S. Congress followed Jackson’s
for the removal of all Indians remaining program by passing the Removal Act of
east of the Mississippi. Moreover, con- 1830, mandating federal negotiations
tradicting what had been federal policy with tribes to exchange all remaining In-
since the passage of the Non-Inter- dian lands east of the Mississippi for
course Act of 1791, Jackson called for equivalent portions of land west of the
states to design and enforce their own Mississippi, in what would be called “In-
1107
Trail of Tears __________________________________________________________________________________
dian Territory.” While the terms of the keep the rest. But the Removal Act de-
Removal Act directed only that there be manded all land east of the Mississippi,
negotiations, President Jackson pro- and the negotiators from Washington
ceeded as though Congress had man- would no longer accept partial results.
dated forced removal, with or without a On September 27, 1830, foreshadow-
legally negotiated treaty. Every tribe with ing what would happen later with the
holdings remaining in the east—but par- Cherokee, a minority of Choctaw elders
ticularly those in the Southeast, who still and chiefs signed the Treaty of Dancing
lived almost entirely in their original Rabbit Creek, agreeing to exchange 11
homelands—would be affected by these million acres of land east of the Missis-
developments. sippi for 15 million acres north of the Red
River, extending across the southern half
Removal of the “Five Civilized of what would later become the state of
Tribes”: The Choctaw and the Oklahoma. A larger contingent of elders,
Chickasaw chiefs, and common people had initially
The Choctaw and the Chickasaw were come to the meeting with Jackson’s sec-
the tribes of the Southeast with the west- retary of war John Eaton and his favorite
ernmost locations; each of their home- nephew-by-marriage and fellow Indian
lands already extended to the shores of fighter, General John Coffee, but they
the Mississippi River. The Chickasaw had left in disgust after two weeks of ne-
were a relatively small tribe, numbering gotiations. Those who remained were
in 1830 approximately 4,000 persons. the chiefs most willing to sign if enough
They occupied the northern part of Mis- money changed hands, and thus the
sissippi, from the great river eastward, treaty was made. To the U.S. Senate, one
extending slightly north into Tennessee signed Indian treaty looked like any
and as far as a few miles into Alabama. other; if no one told them it was fraudu-
The 25,000 Choctaw held a much larger lent within its own nation, the senators,
territory extending from the river east- even those disposed to giving the Indi-
ward, bordering the Chickasaw on the ans justice, had no way to know they
north and occupying much of the rest of were being presented with a problematic
Mississippi into Alabama. Like most document. Thus the Treaty of Dancing
tribes, both the Choctaw and the Chicka- Rabbit Creek was ratified and enforced.
saw already had ceded large portions of Between 1831 and 1839 the Choctaw
land in treaties made with the United peoples, moving in waves, attempted the
States between the end of the Revolu- trip to Indian territory. Some 6,000 per-
tionary War and the time of forced re- ished along the way from cholera, ship-
moval; they had hoped that by cooperat- wreck, starvation, exposure, or a variety
ing with the new government and by of other diseases. Approximately 7,000
giving up part of their land they could remained in Mississippi or left the trail
1108
_________________________________________________________________________________ Trail of Tears
and found their way back home, hiding ued into what would come to be known
in the woods and swamps or blending in as the Creek Wars of 1813–1814. In real-
with slave communities that already ity, the 1813–1814 events are more cor-
contained mixed-blood Indians. Those rectly seen as a Creek civil war, with the
who survived the journey settled along United States and the Cherokee siding
the Red River, just north of the boundary with the more assimilated Creeks against
with the independent Republic of Texas. the more traditional Red Stick Creeks.
There they faced the double challenge of Joel Martin has described the event as a
rebuilding themselves as a nation and “sacred revolt” by the traditionalists in a
bringing harmony between those who last effort to preserve culture and spiri-
had signed the treaty and those who had tual tradition against the onslaught of
not. That same challenge would face “civilization.” Even after the “progres-
their neighbors, the Cherokee, for very sives” won the wars, the culture battles
similar reasons. continued. Ultimately, with the memory
The Chickasaw, on the other hand, of the bloody Creek Wars still in the white
made their move under more favorable settlers’ memories and with the Musko-
conditions and with much less loss of gee peoples still deeply divided among
life. Both they and the federal govern- themselves, removal of the Muskogee
ment had learned from the Choctaw became a nightmarish reality. By 1837,
disaster, and better provisions were 15,000 Muskogee had reached Indian
made for health and safety along the Territory alive, but at least 3,500 were
Chickasaw’s trail. By the end of 1838 al- dead from disease, starvation, accident,
most all the Chickasaw people had relo- exposure, or heartbreak.
cated west of the Choctaw area in In- An uncertain number of Muskogee re-
dian Territory. sisted removal by fleeing toward Florida
to live with relatives among the Semi-
The Muskogee (Creek) and the nole. The Seminole, unlike the other
Seminole southeastern tribes, resisted the Re-
Like the Choctaw and the Cherokee, the moval Act militarily. They too, however,
Muskogee (Creek) people, located east of ultimately were divided over removal,
the Choctaw and south of the Cherokee, and some did move west after years of
were divided over issues of assimilation fighting to save their homelands.
and removal, but the Muskogees’ most
profound crisis had come long before The Cherokee
the U.S. Congress became involved in re- With the most northern location of the
moval. A portion of the Muskogee war- five tribes, the Cherokee had experi-
riors known as the Red Sticks had sided enced the longest period of contact with
with the British in the War of 1812. The whites and the most positive history of
split engendered by those events contin- intermarriage and cultural mingling.
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Many Cherokee had adopted white styles In their first suit, Cherokee Nation v.
of dress, were bilingual, and were well ed- Georgia (1831), the Cherokee people ar-
ucated in both the white and the Chero- gued that the Cherokee Nation had a legal
kee sense. A large number of “promising” relationship with the United States as a
young men had been sent by the mis- nation, not with Georgia as a state. Thus
sionaries to be educated in New England state law could not be forced on them
schools, and some had married young apart from federal law. Chief Justice John
ladies of New England. Among the gifts of Marshall declined to take the case as
civilization they had adopted, none per- such, saying that the tribe was neither a
haps was as strong as the belief and trust foreign nation nor composed of U.S. citi-
in American democracy. Indeed, feeling zens but, rather, was a “domestic depen-
empowered to marry whomever they dent nation.” Marshall implied that he
wished and being blind to race and class would be willing to rule in a case involv-
demonstrated not merely love of a young ing a U.S. citizen, and within a year the
lady but also faith in the ideals of equality Cherokee had such a case to bring him.
for all under the law. Although the Chero- Through all of the legal efforts, the most
kee were related to the Iroquois people, “civilized” and “progressive” of the Chero-
who had given the early colonists many kee leaders held to their faith that justice
of their ideas about democracy and who and democracy would surely triumph.
had provided much of the substance of
the constitutional law the colonists fi- The Role of Christian Missionaries
nally adopted, the Cherokee themselves In the several decades before and for
had not been functioning under a writ- nearly a century after removal, colonial
ten constitution. Still, they were familiar opinion, followed by official U.S. govern-
with democracy from their practice of ment policy, held that civilization and
giving everyone, both men and women, Christianization for the Indian went
voice in the tribal councils, and they hand in hand. The overall goal of both
quickly came to believe in the constitu- was assimilation. Being considered “civi-
tional version of democracy that their lized” meant, in part, that the southeast-
New England education had taught ern tribes had become receptive to the
them governed the United States. By the overtures of Protestant missionaries.
Cherokee’s understanding of U.S. de- While the proportion who accepted
mocracy, Georgia could not do what it Christianity never approached a major-
was trying to do, and the United States ity in any tribe, the numbers were large
could not do what it was threatening to enough, and their impact great enough,
do when it passed the Removal Act. Thus, that the story of removal cannot be told
in accordance with democratic princi- apart from the story of the missionaries.
ples, the Cherokee brought suit in the A unidimensional view of missions
courts. would see them as simply one more
1110
_________________________________________________________________________________ Trail of Tears
point of pressure toward the assimilation zens of the United States, particularly to
that was threatening the continued exis- those settlers waiting to take Cherokee
tence of Indians as culturally distinct land as soon as it was vacated, one need
peoples in every part of the continent. only think of the theology implicit in the
From that viewpoint, one might expect soon-to-be-proclaimed doctrine of
the missionaries to have worked hand in Manifest Destiny, already incipient in
hand with federal agents to dispatch the American political realities. From
peoples to Indian Territory as rapidly as William Bradford and Plymouth Planta-
possible, since their souls could be saved tion to Andrew Jackson and beyond,
just as well out of view of the white set- white Christians would say quite directly
tlers. Such an analysis would be quite in- that God had ordained for them to take
complete, as the case of the Cherokee over the North American continent, that
missions exemplifies. God had prepared the land for their ar-
Several groups of missionaries were rival, and that their rights to the New
laboring in Cherokee country at the World paralleled the rights God gave to
time of the Removal Act, but the key fig- the children of Israel, to whom Christ
ures with regard to removal were the Jesus had made them the rightful heirs.
Baptist Evan Jones and the Congrega- The colonists saw their journey to the
tionalist Samuel Worcester. Both men shores of the New World and from those
had learned to speak Cherokee fluently, shores on to the frontier, wherever that
and both were engaged in projects to frontier might lead, as paralleling the mi-
translate the Bible into Cherokee, using gration of Abraham to the land where
the syllabary script developed by Se- God directed, or the exodus of the He-
quoyah and read by nearly all speakers brew slaves into the promised land. Now
of the language. Like most missionaries, America was their promised land. God
both Jones and Worcester took the side could not intend the “pagan savages” to
of the people to whom they ministered continue on the land, preachers in the
when threats to the land came from settlers’ churches taught, for the savages
Washington. were not among the “chosen people” and
Evan Jones, in particular, is remem- were not subduing and dominating the
bered for teaching the Cherokee people earth as God had commanded in Gene-
that God sided with the oppressed of the sis 1:28. The theology of most of white
world. Just as he had looked with com- America and the theology of the mis-
passion on the Hebrew slaves, so God sionaries differed so radically that chiefs
would look with compassion on the of both the Creek and the Cherokee were
Cherokee who were threatened by the reported to have questioned whether the
might of the United States. To recognize other Christians were even reading the
how radical this missionary theology same Bible as the one the missionaries
would have sounded to many white citi- had translated. Chief Junaluska, a great
1111
Trail of Tears __________________________________________________________________________________
Eastern Cherokee warrior who saved the dient Daniel going to the lion’s den and
life of Andrew Jackson at the Battle of the the apostles Paul and Silas going to jail to
Horseshoe Bend (a kindness he later re- explain what Worcester was doing.
gretted), made a typical comment upon Worcester’s long imprisonment provided
hearing the first reading of the Gospel of the Cherokees with the opportunity they
Matthew in his own language: “Well, it needed to return to Justice Marshall’s
seems to be a good book—strange that court.
the white people are not better, after In the lawsuit that Worcester brought
having had it so long” (Mooney 1992, on behalf of himself and the Cherokee
163). Nation, Worcester v. Georgia (1832), Mar-
The Bible as the missionaries pre- shall ruled in the missionary’s behalf,
sented it to the people did seem, for the saying that the “Cherokee Nation . . . is a
most part, to be a good book. Evan Jones, distinct community, occupying its own
more than the other missionaries, asked territory, . . . in which the laws of Georgia
that the people accept Jesus but did not can have no force, and which the citizens
demand that they reject all of their tradi- of Georgia have no right to enter, but
tional beliefs and practices. While most with the assent of the Cherokees” (Per-
missionaries were not as tolerant of tra- due and Green, 1995). Thus the Supreme
ditional Cherokee culture as Jones, all Court nullified all of Georgia’s laws
looked for elements of the peoples’ old against the Cherokees and supported the
beliefs onto which Christianity could be long-standing doctrine of a national In-
grafted, hoping that in that way the new dian policy, not a state-by-state policy.
faith would take better root and flourish. The bringing of the suits, the support
Those Protestant groups that had be- of the missionaries, and the decision of
come successful by the 1830s owed their the court were all closely watched by In-
success in large part to their missionar- dian peoples and their supporters
ies’ having become a part of the commu- throughout the country. Marshall’s rul-
nities in which they labored. Integrated ing was welcomed with rejoicing and
into the peoples’ lives, the missionaries thanksgiving and was seen as validating
felt that their homes were threatened by the ideal of Christian democracy that the
removal, just as the homes of the Indians missionaries, both religious and cultural,
were threatened. Thus Samuel Worcester had been preaching to the Indians. It
maintained he was simply following his supported the idea that red people and
calling as a minister when he went to jail white people could live side by side on
in Georgia rather than follow the new the land as children of the same great Fa-
state ordinance that compelled all white ther in Washington as well as the same
people living in Cherokee territories to great Father in Heaven. But even while
register with the state. The other mis- the missionaries were leading their In-
sionaries preached on the civilly disobe- dian converts in praising God for the
1112
_________________________________________________________________________________ Trail of Tears
blessings of democracy, the great Father American dream, and yet both believed
in Washington, President Andrew Jack- deeply in the preservation of their peo-
son, the Indian fighter and champion of ple. Both John Ridge and John Ross
removal, was telling the states to ignore thought what they were doing would
Justice Marshall’s ruling. best ensure the survival of the Cherokee.
Both were themselves wealthy planta-
The Double Tragedy of Cherokee tion owners who served their nation po-
Idealism: John Ross vs. John Ridge litically because of their deep love for
Several small groups of Cherokee had re- their people. John Ross was principal
moved to Indian Territory on their own, chief, while John Ridge was the eminent
even before the lawsuits were settled, to speaker of the Tribal Council. Both were
avoid being forced to move later. But the considered by the whites to be pro-
failure of Worcester v. Georgia to secure Christian progressives, truly “civilized”
Cherokee title to the lands led to the final Indians.
split within the Cherokee nation. The For Ross, survival of the people meant
group of Cherokee led by Major John survival on the land. For Ridge, survival
Ridge, mostly mixed bloods and often meant survival intact as a people, in as
called assimilationists, who had been healthy a condition as possible and with
most closely allied with Worcester and the resources needed to start a new life.
with the publication of the Cherokee On December 29, 1835, while Chief Ross
Phoenix newspaper, became known as was in Washington, D.C., trying to see the
the Treaty Party. They argued that re- president, Major Ridge and other mem-
moval was now inevitable and that the bers of his party signed a treaty at the
best thing for the people would be to ne- Cherokee capital of New Echota agreeing
gotiate a favorable treaty and make the to move the Cherokee people to Indian
move on their own terms. Principal Chief Territory. The sale of lands without tribal
John Ross, also a mixed-blood Cherokee, consent, according to the Cherokee con-
and also assimilated in many ways, who stitution adopted only a few years be-
was closer to the Baptist missions and fore, was punishable by death; Major
Evan Jones, continued to believe that the Ridge hoped that he could persuade the
ideals of democracy would win out. The rest of the people that the move would be
vast majority of the Cherokee people their best chance for survival. Even as he
supported their chief and formed what signed he said, “Today I am signing my
would be called the Patriot Party. own death warrant.”
Viewing the split as simply one be- Happenings in the Cherokee Nation
tween assimilationists and traditional- were news all over the United States, es-
ists ignores the complexity of the issues: pecially in the nation’s capital. John Ross
cultural, political, and also spiritual. traveled again to Washington and de-
Both groups had accepted a part of the manded that the president, by then Van
1113
Trail of Tears __________________________________________________________________________________
Buren, investigate the fraudulent treaty, itage as Cherokee but that they had
presenting a petition to the Senate learned in their education as “civilized”
signed by 15,665 Cherokees—ostensibly Indians. Although only John Ross trav-
every man, woman, and child who had eled the officially named Trail of Tears,
not signed the Treaty of New Echota. the Ridges, like all who were removed,
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote to Van traveled their different trail with their
Buren, saying, “A crime is projected that own measure of grief, their progressive
confounds our understandings by its hope in the ideals of civilization and
magnitude, a crime that really deprives American democracy shattered.
us, as well as the Cherokee, of a country.”
Emerson, along with other New England Religious and Spiritual Implications
intellectuals, understood the philosoph- of Removal
ical importance of what was occurring In focusing on the political intrigues of
and saw clearly that a juncture was about removal, its profound impact on the reli-
to be crossed from which the new nation gious and spiritual lives and traditions of
could never return. Either equality under the peoples easily can be overlooked. As
the law applied to all, or in reality it ap- matrilineal and matrilocal peoples, the
plied to none. Eminent statesmen in- nations of the Eastern Woodlands, north
cluding Henry Clay and Davy Crockett and south, as well as of the Atlantic
spoke passionately against ratification of Coast, practiced spiritual traditions or-
the Treaty of New Echota. In the end the ganized around the agricultural seasons.
treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate, but Like most Native American peoples, they
by only one vote. conducted their ceremonies in long-
After ratification, one group of about revered sacred locations. These ancient
five hundred and another of nearly four religious traditions, unlike those of the
hundred Cherokee set out west. But even Christian Euro-Americans now control-
as hope for a legal remedy was vanishing, ling the peoples’ homelands, were not
the rest of the Cherokee remained on thought of as “portable.” Whereas the
their land until they were rounded up by Christian god had begun his relationship
soldiers and forced into stockades to with his “chosen people” by command-
await removal. In 1839, after the removal ing Abraham to migrate west to an un-
was complete, the signers of the Treaty of known land, the creators of the Indian
New Echota were executed by assassina- peoples had rooted each of them in a
tion in Indian Territory, as they knew particular land and made corn grow
they would be. John Ridge died a villain there to sustain them. In their land they
and a traitor, while John Ross died years had birthed their children, buried their
later in old age as a patriot and hero. dead, and received their original instruc-
Both men died believing in the ideals of tions on how to live in the world. Re-
democracy that were their blood her- moval from their traditional homelands
1114
_________________________________________________________________________________ Trail of Tears
provoked for Indian peoples a profound by Choctaws who had served as inter-
spiritual crisis that served to make the preters for the missionaries as by the few
obvious political and personal crises missionaries who remained with the
even more acutely felt, both by individu- Choctaw at removal (Noley 1998).
als and by each nation as a whole. At the same time the Christians were
Although the Christian and pro- finding a place of ministry in the midst of
Christian groups in each tribe played the removal tragedy, a revival of tradi-
key roles in the leadership of both prore- tional religion was occurring. The an-
moval and antiremoval parties, the ma- cient ceremonies and dances led by the
jority of people in each tribe were reli- adonisgi were as popular in the Chero-
gious traditionalists. Even many of the kee camps as the Christian services of
pro-Christian progressives accepted the missionary and Native preachers. As
missionaries for what they could offer in McLoughlin comments: “What was re-
education, not for what they brought in markable was the lack of friction be-
religion. Until removal, ceremony and tween the two religious groups. Each al-
ritual, as well as traditional healing arts, lowed the other the consolations of the
continued to be practiced much as they religion of his or her choice” (1994, 101).
had been in the peoples’ lands since Once Indian Territory was reached,
time before memory. however, the lack of sacred sites and the
Both Christian missionaries as well as press of the tasks of reconstituting them-
traditional healers and ritual leaders ac- selves as peoples gave advantage to the
companied the peoples on their various Christians in continuing the practices of
trails. In addition, by the time of removal their faith. Although they had not known
each denomination had trained and or- it when they first believed, the Christians
dained Native preachers to work along- had in fact embraced a portable faith,
side of the missionaries. Evan Jones, who one that had stories of removals, exiles,
with a handful of missionaries of other and migrations that could comfort them
denominations stayed with the Chero- in their grief. Like the Jews in Babylon,
kee while they were confined to intern- the Native peoples who had been re-
ment camps awaiting removal, was grati- moved learned that they could still sing
fied to report that “the Christians, the the creator’s song in a new land.
salt of the earth, are pretty generally dis-
tributed among the several detachments The Impact of the Trail of Tears on
of prisoners” (McLoughlin 1994, 100). Its Contemporary Survivors
Many converts were won, Jones re- Those who made it to Indian Territory
ported. The same was true among the knew they were the survivors. For rea-
Choctaw, where the Bible was read each sons unknown, they were alive while
night along the trail and hymns were many they loved had been buried along
sung as the people walked, led as often the Trail. As they raised children who
1115
Trail of Tears __________________________________________________________________________________
barely remembered another land, and as the more hatred I feel toward this coun-
they birthed new children in new homes, try that I still love, and therefore the
those who survived taught their children more conflicted” (ibid.).
that they too would be survivors. The ex- As Sarah Vowell’s statement indicates,
perience of surviving the Trail continues the conflicted feelings that divided John
to be formative on its descendants as Ridge and John Ross continue to plague
parents continue to say to their children: the survivors of the Trail into the con-
“But we are survivors.” Journalist Sarah temporary age. Anyone who is today a
Vowell explained on National Public survivor and an Indian is a citizen, unlike
Radio’s This American Life that she their ancestors who walked the Trail.
knows she is alive only because her Many, but still not most, survivors today
great-grandparents survived the Trail of are as educated as the people’s leaders
Tears. Although she knows herself and were at the time of removal. But the full-
her twin sister to be “typical American bloods and mixed bloods are still suspi-
mutts” with blood of several nations, cious of each other. The racism that is the
“only the Cherokee and the Swedish legacy of slavery often divides black Indi-
really mattered. . . . Here’s what we knew ans from white Indians and both from
about ourselves [as children],” she says: full-bloods. Those trying to revive long-
“Ellis Island. Trail of Tears. . . . Even the forgotten or barely remembered reli-
youngest child knows what tears mean” gious and spiritual ceremonies are suspi-
(Vowell 1998). cious and resentful of Christian Indians
In 1987, the National Park Service des- who also want to be a part of tradition.
ignated 2,200 miles of land and water The Identity Wars are not as bloody as
routes traveled by the Cherokee as a Na- the old feuds, but the pain may be even
tional Historic Trail. Since that time, the more intense because it does not pro-
Trail has become something of a pilgrim- duce an early death.
age path for survivors. As they traveled Portions of the removed tribes that
the Trail in 1998, seeking to understand fled from the Trail along the way, or who
the stories they had been told as chil- hid from its beginning, have gained
dren, Sarah Vowell and her sister Amy ex- strength and been re-recognized as In-
perienced for themselves some of the dian. They too are survivors, without a
conflicted feelings that beset their doubt, but their formative influences dif-
Cherokee ancestors in the 1830s. “The fer from those of Trail descendants; thus
nausea we suffer standing on the broken a new conflict within the peoples has
promises at Ross’s Landing are peculiar been born.
to a democracy, because in a democracy When descendants of survivors walk
we’re all responsible for everything our the Historic Trail thinking they are
government does,” Sarah explained. tourists, often they realize, like Sarah and
“The more I learn, the worse I feel, and Amy Vowell, that without intending to
1116
_________________________________________________________________________________ Trail of Tears
they have become pilgrims. They speak of Kidwell, Clara Sue. 1995. Choctaws and
not knowing they had such feelings Missionaries in Mississippi, 1818–1918.
within them, of wondering where the ———. 2002. “The Effects of Removal on
feelings came from and whether they Indian Tribes.” Website of the National
have always been with them. Often they Humanities Center/Teacher
Serve/Nature Transformed/Native
are angry and want to tell the story again Americans and the Land/Indian
and again. They wonder if the spirits of Removal. http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:
those who did not survive still linger on 8080/tserve/nattrans/ntecoindian/
essays/indianremoval.htm. (Accessed
the Trail. They say they have become February 16, 2005.)
somehow “more Indian” (personal con- McLoughlin, William G. 1984. Cherokees
versations of author with Historic Trail and Missionaries, 1789–1839. New
walkers, October 1998, Nashville, Ten-
———. 1986. Cherokee Renascence in the
nessee). The historical event of the Trail of New Republic. Princeton: Princeton
Tears concluded in 1839. But history has University Press.
———. 1993. After the Trail of Tears: The
demonstrated that the Trail of Tears as an
Cherokees’ Struggle for Sovereignty,
identity-forming event will continue as 1839–1880. Chapel Hill: University of
long as its survivors tell their stories. North Carolina Press.
———. 1994. The Cherokees and
Pamela Jean Owens Christianity, 1794–1870: Essays on
Acculturation and Cultural Persistence.
See also Beloved Women, Beloved Men,
Athens: University of Georgia Press.
Beloved Towns; Missionization, Southeast;
Mooney, James. 1992. James Mooney’s
Oral Traditions, Southeast; Power, Southeast
History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of
References and Further Reading the Cherokees: Containing the Full Texts
Anderson, William L., ed. 1991. Cherokee of Myths of the Cherokee (1900) and The
Removal: Before and After. Athens: Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (1891)
University of Georgia Press. as published by the Bureau of American
Carson, James Taylor. 1999. Searching for Ethnology. Asheville, NC: Historical
the Bright Path: The Mississippi Choctaws Images.
from Prehistory to Removal. Lincoln: Noley, Homer. 1998. “The Interpreters.” Pp.
University of Nebraska Press. 48–60 in Native American Religious
Champagne, Duane. 1992. Social Order and Identity: Unforgotten Gods. Edited by
Political Change: Constitutional Jace Weaver. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Governments among the Cherokee, the Books.
Choctaw, the Chickasaw, and the Creek. Perdue, Theda, and Michael D. Green, eds.
Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1995. The Cherokee Removal: A Brief
DeRosier, Arthur H., Jr. 1970. The Removal History with Documents. Boston: Bedford
of the Choctaw Indians. New York: Books of St. Martin’s Press.
Harper and Row. Sturm, Circe. 2002. Blood Politics: Race,
Ehle, John. 1988. Trail of Tears: The Rise and Culture, and Identity in the Cherokee
Fall of the Cherokee Nation. New York: Nation of Oklahoma. Berkeley:
Doubleday. University of California Press.
Foreman, Grant. 1972. Indian Removal: The Trafzer, Clifford E. 2000. As Long as the
Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Grass Shall Grow and Rivers Flow: A
Indians. Norman: University of History of Native Americans. Fort Worth,
Oklahoma Press. TX: Harcourt College Publishers.
1117
Tricksters _______________________________________________________________________________________
Vowell, Sarah, commentator. 1998. Radio ronment. Humor, such as that provided
program This American Life, episode 107, by tricksters, is there to “teach us . . . not
“Trail of Tears.” Hosted by Ira Glass. July
3. http://www.thislife.org/. to take ourselves too seriously. This
Wallace, Anthony F. C. 1993. The Long, Bitter means, not to make ourselves too impor-
Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians. tant” (ibid.). Overlooking the impor-
New York: Hill and Wang.
Woodward, Grace Steele. 1963. The tance of humor in Native religious con-
Cherokees. Norman: University of ceptions denigrates tricksters to the
Oklahoma Press. status of comic relief. Trickster stories
provoke sacred laughter as they offer in-
sight into human foibles and weak-
nesses, as well as providing (as all mythic
Tricksters
stories must) opportunities to “envision
Tricksters are mythic characters found in the possibility of things not ordinarily
every region of Native North America. Al- seen or experienced” (ibid., 61).
though their names, shapes, and specific
meanings vary from culture to culture, Tricksters around North America
tricksters are everywhere an important The continental landmass we speak of as
source of laughter. Trickster stories pro- North America holds many geographic
vide critical cultural teachings, including variations, ranging from wetlands to
stories about the creation of the earth, mountains to plains; no single word, def-
the shape of the cosmos, as well as the inition, or idea captures the range and
origins of significant religious and cere- variety of geographic experiences in
monial observances. Mixing comic trick- North America. So it is with the tricksters
ster stories with sacred religious teach- who are remembered in the words and
ings may seem profane to those imaginations of the Native people of the
accustomed to the strict separation of re- continent; no single idea or definition
ligious from secular materials, but as adequately captures the variety of trick-
Peggy Beck and Anna Lee Walters point sters found in different tribal traditions.
out, “Most Native American sacred tradi- Perhaps the most famous of Native trick-
tions have a common belief that humor sters is Coyote, who appears in the oral
is a necessary part of the sacred” (Beck, literatures of many Plains, Great Basin,
Walters, and Francisco 1977, 31). They Plateau, West Coast, and desert South-
observe that Native religious traditions western tribal cultures. In other tribal
are not caught up with questions of cultures, tricksters have other forms.
“good” and “evil” but are rather con- Raven, Bluejay, and Mink are found in
cerned with issues of balance and imbal- the Pacific Northwest; Spider is found on
ance. Being too powerful or too serious, the Plains (where the Lakota call him Ik-
Beck and Walters note, could upset the tomi and the Cheyenne call him Wihio);
balance of life in a community or envi- Hare or Rabbit is spoken of as a trickster
1118
______________________________________________________________________________________ Tricksters
in Southeastern North America (where, female. Their fluidity also allows them to
combined with African trickster stories, shift easily between spiritual and mate-
he inspired the tales of B’rer Rabbit); rial realities; in this ability they reflect or
Hare also features in the tales among the inspire a medicine person’s ability to ef-
Native cultures in the Northeast, the fect the same kind of movement (see
Great Lakes, and Plains regions; else- Grim 1983, 85–92). Tricksters move be-
where in the Northeast, Wolverine, Rac- yond all the boundaries that the material
coon, Fox, and Turtle are the tricksters. world imposes on humanity.
While all of these tricksters have animal The power of this fluidity has led
names, not every Native culture follows many non-Indian scholars to wonder if
this practice. Tricksters such as the Nan- tricksters are best understood as men or
abozho (or Waynaboozhoo, depending as gods. In tribal expression, tricksters
on the dialect of Ojibwe being spoken), are an active presence in cultural life and
Wakdjunkaga, Napi, the Old Man, are treated as neither men nor gods.
Wisakedjak (anglicized as “Whiskey (Early in the twentieth century, the an-
Jack”), and Glooscap are clearly pre- thropologist Clark Wissler wrote: “When-
sented as human in form. ever [I] asked if the Old Man [the trick-
When we think about tricksters and ster] was ever prayed to, the absurdity of
we encounter an animal name such as the question provoked merriment”
Raven or Coyote, we might tend to think among his Blackfeet informants [Wissler
that the trickster is literally that animal. and Duvall 1908, 9].) It is perhaps better
That is not always so, though it may be. to regard tricksters as spirits. The Ojibwe
There is no hard and fast rule. An animal refer to their trickster, Nanabozho, as a
name is no guarantee of an animal form. manitou, a word that translates as
Thus Coyote may be spoken of as an ani- “spirit” or “mystery.” The Ojibwe ethnol-
mal by one storyteller, as an animal in ogist Basil Johnston notes that “mani-
man’s clothing by another, or as a man tou” refers “to realities other than the
named for the animal by yet another— physical ones of rock, fire, water, air,
and all three storytellers may be from the wood, and flesh—to the unseen realities
same tribal culture. Likewise, though of individual beings and places and
tricksters are almost always male, they events that are beyond human under-
may, if the situation demands it, become standing but are still clearly real” (John-
female, or a baby, or a tree stump. Gener- ston 1995, xxi–xxii). Like Nanabozho,
ally speaking, tricksters throughout tricksters from other tribal traditions
North America have the ability to shape- benefit from being conceived in terms of
shift. The watchword with tricksters is the “unseen realities” of mysteries and
fluidity. They can move fluidly between spirits.
the states of animal and human, human A trickster then can be animal or
and plant, as well as between male and human while simultaneously male but
1119
Tricksters _______________________________________________________________________________________
sometimes female; a trickster is also a Horn might thus be referred to as a “leg-

spirit that comes from realities other end” rather than as an oral history; like-
than the familiar reality of the material wise, a Native story conveying important
world, as well as being a mystery that is cultural knowledge might be spoken of
“beyond human understanding” yet is as “mythological” rather than as a sacred
“still clearly real.” All these things and text. The terms “mythic” and “myth”
more, tricksters express and help people should not be equated with “false,” but
imagine what is possible and desirable in rather should be recognized as positive
the world. terms that describe the sacred stories
and teachings of a people.
Tricksters in Native Mythic Traditions Tribal cultures have their own means
Mythic stories—stories full of power and of distinguishing between these two sig-
teaching—suspend the familiar reality of nificant types of stories. The Inuit people
the material world, in order to help Na- refer to stories as being either “old” or
tive people understand their responsibil- “young,” as a means of distinguishing
ities to the ongoing task of creation. Such between the stories of a prehuman
stories are intrinsically religious, as they mythic age and the human era we now
reflect on the sacred origins of the world. live in (Bierhorst 1985, 5). Old stories
While trickster stories often seem foolish deal with creation and the events of sa-
or whimsical, they too offer important cred time, while young stories recount
religious or ethical lessons. To under- events and encounters from human ex-
stand how a story about the Cheyenne perience. The ethnographer Wendy
trickster losing his eyeballs contains reli- Wickwire explains the distinction be-
gious instruction, we need to under- tween the two types of stories. Old sto-
stand, generally speaking, that there are ries, she writes, are those “which explain
two types of stories in Native North how and why the world and its creatures
America. came to be. They come . . . from a prehu-
The first type of story is often spoken man mythological age when the [Native]
of as “mythological,” and it offers the im- people were not yet fully human, but
portant narratives of origins. The second partook of both animal and human char-
type of story is often referred to as “folk- acteristics” (Wickwire 1989, 16). Young
lore” or “legend,” and here are found stories, Wickwire writes, “come from the
tales of adventure and love as well as hu- more recent period, the world as we
morous anecdotes. Terms like “mytho- know it today. . . . Some of these stories
logical,” “folklore,” and “legend” often occurred long ago . . . before the white
implicitly judge a story, denigrating it as man, but after the time of the animal-
somehow false or unworthy of serious people” (ibid.). While other tribal lan-
consideration (see Doty 1986, 6–9). A Na- guages will use other words to distin-
tive story about the battle at Little Big guish between the types of stories, the
1120
______________________________________________________________________________________ Tricksters
pattern of “old” stories and “young” gen- The purpose of such stories might
erally holds across Native America. seem merely cautionary—that is, from
These distinctions are crucial to un- Wihio’s example people learn not to mis-
derstanding the religious significance of behave and to heed the instructions of-
tricksters. Gregory Cajete observes that fered by other members of the commu-
“stories about the time following cre- nity. While the story has clear religious
ation [but before the human era] are importance (offering, as it does, guid-
filled with metaphorical tales about ance to good ethical behavior by the ex-
transgressions” against the order estab- ample of what happens when Wihio mis-
lished in creation. He writes: “Unless one behaves), to focus solely on the “moral”
understands his/her place in the whole, of the story is to overlook other crucial
there is always a tendency to move be- religious elements in such comic stories
yond, to glorify, to self-aggrandize” (Ca- of transgression.
jete 2000, 38). Tales of transgression are, When the folklorist Barre Toelken asks
in part, cautionary tales, examples of about the foolish things Ma’ii (as Coyote
how not to behave—which returns us to is named in Diné) does, the Diné story-
tricksters. teller Yellowman answers, “If he did not
Trickster stories are often lessons do all those things, then those things
about transgression. When the would not be possible in the world”
Cheyenne trickster, Wihio, sees a man (Toelken and Scott 1981, 80). Toelken un-
who can send his eyes out of his head derstands this to mean that Coyote is
high up into a tree and then call them more “an enabler whose actions, good or
back, he wants to learn the trick. The bad, bring certain ideas and actions into
man teaches Wihio but warns him not to the field of possibility” (ibid., 81). The
do it more than four times a day. Wihio stories about tricksters may be funny
disregards the man’s warning, and on the and offer simple and direct moral les-
fifth time his eyes do not come back. sons, but they offer more as well. As Yel-
Punished for his transgression, Wihio is lowman tells Toelken, “Many things
left blind. Shortly thereafter he receives about the story are funny, but the story is
two new eyes, one from a mouse, the not funny. . . . Through the stories every-
other from a buffalo. “But the [buffalo] thing is made possible” (ibid., 80).
eye did not fit the socket; most of it was Trickster stories then are about possi-
outside. The other was far inside. Thus bility: indirectly or directly, tricksters
he remained” (Thompson 1929, 63). We make new things possible. In making
are left with an image of a curiously eyed things possible, trickster stories deal with
trickster who, though punished for his the sacred powers of creation. Stories of
misdeed, will not learn from his mistake creation—the “old” stories of a prehu-
and will proceed in other stories to trans- man mythological era—“explain [the]
gress other warnings. origins of animals, or tribes, or objects, or
1121
Tricksters _______________________________________________________________________________________
ceremonies, or the universe itself” hope that some young woman would, in
(Thompson 1929, xvii). Just as they are her berrying, satisfy him with the touch
present in the postcreation stories of of her hand (Erdoes and Ortiz 1984, 314).
transgression, tricksters also live in the While such variations in behaviors be-
stories of the creation times. For in- tween tricksters from differing traditions
stance, the Crow people tell how the Cre- might be expected, it is even more cru-
ator began making the world with the cial to note what might not be expected.
help of some ducks, erecting mountains, That is, tricksters may exhibit this range
creating grasses, plants, food, and hu- of characteristics—from the generosity
mans and then encountered Cirape, the of creation to the obscene pranks of an
coyote. Cirape tells the Creator that he adolescent—within a single tribal tradi-
had done well in making this world, only tion. The Blackfeet people tell how Napi
there should be more animals than just (also known as the Old Man) created the
ducks. The Creator agrees and calls all the earth, established social roles for men
other animals into being. Cirape the coy- and women, and made the mountains of
ote then points out that the people the the Blackfeet homeland on the Northern
Creator has made are not living well and Plains (Wissler and Duvall 1908, 19–23).
that they need tepees, bows and arrows, His power though is seductive, and he
and fire to enrich their lives. While it is the becomes obsessed with using it to get
Creator who makes these good things, it food and entice women. Eventually the
is Cirape who points out their necessity people abandon Napi, and he turns into
(Erdoes and Ortiz 1984, 88–93). The trick- a lone pine tree that can still be seen, ac-
ster is possessed of the natural reason to cording to Percy Bullchild, on the bank of
see what the world needs, and he makes the Highwood River in Alberta, Canada
it possible by helping the Creator realize (ibid., 25–39; Bullchild 1985, 127–228).
what is missing. While many Native cultural traditions
Tricksters help create the world, in- allow their tricksters ambiguously to be
spire critical religious practices, and ex- both creator and transgressor (as is the
press an uninhibited, often immoral, case with Napi), other traditions will
sexuality, among their many other traits. make a distinction between two types of
This variety of abilities and characteris- tricksters. Thus there may be, as Bier-
tics may be found in differences between horst notes, “two kinds of Coyote or two
two tribal traditions. For instance, the kinds of Spider.” For example, the
Ojibwe people speak of how Wayna- Cheyenne tell tales of “low comedy and
boozhoo created this world from a grain violence” about Wihio (the spider or wise
of earth after the great flood (Benton- one), while in their stories of creation
Banai 1988, 29–35); the Crow people tell and origin Heammawihio (wise one
of a time when Old Man Coyote dis- above) is spoken of. In other Native cul-
guised his penis as a strawberry in the tures “there is a tendency to give the
1122
______________________________________________________________________________________ Tricksters
trickster a companion, so that we have tive-white relations, we have to wonder

stories about Coyote and Skunk, Coyote if the word “trickster” connotes a deni-
and Wolf, or Coyote and Fox” as a means gration of these powerful Native cultural
of distinguishing between the admirable figures.
character and the less than worthy one The nineteenth-century anthropolo-
(Bierhorst 1985, 14). gist Daniel Brinton has been credited as
the first to use the word “tricksters” to
The Problem with “Trickster” describe this category of characters
Using the word “trickster” to describe found within Native mythic traditions
Native mythic characters raises a prob- (Gill and Sullivan 1992, 308). While there
lem. Trickster is a non-Native word, and is no evidence to suggest that Brinton
it carries many connotations, some of had these belittling connotations in
which are less than flattering. These un- mind when he used the word, his analy-
flattering connotations come out of the sis of the Algonkin trickster, Michabo,
emphasis that the word “trickster” puts clearly shows that he regarded “trick-
on “trick.” As a word, “trick” carries with sters” as something less than edifying. In
it associations of deceit, cheating, du- his analysis, Brinton argues that Mich-
plicity, and treachery that describes the abo began as a “Great God of Light” but
actions of the trickster characters in that, over time, the Algonkin people lost
many stories. Furthermore, as the lin- this meaning and the stories of Michabo
guist Edward Sapir points out, the suffix devolved into the vulgar tales of the
“-ster” is a structural feature of language trickster (Brinton 1868, 161–169).
that no longer has a “productive life,” Recognizing such connotations as a
and, he states, “it cannot be said to really shortcoming in the word, many scholars
exist at all” in modern English (Sapir have sought to honor the trickster’s cre-
1921, 141). The suffix “-ster” then sug- ative power by referring to him as a Cul-
gests an archaic remnant from an era ture Hero or Transformer. A Culture Hero
that has now passed into irrelevance (or is a figure “who inhabits the earth
perhaps an attachment to some out- throughout the myth age, preparing it for
moded and irrelevant values, as is the the day-to-day needs of humans” (Bier-
case with a word like “hipster”). In the horst 1985, 15). A Transformer is a hero
history of Native and white relations, who, as the name suggests, transforms
Native cultural values, including those the beings of the myth age into the useful
of a religious or spiritual nature, have creatures and objects of this world. The
often been assumed by non-Natives to activities of Culture Heroes and Trans-
be outmoded, irrelevant, and archaic. In formers are also activities that tricksters
its etymology the word “trickster” con- engage in, but these names fail to em-
notes this sense of archaic and out- brace the full range of situations that
moded, and, placed in the context of Na- tricksters create, leading some scholars
1123
Tricksters _______________________________________________________________________________________
to redress the problem by stringing the Contradictions

words together in awkward, though per- The characteristics of tricksters, ranging
haps accurate, hyphenated collages such from the greatest kind of benevolence to
as Trickster-Transformer or Trickster- the basest kind of “vile pranks” (Wissler
Transformer-Culture Hero. and Duvall 1908, 11), strike many non-
In recent years, Native writers and Native peoples as contradictions. Such
scholars such as Tomson Highway and seeming contradictions struck many
Gerald Vizenor have engaged in an ef- early European writers as evidence that
fort to reclaim tricksters from such rigid Native peoples had a debased and de-
categorical definitions. They assert that generate religion (see Le Jeune 1954, 52).
tricksters are meaningful only when ap- Later, non-Native scholars latched on to
proached from the perspective of Native such contradictions, arguing that they
cultures. Their work suggests that the are conundrums that can be resolved—
word “trickster” is neither denigrating made logical and rational—through the
nor descriptive, and so debates about careful application of various linguistic,
its meaning (or about what best to call psychological, and anthropological the-
these characters) distract from the ories (see Brinton 1868; Jung 1956; and
trickster stories, which Highway asserts Radin 1956). The problem with such re-
are “the core of Indian culture” (High- sponses—no matter how benign the in-
way 1989, 13). Vizenor’s work suggests tent—is that in settling on an emphatic
that as long as all attempts at finding a definition of what tricksters should be,
definite categorical meaning of “trick- they undo what tricksters are. Looked at
ster” are suspended, trickster stories logically tricksters are nefariously illogi-
will liberate people to a fuller realiza- cal and contradictory in their nature,
tion of what Native cultures mean and and, paradoxically, it is their very contra-
simultaneously liberate the word “trick- dictions that make them so potent in Na-
ster” from denigrating connotations tive cultural traditions. Tricksters are an
(see Vizenor 1989, 187–211). According unseen reality that is clearly real. Em-
to Native intellectuals such as Vizenor bodied in the words and stories of the
and Highway, “tricksters,” as a word, Native peoples of North America, trick-
should not be understood as an anthro- sters return the people to the sacred
pological category (like “Culture Hero” times of creation and remind them what
or “Transformer”) but as an idea or a may happen when the order of creation
spirit in the stories that tells Native peo- is transgressed. Unseen realities, cre-
ple who they are, where they came from, ation, transformation, transgression,
and how they should live. Everyone who and compassion are subjects that all
engages tricksters in this spirit comes to great religious traditions explore. Native
a richer appreciation of what Native tricksters stand in the middle of all these
cultures value. noble abstractions, arousing the laugh-
1124
______________________________________________________________________________________ Tuunrilría
ter that reminds everyone that humor is Jung, C. G. 1956. “On the Psychology of the
a sacred thing. Trickster Figure.” Translated by R. F. C.
Hull. Pp. 195–211 in The Trickster: A
Carter Meland Study in American Indian Mythology.
See also Clowns and Clowning; Emergence Edited by Paul Radin. New York:
Narratives; Literature, Religion in Schocken Books.
Contemporary American Indian Literature; Le Jeune, Paul. 1954. “Relation of What
Oral Traditions Occurred in New France in the Year
1634.” In The Jesuit Relations and Allied
References and Further Reading Documents. Edited by Edna Kenton. New
Beck, Peggy V., Anna Lee Walters, and Nia York: Vanguard Press.
Francisco. 1977. The Sacred: Ways of Radin, Paul. 1956. The Trickster: A Study in
Knowledge, Sources of Life. Tsaile, AZ: American Indian Mythology. New York:
Navajo Community College Press. Schocken Books.
Benton-Banai, Edward. 1988. The Mishomis Sapir, Edward. 1921. Language: An
Book: The Voice of the Ojibway. Hayward, Introduction to the Study of Speech. New
WI: Indian Country Communications. York: Harcourt, Brace, and World.
Bierhorst, John. 1985. The Mythology of Thompson, Stith. 1929. Tales of the North
North America. New York: William American Indian. Bloomington: Indiana
Morrow. University Press.
Brinton, Daniel G. 1868/1992. The Myths of Toelken, Barre, and Tacheeni Scott. 1981.
the New World. Reprint. Baltimore: “Poetic Retranslation and the ‘Pretty
Clearfield Company. Languages’ of Yellowman.” Pp. 65–116 in
Bullchild, Percy. 1985. The Sun Came Down: Traditional Literatures of the American
The History of the World as My Blackfeet Indian: Texts and Interpretations. Edited
Elders Told It. San Francisco: Harper and by Karl Kroeber. Lincoln: University of
Row. Nebraska Press.
Cajete, Gregory. 2000. Native Science: Vizenor, Gerald. 1989. “Trickster Discourse:
Natural Laws of Interdependence. Santa Comic Holotropes and Language
Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishers. Games.” Pp. 187–211 in Narrative
Doty, William G. 1986. Mythography: The Chance: Postmodern Discourse on Native
Study of Myths and Rituals. Tuscaloosa: American Indian Literatures. Edited by
University of Alabama Press. Gerald Vizenor. Albuquerque: University
Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz, eds. of New Mexico Press.
1984. American Indian Myths and Wickwire, Wendy. 1989. “Introduction.” Pp.
Legends. New York: Pantheon Books. 9–28 in Write It on Your Heart: The Epic
Gill, Sam D., and Irene F. Sullivan. 1992. World of an Okanagan Storyteller. Edited
Dictionary of Native American by Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver:
Mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC- Talonbooks/Theytus.
CLIO. Wissler, Clark, and D. C. Duvall. 1908/1995.
Grim, John A. 1983. The Shaman: Patterns of Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians. Bison
Religious Healing among the Ojibway Book Edition. Lincoln: University of
Indians. Norman: University of Nebraska Press.
Oklahoma Press.
Highway, Tomson. 1989. Dry Lips Oughta
Move to Kapuskasing. Calgary, AB: Fifth
House Publishers.
Johnston, Basil. 1995. The Manitous: The Tuunrilría
Supernatural World of the Ojibway. New
York: HarperPerennial. See Angalkuq
1125
V
Vision Quest Rites refer to prayer and to supplications
made by the seeker—for example, as the
The concept of the “vision quest” has Lakota term for the rite, hanblecheya
long been identified with the peoples of (“crying for a dream”) or the Omaha
the Great Plains, where the rite of seek- term, nozhinzhon, which means “to
ing special dreams is an old traditional stand sleeping.”
practice. However, many communities The traditional Omaha rite was car-
outside the Plains have also practiced ried out, as it was in a majority of other
dream-seeking rites, such as most Native Native communities, at adolescence
communities of the northeastern and when the mind of the child “had become
central Canadian woodlands, the South, white”—that is, clear, pure, and open to
the West and Northwest coast, as well as the spirit world and “able to know suffer-
the northwest-central Plateau area. Only ing.” The rite was carried out in the
among the Southwest Pueblo people and spring. The face of the young man was
Diné (Navajo) is vision seeking less cen- covered with white clay, as a symbol of
tral (though dreams are still noted and the creation, and a special fasting prayer
regarded as important). In the 1920s, the was taught: “Wakonda, here in poverty I
anthropologist Ruth Benedict (1922, stand.” The seeker had to fast for as
1923) wrote several descriptive articles many days as he stood praying outside of
on dream seeking, as a result of which the village away from the people. He
the concept of the “vision quest” was would repeat the prayer and appeal to
popularized. Subsequently the term “vi- the greater (Wakonda) and lesser (sun,
sion quest” has tended to overwrite the moon, stars, animals and so on) powers
fact that every Native community has its for a visionary dream. Out of i’thaethe,
own terms and language for the rites in- “compassion or pity” for the innocence
volved. These Native language terms and sincerity of the faster, a spirit power
rarely refer to a “quest” and most often would appear while the seeker was
1127
Vision Quest Rites _____________________________________________________________________________
to the dreamer beyond the normal

dreams of ordinary sleep. The majority of
dreams in ordinary sleep are not usually
classified as dreams of power, because
dreams of power are regarded as en-
hancing human abilities and success in
the world. Dreams of power may come in
a spontaneous manner, but more often
they are sought in various types of fast-
ing and ritual. The contents of such
dreams are not predetermined or pre-
scribed in specificity, but they are inter-
preted within the context of the commu-
nity and worldview of the dreamer (see
“Dreams and Visions,” this volume).
Each Native community has its own cri-
teria for determining the value and sig-
nificance of a powerful dream based on
the experience of successful elder
Teton Sioux man performing vision Cry dreamers and ritual leaders. Overall,
Ceremony through fasting and chanting to the dreams are highly valued, and vivid,
Great Mystery, 1907. Edward Curtis. (Library of
Congress) powerful dreams have long been re-
garded as a primary means of communi-
cation with the spiritual world. Dream-
nozhinzhon. The visionary would then ers who have such “big” dreams often
receive a gift of power in the form of a become spiritual leaders, teachers, and
dream rite, a song, a certain medicine, or advisers to the people of their communi-
specific actions (or prohibitions) to be ties; often their spiritual role is defined
done to solicit the power of the dream. by the dream.
Then the faster would return to the vil- As Benedict notes, the vision fasting
lage, rest for four days, then seek an older rite is commonly described as a ritual
man whose vision experience was simi- that marked the transition to a new ma-
lar to receive instructions on how to de- turity and social identity based on the
velop the power given in the dream contents of the dream or vision. Among
(Fletcher and La Flesche 1911, 128–131). the Plateau Salish, the Winnebago, and
The basic purpose of this rite among central Algonkin nations such as the
most Native peoples is for a seeker to ex- Shawnee and Kickapoo, children as
perience a certain type of dream, one young as five to seven years of age would
that is recognized as powerful and useful train for the more rigorous prayer-fasts
1128
____________________________________________________________________________ Vision Quest Rites
and might have a vision during, or they Later writings on the dream fast have
might fast periodically until marriage, described a richness in ritual practice,
which often ended the dream seeking preparation, and interpretation that far
period. Among many Plains groups, con- exceeds any one ideal model or example.
versely, men and women might seek vi- One debate on the subject has been over
sions throughout their entire lifetimes, the significance of the fasting rite as pro-
and some Northern Plains peoples such ducing dreams and visions that conform
as the Cheyenne and Lakota used ex- to a particular “culture pattern” (ibid.,
treme means of self-inflicted pain (like 41–43). While early anthropology was
piercing) and suffering to summon a preoccupied with reducing complex reli-
pitying dream spirit. Benedict also gious phenomena to manageable
makes an important distinction— schemata, the actual ethnography of vi-
namely, that the vision fasting rites were sion seeking does not simply show con-
not always based on the search for a spe- formity to specific cultural patterns.
cific “guardian spirit,” by which she Such a reduction not only masks the
means an animal or other spirit guide or complexity of the phenomena but also
helper (1922, 2–3, 13–14). Acquiring such conceals visionary differences and diver-
a helping spirit was not regarded as the sity within a single culture. Dreams do
most powerful form of dream or vision; not simply conform; they lead to creative
the “big dream” was most respected and transformations and innovation in cul-
sought after to attain spiritual knowl- ture as primary direction and guidance
edge and techniques for healing, war, from the highest sources of religious em-
hunting, or spiritual guidance that powerment (Albers and Parker 1971,
would benefit the life of the community 208). Vision seeking is not an isolated
in times of crisis or need. The vision ex- pattern within a general cultural milieu,
perience cannot be accurately reduced but a specific religious activity closely
to a search for an animal guide or help- linked to aspects of cosmology, ritual,
ing spirit, and, in fact, the more signifi- shamanic roles, leadership, kinship, and
cant visions have no mention of acquir- social identity with significant degrees of
ing such a spirit (Benedict 1923, 29). variability. Understanding the dream-
Instead, the visionary receives guidance seeking rite also requires a thorough
or instructions that may be unique for a knowledge of the worldview and prac-
particular practice and may not involve tices of the seeker’s religious community.
calling upon any individual spirit but Visions are a primary source for cul-
only following the dream instructions. tural innovation as recorded from the
Conversely, “guardian spirits” may be ac- very earliest ethnographies into the pres-
quired without dreams or visions ent and are by no means simply a mech-
through inheritance, purchase, or ritual anism for maintaining a static culture.
transfer. Because dreams were regarded as a form
1129
of communication with primary sources taneously often signify to the commu-

of spiritual knowledge and empower- nity a special election by spirits and
ment, they became a natural basis for therefore might hold an outstanding
cultural innovation and change. The vi- value in the life of the individual. The
sion seeking rite was often a means for Lakota holy man Black Elk had several
confirming an existing social role, or spontaneous visions, including a great
claims to various types of power, or vision at the age of twelve without fasting
membership in ritual groups, such as or seeking a vision; later, when he fasted
dream societies. However, “big dreams” for a vision, his great vision was repeated
were often sent for the good of the com- (DeMallie 1984, 11–124). This vision was
munity and prescribed change and inno- then the template for his healing and
vation in cultural and religious practices, medicine work. Many traditions of
or in meeting and adapting to cultural dream seeking for women are far less
oppression such as during colonializa- structured than those for men. Women
tion (Irwin 1994, 189, passim). Successful fasted for visions during quiet seclusion
visionaries often introduced radical for menstruation, while mourning for
changes and new directions based on vi- their dead relatives, or when grief
sions, such as those of the Seneca vision- stricken because of the loss of a child or
ary Handsome Lake or Kenekuk, the mate, as well as in times of famine or dif-
Kickapoo visionary leader. Changes in ficulty when separated from the commu-
ritual or the sponsorship of rituals, or nity. Women visionaries are often
bringing back old rituals, new technolo- founders of sacred rites, and a majority
gies, the discovery of sacred places, and of these were based in spontaneous vi-
so on were all based in visionary experi- sionary encounters rather than in visions
ences. A failure to dream or to have vi- obtained during structured rites. Many
sions in fasting rites was interpreted as a groups did have structured rites for
lack of creative power and an inhibition women, often near the family dwelling,
of social development; unsuccessful in the gardens, or while sleeping on the
dreamers were seen as “ordinary people” drying racks for corn and squash. Never-
rather than outstanding leaders or spiri- theless, spontaneous visions are more
tual teachers (Irwin 2000). common for women in the general
Vision seeking is also not reducible to ethnography than for men (Irwin 1994,
a fixed ritual pattern. Rituals of vision 83–97; Irwin 2001).
seeking are highly diverse, some very A typical contemporary and pantribal
structured with careful directions by vision fasting rite, for both men and
highly qualified advisers, others more women, usually begins by gaining the
spontaneous and often with no direct permission of a medicine person or
supervision by elders or religious profes- other elder to supervise the rite through
sionals. Further, visions that occur spon- an offering of tobacco or other gifts.
1130
Closely resembling some Plains Nation Lakota hanblecheya rite was recorded by
traditions, the one to fast is often re- Walker in the 1890s (see DeMallie and
quired to make a series of tobacco ties, Jahner 1980, 129–132).
each made of a small 6 by 6 inch piece of The visions given in the rites of fasting
colored cloth tied up to enclose tobacco are highly variable. Often they have a
and other contents, while the maker material or symbolic content that results
prays for a successful vision as he or she in the visionary’s fashioning ritual ob-
makes each one. Often hundreds of jects as seen in the vision. This includes
these are made, in four colors, and then feather fans, rattles, hoops, shields,
are tied in a long string—long enough to paint, various animal or plant items, and
create a circle on the ground in which the often, in the Plains traditions, a pipe and
faster will carry out the fasting rite. After tobacco, as well as specific herbs or med-
all the preliminary rites have been pre- icine used in carrying out the vision rit-
formed, the faster and the guide, often ual. The dream is thus encoded into vari-
with some singers, will take a sweat in a ous symbolic forms that are considered
special lodge, usually before or at dawn. to be directly connected to the sacred
The faster, purified, will then be taken to powers of the vision. The vision forms
a high butte where he or she will lay may be painted on walls or teepees, on
down the tobacco tie circle (about 6 to 8 the body, on horses, or carved in wood or
feet in diameter, with the four directions stone as in the Northwest; certain ob-
marked by small, 2-foot red painted jects, such as crystals, may be embedded
forked sticks) under the supervision of in the physical body of the visionary by
the medicine person. Then, often carry- the dream spirits, as among the Califor-
ing a pipe, he or she will enter the circle nia Shasta. Often the dream spirits are
with minimal clothing on, with a blanket thought to reside in the body and to
but no food or water, and then spend leave it only at death. The various ob-
four days and nights fasting and praying jects, or their representations, are then
for a vision. After the fast ends, the medi- collected and placed into a bundle and
cine person will escort the faster back to kept by the visionary to be opened only
the sweatlodge, and another sweat will on special occasions for the perfor-
be taken during which the faster will nar- mance of the vision rite. These rites have
rate his or her vision observations, expe- traditionally been rites of healing, hunt-
riences, and impressions during the fast. ing, fishing, war, or planting and care of
Often the medicine person will then in- sacred gardens. In contemporary times,
terpret the vision or possibly tell the these rites have been more oriented to
faster to wait for more dreams. Such a community healing and empowerment.
fasting rite is considered a preliminary Usually there is a set of songs given, and
rite to the Sun Dance in some Plains these are generally sung when the ritual
groups. A classic description of the is performed. The vision is only rarely
1131
narrated, and there is a belief that telling tation that he or she will demonstrate
the vision will exhaust or give away the some unusual or remarkable ability that
power. Sometimes the rites are commu- comes only through the vision. Failure to
nal ceremonies and other times they are produce this demonstration will dis-
individual practices, but both are usually credit the vision. Only when the person
for the good of the community (Irwin can truly demonstrate the power of the
1994, 211–236). Some powers of the vi- dream is it considered real and valid
sionary world can be harmful, and those (ibid., 163–184).
dream rites are kept secret and rarely dis- A contemporary interpretative con-
cussed or even mentioned. cern has been to highlight the alternative
Most vision seeking results in a paradigm of knowledge that the vision
demonstration of the power or gift of the seeking rite has institutionalized. In Na-
dream that was given. Often this demon- tive theory, visions are based in an epis-
stration is not given for many years as temology that maintains clear connec-
the visionary continues to seek additions between the dreaming and waking
tional dreams or a deeper core of the vi- states, and vision seeking is seen as a
sion and its relationship to the ritual and means for increasing contact with tangi-
social life of the community before en- ble sources of both spiritual and practi-
acting it. Alternatively, a vision may be a cal knowledge. Vision questing is not,
specific call for a change in ritual pat- therefore, interpreted by Indian people
terns or for initiating new cycles of ritual. in terms of psychological or psycho-
As a call for ritual or as ritual changes, physiognomic responses to stress, sen-
the dream or vision is more often spon- sory deprivation, changes in body chem-
taneous, whereas the vision of a specific, istry, and the like, as is usually the case in
individual practice is more often part of a Western interpretations of these phe-
vision seeking rite. In some traditions nomena. In the Native context, vision
there is a period of waiting, often signi- fasting is seen as a means to access vari-
fied by four dreams that further em- ous planes of reality, through sacred vi-
power the individual. Or the visionary sion sites, which requires a special ca-
may not understand how to enact the vi- pacity to enter the dreaming state.
sion and may wait for further instruc- Understanding vision quest rites also re-
tions. When the visionary reaches matu- quires grasping the epistemology of
rity, he or she will then announce to the dreaming, as well as the discourse
community the rite or demonstration. A frames for interpretation within the reli-
special time will be chosen, and the indi- gious context of the vision seeker, as well
vidual will then perform the dream rite, as the preformative genres that provide a
opening the bundle and singing the ap- social arena for the enactment of the
propriate songs while performing ac- dream or vision (Tedlock 1987, 23–25).
tions seen in the vision, with the expec- Vision seeking is inseparable from a reli-
1132
gious cosmology and theories of knowl- stereotyped borrowing has resulted in a

edge that ground the vision seeking rite “spirituality for sale” mentality that pays
and the dream experience in the narra- little or no attention to the authentic
tive landscape of the visionary. This epis- practice and its role in community life
temology necessarily includes concepts and development (Jocks 2000). In most
of personhood, self, social roles, and cases the vision fast has been a means for
communal responsibilities—all of which strengthening communal ties to a sacred
are linked to the vision seeking process. view of the world, in Native language and
It also includes a wide range of visionary in the context of a rich and complex spir-
states, paranormal abilities, out-of-body ituality. It has never been seen as an iso-
narratives, and various types of trance or lated, separate practice, remote from
altered states of awareness. Native tradi- community, but always taken as a means
tions have a rich phenomenology of the for deeper engagement with the full
vision rite, its symbolism, social applica- complexity of communal religious life.
tion, and semiotic context that is insepa- Lee Irwin
rable from the interpretation of the vi- See also Ceremony and Ritual, Nez Perce;
sion or dream. Ceremony and Ritual, Northwest;
In contemporary Native culture, vi- Ceremony and Ritual, Southeast; Datura;
Dreamers and Prophets; Dreams and
sion seeking is still widely practiced in Visions; Female Spirituality; Kinship; Native
many communities, particularly among American Church, Peyote Movement; New
the north-central Plains peoples. While Age Appropriation; Power, Northwest Coast;
Power Places, Great Basin; Power, Plains;
often part of traditional practices, it is Power, Southeast; Sweatlodge; Warfare,
also linked to the general development Religious Aspects
of an increasing ecumenical Native spiri- References and Further Reading
tuality in which certain rites, such as the Albers, Patricia, and S. Parker. 1971. “The
Plains Vision Experience.” Southwestern
sweatlodge and Sun Dance, have been Journal of Anthropology 27: 203–233.
borrowed and readapted within many Benedict, R. F. 1922. “The Vision in Plains
communities other than the Plains as a Culture.” American Anthropologist 24:
1–23.
means for affirming Native spiritual ———. 1923. “The Concept of the Guardian
identity. This is true for women as well as Spirit in North America.” American
for men (St. Pierre and Long Soldier Anthropological Association Memoirs, no.
29. Menasha, WI: George Banta.
1995). Unfortunately, many non-Native DeMallie, Ray, and Elaine Jahner. 1980.
people have also appropriated the vision Lakota Belief and Practice. Lincoln:
fasting rite and offer it as a token experi- University of Nebraska Press.
———, ed. 1984. The Sixth Grandfather:
ence to non-Natives without proper Black Elk’s Teachings Given to John G.
training or understanding of the deep Neihardt. Lincoln: University of
connection of the fast to the larger reli- Nebraska Press.
Fletcher, Alice, and Francis La Flesche.
gious context of traditional Native com- 1911. “The Omaha Tribe.” Bureau of
munities. This decontextualized, usually American Ethnology, 27th Annual Report.
1133
Washington, DC: Smithsonian Kelly Bulkeley. New York: Palgrave

Institution Press. Press.
Irwin, Lee. 1994. The Dream Seekers: Native Jocks, Christopher. 2000. “Spirituality for
American Visionary Traditions of the Sale: Sacred Knowledge in the Consumer
Great Plains. Norman: University of Age.” In Native American Spirituality: A
Oklahoma Press. Critical Reader. Edited by Lee Irwin.
———. 2000. “Freedom, Law and Prophecy: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
A Brief History of Native American St. Pierre, Mark, and Tilda Long Soldier.
Religious Resistance.” In Native 1995. Walking in a Sacred Manner:
American Spirituality: A Critical Reader. Healers, Dreamers and Pipe Carriers—
Edited by Lee Irwin. Lincoln: University Medicine Women of the Plains Indians.
of Nebraska Press. New York: Simon and Schuster.
———. 2001. “Sending a Voice, Seeking a Tedlock, B. 1987. “Dreaming and Dream
Place: Visionary Traditions among Research.” Pp. 1–30 in Dreaming:
Native Women of the Plains.” Pp. Anthropological and Psychological
93–110 in Dreams: A Reader on the Interpretations. Edited by Barbara
Religious, Cultural, and Psychological Tedlock. Cambridge: Cambridge
Dimensions of Dreaming. Edited by University Press.
1134
W
Warfare, Religious Aspects state-sponsored institution. Native
Americans fought for economic gain, to
Since the publication of Prussian general take captives, to give valued status to
Carl von Clausewitz’s famous treatise in young men, and to guard territorial
1832 entitled Vom Kreig, or On War, mak- boundaries. The Native peoples of North
ing war has been considered a political America also fought to satisfy certain re-
rather than a religious act. Historically, ligious responsibilities and to maintain a
however, more wars have been fought for healthy relationship with the spirit
religious beliefs and institutions than for world.
any other cause. Indeed, warfare was, One of the best examples of making
particularly in the Western mind, war for the sake of fulfilling religious ob-
thought of as a category of religious obli- ligations was the so-called Flower War of
gation. The Western conception of the the Aztec empire of central Mexico. The
“just war” was often explained in terms Aztecs had created an empire, using war
of religious conviction and the adher- as a political tool. Once they had estab-
ence to a specific creed. lished both political efficacy and reli-
In a broad overview, pre-Colombian gious orthodoxy, the Aztecs constructed
Native American warfare had its reli- a hegemonic-tributary imperial system
gious aspects, but for the most part it as opposed to one that was based on
was not viewed as a creedal conflict. Na- military occupation or the plantation of
tive Americans were not usually out to colonies. Non-Aztecs forced into the
change or destroy an enemy’s religious Aztec empire paid tribute to the central
precepts or to further a particular ideol- government but for the most part were
ogy. War in Native North America had not deliberately colonized.
many ceremonial implications to be The Aztec Flower War was fought to
sure, and it was certainly more of an in- obtain captives for ritual execution and
dividual spiritual experience than a sacrifice to the Aztec deities. After ritual
1135
Warfare, Religious Aspects __________________________________________________________________
tween combatants, captives, and cap-

tors. A captive was adopted by his cap-
tor and taken in as a favored son for a
period of about a year. The captive
knew full well that he was to become a
victim of ritual sacrifice—he was shown
where and told how he would die—yet
he stayed on with his adoptive family.
After a year the son/captive was taken
to the temple of the war god, tethered
to a raised platform, and forced to fight
representatives from the various Aztec
regiments. The victim was armed with a
feathered war club, while his oppo-
nents carried their usual obsidian-
bladed swords. He was never killed out-
right but wounded over and over again
with cuts from the extremely sharp ob-
sidian blades until finally he dropped
Piegan man in a war bonnet, holding a from exhaustion and loss of blood. He
feathered coup-stick, 1910. (Edward Curtis/ was sacrificed in this condition and his
Library of Congress) body flayed. The captor, who was an
important witness to the ritual slaying
purification, an Aztec army issued a chal- and attended the ceremonies, was
lenge to and took the field against a tradi- given the victim’s skin, which he wore
tional enemy that had not yet been incor- on his own person until it literally rot-
porated into the empire. Aztec military ted away.
culture—indeed the military culture of all The macabre but intensely religious
of central Mexico—emphasized taking act of human sacrifice was not limited to
prisoners over killing the enemy. The prin- the Aztecs. Several of the Native nations
cipal hand-to-hand weapon, for example, of the eastern woodlands practiced what
was a flat club lined with obsidian blades. has been called “mourning war.” Among
This swordlike weapon was designed to these peoples grief was understood to be
inflict shallow wounds or to incapacitate a a disruptive and nearly uncontrollable
foe without killing. The most honored force. The mourning wars amounted to
Aztec warriors were those who had cap- the raiding of traditional enemies in
tured the most prisoners in combat. order to replace dead relatives, physi-
One form of Aztec ritual sacrifice em- cally and spiritually. The Native nations
phasized the spiritual relationship be- of the Haudenosaunee, or League of the
1136
_________________________________________________________________ Warfare, Religious Aspects
Iroquois, practiced this type of warfare in sticks, the victim defiantly sang songs
its purest form. and downplayed the women’s attempts
A widow or clan mother who sought to to cause him pain. When the victim grew
replace a deceased relative usually insti- weary or collapsed from blood loss or
gated the mourning war. An experienced pain, the women spoke to him in kin-
war leader might then raise a party of ship terms—brother, son, grandson—
warriors to raid a traditional enemy. If and gave him water and food to revive
the raid were successful the party would his strength. Finally, when the captive
return with a few captives to be handed could endure no more, he was killed. If
over to the women of the clan who had he had been especially brave in his defi-
sustained the loss of a loved one. The ance of their efforts, parts of his body
women, in turn, would decide whether a would be cooked and eaten so that his
captive was a suitable replacement for captors could literally ingest his spiritual
the deceased. Children and female cap- essence.
tives were most often adopted into a Ultimately, the sacrifice was a victory
clan. The clan took on the responsibility for both captors and captive. The captive
of assuming the cost of an adoption cere- had demonstrated extreme courage and
mony, providing for the welfare of and had gained a spiritual triumph. The cap-
eventually assimilating the captive. In- tors, on the other hand, had demon-
deed, the constitution of the Hau- strated ascendancy over traditional ene-
denosaunee provided unambiguous di- mies and had shared this triumph with
rections for the adoption of captives. those who had directly participated in
Quite often the adopted captive would the raid that resulted in the enemy’s de-
take on all of the honors and titles of the feat. Clan grief had been diverted and
deceased person being replaced. Gender even assuaged. Overall, the mourning
was not especially important in the war was a deeply religious act that coun-
adoption ritual, and consequently young teracted the deleterious effects of grief,
female replacements might even receive renewed the bonds of kinship, restored
male names or war honors that had been order, and maintained beneficial rela-
awarded to a dead clansman. tions with the spirit world.
Adult male captives, although often In one form or another, virtually all
adopted, were occasionally tortured, Native nations practiced mourning war.
slain, and ritually cannibalized in an act The widespread “scalp dance” was usu-
of spiritual substitution or sacrifice. The ally performed by Native women who ei-
victim, like those of the Aztec sacrifices ther paraded with war trophies or used
described above, was often a complicit enemy scalps literally to “dry their tears.”
partner in the entire process. While In raids, Apaches habitually took cap-
being tortured by the women, armed tives to replace lost relatives. On the
usually with burning torches or sharp Great Plains, numerous Native nations
1137
American veterans saluting during D-Day anniversary celebrations at Omaha Beach, Normandy,
France.1994. (Owen Franken/Corbis)
engaged in the practice of “counting his spirit” and leaving him alive to suffer
coup” in battle. Often associated with a his defeat, was certainly involved in this
system of graded war honors, counting type of highly ritualized warfare.
coup took the form of a spiritual battle. It But on occasions an enemy might be
was widely understood that the acts of humiliated without even knowing it—
coup in battle were ranked in order. First thus reinforcing the notion that coup
and foremost was touching an enemy in was “spiritual warfare.” One of the most
battle with a special “coup stick,” lance, famous coup stories ever recorded con-
bow, or even the hand. Of secondary im- cerned a Comanche warrior, who on a
portance was stealing an enemy’s fa- previous raid had stolen a Ute enemy’s
vorite horse, which might be tethered special blanket. One night this warrior,
close to his tepee, or taking an enemy’s accompanied only by a young man to
shield or weapons, or running off a vil- hold the horses, donned the blanket
lage’s entire horse herd. The lowest form and strode into a Ute village. The Utes
of coup was killing the enemy. The idea were involved in a hand game, and
of humiliating the enemy, or “capturing nearly the entire populace was in a par-
1138
_________________________________________________________________ Warfare, Religious Aspects
ticular place. The Comanche warrior Compared with that of most Western
went unnoticed and was able to move societies, life in a Native American society
around secretly touching every Ute par- was nonconfrontational and markedly
ticipating in or watching the hand pacific. By definition a tribe is a society
game. He exited the encampment with- based on kinship. An ethos of cooperation
out incident and returned to his own and the give and take of well-defined rela-
village able to count more than fifty tionships between each member of soci-
coups. His daring and stealth were hon- ety are constantly reinforced through
ored, and the entire Comanche village story, song, sacred history, ritual, lan-
from which he came viewed his exploit guage, and even economic practices. Vio-
as a great defeat for the Utes. That the lence was normally directed toward other
Utes themselves did not know of their groups, most notably traditional enemies.
defeat at the hand of a single Comanche Having traditional foes in many ways
warrior mattered not at all. By decep- strengthened the internal cooperative
tion and courage their spirits had been ethos of tribal groups and made war an
captured. act that was considered the very opposite
Female Diné army soldiers. Shiprock Navajo Fair, Shiprock New Mexico, 2004. (Marilyn “Angel”
Wynn/Nativestock)
1139
of normal behavior. Most Native peoples Diné (Navajo) Enemy Way, for example,
did not have a specific word for war as it is is usually a four- to seven-day ceremony
defined in the Western world. In the O’od- during which a medicine man and his
ham language, for example, war is the helpers utilize sand paintings, songs,
equivalent of chaos. In consequence, and particular symbols to restore the in-
most Native peoples devised specific war dividual warrior to health. Diné medi-
ceremonies intended to convey individ- cine, like Western medicine, functions to
ual warriors as well as entire societies cure the body, mind, and spirit of the in-
from normality to abnormal circum- dividual. But Diné medicine, like that of
stances and behaviors and back again. most other tribal forms, also seeks to re-
Before a war expedition was under- store the harmony of the individual’s en-
taken, medicine people were called vironment. In other words, Native Amer-
upon to perform purification and pro- ican medicine, especially that connected
tection ceremonies to ensure the safe re- with warfare, recognizes that an individ-
turn of warriors. They were also con- ual’s trauma spreads across an entire
sulted to interpret signs and omens community, disrupting the balance of
regarding a forthcoming conflict. Spe- life. Nearly every tribal society has a par-
cial prayers and songs were used to call ticular word to describe the goal of a bal-
upon the spirits in order to guarantee anced, orderly, harmonious existence
the success of a war party. Cherokee within a particular landscape. Loosely
warriors were secluded for a period of translated, the terms mean the “peace,”
time, then took part in a series of dances the “way,” or the “path.”
intended to inspire them to victory. Each tribe’s sacred history usually in-
Upon their return from a successful raid cludes stories about how and why a cere-
or pitched battle, Cherokee warriors mony to cure a particular illness is used.
handed over captives or booty to their Most often, holy people, heroes, or the
female relatives and again went into spirits give a ceremony to the people so
seclusion. When properly cleansed of that they will have the power to restore
the taint and trauma of battle, they often health and harmony to their particular
donned masks and danced in a victory world. The Diné Enemy Way ceremony is
celebration. a recitation of the story of Monster
Like the Cherokees, most tribes de- Slayer, who slew the monsters of the
vised ceremonies that honored returning world in order to provide a safe place for
warriors and attempted to heal them human beings to dwell. After he had ac-
both physically and emotionally of the complished that formidable task and
trauma of battle. Because conflict was had abused his special powers to do so,
viewed as an extraordinary and disrup- he fell ill. Another Holy Being recognized
tive activity, it was often treated very that Monster Slayer’s illness had been
much like any other serious illness. The brought on as a result of the death and
1140
___________________________________________ Whaling, Religious and Cultural Implications
destruction he himself had wrought. The Cant of Conquest. New York: W. W.

Holy Being devised the Enemy Way to Norton.
Turney-High, Harry Holbert. 1971. Primitive
purge Monster Slayer of the trauma of War: Its Practice and Concepts.
seeing so much death and to restore the Columbia: University of South Carolina
beauty of the natural world. The teach- Press.
———. 1993. Way of the Warrior.
ings of the Diné sacred history are thus Alexandria, VA.: Time-Life Books.
applied to certain curative processes, in
this case warfare.
Although Native Americans went to
war for many different reasons, they all Whaling, Religious and
recognized it as an extraordinary, per-
haps even mysterious, event. Warriors
often sought spiritual powers to aid Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth Whaling
them in combat; they also sought super- Traditions
natural assistance in returning them to Coastal peoples throughout the Pacific
peace. War, among some peoples, may Northwest and the Arctic have relied
have been a spiritual experience or a way heavily on success in whale hunting for
of serving the deities to ensure a pros- their livelihood. Whaling traditions
perous and happy life. All Native peo- formed a central aspect of cultural life
ples, however, understood that because and religious practice, as well as subsis-
war was a terrible and terrifying experi- tence materials. Complex ritual and cer-
ence it absolutely required religious emonial practices arose throughout the
comprehension and sacred attention. millennia to ensure communities suc-
Tom Holm cess in their hunting endeavors. For all of
See also Ceremony and Ritual, Diné; Oral these communities, success in the hunt
Traditions, Pueblo; Oral Traditions, Western is believed to be dependent upon a good
Plains; Power, Plains
relationship between the human com-
munity and the whales. Whales are not
Beck, Peggy V., et al. 1995. The Sacred: Ways
of Knowledge, Sources of Life. Tsaile, AZ: caught but rather give themselves will-
Navajo Community College Press. ingly to a community that has earned
Holm, Tom. 1995. Strong Hearts, Wounded
their respect and affection through
Souls. Austin: University of Texas Press.
———. 2002. “American Indian Warfare.” In proper ritual preparations and respectful
A Companion to American Indian treatment of the whale after it is killed.
History. Edited by Philip J. Deloria and
Today, many Native communities seek
Neal Salisbury. Malden, MA: Blackwell
Companions to American History. to continue their traditional whaling
Hultdrantz, Ake. 1980. The Religions of the practices, arguing that they are central to
American Indians. Berkeley: University of their religious and cultural existence as a
California Press.
Jennings, Francis. 1976. The Invasion of people. This has resulted in political
America: Indians, Colonialism and the protests and confrontations between
1141
Whaling, Religious and Cultural Implications ____________________________________________
Native communities and some environ- and maintain a collectivity. In 1978 they
mental groups. Native communities changed their name to Nuu-chah-nulth,
argue that such protestors do not under- which means “all along the mountains.”
stand the sacred nature of indigenous Topographically, the traditional territory
whaling, its religious and cultural signif- of the Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth con-
icance, or the ritual practices that ac- sists of steep and rocky terrain with
company it. In order to understand mountain ranges—the Coast Range in
these cultural dynamics more fully, it is British Columbia and the Cascades in
helpful to look at particular tribal tradi- Washington and Oregon—acting as nat-
tions, as well as the religious and cul- ural dividers, cutting off those seafaring,
tural traditions that structure their ap- maritime peoples from the inland
proach to whaling and their relationship hunter and gatherer societies. These
with whales. This essay focuses on the natural boundaries surrounding the var-
whaling traditions of the Makah and ious indigenous groups resulted in a
Nuu-chah-nulth peoples of the Pacific large number of small, autonomous,
Northwest coast. coastal indigenous societies (Kehoe
The Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth peo- 1981, 403–406).
ples’ traditional territory is in the central The Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth are
Northwest coast, the Makah in the Cape among the Wakashan-speaking peoples,
Flattery area at the northwestern tip of sharing linguistic ties, cultural patterns,
the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and a tradition of hunting whales. The
State, and the Nuu-chah-nulth on the Nootkan language is separated into three
west coast of Vancouver Island in British dialectic divisions: Nootka proper, spo-
Columbia. The Makah refer to them- ken from Cape Cook to the east shore of
selves as the Kwih-dich-chuh-ahtx, “Peo- Barclay Sound; Nitinat, used by the
ple who live by the rocks and the sea- groups of Pacheena and Nitinat Lake;
gulls.” They received the name Makah and Makah, spoken by the Cape Flattery
from their Clallam neighbors, a word people. These dialects seem to differ
meaning “generous with food.” The through a few fairly simple and consis-
name was adopted by U.S. officials in the tent phonetic shifts, so that although
1850s, and since then it has been used they are at first mutually unintelligible, a
both internally and externally to refer to person who speaks one form can soon
the tribe (Taylor 1974, 15). understand the others and make himself
The Nuu-chah-nulth were originally understood (Drucker 1955, 16; Taylor
known as the Nootka (also spelled 1974, 37). The Makah are the only tribe in
Nutka) people, a name given to them by the United States who have a right to
Captain Cook in 1778. Although they are hunt whales secured and affirmed in a
separated into specific tribal groups, treaty, signed in 1855. The Nuu-chah-
they share linguistic and cultural ties nulth are presently negotiating a con-
1142
A family views the body of a whale. Many Native communities seek to continue their traditional
whaling practices, arguing that they are central to their religious and cultural existence as a people.
This has resulted in political protests and confrontations between Native communities and some
environmental groups. Neah Bay, Washington. 1999. (Anthony Bolante/Corbis Sygma)
temporary treaty with the government of among the Nuu-chah-nulth people but
Canada. also shows the importance that was
Archaeological discoveries in the placed on the whaling tradition through
Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth traditional spiritual rituals that were performed in
territories provide material evidence these holy places. Nuu-chah-nulth artist
that whaling has been central to the two Art Thompson says that the legends ex-
groups’ cultures for more than 2,000 plain, document, and affirm the impor-
years. An archaeological excavation in tance and centrality of the whale to both
1970 in Makah territory uncovered an the Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth people.
ancient whaling village, reaffirming
Makah’s oral histories, in which they I was told by my elders that our
clearly had an entrenched whaling tradi- thunderbird headdresses used in our
ceremonial dances are the most
tion. Whaling villages have been marked
important things for our people. The
by shell middens in both Makah and thunderbird, the serpent, and the
Nuu-chah-nulth territories (Kirk 1991, whale are significant symbols of our
171). A Nuu-chah-nulth whaler’s shrine culture and are maintained in our
was removed from their territory in 1904 songs, dances, and artistic expressions.
The thunderbird used the serpent to
and is now housed in the American Mu- catch the whale. He would wind the
seum of Natural History. The shrine not serpent around his waist and go out to
only proves the existence of whaling sea to look for the whale. When he
1143
spotted a whale he took the serpent even though today they are separated by
and threw it down at the whale, hitting hundreds of miles (Drucker 1955,
and stunning it. This made it easier for
198–206). Boas and Lantis also found
the whale to be caught, because while
it was stunned it remained floating on striking similarities in the ritual aspects
top of the water. The thunderbird took of the Nuu-chah-nulth, Makah, and
the whale and brought it to the people Alaskan whale cults, leading them to
for all of them to eat. (Personal suggest a connection between those in-
communication with Nuu-chah-nulth
digenous societies (Lantis 1938).
artist Art Thompson from the Diditaht
tribe, November 28, 2001) Whaling was an important compo-
nent of Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth cul-
Whaling was clearly inherent to both tures and was entwined in the complex
tribes’ cultural systems at the time of web of social interactions that con-
contact and was well documented by structed their identities. Whaling served
early explorers, Indian agents, and eth- important social, subsistence, and ritual
nologists. One of the first documenta- functions. “The unity and interaction of
tions of Nuu-chah-nulth whaling was in the various activities surrounding whal-
1792 by explorer Jose Mozino, who also ing worked to form an elaborate and in-
documented the physical and cultural terconnected mesh of economic, ritual
similarities between the Nuu-chah- and redistribution prerogatives” (Reave-
nulth and Makah peoples (Mozino 1991). ley 1998, 3). Whalers underwent months
The tradition noticeably set the Makah of cleansing and purification before the
and Nuu-chah-nulth apart from the whale hunt commenced. To become
other tribes along the coast, as they were successful whalers these men needed to
the only groups that whaled. There is ev- go through a rigorous and lengthy train-
idence that other tribal groups (Quileute, ing period that included fasting, swim-
Quinault, Clallam, and Chemakum) ming, and purification. The whalers ab-
along the Olympic Peninsula did whale, stained from their normal food,
but it was believed that they learned the abstained from sexual intercourse, and
art from their Makah and Nuu-chah- in most cases lived apart from their wives
nulth neighbors. Writers have theorized during their whaling preparation. They
about the peculiarity of Makah and Nuu- ceremonially washed their bodies during
chah-nulth whaling and why they were the morning, afternoon, and evening
the only tribes in the area that whaled. and rubbed their skin with twigs. “It was
Archaeological evidence led anthropolo- during whaling rituals that chiefs im-
gist Philip Drucker to suggest a linkage plored supernaturals for assistance in
between the Nuu-chah-nulth whaling the hunts” (Jonaitis 1999, 5; Jewitt 1996,
complex and Eskimo-Aleut whaling in 130–131).
Alaska—that at one time there had been “The belief that human beings could
close contact between the two cultures, get power from individual entities in the
1144
nonhuman world underlay much of the considered a strong spiritual power

belief system of the Northwest Coast” that the whaler sought out during his
(Suttles 1990, 4). The guardian-spirit strenuous months of whaling prepara-
complex was integral to many of the tion. If the preparation were done prop-
tribal cultures along the coast. The prac- erly, the whaler would secure a
tice of abstinence, fasting, bathing, and guardian spirit that would not only pro-
rubbing was needed to seek out the tect him and his crew during the hunt
“guiding and protecting spirit” that the but also make the hunt successful
Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth called tu- (Densmore 1972, 47). The whaler, the
manos (Gunther 1942, 66). The guardian one who actually harpooned the whale,
spirit is also spelled tamanawas, which is was a person of high rank and status,
the Chinook jargon word that is used to inheriting his chief’s position from his
describe the supernatural. Many cere- father’s lineage. Thus whaling was
monies in Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth strictly an inherited privilege, and it
cultures included the spiritual quest of was seen as one of a “noblest calling”
obtaining a guardian spirit. (Arima and Dewhirst 1990, 395).
In Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth cul-
For success in hunting, fishing, and
tures “intermediate spirits” were be-
other pursuits, or for health and long
life, Nuu-chah-nulth men and women lieved to “guard the destinies of individu-
sought to obtain spirit power through als,” and they manifested themselves
prayer and through special through visions, signs, and dreams
preparations, usually uusimch (a (Swan 1964, 61). The great Mowachaht
cleansing, bathing ritual). This could
(Nuu-chah-nulth) chief Maquinna was
involve fasting, continence, bathing in
cold water, cleansing oneself with believed to have received his “valuable
bundles of twigs and plants, singing, secret knowledge about whaling” from a
and more. Each family had its own set guardian spirit (Drucker 1965, 134).
of inherited ritual practices and sacred During his time held captive by the
places that are closely held family
Nuu-chah-nulth, British sailor John Je-
secrets. (Huu-ay-aht First Nations
2000, 41–42) witt observed Maquinna’s whaling prepa-
ration. He noted how in the months lead-
It was believed that the intense pu- ing up to the hunt Maquinna continually
rification rituals were needed to attain said prayers “to his God” asking him for
a guardian spirit, and that the individ- success in the upcoming whale hunt. Je-
ual would be “protected from harm by witt noted how Maquinna, as well as the
his ritual purity” (Drucker 1965, 86). whaling crew, observed a fast a week be-
The most important and significant re- fore whaling commenced. They would
ligious observances were connected to daily bathe, “singing and rubbing their
the Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth whal- bodies, limbs and faces with bushes”
ing tradition. The guardian spirit was (Jonaitis 1999, 8).
1145
The Southeast
The Southeast culture area is a region north of the Gulf of Mexico and south
of the Middle Atlantic–Midwest region, extending from the Atlantic coast
west to what is now central Texas. Semitropical in nature, the area is humid
and wet. The terrain and vegetation of the Southeast culture area consists of
a coastal plain along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, with saltwater
marshes, grasses, and large stands of cypress. Rich soil can be found in what
are now Alabama and Mississippi, as well as along the Mississippi River
floodplain. The region also includes the vast swamplands, hills, and the high
grass of the Everglades in present-day Florida, as well as mountains of the
southern Appalachian chain. At the time of early contacts between Native
Americans and Europeans, much of the region was woodland, with south-
ern pine near the coasts and more broadleaf trees further inland.
European incursion, initiated by the French from the Mississippi Valley,
then the Spanish after the eighteenth century, found a region of the United
States that was bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Trin-
ity River, and the Ohio River. The cultures of this region include the
Catawba, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole Nations. In-
fluenced by the earlier Mississippian cultures, characterized by monumen-
tal mound building and corn cultivation, later tribal groups tended toward
sedentary village-based cultures, regional trade, diplomatic systems, and
religious traditions that supported the agrarian lifestyle. Much of this life-
way is characterized by sacred activities oriented toward seasonal plant
growth patterns.
One example of such sacred activity is the renewal festival, an annual
ceremony oriented toward fertility of the soil in the coming year, recogni-
tion of the passing of the annual celestial cycle, and especially thanksgiv-
ing for the bounty of the previous year. Like many regional ceremonies
throughout Native America, these festivals played important diplomatic
roles because status issues were an important part of the process of plan-
ning and celebrating these festivals. The festivals provided opportunities
for young people to meet potential mates outside their familial lineage
group.
continues
1146
In addition to agricultural production of corn, beans, and squash, pre-
contact Southeastern tribal groups hunted game to augment the plant
foods in their diet, and this practice also gave rise to certain rituals. Hunters
all over Indian country are aware of the sacred nature of their endeavor, and
this is certainly true among the peoples of the Southeastern United States.
The propitiation of animal spirits and the need for respectful treatment of
the physical beings associated with them require hunters to hunt in a re-
spectful way; failure to do so runs the risk of going hungry.
Another aspect common throughout the region is the important role
that games play in both the leisure and religious realms. Most notable
among these is the ball game, in which a small leather ball is thrown, kicked,
or advanced with playing sticks (depending on the tribal area) by two teams
intending to score by advancing the ball past the opponent’s goal, as in a
combination of field hockey, soccer, and American football. This game has
sacred as well as entertainment value.
Many traditions have similar regional manifestations, owing to the rela-
tively unified early cultures extant before European inculcation, far too
many for this brief introduction. Suffice it to say that, although the tribal
cultures that call the Southeastern United States their place of origin differ
greatly one from another, the tendency to maintain similar traits such as
sedentary village life, clan and sacred society membership, and regular, im-
portant religious festivals remind the student of these cultures that the
tribal differentiation which is now of great import in these communities
developed out of a regionally aware collection of autonomous villages with
much intervillage interaction and intellectual discourse prior to the arrival
of Europeans.
The village served as the primary form of social organization among In-
dians of the Southeast prior to contact, and political organization also
began at the village level. The people governed the affairs of a specific area,
and village leaders, often led by a headman, met regularly to discuss matters
of import to the entire community, such as the cultivation of fields owned by
the community, or providing for defense of the village.
continues
1147

Some Southeast tribes are organized into chiefdoms, defined as a society
with an ultimate ruler with social rank often determined by birth. Some ear-
lier Southeast chiefdoms encompassed many villages, and these tended to
have powerful priesthoods, leading to stratification in those societies. The
Natchez, Chickasaw, and the Creek Confederacy had well-developed hierar-
chies until the Euro-American political system undermined the authorities
within them. Other Southeastern tribes such as the Cherokee and Choctaw,
tended to be more democratic in their political organization and were less
likely to be inundated with efforts by religio-political American authorities.
Today, the village orientation continues in the region, albeit within the im-
posed Indian Reorganization Act (1934) system.
Astronomy played a significant role in possess this “medicine” or “spiritual”

whaling preparation. It was believed that power in order to whale. Curtis noted
the supernatural power came to a whaler that to obtain this medicine the whaler
“with the changing year,” so strict obser- would go out in the early morning and
vances were made in regard to the bathe in a freshwater lake or pond. He
phases of the moon in determining submerged himself four times and after
when the training would commence each time rubbed himself with hemlock
(Curtis, in Waterman 1920, 40). Accord- (ibid., 39). The bathing in cold water and
ing to Sapir the training period would scrubbing with hemlock were used to
begin “when the moon is waxing,” thus cleanse the whaler’s body of human
being carried out during the winter odor, which, it was believed, “the spirits
months (Sapir 1991, 312). Drucker noted found most unpleasant” (Jonaitis 1999,
how the Mowachaht whaler would bathe 5). He would begin on his left side, vigor-
nightly for “eight waxing moons” (Jon- ously rubbing his body with the
aitis 1999, 5). The whale hunt would branches, sometimes drawing blood.
begin with the sighting of the first new When the branches eventually wore
moon in May (Waterman 1920, 40). away the whaler would go ashore and
Anthropologist Edward Curtis’s re- take new branches to begin the same
search on the Nuu-chah-nulth in the process on the right side of his body (Wa-
early 1900s provided extensive details on terman 1920, 38). “Osimch,” ritual
the rituals and religious observances at- bathing, was done by many coastal peo-
tached to their whaling tradition and ple throughout the year to gain luck and
how the whalers believed they needed to general well-being. However, for whaling
1148
preparation, osimch was more rigorously during the whale hunt (Jonaitis 1999, 8).
performed and for longer periods at a The chiefs were also known by the names
time (Arima 1983, 10). the Above Chief, Horizon Chief, Land
The whaler’s rituals included imitative Chief, and Undersea Chief. They also
elements, performing certain move- prayed to the whale, this taking place be-
ments in the water as if copying a whale. fore and during the whale hunt and after
As the whaler emerged he emulated the the whale was caught and killed. Much
whale by blowing mouthfuls of water to- emphasis was placed on the prayers and
ward the center of the lake or pond. The the seeking of the tumanos, as it was im-
whaler’s movements were always “quiet plicit that the whaler had to “have more
and slow,” believing that his actions than human strength” to capture a
would induce the whale to act in the whale. During the hunt the whalers in
same way (Waterman 1920, 39). The the canoes chanted in the attempt to lure
whalers had secret sites and shrines the whale to the shore and to their ca-
where they performed their special ritu- noes. Once speared, the whale headed
als asking the supernatural for power toward the open sea. But, if the whaler
and assistance in capturing a whale. The had obtained a good tumanos and had
rituals and sites were closely guarded sung his songs correctly, the whale
family secrets. Despite that, in 1905 a would calmly turn around and go toward
whaling shrine from the Nuu-chah- the shore (Densmore 1972, 48).
nulth village of the Mowachaht people It was believed that if a canoe capsized
was removed from their territory by an- or was damaged by the whale, the whaler
thropologist Franz Boas and placed in and his “crew had failed in their prepara-
the American Museum of Natural His- tory offices” (Sproat 1868, 227). Anthro-
tory (Jonaitis 1999). Families also held pologist Philip Drucker interviewed one
rights to specific plants that were used in of the last Nuu-chah-nulth whalers,
the cleansing rituals and to certain songs Aliyu, from the Ahousaht village. Aliyu
and prayers. Even the techniques uti- told Drucker that the loss of a whale dur-
lized by the whalers were connected to ing the hunt was seen as being directly
the spirit world. It was understood that caused by the “laxness” of the crewmem-
“certain spirits had instructed an ances- bers in observing the ritual preparation.
tor on the proper rituals to be conducted But a whaler’s success “was regarded as
in a specific secret location,” and those proof that he acquired a powerful
methods would be closely followed by guardian spirit” to help him capture the
the next generation of whalers (ibid., 8). whale, and, that from there on he would
Prayers were made at night asking the be “endowed with supernatural power”
“four chiefs” (the Moon Chief, the Moun- (Colson 1953, 5). Drucker noted how rit-
tain Chief, the Sea Chief, and the South ual behavior “was considered essential
Chief ) for luck, success, and guidance for all sea hunting . . . but because of the
1149
importance of whaling in native eyes its woman sang during the ritual, repeating
ceremonial requirements were more over and over again, “This is the way the
elaborate and more rigid than those for whale will act” (Waterman 1920, 39; and
any other quest” (Drucker 1936, 47). Curtis 1970).
“Although all crew members were sub- After the whaler left the shore to pur-
ject to many taboos and intense training, sue the whale, the wife would return to
it was only the whaler and his wife who her home, lie down in a dark room, and
went through the complicated ritual of stay very still. “A significant symbolic
ceremonial bathing designed to influ- connection existed between the whale
ence the whale spirit and to induce the and the ‘noblewoman’ in that during a
whales to allow themselves to be cap- hunt the harpooner’s wife would actually
tured” (Province of British Columbia become the whale” (Drucker in Jonaitis
1966, 35). The whaler’s wife was intri- 1999, 8). If she moved it would make the
cately involved in the whale hunt and whale unruly and difficult to catch. The
followed preparation and rituals similar wife was not allowed to comb her hair
to that of her husband. During the whal- because it was thought that if the comb
ing season the whaler and his wife ab- broke it would cause the husband’s
stained from sexual intercourse and whaling harpoon line to snap. She was
slept away from each other. If the wife not allowed to eat or drink anything until
was menstruating during the hunt, she 2:00 p.m. the following day (Gunther
could not touch any of the whaling 1942, 67–68). Many of the whaling songs
equipment. focused on the position and importance
The wife also underwent months of of the wife in the Nuu-chah-nulth and
preparation before the hunt and fol- Makah whale cult, and some even sug-
lowed strict taboos during the hunt to gest that “the wife really is the power”
ensure the success and safety of her hus- that brings in the whale because of its at-
band. The wife “had to observe great care traction to her (Lantis 1938, 461).
in her actions because of the underlying Drucker suggested that the wife exerted
concept of imitative magic”—meaning a “special influence over the whale” and
that her behavior affected her husband could “call it” to the shore (Drucker
and his ability to catch a whale, and also 1936). Elder Stanley Sam says that this
affected the whale he was hunting (Lan- aspect of the whaling custom displays
tis 1938, 461). Curtis described one of the the “power of our spirituality” by show-
rituals performed by the whaler’s wife ing how the whaler’s and his wife’s power
during the preparation period: she held a were intrinsically connected (Nuu-chah-
rope tied to her husband’s waist, which nulth Elder’s Whaling Workshop, Camp-
represented the harpoon line. As the bell River, B.C., December 4–5, 1998).
man sang whaling songs he would walk Prayers were also expressed during
slowly around the woman. In turn the the hunt when the whale was har-
1150
pooned. According to Curtis the whaler whaling, and the gray whale was placed
would speak to the whale, enticing it to on the Endangered Species List. In 1994,
give itself up to the whalers. This prayer following its population increase, the
was told to Curtis by a Yuquot (Nuu- gray whale was removed from the list,
chah-nulth) whaler: and the Makah (and a few years later the
Nuu-chah-nulth) stated their intentions
Whale, I have given you what you wish to resume their whaling practices. In
to get—my good harpoon. And now 1999 the Makah captured and killed a 30-
you have it. Please hold it with your
foot California gray whale. The whaling
strong hands. Do not let go. Whale,
turn towards the fine beach . . . and crew went through months of prepara-
you will be proud to see the young tion, with spiritual observation still a
men come down . . . to see you; and main component of the contemporary
the young men will say to one another: whale hunt. The harpooner, Theron
What a great whale he is! What a fat
Parker, said that the crew was “spiritually
whale he is! What a strong whale he is!
And you, whale, will be proud of all in tune with everything and then we
that you hear them say of your asked (the whale) to come home with us;
greatness. (Waterman 1920, 39) and it did” (personal interview with
Theron Parker, June 17, 2000).
When the whale was captured and It is evident from the documents and
killed it was brought ashore, with the literature on Makah and Nuu-chah-
whaler’s wife being the first person to nulth whaling that the guardian spirit
greet the whale. With her arms out- complex was a central and important
stretched the wife “extended a special component of their whaling tradition.
welcome to the animal’s anthropomor- Ritual cleaning, purification, and spe-
phic spirit, which resides in its dorsal fin. cific taboos were all followed carefully so
In order to make that spirit feel at home, that the whaler could acquire a guardian
the dorsal fin was cut off first and treated spirit that would guide and protect him
to four days of ritual songs and prayers” before and during the hunt. Even today,
(Jonaitis 1999, 9). Following this cere- with the revival of Makah and Nuu-chah-
mony the whale was divided up among nulth whaling practices, spirituality and
all the tribal members according to tribal guidance from the spirit world remain
rank and status, with the whaler retain- important elements of this tradition.
ing the prize parts of the carcass. Charlotte Coté
The Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth See also First Food Ceremonies and Food
tribes stopped whaling in the 1920s as a Symbolism; First Salmon Rites; Fishing
result of the commercial whaling indus- Rights and First Salmon Ceremony;
Guardian Spirit Complex
try, which had depleted the whale stocks
to near extinction. As a result interna- Arima, Eugene Y. 1983. The West Coast
tional rules and regulations banned (Nootka) People: The Nootkan of
1151
Vancouver Island and Cape Flattery. Jewitt. Reprint, Washington, DC: Ye

British Columbian Provincial Museum, Galleon Press.
Special Publication no. 6. British Jonaitis, Aldona. 1999. The Yuquot Whaler’s
Columbia: Province of British Shrine. Seattle: University of Washington
Columbia. Press.
Arima, Eugene, and John Dewhirst. 1990. Kehoe, Alice. 1981. “The Northwest Coast.”
“The Nootkans of Vancouver Island.” Pp. In North American Indians: A
391–421 in Handbook of North American Comprehensive Account. Englewood
Indians: The Northwest Coast, vol. 7. Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Washington, DC: Smithsonian Kirk, Ruth. 1991. Tradition and Change on
Institution Press. the Northwest Coast: The Makah, Nuu-
Colson, Elizabeth. 1953. The Makah chah-nulth, Kwakiutl, and Nuxalk.
Indians: A Study of an Indian Tribe in Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Museum of
Modern American Society. Minneapolis: Civilization.
University of Minnesota Press. Lantis, Margaret. 1938. “The Alaskan Whale
Curtis, Edward S. 1970. “The Nootka.” Pp. Cult and Its Affinities.” American
3–112 and 177–186 in The North Anthropologist 40: 438–464.
American Indian, vol. 2. Reprint, New Mozino, Jose Mariano. 1970/1991. Noticias
York: Johnson Reprint Corporation. de Nootka: An Account of Nootka Sound
Densmore, Frances. 1939/1972. Nootka and in 1792. Translation and introduction by
Quileute Music. Smithsonian Institution, Iris Higbie Wilson. Reprint, Seattle:
Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin University of Washington Press.
no. 124. Reprint, New York: Da Capo Nuu-chah-nulth Elders Whaling Workshop.
Press. 1998. Campbell River, British Columbia.
Drucker, Philip. 1936. Diffusion in Audiotape held at the Nuu-chah-nulth
Northwest Coast Culture Growth in the Tribal Council, Port Alberni, B.C.,
Light of Some Distributions. Ph.D. December 4–5, 1998.
dissertation, Newcombe Collections, Parker, Theron. 2000. Personal interview.
Victoria Provincial Archives. June 17, 2000.
———. 1955. Indians of the Northwest Province of British Columbia. 1966. Nootka:
Coast. New York: Published for the Our Native Peoples, Series 1, Volume 5.
American Museum of Natural History by British Columbia Heritage Series.
McGraw Hill. Province of British Columbia,
———. 1965. Cultures of the North Pacific Department of Education.
Coast. San Francisco: Chandler Reaveley, Travis. 1998. “Nuuchahnulth
Publishing. Whaling and Its significance for Social
———. “Nootka Whaling.” 1951, 1966, 1989. and Economic Reproduction.” Chicago
In Indian Tribes of the North Pacific Anthropology Exchange Graduate Journal
Coast. Edited by Tom McFeat. Ottawa, of Anthropology 28 (spring).
Canada: Carleton University Press. Sapir, Edward. 1991. “Sayachapis, The
Gunther, Erna. 1942. “Reminiscences of a Nootka Trader.” In American Indian Life.
Whaler’s Wife.” Pacific Northwest Edited by Elsie Clews Parsons. Lincoln:
Quarterly 1, no. 1: 65–69. University of Nebraska Press.
Huu-ay-aht First Nations. 2000. “Kiix in Sproat, Gilbert M. 1868. Scenes and Studies of
Agenda Paper.” In Nuu-chah-nulth Savage Life. London: Smith, Elder and Co.
Voices: Histories, Objects, and Journeys. Suttles, Wayne. 1990. Handbook of North
Edited by Alan L. Hoover. Victoria, British American Indians: The Northwest Coast,
Columbia, Canada: Royal British vol. 7. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Columbia Museum. Institution Press.
Jewitt, John R. 1854/1996. The Captive of Taylor, Herbert C. 1974. “Anthropological
Nootka or The Adventures of John R. Investigation of the Makah Indians
1152
__________________________________________________________________________ Winnemucca, Sarah
Relative to Tribal Identity and Aboriginal School founder Richard Henry Pratt, to
Possession of Lands.” In American “kill the Indian and save the man,” the
Indian Ethnohistory: Indians of the
Northwest. Edited by David A. Horr. New Lovelock school proceeded from bilin-
York: Garland. gual instruction and an emphasis on
Thompson, Art. 2001. Personal Paiute community. But Winnemucca has
communication. November.
Waterman, T. T. 1920. The Whaling also angered many Paiute people, in her
Equipment of the Makah Indians. own day and since, especially for her
Seattle: University of Washington work as a scout for the U.S. Army. The
Publications in Anthropology, vol. 1,
no.1.
tribal museum at the Pyramid Lake
Reservation tells visitors that, alongside
all of her successes and contributions,
Winnemucca may also have unwittingly
Winnemucca, Sarah abetted the forced removal of many
Paiute people north to the Yakima Reser-
(c. 1844–1891)
vation in 1878.
(Activist/orator/writer, Paiute) Winnemucca’s book appears more
Sarah Winnemucca (ca. 1844–1891) was overtly concerned with Christianity than
a controversial Paiute activist, orator, with traditional indigenous religious life.
and writer who worked to sustain tribal That is not surprising, since Life among
communities in the Great Basin amid in- the Piutes was geared toward (and, many
creased pressure on American Indians to believe, heavily edited by) white women
give up their traditional practices and reformers who called for the assimilation
beliefs. The results of her work were of indigenous peoples into Euro-Ameri-
mixed. One of relatively few Paiute peo- can ways of life. Moreover, Win-
ple during the mid-nineteenth century nemucca’s own experience was a com-
to be educated among whites, Win- plicated blend of Native and Christian
nemucca challenged corrupt Indian traditions. She makes several references
agents for their abuses of the reservation to the Paiutes’ belief in a power like God
system and traveled widely (often or Jesus, suggesting that she did not see
dressed as an “Indian princess”), com- Christianity and Paiute beliefs as mutu-
manding large audiences with her lec- ally exclusive—as did U.S. policy of that
tures on Paiute culture and concerns. In time—but as mutually sustaining and
1883 she became one of the first Native continuous. This does not mean that she
American women to publish an autobi- accepted Euro-American theology or in-
ography, Life among the Piutes. Toward stitutions uncritically; on the contrary,
the end of her life, she started a school she openly excoriated the hypocrisy she
near Lovelock, Nevada. Unlike the gov- saw in self-professed Christian Indian
ernment-run boarding schools that agents and settlers. While many critics
sought, in the infamous words of Carlisle have assumed that Winnemucca was a
1153
Winnemucca, Sarah ___________________________________________________________________________
practices in her book. Still, she does

offer some insights into her family’s reli-
gious experience and their syncretic em-
brace (or rejection) of given Christian
practices. She begins her autobiography
with a story told by her grandfather,
Captain Truckee. In it, the original par-
ents of humankind separate their four
quarreling children, banishing the two
“white” ones “across the mighty ocean”;
“by-and-by the dark children grew into a
large nation; and we believe it is the one
we belong to, and that the nation that
sprang from the white children will
some time send some one to meet us
and heal all the old troubles” (Win-
nemucca 1994, 7). The book’s readers, in
1883, might well have interpreted this
narrative as a panacea for the guilt of
colonialism and justification for their
Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, as princess.
(Nevada Historical Society) “reform” agenda. At the same time,
though, Winnemucca seems to be indi-
cating a cosmology that encourages
straightforward assimilationist, asking peaceable and reciprocal relations be-
for help in “improving” her race, it is also tween groups, as well as radically under-
possible to understand her life and writ- scoring the fact of Paiute nationhood.
ing as insisting on Paiute self-determina- Collective Paiute ritual in precontact
tion and humanity. Like many Native times, as the historic record paints it,
Christian intellectuals of her day, she combined dance and prayer, the spiri-
may have seen participation in Christian tual and the material. Winnemucca de-
practice as a way to continue tribal com- scribes an antelope hunt, for example,
munity and belief. as beginning in much sacred prepara-
The anthropologist Catherine Fowler tion and drumming by a group of
has described earlier forms of Paiute women, men, and young boys. Her fa-
spirituality as deeply personal, seldom ther was an antelope charmer, who had
ritualized in large groups or even dis- powers and dreams that gave him access
cussed among family members, so it is to both material and spiritual suste-
possible that Winnemucca simply had nance for the group. Old Winnemucca,
little reason to detail such beliefs and as he was called, had other dreams: he
1154
____________________________________ Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles, Great Lakes
reportedly predicted that dead Indians References and Further Reading

would one day be resurrected to elimi- Canfield, Gae Whitney. 1983. Sarah
Winnemucca of the Northern Paiutes.
nate the white people. Apocalyptic vi- Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
sions of this kind have helped drive Forbes, Jack. 1967. Nevada Indians Speak.
many acts and movements of resistance Reno: University of Nevada Press.
Fowler, Catherine, and Sven Liljeblad. 1986.
among oppressed peoples. While Win- “Northern Paiute.” Pp. 435–465 in
nemucca’s book does not make much of Handbook of North American Indians,
such visions, nor of shamanism or other vol. 11, Great Basin. Edited by Warren
d’Azevedo; general editor, William
Paiute curative and prophetic practices, Sturtevant. Washington, DC:
such practices may well have informed Smithsonian Institution Press.
her life and actions. Scott, Lalla. 1966. Karnee: A Paiute
Narrative. Reno: University of Nevada
At the end of the nineteenth century,
Press.
Jack Forbes has argued, the Paiutes and Winnemucca, Sarah. 1994. Life among the
other indigenous people in Nevada Piutes. Reprint. Reno: University of
Nevada Press.
shifted away from more military forms of
resistance to those based more explicitly
on religiosity. Wodziwob and Jack Wilson
helped promulgate the Ghost Dance,
giving many Native people an immedi- Women’s Cultural and
ate and profound means of community Religious Roles, Great
regeneration. Peyotism has also sus-
Lakes
tained others in the region with its own
healing and moral functions. And, true Aboriginal Nations of the Great Lakes
to Winnemucca’s vision, many Paiutes Area belong to a variety of Algonquin
and neighboring peoples have found in language–speaking groups: Ojibway,
Christianity ways to continue their tribal Potawatomi, Odawa, and Algonquin.
beliefs and practices. Sarah Winnemucca Prior to contact, the Woodland Cree also
is among the best-remembered nine- utilized the northern Great Lakes. The
teenth-century Paiute leaders largely be- southern shores of the Great Lakes were
cause of her significant accomplish- occupied by Iroquoian-speaking groups.
ments, but also because she was one of The northern nations were nomadic,
the few to write and publish. A more fully traveling in an area that provided sea-
balanced understanding of her role in sonal hunting and gathering. Plants were
Paiute religious and political life still available for food and medicine, and
needs to be supplemented by Paiute oral they hunted deer, moose, and birds.
histories. Women gathered plants, which were
Siobhan Senier dried for teas and poultices. They also
See also Christianity, Indianization of; hunted for small game that was neces-
Female Spirituality sary when the men went on hunting trips
1155
Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles, Great Lakes _____________________________________
and were absent for a period of time. In could be called upon for everyday tasks
northern groups, women were treated as as well as for pivotal life events and dan-
equals in the pre-reserve period. In the gerous activities such as war. For in-
southern nations living on the Great stance, one could ask for assistance with
Lakes, Iroquoian women (who included tasks that needed to be completed, such
Mohawks and Cayugas) of the original as securing a particular plant for medi-
five nations possessed a high political cine or catching fish or game for the fam-
status within their longhouses. They may ily’s meal.
not have been in the forefront of the The four sacred medicines of the
community meetings, but they would Great Lakes are tobacco, cedar, sage, and
advise their clan leaders from behind the sweet grass. These plants were grown or
scenes; their advice, especially that of harvested by women in many areas of
the elder women, carried great weight. the region. Tobacco was a smaller and
Women could also be dream interpreters stouter plant than the commercial to-
and visionaries for their clans. bacco that is grown today. It did not
The religious structures of the hunting grow well in the shorter summer season
and horticultural groups were different of the northern areas but was more
because of the emphases on subsistence plentiful within the Iroquoian groups,
patterns. In the hunting-oriented north- where it was cultivated and harvested.
ern groups, property was not owned. Cedar was available around the Great
Families lived in small family groups in Lakes. It could be utilized to line the
wigwams (birch bark, dome-shaped floor of a sweat or fasting lodge or boiled
dwellings) and traveled often. Southern for its medicinal properties. Sage was a
groups were matrilineal in their owner- stocky plant and could be easily dried.
ship of longhouses and in social/politi- Sweet grass grew on the shorelines of
cal structure. Maize, tobacco, beans, and lakes and could be picked when still
squash were staples of the horticultural green and braided. The grass repre-
southern groups. Deer and birds were sented the hair of Mother Earth, which
also hunted, but maize was considered a could be braided, dried, and burned. It
staple. Both northern and southern has a sweet, pleasant aroma and typi-
groups operated on a clan system signi- cally was used for burning or hanging in
fied by animal identifications that in- the dwelling, rather than for tea or me-
cluded the bear, eagle, wolf, deer, martens/ dicinal purposes.
otters, and sometimes a type of fish or All of these medicines would be dried
another bird. Northern groups referred and burned separately or all together to
to the spirits of plants, rocks, animals, create an aromatic smoke or “smudge,”
water, earth, and birds as spiritual enti- which would be used to offer prayers to
ties or as manitous, or “other-than- the Grandmothers and Grandfathers
human-persons.” The manitou or spirit (human ancestors or manitous).
1156
____________________________________ Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles, Great Lakes
Smudging would involve burning one or There were ceremonies that benefited
more of the sacred medicines and both women and men. Both young
“washing” or wafting the smoke over the women and men participated in puberty
head and then the upper and lower body fasts. Each faster made a specific request
to purify the body and mind and to ask for a vision for purpose in life, a spiritual
for blessings or guidance. Depending on name, and a guide, as well as for assis-
women’s menstrual cycles, sometimes tance with purpose and place within the
only sweet grass or female sage could be community. Women and men took part
used if a woman was on her “moon in sweatlodges, which were built in a
time.” style similar to that of a home dwelling. A
Berries were also an essential plant pit was dug in the middle of the struc-
product for women and would be eaten ture, and red-hot stones were deposited
or abstained from, depending on the into the pit. Water would be poured over
type of berry and the growing season. For the rocks, and the steam would rise, fill-
example, a feast might be held in early ing the structure. Participants would ask
spring to recognize the importance of the spirits for assistance with health
the strawberry. All nations of the Great matters, a quest, or direction in life.
Lakes recognized the importance of the Women could also become leaders
strawberry as a source of food, and it was and spiritual visionaries. They regularly
seen as having healing properties. served not only as elders and teachers
There are some precontact, plant-re- but also as medicine people. In this last
lated activities that are still carried on role they often emphasized their skills as
today. For example, if a family member is herbal healers in conjunction with the
ill or has died in a house, cedar branches spiritual power attained through rela-
are immersed in a pot of boiling water, tionship with manitous or spirit helpers.
and the branches are taken out of the In addition, given the desire, compe-
water and brushed over the bed and cur- tence, and a legitimating vision, a
tains as a disinfectant. The oil in the woman could also go to war and receive
cedar needles is dispersed from the the title of “brave.”
branches onto surfaces. Although this is Women’s spiritual practices differed
a practical hygienic activity, the practice from those of men because of their abil-
is also considered a purifying ritual that ity to bear children and their menstrual
usually only women perform. In addi- cycles, and therefore the moon played an
tion, the use of flower motifs seems to be important role in the religious practices
a common thread between all Great of women. Grandmother Moon is the
Lakes Aboriginal Nations. Flowers and overseer of the menstrual cycle, and
plants seem to be accepted as having a women are empowered spiritually with
decorative as well as a religious value, the onset of menses. The connection be-
possessing “powers” to heal. tween Mother Earth and Grandmother
1157
Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles, Great Lakes _____________________________________
Moon is especially powerful for women tion in the fur trade was extensive. Being
on account of their life-giving qualities. nomadic, families would often travel
In northern groups, women were se- with French fur traders. Later, Aboriginal
cluded at the onset of menses. They women married fur traders and had chil-
would be separated from the rest of the dren—hence the term “Metis,” or mixed-
community and stay in a wigwam. The blood children. During the reservation
power of women’s menstrual cycles is period men lost their roles as providers
still misunderstood to the present day. for their families, and many turned to al-
Women are at their highest point of cohol. The hunting land-base was di-
power at the time of their menstrual minished, and men did not hunt and
cycle, and they have the spiritual power trap as extensively once they were living
to interfere with or draw power from on reserves. Catholicism spread among
men’s ritual objects. Even today women the northern groups, while the Protes-
are asked not to join a pipe ceremony in tant faiths settled into the Iroquoian
case the pipe bowl breaks or the spiritual groups as a result of the influence of the
balance and connection between the English in the south. As more Aboriginal
conductor and the ancestors is discon- women became Catholic they gave up
nected. This is not a case of “contamina- prior forms of birth control and started
tion” but rather a respect for women at having large families, becoming more
their time of highest spiritual power. It is sedentary and attending church ser-
interesting to note that in most commu- vices. Traditional practices were re-
nities, approximately one-quarter of the pressed by Christianity and some were
women are on their “moon-time” during forgotten, but a few older people pre-
the same period each month. It is practi- served the women’s ceremonies, which
cal to consider that someone needed to have been recently revived.
look after the children if a ceremony Women have performed primarily the
were taking place. Also, because the same societal and religious roles as they
women were secluded, they did not have always have, from the prereservation pe-
to take care of their households while riod to the present. Typically women
they were separated. It could be viewed have borne children, and cared and pro-
as a time to recharge spiritually. Today vided for them. Overall, women from the
women continue to refrain from certain Great Lakes area revered plants, in par-
activities during their menstrual periods. ticular the ones that provided spiritual
It is common, for example, for women to and medicinal qualities. Women were vi-
withdraw from powwow dances when on sionaries, herbalists, and sometimes
their moons. warriors for their people. The primary
The impact of the fur-trade and Chris- difference in approaches to the spirits
tianity was pervasive in the Great Lakes. was determined by membership in ei-
For the northern groups, the participa- ther a hunter-gatherer or agricultural
1158
________________________ Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles, Northern Athabascan
group. Women were respected for their easy for northern Athabascans, their nat-
abilities in the prereservation period, ural world plays a dominant role in
lost some of their spiritual rituals during forming their spiritual thought and nar-
the last several decades, but are regain- rating gender roles.
ing their status as healers and visionaries The northern Athabascan region takes
in present-day society. up a large portion of the land in the
Marilyn E. Johnson Alaskan and Canadian sub-Arctic. Ex-
See also Female Spirituality; Feminism and cept for the Dena’ina, northern Athabas-
Tribalism; First Food Ceremonies and Food can nations are landlocked, dependent
Symbolism; Herbalism; Menstruation and on rivers and mountains for subsistence
Menarche
resources. Life, ever harsh in the precolo-
Buffalohead, Priscilla K. 1983. “Farmers, nial era, has been rendered somewhat
Warriors, Traders: A Fresh Look at more comfortable by the use of contem-
Ojibway Women.” Minnesota History 48, porary technology, particularly in trans-
no. 6: 236–244.
Densmore, Frances. 1928/1987. Indian Use
portation; however, even in the twenty-
of Wild Plants for Crafts, Food, Medicine first century people die of hypothermia
and Charms. Smithsonian Institution and frostbite. Typical of Native North
Bureau of American Ethnology, 44th
Americans, northern Athabascan cul-
Annual Report. Reprint, Oshweken,
Ontario: Iroqrafts. tures teach that all things in nature are
Hallowell, Irving A. 1960. “Ojibwa Ontology, alive and aware of each other, including
Behavior, and World View.” Pp. 19–52 in
the forces of wind and ice.
Culture in History: Essays in Honour of
Paul Radin. Edited by Stanley Diamond. Traditional life in every northern
New York: Columbia University Press. Athabascan nation requires close work-
Landes, Ruth. 1938. The Ojibwa Woman.
ing relations between men and women,
New York: Columbia University Press.
boys and girls. Their subsistence re-
sources used to require constant sea-
sonal moving, from spring muskrat lakes
Women’s Cultural and to summer fish camps, then on to fall
Religious Roles, Northern moose or caribou hunts, and finally to
winter dwellings for midwinter celebra-
Athabascan
tions. For precolonial northern Athabas-
Northern Athabascan customs regarding cans, this kind of life worked best when a
gender emerge from religious theories brother and sister along with their re-
specific to important women’s life cycle spective spouses teamed together for
events, including the beginning and end those journeys, a custom emerging from
of menses, maternity, widowhood, and a fluid matrix of matrilineal kinship rela-
in the contemporary world, social hard- tions. Housing forms varied with the
ships related to colonialism. Because the type of activity, but all shared one com-
sub-Arctic environment rarely makes life mon element—a single cramped room
1159
Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles, Northern Athabascan _________________________
for each nuclear family of five, and often luck as men. A northern Athabascan tra-
far more, people. Rules regarding behav- dition holds that women can destroy a
ior between brothers and sisters were man’s luck by touching him or his hunt-
strictly enforced. Chief among them was ing gear. Thus northern Athabascan
absolutely no eye contact and minimal women learned to avoid their brothers,
conversation between members of the fathers, uncles, and later their husbands
opposite sex. These customs persevere during menses.
among northern Athabascans of today, The end of menses, or menopause,
albeit in a more lenient form. heralds a time when women can safely
Life changes in women had a consid- develop and be known for their medicine
erable impact on these small communi- powers. The traditional method involves
ties. For instance, blood flow during the Athabascan religious traditions of
menses attracts predators, so women dream interpretation. According to many
had to take precautions that kept the sources, menopausal women often re-
flow under control, disguised the odor, veal dreams that indicate the strength of
and protected their clothing from per- their hunting luck or other prophecies. If
manent damage. One of the conse- women knew they had such power earlier
quences of these concerns was consign- in their lives, they made use of it by learn-
ment of women to isolation huts in some ing the healing arts of northern Athabas-
cases, separate chambers in others. The cans, especially midwifery. Other medici-
entire family had to be conscious of the nal skills that both men and women
danger women in menses represent and learned were eye surgery, dental surgery,
respond accordingly. blood letting, bone setting, and herbal
Northern Athabascan religious tradi- remedies. Those men and women whose
tions provided the logic by which people medicinal skills are facilitated by medi-
behaved toward women in menses. The- cine power are constantly sought for their
ories about spiritual power follow gender expertise. Not surprisingly, precolonial
lines. Women, because of their ability to women learned to identify, harvest, and
become pregnant and give birth, as well prepare medications that helped allevi-
as their power to attract destructive ate menstrual cramps, morning sickness,
predators, are considered to have nervous tension, and discomfort in
stronger spiritual power than men. By childbirth. Some also learned which
contrast, men’s spiritual or medicine preparations could abort a fetus. All of
power, usually thought of as hunting these skills were highly prized in precolo-
luck and defined by the gift of prophetic nial Alaska, and contemporary Athabas-
dreaming to know where game will be at cans recite stories about the healers in
any given time, must be developed and their families.
sometimes never emerges. Women occa- One of the most conflictual areas in
sionally have the same kind of power or northern Athabascan gender relations
1160
________________________ Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles, Northern Athabascan
arises from the rules about men’s and of the community. In Two Old Women
women’s work. The cultural ideals sug- the elders survived.
gest that men were expected to hunt big In the colonial era, northern Athabas-
game, while women were expected to can peoples face new forms of hardship
raise the children, prepare food for im- such as alcoholism, drug abuse, domes-
mediate and long-term use, and prepare tic conflicts, and sexual abuse. Other
hides for clothing. The realities of the problems particular to Canada’s and
sub-Arctic climate, long-distance hunt- Alaska’s colonial histories have caused
ing trips either with or without the entire cultural and domestic upheaval in
family, and uneven volumes of work Athabascan communities. Primary
have always made these ideals ineffi- among these is enforced mainstream
cient. Women must always be prepared education, which sometimes takes chil-
to become widows. Likewise, children dren away from their homes and com-
must also be prepared to be orphaned, munities for months and even years at a
and men must always be prepared to time. The consequences of these
cook, sew, and raise their children alone. changes to women include the founder-
Nothing short of this works in extreme ing of traditional cultural models of
environments. gendered behavior for motherhood,
Conflicts arise between the ideal which are in direct conflict with very
northern Athabascan paradigms and different behaviors seen in movies,
actual life circumstances, and they are heard in popular songs, and witnessed
perpetrated by the very religious tradi- in cities. Circumstances are more harsh
tions that provide comfort and informa- for mothers or women who are heads of
tion in other contexts. The overriding their households. Athabascan women
cultural norm of autonomy usually re- throughout the region desperately seek
solves the tension. Gwich’in author solutions. Northern Athabascan oral
Velma Wallis, in her 1993 novel Two Old traditions provide models for women in
Women, provides a complex articula- times of upheaval. In many stories
tion of the conflictual roles older women are featured as very intelligent
women play in a subsistence economy. people, often medicine women, who are
The story features two elderly women full participants in solving their own
who are cast out of their community be- problems. One example occurs in an
cause they no longer perform work. The ancient Gwich’in Athabascan narrative,
spiritual underpinning to the abandon- “She Who Is Ravished,” as reported by
ment of the elderly is an Athabascan Émile Petitot (1886) and the late
theory that all people should be both Gwich’in elder Julia Peter.
self-sufficient as well as aware of how to Two key figures dominate the narra-
receive guidance from spiritual sources. tive. They are L’atpa-tsandia (also known
Otherwise they pose a hazard to the rest as “celle que l’on ravit de part et d’autre,”
1161
Women’s Cultural and Religious Roles, Northern Athabascan _________________________
“she who is ravished,” and the “Prize women in the northern indigenous trad-
Woman”) and her husband, Ko’ehdan ing partner complex. In any event, the
(“l’homme sans feu,” or the “man with- way that L’atpa-tsandia is stereotyped
out fire”). Both of these mythic figures fits into both Gwich’in ideals of paradig-
are common in Canadian Athabascan matic, autonomous women as well as
oral traditions. They fit into an ongoing the Inuit custom of wife exchange.
discourse about starvation, interethnic Does “She Who Is Ravished” provide a
warfare, and revenge. L’atpa-tsandia model for northern Athabascan women
symbolizes Athabascan women of pre- in the contemporary world? Yes and no.
colonial times who were captured, The answer is yes for the Gwich’in women
deemed by their Athabascan husbands who tell the story often and praise each
to have been raped by the enemy, and other for being able to act alone, make
taken to parts unknown. L’atpa-tsandia successful decisions without consulting
also symbolizes a far older theme that others, and use their ingenuity to find
situated the Gwich’in in a continuum of ways out of bad situations. The answer is
interethnic warfare and trade with their no in that not many northern Athabascan
northern neighbors, the Inuit (Inupiat in women know about the story, and even
Alaska). Petitot also described her as fewer relate the symbols inherent in the
“cette femme, quoique vieille, était par- tale to contemporary situations. In terms
faitment belle, c’est pourquoi on la pillait of spirituality, traditional narratives like
san cesse” (“this woman, no matter how “She Who Is Ravished” are viewed as
old, was perfectly beautiful, that is why proof of survival skills, as well as evidence
they pillaged her without end”) (Petitot of how medicine men and women use
1886, 51; translation by author). L’atpa- their abilities to communicate, find oth-
tsandia, thus, symbolizes something of ers, and survive. However, stories like
immense value to both Gwich’in and “She Who Is Ravished” provide little sol-
Inuit—women of beauty as a source of ace when viewing the body of a child who
strength and intelligence. In a twentieth- has died of a drug overdose or an alcohol-
century version collected by Slobodin related accident, something that many
(1975) she is called “Prize Woman.” As contemporary Athabascan women find
Slobodin (ibid., 293–299) reported, there themselves doing all too often.
are many Gwich’in accounts of women Where are the spiritual paradigms or
who were routinely taken captive by one solutions for contemporary malaise? Most
or the other of the Gwich’in or Inuit and Northern Athabascan women often find
then restored to their alternate homes in answers in prayer; others find them in
the other community. Slobodin wasn’t music or other art forms. Many have re-
sure if the accounts were about actual marked that Athabascan people seem to
people or merely the perpetuation of a be intensely spiritual. Women as well as
cultural ideal about the importance of men have adopted Christian faiths and
1162
_________________________________________________________ Women’s Spirituality, Great Basin
traditions, often exploring various Chris- References and Further Reading

tian denominations in an effort to find Carlo, Poldine. 1978. Nulato, an Indian Life
on the Yukon. Published by author.
their own mode of spiritual thought. There Fairbanks, Alaska.
are several northern Athabascan women James, Sarah. 1995. “We Are the Caribou
who have become ministers, deacons, lay People.” Pp. 221–229 in Messengers of the
Wind: Native American Women Tell Their
readers, as well as taking other positions of Life Stories. Edited by Jane Katz. New
authority in Christian churches. Quite a York: Ballantine Books.
few such women have also been known as Petitot, Émile. 1886. Traditions Indiennes du
Canada Nord-ouest. Les Litteratures
traditional medicine women or healers. polulaires de toutes les nations 23. Paris:
One Dena’ina Athabascan woman said Maisonneuve freres et C. LeClerc.
about herself that she resolved the conflict Slobodin, Richard. 1975. “Without Fire: A
Kutchin Tale of Warfare, Survival, and
by following her Russian Orthodox priest’s
Vengeance.” Pp. 259–301 in Proceedings:
advice. She had to accommodate both Northern Athapaskan Conference 1971,
roles in her own way. In other words, in the vol.1. Canadian Ethnology Service Paper,
no. 27. Edited by A. McFadyen Clark.
contemporary religious environment of
Ottawa: National Museum of Canada.
the sub-Arctic, neither the church nor the Wallis, Velma. 1996. Bird Girl and the Man
people in the community considered that Who Followed the Sun. Fairbanks, AK:
Epicenter Press.
either religious tradition excluded the
———. 1993. Two Old Women. Fairbanks,
other. AK: Epicenter Press.
Northern Athabascan women in the
contemporary world follow a spiritual
path that is complex and without hard-
ened rules. As caregivers, givers of life, Women’s Spirituality
and witnesses of cultural upheaval, most
See Female Spirituality
seek haven in a combination of tradi-
tional Athabascan religious values and
those from other cultures.
Phyllis Ann Fast Women’s Spirituality,
See also Female Spirituality; Feminism and Great Basin
Tribalism; Menstruation and Menarche;
Missionization, Alaska; Scratching Sticks See First Menses Site
1163
Y
Yoeme (Yaqui) Deer Dance respite from public dancing and singing
during the Catholic Lenten season.
The Yoeme Deer Dance is the central reli- While the deer songs and dances are
gious ceremonial dance performed by often performed for their beauty in
Yoeme boys or men. The Yoeme people re- homes and other social settings, deer
side in both northwestern Mexico and dancing and singing is performed for the
southern Arizona. The dance is accompa- most part during the pahko. Many
nied by the music and songs of deer Yoeme religious societies—such as the
singers of this indigenous people, usually pahkola dancers and musicians, who are
during all-night ceremonies called the also usually men; the Cantora Society,
pahko. According to oral histories, during the majority of whom are women who
ancient times prior to Spanish contact, the sing Catholic prayers in Spanish, Latin,
person known to the Yoeme as Yevuku and Yoeme; and the Matichini Society, a
Yoleme, or Wilderness Person, secretly men’s religious society whose members
learned this tradition from a father deer as also dance to the musical accompani-
he taught his own children. Since then, the ment of the violin and guitar—as well as
Yoeme have used the ceremony as a spiri- spectators and sponsors of the pahko
tual way for deer hunters to ask for for- join to create the communal ceremony
giveness from this special animal, whom in which deer dancing and singing take
the Yoeme often refer to as saila, or little place. The pahkola dancers dance in tan-
brother, prior to hunting (Evers and dem with the deer dancer. Acting as
Molina 1987). Despite the end of their re- hosts, clowns, and historians, the
liance on deer hunting as a means of sub- pahkola dancers often mimic and poke
sistence, deer dancing and singing contin- fun at the deer, as well as entertaining
ues throughout the year in contemporary the pahko audience (ibid.).
Yoeme communities as a critical element The deer dance is the physical repre-
of Yoeme ceremonial tradition, with a sentation of the animal that the Yoeme
1165
Yoeme (Yaqui) Deer Dance ___________________________________________________________________
Native American dancers perform a Deer Dance at a pueblo in Santa Fe, New Mexico, ca.
1980s–1990s. (Chris Rainier/Corbis)
fondly refer to as Saila Maso, little and Molina 1987, 62). With the dancing
brother deer, “a term [that] emphasizes of the deer and the singing of the deer
the kin relation Yoeme believe exists be- songs, the ramada ceremonial struc-
tween themselves and the deer” (ibid., ture—with a reed cane roof and
47). The little brother deer, the Yoeme be- mesquite tree trunks for posts—is trans-
lieve, comes to the people from a place of formed into the Huya Ania, or Wilder-
great spiritual power called the Seye- ness World, the place that surrounds the
wailo, or Flower World. The Seyewailo is Yoeme villages in the Sonoran desert and
always located in the east, beneath the that “encompasses a rich poetic and
dawn (Evers 1978). The little brother deer spiritual and human dimension” (ibid.,
also emerges from a place of spiritual 44). All of these worlds collectively form
power located in the Sonoran Desert the spiritual worlds of the Sonoran
called the Yo Ania, or Enchanted World, desert, where Yoeme, like many Plains
“an ancient world, a mythic place out- indigenous nations, travel to gain spiri-
side historic time and space . . . yet pres- tual power by praying, fasting, or seeking
ent in the most immediate way” (Evers spiritual guidance through meditation.
1166
__________________________________________________________________ Yoeme (Yaqui) Deer Dance
The deer dancer himself dances to starts in the early to late afternoon, tell
honor all living things, especially those about the fawn who is just born and
that provide the Yoeme with sustenance. “does not have enchanted legs” (ibid.,
The deer head he wears on his head and 101). After the “world turns” at midnight,
the hooves attached to the belt worn the deer singers sing about the adult deer
around his waist, or rijutiam, represent who has grown mature with “a crown of
the thousands of deer who have died so antlers” but is also playful and sways his
that the Yoeme could live. The two gourd antlers back and forth to the words of the
rattles filled with tiny pebbles represent songs (ibid., 160). During the early
the plant world that provides nourish- morning, the deer singers sing for the
ment as well as medicines to the people. elder deer, the “flower person,” who trav-
The moth cocoons attached to the els back to the “enchanted flower wilder-
dancers’ ankles represent the insect world ness” of the Seyewailo (ibid., 123). In
(Evers and Molina 1987). As Yoeme deer songs that reflect both the personal per-
singer and teacher Felipe Molina narrates spective of the deer’s life as well as his
in the film Seyewailo: “Even though the surrounding environment, the deer
moth is dead, he knows that his house is singers sing both to the deer and for the
still occupied.” A brightly colored fuchsia deer. According to Yoeme elder and deer
or red scarf decorated with embroidered singer Miki Maso of the Rio Yaqui Valley,
flowers is gracefully wrapped around the Sonora, Mexico, this is the way that the
antlers of the deer head to represent the “Enchanted World speaks to itself”
Flower World as well as to bless the deer (Evers and Molina 1987). Thus, the deer
dancer. In the Yoeme tradition, flowers dance and singing tradition is one way
represent sacredness, spiritual power, that the Yoeme actively relate and com-
and protection. municate with the natural and spiritual
Together, the deer dancer and deer world.
singers bring spiritual blessings from the The survival of this tradition in Yoeme
Yo Ania, Huya Ania, and the Sea Ania of communities of both Sonora, Mexico,
the desert world to the village cere- and Southern Arizona, where about
monies. But while the deer dancer em- 25,000 and 10,000 Yoeme, respectively,
bodies the deer spirit, the deer singers reside, is astounding given the history of
vocalize the deer’s relationship with the physical genocide and cultural ethnocide
natural world. Composed of usually that the Yoeme people endured from the
three to four men and boys, the deer late 1890s to the beginning of the Mexi-
singer group verbalizes “the most an- can Revolution in 1911 (Spicer 1980). At
cient form” of the Yoeme language (ibid., the height of the Mexican government’s
7). The deer songs tell of the different campaign to clear the Yoeme traditional
stages of the deer’s life. The first series of lands from indigenous resistance, about
songs to begin the pahko, that usually 6,000 Yoeme (or about one-fourth of the
1167
Yuwipi Ceremony ______________________________________________________________________________
population) were forcibly removed from and there are still several yuwipi men re-
their homes by relocation and forced siding at the Pine Ridge (Oglala division)
labor, government-sponsored murder, and Rosebud (Sicangu, or Brule divi-
and political persecution. In order to at- sion) reservations in southwestern
tain freedom hundreds of Yoeme fled South Dakota. Recognized as wica'sa
north to Arizona Territory and into the wakan, “sacred person[s],” yuwipi men
surrounding Mexican populations are conjurers who consult their spirit
(ibid.). The Yoeme came closest to realiz- helpers during nighttime yuwipi cere-
ing their dream of maintaining their monies held in darkened rooms to treat
homelands free of Mexican control in “Indian sickness,” give family advice,
1939, when Mexican president Lazaro and find lost persons and objects. Per-
Cardenas established the first “Indige- haps the oldest Lakota ritual apart from
nous Community” and set up protected the sweatlodge and vision quest, the
boundaries by presidential decree for the yuwipi (meaning “wrapped up,” or “they
Yoeme (ibid.). wrap him up”) refers to binding the
Juan A. Avila Hernandez yuwipi man at the beginning of the cere-
See also Kachina and Clown Societies; Oral mony. Undoubtedly the most popular
Traditions, Pueblo; Termination and Lakota ceremony during the reservation
Relocation period, yuwipi also flourished in the
References and Further Reading post–World War II era, although there
Evers, Larry, producer. 1978. Seyewailo/The
Flower World. Tucson: University of are fewer yuwipi men today as com-
Arizona. pared to one hundred years ago. Similar
Evers, Larry, and Felipe Molina. 1987. Yaqui divination rites were performed in nine-
Deer Songs/Maso Bwikam: A Native
American Poetry. Tucson: Sun Tracks and
teenth-century Plains communities by
University of Arizona Press. Crow men and women with ghost
Maaso, Miki. 1992. “The Elders’ Truth: A power, Kiowa owl doctors, and in Yank-
Yaqui Sermon.” Transcribed, translated,
ton conjuring ceremonies.
and annotated by Felipe S. Molina and
Larry Evers. Journal of the Southwest 35, Exactly where yuwipi originated is the
no. 3 (autumn): 225–317. source of some debate. While some
Spicer, Edward H. 1980. The Yaquis: A
scholars claim that it is derived from the
Cultural History. Tucson: University of
Arizona Press. Shaking Tent ceremony performed by
Woodland Algonkin-speaking peoples,
and others suggest westward origins
from the Algonquin Blackfoot and Ara-
paho, the genesis of the Oglala yuwipi at
Yuwipi Ceremony
Pine Ridge traces historically to the old
Contemporary variants of the yuwipi man Horn Chips, or Chips (1836–1916),
ceremony are performed by the Lakota who became Crazy Horse’s brother
Sioux yuwipi wica'sa, or “yuwipi man,” through a pipe smoking ritual. Chips
1168
_____________________________________________________________________________ Yuwipi Ceremony
gave Crazy Horse his protective medi- Oglala belief in Inyan, “Rock,” as one of
cine, a small tunkan (“stone”) related to the four superior Wakan Tanka “big
yuwipi powers that he carried under his holy”—the totality of everything incom-
left arm during combat. Chips had two prehensible in the universe—with a ma-
sons connected to yuwipi: James Moves terial body; Sun, Sky, and Earth are the
Camp (1869–1949) and Charles Chips other three. Yuwipi also refers to small,
(1873–1946). Without his father’s help, spherical, translucent stones found near
the former received supernatural power anthills that are imbued with sacred
through a vision quest, then assisted his power because they come from the un-
younger brother, Charles, in obtaining derworld, where everything is pure.
his own vision. Their father, however, im- These sacred stones each contain a
parted personal power to his grandson, s̆icun “spirit” that assists the yuwipi
James’s son Sam Moves Camp (1897– men, and are addressed in sacred lan-
1973), who then passed it to his own guage as tunkasila “grandfather,” de-
grandsons, Sam Moves Camp, Jr. (b. rived from tunkan “stone.” During
1948) and Richard Moves Camp (b. yuwipi “spirit meetings,” or “seances”
1956). Charles Chips transferred power held in the darkness, the collective
directly to his son Ellis Chips (b. 1909), tunkan was̆icun, “spirit of the stone,” of
who then passed it to his son Godfrey the yuwipi inyan, “yuwipi stone,” untie
Chips (b. 1954). Throughout the years, the bound yuwipi man and assist him in
the Chips/Moves Camp family has healing, foretelling the future, and find-
presided over yuwipi ceremonies in ing lost objects. Nonbelievers attending
Wanblee and other eastern districts of ceremonies are struck by the stones.
Pine Ridge Reservation. Well-known Prior to yuwipi ceremonies, 405 canli
yuwipi priests in recent times include wapahte, “tobacco bundle,” offerings
the now-deceased George Plenty Wolf of are made by placing a pinch of tobacco
the Pine Ridge community, who taught in small one-inch-square cotton cloths
anthropologist William K. Powers about and tied; the offerings represent the 405
the ceremony (Powers 1984, xi), and different types of s̆icun in the universe,
Frank Andrew Fools Crow of Kyle, a very and those in attendance take the to-
powerful yuwipi man who conducted bacco offerings to smoke with the other
yuwipi ceremonies for physician s̆icun of the universe.
Thomas H. Lewis (1987, 179ff.). Fools Yuwipi stones are connected to the
Crow, Plenty Wolf, John Iron Rope, and tunkan (hot rocks) used in the sweat-
other yuwipi men also worked closely lodge, as exemplified when Horn Chips—
with Jesuit scholar Paul B. Steinmetz. the Stone dreamer—performed divina-
Elderly Oglalas at the turn of the last tion rites during sweatlodge ceremonies
century referred to the yuwipi men as by sending out his yuwipi stones to find
Rock dreamers, in conjunction with the lost objects or persons. Sweatlodges,
1169
Yuwipi Ceremony ______________________________________________________________________________
often conducted as independent rites wica'sa, then his destiny is to “walk with
without accompanying rituals, normally the pipe,” acquire his father’s ritual para-
precede the wapiya lowanpi, or “curing phernalia, and undertake an apprentice-
sing,” and the wopila lowanpi, or ship; otherwise, a yuwipi man’s regalia
“thanksgiving sing,” whereas they are not are burned or placed in his grave follow-
required for emergency sings such as the ing death. Since yuwipi power derives
seldom-performed okile lowanpi, “hunt- from visions, a yuwipi wica'sa must con-
ing sing,” to find stolen property—with- stantly renew his power through the vi-
out identifying the thief—and the Ink- sion quest at least once a year. But more
tomi lowanpi, “Spider sing,” to acquire a critically, to ensure his own well-being a
tunkan invested by a s̆icun. Inktomi the yuwipi man must not offend the power-
Spider is related to yuwipi because Spider ful s̆icun. Mishandling the sacred pipe
is the offspring of Inyan the Rock and made of “red stone” or catlinite, and
Wakinyan Oyate, “Thunder-Beings,” proximity to menstruating women are
manifested in nature as Thunder and particularly offensive to the spirits. Over
Lightning; hence the connection be- the years, yuwipi men get weaker from
tween yuwipi stones and Inktomi. Indi- the cumulative effects of giving their
viduals seeking tunkan to carry for per- spirits away by naming stones, eventu-
sonal protection from harm and sickness ally losing their clientele to younger
often find smooth, circular stones near yuwipi men.
creek beds, then place them in specially When the need arises, such as illness
made buckskin pouches, or they request in the family, financial difficulties, or
the yuwipi man to find one for them. other family and personal troubles, con-
During the Spider sing, the stone is in- temporary Lakota find solace by smok-
vested by a protective spirit, then named. ing and praying with cannunpa wakan,
Yuwipi is also connected to the vision the sacred pipe, to the Four Winds, the
quest because the Rock dreamer experi- Sky, the Earth, and the Spotted Eagle that
ences esoteric visions that are coherent carries prayers to Wakantanka, the Great
only to another Rock dreamer, also re- Spirit, Creator, and Provider. An individ-
ferred to as the iyeska, “interpreter” or ual desiring to sponsor a yuwipi cere-
“medium,” who understands spirits and mony solicits the yuwipi man with the
communicates with them. Once a dream sacred pipe—or cigarette—addressing
recipient realizes that his role in life is to him respectfully as tunkasila, “grandfa-
become a yuwipi man, he begins an ap- ther.” If the yuwipi wica'sa decides to ac-
prenticeship under a senior yuwipi cept the case and conduct a yuwipi rit-
wica'sa, although the information re- ual, he takes the pipe and they smoke
ceived in the vision—songs, prayers, and together with the stipulation that the
ritual items—specifically belongs to him. sponsor must follow up with a wopila
If the Rock dreamer’s father was a yuwipi lowanpi, or thanksgiving feast, within a
1170
_____________________________________________________________________________ Yuwipi Ceremony
year. The following is a generalized de- sprig of sage to wear behind the right ear
scription of a yuwipi meeting for curing. so the “spirits may know them” during
On the afternoon of the yuwipi cere- the ceremony. Then the paraphernalia
mony, the sponsor arrives at the home of for the altar is brought in by an assistant,
the yuwipi wica'sa with the requested including four to seven three-pound
items for the ceremony: cotton cloth, coffee cans filled halfway to the top with
groceries, and meat from a slaughtered earth, then topped off with colored cloth
dog for the ensuing feast. While a fire is wanunyanpi, “offerings,” affixed to wil-
prepared to heat the hot rocks for the low canes, and the long string contain-
sweatlodge rite, the cotton cloth is cut ing the 405 tobacco bundles. The cans
into 405 one-inch-square tobacco bun- are set up in the northwest, southwest,
dles tied off with string, then attached to northeast, and southeast quadrants—in
a longer string used to mark off the ho- the four-can variant—then the hocoka,
coka, “camp circle,” or sacred space in- or ritual space, inside is delineated by
side the yuwipi man’s house. By sun- winding the stringed tobacco bundles
down, when the sweatlodge rocks are around the willow canes. While the rit-
white hot, the sponsor, yuwipi man, and ual space is prepared, the yuwipi man
several others depart into the sweatlodge enters and constructs an earthen altar in
while the women prepare the ritual meal the center—often out of gopher or mole
and other men prepare the house—ei- dirt—decorated with symbols of Sun,
ther a one-room house or one room in a Moon, Thunder-Beings, and other sa-
large house—for the yuwipi ceremony by cred beings. Next to the earthen altar is a
removing furniture, metal, glass, and ob- bed of sage, yuwipi rattles filled with 405
jects representing Anglo culture and stones, tobacco, the sacred pipe and
sealing off windows and entrances so pipe bag, yuwipi stones, an eagle bone
that the inside is pitch black when the whistle, and other regalia connected to
ceremony begins. Star quilts and pillows his vision.
are set around the periphery of the room After the lights have been turned off to
for singers and spectators, sage is placed test the darkness, a single light is turned
on oversize furniture to appease the on and the ceremony begins with the
yuwipi spirits, and the space in the mid- now shoeless and shirtless yuwipi man
dle is left for the yuwipi altar. sitting in the middle of the ritual space
Once the interior of the house is pre- facing west. First he explains his powers,
pared, the participants enter the room then, accompanied by the opagipi
through the east door, then assume their olowan, “filling the pipe song,” the
respective positions around the perime- yuwipi wica'sa fills the sacred pipe with
ter of the room: men on the south side, seven pinches of tobacco for the Four Di-
women on the north side, and singers on rections, Earth, Sky, and Spotted Eagle.
the west side. All attendees are given a When the pipe is filled with tobacco and
1171
Yuwipi Ceremony ______________________________________________________________________________
topped off with sage, the assistant and a for the withdrawing spirits: wanagi
singer wrap the yuwipi man in a star kiglapi olowan, “spirits go home song,”
quilt, bind him with rope, and then lay and the inkiyapi olowan, “quitting song.”
him face down on the sage altar. Once Once the spirits have embarked on
that is done the light is turned off again, their journey to the west where they live
the room is plunged into darkness, and between the Earth and Sky, the light is
the singers and drummers sing the pow- turned on, revealing a disheveled altar,
erful wicakicopi olowan, “they call them although the yuwipi wica'sa is sitting in
song,” to summon the spirits of the uni- the middle of the altar with the star quilt,
verse, followed by three wocekiye rope, and tobacco bundle placed neatly
olowan, “prayer song[s].” The spirits usu- next to him. The packed pipe is smoked
ally arrive on the fourth song, making by all present, including women and chil-
their appearance known by the sounds dren, who may merely touch the pipe if
of shaking rattles, the striking of floor they so desire, then water is passed
and walls, and peta, or blue sparks. The around for everyone to drink; upon re-
next set begins with another wicakicopi ceiving the pipe and water, each recipient
olowan, followed by an extensive conver- utters Mitakuye oyasin, “All my relations.”
sation between the patient and other at- Afterward, the food is brought into the
tendees; at this time the yuwipi man is house by the women who prepared it,
consulting with his yuwipi spirits. A everyone eats, and any leftovers are taken
fourth song set features wapiye olowan, home. The tobacco offerings are often
“curing song[s],” for patients seeking a given to the patient, and the star quilt
cure by standing in the darkness with that bound the yuwipi man is sometimes
their backs to the altar while the rattles put over the patient’s head while the pa-
touch them. Following is the fifth song tient inhales medicines. When the ritual
set of cehohomni olowan, “around the meal concludes, the individual at the
kettle song[s],” sung only when ritual south side of the entryway says “Mi-
dog meat is served following the meet- takuye oyasin,” followed in turn by the
ing. Then two wicayujujupi olowan, participants, then finally the yuwipi man,
“they untie him song[s],” are performed, marking the end of the ceremony.
succeeded by a dance song for the atten- Even though variations of the yuwipi
dees, and another for the spirits to take ceremony continue to this day, there is
the tobacco offerings. During the sixth considerable controversy associated
set sparks emanate from the seven sage- with the ritual. Not all Lakota condone
adorned intersections of the rope bind- the ritual, particularly those who have
ing the yuwipi man and from the to- converted to Christianity following the
bacco bundle string around the teachings of the Christian clergy, who
circumference of the sacred space. Fi- historically have condemned the ritual
nally, the seventh set features two songs as satanic. Nevertheless, the yuwipi cere-
1172
_____________________________________________________________________________ Yuwipi Ceremony
mony still represents the performance of vol. 13, Plains. Edited by Raymond J.
ritual to unify the Lakota spiritually. DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press.
Benjamin R. Kracht Lewis, Thomas H. 1987. “The
Contemporary Yuwipi.” Pp. 173–187 in
See also Bundles, Sacred Bundle Traditions;
Sioux Indian Religion. Edited by
Dreams and Visions; Power, Plains;
Raymond J. DeMallie and Douglas R.
Sweatlodge; Vision Quest Rites
Parks. Norman: University of Oklahoma
References and Further Reading Press.
DeMallie, Raymond J. 2001a. “Yankton and Powers, William K. 1977. Oglala Religion.
Yanktonai.” Pp. 777–793 in Handbook of Norman: University of Oklahoma
North American Indians, vol. 13, Plains. Press.
Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie. ———. 1984. Yuwipi: Vision and Experience
Washington, DC: Smithsonian in Oglala Ritual. Lincoln: University of
Institution Press. Nebraska Press.
———. 2001b. “Teton.” Pp. 794–820 in Steinmetz, Paul B. 1990. Pipe, Bible, and
Handbook of North American Indians, Peyote among the Oglala Lakota: A Study
vol. 13, Plains. Edited by Raymond J. in Religious Identity. Knoxville:
DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian University of Tennessee Press.
Institution Press. Voget, Fred W. 2001. “Crow.” Pp. 695–717 in
Grobsmith, Elizabeth S. 1981. Lakota of the Handbook of North American Indians,
Rosebud: A Contemporary Ethnography. vol. 13, Plains. Edited by Raymond J.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. DeMallie. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Lame Deer, John (Fire), and Richard Erdoes. Institution Press.
1972. Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions. New Walker, James R. 1980. Lakota Belief and
York: Washington Square Press. Ritual. Edited by Raymond J. DeMallie
Levy, Jerrold E. 2001. “Kiowa.” Pp. 907–925 and Elaine A. Jahner. Lincoln: University
in Handbook of North American Indians, of Nebraska Press.
1173
Indian Entities Recognized and
Eligible to Receive Services from the
United States Bureau of Indian Affairs
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big
Oklahoma Valley Rancheria, California
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian
Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, Reservation of Montana
California Blue Lake Rancheria, California
Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony of California
(Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of
Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas California
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian
Alturas Indian Rancheria, California Colony of Oregon
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of
Wyoming the Cabazon Reservation, California
Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians of the
Maine Colusa Indian Community of the Colusa
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Rancheria, California
Indian Reservation, Montana Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma
Augustine Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the
the Augustine Reservation, California Cahuilla Reservation, California
Cahto Indian Tribe of the Laytonville
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Rancheria, California
Chippewa Indians of the California Valley Miwok Tribe, California
Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin (formerly the Sheep Ranch Rancheria of
Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan Me-Wuk Indians of California)
(previously listed as the Bay Mills Indian Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of
Community of the Sault Ste. Marie Band of the Campo Indian Reservation, California
Chippewa Indians, Bay Mills Reservation, Capitan Grande Band of Diegueno Mission
Michigan) Indians of California:
Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band
California of Mission Indians of the Barona
Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of Reservation, California
California Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan
Big Lagoon Rancheria, California Grande Band of Mission Indians of
Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute the Viejas Reservation, California
Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Catawba Indian Nation (also known as
Reservation, California Catawba Tribe of South Carolina)
Big Sandy Rancheria of Mono Indians of Cayuga Nation of New York
California Cedarville Rancheria, California
1175
Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services ___________________________
Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Cortina Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians of
Reservation, California California
Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
Trinidad Rancheria, California Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon
Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Washington
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne California
River Reservation, South Dakota Crow Tribe of Montana
Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek
Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians Reservation, South Dakota
of California Cuyapaipe Community of Diegueno Mission
Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Indians of the Cuyapaipe Reservation,
Reservation, Montana California
Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of
Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma California
Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of Delaware Nation, Oklahoma (formerly
California Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma)
Cocopah Tribe of Arizona Delaware Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma
Coeur D'Alene Tribe of the Coeur D'Alene Dry Creek Rancheria of Pomo Indians of
Reservation, Idaho California
Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians of Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater
California Reservation, Nevada
Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado
River Indian Reservation, Arizona and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North
California Carolina
Comanche Nation, Oklahoma (formerly the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
Comanche Indian Tribe) Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria, California
Flathead Reservation, Montana Elk Valley Rancheria, California
Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Ely Shoshone Tribe of Nevada
Reservation, Washington Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of
Confederated Tribes of the Colville California
Reservation, Washington Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South
Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Dakota
Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon
Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Forest County Potawatomi Community,
Reservation, Nevada and Utah Wisconsin (previously listed as the Forest
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde County Potawatomi Community of
Community of Oregon Wisconsin Potawatomi Indians, Wisconsin)
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort
Oregon Belknap Reservation of Montana
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort
Reservation, Oregon Bidwell Reservation of California
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Fort Independence Indian Community of
Reservation of Oregon Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Reservation, California
Indian Nation of the Yakama Reservation, Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of
Washington the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation,
Coquille Tribe of Oregon Nevada and Oregon
1176
__________________________ Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Louisiana
(formerly the Fort McDowell Mohave- Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico (formerly
Apache Community of the Fort McDowell the Jicarilla Apache Tribe of the Jicarilla
Indian Reservation) Apache Indian Reservation)
Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California
and Nevada Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians of the Kaibab
Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma Indian Reservation, Arizona
Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Reservation, Washington
Indian Reservation, Arizona Karuk Tribe of California
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts
Indians, Michigan (previously listed as the Point Rancheria, California
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Kaw Nation, Oklahoma
Chippewa Indians of Michigan) Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan
Graton Rancheria, California (previously listed as the Keweenaw Bay
Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians of Indian Community of L'Anse and
California Ontonagon Bands of Chippewa Indians of
Grindstone Indian Rancheria of Wintun- the L'Anse Reservation, Michigan)
Wailaki Indians of California Kialegee Tribal Town, Oklahoma
Guidiville Rancheria of California Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo
Reservation in Kansas
Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
(previously listed as the Hannahville Indian Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas
Community of Wisconsin Potawatomie Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma
Indians of Michigan) Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon
Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai Reservation, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho
Arizona
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin (formerly La Jolla Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the
known as the Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe) La Jolla Reservation, California
Hoh Indian Tribe of the Hoh Indian La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of
Reservation, Washington the La Posta Indian Reservation, California
Hoopa Valley Tribe, California Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior
Hopi Tribe of Arizona Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin (previously
Hopland Band of Pomo Indians of the listed as the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of
Hopland Rancheria, California Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine Courte Oreilles Reservation of Wisconsin)
Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior
Reservation, Arizona Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau
Huron Potawatomi, Inc., Michigan Reservation of Wisconsin
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior
Inaja Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Chippewa Indians of Michigan
Inaja and Cosmit Reservation, California Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians of the Las
Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California Vegas Indian Colony, Nevada
Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska Little River Band of Ottawa Indians of
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Michigan
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians,
Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of Michigan (previously listed as the Little
California Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians of
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe of Washington Michigan)
Jamul Indian Village of California Lower Lake Rancheria, California
1177
Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma

of the Los Coyotes Reservation, California Mohegan Indian Tribe of Connecticut
Lovelock Paiute Tribe of the Lovelock Indian Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of
Colony, Nevada California
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of
Reservation, South Dakota the Morongo Reservation, California
Lower Elwha Tribal Community of the Lower Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of the Muckleshoot
Elwha Reservation, Washington Reservation, Washington
Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma
Minnesota (previously listed as the Lower
Sioux Indian Community of Minnesota Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island
Mdewakanton Sioux Indians of the Lower Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah
Sioux Reservation in Minnesota) Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho
Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation, Nisqually Indian Tribe of the Nisqually
Washington Reservation, Washington
Lytton Rancheria of California Nooksack Indian Tribe of Washington
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern
Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah Indian Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana
Reservation, Washington Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians of
Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the California
Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria, Northwestern Band of Shoshoni Nation of
California Utah (Washakie)
Manzanita Band of Diegueno Mission Indians
of the Manzanita Reservation, California Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut Reservation, South Dakota
Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan Oneida Nation of New York
Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin
California (previously listed as the Oneida Tribe of
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin Wisconsin)
Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Onondaga Nation of New York
Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation, Osage Tribe, Oklahoma
California Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma
Reservation, New Mexico
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida Cedar City Band of Paiutes
Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of Kanosh Band of Paiutes
California Koosharem Band of Paiutes
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota—Six Indian Peaks Band of Paiutes
component reservations: Shivwits Band of Paiutes
Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake) Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop
Fond du Lac Band Community of the Bishop Colony,
Grand Portage Band California
Leech Lake Band Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon
Mille Lacs Band Reservation and Colony, Nevada
White Earth Band Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Community of the Lone Pine Reservation,
Mississippi California
Moapa Band of Paiute Indians of the Moapa Pala Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the
River Indian Reservation, Nevada Pala Reservation, California
1178
Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico

Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians of Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico
California Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico
Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico
Pauma Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico
the Pauma and Yuima Reservation, Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico
California Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of Puyallup Tribe of the Puyallup Reservation,
the Pechanga Reservation, California Washington
Penobscot Tribe of Maine Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of the Pyramid Lake
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma Reservation, Nevada
Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of
California Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma
Pinoleville Rancheria of Pomo Indians of Quartz Valley Indian Community of the Quartz
California Valley Reservation of California
Pit River Tribe, California Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian
Big Bend Reservation, California and Arizona
Lookout Quileute Tribe of the Quileute Reservation,
Montgomery Washington
Creek and Roaring Creek Rancherias Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation,
XL Ranch Washington
Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Ramona Band or Village of Cahuilla Mission
Michigan and Indiana (previously listed as Indians of California
the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Michigan) Indians of Wisconsin
Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians,
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska Minnesota (previously listed as the Red
Port Gamble Indian Community of the Port Lake Band of Chippewa Indians of the Red
Gamble Reservation, Washington Lake Reservation, Minnesota)
Potter Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of Redding Rancheria, California
California Redwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of
Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, Kansas California
(formerly the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Nevada
Indians) Resighini Rancheria, California (formerly the
Prairie Island Indian Community in the State Coast Indian Community of Yurok Indians
of Minnesota (previously listed as the of the Resighini Rancheria)
Prairie Island Indian Community of Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the
Minnesota Mdewakanton Sioux Indians of Rincon Reservation, California
the Prairie Island Reservation, Minnesota) Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians of
Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico California
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian
Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico Reservation, South Dakota
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico Reservation, California (formerly known as
Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico the Covelo Indian Community)
Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico Rumsey Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians of
Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico California
Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico
Pueblo of San Juan, New Mexico Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
1179
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma
Nebraska Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of
Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma California
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians,
(previously listed as the Saginaw Chippewa Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract),
Indian Tribe of Michigan, Isabella California
Reservation) Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay
St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin Indian Reservation, Washington
(previously listed as the St. Croix Chippewa Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation,
Indians of Wisconsin, St. Croix Wyoming
Reservation) Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall
St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York Reservation of Idaho
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley
of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona Reservation, Nevada
Samish Indian Tribe, Washington Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Traverse Reservation, South Dakota
Reservation, Arizona Skokomish Indian Tribe of the Skokomish
San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe of Arizona Reservation, Washington
San Manual Band of Serrano Mission Indians Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians of Utah
of the San Manual Reservation, California Smith River Rancheria, California
San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Snoqualmie Tribe, Washington
Indians of California Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, California
Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa (formerly the Soboba Band of Luiseno
Rosa Rancheria, California Mission Indians of the Soboba
Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians Reservation)
of the Santa Rosa Reservation, California Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians (previously listed as the Sokaogon
of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California Chippewa Community of the Mole Lake
Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Band of Chippewa Indians, Wisconsin)
Indians of the Santa Ysabel Reservation, Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute
California Reservation, Colorado
Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota
Nebraska Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation,
Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe of Washington Washington
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Squaxin Island Tribe of the Squaxin Island
Michigan Reservation, Washington
Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South
California Dakota
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin
Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously listed as the Stockbridge-
Dania Reservations Munsee Community of Mohican Indians of
Big Cypress Reservations Wisconsin)
Brighton Reservations Stillaguamish Tribe of Washington
Hollywood Reservations Summit Lake Paiute Tribe of Nevada
Tampa Reservations Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison
Seneca Nation of New York Reservation, Washington
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma Susanville Indian Rancheria, California
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Swinomish Indians of the Swinomish
Minnesota (previously listed as the Reservation, Washington
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Sycuan Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of
of Minnesota (Prior Lake)) California
1180
Table Bluff Reservation—Wiyot Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray
California Reservation, Utah
Table Mountain Rancheria of California Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain
Te-Moak Tribes of Western Shoshone Indians Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico and
of Nevada—Four constituent bands: Utah
Battle Mountain Band Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton
Elko Band Paiute Reservation, California
South Fork Band
Wells Band Walker River Paiute Tribe of the Walker River
Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma Reservation, Nevada
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of
Reservation, North Dakota Massachusetts
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California:
Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New Carson Colony
York Dresslerville Colony
Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma Woodfords Community
Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona Stewart Community
Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Mission Washoe Ranches
Indians of California White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort
Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Apache Reservation, Arizona
Reservation, California Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, Oklahoma:
Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, Wichita
Washington Keechi
Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana Waco
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tawakonie
Tuolumne Rancheria of California Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of Winnemucca Indian Colony of Nevada
North Dakota Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma
Tuscarora Nation of New York
Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
California (previously listed as the Twenty- Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde
Nine Palms Band of Luiseno Mission Indian Reservation, Arizona
Indians of California Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai
Reservation, Arizona
Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony
United Auburn Indian Community of the and Campbell Ranch, Nevada
Auburn Rancheria of California Yomba Shoshone Tribe of the Yomba
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians Reservation, Nevada
in Oklahoma (previously listed as the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo of Texas
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation,
Indians of Oklahoma) California
Upper Lake Band of Pomo Indians of Upper
Lake Rancheria of California Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota Mexico
(previously listed as the Upper Sioux Indian
Community of the Upper Sioux Source: Department of the Interior, Bureau
Reservation, Minnesota) of Indian Affairs. 2002. Federal Register
Upper Skagit Indian Tribe of Washington 67 (134):46328–46331.
1181
Index
Note: Page numbers in and social philosophy of Adena culture, 585, 790
boldface indicate major the nineteenth century, Adoption
discussions in the text. 2–3 of captives, 405, 1136–1137
and sweatlodges, 1070 and giveaway ceremonies,
Abenaki two-way nature of, 8 348
healer Molly Ockett, 865 See also Archaeology; Lakota ceremony, 144
trickster Glooscap, 655–657, Salvage ethnography and pipe rituals, 940
1119 Accidents: Diné (Navajo) and problems with identity,
Aberle, David F., 604, 622 Lifeway ceremonies, 140 405
Abolitionists, 846–847 Achina, lishina apo wanji, 168 AFA. See Asatru Folk
Abortion, 1160 Achomawi, 330 Assembly
Above Chief, 1149 Acoma Pueblo, 184, 445 Afterlife
Academic study of American Acorn, 366, 385 Choctaw beliefs, 586–587
Indian religious Acorn Feast, 130, 1017 Coast Salish beliefs, 815
traditions, 1–13 ACPAC. See American communication through
contemporary scholarship, Committee for the dreams, 237, 747
2, 7–9 Preservation of and Cry ceremony,
cultural relativism, 4–5 Archaeological 193–195, 759
debates over treatment of Collections Delaware beliefs, 576–579
human remains, 20, 24, Adair, James, 696 heaven/hell-type concepts,
432–436, 880–883 Adalbehya, 980 579, 588, 765–766, 829,
failure to account for Adaldaguan, 208 932
adaptation and Adaltoyui society, 982 kachinas as manifestations
resistance of Native Adams, Robert, 883 of deceased ancestors,
cultures, 6 Adaptation, accommodation, 429–431
female rituals ignored, 282, and resistance of Native location of the afterworld,
289 cultures, 6 194–195, 591, 759
historical particularism, and Arapaho, 124–125 and Midéwiwin, 967
4–5 and the arts, 48 Pitt River beliefs, 954
insider perspective, 7 and boarding schools, Salt Song Trail, 194–195,
and intellectual property 80–81 759
rights of Native and buffalo herds as a souls retrieved from by
communities, 8. See also reservation industry, 92 spirit doctors, 373, 667,
Intellectual property in Erdrich’s novels about 992–998, 872
rights the Ojibwa, 265–270 Southwest beliefs, 429–431,
and Ishi case, 11–13 and Handsome Lake, 933 589–592
and missionaries, 1, 2, 179, and Paiute, 1155 spirit/body division, 370,
512–513, 678, 698 and Plains art, 56 484, 574, 869
and oral traditions, 9, resistance to See also Ancestors;
633–635, 643, 959 missionization, 526, 534, Burial/memorial rituals;
and politics, 2, 6–8, 432–436 544, 551–553, 556–557 Ghosts; Mediums;
and retraditionalism/ See also Christianity, Mourning rituals;
identity movements, Indianization of; Warfare Reincarnation; Souls
906–908 Adawehi, 1040 Agayuliluteng, 719
1183
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Age-grade lodges, 119–120, Alaska, 513 two-spirit people, 329

764, 979. See also Orders, Alaska Native Claims whaling, 466
guilds, and sacred Settlement Act of 1971, Alexie, Cyril, 720–721
societies 642 Alexie, Sherman, 475–476, 479
Agriculture Anti-Descrimination Act of Algea, Rose, 422
BIA interference with, 1946, 785 Algonkian-speaking people
898–899 attempted eradication of conflict with Iroquoian
corn/beans/squash triad, language, 514–515, 721 peoples, 790
302–303 boarding schools, 514–515, history of tribes, 922
corn cultivation, 302–303, 721, 1161 See also Anishinaabe;
790 missionization, 510–516, Arapaho; Blackfeet;
earliest domesticated 721, 783–792 Cheyenne; Cree;
plants, 302 prison system, 778 Delaware people; Gros
Great Lakes, 303–304, prophet Bini, 811–812 Ventre; Odawa; Ojibwa;
1156 religious and secular Potawatomi
and Husk Face society, 496 leaders, 783–792 Aliyu, 1149
and Iroquoian peoples, relocation and termination Alk’éí, 138
933 policies, 721–722 All Soul’s Day, 591
and Ma’sau (kachina), 498 whaling cultures, 1144 Allen, Elsie, 64, 793–794, 797
Plains, 922–923 See also Aleut; Alutiiq; Allouez, Claude, 522
Southeast, 302–303, 1101, Athabascan people; Almanac of the Dead (Silko),
1146 Chugach; Dena’ina; 477
tobacco cultivation, 1101 Haida; Ingalik; Inuit; Altars, 602, 949
women as primary Inupiaq; Kodiak; Hopi, 163, 449
agricultural workers Kolchane; Koyukon; and Lakota yuwipi
prior to European Northwest; Tanaina; ceremony, 1171
contact, 531 Tlingit; Yupiaq (Yup’iq) peyote religion, 602, 603,
women’s rituals, 282 Albert, Father, 557 604, 619
See also specific crops Alcatraz Island occupation, 6, Pueblo-Catholic parallels,
Ah tawh hung nah, 168 16 554–555
Ahayuuta, 161, 689–691 Alcohol Altruism, 746–747. See also
Ahöla, 447, 498 alcoholism and healing, Gift-giving/give-away
Ai-Yal, 416(photo) 363–364, 1081 ceremonies; Reciprocity
AIAD. See American Indians and Indian Shaker Church, Alutiiq
Against Desecration 416, 418 language study, 513, 789
AIM. See American Indian peyote use equated with, and missionization, 511,
Movement 607 512, 513, 515
Aiowantha, 864 and poetry, 714 Alvord, Lori Arviso, 858
Aitken, Larry, 808 and prison system, 774–777 American Bison Society, 89
Akbaalia, 762 and prophets, 238, 239, 416, American Committee for the
Akbaatatdia, 708 417, 931 Preservation of
Akimel O’Odham people. See Alen, Paula Gunn, 479 Archaeological
Pima Aleut Collections (ACPAC), 872
Akopti, 982 language, 513 American Indian Movement
Alabama people and missionization, (AIM), 6, 15–18
Beloved Men, Women, 510–515 and academic study, 2
towns, 69 spiritual leader Anfesia and grave desecration
War Dance, 207 Shapsnikoff, 791–792 issues, 583, 881
Alabama (state), spiritual leader Ivan and relocation/termination
archaeological sites, 167, Pan’kov, 811 policies, 1096
306 spiritual leaders, 510 and Sun Dance, 1053, 1058
1184
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
See also Aquash, Annie Anderson, Elizabeth, 804 spirit helpers; specific
Mae; Banyacya, Thomas; Anderson, Leon, 623 animals
Brave Bird, Mary; Crow Andrews, Lynn, 627 Animals, in oral traditions
Dog, Leonard; Deere, Andrus, Cecil, 459–460, Athabascan, 660–662
Philip; Fools Crow, Frank 465–469 Columbia Plateau, 680–685
American Indian Myths and Ane:tso, 60–61 Great Lakes, 674–677
Legends (Erdoes and Angalkuq (Tuunrilría), Northwest, 664, 665, 705
Ortiz), 714 18–19, 171–174, Plains, 709
American Indian Religious 717–721 Pueblo, 688
Freedom Act of 1978 Anglican Church, 530–534 See also Tricksters
(AIRFA), 457, 458–462, Anguksuar, 333 Animism, 311–312. See also
920 Animals, animal spirits Masks and masking;
amendments of 1994, 462, animal sacrifice, 305, 306, Spirits and spirit helpers
624 1065 Anishinaabe
lack of enforcement, 367, and ball games, 61 architecture, 104
379, 952–953, 963 blamed for diseases, 395 arts, 48
and the Lakota, 76 Cheyenne animal master birch bark scrolls, 108,
and Numic peoples, 862 spirit, 710 966–968
and peyote use, 614, 624 the dead as, 590 boarding schools, 425
and relocation/termination and First Salmon ceremony, ceremony and ritual
policies, 1096 311–312 (overview), 100–110
American Indians Against giving themselves as food, deities, 484
Desecration (AIAD), 881 393–394, 396, 493, 747, foundation narrative,
American Museum of Natural 752, 1021 103–104
History, 1149 gratitude/respect for, healing, 967
American Revolution, 930 391–400, 493, 494, impact of diseases, 424
AMM. See Army Medical 644–645, 666 leaders. See Jones, Peter
Museum and health, 374 Midéwiwin (Medicine
Amopistaan, 94 humans cared for by, 397, Lodge), 964, 966–968
Amotqn, 132 666 oral traditions, 964–965
Anasazi, 225, 261–262, 590 and hunting ethics/ sacred societies, 964–968
Ancestors, 430 restrictions, 391–400, sweatlodges, 965
ancestors’ spirits present in 494, 644 Three Fires Society, 110,
Choctaw children, 587 kinship with humans, 392, 800
ancestors’ spirits present in 438–439, 489, 661–662, See also Great Lakes;
Yupiaq (Yup’iq) children, 1165–1166 Manitous; Odawa;
172–173, 346 legislation on religious use Ojibwa; Potawatomi
kachinas as manifestations of eagle feathers/animal Anog-Ite, 143–144
of, 429–431 parts, 464–466 Anpetu, 649
and masks, 489 loss of power among Anpetu Wi, 649, 651
in Owens’s writings, 726 community of animals, Ant spirit, 1014
and petroglyphs, 734 766 ‘Antap, 748
and potlatches, 740, 741 marriage to, 396, 666 Antelope hunt (Paiute), 1154
and power concepts, 754, in Owens’s writings, 723, The Antelope Wife (Erdrich),
780 725–726 269
See also Reincarnation as spirit helpers. See Spirits Anthropological studies. See
Ancient Child (Momaday), 558 and spirit helpers Academic study of
Ancient History (Rafinesque), types of relationships with, American Indian
693 396, 666 religious traditions
Ancient Traveler stories, 663. See also Animals, in oral Anti-Descrimination Act of
See also Culture heroes traditions; Spirits and 1946, 785
1185
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Antiquities Act of 1906, 880 social roles of women, 280 healing, 122
Antone Cecil, 22–23 souls and the afterlife, 589, history of tribes, 118, 922
Antonio, Willetto, 114, 279, 590, 591 and the Kiowa, 210
1000 spiritual and ceremonial and missionization, 536
Anukite, 651–652 practitioners, 1044–1050 name origin, 118–119
Apache, 958–959, 1046, 1047, symbolism of seasonal Offerings Lodge, 119, 1054
1049 cycles, 227 oral traditions, 119, 333,
ancestors, 226 two-spirit people, 329 707–709
ceremony and ritual warrior societies, 979 pipe rituals, 935, 936
(overview), 111–117 water drum, 250 power concepts, 122–123,
clowns, 185, 187 Western and Eastern 761
concepts of land, 256 Apache, 1045 quillwork, 121
deities/powers, 114, 116, See also Chiracuaha sandpaintings, 985
280, 1025 Apache; Cibecue Sitting Bull (Haná cha-thí
doctors’ societies, 977 Apache; Jicarilla Apache; ak), 829
dreams, 240 Lipan Apache; Sun Dance, 119, 121–122,
fear of owls, 591 Mescalero Apache; San 125, 1052, 1053, 1054
female spirituality, 276–281 Carlos Apache; White supernatural beings and
Gahan dance (Mountain Mountain Apache deities, 122–123
Spirit dance), Apalachee, 550 and Taime (Sun Dance
112(photo), 116, Apes, William, 866 doll), 1064
498–499, 958, 1049 Appropriation of Native tricksters, 119
Geronimo, 856–857 traditions, 9, 625–631, two-spirit people, 333
ghosts, 590 1007 See also Gros Ventre
grandmothers as elders, and healing, 367–368 Arch, John, 844
278 and peyote use, 613, 625 Archaeological Resources
healing, 111 and rock art, 737 Protection Act of 1978,
Izuwe women’s society, 978 and sweatlodges, 470
kinship, 503 1081–1082 Archaeology, 20–26
language, 225 and vision quests, 1133 ancient observatory and
masks, 498–499 Apsoroke sacred tobacco, 735 calendar sites, 631–632,
matrilineal nature of Aquash, Annie Mae, 84, 867 951–952
culture, 277 Arapaho codes of ethics, 25–26
and missionization, age-grade lodges, 119–120 conflicts with oral
525–530, 556–557 Buffalo doctors, 1027 traditions, 22–23, 25
oral traditions, 278 buffalo societies, 119–120, debates over treatment of
Owens’s depiction of, 978 human remains, 20, 24,
729–730 bundle traditions, 120, 818 432–436, 880–883
and peyote use, 605 ceremony and ritual desecration of graves,
places for gathering plants, (overview), 117–126 879–881
wildlife, or materials, and Christianity, 124–125 Kennewick Man debate,
958 clowns, 186 432–436
power concept (di yih), Crow Dance, 124–125, 211 and Native American
111–113, 507, 1047 culture heroes, 119, 708 Graves Protection and
puberty rituals (girls). See deities/powers, 1025–1026 Repatriation Act,
‘Isánáklèsh Gotal doctors’ societies, 977, 1027 463–464, 882
raids for replacing lost emergence narrative, 119, and Native concepts of
relatives, 1137 333 time, 23–24
sacred sites, 258, 471, extermination in Colorado, and Native origins, 21–22
958–959 403 Native students of, 26
sacred societies, 976 Ghost Dance, 123, 211 Northeast, 44–46
1186
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
and peyote, 599, 604, 615 reservation system, 403 and prohibition of Native
sharing control of the past, See also Grand Canyon; practices, 537
25–26 Mount Graham and Sarah Winnemucca,
Southeast, 166–167, 306, Arizona v. Attakai, 611, 623 1153–1155
693 Army Medical Museum and Society of American
and whaling cultures, 1143, (AMM), 879 Indians, 539–540
1144 Arpeika, 853–854 See also Adaptation,
See also Mounds; Arrow bundles, 94, 99–100, accommodation, and
Petroglyphs/pictographs 541, 976 resistance of Native
Archaic period, 44–45, Arrow Person (Charred Body), cultures; Christianity,
365–366, 570. See also 99 Indianization of;
Mounds Art Legislation;
Architecture, 27–33 artistic power conferred by Missionization
Anishinaabe, 104 Double Woman, 651 Assiniboine
Apache, 113, 116 and BIA certification of clowns, 186, 187
Cherokee, 169 artists as “Indian,” 406 Dance without Robes, 978
Chumash, 67–68 California/Great Basin, history of tribe, 922
Coeur d’Alene, 134 38–43, 904–905 Holy Men, 976
Diné (Navajo), 28–29 church art in Alaska, 515 Horse Society, 978
early descriptions, 27–28 and gender, 47–48 marriage to buffalo, 396
Haida, 33 and government schools, and missionization, 536,
Hopi, 29–32 41 540
men’s and women’s spaces, and identity, 904–905 oral traditions, 709
29, 30. See also Northeast, 44–48 and Sun Dance, 1054
Menstruation: seclusion Northwest, 49–53, 515, warrior societies, 979
during; Sweatlodge 701–702, 1023–1024, Ástotokya, 448–449
Pawnee, 33 1102–1106 Astronomy and astronomical
Plains, 923. See also specific and peyote use, 615 objects
peoples Plains, 54–56 ancient observatory and
Pomo, 130 Southwest, 33–38, 225 calendar sites, 631–632,
Pueblo, 27, 226 Tlingit, 701–702 951–952
Sioux, 32–33 See also Basketry; Ceramic Chumash traditions, 749
Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 171–174, arts; Painting; Quillwork; Plains traditions, 709
719 Regalia; Sandpainting; Southeast traditions, 169
See also Kivas Sculpture; Textiles; and whaling, 1148
Arikara Totem poles See also Milky Way; Moon;
clowns, 186 Arthur, Mark, 876 Sun
doctors’ societies, 976 Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), Astruc, Rene, 514(photo)
kinship, 975–976 433 Athabascan language family,
and missionization, 537 Asdzaa Nadleehé, 138 224, 347, 658. See also
power concepts, 761, 1025 Ashes, healing powers of, 496 Apache; Diné (Navajo)
power transference Ashnithlai, 913 Athabascan people (northern)
through sexual Asi, 168 and Christianity, 1163
intercourse, 1027 Asking Festival (Yupiaq), 174 cloth dance, 746
social organization, 1026 Assimilation cultural values, 744–747,
and Sun Dance, 1054 Anglican emphasis on, 1161
Arizona 530–531 emergence narrative, 661
art market, 36 and Cherokee Nation, healing, 1160
Camp Grant Massacre site, 1109–1113 kinship, 1159–1160
403 General Severalty Act of matrilineal nature of
Oraibi Pueblo, 30(photo) 1887, 527 culture, 745–746, 1159
1187
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Athabascan people (northern) Bad Soldier, 826 Barboncito, 857–858, 959

(continued) Badger, 393, 443 Barrett, Samuel, 731
menarche rituals, 504 Baebaeyat stories, 707 Bartlett, Erwin, 774, 779
menstruation, 508, 1160 Bahkyula, 560 Bartlett, John, 1102
and missionization, 511, Bak’was, 488 Bartow, Rick, 43
513 Balance Bascom, William, 208
mourning rituals, 744–748 balancing ceremonies and Basket Dance (Hopi), 164
oral traditions, 508, power places, 758–759 Basketry, 62–68
658–663, 1161–1162 and Great Basin puhagants, Anasazi, 225
potlatches, 744–748 779–780, 861 artists. See Allen, Elsie;
religious and secular and herbalism, 383–384 McKay, Mabel; Parker,
leaders, 787–792 and Hopi Prophecy, Julia; Somersal, Laura;
“She Who Is Ravished” 387–391 Telles, Lucy P.
narrative, 1161–1162 and Hopi/Zuni kachinas, California/Great Basin, 40,
sibling relationships, 429–430 903(photo), 904–905
1159–1160 and hunting, 391–400, 766 designs, 64–67
social organization, 1159 and oral traditions, 660, Diné (Navajo), 139
stick dances, 745 676 and emergence stories, 63,
warfare, 1162 and warfare, 1140–1141 65
women’s roles, 1155–1159 in Yupiaq (Yup’iq) and Hopi weddings, 282
See also Dena’ina; Gwich’in; worldview, 564–565 and identity preservation,
Ingalik; Kolchane; See also Hozho; Mother 904–905
Koyukon; Tanacross; Earth materials for, 64, 66
Tanaina Bald Eagle Protection Act of Northeast, 46, 48
Atkinson, Stella, 785 1962, 466 problems for contemporary
Atlakim Dance, 490 Ball analogy for landscape, weavers, 67
Atomic bomb, and Hopi 673, 675 Southwest, 65–66. See also
Prophecy, 389 Ball games, 57–62, 1147 specific peoples
‘At?sw?n, 229, 384–385, and dances, 221 symbolism of, 67–68
748–749 and Green Corn ceremony uses for, 63–67
Attakai, Mary. See Arizona v. (Southeast), 351–352, Basso, Keith, 8, 256, 257, 502,
Attakai 354 503, 507
Attakullakulla, 698 Hohokam people, 225 Bathing rituals, 1145,
Attla, Catherine, 659, 660 Lakota ceremony, 145–146 1148–1150
Avikwame, 248 Ballard, Sarah Smith, 799 Battey, Thomas, 210
Awahazu?, 761 Ballew, Lauretta, 440 Baxbakwalanuxsiwae, 1088
Awakkule, 709–710 Bamboo, 453 Baxpe, 761
Awi Usdi, 395, 397 Banks, Dennis, 15, 17 Baxwbakwala nuxwisiwe’, 491
Awl (Coeur d’Alene monster), Banyacya, Thomas, 388, Bayagoulas, 221
681 839–840 Beadwork, 48, 651, 695
Axtell, Horace, 433 Baptist church Bean Dance (Wuwtsim; Hopi),
Ayunini, 848 in Alaska, 514 66, 162, 445, 447–449
Azaethlin, 855–856 and Kiowa-Comanche- Bean, Mrs., 844
Aztecs, 1135–1136 Apache Reservation, Beans, 302, 303, 305
527–528 Bear Butte (Black Hills), 708,
Ba Whyea, 956. See also Blue in the Southeast, 551–553, 962, 963
Lake 846–847, 852–854, Bear Child Gaalee’ya Camp,
Baaeechichiwaau, 707 1111–1112 789
Baby brokers, 373, 867, 872 Barbareño Chumash Bear Clan (Hopi), 690–691
Backbone of the World (Rocky power concept, 748–749 Bear Dance, 201, 751
Mountains), 708, 709 See also Chumash Bear Heart, 1043
1188
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Bear Lodge, 948. See also Bellecourt, Clyde, 15 Bighorn sheep, 757–758, 781
Devil’s Tower Bells Billie, Josie, 854
Bear Society, 982 Indian Shaker Church, 413, Billy, Chief, 1041
Bearheart: the Heirship 417–418, 420 Binding rituals, 105, 1168,
Chronicles (Vizenor), Waashat religion, 909 1172
478 Beloit College, 899 The Bingo Palace (Erdrich),
Bears, bear spirits, 216 Beloved Men, 68–69, 71 269, 478
Anishinaabe rituals, 105, Beloved Towns, 68–69, 70–71 Bini, 811–812
965 Beloved Tree/Drink, 69, 73, Biographical legends, 711
Columbia Plateau, 680, 168, 353 Birch bark scrolls, 108,
1012 Beloved Women, 68–69, 71–72, 966–968
gender of spirits, 275 844–845 Bird, Gail, 36
humans cared for by, Belvin, B. Frank, 850 Bird quills. See Quillwork
397–398 Ben, Joe, Jr., 37 Birth. See Pregnancy/birth
hunting of, 396 Benedict, Ruth, 1127, 1128 Birth and death cycle
in Kiowa traditions, 1028 Benton, Thomas Hart, 886 and food symbolism,
and mask traditions, 488 Berdarches, 326, 764. See also 303–305
and menarche rituals, 308 Two-spirit people and kachinas, 429, 498
in Owens’s writings, 727 Berger, Myron, 214(photo) and mound symbolism, 572
Paiute Bear Dance, 201 Bergman, Robert L., 614 See also Afterlife
and Plains oral traditions, Beringia, 21–22, 86 Bishop, Ida, 797
709 Bernal, Paul, 841 Bislahalani, 857–858
and Plains spiritual Berry, E. Y., 1096 Bison. See Buffalo/bison
practitioners, 1027 Berry gathering. See Foraging Bitterroot, 949
as predator spirits, 393 rituals; Huckleberries; Bizane ts’al, 114
and Zuni medicine Strawberries Black Bear spirit, 275
societies, 443 Bethel, Carrie, 797 Black Drink, 73, 168, 353
Beatty, Robinson, 644 Beuchat, Henri, 28 Black Eagle, 825
Beautiful Trail (Diné/Navajo), BIA. See Bureau of Indian Black Elk, Nicholas, 75–77, 84,
138, 140, 619 Affairs 191, 542, 714
Beautiful Woman, 103 Bia-quois-wungwa, 690–691 visionary experiences,
Beavers Bibby, Brian, 66 1087–1090, 1130
blamed for diseases, 395 Bible, and Indian Shaker Black Elk Speaks (Neihardt),
restrictions on eating Church, 419 76, 191
during puberty rituals, Bierhorst, John, 1122 Black Fox, 849, 1042
504 Big Bow, Harding, 1068 Black Hills, 301–302, 962–964.
sacred bundle given to Big Dipper, 709 See also Bear Butte;
Siksika, 94–95, 101 Big Foot, 491, 823 Devil’s Tower; Harney
Becker, Magdalena, 529 Big Head Dance, 130 Peak
Beesowuunenno’, 118 Big Horn Medicine Wheel, 708, Black Legs society, 209, 982,
The Beet Queen (Erdrich), 478 711, 716, 1059 983
Beetee, 122, 761 Big Jar, 1040–1041 Black Mesa, 960(photo)
Before the White Man Came Big Lodge (Arapaho), 118 Black Moon, 713
(film), 714 Big Metal, 711 Black paint spirits, 203, 205
Begay, Shonto, 37–38 Big Moon Rite, 602, 821, 1097. Black Road, 774
Begay, Victor M., 375(photo) See also Cross-Fire Rite Black Tamanous ritual, 668
Belcourt, George A., 266 Big-Seated Mountain, 958. See Blackburn, Gideon, 552
Bella Bella. See Heiltsuk (Bella also Mount Graham Blackfeet, 710
Bella) Big Tipi. See ‘Isánáklèsh Gotal age-grade lodges, 979
Bella Coola. See Nuxalk (Bella Big Tree, 528 causes of illness, 362–363
Coola) Big Warrior, 926 clowns, 187
1189
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Blackfeet (continued) and Anishinaabe, 425 Bones

culture heroes, 708–709 and disease, 79, 532 bone-handling powers of
deities/powers, 1025 manual or domestic labor stick game players, 1039
history of tribe, 922 taught at, 899, 903 buffalo skulls, 399, 1056,
husband-wife spiritual mission schools in the 1089
practitioner pairs, 1027 Southeast, 552 Choctaw bone-pickers,
medicine bundles, 93–94 in the Northeast, 531–532 1040
and missionization, 535, in the Northwest, 670 leg bone in Handsome
537–538 and Ojibwa, 266 Lake’s vision, 931
oral traditions, 708–716 personal accounts of, 721 as pipe material, 935
pipe rituals, 937 religious impact of, 77–82 respectful treatment of,
ritual societies, 289 restitution for abuse in, 548 391, 399, 1020
spiritual leader/warrior in the Southwest, 557 severed finger joints, 1026
Low Horn, 824–825 in Zitkala Sa’s writings, 474 Bonnin, Gertrude, 474, 610,
and Sun Dance, 1054, 1055 Boas, Franz 714, 917(photo), 919
tricksters, 712, 1119 influence on academic Booger Dance (Cherokee), 187
warfare, 711 study of Native cultures, Book of the Hopi (Waters), 389
Women’s Society, 978 3–5, 28 Boone, Yanta, 500
See also Piegan; Siksika and Kwaiutl potlatches, 742 Bordeau, Mary Sully, 819
Bladder (Coeur d’Alene and oral traditions, 633 Bosque Redondo, 621, 857, 959
monster), 681 and peyote religion, 610 Boté, 327, 329, 331
Bladder Festival (Yupiaq), 19, preservation of Kwakiutl Boudinot, Elias, 698, 845–846,
171–172, 493–494 stories, 474–475 846(photo), 928
Blaeser, Kimberly, 479 and study of architecture, Bow Priests, 689
Blake, George, 41 28 Bowers, Alfred, 1076
Blanchet, Francis N., 545 and whaling cultures, 1144, Bowlegs, Billy, 698
Blessingway ceremonies 1149 Boy Medicine bundles, 976,
(Diné/Navajo), 139, 264. Body piercing/scratching 980–983, 1028,
See also Sandpainting rituals 1032–1033
Blood-brothers principle, 982 Arapaho, 121 Boyd, Maurice, 1064
Blood of the Land (Wyler), 389 Cherokee, 168, 353–354 Boyd, Robert, 907–908
Blood quantum identification Coast Salish, 971 Boys. See Male
standards, 406–408, 411, Kiowa healing procedure, boyhood/adolescent
722 1030 rituals; Men; Spirits and
Blowing, as part of healing Lakota, 146 spirit helpers; Vision
ceremonies, 19, 369–370, and Sun Dance, 1058, 1059, quests
372, 867–868, 871, 1048 1060(photo), 1062, 1089 Bradford, William, 1111
Blue Bird, James, 818–819 and sweatlodge–menstrual Brauninger, Moritz, 535
Blue Horse Skelton, Judy, 382 restrictions parallel, Brave Bird, Mary (Crow Dog),
Blue Lake, 470, 841–842, 508 83–85, 821(photo)
955–958, 1096 Yupiaq (Yup’iq) healing Brave Wolf and the
Blueeyes, George, 960 procedure, 721–722 Thunderbird (Medicine
Bluejay spirit Boelscher, Marianne, 645 Crow), 715
Coast Salish, 816 Boggess, O. M., 421 A Breeze Swept Through
Coeur d’Alene, 136, 217 Boldt Decision, 320, 323 (Tapahonso), 479
as trickster and cultural Bole Hesi/Bole Maru, 500–501, B’rer Rabbit, 1119
hero, 1119 731–733 “Bridle” stick, 372, 871
Bly, Robert, 626 Bonding Festival (Cherokee), Briggs, John Raleigh, 601
Boarding schools, 537 168 Brightman, Robert, 188–189,
in Alaska, 514–515, 721, Bone Game (Owens), 726–727 235–237
1161 Bone picker, 586 Brinton, Daniel, 1123
1190
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
British Columbia. See Buffalo societies, 978, 981 Siksika Beaver bundle,
Northwest Buffalo doctors, 978, 94–95, 101
Brooks, James, 307 1027–1030 Siksika Natoas bundle, 94,
Brotherhood of Christian Buffalo Lodge, 119, 120 101
Unity, 819 Buffalo Medicine cult, Southeast, 1042
Brown, Fr., 876 1066 and spiritual leader
Brown, Ian, 944 Buffalo Wife, 707 Toypurina, 798
Brown, Jennifer, 235 Bull roarer instrument, 200 taboos connected with,
Brown, Joseph Epes, 285 Bullchild, Percy, 715, 1122 980, 981
Brunot, Felix R., 536–537 Bum-bum Shakers, 913. See Taime (Sun Dance doll
Buck Watie, 845–846 also Feather Religion bundle), 559–560,
Buckley, Thomas, 12, 1001 Bundles, 93–101, 486, 1060 980–983, 1032, 1060,
Buckley, William, 508 and Arapaho elders, 120 1063–1064, 1066
Buckskin Dance, 771 Arapaho Flat Pipe bundle, types of, 93–96
Buffalo Billl’s Wild West Show, 118, 541, 818 and vision quests, 1131
824 and Arapaho women, 121 Bunzel, Ruth L., 158, 184, 687
Buffalo/bison, 85–92, 922, buffalo rock bundle Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA),
1056 (Iniskim), 95 608
buffalo drives/jumps, 709, and Bull Lodge, 818 authorized to control
710 Cheyenne Sacred Arrow religious practices, 540
buffalo meat fed to Sacred bundle, 94, 100, 541, 976 formation and mission of,
Pole of the Omaha, 943 Cheyenne Sacred Hat 404
and bundle traditions, 100 bundle, 541, 709, 976 and Indian Shaker Church,
ceremonies and rituals, 301 Cheyenne Sun Dance 420, 421
communal hunting of, bundle, 1026 interference with
1032–1033 and Christianity, 180 agricultural practices,
gender of bison spirit, 275 creation of a bundle, 763 898–899
and Lakota oral traditions, Crow, 99, 977, 1100(photo) reforms under Collier, 211,
301–302, 962 Diné (Navajo), 949, 960, 991 540, 899–900, 919–920
marriage to, 396 Great Basin, 750 suppression of giveaway
origins and ecology of, Kiowa, 976, 980–983, 1026, ceremonies, 349
85–86 1027–1028, 1032–1033 suppression of peyote use,
and Plains cultures, 923, Lakota Sacred Pipe bundle, 607–611
1028. See also Buffalo 94, 650 suppression of Sun Dance,
societies; Sun Dance Lakota spirit-keeping ritual, 1060
and Plains military 144, 580–581 and termination/relocation
societies, 979 and manitous, 486 policies, 1095–1998
preservation of herds, Nez Perce, 1012 See also Boarding schools
89–92, 1056 origins of, 95, 97–100 Burgess, Viola, 645
renewal ceremonies for, 397 ownership/transfers, 94, Burial/memorial rituals,
skulls, 399, 1052, 1089 96–97, 100, 290, 763, 980, 573–584, 878, 882
and Sun Dance, 1032–1033, 1026 Anishinaabe, 107
1052 and pipe rituals, 938–939 California, 878
symbolism (Dakota), 288 Plains, 93–101, 762–764, Choctaw, 585–588
uses for parts of, 88 974–977, 1026. See also Coeur d’Alene, 136–137
Buffalo Ceremony (Dakota), specific peoples debates over
231, 232, 506 and power transference archaeologists’
Buffalo Dance, 978, 1067 through sexual treatment of human
Buffalo Old Man, 981 intercourse, 1027 remains, 20, 24,
Buffalo robes, 55 and revival of Native 432–436, 880–883
Buffalo rocks, 95 religion, 541 Delaware people, 573–579
1191
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Burial/memorial rituals Caddo Modoc War of 1873,

(continued) and Native American 794–795, 1012
desecration of graves, 460, Church, 602 Mount Shasta, 954–955
583, 878–882 and peyote use, 605 oral traditions. See Oral
and giveaway ceremonies, War Dance, 206 traditions: California
136–137, 348–349 See also Arikara; Pawnee; petroglyphs, 735
Great Basin, 751 Wichita power concepts, 229,
Hopi, 32 Cahokia, 103, 306 384–385, 748–749
human remains and sacred mounds, 569(photo), 571 quasi-tribal status of
objects warehoused by Cahuilla Natives, 403
museums, 460, 462–463, oral history, 856 religious and secular
880–882 spiritual leader/healer leaders, biographical
and Ishi, 13 Ruby Modesto, 797, 856 sketches, 793–799
and Kiowa hymns, 441 Cairns, 948 religious practitioners/
Medicine Lodge rituals, Cajete, Gregory, 1121 ceremonial leaders, 131,
107–108 Calendar, 951–952 1015–1019
mound cemetery, Anasazi, 261–262 retraditionalism and
21(photo) ancient observatory and revitalization
Northwest (Tlingit, Haida, calendar sites, 631–632 movements, 902–905
and Tsimhsian), 740–741 Cherokee, 169 sacred sites. See Sacred
Pomo, 130 Hopi, 162–164, 447, 498 sites: California
and potlatches, 739–741, Sioux and Blackfeet San Gabriel Mission
743–748 mnemonic devices, 708 rebellion of 1785,
and reciprocity between and Sun Dance, 1051 798–799
the body, the earth, and and whaling, 1148 sandpaintings, 985
the living community, See also Seasons scratching sticks, 999
434 Calf Old Woman Society, 1066 social organization, 366
for repatriated remains, California, 365–366 Spanish Mission system,
464, 882 AIM activities in, 6, 16 40, 127–128, 515–519,
and sacred mountains, archaic period, 365–366 748, 902–903
954 art, 38–43, 904–905 See also Chumash;
Southeast, 585–588 ball games, 57 Diegueño; Gabrieliño;
Southwest, 590 basketry, 66–67, Great Basin; Hupa;
spiritual and cultural 903(photo), 904–905 Karuk; Luiseño; Maidu;
implications of burial traditions, 878 Modoc; Ohlone; Paiute;
repatriation, 878–884 ceremony and ritual Pitt River people; Pomo;
See also Mounds; Mourning (overview), 126–131 Tolowa; Wintu; Wiyot;
rituals; Native American climate/geography, 365 Yuki-Wailaki; Yurok
Graves Protection and Cry ceremony, 193–195 Callaway, Donald, 308
Repatriation Act dance, 128–129 Calling Gods, 1049
Burke, Charles H., 540, 608 destruction of sacred sites, Calumet Dance, 207
Burke, Clarence, 875 904 Calusa
Bush, George H. W., 462 First Foods ceremonies, and missionization, 549
Bushyhead, Jesse, 846 1016–1017 spiritual practitioner Big Jar
Busk. See Green Corn food sources, 363, 366 (Ko-ke-lus), 1040–1041
ceremony Gold Rush, 40 Camas roots, 132–133, 949
Bustles, feather, 772 healers. See Healers: Camp Grant Massacre site, 403
Butrick, Daniel, 552 California Campbell, Captain, 812–813
Buttrick, D. S., 696 healing, 361–368 Campbell, Vance Robert, 875
Buzzard Cult, 1040 Ishi case, 11–13 Canada
Byington, Cyrus, 552 languages, 365, 518 Native clergy listed, 816
1192
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
prison system, 777–778 Indian Shaker Church, and missionization, 535,

religious and secular 418–419 544
leaders, 811–817 and kachina societies, 431 spirits and spirit helpers,
suppression of potlatches, Lakota, 1087 1011
742 life and death symbolism, Whitman Massacre, 544
suppression of sacred 28 CCC. See Civilian
societies, 973 number of, 1086–1089 Conservation Corps
totem pole restoration and pipe rituals, 938–939 Cedar, cedar incense, 1101
projects, 1103–1105 Pomo, 130 and Anishinaabe rituals, 106
See also Alaska; Athabascan Pueblo, 430 cedar pole and Numic
people; Coast Salish; and seating at potlatches, dances, 199
Innu; Maliseet; 157 and Delaware mourning
Mi’kmaq; Northwest; and symbolism, 1086–1089 rituals, 579
Ojibwa (Chippewa); Zuni, 691–692, 1088 and Northwest rituals, 136,
Passamaquoddy; Plains Caribou, 396, 787 151, 359
Canary (Sikatsi), 450–451 Carlisle Indian Industrial as one of four sacred
Canby, R. S., 795 School, 77–78, medicines (Great Lakes),
Cannibalism 79–80(photos) 1156
Cannibal Society Carlton, James H., 857 and Osage In-Lon-Ska, 413
(Kwakwak’wakw secret Carrier: prophet Bini, 811–812 and Southeast rituals, 169
order), 186, 491, Carrizo, 605–606 Cedar Chief, 603
970(photo), 971, 973, Carroll, John B., 537 Cedar Grass Honoring
1023 Carson City, Nevada: Stewart ceremony (Cherokee),
Consumers/Cannibals Indian School, 41 168
(Tsimshian secret order), Carson, Kit, 857 Cedarman, 412, 413, 620
154–155 Carter, Jimmy, 1096 Cehohomni olowan, 1172
Iroquois, 305–306, 1137 Carter, Theresa, 440 Celilo Falls, 316, 681, 684
and mourning rituals, 588 Casagrande, Joseph B., 806 Cementation festival
Cannunpa wakan, 1170 Catawbas (Cherokee), 168
Canoes, 347, 685, 702(photo) leader Hagler, 844 Ceramic arts
and Northwest rituals, 151 and missionization, 553 artist Lillian Pitt, 835–836
and whaling, 1149 Catches, Pete, 1056–1057 ceramic pipes, 935–936
See also Sbatatdaq Catholicism. See Roman Northeast (Woodland
Cantora Society, 1165 Catholicism period), 46
Canyon Pintado, 951 Catlin, George, 918, 920, 936, Southwest (contemporary),
Cape Breton Island. See 1052, 1075 35–37
Mi’kmaq Cattail pollen, in Apache Ceremony and ritual
Cardenas, Amada, 613 rituals, 113, 115, 506 Anishinaabe (Great Lakes),
Cardenas, Lazaro, 1168 Caves, as sources of power, 100–110
Cardinal directions 749, 781–782, 1011 Apache, 111–117
Arapaho, 123 Cayiq dance series, 972 Arapaho, 117–126
and burial, 107, 130, 590 Cayuga Bole Maru, 732–733
and Cherokee council and American Revolution, California, 126–131
house, 169 930 ceremony/private ritual
and color, 39 ball games, 60 distinction, 126–127
Dakota, 288 songs, 1006 circumpolar rituals,
Diné (Navajo), 28, 63 women’s status, 1156 104–105
“four chiefs” (whaling See also Haudenosaunee Coeur d’Alene, 132–137
cultures), 1149 (Iroquois Confederacy) Dakota, 231–232
gender of, 275 Cayuse depicted in petroglyphs,
Hopi, 448, 691 language, 993 735
1193
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Ceremony and ritual and warfare, 1140–1141 illness caused by excessive

(continued) See also Sandpainting deer hunting, 395
Diné (Navajo), 137–140, Chapman, Fred, 952 impact of federal relocation
618–625, 988–991 Charcoal (Kuaheta), 602 policies, 403
Great Basin, 751 Charity. See Gift-giving/give- Ketoowah Society, 847–849
Hopi, 66, 305, 427–432 away ceremonies; language, 697
Lakota, 141–147, Reciprocity magic numbers, 168
1168–1173 Charles, Lucille Hoerr, 188 marriage ceremony, 168
Nez Perce, 147–151 Charley, Doctor, 795–796 and missionization,
Northwest, 151–157 Charlo, Vic, 714 551–553, 1110–1113
prohibition of. See Religious Charred Body, 99 oral traditions, 302–303,
freedom: loss of Chatters, James, 432, 435 398, 696–698
Southeast, 166–170 Chauchetiere, Claude, 1094 pipe rituals, 168
Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 170–175 Chavez Bill, 610 prophecies about the future
Zuni, 427–432 Checote, Samuel, 852 of the world, 389–390
See also Burial/memorial Ch’eghwtsen, 747 Red and White Chiefs, 71
rituals; Clowning, clown Chemehuevi, 63, 1017–1018 religious and secular
ceremony; Dance; First Cherokee leaders, 844–849
Foods ceremonies; architecture, 169 and reservation system,
Fishing; Foraging rituals; and assimilation, 845–849
Gift-giving/give-away 1109–1113 revitalization movements,
ceremonies; Harvest ball games, 58–61, 351–352, 924–928
rituals; Healing; Hunting 354 Ripe Corn Feast, 168
rituals; Male Beloved Women, 69, 71–74 scratching and bleeding
boyhood/adolescent Black Drink, 168, 353 ritual, 168, 353–354
rituals; Masks and Bonding Festival, 168 spiritual and ceremonial
masking; burial traditions, 585 practitioners, 1040–1041,
Menarche/puberty calendar, 169 1043
rituals; Menstruation; Cedar Grass Honoring Spring Festival, 167
Mourning rituals; ceremony, 168 stomp dances, 168, 223
Orders, guilds, and ceremony and ritual Sun Dance, 168
sacred societies; (overview), 167–168 sweatlodges, 168
Potlatch; Purifying clan system, 70 Trail of Tears, 848, 928,
rituals; Sweatlodge; clowns (Booger Dance), 187 1106–1117
Vision quests; Whaling corn cultivation, 302–303 Treaty vs. Patriot Party split,
Ceremony (Silko), 477, 727 court cases, 928 1113–1114
Chaco Canyon, 27, 262, 950 and democracy, 1110–1113, warriors, 1140
Champagne, Duane, 332 1148 White Path’s Rebellion, 553,
Champlain, Samuel de, 521 Eagle Dance, 168 928
Changer (Coastal Salish emergence narrative, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia,
character), 665, 666 697–698 928, 1110
Changing Woman, 710 Friendship Dance, 168 Cherokee Phoenix, 845, 928,
Apache, 505–506, 1000 gender relations, 223 1113
Diné (Navajo), 138, and Ghost Dance, 1043 Cheveta (Billy Chevatts), 606
262–263, 507 Great New Moon Feast, Cheyenne
See also ‘Isánáklèsh 168 bundle traditions, 94,
Chantways (Diné/Navajo), Great Thanksgiving Festival 100–102, 541, 709, 976
138–140, 264, 499 (Uku/Ookan), 168 Christian drum songs, 180
ceremonial practitioners Green Corn ceremony, clowns, 186
for, 1046–1047 167–168, 303, 350–354 Crazy Lodge ceremony
and masked dances, 1049 healers, 74 (Massaum), 977, 978
1194
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
deities, 708, 761, 762 Chief Junaluska, 1111–1112 spirits acquired by youth.
and Ghost Dance, 123, 211 Chief Medicine Pipe See Spirits and spirit
history of tribe, 922 (Feathered Pipe), 818 helpers
husband-wife spiritual Chief Mountain (Glacier Park), Tsimshian elite orders,
practitioner pairs, 1027 708 154–155
and the Kiowa, 210 Chief Pontiac, 800–801, 906 See also Age-grade lodges;
menarche rituals, 502–503 Chief Seattle, 175–178, 878 Male
migration legends, 711 Chief Shakes, 783–784 boyhood/adolescent
and missionization, 536, Chiefs. See Elite; Leadership rituals;
540 Child of the Water (Apache), Menarche/puberty
mixed-gender rituals, 290 114 rituals; Vision quests
oral traditions, 708–715 Childbirth. See Chile: Monte Verde site, 22
pipe rituals, 935, 936 Pregnancy/birth Chilkat robe, 155
power concepts, 761 Children Chimiky’ana’kowa’, 164
quillwork, quilling ancestors’ spirits present Chinook
societies, 708, 710, 979 in. See Reincarnation and missionization, 535
Sacred Arrow bundle, 94, Apache childhood rituals, power concept (tamanous),
541 114–115 668. See also Tamanawas
Sacred Hat bundle, 541, 709 babies in Hopi worldview, puberty rituals, 357
sacred sites, 962 446–447 Chipmunk, 452–453, 680
sandpaintings, 985 baby brokers (Northwest), Chippewa. See Ojibwa
seclusion during 373, 867, 872 Chips, Charles, 1169
menstruation, 507 captives adopted, 405, Chips, Ellis, 1169
spiritual leader/healer 1137 Chips, Godfrey, 1169
Porcupine, 827 cared for by Chips (Horn Chips),
Sun Dance, 1052, 1053, animals/spirits, 397, 666, 1168–1169
1054, 1057, 1058 710, 711 Chiracuaha Apache, 1045
tricksters, 712, 1118, 1121. and dance, 222 and art market, 36
See also Spider dying children and ceremonial singers, 1046
two-spirit people, 325, 329 missionization in clowns, 187
vision quests, 1129 California, 517 Geronimo, 856–857
warrior societies, 979 eldest child as drumkeeper Mountain Spirits, 1049
Chia seeds, 385 (Osage), 412–415 scratching sticks, 1000
Chickasaw and fasting, 107, 1128–1129 Chirouse, Eugene Casimir,
ball games, 58 Haida children’s connection 813
dance, 221, 222 with matrilineal uncle, Chiwere, 1026
mission schools, 552 644–645 Choctaw
and missionization, Howard Luke’s ministry to, ball games, 58, 61
551–552 789 causes of illness, 362–363
social organization, 1148 illnesses, 795 dance, 221, 222
Trail of Tears, 1106, initiation into kiva deities, 927
1108–1109 societies, 446 emergence narrative, 572
War Dance, 207 kachina dolls for, 429, Green Corn ceremony, 351
Chief Andrew Isaac, 788–789 447–448 healing, 222
Chief Billy, 696, 1041 and ogre kachinas, 448 mission schools, 552
Chief Child of the Yellow Root, and ogress Tsonoqua, and missionization,
132, 136, 680, 681, 685 490–491 551–552
Chief Cornplanter, 931 Rabbits society (Kiowa), moieties (iksa), 586
Chief Eagle, Dallas, 821 982, 1066 mourning and burial
Chief Joseph, 538, 697, 713, recruitment of spiritual rituals, 585–588
832–833 practitioners, 720 naming traditions, 587
1195
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Choctaw (continued) Christianity, Indianization of, Churchill, Ward, 475, 563–564,

Owens’s depiction of, 76, 178–181, 541–542 566, 629
724–726, 729–730 and Arapaho, 124–125 Chwat, Billy, 602
religious and secular and Kiowa-Comanche- Cibecue Apache, 1045
leaders, 849–850 Apache Reservation, Cigars, 1101
revitalization movements, 528–529 Cinawavi, 63
925, 927 Kiowa hymns, 440–442, Cirape, 1122
social organization, 1148 529 Circle
songs and dances given to leaders seen as spiritual and cyclical time concept,
Creeks, 699 practitioners, 751–752 285
spirits, 587 Methodism and Peter and pipe rituals, 939–940
Trail of Tears, 1106–1109, Jones, 423–425 as sacred shape, 32–33, 40,
1115 and Mission Indians, 519 169, 223, 923
Turkey Buzzard Society, 586 and prophets, 219, 238, 547, Circle Dance (Numic peoples),
Cholenec, Pierre, 1094 929 198–200
Chota, 70 in the Southeast, 553 Circle of Wonder: A Native
Christianity in the Southwest, 557 American Christmas
and Chief Seattle, 176–178 and Sun Dance, 181, 1055, Story (Momaday),
dual participation in 1060, 1062 561–562
Christian and Native Sunday Worship Dances City of Boerne v. Flores, 467
traditions, 542, 1098, (Columbia Plateau), 218 Civet, 606
1163. See also and Waashat religion, 909 Civil Rights movement, 920.
Christianity, and Yaqui clowns, 185 See also American
Indianization of See also Indian Shaker Indian Movement
and federal relocation Church; Missionization; Civil War, 846–848. See also
policies, 1115 Native American Veterans
and gender of deity, 275 Church; Religious and Civilian Conservation Corps
and Ghost Dance, 339 secular leaders, (CCC), 1104
and Kateri Tekakwitha, biographical sketches Clan Mothers, 295, 409, 410
1093–1094 Chrystos (poet), 334–335 Clan system
mandatory Chugach, 511, 515 Great Lakes, 1156
Christianization, 110, Chukchansi, 65 and Hopi oral traditions,
456, 459–460 Chumash 690–691
and medicine bundles, 180 architecture, 67–68 and predators, 393
monotheism, 533 and Catholicism, 128 See also Kinship
Native confusion about causes of illness, 362 Clark, David S., 624
proliferation of sects, datura use, 228 Clark, G. A., 883
538 healing, 361–362 Clay, gathering places, 948
and northern Athabascan menarche rituals, 1000 Clay, Henry, 1114
people, 1163 oral traditions, 228, 638 Clearwater River, 684
and Plains power concepts, pictographs, 39 Cline, Edward, 943
761–762 power concept (‘at?sw?n), Clinton, Bill, 462, 466, 470,
subordinate role of women, 229, 384–385, 748–749 624, 904, 961
293, 919 powerful people, 748 Cloth Dance, 746, 773
and urban Indians, religious practitioners/ Cloud, Henry Roe, 539
1097–1098 ceremonial leaders, Clovis people, 22
and views on menstruation, 1018–1019 Clowning, clown ceremony,
507 struggles for preservation 182–189
and views on sin, 533 of sacred sites, 257 California, 185–186
See also Missionization; two-spirit people (joya), Eastern woodlands, 187
specific denominations 325, 327, 329 Hopi, 30, 431–432
1196
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Northwest, 186 guardian Animal Spirits, Colonnese, Tom, 479

Plains, 186–187, 189, 132–136, 216–217, 681, Color
764–765 683 and cardinal directions, 29,
and power concepts, “heart talk,” 135, 136, 216 39, 691
764–765 hunting, fishing, and and Chumash pictographs,
recruitment of clowns, foraging rituals, 132–133 39
187 Jump Dance, 134–136 Dakota symbolism, 288,
significance/function of, language, 993 506
187–189 oral traditions, 681–683 and Diné (Navajo)
Southwest, 30, 183–185, Sweat House, 133–135 underworlds, 28
431–432 vision quests, 133–134, and kachina societies, 431
and Sun Dance, 1055 1011 and peyote symbolism, 605
Club Board Lodge (age-grade Coffee, John, 1108 and Plains art, 54
lodge), 120, 121 Cogewea, the Half-Blood and Southeast colors for
Co-option of Native traditions. (Mourning Dove), war and peace, 69–70
See Appropriation of 477–478, 593–595, 714 Colorado
Native traditions Cogo, Robert and Nora, ancestral habitation sites,
Coast Salish 643–647 950
arts, 49 Colbert, James, George, and Dinosaur National
cosmology, 815–816 Levi, 698 Monument, 947
kinship and social Colleges, tribal, 716 extermination of Natives,
organization, 668 Collier, Donald, 208 403
masks, 488–492 Collier, John, 409, 610, 611, Hesperus Peak, 945,
oral traditions, 664 621, 622 959–961
potlatches, 742 reforms under, 211, 540, laws on worship by
shamanic journey to the 899–900, 919–920 incarcerated Native
spirit world. See Colliflower v. Garland, 407 Americans, 467
Sbatatdaq Colonialism petroglyphs, 951
spiritual practitioner Peter and land, 255, 402–404 places for gathering plants,
Pierre, 814–815 and loss of religious wildlife, or materials,
tricksters, 712 freedom, 455–457, 948–949
Winter Spirit dances, 606–608. See also Sand Creek Massacre, 403,
202–206, 213–217, Religious freedom: loss 951
969–973 of Colorado Plateau, 687
See also Slocum, John; and loss of women’s power, sacred landscape, 954
specific peoples 293, 297–298, 409, 531 See also Hopi; Pueblo; Zuni
Cochiti Pueblo, 36, 183–184 and misconceptions about Columbia Plateau
Cocopah, 224, 329 “tribalism,” 291–295 climate/geography, 993
Code of Ethics on Members’ and Mother Earth concept, cosmology, 1009
Obligations to 566 dance, 213–220
Indigenous Peoples, and reservation system, dreamers, 908–910
25 885–889 First Foods ceremonies,
Code of Handsome Lake, 534, and social philosophy of 1037–1038
931–932 the nineteenth century, First Salmon ceremony,
Code-talkers, 809, 901 3 311–319, 1037
Codere, Helen, 741–742 and two-spirit people, healers and healing, 914,
Coeur d’Alene 331–332 1013, 1036–1037
ceremony and ritual See also European contact; missionization, 534–543
(overview), 132–137 Manifest Destiny; oral traditions. See Oral
First Foods ceremonies, Missionization; Spanish traditions: Columbia
1037–1038 Mission system Plateau
1197
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Columbia Plateau (continued) and the Kiowa, 210 Southeast, 1146–1148

overview of cultures, medicine societies, 977 and Sun Dance, 1055–1056
993–994 and missionization, See also Gift-giving/give-
Prophet Dance, 339, 418, 525–530 away ceremonies;
873–876, 908–909, 973 and Native American Kinship
religious and secular Church, 602 Comox, 971
leaders (biographical and peyote use, 606, 828 Comtechal, Thomas, 799
sketches), 831–838 Sun Dance, 1054, 1057 Congregationalists, 537, 546,
religious leadership, War Dance, 207 551–552, 1111–1112
872–877 warfare, 1138–1139 Conjurers, 1040, 1043, 1168
retraditionalism and warrior societies, 979 Connelly, John C., 691
revitalization See also Parker, Quanah; Connor, Lois, 65
movements, 905–916 Sanapia Conscientious objectors, 839
social organization, 993 Comanche Jack, 602 Constellations, explanations
spirits and spirit helpers. Comb (Coeur d’Alene for, 709
See Spirits and spirit monster), 681 Constitution, U.S., 72, 865. See
helpers: Columbia Coming-of-age rituals. See also specific
Plateau Male amendments
spiritual and ceremonial boyhood/adolescent Consumers/Cannibals
practitioners. See rituals; (Tsimshian secret order),
Spiritual and ceremonial Menarche/puberty 154–155
practitioners: Columbia rituals; Vision quests Cook, Loretta Afraid-of-Bear,
Plateau Commanda, William, 695 605
spiritual beliefs and Commodification of Cook, Sherburne F., 517
practices, 907–908 spirituality, 625–631, Coolidge, Sherman, 539
vision quests. See Vision 737, 1133. See also Art Coombs, Samuel F., 176
quests: Columbia Communalism and social Coonrod Flat, 955
Plateau organization Cooper, Homer, 41
Winter Spirit dances, 872, Arikara, 1026 Cooper, Vernon, 1042
908, 1039 Athabascan, 1159 Copper, power of, 753
See also Cayuse; Chinook; California, 366 Copway, George, 801–803,
Coeur d’Alene; Crow; Chickasaw, 1148 802(photo)
Flathead; Kalispel; Choctaw, 1148 Corbett, Cecil, 876
Klamath; Klickitat; Nez Coast Salish, 668 Cordero, Helen, 36
Perce; Okanogan; Columbia Plateau, 993 Corn
Sahaptin-speaking Creek (Muskogee), 1148 in Cherokee oral traditions,
people; Sanpoil; Tyigh; Diné (Navajo), 1045 302–303
Umatilla; Waashat; Great Basin, 724–725 Cherokee symbolism, 303
Wanapum; Wishram; Great Lakes, 1155–1156 corn/beans/squash triad,
Yakama Hopi, 690–691 302, 303
Columbia River, and oral impact of federal allotment Diné (Navajo) symbolism,
traditions, 681 policies, 403, 405–406 227, 262–263
Columbus, Christopher, 931, impact of federal relocation Great Lakes cultivation of,
1099 policies, 402 1156
Comanche and kinship, 295–297 ground by girls during
“counting coup,” 1138–1139 Natchez, 1148 menarche rituals, 304,
deities/powers, 1025 Northwest, 347 346, 503–504
dreams, 240, 245 Pawnee, 1026 and Hopi choice of culture,
history of tribe, 922 Plains, 764–765, 923, 690
husband-wife spiritual 974–976 Northeastern cultivation of,
practitioner pairs, 1027 Pueblo, 427 790
1198
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
in Northeastern oral traditions; Spirits and Okanogan, 594, 596

traditions, 656–657 spirit helpers Plains, 707–709, 712. See
See also Green Corn Costumes. See Masks and also specific peoples
ceremony masking; Regalia; restrictions on telling
Corn Dance (Taos Pueblo), specific dances and stories about, 640, 683
164(photo) ceremonies and salmon, 317, 681
Corn Husk societies. See Husk Cottonwood and spider, 197, 653
Face society cottonwood tree as Sun trickster attributes,
Corn Mother, 1090 Dance pole, 1051, 1061, 652–653
Cornplanter, Chief, 931 1065 and writing, 669
Cosmological power, 760–762 Umon’hon’ti (Sacred Pole of Yakama, 317
Cosmology/worldview the Omaha), 941–945 Coyote Stories (Mourning
and cardinal directions, Cougar, 393, 443. See also Dove), 593, 595–596
1086–1089 Mountain Lion Coyoteway Chant, 499
Coast Salish, 815–816 “Counting coup,” 1138–1139 Cradeboard ceremony
Columbia Court cases (Apache), 114
Plateau/Northern Plains, fishing rights, 320–323 Craig, Fermore, 875
1009 and Indian Bill of Rights, Crane, and Plateau oral
contrast between eastern 407 traditions, 680, 682
and western Pueblos, Marshall Decision Crane Woman, 98
688 (dependent status of Crashing Thunder, 614
Diné (Navajo), 28–29, 259, tribes), 292, 404, 408, Crawford, Isabel, 528, 529
262–263 898, 919, 1110, 1112 Crazy Dog society, 982
Haida, 33 and oral traditions, 670 Crazy Dog Wishing to Die
Hopi, 30, 387–389, 448–453, peyote use, 610–611, 614, warriors, 979
497–498, 688–690 622–624 Crazy Horse, 1168–1169
Iroquoian peoples, 1088 religious freedom, 458, 462 Crazy Lodge (age-grade
Kiowa, 1027–1028 sacred sites, 461, 470 lodge), 120, 186
Kwakwak’wakw/Kwaiutl, status of Cherokee Nation, Crazy Lodge ceremony
313–315, 969, 1088 928, 1110, 1112 (Massaum), 977, 978
Lakota, 565 and Trail of Tears, 1112 Creation narratives. See
and mounds, 572 women’s tribal status, Emergence/creation
Northwest, 356, 369–370, 407–411 narratives
488–490. See also specific worship by incarcerated Creator
peoples Native Americans, 467 Columbia Plateau, 909
Nuxalk (Bella Coola), 370 See also Legislation Northeast, 495
Ojibwa, 673 Coutler, John M., 599 Northwest, 370, 720, 869
Paiute, 1154 Cowrie shell, 108, 1044 Plains, 760, 761, 762, 1122
Pueblo, 687–690 Cox, Ross, 834 Southeast, 351
Pueblo-Catholic parallels, Coyote, 1118, 1119 See also Culture heroes
554–555 Chemehuevi, 63 Cree
Southeast, 697, 765–766 and clowns, 186 binding rituals, 105
and symbolism, 572, Coeur d’Alene, 132, 136 clowns, 187
1085–1086 Columbia Plateau, 680–685. dreams, 235–237
Tsimshian, 369–370 See also specific peoples hunting traditions, 396
Yaqui (Yoeme), 1166–1167 Crow, 1122 petroglyphs, 734
Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 494 and Cry ceremony, 193 warfare, 711
Zuni, 688, 1088 Diné (Navajo), 1121 Creek (Muskogee)
See also Animals, animal Kiowa, 1028 ball games, 58, 61, 221
spirits; Emergence/ Lakota, 653 Buffalo Dance, 978
creation narratives; Oral Northwest coast, 317, 666 deities/powers, 1025
1199
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Creek (Muskogee) (continued) and missionization, 538, and creation stories,

gender of Sun and Moon, 540 1121–1123. See also
169 oral traditions, 707–715 specific culture heroes
Green Corn ceremony, power concepts, 761 defined, 704, 1123–1124
350–354 power transference through Erect Horns (Cheyenne),
menstruation, 509 sexual intercourse, 1027 709
and missionization, 551–552 and reservation system, Flat Pipe Man (Arapaho),
New Year celebration, 1060 708
221–222 sacred societies, 976 Found-in-Grass (Arapaho),
oral traditions, 696, 698 and the Sioux, 1062 119
Redsticks, Redstick War, 70, Sun Dance, 1059–1062, Glooscap (Gluskap),
926–927, 1109 1053, 1056, 1058 655–657, 1119
religious and secular supernatural beings, Great Defender/Great
leaders, 850–853 709–710 Humpback/Rim Dweller
revitalization movements, tricksters, 712 (Iroquois), 495
925–926 two-spirit people (boté), Isaahkawuattee (Crow), 708
social organization, 1148 325, 327, 329, 331 Nanabush (Nanabozo),
songs and dances acquired views on dual religious 103–104, 269, 673, 675,
from the Choctaw, 699 participation, 542 677–679
spiritual and ceremonial vision quests, 763, 1026 Napi (Blackfeet), 708–709,
practitioners, 1043 warfare, 711 712
stomp dances, 352 warrior societies, 979 in petroglyphs, 735–736
Trail of Tears, 1106, 1109 “Crow belt” dance bustles, 208 Raven, 641(photo), 663,
wedding ceremony, 168 Crow Dance, 124, 208, 212 704, 706
See also Deere, Philip and Arapaho, 124–125, 211 Sweet Medicine
Creek Sam, 849 and powwows, 767 (Cheyenne), 712
Cremation, 573, 588, 590 Crow Dog, Henry, 192, 615 Transformer (Coastal
Crier Chief (Hopi), 448, 449, Crow Dog, Leonard, 84, Salish), 665
454 190–193, 604, 615, 915 and trickster category,
Crockett, Davey, 1114 Crow Dog, Mary. See Brave 1123–1124
Cross-Fire Rite, 539, 602–604, Bird, Mary See also Coyote
608, 821, 915, 1097 Crow spirit, 1028 Curly Headed Doctor,
Crow Crown Dancers (Apache), 116 794–795
bundle traditions, 99, 977, The Crown of Columbus Curtis Act, 849
1100(photo) (Erdrich and Dorris), 478 Curtis, Edward, 1148, 1151
clan names, 712 Cruikshank, Julie, 504, 507–508 Curtis, Natalie, 693
clowns, 187 Crum, Steven, 309–310 Custer Died for Your Sins
creation story, 1122 Cry ceremony, 193–195, (Deloria), 541, 583, 820
culture heroes, 708, 1122 200–201 Cutfoot, 966–967
deities, 708, 1025–1026 and Ghost Dance, 340, 341
dreams, 241 and power places, 759 Dah nidiilyeeh, 960
gendered power concept, Crypto-Jews, 696, 698 Daily, Truman, 611
761 Crystals, 753, 757, 1044, 1131 Daimpega society, 209, 210,
healer Pretty Shield, 827 Cuero, Delfina, 795 212
healers, 762 Cultural experts. See Religious Dakota (Santee)
history of tribe, 922 and secular leaders, ball games, 58
husband-wife spiritual biographical sketches Buffalo doctors, 1027
practitioner pairs, 1027 Cultural relativism, 4–5 ceremony and ritual
kinship, 976 Culture heroes (overview), 231–232
and the Kiowa, 560, Arrow Person (Charred deities/powers, 1025–1026.
1059–1060, 1064 Body), 99 See also Wakan Tanka;
1200
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
White Buffalo Calf and transformation/ D’Azevedo, Warren, 309

Woman possession by spirits, de Brébeuf, Jean, 59, 522, 523
Deloria’s work on culture 972–973, 1049–1050, de Laguna, Frederica, 1000
of, 229–232 1167 De Smet, Pierre-Jean, 535, 536,
doctors’ societies, 977 Tsimshian, 972 539, 545
female spirituality, 283–289 Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 18–19, de Vries, David, 574
kinship, 230, 233, 295–296 719–720 Dean, Nora Thompson, 576
menarche rituals, 506 Zuni, 164–165 Death
and missionization, 524 See also also Regalia; Masks belief that time and place
oral traditions, 285 and masking; Orders, of death are fixed, 1044
owls, 288 guilds, and sacred and cardinal directions, 28
personality flaws, 232–233 societies; Powwow; of chief (Lushootseed), 156
petroglyphs, 734 Winter Spirit dances; and initiation into role as
power concepts, 761 specific dances and spiritual practitioner, 18,
spirit power, 284–285 peoples 864. See also specific
and Sun Dance, 1052, 1054 Dance bustles, 208 people in the regions
symbolism of directions Dance committee (Osage), under Religious and
and colors, 288 413–414 secular leaders,
time concepts, 285 Dance stick (Coeur d’Alene), biographical sketches
two-spirit people, 325, 329 135, 216 rock art symbolism, 759
utopian Christian Dance without Robes, 978 Sun Dance as symbolic
community established Dancers (Tsimshian secret death, 1067
by, 179 order), 154–156 taboos connected with,
See also Sioux and Siouan- Dances with Wolves (film), 475, 573, 575, 587, 590, 740
speaking peoples 714 See also Afterlife;
Dakota Texts (Deloria), 652 Dane-zaa culture Burial/memorial rituals;
Da:na:wah:us:di, 60–61 dreams, 235, 237 Disease; Ghost Dance;
Dance prophet Maketsueson, 238 Ghosts; Mourning rituals
Apache, 116, 498–499, 1049 Daniel, Antoine, 522, 523 Death Cult, 206
Bole Maru, 732–733 Dark River (Owens), 729–730 Deer Bird. See Romero, Juan
California, 128–129 Darkness, and Lakota creation de Jesus
Coast Salish, 969–973 narrative, 649 Deer Dance society (Wichita),
Columbia Plateau, Darrough’s Hot Springs, 340 976–978
213–220 Dating techniques for rock art, Deer Dance (Yaqui/Yoeme),
Diné (Navajo), 1049–1050 736–737, 781 1165–1168
and drumming, 769–770 Datura (jimsonweed), Deer, deer spirits, 216
Great Basin, 197–201, 751 227–229, 749, 798, 1018, illness caused by excessive
Heiltsuk, 755–756, 969, 971 1019 hunting, 395
Hopi, 31, 162–164, Daughter towns, 70 kinship with, 1165–1166
428(photo) Davéko, 819 marriage to, 396
Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl), David, Thomas, 423 and Plains spiritual
755–756, 971–972 Davidson, Robert, 53 practitioners, 1027
Northwest, 202–206, Daw-s’tome, 1063. See also Sun Deer Woman, 651–652
969–973, 1023–1024. See Dance Deere, Philip, 509, 853, 1098
also specific peoples Dawes Act (1887), 266, 403, Deganawida, 864, 865
Osage, 412–415 405–406, 828, 849, 897 Dehuntshigwa’es, 59–60
Plains, 206–212. See also Daw’kee, 528 Deities/powers
specific peoples Dawn Woman, 620, 692 Apache, 114, 116, 280
prohibition of, 211, 377. See Day, Frank, 42 Arapaho, 122–123
also under Sun Dance Daylight, and Lakota creation Cheyenne, 708, 761, 762
Southeast, 220–223 narrative, 649 Choctaw, 927
1201
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Deities/powers (continued) and Christian theology, 9 D’Iberville, Pierre LeMoyne,

Coeur d’Alene, 132 on Christianity vs. tribal 221
complementary male and religion, 541 Dick, Dallas, 875
female deities, 275–276 on difficulties of Dicta (incantations, spells),
Crow, 708 combining Native 371, 870, 870
Diné (Navajo), 138, metaphysics and Diegueño
262–264, 507, 1049 Christianity, 921 Delfina Cuero, 795
Hopi, 31–32, 498, 688–689, and ecology/ religious practitioners/
692 environmentalism, 257 ceremonial leaders,
Kiowa, 528 influence of God is Red, 7 130–131
Lakota, 84, 180, 193, on missionization, 889 scratching sticks, 999
287–288, 507, 565, 649, and revival of Native Diet and nutrition, 363, 385
734, 762, 1025, 1169 religion, 920 Different Gun, Only Person
Lushootseed, 371 Deloria, Vine, Sr., 819 Who Had a, 825
and Methodism, 423–424 Delorme, David, 267 Dinadanu(n)wiski, 1040
and Native American Demers, Modeste, 545 Diné (Navajo)
Church, 84 Democracy agriculture, 303
Native difficulty with and Cherokee Nation, ancestors of, 226
monotheism, 533 1110–1113 and art market, 36
Northwest, 370 and Iroquois Confederacy, balance concept. See Hozho
Pawnee, 760 409 Barboncito, 857–858
Plains, 1025–1026, and Southeast tribes, 1148 Beautiful Trail, 138, 140, 619
1027–1028, 1063. See Dena’ina ceremony and ritual
also specific peoples
and contemporary (overview), 137–140,
Pueblo, 160
Christianity, 1163 618–625, 988–991
Shoshone, 709
and missionization, 511, chantways, 138–140, 264,
Sioux, 1025
514, 515 499, 1046–1047, 1049,
Southeast, 351
oral traditions, 660 1140–1141
Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 171, 720
Peter Kalifornsky’s clowns, 183(photo), 185
See also Creator; Great
contributions, 792 code-talkers, 901
Spirit; Kachinas; Power;
Dené (Yukon and Northwest cosmology/worldview,
Supernatural beings
Territory), 282 28–29, 138–139, 259,
Dejong, D. H., 284
del Alamo, Juan, 607 Densmore, Francis, 580, 1077 262–263
Delano, Columbus, 526 Depot Charlie, 547 court cases on peyote use,
Delaware people Depression. See Great 611
burial/mourning traditions, Depression dance, 1049–1050
573–579 Desert Cahuilla deities/powers, 138,
clowns, 187 oral history, 856 262–264, 507, 1049
and Native American spiritual leader/healer dreams, 248
Church, 602 Ruby Modesto, 797, 856 emergence narrative,
oral traditions, 695 Desode, 602 28–29, 138–139, 259,
prophet Neolin, 800 Destroyers (Tsimshian secret 261–263, 333
Delgadito, 857 order), 154–155 gendered concepts of the
Deloria, Ella C., 230–234, 296, Devens, Carol, 919 world, 619–620
652 Devil’s Tower (Wyoming), 471, healing, 29, 138, 140, 499,
Deloria, Philip J., 230, 367, 536, 946(photo), 948, 962, 963 518, 960, 986–993
819 Dewdney, Selwyn, 808 history of tribe, 226,
Deloria, Vine, Jr., 456(photo), Dhegiha, 1026 620–622
820 Diabetes, 363–364 hogans, 28–29
attacks on archaeology/ Dibe’nsta, 959–961. See also Hosteen Klah, 855–856
anthropology, 24, 583 Hesperus Peak kinship, 295
1202
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
and the Kiowa, 210 Dinosaur National Monument, and Trail of Tears,
language, 225 947 1106–1117
location of the afterworld, Directions. See Cardinal and Washat dances, 909
591 directions and whirlwind spirits, 759
Lori Arviso Alvord, 858 Disease Divination:
masks, 499, 1049 and boarding schools, 79, pyroscapulamancy, 105.
matrilineal nature of 532 See also Lost objects,
culture, 262, 619 causes of. See Illness, finding
medicine bundles, 949, 960, causes of Diye, 111–113
991 and Columbia Plateau Diyin, 1047
menarche rituals, 282, 304, tribes, 874, 908, 909 Diyin Dine’é, 138–139, 1047,
348, 503–504, 1047 and death rituals, 109 1049
men’s and women’s spaces, and Diné (Navajo) at Djajini, 185
29 Bosque Redondo, 621 Dluelaxa dance series,
and missionization, 556–557 and Ghost Dance, 339, 342 971–972
Native American Church/ and Haida, 641 DNA analysis, and Kennewick
peyote movement, 604, high mortality rate in the Man, 434, 436
618–625 19th century, 898 Doctor Charley, 795–796
Nightway ceremony (Yei Bi impact on religious Doctor George, 796
Chai), 63, 622, 959 practitioners and Doctor, Tommy, 854
oral traditions, 961, healers, 779–780, Doctors’ societies (Plains),
985–986, 1140 860–861, 874, 1037 974, 976–978, 981,
petroglyphs, 735 and Indian Shaker Church, 1029–1031
places for gathering plants, 417 Doctrine of Discovery, 919
wildlife, or materials, and Kiowa sweat for the Dodem (totem), 105–106
948–949 Ten Medicines, 981 Dog-Eaters (Tsimshian secret
and prison system, 775 and missionization in order), 154–156
and reservation system, 857 Alaska, 512 Dog-Eating Dance, 972
sacred mountains, 28, and missionization in Dog Lodge (age-grade lodge),
137–138, 1088–1089 California, 517 120
sacred sites, 947–949, and missionization in the Dog Soldiers, 979
952–954, 959–961, 1088 Great Lakes, 523, 524 Dogs
sandpaintings, 139, and missionization in the in Cherokee origin story,
375(photo), 499, 948, Northeast, 532 697–698
985–991 and missionization in the dog spirit, 1012
seclusion during Southeast, 551 as kin to people, 438–439
menstruation, 507 and missionization in the and Lakota yuwipi
social organization, 1045 Southwest, 554, 556 ceremony, 1172
souls and the afterlife, 589, modern diseases, 363–364 people excluded from
591 and Okanogan sweatlodges, afterlife by mistreating,
spiritual and ceremonial 594 579
practitioners, 139–140, and Omaha, 825 white dogs sacrificed by
987–989, 1044–1050 and oral traditions Seneca, 305
symbolism of corn and (Northwest coast), Dolls, 695. See also Kachinas
seasonal cycles, 227, 668–669 Domenico, 796
262–263 and persecution of witches Domestic violence, 363–364
two-spirit people (Tlingit), 1022 Dominguez, Fr. Francisco
(nádleehí), 325, 327, 329, and Peter Jones’s Methodist Atanasio, 951
331, 333 teachings to the Door Man, 603
water drum, 250 Anishinaabe, 424 Dorris, Michael, 478
weddings, 63 and Prophet Dance, 908–909 Dorsey, George, 715
1203
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Double ball, 57 and healing, 244–245, Cheyenne Christian drum

Double Face Woman, 651–652 247–248, 495, 500–501 songs, 180
Double Woman, 143–144 and hunting rituals, 236 honor beats, 770, 772
artistic power conferred by, and Lakota yuwipi and Native American
651 ceremony, 1169–1172 Church, 603, 604
and petroglyphs, 734, 735 and naming rituals, 107 Osage In-Lon-Ska, 412–415
Double Woman Ceremony and oral traditions, 677 and powwows, 769–770
(Dakota), 231 power conferred in dreams, and Scalp Dance (Paiute),
Double Woman healer, 247 93–94, 99, 111, 122, 201
Douglas, Luther A., 991 240–248, 651, 750, 763, and Seven Drum way of life
Douglas, Mary, 188 1026–1027, 1048, 1128 (Plateau), 219
Dowd, Donny, 809–810 and power places, 757 Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 719–720
Downing, Lewis, 847 as primary source for Drums, 249–253
Downing, Samuel and Susan cultural innovation, ceremonial vs. dance
Daugherty, 847 1129–1130 drums, 252
Dozier, Edward P., 443, 687 psychic abilities of the construction of, 250–252
Dragging Canoe, 698, 1043 dreamer, 246–247 drums descended from
Dratach’leek songs, 747 and recruitment of clowns, earlier drums, 251
Dream Dance, 796 187 female spirits in, 770
Dream Dance drum, 107 and recruitment of healers, oral traditions about, 711
Dreamer Religion, 547 244–245, 247–248, 379, ownership of, 252
Dreamers and prophets. See 500, 864 for spiritual practitioners,
Prophets and dreamers rituals revealed in, 104, 122, 1044
Dreaming Religion (Bole 338, 1130, 1132 types of, 249–253
Maru), 500–501, spontaneous visions, uses of, 249
731–733 143–144, 242, 1130, 1132 See also Water drums
Dreams and visions, 240–248, subjective experience of, Drumsticks, 250, 604
697, 1129–1131 242, 245, 246 DuBois, Cora, 5, 914
and ball games, 62 and Thirst (Sun) Dance, 290 Ducks
and basketry, 65 types of, 240–241 Crow stories about, 1122
“big dream” vs. guardian validity of, 104, 240, 244, domesticated by the Maya,
spirit acquisition, 1132 306
241–243, 1129–1130 See also Peyote plant; Ojibwa stories about, 678
Black Elk’s visions, Prophecy; Trances; Pawnee stories about,
1087–1090 Vision quests 301
and Bole Maru, 732–733 Driftwood spirit, 216 Duff, Wilson, 1104–1105
and bundle traditions, Drink, Beloved, 73, 168 Duggan, Lisa, 326
93–94, 99, 101 Driver, Harold, 798, 999 Dukes, Joseph, 849–850
Chief Seattle on, 177 Drucker, Philip, 1144, Dunbar, Don, 875
Columbia Plateau, 909–910 1149–1150 Duncan, William, 546
communication with spirits Drug abuse, 363–364 Dunn, Dorothy, 37
in, 1128 Drum Chief, 603 Dupuis, Frederick and Mary,
communication with the Drum Dance, 107 89
deceased in, 237, 747 Drum (group of powwow Durant, Will and Ariel,
content of, 243–244 musicians), 252–253, 294–295
epistemology of, 235, 1004 Dutschke, Ramona, 68
240–248, 1132–1133 Drum warmer, 414 Duvall, D. C., 715
and False Face masks, Drumkeeper (Osage), 412–415 Duwamish. See Chief Seattle
495–496 Drumming Dwarf women, 750
harmful dreams kept Anishinaabe, 106–107 Dw'dw', 980–982, 1026, 1029
secret, 1132 Cherokee, 169 Dxonokwa, 490–491
1204
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Dylan, Bob, 1043 Earth Surface People instruction for manual or

Dzil Nchaa Si An, 958. See also (Diné/Navajo), 138, 139, domestic labor, 531, 899,
Mount Graham 262, 264, 985–986 903
Earthquakes, 669–670, 698, knowledge transmitted by
Eagle 836, 910 oral tradition, 636–637,
Columbia Plateau spirit, Eastern Orthodox Church, 659, 680, 682, 718
1012 510–516 local day schools, 539, 642,
Dakota symbolism, 288 Eastern woodlands 670
and Haida oral traditions, kinship, 295 during menarche rituals.
644 mounds, 570–571 See Menarche/puberty
and Hopi, 162, 450–451 See also Delaware people; rituals
and Lakota traditions, 1171 Northeast; Southeast mission schools in the
and mask traditions, 488 Eastman, Charlos O., 474, 539, Southeast, 552
as predator spirit, 393 610, 714, 899 religious impact of
and Zuni medicine Eastman, Mary, 1052 boarding schools, 77–82
societies, 443 Easton, Robert, 443 scholarships for Native
See also Eagle feathers Eaton, John, 1108 students of archaelogy,
Eagle Dance, 168, 767 Echinacea, 1041 26
Eagle Doctor, 828–829, 977 Echo-Hawk, Walter, tribal colleges, 716
Eagle-dream power, 245 456(photo) Winnemucca’s school
Eagle feathers Echo Park (Dinosaur National (Lovelock, Nevada), 1153
denial of legal access to, Monument), 947 See also Boarding schools
460 Eclipse of the sun, 781, 829, Eells, Cushing and Myra, 544
and Hopi potavi (breath 905 Eells, Myron, 356
string), 589–590 Ecology/environmentalism, Eggan, Fred, 687
legislation about access to, 255–258 Ehyophstah, 710
466 damage done by mining Eisenhower, Dwight D., 901
and Ohomo and Ghost and logging in the Black Elders
Dance, 211 Hills, 963 Apache grandmothers, 278
and poison doctors, 871 “ecological Indian” and Arapaho bundle
and powwow regalia, 771, stereotype, 564, 566 traditions, 120, 121
772 and feminist spirituality and Arapaho medicine, 122
and Pueblo healing, 445 movement, 298–300 autobiographies listed, 714
and Washat dances, 219, fishing rights, 320–323 Clan Mothers, 295, 409, 410
831 and Hopi Prophecy, Great Lakes women, 1156
Eagle, Frank, 609 387–391 Kiowa grandmothers,
Eagle Watchers Society, and hunting, 393–400 559–560
560–561 and medicinal plants, knowledge transmitted by
Ear-piercing ceremony 382–383, 1041 oral tradition, 636–637,
(Dakota), 231 and oral traditions, 635, 639, 659, 680, 682, 718
Earth 645–646, 666, 670, 676 and naming rituals, 107
kinship with, 439. See also peyote habitat threatened, in Owens’s writings, 726
Mother Earth 613 religious instruction by
and Lakota oral traditions, and whaling, 1151 grandparents
1169 Ecunchattee, 851 (Southeast), 697
Earth Diver creation stories. Edenso, Christine, 645–646 storytelling by, 683
See Great Flood/Earth Edgar, George, 816 and urban Indians, 1098
Diver stories Education validation of rituals
Earth Lodge cult, 547 experiential learning, 439 revealed in dreams, 104
The Earth Shall Weep (Wilson), government schools and and vision quests, 1128,
648–649 the arts, 41 1130–1131
1205
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Elders (continued) Southeast, 694–695 1020–1021, 1144–1145,

Yupiaq (Yup’iq) language Southwest, 227, 258–263, 1150
masters, 718 687–690, 1088. See also Protestant work ethic, 349
See also Beloved Men; specific peoples and sovereignty, 1007
Beloved Women Tlingit, 703 teachings of prophets. See
Eli, Mary, 798 and tricksters, 1121–1123 Prophets and dreamers
Elite and two-spirit people, 333 See also Altruism; Balance;
and Hamatsa Society, 970 Zuni, 164–165, 263, 333, Evil; Gift-giving/give-
Lushootseed nobles, 870 689, 947 away ceremonies; Good;
and potlatches, 738–739, See also Culture heroes; Gratitude; Kinship;
741–742 Great Flood/Earth Diver Moral lessons taught by
powers held by (Northwest stories; Migration stories; Reciprocity;
coast), 753, 754 legends Respect; Taboos and
powers held by (Plains), 764 Emergence, places of, 430, restrictions; specific
Tsimshian elite orders, 445 peoples
154–155, 868 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1114 Ethnographic study. See
and whaling, 1145 Emetic rituals (Nez Perce), 148 Academic study of
See also Leadership; Orders, Employment Div., Dept. of American Indian
guilds, and sacred Human Resources of religious traditions;
societies Oregon v. Smith, 458, Salvage ethnography
Elk Dreamer society, 735 462, 614, 623, 624 European contact
Elk Society, Female, 978–979 Enemyway, 139–140, and Columbia Plateau
Ellam Yua, 171, 720 1140–1141 tribes, 874
Elriq, 172, 173 Enriq (Yupiaq), 19 and dance (Southeast), 221,
Elxa, 329 Environmentalism. See 222
Emergence/creation Ecology/ and desecration of graves,
narratives, 258–265, 636, environmentalism 878–883
639 Episcopalians European views on Native
Anishinaabe, 103–104 and Great Basin peoples, spirituality, 376,
Arapaho, 119, 333 752 455–457, 536, 918–919
Athabascan people, 661, and the Sioux, 537, 819 and gender relations, 273
662 and Wounded Knee impact of diseases. See
Chemehuevi, 63 massacre, 538–539 Disease
Cherokee, 697–698 Epistemology, and dreams, and Northeastern tribes,
Cheyenne, 100–102 235, 240–248, 1132–1133 790–791
Choctaw, 572 Erdoes, Richard, 604, 714 and Numic peoples,
and clowns, 185, 186 Erdrich, Louise, 265–270, 478 860–862
Columbia Plateau, 681 Erect Horns, 709 and Plains oral traditions,
Crow, 1122 Erodes, Richard, 83, 84 712–713
Diné (Navajo), 28–29, 65, Ervin, Sam, 407 and prophets, 238, 786, 792,
138–139, 259, 261–263, Escalante, Fr. Silvestre Velez 844
333 de, 861, 951 Protestant work ethic, 349,
Hopi, 30, 160–162, 387–388, Eskimo. See Inuit; Inupiaq; 531
390, 446–448, 688–690 Yupiaq (Yup’iq) and rock art death
Iroquoian peoples, 965–966 Etda-i-tsonhi, 981 symbolism, 759
Lakota, 649, 962 Ethics and Sleeping Giant story
Mojave, 333 codes of ethics for (Ojibwa), 673
Ojibwa, 675–676 archeologists, 25–26 suppression of Native
Pima, 333 and hunting/fishing, healing, 376–377
Plains, 708–709. See also 391–400, 493, 494, See also Appropriation of
specific peoples 644–645, 666, 682, Native traditions;
1206
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Christianity, Falcons, 207 See also Menarche/puberty

Indianization of; Fall, Albert, 540 rituals; Women
Colonialism; Ghost False Face society, 187, Feminism
Dance 495–497, 964–966 and ecology/
Evans, James, 804 Family songs (Osage), 415 environmentalism,
Evening Star, and bundle Fancy Dance (Fast War 298–300
traditions, 100 Dance), 209(photo), 212, indigenism and feminist
Evil 767–768, 772 spirituality movement,
bad luck befalling Fancy Shawl Dance, 773 298–299
inattentive listeners, 659 Fantasies of the Master Race loss of women’s power
Diné (Navajo) concept of, (Churchill), 475 under colonialism, 293,
29, 138–140, 988 Farnham, Thomas, 908 297–298
in Handsome Lake’s Fasting Native Womanism, 299–300
visions, 932 and Anishinaabe vision and traditional
and Husk Face society, 496 quests, 106 communalism, 295–297
ogress Tsonoqua, 490–491 and Apache female and tribalism, 291–300
in Owens’s writings, 727 spirituality, 281 women’s roles prior to
and Protestant concept of and children, 107 European contact,
sin, 533 and Coeur d’Alene vision 295–297
Pueblo-Catholic parallels, quests, 133–134 See also Matrilineal
554 and Plains vision quests, descent/inheritance
spirit power used for 1026, 1127 Fertility symbolism, 572
harming others, 122, and sacred sites, 949 Fetishes, 163, 445, 448, 1042
667–668, 721, 1013–1014, and sacred societies, 971 Fiction. See Literature
1022–1023, 1031–1032, and Sun Dance, 1058, 1131 Fiddler, Adam, 806, 807
1036, 1037 and tobacco ties, 1131 Fiddler, Jack, 805–806
Yaqui devil-chaser society, and whaling, 1144–1145 Fiddler, Joseph, 805, 806
591 Father of All Trees, 814 Fienup-Riordan, Ann, 171, 721
See also Evil spirits; Hell; Father Sky, 263–264, 275 Fifth World. See Diné (Navajo):
Illness, causes of; Feast for the Dead (Yupiaq), cosmology; Hopi:
Sorcery; Witches 171–173, 346 cosmology
Evil spirits Feast, the. See ‘Isánáklèsh Film, 475–476, 478, 714, 732,
and bull roarer, 200 Gotal 748, 1062, 1167
and False Face Society, 966 Feather Dance, 211, 354 Fire
ghosts of bad people, 590 Feather Religion, 831–832, and Cherokee ceremonies,
and illness, 1013 913–914 168, 223, 303, 353
and Indian Shaker Church, Feather Woman, 97–98, 712 and clowns, 186
814 Feathered Pipe (Chief healing power of ashes
Mahtantu, 579 Medicine Pipe), 818 (Iroquois), 496
Matchi-Manitou, 484 Feathers Dance, 768 healing power of candles
murder of people believed Feinberg, Leslie, 327 (Shakers), 419
to be windigos, 805–806 Female Elk Society, 978–979 and Hopi oral traditions,
Evilway ceremonies Female spirituality, 273–290 780
(Diné/Navajo), 264 Apache, 276–281 Making of the New Fire
Experiential learning, 439 Dakota, 283–289 ceremony (Hopi), 498
Eyak, 660 female spirits, 275–276 and mourning rituals
Eyeball juggling, 712 Lakota, 1090–1091 (Athabascan), 746
mixed-gender rituals, 290 and mourning rituals
Fages, Pedro, 799 rituals and ritual societies, (Delaware), 579
Fairy-like people. See Little 282, 289–290 Fire Chief, 603, 620
People and rock art, 735 Fire Dance (Washo), 505
1207
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
First Amendment, 456–459, Flathead First Foods ceremonies;

920 Bluejay spirit, 217 First Salmon ceremony;
and New Age appropriation language, 993 Fishing; Foraging rituals;
of Native traditions, 630 and missionization, Hunting; Hunting
and peyote use, 624 534–535, 537, 544 rituals; Whaling
First Foods ceremonies, oral traditions, 711 Foolhen, 681
301–306, 873 prophet Shining Shirt, 534, Fools Crow, Frank, 820–821,
California, 1016–1017 712 1007, 1169
Columbia Plateau, 148–149, vision quests, 1011 Fools Crow (Welch), 714, 821
1037–1038 Winter Spirit dances, 213 Fool’s Dance (Assiniboine), 186
First Man (Diné/Navajo), 28 Fletcher, Alice, 760, 826, 942, Foraging rituals, 105–106, 282,
First Menses site, 307–310 943, 945 305
First Peoples (Coeur d’Alene), Flint Rock, 1012 and “bridle” stick
132 Flood. See Great Flood/Earth (Lushootseed menarche
First Salmon ceremony, Diver stories object), 372, 871
304–305, 311–319, 994, Flower World (Yaqui/Yoeme), Coeur d’Alene, 132–133,
1020–1021 1166, 1167 1037
and ceremonial leaders, Flowers Great Lakes women, 1157
1037 Great Lakes healing, 1157 Hupa, 130
and fishing rights, 320–323 Yaqui (Yoeme) symbolism, Kootenai, 1038
Hupa, 130, 1017 1167 Nez Perce, 147–150
See also Washat dance Flute, 707 See also Education:
First Woman (Diné/Navajo), Flute Ceremony (Hopi), 164 knowledge transmitted
28 Flute Society, 448 by oral tradition
First World. See Diné (Navajo): Folktales, 702. See also Oral Forbes, Jack, 1155
cosmology; Hopi: traditions Forman, Stephen, 847–848
cosmology Folsom site (New Mexico), 21 Fort Berthold Reservation,
Firstborn Church of Christ, Folson, Israel, 552 891, 893
608 Food Fort Smith Medicine Wheel,
Fish dance (Southeast), 221 California diet, 363, 366 711
Fish Lake Joe, 194, 339, 341. diet and nutrition as part of Fortunate Eagle, Adam,
See also Wodziwob healing, 363 808–809
Fisher, Eonah, 1042 “feeding” of the Sacred Pole 49 (play), 714
Fishing of the Omaha, 943 Foster, Lenny, 467
ethics of, 399, 666, first solid food ritual Found-in-Grass, 119
1020–1021 (Apache), 116 Four, as sacred number, 603,
fishing rights, 320–323 gathering techniques, 646 708, 1057, 1086–1087
Hupa rituals, 130 and mourning rituals, 578, Four Bears, 711
Nez Perce rituals, 147–151 581–582, 741 “Four chiefs,” 1149
and Plateau oral traditions, restrictions on bundle Four Mothers Society, 849
681, 684–685 keepers, 980, 981 Four Old Men (Arapaho),
See also First Salmon restrictions on hunters, 122–123
ceremony; Salmon; 1144–1145 Four Pole ceremony, 1054
Whaling restrictions on spiritual Four Smokes, 682–683
Fitch, L. A., 535 practitioners, 1029 Four Winds, 275, 649, 651
Five, as sacred number, restrictions on women, 504, Fourteenth Amendment, 611
683–684 1157 Fourth World, 28, 448–449,
Flat Pipe bundle, 118, 541, symbolism and 453, 687, 689, 780. See
818 ceremonies, 301–306 also Diné (Navajo):
Flat pipe, construction of, 936 See also Agriculture; cosmology; Hopi:
Flat Pipe Man, 708 Buffalo/bison; Fasting; cosmology
1208
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Fowler, Catherine, 308, 1154 Gahuni, 846 General Allotment Act (Dawes
Fox, as trickster, 1119 Gaia hypothesis, 567 Act) of 1887, 266, 403,
France, and missionization in Galagina, 845–846 405–406, 828, 849, 897
the Great Lakes, 515–519 Galler, Fred, 596 General Severalty Act of 1887,
Francis, Josiah, 698, 850–851, Games. See Ball games; Hand 527
926 Game; Stick Game Generosity, as cultural value,
Franciscans, 549–551, Garcia, Tammy, 38 1007. See also Gift-
554–557, 748 Gardening. See Agriculture giving/give-away
Franklin, Benjamin, 179 Garter Snake, 818 ceremonies
Fraser River, 815 Gatci 'kwae, 60 Geomythology, 387, 402, 591.
Fredin, Adeline, 434 Gayatina, 603 See also Landscape, in
Fredson, John, 788 Geertz, Clifford, 264 oral tradition
French and Indian Wars, 930 Geiogamah, Hanay, 714 George, Andrew, 875
Frey, Rodney, 715 Gender George, Doctor, 796
“Friends of the Indian,” 539 and the arts, 47–48 George, Nancy, 415
Friendship Dance (Cherokee), and ball games, 59, 61 George, Sally, 796
168 and bundle traditions, 101 George, Usee, 796
Friendship festival (Cherokee), and cardinal directions, Georgia
168 1087 archaeological sites, 167
Frigout, Arlette, 162, 163 and Cherokee stomp and Cherokee Nation, 928
Frog, 488, 675 dances, 223 Trail of Tears, 1106–1117
From the Heart of Crow Country and Christianity, 293, 919 Geronimo, 856–857,
(Medicine Crow), 715 conflicts in northern 857(photo)
From the Deep Woods to Athabascan culture, Geyshick, Ron, 673, 675
Civilization (Eastman), 1160–1161 Ghi-ghua, 71, 844–845
474 and Corn Mother, 1090 Ghost Dance, 337–343
Frost, John, 540 of deities, 275–276 Arapaho, 123–124, 211
Fur traders English views on Native and Bole Maru, 732
and the Anishinaabe, 968 gender roles, 531 Cheyenne, 211
and Great Lakes tribes, and interactions with diffusion of, 211, 339,
1158 Europeans, 273 538–539, 823
and Iroquois Confederacy, and Iroquois Confederacy, doctrine of, 338–339, 713,
930 72, 932 823, 829
and missionization, 510 and leadership, 273–275, Dream Dance version, 796
and Numic peoples, 861 295–297, 873 Kanab Creek site, 758–759
and the Ojibwa, 267 and longhouses, 219 Kiowa, 211
and proliferation of totem and masks, 494 Lakota, 192, 823
poles, 1102 men’s and women’s spaces, Modoc, 796
and the Tsimshian, 152 29, 30 Numic people, 861
and Native identity, 402 origins of, 337–340, 1043
Gaalee’ya Camp, 789 and Nez Perce songs, 148 prohibition of, 211, 377
Gabrieliño, 40 and oral traditions, 710 Prophet Dance version. See
spiritual and political and Plains art, 55 Prophet Dance
leader Regina Josefa and Plateau religious and prophets, 239
Toypurina, 798–799 leadership, 873 relation to other dances,
Gad jeesa. See Husk Face and power concepts, 761, 194, 201, 338, 339, 341,
society 764 758
Gagewin, 805 social dances, 221 religious leaders, 817, 823,
Gahe, Gahan dance, two-spirit people, 325–335 827, 829
112(photo), 116, 498–499, See also Female spirituality; shuffle step in, 200
958, 1049 Feminism; Men; Women sites for, 340–342
1209
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Ghost Dance (continued) and reservation system, 893 Gordon, Philip B., 806–807
and songs, 1004 and Southwest puberty Gossip, 1000
termination of, 192 rituals, 346, 348 Gotebo, 528
Warm House version, 817, and Sun Dance, 1051–1052 Goulding, Warren, 296–297
973 and the Yupiaq (Yup’iq), Goulet, Jean-Guy, 235
and Wounded Knee 173–175, 346 Gourd Dance, 212, 767, 1068
massacre, 457, 829, 919 See also Potlatch Gourd Dance Society, 1066,
See also Wodziwob; Wovoka Gill, Sam D., 563–564, 566 1068
Ghost Dance (Northwest Gilpin, Lawrence, 944 Goyatholay, 856–857
Sbatatdaq). See Ginseng, 1041 Graceful Shawl Dance, 773
Sbatatdaq Girls. See Female spirituality; Graduation rituals, and
Ghost-keeping (Dakota), 231. Feminism; Menarche/ powwows, 769
See also Spirit-keeping puberty rituals; Spirits Grand Canyon
Ghost Shirt, 823 and spirit helpers; Vision and Ghost Dance, 342
Ghosts quests; Women in Hopi cosmology, 30
Choctaw, 586–587 Gist, Nathaniel, 696 Kanab Creek site, 758–759
Lushootseed, 371, 869–870 Gitsonik, 1024 Salt Cave, 454, 463
Nuxalk division into corpse, Give-aways. See Gift-giving/ and Salt Song Trail, 195, 759
shadow, and ghost, 370, give-away ceremonies and Zuni emergence
869 Given, Joshua, 1031 narrative, 263, 947
in Owens’s writings, 726 Glooscap (Gluskap), 655–657, Grandfather Drum, 109
shamanic journey to the 1119 Grandfathers (Lakota sacred
spirit world. See Goble, Paul, 715 persons), 1087
Sbatatdaq God is Red (Deloria), 7, 541 Grandmother (Lakota sacred
Southwest, 590–591 Gods. See Deities/powers person), 1087
spirits of people killed by Goes-Ahead, 827 Grandmother Moon (Great
whites (whirlwind Gokaalii, 1046 Lakes), 1157–1158
spirits), 759 Gold, discovery of, 40, 832, Grandmothers
See also Afterlife; Mediums; 963, 1107 Apache, 279
Souls Golden Rule. See Reciprocity Kiowa, 559–560
Gidjii, 185 Goldenseal, 1041 See also Clan Mothers;
Gietso, 1029, 1031 Gomes, Gloria, 955 Elders
Gift Dance, 211 Gone, Frederick, 818 Grant, Ulysses S., 526, 545, 557
Gift-giving/give-away Good Grass Dance, 212
ceremonies, 344–350 Diné (Navajo) concept of, diffusion of, 211
Coeur d’Alene sharing 138 Lakota, 208
rituals, 133, 682 Lakota concept of, 438 and powwows, 767, 768,
generosity as cultural value, and Protestant concept of 771–772
1007 sin, 533 Grass Dance drum, 107
and kachinas, 447–448 Pueblo-Catholic parallels, Grasshopper Girl, 961
and Lakota mourning 554 Gratitude, 19
rituals, 581–583 See also Ethics gratitude taught through
and manitous, 485 Good talkers (Great Basin), oral traditions, 644, 677
and Ohomo Dance, 211 751 and hunting ethics,
and Osage In-Lon-Ska, 414, Goodnight, Charles and 391–400, 493, 494,
415 Mollie, 89 644–645, 666
and powwows, 768–769 Goosefoot, domestication of, and place names, 646
prohibition of give-aways, 302 and power places, 757
537, 581, 893 Gopher, 1028 thanksgiving feast
and puberty rituals, 503, Gordon, Nebraska, protest at, following yuwipi
504, 505 16 ceremony, 1170
1210
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
See also Gift-giving/give- tricksters, 1118. See also Ojibwa (Chippewa);

away ceremonies; Coyote Plains; Potawatomi;
Hunting rituals; Prayer; See also Chemehuevi; Wyandot (Huron)
Reciprocity Numic people; Paiute; Great New Moon Feast
Grave robbers, 460, 462. See Shoshone; Ute; Washo (Cherokee), 168
also Native American Great Defender/Great Great Plains. See Plains
Graves Protection and Humpback/Rim Dweller The Great Race of the Animals
Repatriation Act (Iroquois), 495 (Goble), and Gold Rush,
Graves. See Burial/memorial Great Depression, 900 715
rituals Great Feast for the Dead Great Sioux Reservation, and
Gray Squirrel (medicine man), (Yupiaq), 171–173 Gold Rush, 963
986(photo) Great Flood/Earth Diver Great Spirit
Grayhorse, OK, 412 stories, 572, 663, Great Lakes, 484
Greasy Mouth clan, 712 708–709 and Peter Jones’s
Great Basin, 724–725 Arapaho, 119 Methodism, 423–424
ancestral habitation sites, Cherokee, 697–698 Southeast, 927
950 Haida, 641–642 See also Creator
art, 38–43 Hopi, 388, 689 Great Thanksgiving Festival
ceremony and ritual Ojibwa, 675–676, 1122 (Cherokee), 168
(overview), 751 Zuni, 689 Green Corn ceremony (Busk),
Cry ceremony, 193–195, Great halaayt, 154–155 70, 350–354
200–201 Great Lakes Cherokee, 167–168, 303
dance, 197–201, 751 agriculture, 303–304, 1156 Creek, 221–222
geography/environment of, ball games, 57 history of, 354
724 ceremony and ritual and mounds, 572
Gold Rush, 40 (overview), 100–110 practice described, 351–354
healers and healing, healing. See Healing: Great preparations for, 351
244–245, 750 Lakes setting for, 352
languages, 224, 724, 749 manitous. See Manitous Green, Joe, 750
leadership, 724 missionization, 519–525, Grimes, Ronald, 583
missionization, 751, 752 800–811, 919, 1072–1075, Grinde, Donald, 257
mourning rituals, 751 1158 Grinevald, Jacques, 567
nomadic lifestyle, 724–725 oral traditions. See Oral Grinnell, George Bird, 715
oral traditions, 635, traditions: Great Lakes Grizzly Bear Dance, 1038
708–711 pipe rituals, 937 Grizzly Bear spirit, 216, 275,
petroglyphs, 735 puberty rituals (girls), 1157 727, 1012
power concepts. See Power: religious and secular Gros Ventre (Arapaho), 118,
Great Basin; Puha leaders, biographical 122
power places, 756–759, sketches, 800–811 clowns, 186
781–782 sacred societies, 964–968 deities/powers, 1025
religious leadership, social organization, dreams, 245
858–863 1155–1156 Flat Pipe bundle, 118, 541,
sacred sites. See Sacred sweatlodges, 1072–1075 818
sites: Great Basin vision quests, 106, 485–486 and Ghost Dance, 538
spiritual practitioners, women’s cultural and history of tribe, 922
702–703, 750–752, religious roles, husband-wife spiritual
779–782, 858–863 1155–1159 practitioner pairs, 1027
social organization, See also Anishinaabe; Cree; and missionization, 536,
724–725 Iroquoian peoples; 540
spirits and spirit helpers, Menominee; Miami; power transference through
198, 947 Midéwiwin; Odawa; sexual intercourse, 1027
1211
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Gros Ventre (Arapaho) Haida Stories (Cogo), 644 Hanhepi, 649

(continued) Haile, Berard, 28 Hanhepi Wi, 649, 651
spiritual leader/warrior Hair, human Hansen, Daisy, 500
Bull Lodge, 818 Apache first-haircut ritual, Haozous, Bob, 36
and Sun Dance, 1054 115 Hare, William H., 536
Gross, Lawrence W., 265, 270 cut as part of mourning, Harjo, Chitto, 853
Grouse, 490 573, 574, 581, 586 Harjo, Hillis, 698
Guale, 550–551 and Lakota spirit-keeping Harjo, Joy, 479
Guardian spirits. See Kachinas; ritual, 144, 580 Harney, Corbin, 341, 780, 863
Manitous; Spirits and as site of power (Tsimshian), Harney Peak, 962
spirit helpers; Winter 369, 867–868 Harold of Orange (film), 476
Spirit dances Hakitonmuya, 162 Harrington, John P., 610
Guie, Dean, 596 Halaayt, 369–370, 868 Harrington, Luna, 1069(photo)
Guilds. See Orders, guilds, and Haldane, Victor, 646 Harrington, M. R., 610
sacred societies Hale, Prairie Potawatomi Harris, Joel Chandler, 696
Gulf War, 1061, 1095 Chick, 22 Harrison Narcotic Act, 609
Gunther, Erna, 311 Half-Moon Rite, 602, 915, Harrison, William, 1096
Gutaal, 116, 1046 1097. See also Cross-Fire Harrison, William Henry, 238
Gwich’in Rite Harvest Dance (Numic
conflicting gender roles, Hall, C. L., 535 people), 198–200
1161 Hall, Sherman, 802 Harvest rituals, 1017
mourning rituals, 746 Haller, Edwin, 808 Cherokee, 167–168
“She Who Is Ravished” Hallowell, A. Irving, 236 Hopi, 164
narrative, 1161–1162 Hallucinogens. See Datura; Nez Perce, 148–149
Tritt’s projects and Mescal; Mountain See also First Foods
contributions, 787–788 Laurel; Peyote plant ceremonies; Green Corn
Gwiylás, 755 Halona Itiwana, 263 ceremony
Gypsum Cave, 781–782 Halsey, Theresa, 296 Hascall, John, 810
Hamatsa Society (Cannibal Hasch’ééh, 1049
Haag, Mark, 609 Dancers), 186, 491, Haskie, Leonard, 623
Hadjo, Hildis, 850–851 970(photo), 971, 973, Hásltiin Dághá, 857–858
Haetaedau stories, 707 1023 Hastchin, 116
Hagler, 844 Hammerschlag, Carl A., 920 Hastíín Klah, 331
Haida Hampton, Eber L., 1078 Hastings, Dennis, 944
architecture, 28, 33 Hanbleceyapi, 143 Hat. See Sacred Hat bundle
arts and artists, 49, 53 Hanblecheya, 192, 1127, 1131 Hatáál, 138
clowns, 186 Hand Game, 211, 1038–1039 Hataatli, 29, 139–140, 987–991,
dance, 972 Handsome Lake (Seneca 1046
healing, 369–370 prophet), 866, 906, Hatathlii, Thomas, 858
impact of diseases, 641 929–933, 1130 Haucitau stories, 707
kinship moieties, 644 ball game held during Haudenosaunee (Iroquois
matrilineal nature of death of, 60 Confederacy)
culture, 644 Code of, 534, 931–932 agriculture, 303
name origin, 642 content of visions, 931 and American Revolution,
Native clergy, 816 death and rebirth 930
oral traditions, 640–647 experience, 238 ball games, 58, 59
potlatches, 740 and missionization, 534 cannibalism, 305–306
totem poles, 1102–1105 opposition to alcohol, 239, Clan Mothers, 409
video created by, 645 534 clowns, 187
yahkwdáng (respect) See also Longhouse religion False Face society, 187,
concept, 644–647 (Seneca) 495–497, 964–966
1212
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
founding of, 930 gender-specific types, doctors’ societies, 976–978,

and French and Indian 247–248, 373, 379, 667, 1029–1031
Wars, 930 872 Kiowa, 1028–1031
Grand Council’s call for healing skills given by spirit Lakota, 247, 762,
return of masks, 47, powers, 94, 379, 864. See 1168–1172
496–497 also specific healers in Ponca, 762
healing, 495–497 the regions under sleight-of-hand skills,
Husk Face society, 495–497 Religious and secular 1031
influence on Founding leaders, biographical and Sun Dance, 1053
Fathers of the U.S., 409 sketches Healers: Southeast, 74
and intellectual property impact of diseases beyond Healing
rights, 1007 their powers on, 779–780, and ball games, 59–60, 62
kinship, 295 860–861, 873, 1037 and basketry, 63, 66
masks, 488, 494–497 multiple responsibilities of, blowing/sucking/poking
“mourning war,” 1137–1138 378–379 during, 19, 369–370, 372,
Nations of, 930 regional characteristics. See 720–721, 755, 819, 828,
oral traditions, 303, 495 headings following this 871, 1018, 1029–1030,
origins of, 791, 864–865 entry 1036, 1048
religious leadership, 864–865 sleight-of-hand skills, 755, ceremonies for returning
roles of women, 72, 409, 1022, 1031, 1042. See warriors, 1140–1141
1156 also Healing: blowing/ diagnosis during trances,
wars with the Hurons, 523 sucking/poking during 750. See also specific
See also Handsome Lake; two-spirit people as, 330, healers in the regions
Iroquoian peoples; 332 under Religious and
Longhouse religion types of, 379 secular leaders,
(Seneca) See also Religious and biographical sketches
Havana Bay (Smith), 474 secular leaders, diet and nutrition as part of
Havasupai biographical sketches; healing, 363, 385
access to federal land Spiritual and ceremonial and drums, 249
containing sacred sites, practitioners healing power of girls
470 Healers: California, 1018 during puberty rituals,
clowns, 185 Desert Cahuilla, 797, 856 506
language, 225 Kumeyaay, 131 and Indian Shaker Church,
souls, 589 Pomo, 500–501, 731–733 418
storyteller, 634(photo) Healers: Columbia Plateau, and intellectual property
Hawaii, grave desecration 1013, 1036–1037 rights, 367–368
issues, 878, 881 Healers: Great Basin, 244–245 and modern diseases,
Hawikuh, 950 Healers: Northeast, 864–865 363–364
Hawk, 207, 451 Healers: Northwest, 369–373, and peyote, 602, 605, 618
Hawthorne, Harry, 1105 493, 667 prohibition of, 377, 919
Hayatinayo, 603 Kalapuya, 667 regional characteristics. See
Hayden Bill, 610 Nuxalk (Bella Coola), 869 headings following this
Hayes, James, 876 Tillamook, 372–373, entry
Hayes, Rutherford, 833 871–872 and sacred bundles, 94,
Hazelwood Republic, 179 Tsimshian, 369–370, 95–96
Healers 867–869 and songs, 1003
called by dangerous Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 18–19, struggles for preservation
experiences, 18, 864 171–174, 717–721 of plant-gathering sites,
called by dreams or visions, Healers: Plains, 762–763, 1027 368
244–245, 247–248, 379, Cherokee, 74 and sweatlodges,
500, 864 Crow, 762 1072–1073, 1075–1076
1213
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Healing (continued) Pueblo medicine societies, northern Athabascan, 1160

See also Illness, causes of; 443–454 Southeast, 1041–1042
Medicinal plants; Health and wellness, 373–380 See also Medicinal plants;
Religious and secular Heammawihio, 1122 specific plants
leaders, biographical “Heart of the monster,” 681, Herdt, Gilbert, 328
sketches; Sweatlodge 684, 685 Herman, Father (St. Herman),
Healing: California, 361–368 “Heart talk” (Coeur d’Alene), 512
Healing: Columbia Plateau, 135, 136, 216 Hernandez, Francisco, 599
914, 1013 Heaven and heaven-like Herrera, Joe, 37
Healing: Great Basin, 750 concepts, 579, 588, 592, Hesperus Peak, 945, 959–961
Healing: Great Lakes, 1157 765–766, 829, 932. See Hethuska dances, 773
Anishinaabe, 104, 967 also Afterlife Heyoka, 143, 182, 186, 187,
and Jingle Dress Dance Hedewachi ceremony, 1054 764–765
(Ojibwa), 772 Heffter, Arthur, 601 Heyoka-Wozepi (Dakota), 231
Healing: Northeast, 495–497 Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) Heyoowu’u, 119
Healing: Northwest, 369–373, dance societies, 755–756, Hiawatha, 864
667–668 969, 971–972, 1023 Hickerson, Harold, 968
Haida, 369–370 potlatches, 742 Hidatsa
and Indian Shaker Church, power concepts, 754–756 bundle traditions, 99–100
814 The Heirs of Columbus clowns, 186
Lushootseed, 370–372 (Vizenor), 478 history of tribe, 922
northern Athabascan, Heisonoonin, 122–123 kinship, 975
1160 Hell and hell-like concepts, migration legends, 711
Nuxalk (Bella Coola), 370, 579, 588, 765–766, 829, and missionization, 537,
869 932 893
“shaking tent” (Innu), 105 Hemeha, 352 pipe rituals, 936
shamanic journey to the Henning, P., 601 power transference through
spirit world. See Hensel, Chase, 1078 sexual intercourse, 1027
Sbatatdaq Hensley, Albert, 608, 614, 818, quillwork, 55
and spirit powers, 359 821, 915 sacred power, 1025
Tillamook, 372–373 Her Seven Brothers (Goble), sacred sites, 891
Tlingit, 369–370 715 and Sun Dance, 1054
Tsimshian, 369–370 Herbalism, 381–386 sweatlodges, 1075–1077
and Winter Spirit dances, balance/reciprocity with Hieb, Louis A., 158, 688
202 the plant world, High God (Salishan), 371, 870
Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 18–19, 382–385, 1089 High Language (Athabascan),
720–722 diet and nutrition as part of 658–659
Healing: Plains healing, 363, 385 Highwater, Jamake, 1043
Arapaho, 122 and ecology/ Highway, Tomson, 1124
and clowns, 186 environmentalism, Hikuli. See Peyote plant
Kiowa, 1028–1031 382–383, 1041 Hilbert, Vi, 177
Lakota, 146 four sacred medicines Hildas Hadjo, 850–851
Lakota yuwipi curing (Great Lakes), 1156–1157 Hilishaya, 353
ceremony, 1171–1172 gathering places, 948–949 Hill, Emily, 821–822
Healing: Southeast, 222 gathering techniques, Hillerman, Tony, 473
Healing: Southwest 383–384 Hin mah tooya lat kekt, 832.
Apache, 111 and intellectual property See also Chief Joseph
and clowns, 183 rights, 382 Hines, Donald, 596
Diné (Navajo), 29, 139, 140, legislation concerning Hines, James, 876
499, 518, 960, 986–993, access to sacred plants, Hinono’ei, 118
1140–1141 466, 953 Histolic culture, defined, 437
1214
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Historical stories Hoopa: basketry, 903(photo) Lakon ceremony, 164

Athabascan, 660–662 Hooper, Homer, 81 language, 224
Chumash, 638 Hooper, Tim, 340 Maraw harvest ceremony,
Hopi, 635 Hopewell culture, 585, 790 164
memorate, 702 Hopi, 446–447 masks, 497–498
Northwest coast, 664, access to federal land matrilineal nature of
669–670 containing sacred sites, culture, 29
Plains, 711 470, 952–954 men’s and women’s spaces,
Tlingit, 706 agriculture, 305 30
See also architecture, 29–32 and missionization, 556
Emergence/creation and art market, 36 mixed-gender rituals, 290
narratives babies and emergence objections to development
History legends, 446–447 of San Francisco Peaks,
historical particularism, Basket Dance, 164 952–954
4–5 basketry, 63, 282 oral traditions, 429–431,
literal history vs. Bean Dance (Wuwtsim), 449–453, 635, 688–692,
emergence narrative, 162, 445, 447–449 780. See also emergence
259–260 burial traditions, 32, 590 narrative under this
Native understanding of, calendar, 162–164, 447, 498 heading
434, 694 ceremony and ritual plaza, 163
Hitemyekse, 147–148 (overview), 158–164, 305 Powamuya ceremony, 66,
Hitler, Adolf, 888 choice of culture, 690 305, 447–448
Hitting Sticks/Healing Hearts clowns, 30, 183–184, prayer sticks, 159–160
(video), 748 431–432 rainmaking, 688
Hittman, Michael, 341 conceptions of land, 31 sacred sites, 31, 952–954
Hocho, 29 cosmology, 30, 160–162, secret orders, 162, 427–432
Hogan, 28–29 387–389, 448, 497–498, Snake-Antelope ceremony,
Hohokam, 225, 590 688–690 164
Holden, William Curry, 591 deities, 31–32, 498, 688–689, Snake Dance, 159(photo)
Holiness, Diné (Navajo) 692 social organization/clan
concept of, 138 distinction between types system, 690–691
Hollow Horn Bear, Duane, of narratives, 635 souls and the afterlife,
438–439 dreams, 242 589–590
Holocene, and Plains Indians, emergence narrative, 30, two-spirit people, 325, 329
86–89 160–162, 387–388, 390, weddings, 66, 282
Holy Ones (Apache), 111 446–448, 688–690 Wuwtsim ceremony. See
Holy People (Diné/Navajo), fetishes, 163, 448 Bean Dance under this
28, 138–139, 499, 1046 Flute Ceremony, 164 heading
and sandpainting, 985–990 food ceremonies, 305 See also Banyacya, Thomas
See also Ye’ii, yei God of the earth’s surface, Hopitutsqua, 31
Holyway ceremonies (Diné/ 31–32 Hopivotskawani, 690
Navajo), 140, 264, 988. Hopi Prophecy, 387–391, Horizon Chief, 1149
See also Sandpainting 840 Horn Chips, 1168–1169
Hominy, OK, 412 and hummingbirds, 780 Horn Society, 289
Homosexuality. See Two-spirit kachina priest, 447 Hornaday, William T., 89
people kachinas, 31, 158, 227, Horse, Billy Evans, 1063, 1067
Hona-wunga, 690–691 427–431, 428(photo) Horse Capture, George, 818
Honor beats (drumming), 770, kiva and medicine Horses
772 societies, 443, 446–454 Horse societies (Plains),
“Hoodwinked Dancers,” 678 kivas, 29–31, 163, 445, 977, 978
Hoop Dance, 767 497–498 and Plains cultures, 923
1215
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Horses (continued) Hummingbird power, 667, 780, illness caused by excessive

Wovoka’s horse, 781 861 deer hunting
Hot Creek Valley, Nevada. See Humor, 684, 699 (Cherokee), 395
Petroglyph Butte clowning/clown ceremony, Keepers of the Game, 395,
Hototöm, 162 182–189 397
Hotoyi shields, 982 joking potlatches, 156 and loss of power among
House Made of Dawn sexual humor in trickster community of animals,
(Momaday), 476, stories, 652–653, 678, 766
558–561, 615, 643 1122 and mountain sheep
House of Whistling, 1054 and sweatlodges, 1080 symbolism, 758
Houser, Alan, 36 Yupiaq (Yup’iq) Asking nonecological practices, 564
Houses. See Architecture Festival, 174 Paiute traditions, 1154
Houses and House-Life of the See also Tricksters Pawnee duck-hunting story,
American Aborigines Hunn, Eugene, 311, 907, 1013 301
(Morgan), 27–28 Hunt, George, 4 rabbit drives, 724
Houston, Sam, 698 Hunt, Henry, 1105 and vision quests, 398
Howard, James, 604 Hunt, Jake, 817, 831–832, See also Fishing; Whaling
Howell, Elizabeth, 802 913–914 Hunting rituals, 304, 493–494
Hoyya, 446 Hunt, P. B., 527 Coeur d’Alene, 132–133
Hozho, 29, 138, 264, 619, Hunt, Richard, 1105 and dreams, 236
1049 Hunt, Tony, 1105 and giveaway ceremonies,
and sandpainting, 987, 988, Hunting 348
990, 991 and animals as kin, 439 Nez Perce, 147–150
Hozhooji Naata, 857–858 animals giving themselves and songs, 1003
Hrlicka, Ales, 610 as food, 393–394, 396, women’s roles in, 290, 398
Hualapai, 193–195, 225 493, 747, 752, 1021 Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 171,
Huckleberries, 132–133, 949 buffalo drives/jumps, 709, 173–174, 493–494
Hudson, Travis, 1000 710 See also Fishing; Whaling
Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O and bundle traditions, 95, Hupa
Hawai’i Nei, 872 100 Acorn Feast and First
Huichol, 601, 605, 613, 616 communal hunting of Salmon ceremonies, 130,
Huka ritual (Dakota), 231–232 buffalo, 1032–1033 1017
Hultkrantz, Ake, 688, 750 Cree traditions, 396 basketry, 66–67
Human remains and different types of and Indian Shaker Church,
debates over relationships with 420–421
archaeologists’ animals, 396 religious practitioners/
treatment of, 20, 24, ethics/restrictions, ceremonial leaders,
432–436 391–400, 493, 494, 274(photo), 1015–1017
and protection of burial 644–645, 682, 1020–1021, sacred sites, 954
grounds, 470, 583 1144–1145 “World Renewal” cycle of
spiritual and cultural gratitude/respect for prey, rituals, 129
implications of 391–400, 493, 494, Huron. See Wyandot (Huron)
repatriation, 878–884 644–645, 666 Husk Face society, 187,
See also Burial/memorial hunting gear avoided by 495–497, 964
rituals; Native American menstruating women. Huskanaw ceremony,
Graves Protection and See Menstruation: power 222–223
Repatriation Act conferred by Huteetlch’leek songs, 747
Human sacrifice. See Sacrifice, hunting skill as personal Hutsipamamau?u, 63
human expression of power, 761 Huya Ania, 1166, 1167
Humility, 383–384, 1007. See hunting skill given by spirit Hyde, Orson, 535
also Gratitude; Respect powers, 486 Hymes, Dell, 666
1216
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Hymns Retraditionalism and See also Disease; Sorcery;

Kiowa, 440–442, 528 revitalization Witches
personal hymns, 180 movements In-law avoidance, 438
Iikaah, 985 In-Lon-Ska, 412–415
I Hear the Train (Owens), 479 Iikwezens, 808 In Search of Our Mothers’
IAIA. See Institute of American Iinruq, 18, 19 Gardens: Womanist Prose
Indian Arts Iksa, 586 (Walker), 299
Iakov, St., 513 Iktome, 712, 734, 1118. See Inca, 306
Ice baths, 1077, 1078 also Inktomi Incantations. See Dicta
Ice, Bernard, 604 Illinois: archaeological sites, Incense. See Cedar, cedar
Ideaxi’lalit, 1036 306, 569(photo), 571 incense; Sage;
Identity, 401–411 Illinois people, 522 Smudging; Sweet grass
BIA certification of artists Illness, causes of Incest between Sun and Moon
as “Indian,” 406 animals, 395 (Tlingit), 703
blood quantum California, 361–362 Indian Bill of Rights, 407–409
identification Choctaw, 222 Indian Citizenship Act of 1924,
standards, 406–408, Columbia Plateau, 134, 217, 405, 408, 540
411, 722 1036 Indian Civil Rights Act of 1964,
eradication of, 897–898, Diné (Navajo), 139, 987 408–409, 615
918–919. See also excessive hunting Indian Civilian Conservation
Boarding schools; (Cherokee), 395 Corps (CCC), 1104
Disease; General False Face vision (Iroquois), Indian Doctor (Northwest),
Allotment Act (Dawes 495 667–668. See also
Act) of 1887; foreign objects “shot” into a Spiritual and ceremonial
Missionization; person, 667, 1031. See practitioners: Northwest
Termination policies; also Sucking, as part of Indian Health Service (IHS),
Warfare healing ceremonies 379–380
and gender, 402, 407–411 ghosts (Apache), 590 Indian Land Claims
and Indian Bill of Rights, harm caused by spiritual Commission, 403
407–409 practitioners, 667–668, Indian Religious Crimes Code
and intertribal marriage, 1013–1014, 1022–1023, of 1883, 211
405, 409–410 1031–1032, 1036, 1037 Indian Religious Freedom Act
and land, 402–406 Kiowa, 1031 of 1978. See American
mixed-blood identity, 723, lack of proper respect for Indian Religious
725, 1116–1117, 1158 masks (Iroquois), 496 Freedom Act of 1978
and oral traditions, 636, lack of proper respect for Indian Religious Freedom and
659, 664, 680, 684, 695 rituals (Coeur d’Alene), Indian Culture Act of
and powwows, 768 134, 217 1934, 1053
preservation through art Mexico and Central Indian Removal Act of 1830,
and craft skills, 904–905 America, 362 403, 1106–1108
problems with defining, Northwest, 204, 358–359, Indian Reorganization Act
404–407 667–668, 814 (Wheeler-Howard Act) of
and reservation system, not honoring spirits (spirit 1934, 41, 403, 409, 540,
893–895 sickness), 204, 358–359, 541
and Sun Dance, 1062 1012 Indian Self-Determination Act
and sweatlodges, 1078 prevention through taboos of 1974, 17
and treatment of human and moral codes, 374 Indian Shaker Church, 40,
remains, 434 soul-loss, 19, 750 106–107, 415–422,
and World War II, 900 transgressing against a 813–814
See also Literature; Pan- sacred object/being/ and Columbia Plateau
Indian movement; animal (Pueblo), 443 tribes, 875, 877, 911–913
1217
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Indian Shaker Church Institute of American Indian cosmology, 1088

(continued) Arts (IAIA), 37 emergence narrative,
doctrine of, 418–419, 814, Intellectual property rights of 965–966
912 Native communities, 8, and European contact,
and healing, 418, 814 256 790–791
High God, 371 and healing, 367–368 oral traditions, 965–966
and oral traditions, 670 and herbalism, 382 pipe rituals, 936
origins of, 415–418, 547, and New Age appropriation and prophet Handsome
911–912 of Native traditions, Lake, 238, 929–933
prohibition of, 377 625–631, 1007 reorganization of family
restrictions on, 420 and oral traditions, 640, structure, 932–933
and spirit powers, 814 664–665 sacred societies, 964–968
spread of, 547–548, 912–913 and sweatlodges, women’s status, 1156
and Waptashi/Feather 1081–1082 See also Cayuga;
Religion, 831 Interconnectedness Haudenosaunee
Indian Territory. See Oklahoma and Great Basin puhagants, (Iroquois Confederacy);
“Indian time,” 23–24 780 Mohawk; Oneida;
Indiana: Prophetstown, 238 and hunting, 391–400 Onondaga; Seneca;
The Indians’ Book (Curtis), See also Balance; Wyandot (Huron)
693 Reciprocity; Respect Irwin, Lee, 235
Indians of All Tribes group, 16 InterTribal Bison Cooperative Isaac, Chief Andrew, 788–789
Indigenism, and feminist (ITBC), 89–90 Isaahkawuattee, 708
spirituality movement, Inuit, 104 ‘Isánáklèsh, 114, 116, 280,
298–299 binding rituals, 105 505–506
Indigenous Women’s Network songs, 1003 ‘Isánáklèsh Gotal
(IWN), 298 types of stories, 1120 ceremony described, 113,
Industrious Women Society, warfare, 1162 116–117
983 whaling, 466 and female spirituality,
Ingalik, 513 Inupiaq 276–281
Inikagapi, 142 healer Della Puyuk Keats, girls’ education during,
Inipi, 143, 775–779, 919. See 786–787 503–504
also Sweatlodge oral traditions, 397 masks and masking,
Iniskim, 95 prophet 498–499
Initiation ceremonies. See Maniilauraq/Maniilaq, power of girls during,
Male 786, 792 505–506
boyhood/adolescent Inyan, 649, 1169 scratching sticks, 1000
rituals; Ioasaf, Archimandrite, 512 Ishi, 11–13
Menarche/puberty Iowa people Ishi in Two Worlds (Kroeber),
rituals; Orders, guilds, Buffalo doctors, 1027 11
and sacred societies buffalo societies, 978 Isleta Pueblo, 36, 183–184, 607
Inkiyapi olowan, 1172 sacred power, 1025 Isnati Awicalowan, 144
Inktomi, 651, 652–653, 1170. War Dance, 206, 207, 208 Issiisaayuq, 718
See also Iktome Ipn’uucililpt, 213 Isxipin, 1036–1037
Inktomi lowanpi, 1170 Iraq War, 1095 ITBC. See InterTribal Bison
Innocent, St., 512–513, 811 Ireland, 530 Cooperative
Innu Iron Cloud, 820 Ite, 651
hunting traditions, 396–398 Iron Rope, John, 1169 I’thawethe, 1127
oral traditions, 397, 398 Iroquoian peoples, 864–865 Itiwana, 1088
“shaking tent,” 396–397 and agriculture, 932–933 Iuvenalii, Hieromonk, 512
sweatlodges, 397 conflict with Algonquian IWN. See Indigenous Women’s
Inouye, Daniel K., 455–456 peoples, 790 Network
1218
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Iyeska, 83, 1170 John, Paul, 792 home in San Francisco

Izuwe women’s society, 978 John-Paul, 808 Peaks (Hopi), 160, 163,
John, Peter, 747 430, 952–954
Jack, Captain, 794–795 Johns, Joe, 943 Hopi, 31, 158, 162–164, 227,
Jacklight (Erdrich), 478 Johnson, Ed, 78 427–431
Jackson, Andrew, 851, 926 Johnson, John, 420 and Hopi calendar, 162,
and Trail of Tears, Johnson v. McIntosh, 898, 919 447, 498
1107–1108, 1111–1113 Johnson, Vesta, 645 and Hopi Prophecy, 390
Jackson, Henry, 1096 Johnson, William “Pussyfoot,” Kachina society, 165,
Jackson, Jimmy, 808 607 427–431
Jackson, Molly, 797 Johnson, Yazzie, 36 and kivas, 445
Jackson, Perry, 529 Johnston, Basil, 1119 as manifestations of
Jackson, Sheldon, 514 Jojola, Tony, 36 deceased ancestors,
Jacobs, Melville, 5, 357 Jones, Augustus, 423 429–431
Jacobs, Peter, 804 Jones, C. J. “Buffalo,” 89 and masks, 497–498
James, Edwin, 208 Jones, Evan, 552, 847, origins of ceremonial
Janetski, Joel, 308 1111–1112, 1115 practice, 429–430
Jefferson, Thomas, 879, 1006 Jones, Florence, 796–797, 954 and petroglyphs,
Jemez Pueblo, 183–184, 476 Jones, Peter, 423–425, 802 735(photo), 736
Jenness, Diamond, 814 Jones, Sam, 853–854 ritual feeding of, 431
Jennings, Vanessa, 1068 Jorgensen, Joseph, 751 spirit powers embodied in
Jesuit Relations (de Bréheuf), Jo’se, Nicolas, 798 masked dancers,
59 Joseph, Chief, 538, 697, 713, 1049–1050
Jesuits 832–833 word origin, 429
and Great Lakes tribes, Journal of the Reverend Peter Zuni, 164–165, 427, 429–431
522–524, 919 Jacobs (Jacobs), 804 Kado, 1063. See also Sun
and Kateri Tekakwitha, Joya, 327, 329 Dance
1094 Juh, 856 Kahgegagahbowh, 801–803,
and Northern Plains tribes, Jumanos, 606 802(photo)
542 Jump Dance, 129–130, Kahgoodahahqua, 804–805
observations of 213–217 Kahkewaquonaby (Peter
sweatlodges, 1072–1073 and basketry, 66–67 Jones), 423–425
and Southeast tribes, 549 Coeur d’Alene, 134–136 Kalapuya, 667
study of traditions by, 2, 678 and Coyote stories, 683 Kalapuya Texts (Jacobs), 357
Jesus Klamath River ceremonies, Kalifornsky, Nick and Agrafena
and peyote religion, 539, 1015–1017 Chickalusion, 792
828, 915 Jumper, John, 854 Kalifornsky, Peter, 792
and Plains ceremonies, 921 Junaluska, Chief, 1111–1112 Kalispel
and prophet Handsome Jung, C. G., 188 Bluejay spirit, 217
Lake, 219 Jutz, John, 536 language, 993
as sun dancer, 181 and missionization, 535
Jesus Way, 529 K / appina:hoi, 154 oral traditions, 711
Jette, Jules, 659 Ka-shishk, 783–784 Kanab Creek site, 758–759
Jewish practices, 696, 698 Kaajaakwti, 784–785 Kanali, 697
Jewitt, John, 1145 Kaaxgal.aat, 785 Kanati, 302–303
Jicarilla Apache, 185, 1045, Kachinas Kaneeda, 845
1046 and art market, 36, 427 Kansa
Jimsonweed. See Datura ceremonial attire, 431 kinship, 975
Jingle Dress Dance, 772 and gift-giving, 447–448 sacred power, 1025
Jish, 949, 991 home at lake bottom War Dance, 206, 207
Johansen, Bruce, 257 (Zuni), 430 K?apin ?a?ho??i, 158–159
1219
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Karankawas, 556, 605, 606 Kicking Bird, 1031 Kiowa

Karuk Kidwell, Clara Sue, 9, 585 Buffalo doctors, 1027–1030
artists, 42 Kihu, 29–31 buffalo societies, 978
basketry, 66–67 Kilbuck, John, 816, 1078 bundle traditions, 976,
oral traditions, 639 Killer whale hat, 783 980–983, 1026, 1028,
religious practitioners/ Killing Custer (Welch), 478 1032–1033
ceremonial leaders, Kills Crow, Rufus, 915 Cloth Dance, 773
1015–1017 Kinááldà ceremony, 63, clowns, 186
sacred sites, 639, 954 503–504. See also cosmology, 1028
“World Renewal” cycle of Menarche/puberty and the Crow, 560,
rituals, 129 rituals: Diné (Navajo) 1059–1060, 1064
Kashaya Pomo: Kingsbury, Cyrus, 552, 850 deities, 528
healer/prophet Essie Kinship, 436–440 doctors’ societies, 977, 981,
Parrish, 501, 731–733. with animals, 392, 438–439, 1027–1031
See also Pomo 489, 661–662, 1165–1166 Eagle Watchers society,
Kashim, 1077 and Apache puberty 560–561
Kateri Circles, 1094 ceremony, 503 fear of owls, 1028
Katishan, 705 and Choctaw moieties, 586 and Ghost Dance, 211
Katzie: shaman Old Pierre, Coast Salish, 668 Gourd Clan, 209–210, 982,
814–816 and communalism, 983
Kau’Xuma’nupika, 834 295–297 Gourd Dance society, 1066,
Kaw, 922 Dakota, 230, 233, 295–296 1068
Kaw-tow, 1063. See also Sun degrees of avoidance, 438 healing, 1028–1031
Dance with the earth, 439 and healing properties of
Kawagley, A. Oscar, 564–565, and food exchange in peyote, 605
567 Pueblo culture, 304 hymns, 440–442, 528
Kawich History Project, 309 Haida moieties, 644 kom (blood-brothers)
KCA. See Kiowa-Comanche- and hunting, 392 principle, 982
Apache reservation and intertribal marriage, men’s societies, 208–210,
Keats, Della Puyuk, 786–787 405 212, 560–561, 976,
Kee’kah’wah’Un’Ga, 822–823 kinship ties abandoned 979–983
Keeley, John, 420 upon conversion to migration legends, 948
Keepers of the Game, 397 Christianity, 531–532 and missionization,
Kegginaquq mask, 718–719 Kwakwak’wakw numaym, 525–530
Kelek (Yupiaq), 19, 171–174 1021 Momaday’s portrayal of,
Kelly, Isabel, 198, 308, 750 Lakota, 437–439 477, 558–562
Kelly, Peter, 816 and missionization in the and Native American
Kenekuk, 1130 Southwest, 554 Church, 602
Kennedy, John (Shoshone northern Athabascan, 1160 oral traditions, 559–560,
elder), 79–80 Ojibwa, 977 981
Kennedy, Robert, 732 ownership of stories, 640, Owl doctors, 1031
Kennewick Man, 432–436 664–665 and peyote use, 606
Kern, Richard, 27 Plains patterns, 974–977 pipe rituals, 935, 980, 1032
Ketoowah Society, 847, and potlatches, 740 power concept (dw'dw'),
848–849 and power/leadership, 295 980–982, 1026,
Ké’uyit, 148–149 sibling avoidance, 438, 1027–1029
Kevgiq, 174 1159–1160 quilling societies, 979
Khaals, 816 and symbolism, 1084–1092 Rabbits society, 1066, 1068
Ki-sa (hawk), 451 See also Adoption; relations with other tribes,
Kickapoo, 1128, 1130 Matrilineal descent/ 210, 560, 976, 1059–1060,
Kicking Bear, 823–824 inheritance 1064
1220
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
sacred sites, 948 Klamath two-spirit people, 329, 331,

Scalp Dance, 208 language, 993 834
spiritual and ceremonial spirits and songs, 1009, vision quests, 1011
practitioners, 1027–1033 1012, 1013 Korean War, 809, 1061, 1095
spiritual leader Davéko, 819 and Termination Act of Koshare society, 183–185
Sun as greatest power, 1026, 1953, 403 Koshiway, Jonathan (Jack),
1028 two-spirit people, 325, 329, 608, 914
Sun Dance, 210–211, 560, 330 Kotay, Ralph, 441
980–981, 983, vision quests, 1011 Kotiakan, 838
1032–1033, 1053, 1057, Winter Spirit dances, 213 Kowde shields, 982
1063–1068 Klamath Reservation, and Koyaanisqatsi, 388
sweatlodges, 981 Modoc War of 1873, Koyemshi society, 182–185
and Taime (Sun Dance 794–795 Koyukon
doll), 560, 980–983, Klamath River, 639 menstruation, 507
1032–1033, 1063–1064, Klickitat and missionization, 513
1066 language, 993 oral traditions, 659
and Taos Pueblo, 976 prophet Jake Hunt, 817, potlatches, 744–745, 747
Ten Medicines bundles, 831–832, 913–914 Krech, Shepard, III, 564, 566
980–983, 1028, prophets Lishwailait and Kroeber, Alfred, 5, 11–13, 127,
1032–1033 Ashnithlai, 913–914 605, 610, 715, 731
War Dance, 208 Winter Spirit dances, 213 Kroeber, Karl, 652
warriors and warrior See also Washat dance Kroeber, Theodora, 11–12
societies, 979, 981–982, Klintide Society, 979 Kuaheta, 602
1028, 1065 Knapp, Hershell, 342 Kuk’kia, 836. See also
women’s societies, 982–983 Knowles, Tony, 785 Smohalla
Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Ko-ke-lus, 1040–1041 Kumeyaay. See Diegueño
reservation (KCA), Kochampanaskin, Ralph, 751 Kumugwe’, 488
524–530 Kochoilaftiyo, 452 Kuna (chipmunk), 452–453
Kiowa Voices (Boyd), 1064 Kodiak, 511–512, 514 Kuniakati, 1040
Kisoni, 29–31 Ko’ehdan, 1162 Kurena society, 183, 184
Kit-Foxes (age-grade lodge), K’oitsegun society, 982, 983 Kusaapicikan, 396–397
120 Koko, 429, 430. See also Kuseyaay, 131
Kitchi-Manitou, 484 Kachinas Kuskurza, 449, 689
Kitsin’iki, 825 Kokomenepeca, 834 Kutenai. See Kootenai
Kivas Kokopelli, 951 Kuwanwisiwma, Leigh,
and emergence narratives, Kokyangwuti, 688 953–954
259, 261 Kolaskin. See Skolaskin Kwahu (eagle), 450–451
Hopi, 29–31, 163, 445, Kolchane, 513 Kwakiutl. See Kwakwak’wakw
497–498 Kolhuwalaaw’a, 164, 165 Kwakiutl Tales (Boas), 474–475
initiation into kiva Kom (blood-brothers) Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl)
societies, 446–447 principle, 982 architecture, 28
and kachina societies, 431, Kootenai (Kutenai) arts and artists, 49, 53, 1105
497–498 berry-picking rituals, Boas’s study of, 4
kiva and medicine 1038 clowns, 186
societies, 442–454 and dance, 213, 1038 cosmology, 313–315, 969,
origins of, 445 prophet Kau’xuma’nupika, 1088
structure of, 445 834 dance societies, 971–972,
Kiyappi, 198–200 spirits and spirit helpers, 1023
Kk’edonts’ednee stories, 660 1009–1012 First Salmon ceremony,
Klah, Hosteen, 855–856 and Sun Dance, 1054 312–316
Klallam, 668 tricksters, 712 guardian spirits, 490
1221
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl) ceremony and ritual sweatbath, 84–85, 142–143,

(continued) (overview), 141–147, 192, 1078–1080
Hamatsa Society (Cannibal 1168–1173 Takuskanskan (power
Dancers), 186, 491, and Christianity, 180, 181 concept), 565
970(photo), 971, 973 clowns, 182, 186, 189, Throwing a Ball ceremony,
kinship, 1021 764–765 145–146
LaòLaxa dance series, 490 and communal order, tricksters. See Coyote;
leadership, 742, 1021 764–765 Spider
masks, 488–492, 973, 1023 cosmology, 565, 649 two-spirit people (winkte),
nawalak (power), 313–315 deities/powers, 84, 180, 325, 329, 330
oral traditions, 314–315, 193, 287–288, 507, 565, vision ceremonies, 143–144
490 649, 734, 762, 1025–1026, vision quests, 192,
potlatches, 741–742, 1022 1090–1091, 1169 1127–1131, 1170
power in dance societies, distinction between types warrior societies, 979
754, 755–756 of narratives, 648 and west wind, 1087
religious leaders, 490 doctors’ societies, 977, 1027 yuwipi ceremony, 192,
totem poles, 1103, 1105 dreams, 247 1168–1173
Kwih-dich-chuh-ahtx, 1142 emergence narrative, 649, See also Black Elk, Nicholas;
Kwiraina society, 185 962 Crow Dog, Leonard;
Kwiya, 162 ethics taught through oral Fools Crow, Frank;
Kwiyamuya, 162 traditions, 650–651 Kicking Bear; Lame
Ghost Dance, 123, 192, 823 Deer, John Fire; Sioux
La Barre, Weston, 208, 600, Grass Dance, 208 and Siouan-speaking
605, 610, 914 healers, 247, 762, peoples; White Buffalo
La Flesche, Francis, 610, 760, 1168–1172 Calf Woman
826, 942, 943, 945 healing, 146, 1171–1172 The Lakota Way (Marshall),
La Flesche, Joseph, 824 kinship, 437–439 653
Lacrosse, 57–59, 58(photo) marriage to buffalo, 396 Lakota Woman (Brave Bird
Lactation, power conferred by, menarche rituals, 144, 506 and Erodes), 83
305 and missionization, 536 Lalemant, Fr., 1074
Ladd, Edmund J., 159, and Native American Lals, 838
164–165 Church, 602 LaMarr, Jean, 42–43
LaDuke, Winona, 257 oral traditions, 231–232, Lame Deer, Archie Fire, 824
Laguna Pueblo, 183–184 301–302, 648–653, 962 Lame Deer, John Fire, 189, 714,
Laird, Carobeth, 194 petroglyphs, 734 824
Lake Coeur d’Alene, 681, 684 pipe rituals, 143, 146, 192, Lame Deer (Sioux), Seeker of
Lake Tahoe, 639 935, 1170–1172 Visions (Lame Deer and
Lakol wicoh’an, 146 power concepts, 565, 761 Erdoes), 714
Lakon ceremony (Hopi), 164 quilling societies, 979 Lancaster, Ben, 603, 616, 751
Lakota (Teton), 142(photo), relocated to urban areas, Lance Bearers, 979
145(photo), 1090–1091 403 Land
adoption ceremonies, 144 retaliation tradition changed Alaska Native Claims
and AIM, 16–17 by Christianity, 179 Settlement Act of 1971,
architecture, 32–33 Sacred Pipe bundle, 94, 192, 642
and bison, 87, 301–302 650 Apache concepts of, 256
and bison preservation, sacred sites, 301–302, Chief Seattle on, 177
90–91 962–964 and colonialism, 255
Buffalo doctors, 1027 spirit-keeping ritual, 144, and Gold Rush, 963
buffalo societies, 978 580–581 Hopi concepts of, 31
burial/mourning traditions, Sun Dance, 146, 192, 301, impact of federal relocation
144–145, 579–583 1053, 1056–1057, 1058 policies, 402, 1114–1115
1222
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
lost by the Ojibwa through French/Cree/Chippewa Yuman language family,

the McCumber combination (Michif), 224–225
Agreement, 267 267 Yupiaq (Yup’iq) language
and Native identity, Great Basin, 224, 724, 749 masters, 718
402–406 “health” as an action verb, Lantis, Margaret, 1144
natural resources. See 361 LaòLaxa dance series, 490
Ecology/ High Language used for LaPena, Frank, 39, 42
environmentalism storytelling, 658–659 LaPointe, James, 734
Ojibwa conception of, 673 lack of word for “religion,” Laredo, Texas. See Peyote
Peyote Gardens, 611–613 256, 377 Gardens
seismic history of language experts. See Larush, Sister M. Sirilla, 807
Northwest coast, specific people in the The Last Report on the Miracle
669–670 regions under Religious at Little No Horse
and sovereignty, 1008 and secular leaders, (Erdrich), 268
symbolism and sacred biographical sketches Last Stand at Little Bighorn
geography, 1086 loss of, 514–516, 642–643, (film), 478
and termination policies, 670, 715, 721, 1098 L’atpa-tsandia, 1161–1162
901 and missionization, 528 Laugh-fight, 1065
See also General Allotment “nations” term for animals Laws. See Legislation
Act (Dawes Act) of 1887; and humans, 438 Lawyer, Archie, 876
Landscape, in oral Northwest coast, 347 Lazarov, Avakum, 791
tradition; Reservation Penutian language family, Le Caron, Joseph, 522
system; Sacred sites 347, 993 Le Juenen, Fr., 1073–1074
Land Chief, 1149 peyote nomenclature, Le Mercier, F. J., 1072–1073
Land-Otter-Man, 702(photo) 599–601 Lea County Correctional
Landscape, in oral tradition, problems with “trickster” Facility (New Mexico),
947–948 label, 1123 775–776
California, 638–639 Pueblo, 687 Leadership, 295–297, 410
Columbia Plateau, 681–682, Salishan language family, and gender, 273–275,
684, 685 347 295–297, 409–410
Diné (Navajo), 959–961 same word for prayer and Great Basin, 724
location of the afterworld kinship, 437 Great Lakes women,
(Southwest), 591 Sioux dialects, 580 1155–1159
Northeast, 654–655 songs reduced to vocables and kinship, 295–297
Northwest coast, 665–666, to facilitate singing by Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl),
669–670 many tribes, 770 742
Pueblo, 591, 691, 692 Southeast, 697 loss of women’s power
Southeast, 694 studied by Russian clergy, under colonialism, 293,
See also Literature; Sacred 512–513 409–410
sites Tritt’s self-taught English, Lushootseed, 371
Lang, Sabine, 325, 328 787 and manitous, 485
Language Uto-Aztecan language Northwest division into
Alaska, 789 family, 224, 724, 922 summer chiefs and
archaic language used for verb-based term for power winter priests, 370, 869
storytelling, 695 (Gwich’in), 746 Northwest power concepts,
Athabascan language Wakashan language family, 754, 755
family, 224, 347, 658, 745 347, 1142 and potlatches, 738–739,
California, 365, 518 and warfare, 1140 742
charms and sayings, 699 words for ancient Tsimshian, 370
euphamisms and polite megafauna, 695 See also Elders; Elite;
speech, 697 words for “truth,” 694 Religious and secular
1223
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
leaders, biographical National Historic Celebrated California

sketches; Religious Preservation Act of 1966, Bandit (Ridge), 477
leadership 471, 634 Life force
Lee, Jason, 535, 544 National Museum of the Great Basin concept, 750,
LeFlore, Greenwood, 927 American Indian Act, 756–759
Legislation, 455–472, 849, 463, 882 Plains concept, 760–762
1106–1117 Native American Graves See also Power
Alaska Native Claims Protection and The Life, History, and Travels of
Settlement Act of 1971, Repatriation Act, 8, 25, Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh
642 177, 433, 462–464, 573, (Copway), 802
American Indian Religious 583, 670, 882–883 Life is a Fatal Disease (Allen),
Freedom Act. See Religious Freedom 479
American Indian Restoration Act of 1993, Life, purpose of
Religious Freedom Act of 467, 469 Diné (Navajo), 619
1978 Religious Land Use and Hopi, 160–161
Anti-Descrimination Act of Institutionalized Lifeway ceremonies, 140
1946, 785 Persons Act of 2000, 467, Lifeways
Antiquities Act of 1906, 880 469 and communal order, 764
Archaeological Resources Relocation Act of 1956, 403 and ecology/
Protection Act of 1978, suppression of giveaway environmentalism, 255
470 ceremonies, 349 Ligeex, 152–154, 155
on eagle feathers/animal suppression of healing, 377 Light beam, in Tsimshian
parts, 464–466 suppression of peyote use, cosmology, 369–370, 867
General Allotment Act 609–610 Lightning, and clowns
(Dawes Act) of 1887, 266, Termination Act of 1953, (Cheyenne), 186
403, 405–406, 828, 849, 403 Lillooet, 1036
897 on use and protection of Limerick, Patricia Nelson, 406
General Severalty Act of sacred sites, 468–472, Lincoln, Abraham, 179
1887, 527 842 Linderman, Frank, 827
Indian Bill of Rights, on worship by incarcerated Lindestrom, Peter, 574–575
407–409 Native Americans, Lindsley, Peter, 876
Indian Citizenship Act of 466–468 Linton, Ralph, 906
1924, 405, 408, 540 See also Bureau of Indian Lipan Apache, 605–606, 1000,
Indian Civil Rights Act of Affairs; Religious 1045
1964, 408–409, 615 freedom: loss of Lishwailait, 913–914
Indian Religious Crimes Lemaire, Charles, 599 Literature, 473–480
Code of 1883, 211 Lena, Willie, 1098 children’s books, 715
Indian Religious Freedom Lenape, 109. See also Delaware Erdrich’s writings, 265–270
and Indian Culture Act people Momaday’s writings,
of 1934, 1053 Lenapeokan, 576–577, 579 558–562, 615
Indian Removal Act of 1830, Lesser, Alexander, 208 Mourning Dove’s writings,
403, 1106–1108 Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 11 477–478, 593–596
Indian Reorganization Act Lewin, Louis, 601 Owens’s writings, 723–730
of 1934, 41, 403, 409, Lewis and Clark expedition, and Plains oral traditions,
540, 541 311, 948, 1037 713–715
Indian Self-Determination Lewis, Thomas H., 1169 See also Oral traditions;
Act of 1974, 17 Lha’ma, 329, 331 specific authors
Kee’Kah’Wah’Un’Ga’s Life among the Piutes Little Big Horn College, 716
advocacy, 823 (Winnemucca), 1153 Little Boy (water drum), 108,
National Environmental The Life and Adventures of 109
Policy Act, 471, 862 Joaquin Murietta, the Little Earths. See Sbatatdaq
1224
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Little John, 1046(photo) Luke, Howard, 789, 791 and missionization, 546
Little People, 709–710, 734, Luls, 838 spirits and spirit helpers,
954, 1040, 1059 Lumholtz, Carl, 601 1145, 1149
Little People Society, 964 Lummi, 186, 546 territory of, 1142
Little Thunder, Beverly, 333 Lund, Carl and Maartha Ukas, Makah Treaty of 1855, 466
Llama, Inca sacrifice of, 306 785 Make Prayers to the Raven
Lobo Society, 979 Lund, Ethel aanwoogeex (Nelson), 257
Lodge Boy, 707, 708 Shtoo.aak, 785–786, 792 Makenunatane, 237
Lodge-Making Dance, 1054 Lurie, Nancy Oestreich, 827 Maker of Life, 351
Loftin, John D., 159, 446, 448 Lushootseed Maketsueson (Dane-zaa
Logging, 963 ghosts, 869–870 prophet), 238
Lolo Trail, 948 healing, 370–372, 996 Mala, Cynthia Lindquist, 289
Loloma, Charles, 36 potlatches, 156–157 Malâhas, 491
Lone Bear, Sam, 602, 751 puberty rituals, 371–372, Male boyhood/adolescent
The Lone Ranger and Tonto 870–871 rituals, 446, 448
Fistfight in Heaven religious practitioners/ Anishinaabe, 107
(Alexie), 475–476 ceremonial leaders, 371, first hunting/first food
Lone Wolf (Kiowa leader), 528 869–870 gathering, 133, 149–150,
Long Soldier, Tilda, 920 spirit powers, 202 304, 348
Long, Will West, 849 Luxan, John, 607 initiation into kachina
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, Lyng v. Northwest Indian societies, 431
803 Cemetery Ass., 458, 461, initiation into kiva
Longhouse religion (Columbia 470 societies, 446–448,
Plateau), 219, 836, 875, Lyons, Oren, 388, 1007 453–454
908–911. See also introduction-to-dance
Smohalla; Waashat Ma’asewi, 689–690, 780 ceremony (Osage),
Longhouse religion (Seneca), Mackey, Elkanah, 535 413–414
238, 534, 866. See also MacMurray, J. W., 909 Ojibwa, 485–486
Handsome Lake Madison, Curt, 748 See also Spirits and spirit
Loon, 488 Madwaqwunayaush, 804–805 helpers; Vision quests
Lopez, Sam, 1016(photo) Magic numbers. See Numbers, Maliseet, 47
Loskiel, George Henry, 575 sacred Malo, John, 266
Lost objects, finding, 1012, Magpie, magpie spirit, 709, Malotte, Jack, 43
1037, 1048, 1168–-1172 1011–1012 Mamanuwartum, Jessie, 804
Love medicine, 373, 872, 1023 Maheo, 761, 762 Mammoth, words for, 695
Love Medicine (Erdrich), 269, Mahnomin, 303–304 Man-Eater Spirit, 1088
478 Mahpiyato, 649, 651 Mandan
Lovelace Sappier, Sandra, 410 Mahtantu, 579 buffalo societies, 978
Lovelock, James, 567 Mahuts bundle, 541 clowns, 186
Lovelock, Nevada, school at, Maidu history of tribe, 922
1153 artists, 42, 43 kinship, 975
Low Horn, 824–825 clowns, 182, 185–189 marriage to buffalo, 396
Lowanpi, 919 Ma’ii, 1121 and missionization, 537,
Lowie, Robert, 715 Mails, Thomas E., 821 893
Lowry, George, 928 Main Poc, 810 Okipa ceremony, 1054
Ludzista, 154–155 Maka, 565, 649 oral traditions, 1076
Lugo, Nancy Youngblood, 38 Makah, 465, 466, 1141–1151 power concepts, 761, 1025
Luiseño cultural ties to the Nuu- power transference through
scratching sticks, 999 chah-nulth, 1142, 1144 sexual intercourse, 1027
spiritual leader/healer dance, 972 quillwork, 55
Domenico, 796 language, 1142 sacred sites, 891
1225
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Mandan (continued) Marshall, Joseph M., 653 Tsonoqua (Dxonokwa),

sweatlodges, 1075–1077 Martin, Joel, 354 490–491
vision quests, 1026 Martin, Mungo, 1105 types of masking traditions
Maney, Louise Bigmeet, 74 Martinez, Julia, 409–410 (Alaska), 493
Manifest Destiny, 3, 21, 40, Martinez, Maria and Julian, 36 types of masking traditions
886, 1111 Martinez v. Santa Clara (Iroquois), 495–497
Maniilauraq/Maniilaq, 786, Pueblo, 409–410 types of masking traditions
792 Marty, Martin, 535 (Northwest), 489
Manitous, 424, 483–486, 967, Marx, Karl, 1006 and Winter Spirit dances
1156 Ma’sau, 31–32, 498 (Northwest), 204(photo),
defined/described, 483–484 Ma’saututsqua, 31 314, 358–359, 488–492,
exceptionally powerful Másaw, 162, 453, 689, 690, 1023
spirits, 484 692 Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 18–19, 174,
and False Face Society, Masayesva, Vernon, 952, 961 492–494, 515, 718–719
966–967 Mascouten, 522 and Zuni kachinas,
and missionization, 523 Masked figures. See Kachinas 165–166
and oral traditions, 674–677 Maski, 32 Maso, Miki, 1167
tribute payed to, 485, 965 Masks and masking, 486–499, Mason, Ronald, 22
trickster Nanabush as, 1119 487(photo), 492(photo), Massachusetts, AIM activities
vision quests, 485–486 868(photo), 1023 in, 6
See also Thunder beings Apache Gahe, 112(photo), Massacre sites, as sacred
Mann, Henrietta, 920 498–499, 958, 1049 places, 951
Manuelito, 857 and clowns, 187 Massage, and healing, 19, 721
Maquinna, 1145 Diné (Navajo), 499, 1049 Massaqa, 32
Maraw harvest ceremony False Face and Husk Face Massaum, 977, 978
(Hopi), 164 societies (Iroquois), Master/Maker of Breath, 351,
Maraw society, 164 494–497, 965–966 588
Margulis, Lynn, 567 Haudenosaunee Grand Mathiessen, Peter, 257
Marias River Massacre site, Council’s call for return Mathsesen, David, 875
951 of masks, 47, 496–497 Matichini Society, 1165
Maricopa people, 225 and healing (Northeast), Matrilineal
Marine Mammal Protection 495–496 descent/inheritance
Act, 466 and healing (Northwest), Apache, 277
Marks, Jay, 1043 369 Athabascan people,
Marksman, John, 802 and Hopi seasonal 745–746, 1159
Marksman, Peter, 802, calendar, 162–164 and Clan Mothers, 295
804–805 and kachina dances, 429, Diné (Navajo), 262, 619
Marquette, Jacques, 522 431, 497–498 Great Lakes, 1156
Marriage Kwakwak’wakw and Coastal Haida, 644
and Choctaw moieties, 586 Salish, 488–492, 969–971, Hopi, 29
and Haida moieties, 644 973, 1023 and leadership, 295–297
between humans and ownership/transfers, loss of women’s power, 293,
animals, 396, 666 487–490, 496 409
intermarriage between and potlatches, 742 Plains, 975, 976
Natives and whites, 545 Pueblo, 1049 and potlatches, 740
intertribal marriage, 405, religious significance of, and reorganization of
409–410 487–488, 492–493, 496 Iroquois family
See also Weddings secular masks, 488 structure, 932–933
Marsden, Edward, 816 significance of extra Southeast, 351
Marshall Decision, 292, 404, features, 492 Tsimshian, 369
408, 898, 919, 1110, 1112 Tsimshian, 868(photo) Mauss, Marcel, 28, 740
1226
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Maximilian, Prince of Wied, See also Datura; Herbalism; spirit powers (Northwest),
1075–1076 Mescal; Peyote plant 203
Maxpe, 761 Medicine. See Healers; Healing sweatlodge–menstrual
Maya, 306, 1101 Medicine, Bea, 920 restrictions parallel,
Mayagaway, 801 Medicine bundles. See Bundles 508–509
Maygrass, 302 Medicine Crow, 711 See also Beloved Men; Male
McCarran, Patrick, 1096 Medicine Crow, Joseph, 715 boyhood/adolescent
McCloud River, 954 Medicine Dance, 213–217, rituals; Orders, guilds,
McCumber Agreement of 978. See also Jump and sacred societies;
1892, 267 Dance Poison doctors; Spirit
McDonald, Louis, 609 Medicine Hat bundle. See doctors; Two-spirit
McDonald, Robert, 787 Sacred Hat bundle people
McElwain, Thomas, 442 Medicine Lodge. See Menabojou, 673. See also
McGaa, Ed, 920 Midéwiwin Nanabush
McGillivray, Alexander, 698 Medicine men. See Healers; Menarche/puberty rituals,
McHugh, Kathleen, 326 Spiritual and ceremonial 107, 276, 281–282,
McKay, Mabel, 65, 500–501 practitioners 502–509
McLeod, Hector, 596 Medicine Neck, 810 Anishinaabe, 107
McManamon, Francis P., 435 Medicine Pipe bundle, 95, 101 Apache, 113, 115(photo),
McNickle, D’Arcy, 714, 897 Medicine societies, 442–454. 116–117, 276–282,
McWhorter, Lucullus V., See also Orders, guilds, 498–499, 503–504, 1047
594–595 and sacred societies Athabascan, 504
Meacham, A. B., 794–795 Medicine Wheel (Wyoming and “bridle” stick, 372, 871
Means, Russell, 16, sacred site), 471, 708, Cheyenne, 502–503
191(photo), 630 711, 716, 952, 1059 Chumash, 1000
Media Mediums, 867 Dené (Yukon and
and peyote controversy, Kiowa, 1030 Northwest Territory),
611 Lakota, 1170 282
video preservation of Lushootseed, 371, 870 Diné (Navajo), 282, 304,
traditions, 645, 671, 699, Petius, 817 348, 503–504, 1047
714, 715 Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 18 First Menses site, 307–310
See also Cherokee Phoenix; Megis, 108 and food, 304
Film; Literature Meighan, Clement, 24 and giveaway ceremonies,
Medicinal plants Memorate, 702 346, 348
balance/reciprocity with Men Great Lakes, 1157
the plant world, 382–385 age-grade lodges, 119–120, Lakota, 144
California traditions, 363, 764, 979 Lushootseed, 371–372,
364, 367 Apache, 112–113 870–871
dosage determination, 385 blood-brothers principle, Mission Indians, 505
and ecology/ 982 scratching sticks, 999–1002
environmentalism, changing roles after Siouan-speaking peoples,
382–383 European contact, 531 506
gathering places, 368, Double Woman dreams, Washo, 505
948–949 651 Wintun, 504–505
gathering techniques, and Green Corn ceremony See also Menstruation;
383–384 (Southeast), 353–354 Spirits and spirit
and intellectual property Lakota vision ceremonies, helpers; Vision quests
rights, 382 143 Mennonites, 529, 540
and modern diseases, 364 powwow dances, 771–773 Menominee
spicewood tea, 353. See also as principal singers, 1004, ball games, 58, 61–62
Beloved Tree/Drink 1047 deities, 484
1227
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Menominee (continued) Meteor crater, 160 origins of, 712, 966–967

manitous, 483 Methodism scrolls, 108, 966–968
and missionization, 522 in Alaska, 514 water drums, 107
and Native American and the Blackfeet, 535 women’s roles, 290
Church, 604 and Grant’s Peace Policy, Midwinter Festival (Iroquois),
and Termination Act of 546 496
1953, 403 in the Great Lakes, 524, Midwives, 983, 1160
Menopause, 1160 801–805, 807 Migration legends
Menstrual blood, as paint, and Kiowa-Comanche- Cherokee, 696
1024 Apache Reservation, Cheyenne, 711
Menstruation 527–528 Hidatsa, 711
constrast between Native in Montana, 537 Kiowa, 948
and Western views of, in the Northeast, 866 Muskogee (Creek), 698
507 in the Pacific Northwest, Zuni, 164–165, 1088
First Menses site, 307–310 544 See also Emergence/
Great Lakes rituals, and Peter Jones, 423–425 creation narratives
1157–1158 in the Southeast, 551–553, Mike, Minnie, 797
northern Athabascan, 1160 846, 852, 1042 Mikko, 352
parallel to sweatlodge, Methvin, John J., 527, 529 Mi’kmaq
508–509 Metis, 267, 1158 Annie Mae Aquash, 84,
power conferred by, 305, Metlakatla, 546–547 867
372, 398, 502, 505–509, Mexico basketry, 46, 48
1158, 1160 Aztec Flower War, Military leaders. See Religious
predators attracted by, 1160 1135–1136 and secular leaders,
restrictions during, causes of illness, 362 biographical sketches;
504–505, 507–508, 1079, and origins of Native Warfare
1157 American Church, 599, Milky Way, 579, 587, 708, 954
seclusion during, 281–282, 604–605 Miller, Jay, 197–198
310, 372, 503–505, peyote-using tribes, 605 Mimbres people, 225
507–509, 1158, 1160 Yaqui (Yoeme) Deer Dance, Mining, 963. See also Gold,
synchronization of, 508 1165–1168 discovery of
and whaling, 1150 Mia-wa, 711 Mink, as trickster, 1119
and yuwipi men, 1170 Miami people, 207, 483, 522 Mink, John, 806, 808
See also Menarche/puberty Michabo, 1123 Minnesota
rituals Michif language, 267 Pipestone Quarry, 936,
Merit, as Athabascan cultural Middle Place (Pueblo), 690, 938
value, 745, 747 691 Red Schoolhouse, 110
Merkeel, Skudder, 610 Midéwiwin (Medicine Lodge), See also Great Lakes
Merr’aq, 172–173 104, 108–109, 964, Minnesota-Santee war, 179
Mescal, 600, 604, 977 965(photo), 966–968 Minthorn, Arman, 433
Mescal Bean Eaters, 608 death rituals, 107–108 Mipauta, 529
Mescalero Apache, 1045 initiation into, 967 Mirrors, in Feather Religion,
ceremonial singers, 1046 Lakota (Teton), 977 831
clowns, 185, 187 leader Gagewin, 805 Mis Misa, 954
Mountain Spirits, 1049 leader James Redsky Sr., Mishebeshu, 675–676
and peyote use, 605, 606 807–808 Mishkin, Bernard, 208
puberty rituals (girls), leader John Reflecting Man, Misqóoyit, 150–151
276–281, 346, 348, 1000 808 Mission Indians, 515–519
scratching sticks, 1000 levels of, 968 basketry, 63(photo)
Messenger Festival (Yupiaq), Mide lodge for, 967 impact of diseases, 517
171, 174, 493–494 Ojibwa, 977 menarche rituals, 505
1228
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Missionization positive aspects of, 179, Modoc

Alaska, 510–516, 721, 528–529 dreams, 248
783–792 Quaker plan, 178, 537 language, 993
and Arapaho, 124–125 and reservation system, sacred sites, 954
and Black Elk, 75–76 524–530, 537, 540, spiritual leader Curly
California, 40, 127–128, 888–890 Headed Doctor, 794–795
515–519, 748, 902–903 Southeast, 549–553, spiritual leader/healer
and Coeur d’Alene, 132 846–847, 927, 1110–1113 Doctor Charley, 795–796
competition among stories collected by spiritual leader/healer
denominations, 545–546 missionaries, 678 Doctor George, 796
conflicts between Spanish study of traditions by Modoc War of 1873, 794–795,
missionaries and English missionaries, 1, 2, 179, 1012
soldiers, 551 698 Moffett, Walter, 876
and disease. See under suppression of giveaway Mogollon people, 225, 590
Disease ceremonies, 349 Mogoulaschas, 221
Great Basin, 751, 752 and sweatlodges, Mohawk
Great Lakes, 519–525, 1072–1075 and American Revolution,
800–811, 919, 1072–1075, and treaties, 536–537 930
1158 and two-spirit people, arts, 48
and Indian Shaker Church, 331–332 ball games, 58(photo), 61
420–421 and urban Indians, 1098 Hiawatha, 864
and intermarriage, 545 utopian communities, Joseph Onasakenrat, 866
Kiowa-Comanche-Apache 546–547 Kateri Tekakwitha, 800–811
missionization, 534
reservation, 525–530 and Whitman Massacre,
women’s status, 1156
and Kiowa hymns, 440 544
See also Haudenosaunee
and language preservation, See also Religious and
(Iroquois Confederacy)
512–513, 528 secular leaders,
Mohegan: Samson Occum,
missionaries biographical sketches
865–866
accompanying Natives Mississippian period, 571–572,
Moieties
on Trail of Tears, 1115 585, 790, 952, 1146
Choctaw, 586
missionaries as advocates Missouri: petroglyphs,
Haida, 644
for Native Americans, 735–736
Plains, 975
179, 1110–1113 Missouria and potlatches, 740
Native opposition to, 526, Buffalo doctors, 1027 Mojave people
534, 544, 551–553, buffalo societies, 978 afterlife, 591
556–557 power concepts, 761, 1025 burial traditions, 590
and Native writing systems, War Dance, 206–208 emergence narrative, 333
179–180 See also Koshiway, Jonathan language, 225
Northeast, 530–534, Mitakuye oyasin, 1172 location of the afterworld,
800–811 Mitchell, George, 15 591
Northern Plains/Columbia Mitla, 154–156 multiple souls per person,
Plateau, 534–543 Miwok 589
Northwest, 543–548 artists, 65, 68, 798 two-spirit people, 328, 330,
and Ojibwa, 266 clowns, 186 333
Peace Proclamation cultural expert Tsupu, 799 “Moldy Collar Tip” (Haida
dividing reservations Mixedblood Messages (Owens), story), 646–647
among different 479 Mole, 443, 1028
denominations, 178, Moccasins, first (Apache Molina, Felipe, 1167
537, 546, 557, 889 ritual), 114–115 Momaday, N. Scott, 257,
and peyote use, 605–607 Mockingbird, 450–451, 690 476–477, 558–562, 615,
Plains, 893 Modesto, Ruby, 797, 856 643
1229
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Momoy, 228 and Kiowa secret societies, Mother towns, 70

Money, in Handsome Lake’s 979 Motokiks Society, 289
visions, 931 and Kiowa spiritual Mounds, 166–167, 568–572,
Mongko, 448 practitioners, 1027 790
Mon’Hin Thin Ge, 825–826 and peyote religion, 601, archaic period, 570
Moninquez, Fr., 861 608, 610 Mississippian period,
“Monitor” pipes, 936, 940 and Smohalla, 218, 909 571–572
Mono: artists, 65 and Southeastern mound-builder myth,
Monongye, David, 387 conjurers, 1043 21–22, 569–570
Monotheism, 533 and Sun Dance, 1063, 1064, symbolism, 572
Monster Slayer, 1140 1065 Woodland period, 570–571
Monsters and Washat ceremony, 318 Moundville, 306
in Diné (Navajo) stories, and Wovoka, 781 Mount Adams, 915
1140 Mopope, Stephen, 615 Mount Graham, 945
in Plains stories, 122–123, Moral lessons taught by stories Mount Graham
710, 1028 California, 639 International
in Plateau stories, 680–681 Columbia Plateau, 680, 682, Observatory, 258, 471,
in Tlingit stories, 703 684–685 958–959
Montagnais: sweatlodges, Crow, 708 Mount, Guy, 613
1072–1075 Haida, 646–647 Mount Rushmore, protest at,
Montana Lakota, 650–653 16
Black Hills, 962–964 Northern Athabascan, Mount Shasta, 40–41, 954–955,
Marias River Massacre site, 659–660 956(photo)
951 Northwest coast, 666 Mount St. Helens, 238
petroglyphs, 735 Ojibwa, 677–679 Mountain Chief, 1149
Monte Verde (Chile), 22 role of tricksters, 1120–1123 Mountain laurel, 600
Monteith, Moses, 876 Morals. See Ethics Mountain Lion, 63. See also
Monterey Mountain, 698 Moravian church, 514, Cougar
Monument Valley, 947 551–552, 721, 816 Mountain People (Northwest
Moon Morgan, Louis Henry, 4, 27–28 coast), 669
and Arapaho oral Morgan, Thomas J., 537, 607 Mountain sheep. See Bighorn
traditions, 118–119 Morien, Hannah, 805 sheep
and bundle traditions, Mormons, 535, 553, 557, 732 Mountain Spirit Dancers
97–98 Morning Star, and bundle (Gahe), 112(photo), 116,
and female spirituality, 290, traditions, 97–99 498–499, 958, 1049
1157–1158 Morris, Doran, 943–944 Mountain Wolf Woman,
gender of, 275 Morris, G. T., 293–294 826–827
and Kiowa power concepts, Morton, Samuel G., 879 Mountain Wolf Woman, Sister
1028 Moshulatubbee, 698 of Crashing Thunder
and Lakota oral traditions, Mother Corn, 100, 893 (Lurie, ed.), 827
649, 651 Mother Earth, 275, 563–568 Mountains, sacred, 430,
and Tlingit oral traditions, and emergence narratives, 952–955. See also specific
703 258–265 peaks
Moon Chief, 1149 Great Lakes, 1157–1158 Mourning Dove: A Salishan
Moon lodge (Cherokee), 168 kinship with, 439 Autobiography
Mooney, James Kiowa, 1028 (Mourning Dove), 593
Cherokee informants, 846, See also Balance Mourning Dove (author),
848, 849 Mother Earth: An American 477–478, 593–596, 714,
and Crow Dance, 211 Story (Gill), 563, 566 837(photo)
and Ghost Dance, 337, Mother of the Game (Hopi), Mourning rituals, 573–584
338 242 Anishinaabe, 425
1230
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Arapaho, 121 and storytelling, 707 taboos on speaking names

and cannibalism, 588 See also Drumming; of the dead, 573, 575,
Choctaw, 585–588 Drums; Flute; Rattles; 587, 590
Cry ceremony (Numic and Songs Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 172, 346
Yuman people), Muskogee. See Creek Nanabush (Nanabozo),
193–195, 200–201 (Muskogee) 103–104, 269, 673, 675,
Delaware people, 573–579 Muskrat, 675, 698 677–679, 967, 1119
Lakota, 144–145, 580–583 Mustache, James, 808 Nanamkin, George, 875
“mourning war,” 1136–1137 Muutuuciiswaap, 397 Nang Kwiyass, 647
Southwest, 589–592 My-yp, 132 Nan’yehi, 844–845. See also
Yupiaq (Yup’iq) Feast for Myer, Dillon S., 1096 Ward, Nancy
the Dead, 171–173, 346 Myths Napi (Blackfeet), 708–710,
See also Burial/memorial myth/legend/ 1025, 1122
rituals memorate/folktale Náqiwankwa’xo’piniga, 826
Mouth stones, 1000 distinction, 702–703, Naranjo Morse, Nora, 35
Moves Camp, James, 1169 1120 Narbona, 855
Moves Camp, Sam, 1169 See also Emergence/ Nashka, 985–986
Mowachaht people. See Nuu- creation narratives; Naskapi, 105
chah-nulth (Nootka) Historical stories; Natchez, 1148
Mozino, Jose, 1144 Landscape, in oral National Congress of
Mud Bath (Nez Perce), 148 tradition; Migration American Indians
Mud Head ceremony, 1066 legends; Moral lessons (NCAI), 900
Mumshukawa, 602 taught by stories; Oral National Environmental Policy
Munsee. See Delaware people traditions; Tricksters Act (NEPA), 471, 862
Murder National Historic Preservation
of people believed to be Na-mi-mu-it, 200 Act (NHPA), 471, 634,
windigos, 805–806 Ná vocìwa, 163 952
towns of refuge, 70 Nabokov, Peter, 443 National Museum of the
of unsuccessful spiritual Ná?ci, 163 American Indian Act
practitioners, 1036 Nade’kleshn, 279 (NMAIA), 463, 882
Museum of the American Nádleehí, 325, 327, 329, 331, National Register of Historic
Indian Act of 1989, 463 333 Places, 954–955
Museums, 460, 462–463 Nagel, Joane, 895, 897 Native American Church, 40,
masks, 487–488, 496–497, Nah-qua-tah-tuck, 610 599–616, 915
966 Nakaciuq, 171–172 and Anishinaabe, 104, 109
National Museum of the Nakai, Raymond, 623 and Arapaho, 124
American Indian Act, Nakota (Yankton) and Columbia Plateau
463, 882 deities/powers, 287–288, tribes, 875, 915
Sacred Pole of the Omaha, 1025 current status, 613–616
942 and missionization, 539 and Diné (Navajo),
Sacred Tent of War, 826 oral traditions, 652 618–625
totem pole restoration See also Sioux and Siouan- doctrine/ideology, 604
projects, 1104–1105 speaking peoples and federal relocation
See also Repatriation of Nalugyaraq, 172 policies, 1096, 1097
human remains Names and naming rituals founding of, 192–193,
Mushulatubbee, Chief, 585 Anishinaabe, 107 608–610, 914
Music Choctaw, 587 and Great Basin, 751
bull roarer, 200 legends associated with and James Blue Bird,
and Native American tribal names, 690, 712 818–819
Church, 603, 1004 Lushootseed, 156 and Kee’Kah’Wah’Un’Ga,
and peyote use, 615 powers of, 675, 684 822–823
1231
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Native American Church See also Relocation policies; and Mother Earth concept,
(continued) Reservation system; 566
and Leonard Crow Dog, Termination policies and peyote religion, 625
192–193, 915 Native identity. See Identity and rock art, 737
and Mary Brave Bird, 84 Native Womanism, 299–300 and sweatlodges,
and non-Indians, 625 Natoas bundle (Siksika), 94, 1081–1082
origins of, 599, 602–605, 98–99, 101 and vision quests, 1133
821 Natural resources. See New Brunswick. See Maliseet;
peyote nomenclature and Ecology/ Passamaquoddy
biota, 599–601 environmentalism New Deal, 899
prohibition of peyote use, Navajo. See Diné (Navajo) New Life Lodge, 1054
377, 620–623 Navoiti stories, 635 New Mexico
sandpaintings, 985 Nawalak/Nawalakw, 313–315, art market, 35–36
and songs, 1004 755 Chaco Canyon, 27, 262, 950
structure of meetings, Naxnox, 369, 868, 868(photo) Folsom site, 21
603–604 NCAI. See National Congress laws on worship by
two versions of, 602, 1097 of American Indians incarcerated Native
and water drum, 109, 250 Nch’i-Wana (Hunn), 311, 907 Americans, 467
See also Cross-Fire Rite; Nebraska, AIM activities in, prison system, 775–776
Half-Moon Rite; Peyote 16 Pueblo rebellion, 556,
plant Neck, Mitchell, 610 842–843
Native American Graves Negahnquet, Albert, 810–811 reservation system, 403
Protection and Neihardt, John G., 76, 84, 191, sacred sites, 960(photo)
Repatriation Act 1090 Spanish missions, 554–557
(NAGPRA), 8, 25, Nelson, Edward William, 1077 New Year celebration
462–464, 573, 583, Nelson, George, 235 Cherokee, 167–168
882–884 Nelson, Richard, 257, 507, 747 Creek (Muskogee),
and Chief Seattle, 177 Nenili, 185 221–222
and destruction of sacred Neolin (prophet), 800 Newberne Pamphlet, 607–608
sites in California, 904 NEPA. See National Newberne, R. E. L, 607
and Kennewick Man, 433 Environmental Policy Ne’wekwe society, 183
and oral traditions, 670 Act Newspaper. See Cherokee
Review Committee, 883 Nequatewa, Edmund, 160, Phoenix
See also Repatriation of 449, 690 Nez, Dan Dee, 623
human remains Nesha, 797 Nez Perce, 1009, 1012
Native American tribes Nespelem, 1038 bundle traditions, 1012
“domestic dependent Netsvetov, Iakov, 513, 811 cairns, 948
nation” status of tribes, Nevada ceremony and ritual
404, 408, 919, 1110 ceremonial sites, 340–341 (overview), 147–151
origins of, 21–22 and Ghost Dance, 337–343 Chief Joseph, 538, 697, 713,
regional characteristics. See Gypsum Cave, 781–782 832–833
California; Columbia Petroglyph Butte (First Christian religious leaders,
Plateau; Great Basin; Menses site), 307–310 876
Great Lakes; Northeast; Stewart Indian School, 41, dance, 213, 217(photo)
Northwest; Plains; 77–78 First Foods ceremony,
Southeast; Southwest Winnemucca’s school 148–149
tribal governments (Lovelock, Nevada), 1153 fishing rights, 320
modeled on U.S. federal Yucca Mountain, 258 hunting, fishing, and
system, 409, 541, 899 New Age movement foraging rituals, 147–150
tribal status terminated, appropriation of Native language, 993
721–722. See also traditions, 9, 625–631, Marriage Trade ceremony,
Termination policies 1007, 1081–1082, 1133 150–151
1232
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
and missionization, 535, North Dakota: Thunder Butte, fishing rights, 320–323
537, 538, 544 891. See also Fort guardian spirits. See Spirits
oral traditions, 711 Berthold Reservation and spirit helpers:
places for gathering plants, Northeast Northwest
wildlife, or materials, art, 44–48 healers. See Healers:
949–950 ball games, 57 Northwest
and reservation system, clowns, 187 healing. See Healing:
832–833 healers and healing, Northwest
rites-of-passage 495–497, 864–865 languages, 347
ceremonies, 149–151 history of environmental leaders, 370, 754, 755, 867
spirit power used for conditions and material masks and masking, 314,
harming others, culture, 44–46 358–359, 369, 488–494,
1013–1014 history of tribes, 790–791 1023
spiritual and ceremonial masks, 494–497 menarche rituals, 282, 504
practitioners, 1037 missionization, 530–534, missionization, 543–548
sweatlodges, 147–148, 711 800–811 oral traditions. See Oral
vision quests, 149 “mourning war,” 1136–1137 traditions: Northwest
oral traditions, 303, 495, orders, guilds, and sacred
and Waashat religion, 911
654–657 societies, 154–156,
warfare, 832–833
religious and secular 969–973
weyekin (guardian spirit),
leaders, biographical potlatches. See Potlatch
147, 681, 683, 1009,
sketches, 1093–1094 power concepts. See Power:
1012–1013
religious leadership, Northwest
Winter Spirit dances, 213
863–867 religious and secular
NHPA. See National Historic
retraditionalism and leaders, 811–817
Preservation Act
revitalization shamanic journey to the
Ni-ha-poo-ma, 444(photo)
movements, 929–933 spirit world. See
Niatpo, 1025
tricksters, 1119 Sbatatdaq
Nicholas, Pope, 918 See also Abenaki; Delaware Smokehouse Religion, 202,
Nicot, Jean, 1099 people; Eastern 205–206, 667
Night of the Washing of the woodlands; social organization, 347
Hair, 448–449 Haudenosaunee spirits and spirit helpers.
Nightland (Owens), 727–728 (Iroquois Confederacy); See Spirits and spirit
Nightmares, 795 Iroquoian peoples; helpers: Northwest
Nightway ceremony, 63, 622, Maliseet; Mi’kmaq; spiritual and ceremonial
959 Passamaquoddy; practitioners. See
Nihookáá Diné, 138 Penobscot; Seneca Spiritual and ceremonial
Niizh manitoag, 326 Northwest, 216, 347–348 practitioners: Northwest
Nikkappi, 198–200 architecture, 28 sweatlodges, 171,
Niman, 31 art, 49–53, 515, 701–702, 1077–1078
Ninnimbe, 709–710 1023–1024, 1102–1106 tricksters, 317, 666, 1118
Nisitapi. See Blackfeet ball games, 57 vision quests, 356–357,
Nisqually, 320 ceremony and ritual 1010
Nixon, Richard, 470, 842, 957, (overview), 151–157 winter priest and summer
1096 clowns, 186 chief division, 370, 869
No Flight Society, 979 coastal climate/vegetation, “World Renewal” cycle of
No Vitals, 710 347 rituals, 129, 347–348
Nocona, Peta, 827–828 cosmology, 356, 488–490 See also Alaska; Athabascan
Noel, Milton, 440 dance, 202–206, 213–219 people; Coast Salish;
Noley, Homer, 9 dreams, 248 Columbia Plateau;
Nootka. See Nuu-chah-nulth First Salmon ceremony, Haida; Heiltsuk (Bella
(Nootka) 304–305, 311–319 Bella); Indian Shaker
1233
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Church; Kalapuya; chief Maquinna, 1145 Odawa (Ottawa)

Kwakwak’wakw clowns, 186 Chief Pontiac, 800–801, 906
(Kwakiutl); Makah; Nez cultural ties to the Makah, manitous, 483
Perce; Nisqually; Nuu- 1142, 1144 and missionization, 522,
chah-nulth (Nootka); dance, 972 524
Nuxalk (Bella Coola); hunting magic, 1021 religious leader The Trout,
Potlatch; Skokomish; hunting preparations, 801
Suquamish; Tillamook; 1020(photo) Three Fires Society, 110,
Tlingit; Tsimshian; language, 1142 800
Tulalip; Whaling; Winter masks, 487(photo) See also Anishinaabe
Spirit dances; Yakama potlatches, 742 Offerings
Not for Innocent Ears: Spiritual power in dance societies, and Arapaho power places,
Traditions of a Desert 754 123
Cahuilla Medicine spirits and spirit helpers, Delaware prayer offerings,
Woman (Modesto), 797 1145 695
Nothing But the Truth (Purdy territory of, 1142 See also Food; Pipe
and Ruppert, eds.), 479 totem poles, 1103 ceremonies; Prayer
Nozhinzhon, 1127–1128 whaling, 1141–1151 sticks, prayer offerings;
Numbers, sacred Nuxalk (Bella Coola) Reciprocity; Sacrifice,
Cherokee, 168 arts, 49, 51–52 animal; Sacrifice,
Columbia Plateau, 219, clowns, 186 human; Tobacco rituals
683–684 corpse, shadow, and ghost Offerings Lodge, 119, 121–122,
four, six, or seven division, 370, 869 1054
directions, 1086–1089 dance societies, 754, 972 Ogre kachinas, 448
Native American Church, healing, 370, 869 Ogre mask (Tsonoqua),
603 potlatches, 742 490–491
Plains, 708 power, 754 Ohio: Serpent Mound National
Numhlin ceremony, souls and healing, 869 Monument, 950,
665(photo) 953(photo)
Numic people Oakchiah, 849 Ohiyesa, 899. See also
cosmology, 197–198 Ōbawagē’kgōn, 485 Eastman, Charlos O.
Cry ceremony, 193–195, Observatories Ohlone, 128, 726–727
200–201 ancient observatory and Ohomo Dance, 208, 211
dance, 197–201 calendar sites, 631–632, Ojibwa (Chippewa), 807
and Ghost Dance, 201, 951–952 agriculture, 303–304
337–343 Mount Graham ball games, 58
menarche rituals, 308 International clowns, 187
puhagants, 779–782, Observatory, 258, 471, cosmology, 673
860–861 958–959 dreams, 235–236
religious leadership, Occaneechi-Saponi, 1006 emergence/creation story,
858–863 Occum, Samson, 865–866 675–676
See also Great Basin; Paiute; Ocean Woman (Chemehuevi), history of tribe, 266–267
Shoshone; Ute 63 Jingle Dress Dance, 772
Numwad, 780 Oceana (O’Shinna), 628 kinship, 977
Nunnehi, 1040 Oceti Sakowin, 580, 962–963. land lost through the
NunumBi, 947 See also Sioux and McCumber Agreement,
Nupik’a, 1009 Siouan-speaking 267
Nusmatta, 370, 869 peoples manitous, 483, 485–486,
Nuthlim, 154–155 Ockett, Molly, 865 674–677
Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) O’Connor, Sandra Day, 458 Midéwiwin (Medicine
arts, 49, 52–53, 1105 Oconostota, 698 Lodge), 977
1234
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
and missionization, 522, Olguin, Rudi, 84 and bundle rituals, 95,

524, 801–810 O’Lone v. Estate of Shabazz, 97–99
novels about, 265–270, 478 467 conflicts with archaeology,
oral traditions, 250–251, Omaha 22–23, 25
303–304, 672–679 Buffalo doctors, 1027 and court cases, 670
powwow drum, 250–251 buffalo societies, 978 and drums, 250–251
religious leaders, 801–810 Hedewachi ceremony, and ecology/
Sun Dance, 1054, 1057 1054 environmentalism,
thought categories, 235 kinship, 975 255–256, 635
Three Fires Society, 800 Mon’Hin Thin Ge, 825–826 functions of, 635–637, 655,
trickster/culture hero. See and Native American 659–660
Nanabush Church, 608 future uses of, 637
two-spirit people, 325, 329 oral traditions, 942–943 Great Flood stories. See
vision quests, 485–486 power concepts, 760–762, Great Flood/Earth Diver
See also Anishinaabe 1025 stories
Okan, 95, 98. See also Sun sacred sites, 962 and hunting, 392
Dance Sacred Tents, 825–826, 943 and identity, 636
Okanogan Susan La Flesche Picotte, and intellectual property
First Salmon ceremony, 824 rights, 640, 664–665
1038 Umon’hon’ti (Sacred Pole of and Kennewick Man
and Skolaskin, 910–911 the Omaha), 941–945 debate, 434
Winter Spirit dances, 213, vision quests, 1127–1128 and modern literature, 595,
1012 War Dance, 206, 208, 212 713–715. See also
See also Mourning Dove Omaha Dance, 767 Literature
Okile lowanpi, 1170 Omaha Indian Peyote Society, myth/legend/
Okipa ceremony, 1054 608 memorate/folktale
Oklahoma people, 412 The Omaha Tribe (Fletcher distinction, 702–703,
Oklahoma (state) and La Flesche), 1120
name origin, 850 760–761, 942 oratory, 713
Washita River massacre Omboke, 529 and petroglyphs, 45,
site, 403 Onanne, 443, 445 735–736
See also Reservation system Onasakenrat, Joseph, 866 and peyote use, 619–620
Oklahoma Straight Dance. See Onco, Bobby, 17(photo) power conferred by
Straight Dance One Horn Society, 446, 448 storytelling, 754
Old Indian Legends (Zitkala Oneida, 930. See also regional characteristics. See
Sa), 474 Haudenosaunee headings following this
Old Man Above, 351 (Iroquois Confederacy) entry
Old Man Coyote, 707–709 Only Person Who Had a and salvage ethnography,
Old Man Paddy Quill, 602 Different Gun, 825 474–475
Old Man Rattlesnake, 317 Onondaga, 59, 61, 930. See also as scripture, 181
Old Man, the. See Napi Haudenosaunee and Sun Dance origin, 1064
Old Men’s Lodge (age-grade (Iroquois Confederacy) and tribal colleges, 716
lodge), 120 Opagipi olowan, 1171 types of stories, 635–637,
Old Pierre, 814–816 Opler, Morris, 189 1120
Old Winnemucca (Paiute Opvnka hajo, 352 video preservation of, 645,
prophet), 1154–1155 Opwagon, 808 671, 699, 715
Old Woman, 710 Oraibi Pueblo, 30(photo) See also Cosmology;
Old Woman Who Has Oral traditions, 633–637 Emergence/creation
Medicine On Her, 981 and academic study, 9, narratives; Great
Old Woman’s Grandchild, 710 633–635, 643 Flood/Earth Diver
Old Women’s Society, 982–983 and basketry, 63 stories; Historical
1235
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
stories; Landscape, in distant-time vs. recent Sioux, 708–714. See also

oral tradition; time, 660, 662 Dakota; Lakota; Nakota
Literature; Migration and ecology/ under this heading
legends; Moral lessons environmentalism, styles of storytelling, 652,
taught by stories; 645–646, 666, 670 707–708
Tricksters Haida, 640–647 types of stories, 654, 707
Oral traditions: California, High Language used for, and writing, 714–715
638–640 658–659 Oral traditions: Southeast,
Chumash, 228, 638 and identity, 659, 664 693–700
Desert Cahuilla, 856 Innu, 397, 398 archaic language used for
and ecology/ Inupiaq, 397 storytelling, 695
environmentalism, 639 Koyukon, 659 Cherokee, 302–303, 398,
Karuk, 639 Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwaiutl), 696–698
ownership of stories, 640 314–315, 490 Creek (Muskogee), 696
protocols for storytelling, ownership of stories, and food, 301–306
639–640 664–665 and heirloom objects, 695
restrictions on telling protocols for storytelling, and identity, 695
stories, 640 659, 719–720 mnemonic devices, 695
types of stories, 639 restrictions on telling oratory, 699
and writing, 639 stories, 658–659, 665 preservation of stories in
Oral traditions: Columbia styles of storytelling, unlikely places, 696
Plateau, 680–686 658–659 protocols for storytelling,
Coeur d’Alene, 681–683 Tlingit, 701–706 695
Flathead/Kalispel, 711 types of stories, 648, Seminole, 696
human hero stories 660–664, 702–703 styles of storytelling, 697
(Coeur d’Alene), and whaling, 1143–1144 types of stories, 699
682–683 and writing, 669 Yuchi, 696
and identity, 680, 684 Yakama, 316–317 Oral traditions: Southwest
Nez Perce, 711 Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 397, Apache, 278
protocols for storytelling, 717–722 Diné (Navajo), 959–961,
683–685 Oral traditions: Plains, 985–986, 1140
styles of storytelling, 707–716 Hopi, 160, 429–431,
683–684 Arapaho, 118–119, 707–709 449–453, 688–692, 780
types of stories, 680 Assiniboine, 709 Pueblo, 686–692
Oral traditions: Great Basin Blackfeet, 708–716 styles of storytelling, 692
Paiute, 635 Cheyenne, 707–715 Zuni, 164–165, 429–431,
Shoshone, 635, 708–711 collections listed, 714–715 687–690, 692
Oral traditions: Great Lakes Crow, 707–715 Oratory, 713
Anishinaabe, 964–965 Dakota, 285 Chief Joseph’s speech of
and ecology/ fluid, dynamic nature of 1879, 833
environmentalism, 676 storytelling, 650 Hopi Message to the UN,
fluid, dynamic nature of Kiowa, 559–560, 981 840
storytelling, 673–674 Lakota, 231–232, 301–302, and mourning rituals
Ojibwa, 250–251, 303–304, 648–653, 962 (Great Basin), 751
672–679 Mandan, 1076 and potlatches, 741
Oral traditions: Northeast, 303, mnemonic devices, 708 Red Jacket on
495, 654–657 Nakota, 652 missionization, 890
Oral traditions: Northwest, Omaha, 942–943 Smohalla’s response to
663–671 Pawnee, 301, 396 military pressure, 837,
Athabascan, 508, 658–663, restrictions on telling 910
1161–1162 stories, 654, 707 See also “Heart talk”
1236
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Orca, 393, 488, 490, 783 Ortiz, Virgil, 36 Northwest, 49–53, 1024
Orders, guilds, and sacred Osage Southwest, 37–38
societies, 964–966 Cloth Dance, 773 See also Art; Petroglyphs/
age-grade lodges, 119–120, history of tribe, 922 pictographs;
764, 979 In-Lon-Ska, 412–415 Sandpainting
Choctaw Turkey Buzzard kinship, 975 Paiute
Society, 586 and the Kiowa, 210 artists, 42–43, 798
doctors’ societies (Plains), pipe rituals, 937 basketry, 65, 798
976–978, 981 sacred power, 1025 and Bole Maru, 732
Great Lakes, 964–968 Taime stolen from Kiowa, cosmology, 1154
Hopi, 162, 164, 427–432 560, 1065 Cry ceremony, 193–195
kachina and clown two-spirit people, 329 dance, 197–201
societies, 427–432 War Dance, 206, 207, 208 dreamer Old Winnemucca,
Kiowa, 208–210, 212, Osceola, 698, 853 1154–1155
560–561, 1066, 1068 Osgood, Cornelius, 788 and First Menses site,
Klallam, 668 Osimch, 1148–1149 308–310
Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl), Oskabewis, 425 and Ghost Dance, 201,
491 Ösömuya, 162 337–340
and masks, 489–490, 491 Osonte, 1029 hunting traditions, 1154
military societies, 210–211, Oswalt, Robert, 731–732 oral traditions, 635
979, 981–982 Oto and peyote religion, 1155
Northwest, 154–156, Buffalo doctors, 1027 power concept, 749–752
969–973. See also specific buffalo societies, 978 prophets. See Wodziwob;
peoples under this power concepts, 761, 1025 Wovoka
heading War Dance, 206, 207, 208 souls of the dead, 590
Plains, 974–983. See also See also Koshiway, Jonathan struggles for preservation
specific peoples under Ottawa. See Odawa of sacred sites, 258
this heading Otter, and mask traditions, 488 two-spirit people, 330
prohibition of, 973 Our Father (Arapaho), 122–123 types of spiritual
Pueblo, 442–454, 1049 O’waqölt, 164 practitioner, 750
semisecret, open- Owens, Louis, 478–479, Winnemucca’s
membership societies 723–730 descriptions of culture,
(Plains), 976–977 Owl doctors, 1030–1031 1154–1155
Tsimshian, 370, 867–869 Owls See also Winnemucca,
and vision quests, 1130 in Apache traditions, 591 Sarah
women’s societies, 282, in Cherokee traditions, 696 Palöngawhoya, 160, 688
289–290, 710, 978–979 in Dakota traditions, 288 Palouse, 993
Yaqui (Yoeme), 1165 in Kiowa traditions, 1028 Pan-Indian movement, 542,
Zuni, 427–432 896–902
See also Clowning, clown Pa-gyato, 981 early history of, 900–901
ceremony Pacific Northwest. See and Ghost Dance, 343
Organization of a New Indian Northwest and pipe rituals, 941
Territory, East of the Paha Sapa, 962 and Sun Dance, 1054
Missouri River (Copway), Pahko, 1165 and World War II, 900–901
802–803 Pahóki, 163 See also American Indian
Origin era (oral traditions), Pahos, 160, 450 Movement; Identity;
661–662. See also Pahtahsega, 804 Native American
Emergence/creation Paint mines, 948 Church; Powwow
narratives Painting Pan’kov, Ivan, 811
Ortiz, Alfonzo, 189 California/Great Basin, Panther, 696, 726
Ortiz, Simon, 479–480 42–43 Panther Meadow, 954, 955
1237
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Papago (Tohono O’Odham) Peabody Museum, 826, 942, Perry, Fred, 177
people 944 Perryman, Benjamin, 852
ancestors of, 225 Peace Perryman, James, 851–852
clowns, 185 and Beloved Men, Women, Perryman, Joseph Moses, 852
language, 224 and towns, 69–74 Perryman, Moses, 852
menstruation, 509 colors for, 69–70 Perryman, Thomas Ward, 852
two-spirit people, 325, 329 and Hopi Prophecy, 389 Personality flaws, Dakota
Parfleche bags, 54–55 and pipe rituals, 940 concept of, 232–233
Park, Willard, 245, 750 Peace Chiefs, 923 Pertrullo, Vincenzo, 610
Parker, Arthur C., 26 Peace-pipe ceremony. See Pipe Pestle Boy, 681
Parker, Cynthia Ann, 827–828 ceremonies Peter, Julia, 1161
Parker, Julia, 797 Peace Proclamation dividing Petitot, Émile, 1161, 1162
Parker, Quanah, 192–193, reservations among Petius, 817
600(photo), 602, 818, different denominations, Petroglyph Butte (First Menses
827–828 526–527, 537, 545, 557, site), 307–310
Parker, Theron, 1151 889 Petroglyphs/pictographs,
Parkhill, Thomas, 566 Pebble pipes, 936 687(photo), 733–737,
Parrish, Essie, 501, 731–733 Peele, David, 645 735(photo), 947
Parsons, Robert, 876 Pena, Tonita, 37 bighorn sheep images,
Pasa, 353 Pendleton blankets, give-away 757–758, 781
Passamaquoddy, 47, 58 of, 583 California/Great Basin, 39,
Patayan, 225, 226 Penn, William, 575 735
Pathkiller, 696 Pennsylvania: Carlisle Indian dating techniques, 736–737,
Patrilineal Industrial School, 77–78, 781
descent/inheritance 79–80(photos) defined, 733
(Plains), 975, 977 Penobscot, 187, 656–657 Grand Canyon, 758–759
Patwin, 186 Pentecostal church, 751, 877 Hopi Prophecy, 387–391
Paul, Tim, 1105 Penutian language family, 347, as inspiration for
Pawhuska, OK, 412 993. See also Cayuse; contemporary art, 835
Pawnee Klamath; Klickitat; Lakota, 734
architecture, 33 Modoc; Nez Perce; Northeast, 45–46
Buffalo doctors, 1027 Palouse; Umatilla; Walla and oral traditions, 45
buffalo societies, 978 Walla; Yakama Plains, 708
bundle traditions, 100 People, first people. See preservation of, 737
clowns, 186 Wakanka; Wazi religious significance of,
deities, 760 People of the Center (Zuni), 734–736, 757–758
doctors’ societies, 976, 1027 263 rock peckings, 758
duck-hunting, 301 People of the Dawn Society, as sacred sites, 951
Four Pole ceremony, 1054 964 types of, 733–734
history of tribe, 922 People of the Earth’s Surface. and vision quests, 872
kinship, 975–976 See Earth Surface People Zuni, 734
and the Kiowa, 210 People v. Jack Woody, et al., Petugtaq, 174
marriage to deer or buffalo, 611, 623 Petzoldt, W. A., 539
396 Pequot: William Apes, 866 Peynetsa, Andrew, 160–161,
oral traditions, 301, 396 Peratrovich, Elizabeth Jean 689, 691
sacred power, 1025 Wanamaker, 785 Peyote drums, 604
social organization, 1026 Peratrovich, Roy, 785 Peyote Gardens, 605, 611–613
War Dance, 206, 207, 208 Perdue, Theda, 69 Peyote plant, 211
Paxala, 490 Peri, David, 799 and Arapaho, 124
Payne, Philip, 420 Perkins, Henry, 317 archaeological evidence for
Pe heipe, 182 Perrot, Nicolas, 207 early use of, 599, 604, 615
1238
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
and Comanche, 606, 828 Pijart, Pierre, 1072 and Wakan Tanka, 288
cost of, 611–613 Pima See also Tobacco rituals
court cases, 610–611, 614, ancestors of, 225 Pipe Person, 1025
622–624 clowns, 185 Pipestem, George, 609
current status, 613–616 emergence narrative, 333 Pipestone Quarry, 819, 936, 938
and Diné (Navajo), 618–625 language, 224 Pishkun, 709, 710
effects of eating, 601–602 mourning rituals, 592 Pitt, Lillian, 834–835
ethnological and laboratory two-spirit people, 333 Pitt River people, 42–43, 954
studies of, 601–602 Pine Nut Dance (Numic Pity, as motive for spirit
healing properties, 602, people), 198–200 helpers, 94, 95,
605, 618 Pine Ridge reservation, yuwipi 1127–1128
imports suppressed, ceremony at, 1168–1173 Placenta, burial of, 585
609–610 Piñon tree Plains
and Lakota, 192–193 and bad dreams, 241 artchitecture, 923
legalization of religious use and First Menses site, 309 arts, 54–56
of, 462, 614, 624 and Numic ceremonial buffalo/bison. See Buffalo/
and missionization, 540, sites, 341 bison
605–607 Pio, Juan Baptisto, 843 bundle traditions, 93–101,
nomenclature and biota, Piomingo, 698 762–764, 974–977, 1026
599–601, 606 Pipe bundles, sacred, 938–939 climate/geography, 922
non-Indian participation in Gros Ventre Feathered Pipe, clowns, 186, 187, 189,
peyote religion, 625 818 764–765
oral traditions about, Gros Ventre Flat Pipe “counting coup,” 1138–1139
619–620, 710 bundle, 118, 541, 818 dance, 206–212, 1050-1059.
and Paiute, 1155 Lakota Sacred Pipe bundle, See also specific peoples
in petroglyphs, 735 94, 650 doctors’ societies, 974,
prohibition of use, 377, 460, Medicine Pipe bundle, 95, 976–978, 981, 1029–1031
606–611, 620–623 101 dreams, 247
spiritual leaders, 810, Pipe ceremonies, 1171 female ritual societies,
818–819, 821, 826–827, Anishinaabe, 104, 106 289–290
828 ceremony described, healers. See Healers: Plains
spread of peyote religion, 938–941 healing. See Healing: Plains
620, 810, 914–915 Cherokee, 168 history of tribes, 922–924
and symbolism, 605, 1091 Dakota, 231 and horses, 923
trade and distribution of, and female spirituality, 289 kinship patterns, 974–977
611–613 Kiowa, 980, 1032 missionization, 534–543,
types of, 602 Lakota, 143, 146, 192, 935, 893
and water drum, 250 1170–1172 oral traditions. See Oral
See also Cross-Fire Rite; mixed-gender rituals, 290 traditions: Plains
Half-Moon Rite; Native one-piece elbow pipes, pipe rituals, 935
American Church 935–936 power concepts. See Power:
Peyote Woman, 604 pebble and “monitor” Plains
Phallic symbols, 308 pipes, 936, 940 religious and secular
Phillips, Ruth, 48 Pipestone Quarry, 819, 936, leaders, biographical
Phoenix, AZ: art market, 36 938 sketches, 818–830
Picotte, Susan La Flesche, 824 purposes of, 940–941, 980 retraditionalism and
Picuris Pueblo, 445 separate-stemmed pipes, revitalization
Piegan, 935. See also Blackfeet 936–938 movements, 917–921
Pierce, William Henry, 816 and Sun Dance, 1052, sacred and secular
Pierre, Peter, 814–815 1056 societies, 289–290,
Pierre, Simon, 814 tubular pipes, 935 974–983, 1028–1031
1239
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Plains (continued) Plymouth Rock occupation, 16 Pollen Boy, 961

sacred sites. See Sacred Poco, Marcus, 607 Pom-pom Shakers, 913. See
sites: Plains Pododlte, 1031 also Feather Religion
social organization, Poetry, 479–480, 713–715 Pomo
764–765, 923, 974–976 Point Conception, 257 acorn harvest rituals, 130
spirits and spirit helpers. Poison doctors (Tillamook), architecture, 130
See Spirits and spirit 372–373, 871 artists, 65, 500–501
helpers: Plains Poison ivy, 697 basket weaver/cultural
spiritual and ceremonial Pokagon, Leopold, 810 expert Elsie Allen, 64,
practitioners. See Poker Boy, 452 793–794, 797
Spiritual and ceremonial Poking, as part of healing basket weaver/cultural
practitioners: Plains ceremony, 721–722 expert Julia Parker, 797
sweatlodges, 1075–1077 Polanyup, 982 basket weaver/teacher
tricksters, 1118 Politics Laura Somersal, 797–798
vision quests. See Vision and academic study, 2, 6–8 basketry, 66
quests: Plains Alcatraz Island occupation, Big Head Dance, 130
See also Apache; Arapaho; 6 Bole Maru, 731–733
Arikara; Assiniboine; and the arts, 47–48 clowns, 186
Blackfeet; Buffalo/bison; debates over healer/prophet Essie
Cheyenne; Comanche; archaeologists’ Parrish, 501, 731–733
Crow; Dakota; Great treatment of human healers, 500–501, 731–733
Lakes; Gros Ventre; remains, 20, 24, 432–436 healing, 66
Hidatsa; Iowa; Kansa; and ecology/ two-spirit people, 329
Kickapoo; Lakota; environmentalism, Pomo Basketry: A Supreme Art
Mandan; Missouria; 256–257 for the Weaver (Allen),
Nakota; Omaha; Osage; fishing rights, 320–323 793
Oto; Pawnee; Piegan; impact of federal relocation Ponca
Ponca; Quapaw; Siksika; policies, 402 Buffalo doctors, 1027
Sioux and Siouan- missionaries as advocates buffalo societies, 978
speaking peoples; Sun for Native Americans, Cloth Dance, 773
Dance; Wichita; 179, 1110–1113 healers, 762
Winnebago and Native identity, Hethuska dances, 773
Plains Anthropological Society, 401–411 kinship, 975
26 and preservation of plant- power concepts, 760, 1025
Planting Society, 819 gathering sites, 368, 958 and Sun Dance, 1054
Plants. See Agriculture; and sacred sites, 257–258, War Dance, 206, 208
Foraging rituals; 958–959 Pond, Amos, 875
Hallucinogens; and Trail of Tears, Pond, Enoch, 876
Herbalism; Medicinal 1106–1117 Pond, Ron, 875
plants; Tobacco rituals; and whaling, 1141–1142, Pontiac, 800–801, 906
specific plants 1151 Pontiac, Angus, 677
Plateau. See Colorado Plateau; Wounded Knee occupation, Poor Buffalo, 982
Columbia Plateau 6, 16–17, 457, 615, 821, Popé, 556, 842–843
Platform mounds, 571 867 Pope, John, 1043
Playing cards, in Handsome See also American Indian Pöqánghoya, 160, 688
Lake’s vision, 931 Movement; Legislation; Porcupine (Cheyenne spiritual
Plays With His Face, 711 Pan-Indian movement; leader/healer), 827
Plaza (Hopi), 29–31 Relocation policies; Porcupine, in oral tradition,
Plenty Coups, 538, 539, Reservation system; 118–119
712–713, 714 Termination policies Porcupine quills. See
Plenty Wolf, George, 1169 Pollen, 113–115, 506, 985, 988 Quillwork
1240
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Porcupine Standing Sideways, Poverty use deferred until maturity,

805, 806 nineteenth century, 898 245, 1012, 1132
Posi-wiwaimkum, 449–450 and reservation system, See also Bundles; Medicinal
Post Falls, 681 887–888, 894–895, 897, plants; Menstruation;
Potavi, 589–590 898–899 Religious leadership;
Potawatomi and reservation-to-urban Sorcery; Spiritual and
Hannahville, 805 relocation, 900 ceremonial
manitous, 483 and retraditionalism/ practitioners; Vision
and missionization, 522 identity movements, 897 quests
religious and secular Powamu ceremony, 66, 305, Power: California
leaders, 810–813 447–448 Chumash ‘at?sw?n, 229,
spiritual and ceremonial Powamuya society, 162 384–385, 748–749
practitioners, 1043 Powell, John Wesley, 198, types of, 749
Three Fires Society, 110, 199–200, 780 Power: Columbia Plateau
800 Power bone-handling powers of
War Dance, 207 conferred by menstruation, stick game players, 1039
See also Anishinaabe 305, 372, 398, 502, Okanogan concept, 594
Potlatch, 152(photo), 505–509, 1158, 1160 See also Spirits and spirit
154(photo), 738–743, conferred by pregnancy/ helpers: Columbia
739(photo) birth, 305, 1160 Plateau
Black Tamanous ritual, conferred by spirit helpers. Power: Great Basin, 749–752,
668 See Spirits and spirit 779–782, 860–861
California tribes, 128 helpers; Vision quests dangers of holding, 750
Haida, 740 conferred in dreams, 93–94, Paiute concepts, 749–752
joking potlatches, 156 99, 101, 111, 122, power places, 756–759,
Koyukon, 744–745, 747 240–248, 651, 750, 763, 781–782
Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl), 1026–1027, 1048, 1128 puha. See Puha
741–742, 1022 conferred through reasons for seeking, 750,
Lushootseed, 156–157 inheritence, 94, 205, 781
and masks, 489–490 1026, 1169, 1170. See Shoshone concepts,
and mourning rituals, also Bundles: 749–752
739–741, 743–748 ownership/transfers; Washo concepts, 749–752
northern Athabascan, Reincarnation Power: Northwest, 752–756
744–748 conferred through forms of, 753–754
prohibition of, 349, 670, purchase, 96–97, 1129 Gwich’in concept
742–743 conferred through sexual (Vit’eegwaahchy’aa), 746
purifying masks, 491–492 intercourse, 1027 Heiltsuk concepts, 754, 755
religious significance of, conferred through individual vs. group, 754
740–743 storytelling, 654, 754 Kwakwak’wakw concept
sociopolitical function of, experiential modes of, (nawalak), 313–315
738–742 762–763. See also Lushootseed ultimate
storytelling at, 665 Spiritual and ceremonial power (xa’xa), 371
Suquamish, 156–157 practitioners order-destroying vs. order-
Tanaina, 746–747 perceived as evil or affirming, 754–755
Tlingit, 739(photo), 740, threatening. See Sorcery; reasons for seeking,
741 Witches 752–753
Tsimshian, 152–154, 740 regional characteristics. See shamanic vs. chiefly,
and “wealth” concept, headings following this 755–756
345–346 entry types of, 754–756
word origin, 738 and two-spirit people, See also Spirits and spirit
Pottery, 35–37, 46, 225 326–327, 330, 764 helpers: Northwest
1241
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Power places, 758 dances performed at, and oral traditions, 690
appropriate behavior at, 767–768, 770–773 and sacred sites, 949
757 drums, 107 Prechtel, Martin, 1042
Arapaho, 123 giveaway ceremonies, Pregnancy/birth
and balancing ceremonies, 768–769 abortion, 1160
758–759 and Gourd Dance, 767, Apache birth rituals, 114
Great Basin, 756–759, 1068 Arapaho birth rituals, 121
781–782 and identity, 768 baby brokers, 373, 867, 872
ritual marking of, 757–758 organization of, 770 birth control given up on
and Salt Song Trail, 759 and pan-Indian movement, conversion to
and trances, 758, 759 896–897 Catholicism, 1158
See also Sacred sites regalia, 768–773 and corn symbolism, 303
Power: Plains, 759–765, 1025 secular nature of, 768 and emergence narratives,
Arapaho concepts, 122–123, and songs, 1004–1005 259
761 word origin, 767 and First Menses site, 308
and bundle traditions, See also Cry ceremony placenta buried, 585
762–764, 1026 Powwow drum, 250–253 power conferred by, 305,
and communal order, Prando, Peter, 538 1160
764–765 Pratt, Richard Henry, 77, 1153 spirits acquired during, 356
cosmological power, Prayer Presbyterian church
760–762 and cardinal directions, in Alaska, 514
Crow concepts, 761 1087 and Choctaw, 849–850
and gender, 761, 764 and composition of songs, and the Nez Perce, 537
inheritence of, 1026 1003 in the Northeast, 865
Kiowa dw'dw', 980–982, and dance, 770 in the Southeast, 551–552,
1026, 1027–1032 and Diné (Navajo) prayer 851–853
Lakota concepts, 565, 761, bundle, 960 Presidential Executive Order
1168–1173 Great Basin good talkers, No. 13007 on Indian
Omaha concepts, 760–762 751 Sacred Sites, 961
Pawnee concepts, 760 and Hopi reciprocity with Pretty Shield, 538, 714
power transference supernatural beings, Pretty Shield: Medicine Woman
through sexual 158–159 of the Crows (Pretty
intercourse, 1027 and manitous, 485, 523 Shield and Linderman),
and Sun Dance, 1050–1051. and sacred trails, 948 827
See also Taime same word for prayer and Price, Hiram, 1053
transmission of power, kinship, 437 Principal Dogs, 979
1026–1027 and Sun Dance, 1055, Principal People (Cherokee),
types of, 760–765 1056–1057, 1060, 1061 698
wakan (Dakota concept), and whaling, 1145, 1149, Principles of Archaeological
284–285 1150–1151 Ethics, 25
Power: Southeast, 765–766 See also Gratitude; Peyote Prison
Power: Southwest plant; Reciprocity; legislation on worship by
Apache concept (di yih), Respect; Sun Dance; incarcerated Native
111–113, 507, 1046–1048 Sweatlodge Americans, 466–468
Powers, Marla N., 506, 651 Prayer Dress, 772 and Native spirituality,
Powers, William K., 650, 1169 Prayer offerings (Delaware 774–779
Powhatan, 221–223 people), 695 and sweatlodges, 1081
Powwow, 767–773 Prayer sticks, prayer offerings Prisoners of war, 844
and Anishinaabe, 104 (Pueblo), 158–159, 450 adoption of, 405, 1136–1137
contemporary practice, and Christianity, 554 sacrifice of, 1136–1137
206, 767–773 and clowns, 183 See also Geronimo
1242
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Prize Woman, 1162 Plenty Coups (Crow), 538, contrast between eastern
Prokopeuff, Mary, 791 539, 712–713 and western Pueblos,
Prophecy psychic abilities of the 688
Cherokee, 389–390 dreamer, 246–247 cosmology, 687–690
Columbia Plateau, 874–875 Queahpahmah (Tyigh), 838 dreams, 247–248
Hopi Prophecy, 387–391, Richard Taylor (Pomo), 500 emergence narratives,
840 Shining Shirt (Salish/ 258–263, 687–690, 1088
and oral traditions (Hopi), Flathead), 534, 712 food exchange, 304
635 Sitting Bull (Arapaho), 829 kachina and clown
and oral traditions (Plains), Skolaskin (Sanpoil), 238, societies, 427–432
712–713 318, 835–836, 910–911 kinship, 295
skill given by spirit powers, Smohalla (Wanapum), 238, kiva and medicine
486 318, 547, 836–838, 906, societies, 442–454
tools of, 1044 909–910 languages, 224, 687
Prophet Dance, 339, 418, Tenskwatawa (Shawnee). masks, 497–499, 1049
873–876, 908–909, 973 See Tenskwatawa and missionization,
Prophets and dreamers, The Trout (Odawa), 801 554–557
235–239, 823 Wodziwob (Paiute), 339, oral traditions. See Oral
Ashnithlai (Klickitat), 913 341, 751. See also Fish traditions: Southwest
Bini (Carrier), 811–812 Lake Joe pipe rituals, 935–936
Essie Parrish (Pomo), 501, Wooden Cup (Sioux), 712 religious and secular
731–733 Wovoka (Paiute). See leaders, 839–843
Handsome Lake (Seneca). Wovoka social organization, 427
See Handsome Lake Yonagusta (Cherokee), 845 See also Hopi; Zuni; and
Jake Hunt (Klickitat), 817, Yurareechen (Spokane), 238 other specific pueblos,
831–832, 913–914 Prophetstown, 238 such as Taos Pueblo
John Slocum (Squ-Sacht- Propitiation festival Pueblo Bonito, 950
Un), 415–418, 547–548, (Cherokee), 168 Pueblo rebellion, 556, 842–843
912 Protestant missionization, 549, Puha, 197–198, 749–752
Josiah Francis (Creek), 698, 551–553, 1158. See also dances for concentrating,
850–851 specific denominations 197–201
Kau’Xuma’nupika Protestant work ethic, 349, and dreams, 240
(Kootenai), 834 531, 932 and Ghost Dance, 340–342
Kenekuk (Kickapoo), 1130 Ptax, 1036 and power places, 756,
Kotiakan (Yakama), 838 Pte Hca Ka, 90 781–782
Lals/Luls (Umatilla), 838 Ptesan Win. See White Buffalo and religious leadership,
Lishwailait (Klickitat), 913 Calf Woman 860–861
lists of prophets, 698, 817, Puberty. See Puhagants, 779–782, 860–861
838, 875, 911 Menarche/puberty Pui-lu-li-met, 796–797
Mabel McKay (Pomo), rituals Pul, 797, 856
500–501 Puberty preceptors, 870 Purdy, John L, 479
Maketsueson (Dane-zaa), Puck Hyat Toot, 875 Purifying rituals
238 Puckshenubbe, Chief, 585 Anishinaabe, 106
Maniilauraq/Maniilaq Pueblo and First Menses site,
(Inupiaq), 786, 792 architecture, 27, 226 308–309
Mary Thompson (Whe-Bul- burial/mourning traditions, Great Lakes, 1157
eht-sah), 415–418, 548, 589–592 and initiation into kiva
912 ceremony and ritual societies, 446
Neolin (Delaware), 800 (overview), 158–166 menstruation as, 508
Old Winnemucca (Paiute), clowns, 182–185, 189, Osage, 412–413
1154–1155 431–432 and pipe rituals, 939
1243
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Purifying rituals (continued) Rabbit and mask traditions, 488,

Sxyayxwey mask, 491–492 rabbit drives, 724 665(photo)
and warfare, 1140 as trickster and cultural moral lessons taught by,
and whaling, 465, 1145, hero, 1118–1119. See also 666
1148–1150 Nanabush as predator spirit, 393
See also Smudging; Rabbit Dance (Numic people), Tlingit Raven stories, 704
Sweatlodge 199 as trickster and cultural
Pussy willow, 353 Rabbits society (Kiowa), 982, hero, 641(photo), 663,
Puyallup, 546, 816 1066 666, 704, 706, 1119
Pwbon, 209 Raccoon, as trickster, 1119 trickster attributes, 652–653
Pyroscapulamancy, 105 Racket and ball games, 57–62 Raven rattle, 753(photo)
Radin, Paul, 614 Raven, the (Red Chief), 71
Qa-hopi, 31 Rafinesque, Constantine, 167, “Raw people,” 154, 158–159
Qasegiq, 171–174, 719, 1077 693 Rawhide bags, 54–55
Qiatait, 173 Ragweed, domestication of, Ray, Verne, 216, 1010
Qillóowawya, 148 302 Real Bird, Hank, 714
Quail dance (Creek), 221 Rain god. See also Father Sky Reciprocity
Quakers, 536 Rain, Howard, 603 and bundle transfers, 96–97
in Alaska, 513 Rainbow Bridge, 947 and burial of human
and Handsome Lake, Rainbow Tribe, 626 remains, 434
931–932 Rainmaking as central tenet of Native
and the Kiowa, 210, and clowns (Pueblo), 183 philosophies, 345
526–527 control by specific spiritual within communities
plan for missionaries, 178, leaders. See Religious (giveaway ceremonies),
537 and secular leaders, 344–350. See also Gift-
Quapaw biographical sketches giving/give-away
Buffalo doctors, 1027 and kachinas, 431 ceremonies
buffalo societies, 978 and mountain sheep, food exchange in Pueblo
history of tribe, 922 757–758 culture, 304
kinship, 975 and Pueblo oral traditions, between humans and
sacred power, 1025 688, 690, 691 manitous (Great Lakes),
War Dance, 206, 207 and Wovoka, 338, 340, 751, 485, 965–966
Quarries, for pipestone, 819, 781 between humans and
936 See also Weather, control of plants, 382–385, 1089
Queahpahmah, 838 Ramada ceremonial structure, between humans and
Quillwork, 54 1166 supernatural beings
Arapaho, 121, 123 Rape, in oral tradition, 1162 (Diné/Navajo), 988
and Changing Woman, 710 Rattles, 49 between humans and
Cheyenne, 708 Anishinaabe, 106–107 supernatural beings
and powwow regalia, 771, Diné (Navajo), 139 (Hopi), 158–159
773 Iroquois, 495 between humans and
ritual societies, 710, 979 Lakota, 1172 supernatural beings
Quillwork Girl, 709 and menarche rituals, 999 (Pueblo), 160, 431
Quilts. See Star quilts and poison doctors, 871 between humans and the
Quinault, 329, 330, 546 Raven rattle, 753(photo) animal/spirit world
Quintasket, Christine. See Rave, John, 608, 818 (Athabascan), 661–662,
Mourning Dove Raven 745–747
Quoitze Ow, 337. See also as Creator (Yupiaq/Yu’piq), between humans and the
Wovoka 720 land/earth, 256, 414, 645
Qupilguuraq, 786 and Earthdiver stories, 663 between hunter and prey,
Ququnak patke, 331 Kwakiutl Raven stories, 315 391–399, 1021
1244
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
and kinship, 295–297, 304, and powwow dances, 919, 973, 1041, 1060,
438, 503 768–773 1067–1068. See also
and power concepts, 749 and Sun Dance, 1061, 1067 Wounded Knee
See also Food; Gift- Yaqui (Yoeme), 1167 massacre
giving/give-away See also Masks and and New Age appropriation
ceremonies; Gratitude; masking; specific dances of Native traditions,
Potlatch Reid, Bill, 1105 629–630
Recollects, 522 Reincarnation, 588 and prison system,
Red Athabascan beliefs, 745, 774–779
as color associated with 747 and Sun Dance, 1060–1061
tobacco, 1100 Choctaw beliefs, 587 and whaling, 1141–1142,
as color of war, 69–70 and hummingbirds, 780, 1151
as sacred color, 506 861 See also American Indian
Red Bean Cult, 600–602, 604 Lenape beliefs, 579 Religious Freedom Act of
Red Bird. See Zitkala-Sa of Low Horn (Blackfoot), 1978
Red Cherries, 1081–1082 825 Religious Freedom Restoration
Red Chief, 70, 71 and potlatches, 740 Act of 1993 (RFRA), 467,
Red Cloud, Edgar, 542 Yupiaq (Yup’iq) beliefs, 469
Red Eagle, 698 172–173, 346 Religious ideology. See
Red Earth, Michael, 334 See also Afterlife Afterlife; Balance; Birth
Red Earth, White Lies Religion, lack of word for, 256, and death cycle;
(Deloria), 24 377 Cosmology/worldview;
Red Horn, in petroglyphs, 736 Religious and secular leaders, Deities/powers; Ethics;
Red Horse, 1028 biographical sketches Gratitude;
Red Jacket, 890 Alaska, 783–792 Interconnectedness;
Red paint spirits, 203–204, California, 793–799 Kinship; Orders, guilds,
205 Columbia Plateau, 831–838 and sacred societies;
Red Power Movement. See Great Lakes, 800–811 Prayer; Reciprocity;
American Indian Northeast, 1093–1094 Respect; Spirits and
Movement Northwest, 811–817 spirit helpers; specific
Red Road, 774, 775–777 Plains, 818–830 peoples
Red Schoolhouse, 110 Pueblo, 839–843 Religious Land Use and
Red Shoes, 698 Southeast, 843–854 Institutionalized Persons
Red Sucker Band, 805, 806, Southwest, 855–858 Act of 2000, 467, 469
807 Religious freedom Religious leadership
Red Tassel, 709 and Collier’s reforms of Columbia Plateau, 872–877
Redsky, James, Sr., 807–808 1934, 211, 540, 899–900, Great Basin, 858–863
Redstick War of 1813–1814, 919–920 Northeast, 863–867
851, 926–927 and Diné (Navajo) peyote and reservation system, 892
descendants of religion, 620–625 See also Religious and
participants, 853 Indian Religious Crimes secular leaders,
and Trail of Tears, 1109 Code of 1883, 211 biographical sketches
Reeside, Henrietta, 440 Indian Religious Freedom Religious Restoration Act of
Reflecting Man, John, 808 and Indian Culture Act 1994, 462, 624
Regalia of 1934, 1053 Relocation Act of 1956, 403
crow belt dance bustles, legalization of religious use Relocation policies, 1095–1098
208 of peyote, 462, 614, 624 Alaska, 721–722
and kachinas, 431 and Leonard Crow Dog, and Christianity, 1115
Karuk, 1016–1017 190–193 effects of removal from
and Lakota yuwipi loss of, 211, 377, 455–457, sacred landscapes, 402,
ceremony, 1170 537, 560, 862, 891–894, 1114–1115
1245
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Relocation policies purposes of, 887–889 Ribbon Falls (Grand Canyon),

(continued) and sacred sites, 891 947
See also Indian Removal Act statistics, 411, 887 Rice, wild, 303–304
of 1830; Trail of Tears suppression of Native Richardson, Jane, 208
Remington, Frederick, 34 religion, 891–894 Ricklin, Isidore, 528
Removal Act of 1830. See and termination policies, Ridge, John Rollin, 477, 698,
Indian Removal Act of 900–901, 1095–1098 1113–1114, 1116
1830 types of reservations, 887 Riding the Earthboy 40
Renewal ceremonies Respect, 493, 1007 (Welch), 478
California/Great Basin, Haida yahkwdáng concept, Riel, Louis, 538
38–39 644–647 Riggs, Alfred R., 535
Southeast, 1146 and hunting, 391–400, 493, Riggs, Thomas L, 535
See also World renewal 494, 644–645, 666 Rijutiam, 1167
“Renewal” phenomena, 897. and manitous, 485, 675–677 Rim Dweller (Iroquois), 495
See also Retraditionalism and masks, 487, 496 Ripe Corn Feast (Cherokee),
and revitalization and plants, 1089 168
movements; World and sweatlodges, 1071, Rising Sun, 808
Renewal 1078 Rising Voices (Hirschfelder and
Repatriation of human Retraditionalism and Singer), 714
remains, 878–884. See revitalization Rittzenthaler, Robert, 806
also Native American movements, 896–902 River Credit community,
Graves Protection and California, 902–905 424–425
Repatriation Act Cherokee, 553 Road Man, Road Chief, 603,
Reservation system, 884–896 Columbia Plateau, 604, 615, 620
and Apache, 856 905–916 Roberts, John, 536
and Arapaho, 123–124 defined, 214, 906–907 Robertson, William Schenck,
and Cherokee, 845–849 Delaware, 800 852
communal land allotted to Northeast, 929–933 Rock dreamers, 1169–1172
individuals, 403, Odawa, 801 Rock Monster (Columbia
405–406. See also Plains, 917–921 Plateau), 680
General Allotment Act post–World War II Rock People (Arapaho), 118
(Dawes Act) of 1887 generation, 900–901 Rocks. See Stones
creation of, 885–889 and potlatches, 743 Rocky Mountains, 708, 709,
and the Crow, 1060 “renewal” phenomena, 897 950
and cultural values of Southeast, 924–929 Rocky places, as powerful and
sharing/generosity, 893 stages of, 907, 919–920 dangerous places, 757
defined, 885 and Sun Dance, 541, Rogers, Will, 699
and Diné (Navajo), 1053–1054, 1061 Rolling Thunder, 1043
621–622, 857 See also American Indian Roman Catholicism, 810
economics, 898–899 Movement; Art; Feather in Alaska, 515
and identity, 402–406, Religion; Indian Shaker in California, 127–128,
893–895 Church; Native 515–519
Kiowa-Comanche-Apache American Church; Pan- and Chief Seattle, 177–178
reservation, 524–530 Indian movement; on the Columbia Plateau,
and missionization, Powwow; Prophets and 876
524–530, 537, 540, dreamers; Waashat and the dead, 591
888–890 “Reversal” dance, 210 in Erdrich’s novels, 266–268
and Nez Perce, 832–833 RFRA. See Religious Freedom and Grant’s Peace Policy,
Oklahoma name origin, 850 Restoration Act of 1993 546
poor conditions, 887, Rhoads, Charles, 421 in the Great Lakes, 806–807,
894–895, 897, 898–899 Ribbon Dance, 352–353 810, 1158
1246
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
and Kateri Tekakwitha, Russian Orthodox Church, burial and massacre sites,
1093–1094 510–513, 811 951
and Kiowa-Comanche- Ryan, Jimmy, 593 caves as sources of power,
Apache Reservation, 749, 781–782, 1011
527–528 Sa’ah naaghaáii bik’eh hózhó, and Ghost Dance, 340–342
in the Northern Plains, 537 619. See also Beautiful group ceremonial sites, 950
in the Northwest, 543–545 Trail impact of federal relocation
parallels to Pueblo religion, Saam, 94 policies, 402
554–555 Saami, 104 legislation and lack thereof
in the Southeast, 549–551 Sacred Arrow bundle, 94, 100, on use and protection of
in the Southwest, 554–557, 541, 976 sites, 460, 461, 468–472,
591 Sacred Flat Pipe, 118, 119, 818 952–953, 955, 961
and Wounded Knee Sacred Hat bundle (Sacred offering areas (alters,
massacre, 538–539 Buffalo Hat), 541, 709, shrines), 949
Yaqui blend of Catholicism 976 and oral traditions, 639,
and traditional beliefs, Sacred or powerful objects 654–655
591–592 Chumash ‘at?sw?n places for gathering plants,
Romero, Juan de Jesus, pendant, 748 wildlife, or materials,
840–842, 841(photo), collected from graves, 880 948–949, 953, 958
957, 958 crystals, 753, 757, 1044 political battles over,
Roof, Wade C., 9, 897–898 and healing, 19 257–258, 958–959
Roosevelt, Franklin, 899, 1104 Lakota yuwipi stones, and reservation system,
Roosevelt, Theodore, 607, 828, 1169–1172 891
857, 946, 948 legislation concerning ritual marking of, 757
Root doctor, 1041 access to, 464–466 sacred mountains, 28, 749,
Rooth, Anna Birgitta, 658 medicine bundles. See 757, 952–955
Roscoe, Will, 328 Bundles site-specific protection
Ross, Genevieve, 785 Northeast, 47 laws, 470–471
Ross, John, 552, 698, Northwest coast, 753–754 struggles for preservation
927(photo), 928, Omaha Sacred Tents, of plant-gathering sites,
1113–1114, 1116 825–826 368, 958
Round Dance, 198–200, 751, and oral traditions, 695 and tourism/development,
758 Raven rattle, 753(photo) 952–953, 955, 958–959,
as balancing ceremony, sold to collectors, 880 963
758 Umon’hon’ti (Sacred Pole of vision quest sites, 950
and powwows, 767 the Omaha), 941–945 See also Grand Canyon;
relation to Ghost Dance, and the Yupiaq (Yup’iq), Landscape, in oral
339, 758 18–19 tradition; Petroglyphs/
Roundhouse (Pomo), 130 See also Bundles; Masks pictographs; and entries
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1006 and masking following this heading
Royal British Columbia Sacred Pole of the Omaha, Sacred sites: California
Museum, 1104–1105 941–945 and art, 40–41
Rube, Susie, 244 Sacred Revolt (Martin), 354 Chumash, 257
Running Sketches of Men and Sacred Scrolls of the Southern destruction of, 904
Places (Copway), 803 Ojibway (Redsky and healing, 368
Rupert, Henry, 245, 752 Dewdney), 808 Karuk, 639
Ruppert, James, 479 Sacred sites, 945–964, Mount Shasta, 954–955
Rushmataha, 698 952–954, 956(photo) Sacred sites: Great Basin, 198
Russell, Charles M., 34 bodies of water as sources and art, 40–41
Russell, Paul, 697, 1043–1044 of power, 123, 430, 639, power places, 756–759,
Russell, Penny, 1043–1044 749–750, 757, 952, 1011 781–782
1247
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Sacred sites: Great Basin Sage, 1101 First Salmon ceremony,

(continued) and healing (Northwest 130, 304–305, 311–319,
trails and pilgrimage coast), 359 994
routes, 948 and Lakota yuwipi and fishing rights, 320–323
Ute, 948 ceremony, 1171–1172 habitat preservation, 323
Washo, 639 and Native American and mask traditions, 488,
Sacred sites: Plains, 708, 716, Church, 603 490
891 as one of four sacred Nez Perce rituals, 147–151
Arapaho, 123 medicines (Great Lakes), and Northwest oral
Black Hills, 962–964 1156–1157 traditions, 646–647,
Kiowa, 948 and puberty rituals, 503 665–666
Lakota, 301–302 and Siksika bundle and Northwest rituals, 151
Sacred sites: Southeast, 166 traditions, 96 and Plateau oral traditions,
Sacred sites: Southwest Sagebrush, and First Menses 680–681, 684–685
ancestral habitation sites, site, 309 respect/gratitude for,
950 Sahagun, Bernardino, 599 644–647
Apache, 471, 958–959 Sahaptin-speaking people and resurrection
Diné (Navajo), 28, 137–138, religious leadership, 874 symbolism, 314–315, 317
947–949, 959–961, spirits and spirit helpers, Salt Cave (Grand Canyon),
1088–1089 1009 454, 463
First Menses site, 307–310 spiritual and ceremonial Salt, gathering places, 948
Hopi, 31, 430 practitioners, 1036 Salt Song Singers, 193, 194
location of the afterworld, Washat dances, 909 Salt Song Trail, 194–195, 759
591 Winter Spirit dances, Salvage ethnography, 1, 4–6
Mount Graham, 258, 471, 213–217 and Ishi case, 11–13
945, 958–959 Sahnish and Kennewick Man, 434
and Pueblo oral traditions, cultural values, 893 and literature, 474–475
692 and missionization, 893 and oral traditions, 643
San Francisco Peaks, 160, request to resume singing Sam, Archie, 699
163, 430, 952–954 banned songs, 892–893 Sam, Stanley, 1150
Taos Pueblo, 470, 841–842, sacred sites, 891 San Carlos Apache, 1045
1096 Saila, 1165 San Francisco Peaks, 160, 163,
Zuni, 948, 959 Sainthood, 1094 430, 952–954
Sacred societies. See Orders, Sakiestewa, Ramona, 38 San Gabriel Mission rebellion,
guilds, and sacred Salish. See Coast Salish; 798–799
societies specific peoples San Ildefonso Pueblo, 36, 184
Sacred Tents, 825–826 Salish-Kootenai College, 716 San Juan Pueblo
Sacrifice, animal Salishan language family, food ceremonies, 305
lnca llama sacrifice, 306 347. See also Coeur kinship and food exchange,
Seneca white dog sacrifice, d’Alene; Comox; 304
305 Duwamish; Flathead; leader Popé, 556, 842–843
Sun Dance buffalo sacrifice, Kalispel; Klallam; See also Pueblo rebellion
1065 Lushootseed; Nisqually; Sanapia (Comanche healer),
Sacrifice, human Nuxalk (Bella Coola); 245, 828–829, 1098
Aztec, 1135–1136 Puyallup; Shuswap; Sand altars, 602, 603, 604
“mourning war,” Skagit; Skokomish; Sand Creek Massacre, 403,
1137–1138 Snohomish; Spokane; 951
severed finger joints, 1026 Tillamook Sandpainting, 37, 139,
Tlingit, 513, 784 Salmon, 681 375(photo), 499,
See also Sun Dance blood of, 318 985–991, 1047
Sacrifice Lodge, 1054 Coeur d’Alene, 132 and basketry, 63
1248
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
ceremonies described, Salish, 49 Seminole

988–991 totem poles, 1102–1106 ball games, 58, 61
construction of, 989–990 Se-bu-tah, Gordon, 362 dance, 221, 223
gathering places, 948 Sea Ania, 1167 Green Corn ceremony, 351
intentional imperfections, Sea Chief, 1149 and missionization,
991 Seals 551–552, 852–853
materials for, 985, 989 and Bladder Festival, 494 oral traditions, 696
permanent forms, 991 humans cared for by, 397, religious and secular
subject matter portrayed, 666 leaders, 853–854, 1098
987–988 Seasonal Variations of the resistance to Removal Act,
and Sun Dance, 985 Eskimo (Mauss and 1109
sun-wise direction for, 29 Beuchat), 28 Trail of Tears, 1106, 1109
and symbolism, 1089 Seasons Seneca
Sanpoil, 216 ancient observatory and and American Revolution,
Bluejay spirit, 217 calendar sites, 631–632, 930
First Salmon ceremony, 951–952 ball games, 58, 60
1038 Apache symbolism, 227 prophet Handsome Lake,
foraging rituals, 1038 Cherokee symbolism, 303 238, 239, 534, 866, 906,
prophet Skolaskin, 238, 318, and corn symbolism, 303 929–933, 1130
835–836, 910 and cyclical time concept, War Dance, 208
spirit sickness, 1012 285 white dogs sacrificed, 305
vision quests, 1010 Diné (Navajo) symbolism, See also Haudenosaunee
Santa Ana Pueblo, 471 227 (Iroquois Confederacy)
Santa Clara Pueblo, 35(photo) explanations for, 709 Sequoyah, 1042
Santa Fe, NM, 35–37 Hopi calendar, 162–164, Serpent Mound National
Santo Domingo Pueblo, 447, 498 Monument, 950,
183–184 Pueblo ceremonies, 158 953(photo)
Sapier, Edward, 318 and Renewal ceremony, Serra, Junipero, 515–516
Sapir, Edward, 1123, 1148 38–39 Set’aide, 210
Sarcee, 1054 and storytelling, 707 Sevedge, Randy, 362
Sarris, Greg, 731, 733, 799 “World Renewal” cycle of Seven Arrows (Storm), 1062
Sasquatch, 491 rituals (Northwest), 129, Seven, as magic number, 168,
Savannah River, 698 347–348 604
Sbatatdaq (Sqadaq), 992–998 Seattle, Chief, 175–178 Seven Drum religion, 219,
Scalp Dance, 201, 207, 208, Secakuku, Alph H., 162, 164, 831, 836, 875, 908–911.
1137–1138 447 See also Longhouse
Scarface, 98, 712 Second Seminole War, 853 religion (Columbia
Schmidt, Johann J., 535 Second World. See Diné Plateau); Smohalla;
Schmitt, Carl, 1006 (Navajo): cosmology; Waashat
Scholitza, 175 Hopi: cosmology Seven Thunders, 60
Schoppert, Jim, 53 Secret orders/guilds. See The Seven Visions of Bull Lodge
Schultes, Richard, 601–602 Orders, guilds, and (Horse Capture, ed.), 818
Schuster, Helen H., 915, 1010 sacred societies Sevier, John, 72
Schweabe, 175 Secrets of the Talking Jaguar Sexuality
Scott, Hugh Lennox, 1063 (Prechtel), 1042 abstinence in preparation
Scratching sticks, 999–1002, Sedulsa, 156 for dances, 205
871 Sedwa’gowa’ne, 534. See also abstinence in preparation
Scrolls, birch bark, 108, 109, Handsome Lake for hunting, 1020–1021,
966–968 Sekaquaptewa, 635 1144–1145, 1150
Sculpture Sells, Cato, 420 and Double Woman
artist Lillian Pitt, 834–835 Selu, 302–303 dreams, 651
1249
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Sexuality (continued) Shield societies, 982 S̆icun, 1169

power transference through Shields, 55–56, 1028, 1066 Si’ga’xunuga, 826–827
sexual intercourse, 1027 Shilombish, 726 Siha Sapewin, 819
sexual humor in trickster Shining Shirt (prophet), 534, Sikatsi (canary), 450–451
stories, 652–653, 678, 712 Siksika, 98–99
1122 Shinny, 57 bundle traditions, 93–95,
sexual misconduct Shipek, Cuero, 795 97–99, 101
discouraged through Shippentower, Gail, 875 Okan (Sun Dance), 94,
oral tradition, 651–653 Shkalneek stories, 702 98–99
two-spirit people, 325–335 Sh’mulq territories, 131 See also Blackfeet
See also Love medicine; Shoot the Arrow Rock, 710 Silko, Leslie Marmon, 257, 477,
Menarche/puberty Short Bull, 823 633, 727
rituals Shoshone Sillitoe, P., 637
Seyewailo, 1166, 1167 artists, 43 Silva, Ramon Medina, 616
Seyewailo (film), 1167 Bear Dance, 751 Simpson, James H., 27
Shabik’ehgo, 261 bitterroot gathering places, Sin, confessions/repentance,
Shabona, 810 949 908, 931–932
Shahwundais, 803 deities, 708, 709 Singing. See Songs
Shaker Church. See Indian and First Menses site, Singing Pipe Woman, 628–629
Shaker Church 308–310 Sioux and Siouan-speaking
Shakes, Chief, 783–784 and Ghost Dance, 339–340 peoples
“Shaking tent” ritual, 105, and hummingbirds, 780 binding rituals, 105
396–397, 1168 and missionization, 535 biological and familial
Shaman oral traditions, 635, parents, 230
word origin, 510, 863 708–711 clowns, 186–187
See also Healers; Religious power concept, 749–752 and the Crow, 1062
and secular leaders, spiritual leader/healer deities/powers, 84–85,
biographical sketches; Emily Hill, 821–822 287–288, 708, 1025
Sorcery; Spiritual and struggles for preservation and Gold Rush, 963
ceremonial practitioners of sacred sites, 258 history of tribes, 922
Shapsnikoff, Anfesia, 791–792 and Sun Dance, 1053, 1054, kinship, 295–296
Shapsnikoff, Sergei, 791 1056, 1057, 1058, 1060, language, 230–234
Sharing. See Gift-giving/give- 1064 Medicine Lodge, 108
away ceremonies and Sun Dance revival, 541 menarche rituals, 506
Sharp-Skin, 827 supernatural beings, and missionization, 535, 537
The Sharpest Sight (Owens), 709–710, 947 oral traditions, 708–714
725–726 warfare, 711 prophet Wooden Cup, 712
Shasta, 1131 Shrike (Si-Katsi), 451–452 sacred sites, 962–964
Shawahnegezhik, 803–804 Shrines, 949, 1149. See also and Sun Dance, 1052
Shawl Dance, 773 Alters tricksters, 712
Shawnee, 238, 239, 801, 1128. Shu’Denaci, 826 War Dance, 207
See also Tecumseh; Shuffling dance, 200 warfare, 711
Tenskwatawa Shumawish, 361 See also Assiniboine;
“She Who Is Ravished” Shung-opovi, 691 Bonnin, Gertrude; Crow;
narrative, 1161–1162 Shuswap, 213, 993 Dakota; Deloria, Ella C.;
Sheep. See Bighorn sheep “The Shut-Eye Dance,” 678 Deloria, Philip J.;
Shenandoah, Leon, 496–497 Si-Katsi (shrike), 451–452 Deloria, Vine, Jr.;
Sherman, William Tecumseh, Si Tanka, 823 Deloria, Vine, Sr.; Great
959 Siberian traditions, 104 Sioux Reservation;
Shi ti ke, 503 Sibling avoidance, 438, Hidatsa; Iowa; Kansa;
Shield Cave, 948 1159–1160 Kaw; Lakota; Mandan;
1250
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Missouria; Nakota; Resources of Oregon v. Retraditionalism and

Osage; Oto; Ponca; Smith revitalization
Quapaw; Winnebago Smith-Ferri, Sherri, 64 movements
Sipapu, 30 Smith, Henry A., 176 Social organization of tribes.
Sipapuni, 445, 449 Smith, Kathleen, 799 See Communalism and
Sitka language, Father Smith, Martin Cruz, 473–474 social organization
Veniaminov’s study of, Smith, Pig, 849 Society of American
512–513 Smith, Redbird, 849–850 Archaeology, 25–26, 883
Sits in the Middle of the Land, Smith River Shaker Church, Society of American Indians,
713 421 539
Sitting Bull (Haná cha-thí ak; Smith, Stanley, 852–853, 854 Sohappy, Steve, 875
Arapaho), 829 Smith, Tom, 799 Solares, Maria, 68
Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake; Smithsonian Institution, 463, Solid Face masks, 187
Lakota), 536, 711, 713, 882 Solid food, first (Apache
823 Smohalla (prophet), 238, 318, ritual), 116
Six, as sacred number, 1087 836–838, 906, 909–910 Solstice, 952. See also
Six Directions altar, 449 and Dreamer religion, 547 Astronomy and
Sixes George, 547 and Washat ceremony, 213, astronomical objects;
Skagit, 812–813 218 Winter solstice
Skan, 565 Smoke Signals (film), 475–476 Somersal, George, 798
Skaw-tow, 1063, 1067–1068. Smokehouse Religion, 202, Somersal, Laura, 797–798
See also Sun Dance 205–206, 667 The Song of Hiawatha
Skokomish, 320, 546 Smudging, 1101 (Longfellow), 803
Skolaskin (prophet), 238, 318, Anishinaabe, 106 Songprints (Hill and Vander),
835–836, 910–911 Great Lakes, 1156–1157 822
Skpu’tenem, 1038 and pipe rituals, 939 Songs, 1002–1006, 1009
Skulls, buffalo, 399, 1052, and Siksika bundle Apache ceremonial Singer
1089 traditions, 96 (gutaal), 116, 1046
Skunkberry People society, and Sun Dance, 1057 associated with bundles, 763
209–210, 982 See also Cedar, cedar Athabascan memorial
Sky Father. See Father Sky incense; Sage; Sweet songs, 745–747
Sky, in Lakota oral traditions, grass; Tobacco rituals banned, 892–893
649, 651, 1169. See also Snake-Antelope Ceremony California ceremonial
Cardinal directions (Hopi), 164 singers for healing, 364
Slaves, 752, 784 Snake Dance, 66, 159(photo) characteristics of,
Sleeping Giant story (Ojibwa), Snake, Reuben A., Jr., 604, 614, 1004–1006
673 822–823 Cheyenne Christian drum
Slobodin, Richard, 1162 Snake spirit, 1014, 1031 songs, 180
Slocum, John, 415–418, Snohomish, 186 Choctaw mourning songs,
547–548, 813–814, 912 Snuff, 1101 587
Slocum, Mary, 813–814 Snuqwalmi, 186 Coeur d’Alene suumesh
Slotkin, J. Sydney, 604, 609 Snxa’wi’lem, 1038 songs, 132–136, 216–217,
Small (duck-hunting orphan), Snyder, Gary, 629–630 681, 683, 1009, 1012
301 Soboleff, Anna and Alexander, and communication with
Small, Paul, 915 784 spirits, 1003, 1009
Smallpox. See Disease Soboleff, Walter T’aaw Chán, Diné (Navajo) chantways,
Smiling Sun, 161(photo) 784–785 138–140, 246, 499,
Smith, Alfred, 464(photo), 624 Social movements. See 1046–1047, 1049
Smith, Bill, 799 American Indian Dratach’leek songs, 747
Smith case. See Employment Movement; New Age drumming and singing to
Div., Dept. of Human movement; Politics; drive illness away, 19
1251
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Songs (continued) Sore Lips clan, 712 geography/environment of,

functions of, 1003 Sótuknang, 448, 688, 689 1146
and Ghost Dance, 1004 Souls healers and healing, 74, 222
Kiowa hymns, 440–442, Coast Salish beliefs, 815 Jewish practices, 696, 698
528 multiple souls per person, missionization, 549–553,
and Klamath spirits, 1009 589 846–847, 927, 1110–1113
and Lakota yuwipi Nuxalk (Bella Coola) oral traditions. See Oral
ceremony, 1170, 1172 beliefs, 370, 869 traditions: Southeast
Nez Perce Qillóowawya soul-loss as cause of illness, power concepts, 765–766
songs, 148 19, 750, 814 religious and secular
Occaneechi-Saponi, 1006 Southwest beliefs, 589–592 leaders, biographical
Osage In-Lon-Ska, 412–415 spirits of people killed by sketches, 843–854
personal hymns, 180 whites (whirlwind retraditionalism and
and powwows, 1004–1005 spirits), 759, 1028 revitalization
songmaster (Northwest), Yupiaq (Yup’iq) beliefs, 19, movements, 924–929
867 171–174, 492, 719 sacred sites, 166
songs preserved by Emily See also Afterlife; Ghosts; social organization,
Hill, 822 Masks and masking; 1146–1148
songs reduced to vocables, Reincarnation; Spirit songs, 1006
707, 770, 1005 doctors; Spirits and Spanish Mission system,
spirits and songs acquired spirit helpers 549–551
by youth (Columbia South Chief, 1149 spirits and spirit helpers,
Plateau), 1010–1013 South Dakota 222–223
spirits and songs acquired AIM activities in, 6, 16–17 spiritual and ceremonial
by youth (Northwest Bear Butte, 708, 962, 963 practitioners,
coast), 203–205, bison preservation case 1040–1044
666–667, 971 study, 90–91 towns of refuge, 70
sung by tortured captives, Black Hills, 962–964 See also Alabama people;
1137 Harney Peak, 962 Apalachee; Calusa;
and sweatlodges, petroglyphs, 735, 736 Catawbas; Cherokee;
1072–1074 See also Wounded Knee Chickasaw; Choctaw;
and vision quests, 1131 massacre; Wounded Creek (Muskogee);
and whaling, 1149, 1150 Knee occupation Green Corn ceremony;
Yaqui (Yoeme) Deer Dance South Wind, 780 Guale; Natchez;
songs, 1165, 1167 South Wind Dance, 547 Powhatan; Seminole;
Yupiaq (Yup’iq) crying Southeast, 1146–1148 Tequesta; Timuca; Trail
songs, 173 agriculture, 302–303, 1101, of Tears; Yuchi
See also Winter Spirit 1146 Southeaster Ceremonial
dances archaeological sites, Complex, 206
Songscape, 194–195 166–167, 306, 693 Southern Cult, 206
Sonoran desert, 1166 ball games, 57, 59, 351–352, Southwest, 224–227
Sope, Tommy, 875 354 architecture, 28–32
Sorcery Beloved Women, Beloved art (contemporary), 33–38
Columbia Plateau, 1036, Men, Beloved Towns, art (early historic), 225
1037 68–74 clowns, 30, 182–185,
Great Basin, 750–751, 780 ceremony and ritual 431–432
Northwest coast, 755, 1022, (overview), 166–170 early peoples of, 225
1023 cosmology, 697, 765–766 emergence narratives, 227,
Plains, 1030–1032 dance, 168, 220–223, 352 258–263, 687–690
Southeast, 1040 emergence narratives, healing. See Healing:
See also Evil; Witches 694–695 Southwest
1252
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
kachina and clown Spear and Shield Dance, 767 traditions; Spirits and
societies, 427–432 Spear Lodge (age-grade spirit helpers
kinship, 295 lodge), 120 Spirits and spirit helpers
kiva and medicine “Speciminism,” 11–13 acquired through dreams
societies, 442–454 Spector, Janet, 999 and visions. See Dreams
language families, 224–225 Spells. See Dicta and visions; Vision
location of the afterworld, Spicewood, 353 quests; specific regions in
591 Spider the headings following
masks, 497–499 as creator of petroglyphs this entry
mourning and the afterlife, (Lakota), 734 acquired through
429–431, 589–592 as trickster (Arapaho), 707 inheritance, purchase, or
oral traditions. See Oral as trickster (Lakota), ritual transfer, 1129. See
traditions: Southwest 651–653, 1119 also Power
power concepts, 111–113, as trickster (Sioux and children cared for by, 397,
507, 1047–1048 Cheyenne), 712, 1119, 666, 710, 711
religious and secular 1121, 1122 communication through
leaders, 839–843, Spider spirit, spider medicine, dreams, 1128
855–858 1014, 1041 communication through
sacred sites. See Sacred Spider web, prophecies about, songs, 1003, 1009
sites: Southwest 389–390 communication through
Spanish Mission system, Spider Woman (Pueblo), 160, tobacco offerings,
554–557 688, 692 940–941, 1101
spirits and spirit helpers. Spier, Leslie, 5, 318, 834, 874, female spirits, 275–276, 770
See Spirits and spirit 908, 999 and health, 374
helpers: Southwest Spindle whorls, 49 and the landscape. See
spiritual and ceremonial Spirit boards, 970 Power places; Sacred
practitioners. See Spirit Canoe Ceremony. See sites
Spiritual and ceremonial Sbatatdaq pity as motive for, 94, 95,
practitioners: Southwest Spirit Dance. See Ghost Dance 1127–1128
tribes listed, 224–225 Spirit doctors, 373, 667, 872, regional characteristics. See
tricksters, 1118. See also 992–998 headings following this
Coyote Spirit-keeping (Lakota), 144, entry
vision quests, 281 580–581. See also Ghost- and reincarnation, 172–173,
See also Apache; Diné keeping 346, 587, 780
(Navajo); Havasupai; Spirit Lodge, 104–105. See also spirit power used for
Hopi; Karankawas; Sweatlodge harming others,
Mojave people; Papago; Spirit of Creativity (Lakota 667–668, 1013–1014,
Petroglyphs/pictographs; vision), 143–144 1022–1023, 1030–1032,
Pima; Pueblo; Spirit world 1036, 1037
Sandpainting; Yaqui and Athabascan people, transformation/possession
(Yoeme) 661–662, 745–747 by spirits, 972–973,
Sovereignty, 1006–1008. See in Owens’s writings, 723, 1049–1050. See also
also Marshall Decision 726 Masks and masking
Soyál, 66 and petroglyphs, 734 whirlwind spirits (spirits of
Spanish Inquisition against shamanic journey to the people killed by whites),
peyote use, 606–607 spirit world. See 759, 1028
Spanish Mission system Sbatatdaq See also Bundles; Evil
California, 40, 127–128, and the Yupiaq (Yup’iq), spirits; Power;
515–519, 748, 902–903 18–19 Supernatural beings;
Southeast, 549–551 See also Kachinas; Vision quests; specific
Southwest, 554–557 Manitous; Oral leaders and healers in
1253
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
the regions under maintaining good relations intertribal interactions,

Religous and secular with, 357–358 1043
leaders Makah, 1145, 1149 killing of unsuccessful
Spirits and spirit helpers: and masks, 489, 490, 493 spiritual practitioners,
California, 954 Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), 1036
Spirits and spirit helpers: 1145 and Native American
Columbia Plateau, and oral traditions, Church, 604, 620
872–873, 907–908, 666–667 New Age self-styled
1009–1014 spirit sickness, 204, 358–359 spiritual practitioners,
Coeur d’Alene suumesh spirits not explicitly 627–628, 1082
songs, 132–136, 216–217, identified, 205 and petroglyphs, 736, 781
681, 683, 1009, 1012 Tlingit yéik, 702 powers used for harming
Nez Perce weyekin, 147, and whaling, 1144–1145 others, 122, 667–668,
149, 681, 1009, Yakama, 1010, 1011 721, 1013–1014,
1012–1013 Yupiaq (Yup’iq) tungalik, 1022–1023, 1030–1032,
Okanogan, 594 493, 494 1036, 1037
and oral traditions, 681 Yupiaq (Yup’iq) yuit, 18–19, regional characteristics. See
songs used in 171–174 entries following this
communication with, Spirits and spirit helpers: heading
1003, 1009 Plains showmanship/sleight-of-
spirit identities kept secret, Cheyenne animal master hand skills, 755, 1022,
1012, 1013 spirit, 710 1031, 1042
spirit power used for Kiowa, 1027–1029 taboos and restrictions,
harming others, Lakota yuwipi stones, 1029–1030
1013–1014 1169–1172 tools of, 1044
spirit sickness, 1012. See Spirits and spirit helpers: women as. See Female
also Winter Spirit Southeast, 222–223 spirituality; Healers;
dances Spirits and spirit helpers: Love medicine;
spirits “forgotten” until Southwest Midwives
maturity, 1012 Diné (Navajo), 987. See also See also Baby brokers;
types of powers granted by, Holy People Beloved Men; Beloved
1010–1012 parallels to Catholic saints, Women; Healers;
undesirable spirits, 1011 555 Mediums; Power;
Spirits and spirit helpers: and shamanistic powers, Prophets and dreamers;
Great Basin 1045–1046 Religious and secular
and Puha, 198 spirit powers embodied in leaders, biographical
Shoshone nunumBi and masked dancers, sketches; Religious
the landscape, 947 1049–1050 leadership; Sacred or
Spirits and spirit helpers: Zuni, 393, 443 powerful objects; Trances
Great Lakes See also Kachinas Spiritual and ceremonial
Ojibwa ōbawagē’kgōn, 485 Spiritual and ceremonial practitioners: California,
See also Manitous practitioners 1015–1019
Spirits and spirit helpers: ambivalence toward, 668, Chemehuevi, 1017–1018
Northwest, 355–359 1036, 1042 Chumash, 1018–1019
Coast Salish, 969–973 competition among Hupa, 1017
and hunting, 398 spiritual practitioners, Karuk, 1017
and Indian Shaker Church, 1035–1036, 1043, 1053 Kumeyaay, 131
814 husband-wife pairs, 1027 Spiritual and ceremonial
Kwakwak’wakw LaòLaxa impact of disasters beyond practitioners: Columbia
dance series, 490 their powers on, Plateau, 872–873,
Lushootseed, 869 779–780, 860–861, 873 1035–1040
1254
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
characteristics of, Spiritual and ceremonial Sqelalitut, 202

1035–1036 practitioners: Plains, Squ-Sacht-Un, 415–418,
competition among 762–763, 1025–1035 416(photo)
spiritual practitioners, Assiniboine, 976 Squash, 302, 303
1035–1036 husband-wife pairs, 1027 Squaw Dance (Numic people),
and First Foods/First Kiowa, 1027–1033 199
Salmon ceremonies, Lakota yuwipi men, Squaxin Island nation, 415,
1037–1038 1168–1172 422
healers, 1035–1037 powers used for harming St. Mary’s Indian Industrial
Okanogan, 594 others, 1030–1032 School, 266
powers acquired through sleight-of-hand skills, 1031 St. Pierre, Mark, 920
vision quests, 1035 and Sun Dance, 1055 St. Pierre, Sam, 239
powers used for harming Spiritual and ceremonial Stag Watie, 845–846
others, 1036, 1037 practitioners: Southeast, Stallion Gate (Smith), 473
stick or hand game 1040–1044 Standing Bear, Luther, 714
practitioners, apprenticeships, 1041 Standing on the Ground, 709
1038–1039 fees for diagnosis, 1041 Stanley, Franklin, 958
war ceremonies, 1038 and herbalism, 1041 Stanley, Joe, 915
and Winter Spirit dances, multiple roles of, Stanup, Johah, 816
1039 1042–1044 Stanup, Peter, 816
Spiritual and ceremonial shaman/herbal healer Star Boy, 98, 712
practitioners: Great distinction, 1041 Star Boy (Goble), 715
Basin, 702–703, 750–752, showmanship/sleight-of- Star gazers, 1048
779–782, 858–863 hand skills, 1042 Star Husband stories
Spiritual and ceremonial tools of, 1043 (Arapaho), 118–119
practitioners: Northwest, types of, 1040–1041 Star quilts, 583, 1171, 1172
667–668, 755, 867–872 Spiritual and ceremonial Stars (age-grade lodge), 120
Aleut, 510 practitioners: Southwest, Starvation
artists, 1023–1024 1044–1050 and Athabascan mourning
biographical sketches, Apache, 1045–1049 rituals, 746
811–817 apprenticeships, 1047 and Diné (Navajo), 621
domestic cult leaders, Diné (Navajo), 140, and Ghost Dance, 342, 713
1021 1045–1049 and Plains oral traditions,
first-fruits/hunting and Hopi, 447 710
fishing magic, 1020–1021 masked dancers, 1049–1050 and Plateau oral traditions,
Kwakwak’wakw, 490, 1021, priest/shaman distinction, 682
1023 1045–1047 and Trail of Tears,
Lushootseed, 371, 869–870 Split Boy bundle, 976, 980–983 1106–1117
showmanship/sleight-of- Spokane Tritt’s caribou fence, 787
hand skills, 1022 Bluejay spirit, 217 The Status of the American
Tillamook, 372–373, 871 film portrayal of, 476 Indian Ministry (Belvin),
Tlingit, 702–703, 1022 language, 993 850
Tsimshian, 369–370, prophet Yurareechen, 238 Steinhauer, Henry Bird,
867–869 and Skolaskin, 910 803–804
types of, 369, 371–373, 868 Spokane Falls, 681 Steinmetz, Paul B., 604, 1169
winter ceremonial dancers, Spokane River, and oral Stekler, Paul, 478
1023 traditions, 681 Stephen, Alexander, 32
witches and sorcerers, Spotted Eagle, 1171 Stereotypes, 564, 566, 626–627,
1022–1023 Spotted Wing, 1031 630
Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 18–19, Spring Festival (Cherokee), 167 Stevens, Fred, Jr., 991
171–174, 493, 717–721 Sqadaq. See Sbatatdaq Stevens, Isaac, 175, 321–322
1255
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Stevenson, Matilda Coxe, 184 suicide sashes, 210, 979, and Christianity, 181, 1055,
Steward, Gilbert, 915 982, 983 1060, 1062
Stewart Indian School, 41, suicide warriors, 979 communal basis for,
77–78 Sukat, 1009 1055–1056
Stewart, Omer, 308, 338, 601, Sullivan, Dorothy, 74 controversies over modern
605, 606, 611, 859 Sullivan, John, 930 practice of, 1061–1062,
Stick dances, 745 Sully/Bordeaux, Mary, 230 1068
Stick Game, 1038–1039 Sumac, as pipe material, cosmological context,
Stigmas, removal of, and 937–938 1056–1057
potlatches, 156, 157 Sumach ahot, 248 Crow, 1059–1062
Stillday, Thomas, Jr., 809 The Summer of Black Widows Dakota, 231, 232
Stirrup, 820 (Alexie), 479 description of ceremony,
Stoffle, R., 635 Summer Rain, Mary, 627–628 1052–1053, 1061,
Stomp Dance (Coeur d’Alene). Sumpweed, domestication of, 1065–1067
See Jump Dance 302 early European
Stomp Dance (Southeast), 168, Sun, 28–29 observations of, 1052
221, 352 and bundle traditions, Great Basin, 751
Stone, as pipe material, 935, 97–98 historical phases of, 1053
936 as deity (Plains), 1025, Kiowa, 210–211, 560,
Stone Clad, 398 1026, 1028, 1063 980–981, 983, 1032–1033,
Stones eclipses, 781, 829, 910 1053, 1063–1068
buffalo rock bundle, 95 gender of, 275 Lakota, 146, 192, 301,
and yuwipi ceremony, and Hopi emergence 1056–1057
1169–1172 narrative, 161, 688 last performance (Kiowa),
Stories that Make the World and Lakota oral traditions, 1033
(Frey), 715 649, 651, 1169 list of tribes practicing,
Storm, Hyemeyohsts, 1062 sun-wise direction in Diné 1054
Storytelling. See Oral (Navajo) ceremonies, 29, in literature and film, 1062
traditions 261 and missionization,
Straight Dance, 212, 412–415, and Tlingit oral traditions, 537–538, 540
767, 773 703 Momaday’s portrayal of,
Strap Clan (Hopi), 690–691 and Zuni creation narrative, 559–560
Strawberries, 1157 689 names for, 1063
Strong, Ted, 875, 915 Sun-Boy, 980 New Age appropriation of,
Stuck, Hudson, 788 The Sun Came Down 628
Stumbling Bear, 529 (Bullchild), 715 origin stories, 1064
Sturtevant, William C., 854 Sun Chief, 709 participation of women,
Sucking, as part of healing Sun Chief: The Autobiography 1061
ceremonies, 19, 372, of a Hopi Indian and personal
500–501, 755, 819, 828, (Talayesva), 159 transformation,
1018, 1029–1030, 1036, Sun Dance 1057–1058
1048 Arapaho, 119, 121–122, and pipe rituals, 936
Suffering, as part of ritual. See 125 Plains, 541, 1050–1058. See
Body Blackfeet, 711–712 also specific peoples
piercing/scratching and body piercing, 1059, under this heading
rituals; Fasting; Sun 1060(photo), 1062, 1057, and power concepts, 763,
Dance; Sweatlodge; 1089 1051
Tekakwitha, Kateri; buffalo skulls, 399 precursors to, 397
Vision quests bundles associated with. preparations for,
Suicide, 587 See Sun Dance bundles 1051–1052, 1056, 1061,
and healing, 363–364 Cherokee, 168 1065–1066
1256
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
prohibition of, 377, 537, Diné (Navajo), 28, 138–139, and healing, 1072–1073,
560, 919, 1053, 1060, 499, 985–990, 1046 1075–1076
1067–1068 Hopi, 158–160. See also historical descriptions of,
purposes of, 1032, 1050, Kachinas 1071–1078
1059, 1060 Lakota, 1087 Hurons and Montagnais,
regalia, 1061, 1067 Northwest, 202–206. See 1072–1075
revival of, 541, 1053–1054, also specific peoples Innu, 397
1061 Omaha, 941–945 and intellectual property
roles of participants, 1055 Plains, 709–710. See also rights, 1081–1082
and sandpainting, 985 specific peoples and Kiowa bundle
Seminole, 223 reciprocity with human traditions, 981
shields, 982, 1066 beings. See Reciprocity Lakota, 84–85, 142–143,
Shoshone, 1060, 1064 and sacred bundles, 94 192, 1078–1080
sites for, 1064–1065 Tsimshian Naxnox, and Lakota yuwipi
sponsorship of, 1055, 1061 369–370, 868 ceremony, 1169–1170
and the Sun, 1063 Wintu, 954, 955 Mandan and Hidatsa,
Sun Dance lodge, 950, Yurok, 67 1075–1077
1051(photo), 1061, Zuni, 158–159, 160 New Age appropriation of,
1065–1066 See also Deities/powers; 626, 628, 1081–1082
and symbolism, 1089 Kachinas; Manitous; Nez Perce, 147–148, 711
timing of, 1064 Spirits and spirit non-Native participation
and vision-fasting rite, 1131 helpers; Thunder beings; in, 1071, 1080,
and women, 290, 1058, Thunderbird 1081–1082
1065–1066 Suquamish, 156–157, 320. See Okanogan, 594
Sun Dance bundles, 1026 also Chief Seattle parallel to seclusion during
Siksika Natoas bundle, 94, The Surrounded (McNickle), menstruation, 508–509
98–99, 101 714 Plateau dances preceded
Taime (Sun Dance doll), Susto, 362 by, 214
559–560, 980–983, Suttles, Wayne, 814 and Plateau oral traditions,
1032–1033, 1059–1060, Suumesh songs, 132–136, 680, 681, 685, 711, 1076
1063–1064, 1066 216–217, 681, 683, 1009, and prison system, 775–779
Sun Forehead Clan (Hopi), 691 1012 prohibition of, 919
Sun-Gazing Dance (Dakota), Swallow, 451 purposes of, 1073–1078,
231 Swallowing Monster (Columbia 1081
Sun River Medicine Wheel, Plateau), 680, 681 and sacred sites, 950
708 Swan, 155, 237 subjective experience of,
Sunday, John, 803 Swan, James, 357 1078–1080
Sunflowers, domestication of, Swaneset, 815–816 and Sun Dance, 1052
302 Swanton, John R., 643, 705 taught by Ptesan Win,
Sunrise song (Zuni), 261 Sweatlodge, 104–105, 84–85, 142–143
Sunset Crater, 160 1069–1084 types of (direct heat or
Supernatural beings Anishinaabe, 965 steam), 1069
Anishinaabe, 424 Arapaho, 120 and vision quests, 1131
Apache, 111, 116, 1049. See and bundle traditions, 101 women’s roles, 290
also Mountain Spirit Cherokee, 168 Yakama, 1010
Dancers Coeur d’Alene, 133–135 Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 171,
Arapaho, 122 contemporary uses, 1077–1078
and ball games, 59–61 1080–1082 Sweet grass, 96, 106, 1101
and bundle traditions, 95, and female spirituality, 289 as one of four sacred
97–98 Great Lakes, 1157. See also medicines (Great Lakes),
Chemehuevi, 63 specific peoples 1156–1157
1257
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Sweet Medicine, 94, 100, menarche ritual, 372, and Sun Dance origin
101–102, 712 871 stories, 1064
Sweetgrass Hills, 708, 716 and bundle traditions, 980, theft by Osage, 560, 1065
Swimmer, 849, 1043 981 Taiowa, 688
Swimming, 1144 and death, 573, 575, 587, Takes Gun, Frank, 611, 622,
Swinomish, 186, 546 590, 733, 740 623
Swis, 1009 degrees of kin avoidance, Takpa, 688–689
Sxyayxwey dance, 204(photo), 438 Takuskanskan, 565
491–492, 971 euphamisms and polite Talamantez, Inés, 8, 281
Symbols, 1084–1092 speech, 697 Tala’paamuya, 163–164
bighorn sheep symbolism, and health, 374 Talayesva, Don, 159
758, 781 and hunting, 391–400, 682, Talking God (Hillerman), 473
death symbolism, 759, 1067 1020–1021, 1144–1145 Talking Gods, 1049
and directions, 1086–1089 misconceptions about Talton v. Mayes, 407
eagle feathers, 771 seclusion during Tam Apo, 708, 709
and First Menses site, 308 menstruation, 507–508. Tamanawas, 355, 668, 1145
flower symbols, 1167 See also Menstruation Tanacross: Chief Andrew
food symbolism, 301–306 restrictions on berry- Isaac, 788–789
and kachina societies, 431 gathering, 372, 871, 1157 Tanaina
and kinship relations, restrictions on telling Hitting Sticks/Healing
1084–1092 stories, 640, 654, Hearts (video), 748
mounds, 572 658–659, 665, 683 and missionization, 511
and oral traditions, restrictions on using rituals potlatch songs, 746–747
1084–1085 or objects belonging to a spiritual leader Howard
owls symbols, 288 deceased dreamer, 733 Luke, 789, 791
and peyote, 605, 1091 sayings about, 699 Tanenolee, 846–847
reproductive organs, 308 scratching sticks, 871, T’anpeko society, 982, 983. See
and sacred geography, 1086 999–1002 also Kiowa: Gourd Clan
and sandpainting, 987–988, and spiritual practitioners, Taos Pueblo
1089 1029–1030 Blue Lake returned to, 470,
and vision quests, 1131 sun-wise direction in Diné 841–842, 955–958, 1096
and War Dance, 207 (Navajo) ceremonies, 29, cacique, 955–956
Yupiaq (Yup’iq) mask 261 Corn Dance, 164(photo)
symbolism, 494 and whaling, 1144–1145, kivas, 445
See also Birth and death 1150 prohibition of peyote use,
cycle; Cardinal and Winter Spirit dances 607, 610–611
directions; Numbers, (Northwest), 205 relation to the Kiowa, 976
sacred; Petroglyphs/ and wood for fuel, 696 religious leader Juan de
pictographs; Seasons; See also Menstruation Jesus Romero, 840–842,
specific objects Tacaxoy, Nicolas Chiviliu, 1042 841(photo), 957, 958
Syncretism, 927 Tafoya, Ray, 35(photo) Tapa Wankeyeyapi, 145
Syowin, 202. See also Tahmanawas, 202 Tapahonso, Luci, 479
Smokehouse Religion Tail Dance (Osage), 414 Tapiticapi, 194
Tailfeather Woman, 250–251 Tarahumara, 605
T’aaw Chán, 784–785 Taime (Sun Dance doll Tarnera, 19
Taax, 1009 bundle), 559–560, Tasipa, 602
Taboos and restrictions 980–983, 1032–1033, Tatanka Iyotake. See Sitting
behavior in places of 1059–1060 Bull
power, 757 description of, 1063–1064 Tataukyamu society, 183
“bridle” stick used for and Sun Dance ceremony, Tate, 651
berry-gathering during 1066 Tattoos, 644, 871
1258
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Tatum, Lawrie, 526 Teton. See Lakota and Medicine Pipe bundle,
Tavibo. See Wodziwob Tewa 95
Taylor, Richard (Lame Bill), clowns, 184, 189 Thunder beings
500 kiva, 445 Dakota, 288
Tea language, 224 Lakota, 143, 189, 1170
Athabascan memorial teas, leader Popé, 556, 842–843 and petroglyphs, 734
745 Texas Thunder Butte, 891
Black (White) Drink, 73, and origins of Native Thunder, Mary, 628
168, 353 American Church, 599, Thunder Rite (Cayuga), 60
Technology, and Hopi 604–607 Thunderbird
Prophecy, 389–390 Peyote Gardens, 606, Arapaho, 122–123
Tecumseh, 925(fig.) 611–613 and clowns (Sioux), 187
and the Creek (Muskogee), Textiles Northwest, 488, 667, 1143
926–927 and art market, 36 Ojibwa, 674(photo),
death of, 238 Hosteen Klah’s weavings, 676–677
and Muskogee 856 and petroglyphs, 735
Confederacy, 851 and mourning rituals, 583 Tiah-piah, 1066, 1068. See also
and oratory, 698, 699 star quilts, 583, 1171, 1172 Gourd Dance Society
political goals of, 829–830 See also Regalia Tick dance (Choctaw), 222
and Prophetstown, 238 Thanksgiving. See Gratitude; Tie-Snakes, 699
and Shabona, 810 Respect Ties the Bundle clan, 712
Tedlock, Dennis, 165, 443, 689, Third World, 449, 689. See also Tihanama, 587, 1043
692 Diné (Navajo): Tillamook, 370, 372–373, 871
Teequalt, 593 cosmology; Hopi: Time
Teit, James, 715 cosmology distant-time stories,
Tekakwitha, Kateri, 1093–1094 Thirst Dance, 1054. See also 660–662, 664
Teller, H. M., 1053 Sun Dance Native concepts of, 23–24,
Telles, Lucy P., 798 Thomas, Elmer, 610 169, 285, 434
Teméeyenwees, 148 Thomas, Gabriel, 575 Timoloquinash stories, 638
Ten Medicines bundles, Thomas, Mose, 876 Timuca, 550–551
980–983, 1028 Thomas, Will, 845 Tinker, George “Tink,” 9, 1090
Tennessee, archaeological Thompson, Art, 1143 Tipi, 32–33. See also Tepees
sites, 167 Thompson, Chad, 659 Tipi Sapa, 819. See also
Tenskwatawa (Shawnee Thompson, Coquille, 547, 817 Deloria, Philip J.
prophet), 829–830, 906 Thompson, Martin, 337 Tipi Way, 602
and the Choctaw, 926 Thompson, Mary, 415–418, Típòni, 163, 448
death and resurrection 548, 912 Tirawahat, 760
experience, 829 Thompson tribe, 213 Tivatsi, 63
meaning of name, 238 Three, as sacred number, Tiwa, 224
opposition to alcohol, 239 683–684 Tiwét, 1036
and oratory, 698 Three Fires Society, 110, 800. Tixier, Victor, 208
and Prophetstown, 238 See also Anishinaabe; Tiyospaye, 296
and The Trout, 801 Odawa; Ojibwa; Tlaagoo stories, 702
Tepees, 32–33, 113, 116, Potawatomi Tlingit
603–604 Thrown-Away stories, 707 arts and artists, 49–50, 53
Tepehuan, 605 Thunder clowns, 186
Tequesta, 549 and clowns (Cheyenne), emergence/creation
Termination Act of 1953, 403 186 narratives, 703
Termination policies, 41, and clowns (Lakota), 189 and the Haida, 642
721–722, 897, 900–901, and Kiowa power concepts, healing, 369–370
1095–1098 1028 human sacrifice, 513, 784
1259
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Tlingit (continued) and vision quests, 1026, and Sun Dance, 1052
language, 513 1131 See also Fur traders
and missionization, 513, See also Pipe ceremonies Traditional Cultural
514, 515 Tobasichine, 114 Properties, 634
oral traditions, 701–706 Tobique Reserve (Ontario), Traditional Dance, 212
persecution of witches, 410 Trail of Broken Treaties, 16,
1022–1023 Tobriner, J., 611 83–84
potlatches, 739(photo), 740, Toelken, Barre, 659, 1121 Trail of Tears, 1106–1117
741 Tohono O’Odham people. See Cherokee, 848, 928,
Raven stories, 704 Papago 1109–1117
religious and secular Toho’osmuya, 164 Choctaw and Chickasaw,
leaders, 783–786 Tokpela, 688 1108–1109, 1115
scratching sticks, 1000 Toledo v. Pueblo de Jemez, 407 Creek (Muskogee) and
totem poles, 701–702, 1103 Toli, 61 Seminole, 1109
Tlukwana, 972 Tolowa, 129 impact on contemporary
Tobacco plant Tomahawk Lodge (age-grade survivors, 1115–1117
alliance with hummingbird, lodge), 120 and missionaries,
780–781 Tonakwt, 1031 1110–1113, 1115
cultivation of, 1101 Tongva, 640 precursors to, 1107–1108
nomenclature and biota, Tonkawa, 605–606 Trances
1099 Tonkonko society, 209, 982, Columbia Plateau, 907–908
as one of four sacred 983 and diagnosis of illness, 750
medicines (Great Lakes), Toot, Puck Hyah, 838 experienced by specific
1156 Tornado, 1028 spiritual leaders/healers.
origins of, 1041, 1099 Torture, 1137 See Religious and secular
in petroglyphs, 735 Totem. See Dodem leaders, biographical
and power concepts, 749, Totem poles, 28, 1102–1106, sketches
756–757, 781–782 1103–1105(photos) and petroglyphs, 736, 781
Tobacco rituals, 1099–1102 and legends, 705 and power places, 757, 758,
Anishinaabe, 106 meaning of, 701–702 759
California, 364 restoration of, 1103–1105 and the Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 18
Cherokee, 168 Tourism See also Dreams and
Coeur d’Alene, 133 and kachina dolls, 427 visions; Vision quests
Great Lakes, 485 and sacred sites, 952–953, The Transcribed Tapes of
Iroquois, 495 955, 963 Christine Edenso
nonsmoking rituals, 1101 and Seminole dances, 223 (Edenso), 645–646
Ojibwa, 677 and totem poles, 1103 Transformation era (oral
parallels to Catholic and Trail of Tears, traditions), 661, 663
incense tradition, 555 1116–1117 Transformers. See Culture
Penobscot story on origin Towa, 224 heroes
of, 657 Towendolly, Grant, 40–41 Transgender Warriors
purposes of tobacco Town criers, 414, 694. See also (Feinberg), 327
offerings, 1101 Crier Chief Transitions (film), 715
smoking methods, Toypurina, Regina Josefa, Treaties, and oratory, 713
1101–1102 798–799 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit
and Sun Dance, 1052, 1056 Toys, 447–448 Creek, 1108
tobacco ties in Lakota Tracks (Erdrich), 267–268, 478 Treaty of Guadelupe-Hidalgo,
yuwipi ceremony, 1169, Traders 607
1171, 1172 and Chumash, 1018 Treaty of Medicine Lodge, 526
tobacco ties in vision and pipe rituals, 940 Treaty of New Echota,
quests, 1131 study of traditions by, 2 1113–1114
1260
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Trees Trudeau, Jean-Baptiste, 1052 Tunkan, 1169–1172

Beloved Tree, 69 Truth, words for, 694 Turkey Buzzard Society, 586
cottonwood tree as Sun Tsa, Monroe, 615 Turkey, domesticated by the
Dance pole, 1051, 1061, Ts’aa’, 65, 139 Maya, 306
1065 Tsaika dance series, 971–972 “Turn around” dance, 210
masks carved from, 495 Ts’akoigya, 210 Turner, Victor, 1000
Tree Dweller dreamers, 977 Tsalagi. See Cherokee Turney-High, Harry Holbert,
tree spirits, 814 Tsanaq, 491 1010
Umon’hon’ti (Sacred Pole of Tsentanmo society, 982 Turnips, and bundle
the Omaha), 941–945 Tsetseqa, 1088 traditions, 98
Tribal colleges, 716 Tsiik, 155 Turtle, as trickster, 1119
Tribalism Tsimshian Turtle dance (Choctaw), 222
and feminism, 291–300 arts, 49–52, 1024 Turtle Mountain Chippewa
misconceptions about, clowns, 186 Band, 265–270
291–295 cosmology, 369–370, Tuscarora, 865, 930. See also
The Tribes Go Up (Belvin), 850 867–868 Haudenosaunee
Trickster at Dirty Corner dance societies, 754, 972 (Iroquois Confederacy)
(play), 714 healing, 369–370 Tutavo stories, 635
Tricksters, 1118–1125 leaders, 370 Tutliakoff, Michael, 791
common attributes of, Ligeex (high chief), 152–155 Tutsqua, 31
652–653, 712, 1119–1120, masks, 868(photo) Tuttle, Frank, 43
1122 and missionization, 546 Tuunrat, 174
companions for, 1123 Native clergy, 816 Tuunrilría, 18–19. See also
contradictory nature of orders, guilds, and sacred Angalkuq
role, 1124–1125 societies, 154–156, 370, Tuuwanasavi, 163
and creation stories, 754, 867–869, 972 Tuuwutisi stories, 635
1121–1123. See also potlatches, 152–154, 740 Tuwaqachi, 448, 689
Culture heroes power in dance societies, Twati, 1039
Glooscap (Gluskap), 754 Twatima, 1035
655–657, 1119 religious Twin War Gods, 160, 692
Magpie, 709 practitioners/spiritual Twins, 805
Michabo (Algonkin), 1123 healers (“blowers”), Two Bulls, Nellie, 247
moral lessons taught by, 369–370, 867 Two Horn Society, 448
666, 677–679, 1120–1123 totem poles, 1103–1104 Two Old Women (Wallis), 1161
Nanabush (Nanabozo), utopian community of Two-spirit people, 325–335
103–104, 269, 673, 675, Metlakatla, 546–547 contemporary roles,
677–679, 967, 1119 Tso, Hola, 622 333–335
Napi (Blackfeet), 708–710, Tsodltoi, 1031 and emergence narratives,
1025, 1122 Tsonoqua, 490–491 333
Nih’oo3oo (Arapaho), 119 Tsupu, 799 gender vs. sexuality,
problems with defining, Tukumumuuntsi, 63 326–329
1123–1124 Tulalip historical people, 328–333,
See also Coyote; Raven; First Salmon ceremony, 834
Spider 321(photo) men-women, 330
Tripp, Brian, 42 fishing rights, 320, 323 and missionization,
Tritt, Albert Edward, 787–788 and missionization, 546 331–332
Trope, Jack, 471 Tule-mat longhouse, 219 and power concepts,
Trott, James, 552 Tulukaruk, 720 326–327, 330, 764
Trout, The (religious leader), Tumanos, 355, 1145, 1149 roles of, 330
801 Tungalik guardian spirits, 493, terminology, 325–326
Truckee, Captain, 1154 494 women-men, 329–330
1261
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Two-Spirit People: American reservation-to-urban Vietnam War, 809–810, 1095

Indian Lesbian Women relocation, 541, 900, World War II, 900, 901, 1095
and Gay Men 1095–1098 See also Warfare
(Champagne), 332 statistics, 411 Victoria, Queen of England,
Two-Step, 767 Urine, in sweatlodge 803
Two White Feathers, 1043 ceremonies, 1077 Vidovich, Andrew, 78
Tyigh: prophet Queahpahmah, U.S. v. Oregon, 323 Vietnam War, 809–810, 1061,
838 U.S. v. Washington, 320, 323 1095
Tyler, Edward, 4 Ute Violin, in Handsome Lake’s
Tylor, E. B., 312 ancestral habitation sites, vision, 931
Tzualach, 491 950 Virgin’s Fire (Dakota), 231
basketry, 65 Vision quests, 1127–1133
UFO sightings, 390 Bear Dance, 751 “big dream” vs. guardian
Ukas, Thomas, 785 and “counting coup,” spirit acquisition,
Uku, 696 1138–1139 1129–1130
Umatilla and the Kiowa, 210 contemporary practice,
and Indian Shaker Church, menarche rituals, 308 1130–1131
875 places for gathering plants, diversity of rituals,
language, 993 wildlife, or materials, 1129–1131
prophet Luls/Lals, 838 948–949 and hunting, 398
spirits and spirit helpers, sacred trails, 948 non-Native participation
1009, 1011 and Taime (sun dance doll), in, 1133
spiritual and ceremonial 560 purposes of, 1128. See also
practitioners, 1036–1037 two-spirit people, 325, 329 Spirits and spirit helpers
and Waashat religion, 911 See also Numic people regional characteristics. See
Umon’hon’ti (Sacred Pole of Uto-Aztecan language family, headings following this
the Omaha), 941–945 224, 724, 922 entry
Unami. See Delaware people Utopian communities, sites for, 950, 1011
Unangan languages, 789 546–547 and sweatlodges, 1131
Uncle Remus stories, 696 Uusimch, 1145 and tobacco ties, 1131
Undersea Chief, 1149 Uwanammi, 690 undertaken by specific
Underworld(s), 28–30, 32. See Uyuyuwi, 689–690 spiritual leaders/healers.
also Diné (Navajo): See Religious and secular
cosmology; Hopi: Van Buren, Martin, 1114 leaders, biographical
cosmology Van der Donck, Adriaen, 574 sketches
United Nations Van Orsdel, William Wesley, and women, 1130
Declaration of Rights of 535 See also Power; Spirits and
Indigenous People, 457 Vander, Judith, 822 spirit helpers
Hopi Message to, 388–391, Vansina, J., 637 Vision quests: Columbia
840 Vecsey, Christopher, 266, 268 Plateau, 872, 1010–1013,
and rights of Native Veeho, 712 1035
women, 410 Vengeance, 179 Coeur d’Alene, 133–134
University of British Columbia Veniaminov, Ioann, 512–513, multiple vision quests for
Museum of 811 acquiring greater
Anthropology, 1105 Vermillion Accord, 25 spiritual power,
University of California at Veterans, 1138(photo) 1011–1012
Berkeley, 2, 5 Civil War, 848, 851, 852 Nez Perce, 149
University of Nebraska, 944 honored at powwows, 769 Vision quests: Great Lakes,
“Urban Indians,” 403 Korean War, 809, 1095 106, 485–486
and economics, 900 and termination/relocation Vision quests: Northwest,
and literature, 474 policies, 1095 356–357, 1010
1262
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Vision quests: Plains, 1026, and Leonard Crow Dog, 193 Wapiye olowan, 1172
1127–1133 and Mary Brave Bird, 84 Wappo: basket weaver/teacher
Cheyenne, 1129 meaning of, 284–285 Laura Somersal, 797–798
children’s participation, and pipe symbolism, 288 Wappo Ethnography (Driver),
1128–1129 and power concepts, 761, 798
Crow, 763 762, 1025 Waptashi Religion, 831–832,
Kickapoo, 1128 Rock, Sun, Sky, and Earth as 913
Lakota, 143, 192, 1127–1131 four superior Wakan War Chiefs, 923
and Lakota yuwipi men, Tanka, 1169 War Dance
1170 and Sun Dance, 1057 Plains, 206–212, 979
Ojibwa, 485–486 and yuwipi ceremony, 1169, and powwows, 767
Omaha, 1127–1128 1170 War Horse along the Jesus
self-inflicted pain as part Wakanda, 760–761, 1025 Road (Belvin), 850
of, 1026, 1129 Wakanka, 649 War of 1812, 926
Shawnee, 1128 Wakashan language family, War Woman, 72–73
Winnebago, 1128 347, 1142 Ward, Bryant, 844
Vision quests: Southwest, 281 Wakinyan Oyate, 1170 Ward, Nancy, 71–72, 844–845,
Visions. See Dreams and Wakkada, 760–761 1040
visions Wa’konda, 945, 1127 Warfare, 1135–1141
Vit’eegwaahchy’aa, 746 Wak’wei, 836. See also adoption of captives, 405,
Vitt, Kirt, 721 Smohalla 1136–1137
Vizenor, Gerald, 476, 478, 1124 Walam Olum, 695 American Revolution, 930
Vocables, 707, 1005 Walens, Stanley, 742 and Beloved Men, Women,
songs reduced to vocables Walker, Alice, 299 and towns, 69–74
to facilitate singing by Walker, Deward E., 915, 949, and Buffalo doctors, 1030
many tribes, 770 961, 1011 ceremonies for returning
Volcanoes, 238 Walker, Elkanah and Mary, 544 warriors, 1140–1141
Vonoom, 761 Walker, Francis A., 888 colors for, 69–70
Vowell, Amy, 1116 Walker, Phillip, 1000 “counting coup,” 1138–1139
Vowell, Sarah, 1116 Walker, William, 195 Flower War (Aztec),
Vulvaglyphs, 307 Walking Coyote, Samuel and 1135–1136
Sabine, 89 French and Indian Wars,
Waashat (Seven Drum Walks Far Woman (film), 714 930
Religion), 219, 831, 836, Walla Walla, 1011 and Ghost Dance, 823. See
875, 908–911. See also Wallace, Anthony, 906–907 also Wounded Knee
Longhouse religion Wallis, Velma, 1161 massacre
(Columbia Plateau); Walsh, Paddy, 926 Ghost Shirts for protection
Smohalla; Washat dance Wal’usut way, 213 from bullets, 823
Wabeno Society, 964 Walu’tk, 1009 and healing, 1140–1141
Wabnaki, 187 Wampum belts, 695 and the Hopi, 839
Wachacha, Maggie Axe, 73–74 Wanagi kiglapi olowan, 1172 and Hopi Prophecy,
Wagering on ball games, 59 Wanagi wicagluha, 580 388–389
Wahakie, Chief, 539 Wanagi Yuhapi, 144 and language, 1140
Wahako, 603 Wanamaker, Andrew, 785 military societies, 210–211,
Waika stories, 654 Wanapum: prophet Smohalla, 979, 981–982
Wakan, 284–285, 761, 1025 238, 318, 547, 836–838, Modoc War of 1873,
Wakan Tanka 906, 909–910 794–795, 1012
and buffalo, 301 Waparta yublecapi, 581 “mourning war,” 1136–1137
and Christianity, 180 Wapiya lowanpi, 1170 Nez Perce rebellion,
and creation of the Wapiya Win (Lakota healer), 832–833
universe, 708 247 northern Athabascan, 1162
1263
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Warfare (continued) biographical sketches; Wayake s’e, 232

oral traditions about, 711 Shields; Veterans; Wayjohniemason, 807
and pipe rituals, 941 Warfare Waynaboozhoo, 1119, 1122
Pontiac’s Native alliance, Washat dance, 213–214, Ways of Knowing (Goulet),
800–801 217–220, 318–319. See 235
pre-contact warfare, also Waashat Wazi, 649, 651
1135–1141 Washburn, John, 388 We-Shakes, 783
preparations for, 1140 Washita River massacre site, Weasel bundle (Crow Tobacco
Pueblo rebellion, 556, 403 Society), 1100(photo)
842–843 Washo Weasel Dance, 972
Redstick War of 1813–1814, healers, 244–245 Weasel spirit (Columbia
851, 926–927, 1109 menarche rituals, 505 Plateau), 1012
San Gabriel Mission power concept, 749–752 Weather, control of, 486, 781
rebellion of 1785, sacred sites, 639 Chumash, 749
798–799 Waskliki. See Waptashi Great Basin, 779–781
“scalp dance,” 1137–1138 Religion Inuit, 1003
Second Seminole War, 853 Wasloslol-kiye ktehci, 233 Southeast, 1043
and spiritual practitioners, Wataytam, 1036 by specific spiritual
1022 Water babies, 750 leaders. See Religious
and Sun Dance, 1053, 1060 Water beetle, 698 and secular leaders,
and termination/relocation Water, bodies of water as biographical sketches
policies, 1095 sources of power, 123, See also Rainmaking
White Path’s Rebellion, 553, 430, 639, 749–750, 757, Weatherford, William, 698
928 952, 1011. See also Blue Weaving, 856. See also
See also Veterans; Warriors Lake Basketry
Warm House, 817 Water carrier, 84 Weddings
Warm Springs Reservation Water-Carriers ceremony baskets, 63, 139
and Feather Religion, 914 (Dakota), 231 Cherokee, 168
huckleberry gathering Water drums, 107, 108, 109, Diné (Navajo), 63, 139
places, 949 249–250 and giveaway ceremonies,
and Waashat religion, 911 Cherokee, 169 348
WARN. See Women of All Red construction of, 250 Hopi, 66, 282
Nations and Native American Muskogee (Creek), 168
Warriors Church, 603 Nez Perce, 150–151
Creek Redsticks, 70, and prison system, 776 Weekend warriors, 626
926–927, 1109 symbolism of, 250 Wekeywenipt songs, 148
Kiowa, 1028, 1065, 1066 Water Monster, 122–123, 710 Welch, James, 478, 714, 959
military societies, 979, Water spider, 197 Wells, Robert N., Jr., 897
981–982 Water Woman, 603 Wenebojo, 303–304
suicide warriors, 979 Waterboys (Osage), 414 Wesley, John, 550
and Sun Dance, 1053 Waterlily (Deloria), 296 West, Charles, 610
Sun Dance laugh-fight, Waters, Frank, 389–390, 448, West Virginia, archaeological
1065 454, 958 sites, 167
veterans honored at Watie, Buck/Stag, 845–846 West Wind, 103, 1012
powwows, 769 Watkins, Arthus, 1096 Western Gate, 257
warrior skills as personal Watts, John, 698 We’wha, 331
expression of power, 761 Wawiyuge’s’a, 232 Weyekin, 147, 149, 681, 683,
women as, 330, 834, Waxube, 762 1009, 1012–1013
1139(photo), 1157, 1158 The Way to Rainy Mountain Whale House screen, 49–50
See also Religious and (Momaday), 476–477, Whales
secular leaders, 559–560 humans cared for by, 397
1264
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
legislation concerning White Deerskin Dance, Willow, and Green Corn

hunting of, 466 129–130, 1015–1017 ceremony, 352–353
religious significance of White Drink, 73, 168, 353 Wilson, Jack, 337, 1155. See
whaling culture, 465 White, E. E., 527 also Wovoka
songs used in processing White Eagle, 709 Wilson, James, 648–649
carcasses, 1003 White Feather, 866 Wilson, John, 602, 606
Whaling, 465, 1141–1151, White Mountain Apache, 1045 Wind
1143(photo) White Path, 1043 Four Winds, 275, 649, 651
archaeological evidence for, White Path’s Rebellion, 553, 928 and Kiowa power concepts,
1143 White Shell Woman, 1000 1028
ethics/restrictions, Whitehorse, Robert Billie, 624 and prayer sticks (Hopi),
1144–1145, 1150 Whitley, David, 757, 781 160
and oral traditions, Whitman, Marcus, 535, 544, South Wind, 780
1143–1144 909 West Wind, 103, 1012
political battles over, Whitman Massacre, 544, 909 Wind Cave (Black Hills), 962
1141–1142, 1151 Whitman, Narcissa, 544, 545 Winder, John R., 407–408
preparations for, 1148–1150 Whitman, Silas, 876 Windigos, murder of, 805–806
reasons for failure, 1149 Wi Wayag Wacipi, 146 Windmaker mask, 494
role of women, 1150–1151 Wica'sa, 1168, 1170 Winkte, 329, 330
See also Makah; Nuu-chah- Wicakicopi olowan, 1172 Winnebago
nulth (Nootka) Wichita ball games, 58
Whe-Bul-eht-sah, 415–418 Buffalo doctors, 1027 Medicine Lodge, 108
Wheeler-Howard Act, 41, 403, Deer Dance society, and Native American
409, 540, 541 976–978 Church, 602, 608
Wheeler, William, 876 doctors’ societies, 976 power concepts, 761
Wheeler, Winona, 296–297 history of tribe, 922 religious and political
Wheelock, Eleazor, 865 sacred power, 1025 leader
Whipmen (Osage), 414 Wichsha wakan, 762 Kee’Kah’Wah’Un’Ga,
Whipple, Henry B., 535 Wickersham, James, 416 822–823
Whirlwind spirits, 759, 1028 Wickwire, Wendy, 1120 religious leader Albert
Whirlwind Woman (Arapaho), Wicliffe, John, 845 Hensley, 821, 915
122–123 Widows religious leader/healer
Whiskey Jack, 1119 and mourning rituals Mountain Wolf Woman,
White, as color of peace, 69–70 (Delaware), 579 826–827
White Bear, 210 and self-sufficiency two-spirit people, 325, 329
White Buffalo Calf Woman (northern Athabascan), vision quests, 1128
(Ptesan Win), 84–85, 1161 Winnemucca, Sarah,
142–143, 287–288, 580, Wigwam, 104, 106, 1156 1153–1155
1090–1091 Wihio, 1118, 1121, 1122 Winqnyag Wachapi, 919. See
ceremonies revealed by, Wihunge, 579 also Sun Dance
141–142, 301, 580, 650 Wild rice, 303–304 Winslett, David, 851
and menarche rituals, 506, Wild Woman (Tillamook), 369, Winter in the Blood (Welch),
507 871 478, 714
oral traditions about, Wildcat, Dan, 920, 921 Winter solstice
650–651, 710 Wiley, Harvey W., 601 Kwakwak’wakw tsetseqa,
and sacred pipe bundle, 94 Williams, Johnson, 668 1088
and sweatbath, 84–85 Williams, Marcellus, 1043 Making of the New Fire
symbolism, 288, 1090–1091 Williams, Mary Jane, 15 ceremony (Hopi), 498
White Chief, 70, 71 Williams, Robert, 876 Winter Spirit dances, 213–217,
White Cloud, 780 Williams, Walter L., 329, 332 358–359, 667–668, 908,
White Cow Sees Woman, 75 Williamson, John P., 535 1023
1265
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Winter Spirit dances Woho, Jack, 797 as heroines in stories, 710

(continued) Wojo Okolakiciye, 819 Hopi, 164
Coast Salish, 202–206, Woku’uyis, 163 and hunting traditions, 398,
969–973 Wolf 1021, 1150–1151
Coeur d’Alene. See Jump Chemehuevi, 63 identity issues, 402,
Dance and creation stories, 709 407–411
as cure for spirit sickness, and mask traditions, 488 intertribal marriage,
204, 1012 and Nanabush, 675–676 405–406, 409–410
Kwakwak’wakw (Kwakiutl), in Owens’s writings, 723, Iroquois Confederacy, 72,
314, 490, 1023 725, 730 409, 1156
and masks, 489–491, 1023 as predator spirit, 393 Lakota Throwing a Ball
and Plateau religious treatment of prey, 394–395 ceremony, 145–146
leadership, 872, 1039 and Zuni medicine and leadership, 273–275,
and potlatches, 742 societies, 443 1155–1159
and power concepts, 754 Wolf Clan (Cherokee), 698 loss of power under
Yakama, 1010 Wolf dance (Southeast), colonialism, 293,
See also Spirits and spirit 221–222 297–298, 409–410, 531
helpers: Columbia Wolf Ritual (Tlukwana), 972 menarche rituals. See
Plateau; Spirits and Wolfe, Clifford, 945 Menarche/puberty
spirit helpers: Northwest Wolfsong (Owens), 479, 723, rituals
Wintu 725, 730 menstruation. See
artists, 42 Wolverine, as trickster, 1119 Menstruation
healer Florence Jones, Woman Chief of the Crow, 331 misconceptions about
796–797 Women, 406 roles, 273
Little People, 954 Apache, 113, 276–281 mixed-gender rituals, 290
menarche rituals, 504–505 Arapaho, 119–121 “mourning war,” 1137
sacred sites, 954 artistic power conferred by and Native American
Winyan Numpa, 651. See also Double Woman, 651 Church, 603
Double Woman and ball games, 61, Northern Athabascan roles,
Wisakedjak, 1119 145–146, 352, 354 1159–1163
Wisconsin: petroglyphs, 736 Buffalo Lodge (Arapaho), powers developed at
Wisdom Sits in Places (Basso), 119, 120 menopause, 1160
257 Cherokee moon lodge, 168 powwow dances, 771–773
Wishram Clan Mothers, 295, 409, 410 puberty rituals. See
healing, 1013, 1036 Dakota, 283–289 Menarche/puberty
spirits and spirit helpers, doctors’ societies, 978 rituals
1009, 1013 as drummers, 253 quillwork and quilling
Wissler, Clark, 211, 715, 1119 as elders, 278, 295, 409, societies, 55, 121, 710,
Witches 410. See also Beloved 979
Great Basin, 780 Women ritual societies, 119, 120,
Northwest, 1022, 1023 English views on Native 168, 282, 289–290,
persecution of, 1022 gender roles, 531 978–979
Southeast, 587, 1040 female spirituality, 273–290 rituals ignored in academic
Southwest, 590, 591 feminism and tribalism, studies, 282, 289
See also Evil; Sorcery 291–300 roles prior to European
Wixarika. See Huichol Great Lakes roles, contact, 295–297
Wiyot, 129 1155–1159 Scalp Dance, 208
Wodziwob (Paiute prophet), and Green Corn ceremony spirit powers. See Spirits
194, 339, 341, 751. See (Southeast), 352–353 and spirit helpers
also Fish Lake Joe as healers, 247–248, 667. subordinate role under
Woge, 67 See also Healers Christianity, 293, 919
1266
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
and Sun Dance, 1058, 1061, Wounded Knee massacre, 124, Wyoming
1065–1066 403, 538–539, 728, 829, Black Hills, 962–964
tribal status of, 407–411 919 Devil’s Tower, 471,
and visions, 1026, 1130. See Wounded Knee occupation, 6, 946(photo), 948, 962,
also Healers 16–17, 457, 615 963
and warfare, 1137–1138 Annie Mae Aquash’s Medicine Wheel, 471, 708,
as warriors, 330, 834, contributions, 867 711, 716, 952, 1059
1139(photo), 1157, 1158 Fools Crow’s contributions, places for gathering plants,
and whaling, 1020(photo), 821 wildlife, or materials,
1021, 1150–1151 See also Crow Dog, 948–949
See also Beloved Women; Leonard
Feminism; Love doctors; Woven Stone (Ortiz), 480 Xapaaliaa, 763
Menarche/puberty Wovoka (prophet), 538 Xa’tu’s, 1038
rituals; Menstruation; content of prophecies, Xa’xa, 371, 870
Pregnancy; Two-spirit 123–124 ‘Xeháchwinga, 826–827
people control of weather, 338, Xgedem Halaayt, 154–155
Women of All Red Nations 340, 751, 781 Xopri, 761
(WARN), 298 and Ghost Dance, 201, Xube, 761, 762
Wood, as artistic medium, 337–339 Xwéxwé, 204(photo), 491–492
1024 house arrest of, 861–862
totem poles, 1102–1106 and Kicking Bear, 823 Yagatunne, 237
Wood, as pipe material, 936, other names of, 337 Yahey, Charlie, 237
937–938 sources of power, 751 Yahi. See Ishi
Wood, George W., 536 Wraps His Tail, 538, 1060 Yahiyano, 603
Wood Lodge (Arapaho), 118 Wright, Alfred, 552 Yahkwdáng, 644–647
Wood Rat spirit, 1010 Wright, Allen, 850 Yai-hiwa, 449–450, 452
Wooden Cup (prophet), 712 Wright, Frank Hall, 850 Yakama
Woodhenge, 306 Writing systems artist Lillian Pitt, 834–835
Woodland period, 45–46, and missionaries, 179–180 cairns, 948
570–571 and oral traditions, 639, ceremonial leaders, 1039
Woody, Jack. See People v. Jack 669, 694, 695, 696, First Salmon ceremony,
Woody, et al. 714–715 316–319
Wopila lowanpi, 1170 wampum belts, 695 fishing rights, 320
Worak stories, 654 Wrong root people, 118 guardian spirit complex,
Worcester, Samuel, 552, 845, Wuchim Society, 448 1010, 1011
847, 1111–1112 Wuknavoti stories, 635 healing, 1036
Worcester v. Georgia, 928, 1112 Wutahalaayt, 370, 869 huckleberry gathering
World Archaeological Wuwtsim ceremony, 66, 162, places, 949
Congress, 25 445, 447–448 and Indian Shaker Church,
World renewal, 129, 347–348 Wuwuchim society, 183 875
Klamath River ceremonies, Wyandot (Huron) language, 993
1015–1017 ball games, 58 and Native American
and mound symbolism, 572 manitous, 483 Church, 915
and Prophet Dance, and Midéwiwin, 109 oral traditions, 316–317
908–909 and missionization, 522, prophet Kotiakan, 838
See also Great Flood/Earth 523 sweatlodges, 1010
Diver stories sweatlodges, 1072–1075 vision quests, 1010
World War II, 900–901, 1095 wars with the Iroquois, 523 and Waashat religion, 911
Worldview. See Wyeth, Nathaniel, 535 Winter Spirit dances, 213,
Cosmology/worldview Wyler, Rex, 389 1010, 1039
Wot, 748 Wynaboozhoo, 1119 See also Washat dance
1267
Index ____________________________________________________________________________________________
Yakama Reservation Young Tassel, 698 masks, 18–19, 492–494, 515,

and Feather Religion, 914 Yoyonan, 838 718–719
and Waashat religion, 911 Yua, 492, 719 Messenger Festival, 171,
Yakappi, 193 Yucca, 454 174, 493–494
Yankton. See Nakota Yucca Mountain, 258 and missionization, 513,
Yanomami, 588 Yuchi 515, 721
Yapa (mockingbird), 450–451 ball games, 58 naming rituals, 346
Yaponcha, 160 Beloved Men, Women, Native clergy, 816
Yaqui (Yoeme) towns, 69 oral traditions, 397,
blend of Catholicism and burial traditions, 585 717–722
traditional beliefs, Green Corn ceremony, religious practitioners/
591–592 351 spiritual healers, 18–19,
clowns, 184, 185 oral traditions, 696 171–174, 493, 717–721
cosmology, 1166–1167 Yuit, 18, 171, 173–174 and relocation/termination
Deer Dance, 1165–1168 Yuki-Wailaki, 43, 186, 329 policies, 721–722
devil-chaser society, 591 Yuman sweatlodges, 171,
flower symbolism, 1167 agrarian lifestyle, 226 1077–1078
history of tribe, 1167–1168 burial traditions, 590 Yuuyaraq concept, 717–722
religious societies, 1165 Cry ceremony, 193–195 Yurareechen (Spokane
souls of the dead, 590 language, 225 prophet), 238
Yarn paintings, 616 two-spirit people, 329 Yurok
Yaupon tea, 73, 168 Yuman language family, artists, 41, 43, 65
Yavapai, 225 224–225 basketry, 66–67
Yei Bi Chai, 959. See also A Yupiaq Worldview scratching sticks, 999,
Nightway ceremony (Kawagley), 564–565 1001
Yeibichai dancers, 735 Yupiaq (Yup’iq), 493, 719 seclusion during
Ye’ii, yei, 63, 499, 987. See also ancestors’ spirits present in menstruation, 507–509
Holy People children, 172–173 two-spirit people, 329
Yéik, 702 Bladder Festival, 19, “World Renewal” cycle of
Yellow, and peyote symbolism, 171–172, 493–494 rituals, 129
605 ceremonial house, 171–174, Yuuyaraq, 717–722
Yellow Bird, Magdalene, 890 719 Yuwipi ceremony, 105, 192,
Yellow Man, 818, 1121 ceremony and ritual 919, 1168–1173
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water (overview), 170–175 Yuwipi: Vision and Experience
(Dorris), 478 cosmology/worldview, 494, in Oglala Ritual
Yellow Smoke, 942 564–565, 567, 717–722 (Powers), 650
Yellow Thunder, Raymond, 16 dance, 719–720 Yuyunipitqana, 836. See also
Yellowhair, Leo, 889(photo) deities, 171, 720 Smohalla
Yellowtail, Thomas, 1055–1056 drummng, 719–720 Yu’yunne. See Yoyonan
Yevuku Yoleme, 1165 Feast for the Dead, Ywahoo, Dhyani, 1041–1042
Yo Ania, 1166, 1167 170–173, 346
Yoeme. See Yaqui (Yoeme) gift-giving/giveaway Zah, Peterson, 456(photo),
Yokuts, 186, 640 ceremonies, 173–175, 624
Yonagusta, 845 346 Zebwyt, 210
Yooghe done stories, 660 Great Feast for the Dead, Zeisberger, David, 576
Young Bear, Severt, 648, 651, 171–173 Zhonii’a Giishig, 806, 808
652 guardian spirits, 493, 494 Zia Pueblo, 183–185, 471
Young, John, 537 healing, 720–722 Zimmerman, Larry, 434
Young, M. Jane, 734 hunting rituals, 19, Zitkala-Sa, 474, 714,
Young, S. Hall, 514 171–172, 493–494 917(photo), 919
1268
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Index
Zuni kachina societies, 427, and migration legends

ancestral habitation sites, 429–431 under this heading
950 kiva and medicine petroglyphs, 734
cardinal directions, 1088 societies, 443, 446 prayer sticks, 159–160
ceremony and ritual kivas, 445 predator spirits, 393
(overview), 158–160, land returned for religious rainmaking, 688
164–165 purposes, 471 sacred sites, 947, 952–954,
clowns, 183–184 location of the afterworld, 956
cosmology, 688, 1088 591 sacred trails, 948
dreams, 240–241, 248 migration legends, 164–165, Sunrise song, 261
emergence narrative, 1088 supernatural beings,
164–165, 263, 333, 689, oral traditions, 429–431, 158–159
947 687–690, 692. See also two-spirit people (lha’ma),
kachina dances (koko), emergence narrative 329, 331, 333
164–165 See also Kachinas
1269
About the Editors
Suzanne J. Crawford received her Ph.D. in Dennis Kelley is a visiting lecturer at the
Religious Studies from the University of University of Missouri–Columbia. He
California at Santa Barbara. She is the au- lives in Columbia, Missouri, with his
thor of Native American Religions (Pren- wife, Kate, and their son, Seamus Bear.
tice Hall and Lawrence King, 2005). She is
currently assistant professor of Religion
and Culture at Pacific Lutheran Univer-
sity, and lives in Seattle, Washington.
1271
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American Indian Religious Traditions

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American Indian Religious Traditions

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American Indian

Suzanne J. Crawford and Dennis F. Kelley

Santa Barbara, California Denver, Colorado Oxford, England

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Contributors and Their Entries, xiii

Maps and Regional Overviews, xxix

A Beloved Women, Beloved Men, Beloved

Christianity, Indianization of, 178 Guardian Spirit Complex, 355

Missionization, Great Lakes, 519 Oral Traditions, Western Plains, 707

Retraditionalism and Revitalization Spiritual and Ceremonial Practitioners,

Jeffrey D. Anderson Tressa Berman

Tasiwoopa ápi Lydia Black

Karren Baird-Olson John H. Blitz

Martin Brokenleg James Taylor Carson

Jovana J. Brown Mary Jane McDermott Cedar Face

Julianne Cordero-Lamb Elizabeth Currans

Donald L. Fixico John A. Grim

Chris Goertzen Howard L. Harrod

Dennis Hastings Connie A. Jacobs

C. Adrian Heidenreich M. A. Jaimes-Guerrero

Louis A. Hieb James B. Jeffries

Sergei Kan Benjamin R. Kracht

Denise Low-Weso Catherine Murton Stoehr

Joanna Mashunkashey Jennifer Nez Denetdale

Jordan Paper Mike Ring

Raymond Pierotti James Ruppert

Siobhan Senier Coll Thrush

Theresa S. Smith Deward E. Walker, Jr.

Dale Stover Joseph Winter

Michael Yellow Bird Michael J. Zogry

Welcome to American Indian Religious respected in these volumes, encouraging

series of brief, definitional paragraphs, How to Use These Volumes

American Indian culture is contested publications, the term “shaman” refers

Given a limited amount of space, we these national boundaries with extreme

secret societies, details of ritual activity, California, Davis, advised us regarding

the idea of cultural evolution, insisting on a linear evolutionary scale. Rather,

forces were overwhelm- an AIM group occupied

Poster urging support of the American Indian

Bobby Onco, a Kiowa member of the American

attended carefully. In written cultures concerned they dehumanize the re-

http://www.saa.org. (Accessed March 10, spaces and places—conceptual, natural,

cosmology is vertical in orientation, with

of children’s books, has dominated the Albuquerque: University of New Mexico

Harry Fonseca (1946–), Nisenan lands. I want my drawings to wake peo-

changing environmental conditions and growing cycle. “Traditional basketmak-

Of all the coastal groups, the Tlingit

hunt, to make whaling implements, and cultural traditions, the Kwakwak’wakw,

Ceremony, Northwest; Sacred Societies, Art (Traditional and

games, such as those between Cherokee each geographical area (Southeast,

Stick ball players, Oklahoma, ca. 1924. (Library of Congress)

to a predetermined number of goals 1995, 117). It is played to honor the Seven

meaning to engage in battle or another ditions as to whether this is a new inno-

narratives explicate this connection by Ethnology.” Ph.D. dissertation, University

Basketry of the Mission Indians, ca. 1924. (Library of Congress)

intercultural contact, baskets are the They were Hutsipamamau?u, Ocean

out reliance upon written plans or In addition to the reverence in which

Beloved Tree/Drink From the origin of the Southeastern peo-

Wachacha served as Indian language Museum of the Cherokee Nation. The

participated simultaneously in these un- sance of traditional Lakota spirituality.

the Indians, get the Indianness out of

learn their language. Take them from

Animal Part Partial List of Traditional Usage

Horns Spoon ladles, Headdresses, Hide Scrapers, Bow Manufacturing