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By Bornali Halder
© 2002 by Bornali Halder
Url: http://www.lakotaarchives.com/lakritualpr.html
Amongst the Lakota Sioux, like many Native American groups in the United States and elsewhere, what is important regarding landscape is not mere contemplation of landscape but interaction with it. Ritual and ceremony are chief ways by which a Lakota interacts with his or her landscape.
According to some specialists in Native American studies, rituals are performed when there is imbalance in the universe, between humans and the rest of nature. Special rituals are performed in order to reinstate balance and harmony among living things. In the course of this article we will see that cosmic relationship is reinforced within Lakota ritual. As Paula Gunn Allen says:
"The purpose of a ceremony is to integrate: to fuse the individual with his or her fellows, the community of people with that of the other kingdoms, and this larger communal group with the worlds beyond this one. A raising or expansion of individual consciousness naturally accompanies this process. The person sheds the isolated, individual personality and is restored to conscious harmony with the universe" (Allen 1986:62).1
This article is based on descriptions of rituals already available to the public in published form. Although I carried out anthropological fieldwork in South Dakota between 1998 and 1999 and attended several sweat lodge, vision quest, yuwipi and sundance ceremonies during those 12 months, I have chosen not to relay my own observations here or elsewhere because I did not seek permission from the ceremonial leaders and participants at the time. My desire to attend these rituals was strictly personal, not professional.
Notes::
The sacred pipe plays an integral part in all Lakota rituals. It is used in vision quests, sweat lodge ceremonies, the yuwipi ceremony, the Sun Dance and others. It "is the most significant instrument of prayer in all of the rituals, and without it it is impossible to make contact with the benevolent spirits that live beneath the earth, on the surface of the earth, or between the earth and the sky" (Powers 1982:30).1
Here is a brief account of how the original sacred pipe was brought to the people by White Buffalo Calf Woman. From this account we can also see the mediating significance the pipe has for the Lakota landscape; and we will see how the original sacred pipe links contemporary Lakotas to the mythological past, revealing an enduring relationship between the present and the past.
A long time ago the Lakota people were starving. Two hunters were sent out to find buffalo to help the people survive the harsh winter. They searched all day but found no game. As they were planning what to do the next day they spotted a solitary human being advancing rapidly towards them. The figure turned out to be a beautiful woman, who told them that she had been sent by the Buffalo Nation.
She told them to go back and erect a lodge in the middle of their camp with some sage and an altar and a small rack upon which was to be placed a buffalo skull. Then she told them to wait as she would arrive the next day and bring them the calf pipe. The calf pipe would bring them many buffalo. "A sacred pipe is coming to you that will furnish you with abundance in the Spirit Land" (Powers 1986:44).2
The next day she arrived at the camp and laid the pipe against the specially made rack. She sat at the place of honour and was addressed and welcomed by the camp chief. She said that the sacred pipe had been brought to them from Wakantanka.
"Holding up the sacred pipe she said: 'With this sacred pipe you will walk upon the Earth: for the Earth is your Grandmother and Mother, and She is sacred. Every step that is taken upon her should be as a prayer. The bowl of this pipe is of red stone; it is the Earth. Carved in the stone and facing the center is this buffalo calf who represents the four-leggeds who live upon your mother. The stem of the pipe is of wood, and this represents all that grows upon the Earth. And these twelve feathers that hang here where the stem fits into the bowl are from Wanbli Gleska, the Spotted Eagle, and they represent the eagle and all the wingeds of the air. All these peoples, and all the things of the universe are joined to you who smoke the pipe - all send their voices to Wakantanka'" (Brown 1971:5-6).3
She went on to say that the pipe would be used as a peacemaker. It would also be used by the medicine men to administer help to the sick. She addressed the women, the children, the chief and the men. To the men she said, "You realise that all your necessities of life come from the earth below, the sky above, and the four winds. Whenever you do anything wrong against these elements they will always take some revenge upon you. You should reverence them. Offer sacrifices through this pipe and ask for what you need and it shall be granted you" (Densmore 1918:66).4
Then she lit the pipe and pointed the stem first to the sky, then to the earth, and toward the four directions, praying to each before passing the pipe on to the chief and instructing him and his people to smoke also. After this she took from her bundle a sacred stone inscribed with seven circles representing the seven key rituals she would eventually reveal to the people over four days. These rituals were the following: 'spirit-keeping ritual', 'sun-gazing dance', 'vision quest', 'sweat lodge', 'female puberty ceremony', 'the making of relatives', and 'the sacred ball game'. All seven rituals involved the pipe.
After this the buffalo arrived in droves and the Lakota were no longer hungry.
Notes::
The Lakota term for sweat lodge is inipi which means 'to live again'. Epes Brown (1992) points out that inipi is a purificatory rite and is necessary in order to help the novice vision quester enter into a state of humility and to undergo a kind of spiritual rebirth.1
The sweat lodge is made of cloth and willow saplings and Powers remarks how profane sweat lodges look when not in use. "The sweat lodge reflects the Oglala principle of austerity and simplicity: the entire universe is a cathedral; everything is permanently sacred unless desecrated by human foibles that cause disharmony between humans and the rest of nature" (Powers 1982:39).2
The sacred saplings represent and honour the various aspects of Wakantanka. Before willow saplings are cut for the inipi the cutter should stand before them and say, "There are many kinds of trees but it is you whom I have chosen to help me. I shall take you, but in your place there will be others!" (Epes Brown 1953:48).3 Similarly the rocks, sage and sticks must be gathered in a sacred manner.
The sacred fireplace in the centre of the lodge is known as peta-owihankeshni, or 'eternal fire' or 'fire of no end'. Construction of it is very particular: first four sticks are placed running east and west; four more sticks are laid on top of these running north and south. Then sticks are leaned tipi-style first on the west side, then on north, east and south sides. Finally rocks are placed at these four quarters (Epes Brown 1953).
When not in use, the sweat lodge that Powers attends, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, becomes a playground for children, dogs, ants, spiders, grasshoppers, flies and occasionally a cow or a horse. The sweat lodge, writes Powers, tolerates all kinds of intrusions!
To begin the ceremony a fire must be started and allowed to burn down so that the stones are white hot. Blankets and tarps are draped over the sapling framework and the participants strip down naked. They crawl in through the doorway at the east end of the lodge and crawl clockwise around the central fire-pit. The shaman takes his place on the north side of the doorway and the main participant, if any, on the west side of the lodge at the place of honour (catku), directly opposite the doorway. All sit on beds of fresh sage. "All sat Indian style, legs crossed in front and heels pulled close to their bodies to keep them as far as possible from the central hole" (Powers 1982:41). The sacred pipe is not present inside the lodge but has been placed on a sacred hill to the east of the lodge. In McGaa's account of the inipi ceremony all the participants are smudged with sage or cedar as these are sacred plants and their aroma pleases Wakantanka (1992).4
When the shaman cries "Wana! Now!" the fire-tender who is standing outside the lodge near the fire-pit, picks up a large glowing stone with his pitchfork and passes it carefully through the doorway of the lodge, dropping it to the east of the hole. Heat fills the lodge and the men inside begin to perspire. The shaman calls for the next stone and then another until seven stones have been rolled in to the hole and formed a base in the pit. Then the smaller stones are brought in. Intense heat fills the lodge and the doorway is closed so that the lodge is darkened.
Black Elk states that "this darkness represents the darkness of the soul, our ignorance, from which we must now purify ourselves so that we may have the light. During the course of the Inipi, the door will be opened four times, letting in the light; this reminds us of the four ages, and how through the goodness of Wakan-Tanka we have received the Light in each of these ages" (Epes Brown 1953:36).
The shaman begins to pray and the pipe is brought in and offered many times. The shaman gives thanks to Wakantanka. After each prayer the participants reply "Hau!" Water is poured over the hot coals so the lodge is filled with heat and steam and the participants clear their throats and nostrils noisily and slap their bodies with their hands.
Singing begins in which the participants express their desire to be with their relatives. They shout out, "Mitakuye oyasin". According to Powers this means "All my relations" (1982:43). For McGaa this can be translated as "We are all related" or "We are related to all things" (1992:27). For Epes Brown (1992), this phrase affirms the belief that there is an essential, mysterious and most sacred bond between people, animals, the earth, and all that is.
Presently the shaman orders the front and back tarp doorway to be opened up so cool air fills the lodge. "Mitakuye oyasin" each one calls out again and again as they drink water and pass round the cup to the shaman, who then orders for the doorways to be closed again. Heat once more fills the lodge.
The shaman prays again, this time specifically addressing the main participant's problems. The sacred pipe is constantly offered. The shaman in Powers's account of the sweat lodge ceremony says, "Wakantanka, in these dark days one of our common boys lives upon this earth knowing that his body is one with this earth. We know that this body comes from you, Wakantanka" (1982:44) and "And so, Tunkasila Wakantanka, we pray to you this way with the pipe. So let the thunders work for you, and the four winds, and all the animals and things that watch over the earth" (1982:45). The shaman also says, "Tunkasila Wakantanka, all these animals that watch over the earth are my friends; that is why I am walking with this pipe" (1982:46).
Then once again the doorflaps are opened and the cool breeze leaps inside. Then they are closed again and heat and steam fill the lodge. The specific prayers addressing the specific problems of the main participant continue.
Finally a long silence descends and there is no more praying. The shaman is deep in spiritual communication with the spirits who have arrived and are instructing him in sacred matters. The silence is broken only when the shaman is ready to tell the participants what the Tunkasila have been telling him.
The flaps are opened again. The sacred pipe is brought in, lit and smoked ritually. Then it is taken outside and the flaps are closed. Water is poured onto the stones as the heat intensifies. A last song is sung. The flaps are pulled back and the sweat lodge has ended.
In McGaa's account the inipi ceremony utilises the four elements of the universe: fire, air, water and earth. The lodge represents 'Mother Earth'. Fire heats the stones and water is poured on top of them. This water produces steam which mixes with the sweat of the participants and the air. The four winds then carry this mixture of steam and sweat to the four corners of the world. "This carrying forth of a part of ourselves out to the four directions tells us we are partaking in a universal ceremony" (McGaa 1992:83).
For Black Elk the entire universe is represented in the sweat lodge: the four quarters of the universe are marked (north, south, east and west); the rocks represent 'Grandmother Earth'; the fire represents the great power of Wakantanka; the water represents the Thunder-Beings whose cleansing rains purify us as does the steam in the inipi ceremony; the fireplace at the centre of the lodge is the centre of the universe in which Wakantanka dwells. Furthermore, the door of every sweat lodge is always constructed to the east as "it is from this direction that the light of wisdom comes" (Epes Brown 1953).
In Powers's description of inipi only Wakantanka was addressed. But in McGaa (1992) the four directions are also beseeched - the west, the north, the east and the south. The lodge leader calls out to the four directions in turn and then each participant calls out a respectful greeting. To each in turn they sing, "Look to the West/North/East/South and pray to them. Pray to them because those people are your relatives" (McGaa 1992:84).
The east power is beseeched in recognition of its power of knowledge and this is a time when everyone present expresses their own personal beseechments or prayers and each person gains strength and knowledge from their prayers. The south power is beseeched for its power of healing, growth, abundance and "holistic strength" (McGaa 1992:85).
For Epes Brown (1992) the sweat lodge ritual allows a novice to begin establishing relationships with the elements of earth, air, fire and water and with all of life on earth. Such relationships are strengthened through use of the sacred pipe - "the communal and sacramental smoking of which establishes a ritual relationship with all of creation and with the very source of life" (Epes Brown 1992:xi).
Notes::
"The [vision] quest is a ritual entry into sacred time and space. It recreates a unified experience of time and eternity, nature and supernature, of first and present creation" (Epes Brown 1992:x-xi).1
"It is through the vision quest...that the individual opens himself in the most direct manner to contact with the spiritual essences underlying the forms of the manifested world" (Epes Brown 1973:61).2
People vision-quest, or 'lament', states Black Elk, if they have a problem and wish to understand it better; they may lament prior to taking part in an ordeal such as war or the Sun Dance in order to gain courage; they may lament to ask a favour of the Wakantanka; or lament as a form of thanksgiving. "But perhaps the most important reason for 'lamenting' is that it helps us to realise our oneness with all things, to know that all things are our relatives" (Epes Brown 1953:46).3 Black Elk asserts that a vision-quester yearns for a sacred relationship with all things of the universe, including with the rivers, brooks, springs, trees, grasses and all peoples (Epes Brown 1953).
In Powers's account of the vision quest, the shaman escorts the participant up a sacred hill. They carry with them tobacco and flag offerings, four willow canes and the pipe bag containing the sacred pipe. At the top of the sacred hill they find the sacred vision-questing site. This vision pit is the sacred space in which a participant will stand and pray and rest for the duration of his or her vision quest (1982).4
The vision pit is prepared. Long grass is pulled away to reveal a trench big enough for a large man to lie in. Coloured cloths, or "spirit banners" as Walker (1980:85)5 calls them, are tied to the willow canes which are stuck in the earth at the four cardinal points: black for west, red for north, yellow for east, white for south.
A long string upon which are tied tobacco bundles is tied around each of the four willow canes delineating a square space. This will be the space in which the vision quester will remain, being careful not to fall asleep during the ordeal as "the vision would come to him only when he was fully awake, praying with the pipe to the Four Directions, the Above, the Earth, the Spotted Eagle, and all the Tunkasilas who might appear to instruct him about his future, and the future of his family and other kin in the community" (Powers 1982:50).
The shaman instructs the participant: he is not to spend too much time in the pit; each time he comes out he must offer his pipe to each of the four directions, beginning with the west and walking clockwise from flag to flag until one circuit has been made.
The shaman fills the sacred pipe with tobacco, lights it and begins "the prayer on the hill" (Powers 1982:50). He offers the pipe to Tunkasila Wakantanka then prays for the vision quester that his or her problems be solved and that he or she gains wisdom. He also prays that the participant is protected during his vision quest - watched over by Wakantanka and by the animals who are the friends of human beings.
Finally the shaman hands the participant the pipe and tobacco pouch saying that Wakantanka and the sacred pipe will protect him against evil, and the shaman leaves the hill.
According to Epes Brown (1992), spiritual relationship between the natural, supernatural and human worlds is central in the vision quest during which the initiate seeks wisdom and guidance from an animal helper, guardian or teacher.
During the vision quest "one must always be attentive and listen, for it is believed that the sacred powers may manifest themselves through any form or being of the natural world, which may appear visually or which may wish to communicate through some audible message" (Epes Brown 1992:xi). Even the smallest, most seemingly insignificant creature of nature, for example the ant, may communicate a little of the power of Wakantanka to the vision quester. For Wakantanka resides in every being, form, thing and event. Even though the vision encounter can involve seeing or hearing any form, it is more common to hear and see a wide range of animal and bird beings.
All the powers and beings of the world wish to communicate with humankind, but in order to establish a relationship the novice must be "attentive with all his being" (Epes Brown 1992:xii) and be in a state of humility. To facilitate such a state of being, sacrifice in the form of fasting is often necessary. The novice must neither eat nor drink for the duration of his or her quest. He must reside on a mountain in solitude. Through exposure and suffering the novice will come to feel the force of the elements.
Silence is "the very voice of the Great Mystery" (Epes Brown 1992:xii) and thus silence is the quester's greatest support both during the vision quest and during the course of life itself. However, this does not prevent the novice from praying and singing aloud if he or she so desires.
During a vision a cognitive shift occurs during which the Oglala Lakota "is no longer encountering the phenomenal animal, but rather archetypal 'essences' appearing in animal forms" (Epes Brown 1992:3). Such animal and bird beings experienced in a vision can subsequently become the recipient's 'guardian spirit'. This spirit will often communicate a special message that will serve as a reminder and a guide throughout the person's life.
In a dream or vision ('waking dreams') the animal or bird 'spirit-form' may appear associated with aspects of the powers of the four directions such as the Thunder-Beings. Likewise one species of animal may transform into another or may take on a plant form which becomes a sacred medicinal herb later identified and used in curing. The spirit-form animal, bird or plant may also enter, in the vision, one's own body (Epes Brown 1992).
Following the vision the recipient seeks the type of bird or animal which appeared to him or her and such an animal is prepared ritually by a medicine man. The animal form, or a part of it (for example a bear's tooth or paw) is carried or worn in a special bundle which becomes a concrete expression of the bearer's vision experience. This medicine bundle is the physical symbol of his or her vision and is "the most sacred thing he can ever possess" (Epes Brown 1992:58-59).
Those medicine bundles owned by medicine men are used specifically for curing. Sanctions for both the ritual procedures and the specific makeup of the bundle are derived from dreams or visions. Epes Brown (1992) mentions Little Warrior, an Oglala yuwipi man who died in 1952, and who had had hundreds of remedies revealed to him by animal or bird spirit-beings during frequent spiritual retreats.
During the ceremony that follows the vision quest, the recipient is expected to sing songs which have been received during the vision, to enact the vision experience through dance and drama, and to display specific paraphernalia. This serves several purposes: the reintensification of the initial experience, the integration of the 'superhuman' experience, and the opportunity for the larger social group to participate in the experience (Epes Brown 1992).
Cults or societies came into being when groups of people had common visions of the same animal-spirit. Similarly if a person had a vision or a dream of a certain animal then this animal would determine to which society he or she would belong. Examples of such societies or cults among the Lakota Sioux included Elk Cult, Black-tail Deer Cult, Buffalo Dreamers, Bear Cult and Kit Fox.
Members of a society would take part in ceremonial dances wearing dress representing their animal spirit and masquerading according to their cult animal. For example, for a dance participant of the Buffalo Dreamers "there was an inner identity with the bison or with his spirit principle" (Epes Brown 1992:68). Of the medicine men of the Bear Cult, who wore the entire skin of the bear, Wissler recorded: "They may run about the camp growling and chasing people. They may sit around like bears, and feeling around upon the ground, dig up a turnip and eat it with grunts like the bear. They may even fall upon a dog, tear it to pieces, eat the liver and some of the flesh raw. Also in battle they may attempt to frighten the enemy by such actions" (1916:860).6
Notes::
Few people have written about the healing ceremony Yuwipi. As such, this account summarises a single source - William K. Powers' description, published in 1982.1
Yuwipi is a curing ritual performed by Sioux groups all over South Dakota. It is performed in conjunction with two of the oldest Sioux ceremonies: the vision quest and the sweat lodge. Although the yuwipi ritual was not described in anthropological literature until 1946, its origins can be traced back to a mentor of Crazy Horse - Horn Chips, a medicine man who lived from 1836 until 1916.
The yuwipi man is trained by the spirits to diagnose and treat 'Indian sickness' - that is, those illnesses generally common to the Indians before the white man arrived. The yuwipi man is the sole mediator between the people and the spirit world; he can communicate directly with them; he can understand the languages of all creatures and can communicate with them; he is the sole curer of Indian sickness.
Powers describes a yuwipi ceremony conducted on the Pine Ridge Reservation. A room in a house is completely emptied of removable furniture and it is blackened. The success of the meeting is ensured by the other following restrictions: menstruating women and disbelievers are forbidden to enter the yuwipi because they will offend the spirits. Blankets and cushions are placed around the periphery of the room leaving enough space in the centre for the yuwipi man to construct a sacred place, a 'camp circle', a hocoka. The adepts file in: the men enter clockwise and sit on the south side of the room and the women sit on the north side. The west side facing the door is left for the singers.
Six coloured flags are brought in along with strings of tobacco offerings, cans of half-filled earth and a case filled with ritual paraphernalia. In the hocoka the yuwipi man arranges the cans around him and sticks in the flags. The black flag is placed in the west can, the red flag in the north can, the yellow flag in the east can, the white flag in the south can, the blue flag in the zenith can, and the green flag in the nadir can.
In the hocoka the yuwipi man places a pasteboard and covers it with earth from a mole hill:
"Mole dirt is used because moles are members of a sacred, omniscient community of creatures endowed with knowledge of both the surface of the earth and its subterranean parts. Like ants, who push earth and stones to the surface, moles, prairie dogs, wolves, coyotes, and other burrowing animals bring clean earth from underground. This subterranean earth has not been contaminated by humans and is thus preferred for sacred rituals" (Powers 1982:57).
This pasteboard of flattened mole earth is makakagapi or 'made of earth' and will later serve as a representation of the patient. The makakagapi is then circumscribed by a short string of tobacco offerings. Each offering represents the various personalities, attributes, and behaviours of one of the yuwipi man's most powerful spirit helpers.
The yuwipi man draws a face in the mole earth representing the patient's face. He draws an 'X' under the chin to represent the Four Winds. Left of the face he draws the symbol for a pipe. Directly over the face he makes three indentations representing Morning Star, the Sun and the Moon. Tobacco and gourd rattles are placed around the makakagapi. The sounds of the rattles will be produced by the spirits when they arrive and will sound like thunder. Evil spirits cannot tolerate such sound and will hastily leave the room upon sound of it. These sounds are the sounds of the Thunder Beings - the spirits of thunder and lightning who live in the west. Though noisy and raucous they are beneficent beings who rid the earth of evil and filth through their cleansing rains.
The spirits of the universe are believed to like the aroma of sage and so sage is placed around and inside the hocoka as well as around the room. Each adept in the room is handed a sprig and he or she places it behind the right ear to identify him or herself as a believer to the spirits. The spirits have a reputation not only for curing but also for injuring people, so everyone takes care not to offend the spirits in any way. Finally the people are smudged with the sacred scent of sweet grass.
The yuwipi man brings forth the sacred pipe bag and places it on a bed of sage. 'Red willow' tobacco (cansasa) is brought forth. A folded star quilt lies nearby. Now it is time to fill the pipe and start the yuwipi. "Sacred time" (Powers 1982:60) has arrived.
The yuwipi man fills the pipe, and pointing it in the appropriate direction he prays to each one of the sacred powers of the Oglala universe saying: "I pray to them with this pipe so that I may gain knowledge" (Powers 1982:61).
He prays:
"To Wakinyan Oyate, the Thunder-Beings, who live in the west and who cleanse the earth of evil and sickness...To Tatanka Oyate, the Buffalo nation, who live in the north, in the place of the pines, and of life, and breath, so that they may come to look upon us favourably...To Anpo Wicahpi, the Morning Star; Hanhepi Wi, the Moon; and Anpetu Wi, the Sun, who come from the east and who change the darkness of winter into light...To Wamakaskan, the Animals, who come from the south and travel about the earth with the power to cure sickness...To the Above, where somewhere between the sky and the earth, my animal helpers will come to aid me...To Pejuta, Medicine; Inyan, Rock; Can, Wood; and Wowasake Iyuha, All Powers, who live in the earth and give us the power to heal...To Wanbli Gleska, the Spotted Eagle, who is chief of Zintkala Oyate, the Bird Nation, who flies the highest of all the birds, and who carries our prayers to Wakantanka" (Powers 1982:61-62).
He continues to pray inaudibly whilst the singers begin to beat their drums and sing the words of a song that the spirits themselves taught the yuwipi man in a vision. Whilst they sing the yuwipi man places a sprig of sage in the pipe. The pipe now contains all the powers of the universe: the Four Winds, the Above, the Earth and the Spotted Eagle. So now the 'vision talk' (hanbloglaka) can begin.
The vision talk is a reinstatement of the yuwipi man's original vision which gave him the powers of a sacred person. After this he addresses the problems of the patient and presents them to Wakantanka, asking Wakantanka for his help and guidance. The yuwipi man prays for all those people present at the yuwipi ritual and all those not present. He ends each prayer with: "We offer you this pipe so that we may gain knowledge" (Powers 1982:66).
It is time to call upon the spirits. The yuwipi man's helpers get up, rub their hands with sage in an act of purification and tie up the yuwipi man securely and from head to foot in the star quilt. At each half-hitch is inserted a sprig of sage. He is then lifted and placed face down on the large bed of sage with his head facing west. It is time for the singers to begin the song that will invite the spirits into the meeting: "In the west, I call a black stone friend...In the north, I call a red stone friend...In the east, I call a yellow stone friend...In the south, I call a white stone friend...On earth, I call a Spider friend...Above, I call a Spotted Eagle friend" (Powers 1982:69-70). Once again these are sacred songs that have been taught to the yuwipi man in his visions.
More songs are sung and a cacophony of rattles ensues. Presently, in the darkness of the room, tiny sparks appear from the rattles as they hit the floor. These sparks notify the people in the room that the spirits have arrived at the yuwipi meeting. Silence descends. The yuwipi man begins communicating with the spirits and only he can see and hear them. He interprets to the people what the spirits are saying as it is his duty to do so. During this communication the spirit helpers advise him on an appropriate cure for the patient.
The singers sing, asking Tunkasila to pray for them all. Now it is time for the curing ritual to begin. The patient is ordered to stand up, grab a flag and turn to face the wall. The singers sing lively songs and the rattles (representing the spirits) join in. The rattles approach the patient and 'dance' and dart about his or her feet and head before beginning to touch him or her all over his or her body. The patient will then smell sweet grass, the aroma of the spirits, or the patient may feel a wind fanning his or her face. "Once the contact has been made, the spirits return to their violent dancing" (Powers 1982:80), clattering all around the room until the song closes. Then the patient is ordered to resume his or her seat.
As the rattles dance they emit sparks. They dance around the tobacco offerings accepting these gifts as they prepare to leave the meeting and return to their homes. One by one they take the tobacco and leave. The singing ends, the rattles have stopped their clatter and the lights are turned on to reveal a chaotic alter strewn with mole earth, sage, tobacco and so forth, "as if the spirits had gleefully overturned the sacred space, trampling on hallowed relics, disrupting the very aura that had been so carefully constructed for their edification" (Powers 1982:81).
The lights also reveal that the yuwipi man is no longer tied up and instead the quilt and thong lies neatly folded by his side. The pipe is lit, smoked and passed around with a "Mitakoyasin" ('All my relations') from the smoker and a response of "Hau" by everyone else.
The ceremony has ended and everything is put away. The ball of tobacco offerings is given to the patient "with instructions to keep it for good luck. The tobacco offerings represented all the living species that associate with mankind, and they were still sacred even though their essence had been taken away to be smoked by the spirit helpers" (Powers 1982:82).
Notes::
In the above we have seen described three rituals which reveal a universe in which animals, plants, humans, stars, sky, spirits and so on, are all related, and we have seen how ritual provides the medium - the time and the space - through which communication between these different but interrelated elements can take place. Indeed, Lakota ritual serves as a unifying act through which all the elements of the universe are united, and the sacred pipe is the ritual mediator as established in mythical time through the instructions of White Buffalo Calf Woman.
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