Skip to main content

Sundance - Mythical Realities of Native American Oral History and Religious Practice

As I think about going to Sundance this year, I think about the mythical realities behind the experience itself.  All of the stories about the foundational beliefs behind Sundance, are intertwined through magical realistic stories, such as the story of the sacred pipe, and how it came to the Lakota people.

SHORT VERSION OF THE ORAL TRADITION:  WHITE BUFFALO CALF WOMAN

One day, two men were hunting.  As they looked down from the butte in which they were crouched and awaiting the sight of game, a beautiful maiden appeared from nowhere just below them.  They could see her perfectly.

She wore a white buffalo calfskin dress, ornated like they had never seen.  Her attraction to the men was instantaneous; but one man immediately knew she was wakan (holy) and pushed away any impure thoughts.  The other man was quickly overcome by her beauty, and he thought unholy thoughts.  Thus, he perished right on the spot.

The woman gave the remaining hunter a message to return to his people and prepare for her coming.  She then turned, ran away, and as the man stood in disbelief, the woman couldn't be seen.  Only a young white buffalo calf was ahead of where she had last stood, running into the treeline.

The man scurried away to alert his tiospaye, the chosen people of the wakan winyan (holy woman).  The people prepared to the specifications that he was given, and awaited her arrival.

When the White Buffalo Calf Woman approached, she entered the tipi that had been constructed for her.  And after an offering of song and prayer, she presented a gift to the important people and elders of the Seven Council Fires (Sioux) the pipe.  As she filled the pipe, she taught the people to do so.  As she lit the pipe, she instructed the ordained way to go about the ceremony of the pipe; and as she smoked and exhaled, she explained that the smoke would carry the Pte (people's) prayers to the Spirit World.

The Mythical Reality is that the pipe carriers know even more of the mysticism behind the use of the pipe in Lakota Religion, Thought, Philosophy, and Practice.  It is that people can appear, disappear, and reappear... and that... moreso that you will find in any Latin American literature... The Story of the White Buffalo Calf Woman the true example of magical realism - and the pipe is a physical reminder of how to practice the sacred rite bestowed upon the people, in their guidance from God on how to pray.

Top Blogs
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

This is a public and often educational-read blog. Please use respect, honesty, and courtesy in your responses. Response is welcome, just keep it nice and clean!

Popular posts from this blog

Autism - a Native American Lakota Perspective

On Jan. 5th, 2009, my middle daughter (J.M.) was diagnosed with autism. "Classic Autism." The words still ring in mid-air. She was diagnosed at 2 yrs. 6 mos. As young as you can be, really, to get a true diagnosis (so I read). Recently I was asked, "How did you know?" It was a lot of different behaviors, combined with her not talking by 2 yrs to lead me to start researching. I looked and searched for countless hours... putting square pegs into round holes in my mind. I wanted something to show me, tell me, anything to point me toward NO! She DOES NOT have autism. But that answer never came. It was a long process, and is still in the works. But we are growing stronger. I think of her prognosis from when she was 10 weeks gestation. She tested positive for the blood test labeled quad screen. Which, along with a second-level sonogram, tested her positive for downsyndrome. Longer story than this, but we wanted her and she was born. She was always hard to tak
10 comments
Read more

#NoDAPL Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline

#NoDAPL  #NoDakotaAccess #Stand4StandingRock Stand for Standing Rock By Lynne Colombe Mitakuyapi, le miye ZiZiWin.  Hello my relatives, I am Yellow Woman.  I have never used that name, "Yellow Woman," in writing.  It was a name that my great-grandmother, Carrie Roubideaux-Bordeaux, gave to me because I did not have "an Indian name."  She gave me her name because I am an identical twin; and I was born jaundiced.  And, because that was her name, so she gave it to me. There was no ceremony, no feather placed in my hair, no kiss upon my forehead.  My great-grandmother and great-grandfather on my mother's side were the only grandparents on that side I would ever really know.  My maternal grandmother passed away when my mother was only 15 years old; and my material grandfather lived out of state and had a different family. I think of my childhood as "peculiar" in many ways.  First, because I am 1/2 White and live on an Indian Reservation; and
7 comments
Read more

Teach for America, and Rosebud?

Upon returning to the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in June 2011, I was shocked to hear that there are over 75 Teach for America teachers between Rosebud and Pine Ridge.  At first, I did not form any opinion on the fact that many of these teachers are coming in from all over the United States, and that many who work in the high school do not actually have a teaching degree. Aside from the obvious problem that we have another group of government-funded teachers sent out to the Reservation with their idealistic mindsets about "saving the Indian," the larger problem seems to be that there is an actual "Native American Initiative."  This initiative, sponsored by Teach for America, has failed to inform the communities they are teaching in, that there is an initiative in the first place. From my first observations, I can see that this is another "Waiting for Superman" moment for our Tribe.  I propose that money would be better spent if Teach for America t
4 comments
Read more