"Each of us must know in our minds and believe in our hearts that even though we are different, you are like me and I am like you."

---- Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA

"It's very hard to do things in the right manner, but as long as we do things right, we are in turn with the Great Spirit."

---- Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE

"Great Spirit above please protect the ones we love. We honor all you created as we pledge our hearts and lives together. We honor Mother Earth and ask for our marriage to be abundant and grow stronger through the seasons. We honor fire and ask that our union be warm and glowing with love in our hearts. We honor wind and ask that we sail through life safe and calm as in our father's arms. We honor water to clean and soothe our relationship -- that it may never thirst for love. With all the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony as we grow forever young together. Amen."

---- Native American (Cherokee) wedding prayer

"The old people must start talking and the young people must start listening."

---- Thomas Banyacya, HOPI

"If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace.....Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.......Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade....where I choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty."

---- From Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

"For me writing has become prayers that say, `Great Spirit, return to us our freedom, our land, and our lives. We are thankful for the present from which we learn how to be thankful for the past, and how to be hopeful for the future."

---- Barney Bush, SHAWNEE

"The old people say, everyone has a song to sing. This song is the reason we are on this earth. When we are doing what we came on this earth to do, we know true happiness. How will we know our song? Pray. Ask the Great Mystery, "What is it you want me to do during my stay on earth?" Ask. He will tell you. He will even help you develop yourself to accomplish His mission."

--Elly Blue Ridge

"In 1868, men came out and brought papers. We could not read them and they did not tell us truly what was in them. We thought the treaty was to remove the forts and for us to cease from fighting. But they wanted to send us traders on the Missouri, but we wanted traders where we were. When I reached Washington, the Great Father explained to me that the interpreters had deceived me. All I want is right and just."

---- Red Cloud (Makhpiya-luta) , April, 1870

If someone posing as a healer and/or a person organizing a sweat-lodge demands money from you to be a part of the ceremony.., walk away.. and know that they are not being truthful..

--- Me

When you go to speak with an Elder..., it is customary and respectful, to bring them an offering of tobacco...

---- Me

"When Christ said that man does not live by bread alone, he spoke of a hunger. This hunger was not the hunger of the body. It was not the hunger for bread. He spoke of a hunger that begins deep down in the very depths of our being. He spoke of a need as vital as breath. He spoke of our hunger for love.

Love is something you and I must have. We must have it because our spirit feeds upon it. We must have it because without it we become weak and faint. Without love our self-esteem weakens. Without it our courage fails. Without love we can no longer look out confidently at the world...

But with love, we are creative. With it, we march tirelessly. With it, and with it alone, we are able to sacrifice for others."

---- Chief Dan George

"I love this land and the buffalo and will not part with it. I want you to understand well what I say. Write it on paper...I hear a great deal of good talk from the gentlemen the Great Father sends us, but they never do what they say. I don't want any of the medicine lodges (schools and churches) within the country. I want the children raised as I was.

I have heard you intend to settle us on a reservation near the mountains. I don't want to settle. I love to roam over the prairies. There I feel free and happy, but when we settle down we grow pale and die.

A long time ago this land belonged to our fathers, but when I go up to the river I see camps of soldiers on its banks. These soldiers cut down my timber, they kill my buffalo and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting."

---- Santana, Kiowa Chief

"If God was the creator and overseer of life, if the morning star, the moon, and Mother Earth combined their talents to give birth and hope to the Indians, if the sun was dispatcher of wisdom and warmth, then the buffalo was the tangible and immediate proof of them all, for out of the buffalo came almost everything necessary to daily life, including his religious use as an intermediary through which the Great Spirit could be addressed, and by which the Spirit often spoke to them. In short, the buffalo was life to the Plains Indians until the white man's goods and ways first eliminated and then replaced the animal.

Understandably, then a major part of Indian life was oriented in and around the buffalo herds. They moved with them during all but the winter months. The buffalo's habits and kinds were studied intensely, and in time the Indians put virtually every part of the beast to some utiliarian use. In fact, it is almost astounding to see a graphic breakdown of the uses made of him, of his hide, of his organs, of his muscles, of his bones, and of his horns and hoofs. It is slight wonder that the Indians reverenced the buffalo, related him directly to the Great Creator, and be a natural symbol for the universe, and no doubt the other tribes accorded him a like honor.

There are several matters of magnitude to be considered about the Indians and the buffalo:

First, there is the matter of the buffalo's place in the sphere of Indian religion. Unfortunately, since this function is connected to so many aspects of the Indians life-way, mention of it must be made in many places, and to cover the entire subject here might cause a vital connection to be missed in another chapter. Therefore, the remarks made at this point will include only what is necessary to round out the total picture.

Second, a visual display of the infinite uses made of the buffalo is essential, for it shows the true importance of the buffalo, and also helps to draw a sharper impression of the creative talents of the Plains Indians.

Third, as one ponders the uses made of the bison, he inevitably wants to know how the Indians themselves were able to make so much of it. The answer is found in ferreting out what the Indians learned over the years about the intriguing types and habits of the buffalo. Ultimately it becomes clear that the buffalo's sex, age, seasons, and varieties offered advantages to the Indian which were so profuse as to be amazing, to say the least.

Fourth, the buffalo hunting and procurement methods used by the Indians need to be set forth.
And finally, a summary of hide preparation methods will complete the vital picture of Indians and buffalo living in what can only be called an "interdependent" state. After all, the Indians trimmed the excess from the herds season by season, and thus made it easier for their vast remaining numbers to exist. The Indians also provided fresh and succulent grass for the herds by burning off areas of prairie at regular intervals to promote new growth. New grass was always an inducement to the herds, and it was common for some of the tribes in the north to burn off certain sections of the plains each spring.

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If a child's name included the word "buffalo" in it, the Indians believed that the child would be especially strong and would mature quickly. And though a name in itself is not the guarantee of automatic transformation, a "buffalo" child usually fulfilled the expectations of others by striving to accomplish what his name implied. If a warrior was renamed after a vision or great hunting or war accomplishment, and his new name included the word "buffalo," it meant that the buffalo was his supernatural helper, or that he exhibited the strength of a buffalo, or that he was an extraordinary hunter. In other words, the name desribed the powers of the man.

Societies named after the buffalo had the animal as their patron. The founder's vision would have featured the buffalo in a prominent way, and quite probably, all or most of the society members would also have seen buffalo in their dreams or visions.

Holy men who saw buffalo in the vision during which they were called to the practice of medicine would seek thereafter to commune with the Great Spirit through the buffalo. This might be done by prayers spoken to living buffalo, and thus sent through them to God. or by the ritualistic use of buffalo parts such as the skull. Then too, their medicine bundles would always feature parts of the buffalo and or stones associated in the mind of the holy man with the buffalo.

Buffalo calling was a constant and essential practice on the Plains. Since the Indians belived that the buffalo existed for their particular use, it followed that the migrations of the herds were according to a divinely controlled pattern. Whenever, then, the season came for the great herds to approach their area, the Indians of each band sought to assist the process by "calling" the buffalo. Any delay in their appearance would, of course, intensify the calling procedures and amplify the medicine rites.
Buffalo often licked themselves, and in the process swallowed some of the hair. Over the years the years the hair sometimes formed itself into a perfectly round ball two inches or more in diameter. Such a ball was a great find, and it immediately became a buffalo calling item for ritual use.

The Blackfeet had special mystic rites for calling buffalo herds into their area. The medicine person employing the rites had the good fortune to own one or more of the unusual stones called "buffalo stones." These were small reddish-brown rocks from two to four inches long, and naturally shaped something like a buffalo. At least, to an Indian, they looked more like a buffalo than they did anything else. The stones were very rare, and the few that exsited were only discovered now and then in the stream beds by searchers.

All that is known about the rites themselves is that the owner of a stone would invite a group of renowned hunters to his tipi to participate in the calling ceremony. There was no dancing in the preliminary rite, but the group did dance in thanksgiving at the conclusion of a successful hunt.

All the Plains tribes had special songs which they believed would make the buffalo approach their camp areas. And all the tribes had Dreamers and Holymen who would conduct secret rites and then prophesy where the buffalo were most plentiful. The Mandans. after completing a meal, would present a bowl of food to a mounted buffalo head in belief that it would send out messages to living animals, telling them of the Indians' generosity, and thus inducing them to come closer. They also prayed constantly to the Great Spirit to send them meat, and sometimes pleaded with a mystic "Spiritual Great Bull of the Prairie" to come to them with his cow, and with the herd close behind, naturally!

The Holymen of the Sioux, Assiniboines, and Pawnees used buffalo skulls in rituals designed to entice the herds, and the carcass of the first animal slain in a large hunt was always sacrificed to God. On occasion, Comanche hunters would find a horned toad and ask it where the buffalo were. They believed the toad would scamper off in the direction of the nearest herd. Or the same hunters would watch a raven flying in a circle over their camp and caw to it, thinking it would answer by flying off toward the animals cloaest to them. They also held a nighttime hunting dance before the men left the main camp to look for buffalo. After the hunt there was a buffalo-tongue ritual and feast which they celebrated as a thanksgiving ceremony. Some of the tribes had a unique hoop game which "called" the buffalo as it was played.

In a time of great scarcity, the Mandan White Buffalo Cow Woman Society held a special dance to draw the herds near the village.

George Catlin gives a vivid description of the buffalo calling dance of the Mandan men. The dance lasted three days, with new dancers constantly taking the places of those who became exhusted. About fifteen men danced at a time, each wearing a huge mask made of an entire buffalo's head, the only change being the insertion of wooden eyes and nosepieces with slits in them to admit air to the dancer. Painted bodies and a buffalo tail tied at the back to a belt completed the costume. Each dancer imitated a buffalo, and when exhausted, sank to the ground. In moments another dancer took his place while he was dragged from the circle of dancers by the bystanders, and ceremonially skinned and butchered.

The Hidatsa tribe had a calling dance in which six elderly men played the parts of buffalo bulls. After dancing for a time in imitation of the bulls, they tasted dishes of boiled corn and beans. Following this, empty bowls were given to them, and each man acted as though he was eating the wonderful buffalo meat which would shortly fill the bowls when the buffalo responded to the rite and came into hunting range.

Speaking generally, when considering the energy put into buffalo calling, it should be recognized that there were many reasons to want the buffalo herds to come close to the camps. First, the transportation problems was a monumental one, since the enormous quantities of meat and heavy hides were not easy to carry from the hunting areas to the camp sites. Second, it was much safer to hunt in one's own domain. In particular, the penetration of enemy territory or even of contested areas was extremely hazardous. A Ponca spokesman, in describing the plight of his tribe to George Catlin, tearfully stated that the Ponca warriors, who were few in number, were being cut to pieces by the more numerous Sioux because they had to go into Sioux territory to obtain buffalo. And third, without the ever present buffalo all the Indians could not have survived, at least on the Great Plains.

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No one knows how many buffalo there were in North America before the White men came. Most estimates for peak period of Plains Indian occupation range from sixty to seventy-five million head. As late as 1830, White hunters guessed that forty million were left.

Although the larger herds lived on the Plains, smaller ones also ranged from northern Georgia to Hudson Bay and from the Appalachians to the Rockies and beyond.

The buffalo of North America were not all the same color or size. The Plains type, with which everyone is familiar, was not the largest. The wood buffalo, found in small herds in the eastern parts of the United States and Canada, which some called the Pennsyvania buffalo, was slightly larger. Although it grazed on the open prairies in the summer, it generally sought the protection of the woods in the winter. Another type was the less common mountain buffalo of the Rockies and Pacific coast region. It was smaller, but more fleet than the Plains bison. Unfortunately, both the wood and the mountain buffalo became extinct before scientists could learn much about them.

The need for grass and water kept the buffalo on the move most of the time. After a herd had consumed the grass on one part of the range, it was forced to move on to fresh forage. With luck, about every third day the animals would come to water, and did their drinking mostly at night. hunters said that when a herd left a river and started up a canyon, the sound was like distant thunder and often could be heard for miles.

Some eary explorers believed that the herds made long seasonal migrations, moving from south to north in the spring and returning in the fall. Others maintaned that the herd movements were more local. George Catlin, who went west in 1832 to study and paint the indains, decided that the buffalo seemed to enjoy travel, but were not truely migratory. "They graze in immence herds and almost incredible numbers at times," he wrote. "They roam over vast tracts of country, from east to west and from west to east as often as from north to south."

A early writer named J.A.Allen supported Catlin's view. He noted that, while most of the buffalo abandoned the hot Texas plains in the summer for those farther north, "it is improbable that the buffalos of Saskatchewan ever wintered in Texas. Doubtless the same individuals never moved more than a few hundred miles in a north and south direction, the annual migration being merely a moderate swaying northward and southward of the whole mass with the changes of the season."

Apparently, there were at least two, and probably three, herds moving in smaller circles within their own areas, north, south, and central. This took some of them in and out of each tribal area more than once during the year, whereas if the single herd idea applied they would have passed through many tribal domains but once.

Ordinarily the herd moved at a leisurely pace, with each animal nibbling at tufts of grass as it went along. Yet the buffalo was easily frightened, and sudden movement, sound, or unusual oder could cause a terrifying and crushing stampede. A wind-blown leaf, the bark of a praire dog, or the passing shadow of a cloud could put the entire herd into a headlong flight. Even a small grass fire could send them running for many miles. The smell or sight of man would do the same, and for this reason the Indians evolved some careful and strict regulations to govern the great annual hunts.

The size, apperance, and grazing habits of the buffalo help us to understand why early explorers referred to it as a cow. To them, its ony difference from cattle lay in its having a hump on its back, a larger head and front legs, and a mat of purple shaggy hair over its foreparts.

The color of the buffalo's coat varied with its age, and from one geographical area to another. Some southern buffalo were tawny, and others were almost black. Farther north, one might find an occasional blue or mouse colored buffalo, or even a pied or spotted one. Rarest of all was the albino, of which few existed, and even they varied from dirty gray to pale cream.

The Indian warriors set a high value on a white buffalo robe and were reluctant to part with one. A certain Cheyenne war chief wore a white robe when he led his warriors into battle, and believed that it would shield him from all harm. Some of the holy men used white robes in their medical curing rituals.
To a unschooled person, all buffalo in a herd looked alike. But there were many kinds and sizes, and their hide qualities varied considerably with the seasons. In fact, one had to know a great deal about them to utilize their fullest capabilities.

Mating time was in July. Throughout the winter the bachelor breeding bulls, grouped in small and large herds, roamed peacefully by themselvess. But about mid-july, when the running season began, they joined the cows. During this period the bull buffalo became exceedingly vicious toward one another, and toward any Indians foolish enough to approach them. Any cow in breeding condition would be closely followed by a pugnacious bull, and "tending" pairs would be a common sight on the outskirts of every band until late August.

Whenever bulls contend with each other for the right to a cow, the rest of the herd circled restlessly around the two antagonists. Other bulls would be pawing dirt and bellowing deep down in their throats, while the cows looked on as avid spectators. Battles were often to the death, and the larger and stronger animals were usally the victors. Bulls fought forehead to forehead, roaring, heaving, and seeking to push each other backward. Much of the fighting was ritual, but the moment one gave up the jousting and turned away he was promptly gored. A swift move and quick turn of the head, left a long, deep gash in his side. The intestines immediately came out, and the loser died. The victor paid no attention to the victim after the fatal hook was made, and the cow in question was calmly escorted away. Such battles were so intence while they were going, though, that bulls would ignore human beings. Even though the main herd fled at the approach of a mounted Indian, the titanic gladiators fought on. So Indian onlookers freequently saw these herculean contest at close range, and were able to tell about them later on.

Strangely enough, old bulls mated with young cows, and young bulls with the matured cows. In the early part of the mating season, perhaps to advoid fighting, a bull with one or more cows would stay in deep coulees which were some distance from the large part of the herd.

From late summer to early fall, the buffalo grouped together in small and large herds. Bull fights at this time were rare. With grass at its plentiful best, the buffalo became fat and robust. Long lines made their leisurely way to water and back again to the feeding grounds. Usually they traveled single file, and the primary buffalo trails became three or more feet deep in places.

In late summer the animals were at ease. As the heat of the day increased they would lie down a great deal. The hunting days of the Indians tribe had not yet come, and the warriors only disturbed them on rare occasions for a supply of fresh meat.

When a herd crossed a large river, such as the Missouri, they swam in small groups, one group after the other. Because of the vast size of the herds, the leaders were already across and on their way to new feeding grounds before the last of the groups had moved up to the river. Often several hours had passed before the last group was across. When buffalo were swimming they occasionally blew water through their nostrils. This made a peculiar noise which could be heard underwater for amazing distances. The bellowing of the bulls was itself a sound which could be heard for as much as ten miles!
By October of a good year, all the buffalo were fat and the bulls were still moving with the herds, and it was the best time for tribal hunting. The first days of the hunt were devoted to obtaining all the meat needed for the winter. The chase for robes came later.

In November the bulls left the herds. They gathered in small groups and remained away from the cows until breeding time. During this period the hides from four year old cows were taken. The hair was not prime, but the hides were just right for new lodges.

Buffalo calves, weighing from twenty five to forty pounds at birth, started to drop about April, and continued to appear till May. As far as is known there were no twins, but a Assiniboine named Crazy Bull claimed he saw a two headed unborn calf while butchering a cow which he killed in March. In a chase, calves never ran close to their mothers. All of them fell to the rear, so even if there were twins, they were not discernible as such by the Indians.

The hair of the calves was of a yellowish or reddish color, and remained so until they were from three months to a year old, when they shed this wool and assumed the darker color of the adult buffalo. Calves were called Little Yellow Buffalo. Robes for children were made from these beautiful skins, and they were always tanned with the hair intact.

After an early fall hunt, a large number of motherless and deserted calves were left on the hunting ground. Cows always abandoned their calves as soon as hunters gave chase, and usually they were in the lead of a stampeding herd. The bulls ran just behind the cows and the yearlings and calves brought up the rear. Some hunters claimed that the cows could run faster than any of the other buffalo in the herd, and for this reason were always in the lead. Others said the bulls ran just behind the cows to protect them, and so were behind by choice.They always were right at the heels of the cows.

If a chase took place near a camp and calves were left, boys mounted on yearling ponies and using their small bows and arrows staged exciting miniature chases, to the delight of the warriors who looked on. Very young calves left motherless or deserted after a chase were even known to follow the hunters back to camp.

By fall a healthy buffalo youngster would have increased in size to four hundred pounds, and its coat was long, shaggy, and thickened with heavy wool against the rigors of the cold season soon to come.
The coat of a year old calf turned from its yellowish color to a dark shade. By now he was so fuffy that he looked big for his age. The Assinboines called them "Little Black-haired Ones", or "Fluffed-haired Ones."

Two year old buffalo were called "Two Teeth," having two full teeth at that age. Just before they reached the second year, Their horns emerged beyond their thick hair and commenced to curve. At that age the tips of the horns were blunt, so they were also called "Blunt Horns."

As they passed the second year, their horns continued to curve, and three year olds were known as "Curved Horns," because of the short, small, curved horns.

"Small-built Buffalo" was the usual name applied to the four year olds, but they were also called "Four Teeth." Robes taken from these in January and February were considered the best of all hides. They were not too thick, and the hair was fluffed out, silky, and thick.

Boys were taught that when the robe hunters rode into a herd, they were to look in particular for the "Small-built Ones," both males and females, with trim and neat bodies, whose coats of hair were like fine fur.

At the age of six, cows were known as "Big Females," which meant they were mature animals. The bulls of this vintage were called "Horns Not Cracked" because of their fine polished horns, which resulted from hours spent in polishing them by rubbing against low cut banks or trees. Sometimes the bulls pawed down the upper sides of washouts and used the newly exposed and harder surface as a polishing material.

Bull hides were skinned only to the shoulders and cut off, leaving behind the parts that covered the humps. To skin a mature bull, the Assiniboine boy learned how to lay the animal in a prone position and then make an incision along the back, starting a little above and between the tips of the shoulder blades and ending at the tail. When this method of skinning was completed, the hide was in two pieces.
In the more usual way of removing the buffalo hide, and a task ordinarily carried out by the women, the cow buffalo was placed on its side. Shoshone women sliced them along the back from the head to tail. Then they ripped them down the belly and took off the top half of the hide, cutting away all the meat on that side from the bones. After this they would tie ropes to the feet of the carcass and turned it over with their ponies, proceeding then to strip off the skin and flesh from the other side in the same way.
The heavier bull, being more difficult to move, was sometimes heaved onto his belly, with his legs spread. The women would slash him across the brisket and the neck and then fold the hide back so they could cut out the forequarters at the joints. To complete the removal they would split the hide down the middle.

Fat from matured animals, when rendered, was soft and yellowish in color. The tallow from young buffalo was always hard and white.

When buffalo became old, some living beyond the age of thirty years, they shrank in size. The horns, especially those of the bulls, were cracked, craggy, and homely. Old bulls congregated in lonely groups. They remained away from the main herds and usually died of natural causes because no one cared for their meat or hides.

There were some unusual buffalo, and the strange kinds which were noticed during the hunt were the source of animated discussions at gatherings afterward.

As stated previously, the color of the hair on all calves was yellowish, and by the end of the first year had turned almost black. However, a few retained their original color through their lifetime. They were called "yellow ones," and most of them were females. They were natural size buffalo with an odd color. Robes made from the yellow ones were rare, and a hunter was proud to be able to present one to a prominent person.

White or albino buffalo were rare, and the number taken by different bands was so few it became a matter of historical record to be handed down from generation to generation. Only three were known by the Assinibonie tribe. The hide of one was brought back by a war party, but the heirs did not know whether the party killed the animal or took it from an enemy tribe in a raid. Another was owned by a northern band, who, whenever a momentous occasion arose, used a piece of it to fashion a sacred buffalo horn headdress for a new headman. The third, a heifer, was only seen by several hunters who were returning to camp after a chase. Their horses were tired and no attempt was made to chase it. However, one of their number, whose name was Growing Thunder, followed the herd for some time but finally returned to the group and told how the herd seemed to guard the white one. He tried to get within shooting range of the animal but was unsuccessful. It remained at all times in the middle of the large herd.

Another kind, known as "spotted ones," had white spots on the underside and on the flanks. Some had small white spots on one or both hind legs, usually near the hoofs. Only females were marked in this way.

The "small-heads" were also females. They were of ordinary size, but had small heads and very short horns.

"Curved-horns" were both male and female. The bulls of this variety had short horns with accentuated curves, while the cow horns were thin, long and curved. The tips, which curved out of sight into the hair, made curved-horn cows look as if they wore earrings.

A certain old buffalo group was called "narrow-cows," because of the narrow-built bodies. From the side they looked like the rest of the females, but in a chase one was easily detected. In spite of their shape they were usually healthy and the meat was good.

Some females had forelocks, and sometimes hair around the horns, which were short and looked shorn. Since they resembled Indian women who had their hair short in mourning, they were known as "mourning-cows." These cows were more vicious than other kinds for some reason, and would charge mounted hunters if they came too close. Their meat was good, but it was seldom eaten because of a belief that if anyone who knew the facts ate the meat from a mourning-cow, there would be a death in the family.

---- "The Mystic Warriors of the Plains" - Thomas E. Mails (Part 1)

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**** Buffalo, Part II ****

Weather permitting, hunting in winter was a fairly simple task. The Indians could either hunt on horseback or use snowshoes, which enabled them to run over soft drifts. Although the buffalo's thick, coarse hair protected them from the extreme cold, their awesome weight worked against them in the snow. They frequently became exhausted, or were mired down in the drifts and unable to move. With little danger to themselves the Indians could run up to the buffalo, caught in the sea of white, and drive their arrows or lances into their diaphragms, lungs, or hearts. Much the same approach was used when animals were caught on frozen lakes or in summer when the hunters came upon a herd swimming across a wide river.

The most ancient method of capturing buffalo in large numbers was the piskin." Large piles of rocks, tree stumps, and buffalo dung were placed at intervals to make two converging lines, each over a mile in length. When completed they formed a long V-shaped pathway. The broad open end of the lines began at a natural grazing area, while the narrow end led into a small draw and up to a low hill about twenty-five feet in diameter. The hill would have a smooth slope on the approach side and a sharp drop on the far and hidden side. Around the far side the Indians built a large corral of horizontal logs and vertical posts. Sharpened stakes were angled across the bottom log with their points projecting in to prevent a trapped herd from jamming against the fence and pushing it over.

Once a herd moved into the vicinity of the open end or entrance of the funnel-shaped path, a "caller" wearing a buffalo robe over his head and imitating a buffalo calf sought to lure the herd toward the trap. When the buffalo started in a line of Indian drivers upwind and behind them made noises and frightened the herd into a run. Other band members, who had already taken their hiding places behind the heaps forming the funnel, leaped up as they passed and shouted to keep them running, until at last they raced over the hill and were trapped in the corral. Here the hunters closed in to kill the milling animals with clubs, arrows, and lances.

The piskin method was not always successful, since many things could go wrong, causing the herds to veer off at the entrance or even between the piles along the pathway. A large kill also left the place in an offensive mess. In summer the buffalo herds could smell it and steered clear of the area. But wind, sun, rain, and scavenger animals purified the corral, and in two or three months it was suitable for use again. The winter snow was a perfect cleanser too.

A variation of the piskin was the "buffalo jump." In this method, the funnelling pathway was employed again, but it ended at a sheer cliff some twenty or more feet in height. The best jumps were at the edge of a good pasture which sloped gently into a shallow draw and toward the rim. Hunters ran the herd in the direction of the cliff, with band members assisting again at the piles along the way. Shortly, the thundering herd plummeted into space and ended in a mass of dead and crippled beasts at the foot of the cliff. There the hunters finished them off, and the women set immediately to skinning them, since any meat not cut off, sliced, and placed on drying racks before the next morning would spoil.

Many of the buffalo jumps used by the Blackfeet and the Crows have been located in Montana. At some of these the bones and refuse cover an area several acres in width and are many feet deep, indicating their use for hundreds of years. Collectors still search through them for stone arrowheads today.

A successful piskin or buffalo jump hunt was an exhausting effort for the Indians, but it could supply each family with fresh meat for several days, with a reserve supply of dried meat, and with bones and several hides to tan.

The buffalo had poor vision, a keen sense of smell, and surprising speed when aroused. With their short tails sticking straight up and their shaggy manes shaking, they ran with a roll in their gallop which easily deceived the spectator as to the real pace they were going. The earth shook as they thundered over it, and not every horse could match their speed. "Blind fury" was an exact description of a charging buffalo bull. Its momentum was fantastic. And although its eyesight was poor, once its keen ears and nose had homed in on an enemy , its tenacity and agility was astounding. Even at a standstill, shoulder muscles tensed for action, head down, horns thrust forward, eyes bloodshot with anger, and quick hot breath steaming out of his nostrils, the aroused bull buffalo was an awesome sight and challenge. In addition to weight and speed, it had impressive height a mature bull stood six or seven feet at the shoulder hump. Beyond this there was a tough hide, a battering-ram skull with a thick hair pad, and a nervous system that sometimes kept it moving long after the beast was technically dead.
Against these teeming mountains of muscle, the Indian boy or warrior, until he obtained a gun, had only the bow and arrow, the lance, the long two-edged knife and, of course, the horse, which was really the weapon that finally sliced the odds between hunter and hunted. Skillfully used, it alone enabled its master to catch up with and get away from a stampeding herd.

Accordingly, the buffalo hunt became, in addition to a source of supply, an ideal training ground for military duty on horseback, for the two-thousand-pound Goliaths of blind fury and thrust were excellent tests of anyone's competence and valor as a warrior.

In the minds of the Plains Indians of 1750 to 1875, the classic buffalo hunt was the summer chase. Hunting then was close to warfare in its demands upon horsemanship and courage. Cool nerves and sharp reflexes were required of horse and rider in both hunting and war, so the young brave trained his finest horses in the buffalo hunt until they became like extensions of the lower part of his body.

It took months of hard work to ready a horse for use in hunting and warfare, and not every steed could meet the requirements. Any buffalo in good condition could outrun a mediocre horse. An acceptable mount must be able to run down its quarry in a mile or less. Since an untrained animal would shy and buck whenever it came close to buffalo, it had to be taught to race through a confusion of beasts and up to an enraged bull while guided by knee pressure alone. The hunter needed both hands free in war and in the chase, and in both instances he either let the reins drop on his horse's neck, tucked the loose ends in his belt, held them in his teeth, or locked them in the crook of his right arm.

Each warrior had to have at least one horse which was trained to a fine point for buffalo hunts and warfare. It became his best and favorite, and was usually too valuable to sell or trade. He guarded it like a treasure and picketed it just outside his tipi at night. After all, his existence and future depended upon it to an amazing degree. A buffalo and war horse was trained to stop instantly at a nudge of the knees or a tug from the rawhide thong, called a "war bridle," which was tied to the animal's lower jaw.
But more than that thong was necessary, since racing through thundering herds over rough ground that was riddled with bushes, rocks, and hidden burrows portended frequent collisions and spills for the rider, so during battles and hunts a fifteen- to twenty-foot rope was often tied around the horse's neck so that its free end would drag behind the horse. When a falling rider seized the rope, his horse came to a sharp stop, and in a moment the man was on his feet and mounted again. Often one who had an especially valuable buffalo horse cut V-shaped notches in his ears.

Buffalo hunters stripped to a clout, or to clout and leggings at most, to reduce their weight and to free their movements. Frame saddles, shields, and other extra gear were left behind at a selected site. Some hunters used pad saddles or buffalo robes tied on with a buckskin cinch. A hunter carried six or seven arrows and his bow in his hands, or when using a gun, a few bullets in his mouth. Quivers were carried at the hunter's left side so that arrows could be quickly drawn. A heavy quirt was used to prod the horse.

A bow's length away was the distance the hunters had to try for, and the preferred targets were the intestinal cavity just behind the last rib, and just back of the left shoulder and into the heart. At that narrow distance their powerful bows could sink an arrow into the buffalo's body up to the feather, or even pass it clear through him. A foot closer brought them into hooking range, but a foot farther away meant losing power and accuracy. Unless the buffalo was hit in a vital spot, he died slowly, or often recovered altogether. In either case, he would race away and was lost to the tribe. Hunting skill was also encouraged by the fact that if two or more arrows from the same hunter were found in one of the carcasses, the women returned them to their owner with scalding compliments about his shooting ability and courage. To avoid this, many a hunter would risk his neck a second time to ride in close enough to grab his badly placed arrows and yank them free. Either that or he might try to reach a fallen animal, dismount and seize his extra arrows before the others could see them. Success in this always resulted in a private chuckle by the hunter.

To the victors belonged the buffalo's liver, and when the chase had run its course, they jumped from their horses, cut it out, and ate it raw, seasoned with gall and still steaming with body heat and dripping blood.

These were bizarre but triumphant moments, and every boy remembered to the last detail that first, crowning day when he dropped a buffalo to the ground and ate its liver. If his adulthood and capabilities had been questioned until then, such doubts moved a long ways away. Surely he was a man-and ready to assume his place in the tribal scheme!

The Indian women of the Plains hold a place among the finest crafts people in the world in the art of skin dressing. Before cloth was obtained from the Whites in trade, the nomads of the Plains made everything they lived in and wore from the hides of buffalo and other large game animals.

Prepared skins are classified either as rawhide or buckskin. To make rawhide, the hide was first staked out on the ground with the hairy side down. Then the female worker hacked away the fat, muscle, and connecting tissues with a toothed flesher, originally made of bone, but later of iron pipe. After several days' bleaching in the sun, the woman scraped the skin down to an even thickness with an antler adz.
If she wanted to remove the hair, the hide was turned over and treated again with the adz. If an unusually thick hide was desired, the skin was alternately soaked and dried over a slow, smoky fire.
Rawhide, which could be bent without cracking, served primarily for binding things together and for the manufacture of waterproof receptacles.

Buckskin was required for pliable items such as clothing, quivers, bonnets, thongs, and soft pouches. To produce it the skin dresser had to tan the already prepared rawhide. Approaches varied somewhat in different areas of the Plains, but the following describes a common treatment: The tanner rubbed an oily mixture of fat, together with buffalo or other brains, into the hide, using first her hands, and then a smooth stone. After this, the hide was sun-dried and rolled up in a bundle. At this point it would shrink, and it then had to be stretched back to its proper size. Next a rough-edged stone was rubbed over the surface, and the skin was run back and forth through a loop of sinew attached to a pole. This process dried and softened the skin, and made it pliable. The hair was left on some robes, especially those intended for winter wear. The hairy surface of deerskins was honed down with a rib as a "beaming" tool before being pulled through the softening loop.

Some skins were browned, yellowed, or otherwise colored by smoking. To do this a smoldering fire was built in a small pit, and the skin was wrapped around an assemblage of poles set up in the form of a small cone or tipi. Various roots and kinds of bark were placed in the fire to make certain colors, with the amount of color being regulated by the length of time the skin was smoked. Catlin said this operation made the skin capable of remaining soft and flexible irrespective of exposure to moisture.
This is why most Indians smoked the skins which were to be made into moccasins, and why the smoke-saturated tops of tipis were popular for rawhide moccasin soles. In considering the over-all quality of Indian tanning, it is interesting to note that some of the skins were so perfectly tanned they are as soft and pliable today as they were a hundred years ago.

Buffalo hide was by far the most important material available for tanning, but it was much too heavy for many uses. So from time to time the hunters also brought in deer, elk, moose, mountain sheep, beavers, antelopes, mountain lions, coyotes, badgers, ermine, muskrats, and even rabbits.

Elk and deer skins were, in the main, used for clothing, a whole skin serving for the dress of a small girl, two skins for the dress of a woman, and two skins for a man's shirt. The leftover scraps of elk and deer skin were sometimes used for soft moccasin uppers, while other scraps were cut for fringes or fashioned into small bags. Even old dried pieces of skin were softened and used again and again. Hides of the furry animals were tanned with the fur on and used for bedding. Hides of medium-sized animals like the mountain lion and coyote were sometimes used whole for bags or quivers. Soft fur like that of rabbits and ermine was used in strips for the decoration of clothing and medicine objects.

Articles made of skin soiled easily, but Indian women were able to clean a well-tanned skin satisfactorily by using chalk, porous bone, native clay, or porous rock. Wet, white clay was rubbed on the skin and brushed off when dry. The Sauk tribe mixed white clay with water until a saturated solution was obtained. Dirty deerskin leggings were worked in this with the hands, and then were wrung out, dried, and kneaded till soft. The white clay remained in the leggings and imparted a beautiful white color to them. The Blackfoot Indians cleaned tanned skins with a piece of spongelike fungus. Lice on clothing were removed by leaving the article on an anthill for a day or so. Furs and pelts were preserved by drying the marten or the fisher bird, pounding it into a powder, and then sprinkling it over the fur.

As long as the buffalo lasted, the Indians sewed with sinew thread, using an awl made of a sharp splinter of bone from two to six inches in length or a thorn of the buffalo berry bush to puncture holes in the material to be sewed. Later, a steel awl or a nail, ground to a point, was substituted. Sinew is always one of the best indicators to any collector of the date or origin of an item, and the first thing he does is to feel an old garment in search of stiff sinew thread. A good awl was a prized item to be kept close at hand. They were carried in beaded cases, most of which were long, tapered, and round. The case top had a loop to attach it to the Indian's belt. Some had a cleverly designed cap which slid up on the thongs while the loop was still attached to the belt so the cap would not be lost.

Sinew was obtained from buffalo, elk, moose and other animals. There was usually an ample supply in camp after the hunts, since every part of the animal was preserved for its special use. The prime sinew for sewing was taken from the large tendon which lies along both sides of the buffalo's backbone, beginning just behind the neck joint and extending in length for about three feet. It was removed as intact as possible to obtain the greatest length. The short piece of tendon found under the shoulder blade of the buffalo cow provided an especially thick cord of sinew, several lengths of which were sometimes twisted together for use as a bowstring.

To prepare the string, the still moist tendon was cleaned by scraping it thoroughly with a piece of flint or bone. Before it was too dry, it was softened by rubbing it together between the hands, after which the fibers of sinew could be stripped off with an awl or piece of flint. It sounds simple, and the experienced Indians did it with precise skill, but it was no task for a novice. If the tendon was not prepared soon after it was taken from the body, or if the natural glue was not removed by immediate soaking in water, it became stiff and dry and had to be soaked until freed from the glue which clung to it. Then it was hammered and softened until the fibers could be stripped off readily.

As the fibers were peeled off in lengths of from one to three feet, they were moistened with saliva and twisted by rubbing them against the knee with a quick motion until they acquired the proper degree of elasticity. The experienced worker often stripped off enough of the sinew to make a braid in a loose plait, from which a fiber could be drawn out as needed. The sinew was always carefully wrapped in a hide cover until it was to be used.

In sewing, the soft end of the sinew was wet with saliva, twisted to a fine point, and allowed to dry stiff and hard so that, like a needle, it might be pushed easily through the awl holes in the skins. Several pieces of sinew would be prepared in this way before embroidery work began. While working, the women kept the rest of the strip of sinew moistened by applying saliva with their finger tips or by keeping the unused end of it balled up in their mouths. Thus the mouth served as a spool from which the sinew thread was fed.

Sinew could be kept indefinitely, and the thrifty beadworker usually had a large supply on hand, although it was easier to use when fresh, as the remaining natural glues became brittle when dry. Even if it became too dry, however, it could be soaked in warm water until its flexibility returned.

Skin dressing was intensified and facilitated by the introduction of iron blades and the White fur trade. Whereas the Indians had only killed game for their own needs, some of them now hunted on a much larger scale than before, trading the hides for beads, utensils, guns, and finally whiskey, and thus playing a small part in the rapid killing off of the buffalo. Once the buffalo became virtually extinct, and deer and elk scarce, hide preparations and use came to an end, and so abruptly that it has not been possible for scholars to reconstruct in complete detail all of the old ways of dealing with hides. Before 1850 the Indians were using woolen and cotton trade cloth in addition to skins, and from 1890 on, trade cloth was almost exclusively used to make clothing.

Summing up the material on the buffalo, it is seen that the Indians were so dependent upon the animal that their entire culture came to be interrelated with it. It was their storehouse, their source of industry, their main topic of conversation, and one of the prime intermediaries between God and man. Its swift destruction by White hunters, beginning about 1870 in the south and 1886 in the north, left the Indians destitute and confused. Life itself as they knew it had been taken suddenly and cataclysmically away. Little wonder they fought so furiously for their hunting grounds, and in the end were so slow to convert to an agricultural society, although the reasons for their reluctance to be converted are exceedingly complex, and go far beyond the buffalo itself.

END

---- "The Mystic Warriors of the Plains" - Thomas E. Mails (Part 2)

"By listening to the inner self and following one's instincts and intuitions, a person may be guided to safety."

---- Dr. A.C. Ross (Ehanamani), LAKOTA

"Be still and know. The Medicine Wheel teaches the four directions of inner power - not personal power, but the power of God. These four directions are emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual. As our emotions get too far out of control, we simultaneously create an equivalent mental picture, our physical body fills with stress and tension, and we become spiritually confused. When we experience these uptight feelings, the best thing to do is mentally pause, slow down our thinking, breathe slowly, or pray and ask the spirits to help. Only when we approach the stillness of the mind do we get access to our spiritual guidance system. To be guided, let your mind be still."

---- Elly Blue Ridge

The Four Directions Medicine Wheel

(as shared by a female Elder from the Anishnabe Nation )

“The Medicine Wheel was placed on Turtle Island by people thousands of years ago. For this Medicine Wheel, I want to honour one of the oldest things we have, which is our four directions. We seek knowledge from those four directions. We get power from those four directions. They pull stuff into our lives. When we call out to them in prayer, they will bring things to us. The four directions came with creation. We didn’t. We were the last thing created. And this is a garden, it’s coming from mother earth, so that’s where the four directions are coming from.

When I look at a Four Directions Medicine Wheel, I see yellow in the east, blue in the south, red in the west, white in the north. The sun rises yellow in the east. It’s always going to rise in the east, and it’s always going to set in the west. And we always get those red sunsets. So we have yellow in the east and red in the west. And the blue is because we have spring. And spring brings a lighter blue sky, and that blue sky is reflected in the water. Instead of being that darker, cold-looking water, we get those warm-looking waters, that warmer blue. And that is why we have blue in the south – it indicates the summer sky and the summer waters. The north is white because of the icebergs and snow.

The paths are another Medicine Wheel that represent all the nations of the world. And my
thought is that all peoples of the world could attend First Nations University and know about these plants, so I’m putting the path of all the Nations of the world leading into there. These are the white man, the yellow man, the red man and the black man. They can converge in there and learn about
our plants and our sacred spaces.

WHAT IS AN ABORIGINAL MEDICINE WHEEL? ---- Bob Joseph

There isn’t a simple answer to that question as medicine wheels (sometimes called hoops) come in more than one form, and their significance and use is culture-specific. There is, however, one fundamental similarity besides the shape - medicine wheels represent the alignment and continuous interaction of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual realities. The circle shape represents the interconnectivity of all aspects of one’s being, including the connection with the natural world. Medicine wheels are frequently believed to be the circle of awareness of the individual self; the circle of knowledge that provides the power we each have over our own lives.

Two images jump to mind when thinking about medicine wheels. One is the ancient stone version. According to the Royal Alberta Museum, “a medicine wheel consists of at least two of the following three traits: (1) a central stone cairn, (2) one or more concentric stone circles, and/or (3) two or more stone lines radiating outward from a central point. Using this definition, there are a total of 46 medicine wheels in Alberta. This constitutes about 66% of all medicine wheels known. Alberta, it seems, is the core area for medicine wheels.” How long ago stone medicine wheels were first created is still up for discussion but some have been dated to 4000 BC, which is when the Great Egyptian Pyramids were built; there are suggestions that the Big Horn Medicine Wheel, the largest and oldest, could be millions of years old. The original name for medicine wheels was “sacred circles” – the term “medicine wheel” was coined non-Native Americans in response to the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, Wyoming, the largest in North America, around the turn of the century.

The other familiar medicine wheel image is the iconic circle divided into four separately coloured quadrants. The number four has great significance in most Aboriginal cultures. The, black,white, red and yellow medicine wheels that we frequently see in logos, on drums, in art are all somewhat different. (Some have)...the inner circle, or centre, which is usually green and given the attributes of learning, self, balance and beauty. Certain culturally significant animals, being part of the natural world, are also often included.

The medicine wheel is interpreted uniquely to each culture. The order of the colours is not the same in each culture, nor are the attributes, and it would be wrong to make a sweeping generalization that indicated otherwise. The next time you see a medicine wheel, take a moment and think about its history and cultural significance.

The Native American Sweatlodge
A Spiritual Tradition

he Sweat Lodge Ceremony, now central to most Native American cultures and spiritual life, is an adaptation of the sweat bath common to many ethnic cultures found in North and South America, Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, and Africa. It was prompted by the influence of European culture with its corrupting effect on native culture. With the introduction of alcohol and the inhumane treatment of native people, the need to re-purify themselves and find their way back to traditional ways of living became evident, as they were becoming increasingly poisoned by European culture. The Sweat Lodge Ceremony was the answer.

With the help of Medicine Men and Women, they could repair the damage done to their spirits, their minds and their bodies. The Sweat Lodge is a place of spiritual refuge and mental and physical healing, a place to get answers and guidance by asking spiritual entities, totem helpers, the Creator and Mother Earth for the needed wisdom and power.

A traditional Sweat Lodge is a wickiup made up of slender withes of aspen or willow, or other supple saplings, lashed together with raw hide, or grass or root cordage, although in some areas the lodge was constructed of whatever materials were at hand, from a mud roofed pit house to a cedar bark and plank lodge. The ends of the withes are set into the ground in a circle, approximately 10 feet in diameter, although there is no set size for a Sweat Lodge. That is determined by the location, materials available and the builder. The withes are bent over and lashed to form a low domed framework approximately 4 - 5 feet high at the center. The pit in the center is about 2 feet in diameter and a foot deep. The floor of the lodge may be clean swept dirt, or natural grassy turf, or may be covered with a mat of sweetgrass, soft cedar boughs, or sage leaves for comfort and cleanliness, kept away from the central pit.

The lodge in former times was covered with the hides of buffalo, bear or moose. In this day, the animal skins have been replaced with blankets, plastic sheeting, old carpet, heavy gauge canvas sheets and tarps to retain the heat and the steam.


In many traditions the entrance to the sweat lodge faces to the East and the sacred fire pit. This has very significant spiritual value. Each new day for all begins in the East with the rising of Father Sun, the source of life and power, dawn of wisdom, while the fire heating the rocks is the undying light of the world, eternity, and it is a new spiritual beginning day that we seek in the sweat ceremony.

Between the entrance to the lodge and the sacred fire pit, where the stones are heated, is an altar barrier, beyond which none may pass except the lodge or fire keepers, to prevent participants from accidently falling into the fire as they emerge from sweat. Traditionally this barrier altar is a buffalo or other skull atop a post, placed about 3 paces from the entrance and 3 paces from the fire, to warn of the danger. At the base of the post is a small raised earthen altar upon which are placed items sacred to the group or clan, sage, sweetgrass, feathers, etc., bordered with the four colors, and a pipe rack for the chanunpa.

Common to all traditions, and the sweat, is the ideal of spiritual cleanliness. Many sweats start with the participants fasting for an entire day of contemplation in preparation for the sweat while avoiding caffeine, alcohol and other unhealthy substances. Prior to entering the sweat the participants usually smudge with sage, sweetgrass or cedar smoke as a means toward ritual cleanliness.

Bringing personal sacred items is allowed but some rules apply. Items such as Eagle feathers, whistles and medicine pouches are allowed and welcomed. You should not bring anything that is not natural into the Sweat Lodge, such as: watches, ear rings, gold, silver, eye glasses, false teeth, etc. In many cultures a female on her moon is not allowed into the sweat, but in some they are.

A Sweat Ceremony in many traditions usually starts with the loading and offering of the sacred chanunpa ~ "peace pipe" ~ in prayer, that the participants may know and speak the truth in their supplications of Grandfather, Earth Mother and the spirits. In other traditions, when you are called upon to go into the sweat lodge you will have some tobacco to offer to the sacred fire, saying a prayer or asking a question, the smoke from the tobacco carrying your request to the Great Spirit. As you prepare to enter the lodge the sweat leader smudges you with the smoke of burning sage, cedar, or sweetgrass, wafting the smoke over you with an eagle feather. You then crawl into the lodge in a sun-wise (clockwise) direction, bowing in humility to Great Spirit and in close contact with Earth Mother, and take your place in the circle, sitting crosslegged upright against the wall of the lodge.

When all are inside the sweat leader calls upon the doorkeeper to drop the flap covering the lodge opening. The lodge becomes dark, and at this point the lodge leader announces that all are free to leave the lodge at any time if they cannot endure. (If you must leave, speak out "Mitakuye Oyasin," "All my relatives." The other participants will move away from the wall so that you may pass behind them as you leave in a clockwise direction.) He then asks for a short, contemplative silence. After the brief silence the flap is raised, and the leader calls upon the fire tender to bring in the heated stones from the sacred fire.

The Stone People spirits are awakened in the stones by heating them in the sacred fire until red-hot. They are swept clean with a pine or cedar bough to remove smoking embers which would cause irritating discomfort in the lodge. One at a time they are placed in the shallow pit inside the sweat lodge, placing first the stone on the west, then north, east, south, and in the center to Grandfather. Additional stones are then placed to Grandmother and The People. After four to seven stones are in the pit, depending on tradition (and probably the size of the stones), the entrance is closed and sealed by the Sweat Lodge Keeper, who generally is also the fire tender.

Aglow with the luminance of the red hot stones, the ceremony begins in the lodge. The sweat leader sounds the Water Drum and calls forth the spirit guides in prayer from the Four Directions. The sweat leader then dips water and pours it onto the hot stones in the pit, producing large amounts of steam, usually one dipper for each of the four directions, or until he is told by the spirits to stop. Then he begins his prayers, songs and chants.

A typical prayer might be:

Grandfather, Mysterious One,
We search for you along this
Great Red Road you have set us on.
Sky Father, Tunkashila,
We thank you for this world.
We thank you for our own existence.
We ask only for your blessing and for your instruction.

Grandfather, Sacred One,
Put our feet on the holy path that leads to you,
and give us the strength and the will
to lead ourselves and our children
past the darkness we have entered.
Teach us to heal ourselves,
to heal each other and to heal the world.

Let us begin this very day,
this very hour,
the Great Healing to come.
Let us walk the Red Road in Peace.

During the purification of one's spirit inside a sweat lodge, all sense of race, color and religion is set aside. As in the Mother's womb and the Father's eyes, we are all the same, we are One. Each of us has the ability to sit with the Creator himself. Healing begins here for dis-ease, physical, emotional, directional and spiritual.

As the steam and temperature rises so do our senses. Messages and vision from the Spirit World are received through the group consciousness of the participants. One at a time, as a talking stick is passed, all the people inside get an opportunity to speak, to pray and to ask for guidance and forgiveness from the Creator and the people they have hurt. As they go around the circle, they tell who they are, where they are from, and what is their clan, so the Creator, the Spirit People, and all there can acknowledge them.

A sweat is typically four sessions, called rounds or endurances, each lasting about 30 to 45 minutes. The round ends when the leader announces the opening of the door.

The first round is for recognition of the spirit world which resides in the black West where the sun goes down, and the Creator may be asked for a "spirit guide" by some of the participants.

The second round is for recognition of courage, endurance, strength, cleanliness, and honesty, calling upon the power of the white North.

The recognition of knowledge and individual prayer symbolize the third round, praying to the direction of the daybreak star and the rising sun that we may gain wisdom, that we may follow the Red Road of the East in all our endeavors.

The yellow South stands for growth and healing. Thus, the last round centers on spiritual growth and healing. From our spirit guides from the west, from the courage, honesty and endurance of the north, from the knowledge and wisdom obtained from the east, we continue the circle to the south from which comes growth. It is from growth and maturing that healing comes.

At the completion of each round, the participants may emerge, if desired, to plunge into an adjacent pool or stream if one is available, or roll in the snow if the sweat is held in winter. In arid areas the participants roll in the sand to cool off and remove the sweat. Many participants maintain their places in the lodge until completion of the fourth round, while the cooled stones in the pit are removed and replaced with hot stones.

There are many different forms of sweat ceremonies in Indian country. Each people has their own tradition and this is especially clear when it comes to the sweat lodge ceremony. Many differences, depending on the people participating, occur during each ritual. For instance, many times rounds are held in complete silence and meditation as the participants feel the need. At other less intense times, a round may be devoted to story telling and recounting of the clan's creation stories. This is all part of spiritual and emotional healing and growth. Respect, sincerity, humility, the ability to listen and slow down are all key in the way you approach ceremony.

---- Barefoot Windwalker

(cont'd)

Who Sweats and Why?

The sweat lodge ceremony usually occurs before and after other major rituals like the "Vision Quest" for example. The aim of the ceremony is to purify one's mind, body, spirit and heart. It is also a "stand alone" ritual that it occurs whenever it is needed. Sweat lodge essentially translates into returning to the womb and the innocence of childhood. The lodge is dark, moist, hot and safe. The darkness relates to human ignorance before the spiritual world and so much of the physical world.

Traditionally it was only the men who would sweat. As time has passed and the lodge has evolved, other levels have been shown. The sweat lodge has given many gifts and shown itself as a way to not only cleanse, but to release anger, guilt and shame in a safe way, and to bring people together as ONE. These days women sweat also, provided they are not on their moon time or cleansing time already. Men can sweat separately and women can sweat separately, or there can be mixed sweats where men and women both participate. The Elder or Lodge Keeper running the ceremony according to their teachings will determine this.

Observing very strict protocols while in ceremony are key. Men and women must both practice modesty in their dress when they come to ceremony. Sweat lodge is not a fashion show, nor is it a place for vanity or to get a date. This is a sacred place to pray, meditate, learn and heal, and that must be the focus.

Unlike "New Age" sweats we do not go in naked when men and women are present. It has nothing to do with being uncomfortable with our bodies, as some would have us believe. Rather it is about not confusing spirituality with sexuality, and creating a safe place where all people feel comfortable. Men, women, boys and girls can all benefit from the lodges. Modesty is to be practiced in our dress, meaning that men wear shorts and bring a couple of towels to cover themselves and the women wear modest dress or long skirt with a loose T-shirt and a couple of towels.

We must always walk the Red Road in a way that honors others' views and teachings without sacrificing our own. All of these ways are good, none is better or worse than the other.

We need to unite all of the races and both of the sexes if we are going to be strong and the Sacred Hoop is to be mended. Every form of spirituality goes through change. This evolution reflects the changing needs of the community and of our environment. Anything that will not change risks isolating itself from the people. Water is life and changes everything, even the hardest stone. The change that is needed is turning towards each other instead of away from one another. If we ceremony together, we heal together, we laugh together, live and love together.

If you are invited to a sweat, the 24 hours previous to the sweat should be spent in cleansing, fasting, prayer and meditation on the intended purpose of the sweat, and you should be free from drugs and alcohol. For the greatest spiritual benefit, these conditions should be met.

If you would like to know more of what happens in a sweat lodge ceremony the answer is quite simple:
Attend one. It will be different than the last one you attended.

And so it is . . .
Hokh! Mitakuye o’yasin. Hecetu welo !! . . . All my relatives, it is indeed so..!!

A ho!
Love and Peace,

---- Barefoot Windwalker