ANCIENT WISDOM
By
JOHN G. SUTTON
Within the U.S.A. in the southwest of Dakota, on the Nebraska border, the remains of the largest tribal group of native North American people exist in a reservation called Pine Ridge. They are virtually all that remains of the once proud tribe collectively known as the Lakota Sioux Indians. The conditions they endure are desperate and degrading:
The Lakota Sioux people of Pine Ridge are the direct descendants of Chiefs Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Red Cloud, names that are synonymous with North American history. Yet, far from being revered and respected as the surviving family of those brave historical figures, today’s Sioux Indians are, in effect, social outcasts excluded from society. Their ancient wisdom and ways are fast fading away as their country moves ever closer to the new American Dream of ostentatious materialism. Once The Great White Spirit ruled the lives of the Sioux, now it is Federal Government. So what is being lost along with the remaining 30,000 or so lives of the Sioux Indians?
The ancient wisdom and spiritual beliefs of the tribal Indians are in danger of being eradicated along with the people. Here are some examples taken from The Seven Sacred Rites of the Lakota Sioux:
· The Keeping of the Soul: In order to reconcile the death of a loved one, this ritual permits the resolution of things left undone, the healing of the Spirit and growth for the greater community. It allows the transition of the deceased into the Spirit World.
· The Rite of Purification (Sweat Lodge) In this ritual the smoke from the pipe, the heat from the fire in the sweat lodge and ancient rituals realease guilt, burdens and evil from the participant, bringing them closer to Wakan Tanka (the Great Spirit).
· Crying For A Vision: The Vision Quest gives the participant responsibility for setting and honoring limits. After a period of fasting, the participant focuses on prayer in order to hear ‘the voice of the Sacred’.
· The Sun Dance: In a ceremony that involves abstaining from food and water and dancing for four days, participants endure suffering – formerly shedding their own blood – so that others will not suffer. The suffering can by symbolic, spiritual or, as in the past, very real.
· The Making of Relatives: Through prayer to Wakan Tanka (the Great Spirit) the exchange of sacramental food and smoking from the sacred pipe, an enduring bond of community is formed between people.
· Preparing a Girl for Womanhood: This puberty ceremony purifies a girl who has her first menstrual period, preparing her for womanhood and childbirth. In a tipi built by the girl’s family, a holy man conducts the ritual with the proper sacred objects, including a buffalo skull painted red.
· Throwing of the Ball: This former rite, performed only by women, used a ball filled with buffalo hair covered with a red and blue painted buffalo, which represented the material and spiritual aspects of the universe. In order to receive a great blessing, participants must choose to reach for the ball, while acknowledging that not everyone will catch it.
From the legend of the White Buffalo Calf Woman came the tradition of the Seven Sacred Rites and the Smoking of the Sacred Pipe. The Seven Rites, as above, survive among the remains of the Lakota Sioux despite being periodically outlawed by the U.S. Government.
Lakota Sioux religion is polytheistic, that is believing in many gods or spirits. Nature and cosmology play an important role in their belief. The Lakota Sioux believe that before the creation of the earth, the gods lived in a celestial realm and humans in a subterranean world without culture. They believe that on earth spirits reside in every part of the natural world. Among their gods are: Something That Moves (Takushkansjkan) The Sun. (Wi) The Moon, who is married to the Sun; and their daughter Falling Star (Wohpe). Other spirits include Spider (Inktomi), Old Man and Old Woman and their daughter Face (Ite) who is married to Wind and has four sons: the Four Winds.
Reflecting the elements Earth, Fire, Air and Water and the seasons Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, the number four is an essential symbol of Lakota Sioux spirituality. It also represents North, South, East and West and the four races: Red, Black, White and Yellow. Another important symbol is the circle, the foundation for the traditional house, the tipi. In the Lakota Sioux way everything is circular in the journey of life and death. Time passes slowly in the full observation of life. Man and nature live in concert with one another, rather than in a struggle for domination.
Today the Lakota Sioux are in dire need of help to enable them to survive and continue to live within the country they once considered their own, given to them, as Chief Crazy Horse said, by the Great Spirit. One person that is attempting to raise both awareness and money for the Lakota Sioux on the Pine Lodge Reservation is Mrs Brenda Aplin. Brenda has set up a charity fund called LAKOTA AID. This charitable fund aims to help the Lakota Sioux survivors to live their lives with hope and dignity. Brenda has visited the Pine Lodge Reservation many times over the last few years and is asking all who care about the gentle Lakota Sioux people to donate what they will. The image above is of Brenda with her friend from the Lakota Sioux: Weasel Bear. You can contact Brenda Aplin at: 107 Mincinglake Road, Stoke Hill, Exeter, Devon. EX4 7DU Tel. 01392 664295. Donations payable to: Lakota Aid. E-mail: lewjas@aol.com