Oceti Wakan

"Oceti Wakan (Sacred Fireplace) is a vision shared by Pete Catches Sr. (Petaga Yuha Mani) and his son Peter V. Catches (Zintkala Oyate), both Spotted Eagle medicine men of the Oglala Lakota. In Pete's words, Oceti Wakan is a response to events that have devastated the Dakota people over the past six generations, and is focused on creating a place "for the healing of the family as a whole by rekindling Lakota spiritual values and culture." Sacred Fireplace is part of Pete Catches' contribution to making his vision a concrete reality. A healer and teacher, Petaga Yuha Mani (He Walks With Hot Coals) was credited with reviving the traditional Sundance ceremony among the Lakota. In 1964 he was named Sundance chief by the Oglala Sioux tribal council, the only such distinction in tribal history. Pete Catches lived on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota throughout his life, and for decades healed and instructed both Native and non-Natives near his home and off the reservation. This book describes his struggles to embrace the Spotted Eagle medicine way, Lakota legends and ceremonies, and reflections on the history and culture of his people and on his own life. Long awaited by those who knew Pete Catches and his work, Sacred Fireplace is a major legacy of his exemplary life and the essence of his teachings in his own words"--Back cover.

Anyone who has read 'Lamedear - Seeker of Vision,' 'Black Elk,' or 'Book of Elders' will want to read this book. It is a book that has been written by two generations of Lakota (Sioux) medicine men, a father & son, from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. These men come from 38 generations of medicine men. They are the Keepers of the Spotted Eagle Way. Pete Catches, Petaga Yuha Mani, was a renowned holy man who was known by his people for bringing the Sundance out into the open in the early 60s. He shares his life in his own words on how he tried not to be a medicine man & finally how he had to enact his sacred dream & how this brought him to a life of service. The authors give you a true & beautiful look into the Lakota world through stories which teach values, creation & legends. They share insights into the Sweat Lodge, Pipe Fast (Hanbleceya), & Sundance; three of the sacred rites given to the Lakota people. You will gain glimpses of the love, the deep rooted sorrow, & the rebirth of the Lakota oyate. This book will prove to be a classic on Lakota culture & spirituality.

This book includes both new essays and revised versions of classic works by recognized authorities on Black Elk. Clyde Roller's introduction explores his life and texts and illustrates his relevance to today's scholarly discussions. Dale Stover considers Black Elk from a postcolonial perspective, and R. Todd Wise investigates similarities between Black Elk Speaks and the Testimonio (as exemplified by I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala). Anthropologist Raymond A. Bucko provides an annotated bibliography and a sensitive guide to the issues surrounding cultural appropriation, a subject also explored through Frances Kaye's engaging reading of Hawthorne's The Marble Fawn. Classic essays by Julian Rice and George W. Linden are included in the collection as well as Hilda Niehardt's reflections on the 1931 and 1944 interviews with Black Elk. With its unusually broad range of academic disciplines and perspectives, this book shows that Black Elk stands at the intersection of today's scholarly discussions. In addition to scholars of religion, anthropology, multicultural literature, and Native American studies, The Black Elk Reader will appeal to a general audience.

Reincarnation in America: An Esoteric History surveys the complex history of reincarnation theories across multiple fields of discourse in a pre-American context, ranging from early Greek traditions to Medieval Christian theories, Renaissance esotericism, and European Kabbalah, all of which had adherents that brought those theories to America. Rebirth theories are shown in all these groups to be highly complex and often disjunctive with mainstream religions even though members of conventional religions frequently affirm the possibility of rebirth. As a history of an idea, reincarnation theory is a current, vital belief pattern that cuts across a wide spectrum of social, cultural, and scientific domains in a long, complex history not reducible to any specific religious or theoretical explanation. This book is cross-disciplinary and multicultural, linking religious studies perspectives with science based research; it draws upon many distinct disciplines and avoids reduction of reincarnation to any specific theory. The underlying thesis is to demonstrate the complexity of reincarnation theories; what is unique is the historical overview and the gradual shift away from religious theories of rebirth to new theories that are therapeutic and trans-traditional.

¾–Josephine Waggonerês writings offer a unique perspective on the Lakota. Witness will become a widely referenced primary source. Emily Levine has meticulously examined all known collections of Waggonerês manuscripts, sometimes comparing handwritten drafts with multiple typed copies to preserve information in full. Levineês extensive notes are well chosen and informative. Witness will interest both specialist and popular audiences.”ãRaymond DeMallie, Chancellorsê Professor of Anthropology and American Indian Studies at Indiana University¾ During the 1920s and 1930s, Josephine Waggoner (1871_1943), a Lakota woman who had been educated at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia, grew increasingly concerned that the history and culture of her people were being lost as elders died without passing along their knowledge. A skilled writer, Waggoner set out to record the lifeways of her people and correct much of the misinformation about them spread by white writers, journalists, and scholars of the day. To accomplish this task, she traveled to several Lakota and Dakota reservations to interview chiefs, elders, traditional tribal historians, and other tribal members, including women.¾¾ Published for the first time and augmented by extensive annotations, Witness offers a rare participantês perspective on nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Lakota and Dakota life. The first of Waggonerês two manuscripts presented here includes extraordinary firsthand and as-told-to historical stories by tribal members, such as accounts of life in the Powder River camps and at the agencies in the 1870s, the experiences of a mixed-blood HÏ?kpap?a girl at the first off-reservation boarding school, and descriptions of traditional beliefs. The second manuscript consists of Waggonerês sixty biographies of Lakota and Dakota chiefs and headmen based on eyewitness accounts and interviews with the men themselves. Together these singular manuscripts provide new and extensive information on the history, culture, and experiences of the Lakota and Dakota peoples.

A powerful story of one man's redemption through the Lakota Sun Dance ceremony. • Written by the only white man to be confirmed as a Sundance Chief by traditional Lakota elders. • Includes forewords by prominent Lakota spiritual leaders Leonard Crow Dog, Charles Chipps, Mary Thunder, and Jamie Sams. The Sun Dance is the largest and most important ceremony in the Lakota spiritual tradition, the one that ensures the life of the people for another year. In 1988 Michael Hull was extended an invitation to join in a Sun Dance by Lakota elder Leonard Crow Dog-- a controversial action because Hull is white. This was the beginning of a spiritual journey that increasingly interwove the life of the author with the people, process, and elements of Lakota spirituality. On this journey on the Red Road, Michael Hull confronted firsthand the transformational power of Lakota spiritual practice and the deep ambivalence many Indians had about opening their ceremonies to a white man. Sun Dancing presents a profound look at the elements of traditional Lakota ceremonial practice and the ways in which ceremony is regarded as life-giving by the Lakota. Through his commitment to following the Red Road, Michael Hull gradually won acceptance in a community that has rejected other attempts by white America to absorb its spiritual practices, leading to the extraordinary step of his confirmation as a Sun Dance Chief by Leonard Crow Dog and other Lakota spiritual leaders.

The Columbia Guide to American Indian Literatures of the United States Since 1945 is the first major volume of its kind to focus on Native literatures in a postcolonial context. Written by a team of noted Native and non-Native scholars, these essays consider the complex social and political influences that have shaped American Indian literatures in the second half of the twentieth century, with particular emphasis on core themes of identity, sovereignty, and land. In his essay comprising part I of the volume, Eric Cheyfitz argues persuasively for the necessary conjunction of Indian literatures and federal Indian law from Apess to Alexie. Part II is a comprehensive survey of five genres of literature: fiction (Arnold Krupat and Michael Elliott), poetry (Kimberly Blaeser), drama (Shari Huhndorf), nonfiction (David Murray), and autobiography (Kendall Johnson), and discusses the work of Vine Deloria Jr., N. Scott Momaday, Joy Harjo, Simon Ortiz, Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko, Gerald Vizenor, Jimmy Santiago Baca, and Sherman Alexie, among many others. Drawing on historical and theoretical frameworks, the contributors examine how American Indian writers and critics have responded to major developments in American Indian life and how recent trends in Native writing build upon and integrate traditional modes of storytelling. Sure to be considered a groundbreaking contribution to the field, The Columbia Guide to American Indian Literatures of the United States Since 1945 offers both a rich critique of history and a wealth of new information and insight.