Aspects of Historical and Contemporary Oglala Lakota Belief and Ritual
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TRANSMITTING SACRED KNOWLEDGE: ASPECTS OF HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY OGLALA LAKOTA BELIEF AND RITUAL David C. Posthumus Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Anthropology, Indiana University April 2015 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Doctoral Committee __________________________________________ Raymond J. DeMallie, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Douglas R. Parks, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Jason B. Jackson, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Christina Snyder, Ph.D. March 12, 2015 ii Copyright © 2015 David C. Posthumus iii Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people for their friendship, encouragement, criticism, patience, and support. This work would have never been completed or possible without them. First of all I want to thank my Lakota friends and adoptive relatives for sharing their lives and deep knowledge with me. I am very thankful for your friendship, acceptance, generosity, enduring support, and for allowing me to tag along with you on your many adventures. I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you and consider you as relatives. Thank you to Robert Brave Heart, Sr. and the entire Brave Heart family; Stanley Good Voice Elk; Alvin and Steve Slow Bear; Tom Cook and Loretta Afraid of Bear; Joe Giago, Richard Giago, and Tyler Lunderman; John Gibbons and his family; and Russ and Foster “Boomer” Cournoyer. Special thanks go to Arthur Amiotte and his wife Janet Murray, the late Wilmer “Stampede” Mesteth and his wife Lisa, Richard Two Dogs and his wife Ethleen, and their families. I cannot thank you all enough, and I am a better person because of you. Thank you to the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University Bloomington, the American Society for Ethnohistory, and Red Cloud Indian School for their practical support of my work. Thank you also to photographer Aaron Huey for permission to use his fine work. I am so grateful for all of my teachers, both within and beyond academia, and want to thank those who have been instrumental not only in this project but also in my development as a scholar. Thank you to Raymond Bucko, S.J.; Peter Klink, S.J.; Robert McKinley; Laura Scheiber; Christina Snyder and Jason Jackson for your advice, comments, and encouragement; and Douglas Parks for your kindness and support throughout the years and one-of-a-kind sense of humor. The most special thanks of all goes to my advisor and friend Raymond DeMallie, whose work originally inspired iv me to pursue a Ph.D. in anthropology. Without Ray’s unwavering support, encouragement, generosity, and wisdom I truly would not be who I am today. He is an uncommonly kind person, a wonderful mentor, and an even better friend. His brilliant and empathetic scholarship continues to inspire me to this day, and this dissertation has been greatly enhanced by his positive influence and steadfast guidance. Last but not least, I want to thank my wife Emily Posthumus for her patience and support. You are much appreciated, and I could never have finished without you. I sincerely hope that I have not forgotten anyone in these brief acknowledgements, and if I have, please forgive me. Finally, I am solely responsible for any errors of fact or interpretation in the work presented here. v David C. Posthumus TRANSMITTING SACRED KNOWLΕDGE: ASPECTS OF HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY OGLALA BELIEF AND RITUAL The Lakotas are well known historically for their role in the so-called Sioux Wars of the nineteenth century and for the famous leaders counted among their ranks, including Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Black Elk. The Lakotas are also known for their relatively well-documented religious traditions preserved in classic works by Black Elk, James R. Walker, Frances Densmore, Clark Wissler, and Luther Standing Bear, to name a few. In 1883 the United States government banned American Indian religious expression and ritual. Although traditional spiritual practices were observed in secret during the ban period, roughly spanning from 1883 to 1934, a great amount of religious knowledge was lost as elders passed on and members of the younger generations were raised as Christians. However, the Lakotas have long served as a model for other tribal groups in the retention of traditional values. The Oglalas of Pine Ridge are often considered the most traditional, a discursive term tied to conceptions of ethnic identity. Many beliefs and practices are perpetuated among the Oglalas that have become dormant on other Sioux reservations. During my fieldwork at Pine Ridge I participated in the ritual networks of four practitioners, representing a broad spectrum of contemporary practice. I examined religious belief, ritual behavior, social networks, and the lives and practices of modern practitioners, trying to fit them into the broader picture of reservation life and the vi dynamics of tradition. Transmitting Sacred Knowledge examines historical and contemporary Oglala belief and ritual and how they shape identity and ethnicity. Based on ethnohistorical and linguistic sources and over twenty months of fieldwork, my dissertation traces the development of Lakota religion from the pre-reservation period to the present, exploring key concepts and themes, Lakota disease theory, and positing a topology of nineteenth-century practitioners. Examining shifting and contested understandings of tradition, Transmitting Sacred Knowledge explores contemporary Lakota identity politics, practitioners, and the social organization of twenty-first century Lakota religion. Although the patterns of interaction have changed since the establishment of Pine Ridge Reservation in 1869 there remains a distinct and undeniable continuity with and fidelity to past traditions, beliefs, and practices. __________________________________________ Raymond J. DeMallie, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Douglas R. Parks, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Jason B. Jackson, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Christina Snyder, Ph.D. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1 PART ONE: THEORIES AND METHODOLOGIES ................................................16 1. Symbolic, Interpretive, and Cognitive Anthropologies ........................................16 2. Religion, Spirituality, Ritual, and Symbol .............................................................24 3. Performing Identity and Ethnicity .........................................................................46 4. Indigeneity and Decolonization ..............................................................................56 PART TWO: ASPECTS OF PRE- AND EARLY RESERVATION PERIOD OGLALA LAKOTA BELIEF AND RITUAL ..............................................................70 1. Introduction ..............................................................................................................70 2. Nineteenth-Century Lakota Conceptions of the Human Soul .............................82 2.1 Niyá, Waníya, and Wóniya (Life, Breath) ............................................................87 2.2 Naǧí and Wanáǧi (Spirit, Soul) ............................................................................92 2.3 Naǧíla (Other-Than-Human Spirit, Spirit-like, Soul-like, Little Spirit) ..............99 2.4 “Given Šičúŋ” and Wašíčuŋ (Spirit Guardian, Imparted Potency of a Wakȟáŋ) ...................................................................................................................103 2.5 Conclusions ........................................................................................................108 3. “(Derived) Šičúŋ,” Wašíčuŋ, and Wóphiye (Ceremonial Bag or Bundle Infused with Wakȟáŋ Potency) ...............................................................................................112 PART THREE: WAKȞÁŊ, MEDICINE, AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY LAKOTA DISEASE THEORY ....................................................................................141 1. Pȟežúta (Medicine) .................................................................................................141 2. Ní (Life, Breath) and Nineteenth-Century Lakota Disease Theory ..................162 3. Conclusions: (Re)Articulating Nineteenth-Century Lakota Disease Theory ...177 PART FOUR: TUWÁ OGNÁ WIČHÁKA’AYAPI (THOSE THEY BRING THE PIPE TO): NINETEENTH-CENTURY LAKOTA RELIGIOUS PRACTITIONERS ........................................................................................................187 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................187 2. Glossed in Translation: Articulating Lakota Magico-Medico-Ritual Terms and Their English Equivalents .........................................................................................201 3. Innate vs. Acquired Power or the Obtainment vs. Attainment of Power .........218 viii 4. Iháŋblapi (Dreamers): Classification Based on Other-Than-Human Power Source ..........................................................................................................................232 5. Wakȟáŋȟ’aŋpi (Performing Mysterious Acts): Classification Based on Ability, Method, Practice, and Technique .............................................................................254