Transcript Lakota
Religion of the North
American Plains Indians
First humans in America
Human came to North America
20,000 yrs. ago
Migrated from Asia by crossing
over the Bering Strait (situated
between Russia and Alaska)
Under water now
These first humans formed
many tribes
Domestic horses enabled the
Plains Indians to become great
hunters of buffalo and other
game
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The Lakota
The Lakota is the largest and
most influential tribe
Aka Western Sioux
Inhabited western Montana
and Wyoming, eastern regions
of the Dakotas and parts of
Nebraska
In 1890 more than 200 Lakota
were massacred as the result
of the war between Indians
and whites
Today about 100,000 Lakota
live on reservations in
Montana and North and South
Dakota
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Ultimate reality
The Lakota name for the supreme reality is Wakan Tanka
Sometimes translated as Great Spirit/Great Mysterious
Literally meaning: most sacred
Wakan Tanka refers to 16 separate deities
The # 16 is derived from the number 4- 4X4
4-most sacred #
Refers to the compass directions: north, south, east, and
west
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Supernatural beings
•Inktomi
• Name means “Spider”
• Mediator between the
supernatural and human
worlds.
• Taught 1st humans their
ways and customs
• Trickster figure
• Offers moral lessons from
experience
• Do not behave as Inktomi
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Destiny: Next life
Belief in Death/Afterlife
Believe that four souls depart from a person at death
First soul journeys to the “spirit path” of the Milky Way
Meets an old woman who judges it and either allows it to continue on to the world
of the ancestors
or it goes back to earth as a ghost
The other souls enter unborn children to be reborn
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Two main rituals wkst
1. The Vision Quest
2. The Sun Dance
Vision Quest: (Initiation Rite)
Vision Quest
Purpose:
To gain spiritual power and knowledge of one’s role in society
For success in hunting, warfare, and curing the ill
Experienced by
Carried out by
young women and men (more frequently)
a spiritual leader: medicine woman or medicine man- they
issue specific instructions beforehand, and interpret the
content of the vision afterward.
Expresses 3 dimensions of religion
Ritual: sweat lodge prior to going out on one’s own
Experiential: Receiving the vision or guardian spirit
Mythic: meaning of the guardian spirit
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VISION QUEST: Ritual
Ritual of purification in the sweat lodge
Procedure
A dark/airtight hut made of saplings and
covered with animal skins
Represents the universe
Heated stones placed in the center and water
is poured over them by the medicine man
The resulting hot steam causes the
participant to sweat profusely
Steam room
Both physical and spiritual purification
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Vision Quest:
Experiential & Mythical
After purification, the person goes off alone
without food, water or shelter for a set # of days
The
vision comes to the person in the form
of an animal, other object, or force of nature
Once the person returns
to camp, a medicine
man/woman interprets the
vision, to determine their
role for the rest of his/her
life
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2nd Major Lakota Ritual: Sun Dance
Purpose:
Benefits all
(community ritual)
Occurs at the
beginning of
summer as new
year celebration
to prepare for the
annual buffalo hunt
Leader:
A medicine man or
woman
Procedure:
1. Construct a lodge
Cottonwood tree is
selected
This tree becomes the
Axis Mundi: the axis or
center of the universe.
The tree represents the
supreme being
Connects heaven &
earth
The loge is constructed of
28 poles around the tree:
representing the 28 days of
lunar month
The finished lodge is
representative of the
universe with its four
compass directions.
2. Begin Dance
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The Sun Dance: Practice
The Sun Dance features long periods of dancing
Dancers dance facing the sun for life- giving powers
Music and drumbeats accompany the dancing
Dancers skewer the flesh of their chests and attach
themselves to the tree with leather thongs
Dancers dance pulling back until the skin tears
Purpose of bodily mutilation:
The body is only thing humans can really call their own
Therefore, the body is the best sacrifice to offer to the
Supreme Being
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