A Possible Origin for the Cheyenne Sacred Arrow Complex

Abstract

This paper examines known origin myths and describes how the four Sacred Arrows were utilized by the Cheyenne in time of hunger and battle. By combining the existing folklore with an examination of Cheyenne prehistory, a more precise time and geographical point of origin of the whole Cheyenne Sacred Arrow “complex” is developed.     

The Meaning of Death in Northern Cheyenne Culture

Abstract

Death is a process in Northern Cheyenne culture, not an event, and the process of death reverses the process of development of the human person. Death marks the end of the association between spiritual self and physical body for human beings, but not the anihilation of the self. The Northern Cheyenne lives in a “great society” in which humans are not the only kind of participant, and deceased tribal members generally retain both tribal membership and personhood. Death, here, is transformation even transmigration and only those who have sinned or who die in a bad way will forfeit their place in the tribal community. Yet even a good death brings intense loneliness to those who remain, and fear of that loneliness is the greatest fear associated with death in the Northern Cheyenne community.     

The So-Called Sun Dance of the Gros Ventre

Abstract

The so-called Sun Dance of the Gros Ventre was last held in about the year 1884. Informants living in 1967 have preserved in tribal legends an account of the ceremony in general and the last one in particular. One informant was an eye witness when his adopted father went through the self-torture rite. Factors of hardship, declining numbers, enforced attendance of the children at school, introduction of Christiantiy, and the severity of the rites probably all worked to bring an end to the practice of the aboriginal form of this ceremony.     

Stones,Solstices and Sun Dance Structures

Abstract

Eleven boulder configurations in Saskatchewan were examined in 1975 for possible astronomical alignments. Three were found to contain alignments to summer solstice phenomena. Ethnographic interviewing failed to discover any tradition of solstice marking in the historic tribes of the Northwestern Plains, but did suggest that the boulder configurations may have been constructed for the private observations of calendar-keeping shamans. Ethnoarchaeological mapping of a 1975 Sun Dance camp revealed that the ceremonial structures were aligned to sunrise, but whether this was deliberate, and if deliberate, traditional, could not be determined.     

From Black Land to Fifth Sun: The Science of Sacred Sites

From Black Land to Fifth Sun: The Science of Sacred Sites. Brian Fagan. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Longman, 1998.403 pp.     

Giving Away: the Ceremonial Distribution of Goods Among the Northern Cheyenne of Southeastern Montana

Abstract

The Northern Cheyenne, like most Plains reservation tribes, frequently hold public distributions of goods called give-aways. Give-aways occur throughout the year in order to honor individual Cheyennes and, through the obligation of reciprocity, intra-tribal and inter-tribal ties are established and maintained. The give-away exchanges and their functions are analyzed utilizing Marshall Sahlins’ typology of primitive exchange.     

Conserving the Sacred Medicine Mountains: A Vegetation Analysis of Tibetan Sacred Sites in Northwest Yunnan

Mount Kawa Karpo of the Menri ('Medicine Mountains' in Tibetan), in the eastern Himalayas, is one of the most sacred mountains to Tibetan Buddhists. Numerous sacred sites are found between 1900 and 4000 m, and at higher elevations the area as a whole is considered a sacred landscape. Religious beliefs may affect the ecology of these sacred areas, resulting in unique ecological characteristics of importance to conservation; recent studies have demonstrated that sacred areas can often play a major role in conservation. The goal of this study is to preliminarily analyze the vegetation of sacred areas in the Menri region using existing vegetation maps and a Geographical Information System (GIS) for remote assessment. Sacred sites are compared to random points in the landscape, in terms of: elevation, vegetation, and nearness to villages; species composition, diversity, and richness; and frequency of useful and endemic plant species. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) ordination reveals that sacred sites differ significantly in both useful species composition (p=0.034) and endemic species composition (p=0.045). Sacred sites are located at lower elevations, and closer to villages, than randomly selected, non-sacred sites (p< 0.0001), and have higher overall species richness (p=0.033) and diversity (p=0.042). In addition, the high-elevation (> 4000 m) areas of the mountain - a sacred landscape - are found to have significantly more endemics than low-elevation areas (p<0.0001). These findings represent an initial analysis of sacred sites and suggest that sacred sites in the Menri region may be ecologically and ethnobotanically unique.     

The Oglala (Teton Dakota) Sun Dance: Vissicitudes of its Structures and Functions

Abstract

The structure and function of the traditional Oglala Dakota Sun Dance is compared with modern versions of the dance performed at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.     

Sacred Leaves of Candomblé: African Magic, Medicine and Religion in Brazil

Sacred Leaves of Candomblé: African Magic, Medicine and Religion in Brazil. Robert A. Voeks. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. 236 pp.