Pipes and Tobacco Use Among Southern California Yuman Speaker

Source article: Pipes and Tobacco Use Among Southern
California Yuman Speaker by Jackson Underwood (UNDERWOOD, JACKSON. “Pipes and Tobacco Use Among Southern California Yuman Speaker.” Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, vol. 24, no. 1, 2002, pp. 1–12. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23799624. Accessed 6 Apr. 2020.)

• In the yuma tribe, tobacco was smoked by regular people for pleasure, but was smoked by shaman for curing purposes
• In this tribe, shaman could be men or women
• Shamanism tended to run in families, but exact powers were not inherited
• Shaman career usually began in dreams when people were visited by animal spirits on a significant mountain top
• Different types of shaman for different disorders
• One practice was to blow tobacco smoke over a patient to cure them
• Healing often associated with dreams, with good dreams meaning good health to come
• Some tribes that people could be poisoned by dream spirits and that shaman could use tobacco as part of a cure for these people
• Smoking was often accompanied by singing and dancing as part of the whole treatment procedure

Creating Thunder: The Western Rain-Making Process

Source article: Creating Thunder: The Western Rain-Making Process by E. Breck Parkman (PARKMAN, E. BRECK. “Creating Thunder: The Western Rain-Making Process.” Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, vol. 15, no. 1, 1993, pp. 90–110. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27825509. Accessed 6 Apr. 2020.)

• Some tribes believe that thunder is sacred
• Some tribes believe that shaman are chosen by sacred thunder by having them struck by lightning
• Pitted boulders are often associated with the sacred thunder, and it is believed that the pitted boulders are used by shaman to achieve an altered state of consciousness
• The bear river and sinkyone thought celestial thunder was the sound of shaman spirits talking or traveling in the sky-world
• Shaman were often rain makers with sacred thunder as their allies
• Among the yokuts people, it was believed that whirlwinds and thunderstorms arose when a rain-shaman died
• Sacred pitted boulders are seen as a door through which the shaman enter the super-natural world
• Salinan shamans stopped thunder by pointing their amulets at the sky
• Shaman believed to be responsible for most of California’s rock art

KUUCHAMAA: The Kumeyaay Sacred Mountain

Source article: KUUCHAMAA: The Kumeyaay Sacred Mountain by Florence C. Shipek (SHIPEK, FLORENCE C. “KUUCHAMAA: The Kumeyaay Sacred Mountain.” Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, vol. 7, no. 1, 1985, pp. 67–74. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27825214. Accessed 6 Apr. 2020.)

• The Kumeyaay viewed the Kuucharmaa mountains as a very sacred place
• For a long time, only those who had been indoctrinated as shaman could enter the mountain range
• Shaman were believed to be the most powerful people in this society and therefore were the only ones capable of going into this mountain range
• Many times the people did not obey the shaman and take their lessons and therefore the shaman were called to the mountains several times to convene about the people not obeying them
• Shaman would carry their teachings back from the mountain to their people to pass on the knowledge
• Supposedly there was a circular rut on the mountain created from ow much the shaman danced up there
• One famous legend involves shaman from another tribe becoming jealous of the shaman of the mountain and they tried to destroy it
• The shaman of the mountain sent their power to the opposing tribe and destroyed some of their land as a retaliation
• Shaman acquired healing powers at the mountain
• Shaman often cremated at the mountain top

Annual Ceremony of the Pawnee Medicine Men

Source article: Annual Ceremony of the Pawnee Medicine Men by Ralph Linton (Linton, Ralph. “Annual Ceremony of the Pawnee Medicine Men.” Leaflet, no. 8, 1923, pp. 1–20. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41433619. Accessed 4 Apr. 2020.)

• Religious ceremonies of the Pawnee were of two kinds, ceremonies centered around the sacred bundles and were participated in by the whole village, and ceremonies performed by societies whose members had some secret in common
• Often, the secret ceremonies were held by community medicine men and were of the utmost importance
• Medicine men in this tribe were considered to have gained their powers from supernatural sources and had the power to cure disease
• In the Pawnee tribe, medicine men ranked next to chiefs and priests
• Usually wore a distinctive costume consisting of a buffalo robe with the hair out, a bear claw necklace, and a cap of beaver skin
• Methods used to cure by medicine men varied with the nature of the disease and the customs that the medicine man was known to adhere to
• The pay for the medicine men varied based on the wealth of the customer
• Medicine men were organized in their communities based on what they had in common
• Medicine men preformed long healing ceremonies in their medicine lodges

The Shoshone Ghost Dance and Numic Myth: Common Heritage, Common Themes

Source article: The Shoshone Ghost Dance and Numic Myth: Common Heritage, Common Themes by Judith Vander (VANDER, JUDITH. “The Shoshone Ghost Dance and Numic Myth: Common Heritage, Common Themes.” Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, vol. 17, no. 2, 1995, pp. 174–190. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27825581. Accessed 4 Apr. 2020.)

• The Ghost Dance is a Shoshone ceremonial dance that displays the relationship between conceptions of nature and ghosts to the natural world
• Power is believed to be passed through song and dance, and the shaman would be the ones writing and singing the songs
• The people of the tribe would learn the shamans songs in order to try to obtain their power
• Besides song, dances like the ghost dance were ways in which to obtain power similar to what shaman possessed
• Shaman in these communities sung their songs and did their dances before events like antelope hunts and in times of crisis like ill health
• The ghost dance and other dances like the round dance were performed by whole communities led by their shaman
• Community believed that the best way to connect with their dead and their ghosts was through these songs and dances

Structure, Content, and Cultural Meaning of “yuwipi”: A Modern Lakota Healing Ritual

Source article: Structure, Content, and Cultural Meaning of “yuwipi”: A Modern Lakota Healing Ritual by Luis S. Kemnitzer (Kemnitzer, Luis S. “Structure, Content, and Cultural Meaning of ‘Yuwipi’: A Modern Lakota Healing Ritual.” American Ethnologist, vol. 3, no. 2, 1976, pp. 261–280. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/643580. Accessed 4 Apr. 2020.)

• The yuwipi is a traditional Lakota healing ceremony where the healer is tied up with a special blanket and ropes and the healer and their supporters pray and sing for their health
• Yuwipi ceremonies were often led by shaman in the Lakota tribe
• All participants arrive for the yuwipi and the shaman starts to prepare the songs for this ritual
• The place where the ceremony normally takes place is the home of the participant or a sponsor of the participant
• Women cook food all day for a feast to be had along with the ceremony, and towards sundown a puppy is sacrificed in a ceremonial way
• The ceremony is held in darkness and the shaman and their helper build the alter and sacred place to hold the ceremony
• The shaman additionally places cans into the earth along with pipes and ceremonial bowls along the alters during the ceremony
• Sometimes during this ceremony, if light are necessary, the shaman will have his hands bound while in the light but unbound in the darkness
• At some point in the ceremony, the people in the room all smoke on a pipe and pass it around until it reaches the shaman who then finishes it
• Following the ceremony, a large feast is held in honor of good health and the shaman dismantles the ceremonial alter

Cheyenne Pronghorn Procurement and Ceremony

Source article: Cheyenne Pronghorn Procurement and Ceremony by Linea Sundstrom (Sundstrom, Linea. “Cheyenne Pronghorn Procurement and Ceremony.” Plains Anthropologist, vol. 45, no. 174, 2000, pp. 119–132. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25669691. Accessed 4 Apr. 2020.)

• The pronghorn is a antelope and deer like animal that is known for having prong like antlers, and being a vital resource for the Cheyenne people
• The trapping and hunting of the pronghorn was seen as a very religious and necessary event for the Cheyenne
• Pronghorn were only allowed to be hunted with clubs, never a gun or bow
• Antelope shamans, who had received their powers through dreams or visions directed the hunts for the pronghorns
• Prior to the hunt, the shaman held a small ritual in a ceremonial tee-pee made of pronghorn
• The groups of hunters would follow the shaman to hunting spots based on what he had heard through his prayers
• Before the natives had horses, they would form a circle to go on the hunt, with the shaman in the middle of the circle
• The circle of hunters led the pronghorn to a pit where they were then clubbed by the hunters through request of the shaman
• After the pronghorn were killed, the shaman would smoke a pipe which contained sprinkles of pronghorn dung, and would blow the smoke over the animal as a offering
• This example is just one way in which pronghorn were hunted, it varied from tribe to tribe. However, every tribe agreed that the pronghorn was an essential part of their way of life.

Ontario Iroquois Effigy Pipes

Source article: Ontario Iroquois Effigy Pipes by Wm. C. Noble (Noble, Wm. C. “Ontario Iroquois Effigy Pipes.” Canadian Journal of Archaeology / Journal Canadien d’Archéologie, no. 3, 1979, pp. 69–90. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41102197. Accessed 4 Apr. 2020.)

• Effigy has a long history among the Ontario Iroquois natives, with some being found and dated all the way back to 500 A.D.
• Many shamanistic activities of the Ontario Iroquois involved the use of effigies
• Many effigies used by shaman had either the Blow Face or Pinched-Face style, and many wore conical hats similar to shaman in real life in many cultures.
• Both effigies listed above accentuate the mouth as if to indicate ritualistic blowing or sucking, and use by a shaman is one plausible theory
• Many effigies have been found carved into condolence canes of former chiefs, suggesting that shaman were a part of the founding of the Ontario Iroquois tribe
• Effigies of often feared shaman replace their hair with snakes

The Navajo

Source article: The Navajo by A. M. Stephen (Stephen, A. M. “The Navajo.” American Anthropologist, vol. 6, no. 4, 1893, pp. 345–362. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/658887. Accessed 4 Apr. 2020.)

• After the completion of a hogan (home) a house warming type event is held, and a shaman or priest is there to bless the new hogan and is paid with sheep, ponies or other Navajo items of high value
• Shaman were considered the “old man of the songs” and led gatherings in song while shaking a rattle and singing the “song of the house” to welcome new homes
• The shaman acts as a leader with each shaman having their own group of traditional songs they know, as well as their own ceremonies they are aware of.
• Most important religious ceremonies celebrated during winter when snakes are asleep
• Most religious ceremonies held for cure of disease or relief of sorcery
• When a person fell ill or deemed them self under a spell he and his friends decide upon which priest or shaman they will summon
• Each shaman, priest, or medicine man has their own particular songs and rites their own scale of fees for attendance
• Believe all sickness is caused by either evil ghosts, sorcery, disregard of taboos, or neglect of fetich rites, therefore the office of the shaman is as a priestly exerciser
• The rites and songs if a shaman are valued more than any material medicine they can be given
• Example of Navajo house dedication prayer
  • Rising Sun ! when you shall shine,
    Make this house happy.
    Beautify it with your beams;
    Make this house happy.
    God of Dawn ! your white blessings spread ;
    Make this house happy.
    Guard the doorway from all evil;
    Make this house happy.
    White Corn! (the Spirit of) abide herein ;
    Make this house happy.
    Soft Wealth !* may this hut cover much;
    Make this house happy.
    Male (heavy) Rain ! your virtues send ;
    Make this house happy.
    Corn Pollen ! bestow content ;
    Make this house happy.
    May peace around this family dwell;
    Make this house happy.

Cherokee Healing: Myth, Dreams, and Medicine

Source Article: Cherokee Healing: Myth, Dreams, and Medicine by Lee Irwin (Irwin, Lee. “Cherokee Healing: Myth, Dreams, and Medicine.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 2, 1992, pp. 237–257., doi:10.2307/1185431.)

• Language played a big part in Cherokee medicine, biggest countermeasure to combat disease was sacred utterances
• Disease considered a intruder in the body that led to visible illness
• Origin of the disease was often considered to be from animal spirits
• Other theory of disease origin was ghosts of humans and animals called asgina or the more dreaded untali
• Many specific diseases attributed to different ghosts, each shaman has a unique interpretation of the exact ghost involved
• some diseases had more concise origins, for example, a hunter who failed to offer prayers after killing a deer might get rheumatism or other diseases from the spirit Little Deer, a ghost spirit and head of the deer tribe.
• Death and illness often attributed to recently deceased ghost relatives
• Dreams of snakes and other “cold-blooded” animals and of
  human ghosts might also “spoil the saliva” of the individual, who
  then become apathetic or despondent and slowly wither
• Shaman could be man or woman
• Shaman though of as middle ground between causative origins of disease and the successful solicitation of healing powers to defeat diseases
• Other shaman were individuals who used their skills and knowledge to harm other people, often called “night goers”.
• Hurtful shaman could cause disease or illness through formulaic utterance of sacred words
• Another category of shaman was the adawehiyu or the master shaman who were thought to have complete knowledge of all matters relating to healing and witchcraft.
• Master shaman were seen as the people who were supposed to drive out illness or disease caused by the night goers