Customs and Traditions
Teachings of Buffalo and Bear Spirits: Rituals, Visions, and the Path Between Worlds
Chapter Five
Sacred Wisdom of the Ancient Grandmothers
Customs and Traditions
Long Time Pipe Woman's dear friend, Pretty Wolverine Woman, was the grandmother of Ba-Ti-Ga-Sa-Pi, married to Sixapo, (Spotted Eagle aka Black Plume). She was in the sacred Buffalo Society with Long Time Pipe Woman and Sixapo was in the sacred Horn Society with Shot Both Sides. Pretty Wolverine Woman's knowledge was shared with many in the listening circle on those cold winter nights in the Chief's lodge. She related this knowledge to them in the oral tradition.
In the ancient times of the Weasel People, if a warrior perceived that his earth time was limited, he would concentrate on completing that time in a way so that he would be fully welcomed into the spirit world, the Big Sands, also known as the Sand Hills. He would not reveal his perception to anyone, yet the next time he went on a raid or battle, he would purposely sacrifice his life. He would sing his personal song and war song, perform his individual war chant and forge ahead right into the onslaught of the enemy. He was to count coup upon or kill as many enemies as humanly possible before his demise. It was called the equivalent in English of discarding one's life. If one in this mode of thought was wandering about seeking vengeance, supernatural powers would come upon him, but it could possibly be the tricky, and perhaps deranged, medicine of the rabid coyote.
Some believed Napi to have a trickster spirit, with coyote medicine. When the real people had their freedom, they were in frequent communication with the animals. The four legged could prognosticate the future for them, helping them avoid disaster. The coyote was considered to be a wise friend, as Napi was his comrade and possessed great powers and wisdom. Napi's trickery was purposeful in teaching lessons. After the implementation of the treaties the coyote became mangy and deranged often running rabid. He became a four legged to be avoided as he was unpredictable and could cause great harm.
In the belief system of the old ones, in a situation where the individual was yet sane but sensed his approaching demise, those the warrior killed would enter the spirit world before him and announce his bravery. Then upon your legged forms once again.
The remorseful warrior sought out that particular herd of buffalo and went to the chief bison. The chief knew of the situation and told him that he would make a wager, a serious one. If the warrior could distinguish his son from the other buffalo calves. then he might return with his wife and child in human form. But should he fail, he would die.
The buffalo spirit son heard this wager taking place and went quickly whispered a plan to his father. The son pledged that as the calves danced at first he would lift his tail high into the air and that would make it simple to identify him from the many other calves in the herd. Secondly, he would close one eye as he moved. Thirdly, he vowed to let one ear hang down lower than the other and the fourth movement would be to hold up one leg for a long period as he danced with the others. He then blended in with the other calves.
This ingenious plan might have been successful had not another young dancing buffalo calf not admired his peer's new and unusual antics during the frolicking dance. The peer decided to emulate the boy buffalo spirit and inadvertently created confusion with the wagering father. He chose incorrectly whereupon the entire herd turned on him and stampeded, stomping him to death.
The buffalo spirit wife and son were in great agony at the events and truly mourned the warrior's passing. But an old medicine spirit buffalo bull took pity on them and asked if they would like for the man to walk again. They emphatically responded in the affirmative with great hope that he had the medicine to accomplish this miracle.
The wife and son prayed while the old medicine buffalo bull took a small piece of bone from the trampled body of the warrior and entered the purification lodge to sweat and pray. When the old medicine buffalo bull exited the sweat lodge, he was accompanied by a whole and healed warrior, humbled and spiritually strengthened by the honor of the miracle bestowed upon him.
His short visit to the Big Sands had shown him the true path of spirit and he begged his wife's pardon for his act of impatience. At their request, the elder buffalo turned the wife and son back into two legged permanently. The old horned buffalo bull then spent many moons instructing the warrior all of the rituals and spiritual meanings of the Horn Society, alternately teaching the wife the rituals of the Buffalo Society, the sacred women's society.
Many of these rituals were to mimic behavior of the buffalo. Later in practice, non-members were sometimes in awe of these people, even to the point of avoiding them in fear of their powers. Those of wisdom knew that these people were benevolent and sought only good for tribal members, but those of lesser thinking skills feared that should they anger a member, that individual would simply cause them to cease to exist with their thoughts.
In the times before the treaties, these buffalo rituals were performed to ensure a good hunt. But after the exile, they were done for the sheer survival of tribal members.
The members of these sacred societies were hard workers and had gained enough prosperity to gift the group with personal treasures. These would be items that were not new but things that held great personal meaning to the individuals. Only the most spiritually dedicated tribal members would choose to gain membership. The men would have already spent the required twelve pre-requisite years in the other three societies.
All of the sacred objects have legends to go with them. For instance, there are some powerful medicine knives called bear knives. The handles are carved out of grizzly bear jaw bones. The tale is told that the first bear knife originated through a young brave called Berry Child. As do most young real people warriors, there came a time he went on a vision quest. Within the abandoned cave of a bear, he fasted and prayed, crying for a vision, for four days. The spirit of the great grizzly came to him in his vision instructing him to go to the water spirits of the lake and request for them gift him with a knife blade. Afterwards, he was to go to a specified location where the bear's skeleton lay. He was to extract part of the jawbone and carve the handle of a knife and attach the water spirit's blade, creating a powerful medicine knife. Before he fulfilled these instructions, the great grizzly bear spirit taught Berry Child the rituals and songs to accompany the knife.
The young warrior eagerly fulfilled all of the requests of the grizzly bear spirit and continued on his journey, knowing the last portion included finding the tipi of an elder medicine woman. When the young man entered the vicinity of her tipi, she exited and greeted Berry Child informing him that she knew of his coming and welcomed him to enter. She created a sheath for the knife made of otter skin and adorned it and the knife with eagle feathers. Thus a powerful medicine token and sacred object was created indicative of the spirituality and honor of the Weasel People. He who owned the original knife was considered a powerful and sacred individual. Those who owned replicas were honored as well as they too, had been blessed by the spirits of the grizzly and water people. They had been through the initiation of any who would hold the bear knife.
The ritual that was performed in transferring a bear knife began when the previous owner seized the intended new carrier and flung him into a gathering of bushes at the rear of his lodge. Seven elder warriors stood outside and fired their rifles. The transferring owner pushed the bare skin of the transferee deeper into the thorny brush while he painted his face with his own pattern, using a formula created from gun powder, ocher and grease. Emulating the actions of he who had passed the knife to him previously, the initiating warrior shouted, I am seeking someone to bring to death. Then he pierced the earth deeply with the knife. At that point, the new owner was given the songs and rituals. He was informed that should he be pursued by and enemy, he was never to flee but to turn and attack bravely singing, I shall pursue you, you will go down, I will pierce you with this knife.
Before he could accept ownership, the transferee must catch the knife in mid flight, by its handle, before it could pierce him. If he was successful in that feat he was then told to put blue war paint on the handle in a zigzag pattern. It was to be smudged in the smoke of parsnip roots three times a day as the owner prayed.
To verify the power, the initiate was told the story of an owner many years hence, a warrior known by the name of White Calf. He and his comrade, Chief Paint, rode together on a raid for horses. The Crow Tribe discovered their intent and pursued the two men, but they evaded them by taking shelter in a cave. White Calf, knowing it was his duty to protect the chief, told him to stay within while he went outside to fight. Although White Calf was greatly outnumbered, he conquered them all. The Chief heard the battle cries outside, then the roar of a great grizzly. When White Calf returned to his Chief he noted that the grizzly had come to assist him in the onslaught. Those who heard this story afterwards concluded that White Calf had turned into a grizzly himself due to the power of the bear knife.
The Winter Weasel People, (Ermine), had faith in the supernatural as shown by the story of an elder medicine man who could communicate with the spirits. After a long and happy union this elder warrior's beloved wife went on her journey to the Big Sands. His grief and longing for her reached a point where he was no longer able to function effectively, so he prayed that he might join her. He prepared for his journey, yet he was not delivered to the happy hunting grounds of his people. So he decided to go on a quest to understand what had occurred in his life and set out on foot on a journey.
The elder medicine man wandered throughout the lands of the real people, aimlessly, lost in his thoughts about his departed wife. One evening before dusk he was surprised when a small shadowy form appeared before him and spoke, What troubles you lonesome traveler? When the medicine man explained his dilemma, the young spirit consulted his spirit tribe and was instructed to lead the man to an isolated tipi in the Big Sands. He indicated that the elder was to take his seat in a place of honor. The shadowy spirit performed a pipe ceremony and passed it on to the next spirit. The elder observed ghostly arms reaching out and taking the pipe stem to invisible lips. As the pipe was passed around the circle, forms began to take place and he could clearly see the spirits' bodies as they smoked with him.
The spirits informed him that his wife was not among the spirits there and told him to go to the next spirit encampment, as there were three more beyond theirs. He was thrilled beyond description when he saw her standing with other souls at the fourth and final camp. She greeted him lovingly but warned him not to attempt to caress her, as she was in spirit form and he still walked in his earth body. The governing chief spirit bestowed upon the elder warrior a medicine pipe and taught him the rituals and songs that were to be performed to retain its sacred powers. He strapped it to the back of the wife and indicated to the warrior to journey back to his own lodge without looking back. This he did faithfully as he could hear his wife's gentle footsteps following him.
They traveled for four days back to the vicinity of their home camp and were greeted by the lookout brave on his pony. The elder warrior told the lookout to ride ahead swiftly and have the others prepare four sweat lodges. When the couple arrived they entered the first purification lodge. It was noted by the other tribal members that when they exited the lodge there was a vile scattering of dead snakes, feces and other carrion on the floor. After their second sweat, there was yet more of the deceased vermin and manure on the floor, but less than in the first one. Upon completing the third purification there was but a fraction of the amount in the first and after the fourth, there was none. After the deathly essence had been sweated out of the couple, the wife returned to her fleshy earth body. The couple once again lived a loving and joyful life together. After that time, the elder medicine man was known to freely communicate with the spirit world.
