Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

A Special Book About the Cheyenne
Father Peter J. Powell's work with the Cheyenne is in a class by itself. His telling of stories in the mythic past of the Cheyenne have a depth of understanding worthy of Campbell, Zimmer and Eliade. So many books on the Native Americans are not satisfying because the authors do not know enough to ask the right questions and they merely repeat what other authors have written. Father Powell lived among the Cheyenne, became a very trusted informant and tells the stories with an uncommon grasp of the subject. His list of primary sources is impressive, more so as we learn who many of these people are and who their fathers, mothers and grandparents were. The way he moves from present to near past to distant past to mythic past and back to present reinforces Cheyenne belief that the distance between them is much shorter than our culture thinks. A wonderful source book, it fills in so many gaps between Grinnell, Hyde, Bent and Lavender--and takes us deeper than any of them.

An Exceptional Work
One way of regarding what Father Powell accomplished in his epic treatise on Northern Cheyenne history is look at Vine Deloria's appraisal in "God Is Red."Deloria states: "Powell's work, particularly his style of exposition, was based primarily on conversations with reservation people and reflected their language.An Anglican priest who operated St. Augustine's Indian Center in Chicago, Powell viewed all religious expressions as sacred and consequently treated the Cheyenne tradition with respect.His book did not take the superficial approach of listing the quaint beliefs of the Cheyennes as if the reader and the author were beyond such superstitions.'Sweet Medicine' impressed Indians with the validity of their own traditions."Deloria's comments on Powell's work deserve serious consideration.After all, Deloria set the tone in Chpt. 4 of "Custer Died For Your Sins" for criticizing the historical relationship between anthropology (be it of the professional or self-taught variety) and American Indian communities.The fact that Deloria points to "Sweet Medicine" as an exceptional work is an indication that the study of American Indian culture and history is possible--even by non-Indians--when the resulting discourse is driven by indigenous sources of knowledge, as opposed to forcing research to fit the expectations of a largely non-Indian Academy.

Authoritative work
Some people don't like the idea of a priest writing a book about Cheyenne myth and ritual. Too bad for them. Who better to understand it than one who is completely accepted by the Cheyenne people and, indeed, one of the holders of the sacred regalia of the Arrows and Medicine Hat? Peter Powell has done the world an undying favor by meticulously recording, with the utmost exactitude, in both words and pictures the sacred rites (and their meaning!) of the Cheyenne people? Ignore the reviews of those who just don't -or can't- get the point of this magistral work and instead buy it and enter into a magical world.

A "don't buy this book" kinda Book
when I saw it's non-authenticity, I returned it for full credit.Fr. Powell has been duped!

Sweet Medicine is beautiful, sensitive, and scholarly
Father Peter J. Powell (who, contrary to the misinformation passed in another reader's review, is an Episcopalian priest) is the premium scholar of Cheyenne culture and religion.A Sun Dance priest himself, adopted bythe Cheyenne, Father Powell renders the beautiful story of Sweet Medicinein evocative prose.After reading his work, I was privileged to meetFather Powell on a sad, but touching occasion, when he presided over thefuneral of the great Cheyenne educator Bill Tall Bull in Lame Deer, Montanaseveral years ago.Father Powell is held in great reverence by theNorthern Cheyenne people, and on that day was sought out after the serviceby countless members of the tribe with greetings, hugs, and thanks.Icanrecommend SWEET MEDICINE without reservation to anyone with interest inPlains Indian culture. ... Read more

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What Abercrombie gives us is an understanding of how people in an Andean community shape, rethink, and reshape their past.Gary Urton, author of The History of a Myth: Pacariqtambo and the Origin of the InkasPathways of Memory and Power crosses the disciplinary boundary where anthropology and history meet, exploring the cultural frontier of the colonial and postcolonial Andes. Thomas A. Abercrombie uses his fieldwork in the Aymara community of Santa Barbara de Culta, Bolivia, as a starting point for his ambitious examination of the relations between European forms of historical consciousness and indigenous Andean ways of understanding the past. Writing in an inviting first-person narrative style, Abercrombie confronts the ethics of fieldwork by comparing ethnographic experience to the power-laden contexts that produce historical sources.Making clear the early and deep intermingling of practices and world views among Spaniards and Andeans, Christians and non-Christians, Abercrombie critiques both the romanticist tendency to regard Andean culture as still separate from and resistant to European influences, and the melodramatic view that all indigenous practices have been obliterated by colonial and national elites. He challenges prejudices that, from colonial days to the present, have seen Andean historical knowledge only in mythic narratives or narratives of personal experience. Bringing an ethnographers approach to historiography, he shows how complex Andean rituals that hybridize European and indigenous traditionssuch as libation dedications and llama sacrifices held on saints day festivalsare in fact potent evidence of social memory in the community.A groundbreaking and important contribution to Andean anthropology and history. Among Abercrombies aims is bridging the gap between writing and non-writing peoples by confronting history with ethnohistory, and confronting written ethnohistory with the oral traditions and ritual practices through which Kultas themselves remember their past.Florencia E. Mallon, University of WisconsinMadisonA major theoretical, ethnographic, and historical contribution to Andean studies. It could well become a classic.Paul Gelles, University of CaliforniaRiverside

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Customer Reviews (2)

Fantastic research, albeit somewhat unorthodox, by author's own admission. Very interesting views of Aymara daily / ritual life.
I am grateful for the 'fully embedded' approach the author took in giving us this journalistic view of the Aymara people.A U.S. citizen, I lived in Bolivia for the nine years prior to the authors work--his fieldwork beginning in nineteen seventy-nine.

The book is systematically divided into three categories.The first is the author's narrative as he first approach the Aymara peoples.This section glosses over the details and instead lets us come to know the author, his expressed motives, and the technical, and sometimes physical hurtles, he encountered as he began the process of embedding himself.

The second section is a detailed account of the whole of the written histories as viewed from the colonialist and Catholic Church records.These go back as early as the sixteenth century and help to paint one aspect of the memory of the Aymara.

The third section uncovers the clandestine rituals and public and private festivals and their importance in serving as mnemonic methods of recalling oral tradition--Aymara versions of "what really happened" and their relation through timespace to pacha (universe).

This book has given me welcomed insight needed to fill in the blanks in my own comprehension of the rituals and customs that surrounded me as a young boy.His work is meticulously documented, and his helpful glossary of Aymara terms rounds out the great research.The book paints a very beautiful but sometimes unsettling picture of the Aymara culture.

Excellent read on indigenous world-views
Two important elements of social "habit memory" processes strike me in Pathways of Memory and Power.The first is the apparent ease with which the colonial power asserted its program for "social amnesia" through a physical restructuring of social space (rectilinear, functional living spatial constructions) and time (the marking of Church calendrical and daily time, basically obliterating indigenous conceptions of time).The second is the reinterpretation of public and private to suit a colonial "moral code" based on the ritual performances of excessive drinking and bloodletting.These systematic, institutionalized policies effectively dismantled the indians' social habit-memories-replacing them with new ones modeled on Castilian life.

The long-standing issue of religious syncretism is (thankfully) questioned, through an understanding of how the indigenous people create distinctions between the "more Christian" and "more Andean" aspects of their deities and religions.The quipu system of knotting preserves a physical remembering which was transformed, but not destroyed, by Christianity. As Abercrombie states, "the techniques may have remained the same, but the content, the memories, were changing" (p. 260).The "imagenes de bulto," which were introduced by colonial priests, replaced the indigenous idols with Catholic saints, and initiated a long process of revisionist iconography for the indians from one source to another.The llama, as an animal that closely (to the indians) resembled humans in their social interactions, acted as a replacement for the human sacrificial victim; this helped ease the sacrificial rituals into a more acceptable Christian realm of possibilities.The origin myth, with its "multiple, not unique" origins was contentious; although re-reading and appropriating the Christ-like image of Tunupa, and the "great flood" and "tower of Babel" stories, led to a deeper understanding by colonial powers in the religion of their subjugated workers.

The historical grounding in colonial documents led to a deeper, richer, fuller picture of present-day ethnography.I think this method serves to illuminate so many elements in everyday life that seem otherwise "meaningless" or where pre-literate peoples have not developed a "linear" sense of history, as their colonizers encouraged.The ability to recreate, from historical documents, a more complete view of indigenous concepts about space, time, self, and history, is invaluable.It strikes me as a process of reading "through" (not between) the lines of the colonial texts-into the minds of the colonizers-in a way that is instructive in both the development of colonial systems for creation of dominant ideologies, and how the indigenous people actual recreated their colonizers through an adaptation of their habit-memories into a new (world) context. ... Read more

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This book should be of interest to undergraduate courses in anthropology and religion. ... Read more

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Inhabiting the Sierra Madre Occidental of southwestern Chihuahua in Mexico, the Tarahumara (or Rarámuri) are known in their language as the "foot runners" due to the way in which they must navigate their rugged terrain.This book offers an accessible ethnography of their history, customs, and current life, accompanied by photographs that offer striking images of these gentle people.The subtitle of the book derives from the Tarahumar's belief that the soul works at night while the body sleeps and that during this "day of the moon" both the spirits of the dead and the souls of the living move about in their mysterious ways.As the authors observe, the fact that "so many men, women, and children persist in distinctive, centuries-old cultural traditions in spite of their nearness to all the complexities and attractions of modern industrial society is an importatn part of the story."Their book tells that story and brings readers closer to understanding the Tarahumara world and way of life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Going in February 2010
Pending a trip to Copper Canyon next February (2010), most interested in learning about native culture. The book was a pleasant surprise in that it was written in plain language with nice illustrations, rather than as some academician's project. Although the text could have been less wordy, the topical coverage was very good with a pleasant mix of quotes and facts. I'd recommend this book for the casual traveler wanting to learn more of the area to be visited.

Each star is a Tarahumara Indian whose soul is finally extinguished
Men have three souls and women have four souls, because women are the source of life. The Tarahumara call themselves the Rarámuri. They live in the Sierra Madre Occidental of northern Mexico where they retreated from the invading and bearded Spanish 500 years ago. (They call outsiders "Chabochi"; a "person with spider webs across the face.") Rarámuri means "foot-runner" or "he who walks well"; they are excellent long distance runners, very skilled on their narrow mountain trails.

The Tarahumara live in the Copper Canyon, or Barranca del Cobre, a group of six canyons, in places deeper and altogether larger than the Grand Canyon in the US. They constitute one of the largest indigenous peoples still living in the Americas, and have maintained many of their traditional beliefs and customs. Nevertheless their religion contains elements of Roman Catholicism, and Coke and instant Japanese noodles are now part of their every day diet.

This book, especially the second edition, is recognized as the most comprehensive study of the Tarahumara. The text is very sympathetic and many of the photographs are superb.

"The National Geographic" for November 2008 has published a wonderful series of photographs and a description of the challenges facing the Tarahumara, which include a modern airport, an expanded resort area, and the cultivation of illegal drugs.

"Geographic's" article echoes the text of Tarahumara: Where Night is the Day of the Moon:

"The choice of the Sierra Madre as a strategic retreat from the Spaniards all those centuries ago is both the gift and the burden of the Tarahumara today. Their ancestors weren't cowards or pacifists; histories recount violent rebellions among Tarahumara in less remote mission and mining centers, where colonists used them for brute labor while trying to press them into European-style village living. But as a people, the Tarahumara survived largely because of what a Sierra priest described to me as a gift for the evasive maneuver--and here the priest clapped his right hand over his left and then slithered the left out gently from underneath, like a fish slipping through a crack in the rocks."

I was fascinated to read this excellent introduction to the Tarahumara several years ago, and even more impressed to revisit it after reading the "Geographic's" excellent article. The magazine also published a GeoPedia article features online resources and an extensive bibliography.

Robert C. Ross 2008

If you want insight regarding your travel destinations
If you like to have some insights regarding your travel destinations, then this is a must read prior to visiting the Copper Canyon.The Tarahumara are a very interesting indigenous group, but they will be very shy around you, so the only way you'll know (and hopefully understand) their values is by reading this excellent book.

Hauntingly beautiful
In the northwestern portion of Mexico, in the mountains known asthe Sierra Madre Occidental live the legendary Tarahumara. This is an indigeneous group who have been one of the most successful to resist the onslought of western civilization,beginning with the Spaniards conquest and continuing to this day. Seeing the pictures in this book is like taking a step back in time; they are a culture spared the shadow of time. The Tarahumara are known for maintaining their customs and traditions in spite of of an ever encroaching civilization and tourist trade. The Tarahumara are phenomenal runners who traverse , climb and descend the mountains that reach 9,000 ft. beginning as children and contuinuing into old age. Known for their long distance running they are incredible endurance machines that come from a genetic pool that used to carry letters 600 miles! A contemporary good runner can runforty mileswith a steady pace over six to eight hours. This book is a fabulous tribute to the majesty of a proud people, complete with over forty color platesand nearly as many powerful black and white photographs. The book is not only a picture book but has a marvelous textthat explains and details how this group has endured the harshnatural conditions as well as the invasion of "outsiders" who tried to indoctrinate them with religion and cultural mores. The simplicity of their home construction in the ranchos and the traditions that continue are an anthropoligsts dream. Some of the cultural traditions are fascinating and a wonderful testament to mankind. This is a good book to read prior to a visit to Mexico and journey along the Copper Canyon. The book aIso includes a bibliography and a glossary for further clarification and further knowledge. I would recommend finding the hard cover edition that is out of print if possible because the photographs are amazing and timeless reflections of a distant and persistant people. The color and black and whote plates are as magnificent aas the people they depict. The oversized edition is a cultural treasure. Regardless of the edition I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the people known as the Tarahumara who believe that a mans soul dreams and is manifested and worksin mysterious ways at night while his body sleeps.

Beautiful photos of a unique, endangered people
Written with respect for the dignity and unique culture of the Tarahumara Indians, an indigenous people that live in the Sierra Madre Occidentals (Copper Canyon region). Lots of photographs (both black and white, andcolor). Although a paperback, it's quite large (pages are about9"x11").A "must-have" if you are going to visit, orhave visited, Copper Canyon, Mexico. ... Read more

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This ethnography explores the Fiesta de los Tastoanes celebrated annually by the citizens of Jocotan, Mexico, an ancient indigenous community near Guadalajara. The pageantry symbolically re-enacts the Spanish conquest of Mexico through mock battles between Santiago, the patron saint of Spain, and the Tastoanes, the leaders of the indigenous resistance. Paradoxically, the Jocotenos also honour Santiago, their special protector, and incorporate both Christian and indigenous practices and beliefs in their celebration. The author explores what the festival means to Jocoteno culture and identity and shows how it enables them to adapt to a social order dominated by Christianity. ... Read more

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More detailed than any book ever written on the Sioux Sun Dance, Sundancing:The Great Sioux Piercing Ceremony, unveils this long-secret ritual through exclusive photographs, color paintings, drawings, and first-hand accounts of the participants. Thomas E. Mails was the only white man, before or since, invited to witness and photograph every phase of the entire four-day Sun Dance. This is a ground-breaking work-available for the first time in over a decade in this newly designed edition

Sundancing: The Great Sioux Piercing Ritual includes a complete account of the Sun Dances at Rosebud and at Pine Ridge. Frank Fools Crow, the late renowned Sioux holy man and Ceremonial Chief of the Teton Sioux, describes this deeply spiritual ritual in his own words. Other informants include Chief Eagle Feather as well as young participants describing their experiences during the dance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

absolutely the greatest amount of real information on the subject
This book is the most in depth, truthfull, and accurate source of information on the sundance that I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
It is also a great teaching tool for those in the field of Native American study. ... Read more

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This finely drawn portrait of a complex, polycultural urban community in Madagascar emphasizes the role of spirit medium healers, a group heretofore seen as having little power. These women, Leslie Sharp argues, are far from powerless among the peasants and migrant laborers who work the land in this plantation economy. In fact, Sharp's wide-ranging analysis shows that tromba, or spirit possession, is central to understanding the complex identities of insiders and outsiders in this community, which draws people from all over the island and abroad.
Sharp's study also reveals the contradictions between indigenous healing and Western-derived Protestant healing and psychiatry. Particular attention to the significance of migrant women's and children's experiences in a context of seeking relief from personal and social ills gives Sharp's investigation importance for gender studies as well as for studies in medical anthropology, Africa and Madagascar, the politics of culture, and religion and ritual. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

"the necessary and the unnecessary"
Up in the northwest part of Madagascar there's a region called the Sambirano which is highly fertile.The French developed plantations of coffee, cacao, and cashews there soon after they occupied the island in the late 19th century.As the local Sakalava did not fancy wage labor, many migrants from other parts of the great island appeared to take up both blue collar and white collar positions.After independence, and with the disappearance of the French, more people came from outside the area to work.Madagascar has one language, but several dialects, and there are many "ethnic" groups separated more by history and culture than by DNA.The outsiders who come to the town of Ambanja find it hard to assimilate into local society.Land ownership is problematic because a) a lot of land is owned by government corporations and cannot be sold to individuals and b) the local Sakalava own much of the rest.Being part of a social network is essential in many societies, all the more so in a poor one like Madagascar.Kinship is usually the basis of social networks in Madagascar, but migrants have no local kin.One way in which people may become part of such a network over time is through entering the fascinatingly complex system of spirit possession in various roles.It is largely women that can do this.Understanding inequality and powerlessness in society is vital to knowledge of health issues.Sharp, in a most interesting study, has detailed the nature of spirit possession (tromba) in the Sambirano region, its history, its various ramifications.She shows the connection between women, migration and power in a migrant society and relates it to health, both mental and physical.Her interest is not a narrow one; some 60% of Ambanja women have been possessed at one time or another.They are possessed by both royal spirits of the old Sakalava kings and by the spirits of popular folk heroes.To be tied to the local kings or heroes through tromba possession is to be assimilated in a way.Sometimes a woman can be considered to be married to the spirit which possesses her, thus truly a part of a kin group.The dispossessed (migrants in poor condition) slowly become possessed by local spirits and so begin to assimilate and improve their status.

I would say that anyone who is seriously interested in Madagascar has to read this book.Similarly, if you are a scholar of spirit possession as a phenomenon (and it exists all over the planet), you must read this book too.That said, it is not going to be an easy read !First of all, the style is hardcore academic with references scattered on every page instead of in footnotes.The author, as far as I can tell, is fluent in Malagasy, which is great, but we, the readers, are not much enlightened by the vast number of Malagasy words throughout the text, though I hasten to add that I think a few key terms are fair game.Secondly, I have this gut feeling that this was originally a thesis and got turned into a book.That is common and not a problem, but the style should vary.In a thesis you try to convince the supervisors that you know what you are talking about and you are familiar with the literature.You have collected a good amount of data and you can demonstrate links and connections.When you change to a book, you try to drop that tone and go for a wider, broader audience, for `the ages' if you will.You pare the "unnecessary" from the "necessary". This was not done.Lastly, though as I said, this is a useful, interesting study, I feel some kind of disconnect between the Sakalava royalty and the actual possessions which Sharp describes.She writes of Mampiary the cowherd, Be Ondry and Djao Kondry the boxers, Mbotimahasaky the prostitute, and so on.There are others, reputedly from Sakalava royal lineages, as "all spirits were royalty when they were alive", but the royal connection is curiously unstressed.The author claims that in this way past and present come together in the persons of the possessed, but I don't see that.It is more that local and outsider come together in that way.She makes this point too, very well.The other claim is not much substantiated.
The chapters about spirit possession of children, about evil spirits, and about the connection of foreign religions to tromba (Catholicism, Islam and Protestantism) are interesting.Overall, questions about style and direction arise, but there is no doubt that it's a useful addition to the literature.

The Possessed and the Dispossessed: Spirits, Identity, and
This deeply contextualized ethnography of possession deals with women, migration, and power as frames for both spirit possession and the construction of identity in the booming migrant town of Ambanja, in the Sambirano valley of northern Madagascar. The Malagasy word for thepossession experience is tromba, which refers as well to the royalancestral spirits of the Sakalava (the ethnic group under study), theinstitution of possession, and the spirit mediums themselves. Sharp isparticularly sensitive to issues of power and political agency, andexamines possession as a mode of political consciousness that is embeddedin religious experience. Possession among the Sakalava is highlyformalized, and spirits who are the agents of oracular possession are oftenpart of family inheritance. Thus, it is important to identify and namespirits, a phenomenon which is important elsewhere in Africa as well. Thisnaming provides a link with the local culture, including political andreligious traditions,as well as with the land itself. With the riseof "Malagasization" in the postcolonial period (following arevolt against the French in 1947), tromba possession has increased and thenumber and variety of tromba spirits has expanded. It is no accident, then,that the prestige and power of tromba spirits, suppressed by the French,has been enhanced. Perhaps because tromba rituals have been a primaryinstrument for preserving and interpreting the history of the island,Malagasization has brought the tromba spirits and institution closer to thecenters of Malagasy political authority and economic production. Indeed,the surprising power and prestige of the female tromba spirit mediums hasenabled them to dictate the direction of national economic developmentprojects. One of Sharp's observations is that contrary to the dominantassumptions in anthropology, Sakalava possession is not necessarily aprovince of the marginalized and weak. Though Malagasy women are chiched asweak or soft, while men are regarded as strong or hard, it is the womenwho, through their spirit voices, determine the pace and organization ofthe culture. Tromba mediums are also widely consulted healers who appear tohave an amicable and respectful relationship with other medicalpractitioners on the island. Tromba are not the only spirits onMadagascar. There is another category of volatile and unpredictable spirits(njarinintsy) responsible for negative, unwanted possession, as well as formass possession, largely of adolescent migrant girls, in the publicschools. In one instance documented by Sharp, a powerful healer (moasy) wasconsulted. He reported that the local ancestors were angry because theFrench paid no regard to the sacredness of the ancestral ground on whichthe school was built, moving and destroying tombs. The healer recommendedthe performance on the school grounds of a ceremony honoring the deceasedancestors, including the sacrifice of an ox. Following this performance,the possession diminished considerably. Another interesting feature of thisbook is that it addresses the topic of the interface of local possessionwith Christianity. The Protestant Church is dominant in much of Madagascar,and has highly developed forms of healing rituals and exorcisms, evensponsoring exorcism retreats. Sharp has demonstrated that the clientele,whom she calls the dispossessed, consists to a great extent of those whocannot cope with either the status or the multilayered identity of theSakalava defined through the dominant institution of tromba mediumship. In short, anyone with an interest in the phenomenon of spirit possessionwill learn quite a lot from this book. ... Read more

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On the Bloody Road to Jesus is a study of the rich religious legacy of the Chiricahua Apaches and its inevitable collision with Christianity. Beginning with Apache creation stories, H. Henrietta Stockel describes Chiricahua beliefs and ceremonies before going on to recount the conditions of the Spanish colonial frontier at the moment of conquest. Subsequent chapters trace events that culminated in the surrender of the Chiricahua Apaches in 1886, the twenty-seven years of incarceration as American prisoners of war in Florida, Alabama, and Oklahoma, and the life-changing consequences of the children’s education in government-sponsored boarding schools.

Stockel portrays an unbroken sequence of economic motivations on the part of the Spanish, Mexican, and American governments, each eager to expand their respective territories. Equally unbroken was the resistance of the Apaches to indoctrination. According to Stockel, the Chiricahua Apaches never completely surrendered their traditional religion to Christianity. Like other syncretistic religions, their beliefs incorporated aspects of Christian dogma even while they protected their own religion from outsiders.

This is a complicated story rich in cross-cultural encounters on the battlefield, in mission churches, and in the classroom. Stockel’s research and writing bring to life the fierce resistance of a heroic people. ... Read more

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In stunning, full-color photographs and evocative text, Samper and Arhem celebrate the natural surroundings, domestic life, and vibrant rituals of a rain-forest people whose future is being jeopardized by outsiders' destruction of their lands. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Good book
I loved this book and how it gave you the information about this sacred ceremony.It helped you to gain more respect for the First Nations People. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Rare look into secretive practices
Alan Kilpatrick is the most recent in a short list of scholars (from the likes of James Mooney and Hans Olbrechts to Kilpatrick's parents Jack and Anna) to explore the magical practices of Cherokee "shamans".I use the word "shaman" loosely here and Kilpatrick addresses the reasons why by explaining the different cultural conceptions that non-Cherokee often group under that rubric (often undeservedly so).

Kilpatrick offers an excellent examination of the context of these texts from an anthropological perspecitive while being concomitantly sensitive to his Cherokee heritage.Others have said Kilpatrick is condscending and patronizing in his attitude . . . I've re-read this book again and just do not see the justification for this statement.I think he does a good job at turning the anthropological "lens" upon his own heritage to give it an honest investigation.Moreover, he leaves it to the reader to issue final judgement on the veracity of these practices and texts.Right where it should be.He is also very cognizant of the fact that the terms "sorcery" and "witchcraft" are culturally loaded.So he offers a nuanced examination in an effort to translate the seriousness of these texts for a predominantly non-Cherokee audience.

Overall, this was a fascinating read.The anthropological examination is informative and accessible.The texts themselves are very poetic and are worth reading for this quality alone.And the first person accounts of encountering current practitioners leaves the reader with a lot to think about.For anyone interested in learning about these oft misunderstood beliefs and practices I highly recommend this book.

For continued reading I also recommend
Walk In Your Soul : Love Incantations of the Oklahoma Cherokees
and
Run Toward The Nightland : Magic of the Oklahoma Cherokees

Read John and Anna Kilpatrick Instead
Alan Proctor is the son of the two very wonderful scholars: John and Anna Kilpatrick.In this book, he took their unpublished notes and add his own commentary.They obviously left this information unpublished because of the volatile nature of the subject. In his comments about Cherokee people and even his own relatives, Alan is both patronizing and insulting.He writes from an Anglo anthropological perspective that is out of touch with the Cherokee community. There are so many other books on Cherokee culture that are far superior to this book.

The Night Has A Naked Soul
Cherokee mysticism was seldom whispered about in the outside world until James Mooney began his scholarly research in 1891. And there had been no comprehensive study of Cherokee supernaturalism since until Alan Kirkpatrick undertook this study. This is an excellent source book which examines in depth the Cherokee sacred formulas, the idi:gawé:sdi, which have been largely hidden and almost forgotten by this generation. Kirkpatrick discusses shamanic text which serves to cloak the spells in a "secret language whose meanings can only be deciphered by those who have the key and thus are initiated into the code."Some of the spells discussed include those for divining, for poultice making, to counteract evil thinkers, to forget the dead and to trap night walkers. I must add that these spells are considered "ritually dead" and can only be revived by observing certain well-guarded ceremonial purification rites. This is not a story book with a well constructed plot and a breath-taking ending. Rather it is an "instruction manual" geared to those on the Medicine Path who need help understanding the Way.

A very interesting look into Cherokee beliefs
Even though this book was a requred text I was really surprised to see that Native Americans have beliefs in witchcraft.The book is really worth the purchasing and was really worth my time.Kilpartick made a hardsubject simple and easy to understand. ... Read more

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'The real value of "Lakota Belief and Ritual" is that it provides raw narratives without any pretension of synthesis or analysis, as well as insightful biographical information on the man who contributed more than any other individual to our understanding of early Oglala ritual and belief' - "Plains Anthropologist". 'In the writing of Indian history, historians and other scholars seldom have the opportunity to look at the past through 'native eyes' or to immerse themselves in documents created by In-Indians. For the Oglala and some of the other divisions of the Lakota, the Walker materials provide this kind of experience in fascinating and rich detail during an important transition period in their history' - "Minnesota History".'This collection of documents is especially remarkable because it preserves individual variations of traditional wisdom from a whole generation of highly developed wicasa wakan (holy men)..."Lakota Belief and Ritual" is a wasicun (container of power) that can make traditional Lakota wisdom assume new life' - "American Indian Quarterly". 'A work of prime importance...its publication represents a major addition to our knowledge of the Lakotas' way of life' - "Journal of American Folklore".Raymond J. DeMallie, director of the American Indian Studies Research Institute and a professor of anthropology at Indiana University, is the editor of James R. Walker's "Lakota Society" (1982) and of "The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt" (1984, a Bison Book), both published by the University of Nebraska Press. Elaine A. Jahner, a professor of English at Dartmouth College, has edited "Walker's Lakota Myth" (1983), also a Bison Book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

intelectual read
This book is not an easy read. It is for the very serious student of the beliefs of the Lakota while they were being forced into the white mainstream. ( which thankfully did not completely occur )The stories and anecdotes are often very interesting but not easy to assimilate.

Lakota
This book is really to indepth for me, not being a Native American. I will one day complete it as I want to understand more of the Lakota Nation

For the Student of Native American Wisdom


I am a serious student of Native American spirituality.I find this to be an excellent resource because it is based in documents actually created by Native Americans.The book is indexed, which I find a definite asset to any serious book I purchase.I also recommend any of the papers written by John G. Neihardt, and in particular The Sixth Grandfather:Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt (1984, a Bison Book)
Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions (Enriched Classics)Between Earth & Sky: Legends of Native American Sacred Places365 Days of Walking the Red Road: The Native American Path to Leading a Spiritual Life Every Day [365 DAYS OF WALKING THE RED RO]Rainbow Tribe: Ordinary People Journeying on the Red Road

Lakota Belief and Ritual
this is a complete coverage of lakota natural spirituality inherited from their holy men, medicine men, and vision quests, preserved by their people orally and ceremonially, handed down from grandfather to father to son, grandmother to mother to daughter.

all seven rites are covered, given to them by white buffalo calf woman, a spirit woman.

the use of the sacred catlinite pipe, vision quest, sweat lodge purification, worship, and adoption rites, the sun dance sacrifice ceremony, initiation of a child/woman, mourning for a lost family member, and purification of ceremonial items are covered.

this book is a must read for all who would try to understand the complex interwoven spirituality that permeates the daily life of a lakota holy man or holy woman. theirs is not a religion that you can put on or take off once a week, but a personal relationship with the creator and all of creation, and the quality of it reflects directly back on them. it is personal because it was intended to be personal and intimate to each person, and they attend the ceremonies with respect shared among all.

Lakota Belief and Ritual
I recommend it to anyone that is interested in learning more about the life of the original Americans.
Apreciate the fast delivery and the good condition of this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Living and working among the Tz’utujil Maya people of Santiago Atitlán in highland Guatemala for some fifteen years, Vincent Stanzione has observed, photographed, and participated in their ritual and ceremonial life, which he describes with unique authority in this account of the continuities in Mayan culture from pre-Columbian times to the present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Gorgeous!
This is a really amazing book. What a wonderful synthesis of knowledge on ancient and modern Maya! Highly reccommended!

Maya Peoples Live Through Myth and Ritual
Stanzione presents an insightful, respectful, dynamic account of his experiences among these Maya people by combining approaches from religious studies and anthropology. The book is also graced with beautiful and revealing black and white photographs and drawings of the everyday ritual practices in and around Santiago Atitlan. Especially important is Stanzione's reporting of contemporary versions of Maya mythology about the creation of the world, the lives of plants, the sexual relations of deities-all in relation to Christian practices and sacred stories that are important to the Maya. Readers interested in religious change, syncretism and transculturation as well as the ways the Maya suffer and resist state violence and the attacks of missionaries will find this book a very valuable resource. ... Read more

Product Description
Teaches practical ways of transforming obstacles to happiness and good relationships, fulfilling one's life pupose, manifesting peace and abundance and renewing the planet. Wisdom of the Ywahoo lineage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (27)

Love It
This book is amazing. I love the insights into the culture. I'm Cherokee myself, and I'm VERY excited to be learning about my heritage. It wasn't really something that was passed on through the generations, because as I'm told she did not speak much English (my great-great grandmother). I love that it has little phrases both in English form and in Cherokee symbols. The language is beautiful, and it's really just a great book to learn about the beliefs and the ways of the people. I'd buy it over again, that's for sure!


(Anyone who complains about this book is either mislead on what they were looking for, or are asking too much. The only complaint I can think of is that it's not as in depth about Cherokee Peoples as some would like it to be, but that's really not up to you or me. That's up to them. There are things they do not share with outsiders, and that's not something to get upset about, because more often than not there's a very good reason for that.)

Voices of Our Ancestors
This is an excellent book. I have two dog eared copies including one signed by Dhyani and plan to buy my third copy soon. Her book is not for everyone and like the Bible must be read several times.It is a deep book with many levels of understanding and meaning.

I have met Dhyani on two occasions, once in Tennessee andagain at her Peace Village in Vermont. She is a holy person with great wisdom and understanding. Like many Native American leaders, she has been critized for sharing her knowledge with non-native people. However, she isa true Cherokee woman whose family hid from the soldiers during the Trail of Tears and later moved to New York State. Another Cherokee friend of mine did a similar thing. Her family left the Smoky Mountains and moved to California.

I am facinated by Dhyani's discussion of the Pale One. In 1963, Lucile Taylor Hansen, an anthropoligist published He Who Walked the Americas, a collection of stories from different Native American tribes about a light skinned Christ like figure who walked amoung the tribes about 2,000 years ago, taught them the ways of peace and encouraged those who did so, to give up the practice of human sacrifice. He was called Lord of the Wind and Water by some,the Dawn God and the Morning Star and sounds a lot like Dhyani's Pale one.

wrote to awaken....
This book was originally published in 1987, just to let you know how old it is.

I don't feel the gist of this book is to prove the authors Indian-ness, or Cherokee-ness.
None of us grew-up with her, and so, we don't know what her elders truly taught her.
What she presents can't be proven, or disproven in that particular sense.

I also agree with another reader, on here, who wrote that there are very esoteric teachings
amongst some families that are not shared with outsiders, and thus, not even people of
that particular culture will know about them. This has happened more than once amongst the
european countries, too, during their long histories.

Instead, I think this book was written to simply awaken, and motivate those that it speaks to.
And, it does speak very deeply if you are in any way attuned to the subject matter.
To those it doesn't speak to, this book will pass them by, and sound like so much garbage.

If you have been studying/practicing mysticism, or the occult, or neo-paganism for some time, I think
you will find this book a wonderful read.....whether its authentic Cherokee, or not.
It's loaded with deep, interesting esoteric topics, and useful exercises.
Enjoy...

Voice of Common Sense
When this book came out I was concerned and put it aside. I realized the author was selling ideas directly against my Cherokee relgion, family,their values, language, and culture. I took it as a warning and felt uneasy about the possible outcome of such material; and who would copy it.
Years later I realize this NON-NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN person has tried to make more than money with her disinformation. She has violated our Cherokee people and has stepped beyond moral grounds. She lacks any heredity to join the Cherokee Nation. She may be from a VERY LOST TRIBE-not ours.

Voices of our Ancestors
I gave this book as a gift to my son who seems to be enjoying it. ... Read more