The Canadian Sioux

9. Ceremonialism, the Woodlands Heritage

115 9 C EREMONIALISM, THE WOODLANDS HERITAGE The Canadian Sioux possessed a rich and varied ceremonial life. For descriptive purposes it is convenient to separate these religious and ceremonial activities into two groupings. The first includes those activities that the Santees share with Woodland tribes. These include the Vision Quest, Prayer Feast, Medicine Feast, Adoption ceremony, and Medicine Dance. The second grouping consists of ceremonies shared by the Santees with High Plains groups. These include the Sun Dance, Grass Dance and associated dances such as the Warbonnet Dance, Heyókha or Clown cult, Horse Dance, various warrior society dances, Scalp Dance, Ghost Dance and its derivatives, and the Peyote religion. We cannot state with certainty that all of the forms of this second grouping were adopted by the Santees from western sources, although this is likely the case. Western origins are certain for the Grass Dance, Ghost Dance, and Peyote religion, and are indicated for the Horse Dance. On the other hand, the Sun Dance and Clown cult were present among the Santees when they resided in Minnesota and seem to be quite old cultural forms. VISION QUEST The Haŋmdéchiya (also called Haŋmdéžapi by one informant) ‘crying for a vision’ or Vision Quest is the Sioux version of the custom of fasting for a vision, widespread in North America. With the Sioux this was primarily a puberty ceremony, although an individual might elect to perform the rite again, perhaps several times, later in life. 116 THE CANADIAN SIOUX The customary procedure was for the boy or man to isolate himself in a lonely spot in the woods, on a hilltop, or even, according to Kenneth Eastman (Oak Lake), to stand shoulder deep in a lake. Usually, boys performing the rite for the first time painted their faces black with soot to signal their purpose and to prevent anyone who might happen upon them from chatting with them and thus interrupting their religious retreat. Older men performing the rite might wear special paints and costume items relating to their earlier wakháŋ experiences. The individual always fasted and thirsted while performing Haŋmdéchiya, and prayed continually for supernatural assistance in the form of some spiritual manifestation. The customary time period for the rite was four days and four nights, although some men elected longer periods. Mature fasters sometimes carried a ceremonial pipe, which they presented stem first to the sun at dawn, midday, and sunset. If successful, the faster would receive a vision in which an animal spirit or other spiritual manifestation would visit him, usually in human form, and instruct him as to how and where he might secure substances that would provide him with power or luck in the future. Jim Kiyewakan (Sioux Valley) mentioned that Canadian Sioux warriors often performed Haŋmdéchiya to secure war medicines, particularly for use against the Plains Ojibwas and Plains Crees. Other men prayed for a knowledge of herbal remedies. Robert Good Voice said that a man from Round Plain Reserve performed Haŋmdéchiya and on the fourth day saw four plants in his vision. He later dug these and used the roots as a medicine to cure venereal complaints. Kenneth Eastman (Oak Lake) told an amusing tale about a man from Carlyle, Saskatchewan (White Bear Reserve, inhabited by Plains Ojibwas, Plains Crees, and Assiniboines) who was performing the Vision Quest on top of a hill in that area. He was attired, as is usual for fasters, in a breechcloth and medicine paints. He also wore, as his personal medicine garb, a headdress with bison horns. As the faster came down the hill at the end of his fourth day he encountered a white tourist who ran away screaming that he had just seen the devil! Ceremonialism, the Woodlands Heritage 117 There seems to be a connection between the Haŋmdéchiya and the Sun Dance. Both involve fasting and thirsting and both may involve piercing the chest and other forms of self-torture. More importantly, both are dedicated to the same end. The essential difference between the two is that Haŋmdéchiya is a solitary rite while the Sun Dance is a public one. PRAYER FEAST AND MEDICINE FEAST The Chékiya Wóhaŋpi ‘Prayer Feast’ seems to be a Santee form of ancient Woodland first-fruit rites, although the ritual was later blended with Ghost Dance teachings among the Saskatchewan Sioux...