The True wisdom of a Lakota spiritual Leader and Sundance Chief. Lee Plenty Wolf shares the seven Lakota life values that guide one when walking the spiritual path (The Red Road). These simple, eloquent, and profound wisdom traditions have held together the peoples and prophecy of the spirit of The White buffalo Calf Woman. She bestowed and taught the Lakota people seven sacred rites and ceremonies to keep them walking here on Earth in a balanced and good way. These ancient rites are a true blessing for those of Turtle Island (North America). We honor this medicine by acknowledging our interconnections to all of nature and the cosmos.

A profoundly spiritual book, Yuwipi describes a present-day Oglala Sioux healing ritual that is performed for a wide range of personal crises. The vivid narrative centers on the experience of a hypothetical father and son in need of spiritual and physical assistance. The author combines the Yuwipi ceremony with two ancient Sioux rituals often performed in conjunction with it, the vision quest and the sweat lodge. Wayne Runs Again, suffering from alcoholism and worried about his father?s health, seeks out a shaman who, while bound in darkness, calls on supernatural beings to free him and to communicate. While the young man undergoes purification in a sweat lodge and waits on a hill for a vision, the community prays for him and his father. The ceremony serves not only to cure the sick but also to reaffirm the continuity of Oglala society.

For the residents of the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, mainstream medical care is often supplemented or replaced by a host of traditional practices: theøSun Dance, the yuwipi sing, the heyok?a ceremony, herbalism, the Sioux Religion, the peyotism of the Native American Church, and other medicines, or sources of healing. Thomas H. Lewis, a psychiatrist and medical anthropologist, describes those practices as he encountered them in the late 1960s and early 1970s. During many months he studied with leading practitioners. He describes the healers?their techniques, personal histories and qualities, the problems addressed and results obtained?and examines past as well as present practices. The result is an engrossing account that may profoundly affect the way readers view the dynamics of therapy for mind and body.

This book provides a thorough and engaging study of Plains Indian life. It covers both historical and contemporary aspects and contains wide and balanced treatment of the many different tribal groups, including Canadian and southern populations. Daniel J. Gelo draws on years of ethnographic research and emphasizes that Plains societies and cultures are continuing, living entities. The second edition has been updated to take account of recent developments and current terminology. The chapters feature a range of illustrations, maps, and text boxes, as well as summaries, key terms, and questions to support teaching and learning. It is an essential text for courses on Indians of the Great Plains and relevant for students of anthropology, archaeology, history, and Indigenous studies.

In 1953 young surgeon Robert H. Ruby began work as the chief medical officer at the hospital on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He began writing almost daily to his sister, describing the Oglala Lakota people he served, his Bureau of Indian Affairs colleagues, and day-to-day life on the reservation. Ruby and his wife were active in the social life of the non-white community, which allowed Ruby, also a self-trained ethnographer, to write in detail about the Oglala Lakota people and their culture, covering topics such as religion, art, traditions, and values. His frank and personal depiction of conditions he encountered on the reservation examines poverty, alcoholism, the educational system, and employment conditions and opportunities. Ruby also wrote critically of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, describing the bureaucracy that made it difficult for him to do his job and kept his hospital permanently understaffed and undersupplied. These engaging letters provide a compelling memoir of life at Pine Ridge in the mid-1950s.

Discusses Lakota ceremonies and prayers that we all share in Creation of people, birds, animals, plants, trees, rocks, and rivers.

Native Americans had a close affinity with the earth and an understanding of the natural forces which shaped their environment. They recognised that not only were our physical bodies composed of the elements of the earth but our core personalities also were influenced by seasonal characteristics and by the tides of time governed by the Sun and the Moon. The time of birth was no chance happening of fate, but an indication of personality traits and inherent potentials we were each born with to meet the challenges of life. The key to exploring your individuality is a Birth Totem - an animal representation which indicates the characteristics and attributes which combined together comprise your 'medicine' - your inner power and resources. Learn how to: - Identify your own Birth Totem - Connect yourself to your true potential - Discover your life purpose and learn how to fulfil it - Explore all aspects of your life including health and relationships.