Native Spirituality

Sacred Symbols

The Symbol of Native Spirituality

There is no official symbol of Native Spirituality

This symbol is known as the Solar Cross Circle – earth, time, days, seasons, lunar

cycles, circle of the teepee, ritual dances and talking councils

Four points – movement of the sun (solstices and equinoxes), four medicine herbs (sweetgrass, sage, cedar, tobacco), four elements (air, water, fire, earth) and four colours and directions

black – west white – north red – south yellow – east

Centre of circle – fifth direction, point of balance

Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always

works in circles, and everything tries to be round.

Black Elk, 1863 -1950 Oglala Sioux Elder

Eagle Feather

The eagle is important because it is closest to heaven; because it’s far-sighted; because of its great beauty

Sometimes turkey feathers are used; the turkey has been described as “the eagle of the ground”; the bald eagle is the eagle of the sky & the turkey is the eagle of the ground.

Drum Oldest instrument and sacred object Round shape – circle of life Rhythm of the drum is said to facilitate

healing and realignment of the four realms of human existence (mental, spiritual, emotional and physical) as well as the voice of the Great Spirit.

Seen as a spiritual messenger that transmits the prayers of the people to the spirit world. The drum should never be struck in an aggressive manner.

Drums are crafted as a response to a visionary experience and are seen as animate objects and should therefore be treated and cared for with the utmost respect and reverence.

Drum (cont’d)

The drum represents:

Person’s Heartbeat

Nation’s Heartbeat

Humanity’s Heartbeat

Nature’s Heartbeat

Earth’s Heartbeat

Universe’s Heartbeat

Divine’s Heartbeat

Cow Horn Rattle Musical instrument that is used in

social dances and ceremonial songs to call upon the ancestors/spirits.

Spirits from the four directions are called upon to help people who are seeking spiritual and physical cleansing (often during sweat lodge ceremony).

Materials used vary depending on groups. Gourds, turtle shells, raw hide, seeds, pebbles, buffalo horns and deer hooves are all common materials.

Pipe Sacred pipes consist of two parts

Holding bowl - made out of bone, wood, stone or metal. Represents Mother Earth, the feminine, creativity, birth/rebirth, the womb, the heart, fertility and life.

Stem - made out of wood. Represents the sky, masculine, the spine, the transcendent and energy.

Pipe is considered a living entity that offers harmony, balance and wholeness to the smoker. It is never used as a recreational tool.

The smokers intentions should be pure, peaceful and positive. All negative or violent thoughts must be dismissed. Smudging ceremony must be performed before smoking in order to cleanse and purify the user.

Pipe (cont’d)

Pipe continued…

Bowl is held in left hand (closest to heart) Tobacco and its smoke represents the seen and unseen

worlds. After smoking, pipe is passed clockwise to the next person. One should never pick up the pipe on his own.

The pipe belongs to the community and is passed along to ‘custodians’ after cleansing rites have been performed.

Pipe CeremonyAll the things of the universe are joined with you who smoke the pipe. All send their voices to Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit.

Black Elk

Pipe Ceremony

When you pray with this pipe, you pray for and with everything.

Black Elk

Deerskin Medicine Pouch Carries objects/substances that

have special meaning or “medicine” for the owner. Contains souvenirs from important moments in one’s life.

Pouches vary in sizes. Contents are very personal and

private. Only the carrier knows what is in it.

Carrying the medicine pouch is comparable to carrying sacred scriptures in other traditions.

Wooden Mask False Face Society is one of the ‘curing’ societies among

the Iroquois of the Great Lakes. They used these wood carved masks to portray different

mythical beings. Each mask gives special curing powers to the society

member who wears it. Wearing the mask while chanting sacred songs and

shaking rattles is believed to cure the sick. Masks are also used when asking for a successful hunt,

abundant harvest and for the safe passage of deceased loved ones.

Characteristics of the Mask Painted red or black and ‘fed’

tobacco to keep their spirit alive. Deep set eyes, sometimes with

metal eye plats Large, bent nose Deeply wrinkled arched eyebrows Various mouth expression

dependant on mood, function and locality

Long hair, cut from horses tails, frame the face. Before the introduction of horses, corn husk braids or buffalo mane was used.

False Faces

Pacific Northwest Native Masks

Wooden Mask Carving

The carver goes into the woods and ‘listens’ for a tree whose spirit calls to him.

The carver explains the intent to the tree and offers tobacco to the tree’s spirit.

The tree relays his spirit to the carver determining what kind of face will be carved.

The bark is stripped and the face roughly carved then cut.

If cut in the morning the mask would be painted red. If cut in the afternoon then it would be painted black.

Cornhusk Mask Also known as Bushy Heads These masks are believed to be inhabited by

spirits associated with the corn harvest Full size masks are worn by dancers during

rites of the Mid-winter Ceremony (January) and the Green Corn Ceremony (Spring). They can be made to represent male or female spirits

Smaller, medium-size masks are used for asking the spirits for favours.

Miniature masks are used to calm spirits who disturb a person’s dream.

Sacred Plants/Medicines

Native spirituality has four sacred plants or medicines.

Burning these is deeply spiritual and used as a way to purify the spirit.

Tobacco

Represent the east. Used to ‘sign’ a contract, for luck, and to show respect to ancestors and the Great Spirit. Tobacco should be held in the left hand and offered to the four directions before being scattered.

Cedar

Represents the south. When burned, it acts as a purifier, cleansing the surrounding area.

Sweetgrass

Represents the north, signifying kindness and invites good spirits to enter.

Aromatic fragrance enhanced when the grass is wet or burned.

Braid signifies Mother Earth- three sections represent mind, body and spirit.

When sweetgrass is picked an offering of tobacco is made in

return for its generosity.

Sage

Represents the west Burned as a purifier

and has a spicy smell Has the power of

spiritual healing. Aboriginals believe that when inhaled the sage fills the holes in one’s spirit with good thoughts and positive attitudes.

Smudging Ceremony

Important Items Smudge pot Smudge Fan Four sacred plants

(tobacco, sage, sweetgrass and cedar)

Drums Pipes

Smudging Items

Smudging Ceremony

Burning of one of the four sacred plants for prayer or purification.

Small amount of medicine is place in smudge pot, lit with a match and fanned with a feather to disperse the smoke.

Smoke is offered to the four directions and goes into the world where the spirits live.

People can be purified by wafting the smoke over their body, starting at the feet.

Smudging

Smudging Ceremony

Feathers are symbols of prayers and marks of honour, bringing joy, happiness and spiritual understanding.

Beadwork shows that they belong to a particular tribe or nation.

Ceremony involves the four elements:

Earth (herbs and ashes) Air (smoke) Fire (burning the herbs) Water (shell).

Dream Catcher

Two versions: Hung over a bed so that bad

dreams can be filtered through the web and evaporate. Good dreams stay caught in the web.

Bad dreams are caught and good ones fly free. The sunlight in the morning evaporates the bad dreams.

Medicine Wheel Life is interconnected Represents…

East – rising sun, birth, eagle, yellow South – warmth/growth after winter,

childhood, intellectual growth, moose West – setting sun, night, adulthood,

introspection and looking within one’s spirit, black, rain, bear

North – wisdom, elder, white, buffalo, strength and endurance

Centre - Mother Earth and the Creator and their role in the beginning and continuation of life.