Weetamoo

The Sweating Ceremony

By: Halle Auvigne

Sweating ceremony This began Weetamoo and Cedar’s

learning time Built a fire with thirteen stones, one stone

for every moon Stones that when hot don’t explode Went into the pesuponk (sweat lodge) Sweat lodge is like a small wetu, but no

smoke hole Pit dug to hold all the hot rocks

Inside Sweating Ceremony Red Hawk blessed Weetamoo and Cedar Weetamoo, Weetamoo’s mother, and Cedar

took off all their clothes Auntie White Frost was inside praying already All in a circle around the pit of hot rocks Auntie dipped the cedar bough in a pot of

water She put the water over the hot stones The rocks sizzled and a blast of steam struck

them

During Sweating Ceremony Since Cedar and Weetamoo were being cleansed

they had to sit in the hottest place (back of the lodge)

Weetamoo can rarely stand all the heat but this time she did

Again Auntie put water on the hot rocks Fresh steam rose from the hot rocks Weetamoo started to feel the damp heat Everything that was unclean in them was being

pulled out out Weetamoo would breathe in deeply to clean herself

Praying during the Ceremony There were four rounds of prayers Starting in the south, then west, then north, then

east, ending in the sunrise direction Gave thanks to the different spirits of the different

directions Elders prayed for Weetamoo and Cedar Finally they were told to ask something for

themselves Cedar wanted Nou’gou’mis to live a long time Weetamoo wants her baby sister, Snowbird to be

healed and wants to be granted patience

After the Ceremony Crawled out of the lodge one by one Washed their hot bodies with snow Put their clothes on Weetamoo felt relaxed, and wide awake

Evening after the Ceremony Weetamoo is in her own wetu on the

hill Sitting and thinking by herself She has had nothing to eat since her

fest before the sweat She was given corn soup and

roasted ground nuts Had a little pouch of nokake

(parched and powered corn)

Day after the Ceremony There only job is to keep the small fire lit Also be alert to whatever may come Weetamoo sees the deer that her and Cedar

killed The deer wanted her to follow Her following the deer went on for hours The deer had lead her to their seaside village The deer wanted Weetamoo to go in front of

her

The Seaside Village Weetamoo was brought to the tideline and then

figured out why she was there She saw a lady with long black hair covering her

eyes The lady had a child in her arms The lady had square eyes and it was Squant Squant was holding Weetamoo’s sister Snowbird Snowbird was happy, laughing, and patting Squant’s

face Squant and Snowbird left and Weetamoo didn’t

follow

After the Seaside Village Weetamoo doesn’t know if Squant will

heal Snowbird This is the 2nd and last night of her fast She feels weak and lightheaded The deer came back again

The 2nd time the deer came Longer walk than last walk Saw a fire and heard screams but didn’t stop It became a spring morning It was the time of catching fish Weetamoo saw her grown up self Along with her sister and Metacom Weetamoo had a baby on her back Metacom picked up the bloodroot and smeared it on

his forehead, along with Weetamoo and the baby But not for Weeetamoo’s sister

After the 2nd night Red Hawk came to pray with Weetamoo

and take her back to her parents She will finish her thinking later Red Hawk asked her questions about her

dreams/ visions The Powwaw asked a lot of questions The most important thing the Powwaw

said was that Weetamoo kept her fire alight after the two days

Late that night Weetamoo was back with her family Elders held another sweat that night They marked Weetamoo and Cedar’s

return from their fasting Weetamoo thought Cedar’s face looked

different Weetamoo wonders what Cedar saw in

her dream/ vision