American Indian Medicine Ways: Spiritual Power, Prophets, and Healing

321 Pages·2017·5.087 MB·English

by  Clifford E. Trafzer

AmericAn indiAn medicine WAys

EditEd by
Clifford E. trafzEr
AmericAn indiAn
medicine WAys
•
Spiritual Power, Prophets, and Healing
THE UNIVERSITY OF
ARIZONA PRESS
TUCSON
The University of Arizona Press
www.uapress.arizona.edu
© 2017 by The Arizona Board of Regents
All rights reserved. Published 2017
Printed in the United States of America
22 21 20 19 18 17 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-3716-7 (cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-3717-4 (paper)
Cover design by Miriam Warren
Cover art: Gaan Dancer © War Soldier Artworks, courtesy of Sherman Indian Museum,
Riverside, California.
Research for this publication was made possible in part from funds provided by the University
of California, Riverside, Rupert Costo Endowment in American Indian Affairs.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Trafzer, Clifford E., editor.
Title: American Indian medicine ways : spiritual power, prophets, and healing / edited
by Clifford E. Trafzer.
Description: Tucson : The University of Arizona Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017012671| ISBN 9780816537167 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780816537174
(pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Indians of North America—Religion. | Indians of North America—Medicine.
Classification: LCC E98.R3 A44 2017 | DDC 299.7/14—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn
.loc.gov/2017012671
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
In memory of Troy Johnson and Al Logan Slagle
In honor of the following contemporary healers who have
shared their knowledge:
Eleonore Sioui (Wendat-Huron)
Kenneth Coosewoon (Comanche)
Rita Coosewoon (Comanche)
Larry Eddy (Chemehuevi)
Matthew Hanks Leivas (Chemehuevi)
Andrew George (Snake River–Palouse)
Vivienne Jake (Southern Paiute)
Mary Jim (Snake River–Palouse)
Paul Ortega (Mescalero Apache)
Jim Henson (Cherokee)
Beverly Sourjohn Patchell (Cherokee)
Crosslin Smith (Cherokee)
•

CoNTENTS
Preface ix
Introduction 3
1. S pirits, Landscape, and Power: Ways of Quechan, Navajo,
and Apache 46
Clifford E. Trafzer and Benjamin Jenkins
2. Main Poc: Potawatomi Wabeno 72
R. David Edmunds
3. Kenekuk, the Kickapoo Prophet 87
Joseph B. Herring
4. Masking and Effigy in the Northeastern Woodlands 106
Troy R. Johnson
5. Spiritual Traditions of the Great Plains 124
Troy R. Johnson
6. S mohalla, Washani, and Seven Drums: Religious Traditions
on the Northwest Plateau 145
Clifford E. Trafzer and Richard D. Scheuerman
7. T olowa Indian Shakers: The Role of Prophecy at
Smith River, California 179
Al Logan Slagle
viii • contents
8. “The Father Tells Me So!”: Wovoka, the Ghost Dance Prophet 202
L. G. Moses
9. California Indian Women, Wisdom, and Preservation 221
Michelle Lorimer and Clifford E. Trafzer
10. Coosewoon: Visions, Medicine, and Sweat Lodge 256
Clifford E. Trafzer
Conclusion 277
Contributors 289
Index 291
PREFACE
In the spring of 2008, a former colleague and university professor visited me
in my office in the Department of History at the University of California, River-
side. I had not seen her in years. Remarkably, as she walked into my office and closed
the door behind her, she burst into tears, crying uncontrollably. I tried to comfort
her and asked what was wrong. Through her tears and deep emotion, she told me she
had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I asked what I might do to help her. She
responded by saying she knew that I researched Native American medicine ways
and that I knew several medicine people among the tribes of North America. She
asked if I would consult a healer on her behalf and see if someone might be able to
help her.
The next day, I flew to Oklahoma City to meet Beverly Sourjohn Patchell, a Cher-
okee–Muskogee Creek woman then directing the American Indian Nursing Program
at the University of Oklahoma’s Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. In addi-
tion to her academic work, Beverly had been trained by several American Indian heal-
ers and had in-depth knowledge of medicine ways of indigenous people. She took me
to her homeland east of Tulsa, and we visited healers living near Tah lequah, Okla-
homa. Two of them offered their help to assist my friend with cancer. Jim Henson
stood up immediately, saying, “We better pray for her right now.” For fifteen minutes,
Jim prayed in the Cherokee language for my friend, and then he be gan singing a com-
mon power song among the Cherokee. He gave me his telephone number and asked
me to pass it along to the woman.
The next day, Beverly and I drove to Oklahoma City, where the American Medical
Association’s Commission to End Health Care Disparities met at the University of