Support & Testimonials Cindy Lindquist, Director of Indian Health, University of North Dakota Support & Testimonials Main Page

DAKOTAH SPIRITUALITY: MY PERSPECTIVE

Cynthia Lindquist Mala

Hoton Ho Waste Win…Pretty, Good Talk Woman



To begin, it must be acknowledged that writing about Dakotah spirituality is very challenging. Traditionally, our culture was transmitted via oral stories and life experiences. I am not a religious leader, a medicine person, nor an elected Tribal official. I am a Dakotah win (woman) and an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Nation. I share my story based on my understanding of culture, identity, life experiences and stories shared with me throughout my lifetime. I share this perspective as a female participant in Dakotah ceremonies that were and are integral to my healing and learning journey.
As a child of the 1950s I was raised as a Catholic and attended an Indian mission school. My parents went through a bitter divorce with my Scandinavian father gaining custody of seven children. We moved off the reservation and converted to my father’s religion, Presbyterian, when I was a teenager. Both religions scared and confused me. Incidents occurred that triggered questions in my mind (even as a child) regarding the sincerity of the lessons being taught. As an adult I have chosen to try live as a Dakotah win (woman). I say, “try to live” because it is a most challenging way of life that has as its roots, spirituality.
The aboriginal people of the United States were and are deeply spiritual. Spirituality was the basis for how to live and survive. This lifestyle was based on being in balance with one’s self and living in harmony with each other as human beings and with nature. The word “Dakotah” means “friend” or “ally” and is the proper or preferred identification of our people. The real significance of the word “Dakotah” derives from the word “WoDakotah” which means harmony, a condition of being at peace with oneself and in harmony with one another and with nature – a condition of lifestyle patterned after the natural order of nature.
The historical oppression of the indigenous people of America is greatly misunderstood and was perpetuated based on mythical images that vacillated from “heathen savage” to “noble Indian” during the settlement of this country and to some degree, continues on in today’s world. Federal policies to deal with Indian people evolved based on the premise that the settlers knew what was “best” for the “conquered” Indian. Religion and religious conversion of the Native people was an integral component of colonization of the Americas. The goal of civilizing the Indian was best done through Christianity.
Prior to the European settling of this country, Indian nations had their own very diverse education systems, all geared toward providing an education informally through parents, relatives, elder members of the community, and religious and social groups. Indian children learned by application and imitation with great value placed on sharing and cooperation. Tribal societies focused on the needs of the entire Tribe as opposed to the individual good. Individuals were contributors to the welfare of the whole Tribe. Traditional educational practices were grounded in the quest for learning about relationships – relationships as human beings and the role humans play in living in the whole.
As D.H. Dejong says, “Traditional Indian education covered tribal history, including origin and great deeds; physical science, as seen in the Indian’s love and care of the natural world; physical education and athletic ability; etiquette, including respect for elders; hunting or learning to provide for one’s family; religious training and fasting, which connotes self discipline; and diet and health care.”
Historians and anthropologists have estimated the indigenous population to be anywhere from 15 to 40 million people living and roaming this great land when it was discovered with over 300 hundred languages and thousands of dialects. There is no term in any American Indian language that translates for the word “religion.” Yet, it is agreed that Native peoples were in fact very spiritual with rich traditional beliefs and practices. Spirituality for Indians was known and expressed in all facets of how life was lived on a day-to-day basis.
Despite the hundreds of different Native tribes, each with their own history, culture, and language, there is some commonality relative to spiritual beliefs and practices. One common belief is of spiritual forces or beings that affect human lives. The natural and supernatural world are linked by spirit forces. In Dakotah, the word used to describe spirit power is “wakan” which is sometimes translated to mean sacred or holy. Wakan conveys a sense of mystery or the mysterious and is used as an adjective to denote the sacred quality of spirit and/or spiritual power. “Wakan Tanka” or “Great Mysterious” is often translated and used as “Great Spirit” which limits the Dakotah perspective of spiritual power or essence. Everything has spiritual power that is related to a higher power.
Belief in the sacred power of language is another common characteristic for Native people. In the words of Joseph Epes Brown, “An aspect of the sacred potency latent in words in primal tradition is the presiding understanding that words in their sounds are born in the breath of the being from whom they proceed, and since breath in these traditions is universally identified with the life principle, words are thus sacred and must be used with care and responsibility. Such quality of the spoken word is further enhanced by the understood close proximity of the source of breath, the lungs, with the heart, which is associated with the being’s spiritual center.”
The use of words is key in the oral traditions of Dakotah culture – storytelling reflects the actual reenactment of an event and is not bound by time. Language and use of words is integral in Native cultures. Equally important is the appreciation and sanctity of silence and of words not spoken. Silence is sacred and has spiritual power for indigenous people.
Time and process are components of commonality in spiritual beliefs of indigenous people. Indians think in terms of cycles or circles as compared to Western linear thinking. Indians believe in a cyclical time frame – the life cycle, the seasons, and the directions – and the concept of what goes around, comes around. Nature is designed with circular patterns (Mother earth, the sun, moon, etc.). The cyclical path of life and the cyclical changes of the seasons symbolizes for Natives, their spiritual significance. Human beings bear the responsibility to understand the relationship and roles necessary to maintain balance and harmony with and in these cycles.
Dakotah ceremonies honor the unique character of each cycle of life, as well as the interwoven texture of the entire cycle of human existence. We are taught that spiritual power exists and affects humans even though it may not be seen. Human participation is essential to maintaining the relationship of harmony between the natural and supernatural worlds. Ceremonies to commemorate birth, puberty, relatives and family, death, and self-awareness are all honored by rituals that reinforce relationships and are viewed as promoting the well-being of the individual, the family, and community. These rituals unite the members of the community in a shared experience that both honors the spirits and strengthens the bonds of the community.
Religion – the belief in the supernatural – varies greatly among different cultures or groups of people. Religions serve similar purposes in that they help people make sense of the universe and provide a guide to human behavior through moral and ethical frameworks of the religious dogma. Spiritual beliefs unite people in celebrating their common identity within a specific faith. Religion has influenced lives and affected culture throughout human history.
The indigenous people of the Americas faced numerous hardships and suffered through countless individual and collective traumas. By the early 1900s the Native population was near extinction – less than 240,000 Indians. American Indians have survived and endured the taking of the land, communities and families destroyed by warfare, separation, and disease, and lives controlled by foreigners and foreign governments. Native people survived the destruction of their way of life as stewards of the land that was based on spiritual understanding of human connections with each other and with nature.
As devastating as the colonization process was for Native Americans, the spiritual essence survived, albeit suspicious and battered. Indians kept their respective spiritual beliefs alive by protecting, hiding, and adapting the rituals and ceremonies. Individuals and families continued the teachings in secret ways until the advent of the civil rights movement that helped create a revitalization of pride in being Indian. The healing process for Native people is taking hold due to traditional ceremonies and spiritual renewal. Natives are coming to terms with the historical trauma and adapting the traditional teachings to live in today’s contemporary world. The desire to make sense of a world in turmoil, to make order out of chaos is timeless and universal – for all human beings. Spiritual beliefs and religious dogma provide the framework and solace that we all seek.
My healing journey began when I became my Tribe’s health director/planner in the early 1980s. I had graduated from college and returned to the reservation. My social life evolved around drinking and partying. As the health director I began to see the devastation of alcohol that permeated all facets of my life – both as an Indian and as a North Dakotan. It was still very socially accepted in rural North Dakota that socializing meant drinking and in Indian country it was only compounded by poverty and cultural differences. I made a conscious decision to quit drinking. I could not be a hypocrite and tout healthy lifestyles and then spend my weekends partying.
Dakotah ceremonies became my guide in coming to terms with my identity and in learning of the great beauty in being a Dakotah win (woman). It was difficult to quit drinking and hanging out with my family and friends. I ended up socializing with older people who would share stories and laughter of their understanding of Dakotah ways. For a year I was initiated into Dakotah spirituality by attending sweat lodges and doctoring ceremonies and by observing the sun dance ceremony. During this first year of learning I made the pledge to become a sun dancer and obtained a pipe from one of the elders on my reservation. I was in awe and was also afraid – afraid that I would do something wrong or disrespectful. But Indians are wonderfully compassionate and forgiving. There were very few “younger” people learning these ways at this time and so the circles were very powerful and led by older Dakotah people.
My understanding of Dakotah womanhood is that it is a special and unique role because females alone give and provide life. Human life is holy and the woman as mother nurtures this life that has become visible and alive in the community of humankind. The basis of traditional Dakotah womanhood is religious and spiritual because she is seen as co-participant with Wakan Tanka in the giving of life. In addition to giving life, the woman transmits the religion and spiritual way of life of the people. The female role in the rituals and ceremonies of the Dakotah is integral and significant.
It was a woman – the White Buffalo Calf Woman – who brought the pipe and the seven sacred rites to the Dakotah/Lakotah/Nakotah people. The ways of the pipe were instructions on the relationships and how to live in a good way. The pipe symbolizes the gifts of Wakan Tanka – the bowl created of red stone is the earth and carved with a buffalo who represent the four-legged animals; the wood stem represents all that grows upon the earth; the eagle feathers represent the winged ones; and the tobacco used to fill the pipe symbolizes the connections with the smoke sending the prayers to spiritual powers. In accepting the pipe and the ceremonies, the Dakotah people made a covenant relationship with Wakan Tanka to live a spiritual life based on understanding relationships and connections.
In understanding the ceremonies and the beauty of the culture, Dakotah spirituality teaches us the symbolism of the four directions and the four primary colors:
&Mac183; West = black which symbolizes spiritual strength, doctoring. Thunder beings.
&Mac183; North = red signifies physical, natural law, common sense, truth. Buffalo nation.
&Mac183; East = yellow symbolizes emotional health, new life, beginning. Elk, black-tail deer, White Buffalo Calf Woman.
&Mac183; South = white signifies healing ways, wisdom, elders, the direction when we pass from this world. Spotted eagle, owl nation.
Some elders have stated that the four colors represent the human races of Mother Earth. Each race or color is linked to the balance and harmony of nature. We are also told that the other colors look to the Red people for that wisdom in understanding the relationships and connections.
I have attended and participated in all but one of the seven rites of the Dakotah people. I carry a pipe and have been in the sun dance for eighteen circles. In experiencing the power and beauty of Dakotah ceremonies, I am humbled and have come to understand I have a role to play. Part of that role is to be responsible for who I am and to conduct myself in a good, respectful manner and to give back to my community and family. This understanding does not preclude or dismiss Western practices of medicine or education. Dakotah spirituality is a way of life that is based on common sense, respect and compassion – and practiced every day.
Today we strive to be healthy and to reconstruct the culture in a good way that is appropriate for the contemporary world. Many seek the knowledge and wisdom of Native people. We have much in common as human beings and with the concepts of spirituality and religion. The common thread is that we all strive for understanding and to make sense of our world. Spiritual beliefs and religious practices provide the guide to behavior, giving us the moral and ethical framework in which to make decisions to live a good life.
We all have a responsibility to learn and to teach. We have a responsibility to pass on to future generations the gift of spirituality. I challenge each of us to go forward with this charge to cultivate mutual respect for all beliefs that bring us closer to Wakan Tanka.
Mitakuye oyasin…we are all related.

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