Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Q: What is a “Tioshpaye”?
If you believe the Sun appears in the East and disappears in the West here in
Austin; that it’s cold in the North and warm in the South--then you’re all set
belief-wise. If you’re not an Indian when you go into Lodge, you won’t be one
when you come out. That said, after going to several Lodges, you can feel
yourself becoming part of the Lakota spiritual heritage and culture which is
really nothing more (or less) than becoming a decent human being.
It’s always good to have a reason to go into a Lodge. You wouldn’t go in just
to check it out or have a novel experience. People are either going in Lodge to
support someone else or help themselves. It’s also good to show respect for the
ways that things are done around Lodge as these ways “have come a long way.”
Those fears are already inside of you. Do you want to keep them or get rid of
them? Lodge gets rid of them faster than you can acquire them. If you don’t
want to deal with these fears so suddenly, then there are many other ways to
become part of the ceremony: fire-keeping, door-tending, food preparation,
watching the children. You can also come in for just one or two of the first
“doors” (a unit of measurement for Lodges; one Lodge = four doors). You can
always ask to leave if it gets too hot or uncomfortable.
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Q: Why do people do this?
Others have followed these ways for thousands of years, week after week, day
after day, always coming back for more. What motivated them? Two things: health
and help. We need to keep strong to keep going and meeting life’s many
challenges. Sometimes that’s hard. So we need our health--recovering from
sickness, getting rid of toxins from the air we breathe and the food we eat.
Sometimes we also just need help--material help, help with our feelings, help
with our grief over the loss of a loved one or just help for your own spirit.
Bring a large towel (and a spare, if you like) and shorts (for men) or a loose,
smock-like dress (for women). Whatever you wear should be cotton if possible
because it “breathes” so well. When the Lodge door is closed, it is pitch dark
and you adjust your clothing to allow the steam to heal your whole body.
We go in the Lodge around dusk during the summer and sunset in the winter.
Sometimes there are sun rise Lodges, too. We start preparations (fire, Lodge
set-up, etc.) at least 2 to 2-1/2 hours before going into the Lodge itself.
Everyone attending Lodge should try and
come early to help with the preparations,
if at all possible. This has the effect of
allowing each of us to connect with the
whole Lodge process and feel a part of it.
Coming to Lodge early to help with preparation is a big help. It also enhances
the whole Lodge experience.
Getting trained on starting the fire and carrying the Stone People into the
Lodge make you a very valuable person to the group. You will be setting the
tone and direction of our Lodge and getting us started in a timely fashion.
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grounds. If you want to learn some ceremony songs, and really want to prepare
yourself for Lodge by doing something indispensable to the experience, join us
on these important resource-gathering occasions. These are announced in our
weekly email newsletter.
Lodges that our Tioshpaye sponsors are authentic Lakota Lodges. We got our ways
from Orville Reddest, who got his from Grandpa Earl Swift Hawk. Both men were
traditional Lakota men and fluent Lakota speakers whose first language was
Lakota.
Most of our Lodges are mixed, which means that men and women pray together in
the Lodge. The men sit on the north side of the Lodge and women sit on the
south. Every so often we also have separate Lodges for men and women--usually
held back-to-back on the same night, or simultaneously if the site has two
Lodges.
From time to time, we have visiting ceremonial leaders whose families may do
things slightly differently within the Lakota Way. If they have been invited to
pour for us, then we follow their instructions. We don’t questions them or make
them feel like they have to defend their ways.
Q: The Lodge I went to before does things differently. Which way should
I follow?
The proper and respectful thing to do is to always support the person who is
doing the pouring. If that isn’t comfortable to you, then you have the option
of not attending that Lodge. As Orville said, “You got to have respect.”
Orville Reddest was an Oglala Sioux (Lakota) man in his 50’s when we met him.
He was descended from Crazy Horse’s medicine man and interpreter, Horn Chips.
Orville presided over and led Sun Dance, put people out on the hill for Vision
Quest, and sang for several types of Lakota ceremony.
Orville was also a lay minister for the Potato Creek Episcopal Church near
Interior, South Dakota, where he lived. Rather than finding conflict in the
Lakota and Christian paths, he saw tremendous convergence and used the church
as well as the Inipi to help his people
Orville led and inspired several circles throughout the Midwest who used Lakota
ceremony (Lodge, primarily) to lead Indians (and others) off of drugs and
alcohol and back on to the “Red Road.” Orville taught the Lakota way to our
Tioshpaye. His teaching didn’t come from a book, but from his heart where the
teachings of his Grandma, Grandpa, and the ways of his people resided.
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Q: Who leads this group now, after Orville’s passing?
Our Lodges are open to anyone who wants to pray with us. The more, the merrier.
Beginners are great to have at Lodge. Children’s voices are also wonderful to
hear in Lodge and around camp. Of course, the adults who bring children are
responsible to either supervise those children, or make sure that someone else
is available and willing to do so.
Q: Is there any time when it would NOT be good to attend Lodge?
Women experiencing their monthly menses (aka, “Moon Time”) are already in
ceremony; an older, more powerful ceremony that has opposing effects upon
ceremonies like Lodge, Vision Quest, or Sun Dance that involve the Cannunpa
(ceremonial pipe). Therefore, traditionally, women avoid being physically near
the Cannunpa and certain other ceremonial items (the wood, stones, age, cedar
used) during the first 48 hours of their Moon Time. Many women wait 4 days to
be certain.
People coming to Lodge shouldn’t drink any alcoholic beverages or take any
recreational drugs for at least 24 hours before attending Lodge. This includes
marijuana and peyote. You might become sick
in Lodge, and your presence may cause others
to feel weak. Orville and Granpa Earl
believed that the Cannunpa Way (the way of
the Lakota Pipe) and the Peyote Way don’t
mix.
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It’s really great if people can also, from time-to-time, bring wood (untreated
and without nails or any metal), stones (lava rocks), and/or sage (prairie
variety which is light gray as opposed to the white, brittle West Coast type).
Special Lodges require making “flags” for each direction and a long string of
prayer ties. You may be asked to make these, especially if the Lodge is being
held at your request or for a special purpose--a “Thank You” or “Wopila” Lodge,
for instance.
Q: Isn’t tobacco bad for people? I feel funny about buying it and
giving it as a gift.
Some people think: “Tobacco causes cancer; that can’t be a good thing!” The
loose tobacco you bring to Lodge and offer as a gift is then used to make
“offerings” back to the Spirits of the Directions. Loose tobacco is also used
to put on the ground to discourage fire ants from taking over Lodge grounds.
Some people do use the tobacco gifts to smoke and use in prayer, also. It is
each person’s freedom to choose to smoke tobacco or not. We can’t presume to
know what’s “best” for others. That’s their decision and we have to respect
that.
Tobacco
Stones
The stones are what heat the Lodge and, along with the water, create the steam.
It is also said that the Stone People breathe when we pour water on them and
that their breath heals us.
These are lava stones and are found in areas where there are extinct volcanoes.
The closest lava stones are at Pilot’s Knob south-east of town.
Wood
The wood is used to heat the stones. They give up all the sunlight they’ve been
storing. They give up their life to heat the stones. We use any kind of wood as
long as it’s not treated with paint or strong chemicals. Wood for fire should
have no metal in it: no nails, hinges, etc. Cedar is just great and most people
don’t want to use it in their fireplaces.
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Sage
The prairie sage we use is found in the upper Midwestern plains. It has light
gray, soft leaves. We use it to rub on parts of our bodies that need healing
during Lodge. We also use it to smudge (purify ourselves with smoke) and to
make teas and medicine. You can obtain it by picking it or ordering it from
Sioux Trading Post (800-456-3394) or White Horse Herbs (605-856-4125).
Cedar
Cedar leaves growing on our local junipers and those from flat cedar (found up
north and west) are both used for smudging. Cedar is known for its protective
qualities and also makes excellent, easy-to-light firewood.
Songs
The songs we sing are authentic Lakota songs. The great majority of these have
been brought back from Vision Quests conducted long ago or, in some cases,
recently. Many of the ones that we sing are directly from Orville. There are
also good songs on one of two tapes: Lakota Ceremonial Songs” by John Around
Him, and “Sending a Voice, Volume I” by Wanbli Gleshka Cikala (Little Spotted
Eagle). Both of these tapes have booklets with Lakota and English. You can
order them from the Sioux Trading Post in Rapid City or White Horse Herbs in
Mission, South Dakota.
Lakota Language
If you want to learn Lakota, we’d recommend first going to lots of Lodges where
you can pick up a fair amount. Then you might want to get Everyday Lakota by
Joseph Karol. It’s a very easy-to-use dictionary. Not too big and very handy.
If you want to learn more about the structure of sentences and such, we’d
recommend Reading and Writing the Lakota Language by Albert White Hat, Sr. It’s
also got great stories and Lakota philosophy in it. Both these books are
available from Sioux Trading Post and White Horse Herbs.
Web Site
You can find out more about out community and the ceremonies it sponsors at
this website:
http://theredstar.ning.com
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