By Teddye Snell, Press Staff Writer
April 07, 2006 09:58 am
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A circle is a simple geometric form without beginning or end. But in the mind’s eye, it breathes eternal life into the intricate Native American concept of the sacred circle, weaving together storytelling, life, rebirth and the mythical heroes in their culture.
“A spiral pattern of repetition with variation in Native American cultures is their sacred spiral of conflict and resolution,” said Dr. Joseph Faulds, who presented “Life, Death and Rebirth in Native American Mythology: The Hero and the People,” as part of the 34th annual Symposium on the American Indian at Northeastern State University.
Faulds has taught English, Native American Studies, Greek and Latin at NSU for 18 years, and published a book-length poem “Dream of a Holy Woman: the Kateri Chantings” in 2005. The poem was inspired by the life of Kateri Tekakwitha, an Algonquin and Mohawk woman who was declared venerable by Pope Pius XII and declared blessed by the Pope John Paul II. Since then, American Indians of the Roman Catholic faith have been praying in “Kateri Circles” for her sainthood.
Faulds told a standing-room-only audience of a Lakota story involving a young girl who happened upon a small bird lying on its back with its wings spread and feet stuck in the air. The girl was alarmed and feared the bird dead, but upon closer inspection, she discovered the creature was alive and well.
The girl asked the little bird why he was acting so strangely, and the bird replied he had heard the sky was falling. The girl then realized by lying on his back, wings spread and feet in the air, the little bird was trying to hold up the sky, and asked him why he was trying to accomplish such an impossible task. The bird replied, “You do what you can.”
According to Faulds, strength and humor in the face of adversity is inherent in Native American mythology.
“The heroic stories in Native American culture are an affirming spiral, and are comic in a broad sense,” said Faulds. “Comedy is used as an expression of hope and perseverance. The spiral pattern of life, death and rebirth - repetition with variation - is one that empowers the people to adapt to their immediate surroundings, yet maintain their culture.”
Native Americans demonstrate repetition with variations in their tales, as stories change ever so slightly from storyteller to storyteller and myth to myth.
“The spiral provides a living interpretive mode without losing the story’s original context,” said Faulds. “Rather than injuring the mythos, it strengthens it through its repetition, adding new information throughout time. The spiral pattern empowers the people, even in the face of loss of their language and their oppression as a people.”
Faulds illustrated his point by likening the sacred spiral to a wobbly wheel.
“A wobbly wheel on an axis can be hit, but it does not keep the wheel from turning,” said Faulds. “Such is the way of the sacred spiral. Even though the spiral is struck by outside forces, it continues to turn, adapting to its surroundings.
“Can you threaten the Native American phoenix with death? No. It rises from the ashes, renewed.”
The Lakota story of the little bird holding up the sky differs greatly from its European counterpart, “Chicken Little.”
“The European story of Chicken Little created a sense of panic and fear,” said Faulds. “This is not so in our story. The little bird understands he cannot hold up the sky, but he does ‘what he can’ to preserve his way of life. It’s the embodiment of life, death and rebirth.”
Faulds said myths are not untrue stories, but are stories that embody the truth for a people.
“Sameness with variation demonstrates you cannot separate the hero from the people,” said Faulds. “The heart of Native American ethos is a sense of oneness with the creator. Everything is connected. Individual identity is inextricable from the whole of society.”
Many Native American tribes do not have a tribal word for “good-bye.”
“There’s a certain amount of brave hope revealed in that dynamic,” said Faulds. “Not having a word for ‘good-bye’ gives immortality to the people, and helps maintain their identity.
“All identity is shaped by relationships. Descartes was a very dangerous man in saying, ‘I think, therefore I am.’ What should be said is, ‘I am in relation with all my relations.’”
Faulds used Charles Eastman, a Wahpetonwan Dakota (Woodland Sioux) Indian physician and author, as an example of a Native American who retained his identity, yet embraced change. Eastman, named Ohiyesa by his father, was raised traditionally as a Woodland Sioux by his grandmother, from 1858-’74, until he was 15. He gained a thorough first-hand knowledge of the life ways, language, culture and oral history of his tribe.
His father, Many Lightning, was thought to have been hanged at Mankato, Minn., but reappeared and insisted Eastman receive the “white man’s” education. Educated at Dartmouth and Boston University medical school, Eastman became a highly literate physician, who was the only doctor available to the victims of the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890.
According to Faulds, other Indian writers of this period were either entirely acculturated - had never lived the traditional life of their people or been educated out of their native knowledge - or were not literate, and were able to provide only “as told to” materials, through the filters of interpreters and non-Indian writers.
One seminar attendee asked Faulds if the sacred spiral was applicable to all cultures.
“Yes, but is expressly Native American, and a primary dynamic in their culture,” said Faulds. “But you find it everywhere, including in works such as ‘The Odyssey.’ You’ll even find the same pattern in the Gospels; however, the spiral is universally present in Native American cultures.”
What’s next
The 34th Symposium on the American Indian “Native Roots Run Deep” continues on the NSU Tahlequah Campus through April 8. For specific event times and locations, visit http://arapaho.nsuok.edu/%7Eindiasym/index.htm, or call NSU’s Center for Tribal Studies at (918) 456-5511, ext. 4350.
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