Vine
Deloria, Jr.
Selection
of Sacred Sites
Many
state and Federal agencies are bound by government-to-government
agreements with Indian tribes to respect the confidentiality
of sacred site information about public lands in their care.
The spiritual hunger of the "New Age" religious
groups and the natural curiosity of informed people may at
some point in the future require that lists of sacred sites
be surrendered under the Freedom of Information Act. Sacred
site information should be restricted to Native people, and
to guard Native American sacred sites against curious outsiders,
tribes and state/Federal governments should develop Memoranda
of Agreement or Memoranda of Understanding which specify the
restriction of such information.
In doing
this survey the obvious sacred sites which have come under
popular scrutiny or which are so well-known that information
is easily obtained are not listed. Also deleted are locations
which are not well known, whose chief characteristic is that
they do not now and cannot in the foreseeable future become
involved in a conflict between traditional practitioners and
military installations because there is no adjacent military
activity that might conflict with the practice of traditional
ceremonies. The sole exception to this rule is the listing
of sacred mountains which would fall within the path of military
fly-overs by the Air Force and Navy training programs.
Burials
and Ruins
State
archaeological agencies and historic preservation efforts
have produced massive inventories of locations which primarily
involve burials and sites of former human habitation. Since
state agencies are already working with Indian tribes to compile
inventories and since much of this information is already
under a seal of confidentiality, military installation commanders
can call upon state agencies for extensive background information
on sites and be directed to the proper tribal authorities.
In the very near future almost all known locations in the
western United States will be listed in one of these state
inventories. However, most lands in the west, including most
of the lands held by the military, have not be surveyed at
all and few surveys have involved Native peoples (see Chapter
Six). Future discoveries of human burials, sites of former
human habitation, and other sacred sites will certainly call
forth the cooperative efforts of Indian tribes, state agencies,
and military authorities. Later chapters in this report suggest
ways of formulating working agreements with tribal governments
and traditional religious leaders when these events occur.
Mourning
and Condolence Ceremonies
Mourning
and condolence rituals are typically a continuing part of
traditional religions and today with the admixture of tribal
and Christian practices. These activities vary radically across
Indian cultures. Mourning and condolence activities may well
take place at both isolated locations and military post cemeteries.
Since the ritual has a memorial aspect as well as being a
means of keeping the deceased within the extended family circle,
the occasions when these rituals are held will generally coincide
with national days of memorial held by the non-Indian population.
An exception to this rule might be conducting ceremonies at
the site of battlefields of the last century. Again, these
rituals would probably be part of the ongoing military activities
of the base or installation. The working relationship a Fort
Hood, Texas, described elsewhere in this report, is an example
of the positive development of Indian-military cooperative
efforts in this respect.
Linkage
No sacred
site stands alone. It is always within a set of religious
relationships best described as "linkage" in which
traditions about a particular location do not make sense unless
information about the other locations and their part in a
larger religious or historical sequence is known. A good example
of linkage is the existence of "boundary" mountains
which mark out sacred areas of tribes. Within the area described
vaguely by a number of mountains and rivers, the lands may
be described as "sacred" in the sense that ceremonies
are held there. The mountains themselves may not be used for
ritual or ceremonial purposes. Part of the ceremony, however,
would be simply to have the mountains in view, their permanence
in effect guaranteeing the integrity of the ceremony.
Linkage
can also be seen in tracing the paths of activity of culture
heros, ancient migrations, or the progress of the Creator
as the world in which we live was made. Pilgrimages are sometimes
required of the people in which they re-enact the events of
ancient times. A pilgrimage may move from one sacred location
to another, the path which is used then becoming part of the
sacredness of the two locations for the duration of the pilgrimage.
For DoD purposes of understanding, two or more sacred sites
may exist outside of a military installation and only the
path of pilgrimage may cross military lands or activity areas.
Yet the path becomes, for the purpose of fulfilling the ceremony,
a part of the sacred nature of both the sacred site and the
sacred activities which celebrate it. At the present this
possibility exists primarily in two sites: Arizona and California.
Consultation with the Pueblos of the Rio Grande may result
in identifying more of these linkage situations.
The occupation
of the North American continent for tens, and perhaps hundreds
of thousands of years, has created a unique and complex religious
landscape. Sacred sites are not unusual in the world religious
traditions. Even before Mount Sinai's revelations Abraham
coming into the Holy Land discovers that Jerusalem had been
a sacred location since before the memory of the most ancient
of peoples. The difference between the western hemisphere
and the rest of the world is that for the most part sacred
sites on other continents have been set aside by organized
societies and covered with temples and shrines, opening them
to a larger audience of devotees but also closing them off
as locations for future religious experiences of a revelatory
nature. Written scriptures and religious canons seem able
to preserve sacred sites but at the cost of reducing them
to sites of historical religious significance.
Unless
we deal with a modern consensus of Indian opinion in regard
to certain locations, such as Bear Butte and the Powell, Wyoming
medicine wheel, which many tribes agree is sacred our information
about sacred sites must remain as a list of locations important
to specific tribes and dependent upon their apprehension of
the sacred nature of the location. For much of the continental
United States, particularly the lands east of the Mississippi,
much knowledge about sacred locations has been irretrievably
lost except for such groups as Iroquois, Muskogee and Eastern
Cherokee. History plays a part here since the tribes who inhabited
this region experienced several centuries of contact with
Europeans prior to their decline. Some tribal groups simply
vanished or were absorbed into larger Indian nations within
historic times, some as late as the 1790s. Most of the larger
Indian nations were removed, either as a whole or as smaller
groups in a series of forced negotiations, from the eastern
United States to Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri with a good
many eventually being removed to Oklahoma. These centuries
of contact substantially eroded traditional use of the land
as the Indian nations were forced into a highly competitive
fur trade and became entangled in colonial wars as allies
of the respective European governments.
With
the introduction of European manufactured goods and the inter-marriage
with fur traders and early settlers, and most particularly
with the overtures of missionaries, Native American tribes
were often split between those people who adhered to traditional
ways and those who adopted the new economics, social organization,
and religious views of the Europeans. This kind of change
must be emphasized as an important factor because it stands
in direct contrast with the experiences of Indians who have
always lived west of the Mississippi. An Indian born west
of the Mississippi at the beginning of the 1800s might not
have even seen a European or Euroamerican until his or her
adulthood and might still have lived to see automobiles. Thus
the experiences of western tribes were those of complete loss
of a way of life coupled with the necessity of adjusting to
an industrial society which they had few ways of understanding.
In conducting
a national survey of sacred sites, we encounter a tremendous
bifurcation of data. Some locations in the east can be identified
only by a lucky encounter in a pioneer journal, whereas some
locations in the west have been known intimately by several
generations of Indians, all of whom were and are capable of
recounting different versions of the story identifying the
location. Due to the immense turmoil and disorientation experienced
by many Native Americans tribes as waves of Euroamerican settlements
engulfed them, some sacred sites became shared by more than
one group of Native Americans. Creation and migration traditions
that once appeared to be isolated are now recognized as having
overlapping boundaries. This is so because Native American
tribes were forced to identify sites across large expanses
of land and now seek to protect them from intrusion and confiscation.
The western
United States, consequently, is a very complex landscape that
must be approached with care. Several types of sacred sites
can be established and these types can be supplemented with
different kinds of subgroupings with the hope that many of
the suggested activities of traditional Native American practitioners
will be encompassed within a framework of understanding. Of
importance in understanding the distinctiveness of the western
Indian tribes is the rather loose confederations which seem
to have constituted the respective Indian nations of that
region.
The eastern
Indian nations had created reasonably formal, permanent, institutionalized
regional alliances for matters of war and foreign policy.
Most prominent among these are the Muskogee Confederacy, the
three divisions of the Cherokees, the Six Nations Confederacy
(Iroquois), the Powhatan Confederacy, and the Three Fires
of the Ottawa, Potawatomi and Chippewa.
In contrast
to the eastern Indian nations, the development of a complex
political organization of the western Indian nations was not
yet fully developed when they came into contact with Europeans.
We know that the Comanches had occasional gatherings of their
bands to deal with Spanish and later Mexican diplomatic overtures.
The Sioux began to gather together in the 1840's north of
Bear Butte to appoint four "Shirt Wearers" who would
be primary leaders of the western Teton branch of the tribe.
There is no evidence of similar national kinds of gatherings
for the Shoshones, Apaches, and Paiutes. The Pueblo Revolt
showed that these Indian settlements could act in concert
but no profound sense of a national government emerged from
this experience.
Scholars
arrange maps of the western United States according to language
groups or subsistence patterns, according to whether Native
Americans were farmers, buffalo hunters, or fishermen. The
Indian Claims Commission has drawn its map of this region
according to territories claimed or allegedly claimed by attorneys
for the respective Native American tribes during the life
of that tribunal. The requirement under the law authorizing
the Indian Claims Commission implied that tribes would not
be granted a basis for recovery unless their attorneys alleged
that they had complete control and exclusive use of the area.
Depending on the sophistication of the attorneys and scholars
who handled the case, and their aggressiveness in pursuing
their clients' interests, occupancy areas in the Indians Claims
Commission can vary considerably from the actual facts of
the situation.
The actual
realities of the nineteenth century in the trans-Mississippi
west suggest that while certain Indian nations controlled
large areas of land, each individual hunting band was relatively
autonomous politically. While sharing certain overall religious
traditions, the specific ceremonial life of the respective
bands or subdivisions of the larger tribes varied considerably
in the manner in which each practiced rituals or understood
sacred places. The Apaches, for example, roamed freely in
western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and southern Colorado.
A location sacred to the Lipans of Texas would not necessarily
be known or revered by the Apache groups living in Arizona
on the Gila River. Many of the specific rituals varied also;
the famous Crown Dancers of the White Mountain Apaches were
not found in some of the other Apache groups or traditions.
The Shoshones ranged from eastern Oregon and desert California
to areas east of the Wind River mountains in Wyoming and into
southern Montana, encompassing an incredible area of land
in which sacred sites most probably were band-specific. Shoshone
sacred places in Oregon could not have been known by Wyoming
people and rituals they relied upon were unknown in Eastern
Oregon. In California and the Pacific Northwest sacred sites
were often specific to one valley or coastal plain and one
or two related villages in that particular area.
Professor
Deward Walker (1991) has, among others, drawn up a useful
list of major characteristics of Native American sacred sites
that enables one to grasp the cultural and historical context
in which Indian people themselves view these locations. The
following hold true for many Native American traditions:
1. a
body of mythic accounts explain cultural origins; these are
often linked to particular places and features in natural
landscapes;
2. calendrical rituals give social form and express religious
beliefs that permit members to experience the events of their
mythology in various ritual and geographic settings;
3. a reliance of dreams and visions as access to spiritual
power and as the primary source of sacred knowledge, with
dreaming often tied to particular sites;
4. belief that while all aspects of nature and culture are
potentially sacred, there are specific times and places that
possess special sacredness; such "portals" may include
rock markings.
These
characteristics hold for the vast majority of Native American
tribes with whom the DoD would have a relationship. A major
theme of traditional people is that nothing stands alone and
this idea can be used to make the characteristics outlined
more applicable to the immediate situation. American Indians
are much more interested in the total geographical context
of the lands on which they live than upon identifying a "center"
for religious purposes. The Sioux, for example, designate
Pike's Peak as the center of the world, Harney Peak at the
center of their country (at least in recent times when the
Teton has become the most numerous branch), but they hold
their ceremonies today at Bear Butte and other locations in
the Black Hills and Nebraska Sand Hills. In former years the
ceremonial centers were farther east in the Dakotas and long
ago lakes in the Minnesota and Wisconsin region were the major
ceremonial locations. It is said that as the people change,
so does their sacred geography. Even the sacred sites need
respite from human intrusions and often the site will avoid
human contact until it is necessary that it become active
again.
The following
kinds of sacred sites are suggested by the research materials.
The following categories have been devised to present the
material in an orderly manner and the probable parameters
of each kind of site is discussed below. The final body of
specific information which is necessary to provide confirmation
of the religious status of or not of significance of the location
should be reserved for actual field investigation or the initiation
of a working relationship with a DoD militarily installation.
The following kinds of sacred sites are:
A Creation Story Locations and Boundaries
B Sacred Portals Recounting Star Migrations
C Universal Center Locations
D Historical Migration Destiny Locations
E Places of Prehistoric Revelations
F Traditional Vision Quest Sites
G Plant-Animal Relationship Locations
H Mourning and Condolence Sites
I Historical Past Occupancy Sites
J Spirit Sites
K Recent Historical Event Locations
L Plant, Animal and Mineral Gathering Sites
M Sanctified Ground
Each
of these kinds of sacred sites is a distinct category and
is discussed below to provide an understanding of the complexity
of the American Indian religious experiences and traditions
even though some of these kinds of locations are no longer
important for many tribes and the intensity of the religious
experience may vary substantially at different locations.
The various
kinds of sacred sites may appear to suggest an intense ceremonial
life and in pre-contact North America there was undoubtedly
considerably more attention paid to the maintenance of relationships
with spirits through ceremonial activity. Today we can anticipate
the variety of religious activities but we need not worry
about the frequency of any particular activity except the
Vision Quest and the Gathering sites. Even considering the
small number of traditional people today in each tribe, the
expanding interest in restoring rituals may necessitate the
use of sites on military lands. The listing of kinds of sacred
sites is, therefore, essential knowledge since it illustrates
eloquently the fact that no central ceremony has precedence
over the other forms of religious activity. Within the spectrum
of religious rituals, every possible expression of devotion
should be included.
We will
review the variety of sacred sites that can be seen as representing
specific kinds of religious belief and activity in the western
states, omitting some locations that have never to the best
of our knowledge been associated with military lands.
TYPE
A: Creation Story Locations and Boundaries
Some
tribes have a memory of the creation itself (Clark 1966).1
These traditions suggest a time when people and animals could
communicate complex thoughts clearly between themselves, adopt
the body form of the other, hence encouraging blood ties through
marriage, and speak a common language. Tribes often identify
a specific location where the people became conscious of having
been created and this site is related to a number of other
landmarks in the region which mark the locations where creative
acts which form our world today were performed. For many tribes
the proper explanation should be that of a sacred complex
of interlocking sites rather than a simple location.
Usually
a particular area of land is given to a tribe by a higher
spiritual power. This gift brings with it a set of specific
responsibilities and ceremonies which enable these duties
to be performed. Beyond the boundaries of the creation locale
the land is generally regarded as having secular significance.
For example, the Navajos have four sacred mountains which
mark their boundaries. Beyond the area enclosed within these
four mountains there may be an occasional sacred site or shrine
of historical significance. The Tohono O'odham of Arizona
have sacred sites distributed between desert and mountains
because they had two villages - summer and winter - to accommodate
themselves to the climate.2 The mountainous area just north
of Albuquerque represents another aspect of this problem.
Here we have overlapping creation areas which represent the
various Pueblos. Overlapping significance means sometimes
directly conflicting traditions and only consultation with
the Pueblos involved can possibly make sense of the situation.
Overflights by the Air Force and Air Force National Guard
cannot help but intrude when an area is so large.
TYPE
B: Sacred Portals Recounting Star Migrations
Several
tribes have traditions which recount their passage from another
star system to this one and their emergence on our planet
at a particular location. These sites may be understood as
"Portals"3 where it is possible to pass from one
universe to another. With the advent of chaos theory and the
elaboration of knowledge of the potential of black holes in
the space-time fabric of the universe, these traditions now
take on added significance. The Sioux suggest that there are
several portals in the Black Hills area and some of the emergence
traditions of the Navajo and Mandan suggest that we may be
dealing with similar experiences. In general these locations
are held in utmost secrecy and outsiders will only find out
about the location if there is the threat of physical destruction
of the site. Ceremonies are performed at these locations on
rare occasions and then under the most secure conditions.
Obviously we have not become privy to information regarding
the locations of these sites but have received more general
information to the effect that they are a distinguishable
type of sacred site.
TYPE
C: Universal Center Locations
For purposes
of orientation, among Native American tribal people there
is a tendency to identify one location as the center of the
world with related identifications of other sites as the center
of a specific tribal world. The world center site is revered
because it provides a constant against which people can measure
their relationship with the landscape. The location is most
generally not a place where ceremonies must be conducted,
although that possibility cannot be ruled out. More often
the identity of the site is used as a teaching device. Pike's
Peak, for example, is regarded by the Sioux as the center
of the world while Harney Peak in the Black Hills also is
seen as the center of the Sioux world.4 The tribes who do
not presently live in and on lands they occupied when first
encountered by the Europeans, have universal centers also.
It should be obvious that in a limited curved universe, any
location can be the center. New locations can have equal standing
to former locations. Frequently the fulfilling of ancient
prophecies means that centers must be transferred as events
have unfolded. Changing of centers is, therefore, comparable
to migration locations where the passage of time moves the
understanding of the people to a new level and more or less
negates the central emotional importance of particular locations.
Some scholars have been upset that traditional people of the
Five Civilized Tribes have "moved" their sacred
centers to locations in Oklahoma after having been removed
there. If we understand this transfer as indicating that a
portion of the prophecy has been fulfilled and the center
must be relocated, the identification of hills and mountains
in eastern Oklahoma makes sense.
TYPE
D: Historical Migration Destiny Locations
The religious
duty placed on some Native American groups as their means
of accommodating themselves to this continent often involved
spirit-guided migrations around the continent, usually as
a test of faith and commitment. Faithful completion of the
migration meant the eventual location of the tribe in a specific
area. Sources as diverse as the Book of the Hopi (Waters 1963),
Whitely (1988), and James (1974) describe the Hopi migrations
and identify a number of sites as evidence of the migrations.
Mesa Verde and the Great Serpent Mound in Ohio are the locations
most familiar to non-Indians. Recent revival of traditional
ways has brought out very ancient information on these prehistorical
destiny migrations. Thus the Cheyenne speak more freely about
their life in the far north around Hudson's Bay, the Sioux
and Arapaho talk about when they were one people and were
living in the Gulf of Mexico (Stands in Timber and Liberty
1967, Neihardt 1991).5 There is also discussion of the Sioux
living on the shores of the "western sea" although
it is not clear whether this location is the Pacific Ocean
or the Pleistocene lakes of the Great Basin.
The only
land and resource management problems which might be anticipated
with respect to these very old sacred sites would be if it
were revealed in a ceremony that a certain location was the
precise site where a tribe received a particularly sacred
object, such as the Cheyenne Sacred Arrows or the Sioux Sacred
Pipe. Some tribes have medicine bundles which are associated
with the creation story. We cannot anticipate some of these
events. The recent birth of a white buffalo calf in Wisconsin
is an example of the unanticipated event in tribal religious
traditions. Thousands of Indians have now visited this white
buffalo but now most people are returning to their reservations
and seeking guidance in ceremonies, defusing the situation.
These matters must be handled with respect considering all
of the circumstances.
Some
prominent locations appear to mark out the historical journey
as well as providing a checkpoint where Native people can
return to renew the original revelation and sacred instructions.
Today these locations would be rarely used for ceremonial
purposes but would probably be familiar locations to a significant
number of people in the tribe. Mount Graham in southern Arizona
has an aspect of this characteristic. It has ancient stories
attached to it and it is also a location where some particular
ceremonies can be held. Desecration of the mountain by construction
erodes the orientation of the traditional Apaches in the same
manner that the disappearance of a major city would disorient
the people who live in its suburbs. These locations must be
distinguished from more recent sites where historical migrations
took place.
TYPE
E: Places of Prehistoric Revelations
The majority
of Native American tribes have traditions which suggest that
a basic outline of their nation's destiny was foretold in
very ancient times. As centuries passed a number of the prophecies
were fulfilled and there are remaining incidents or events
in the story line which must be treated with reverence. These
story lines link together locations which are geographically
distant from each other but indispensably connected. Bear
Butte in the Black Hills is such a place to the Cheyennes
and the Medicine Wheel in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming
may well be another such location for several tribes. Some
central peaks in Nevada and several of the volcanos in the
Cascade Mountains may also have this characteristic. Mount
Shasta in California certainly has this feature for some of
the northern California tribes. The Six Nations people in
New York State have kept the knowledge of these sites reasonably
well intact although they do not talk with outsiders about
them.
TYPE
F: Traditional Vision Quest Sites
Intimately
tied with the idea of Native American personal identity is
the ritual popularly described as the "Vision Quest"
in which a young person would fast and pray at a remote location
to obtain a vision that would forecast in many respects the
future course of their life. In the Pacific Northwest this
ritual was often associated with canoe ownership and longhouse
leadership. Expertise in fishing and hunting was often bestowed
in visions. In the Great Plains the Vision Quest candidate
would receive special powers and gain friendly birds and animals
that would help him or her later in life. In the Great Lakes
area, Vision Quests would prepare young people to enter adult
tribal life by providing information on their real names and
future careers. These Vision Quest sites are generally kept
quite secret because of their continuing use. Unless and until
a young person receives a Vision, they cannot have an adult
career of any significance. Many Vision Quest sites are deliberately
misidentified in order to keep people away from the actual
sites. Whatever powers are bestowed on the successful seeker
are generally exercised away from the sacred site. Identification
of these locations to prevent conflicts on military lands
will have to be done through mutual agreements with the traditional
people of the tribe since, as a rule, these sites are not
made known to outsiders.
Vision
quest sites are generally family-specific. That is to say,
a young person will try to perform this ritual at the location
where some member of their family once fasted. At other times,
the spiritual leaders of the tribe will designate a general
region within which the young people, and indeed they themselves
on occasion, will do their Vision Quest. Isolation is the
primary requirement for this ceremony and yet it often takes
a group of supportive people nearby to perform the ceremony
adequately. Where military installations have extremely rugged
landscapes and a large Indian reservation is in the vicinity,
agreements should be worked out to ensure the success of this
traditional ritual. The most likely problem areas in this
respect would be in eastern Washington and Oregon and in the
Las Vegas, Nevada area.
TYPE
G: Plant-Animal Relationship Locations
Religious
traditions of many Indian tribes identify locations which
are reserved for birds, animals, and plants. Humans can use
these locations only at designated times. These traditions
are to ensure that other species have the right to enjoy a
full life cycle prior to being used by humans for particular
purposes. Consequently, while a sacred site may not be sacred
to a tribe for its own purposes, for the purpose of relating
to the rest of the universe, humans become caretakers of particular
locations. Spirit Mound near Vermillion, South Dakota was
once set aside for birds, and the Black Hills at different
times during the year must remain inviolate so the animals
can hold their meetings.6 Some desert locations are forbidden
to humans by the Tohono O'odham until a particular time so
that plants can mature and animals can feed off them.
Demonstrating
respect for the other forms of life has great meaning and
complexity for many traditional Native American people. Members
of societies, for example, are required to use the skins of
animals after whom the society is named (i.e. Fox Society),
but they are not allowed to kill the animal since it is a
brother or sister. Therefore other members of the tribe, not
themselves members of the society, must obtain the skins or
feathers as needed and trade or sell them to society members.
Military base commanders may face the situation where traditional
people have declared a bird or animal to be sacred and also
have tribal members hunting the bird or animal. A good practice
would be to have the traditional spiritual leaders explain
some of the permissions and prohibitions which apply to tribal
members with respect to birds and animals and get a clear
definition of the scope of activities which can be expected
from tribal members.
Densmore
also quotes from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition,
volume1, pp. 121-123 (Lewis et al. 1983):
Capt
Lewis and Myself concluded to go and See the Mound... which
the Indians Call Mountain of little people or spirits.. The
Surrounding Plain is open Void of Timber and leave to a great
extent, hence the wind from whatever quarter it may blow,
drives them with unusual force over the naked Plains and against
this hill; the insects of various kinds are thus involuntarily
driven to the Mound by the force of wind, of fly to its Leeward
Side for Shelter the Small Birds whose food they are, Consequently
resort in great numbers to this place in Search of them; (p.319).
TYPE
H: Mourning and Condolence Sites
These
locations can be divided into two basic categories: pre-European
contact and recent historical sites. Within the occupancy
area of each Native American tribal group are specific locations
where people would go to mourn the loss of a loved one. While
the person might have died in another location, the mourning
location has sufficient spiritual power to comfort the bereaved
and, consequently, ceremonies would be performed at the traditional
location. Use of the site is heavily dependent upon the degree
of pain suffered in the loss of the deceased and consequently
use of an area would reflect the immediate concerns of the
tribe or band.
Recent
historical sites include a direct relationship between contemporary
Native people and the deceased of previous generations. Battlefields
or sites of massacres (Sand Creek, Wounded Knee, Palo Duro
Canyon, Bear River, Massacre Cave) constitute the primary
locations where ceremonies would be performed. The timing
of ceremonies would reflect the immediate needs of the tribal
community. In those areas where, in this century, military
lands have been extended to include lands on which Indians
had formerly lived would be prime candidates for investigation
and/or possible use by tribal communities. Fort Lewis in Washington
State (formerly the Nisqually Reservation) and Fort Sill,
Oklahoma would be examples of these kinds of sacred site locations.
Very
recently there has been interest shown in graves of Indians
buried at military posts and former military posts that became
Indian schools. This interest is not yet a national concern
and only those tribes who have moved ahead with cultural projects
have been discussing this topic. Burials of interest would
include Indian scouts, Indians employed as laborers, interpreters,
teamsters, and other supportive occupations that were necessary
around a frontier military post. The emphasis that can be
expected would not stress traditional religion as much as
it would focus on the ancestry of present day people. The
memorial ceremonies at these grave sites would generally be
some form of Christian expression rather than a traditional
ritual. Should this interest increase it could be handled
in conjunction with a military installation's ordinary Memorial
Day activities.
TYPE
I: Historical Past Occupancy Sites
Memories
of pre-reservation days have been largely carried on by Native
American people over the generations since the tribes were
free to travel over the lands they once occupied. In a radius
sometimes as much as 500 miles in every direction, the old
locations for hunting, fishing, gathering of wood and minerals,
healing springs, summer encampments and celebrations of the
Sun Dance or Bear Dance, are still known. Some ceremonies
may be required at these old locations in order to receive
sacred instructions on how to continue the rituals which used
to be performed at these sites. Some Sun Dance and Bear Dance
locations are still capable of being identified a century
and a half after they were used by the sparseness of vegetation
or traces of use. Traditional Sioux people in Canada have
recently revealed photos of Sitting Bull's old Sun Dance site
which show very clearly the various parts of the ceremonial
circle.
Contemporary
traditional people may need to have access to these locations
as part of ceremonies now being conducted at other locations
not geographically close to a historic site. Use would depend
on instructions received from spirits in a modern ceremony
and would reflect a spiritual need to gain religious balance
once again. The Medicine Wheel site at Fort Hood seems to
be an ideal example of a past historical location having present
day relevance. Locations which have religious significance
because of past occupancy may still need to be used for ceremonial
activities. Most traditional people feel that performance
of ceremonies at these locations would enhance the ability
of military personnel to perform their duties.
TYPE
J: Spirit Sites
The spiritual
landscape of the western United States is covered with locations
at which spirits were once and perhaps still are apprehended.
In the vocabulary most familiar to non-Indian peoples, these
locations might be described as "haunted" and left
to the fringe groups in science and religion to describe or
visit. Within the Indian context, spirit locations can be
powerful indicators of future events or warnings of future
events through a variety of ceremonies which are performed
to communicate with the resident spirit. Interpretation of
the religious significance of the location to the Native Americans
is hazardous because the messages which may come in spirit
sites may be directed toward only one individual or family.
In general
the Apaches are not enthusiastic about dealing with the deceased
and hold locations where a significant number of people died
or were killed in some reverence. Consequently locations at
which battles were fought, typically Apache Leap in Pinal
County and Massacre Canyon in Graham County are sites which
would be fiercely protected by traditional Apache people from
excavation or exploitation although it is uncertain whether
these locations would be used extensively for ceremonies.
A number
of Native American tribes have a tradition of the "picture
rocks" in which the spirits use certain locations for
inscribing drawings of future events on the face of rocks
(for an ethnographic approach to this, see Zedeño and
Stoffle 1997; Stoffle, Loendorf, Austin, Halmo, Bulletts,
and Fulfrost 1995). Spiritual leaders refuse to give a precise
description of these kinds of rocks for fear that the spirit
will abandon them. Apparently the rocks have some marks on
them. When a message is sent additional markings appear which
use the permanent markings as a framework for different kinds
of symbolism. The ordinary lay person would not know the proper
time of day to look at these marks nor would they know how
to read them. Most traditional people prefer not to provide
any more information. These markings exist for a short period
of time and they can be read by spiritual leaders possessing
the proper spiritual experience. Among the many petroglyph
and pictograph sites in the western United States are locations
of extreme religious importance. This phenomenon is well documented.
It is said that Crazy Horse saw the entire fight at the Little
Big Horn a few weeks prior to the actual conflict in the picture
of rocks on the Rosebud river in Montana. "Spirit sites"
is the best generic description of these locations without
getting too specific. Some of these locations are the subject
of intense interest today as traditional spiritual leaders
attempt to discern the future.
Since
there is such particularity to be found at these sites, the
number of these locations on military lands today is probably
minimal. There would have needed to have been a continuing
use of these locations by people since the establishment of
the reservations for them to retain their sacred character
today. The possibility remains that a contemporary revelation
of the location has or can occur today because of the urgency
of the spirit to establish communications with someone who
is alive today. We cannot overlook the fact that some traditional
people may have been using certain locations without being
detected. Since experiences at these locations are extremely
rare, and very personal, we only mention this possibility
in order to be inclusive.
TYPE
K: Recent Historical Event Locations
Native
Americans receive continuing messages from the spirits and
often from the recently departed. These messages can come
in ceremonies, in dreams, in unexpected conversations with
people that coincide with perceived disorientation or uneasiness.
Often the message concerns the unfulfilled responsibilities
which people have for the departed. The wars of the last century
have not been put to rest for many families, condolence ceremonies
have not been held or departed spirits are uneasy about the
treatment of their remains. This general uneasiness was the
motivation for the NAGPRA legislation. It can best be understood
by reference to The Return of Chief Blackfoot (Mauricio 1981)
where an incident on the Crow Reservation in the 1980s occurred.
A Crow chief from the previous century returned to a psychic
and insisted that she assist in the recovery of his burial
site and his reburial at the Crow Agency.
Some
of the tribes repatriating skeletal remains from museums have
reported that as they began their journey home the spirits
of the people represented by the skeletal remains visited
them and were concerned about the manner in which they had
died and had subsequently been treated. Special ceremonies
had to be conducted en route to the new interment site and
the re-burial ceremonies had to be undertaken with special
emphasis on healing the injuries suffered while in the museums.
This
kind of religious experience is wholly unpredictable but is
nevertheless of impressing importance when it occurs. It combines
recent historical experience with the continuing ceremonial
life of the people. Military base commanders should be aware
that incidents such as the ones described can occur, although
they are a rarity. The uniqueness of the situation and the
specific nature of the religious requirements are such that
these things will be easily identifiable.
TYPE
L: Plant, Animal and Mineral Gathering Sites
While
traditional locations for plant, animal and mineral life have
already been discussed, the history of most Native American
tribal religions suggests that the use of the plants and animals
is continuously revealed in ceremonies. Birds, plants and
animals form a complex web of life by themselves. Consequently
there must be both physical and spiritual compatibility among
the species that inhabit an area. While non-Indians understand
that birds and animals can move into new territories they
do not yet accept that plants can also make a deliberate decision
to move themselves. American Indian experience knows that
the migration of plants is a common thing and that areas of
plant gathering must shift accordingly. An ongoing agreement
between a military installation and traditional people must
take into account the migration of species and as changes
occur, access to places where medicinal or religious plants
are to be found must also change.
Traditional
people usually have strict requirements as to the taking of
birds for ceremonial purposes. Birds sometimes shift their
nesting sites and Indians must accommodate themselves to this
change. The eagle, for example, is a primary sacred bird for
the Apache people and consequently there are ceremonies to
protect the bird, to gain access to the bird's knowledge and
wisdom, and for catching the eagles. Many other tribes have
a similar relationship with this bird, with hawks, and flickers,
and sometimes with smaller birds such as the blue jay. Some
bands have a prohibition on taking birds restricted to certain
ordained traditional spiritual leaders; other bands say that
no bird can be taken until it has lived a full life cycle
of youth, parenting and adulthood. Depending on the ceremonial
life of the traditional group, military installations could
be faced with requests by traditional leaders for access to
remote mountain areas where the birds are or which have ceremonial
significance involving this bird.
In 1994
the White House issued a directive on Eagle feathers as a
means of assisting in expanding American Indian religious
freedom in lieu of a legislative solution. The law protecting
bald and golden eagles (16 U.S.C. 668-668c; revised Nov. 8,
1978) was originally passed in 1940. A Presidential memorandum
to Federal agencies (Clinton 1994b) provided for the distribution
of eagle feathers to Native Americans for religious purposes
(for background on this important aspect of cultural resource
management, see Williams [1986] and Brooke [1996]). Procedures
for obtaining feathers were made more efficient and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service was directed to assist tribes in
establishing orderly procedures for obtaining and distributing
feathers. Should the Eagle feather problem arise on a military
installation, procedures can be developed in cooperation with
the local tribes affected.
Plants
and animals are integral parts of rituals and ceremonies and
must be physically present in them. Quite often the plants
that are used in ceremonies grow a considerable distance from
the site at which the ceremony takes place. Military lands
which are very extensive in acreage will almost certainly
have specific locations where these plants grow. Access to
military lands are needed by traditional people to harvest
some plants for ceremonial purposes. Again, this area can
be easily handled by consultation and agreement with the elders
of the tribes concerned. Locations can sometime provide plants
for more than one tribal community. The same plant can be
harvested at two different times by two different tribal groups
for two unrelated purposes.
The complexities
in this area occur because of the different uses that people
make of plants depending on their religious knowledge. The
ceremony determines the time of harvesting and manner of use
(see Stoffle et al., 1990, 1994). Plant knowledge is held
very closely by specific individuals within a tribal community
and most tribes would consider it sacrilege to publish lists
of plants or locations unless the information was cleared
by all the elders who possessed the knowledge. Presently published
lists do not exhaust the traditional knowledge but merely
release the information that can be known by outsiders. As
traditional people feel more comfortable discussing their
knowledge of plants, additional information will become available
and relationships with land managers will change.
TYPE
M: Sanctified Ground
Sacred
sites in the Hawaiian Islands present a unique situation in
the idea of the holy. Traditional Hawaiians believe that after
the person has died the body must be buried so that spiritual
and physical growth can occur for those still living. The
Hawaiian word for burial and planting is the same, kanu. The
mana from the ancestors then permeates the land and plants
and animals flourish. Some mainland Indian tribes have similar
beliefs. The Cheyenne and Sioux tell about the Great Race
around the Black Hills at the beginning of this world to determine
whether the four-leggeds would feed on the two leggeds or
vice versa. The two leggeds, having won the race, agreed that
they would let their bodies decay and become soil on which
plants and animals could thrive.
This
concept is best described as "sanctified ground"
and might be compared to Abraham Lincoln's perception of the
battlefield at Gettysburg, where human actions have taken
formerly secularized land and made it a sacred location. The
Hawaiian belief is somewhat broader since there is no need
for a noble purpose in the death of those who are interred.
Rather the integrity of personal energy of the deceased ensures
that the ground becomes more powerful, almost humanized.
Summary
The foreseeable
kinds of sacred sites or locations that are likely to become
the subject of controversy, negotiation and agreement between
military installations and the practitioners of traditional
American Indian tribal religions have been described. In most
instances the chances of conflict are small because of the
relatively small number of people seriously practicing these
traditions and because of the precise nature of Indian ceremonial
life. In a sense, the military will have a much easier time
dealing with traditional Indian religious practitioners than
with practitioners of traditionally established religions
of western culture because there is no need, in most instances,
to establish a permanent shrine, building, or improved location
that will be constantly visited by a large number of Native
people. Instead the Indian use of lands and sites will generally
be secret or at least obscure, limited to a few occasions
during the year, and can be managed through clear communications
between the appropriate military authorities and Native American
spiritual leaders and representatives.
In the
next chapter a survey the western states will discuss some
of the more prominent and commonly known sacred sites which
may have some impact on military installations. Many sites
will require only identification as probable locations until
permission is sought to use them for religious purposes. More
important is the illustration of the complexity of the American
Indian traditional religious practices and understanding the
requirements that must be handled from time to time in a ceremonial
manner.
_____________________
1 Clark
Provides several examples of Indian traditions regarding a
creation.
2 The Tohono O'odham presently have a number of ceremonies
that involve Baboquivari Peak which they claim go back to
the days when monsters roamed the earth. Robert K. Thomas
(Cherokee) was the last non-Tohono O'odham with whom the spiritual
leaders would discuss these ceremonies.
3 The admission that space-time "portals" exist
and that spiritual people Can use them to move from one physical
universe to another has been a very recent development, preceding
this study by only a few years. Conversations with people
from the Sioux, Gros Ventre, Cheyenne and Cherokee within
the past several years, now held in strict confidence as to
particularities, seem to suggest that these sites will be
very important in the future.
4 In Black Elk Speaks, by John Neihardt, there is an indication
that Black Elk had shared this knowledge with Neihardt but
that Neihardt had not properly understood it. Conversations
with spiritual leaders at Pine Ridge suggest that, while this
knowledge is held by only a few people, it is permissible
to mention it in print.
5 In general, the Cheyenne materials are contained in Cheyenne
Memories, by John Stands in Timber and Margot Liberty. The
Sioux materials are rewritten by John Neihardt and printed
as story sketches in When the Tree Flowered.
6 Densmore(1918) contains the following information on these
locations:
The crow is always the first to arrive at the gathering of
animals in the Black Hills. The reason why the Black Hills
were so long unknown to the white man was that Wakantanka
created them as a meeting place for the animals. The Indians
had always known this and regarded the law of Wakantanka concerning
it. By this law they were forbidden to kill any of the animals
during their great gatherings.
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