A Prophesy Fulfilled: Tales of the White Sundancer

A few days before we left for the Sundance, Isaiah, one of the local sundancers, stops by to visit. He works in the forests behind the healing centre and had walked over the mountain to stop by to connect with Masauke. I spoke to Isaiah about his journey as a Sundancer. He is an eagle dancer at the Little Big Medicine Sundance that i have been attending/supporting for the past two years. He has been sundancing for 8 years -- this was his 9th year. As well as sundancing he has been doing sweatlodges for 12 years since he was 16 years old. He told me that he had bolted out of the first sweatlodge that he ever attended in Florida and had sat outside for the rest of that sweat wishing that he had never left.

Isaiah informs me that Souix sweats are part of the Souix 7 sacred ceremonies brought by White Buffalo Calf Woman. The Sundance is a part of the same spiritual system. The Sundance is the the most sacred, of the sacred of the sacred ceremonies. When Isaiah started sweating he knew nothing about the Sundance. He was sweating to connect to the earth and to hear the traditions and teachings from the Lakota Souix.

When I asked how his life might have been different if he had not become involved with Sweatlodges and the sundance, Isaiah tells me "I have always been a spiritual person and have connected to other spiritual traditions form around the world and see that if I would have pursued one of these traditions the details of my life might have been different. The underlying essence of the dance is to have this practice that is to relieve the suffering for all sentient beings. In many ways the underlying goals and motives are very similar to the Tibetan Buddhist path."

As well as being a sundancer, a sweatlodge conductor and someone with a deep connection to Native American Church ceremonies, Isaiah is also a feather worker. Like Masauke, he uses the feathers from a variety of different birds to make ceremonial fans for sundancers and Native American Church ceremonies.

"My spiritual connection to birds is related to the Sundance. It is my medicine. The style of featherwork is also related to the family I am in. In the Peyote way there is a tradition of featherwork that I am adopted in, it is a complete way of using all of the bird species in different ways. It is based on what these birds are, the essence of the bird. I use my connection to the bird in the sundance when I am doing the featherwork, but in general as an eagle dancer my greatest connection is to the eagle."

What else have the sweat lodges taught you? I ask. "I take a psycho-spiritual approach to conducting sweats using the concepts of psychoneuroimmunology bringing that from a traditional standpoint and applying it to modern principles of psychological growth. The sweat that I use is all about healing. I'd mixed sweats and mens sweats. There are many ways to run the sweats for different reasons eg if someone is sick or if they want to celebrate."

As a white boy from Florida, how did you get introduced to your first sweatlodge? His reply is simple. "Some friends of my family had an organic farm and they had a sweatlodge there."

After the first sweat what called you to continue? is my next question. "The feeling of wanting to … there was noting more profound."

How has the sweat lodges and the sundancing helped you to understand native people and their culture? His reply shed light on something that I already knew about Isaiah, he had a deep connection to native cultures. "Through the traditional ceremonies, different tribes maintain their cultural belief systems. The ceremonies are the heart of their cosmology, by sitting in ceremony you learn from the inside out , not as an onlooker. I have a lot more inter-cultural sensitivity because of this path."

What made you lead sweatlodges? "Because I wanted to sweat. I love to sweat. After you sundance for 4 years you earn the right to lead sweat lodges, to pour water. Mine is a mixed sweat because it is a family fireplace. If I do a sundance sweat it is a men's sweat."

It is at this point that Masauke tells us the story of a white sundance chief who goes for the first time to another sundance where everyone is native and is feeling a little bit tenuous because of the colour of his skin when a native sundance chief comes up to him and says, "When I was young my grandfather predicted that there would come a time when the white man would be dancing in our ceremonies. I did not think I would live to see that prophesy fulfilled. Thank you for being the person who has fulfilled the prophesy"

Lessons Learned: 1) We never know what path the Great Spirit will lead us on, 2)Always follow the path with heart as Carlos Casteneda would say, 3) Respect for others and their traditions is respect for ourselves and our traditions

staywell and travel with Spirit, Spirit Traveller.