Sacred bundle
Encyclopedia
Sacred bundle are medicine bundles or collections of sacred items held by designated carriers from Native American tribes. According to a Harvard University
report, tribal elders are entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the bundles.
According to Patricia Deveraux, a member of the Blackfeet
tribe in Alberta, "These are holy bundles given to us by the Creator to hold our people together... They're the same as the relics from the Catholic Church. They are a demonstration of the holy spirit. They can heal people."
of the Oglala Lakota
, the first woman chosen to care for the sacred bundle was Red Day Woman, and all women subsequently chosen to care for the sacred bundle were regarded as holy people.
To open or use a bundle without the proper ritual and ceremony portends disaster.
Bundle contents vary according to ritual and customs. A bundle at the Kansas State Historical Society has been x-ray
ed to identify its contents, which are wrapped in an ocher
-stained bison
hide. There are several ceremonial objects tied to the outside of the bundle, including a long smoking pipe, arrow fragments, a meat fork tipped with a raccoon bone, and small American flags. According to the x-ray analysis inside are stuffed bird bundles, hawk bells, counting sticks, and glass beads sewn on a leather strip.
Some Pawnee kept intricate star chart
s in their bundles.
, particularly from the Aztecs and the Quiché Mayas (see Popol Vuh
). The pre-Aztec Borgia Codex uniquely visualizes the mystic powers emanating from such a bundle. Bundles held by members of the royal family are particularly prominent in the art of the Classic Maya kingdom of Yaxchilan
.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
report, tribal elders are entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the bundles.
According to Patricia Deveraux, a member of the Blackfeet
Blackfeet
The Piegan Blackfeet are a tribe of Native Americans of the Algonquian language family based in Montana, having lived in this area since around 6,500 BC. Many members of the tribe live as part of the Blackfeet Nation in northwestern Montana, with population centered in Browning...
tribe in Alberta, "These are holy bundles given to us by the Creator to hold our people together... They're the same as the relics from the Catholic Church. They are a demonstration of the holy spirit. They can heal people."
Pawnee
Sacred bundles are a powerful part of Pawnee ceremonies linked to planting and harvesting. They contain tools necessary to those ceremonies, and the rituals and ceremonies associated with them are passed from generation to generation along with the bundles. Bundles are owned by women and inherited through the female line, but can be used by men only. According to Black ElkBlack Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
of the Oglala Lakota
Oglala Lakota
The Oglala Lakota or Oglala Sioux are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people; along with the Nakota and Dakota, they make up the Great Sioux Nation. A majority of the Oglala live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the eighth-largest Native American reservation in the...
, the first woman chosen to care for the sacred bundle was Red Day Woman, and all women subsequently chosen to care for the sacred bundle were regarded as holy people.
To open or use a bundle without the proper ritual and ceremony portends disaster.
Bundle contents vary according to ritual and customs. A bundle at the Kansas State Historical Society has been x-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
ed to identify its contents, which are wrapped in an ocher
Ocher
Ocher may refer to:* A shade of brown—see Ochre*Ochyor , a Russian place name; alternatively romanized as "Ocher"...
-stained bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
hide. There are several ceremonial objects tied to the outside of the bundle, including a long smoking pipe, arrow fragments, a meat fork tipped with a raccoon bone, and small American flags. According to the x-ray analysis inside are stuffed bird bundles, hawk bells, counting sticks, and glass beads sewn on a leather strip.
Some Pawnee kept intricate star chart
Star chart
A star chart is a map of the night sky. Astronomers divide these into grids to use them more easily. They are used to identify and locate astronomical objects such as stars, constellations and galaxies. They have been used for human navigation since time immemorial...
s in their bundles.
Mesoamerica
The sacred bundle is also known from MesoamericaMesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
, particularly from the Aztecs and the Quiché Mayas (see Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the People."...
). The pre-Aztec Borgia Codex uniquely visualizes the mystic powers emanating from such a bundle. Bundles held by members of the royal family are particularly prominent in the art of the Classic Maya kingdom of Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan
Yaxchilan is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta, with Piedras Negras as its major rival...
.
External links
- "Making the Sacred Bundle", IndigenousPeople.net. Retrieved 12/1/08.