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Oglala Sioux man writes to set the record straight
REVIEW
by Marie Burke
Buffalo Spirit ContributorSpiritual imagery, the six powers of the earth, father sky and mother earth, women as spiritual leaders and the inclusion of non-Native people in traditional ceremony are some of the topics explored by an Oglala Sioux writer who is not afraid to tell all in his books.
"I've read a lot and I didn't believe what the white man wrote about us. I thought they were lying," said Ed McGaa, author of several books about Sioux spirituality and their ceremonies.
McGaa was born on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. He is 63 years old and believes society hasn't given Native nations their due in history. Society does not acknowledge the efforts of Indians who greeted the first pilgrims and kept them alive or the help given run away African American slaves who were taken into tribes and each welcomed as one of the tribe's own, said McGaa.
A Vietnam veteran, McGaa writes in a pro-Indian voice because the positive aspects of Indian people were not recorded properly by many non-Native writers, he said. The Native people he knows have a good sense of humor and are kind-hearted people. That's what makes him write.
Take personal, spiritual experience and historical research, blend, and you have the basis for his books, he explained. It's also the importance of spirit for Native people that McGaa explores. He speaks and writes openly about ceremonies and rituals that are a part of his life.
McGaa has heard from non-Indian people many superstitions about Sioux ceremonies. He got tired of hearing about how Native people were worshipping the devil and putting marijuana in their peace pipes. It's about clearing up the falsehoods about Sioux ceremonies, he said.
In his first book Mother Earth Spirituality, McGaa wrote in support of non-Native people holding pipes and taking part in ceremonies. Some of that opinion changed in his following books, he said.
"The Sundance is for the Indian. I don't see where non-Indian people should be taking part in Sundance. As far as them watching, that 's ok. I've been to a closed Sundance. It was beautiful, much like the old ones. I'm pretty touchy on that one. Sundance is tribal. I think the sweat lodge, vision quest and the beseeching to the four directions is universal. That's where I come from," said McGaa.
On the Pine Ridge reservation there are some holy men who thought that a lot of non-Indians were being pierced and being hauled up into the air, said McGaa. Rick Two-dogs, who is from Pine Ridge, thought the old Sundances were being forgotten. He was one of the first
Sundance chiefs who decided to bring back the old tribal Sundances where only card carrying Indians are allowed to dance, said McGaa, regarding the differences between open and closed Sundances.
There are other holy men who have open Sundances and that is their vision to allow non-Native people to dance. You can't argue with someone's vision, said McGaa.
Another reason McGaa describes Sioux ceremonies so openly is based on his belief that the real traditional Native people are very open-minded. The Sioux people are great adapters and that is why they have progressed so much and kept their ceremonies alive, said McGaa.
"We're not so much into secrecy as the tribes are that have been longer with the Christians. The Christians are real secret. They have secret orders. Their priests have secret things. I think a lot of Eastern Indians have picked up on that secrecy," said McGaa.
On the subject of women, McGaa points to the matriarchal system that the Sioux and many other tribes have followed. He thinks the system is still strong in his nation. He believes women are also spiritual leaders. There are some tribes where women are not honored as leaders, but that is because they have been around the white man too long, said McGaa.
He looks at the woman's role as a spiritual leader from the point of having a balanced life. The Great Spirit made man and woman, fifty-fifty, said McGaa. The Native people who don't allow their women to be leaders are unbalanced, he said.
Men sweat lodge holders who are chauvinistic and who fail to honor women, do not receive spirits in their sweat lodges, he said. This is something that McGaa said he has seen over and over in some sweat lodge ceremonies.
"Half the spirits in the spirit world are women and I think you are very foolish to be chauvinistic and hold back women. They have equal power. If I do a sweat lodge, a woman opens up that ceremony. She is the first one to walk into that lodge. She is the one to take the tobacco and open up that ceremony and she says 'behold, let it be known this ceremony is open'", said McGaa.
Honoring women in his ceremonies is something McGaa learned from Bill Eagle Feather, one of his teachers. He was taught that the Great Spirit does everything in balance. When all the spirits like the ceremony, they come in, said McGaa. Those men who would be cruel to women or leave women out are not decent warriors, said McGaa.
"Woman, rise up and be a leader. Be a leader because you are needed. Your wisdom is needed. Don't just sit back and be quiet. Your wisdom will balance out things. Some of us guys are just too much of a warrior," said McGaa.
For McGaa, who is a writer and a warrior recognized by his people, it's about time that all Native people spoke up about who they really are. He recognizes there are those who have never fought in the wars or at Wounded Knee, but may have sat on a mountain and fasted or went to a Sundance for four days.
"Full honors as a warrior means he is able to go anywhere he wants to go and say what he wants to say. If they let [Leonard] Peltier out of prison, they should give him full honors as a warrior. That's only common sense. The Indians don't put everything into a classification like white people do," said McGaa.
For the authors who have never been out there with their people, McGaa calls them armchair Indians. There are some authors like that, with cozy jobs that just criticize their people because they have not gone through ceremony and hard times with their people, he said.
"I'll probably continue to write. I wish more Indians would have enough guts to do that. . . .I mean why leave it all to me and Chuck Ross. What are they, cowards or something? Are they afraid of what the white man is gonna say about them. Are they? It's time they get off their duffs and start writing."
Write about the positive things in Native culture and prove that what the white man says about Native people isn't true, said McGaa.
"I wish more Indians would read Black Elk's Vision, Black Elk Speaks. I think that is a very powerful book. I think it will give them an idea about spiritual imagery, the six powers of the universe, the four directions, why we Sioux always utilize that pipe ceremony," said McGaa.
If you are Native, go back and look at traditionalism. It's in a Native person's blood and in their DNA. It calls out to your spirit, said McGaa. "Don't go back and try to set a bunch of rules or criticize anyone, but respect the mystery that Native people don't question."