Buffalo Spirit Articles
- Second Issue
Buffalo Spirit Articles
- Second Issue
Preservation & Education
Chief Adam Dick
- In his own words
Mary Thomas
- In her own words
Ruth Brass
- In her own words
The Medicine Wheel
Designs recount personal
achievements
- Transfer of rites
Phone: (780) 455-2700Fax
(780) 455-7639
Email: edwind@ammsa.com
Phone: (780) 455-2700
Fax
(780) 455-7639Email: edwind@ammsa.com
The Medicine Wheel - by Francis Whiskeyjack
For centuries Aboriginal people have used the four directions
of the medicine wheel as a tool for learning and teaching. For
the past 12 years, Elder and spiritual advisor, Francis Whiskeyjack,
has used the medicine wheel as a guide and as a tool to help
others.
Whiskeyjack, who was born and raised in Saddle Lake, Alta., credits
the medicine wheel as being one of the positive forces in his
life. In his own words, this is his interpretation:
I'm not saying that this is the only way to do the medicine wheel,
but this is the way I do mine. These teachings are based on the
teachings I received from people in the area that I come from.
Many people have different interpretations in their medicine
wheel and they are all right. No one is wrong.
In the centre of the circle I like to the put the Creator's name,
because without the Creator nothing would exist. The wheel has
always been in direct relationship with the Creator. Right under
the Creator I put me, because I need to do things for myself
in order to make this wheel work. Within the circle is the four
quadrants or areas. A lot of people know them as the four directions.
The number four has many significant meanings for the Aboriginal
people. Within the four directions there is all the sacred teachings
of four.
In the universe there are four directions - east, south, west
and north. There are four winds; four seasons - spring, summer,
fall and winter; four races of people - the oriental, the red
man, the black people, and the white people; four types of creatures
that breathe - those that fly, birds, those that are four-legged
(the buffalo), those that are two-legged (man) and those that
crawl (insects).
There are four elements on earth - wind, fire, water, and air.
The directions used in the wheel are always used in a clockwise
direction because that is the way the sun moves, rises and sets.
First of all, I'm going put in the first quadrant, which is the
east, that we were born physically. We are babies then. Our physical
selves begin when we are born.
Then we go on to the next quadrant which is the south, on to
the mental area . . . . When we get to the teenage years we start
to use our mind a lot more.
We get to the next direction, which is the west, where there
is the emotional part of things . . . sadness or hurt is represented.
The last link in this fourth quadrant is the spiritual self.
When people get older they tend to get more into their spirituality.
A lot of times we may be taught spirituality when we are younger,
but we often feel that we do not need it then.
So this is the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual areas
in the medicine wheel. Everything needs to depend on the other
directions within these four quadrants. For instance, if someone
got sick and was failing physically, of course, their mind would
be affected, their emotions would be affected and their spirit
would be affected. If someone was dealing with their spiritual
self, their physical self would be affected, mentally they would
be affected, and their emotions would be affected.
The medicine wheel is also about relationships. How to make things
work between you and other people. There has to be balance in
every person's life. When there is balance, people have harmony.
There has to be balance in the four quadrants. Everything in
the wheel has a relationship with each other. There is no harmony
if all or one of these is not balanced. People may experience
a certain amount of peace and harmony if one area is affected;
however it won't last long.
When we talk about the physical quadrant, we are talking about
birth. I'd like to think about birth as being a new day so this
would be the sun. For everyone, the sun means warmth and light.
The sun begins its new day in the direction of the east. That
is where the sun rises. . . . As the sun gives birth to a new
day, we think about birth. We can also think of birth as a season,
which is spring. When you think of the spring you think about
what it brings for the new seeds. I'd like to think about this
as a new birth, a new beginning. Even among men and women in
their journey as a married couple, when they get together, they
produce children. From spring comes all new life.
From spring in the east, we will go on to the south quadrant
which is summer. Which represents the teenage years. At this
point the seeds have grown from babies to teenagers. The next
stage of the medicine wheel after the south is the west, which
would represent the fall season. The teenagers then become adults
and are represented in the west quadrant. The north, which represents
the season of winter, represents the Elders. Eventually the adults
become older men and women and, of course, become grandfathers
and grandmothers. The legacy continues on. The seeds are carried
on throughout the life cycle.
Even after the Elder has passed on the seeds, the old people
are still within us. So this brings about the whole growth process.
When we look at the wheel in the way of colors, we look at the
sun, we see the light and we can identify it with the color yellow.
The south makes us think about red clay and the spilling of the
buffalo blood, which is red. To the west we look at the trees,
so I'm gonna use the color green for the west. When we go to
the north, we think of winter and, of course, everything is at
rest. The color of the north is white because the Creator in
his wisdom covers everything with a white blanket, so that the
seeds will remain alive and then regenerate in the spring.
When we think about the sun in the east, we see the eagle spirit.
The eagle is a sacred symbol in the Aboriginal communities because
it is the only living creature that naturally flies closest to
the sun, therefore the Native people believe that the eagle is
a messenger for the Creator. It brings good messages to the Creator.
This is why a lot of eagle feathers are used for doctoring. The
Eagle uses the air, which is the wind spirit to get close to
the sun.
Coming from the east, in the direction of the sun, we go onto
the south direction. I like to put the buffalo spirit in the
south direction because the buffalo represents offerings. We
associate the buffalo with offerings because in the old days
it offered its life for the livelihood of our Aboriginal people.
When we killed a buffalo we used almost everything of its body.
We made our clothing, our shoes, our utensils and got our food
from the buffalo. So when we talk about the buffalo giving its
life for us, we think about community. Why I say this is that
when you think about the grandfather buffalo we think about its
life and death here on earth. So when you offer something to
the Creator and pray, good things can happen. The buffalo showed
a lot of courage and love to die for us, so I like to think that
love belongs in the south direction.
"One of the natural things for a buffalo to do for its young
is to protect it. Whenever the buffalo are in danger, the herd
places all of its young into a circle and then surround the circle.
They offer their lives to protect their young and that to me
is showing a lot of love.
Today a lot of the offerings for ceremonies come in the way of
broadcloth prints. Whenever we talk about the broadcloth, we
are talking about the buffalo spirit. The cloth has actually
taken over from what the real offerings in ceremonies use to
be. Long ago, berries and meat were used as offerings. Offerings
can also be used in memorial feasts, to celebrate weddings, to
seek wisdom from Elders, a sundance, a sweat or to celebrate
with visitors. This the way of offering nowadays.
In the four directions we look to the east and see the eagle
representing the things that fly, all the birds that fly. When
we go to the next direction, which is the south, we think about
the things with four legs as in the buffalo. We then go to the
west where we can think about the two-legged ones, which is the
bear and us. Even though we have the wolf with four legs in the
north, we also have represented in this direction those that
crawl on the ground or swim. All of these are related in the
medicine wheel.
Now as we move on to adulthood in the west , we go into human
emotional feelings. When we look to the west we see the mountains.
From the mountains comes our strength and endurance. Out of the
mountains comes plant life, the trees and things like growth.
When we think of the trees that go straight up and tall, it means
honesty. When you are straight you are honest. So in the west
quadrant we learn about honesty. This is the quadrant from which
the stem of the pipe comes from. Many teachings of the pipe will
teach you that the stem of the pipe is considered honest because
it is made straight.
From the plants and the herbs in the west come medicines. So
therefore when we light the sweetgrass, which we take right from
the plants, from the plant life, we burn it and it heals us inwardly.
In a symbolic way we are healing our minds and our bodies when
we light the sweetgrass. We are also asking the Creator to heal
our emotions and our feelings. As we share in this circle with
others, we are asking the Creator, the healer, to heal us. We
are asking our spirit guides, the helpers, our grandfathers and
grandmothers, to pray for us, to be mediators and to help us.
So this is one of the uses for the sweetgrass medicine.
"The other things we use are the roots, which incidentally
are becoming lost now. Years ago, a lot of the medicine men and
women knew the roots. They used the roots to heal natural diseases
such as cancer or diabetes and other sicknesses. Today we do
not have very many Elders left who know how to make the medicines
and how to use the roots. It is now becoming a lost art.
"I'll go back to the east again where the color yellow represents
the Oriental or Asian people. When we look at the south quadrant,
the color red represents this direction. The red represents the
red man. We follow the circle on to the west where the color
blue represents the black people. We use the color blue because
in our Cree culture we do not use dark colors as black in our
wheel so we represent the black people with the color blue. We
continue in the last direction, which is north, and we have the
color white here, which represents our white brothers and sisters.
"So already when you look at this diagram, we think of balance
and harmony. We start to see that if people worked together in
this circle, everything will be balanced. If one side of the
circle does not co-operate with the other side, then you have
unrest and wars and there is no peace and harmony. That is why
the oriental people, black people, our white brothers and sisters,
talk about world peace, because there is so much unrest in the
world. There is little balance in the world because we as humans
can't seem to get along.
Another teaching you will find in the medicine wheel is that
we all have choices. Life is a matter of choice. How we use the
gifts we were given is a freedom of choice. We have the freedom
to choose. I'm just going to go back to some of the gifts that
we receive from these four directions. When we look at the east
again, we look at the element of fire. Of course from the fire
we receive warmth and light. If you follow this gift you get
warmth and light and light often means kindness. If we include
this gift within us, if we look at ourselves as being warm and
kind (we all carry the light within us), if we have the fire,
the sacred fire, within us, then we will be able to spread it
to others in the medicine wheel circle. That in itself is power.
So we can look at fire as positive. There is a lot of power in
this medicine wheel circle, so I will write down power as one
of the gifts of the east.
We then go to the next element, which is the south. We then see
gifts of mother earth. The buffalo walking on the earth as a
life-giving force is a gift. Like motherhood, mother earth means
protection and survival. When I look at the earth it gives life
to everything - to the grass, to the trees and everything else.
The next direction we will go to is the west , which is fall/autumn.
When we think of the west we also think of the mountains. When
we think of the mountains , we think of water. When you look
at the snow-capped mountains of the west you will see a lot of
water falls, so the gift of water is in the direction of the
west. The water which flows into rivers and streams comes from
the glaciers. It feeds all of the plants, animals and every living
thing. Everything needs water in order to survive. So the water
is in the west quadrant. But then again, the water is blue so
we have a color of blue and green coming from the west. . . .
When we look at the last element, north, the gift from the north
is the air. Everything needs the air to survive. This quadrant
is often considered as the wind spirit. It gives us breath. It
is also the last thing we do before we die. We take our last
breath. Air is the life giving force. It is oxygen. We can use
it in many good ways. For instance, if the wind spirit, the air,
the wind in itself, in its greatest force, is working in a positive
way, then it is good. But if there is too much, it can also be
a negative thing. Think of the tornadoes and the hurricanes.
In this quadrant, when we think of snow, we think of rest. We
as living creatures need to rest a little everyday so that we
can function properly. When you think about the final journey
an Elder makes, we say die here on earth or death or final rest.
Elders believe that there is life after death and, of course,
while they have left us the seeds, we will continue on that circle
in the medicine wheel.
So there you have the circle - air, fire, earth and water. North,
east, south and west. All of these elements are life-giving forces.
If you use this medicine wheel as a positive influence in your
life, then that is great, but if you use it in a negative way
it will not help you. Many times people do things negatively.
When I mentioned the four life-giving elements - air, fire, earth
and water - if we were to look at these elements in a negative
way, just think about it this way. What if there is too much
fire? People are going to burn. Too much heat, too much fire,
things explode. There is a lot of power in the element of fire.
It can destroy and take lives. If people are not careful, if
there is no warmth and kindness within them, sooner or later
they are going to get burned. That is the kind of negative that
this gift can bring if you do not respect it.
The earth, and in the way that it holds the trees, the grass,
can also create negatives. Things can happen as in volcanoes
or earthquakes, which can also take lives. If there is no balance
in people, it can also cause all sorts of problems. Too much
of anything is not good. Too much energy can take that life-giving
force away. If we have too much water flowing down the mountains
and if something on the earth is not balanced, you can have too
much water and you can have flooding. Floods can take away great
cities in a flash. You just have to listen to the news. Water
can give life but it can also take a life.
You can relate this concept to everything in life. If you take
too much of anything and get addicted, it can be a negative.
The addiction starts to control you. Nothing on earth is bad,
as it is created. It's when we abuse it that it becomes bad.
So these are the illustrations used when explaining the power
of the circle. We apply the medicine wheel in a way that has
to do with our mental, physical, spiritual and emotional selves.
If we use the circle in a positive sense, then we will have a
lot of positive feedback in life. For example, when you see a
group of kids playing on the street in a circle and they are
having a good time, getting along with each other, then that
is good, the good power. Yet when you have other teenagers that
are in gangs, when they are doing negative things, then that
is not balanced and that is not good.
We often hear councilors talk about peer pressure. When a teenager
or a young person is affected by peer pressure that is negative,
then that will cause them a lot of problems. But they can also
be affected by positive peer pressures that are good.
Within a circle there is always a lot of power. For example,
when someone throws a rock in the water, you are going to see
the point of entry. What you then see is a rippling effect in
the way of a circle. Each one of us, when we look at ourselves
as that little rock, has the power to influence the community
we live in either negatively or positively. We can throw two
rocks into the water and the strength of that rippling effect
will be greater, three rocks or four rocks and so on and so forth.
That is why one of the statements that I hear so often is true
is that it takes a whole community to raise a child. We, as in
everyone in the whole community, can become one power and can
bring a child up in a good way. We can identify in the way of
circles with Native teachings.
There are buffalo spirits in the south and then there are the
bear spirits in the west. We use the bear spirit in the west
because we associate it with the fact that it uproots a lot of
plants when it eats. Plants are represented in the west. We also
use the bear spirit for healing. For example, we use bear grease
in our sweatlodges. The bear is one of the animals that knows
how to heal itself by using plants.
The teachings we get from the grizzly bear are strength and endurance.
From the mountains, as in the rock from where the pipe comes,
we can also identify with strength and endurance.
When a bear is in danger, it stands up like a man. It can stand
up on two legs. There is a lesson here. It teaches us that as
human beings, when we are faced with obstacles in our lives and
we have nowhere to run, we have to stand up for ourselves. We
have to face our problems at hand. There is a lot of strength
and endurance in the teachings from the bear.
Another thing we use in the medicine wheel is the sweetgrass
for smudging. For example, if you are going to offer tobacco
to mother earth or if you are going to use her plants, or the
food in ceremonies, we usually use tobacco offerings. Tobacco
is also one of the medicines - basically tobacco, sweetgrass
and sage. I believe that sage is considered the women's smudge.
When we pick the sweetgrass plant, we offer tobacco, which we
pick only in the summer. One of the teachings we get from the
sweetgrass is that it is kind and presentable. It is good. We
can walk all over it and a few days later it will be standing
again. The sweetgrass has the natural process of surviving. You
can burn it, you can trample or stomp on it, but it will always
come back. We also get strength and endurance from it. It teaches
us to be kind and gentle. These are the kinds of gifts that we
get from the teachings of the sweetgrass.
When we move on to the north quadrant, the wolf clan is used.
The reason that the wolf is used in the north is that it often
travels in a pack. It lives in a type of commune with other wolves.
Many times the survival of the wolf depends on the ability to
circle its prey in order to survive. Again in the natural order
of things, everything depends on the circle.
Survival is also a key word in the concept of the medicine wheel.
If you take away the air element or the fire element or the water
element, nothing would survive. We all need to work with mother
earth. We all need to share that power. Much like the way I was
explaining earlier, if you take away a physical part of a human
being, for instance, if a person is handicapped , then the mental,
emotional or spiritual self will be affected in some way.
If a person, for instance, has no spirituality in their life,
there is really no direction. There is no belief system. What
are they going to do with their emotions, when they have no one
to turn to. When you have spirituality, your spirit is strong.
It fills the void of emptiness. . .
You know that the Creator is there and you are not alone. You
know that your spirit is within yourself. When I look at this
circle, there is the Creator who is in me. If I do not love myself,
I cannot love those around me. If I do not respect myself, I
cannot respect the Creator or those around me. If I do not understand
myself, I cannot understand the Creator or those around me. If
I cannot feel anything about myself, I cannot feel anything for
other people. This is where a lot of times we talk about the
inner child stuff. So a lot of things have to start with me,
the relationship within me.
I hope that I've explained just some of the teachings of the
medicine wheel, always though, if you follow the way the sun
travels, everything is related. It always goes back to relationships.
These are just some of the examples in the wheel.
So within this simple wheel it starts off with birth, everything
is born. We are related to everything that is around us. I've
heard Elders say that a lot of times when we pray for the things
that we need certainly if we look hard enough those things are
all around us, that it is up to us to see them and to use them.
We can use all the things that live around us.
There are more teachings on the medicine wheel and I'm learning
more everyday. I'm not saying that everything I'm saying is true.
I still have a lot of things to learn. I began to learn about
the medicine wheel when I first began to go to the sweatlodges,
which is about 12 years ago. In the beginning I did not understand
the wheel like I understand it now. It's taken a long time for
me to identify with it. The wheel gives me an opportunity to
know I can identify with my own needs.
I'm not saying that my teachings are the right way. There are
not people who teach the medicine wheel. If you are not living
in a community where it is taught, then it is hard to get a whole
lot of the teachings. I'm very fortunate that in my community
there are people who are into the sweatlodges, ceremonies, and
who teach others on the wheel. But I find that there are not
enough medicine wheel teachings in urban areas. A lot of young
people are not even into this belief system. These teachings
are pretty deep, but the more you study the wheel, the more you
begin to understand it. . .
Continue your journey