Yuwipi is the presentday Oglala Sioux version of an ancient and widespread ritual in which a shaman is bound and, in the darkness, calls spirits to come and free him and to communicate with his audience. The author, who has a long and intimate acquaintance with the Oglala, shows how this ritual is related to two other old institutions, the vision quest and the sweat lodge. He does so through a vivid account of how the shaman Plenty Wolf guided an anguished young man to a vision, cured the boys father, and gathered communal support for them through these ceremonies.Choice An anthropologist at Rutgers University, William K. Powers was adopted in boyhood by a Sioux chief and has spent thirtyfive summers on the Pine Ridge, South Dakota, reservation. In an essay, he traces the origins of Yuwipi to Crazy Horses spiritual mentor, the medicine man Horn Chips. Powers is the author of Oglala Religion (1977), also published by the University of Nebraska Press.
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333 words1 pagesLexile 1200L9780803287105
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