Yuwipi: Vision and Experience in Oglala Ritual

Powers, William K.

ISBN 10: 0803287100 / ISBN 13: 9780803287105

Published by NEBRASKA PAPERBACK, 1984

About this Item

Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!

Seller Inventory # S_426918229

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Yuwipi: Vision and Experience in Oglala Ritual
• Publisher: NEBRASKA PAPERBACK
• Publication Date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803287100
• ISBN 13: 9780803287105
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

A profoundly spiritual book, Yuwipi describes a present-day Oglala Sioux healing ritual that is performed for a wide range of personal crises. The vivid narrative centers on the experience of a hypothetical father and son in need of spiritual and physical assistance.

The author combines the Yuwipi ceremony with two ancient Sioux rituals often performed in conjunction with it, the vision quest and the sweat lodge. Wayne Runs Again, suffering from alcoholism and worried about his father’s health, seeks out a shaman who, while bound in darkness, calls on supernatural beings to free him and to communicate. While the young man undergoes purification in a sweat lodge and waits on a hill for a vision, the community prays for him and his father. The ceremony serves not only to cure the sick but also to reaffirm the continuity of Oglala society.

About the Author

William K. Powers was adopted in boyhood by a Sioux chief and has spent thirty-five summers on the Pine Ridge, South Dakota, reservation. In an essay, he traces the origins of Yuwipi to Crazy Horse's spiritual mentor, the medicine man Horn Chips. Powers is the author of Oglala Religion (1977), also published by the University of Nebraska Press.