Yellow Tail Crow - Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief - Book Report/Review Example

Yellow Tail Crow - Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief Yellow Tail Crow - Medicine Man and Sun Dance Chief is a compelling book written by Michael Fitzgerald. He uses his experiences as an adopted member of the Yellow Tail family to explain the origin of the Sun dance and Crow medicine. The Yellow Tail family belonged to the Crow tribe, one of the many sub-tribes of Native Americans (Eastman and Fitzgerald 77). In explaining the Sun dance's origin, Fitzgerald examines his native tribe from a historical perspective. With the encroachment of White Americans into native territory during the Antebellum period, the Native Americans had no choice but to abandon most of their traditions and practices. They reluctantly conformed to the demands of the White Americans who surpassed them in numbers because of the rapid rate in which their population increased. They claimed that these rituals were inhumane because individuals inflicted self-torture while performing them (Eastman and Fitzgerald 97). The Whites justified their banning policies by making such claims, however, the justifications served as a cover-up to their real motive which was to westernize the natives. Therefore, by the end of the nineteenth century most of the Native Americans stopped practicing their rituals and traditions. The Yellow Tail family narrated the story of the origin of the Sun dance to Fitzgerald who includes it in his book. According to the narrative, the Sun dance regained popularity in the 1930s with the growing popularity of John Trojillo’s miraculous deeds. Trojillo’s healing abilities started after getting struck by lightning while on a vision quest as he was walking in the mountainous landscapes. He attributes his powers to the Spirit of the mountain which he claims bestowed upon him the knowledge of healing ceremonies and medicine. Fitzgerald fascination came from the fact that Trojillo experienced an out-of body experience after lightning struck, whereby, Trojillo was in spirit form for three days before finally waking up (Eastman and Fitzgerald 117). With the knowledge, the Spirit of the mountain gave Trojillo he embarked on his journey of healing many people. His healing of his first patient, a man shot twice above his heart, caught everyone’s attention. He was, therefore, asked to spread the Sun dance rituals to other Native American reservations, for example, Shoshoni and the Crow (1941) reservations. Fitzgerald notes that modern forms of medicine were unavailable to the Native Americans living in the Antebellum period. Therefore, many people succumbed to fatal wounds and ailments. Trojillo’s form of medicine which involved prayer and the limited use of medicinal herbs ignited people’s hopes. They no longer had to worry about the westernized medical practices which entailed the use of many drugs. Trojillo’s healing only relied on medicinal herbs. He used them to relieve pain and make the patient comfortable. Therefore, they did not receive any form of credit when a patient regained his health. On the other hand, the cornerstone of Trojillo’s healing was prayers. Prayers sought the healing Spirits’ intervention to relive patients from their ailments. Therefore, continuous prayers were mandatory for success to be realized in this form of healing (Eastman and Fitzgerald 137). Fitzgerald addressed the different components of the Sun dance in his writing. The first involves the purification ceremonies performed before and after the Sun dance ceremony. The pre-sun dance purification ceremony held to cleanse individuals before embarking on the prayer filled Sun dance ceremony. It serves to purify people in order to appease the Spirits, hence, ensure a favorable outcome by the end of the ceremony. The post purification ceremony; on the other hand mark the re-entry of these individuals into the world as refreshed and regenerated beings. According to Fitzgerald’s shared experience with Yellow Tail, Fitzgerald equates the post-sun dance purification ritual to water poured on volcanic rocks. Borrowing from Yellow Tails’ teachings, Fitzgerald advances that pain and suffering are noteworthy because it leads to the renewal process (Eastman and Fitzgerald 147). The monthly Sun dance prayer ceremonies performed during the appearance of the full moon in every month is the other component of this ritual. It is during these ceremonies where people pray under the guidance of Sun dance chief. In Fitzgerald’s case, Yellow Tail served in this capacity. Removal of ritual objects from two medicine bundles occurs, for example, incense. The people sing to help send the prayers to the spiritual realm. Healing of people occurs at the end of the prayers. The spiritual leader uses a hollow spiked horn of an elk to perform the healing ritual, whereby, the disobedient spirits presumed to be responsible for the ailments get blown off into the wind (Eastman and Fitzgerald 157). Fitzgerald also mentions the annual 3-4 day ceremony which occurs in summer especially around the month of July. A lot of dancing by many members of the community characterizes this ceremony. People also fast during this ceremony. This simple act of selflessness seeks to appease the Spirits to grant them whatever they want. Sometimes, people pass out from exhaustion accompanied by lack of energy from the fasting and dancing. According to Fitzgerald, the natives consider this as a form of blessing. This is because they attribute the fainting to the Spirits way of communicating to the entire community. Revelations manifest themselves during these vision quests (Eastman and Fitzgerald 160). Fitzgerald addresses various themes in his book, for example, culture and hope among others. The Sun dance ritual unites the natives by giving them a chance to identify with parts of their culture which they abandoned under the commands of the White Americans. Culture serves the purpose of ensuring people belong and permits people to identify with others who share the same culture. The theme of hope arises from Fitzgerald’s explanation of the medial practices which restore people to full health without relying on western medical practices. Natives can, therefore, stick to their native medical practices (Eastman and Fitzgerald 189). In conclusion, Fitzgerald provides an enlightening view of the natives experiences with regard to restoration of cultural practices stripped away from them by the White settlers. His book also gives insight to outsiders unaware of the Native Americans’ cultural settings. It also portrays Fitzgerald as a man who is proud to be associated with his culture (Eastman and Fitzgerald 197). Work Cited Eastman, Charles Alexander, and Michael Oren Fitzgerald. The Essential Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa): Light on the Indian World. New York: World Wisdom, Inc.: 2007. Print.     Read More