The red road
The red road is a modern
Black Elk
In his book
Neihardt said that Black Elk believed he had an obligation to "help to bring my people back into the sacred hoop, that they might again walk the red road in a sacred manner pleasing to the powers of the universe that are one power."
"Hear me, four quarters of the world--a relative I am! Give me the strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is! Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand, that I may be like you. With your power only can I face the winds.
Great Spirit, Great Spirit, my Grandfather, all over the earth the faces of living things are all alike. With tenderness have these come up out of the ground. Look upon these faces of children without number and with children in their arms, that they may face the wind and walk the good road to the day of quiet.
This is my prayer; hear me now!"- "Black Elk's Prayer for All Life"[16]
Treatment of addictions
In some modern addiction treatment programs, the idea of the Red Road may be part of the recovery process. Some of these programs are primarily for Native populations, but take a Pan-Indian or New Age approach, through "the Sweat lodge, the Red Road, and the Recovery Medicine Wheel."[17] "Red Road to Recovery" programs are not always run by or for Native people, but may be groups of predominantly non-Native, New Age adherents.[17]
Other recovery programs for Native American and First Nations Peoples, such as the guidelines by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and other government agencies addressing recovery, mental health and Indigenous rights, rather than take a pan-Indian approach, stress that, "while regional practices and language dialects might be similar, each tribe is unique and caution should be used to avoid generalizations"[5] and that, among "more than 2 million people in 300-500 different American Indian tribal groups, each with its own culture and responses to specific situations... Belief and practices vary widely from tribe to tribe."[6][7]
Mainstream usage
The phrase "The Red Road" has been picked up by many non-Native adherents of New Age and hippie lifestyles, based on their interpretation of Native American spirituality.[1] Critics have accused such followers of cultural appropriation and misrepresentation.[2][3][18][8]
See also
- Alcohol and Native Americans
- Blessing Way
- Cultural imperialism
- Curandero
- Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Great Race (Native American legend)
- Indigenous decolonization
- Midewiwin
- Medicine wheel (symbol)
- Music for The Native Americans, a 1994 album by Robbie Robertson and the Red Road Ensemble
- Native American Church
- Native American Spirituality Movements
- Neoshamanism
- Pan-Indianism
- Plastic Shaman
- Stereotypes of Native Americans
- Traditional knowledge
References
- ^ a b McGaa, Ed, Rainbow Tribe: Ordinary People Journeying on the Red Road. HarperCollins, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-08067-4. Chapter Six: "Counterculture Indians and the New Age"
- ^ a b c Huhndorf, Shari Michelle, Going Native: Indians in the American Cultural Imagination. Cornell University Press, 2001. p.164
- ^ a b Native American Stories of the Sacred: Annotated & Explained, 2005- Page xi "One unifying feature of Native American belief is the concept of the "Red Road", though each tribe and nation also has its own name for it. Black Elk speaks of the Red Road in the book The Sacred Pipe."
- ^ a b "Mental Health Essentials in Native Communities: A Guide for Grantees" (PDF). Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
It is important to note, while regional practices and language dialects might be similar, each tribe is unique and caution should be used to avoid generalizations.
- ^ University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
More than 2 million people in 300-500 different American Indian tribal groups, each with its own culture and responses to specific situations. Belief and practices vary widely from tribe to tribe.
- ^ a b "Indigenous spiritual practices". Ontario Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
Indigenous peoples practice diverse spiritual traditions in Ontario, reflecting the diversity of Indigenous peoples in Ontario and Canada.
- ^ a b G. Hobson, "The Rise of the White Shaman as a New Version of Cultural Imperialism." in: Hobson, Gary, ed. The Remembered Earth. Albuquerque, NM: Red Earth Press; 1978: 100-108.
- ^ Neihardt, John G. (1932, William Morrow & Company) Black Elk Speaks
- ISBN 0814644163
- ^ Petersen, Kirk (2018-08-25). "Vatican considers sainthood for Black Elk". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
- ISBN 0803265646. Introduction and notes throughout the book.
- ^ Carl Silvio Archived 2007-10-07 at the Wayback Machine, Internet Public Library, academic arguments on authorship, translation, and interpretation for prospective audiences have been written by Carl Silvio, among others. Note: This site has been superseded since 2010 by www.ipl2.org, a consortium of universities, accessed 19 June 2011
- ISBN 0-8032-8997-9.
- ^ Evan T. Pritchard, Native American Stories of the Sacred: Annotated & Explained, Sky Light Illuminations: 2005. Quote: "Black Elk, in The Sacred Pipe, speaks of the Red Road as the north-south cross of the Medicine Wheel, and the east-west cross as the black or blue road, the way we ..."
- ^ Walker, "A Social Ethical Analysis of BLACK ELK SPEAKS", Southern Methodist University.
- ^ a b RD VICK, LM Smith, CIR Herrera - The healing circle: An alternative path to alcoholism recovery Counseling and Values, 1998 - Wiley Online Library "... Therefore, the incorporation of tribal spiritual teachings and practices into the recovery process can be crucial to its success. Three elements are central to the recovery process: the Sweat Lodge, the Red Road, and the Recovery Medicine Wheel."
- ^ Aldred, Lisa, "Plastic Shamans and Astroturf Sun Dances: New Age Commercialization of Native American Spirituality" in: The American Indian Quarterly issn.24.3 (2000) pp.329-352. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.