Sweet Medicine, Volume 100: Continuing Role of the Sacred Arrows, the Sun Dance, and the Sacred (2-Volume Set)

by Peter J. Powell

Book Overview

Sweet Medicine is the most comprehensive record ever made of the ceremonies of the Northern Cheyennes. Volume One recounts tribal history against the background of the two great spiritual tragedies in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806130288
• ISBN13: 9780806130286
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Length: 994 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.9" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Special Book About the Cheyenne

Father Peter J. Powell's work with the Cheyenne is in a class by itself. His telling of stories in the mythic past of the Cheyenne have a depth of understanding worthy of Campbell, Zimmer and Eliade. So many books on the Native Americans are not satisfying because the authors do not know enough to ask the right questions and they merely repeat what other authors have written. Father Powell lived among the Cheyenne, became a very trusted informant and tells the stories with an uncommon grasp of the subject. His list of primary sources is impressive, more so as we learn who many of these people are and who their fathers, mothers and grandparents were. The way he moves from present to near past to distant past to mythic past and back to present reinforces Cheyenne belief that the distance between them is much shorter than our culture thinks. A wonderful source book, it fills in so many gaps between Grinnell, Hyde, Bent and Lavender--and takes us deeper than any of them.

An Exceptional Work

One way of regarding what Father Powell accomplished in his epic treatise on Northern Cheyenne history is look at Vine Deloria's appraisal in "God Is Red." Deloria states: "Powell's work, particularly his style of exposition, was based primarily on conversations with reservation people and reflected their language. An Anglican priest who operated St. Augustine's Indian Center in Chicago, Powell viewed all religious expressions as sacred and consequently treated the Cheyenne tradition with respect. His book did not take the superficial approach of listing the quaint beliefs of the Cheyennes as if the reader and the author were beyond such superstitions. 'Sweet Medicine' impressed Indians with the validity of their own traditions." Deloria's comments on Powell's work deserve serious consideration. After all, Deloria set the tone in Chpt. 4 of "Custer Died For Your Sins" for criticizing the historical relationship between anthropology (be it of the professional or self-taught variety) and American Indian communities. The fact that Deloria points to "Sweet Medicine" as an exceptional work is an indication that the study of American Indian culture and history is possible--even by non-Indians--when the resulting discourse is driven by indigenous sources of knowledge, as opposed to forcing research to fit the expectations of a largely non-Indian Academy.

Authoritative work

Some people don't like the idea of a priest writing a book about Cheyenne myth and ritual. Too bad for them. Who better to understand it than one who is completely accepted by the Cheyenne people and, indeed, one of the holders of the sacred regalia of the Arrows and Medicine Hat? Peter Powell has done the world an undying favor by meticulously recording, with the utmost exactitude, in both words and pictures the sacred rites (and their meaning!) of the Cheyenne people? Ignore the reviews of those who just don't -or can't- get the point of this magistral work and instead buy it and enter into a magical world.

Sweet Medicine is beautiful, sensitive, and scholarly

Father Peter J. Powell (who, contrary to the misinformation passed in another reader's review, is an Episcopalian priest) is the premium scholar of Cheyenne culture and religion. A Sun Dance priest himself, adopted by the Cheyenne, Father Powell renders the beautiful story of Sweet Medicine in evocative prose. After reading his work, I was privileged to meet Father Powell on a sad, but touching occasion, when he presided over the funeral of the great Cheyenne educator Bill Tall Bull in Lame Deer, Montana several years ago. Father Powell is held in great reverence by the Northern Cheyenne people, and on that day was sought out after the service by countless members of the tribe with greetings, hugs, and thanks. I can recommend SWEET MEDICINE without reservation to anyone with interest in Plains Indian culture.