Medicine wheel (symbol)

The modern Medicine Wheel symbol was invented as a teaching tool in about 1972 by Charles Storm, aka Arthur C. Storm, writing under the name Hyemeyohsts Storm.[1] It has since been used by various people to symbolize a variety of concepts, some based on Native American religions, others newly invented and of more New Age orientation. It is also a common symbol in some pan-Indian and twelve-step recovery groups.[2]

Medicine Wheel symbol

Recent invention

Charles Storm, pen name Hyemeyohsts Storm, was the son of a German immigrant who claimed to be Cheyenne; he misappropriated and misrepresented Native American teachings and symbols from a variety of different cultures, such as some symbolism connected to the Plains Sun dance, to create the modern Medicine Wheel symbol around 1972.[1][3][4][5][2]

Subsequently Vincent LaDuke (a New Age spiritual leader going by the name Sun Bear), who was of Ojibwe descent, started also using the Medicine Wheel symbol, combining the basic concept with pieces of disparate spiritual practices from various Indigenous cultures, and adding elements of new age and occult spiritualism. LaDuke self-published a newsletter and several books, and formed a group of followers that he named the Bear Tribe, of which he appointed himself the medicine chief. For a fee, his mostly wealthy and white followers attended his workshops, joined his "tribe", and could buy titles and honors that are traditionally reserved for respected elders and knowledge keepers.[1][3][5][2][6] For these activities LaDuke was denounced and picketed by the American Indian Movement.[7]

Storm and LaDuke have been described as "plastic medicine men".[6] They and others who have used this symbol to introduce their own ideas into what they claim are Native American and First Nations teachings have been accused by traditional Natives and activists of harming and displacing traditional teachings for financial motives.[7]

Some modern authors and adherents have added in eclectic ideas, symbolism and beliefs influenced by their interpretations of diverse cultures such as Ancient Greek and Persian philosophy, ideas founded in colonialism, teachings from Hinduism, what they claim is ancient Celtic symbolism and spiritual concepts, or concepts from new religious movements like Wicca.[7] However, these eclectic combinations and inventions, falsely presented as Native American, have been criticized by Indigenous groups as misrepresentation and cultural appropriation.[7]

Symbolism

A medicine wheel is part of this 3D Toronto sign.

While some Indigenous groups that now use a version of the modern Medicine Wheel as a symbol have syncretized it with traditional teachings from their specific Native American or First Nations culture, and these particular teachings may go back hundreds, if not thousands of years, critics assert that the pan-Indian context it is usually placed in can too easily displace the unique, traditional teachings of sovereign tribes, bands and Nations, and in some cases even replace traditional ways with new age, fraudulent ones.[2]

New Age writers tend to center the idea of the medicine wheel as an individualistic tool of personal development, and use a stylized version with the circle divided into coloured quadrants, with various personal qualities assigned to the colours and quadrants. This redefinition is in stark contrast to the Indigenous view of ceremony and sacred sites being rooted in the community rather than the individual.[8]

Alice Kehoe writes that Native medicine wheel rites, along with other Indigenous observance of the cyclical patterns in nature and life, are one of the reasons Natives are stereotyped as "more spiritual" than non-Natives.[9]

Variations

Among users of the medicine wheel symbol, variations exist. The axes of the medicine wheel might also be rotated to be vertical. The quadrants can be rotated into a different arrangement and the order of the colours can be different, depending on the community. Meanings and associations with the colours also vary between nations.[10] Some Anishinaabe communities add a circle in the centre, often coloured green, to represent balance.[11][12][13] The black quadrant is often replaced with a blue quadrant in some Cree and Ojibwe communities.[14][15] Métis occasionally add a circle with the Métis flag in the centre or use the symbol of a Red River cart wheel for the medicine wheel.[16][17] Some versions of the medicine wheel consist of a hoop with two perpendicular axes connected to the hoop, and half of each axes and a connected quadrant of the hoop are coloured with the centre often left uncoloured.[18][19][20] Some Christian groups have incorporated the Christian cross into the medicine wheel in a manner similar to the Celtic cross.[21] In addition to the variations between Indigenous nations, there are also variations used within Indigenous nations, and not all Indigenous nations have adopted the medicine wheel, so care must be taken to not generalize.[22]

These examples are not a definitive list of medicine wheel designs and this is not an exhaustive list of the variations that exist. Variations exist between and within Indigenous nations, and no one design represents all Indigenous nations. These are provided as examples only.

See also

References

  1. Shaw, Christopher (August 1995). "A Theft of Spirit?". New Age Journal. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  2. Bear Nicholas, Andrea (April 2008). "The Assault on Aboriginal Oral Traditions: Past and Present". In Hulan, Renée; Eigenbrod, Renate (eds.). Aboriginal Oral Traditions: Theory, Practice, Ethics. Halifax, NS: Fernwood Pub Co Ltd. pp. 7–43. ISBN 9781552662670.
  3. Thomason, Timothy C (27 October 2013). "The Medicine Wheel as a Symbol of Native American Psychology". The Jung Page. The Jung Center of Houston. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  4. Chavers, Dean (15 October 2014). "5 Fake Indians: Checking a Box Doesn't Make You Native". Indian Country Today. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  5. Beyer, Steve (3 February 2008). "Selling Spirituality". Singing to the Plants. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  6. Churchill, Ward (June 2003). "Spiritual Hucksterism:The Rise of the Plastic Medicine Men". Cultural Survival. Cambridge, MA. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  7. Graham Harvey, ed. Shamanism: A Reader. New York and London: Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-25330-6. pp.328-330 - American Indian Movement protests Sun Bear's Medicine Wheel Gatherings.
  8. 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.
  9. Kehoe, Alice B., 1990 "Primal Gaia: Primitivism and Plastic Medicine Men" in The Invented Indian, ed. J. A. Clifton. New Brunswick NJ: Transaction Books, pp. 193–209.
  10. Joseph, Bob. "What is an Indigenous Medicine Wheel?". Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  11. McGurry, Renée. "The Anishinaabek Medicine Wheel". Government of Treaty 2 Territory. First Nations in Treaty 2 Territory. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  12. "The power of traditional ways". KBIC Health Systems. Keweenaw Bay Dept. Of Health & Human Services. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  13. Lyons, Michael; Holtan, Heidi. "Boozhoo Nanaboozhoo Ojibwe word of the day is Medicine Wheel "Mashkikii Detibised"". KAXE. KAXE/KBXE. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  14. Whiskeyjack, Francis. "The Medicine Wheel". Windspeaker.com. Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  15. "Medicine Wheel Native American Teachings Explained?". Powwow Times. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  16. "Land Acknowledgement". Office of the Vice-Provost Indigenous Engagement. University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  17. Bellegarde, Brad (9 January 2018). "Métis educator sets up tent in classroom to share his grandparents' experience with students". CBC News. CBC. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  18. "The Medicine Wheel Talking Circle Training Model". Native American Coalition. University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  19. "Medicine wheel". National Museum of the American Indian. Smithsonian. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  20. "The Medicine Wheel". National Park Service. National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  21. "The Medicine Wheel". Dayspring NAUMC. Dayspring Native American United Methodist Church. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  22. Douglas, Vasiliki (28 June 2013). "2 – Western and Aboriginal Ways of Knowing". Introduction to Aboriginal Health and Health Care in Canada: Bridging Health and Healing. New York, NY, USA: Springer Publishing Company. p. 30. ISBN 9780826117991. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
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