NORTH AMERICAN SHAMANS
This image is a drumskin which was painted with a design representing a shamanistic horned spirit. It's artist belonged to the Assiniboine people, a group living on the U.S.-Canadian border west of lake Winnipeg.
Vision quests and guardian spirits Direct contact with the world of the gods and the spirits is of great importance in most traditional Native American cultures. It is achieved principally through the "vision quest", a process of solitary fasting and prayer in a remote place, by means of which a person hopes to attain a vision of a guardian spirit, which generally appears in the form of an animal, bird or one of the elements. Those to whom such a visionary experience occurs most spontaneously may go on to become shamans, healer-priests who are the chief intermediaries between human beings and the sacred world. While many individuals may acquire power from guardian spirits and visionary experiences,only the most powerful will become full shamans. (Those who do not possess the full range of shamanistic attributes are usualy termed 'medicine men'.) The path to shaman status typically begins when teh individual (usually male) falls ill at an early age and undergoes a visionary death and rebirth, during which he or she meets spirits and acquires sacred knowledge. The relationship between a shaman and teh spirit world amounts almost to a personal religion, while the account of the first meeting with the spirits becomes the shaman's personal myth. The power of this myth is important for establishing the shaman's credentials with the tribe, on behalf of which his or her skills are used to locate game, find lost object and above all, treat the sick. Shamans can enter a trance at will and journey to the sacred world, the land of the dead. Visible representations of the spirits are found in the shaman's "medicine bundle", a collection of artefacts of spiritual significance used in curing rituals. Symbols of the spirits are also depicted on clothing and on ritual and personal objects. A Shaman receives his calling In this shortened account, a shaman of the Kwakiutl people of British Columbia relates his personal myth, the visionary encounter which resulted in his acquisition of shaman powers. "All of us were sick with the smallpox. Presently I thought I was dead. I awoke because of all the wolves coming into the tent, whining and howling. Two were licking my body, vomiting foam and trying to put it all over me, taking off the scabs and sores. Evening fell and the two wolves rested. I crawled into a shelter of spruce, where I lay all night. I was cold. The two wolves lay down on either side of me and, when morning came, licked me again all over. A figure from an earlier dream, Harpooner-body, vomited foam and pressed his nose against my breastbone. He was vomiting magic power into me, and in a dream he laughed and said; 'friend, take care of the shaman power that has gone into you. Now you can cure the sick and make sick those in your tribe whom you wish to die. They all will fear you"
