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Ceremonial teachings are
strictly an oral tradition passed down from Elder to Elder to ensure their
authenticity and integrity. Elders are men and women, regardless of age, who have been infused with Wisdom and other spiritual
gifts from the Great Spirit.
The ceremonies are a way to
commune with Spirit through prayers, offerings, and ritual. Native Americans
communicate with the spirits by singing traditional, ceremonial, and medicine
songs accompanied by drums and sometimes also by rattles, flutes, and whistles.
Rattles are used by Elders during ceremonies to call the four powers to help
those who seek healing, cleansing, and guidance. Rattles are also shaken to
summon the Spirit of Life for those who are sick.
For Native Americans all of
life is sacred. The land is part of them and they are part of the land. Their
primary sacred text is the wind whispering through cedar boughs, the sandy
shores, the cry of an eagle, and the ripple of sparkling streams.
The Dream Catcher
consists of a perfect circle web with a hole in the center which symbolizes the
Web of Life and Future Destinies. It is hung above beds to sift through dreams,
ideas, and visions, catching the good ones so that people may be helped and
goals may be attained; and, purging the bad ones by discharging them through the
hole in the center of the web.
The Keeping of Soul is a purification ceremony for the Soul of a deceased loved one which
enables the soul to return to the Great Spirit. This release of a purified
departed soul to travell to the Great Creator can occur as long as a year after
death.
Native Americans commune with the
Great Spirit by smoking the scared pipe and by feathering themselves with
sweetgrass, allowing the smoke to convey their prayers throughout the Sacred
Hoop to Great Spirit...
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Native American Sacred Hoop Visionquest 
