Black Elk Speaks
Heyoka Ceremony
Twenty days passed, and it was time to perform the dog vision with
heyokas. But before I tell you how we did it, I will say something
about heyokas and the heyoka ceremony, which seems to be very foolish,
but is not so.
Only those who have had visions of the thunder beings of the west
can act as heyokas. They have sacred power and they share some of
this with all the people, but they do it through funny actions.
When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the west, it comes
with terror like a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has
passed, the world is greener and happier; for wherever the truth
of vision comes upon the world, it is like a rain. The world, you
see, is happier after the terror of the storm.
But in the heyoka ceremony, everything is backwards, and it is
planned that the people shall be made to feel jolly and happy first,
so that it may be easier for the power to come to them. You have
noticed that the truth comes into this world with two faces. One
is sad with suffering, and the other laughs; but it is the same
face, laughing or weeping. When people are already in despair, maybe
the laughing face is better for them; and when they feel too good
and are too sure of being safe, maybe the weeping face is better
for them to see. And so I think that is what the heyoka ceremony
is for.
There was a man by the name of Wachpanne [Poor] who took charge
of this ceremony for me, because he had acted as a heyoka many times
and knew all about it. First he told all the people to gather in
a circle on the flat near Pine Ridge, and in the center, near a
sacred tepee that was set there, he placed a pot of water which
was made to boil by dropping hot stones from a fire into it. First,
he had to make an offering of sweet grass to the west. He sat beside
the fire with some sweet grass in his hand, and said: "To the
Great Spirit's day, to that day grown old and wise, I will make
an offering." Then, as he sprinkled the grass upon the fire
and the sweet smoke arose, he sang:
- "This I burn as an offering.
- Behold it!
- A sacred praise I am making.
- A sacred praise I am making.
- My nation, behold it in kindness!
- The day of the sun has been my strength.
- The path of the moon shall be my robe.
- A sacred praise I am making.
- A sacred praise I am making."
Then the dog had to be killed quickly and without making any scar,
as lightning kills, for it is the power of the lightning that heyokas
have.
Over the smoke of the sweet grass a rawhide rope was held to make
it sacred. Then two heyokas tied a slip noose in the rope and put
this over the neck of the dog. Three times they pulled the rope
gently, one at each end of the rope, and the fourth time they jerked
it hard, breaking the neck. Then Wachpanne singed the dog and washed
it well, and after that he cut away everything but the head, the
spine and the tail. Now walking six steps away from the pot, one
for each of the Powers, he turned to the west, offering the head
and spine to the thunder beings, then to the north, the east and
the south, then to the Spirit above and to Mother Earth.
After this, standing where he was, six steps away, he faced the
pot and said: "In a sacred manner I thus boil this dog."
Three times he swung it, and the fourth time he threw it so that
it fell head first into the boiling water. Then he took the heart
of the dog and did with it just what he had done with the head and
spine.
During all this time, thirty heyokas, one for each day of a moon,
were doing foolish tricks among the people to make them feel jolly.
They were all dressed and painted in such funny ways that everybody
who saw them had to laugh. One Side and I were fellow clowns. We
had our bodies painted red all over and streaked with black lightning.
The right sides of our heads were shaved, and the hair on the left
side was left hanging long. This looked very funny, but it had a
meaning; for when we looked toward where you are always facing [the
south] the bare sides of our heads were toward the west, which showed
that we were humble before the thunder beings who had given us power.
Each of us carried a very long bow, so long that nobody could use
it, and it was very crooked too. The arrows that we carried were
very long and very crooked, so that it looked crazy to have them.
We were riding sorrels with streaks of black lightning all over
them, for we were to represent the two men of my dog vision.
Wachpanne now went into the sacred tepee, where he sang about the
heyokas:
"These are sacred,
These are sacred,
They have said,
They have said.
These are sacred,
They have said."
Twelve times he sang this, once for each of the moons.
Afterward, while the pot was boiling, One Side and I, sitting on
our painted sorrels, faced the west and sang:
"In a sacred manner they have sent voices.
Half the universe has sent voices.
In a sacred manner they have sent voices to you."
Even while we were singing thus, the heyokas were doing foolish
things and making laughter. For instance, two heyokas with long
crooked bows and arrows painted in a funny way, would come to a
little shallow puddle of water. They would act as though they thought
it was a wide, deep river that they had to cross; so, making motions,
but saying nothing, they would decide to see how deep the river
was. Taking their long crooked arrows, they would thrust these into
the water, not downwards, but flat-wise just under the surface.
This would make the whole arrow wet. Standing the arrows up beside
them, they would show that the water was far over their heads in
depth, so they would get ready to swim. One would then plunge into
the shallow puddle head first, getting his face in the mud and fighting
the water wildly as though he were drowning. Then the other one
would plunge in to save his comrade, and there would be more funny
antics in the water to make the people laugh.
After One Side and I had sung to the west, we faced the pot, where
the heart and the head of the dog had been boiling. With sharp pointed
arrows, we charged on horseback upon the pot and past it. I had
to catch the head upon my arrow and One Side had to catch the heart,
for we were representing the two men I had seen in the vision. After
we had done this, the heyokas all chased us, trying to get a piece
of the meat, and the people rushed to the pot, trying to get a piece
of the sacred flesh. Ever so little of it would be good for them,
for the power of the west was in it now. It was like giving them
medicine to make them happier and stronger.
When the ceremony was over, everybody felt a great deal better,
for it had been a day of fun. They were better able now to see the
greenness of the world, the wideness of the sacred day, the colors
of the earth, and to set these in their minds.
The Six Grandfathers have placed in this world many things, all
of which should be happy. Every little thing is sent for something,
and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make
happy. Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus
we should do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.
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