Through the canupa (pipe) will the Sioux nation survive hard times
to come, said two Lakota speakers who came to Fort Peck this week.
Jake Arapaho, of Pine Ridge, S.D., and Jason Charger, of
Cheyenne River, S.D., are on the Fort Peck Reservation this week as
part of what they call “spreading the message??? throughout Indian
Country.
According to Charger, their message of healing and culture
will be very important for hard times to come because it will unite the
Lakota/Dakota/ Nakota people again.
“[Our message is to] create healing through the canupa for future generations,??? Charger said.
The two men travel through Indian Country spreading that message of hope and peace at all places they visit.
It all started in Green Grass, S.D. – home of the sacred white
buffalo calf pipe - and from there it spread to all neighboring
reservations and soon reached tribes in other states, Charger said.
In the prophecies through the elders many years ago, they
spoke of hard times that would fall upon people, which could be
anything, he said. It will make the people come together, he said.
Speaking at a gathering at the Greet the Dawn Building in
Poplar, Arapaho said that there are many reasons they came to Fort
Peck, one of them being the misuse of the Lakota way of life.
“We are people of mother earth and it’s our responsibility to take care of mother earth,??? Arapaho said.
One of the misuses he spoke of was the use of the canupa and the
devastating effects it can have. There are laws that you have to walk
and obey to carry the canupa and some people who do so are only hurting
their own people.
When he was younger, Arapaho said that he had arteries that
were 65 percent clogged. He was big then, and he had an uncle who was
bigger than him, but had a perfect bill of health.
Arapaho was going to go to the hospital but his uncle warned
him against it, saying that white doctors test their drugs on Indian
people. He remembered that his father was given some pills years ago
that ate holes in his kidneys and because of that, he was on dialysis
for years until he died.
Instead, his uncle told him to go to the traditional canupa
and inipi ceremony, which he attributed to the reason he had good
health. At the inipi ceremony, he said that he felt something that was
like a jolt of electricity hit his heart.
After the ceremony, he was told to go to the white doctors for an examination.
When he went, they told him they were going to put a balloon in
his veins to remove the clogs in his arteries. But when they checked,
he said they found no problems in his arteries or heart.
“If you follow your ways, you will be around for years to come,??? Arapaho said.
In several other ceremonies after that, different spirits told
him the same thing: the canupa ceremony is a root that is getting soft
and smaller. He asked them how to make the root strong and hard again,
and they told him they must get people together, and unity will make it
better.
That was when Charger and Arapaho started traveling Indian Country spreading the message of the canupa.
According to Lakota culture, long ago the White Buffalo Woman
appeared to the people and gave them a pipe and bundle. Looking Horse
is the man that the pipe is entrusted to today.
The sacred pipe is still with the Looking Horse family in Green
Grass, S.D., the site where the pipe was given to the Lakota people.
Today it is considered one of the holiest sites for the Lakota people.
Charger and Arapaho met when Arapaho received a call from
Looking Horse one day, telling him to come to his home right away.
Though it was a three hour drive, he made it there and seen a busted
window in his trailer and no food in the house. He went to town and
later he went into a sweat and met Charger. It was during a sweat in
Green Grass they were told to spread the message of the canupa
throughout Indian Country.
Arapaho said that there are many rumors going around about
Looking Horse that are not true, such as that he sold the sacred pipe
or he buried it somewhere.
Another reason they came to Fort Peck was to seek help for Looking Horse, who is currently having a very rough time all around.
“People don’t know what he has to go through to make ends meet,???
Charger said. “As Lakota Dakota people, it’s our responsibility to help
him,???
If the pipe keeper has hardships and dies, then the White Buffalo Calf pipe could also go away, Charger said.
It’s through the pipe that we can change our future and reunite
as a nation. It’s only when we stand together that we can heal and move
forward to a better future, he said.
But first, they must reach the young people.
One of the consequences of forgetting the traditional ways of
the canupa ceremony is jealousy, hatred, and backstabbing, Arapaho
said.
Charger said he encourages all people on Fort Peck to attend
the Sundance at Green Grass and learn what he learned when he was
there.
The canupa can bring peace to the Sioux people. The canupa is
the key to healing, and the man who turns that key is Looking Horse.
The canupa ceremony can help people, but for it to help the
people, there has to be a change, and part of that change must also be
helping the current sacred pipe carrier with his troubles.
Looking Horse does need help, and that’s one of the reasons
they came to Fort Peck - to seek help of the Fort Peck people. It’s
everyone’s responsibility as a pipe carrier and as Lakota Dakota Nakota
people to help Looking Horse, since the pipe was given to the Sioux
people.
Before they left, they told the people who braved the cold
weather that they would be back sometimes this year to reaffirm their
message with the Fort Peck people.
LONNIE & NENA,
WOLF POINT, MONTANA
http://www.nakonaea glethunder. com
FORT PECK RESERVATION
ASSINIBOINE & SIOUX,
