Heyoka

Heyoka

I met Tommy Roubideux on the walkway between the parking lot and bear mountain. We had received special permission to enter the Native American sacred site from the visitors center. 

Bear Butte State park is located 8 miles from Sturgis, South Dakota. We heard about it from a freeway rest stop not far from Devils Tower.

Both my wife and I were immediately drawn to leave the freeway and drive to Bear Butte.

We could feel the ancient spirits as we neared the park. 

It was the spirits of the mountain calling to us. 

We found signs restricting outsiders from entering the sacred area.

We reasoned with the ranger for several minutes to get permission. She asked if our visit was of a spiritual nature. 

It was. 

We had been invited by the mountain spirits.

We walked down the path toward the mountain.

A fire several years earlier had burned the mountain and left the trees blackened. We saw hundreds of colored pieces of cloth tied to the trees with small pouches tied to the branches. 

We saw smoke rising from a fire where rocks were being heated for a sweat.

The spirits were strong there on the mountain. I could feel the sacredness of this area. Together with my wife we gave thanks to the mountain for the invitation. 

We left our blessings and offering on a stone bust of Frank Fools Crow. As I was turning to leave and return to the car I heard a message...

“Take the pipestone, it is a gift to you.”

Pipestone is sacred to the Native American people. It is quarried from Pipestone, Minnesota. It is used to make the sacred pipes that are used in ceremonies.

Someone else had placed that offering and I was being offered a gift with a gift. 

It was a rough cutout of the red hardened stone in the shape of a pipe.

“You are like the stone, rough and unpolished.”

I heard the words echoing as we approached our car.

Tommy met us there and ask where we were from. 

“Wathena, Kansas.”

“I know that area, my family helped settled St Joseph, Missouri.”  

“Would you be interested in attending a Sundance later this month at the Rosebud Indian Reservation?”

We told Tommy we would call and let him know.

It was the end of July, the hottest time of the year as we entered the parking lot at Rosebud. There were already many cars and campsites. We asked around and found Tommy’s camp. He introduced us to others who were there. He said we were his special guests.

Tommy was a medicine man, a Heyoka.

Tommy also had cancer. He was here to dance.

The drums were reverberating through the camp when we walked down to the sun dance circle. It was hot. The sun dance was held during this time to test the endurance of the participants. It was in the mid 90’s. We found shade under the canopy of limbs that had been placed around the circle.

The circle was approximately 75 feet wide. The entrance was facing the rising sun. In the center of the circle was a cottonwood tree. Attached to the cottonwood tree was each participants cord or rope. Earlier in the week, the tribe had gone out to choose a special tree. It was not allowed to touch the ground after being cut and was carried back to the circle where it was placed in the ground. The tree represents connection between earth and sky.

Before sunrise each day the drums would call the dancers to the circle. As the sun rose, they filed into the circle, dancing to the beat of the drum. On this day there were men and women, young and old, dancing together. Both Red and White.The families and friends of each dancer sat on the outside of the circle, supporting and encouraging them. Before I could sit, sage was used to cleanse my spirit and body. Sage was used each day for all.

There was a unity that linked us all to the ceremony. The drums were beating with the heart beat of the Earth.

The Sundance is a sacred ceremony. Each dancer has prepared for a year before coming. 

Sweats, fasting, prayer, and vision quests are part of the preparation. The dance is a sacred offering to the Earth Mother and Creator. Most dancers do this 4 consecutive years. This is how each discovers his life’s work and path.

I watched each dancer in the circle closely. It was a solemn occasion.

For three days the dancers danced. At noon they were given a rest and then they continued until sundown.

Traditionally this was done without food or water. In this Sundance, water was allowed.

Sponsors of the dancers provided food for all the camp. 

Each day the drums and ceremony linked us together. I could feel my heart opening and I began to have a familiar feeling, a memory surfaced. I could feel the connection get stronger and stronger as the hours passed. The last day was piercing day. When each dancer felt completion, they walked to the center where the tree held their cord. A Medicine man made two incisions on each side of the chest for the men, or on the shoulders for the women. Two wooden pegs were inserted and the cord was attached to the pegs. The dancer would then dance away from the tree until the cord was tight and the skin was stretched out from the body, then dance toward the tree. This was repeated for as long as the dancer felt necessary, usually 5 to 10 minutes. When he felt all was accepted by Earth Mother and Creator, the dancer would lean back on the cord until the wooden pegs were ripped from the skin.

As I watched this take place, the tears were streaming down my face. I was not ashamed. My own memories had surfaced from long ago and I remembered my own Sundance. I had been asking in my prayers if I needed to participate in the next years Sundance. I was given peace and told, No. “You have already done this. It is not necessary.”

I watched Tommy come into the circle. He was pierced in the chest and the shoulders and on the back. He attached the cord and each wooden peg was pulled through the flesh. When he attached the cords to his back, he connected them to buffalo skulls, and pulled them around the circle. He was unable to break the skin and had a chubby boy sit on the skulls until he could rip the pegs from his back.

I still feel the imprint of that ceremony on my heart and soul.

I lost track of Tommy Roubideux. I tried to google him but to no avail.

I don’t know if he beat the cancer, I hope so. 

I have a reminder of that weekend. I was gifted with the ropes that tied the buffalo skulls together. They are in a place of honor. I was given an even greater gift that weekend. I was invited into an inner circle of spiritual warriors who shared with me their sacred experience. I watched and experienced the uniting of Heaven and Earth. That Heyoka spirit lives in me, I have played the clown and the rebel. 

Thank you Tommy ... even though I am rough and unpolished, I can see the future ...

http://www.nativetimes.com/life/commentary/5149-heyoka-a-man-taller-than-his-shadow