Meditations with the Lakota

NATIVE AMERICAN / LAKOTA "These quiet presentations of spirituality are remarkable for their immediacy and clarity." --Publishers Weekly The Lakota, people of the sacred buttes of the Black Hills, hold a rich tradition that connects the world of visible creation to the world of spirit. More than a century after the battle at Wounded Knee, Lakota elders are sharing their belief that this spirituality is indigenous to every man and woman. By inviting all nations to recognize their interdependence with one another and with the earth, Native Americans can help modern man and woman find a personal relationship with nature and a willingness to view creation as sacred. Many feel that this spirituality is not a luxury but a necessity. From impressions and teachings gathered over decades of living with the Oglala Sioux and participating in their ceremonies, author Paul Steinmetz has compiled a book of provocative meditations centered on creation spirituality. Lakota elders join the author in evoking the essence of the sweat lodge ceremony, the vision quest, yuwipi meetings, and the teachings of Buffalo Calf Woman and the sacred pipe, offering the reader a focus for prayerful intention in finding spirit in everyday life. This insider's view reveals the Lakotas' profound interconnectedness with all matter, a weaving of psyche and spirit that is the call to consciousness so crucial at this time. PAUL STEINMETZ, S.J., Ph.D., served as a missionary among the Oglala Sioux for several decades. His innovations in ritual theology earned him the respect of the Oglala, who entrusted him with sacred knowledge. Steinmetz's recognition of the unity of religions has assisted the Lakota in imagining a Lakota/Christian spirituality, fulfilling the Ghost Dance Messiah vision received by Black Elk in 1890.