Theme Of Altered States Of Consciousness In North American Indian Ceremonials

The document “Altered States of Consciousness in North American Indian Ceremonials” by Wolfgang G. Jilek, explores the theme of religion as a mode of knowledge by examining two rituals of the Native American Sioux and Salish Tribes, the Sun Dance, and the Spirit Dance. In this document, beginning with the Salish Spirit Dance, Jilek analyzes the significance of each dance, arguing that the Native Americans perform these dances to experience sensations from religious ecstasy, or from spirits, ancestors, or deities (Jilek, 326). Essentially, the Native Americans believed that by performing these dances, after undergoing several trials, they would receive a dream or message from these entities (335). One example of this is when Jilek examines

It was used in the past to obtain and gain control over their spiritual power (329). In this case, power is used in a religious sense, healing the sick as well as signifying a sense of status in Native American communities. The power of the religious priests, for the Salish, is believed to be received from their spirits or ancestors, which allows them to enter their states of consciousness (331). Another example of this is when Jilek examines the Sun Dance of the Sioux. He states that, for the sun dance, the dance is performed to focus on supernatural power, using it for the health and success of a devotee, to communicate with spirits, to combat suffering within a community, or to combat evil (333). In this case, the shamans of the spirit dance instruct, guide, and tutor the dream visions of the dancers, who undergo, prior to the dance, “an ordeal of fasting, thirsting, and self-torture”

The dancer could choose not to undergo the self-torture, yet he would still have to dance around the pole, dancing faster until he receives his vision, which would cause him to collapse for a time (334-335). In this case, the Sun Dance is meant to be used therapeutically, to heal members, as well as to address grievances and wounds within the community (333). As shown by Jilek, shamans in the Sioux, or priests, in the Sioux tribe act as guides, teachers and interpreters, guiding the process of the ritual as well as interpreting the messages received, whereas the priests of the Salish act as initiators of the process, teaching the initiates how to perform the process for future rituals. Although these two are different, both act as doorways to the world of Native American Spirits, which indicates a sense of status in Native American communities, one similar to Priests within state, yet also similar to pre-state societies. To explain, in the Salish tribe, the priests are seen as a class, and teach their initiates how to perform the ritual, while the spirits give them the power to enter into altered states of consciousness, indicating that only the priests could perform this dance, which is similar to religion in State Societies