Walking in the Sacred Manner: Healers, Dreamers, and Pipe Carriers--Medicine Women of the Plains (Paperback)

by Mark St. Pierre (Author) "If we look back far enough, we see that most cultures in the world had something similar to what in English is called a shaman,..." (more)
Key Phrases: tobacco ties, buffalo nation, double woman, Sun Dance, Good Lifeways Woman, Mother Earth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Walking in the Sacred Manner is an exploration of the myths and culture of the Plains Indians, for whom the everyday and the spiritual are intertwined and women play a strong and important role in the spiritual and religious life of the community.

Based on extensive first-person interviews by an established expert on Plains Indian women, Walking in the Sacred Manner is a singular and authentic record of the participation of women in the sacred traditions of Northern Plains tribes, including Lakota, Cheyenne, Crow, and Assiniboine.

Through interviews with holy women and the families of women healers, Mark St. Pierre and Tilda Long Soldier paint a rich and varied portrait of a society and its traditions. Stereotypical images of the Native American drop away as the voices, dreams, and experiences of these women (both healers and healed) present insight into a culture about which little is known. It is a journey into the past, an exploration of the present, and a view full of hope for the future.

About the Author
Mark St. Pierre is the author of Madonna Swan: A Lakota Woman's Story. He is an adjunct professor of sociology, anthropology, and creative writing at Regis University in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. St. Pierre has spent twenty years living and learning among the Lakota.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (May 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684802007
• ISBN-13: 978-0684802008
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #471,879 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Good Medicine", October 4, 2000

By A Customer

Walking in the Sacred Manner is a must read for anyone wanting to learn more about Native American spirituality. It not only gives wonderful accounts of several "medicine women" and how they were called to serve, but gives the "Lakota creation story", and the story of the "White Buffalo Calf Madien" who brought ceremony and rituals to the people that are still practiced today. This book is "good medicine".

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Walking in the Sacred Manner by Mark St.Pierre and Tilda Lon, January 21, 2004

By	"fuzcat" (Ayer, MA United States) - See all my reviews

Walking in the Sacred Manner by Mark St.Pierre and Tilda Long Soldier

I originally picked up this book because I thought it would have information on Native American herbal healing. If I had bothered to read the back of the book, I would have known this was not the case, but hey, I was in the middle of Holliday shopping.

What the book did turn out to be is a collection of Lakota legend and beliefs. It is filled with many first hand accounts of Medicine Women and witnesses who had been present at ceremonies. This is definitely NOT a how-to book. What it is, is a good overall view of the history and culture of the Oceti Sagowin (Lakota, Dakota and Nakota peoples, collectively known as the Sioux by the whites) and other Northern Plains tribes.

I found this to be a well put together narrative of interviews and history. Tilda Long Soldier was raised on Pine Ridge Reservation and grew up with the traditions of her people. Mark StPierre has spent 20 years among the Lakota and is a professor of sociology, anthropology and creative writing. All these things show through in this book. I think this book would make an ideal text for an anthropology or sociology student wanting to learn more of the culture.

There is a lot in this book I have yet to absorb. Aside from insights into the culture the one thing that I came away with is that these women were just that, women. They still lived their lives, raised their family and carried on a normal life. The things that they worked with were sacred, but they were not. They were simply women, doing the job that the spirits had asked of them. I am glad to have had this glimpse into a way of life now almost gone.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars walking in the sacred manner, June 30, 2001

By A Customer

I got this book over a week ago and on the way back from Rosebud I read it to my boyfriend while we drove back to oklahoma. We both agreed that this book should be a must for all native American students and also anyone that wants to know about the Lakota Woman. I'm still trying to consume it all. Great book!!! Linda mcgann and Joe Hacker....