Review

Reviewed Work(s): The Lakota Ritual of the Sweat Lodge: History and Contemporary
Practice by Raymond A. Bucko
Review by: Kathleen Pickering
Source: American Indian Quarterly , Summer - Autumn, 1999, Vol. 23, No. 3/4 (Summer
- Autumn, 1999), pp. 185-187
Published by: University of Nebraska Press

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 prisoned Natives need to organize to achieve better communication between the
prison system and tribal authorities, better training for officials in relevant legislation,
and more accommodation of their spiritual needs. At yet another level Ross cites the
success of Canadian tribes who reasserted their sovereignty by taking back their land,
reinstating traditional governance, and reviving spiritual practices: "They gained con-
trol ... and they became well; criminal/deviant activity decreased."
This book is packed with details, woven together to make a compelling case. The title
is somewhat misleading; more direct reference to the focus on gender would be useful.
Occasionally Ross slips into a rather turgid style, as in her repeated use of the ugly word
"prisonization," which could almost always be rendered as "imprisonment." She fre-
quently mentions that Native people relate better to other Natives (for instance, as
counselors), and it would have been valuable to hear more about how her own Native
identity aided in her work. Nevertheless, this book deserves to be read widely, not only
by those interested in Native American issues, who will be sympathetic to its message,
but also by those working in criminal justice, who will certainly be educated by it.

Raymond A. Bucko. The Lakota Ritual of the Sweat Lodge: History and Contem-
porary Practice. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. vii + 336 pp. Illus-
trations, notes, bibliography, index. Cloth, $4o.oo.
Kathleen Pickering, Colorado State University

The Lakota sweat lodge ritual, or inipi, is a familiar aspect of Lakota religion, incorpo-
rated and appropriated from reservations to urban areas, from traditional native cer-
emonies to New Age religion. The Lakota Ritual of the Sweat Lodge provides an ethno-
graphic, historical, and personal account of the inipi on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation. The first part of this book traces the history of the sweat lodge ceremony
to establish the ritual's tremendous continuity within the face of change. The second
part uses the lens of the sweat lodge to present fascinating debates both within Lakota
society and externally over religious tradition, ritual legitimacy, and cultural authentic-
ity.

Bucko examines three hundred years of accounts written by missionaries, anthro-

pologists, New Age practitioners, and Lakota individuals "as told to" non-Indians. He
painstakingly identifies inipi continuity in the shape of the lodge, the use of stones, the
use of singing, and the curative power associated with the ritual. He also shows the
ongoing importance of and tolerance toward flexibility, adaptability, and innovation in
the practice of inipi rituals, as individuals incorporate procedures and symbols that
come to them through dreams or visions.

Through a rich series of detailed personal accounts about the meaning and practice
of the sweat lodge, Bucko is able to establish in real life terms how ritual is a series of

AMERICAN INDIAN QUARTERLY/SUMMER & FALL 1999/VOL. 23, NOS. 3 & 4 185

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 contentions over the right to determine and regulate tradition. Personal accounts of
devout Lakota Christians, members of the Native American Church, and those exclu-
sively committed to Lakota religion, as well as non-Indians involved in sweat lodge
ceremonies capture the depth and diversity of contemporary perspectives on religion
within the Pine Ridge reservation. Bucko shows how appeals to kinship, adoption,
Lakota mentors, personal visions and dreams, and historic documents are made by
Lakota and non-Lakota alike to establish individual authority and ritual authenticity.
He also examines the pressure created by written texts, like Black Elk Speaks, to codify
and solidify an otherwise fluid system of Lakota ritual and belief.
Bucko provides a useful theoretical model for tracing the transmission and creation of
tradition. Individuals create tradition through their personal combination of historic
continuity and contemporary needs, which are in turn validated or discredited in various
communal and interpersonal contexts. By showing the dialectical nature of Lakota ritual
and belief Bucko helps move the study of American Indian religion away from the static
recording of unchanging traditions to the dynamic and ongoing construction of conti-
nuity within change. In his critique of William Powers, Bucko demonstrates the fallacy of
discounting Lakota voices that fall outside an externally conceived construct of "Lakota
tradition," as if there were a homogeneous "true Oglala." "If tradition is a process as much
as a thing, as I contend is the case with the Lakotas, then no single source or single repre-
sentation will fully encompass it" (111). As a result, ritual serves not only to create har-
mony and alliance but can also create factionalism and conflict.
Some Lakota readers may find the discussion of how Christianity suppressed the
inipi and other aspects of Lakota religion muted. The book mentions that people hid
their participation in Lakota rituals because of potential "criticism" they might receive,
in a world "perceived" to be hostile to Lakota belief (51). Only one personal account
presents the emotional suffering associated with Lakota religious persecution (189). No
information is provided about the real economic and political effects of attempting to
continue Lakota ritual practices during the period of cultural suppression by govern-
mental and Christian forces, including denial of food rations and imprisonment.
The extensive information provided in the book raises other questions for explora-
tion. For example, a broad array of gender issues are referred to but not discussed,
including the appropriate roles for Lakota women as ritual supporters, participants,
and leaders. It is also interesting that Bucko does not apply his dialectic model of ritual
change to the Catholic Church. There is ample evidence that the strength and continu-
ity of Lakota religion ultimately led to the adaptation of Catholic practices to Lakota
religious precepts and symbols. Furthermore, Bucko began his work in Pine Ridge as a
Jesuit, attended his first inipi as a priest invited by another priest, and lived at the Jesuit
mission during his fieldwork, in many ways embodying the dialectic he propounds.
Finally, this book provides a wonderful window into the contemporary experience
of the Pine Ridge Reservation. It captures the complex tangle of economic poverty,
social conflict, and cultural revitalization that defines contemporary reservation life.

186 Book Reviews

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For example, the individual and community struggles over alcohol abuse are vividly
revealed through the uses and meanings associated with inipi rituals. The author's dis-
cussion of Lakota humor is particularly insightful and poignant, reflected in his nick-
name "Father Sweat Lodge." This book will be enjoyed by academics, Pine Ridge resi-
dents, and would-be inipi participants alike.

Ella Deloria. Speaking ofIndians. Introduction by Vine Deloria Jr. Lincoln: Uni-
versity of Nebraska, Bison Books, 1998. xix + 163 pp. Paper, $9.95.
Paula L. Wagoner, Juniata College

In his introduction to his aunt's work originally published in 1944, Vine Deloria Jr.
provides a sketch of the importance of the Deloria family in times of vast culture
change for American Indians, focusing specifically on Ella Deloria's career. He attests to
her active commitment to family responsibilities while at the same time making major
contributions to anthropological and linguistic knowledge. Working closely with Franz
Boas until his death, her work extended beyond the Plains and her own Yankton people
to language projects among the Navajo and a reconstruction of the Lumbee language.
Written to familiarize missionaries who would be working closely with American
Indians in the post-World War II era, Deloria begins with a nod to science, which she
viewed as speculative at best. The value of the early section dealing with scientific ex-
planations of migrations, social evolutionism, linguistics, and culture areas for con-
temporary readers is that she refers to models in an easy style and is accurate in terms of
the theories of the time. At the same time, a tongue-in-cheek Dakota interpretation lies
between the lines, reminding us not to take ourselves too seriously. One senses that she
is having a great deal of fun with her scholarly pursuits. But for Deloria "the vital con-
cern is not where people came from, physically, but where they are going spiritually"
(2), and she concludes this first section emphasizing the need to know people through
their "spiritual cultural areas," areas composed of ethical and moral dimensions.
In the second section, "A Scheme of Life that Worked," Deloria describes in some
detail the social and ceremonial life among prereservation Dakotas. Her discussion of
the foundation of Dakota life-the kinship system-illustrates the ways in which chil-
dren are taught responsibility and respect for their relatives to provide templates for all
future relations. She is quick to note that her descriptions are idealizations and that in
any society there are those who do not, or will not, live in a proper manner. In many
ways Dakota values such as generosity, humility, and sacrifice were what Christian min-
isters were preaching and why many people espoused those ideals as compatible with
their own, albeit differently expressed. Ironically, Deloria describes a vibrant social sys-
tem that seems very much like what Hillary Clinton calls for in It Takes a Village.
Deloria moved to the heart of her work in a discussion of the rapid social change
that occurred with the dawn of the reservation era, explained through a Dakota per-

AMERICAN INDIAN QUARTERLY / SUMMER & FALL 1999/ VOL. 23, NOS. 3 & 4 187

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