It Wakes in Me (25 page)
Authors: Kathleen O'Neal Gear
THE ANASAZI MYSTERY SERIES
The Visitant
The Summoning God
Bone Walker
The Summoning God
Bone Walker
THE FIRST NORTH
AMERICANS SERIES
AMERICANS SERIES
People of the Wolf
People of the Fire
People of the Earth
People of the River
People of the Sea
People of the Lakes
People of the Lightning
People of the Silence
People of the Mist
People of the Masks
People of the Owl
People of the Raven
People of the Moon
People of the Nightland*
People of the Weeping Eye*
People of the Fire
People of the Earth
People of the River
People of the Sea
People of the Lakes
People of the Lightning
People of the Silence
People of the Mist
People of the Masks
People of the Owl
People of the Raven
People of the Moon
People of the Nightland*
People of the Weeping Eye*
BY KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR
Thin Moon and Cold Mist
Sand in the Wind
This Widowed Land
It Sleeps in Me
It Wakes in Me
It Dreams in Me*
Sand in the Wind
This Widowed Land
It Sleeps in Me
It Wakes in Me
It Dreams in Me*
BY W. MICHAEL GEAR
Long Ride Home
Big Horn Legacy
The Morning River
Coyote Summer
The Athena Factor
Big Horn Legacy
The Morning River
Coyote Summer
The Athena Factor
OTHER TITLES BY
KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR
AND W. MICHAEL GEAR
KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR
AND W. MICHAEL GEAR
Dark Inheritance
Raising Abel
Raising Abel
*Forthcoming
www.Gear-Gear.com
www.Gear-Gear.com
Sigmund Freud was not the first person to discover that dreams can give us clues about illness. Many North American tribes, particularly Iroquoian and Algonquian peoples, believed that dreams were the language of the soul, and that the unfulfilled desires of the soul, as represented in dreams, could cause illness, or even death. To make certain this didn’t happen, the entire community worked together to fulfill the dreams of sick people.
The
andacwander
, as those of you who read
It Sleeps in Me
know, is real.
andacwander
, as those of you who read
It Sleeps in Me
know, is real.
The only detailed description of this healing ritual comes from Father Gabriel Sagard, who lived among the Huron tribe from 1623 to 1624. He was part of an apostolic ministry to the Huron and was very dedicated to the task of converting them to Christianity. In the process, he recorded his observations, his trials and tribulations, his successes and failures, and published them in 1632. His book,
Le grand voyage du pays des Hurons,
was so popular that it had to be reprinted, which it was in l636. However, it came out under the new title of
Histoire du Canada,
and contained several elaborations on the original work.
Le grand voyage du pays des Hurons,
was so popular that it had to be reprinted, which it was in l636. However, it came out under the new title of
Histoire du Canada,
and contained several elaborations on the original work.
Certainly one of the most spectacular sections of
Le grand voyage
is Chapter X, where he recounts witnessing several sexual healing rituals, particularly the
andacwander.
Le grand voyage
is Chapter X, where he recounts witnessing several sexual healing rituals, particularly the
andacwander.
Because he was not a member of the community, Sagard was forbidden to participate, or even look upon the ritual, but fortunately for us, he watched it through a chink in the walls of a longhouse.
It is especially interesting to me that Sagard only mentions
dances “ordered on behalf of a sick woman.” Did he simply never see the
andacwander
performed for a sick man, or were sexual healing rituals largely women’s rituals? Jesuit references suggest that men were also cured in this manner (Thwaites 1896–1901, 17: 179), so it’s possible that Sagard only watched ceremonies for women, which is interesting in and of itself.
dances “ordered on behalf of a sick woman.” Did he simply never see the
andacwander
performed for a sick man, or were sexual healing rituals largely women’s rituals? Jesuit references suggest that men were also cured in this manner (Thwaites 1896–1901, 17: 179), so it’s possible that Sagard only watched ceremonies for women, which is interesting in and of itself.
In any case, the Huron worked very hard to heal the sick members of their community. Even when it went against their most basic social beliefs of propriety, they tried, by acting out the sick person’s dreams, to fulfill the desires of her soul. Sagard wrote, “ … for they prefer to suffer and be in want of anything rather than to fail a sick person at need” (Wrong, p. 118).
During the
andacwander
, the unmarried people in the village assembled in the sick person’s house and had sexual intercourse while the patient watched and two shamans shook tortoiseshell rattles and sang. Sometimes, the sick person requested one of the young people to have sex with her. Based upon dreams, other types of requests were also made. Sagard describes one instance in which a sick woman asked one of the young men to urinate in her mouth. He wrote: “ … a feature I cannot excuse nor pass over silently—one of those young men was required to make water in her mouth, and she had to swallow it, which she did with great courage, hoping to be cured by it; for she herself wished it all to be done in that manner, in order to carry out without any omission a dream she had had” (Wrong, p. 118).
andacwander
, the unmarried people in the village assembled in the sick person’s house and had sexual intercourse while the patient watched and two shamans shook tortoiseshell rattles and sang. Sometimes, the sick person requested one of the young people to have sex with her. Based upon dreams, other types of requests were also made. Sagard describes one instance in which a sick woman asked one of the young men to urinate in her mouth. He wrote: “ … a feature I cannot excuse nor pass over silently—one of those young men was required to make water in her mouth, and she had to swallow it, which she did with great courage, hoping to be cured by it; for she herself wished it all to be done in that manner, in order to carry out without any omission a dream she had had” (Wrong, p. 118).
The more scholarly-minded among you will be asking, “Why is a Huron ritual being used to describe a prehistoric Mississippian mound-builder culture in Florida?”
First, linguistically, Huron is closely related to Cherokee, and based upon a comparison of grave goods, chambered burial pits, earth-covered ceremonial structures, and the striking similarity of gorget styles, I think a strong argument can be made for a persistent social tradition from the Mississippian
cultural patterns represented in the Pisgah phase in the Appalachian summit region to the Qualla phase of the Cherokee. Historic Cherokee Middle Towns are located within the Pisgah archaeological sphere and, as Dickens notes (1976, p. 213), there are many “carry-over traits” between the cultures.
cultural patterns represented in the Pisgah phase in the Appalachian summit region to the Qualla phase of the Cherokee. Historic Cherokee Middle Towns are located within the Pisgah archaeological sphere and, as Dickens notes (1976, p. 213), there are many “carry-over traits” between the cultures.
Secondly, at the point of historic contact with European cultures, the
andacwander,
or modified versions of it, had spread from Iroquoian to Algonquian tribes (Hickerson, 1960), indicating the remarkable power the ritual possessed. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that the origins of this particular soul-curing ritual extend into prehistoric times.
andacwander,
or modified versions of it, had spread from Iroquoian to Algonquian tribes (Hickerson, 1960), indicating the remarkable power the ritual possessed. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that the origins of this particular soul-curing ritual extend into prehistoric times.
Lastly, I know of no other fictional attempt to see this sacred ritual through the eyes of the people who practiced it, and I think it’s important to make that attempt.
The
andacwander
, after all, was a supreme act of generosity.
andacwander
, after all, was a supreme act of generosity.
Davis, Dave D.
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Cherokee Prehistory: The Pisgah Phase in the Appalachian Summit Region.
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62:81–107.
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———.
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———.
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———.
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———.
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———.
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:
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This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
IT WAKES IN ME
Copyright © 2006 by Kathleen O’Neal Gear
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Forge
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Map and chapter ornaments by Ellisa Mitchell
eISBN 9781466815629
First eBook Edition : March 2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gear, Kathleen O’Neal.
It wakes in me / Kathleen O’Neal Gear.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 0-765-31482-7
EAN 978-0-765-31482-6
1. Indians of North America—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3557.E18I89 2006
813’.54—dc22
2005032799
First Edition: July 2006
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