LOOKING BACK WOMAN

PART 1.

 The Cannunpa Wakan

 November 2006.

 

Looking Back Woman received her first pipe at the Sundance ceremonies conducted by Frank Fools Crow in Green Grass, S.D. He did these ceremonies from 1970-1975. Her Lakota name Looking Back Woman was also given to her by ceremonial leader and Holy Man Frank Fools Crow. She claims she has this "Ceremonial Cannunpa" of the Lakota from that time.  She has never claimed she has the "original Cannunpa Wakan"

 

Editors note. Chief Arvol Looking Horse was contacted through his representative and translator Paula Horn in August 2007 but declined to be interviewed by Heyoka Magazine to discuss this matter. The offer remains open.   

The controversy surrounding the Cannunpa Wakan also continues here in a recent statement made in May of 2008 by Marie Fiddler, Frank Eagle Tail and Shirley Fiddler 

 

John LeKay. Can you please tell me about your recollection of the Heyoka medicine man John Fire Lame Deer?

Looking Back Woman:  Here we go. This is from the Northwest Indian News March 1974...... Dedication of Indian Lands at Ft. Lawton:

Long ago at the beginning of creation the Great Spirit blessed this land. What we do today is to lay the foundation of the Great Spirit on this land until the earth crumbles.  With those words, Lame Deer, Lakota Holy Man and author of "Lame Deer--Seeker of Visions" consecrated the Indian land at Discovery Park in the sacred Lakota manner. With tremendous wisdom, humor and dignity, Lame Deer seemed to uplift the hearts of the almost 100 Indians and non-Indians who were present to a world far beyond the man-made world of steel & concrete.

For 32 years, I have been praying to the Great Spirit for all humanity. If you pray to our Creator for thirty days, you will also begin receiving a vision for your life as I received 32 yrs. ago...... My favorite man in the Bible was Adam. You know, he didn't have a mother-in-law.... I love you all. In return don't love me. I'm a hell of a looking guy, but love the Great Spirit who I represent.

           Looking  Back Woman. Second from left. John Fire Lame Deer. Right

John Fire Lame Deer . Author of Lame Deer, Seeker of visions

After honoring the seven cardinal directions, Lame Deer turned towards Seattle and said, "Noise, noise, noise. Too much TV, radio, and man-made stuff."  Then turning towards the west, towards a small grove of bare trees on the Indian land, he said "The Great Spirit is on that side. Take your bedroll and sleep for a night among those trees. You will hear the Great Spirit speaking in the ways of the Spirit."

Concluding the ceremony which took place on Saturday, February 16th, 1974, the 70 year old Lame Deer said, "My last words to you are this. Be happy. This life passes very quickly. Turn to your brothers around you with a smile and reach out and shake their hand." With this, Lame Deer smiled and walked through the crowd that was present, shaking everyone's hand.

After the ceremony a potluck dinner was shared in the old Indian way by all of those present, Indian and non-Indian. The spirit of unity seemed to echo Lame Deer's own words: "We all must work together, both white and Indian, for we are all the children of the same Great Spirit"

The event was sponsored by the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. Written by Phil Lane Jr.

 

John LeKay: What is the Sacred Hoop?

Looking Back Woman: The Sacred Hoop is the Circle of Life...continuance.......the fire without end. And, at the Center is the Canunpa Wakan, and the teachings. This is what it means to me. 

My Father was given the Canunpa to carry because he had the proper vision in 1970, told Fools Crow, and that vision was to rebuild the Hoop of Life for all living things upon Mother Earth....this is the destiny of this Cannunpa, because of the lightening bolts at the feet of the buffalo on the bowl.....purification of evil, is what David Swallow Jr. said about lightening....and the thunderbeings.

Martha Bad Warrior, Last blood line keeper of the sacred pipe. Elk Heads daughter.

JL: Can you please tell me about the Cannupa Wakan, (sacred pipe) and what significance this pipe holds for the Lakota people?

LBW. See what Martha Bad Warrior had to say about the Cannunpa in from this rare book by Wilbur Riegert. The Quest For The Sacred Pipe. You will really like this.

JL: David Swallow said this about the Cannunpa:  "That it is not a pipe. A pipe is an English word that means many things. The Cannunpa is the blood of the ancestors and the tree of life, and it has laws by which a person must live.  To load a Cannunpa, a person must not kill, must not have blood on their hands. The person must not have jealousy or hate in their heart or actions and a person must never lie or fool the people or else the Cannunpa will turn around on that person".

What are your thoughts on this?

LBW: This is the way I've heard it. This is why Fools Crow did not want It carried by someone within the militant group, why he got It off reserve, (by my Father having the proper vision to carry It).....and for good reason, look at Wounded Knee 1973, AIM burned all this information on Martha Bad Warrior at the Museum, and the records in DC. on the Trail Of Broken Treaties about this part of our Spiritual history, it is my belief.....it was to change history.

My question has always been why would the Lakota burn their own history, if our ancestors are so dear.....especially Martha! Why would this be tolerated?

JL:. John Fire Lame Deer said: "Besides the Ptechincala Huhu Canunpa this family also kept a second, very sacred tribal pipe, one among the first made from red pipe stone.  The way the white buffalo woman had taught the people. This old pipe served as a model for after which all the other pipes are made. It has the feather of a red eagle tied to its handle. This brings to mind the eagle who rescued the only survivor from the flood, who gave birth to twins who, in turn, grew into the Sioux nation. It also reminds us, the eagle of s symbol of wisdom, almost as important to us as the Buffalo. Therefore many of our medicine men therefore have a eagle feather tied to their pipes."

Is this the pipe described by John Fire Lame Deer, the pipe you are the keeper of?

 

LBW: That is my understanding. I had the Keepers from Pipestone, Minnesota come all the way out to the West Coast to see what I carry, as they had information that corresponded with my information.....Riegert and Standing Eagle played a huge part in saving the true history of our Lakota Spiritual history.

JL: So then. Arvol Looking Horse, the other sacred pipe keeper, has the deteriorating calf pipe, made from the bone of the buffalo leg, eagle feather, 4 scalps and ear, etc, etc.

You have the red stone pipe described by John Fire Lame Deer. Is this the same pipe as the one described by Martha Bad Warrior, with the engravings of a white buffalo head, turtle and the spider?
 

Black Elk. Author of Black Elk speaks

 

LBW: No, I do not have Martha Bad Warriors Cannunpa. All I know for sure is, his grandmother Lucy Looking Horse never was passed the Cannunpa.  Martha Bad Warrior had Riegert witness as the Sacred Buffao Calf Pipe...it was the first one White Buffalo Calf Pipe Woman taught the Chiefs to make...

What I have is what Fools Crow had. George Bryant/Standing Eagle make a copy (from the one I have), then he made a template that the 14 for the Seven Council Fires were made from. Then, what I carry was returned to Standing Eagle and It was repaired by cutting the bowl from the standing buffalo, then making the bowl replaceable....It was to be used in large ceremony, where many people smoke at one time...it is easy for the bowl to crack from the heat. But, it is like taking communion, and no one should be refused. This was to ensure this piece of the Cannunpa, the lightening bolts at the feet of the standing buffalo, would remain with us for all time....to be used for the good of all mankind. That is why White Buffalo Calf Pipe Woman taught us to make them from catlinite.....she knew what she brought us would deteriorate over time....

LBW: What happened to Martha's Cannunpa remains a mystery.....it was passed to Andrew Dupris and his wife, as Wilbur let them use his car to fetch It from Green Grass in 1936....Andrew was passing it to a spiritual man of the Lakota...which would be Fools Crow under the guidance of his father....my personal thoughts on this are, Fools Crow took It to Canada to return the Cannunpa to the Council Stones of the Seven Council Fires at Turtle Mountain.....Manitoba....and for some reason could not retrieve It....from this point, the description changed to the design I carry, (Black Elk Speaks came out about this time) and the ones Standing Eagle carved for Fools Crow via Riegert to Standing Eagle.....there is proof at Pipestone these two men had more contact than previously thought, and eyewitness accounts from the Sioux Valley Sioux that Fools Crow was there with the Cannunpa I carry.

I want to clarify this. I know this is confusing but this is important. John Fire talks about Martha and the Cannunpa.  The legbone (WBCPW) (the Cannunpa Martha buried 1936-1987)?

 

The catlinite (Martha) cannunpa (with the spider, turtle, buffalo on the stem)....I do not have either one of these.

 

I have the oldest Cannunpa of this design (standing buffalo) that is left from when WBCPW came to the people. And I do not have the Cannunpa with the symbol of the seven sacred ceremonies on the bowl....(ALH 1974... Mails/ & Lame Deer 1976).

 

 I have what Fools Crow used as his Sun Dance Cannunpa.

Medicine men Frank Fools Crow and John Fire Lame Deer at the sun dance.                                                                                                  © Looking Back Woman

JL: Does the common Lakota people man or woman have a right to ask or see this Cannunpa or is this against the Lakota religion and traditions to enquire about these sacred things?

LBW: Martha stated It was for the good of all mankind.....which to me means all are welcome to participate in praying with the Cannunpa....which would mean they would see and touch It to smoke It, eh? This is completely different than what is being taught today......when things are secret, they are easily manipulated.

JL: Do you know of anyone who has seen Arvol Looking Horse's Canunpa or has photographed it recently?

LBW: Martha allowed Riegert to photograph It, when she gave him the interview....he showed Lucy Looking Horse the photo after Martha died, and even though it clearly was her also in the photo with her Mother, Martha and the Cannunpa...Riegert said Lucy denied being there. Riegert, knowing Andrew had the Canunpa passed to him, asked Lucy to see the Cannunpa, and you have to remember this is 1936, she asked for a hundred dollars for him to see the Cannunpa. He asked if It had the Spider,Turtle, Buffalo designs on It, she said no...they had another Cannunpa now for Ceremony. This is in Riegerts book....

JL: Do you know if Martha Bad Warrior ever buried the old Canunapa, that was described as a foot long and deteriorating and made out of the buffalos left leg and the ankle bone bowel, 4 scalps, ear etc, that John Fire Lame Deer smoked in the shed with Martha?
 

LBW: My understanding is that is the legbone Cannunpa Martha buried at the same time she passed the Cannunpa to Andrew.....it was the one Fools Crow speaks about seeing.......

Eagle Butte newspaper clipping telling the Lakota people that the sacred bundle was being brought out the last year Calvin Dupree danced (1975) At the same time Suzanne Dupree  was named by Fools Crow, and was given her first Cannunpa by Chauncey (Heyoka) Dupree, in front of all the people assembled

Calvin Dupree holds Cannunpa, (Looking Back Woman's father) at the sun dance.                                          © Looking Back Woman

Suzanne Dupree age 5

 

James Ritchie, archivist from Turtle Mountain researched eyewitness accounts of the Cannunpa, and no one has seen it in the possession of the Looking Horse family, only mention is in Lakota Woman, the book by Mary Crow Dog, Leonard's (wife) who wrote about some of the goings on during this time....I consider the source, as Leonard tried to get me to pay him 10,000 to come do ceremony for me...and I never requested a ceremony, or ever contacted him, he got in touch with me....he did not know who I was, and treated me like one of those newager groupie girls, they were getting to pay big bucks for them to come do ceremony/healings.

Leonard Crow Dog had lobbied Fools Crow to carry what was passed to my Father...stating it should be a full blood, not a half breed......however, it was my Father's commitment to his people, he was a professor of Native Studies at the U of Lethbridge, and he had the proper vision to carry the Cannunpa in 1970....and Fools Crow wanted It off reserve...but still available to him...and my Father always took It to Fools Crow when he needed it. There was a lot of traffic between Alberta and South Dakota during this time....my Father even got beaten up in Sheridan, Wyoming...and was really hurt because he said it was a couple of the AIM guys he danced with between 1970-1975.....

 

Fools Crow refused Crow Dog because he did not want the militant faction to control our spiritual legacy....he saw the sickness....and he saw the future of what would happen...he did his best to prevent it by conducting those WBCPC & Sun Dances 1970-1975...and passing the "Staff of Power" back to the women, but the men refused to recognize the transfer.....and now they are our spiritual elders.

JL: What do you mean  by not wanting the militant factor to control the Lakota spiritual legacy. He saw the sickness and the future. What did he mean by sickness? 

LBW: The abused became the abusers....Fools Crow saw them burn their own spiritual history at Wounded Knee, D.C. and eventually his & Katie's own home was burned in 1973 also, it was in retaliation for not allowing AIM to control the Cannunpa....Fools Crow lost most of his regalia, and I am sure his special medicines he used to heal.....He and Katie were gone at the time.....good reading into the mind of Fools Crow is by Thomas E. Mails, he wrote two books on Fools Crow....and the Hopi Prophecies.

I say these things because I knew these men, I saw what they did during these times.....I was ground zero, even though I was not right there in South Dakota, (AIM stayed with me on the Trail of Broken Treaties fall of 1972 on their way to D.C in Spokane)......had I been there, with the strength I have about being a woman, being equal to a man.....I'd have ended up like Anna Mae (who was found murdered in 1976 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and became a martyr for American Indian civil rights).....as it was, these people should never have entered the arbor the following year, dancing again with my Father, during this series of Ceremonies Fools Crow conducted. You are to have lived a good life, not lying, cheating, stealing, or taking life......to dance, and this clearly was not the case with these guys. I have an interview with a former follower of Crow Dog, she tells me, when the Cannunpa was dug up, and Fools Crow sent someone to Crow Dog's paradise for them to come over to view it, none felt they were worthy....and they stayed away. I have the letter somewhere, I can share it with you......

JL:. Why shouldn't a modern day medicine man/woman, or a keeper of the original sacred pipe, charge $10,000, or 150 per head, for conducting these sacred pipe ceremonies?

LBW: It comes from the Creator.....these ceremonies and teachings, he did not charge us...but he did leave instruction on how we were to teach others....and that did not include charging....

It is ok to take care of the spiritual persons travel expenses, associated with his accepting your filled Cannunpa, for a healing....

The other, charging 10,000, should be associated with a speaking engagement, not ceremony....but they've mixed it all up, and together. There are real medicine people, who will do nothing like that...like Pete Catches Jr....he is the real deal, and Godfrey Chipps was recognized by Lame Deer, as having the ability....there is a huge difference between education and exploitation....

When Anna Mae came, what was suppose to happen with the evolution of the Indian Movement in this country was that, the women, we were suppose to hand the staff to them.

 All of our societies, all our tribal governments, all of our councils were governed by women. We are a matriarchal society by nature. It was the wasciu that came and created the patriarchal mentality. 

We were blessed with the golden opportunity in the 1970's to recognize that and surrender power to who it belongs to, which is the women.

Incredibly enough, because of the insanity of the times, the women turned on themselves and each other, and the men tried to destroy that one opportunity we had as Indian people to go forward. " Richard Two Elk 1999
(Read full interview) www.dickshovel.com/annatp1.html

 

JL: What are these 7 council fires?

LBW: The Seven Council Fires would be of the Lakota/Nakota/Dakota, the Council Stones represent this governing body that was in place until Chief Sleepy Eye died without a successor during the Indians Wars.  It was never reestablished because of the genocide occurring...it was Fools Crows dream to reestablish it to govern the use of the Cannunpa Wakan...hence the 14 buffalo calf pipes Fools Crow commissioned Standing Eagle to make....one for a man and one for a woman of each of the Seven, under the banner of the Seven, there are 32 sub-bands. It would be the responsibility of the 14, appointed by their commitment to community service and lifestyle, to attend to the needs and concerns of the 32 sub-bands.  

It would be the democratic process we had in ancient times...like when the Cannunpa came to the people.

 

JL:  What are your thoughts on the recent birth of the white Buffalo calf and what does this mean to you as keeper of this "ceremonial Cannunpa" that you have?

LBW: There has been many white buffalos born since the birth of Miracle....I agree with David Swallow Jr....we are being given a second chance.....and if we unite collectively in purpose and intent, following the Teachings WBCPW brought to us, and we use the Cannunpa as instructed, and we acknowledge responsibility for our desire for money over the Creator's will...and do something about it now...we may change the course of events that threaten Mother Earth. Every person who carries a Cannunpa should be filling that Cannunpa for the illness that Mother Earth is enduring....when she suffers, we suffer....we and it, is all connected...if something is lost though our thoughtlessness, and we create an imbalance....there is an imbalance in all things....and we are there now.

 

JL: What do you think is the solution to all this Cannunpa controversy and conflict?

LBW: Take a look at this.....

Proclamation Regarding The Keeping of The Sacred Pipe

Whereas, a meeting was convened by the Sicangu Lakota Grass Roots Oyate on October 21st, 2006, on the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Central South Dakota, whereby approximately 100 people were in attendance from the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Oyate which included Naca Itahcan Ominiciye, Traditional Chiefs and Headsmen, Treaty councils, Tetuwan Sioux Nation Treaty Council, Spiritual leaders and other organizations and lineal descendants of our chiefs, elders and First Ladies of our Nation,

Whereas, it was demonstrated at that meeting that the current keeper(s) of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe have used it as a fund-raising tool for personal causes and financial gain,

Whereas, it was demonstrated that the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe which was given to the People as an instrument of peace, healing and understanding, has been used instead to promote the interests of the keeper(s) without regard for the People,

Whereas, the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe has been kept secret and not used in public Sacred ceremony for the benefit of the People as it was intended and has traditionally been employed since it was entrusted to the People,

Whereas, the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe has been employed by the keeper(s) as a symbol of authority for pronouncements and activities which have caused strife among the People, man against man, man against woman, woman against woman, and woman against man, against to the teachings of The White Buffalo Calf Woman and the Sacred purposes of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, and

Whereas, it has been and is amply demonstrated that only continued controversy, strife and ill feelings will accrue if the current holder(s) of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe continue to carry the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe,

Be it Resolved, that the holder(s) of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe be apprised that the People no longer wish the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe to be carried in this way, disrespectful to the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, the ways of the Lakota, Dakota Nakota Oyate, and the right principles and laws taught and respected by the People, and

Be it further Resolved, that it is the desire, will and instruction of the People that a new holder be chosen to carry the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe who will be respectful of it, its purposes, uses and intents, reflecting the ways of the Lakota, Dakota Nakota Oyate in a good way without any hint of disrespect, and free from personal financial or other interest save dedication to right keeping, and

Be it further Resolved, that is shall be the duty of the Naca Itahcan Ominiciye, Traditional Chiefs and Headsmen, Treaty councils, Tetuwan Sioux Nation Treaty Council, Spiritual leaders and other organizations and lineal descendants of our chiefs, elders and First Ladies of our Nation, to choose a suitable keeper to ensure the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe is carried in the right way, accessible to the People and prominently used in Sacred Ceremony, as intended and instructed by the While Buffalo Calf Woman, and

Be it further Resolved that should the Naca Itahcan Ominiciye, Traditional Chiefs and Headsmen, Treaty councils, Tetuwan Sioux Nation Treaty Council, Spiritual leaders and other organizations and lineal descendants of our chiefs, elders and First Ladies of our Nation, meeting on the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Central South Dakota, choose to not take action by a designated date, or by choosing an interim keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe until the matter is finally decided, that it shall be the right and duty of the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Oyate, including Spiritual leaders and other organizations and lineal descendants of our chiefs, elders and First Ladies of our Nation, Ehankehan omniciye kte lo, meeting in traditional way, to settle the issue for the seven Council Fires of the People and present themselves for keeping the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, taking physical custody of  the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe and ensuring it is kept in the right way.

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