The Medicine is Sacred

Anyone seeking to understand the deeper meaning of the Sioux Nation Sundance{u2014}which centers on the most sacred piercing ritual in the Native world{u2014}will find revelation and guidance here. Henry Niese, who is entering his ninetieth year, provides a soulful testimony to the rigors and rewards of this sacred practice. He escorts the reader through a host of healing ceremonies, where the supernatural occurs as readily as the natural, including the miraculous revival of a dying newborn child, and a cancer cure through a Sundancer's sacrifice. The work concludes with observations on the role of the sacred path in everyday life, and how a non- linear perspective{u2014}a Native American way of seeing the world{u2014}may shake our very foundations. Henry Niese brings to the reader a unique experience, an insider's view of the sacred as well as the ordinary day-to-day life in Indian country. --Provided by publisher.