Wakan Cangleska: (Sacred Hoop) Part 1

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Black Elk, of the Lakota Oglala Sioux once said, “You may have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round ” (Neihardt, 194). This idea of the circle or the hoop plays a major role within the Native American Nation. Regardless of the tribe, the hoop or circle is indicative of life itself and is thus held to be wakan, the Lakota word for sacred. The hoop’s essence seems to be a spiritual component manifested physically in various ways within the Native community, exhibited through Black Elk and the Lakota, my uncle’s perspective from the Assiniboine, and in various dances such as the Ghost Dance.

The circle or hoop of any Nation symbolizes the circle of life, which my uncle believes can be summed up in the phrase, “‘All my relations’, in that we recognize in the circle of life that we are related to all living things.” This is why the hoop or circle is so important and plays such a major role in the Native American community. “Everything goes back to the hoop, and in doing so creates a circle within the circle of life. This is why the Native people think of the circle of life as a continuation, as opposed to Western ideology where everything is linear with things beginning in one place and ending in another.” Understanding this concept is key to understanding how the hoop permeates within this community as both a spiritual concept and as a physical presence, because it applies to all Natives regardless of association.

The Lakota Sioux believed in the circle of nature and imitated this natural order physically. They were surrounded by the circle of the horizon, the circle of their village (a physical manifestation of the circle of life), the circle of their councils, the circle of their teepees (another physical manifestation of the circle of life, hinting to the connection to Father sky and Mother earth, the poles being circular as well), and the circle of their shields, as well as the seasons They looked up at the circle of the sky, the circle of the sun and the circle of the moon. “Metaphorically, the camp circle was the 'sacred hoop', within which all was safe, knowable, and auspicious. So, the circle symbolizes wholeness and helps us to remember Wakan Tanka, who, like the circle, has no end.” In Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk summarizes these same physical manifestations and ties them down to their spiritual roots.

“Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and it is in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation’s hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children” (Neihardt 195 – 196).

It seems only logical to now address the hoop or circle in the context of the Medicine Hoop and its symbolism. Every Nation or tribe had one with slight variations. When I asked my uncle to speak on it, this is what he said: “The Medicine Hoop is the cosmic truths of the circle of life. All the California tribes had the Medicine Hoop. It is a way to focus the mind, so one can have an understanding of the medicine hoop and in doing so gain energy and when this energy is gathered it becomes power. So physically you are the center of your universe, you are the center of the medicine hoop, with Father sky above and Mother earth below.  Spiritually the creator is the center of the medicine hoop, what we call the great mystery."