People of the Circle, People of the Four Directions Scott McCarthy

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People of the Circle, People of the Four Directions explores the common spiritual symbols of the Native People of North and South America. Drawing on poems, stories, ceremonies, and ethnological writings, Scott McCarthy gives examples of the use of circles, the four directions, and the number four, both individually and in combination. The purpose of this endeavor is to encourage understanding and dialogue, the kind of dialogue that is inevitable as cultures meet, sometimes colliding, sometimes entwining, sometimes remaining separate.

Picture the following scenarios:

• A Spanish soldier or Franciscan friar sometime shortly after the invasion of Mexico and an Aztec merchant: As they "size up" each other, what are the religious symbols that each wears to express a particular spirituality?
• A mid-nineteenth-century settler living in Wyoming greets some Cheyenne visitors at his homestead: What might be the content of their individual prayers later that night? Prayers for understanding, protection?
• Modern-day tourists passing through the Black Hills area, visit Bear Butte State Park (a huge mountain rising above the plains that was, and is, an ancient place of worship for several tribes) and are surprised to see and hear Sioux and Cheyenne vision questers praying and singing as they are sequestered among the bushes, trees, and rocky mountain ledges: Some are praying, others are simply enjoying the outdoors. Do they share any aspects of spirituality?

Preface
Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION
Cultural Areas

FOUR DIRECTIONS
Woodlands Cultural Area
Southeast Cultural Area
Southwest Cultural Area
Southwest/Mesoamerica Cultural Area
California Cultural Area
Great Basin Cultural Area
Plateau Cultural Area
Plains Cultural Area
Mesoamerica Cultural Area
Caribbean Cultural Area
South America Cultural Area
Intercultural Cultural Area

CIRCLES
Woodlands Cultural Area
Southeast Cultural Area
Southwest Cultural Area
California Cultural Area
Plains Cultural Area
Plains/Southwest Cultural Area
Arctic Cultural Area
Mesoamerica Cultural Area
South America Cultural Area
Intercultural Cultural Area

NUMBER 4
Woodlands Cultural Area
Southeast Cultural Area
Southwest Cultural Area
California Cultural Area
Great Basin Cultural Area
Northwest Cultural Area
Plains Cultural Area
Arctic Cultural Area
Mesoamerica Cultural Area
Caribbean Cultural Area
South America Cultural Area
Intercultural Cultural Area

CEREMONIAL COMBINATIONS

FOUR DIRECTIONS and CIRCLES
Woodlands Cultural Area
Southeast Cultural Area
Southwest Cultural Area
California Cultural Area
Plains Cultural Area
Plateau Cultural Area
South America Cultural Area
Intercultural Cultural Area

CIRCLES and NUMBER 4
Woodlands Cultural Area
Southeast Cultural Area
California Cultural Area
Northwest Cultural Area
Plains Cultural Area
Mesoamerica Cultural Area
South America Cultural Area
Intercultural Cultural Area

NUMBER 4 and FOUR DIRECTIONS
Woodlands Cultural Area
Southeast Cultural Area
Southwest Cultural Area
California Cultural Area
Great Basin Cultural Area
Northwest Cultural Area
Plains Cultural Area
Arctic Cultural Area
Mesoamerica Cultural Area
South America Cultural Area
Intercultural Cultural Area

FOUR DIRECTIONS, CIRCLES and NUMBER 4
Woodlands Cultural Area
Southeast Cultural Area
Southwest Cultural Area
California Cultural Area
Great Basin Cultural Area
Plains Cultural Area
Plateau Cultural Area
Mesoamerica Cultural Area
South America Cultural Area
Intercultural Cultural Area

CONCLUSION: Side by Side and Led by the Spirit

APPENDICES
Appendix A: Bible References
Appendix B: Common and Preferred Names of the Peoples
Appendix C: Rituals Listed by Tribe
Appendix D: Rituals Listed Alphabetically
Appendix E: Sources
Recommended Books

When you look at a tree, you will notice that for every year it survives there is a circle. The next year another forms, and the year after, there is another. Eventually, the tree becomes strong.

The medicine wheel is like a tree. In the medicine wheel are the four directions, the east, the south, the west, and the north. The medicine wheel teaches us a holistic approach to life. . . .

The more we understand about life, the deeper our roots grow. We must keep in balance these four things: illumination, trust and innocence, introspection, and knowledge. As we understand these things, moving in circles outward, always growing, always learning, we will become strong like the tree, the tree of life.

Blue Dolphin Publishing, 1999

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