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Concepts of Life and Death
The philosophical interpretation of the meaning of life and death, the concept of the hereafter, and the transmigration of the soul are in the purview of the ritual specialists who have received the power of interpretation through communion with the supernatural. Although I will discuss the sacred people, the cosmology, and rituals separately, it is instructive first to summarize the salient features of Oglala religion. There is no general agreement as to the true nature of religious ideas. Beliefs concerning a hereafter, for example, range from a belief in an unspecified place in which the spirits of humans and animals live in a world reflective of the "real" world, to the idea that there is no hereafter, but that all spirits reside visibly and invisibly near the place of their kinsmen. The tenets of Oglala belief, as presented, should be regarded as analytical, and as such they reflect the consensus of sacred men's thinking. These are the tenets: The Universe is composed of a finite amount of energy; good and evil are thus two aspects of the same energy. The good aspects of energy are controlled by Wakantanka; evil aspects are controlled by wakan šica, 'evil sacred'. Man may harness good energy toward his own ends by propitiating Wakantanka; he may harness evil energy by propitiating wakan šica. Wakan šica is subordinate to Wakantanka, and man is subordinate to both. Energy has two aspects: visible and invisible. The potential to transform visible energy into invisible energy, and the reverse, is called tun. The tun of every invisible aspect is its visible aspect. The transformation from visible to invisible, and the reverse is called wakan, as is the resultant state. Invisible aspects are to be feared. Life and death are both wakan because in the former an invisible aspect is transformed into a visible one and in the latter the reverse takes place. The Lakota term for birth, creation is tunpi. For example, "Tohan nitunpi he?", 'When were you born?'. Life is manifested in ni, 'breath, life, steam'. If a person becomes weak, he must strengthen himself by participating in a sweat lodge, inikagapi, 'to make live, breath, steam'. When a person dies, his ni leaves him. All supernatural beings and powers and all animate and inanimate objects have innate power manifested in the concept of šicun. Every animate object is born or created with his own personal šicun, which is immortal. At the time of birth, a man is given a šicun by the supernaturals; it is his guardian spirit and it will help him ward off evil. When he dies, the šicun is returned to the supernaturals. The šicun accounts for vacillation between good and evil, for a man may borrow another's šicun, or be permanently invested with it by means of a special ceremony. He may accumulate many šicun, to which he turns for help when in need; but one's gain is another's loss. Because the šicun of things is immortal, reincarnation is possible. Sacred men are usually invested with the šicun of a deceased sacred man. A sacred man becomes powerful through visions with the supernaturals. To increase power, he must accummulate the šicun of as many animate and inanimate objects as possible. To help other people ward off sickness and evil, he must invest them with some of his own accumulated šicun. Thus he is faced with a paradox: the more people he helps, the more šicun he gives away, the more power he loses. Every animate and inanimate object has a counterpart which is eternal but not vital. It is called nagi. Wanagi is the common word for "ghost, apparition." The nagi of someone or something is often regarded as its shadow or shade. When a person loses ni, 'life or breath', his body eventually decomposes, but his nagi lingers on. The wanagi, particularly right after death, is dangerous because it grieves for its loved ones and will try to entice its family to join it. In order to appease the wanagi, the parents or loved ones will "keep" it for one year. Ghost keeping is accomlished by feeding the wanagi. Sacred men can learn things from it, particularly how to cure the sick. The wanagi of humans and animals dwell on buttes in the west. After one year, they are fed for the last time and they depart to the south along the wanagi tacanku, 'ghost road', that is Milky Way. The aura of the Milky Way is caused by their campfires. Somewhere at the end of the Milky Way they are met by an old woman, Owl Woman, who assesses their deeds on earth. Those who were good are passed along the way to a place which is reflective of their life with ni; those who were bad are pushed over a cliff, and their evil spirits are left to roam the earth, where they endanger the living. Some believe that the wanagi live forever near the place where they died. Wanagi are particularly wakan because although they are invisible to common people, they are visible to sacred men.
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