|
Tapa wankayeyapi....The Throwing of the Ball Ritual
This ritual is called Tapa wankayeyapi, 'throwing up the ball' (from tapa, 'ball', wanka, 'upward', and yeyapi, 'they cause to go'). This ritual was taught to the Oglalas in a vision in which a man saw a little buffalo calf grow into a human. She had a ball made from a buffalo hide covering stuffed with buffalo hair. She tossed the ball to a herd of buffalo standing in the west and they immediately turned into humans, one catching the ball and returning it to her. This was repeated to the four directions, after which time the girl again turned into a buffalo calf. In the ritual, a young girl stands in the center of a playing field, while large numbers of people stand at the four directions. She throws a round ball which is symbolically painted to represent the universe in turn to each of the four directions, beginning with the west, and each person in that group attempts to catch it. The one who succeeds offers the ball to the four directions, and Above and Below, and then returns it to the girl for the next throw. It is said that the ball represents Wakantanka and the teams of competitors represent people scrambling to be close to the spirits in the modern world. In the old days, each person had an opportunity to catch the sacred ball, but today only a few are capable of catching it. The ball is symbolic of knowledge, and people's attempt to catch it represents the struggle of people submerged in ignorance to free themselves.
|
