No one knows how far the Chips line has come. It is fair to assume that he came back, perhaps thousands of indestructible years with the Sioux. Entries begin in the early 1800s with two boys from different families who were orphaned at an early age. They were accepted by their grandmother, who raised them like brothers. Name was Woptura (Wo-p-tuch-ha). Another name was Curly, which, when he got older, became known as Crazy Horse.
Voptura was recognized at an early stage when she wore Medicine. Some say he is one of the Immortals. It was he who made the medicine kit, which the Crazy Horse wore in his hair, which kept him impenetrable for bullets in the war. (The Crazy Horse had its lover’s jealous husband's jaw cut, but it was the only wound he had suffered in his time, and never in war).
On that day, when the Crazy Horse was lured into a nearby fort and held captive, the family legend has what Voptura drove behind him, furiously trying to catch him in order to return him to the bundle on which he was repairing. He is late. A crazy horse, unprotected, perhaps for the first time in many years, was killed.
Voptura lived in very turbulent times. At about the beginning of the century, all Sioux children were taken from their families and sent to mission schools. It was forbidden to talk about native languages, and any practical use of medicines, songs, rites and rituals was prohibited under the threat of severe punishment from the government.
Until now, an old man, Voptura went underground and kept the medicine. John "The Fire" The Lame Deer claims that all the people of Lakota medicine today are tracing their line back to Ventura. Most likely, it was Voptura, who gave birth to the Juvipi ceremony.
Voptur had a son who inherited his medicine. He was named the ranks of Charles "The Horn." “Chips” were the best that government agents could do when the family tried to explain that the scream was a thin thin particle film that lay at the very top of the pond. Others described it as a very fine powder of ore buffalo. Even today, some family members give their name. chipPs to distinguish themselves from government designation.
Charles Horn's purges had a son named Ellis. Ellis did not inherit authority but he was an extremely successful singer who continued to create the Siu National Anthem. Ellis, who lives on Pine Ridge Reservation, married a woman named Victoria from the Rosebud Reservation, about 75 miles to the east, and they had three sons.
When it turned out that the youngest, Godfrey, would talk to the Spirits during the Juvipi ceremonies (as suggested by Horn Chips), Ellis received government permission to remove him from the Grammar School and take over the full work of teaching him in Medicine. As far as I know, Godfrey was the last Medical Man to whom this privilege was granted. The “decree” that I saw argued that if father and son, or only Godfrey, were found in the city on school day, they would both be imprisoned. Ellis brought his son from Medicine to Man in Medic-Man for his workouts, and also taught him everything he had learned by helping his Father.
It was quite a while before I found out about this story. For a long time, all I knew was that this family, which I quickly learned to love, carried something very strong and special when their intention was focused on the good of others, and it was in their blood.
I was led to some people to set an example of the Spirit in action. They allowed me to learn and participate with them in the sacred ceremony and ritual of their people. They were extremely controversial among their people. Ellis was told by the Spirit in the 1980s that Kannunpa was allAt that time, they were the only Traders who welcomed seekers of all colors and orientations in what was once almost an exclusive territory for people with the blood of Native Americans. As an explanation, Charles suggested: "There are many Indian spirits, and there are not enough Indian bodies to return."
I have never said what to believe. I have always sought to continue to develop my own relationship with the Spirit, to build my own medicine, to find how the Spirit spoke to me in order to help others later. If I stumbled upon their Lakota perfume in the process, then I wouldn’t have to swallow what I was told about them, it was my challenge to build a relationship with what it really was.
And that is why, when I was asked about Sundance, even at that early moment in my relationship with Chips, I knew that this was not Godfrey's request.
Next: cruel reality.
