Sweet Medicine: The Continuing Role of the Sacred Arrows, The Sun Dance, and The Sacred Buffalo Hat in Northern Cheyenne History Book

Sweet Medicine is the most comprehensive record ever made of the ceremonies of the northern Cheyenne's. Volume One recounts tribal history against the background of the two great spiritual tragedies in Cheyenne life, the loss of the Sacred Arrows and the desecration of the Sacred Buffalo Hat. Battles of the Indian Wars are described from Cheyenne sources, and episodes from 1880 to 1969 reveal the Cheyenne's' determination to maintain their tribal identity through preservation of traditional rituals. Volume Two records the contemporary Sacred Arrow and Sun Dance ceremonies in their entirety. Father Peter J. Powell, who has observed and participated in the rites many times, was given special permission by the Keepers of the two Great Convenants, the Chiefs, the Headmen, and the Priests to record them in words and photographs.