| What: Certain sites
were chosen to send young girls and boys to so that the might increase
their warring, fishing, or living power. Many times this site was a high
place where the initiate would stay overnight or for days alone or with
a small fire as their only companion. The initiate would wait the
appearance of some spirit like a wolf spirit or the spirit of the
storms, etc. Therefore the site was often called a Spirit Quest. Many
times the pictographs or petroglyphs were entered at the base of the
mountains to record the event. A circle around a picture often
represents that Spirit Quest might have happened at the site. Remember
many tribes thought the paintings or carvings were done by little
people, or earlier tribes since they didn't know anything of them.
By Richard Scheuerman & his 1997 class of
students at St Johns School: An interview with Isabel Arcasa, Emily her
niece, memories of Mary Moses telling stories.
A power mountain is where power can come to your spirit because the
place has been a sacred place since the time of the Animal People. It
was the custom for Indian youths entering adulthood to undertake a
special journey, or spirit quest, in order to receive a special guardian
power from the Great spirit that would protect the person throughout
life. It was traditional to be alone on such a quest to some
remote place and remain there for several days without food until the
spirit was revealed in a dream or vision. The spirit might take
the form of a bird or other animal or in some other force of nature
which coul be summoned with a special song or prayer learned during the
quest. After this defining experience the inidvidual might choose a new
name that was associated with the spirit power like, Thunder rolling in
the mountains, Yellow serpent, Pile of clouds. For this reason, Steptoe
Butte was called a power mountain. The butte was known to the local
Indians as Eomoshtoss. One of Kamiakin's sons, Skees had his name
originate from such a quest. Skees was a son by Kamiakin's third wife,
Whylatspam, and when he was a boy his parents sent him in search of a
guardian spirit. He traveled for some time and climbed the steep slopes
until he came upon an abandoned campsite on which were scattered a
number of animal bones. The boy fasted throughout the day and watched as
the sunlight fell beyond a cloud-covered horizon. While keeping his
vigil late into the night, a great hailstorm suddenly arose that
assailed the slopes with ferocious winds and pelted the boy's crude
shelter. A loud voice then spoke to him out of the gale, "I give you my
power of wind and strength to withstand the force of hail that strikes
against me like the bullets of an enemy. So you shall have power to
overcome the attacks of those who ride against you. From the voice in
the wind the boy learned a song with which he could summon help in time
of danger before falling off into a deep sleep from the exhaustion of
his ordeal. The next morning he arose and walked to the place near the
camp where he had heard the voice. He found a pile of elk bones and then
realized that the power of this majestic creature to withstand enemies
has been bestowed upon him. For this reason he took the name Skees which
means "Hailstorm." During the wars of the 1850s, this son of Kamiakin
distinguished himself in battle by daring raids against the soldiers. On
these occasions Skees would sing his power song and ride against the
hail of bullets fired at him and escape unharmed despite the bullet
holes torn through his buckskin clothes.
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