A vision quest is a spiritual experience in Native American traditions in which a person seeks to commune with a supernatural deity such as Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit or Great Mystery), or a lesser spirit guide. Nineteenth-century anthropologists coined the term “vision quest” to describe this rite-of-passage ceremony practiced in Native American cultures. Some Native American nations participated in the vision quests as a community, while in other nations they were deeply personal and kept private. The term has now become a blanket term for many types of rite-of-passage rituals among Native American as well as other global cultures that performed analogous rituals.
The person attempting a vision quest typically seeks enlightenment or guidance for life, especially in challenging times. The result of the vision quest varies, but most often seekers learn their purpose in life, some deep life lesson, or further interpretation of another vision they have already experienced. The quest was meant as a method by which the seeker could be empowered, humbled, strengthened, and enlightened. While many Native Americans throughout North and South America practiced vision quest rituals, nations differed on specific forms, including the age at which this rite of passage was to occur.
For the Sioux, young men typically sought to have a vision quest as early as ten years of age, but no later than their early teens. Traditionally, when the young seeker desired a vision quest, he brought a pipe to the holy man, or shaman, of the tribe. If the shaman agreed to help and give counsel, the seeker and the shaman determined where the vision quest would take place, if the seeker had not already specified the location. The seeker or shaman usually chose a remote place free of distractions, thus aiding the process of spiritual enlightenment. However, before the vision quest commenced, the shaman and the seeker removed to a sweat lodge where the seeker could sweat out his impurity and become sanctified for communion with Wakan Tanka or his spirit guide. Some tribes among the Sioux had seekers go through the sweat lodge more than once. Once the seeker exited the sweat lodge and proceeded to the next phase of preparation, he promised to abstain from food and drink for the remainder of the quest to clear his mind, heart, body, and soul, focusing solely on the purpose of his vision quest. The shaman and the seeker then began their journey to the chosen destination. When they were close, the shaman instructed the seeker on how to prepare for the quest and gave guidance as the seeker prepared to begin the ritual. After the shaman finished teaching the seeker, he continued without the seeker, while the seeker waited for the shaman to prepare the area, allowing the seeker to be able to conduct the ritual alone.
While the seeker prepared for his vision quest a short distance from the vision quest area, the shaman cleared a rectangular area and prepared a pole with tobacco offerings, which the shaman then placed in the center of the area. Smaller poles with offerings associated with each perspective direction were placed around the seeker and shaman. The shaman placed sage near the center pole as a symbolic bed on which the seeker might rest when he was tired.
Once the area was ready, the shaman departed, and the seeker proceeded to the area. When the seeker arrived, he approached the center pole, and from the center pole, walked to the pole on the western side of the cleared area, and offered a prayer. He then returned to the center pole, faced north, walked to the northern pole, and offered a prayer. He then repeated this process for the east and finally for the south. Once he had offered a prayer at each surrounding pole, the seeker began to pray for the rest of the day and throughout the night. He could change directions, or face the sun, or he could simply sit and meditate, facing east. The seeker could also sleep on the bed of sage, but his head must face the center pole.
While the seeker slept and moved about, he continually prayed while awake, and was not permitted to eat or drink anything. Many vision quests lasted only a day and a night, but others two, three, or even four days. A vision quest that lasted longer than four days and four nights was rare. The purpose of this phase of the vision quest was for the seeker to focus on his surroundings and listen intently. The Sioux believed that if the seeker did so, he would be able to receive a message from Wakan Tanka. Traditional belief held that Wakan Tanka’s message came through a bird or an animal, since the Sioux believed that Wakan Tanka could speak through any and all things. Typically, a physical representation or token of the vision quest was collected and placed in the seeker’s medicine bag to ensure the vision would remain with the seeker and act as a reminder, protector, and guide.
With the vision quest completed and the message obtained, the shaman, and sometimes other assistants, returned to retrieve the seeker. Afterward, all went to the sweat lodge to purify themselves. However, this time, the seeker described his vision quest to the others and explained what he saw and heard, making sure not to miss a single detail. Not every vision quest was successful, and in those cases, the seeker reported that as well. Once the shaman and the seeker were purified, and regardless of whether the seeker had had a vision or not, the shaman offered prayers of gratitude to Wakan Tanka for all things given and for having pity on the seeker.
Sweat Lodge
The sweat lodge is a common feature among many Native American peoples. Often constructed in a dome shape by a series of poles covered with skins, bark, or other natural materials, the sweat lodge is heated by means of hot rocks, rather like a sauna. The purpose of utilizing a sweat lodge can be purification, prayer, the performance of rituals, or spiritual preparation, and sweat lodges might be associated with vision quests.
C. Fee
Because vision quests were considered to be a sacred experience between the seeker, the shaman, and Wakan Tanka, they were not openly discussed at the conclusion of the vision quest. However, over time, the seeker might have disclosed the experience to others as a way to guide or assist those who might be in a similar situation. Typically, the seeker offered such details as would amaze and astound his listeners.
Vision quest stories can be found throughout Native American literature, and they are described in some detail in the widely read book The Sacred Pipe (Brown 1953) by the Oglala leader Black Elk. The tradition is so deeply ingrained in white conceptions of Native American life that it appears frequently in television and film treatments of Native American culture, and offers an important plot device for a wide variety of other film narratives, such as Luke Skywalker’s famous vision quest in the Dark Side Cave on the plant Dagobah in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Video games such as Avatar: The Last Airbender and World of Warcraft contain vision quest action sequences, and the theme has been featured in a wide variety of television programs.
Zachary Q. Metcalfe
See also Black Elk; Great Spirit; Out of Body Experiences; Shamans
Further Reading
Brown, Joseph Epes. 1953. The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Bucko, Raymond A. 1999. The Lakota Ritual of the Sweat Lodge: History and Contemporary Practice. Lincoln: Bison Books.
Doll, Don. 1994. Vision Quest: Men, Women and Sacred Sites of the Sioux Nation. New York: Crown.
Walker, James R. 1991. Lakota Belief and Ritual. Lincoln, NE: Bison Books.