In the name of God State E-Book

Patrizia Barrera

• Herausgeber: Tektime
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Allowing a ruler to decide unilaterally on an individual's health and reproductive capacity is tantamount to putting his life in his hands. It means authorising him to determine the length and quality of the existence of individuals, groups, social classes, ethnic groups, entire peoples. And to let him style, on the basis of personal and arbitrary convictions, categories of more or less deserving individuals to be allowed to work, express themselves and live, according to fixed rules of behaviour and thought. In short, it means helping him to play the part of God.
How does one carry out a massacre? How does one eliminate an entire ethnic group? How do you affect the individual's basic freedoms? And how do you annul their rights? Well, the most obvious way is persecution, war, martyrdom. On closer inspection, extremely effective but also very unpopular methods, capable of generating violent reactions. Especially when, as has already happened in the not too distant past, one oversteps the mark. Since the dawn of time, human beings have used war to achieve such results. In more cunning eras, religious power (of any religion) has done even worse. Then, the modern era arrived, and these crude and bloody methods became obsolete. A certain, evil section of humanity devised more devious and effective expedients to achieve the same ends of destruction: preventing those peoples, individuals, ethnic groups deemed undesirable, from reproducing. This allowed them not only to eliminate the problem at its root, but also to break down the door of human rights, arrogate to themselves indiscriminate powers of control over individual freedoms, and finally act undisturbed over the management of human life. With the approval of the very masses who abhor wars and massacres. Forced sterilisation was and is a formidable and inexpensive method of achieving all this. Allowing a ruler to decide unilaterally on an individual's health and reproductive capacity is tantamount to putting his life in his hands. It means authorising him to determine the length and quality of the existence of individuals, groups, social classes, ethnic groups, entire peoples. And to let him style, on the basis of personal and arbitrary convictions, categories of more or less deserving individuals to be allowed to work, express themselves and live, according to fixed rules of behaviour and thought. In short, it means helping him to play the part of God, hoping never to fall into the category of undesirables that he will one day think of annihilating, in order to correct an inherent error of nature and for the very good of society. Forced sterilisation is only the beginning of this. It is the first step in the destruction of our sense of humanity, of our ability to penetrate into the misery of others without judging them but accepting them for what they are: an enrichment of our existence. If life is formed in the womb, it is in the womb that it must be destroyed. And this is not just a symbolism.

Leseprobe

PATRIZIA BARRERA

In the name of the God State

From forced sterilisation to the physical elimination of the helpless

Horrors and abuses that few know about

English translation by

ALBERTO FUGGETTA

Table of Contents

COPYRIGHT

PREFACE

PART ONE.

PART TWO

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Patrizia Barrera 2022

All rights reserved

RHA Production

PREFACE

How does one carry out a massacre? How does one eliminate an entire ethnic group? How do you affect the individual's basic freedoms? How do you annul their rights?

Well, the most obvious way is persecution, war, martyrdom. On closer inspection, extremely effective but also very unpopular methods, capable of generating violent reactions. Especially when, as has already happened in the not too distant past, one oversteps the mark.

Since the dawn of time, human beings have used war to achieve such results. In more cunning eras, religious power (of any religion) has done even worse. Then, the modern era arrived, and these crude and bloody methods became obsolete.

A certain, evil section of humanity has devised more devious and effective expedients to achieve the same ends of destruction: preventing those peoples, individuals, ethnic groups deemed undesirable, from reproducing. This allowed them not only to eliminate the problem at its root, but also to break down the door of human rights, arrogate to themselves indiscriminate powers of control over individual freedoms, and finally act undisturbed over the management of human life. With the approval of the very masses who abhor wars and massacres.

Forced sterilisation was and is a formidable and inexpensive way to achieve this.

Allowing a ruler to decide unilaterally on an individual's health and reproductive capacity is tantamount to putting his life in his hands. It means authorising him to determine the length and quality of the existence of individuals, groups, social classes, ethnic groups, entire peoples. And to let it style, on the basis of personal and arbitrary convictions, categories of more or less deserving individuals to be allowed to work, express themselves and live, according to fixed rules of behaviour and thought.

In short, it means helping him to play the part of God, hoping that we will never fall into the category of undesirables that he will one day think of annihilating, in order to correct an inherent error of nature and for the very good of society.

Forced sterilisation is only the beginning of this. It is the first step in the destruction of our sense of humanity, of our ability to penetrate into the misery of others without judging them but accepting them for what they are: an enrichment of our existence.

If life is formed in the womb, it is in the womb that it must be destroyed.

And it is not just symbolism.

PART ONE.

THE NATIVE SAVAGES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once upon a Squaw

From child to young woman

Sometimes idealised, sometimes harassed and the object of slavery, the condition of the squaw among Native Americans was not so different from that of women at the same time, in the West as in the East. With the exception of brief periods of enlightened matriarchy that followed one another in the past centuries, the female figure has always played subordinate social roles. In almost all societies, despite her functional essentiality, woman has always been the victim of obtuse macho views that have relegated her to the status of object or bargaining chip.

The Native Americans were no different, although it must be acknowledged that the subjection of women in this case stemmed from precise existential needs and not from religious or cultural conventions, as was the case in the Old World or the East. Indeed, it can be said that, unlike Europeans, Indian women enjoyed a freedom of customs and behaviour that perhaps only the pioneers of the New World were able to savour. The harshness of life imposed on the tribes, fundamentally nomadic and constantly in dispute with their neighbours, a strict separation of roles and a perfect organisation, which disregarded family sentiment and affection.

Thus, if in cases of forced exodus it was the elderly and no longer useful women who were abandoned, this was not the result of inhuman attitudes or ingratitude, but a desperate attempt to save the entire tribe.

The clear distinction between male and female, for the Native people, was in fact evident especially in old age: the male, a warrior and hunter, necessarily led a life of relationship, mediation and cooperation with the other males of his tribe, as well as of friendly tribes. Until death, his experience was indispensable to others, and sometimes the elder's strategic skills could make the difference between the life and death of an entire people.

The female role, on the other hand, was all encompassed within the family and tribal sphere, so that her sphere of experience, although fundamental to the smooth running of the group, was nevertheless extremely limited, and was exhausted where old age no longer permitted the normal performance of daily tasks.

Figure 1. The condition of the elderly Indian woman was always in the balance. Although old age was honoured and utilised by the American Indians, the possibility of having to suddenly move and take refuge in other camps, due to environmental problems or to escape their enemies, was very frequent. When this happened, the elders were included in the exodus plan, as long as they were able to withstand the harsh pace of the entire tribe, from which not even children were spared. If the elderly were too ill and no longer self-sufficient, they were often abandoned in their hut or, at best, taken to safety in the best possible place, where they were forced to fend for themselves anyway. Sickness and disability would have slowed down the pace of the tribe's march too much, endangering its survival. The decision was therefore not dictated by cruelty but by real needs. All things being equal, the elderly male was preferred to the older woman, since the old man had a wealth of social experience that he could still put at the service of the tribe, while the woman did not. In this photo Skokomish woman, 1930.

Each squaw was acutely aware of the impermanence of her role and the possibility that fate might ask one of them to make the ultimate sacrifice. On the other hand, the warrior was constantly putting his life on the line to defend the entire tribe from ransom, murder and enslavement: whichever way one looked at it, the numbers added up, and they were not always in the woman's favour.

The life of the squaw (a term that in the Algonquin language simply meant a maiden, from 'ethskeewa') began at the crack of dawn and ended at bedtime when, stripped of her anonymous role as a member of the village, she took on that of wife and mistress. Her tasks were manifold and multi-functional: they ranged from taking care of household chores, especially cooking food and keeping it warm and ready for use, to making clothes and moccasins for the whole family, to foraging for roots and berries, to growing maize and rearing animals, which for many nomadic tribes were the only source of subsistence when the bison were absent.

They were able to gut, clean and skin game with the simple use of a bone knife, they salted meats, tanned skins, painted war tools, dyed clothing, assembled and disassembled the tepee in a single hour, and were able to hunt and defend their village. Infinally, they reared and cared for their children, nursed the sick, interpreted the cycles of the earth and the messages of the spirits, prepared the dead and took care of funerals. A full and difficult life, from which men were exempt, busy as they were with organising wars.

In spite of this, women remained illiterate throughout their lives, were excluded from the council of elders and ritual dances, and their social presence was limited to seasonal celebrations, engagement and marriage rites, and, of course, funeral wakes. However, compared to the working-class women of civilised England exploited in the fields, or the Chinese girls abandoned in the rubbish, or the Hindu wives immolated at the stake of their dead husbands and the poor creatures murdered by the Holy Inquisition as witches, the condition of the Squaw was in many respects much better.

The Native American, in fact, was essentially free. Its idea of independence went beyond the limits imposed by all European civilisations of the period, even presenting multiple connections with the concept of anarchy. Even the 'chief' did not actually command, but his function was purely to stimulate reflection and pacification; all important decisions were taken by the tribe's council of elders and the chiefs of the friendly tribes. In this sense, the regulating idea of Native American society was the refile of institution and absolute power. The real operating power was that of the WORD, according to which every man or woman had the right to accept or refute what was proposed to them.

Thus, if the man could speak his mind out loud, the woman expressed herself, no less forcefully, from the bosom of the family, from which she chose an appropriate contact person to bring her remarks back to the council.

In such a well-calibrated society, each man or woman did not live and act in function of the community, but was only responsible for it in imperative situations, such as defence against the enemy or hunting bison. In all other cases the individual reasoned for himself without being accountable to anyone, let alone being asked to conform to political or religious rules of collective behaviour. Female virginity, for example, was an absolutely absent concept for the Native American, and so were all those often discriminating impositions to which maidens from other worlds were forced to submit. The family was an open environment, in which punishment and rules were practically banned: children, placed in direct contact with the harshness of everyday life, self-regulated, expressing their own character traits to the utmost. Girls and boys lived together, without any kind of modesty even in the fulfilment of their bodily needs.

Sex was not considered sinful, nor was homosexuality: if savage mating was not favoured, it was simply for practical reasons, in order to be able to attribute the newborn to the right father, and in any case early marriage, often celebrated immediately after the girl's menarche, was a constant custom. The rape of women by enemy tribes was not a properly Indian custom but a common practice among all ancient peoples (and not infrequently also in advanced civilisations such as the present). The female as a bargaining chip or possession has atavistic roots, and stems from the preciousness of women, certainly not from a derogatory consideration of them.

A people with many women always has a chance of survival: on the other hand, a tribe deprived of its female wealth is certainly doomed to extinction. A concept that would later be extended to pioneer women and which explains the numerous raids by the Natives during the Indian wars: it was not only out of retaliation but first and foremost out of survival instinct that the Natives started to kidnap white women, and in any case after the United States Army started to put their villages to the sword.

In fact, when the first English and French colonisers arrived in the North American states in the 1600s, the practice of kidnapping white women was reduced to the bare bones. This practice was then stimulated and favoured by the governments of both sides, vying for dominance over American territories, who often bestowed their allied Indians with the white women of their enemy as a prize.

Figure 2. Ouray girl, a people better known as Ute, in 1898. The fringe and lack of beads on her dress indicated her status as a virgin.

In times of peace, the 'buying and selling' of women took place within the framework of marriage, and was one of the few 'choral' events of the tribe, which often actively participated by compensating for any shortcomings of the 'buyer' towards the bride's family. It could happen, in fact, that the maiden's father valued her more than the future bridegroom's wealth, in terms of blankets and horses. So it could happen that the latter's relatives, but also friends and sympathisers, would supplement with their own possessions what was lacking in the asking price. This was because marriage was considered a public event, with undeniable implications for the future of the tribe. On closer inspection, this was a very civilised behaviour and practice, which should be understood not as a sale, but as compensation for the bride's family, who were deprived of a valuable asset.

Very similar, but more enlightened, to the phenomenon still in vogue of the bride's 'dowry', which, however, for civilised Europe rests its roots on a very dry concept of compensation not to the family of origin but to the maiden herself who, upon marrying, loses her right to her father's inheritance and becomes the property of her husband.

In order to dream with a touch of nostalgia, I will briefly illustrate the various steps that accompanied the phase of reaching puberty to the maiden's marriage. This is a very important phase for the young squaw, which will forever condition her life as an adult woman.

The Native Americans coined beautiful poems about it, which show how much love was hidden in the hearts of fathers and mothers at the moment of parting forever from their child. They have come down to us intact thanks to the oral tradition still alive among the Natives, which was able to stop time. Thanks to this collective memory, we can still fully enjoy the images of initiatory ceremonies that took place in America thousands of years ago.

The childhood of Indian children, completely unregulated, was one of the happiest among ancient peoples: pampered, fed and practically taught the basics of life, the children were raised by the entire tribe with no real distinction between real mothers and acquired mothers. The nurturing of the young was thus a collective event, designed for defence and education and never for coercion. The Native had no written language: any teaching was given orally and was levelled according to the individual's character differences, but also and above all according to the differences in the child's future tasks.

Thus, while the male was taught to hunt and the essential rudiments of the art of war, the female was taught those inherent in her future destiny as wife and mother. However, with regard to the use of weapons, there was no clear difference between male and female. Particularly among Cheyenne and Apache, the female was able to mount a horse and handle a Tomahawk exactly like a male, use a bow and arrow and build elementary but functional defence systems. In situations of necessity, many women also learnt to kill and scalp their enemy and not infrequently, in the absence of men, the women and elders of the tribe were left in charge of some of them, who were able to handle weapons and know how to defend themselves in the event of an attack.

The most important period of the young squaw's life was that of menarche, which coincided with the abandonment of the robes of a girl to put on that of a maiden.

Although each tribe experienced and ritualised it differently, it was always a collective event, much more so than marriage or the birth of a child. It could be compared to the typical entrance into society of 19th century maidens. It was as good a way as any to put the maiden 'in the public square', and to give the time that preceded the eventual engagement a spiritual, even more than social, respite.

Not infrequently, a maiden's entry into the 'teen' sphere was accompanied by the promise of marriage, which for all natives occurred very early, for females as much as for males. The native was essentially polygamous, a necessity due to the high mortality of mothers and infants, which imposed an obligation on a man to enjoy many wives. However, this was not an imposing rule, much less a convention on a religious basis. Every man was free to adopt mono as well as polygamy, and in some tribes this right was also granted to females.

For example, among the Crow and Sioux Lakota it was very common for a woman to accompany several men. Indeed, among the Sioux, the woman enjoyed greater sexual freedom than her European peers: she could choose her future husband as much as refit him and, if she wanted to divorce, she could do so simply by leaving the tent and making her decision public by entering the lover's tent. Children always followed their mothers, even if male, and generally belonged to the latter's clan rather than her husband's. The male could seldom claim coercive rights over females and rape, particularly if practised on virgins, was severely punished with exile.

Clearly, it was not all fun and games: among some tribes, such as the Urons and the Kiowa, the woman had a hard life and was quite subordinate to the male. The woman kidnapped by an enemy tribe, apart from the certainly traumatic initial period, was generally incorporated into the tribe and often became the wife or concubine of the warrior who had captured her. Women with children were generally preferred in the abduction, who in turn were simply integrated and adopted by the community.

The abduction of women, especially European women, by the Indians, however, represents a difficult and dark period in American history. It is clear that not all women, especially if bound by deep affection for the husband they were leaving behind, accepted the new condition calmly, to which they were psychologically accustomed even as children. Not infrequently, especially if they played the role of concubines, they found themselves defending themselves against the other women already present in the warrior's tent, who often distressed them with their jealousies and even subjected them to violence.

However, this faded over time, and always for practical purposes. The women, however, were useful and necessary people and, if violence could endanger the life of the newcomer, they were usually sedated by the tribal chief or by the warrior himself responsible for the abduction...

Rape of women was sometimes accompanied by rape, not for reasons of offence but to sanction the right of conquest. It was not an act of debasing women, as was the case in other continents: it was rather a practical and quick way to accustom women to their new condition and encourage them to cut ties with their past. Rape was however reserved for adult women; girls were generally never touched, let alone virgins. It was quite easy to distinguish them, not only by their young age but by their hairstyle and clothing. Virgins in fact wore fringes, and their clothing did not contain beads. It was only later, thanks to the brutalisation of the various tribes that had by then come into contact with European 'civilisation', that things underwent some less than edifying changes, and rape was carried out on a large scale and especially on white women.

The phenomenon was a reaction, and some tribes even went so far as to slit the throats of females, an event that was 'signed off' by certain utensils such as pens and arrows, which were left on the spot. It was an attempt to repay, in a bloody and certainly primitive way, their women who were regularly raped and then killed by the US Army. This practice, unfortunately, intensified enormously shortly before the closing of the borders, and contributed to the campaign against the Indians and their extermination.

The ritual celebrating a girl's transition from childhood to puberty was called 'Išnati awicalowan', i.e. 'feast of the first menstruation', but also 'feast of isolation', since after reaching sexual maturity, the girl was a woman in her own right and had the right to live alone in her own hut, previously built by her family. It was a moment of intense collective joy that, while it 'freed' the girl from her childhood, nevertheless anchored her to the one and only restrictions of her life, which anticipated marriage.

In the transition from achieved independence to marriage, in fact, the young squaw had to submit to social rules to avoid unwanted conception, even if the girl was often no longer a virgin. Habitual consorting between males and females allowed licentiousness even at an impubescent age, and was tolerated. The arrival of the first menstruation interrupted any idyll and the maiden was monitored on sight by the elders of the tribe, who also had the task of teaching her normal amorous practices.

The Išnati awicalowan was rigidly codified and very similar in all tribes. Through the initiation rite, the squaw was educated about the myth of the Great Mother or White Bison Woman, and thus became aware of her feminine nature. The myth, which the Sioux claimed as their own, is very ancient and common to all the Natives.

Figure 3. Here is a modern raffiguration of the White Bison Woman, a sacred and legendary figure whose story you can read at the end of this chapter

The first menstruation was collected in a bundle of skins, which the maiden kept around her private parts like an absorbent pad for the duration of her period. Once the flow was over, the bundle was placed by the mother in a plum tree to protect it from the nefarious influences of IKTOMI, a multiform evil spirit who often hid in the guise of a spider. (Here, too, the legend takes its cue from reality. There are extremely toxic arachnids in America which, by stinging young girls near puberty, can inhibit the normal development of the ovaries, thus causing infertility).

In the meantime, the father, having built the isolation tepee for the fighter, asks for the blessing of the shaman who, followed by the entire tribe, goes into the tent and begins to purify the environment, the clothing and all the squaw's personal belongings with herbs burned as incense. Then a new altar was built in the tepee that would be forever linked to the young woman. In the meantime, the whole tribe crowds the tent, inside and out, and attends the ceremony, except for children and menstruating women (who could have contaminated the ceremony with their blood).

Once everyone had taken their seats, the maiden was made to sit between the new altar and the domestic hearth, but with her legs on one side as is the custom for women, and no longer cross-legged as was the custom for men and children. Afterwards, the shaman lit the ceremonial pipe, placed on his head a buffalo skull on whose forehead he had painted a long red line running perpendicularly up to the occiput, and began to instruct the girl on her duties as a squaw. She must always be "industrious as the spider, silent as the tortoise and cheerful as the lark".

He warns her about the effect of lasciviousness, reminding her of what the buffalo does with the bull at the time of the mount (an event well known to Indian children, who lived in close contact with animals). At this point, the shaman would move from theory to practice: completely naked, he would gird himself with a kind of rudimentary godemiché and with this he would attempt to mate with the maiden, who must always remain with her legs firmly closed while the man tried to open a gap between them with his hands. Whenever the maiden's resistance began to falter, her mother would place under her arms and belly a few leaves of sage, an aromatic herb that the natives called the 'herb of dreams', as they attributed to it a spiritual power of warning and teaching.

The meaning of the entire practice was very clear: to make the maiden aware of her great sexual power and the spiritual importance of conception, while at the same time stimulating her not to indulge in wild and animalistic fertilisation. An instruction that often ended in emptiness: it not infrequently happened that the maiden, although controlled on sight, at the arrival of the first ardours would make the so-called 'fuitina' with the lover of the moment, who was not always the future husband. Unwanted pregnancies were not objects of ostracism for the tribe, but rather 'pitied'. Proposing in marriage a maiden pregnant by another was in fact possible and frequent, but it greatly reduced their value... in terms of horses!

However, the Išnati awicalowan did not finish here. After dressing, the shaman filled the maiden's bowl with a mixture of water and chokecherry (a kind of plum with a cherry-like taste, from the fermentation of which an antibacterial drink was made), had the maiden lie on the skins and, The liquid was then partly licked by the shaman in the gesture of 'a buffalo drinking from a trough', and partly collected in another bowl and passed around among those present, so that all could drink.

In this way, the young woman's fertilising energy was shared with the entire tribe, which would one day also welcome her children. At this point the squaw was made to strip completely naked in front of everyone and her old dress thrown out of the tent, or donated to a poor woman.

The maiden then wore a new dress embroidered with beads, symbolising her onset of puberty, her fringes were cut off, and in its place a shaman woman painted a horizontal line on her forehead, which the maiden would wear for the rest of her life (and which the Europeans mimicked in their costumes by attaching a strip of leather to which a feather was attached to her forehead. A giant hoax...to stay on topic!)

Infinally, her hair was loosened and styled softly on the front and shoulders, no longer on the back, as was the custom for children: it would then be the squaw's choice whether to braid it or leave it loose.

Finally, the girl's mother went to fetch the menstruation bundle she had hidden in the plum tree, to bury it in front of her daughter's tepee.

It was only at this point that the celebration was finished: the women erupted in noisy shouts of joy and the tribe started the festivities in honour of the girl...

 

HISTORY OF THE WHITE BISON WOMAN

For every young squaw, this figure was fundamental, as it was a legendary example with strong sacred connotations. She was femininity in its purest state, moreover enlightened as the bearer of the SACRED PIPE that all tribes would honour. She was thus a woman raised above the level allowed for females, the mother of all virtues a girl could resemble. A Watanka.

The story of the White Buffalo Woman is clearly Lakota in origin, but in practice we find it, with some variations, among all North American Indians. To her we owe the ritualism of what the whites simply defined as THE PEACE PIPE, but which for the Natives was equivalent to the bridge between matter and spirituality, body and soul, Human and Divinity.

It all began many many years ago, in a remote time when, due to drought and other misfortunes, the bison were disappearing and the Red Men were starving. Every day warriors set out in search of the herds that would feed all the people, but the search was becoming more and more futile and harried, and finding men in good health who could follow the trail was increasingly difficult.

One day, the feat was entrusted to two very young warriors, who had never attempted such difficult things: the two boys wandered the prairies for days without finding anything that gave them hope of bison. Tired and hungry, the two were about to give up when they suddenly noticed a strange movement behind a bush, which made them hope for succulent prey. So they lurched to spy on the movements of what they thought was an animal, when from the bush they saw a beautiful woman appearing to fluctuate through the air, who approached them with determined steps.

One of the two boys exclaimed: "How beautiful she is! I want her for myself!" and had already got up to possess her when the other stopped him, whispering: "Are you crazy? Can't you see that her feet don't touch the ground? She is certainly a divinity."

The friend, mad with desire, did not listen to him. He rose to his feet and stretched out his hands to grasp the woman... but a great cloud enveloped the two bodies and the rumble of thunder flashed through the air. When the cloud dissipated, the woman was still there, but all that was left of the young warrior was a pile of ashes. The surviving boy was frightened and tried to flee, but the beautiful woman stopped him.

"I have come to earth to give you a gift. Go to your village and order to build a large tepee whose entrance faces east. Scatter sage on the ground and wait for me tomorrow at dawn. I will come to you. "

The young man returned to the village and, trembling like a leaf, told the chieftain what had happened. The tepee was built as the woman wished and the next day at dawn the whole village was on its knees waiting for her. She arrived carrying a strange bundle in her arms, entered the tent and began to speak to the Lakota people.

"I come from heaven because the gods are pleased with you and want to give you a gift, which will one day save all mankind."

So he unrolled the bundle and handed the village chief a long pipe made of wood and bone. "Pray to Wakan Tanka, the Creator, for he gives you the Sacred Pipe. It is alive, and it is very powerful; it is the emanation of the Great Mystery, dispenser of life as much as of death. Not everyone can carry the Sacred Pipe, for the Chosen Ones must concentrate on a life of fasting and prayer, follow the celestial rites and take great responsibility for their people. The bearer does not possess, but is merely a vehicle of power. He will have the ability to see things and will be a link between the deepest part of himself and the Great Whole. Beware that the sacred pipe demands an open heart and clean hands. It must be treated with consideration and then it will be your great friend. But if despised or treated by unclean hands it will turn against you and become your greatest enemy. "

Legend has it that the first Lakota to carry the sacred pipe was Walking Bull, to whom the woman taught the sacred phrases and rituals for attracting bison.

"When you have said your prayers remove the pipe from the place where you have placed it, leave it in the air and invoke the Creator. Then the bison will return, the whole tribe will be sated and happiness will dwell in your hearts."

During the four days she stayed in the village, the woman taught the people the meaning of the ceremonies, the cult of Mother Earth, the dances and the colours in which everyone had to adorn themselves, namely black, red, brown and white, which are the colours of the bison.

He revealed the secrets of herbs to be burnt in the pipe before making peace treaties, so as to have a clear mind and a peaceful heart. He taught women the duties towards their husbands and sons, men the respect for their women, and children the duty to honour their parents. He advised the people to be good and charitable and to be loving towards animals.

He then explained the secret of preserving the pipe, which could be used to fight famine, hunger, pestilence and war.

On the fifth day, the woman, after smoking the sacred pipe with the village chief, had to return to the sky. She rose into the air four times and four times touched the ground, each time changing shape and colour. The first time she became a black bison calf, the second a red bison calf, the third a brown bison calf and then the last a white bison calf. In this form she rose up into the hills and infinitely disappeared, which is why the Lakota called her "The White Bison Woman".

Standing Bull, who had been chosen as the bearer of the sacred pipe, carried out his task with commitment. Every month he unrolled the bundle containing the pipe and, calling all the children of the village together, he repeated to them the teachings he had been given so that they would one day teach them to their own children.

The Lakota lived in peace for many years, finally when Walking Bull, now over a hundred years old, chose a worthy man to perpetuate the cult of the sacred pipe and died after organising a great feast, where all came to pay homage to him.

The white bison woman predicted that one day the sacred pipe would no longer be used and then the Red Men would become extinct. So it was when the white man arrived and the American Army destroyed all the sacred pipes of the Natives, locking up the survivors in reservations, annihilating their culture and traditions.

Today, few survivors of the Lakota remember the teachings and rituals associated with the sacred pipe and for this, according to legend, the American Indians are dead forever.

AN EFFICIENT WOMAN

The tough everyday

On the day after her wedding, the young bride already started her working day. Her status was very different depending on whether she was a single or an additional wife. Polygamy was not uncommon among Native Americans, and was practised essentially for practical and not religious reasons or even vice, as the European conquerors, particularly the British, later claimed. We have already mentioned the preciousness of women and their frequent widowhood, which placed them in an 'open' situation vis-à-vis the tribe. Added to this was the large number of abducted women, initially from hostile tribes and later also from Europeans, which forced an adjustment of custom even in those native groups that did not normally practise polygamy. Among the tribes, however, there was a fairly granitic code of behaviour towards wives, which concerned the individual as much as the whole tribe: first and second degree relatives were excluded from marriage for 'hygienic' reasons, i.e. by virtue of the obligation to mix blood, which was very important to the Natives, and which had guaranteed the health of the people over the millennia.

So YES to cousins but NO to aunts, sisters and nieces. The same rule applied to widows of the father, who were taboo. Another veto concerned the fixed condition of brides, who could be 'betrothed' even at an early age, but the actual consummation of the marriage was forbidden until the squaw's full puberty, which happened very early anyway. The average age of the brides was 12 or 13, and not infrequently even the first birth took place at this age, which is why so many women who gave birth died. As for abducted women, NEVER was a virgin to be violated before marriage, an offence often punishable by alienation from the tribe or even death; the same for pregnant women or women who had just given birth, who were usually left in peace in a private tent where they were monitored on sight. For all the others, the fate was very uncertain.