The shaman is a person who possesses special spiritual sensitivity and power. Even before the age of initiation, some individuals will experience these special powers. They may be experienced in dreams, hallucinations, psychic traumas, spiritual illnesses, indicative acts [special or extraordinary feats], or great fortune in competition or gambling. Someone who demonstrates special powers will usually be counseled by an older shaman who will help the person to direct and focus these skills.
If a person eventually decides to commit herself/himself to full expression of special powers, she/he will begin to demonstrate these powers to the community. Ritual occasions offer various ways for a potential shaman to compete with others and to demonstrate powers. If successful, the person's services will be sought by the community or by individuals. The accomplished shaman usually does little of the normal village work and is provided for by those to whom services have been rendered. The shaman may dress somewhat differently, using highly symbolic and powerful objects like crystals, feathers, bones, etc. The truly accomplished shaman includes a high level of dramatization in his/her activities. There is good evidence that at least some of the petroglyphs and pictographs, commonly found in the West, involve uncommonly "scientific" reference to the cosmos and calendars; these were undoubtedly created by shamans.
Some (mostly male) shamans focus their energy on the natural order in relation to maintenance of good weather and prevention of natural disasters (earthquakes, etc.). The shaman may become involved in various collective activities and rituals, playing the role of purification and setting the stage for success. The Cahuilla's nukil celebration, for instance, took seven days and the first two days, at least, were devoted to preparation of the ceremonial house by the shaman and assistants.
Others (mostly women) focus their energy on healing. Some of these are lowly herbalists, dealing with everything from headaches and colds to snake bites and broken limbs, and others are priests who deal with more mysterious ailments such as soul loss or spiritual infection. The shaman might place an ill person on the floor of a ceremonial house and lead and long ceremonial, including dance, clapping, whistling, and long mournful prayers, culminating in location of the "infection" and sucking it out (sometimes as a small crystal) to be disposed of.
The shaman is always under public scrutiny. While the shaman is a necessary and valuable resource to a village, the shaman is also potentially dangerous. Special powers can be used for good or ill. The shaman's actions are always under scrutiny and a shaman who is believed to be evil will surely be run off and may even be attacked and killed. Adding to this tension, is the idea that the shaman can transform himself into other animals (a bear, for instance).
The general world view of indigenous people suggests that power is diminishing since primal time. The same process is always happening for the individual so the shaman can suffer loss of spiritual power. In some, the reduction of power can be precipitous, perhaps because of illness or the tricks of another powerful shaman.
While shamanism may seem strange to 20th Century Westerners, it was an integral and understandable link in the overall system of indigenous life. The shaman was the "doctor" and "scientist" of the indigenous community. Through shamanism people tried both to understand and to influence the forces of nature. Equally important, in contrast to the regime of the elders (chiefs, priests, etc.) which was holistic and conservative, the regime of the shaman was individual and innovative. Thus, the shamanic tradition provided a balancing factor in indigenous communities, allowing them to change with the times when appropriate.
See, for instance, Bean, Lowel J. California Indian Shamanism (Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press, 1992) or Sarris, Greg. Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream (University of California Press, 1994). The latter is a biographical sketch of a famous Pomo shaman and basket weaver.
Copyright 1996, 1998 by Tad Beckman, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711
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