The Importance of Medicine Wheels in Indigenous Culture
The Importance of Medicine Wheels in Indigenous Culture
The well-known Medicine Wheels in theSouthern Alberta include Many Spotted Horses Medicine Wheel, Sundial MedicineWheel and the Majorville Medicine Wheel site. The Medicine Wheels areidentified by a cairn of rocks with spokes branching out in all directions,that could resemble a wheel but not always. effigies, stone circles/tipi rings,vision quests, stone cairns, and stone alignments Many have a central cairnsometimes surrounded by one or two rings. Sundial is located nearCarmangay, about an hour north of Lethbridge. It is situated on a hill, with acentral cairn and two surrounding circles with entrance markings. Suffield Tipi rings are located near Cypress County, the Tipi Rings are locatedon hills overlooking the South Saskatchewan River, in Alberta. The siteencompasses 14 sets of archaeological remains. The most renowned MedicineWheel is the Majorville Medicine Wheel and cairn located near Bassano, whichconsists of a central cairn, which is linked to a surrounding stone circle by28 spokes.
Many Spotted Horses is located on thenortheastern part of the Blood Reserve. It is believed that when a greatchief dies a lodge was placed over him, and when the lodge was thrown down bythe wind, the body of the deceased was laid upon the ground and a cairn ofstones placed over it. This is the case of the Many Spotted HorsesMedicine Wheel. The other Medicine Wheels are used for ceremonialpurposes even to this day, offerings are scattered throughout thearea.
In addition to Medicine Wheels there arestone figure shaped like animals or humans or part of a larger formation, thereare several located in Southern Alberta, including Napi or Old Man effigies.Tipi rings are a circle of stones used to hold down the edges of the lodges,there are still thousands of tipi rings still to be found in theprairies. The size of the ring indicated if it was used during the dogdays or after the use of horses had begun. If there are two rings it was usedduring the winter, with the second ring indicating where a fire pitsat. The tipi rings indicate winter and summer camps of the seasonal rounds ofthe Blackfoot. The typical Blackfoot tipi ring had a doorway facing east,marked by a break in the circle. If a tipi did not have a break it was usuallya death lodge, someone had died in there and the lodge was closed and sewnshut. Many tipi rings sites have been disseminated by settlers, scattering orpiling the rocks. For the Blackfoot the tipi rings are marking and stories leftbehind by the ancestors.
The Blackfoot sacred sites are stillsignificant to the Blackfoot today, many remain as places for ceremony, visionquest sites, and a gathering place to offer prayers. Some of the sites arethreatened by development and are unprotected.
To keep learning more about the richIndigenous culture that helps make the melting pot of lethbridge so unique,keep reading more on our Indigenous Lethbridge page!