"The National Library of Medicine plans an exhibit of Native American healing practices this fall. In preparation, its physician-director met and questioned nine renowned Indian medicine men in Bismark, ND, a rare encounter.

“We have to take this pain from our hearts and really look at it. Leaving it up to our heads only gets us in trouble,” Austin McKay whispered, his gaze still fixed on the vision he had received on Bear Butte, called Mato Paha -- the Center of Everything That Is -- by the Lakota.

McKay’s voice was barely audible as he described the experience that removed his terrible fear of being alone and finally allowed him to confront his demons brought on by a life of alcohol abuse. The watery eyes of the Canadian Dakota medicine man remained focused on the revelations from Mato Paha as he spoke, far beyond the walls of the hotel suite in Bismarck with its hot studio lights.

On the edge of my seat, I strained to hear about his troubling dreams that eventually led him to salvation and the responsibility of caring for a pipe, a great honor among the Dakota. Now he works helping others deal with their pain and trauma."

Get the Story:
Mary Annette Pember: Two Healing Traditions Meet on the Plains (The Daily Yonder 5/25)

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