The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions

human agency. For Mrs. McCabe, having a tradition means
having a spirit-teacher or guide. That is the only way she used
the term “tradition” and the only context in which she understood
it. Pomo baskets hold psychic power, spirit power; so a
basketmaker weaves a basket for a person at the direction of her
spirit guide. Owning a basket should not be by purchase, but by
gift.
Imagine how much spirit power of the tribes is locked away
in museums or kept secured in white homes where their true
significance goes unrecognized. Soul theft is a terrible crime,
and while there are many museums and field workers who are
concerned with this issue and are trying to restore the sacred
objects to their owners, there are many more who are blissfully
ignorant of the significance of their collecting instincts or the
meaning of their possessions.
Essie Parrish, who died within the last few years, was the
Dreamer of the Kashia Pomo. The Dreamer is the person
responsible for the continued existence of the people as a
psychic (that is, tribal) entity. It is through her dreams that the
people have being; it is through her dreams that they find ways to
function in whatever reality they find themselves. It is through
her dreams that the women keep children safe in war, that
healings are made possible, and that children are assured a safe
passage through life.
Under the auspices of the University of California at Berkeley,
Mrs. Parrish made several movies recording her dances and
songs. In one of them, Dream Dances of the Kashia Pomo, she
and others dance and display the dance costumes that are made
under her direction, appliquéd with certain dream-charged
designs that hold the power she brings from the spirit world. She
tells about the role of the Dreamer, who is the mother of the
people not because she gives physical birth (though Mrs. Parrish
has done that) but because she gives them life through her power