The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions

The sin Adam and Eve committed in the Garden of Eden was
attempting to become knowledgeable. Their attempt opened the
further possibility that, with knowledge, they might become
immortal. This, apparently, was not acceptable, not because
knowledge and immortality were sinful but because the
possession of them by human beings would reorder the
hierarchical principles on which the Judeo-Christian universe is
posited. Those reared in a Christian society are inclined to
perceive social relationships—and literary works—in this
context; they order events and phenomena in hierarchical and
dualistic terms. Those reared in traditional American Indian
societies are inclined to relate events and experiences to one
another. They do not organize perceptions or external events in
terms of dualities or priorities. This egalitarianism is reflected
in the structure of American Indian literature, which does not
rely on conflict, crisis, and resolution for organization, nor does
its merit depend on the parentage, education, or connections of
the author. Rather, its significance is determined by its relation
to creative empowerment, its reflection of tribal understandings,
and its relation to the unitary nature of reality.
The way the loon prays in the Cheyenne creation story is
indicative of that difference. The loon looks around him as he
addresses Maheo, “for he knew that Maheo was all about him,”
just as earlier in the story the snowgoose addressed Maheo in
these words: “I do not know where you are, but I know you must
be everywhere.” 8
Another difference between these two ways of perceiving
reality lies in the tendency of the American Indian to view space
as spherical and time as cyclical, whereas the non-Indian tends
to view space as linear and time as sequential. The circular
concept requires all “points” that make up the sphere of being to
have a significant identity and function, while the linear model
assumes that some “points” are more significant than others. In