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Medicine:
Holy power.
A medicine man is someone who is known to have
this power.
For the Plains Indians the
Medicineshield had a religious meaning, for them
there was a higher spiritual power. The power,
the shield was sending, went further than only
stop the arrows. The protection came from the
spiritual power of the image that was painted
upon the shield. The Indian saw the image in his
vision.
The medicineshield had nothing to do with
protection in battle. It was a personal shield
which declared its owner's sacred intentions.
The medicineshield was made of animal skin, and
stretched over a wooden hoop.
Around the edges were attached feathers, and
sometimes other dangling objects. The
medicineshield had special symbols painted on it
which indicated the owner's special qualities and
quest in life. The medicineshield could show a
representation of an animal or animals with which
the person was particularly related and which
represented his or her principal power source and
protection.
The colors used also had significance. |
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