THE ROAD OF LIFE AND DEATH: A RITUAL DRAMA OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. by Radin, Paul. Foreword by Mark van Doren. (Jasper Blowsnake.) - 1991

Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1991. 345 pp, 9" H. "In this transcription of the Medicine Rite, the most sacred ritual of the now vanished Winnebago Indians, anthropologist Paul Radin captured a poetic source of profound importance to the understanding of mystical experience. Performed by medicine men upon the initiation of a member to their cult, this secret rite recapitulated the mythic origins and heroes of the Winnebago while integrating those present with the ancestral forces. The rite imparted not only knowledge about life, death, and rebirth within the community, but also insights into our potential, as human beings, of living with genuine dignity on this earth. (This book) offers an authentic rendering of these prayers and ceremonial procedures and guides readers in appreciating their rich symbolism. This text, recorded in 1908 through an interpreter, is the recollection of Jasper Blowsnake, a former medicine man hesitant to commit the once mortal sin of repeating the Medicine Rite. In the introduction Radin describes the events surrounding Blowsnake's recitation and sets the rite within its historical context. We learn that Winnebago medicine men attempted to find in the rite a refuge place for their tribe members, disoriented by their obsession with war and threatened with annihilation." Inside - previous owner's chop mark (stamp) on free front endpaper, otherwise clean and tight with no other ownership marks. Exterior - tiny scuff on rear cover.. Reprint. Soft Cover. Very Good+.