Conjuring Black Hawk is Scheduled for Release December 2018!
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Since Mother Leafy Anderson brought him to New Orleans with her Spiritualist Church in the early twentieth century, Black Hawk has played a central and symbolic role in the fight against oppression and discrimination among devotees...Black Hawk is venerated as an ancestral spirit among the Mardi Gras Indians, New Orleans Voudouists, as well as rootworkers and conjure doctors. Native Americans consider him a hero, African Americans view him as defender and liberator, and European Americans admire him as the noble savage who despite defeat, fought the good fight. While most of what is written about Black Hawk has either been from a historical perspective or from the perspective of the Spiritualist Church, Black Hawk cannot be confined to a single context. It has become more than evident that he has been adopted by people from many different spiritual traditions as a powerful Indian Spirit to whom devotees believe they can turn to for help and guidance when needed. ~ Denise Alvarado, Conjuring Black Hawk
Conjuring Black Hawk
Should he be given alcohol or not? Was he a chief or not? Does he have to be in a bucket? Should he have an American flag in his bucket? How about a cross or a pipe? Can just anyone serve him? There are many mysteries surrounding this legendary figure who has a permanent place in the sacred spiritual environs of New Orleans.
Never before has a book been written about Father Black Hawk from the perspective of a Creole Native who has walked inside the longhouses, sat in the sweat lodges, cried on a hill for a vision, and received the mysteries through these traditional, intertribal Native American ceremonies. The information contained in these pages will blow your mind, burst apart the stereotypes, and give Black Hawk the final say in how he should be honored and served. The reader should set aside all expectations for what they think they know, and be ready for a true and authentic cultural smorgasbord of Indian medicine from within the context of Southern conjure.
It has been long identified that Father Black Hawk found his way to New Orleans by Spiritualist Mother Leafy Anderson. Indian Spirit Guides are not uncommon in the Spritualist Churches; however, Father Black Hawk is indeed unique in his presence in the New Orleans area. Not only is he revered in the Spiritualist Churches, he is also recognized and honored within New Orleans Voudou as a primary loa. He has also found his way onto the altars of Hoodoo and conjure practitioners nationwide. But, there has been a strong Native American presence in Louisiana long before Black Hawk arrived, making his manifestation and assimilation into Creole spiritual traditions both easy and logical.
Over 12,000 Indians live in Louisiana and identify as Houma, Choctaw, Coushatta, Chitimacha, Tunica-Biloxi, and Lipan Apache-Choctaw. Some are Redbones or Sabines, terms used to describe mixed-bloods or triracial groups of mostly Indian descent. There are Indians in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and other large cities. Most are part of the traditional Indian communities in the state. However, outside groups such as the Cherokee, Oklahoma, Choctaw. Apache, Ute, Sioux, Chickasaw, Laguna Puebloans, Navajo, Kiowa, and others have also relocated to Louisiana.
What makes the Black Hawk conjure tradition so unique in Louisiana is its blend of Native American and African American influences. The Indian influences in African American folk magic and medicine is the direct result of the close bonds forged between the populations in the throes of slavery. There are many historical and cultural parallels between African Americans and Native Americans. The most obvious parallel is that both groups experienced forced removal from their homelands and enslavement. When enslaved Africans were ripped from their Mother land Africa, they joined enslaved Indians upon their arrival in Louisiana, who had already suffered 300 years of colonization and genocide. Many times, Africans and Indians wound up with the same slave masters. It comes as no surprise that Africans and Native Americans banded together to escape, steal food, supplies, and weapons, and to exchange information related to healing and indigenous medicine. Both populations had medicine people responsible for the treatment of physical and spiritual conditions of their people. African slaves transferred their medical skills to home remedies based on their new found knowledge of North American plants, roots, and herbs. As cultural exchange is seldom one-sided, Native Americans undoubtedly learned a few tricks from their African neighbors, as well.
Native American conjure embodies the world of the spirit as much if not more, than the world of the physical. Rootwork as a metaphysical construct is medicine and always incorporates an element of spirit and relationship with the medicine into the work. Native Americans are credited for their use of herbs in medicine and charms and for introducing many of the native flora and fauna to African slaves. In turn, Africans took that knowledge and applied it to their own brand of folk magic and root doctoring.
In Conjuring Black Hawk, an extensive list of traditional Native American herbs is provided along with their medicinal and folk magic uses. Roots, plants herbs, flowers, berries and pollens are documented and shared as they have never been shared before, with their uses in the context of southern conjure. No where will you find such an extensive and thorough list of Native American conjure botanical materia medica than is provided in this book. In addition to botanical materia medica, there is also zoological materia medica and the use of minerals as they are used within the context of Native American conjure and the Black Hawk tradition.
As the popular audience typically desires, there are many works contained in Conjuring Black Hawk for gaining Father Black Hawk's assistance for everyday human affairs. Learn an effective way for petitioning him for help with family protection and defense, for justice, to keep meddling people away, win court cases, bless the home, bring good luck, create Indian prayer cloths, get rid of boo hags and draw love and abundance. A complete section on working with Indian head pennies and Buffalo nickels as described in the Hyatt texts is provided, along with many others that are gleaned from the authors' personal medicine journal. In fact, readers will learn how to ritually prepare their own medicine journals, as well as learn the difference between a mojo bag and a medicine bag, and learn how to correctly create their own medicine bags and Thunder hands and even an Indian Spirit Jack ball for prophesying.
Another unique and first-time presented bit of information is a complete Indian Spirit formulary. Conjure dusts, incenses and oils using specific Indian herbs for love, ancestral connection, strengthening relationships, harmony, wild romance, victory, abundance, protection, wisdom, and good medicine among many others are provided.
The highlight of the book for many will undoubtedly be the illustrated tutorial for creating Father Black Hawk's bucket. Black Hawk’s bucket is very similar to the New Orleans-style ancestral spirit pot reminiscent of the African Congo and the Nganga of Palo Mayombe. However, they are not one and the same. Discussions with initiates and scholars from these differing traditions informs the chapter and provides comparative information for the readers' knowledge base. The information for creating his bucket is ultimately informed, however, by Black Hawk himself through spirit communication with the author as well as her formal training on the conjure medicine path. While the ultimate mysteries cannot be revealed through the written word, the method described for creating his bucket is complete and effective for anyone who sincerely wants to develop a relationship with him by providing a vessel through which he can safely visit, communicate and work.
The highlight of the book for many will undoubtedly be the illustrated tutorial for creating Father Black Hawk's bucket. Black Hawk’s bucket is very similar to the New Orleans-style ancestral spirit pot reminiscent of the African Congo and the Nganga of Palo Mayombe. However, they are not one and the same. Discussions with initiates and scholars from these differing traditions informs the chapter and provides comparative information for the readers' knowledge base. The information for creating his bucket is ultimately informed, however, by Black Hawk himself through spirit communication with the author as well as her formal training on the conjure medicine path. While the ultimate mysteries cannot be revealed through the written word, the method described for creating his bucket is complete and effective for anyone who sincerely wants to develop a relationship with him by providing a vessel through which he can safely visit, communicate and work.
In life, Black Hawk has stated, "It has always been our custom to receive all strangers that come to our village or camps in time of peace on terms of friendship, to share with them the best provisions we have, and give them all the assistance in our power. If on a journey or lost, to put them on the right trail, and if in want of moccasins, to supply them." In Spirit, he cautions "Be not deceived by those who wish to claim witness to me and who know not of me, for I come to those who see me as the man I was and hear the words I have spoken. I now travel in the world of the shades, still a keeper of the medicine, still a warrior for my people, still, the tomahawk is buried. For the watchword remains, FRIENDSHIP."
The time is now for his story to be told - again - and this time, for it to be heard.
The time is now for his story to be told - again - and this time, for it to be heard.
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