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Hunkalowanpi....The Making of Relatives Ritual
The common name for this ritual is Hunkalowanpi or Hunka Ritual
(from hunka, an exogenic term, and lowanpi, 'they sing', i.e., a ritual). This ritual
is also called alowanpi, 'they sing on or over', referring to a specific part of the ritual in
which wands (hunkatacannunpa, literally, Hunka "pipes") are waved over the
participants (hunkakazopi, 'wand waving'). An Oglala winter count for 1805 identifies that as
the year in which "tasinte un akicilowanpi", 'they sang over each other with horsetails',
horsetails referring to the manner in which the wands were decorated.
The purpose of the Hunka ritual is to create a bond between two people which
is stronger than a kinship tie. The two people involved in this fictive relationship are obliged to die
for each other if the need arises. One of the two is always older than the other and, after the ritual
has established the bond, is referred to by the other as Hunka ate, 'Hunka father'. The
younger is called by the other mihunka, 'my Hunka'. If he chooses, an adult may adopt more
than one hunka at the same ceremony, and oftern more than one adult adopts one or more hunka
at the same ceremony.
One wishing to initiate a Hunkalowanpi requests a sacred person to conduct the ceremony. A large
tipi is erected in which an earthen altar is made, and upon it are laid a buffalo skull and a rack upon
which the pipe and wands will be placed when not in use. Two wands are required, each approximately
three feet in length and decorated with horsetails and feathers. In addition, two gourd rattles and
another wand, to the end of which an ear of corn is skewered, are set on the altar. When the ceremony is
about to begin, the prospective hunkayapi ('they call they hunka') are symbolically
captured by the sacred person and his attendants and led into the tipi. All those who have hunka
relationships also enter the lodge, and the ritual formally begins.
The sacred person then paints the faces of the hunka and waves the wands and
rattles over them while he sings an appropriate song. The wand bearing the ear of corn is planted in the
altar, reminding the people assembled of their obligation to Mother Earth. Those who are to be Hunka
ate then sit beside their respective hunkayapi and are covered with a robe. The sacred person
crawls under the covering with a small bag and the singers are commanded to sing. When the sacred person
emerges, he sits at the west of the lodge and commands his assistants to remove the covering. When the
cover is lifted, the Hunka ate and his hunka are sitting next to each other, side by side,
with their arms and legs bound to each other, symbolic of their new relationship. With this the ritual
ends, and gifts are exchanged between the families of the Hunka ate and hunka.
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