This Medicine Wheel is located in the Big Horn National Forest on the Wyoming and Montana border. The medicine wheel is said to be thousands of years old. Used by the Native people who reside in the state of Wyoming and Montana. Many other neighboring tribes have traveled here to utilize the Medicine Wheel for healing of their people, or come to worship. How the medicine wheel true usage is unknown today by using the spokes seen in the picture is unknown today by many tribes. Although a good idea of how the wheel is entered by those who are gifted as medicine people or spiritual leader on how to use this wheel. The fact this medicine wheel has been used by many Indian tribes many of the stories are kept by certain individuals of those tribes.
I will only tell of a story or my experience while using this wheel for the sake of healing. Many other people might have various versions or experience related to this. This is my story.
One day, I received a phone call from a dear friend in the east. She explains to me over the phone and on the internet her dealings with her vision as she is going blind. I had explained to her of the magical powers of the medicine wheel. It was agreed to save her vision she make a trip to Wyoming via Denver International airport. Upon arriving in Denver, we are having a meal in downtown Denver. She advises me, she had night blindness. As we were walking the streets of darkness has arrived. After eating our meal for the night, we were walking the shops for window shopping. She stopped momentarily, as I checked out a store window. Calling her to see what I’m looking at. She hears my voice and starts walking toward me. Well, unbecoming to me. Bam! She walked into a street light. I walked towards her and asked if she was ok. She is rubbing her head and says, yes. Then, I tell her to grab a hold of my arm as I show her what was inside the store window.
We arrive in Cody, Wyoming and a friend of mine comes with us to the medicine wheel. Arriving bright and early in the morning were met by a US Forest Service employee at the base of the medicine wheel. Forest service employee advises us that the Wheel is open and at the top of the hill is another US Forest Service employee who will close off the Medicine Wheel for the ceremony to be conducted.
Upon arriving at the top of the mesa, the vista was clear as there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. There birds were flying along the cliff. A fence protected the medicine wheel to prevent people from moving or gathering the rocks of the spoke of the wheel. This was to protect the integrity of the ancient wheel to insure the physically appearance of a bike spoke of a wheel.
Walking through a gate to enter inside the wheel, I ask my friend to sit on the west side of the wheel facing east. I began the ceremony. As I’m singing sun dance songs while my pipe is on the ground as I stopped at each cardinal direction 4-times around the wheel as birds fly up and over us as we’re inside the fence area of the wheel. I ask my friend to pray for help from the Creator as I come back to the point of beginning in the west. I bless her with my eagle fan to bring her back into harmony and balance. I tell her and our other friend the ceremony is over. What seem to be 45 minutes in ceremony was actually 4 hours. It seemed time had stopped while in the medicine wheel.
As we’re walking down the hill back to my war pony; my friend who is from New York expresses out loud she see pine needles on a pine tree, some birds flying off in the distance and see rocks on the ground. Just then! I ask her, “Wait and let’s hold the horses? How far can you actually see?” She raises up her hand. Placing it up to her face which is about 6 inches from her nose and as she did this. I told her, “You’re kidding.” She says, “No I’m not kidding. I can see things now. I’m legally blind in the State of New York.” I asked my friend, “If you’re legally blind how you can see. How have you come to this condition?” She explains how her sight works or our sight works. When we see light through your eyes; the light comes into our eyes. Goes through our eyes to the back of our eyeball and at the back there is a point where the light refract which causes images for us to see. In her care, the back is missing for the light not to refract. Due to this condition in her eye; she can’t see images and hence is blind.
Driving back to Denver for her flight back to New York, I asked her, “I wonder how far it was to Denver as it was now dark on the freeway?” A directional sign was off in the distance. She read it and said, “Denver about 185 miles or so.” I looked at her. I said, “What did you say?” She said the mileage once again. I said, “What!” Then, I told her “You just read the sign and you’re supposed to have night blindness.” She then broke out in tear and said, “I can see.”
At the Denver International airport, I asked her to make an appointment with her eye doctor to explain what is happening as far as the healing goes and to call me back to let me know what is going on with her vision. She calls me back approximately 3 weeks later. Telling me her doctor can not explain what just occur and called this a miracle. She had better then 20/20 vision. I told her to take it easy and just enjoy the healing that brings back her vision.
It is important we always protect our sacred places. We treasure these places as this is where our ancestors of long ago have gone for healing. Healing the most serious of illnesses, we can not take our most powerful places for granted. We must not play with them as well but to hold these places in high regard as being powerful and can perform such things as miracles in healing of our people.
As, I stated this is only one story of a visit to Medicine Wheel. There are many other stories as with other sacred places I’ve been to other sacred places such as Bear Butte and Devil Tower called by non-Natives but to Native people it is known as Bear Tower.
I hope this will give hope to those who are sick. If we can look at a picture of these places and utilized the power radiating from these places it can heal us if we believe. We must believe in our sacred and powerful places.
Kenny Frost ~ Ute ~
Sun Dance Chief
March 13, 2012 ~ © ~