Barbara WilkesMaurice’s. We were close to a river; I could hear it in the dream. For
some reason, it seemed inappropriate to speak aloud. Accordingly, I
queried him with a look asking why he had brought me here. He re-
sponded by silently reaching for my right hand and placing something
in its palm, he closed my fingers tightly around four small sticks. I
did not know what the sticks were for, but I did know that they were
what he had brought me there to retrieve. I remember thinking maybe
they were piercing pegs, but simultaneous with that thought, I was in-
stantly awake and sitting bolt upright in my bed.
Without thinking about what I was doing, I peered over the edge of
the bed, fully expecting to see the eagle still sitting there. Somewhat
disappointed, I sat back up and actually opened my hand, which was
still clenched tightly into a fist, anticipating the four sticks he had
placed in my palm. While I could not see them (it was dark in the bed-
room), I could sense their weight and feel their texture against my skin.
I could even smell the scent of freshly cut or broken branches. But
there was nothing there, and again, I experienced a profound sense
of disappointment. As I slowly regained full consciousness, I began
to shiver and became so disturbed by the contents of the dream that
I woke my husband. It was 3 : 03 a.m. and I relayed the entire dream
to him. For some time, we laughed and traded potential explana-
tions for the dream. I felt relieved and, after talking for about a half
an hour, we rolled over, and I immediately fell back into a deep and
dreamless sleep.
The next morning, however, the dream was still very much with me.
While it had seemed somewhat entertaining the night before, the whole
experience was too tangible to be made fun of in broad daylight. As
the affect stayed with me for several days, I began to seek out a num-
ber of the Sundancers, believing one of them would be able to clarify
the dream. However, no one I spoke to was able to recognize a spe-
cific message, and each, in turn, suggested I seek out Maurice.
The following weekend, while driving to Maurice’s to attend the
sweat lodge, I decided I would ask him to interpret the dream for me.
I was familiar with the protocol and so began to stop along the way
to purchase the items I needed: print (cloth), two pouches of tobacco,
a large flank steak (a perennial favorite among the Bloods), and some