The Indigenous Medicine Wheel

We thank the National Library of Medicine for this fine description of the ancient Medicine Wheel that is used in our lacrosse art with the traditional lacrosse stick design.

“The Medicine Wheel and the Four Directions

The Medicine Wheel, sometimes known as the Sacred Hoop, has been used by generations of various Native American Tribes for health and healing.  It embodies the Four Directions, as well as Father Sky, Mother Earth, and Spirit Tree all of which symbolize dimensions of health and the cycles of life.

The Medicine Wheel can take many different forms.  It can be an artwork such as artifact or painting, or it can be a physical construction on the land.  Hundreds or even thousands of Medicine Wheels have been built on Native lands in North America over the last several centuries.

Movement in the Medicine Wheel and in Native American ceremonies is circular… align(ing) with the forces of Nature, such as gravity and the rising and setting of the Sun.

Meanings of the Four Directions

Different tribes interpret the Medicine Wheel differently.  Each of the Four Directions (East, South, West, and North) is typically represented by a distinctive color, such as black, red, yellow, and white, which for some stands for the human races.  The direction can also represent:

• Stages of life: birth, youth adult, death

• Seasons of the year: spring, summer, winter, fall

• Aspects of life: spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical

• Elements of nature: fire (or sun), air, water, and earth

• Animals: Eagle, Bear, Wolf, Buffalo and many others

• Ceremonial plants: tobacco, sweetgrass, sage, cedar”

Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine. Learn more here.

Want to understand the meaning of the Medicine Wheel to the Aboriginal peoples of North America? 
The Indigenous Corporate Training blog is another good resource.