The Importance of the Indigenous Vision Quest as a Rite-of-Passage
Vision Quest is a term formed by 19th-century anthropologists synonymous with terms such as “vision fast”, “dream vision”, and “dream fast”. It is used to describe the Rite of Passage young males in Indigenous communities - such as the Ojibwa peoples - take to transition into adulthood. The vision quest is a very spiritual journey where partakers are said to receive communication from the spirit world or the Creator in the form of visions that provide sacred knowledge and strength (Robinson, 2018). This is done through a tremendously intense journey where participants are left in the wilderness alone with their thoughts for multiple days. They forego food and sleep in the …show more content…
Thus, this stage is evident in the preparation one must undergo for their vision quest. Simply called the preparation stage, children as young as four or five years of age begin to start fasting, often spending a day in the woods alone without food or water and purifying by praying in streams and sweat lodges in preparation for the vision quest that is commonly four days long but can last anywhere from 24 hours to a week (Ojibwa, 2015). Adolescents are segregated as they prepare for a quest that adults have already undergone, as they prepare alone in solitude and learn to trust themselves on their own; they are segregated both physically and mentally, as can be seen by the preparation they must go …show more content…
The transitional stage is described as when the initiate is in the state of transition between their old and new role. In this case, the individual is transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. Before leaving for the Vision Quest, the individual is still an adolescent, however, if they are successful in receiving sacred knowledge from spirits through the form of visions, they return as an adult (Robinson, 2018). For this reason, segregating and preparing was a very important stage that would help the individual transition into adulthood successfully during their Vision Quest. For the liminal stage of the ritual, Ojibwa children begin by having their face and arms blackened with ash and are taken to locations felt to be unnatural, where spirits are said to welcome human visitors (Ojibwa, 2015). Through the vision comes the meaning of the individual's life as well as the knowledge to become prosperous and successful if the vision can be effectively applied and put into practice (Krown, 2011). In spite of that, the desired change undergone during a vision quest is not necessarily always from adolescence to adulthood. In the case of Eddy Robinson, his vision quest was dedicated to finding a purpose for himself. As a result, he was able to delve back into his Indigenous cultural roots. His quest led him from being a young man surrounded by a dangerous