C. G. Jung and the Sioux Traditions: Dreams, Visions, Nature, and the Primitive

In the winter of 1924-25 while visiting the U.S., C. G. Jung visited the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico where he spent several hours with Ochwiay Biano, Mountain Lake, an elder at the Pueblo. This was a seminal encounter in Jung's life. It impacted him psychologically, emotionally, and intellectually and had a sustained influence on his theories and understanding of psyche, as witnessed by his reference to Mountain Lake in one of his last letters written shortly before his death. Dakota Sioux intellectual and political leader, Vine Deloria Jr., began a close study of the writings of C.G. Jung over two decades ago, but had long been struck by certain affinities and disjunctures between Jungian and Sioux Indian thought. He also had noticed that many Jungians had perceived this relation as well and were often drawn to Native American traditions. And, while Deloria never hesitated to critique others' appropriation of Native culture, he also saw in this phenomenon something deeper and more interesting: the possibility that these philosophical systems might, at a deep level, share crucial affinities. This book, the result of Deloria's investigation of these affinities, is written as a measured comparison between the psychology of C. G. Jung and the philosophical and cultural traditions of his own Sioux people. Moving between Jung's writings and Sioux tradition, Deloria constructs a fascinating dialogue between the two systems that touches on cosmology, the family, relations with animals, visions, voices, and individuation. He does not shy away from addressing the differences between the two and the colonial mindset that characterized Jung's own cultural legacy. In this sense, Deloria offers a direct "speaking back" from the cultural position that Jung so often characterized as "primitive" in his writings. Vine Deloria Jr. passed away in 2005 and this, his last book, resounds with the wit, vigor, and range that marked his writing. It makes a signal contribution to Jungian Studies, while simultaneously illuminating the possibilities and pitfalls in efforts to transcend intellectual and philosophical boundaries.