The Awful Truth About Medicine Wheels - Trevor Peck

The term ‘medicine wheel’ appears to have its origins in 1895 with reference to a stone feature on top of Medicine Mountain in Wyoming… the Big Horn medicine wheel. Since then, the term has been applied in the literature to many large surface stone features across the western plains. These assessments largely lump large circular stone features, larger than those expected for tipi rings, into this ceremonial category with little regard to location, contents, or ancillary features. A recent assessment of Type 4 medicine wheels, now known to be ‘lodges of the dead’ produced by the Sikisikaitisitapi (Blackfoot), illustrates an awful truth about ‘medicine wheels;’ there is no such thing. The term is a rubric used by archaeologists to lump together stone features that exhibit superficial similarities.