What is A Medicine Wheel

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What is a Medicine Wheel?

Scattered across the plains of Alberta are tens of thousands of

stone structures. Most of these are simple circles of cobble stones

which once held down the edges of the famous tipi of the Plains

Indians; these are known as " tipi rings. " Others, however, were of a

more esoteric nature. Extremely large stone circles - some greater

than 12 metres across - may be the remains of special ceremonial

dance structures. A few cobble arrangements form the outlines of

human figures, most of them obviously male. Perhaps the most

intriguing cobble constructions, however, are the ones known as

medicine wheels.

The term " medicine wheel " was first applied to the Big Horn Medicine

Wheel in Wyoming, the most southern one known. That site consists

of a central cairn or rock pile surrounded by a circle of stone;

lines of cobbles link the central cairn and the surrounding circle.

The whole structure looks rather like a wagon wheel lain-out on the

ground with the central cairn forming the hub, the radiating cobble

lines the spokes, and the surrounding circle the rim. The

" medicine " part of the name implies that it was of religious

significance to Native peoples.

Brumley, an archaeologist from Medicine Hat, has provided a

very exacting definition of what constitutes a medicine wheel. He

notes that a medicine wheel consists of at least two of the

following three traits: (1) a central stone cairn, (2) one or more

concentric stone circles, and/or (3) two or more stone lines

radiating outward from a central point. Using this definition,

there are a total of 46 medicine wheels in Alberta. This

constitutes about 66% of all medicine wheels known. Alberta, it

seems, is the core area for medicine wheels.

Virtually each medicine wheel has a unique form. However, we can

group them into eight categories or " Types " based of their general

shape. The most common form consists of a central cairn surrounded

by a stone circle; 18 of these Type 1 medicine wheels are known in

Alberta. A variant, known as a Type 2 medicine wheel, contains a

passageway leading out from the stone circle; four are known. Type

3 structures consist of a central cairn with radiating cobble lines

or " spokes; " again, four are known. Type 4 medicine wheels consist

of a stone circle from which spokes radiate outward. These are the

second most common form and 14 have been recorded in Alberta. Type

5 structures contain a circle with spokes radiating inward, while

the Type 6 is similar but has a central cairn; only one of each

occurs in the province. Type 7 medicine wheels have a central cairn

surrounded by a stone circle with spokes radiating outward; three

are known. Type 8 structures are similar, but the spokes radiate

from the central cairn and cross the circle. Three of the former

and one of the latter have been discovered in the province.

The type groupings are, of course, only a convenience for analysis.

As was noted earlier, each medicine wheel is unique. Here is a

sample of maps of Alberta medicine wheels reduced to more-or-less a

common scale. The reader may find some amusement trying to decide

which type each is.

At least one of the categories, Type 4, appears to be a correct

classification. This type consists of a central circle from which

spokes radiate outward. The central circle appears to be a common

domestic tipi ring. The radiating spokes appear to have no

consistent pattern in terms of orientation or length. Amazingly,

some Type 4 medicine wheels have been built in this century by the

Blood Indians of southern Alberta; one, Many Spotted Horses Medicine

Wheel, is illustrated here. These modern Blood Indian structures

were built to commemorate the death place of, or the last tipi

occupied by, a famous warrior. The spokes are said to have no

specific meaning other than to indicate that a famous warrior had

died. Of course, the community is well aware of who deserves such a

memorial. It appears almost certain that the prehistoric examples

served the same purpose.

The purpose of all of the other types of medicine wheel are not

known by archaeologists. One, Majorville Medicine Wheel, was partly

excavated in 1971. This wheel contains an enormous central cairn 9 metres

in diameter, surrounded by a stone circle 27 metre across; about 28

spokes link the circle and central cairn. The excavation yielded

artifacts which archaeologists can " date " by style; the style of

spear points and arrowheads changed in a regular manner over time

and archaeologists have figured out the sequence of these changes.

It seems that the central cairn at the Majorville wheel was

initially constructed some 4,500 years ago! Radiocarbon dating of

bone from the bottom of the cairn confirmed this date. It seems

that successive groups of people added new layers of rock, and some

of their arrowheads, from that time until the coming of Europeans to

Alberta. Curiously, the site does not seem to have been used

between about 3,000 and 2,000 years ago; the distinctive barbed

spear points of that time are not present in the cairn.

Archaeologists do not know when the spokes and surrounding circle

were constructed, or even if they were constructed at the same time.

The long period of use and construction of the central cairn at the

Majorville Medicine Wheel suggests that such sites may have served

different functions over the years. That is, the rituals and

ceremonies conducted at the site may have changed over time. It is

not unusual for human beings to regard particular places as sacred,

even when religions change. For example, many modern Catholic

churches in Mexico occupy locales which formerly contained Aztec

Indian temples. Thus, while we can reasonably surmise that the

Majorville wheel served as a ceremonial centre for several thousand

years, it is unlikely that archaeologists will ever know the details

of the ceremonies or the religious philosophy which motivated the

construction of the site. One suspects that hunting magic or

buffalo fertility might have played a part in the rituals, but the

deeper meaning of the site is lost in time.

Perhaps one of the most interesting theories to be advanced is that

there are significant stellar alignments present at the medicine

wheels. This theory was proposed by astronomer Eddy. He

suggested that a line drawn between the central cairn and an

outlying cairn at the Bighorn Medicine Wheel pointed to within 1/3

of a degree of the rising point of the sun at the summer solstice.

Other alignments, both to the summer solstice sunrise and to certain

bright stars such as Aldebaran, Rigel or Sirius, have been proposed

for a number of Alberta medicine wheels. The wheels would thus have

functioned as a calender to mark the longest day of the year.

Presumably, such a calendar would be used for the timing of

important rituals.

It is very difficult to confirm the astronomical hypothesis, and it

is no longer as popular as it was a decade ago. A number of

astronomers such as Haak in Nebraska and Vogt in

Vancouver have critically evaluated the idea and have expressed

severe reservations about the hypothesis. They note that simple

familiarity with the night sky would likely produce an adequate

estimate for timing ceremonies. Further, if great accuracy had been

desired, it could have been attained better by using narrow poles as

foresight and backsight than by using wider rock cairns.

Alberta's medicine wheels thus remain an enigma. Research has

suggested a number of functions for the wheels, and has indicated

their use over a very long period of time. Medicine wheels seem to

be primarily an Alberta phenomenon; we have many more here than do

the adjacent provinces and states. Investigation and preservation

of these unique features has been an on-going concern of the

Archaeological Survey, Royal Alberta Museum, and the

Planning and Resource Management Branch, Historic Sites and Archives

Service.

This answer has been adapted from an article, " Medicine Wheels: A

Mystery in Stone " , written by J. Rod Vickers that appeared in Alberta Past

8(3):6-7, Winter 1992-93.