Heyoka

The heyoka (heyókȟa, also spelled "haokah," "heyokha") is a type of sacred clown shaman in the culture of the Sioux (Lakota and Dakota people) of the Great Plains of North America.

Only those having visions of the thunder beings of the west, the Wakíŋyaŋ, and who are recognized as such by the community, can take on the ceremonial role of the heyoka.

A unique example is the famous heyókȟa sacred clown called "the Straighten-Outer": He was always running around with a hammer trying to flatten round and curvy things (soup bowls, eggs, wagon wheels, etc.

Unbound by societal constraints, heyókȟa are able to violate cultural taboos freely and thus critique established customs.

[4] By questioning these norms and taboos, they help to define the accepted boundaries, rules, and societal guidelines for ethical and moral behavior.

[5] A survivor of the Wounded Knee Massacre, Black Elk toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West in Europe and discussed his religious views, visions, and events in a series of interviews with poet John Neihardt, collected in 1932 book Black Elk Speaks.