Sacred bundle

According to Patricia Deveraux, a member of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Alberta, "These are holy bundles given to us by the Creator to hold our people together...

"[1] According to Black Elk of the Oglala Lakota, the first woman chosen to care for the sacred bundle was Red Day Woman, and all women subsequently chosen to care for the sacred bundle are regarded as holy people.

In Mesoamerica, the 'bundle' - as an idea, image and word - is seen as both the container, such as the wrapping of the bundle, and the contents, which could be any number of special objects possessing spiritual significance.

[3] Called tlaquimilolli among Nahuatl speaking peoples, the bundles were receptacles of divine force and served as symbols of group identity.

[4] Historically, sacred bundles were also prominent among the Aztecs and the Quiché Mayas (see Popol Vuh).