Heyoka, thought of as being upside-down, backward forward, contrary, says
things like yes when he actually means no. They teach, philosophize and
communicate backwards through nonsense, jokes satire and threats. *When it is
baking hot during a heat wave, a Heyoka will shiver with cold and put on mittens
and cover himself with a blanket. Build a big fire and complain that he is
freezing to death. When it is subfreezing at 40 degrees below, he will wander
around naked for hours complaining it’s too hot.
There was a clown called the straighten outner, he was always running around
trying to flatten round and curvy things, making them straight, things like
soup, dishes, eggs, rings or wagon wheels.
Heyoka portray and symbolize aspects of the sacred in a special way, a way in
which their teachings get through to us without even thinking about them. Sacred
clowns in their actions don’t seem to care about concepts and definitions taboos
or boundaries, but paradoxically and simultaneously define the concepts at the
root of societal guidelines for moral and ethical behavior, and the theories of
balance and imbalance.
They are the ones who can ask why of dangerous subjects, and ask why of
people who are specialists in advanced knowledge and positions of authority.
They ask in their satire by fooling around. They ask the difficult questions and
say things others would like to say but are too afraid to speak.
By reading between the lines, the audience is able to think about things not
usually thought about or cause them to look at things in a different way.
*For people who are as poor as us, who have lost everything, who had to
endure so much death and sadness, laughter is a precious gift. When we were
dying like flies from white mans disease, when we were driven into reservations,
when the government rations did not arrive and we were starving, watching the
pranks and capers of heyoka were a blessing.
The Heyoka have many functions, like healing through laughter and opening
people’s eyes to deeper meaning and underlying truth and first and probably
foremost is to prepare the people with laughter for disaster
*John (Fire) Lame Deer and Richard Erdoes / Lame Deer Seeker of Visions
