Heyoka - the Lakota contrary

1852

A recurring sacred-clown role among the Lakota and Dakota, assumed only by those who have had visions of the Wakíŋyaŋ (thunder beings), who 'speaks, moves and reacts in an opposite fashion to the people around them', shivering in heat, going naked in cold, complaining of fullness during famine. The heyoka acts as mirror and teacher, questioning norms and offering critique of those in authority. The earliest source cited is Henry Rowe Schoolcraft's Historical and Statistical Information (1852).