Dream Paths and Divination Practices among the Atna and their Northern Athapaskan Neighbors

• Published in: Anthropologie et Sociétés
• Main Author: Marie-Françoise Guédon
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Consortium Erudit 2018
• Subjects: Sciences Humaines et Sociales; Social Sciences and Humanities; Guédon; Atna; divination; rêve; Athapaskans septentrionaux; Dreaming; Northern Athapaskans; adivinación; sueño; Atabascanos septentrionales; litt; anthro-se; Athapascan*; Northern Athapaskan
• Online Access: http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/as/2018-v42-n2-3-as04040/1052643ar.pdf; https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/as/2018-v42-n2-3-as04040/1052643ar.pdf; https://doi.org/10.7202/1052643ar; https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/as/2018-v42-n2-3-as04040/1052643ar/; https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/2899507054; https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1052643ar

Northern Athapaskan divination practices, as found among the Atna and the Nabesna people among others, are not very well known, partly because they were rarely documented in the past, and partly because they are rarely discussed with strangers or young people. Yet they form an important complex operating in multiples modes to foresee, perceive or even prevent future events. Some are simple and are part of daily life. Others are more elaborate and close to what we would call shamanic rituals but are generally considered by all the Dene people as aspects of dreaming. In fact, all Dene divination practices call upon on an articulation between the dream world (rather the dreaming perspective on the world) and the concrete waking world, a distinct perspective but on the same reality. Most divination techniques offer modes of passage from one perspective to another, and they often rely on communication received through the body. Embedded in the Northern Athapaskan worldview, they reflect its definition of the person and the idea that all living beings share the same mental space. Les pratiques divinatoires des Athapaskans septentrionaux (dont les Atnas du Copper River, et les Nabesnas de la rivière Tanana) abordent les besoins de prévoir, percevoir et prévenir le futur de façons multiples et à de nombreux niveaux dans un ensemble complexe. Certaines pratiques simples sont utilisées quotidiennement par tous les adultes, d’autres demandent un appareillage rituel plus élaboré qui fait partie de ce que nous appelons le chamanisme, et qui pour les Athapaskans se définit par le recours au rêve. Mais en fait, toutes les pratiques divinatoires débouchent sur l’articulation qu’opèrent les Athapascans entre le monde du rêve, ou plutôt, la perspective onirique sur le monde, et le monde concret, ou plutôt, la perspective éveillée sur le monde. La plupart des techniques de divination offrent des modes de passage ou de communication d’une perspective à l’autre, en particulier des modes qui passent par le corps. Ce faisant, elles ...