Fasting: Fasting is praying by yourself to the Spirit World.  It lasts 4 days.  A person is not allowed to eat or drink during this time.  The person who is fasting will have a feast before heading out.   Prayers during fasting are for the medicine man, children, youth, elders and good health.  Thoughts must be free of anger.  Sponge baths are only allowed, and the water you use for your bathing is placed back outside as an offering. The pipe is very sacred when fasting.  It is said a person cannot let go of the pipe.  It is there for protection.  Upon their return, together with a helper, a feast is made to give thanks. 

Preparation for Fasting:  A month is needed to prepare for a fasting.  Clothing must be made for the fast itself.  For example, women would make their own dress.  After the person comes out from their fasting, they are considered a new person so all new clothing must be worn upon their return.  An eight point star blanket and tobacco ties are the items needed for fasting and take much preparation to make.  Other items such as an alter, a tin spoon, flags, tobacco, sage, braided sweet grass and a vine with tobacco ties are stored inside a tin can with a tin sealed lid. 

Sweat Lodge: Sweat Lodges are considered sacred and therefore a picture cannot be taken.  A Sweat Lodge is a place where all people regardless of age can gather to pray.  Prayers can be for anything that a person wishes to pray for.   Both the men, and the women have a spirit animal which they pray to.   For the women, prayers go to Grandmother Bald Eagle.  The men pray to Grandfather Spotted Eagle.  A tobacco pipe is passed around to all who are in the Sweat Lodge.  People who are under the influence of chemical substances are still welcome inside the Sweat, but are not allowed to smoke the pipe.  They would pass it on and say “all my relations”.  Sweats are held outside in small man-made lodges.  An average amount of people that can fit into a Sweat Lodge is 15.  Inside the middle of the Sweat Lodge is a circular pit. Rocks are prepared in a nearby fire, and then placed inside the pit.  The men and women do not take sweats together.  Men enter a Sweat wearing regular clothing such as shorts.  Women wear towel-like robes.  Running a Sweat Lodge is an earned privileged.  A person must have 7 years of fasting to run a Sweat.  Sweats can be requested at anytime, day or night. 

Doctoring:  Doctoring is a type of Sweat for the sick.  The prayers are for only one person.  Everyone in the Sweat Lodge is praying for the health of this one person.  They use the Sweat as an intake of their pain and suffering.  These Sweats are run much hotter than a normal Sweat.  A Doctoring has 4 rounds to it and lasts about 2 - 3 hours depending on the prayers and the number of people in it.  All jewelry is removed and your hair must be rinsed and free of all perfumed hair products.  This is due to the sweat running into their eyes from the intense heat inside the Sweat Lodge.  Doctoring is the only Sweat where both the men and the women may enter together.  The men would sit on one side and the women on the other.  The person who has asked for the Doctoring, must make a feast afterwards to offer thanks. 

Both the Mi’kmaq and the Sioux people practice Sweats and Doctoring.  The Mi’kmaq people, during a regular sweat, allow for both men and women to enter into the same Sweat Lodge to pray together.  Whereas in the Sioux culture, men and women have sweats separately. Doctorings run the same with both Nations. 

Pipe: Many stories have been told about the Sacred Pipe. It has been called "The Peace Pipe", but to the Mi’kmaq people it’s known as a Sacred item having a special place in our culture.  The pipe is not a Peace Pipe but a Prayer Pipe.  The pipe is not a symbol of things that are sacred, the pipe itself is sacred. For this reason, a picture is not available.  Not everyone is called upon to be a Pipe Bearer.  It is something that is earned and passed on to you.  The bearer is the one that carries and who practices the pipe ceremonies and traditions.  No one owns the pipe they carry.  They simply carry the pipe until the time comes to pass it on to the next bearer.  The sacred pipe is assembled in prayer and is offered to the Great Spirit, to Mother Earth, the Four Directions, and Father Sky.  The pipe also promotes clear thinking.  The smoke symbolically transports us, our prayers and requests, to the Creator. 

Tobacco Ties: Tobacco ties are Red Willow tobacco wrapped in cloth and are tied with cotton string.  Red Willow can be picked here on Prince Edward Island towards the end of January and into February.   The cloth is then cut into small square pieces.  The colors of the cloth are in the traditional Mi’kmaq colors which are red, white, black and yellow.  These are made as a sign of respect and are considered an offering. Women on their cycle cannot be around people who are making them or even around tobacco ties at all.  It would be considered disrespectful. Women on their cycle are already going through a cleansing of the body. 

Sun Dancing: In order for both men and women to participate in the Sun Dancing ceremonies a person must have 4 years of fasting.   Sun Dancing has variations depending on where the ceremony is taking place and it is an annual religious festival that embodies power and spirit.  The ceremony events are scheduled in sets of 4.  Four days before, 4 days of dancing and 4 days after for feasting.  While dancing, a person is not to eat or drink.  Dancers are barefoot and pray in daily sweats to maintain their strong spirit and inner strength.  Motivation to dance is kept with the help from these sweats along with a supporter which every dancer has.  The Sun Dance itself is sacrifice that their prayers be heard and that the people prosper.  Religious dreamers perform their special ceremonies to cure the sick and bring blessings on the people.  In short, the Sun Dance is a renewal of life in a spiritual sense. 

Special thanks to Becky Sark, for all the information about Fasting, Doctoring and Sun Dancing that she presented.  Becky is one of the people that has adapted to the Sioux ways.  She refers to it as "these ways".  Becky has been practicing "these ways" for the last 10 years.  She speaks highly of the many teachings she has learned. 

"Good thoughts, respect for all and a strong sense of self, are some of the requirements in which a person must follow and understand before you can truly practice 'these ways'."