Within the rich tapestry of Comanche culture, a deep reverence for the supernatural realm permeated daily life. It was believed that individuals could access potent religious power through vivid and transformative dreams, acting as conduits for healing and spiritual guidance. Among those who walked this sacred path was Sanapia, a remarkable figure who emerged as a prominent eagle medicine woman in the 20th century. Her journey, deeply intertwined with her heritage and the spiritual traditions of her people, offers a captivating glimpse into the life of a woman who served as both a healer and a guardian of Comanche wisdom.
Born Mary Poafpybitty in the spring of 1895, Sanapia‘s earliest memories were shaped by the nomadic lifestyle of her family. Her birth occurred in a tepee erected near Fort Sill, Oklahoma, a strategic location where Comanche families gathered to receive government-issued rations. The precise date of her arrival remained uncertain, leading her to later adopt the symbolic date of May 20, 1895. She was the sixth of eleven children born to David Poafpybitty, a Comanche man, and Chappy Poafpybitty, a woman of both Comanche and Arapaho descent. Her upbringing was immersed in a large family, with five older brothers, three younger brothers, and two younger sisters.
Her lineage was steeped in both Comanche and Arapaho traditions. Her mother and maternal uncle were respected Comanche shamans, also referred to as eagle doctors, individuals who wielded spiritual power derived from the majestic eagle. Her maternal uncle was also involved in the Comanche peyote cult, an important spiritual practice among many Native American tribes. Furthermore, her paternal grandfather held the esteemed position of a Comanche chief, while her mother’s brother served as an Arapaho chief. This convergence of leadership and spiritual authority within her family laid a foundation for Sanapia‘s future role as a medicine woman.
Growing up, Sanapia was exposed to a fascinating blend of cultural influences. Her mother, fiercely protective of her heritage, staunchly resisted assimilation into white culture, refusing even to speak English in the presence of white individuals. In contrast, her father embraced Christianity and distanced himself from traditional Comanche beliefs, though he never openly opposed his wife’s healing practices or involvement in the peyote cult.
Her maternal grandmother played a pivotal role in ensuring that Sanapia received a comprehensive education in the "old ways." Through captivating stories and practical lessons, she imparted the knowledge and wisdom of their ancestors. As a result, Sanapia navigated a complex world where Christian teachings, the peyote rituals of her uncle, and her mother’s profound vision quests as an eagle doctor coexisted.
Eagle doctors, like Sanapia‘s mother, held a unique position within Comanche society. They believed that their spiritual power originated from the eagle, a symbol of strength, vision, and healing. According to Sanapia‘s account, the origin of eagle doctors was rooted in a powerful story. It told of a stingy old woman’s grandson who, denied food, transformed himself into an eagle. Soaring into the sky, he dropped a feather, promising that whoever found it would receive his assistance in helping others.
The path to becoming an eagle doctor was a demanding and protracted process. At the age of seven, Sanapia began attending Cache Creek Mission School in southern Oklahoma, marking her first extended exposure to white society. During her summer breaks, she diligently studied herbal medicines, laying the groundwork for her future role as a healer.
At fourteen, Sanapia left school and dedicated the next three years to intensive study under the guidance of her mother and uncle. She absorbed a wealth of knowledge pertaining to the practice of an eagle doctor, including the rituals surrounding the collection of plants and the methods for transforming them into potent medicines. She learned how to administer these medicines, diagnose illnesses, and provide effective treatments. Furthermore, her mother and uncle instilled in her the importance of maintaining the proper demeanor of a doctor, emphasizing compassion, integrity, and respect for the spiritual forces at play. By the age of seventeen, she possessed the skills, knowledge, and supernatural powers necessary to embark on her journey as a medicine woman.
Throughout her training, Sanapia received unwavering support and guidance from her mother, maternal uncle, grandmother, and paternal grandfather. Each of these figures had to bestow their blessing upon her before she could begin practicing as a healer. While her mother oversaw her medical training, her maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather ensured that she internalized a strong system of values, morals, and ethics. Her uncle bestowed upon her the name "Sanapia," meaning "Memory Woman," a constant reminder of her sacred duties and the importance of preserving the knowledge of her ancestors.
The eagle doctor’s power was believed to reside primarily in their hands and mouth. The transmission of this power involved a series of significant steps. In the first phase, Sanapia‘s mother demonstrated her power by transferring live coals into her daughter’s hands without causing any burns. Next, she drew two eagle feathers across Sanapia‘s mouth, imbuing her with the ability to speak healing words. In the second phase, her mother inserted an "eagle egg" into Sanapia‘s stomach, symbolizing the source of her healing energy. In the subsequent phase, Sanapia acquired her medicine song, a powerful chant that invoked the spirits and amplified her healing abilities. The culmination of her training was participation in a vision quest, a solitary retreat lasting four days and nights, dedicated to meditation and communion with the spiritual realm.
Despite her rigorous training, Sanapia initially hesitated to complete the final step of her initiation. Overwhelmed by fear at the prospect of encountering supernatural spirits, she feigned participation in the vision quest. While she sat on the designated hill during the day, she secretly returned home at night, sleeping under the front porch without her mother or uncle’s knowledge. This deception haunted her for years, and she later attributed some of her early struggles to this act of disobedience.
However, according to Comanche beliefs, a great healer must first endure significant personal suffering before they can alleviate the pain of others. Furthermore, eagle doctors typically did not begin their practice in earnest until after menopause, allowing them to mature and gain the wisdom that comes with life experience.
Following the completion of her training, Sanapia was considered ready for marriage. Her mother selected a husband for her, a friend of her brother. While Sanapia did not object to the marriage, she did not feel deeply in love with her spouse. After giving birth to a son, she left her husband at her mother’s urging. Within a year, she remarried, and this second marriage lasted until her husband’s death in the 1930s. This union produced a son and a daughter.
After the death of her second husband, Sanapia entered a tumultuous period marked by excessive drinking, promiscuity, and violent outbursts. She also developed a penchant for gambling. Many attributed this behavior to her profound grief and loss. Sanapia later referred to this time as her "roughing-it-out" period. During this phase of her life, one of her sisters asked her to heal her sick child. The child’s recovery served as a turning point, convincing Sanapia that she should begin practicing as a doctor.
Around 1945, Sanapia married for the third time. She abandoned her destructive habits and dedicated herself to her healing practice. Doctors were expected to lead exemplary lives, and any misconduct could bring disgrace upon them and their medicine, potentially leading to their own demise.
The doctor was expected to be accessible at all times and was not allowed to refuse treatment to anyone. They were not to boast of their powers, as this would be seen as denying that their abilities were a gift. A doctor was not allowed to approach a patient with an offer of a cure but was to wait for the patient to seek their help. The amount of payment for services rendered was always left to the patient’s discretion.
As Sanapia‘s healing practice flourished, she began to experience vivid and transformative dreams that she distinguished from ordinary dreams. These dreams often revolved around the peyote ritual, but Sanapia considered the power of peyote to be subordinate to the power possessed by the spirits of her mother and uncle. She viewed peyote as a gift from the Christian God to the Indian people.
Sanapia believed that ghosts were the spirits of evil individuals destined to wander the earth forever, consumed by jealousy of the living. According to Comanche beliefs, ghosts could deform their victims, causing facial contractions or paralysis of the limbs. They were believed to attack people who were alone outside at night. Sanapia equated ghost sickness to what white people called "stroke," but she maintained a distinction between the two ailments and would not treat stroke victims.
In his book Sanapia: Comanche Medicine Woman, David E. Jones suggests that ghost sickness may correspond to Bell’s palsy, a paralysis of the facial muscles caused by inflammation of the facial nerve. Bell’s palsy has a sudden onset, often occurring upon waking. While modern treatment may involve facial massage, the cause of Bell’s palsy remains unknown.
Sanapia‘s treatment for ghost sickness involved a multi-step process. Initially, she had the patient bathe in a stream. Following prayers in which she invoked the eagle’s help, she "smoked" the patient with cedar smoke to dispel the influence of the ghost. She then chewed recumbent milkweed and applied it to the affected areas of the patient’s body. Next, she began sucking on the contorted part of the patient’s face to draw out the sickness.
If the patient did not respond to three treatments by the end of the first day, Sanapia called a peyote meeting, and the patient was given a tea made from the peyote plant. The tea was also applied to the patient’s face, head, and hands. Applications of sweet sage and charcoal from the peyote drum followed.
Sanapia‘s last resort was to invoke the intercession of the medicine eagle. To do so, she sang her medicine song repeatedly until she felt the spirits had come to her. At that point, she returned to the patient and continued doctoring, using only her medicine feather and smoke. She did not touch the patient at this point, fearing that she might inadvertently harm them. By this time, the treatment would have lasted three days.
Sanapia‘s pharmacopoeia consisted of both botanical and non-botanical medicines.
Botanical cures included red cedar to dispel the influence of ghosts; sneezeweed to treat heart palpitations, low blood pressure, and congestion; mescal bean for ear problems; rye grass for the treatment of cataracts; prickly ash to treat fever; iris for colds, upset stomachs, and sore throats; gray sage for insect bites; sweet sage for use in the sucking ceremony; recumbent milkweed for ghost sickness, broken bones, and menstrual cramps; and broomweed for the treatment of skin rashes. Peyote was Sanapia‘s medicine of general use; it was employed in the treatment of any type of illness, and she kept several peyote buttons with her at all times.
Non-botanical medicines included crow feathers to protect against ghosts; slivers of glass to make incisions; a piece of cow horn used in sucking sickness from the bodies of her patients; charcoal from a peyote drum to retard the spread of pain and swelling; white otter fur and porcupine quills to treat infants; fossilized bone to treat wounds and infections; a Bible to help in her quest for power; a medicine feather from a golden eagle to fan her patients; beef fat to treat burns; mouthwash to kill poisons that entered her mouth while sucking, and red paint for treating ghost sickness.
According to the doctoring tradition of her people, the medicine power needed to be transferred to someone willing and worthy of the responsibility. It is unclear whether or not Sanapia forwarded her power to a successor. Perhaps out of a concern that she would be unable to pass her power on to the next generation, Sanapia allowed anthropologist David E. Jones to record the details of her life and the medicine tradition beginning in 1967.
Sanapia died in 1984 in Oklahoma and was buried in the Comanche Indian cemetery near Chandler Creek, Oklahoma. She is believed to be the last of the Comanche eagle doctors, leaving behind a legacy of healing, wisdom, and cultural preservation. Her life serves as a powerful testament to the enduring strength of Comanche traditions and the profound connection between the spiritual and physical realms.
