Eduardo Luna on his first trip to South Dakota at the Sun Dance with Joe Fly By, an elder and important medicine man for the Lakota Tribe. Meeting Joe Fly By was a very great honor for Eduardo Luna.

It's a long way from the jungles of Ecuador to the plains of South Dakota, but Eduardo Luna says it's a journey home. Born in the shadow of Cohcasqui', a sacred peak in the Andes mountains north of Quito, he is a member of the fifth generation of a family of shamans, or wise men. But his dreams took him far from native land, and his childhood visions showed him a land filled with his relatives. His father prophesied he would travel to far off places and go home to his people. Two years ago, he did. Invited to a sun dance here, he met the people behind the faces of his dreams. "It was just like coming home," he commented. Among them was Juanita Young, who he has known as sister since that day and her mother, who he calls grandmother.

On Tuesday he was adopted into their family in a ceremony performed by Dana Dupris at the Young's home in Dupree. He was given the Lakota name "Tatanka Nape Waste" to honor his work as a shaman and his affinity with the buffalo, sacred to the Lakota. An honor song was performed by the drum group Wakinyan Maza.

Eduardo Luna and his new sister, Juanita Young, on the day of Eduardo's adoption into the Family of the Lakota Tribe through a sacred ceremony in Dupree, South Dakota.

 

Eduardo Luna with his namesake, the sacred buffalo of the Lakota Tribe. Eduardo's new Lakota name is Tatanka Nape Waste which means Buffalo Healing with Hands.

Luna's first trip to the United States was as a representative of the shamans of Ecuador, where he is considered their leader. Because he is a trained psychologist he is able to discuss cultures and traditions with the scientific community, and often speaks with leaders and government officials in Washington DC.

There he is known as a healer and priest.

He finds many similarities between the people of the plains and those of the jungles of Ecuador, and sees them dealing with the same issues of preserving their culture and traditions in the modern world. He finds their fundamental beliefs to be very similar. Where the Lakota have the eagle and the buffalo, his people have the condor and anaconda. Even the methods of healing are similar. Although the individual plants used by the people differ, the place of natural medicine is similar. The place of festivals and traditional costumes is high in both cultures, and both are experiencing a resurgence.

His ultimate goal is a cross cultural exchange program between his two homelands, sharing the traditional knowledge of each people.