MEDICINE WHEEL

The emblem you see here, a circle intersected by a cross, is a medicine wheel (also known as the Sun Dance Circle or the Sacred Hoop). The medicine wheel embodies the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West), the four stages of life (birth, childhood, adulthood, and death) as well as the four elements (earth, sky, water, and fire) and the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter). Medicine wheels are symbols of the interdependence and balance of life. They are also, as their name suggest, medicine–sources of potent protective or therapeutic powers. The medicine wheel can take material form as a small object like this one made by Tonepahhote out of a leatherwrapped metal ring, or a large construction built into the landscape, as you see in this photograph of the Bighorn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming (80 feet in diameter and used by the Crow, Shoshone, Nez Perce, and other Plains peoples).Smaller ones like this medicine wheel on display are worn by many powwow dancers to protect and bring them good luck when they perform.

Bighorn Medicine Wheel, Wyoming

Source: U S Forest Service (2011)