The Sacred Hoop: What Was Once Whole
“Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round.”¹
— Black Elk
There is a way of seeing the world that understands everything as interconnected — that life moves in cycles, that healing flows in relationship, and that power, when held in a circle, becomes something sacred. For many Indigenous peoples of North America, the circle is not merely a shape, but a structure for living. It is the shape of ceremony, of community, of the seasons and stars. It is the shape of balance.
In the words of Black Elk, the sacred hoop of his people once held everything: the wisdom of the elders, the laughter of children, the teachings of the land, and the protection of spirit. The people lived close to the earth and to one another, and as long as the hoop remained whole, the people flourished.
“In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished.”
But the hoop was broken.
What followed was a scattering — of people, traditions, languages, and lifeways. Black Elk’s words, spoken late in life, are laced with grief and clarity:
“You see me now a pitiful old man who has done nothing, for the nation’s hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead.”
It is from this heartbreak that Sacred Hoops takes its name and its purpose. This space does not pretend to mend what has been lost. Rather, it is a response — a humble effort to help remember the shape of the circle, to create space for those who carry healing, art, and wisdom to come together in a new way. Not as a replacement for traditional teachings, but as an offering in service to them.
The teachings of the Medicine Wheel, which also moves in a circle, remind us that every direction holds its own wisdom. The East teaches us to begin. The South to feel. The West to release. The North to remember. And at the center — where all paths cross — there is still the possibility of a tree blooming again.
What would it mean to build a center that welcomes all who walk with care? What would it mean to gather in a circle once more — not just around a fire, but around a shared intention to heal, create, and reconnect?
Black Elk once saw from the top of the highest mountain that the sacred hoop of his people was but one of many — and that together they formed a greater circle, wide as daylight and starlight.
We believe that circle still exists — if we return to it.
Returning to the Center: A New Digital Hoop
“And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father.”
— Black Elk
If the sacred hoop of one people is connected to many, then perhaps healing is not just personal — it is collective. The dream Black Elk shared was not only for the Lakota, but for all peoples: that we might live together “like one being,” rooted around a common center, nourished by a tree whose branches stretch toward the sky and whose roots remember the earth.
Sacred Hoops is built as a reflection of this vision.
It is not a marketplace. Not a stage. Not another feed for distraction. It is a living circle — a digital gathering ground designed to reconnect healers, artists, and seekers with the communities they serve.
As this circle forms, we are committed to building Sacred Hoops in partnership with tribal organizations and First Nations communities across Turtle Island. Sacred Hoops is not ours alone to define; it is a shared effort rooted in consent, collaboration, and deep respect for the cultural lineages that inspire it. With each step, we listen, we learn, and we commit to upholding the sovereignty of the traditions that make this possible.
Here, we draw from the teachings of the Medicine Wheel — a guide for orientation and balance found in many Native traditions. Each direction is honored not as a static label, but as a space of movement and becoming:
- East is the place of beginnings. The rising sun. The spark of vision. Here gather storytellers, dreamers, and students of the unseen.
- South holds warmth, relationships, play, and creativity. This is the space of the artist, the child, and the builder of bridges.
- West is the realm of release. It invites us into depth, healing, ceremony, and reflection. It is where grief becomes wisdom and wounds become medicine.
- North carries the wind of the elders. It holds truth, resilience, and the clarity that comes from time and distance. It offers integration and responsibility.
- Sky represents the spiritual world, Father Sky, the heavens, and the realm of higher consciousness. It is the unseen, the vast, the spirit world that moves through all things.
- Earth symbolizes the physical world, Mother Earth, the land, the tangible. It is the foundation of life, the ground we walk on, and the resources that sustain us.
- Center is where these forces converge, the still point between Earth and Sky. It holds the balance of the spiritual and the physical, the seen and unseen.
At the center is the fire — the sacred flame that transforms matter into spirit. It is where we remember that healing happens through relationship: with each other, with the land, with the teachings, and with what is yet to come.
To step into Sacred Hoops is to step into the circle. It is to offer your voice, your craft, your care. It is also to listen — to those whose roots are deeper, whose songs are older, whose medicine has weathered the long winters of forgetting.
This is a space of reciprocity, not performance. It invites reverence, not perfection. And it asks of each person who joins: What medicine do you carry?
The sacred tree, Black Elk said, once stood at the center of the hoop. Its shade was for everyone. Its flowering was a sign of harmony.
Our hope is to help plant that tree again — not alone, but together.
An Invitation to Return to the Circle
“Hear me that they may once more go back into the sacred hoop and find the good red road, the shielding tree!”
— Black Elk
To live in alignment with the sacred hoop is to walk with intention, humility, and balance. It is not a linear path, but a spiraling one — one guided by spirit, rooted in community, and attuned to the rhythms of the natural world.
At Sacred Hoops, we believe that this way of walking can still be found — and that we can walk it together.
This is not just a space to share content; it is a space to share medicine — through words, through art, through sound, through presence. It is a call to remember the circle, to live in reciprocity, and to offer your gifts in service of healing and connection.
We welcome:
- Healers, who carry practices that soothe the body, mind, and spirit — from ancient traditions to new approaches rooted in care.
- Artists, who make beauty out of struggle and give form to the invisible — whose work nourishes, reveals, and uplifts.
- Elders and wisdom keepers, whose life experience and spiritual insight guide the rest of us toward what truly matters.
- Seekers, who come not with answers but with open hearts — ready to listen, learn, and grow.
- Veterans, whose journeys through service and survival hold deep stories of strength, sacrifice, and the longing to come home — to self, to spirit, and to community.
- Communities, who are looking for ways to reconnect — with each other, with tradition, and with something greater than themselves.
Everyone has something to offer. Everyone has something to receive. The circle holds us all.
We do not walk this road alone. As we come together — virtually and in spirit — we help to restore the hoop, to tend the center, and to make the tree bloom once more.
This is a place to offer what you carry: your voice, your vision, your song, your silence. And in return, to receive the teachings, stories, and soul medicine of others walking beside you.
Black Elk’s vision was not of one hoop, but of many — all connected, all alive, all held by the same light. He saw a world where all people, of all colors, stood beneath the same sacred tree.
That vision still lives. And so does the invitation.
Sacred Hoops is a vision in motion — a digital circle still being woven. We welcome those who feel called to help shape this space, to walk with us in its early stages, and to hold the center as it forms.
This is Sacred Hoops — and the healing begins with you.
Contact us if you’d like to learn more, collaborate, or get involved.
1.) Black Elk, in Black Elk Speaks, as told to John G. Neihardt (Univ. of Nebraska Press)