The Medicine Bag
22 pages • 44-minute read
Virginia Driving Hawk SneveThe Medicine Bag
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Themes
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and racism.
Connecting With Heritage and Culture
In “The Medicine Bag,” the theme of connecting with heritage and culture is central to Martin’s growth toward becoming a man. At the beginning of the story, Martin is disconnected from his Sioux identity and views it more as something to perform or tokenize than something to understand. Through a powerful moment with his grandfather and a realization of the respect he deserves, Martin begins to both accept and appreciate his Sioux roots.
The medicine bag itself acts as a powerful symbol of cultural continuity. It’s a remnant of a culture and a way of life that has largely been lost due to colonization and forced assimilation, yet it continues to carry meaning through generations. The story emphasizes that honoring one’s heritage includes maintaining a connection to traditions and values. This connection is based in the story of Martin’s ancestor Iron Shell, whose vision quest led him to discover iron and become a blacksmith. This legacy demonstrates the importance of spiritual practices in Sioux culture and how identity is formed through interaction with the natural and spiritual world. Even when traditional ways were threatened, Iron Shell adapted while still honoring his vision and heritage.
The importance of preserving this heritage is felt by Martin through Grandpa’s declining health. Grandpa knows he is close to death and travels a great distance to pass the medicine bag to Martin, his only living male relative. This shows that cultural knowledge must be actively passed down in order to survive. Grandpa’s worldview is reflected in Martin’s statement, “To Grandpa and the Sioux, he once told me, a thing would be done when it was the right time to do it and that’s the way it was” (4). This value system emphasizes patience and firm trust in what is meant to be.
The story also shows how generational trauma makes it difficult for Indigenous descendants to connect with their culture. Grandpa remembers how “a terrible thing happened to Iron Shell. He and several other young men were taken from their homes by the soldiers and sent far away to a white man’s boarding school” (6). This memory of trauma and the loss of cultural practices make the preservation of traditions like the medicine bag even more significant. By the end, when Martin adds his own sage to the medicine bag, he symbolically accepts his role in continuing his culture.
The Link Between Masculinity and Ancestry
In “The Medicine Bag,” the tradition of passing the medicine bag from one generation to the next illustrates the link between masculinity and ancestry. This connection defines what it means to grow into adulthood within Martin’s family and cultural background. Unlike modern Western ideas of masculinity, which often focus on independence, wealth, or personal achievement, the story presents masculinity as a responsibility of heritage and spiritual duty of care.
This idea is introduced when Grandpa announces his intention to pass on the medicine bag and that Martin, the only male descendant, must be the one to take it. Martin reflects, “We all knew what that meant. Grandpa thought he was going to die and he had to follow the tradition of his family to pass the medicine bag, along with its history, to the oldest male child” (4). This moment establishes that the transition from a boy to a man is not optional but part of a longstanding cultural obligation. It also establishes that Martin doesn’t get to choose when he comes of age; that moment is defined communally, linked to the lives of the other men in his family.
The medicine bag itself is more than just an object; it is a sacred family heirloom that holds the memories and experiences of the family lineage. By inheriting it, Martin is accepting a role within a line that stretches back generations. This adds to the story’s premise: that identity is collective rather than individual. Each man who carries the bag contributes to its meaning while also preserving what came before.
Initially, Martin resists this responsibility because he feels unprepared and disconnected from his heritage. His father is a fine male role model, but because he isn’t Indigenous, he can’t model the Sioux masculine identity that Martin needs to accept. Being only half-Sioux makes Martin feel inadequate and unworthy of carrying on his people’s traditions. His initial dissociation from Grandpa is partly a reaction to his feeling of shame for not being “enough.” Grandpa’s storytelling plays a crucial role in calming Martin’s fears, as he explains the origins of the medicine bag and the significance of each item within it. Martin doesn’t have to know the traditions; he can learn them. Manhood, in this sense, is inherited through relationships and guided by elders.
By the end of the story, Martin accepts the medicine bag and adds his own sage, symbolizing his readiness to take on this role. This act demonstrates that he has embraced both his ancestry and his responsibility as a man of the Sioux.
Discovering One’s Spiritual Destiny
A major theme in “The Medicine Bag” is understanding and overcoming shame through spiritual discovery. Martin struggles with his cultural identity throughout the story, as his mother’s side has Sioux heritage while his father’s side is Euro-American. At the beginning, Martin feels embarrassed by his Sioux heritage, particularly when it’s visible to others. He enjoys telling stories about his grandfather and culture, but only when they fit into the romanticized and stereotypical versions that he believes his friends will admire.
Discovering his spiritual destiny is presented as the antidote to this shame by connecting Martin with his traditions and intergenerational legacy. The story explores Martin’s process of learning that he has a role to fulfill and how this role is influenced by the experiences and beliefs of others. When Martin discovers his spiritual destiny, he naturally sees his culture from the inside rather than as an outsider.
This theme is most deeply explored through the story of Iron Shell, Martin’s ancestor, who undertook a vision quest despite the challenges facing his people. Grandpa explains, “They thought it was hopeless to search for a vision when the glorious life was gone and only the hated confines of a reservation lay ahead. But my father held to the old ways” (6). Even when traditional practices seemed meaningless in a changing world, Iron Shell remained committed to his spiritual path.
The vision quest represents a search for purpose and identity, and its outcome shaped Iron Shell’s life and also the lives of future generations. The items in the medicine bag serve as physical reminders of this spiritual journey. They symbolize the idea that destiny is founded on a mixture of personal experience and cultural tradition. Martin’s own journey mirrors this process on a smaller scale. At first, he resists the idea of inheriting the medicine bag because he doesn’t fully understand its significance; however, as he listens to Grandpa’s stories and reflects on his family’s history, he begins to recognize his role within this lineage. His destiny becomes clear through understanding and acceptance.
Grandpa’s guidance is essential in this process, as he provides the knowledge and context that Martin needs to understand his inheritance. The passing of the medicine bag represents a moment of transition and growth where Martin becomes closer to discovering his spiritual identity. In the final scene, when Martin adds his own sage to the medicine bag, he claims his place in the tradition. This act shows that spiritual destiny is an ongoing process of connection and responsibility, and Martin comes to understand who he is and the role he must carry forward.
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