In the Spirit: the Life and Work of Lex Hixon

Vine Deloria Sr.

In the summer of 1960, Hixon traveled with his roommate, Sam Deloria, to South Dakota to visit Sam’s family. Sam’s father, Vine Deloria Senior, was a Dakota Sioux Episcopalian priest. Born in 1901 on the Standing Rock Reservation, Deloria attended Saint Stephens (now Bard) College, before enrolling in the General Theological Seminary in New York. He was appointed the National Executive Secretary for Indian Mission Work of the Episcopal Church in 1954 and became the Archdeacon of South Dakota in 1961.

Deloria descended from a lineage of Native American holy men. He was the first person Hixon met who used the technique of emptying his mind. In a lecture delivered at the New School in 1975, Hixon described Deloria’s practice:

“for two or three hours [Deloria] would kneel in the basement of a small church out on the Pineridge or Standing Rock Reservation. Finally, he would achieve a blank state of mind and the voice of what he called the Great Spirit would speak to him. He would actually hear this…I was about 19 and these kinds of experiences were very impressive to me. I went back to college and started studying Christianity along with philosophy. Up to that time, I was completely agnostic.”

Deloria’s blending of his teachings as a Native American and his commitments as an Episcopalian priest were deeply influential on Hixon and laid the groundwork for interplay between religious traditions that would later be central to Hixon’s spiritual life.

Deloria and Hixon corresponded for 30 years, from the 1960s until Deloria’s death in 1990. Deloria’s letters to Hixon detailed his work in South Dakota, traveling from town to town. Deloria wrestled with the spiritual state of his people, the role of Christianity, and his position in the Episcopal Church, as seen in this letter from 1966.

DEAR LEX & SHEILA:

TWO WEEKS AFI'ER MY MOTHER DIED IN 1916, MY FATHER TOOK ME TO KEARNEY, NEBRASKA & LEFT ME THERE. AS A LAD OF 14, THIS WAS A TOUGH EXPERIENCE. I COULD HARDLY SPEAK ENGLISH, ALTHOUGH I UNDERSTOOD IT FAIRLY WELL. WHEN I LEFT MY PEOPLE OF THE STANDING ROCK• GRANDFATHER, SITTING BULL'S PEOPLE,_ A DAKOTA FAMILY WAS CONSIDERED POOR IF IT HAD A TWO ROOM LOO CABIN & FEWER THAN TEN HORSES. YOU KNOW THE STANDING ROCK, LEX. IT WAS FILLED WITH THOUSANDS OF HORSES & CATTLE. UNCLE JOE CLAYMORE'S CATTLE REQUIRED A WEEK TO BE DIPPED IN THE ONE TROUGH PEN AT WAKPALA. INDIAN POLICE IN BLUE UNIFORMS ON HANDSOME HORSES WERE A SIGHT THAT THRILLED YOU.

1931, FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, I WENT BACK TO BE ORDAINED IN ST. ELIZABETH'S CHURCH WHERE I WAS BAPTIZED & WHERE I BAPTIZED MY ONLY DELORIA GRAND DAUGHTER COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, BY THE WAY, MY HEART SANK AT THE SIGHT OF THE STANDING BOCK PEOPLE. THE HERDS OF HORSES AND CATTLE WERE GONE THE PEOPLE LOOKED SHABBY. THEIR TEN YEAR OLD CARS JERKED ALONG. THEY WERE LIVING IN ONE ROOM SHACKS, NOT EVEN THE WARMER LOGS, NO STANDING ROCK WOULD HAVE
LOOKED AT IN 1916. WORSE YET WAS THE REALIZATION VIA CONVERSATIONS WITH MY FELLOW TRIBESMEN THAT THEY HAD SUNK SPIRITUALLY.

ABOUT A YEAR, MAYBE TWO YEARS AGO, THE THOUGHT CAME TO ME: THE ECONOMIC & SOCIAL STRUCTURES HAVE CHANGED & THE DAKOTAS ARE ALMOST BOUND TO SUFFER, BUT MUST THEY LOSE THEIR IDEALS & REFINEMENT ALSO FROM WHICH I FELT & FEEL NOW THEIR OUTWARD CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN UNNECESSARILY AGGRAVATED? FOR INSTANCE, WE HAVE CHRISTIANITY. SHOULDN'T THIS HAVE KEPT US FORTIFIED FROM LOSING HOPE & FAITH? SO, I BEGAN TO RESTUDY CHRISTIANITY'S DOCTRINE,
DICIPLINE, & WORSHIP. NOW, IT IS ONE THING TO HAVE TO HAVE FAITH IN GOD BECAUSE HE IS SAID TO BE A SPIRIT & I CANNOT SEE OR TOUCH HIM. BUT I DISCOVERED THAT I EVEN HAD TO HAVE FAITH IN DOCTRINE, DISCIPLINE, & WORSHIP: ALTHOUGH THEY WERE WRITTEN IN BLACK & WHITE, LAYING THERE ON MY DESK. IN OTHER WORDS, CHRISTIANITY'S FAMOUS THREEFOLD RELIGIOUS SYSTEM, I FOUND, WAS SO COMPLICATED THAT I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND IT & SO REALIZED THAT I HAD TAKEN THESE ON FAITH. SO, I SAID TO MYSELF NO WONDER THE DAKOTAS HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO HANG ON FOR IF A PERSON CAN HONESTLY SAY HE UNDERSTANDS THE TENETS OF CHRISTIANITY & BELIEVES IN THEM,. HE WOULD BELIEVE ANYTHING. THE DAKOTAS, AT LEAST THE STANDING ROCK, ARE NO FOOLS. I THINK THEY MERELY HAVE BEEN TOO REVERENT TO QUESTION. AT ANY RATE, IT HAS NOT HELPED THEM. HOW
ABOUT THEIR OWN DAKOTA RELIGION? AH HA. I MADE THE THRILLING DISCOVERY. I
STUDIED THIS ALSO VIA STUDYING LIVES OF YANKTONS LIKE RED LEAF. LITTLE SOLDIER,
WALKING CRANE, SPOTTED EAGLE, IRON WHIP, FEARLESS, FEARLESS-OF-THE-REE,
SWAN, STRUCK-BY-THE-REE. MY FATHER TOLD ME ABOUT THESE MEN OVER & OVER AGAIN. I KNOW ALSO MANY OF THEIR SONGS. I'LL STOP HERE & SING SOME. DRUM NEAR BY.

Type written letter from Vine Deloria Sr to Lex Hixon, dated April 2nd, 1966. Page 1 of 3. Lex Hixon papers, RG 345, Box 27, Folder 2. Divinity Library Special Collections

RESULT? I FIND THAT THE DAKOTAS WERE A VERY SPIRITUALLY SENSITIVE & PER CEPTIVE PEOPLE. THEY WERE ALWAYS UNUSUALLY AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE GREAT SPIRIT. IN SPOTS, CHRISTIANITY DOES GET GLIMPSES OF THIS AS IN THE BOOK OF ACTS, ST. PAUL IS SAID TO HAVE SAID TO THE ATHENIANS:READ 17: 22-28. HIS SECTION IS DAKOTA RELIGION. IT IS TRUE THAT THERE ARE ALL SORTS & CONDITIONS OF MEN & SO IN THE LIVES OF THE DAKOTAS WHO FELT THE PRESENCE OFTHE GREAT SPIRIT IN AN OVERWHELMING WAY. THEY TOOK OFF INTO THE WILDERNESS FOR INTENSIVE MEDITATION. "THE SPIRIT DRIVETH" THEM "INTO THE WILDERNESS', SO TO SPEAK. MY GRANDFATHER STAYED THREE DAYS, OTHERS FIVE, SOME EVEN EIGHT DAYS. WHEN THEY RETURNED, THEY WERE CHANGED MEN. THEY BROUGHT BACK A QUALITY OF CHARACTER WHICH NEVER CHANGED. HOWEVER, THEY OFTEN WENT BACK FOR SHORTER PERIODS, LIKE GETTING A BOOSTER SHOT.

WHAT EFFECT DID THEY HAVE ON THEIR PEOPLE? THRILLING, TREMENDOUS. IT WAS A SIGHT, MY FATHER SAID TO SEE LITTLE SOLDIER GET UP TO DANCE WITH ONE HEEL PAINTED RED, WHO TRAVELED FROM THE BATTLE FIELD BACK TO THE YANKTONS & AT NIGHT WALKED WITH THOSE WHO GOT KILLED. THEY ALSO WERE COMING HOME & THEY GOT LITTLE SOLDIER HOME. THEY ATTRACTED PEOPLE. PEOPLE ADMIRED & ASPIRED TO BE LIKE THESE HOLY MEN. HOW ABOUT THE AVERAGE DAKOTA, DID HE EVER COMMUNE
WITH THE GREAT SPIRIT. YOU BET. EVERY SINGLE DAY, MANY AT DAWN BUT ANYTIME, DAY OR NIGHT, FOR, WE WOULD GUESS. HALF HOUR, HOUR, COUPLE HOURS. JIMMIE CHIEF, NOW PUSHING 90 ON THE PINE RIDGE TOLD ME 35 YEARS AGO THAT HE DID IT EVERY DAY. FIRST, HE WOULD TALK TO GOD FOR ABOUT FIVE OR TEN MINUTES & THEN KEEP QUIET, AS ISAIAH SUGGESTS: "BE STILL & KNOW" THAT GOD IS GOD. HE ALSO LISTENED. NEVER GOT ANYTHING OUT OF IT BUT NEVER FAILED TO EXPERIENCE A BLESSING OF SOME SORT SEVERAL DAYS LATER. BEN SAID: I COULD NOT POSSIBLY LIVE WITHOUT THIS. JAKE WHITE EYES OF KYLE ON THE PINE RIDGE ALSO ALWAYS IMPRESSED. I AM SURE HE COMMUNED WITH GOD DAILY. BEN ALSO ADVISED PUBLIC WORSHIP. I AGREE & YOU KNOW THAT INSPITE OF THE BORING WAY IT IS DONE IN CHURCHES TODAY, THE PRESENCE OF OTHERS IS SURE TO GIVE ME A LIFT? I BELIEVE THIS IS DUE
TO THE PRESENCE OF SPIRITUALLY DEVELOPED PEOPLE PRESENT THERE. NO SIR, A SOUL, MAINLY MUST COMMUNE WITH GOD DAILY, EVEN IF FOR ONLY HALF HOUR, TEN MINUTES OF TALKING WITH THE GREAT SPIRIT & SPEND THE BEST OF THE TWENTY KEEPING SILENCE & LISTENING. INA'S FAVORITE PRAYER & WHICH SHE SAYS HELPED HER NEARLY A YEAR AGO IS FOUND IN THE BACK OF THE PRAYER BOOK. " O GOD OF PEACE WHO HAS TAUGHT US THAT IN RETURNING & REST WE SHALL BE SAVED IN QUIETNESS & IN CONFIDENCE SHALL BE OUR STRENGTH; BY THE MIGHT OF YOUR SPIRIT LIFT....TO YOUR PRESENCE, WHERE WE MAY BE STILL & KNOW THAT YOU ARE GOD." AGAIN, THIS IS ALSO DAKOTA RELIGION.

NOW, WHEN BISHOP HARE FIRST CAME, HE SAID THAT THE DAKOTAS ALREADY WERE VERY SPIRITUAL & SENSITIVE TO GOD. THAT'S RIGHT HE HAD A FIELD DAY, HAVING

Type written letter from Vine Deloria Sr to Lex Hixon, dated April 2nd, 1966. Page 2 of 3. Lex Hixon papers, RG 345, Box 27, Folder 2. Divinity Library Special Collections

SPIRITUALLY QUALIFIED MEN TO ENLIST INTO THE MINISTRY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: HARRY HOLY MEDECINE, JOSHUA IRON-NECK-LACE, QUINCY PLUME, JOHN BLACK FOX, CLAYTON HIGH WOLF, & YOU MET ONE IN WAKPALA, LEX. EDWARD HAWK, ISAAC HAWK'S BROTHER. THOSE MEN WERE SPIRITUAL GIANTS COMPARED TO US, FREAKS, OF TODAY, NOBODY HAD TO CONFER "AUTHORITY ON THESE MEN. BEING TRUE TO THEMSELVES & KNOWING TRUTH, NATIVELY, THEY HAD AUTHORITY PEOPLE RESPECTED, FOR THE ONLY AUTHORITY IS TRUTH. IT AUTHENTICATES ITSELF. ASIDE FROM THIS, REALLY, THERE IS NO AUTHORITY. SO, WITH MEN LIKE THESE, THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH BECAME GREAT. THEY MADE THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH GREAT. THE NIOBRARA CONVOCATION AT ST. PHILIP, THE
DEACON CHAPEL, WHITE SWAN, YANKTON RESERVATION, 5,000 DAKOTAS GATHERED. READ THE BACK NUMBERS OF THE YANKTON NEWSPAPER. WOW

1931, I BEGAN TO NOTICE THAT THIS QUALITY WAS DISSIPATING AWAY. IT WAS MUCH HARDER TO FIND MEN & CLERGY LIKE THOSE NAMED IN FOREGOING. NOW, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHY I WANT TO RETIRE NEXT FALL ON MY BIRTHDAY & TRY TO REVIVE THIS ASPECT OF RELIGION IN THE DAKOTAS. I AM SURE THAT POTENTIAL IS STILL FLOWING IN THE SPIRITUAL VEINS. SEND THEM OUT TO THE WILDERNESS? NOT NECESSARILY. THEY COULD USE THEIR CHAPELS. ANDREW FOOLS CROW OF MEDIATOR, KYLE, SPENT ALL NIGHT UNTIL SUNRISE ONE EASTER DAY, THANKING GOD ALL NIGHT FOR CURING HIM OF CANCER ALTHOUGH SEVEN DOCTORS TOLD HIM HE HAD ONLY SIX MONTHS TO LIVE. HE HAD A GOOD REASON FOR SPENDING ALL NIGHT IN THANKSGIVING. AT THE EASTER DAY SERVICE, HE
PUT A CARD BOARD, CUT IN THE FORM OF A HORSE, INTO THE COLLECTION PLATE. WHEN THEY CAME OUT, HIS SON-IN.LAW, AMOS LONE HILL HAD LEFT THE OFFERING THERE, TIED TO THE CHURCH GATE POST,, A HANDSOME, THREE YEAR OLD, PALOMINO. ANDREW UNTIED THE HORSE & IN HANDING IT TO THE CATECHIST, REPRESENTING GOD, AND BELIEVE ME, JOHNSON BROWN THUNDER WAS A WORTHY REPRESENTATIVE OF ALMIGHTY GOD TOO. ANDREW SAID, SPEAKING TO GOD, LOOKING SLIGHTLY OVER JOHNSON' S HEAD: "HO WAKANTANKA, NISIYA LE CICU WELO, WICOZANI MAYAQU CA" , ALL RIGHT, GOD, AS YOU HAVE GIVEN ME HEALTH, SO THIS I GIVE YOU TOO

SO DEAR FRIENDS, I AM THINKING OF HELPING THE STANDING ROCK & THE YANKTONS FIRST. I AM NOT GOING TO BUCK THE CHURCH. I AM NOT GOING TO BUCK ANYTHING ELSE I SHALL BE TOO FASCINATINGLY BUSY IN A THING IN WHICH I SHALL NEVER TIRE BECAUSE I SHALL NEVER BE UNDER STRAIN. HOW COULD I WHEN, AT LONG LAST, I SHALL BE DOING THE MOST CONSTRUCTIVE THING IN THE WORLD, THE RESTORATION OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS STRONGER THAN THE SWORD.
AFFECTIONATELY,
ATE

Type written letter from Vine Deloria Sr to Lex Hixon, dated April 2nd, 1966. Deloria Sr often signed off his letters "Ate and Ina" meaning Father and Mother in Dakota. Page 3 of 3. Lex Hixon papers, RG 345, Box 27, Folder 2. Divinity Library Special Collections

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