Self-guided practices for grief and hard feelings.
How Minds Work

What is the Lakota Keeping of the Soul ceremony?

By How Minds Work · Updated October 2026 · Sources listed below

A small buckskin bundle beside a braid of dried grass on weathered wood
Short answerKeeping of the Soul, Wanáǧi Yuhápi, is one of the Seven Sacred Rites of the Lakota. A lock of hair from the person who died is purified and kept in a bundle for about a year, then released in a ceremony. It is a sacred rite with its own leaders, so we describe it and do not copy it.

Key takeaways

What is Keeping of the Soul?

The Aktá Lakota Museum and Cultural Center lists Wanáǧi Yuhápi among the Seven Sacred Rites. It describes a lock of hair taken from the person who died, purified with sweetgrass and wrapped in a bundle. A Keeper then cares for the bundle.

Black Elk described the rite in The Sacred Pipe in 1953. Reference works describe the spirit as fed every day during the year of keeping, and then released in a ceremony at the end.

Why does the year matter?

The rite gives grief a shape and a length. For about a year, the family has a way to stay close to the person and a task to do each day. At the end there is a clear moment of letting go, held by the community.

Researchers who study grief describe a similar pull between staying connected and moving forward. Root and Exline (2014) review how continuing bonds can help or hurt, depending on how the bond is seen and on beliefs about an afterlife.

Is this the same as the stone ritual online?

No. The stone-and-river practice shared on social media is a modern adaptation. We explain the difference in our star feeding guide and our guide to Native American grief rituals.

How to learn about it with respect

Begin with the Aktá Lakota Museum and Cultural Center, which is run by the Lakota community at St. Joseph's Indian School. Read what they choose to share, and leave the ceremony itself to the people who hold it.

A 2026 integrative review of 14 articles on 18 Indigenous groups found that some grieving practices are shared and some belong to one group. That is a good reminder not to treat one rite as "the" Native way to grieve.

What the research says

Aktá Lakota Museum and Cultural Center: describes Wanáǧi Yuhápi, Keeping of the Soul, as one of the Seven Sacred Rites.

Encyclopedia.com, Lakota religious traditions: describes the spirit being kept for about a year, cared for, and then released.

Felix et al. (2026): review of 14 articles on 18 Indigenous groups. Some grieving and funeral practices were shared, and some were group-specific.

Root and Exline (2014): continuing bonds findings are complex. Clarity comes from how the bond is perceived, relationship quality and afterlife beliefs.

Try this today

  1. Read the Aktá Lakota Museum page on the Seven Sacred Rites.
  2. Think about what a year of care would mean for your own loss. You might choose a small daily habit, like lighting a lamp at dusk.
  3. Give your own practice its own plain name, so it is never confused with a sacred rite.

Want the printable step-by-step version? The paid ritual walks you through gathering small objects, speaking the memory out loud, releasing it, and keeping one as a witness. It is a modern adaptation, not a ceremony from any tribe.

Start your ritual

Common questions

What does Wanáǧi Yuhápi mean?

It means Keeping of the Soul. It is one of the Seven Sacred Rites of the Lakota.

How long is the soul kept?

Sources describe about a year of care for the bundle, followed by a release ceremony.

Can non-Native people do Keeping of the Soul?

It is a sacred rite held by Lakota communities. You can learn about it from Lakota sources and make a personal practice of your own.

Is it the same as the stone ritual?

No. The stone ritual online is a modern adaptation. Keeping of the Soul is a documented Lakota rite.

Keep reading

References

  1. Aktá Lakota Museum & Cultural Center (St. Joseph's Indian School). Keeping of the Soul (Wanáǧi Yuhápi), one of the Seven Sacred Rites. aktalakota.stjo.org/seven-sacred-rites/wanagi-yuhapi-keeping-of-the-soul/
  2. Lakota religious traditions. Encyclopedia.com. www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lakota-religious-traditions
  3. Felix, R., du Plessis, E., & Jacobs, I. (2026). Identifying Indigenous People's Grieving and Funeral Practices as Components for Establishing a Grief Support Framework: An Integrative Literature Review. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 33(1), 155-173. doi.org/10.1111/jpm.70075
  4. Root, B.L., & Exline, J.J. (2014). The role of continuing bonds in coping with grief: Overview and future directions. Death Studies, 38(1), 1-8. doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2012.712608

This guide is for general information. It is not therapy, medical advice or a treatment. If grief is affecting your sleep, eating, work or safety, talk to a doctor or licensed counselor. In the United States you can call or text 988 at any time.