Plains Indigenous peoples, including Lakota and Cheyenne, undertook solitary vision quests involving fasting, isolation, and prayer to receive spirit guides and power visions. These altered states shaped personal and tribal destinies, often involving animal allies or prophetic insights. Integral to Sun Dance and other ceremonies. It mattered by fostering individual mystical connections within communal frameworks, guiding resistance and adaptation.

Vision quest narratives enriched Native American oral poetry and influenced contemporary Indigenous poets like Joy Harjo, who weave visionary themes into modern verse. Their emphasis on altered perception resonated with Beat poets and global ecopoetry, transforming literary explorations of nature, identity, and spiritual empowerment across cultures.