The Sundance
 

              Fredrick Schwatka wrote about the Sundance, as he witnessed it in the late 1800. There were many tribes who practiced the dance like: the Arapaho, Arikara, Asbinboine, Cheyenne, Crow, Gras, Ventre, Blackfoot tribes and many more. Early on the third or fourth day the true worship of the sun would begin.

               The Dakota believed that the bones of the bison they have killed will rise again with new flesh. The buffalo skull was  used as on alter during the Sundance.
         Plains Indians relied on the buffalo for their food, clothing, shelter, and most all utensils like fly swatters, bowls, and knives.

      It was in June when the celebration started, and for many days before the ceremony the children of the parties would start to assemble. On the fourth day  the self-torture would began. The self-torture  symbolizes a gain of rebirth.
     Dancers had to have pieces of bone or wood skewered into their skin and they would have to tug and pull until the skin would break free. It was almost impossible for a white person to gain enough permission to view the ceremony and its details.
     The buffalo made up the main parts of the Sundance. The Shoshone believed that the buffalo taught someone the proper way to carry out the dance.. Buffalo songs, dances, and the feast commonly accompanied  the Sundance. These people's lives inter-wind with the buffalo. This relation was praised and blessed with the Sundance. The buffalo not only kept them alive, but also their souls. 
      The sacrifice  of the dance through fasting, thirst, and self-infected pain reflects on the desire of returning themselves to nature. The buffalo may have knocked down a dancer, or the dancer my challenge it by charging at it. Passing out for  a long period of time meant on was too scared to face the buffalo. One must show courage to the buffalo before  the  buffalo find him worthy, to give him what he desires.

          At a certain point the crow will notice he is seeing through the buffalos eyes, that means he had become one with the buffalo. The fork of the lodge represents the eagles nest. The eagle also played a large roll in the Sundance, for it was one of the most sacred animal.

     Making a buffalo sacred symbolized giving new life to it. An eagle flies high in the sky close to the sun. Being a messenger between the man, and the messenger to the gods. The eagle is seen as having swift, and having strong courage. “ In and eagle there is wisdom in the world”.

 The Sundance lasted about four to eight days.

 

 Bibligraphy: of   Information

 www.askjeeves.com  search  " Native Dance"  results " Sundance"

Bibligraphy: Pictures

www.google.com search: images, results  " Sundance"

Bibligraphy: Information

 www.google.com  search: " sundance in the 1800's"

 results: " The Sundance Kids Kin Web Page"

 

Bibligraphy: Information

www.crystalinks.com/sundance.html

 

Keri Kolbek

8th Grade American History

 2005 Project