Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE SACRED SUN DANCE
Very little is known about the Native American sun dance, a highly revered and
often secretive traditional ceremony performed by various tribes in North America.
In Montana, the Arapaho, Sioux, Assiniboine, Crow, and Blackfeet are among the
Indian nations that hold this practice sacred. The sun dance represents a spiritual re-
birth and regeneration of the land. Participants acquire spiritual powers, often experi-
encing visions, and invoke blessings for the whole community. In 1875, Lakota chief
Sitting Bull formed an alliance with the Cheyenne during a sun dance in which he
had a vision of U.S. soldiers falling from the sky. Many saw his vision as foretelling
the defeat of the U.S. Army at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876.
Although each tribe's sun dance has its own characteristics, there are some com-
mon elements. Sun dances involve construction of a lodge, dancing, singing, strict
fasting among the dancers and subsequent feasting, the erection of a sacred pole, of-
ten body painting, and the sacrificial piercing of the chest or back. The sponsor of the
dance, along with other leaders, works for months planning the event and perform-
ing certain critical rites beforehand. The sun dances themselves are known to last 3-8
days.
Before the introduction of reservation life, the sun dance ceremony provided an
opportunity for the various hunting bands within a tribe to come together. Today,
it serves a similar purpose in Native American communities. Often members travel
from different regions of the country, and regardless of social status or religious affil-
iation, the sun dance provides an occasion for tribe members to reaffirm their cultural
identity. Many would argue that important rituals such as the sun dance contribute to
the longevity and preservation of Native American culture.
With the introduction of reservations and the determination of the U.S. govern-
ment to assimilate Native Americans, many practices, including the sun dance, were
banned in 1885. Some tribes did not continue with their rituals and ceremonies, and
others did so in secret. When the Commission of Indian Affairs lifted the ban on ce-
remonies in 1934, certain tribes immediately returned to performing this sacred ce-
remony in public. The Shoshone in Wyoming had not lost the practice, for example,
and they reintroduced it to the Crow. The 50th anniversary performance of the Crow
sun dance was held in Pryor, Montana, in 1991. Among the Assiniboine and Sioux,
the sun dance is done annually on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
