Plains Indians Sun Dance Essay

For many tribes of Plains Indians whose bison-hunting culture flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries, the sun dance was the major communal religious ceremony . . . the rite celebrates renewal - the spiritual rebirth of participants and their relatives as well as the regeneration of the living earth with all its components . . . The ritual, involving sacrifice and supplication to insure harmony between all living beings, continues to be practiced by many contemporary native Americans. -Elizabeth Atwood LawrenceAs the most important ritual of the nomadic Plains Indians, the Sun Dance in itself presents many ideas, beliefs, and values of these cultures. Through its rich symbolism and complicated rituals we are able to catch a glimpse into
Buffalo songs, dances, and feast commonly accompany the Sun Dance. You can see from the symbolic influences of the buffalo in the Sun Dance how important the animal was to Plains Indians' day-to-day life. It was the buffalo that symbolized life for it was the buffalo that gave them quality of life. Plains Indians relied on buffalo for their food, clothing, shelter, and most all utensils from fly swatters to children's toys. These peoples' lives were intertwined with the buffalo's. And this relationship was praised and blessed with the Sun Dance. The buffalo was incorporated in many ways in the Sun Dance. The Cheyenne held a principle that "all essential sacred items in the sun dance (be) related to the buffalo." (Atwood) The Lakota would place a dried buffalo penis against the sun-pole to give virility to the dancers. This "reinforces the symbolic meaning of the ceremony as a celebration of the generative power of the sun." (Atwood) The buffalo skull is used as an alter during the Sun Dance. Offerings are presented to the skull, the Cheyenne stuffing the eye and nose sockets with grass, representing bountiful vegetation for the buffalo, which in turn meant healthy buffalo for the