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Sun Dance The first non-Indian accounts of the Plains Indian Sun Dance ceremonies described them using words like "torture," "horrible," "cruel spectacle." The writers were wrong, but it is easy to see why they thought that. Sun dance pledgers pierce their bodies, stare into the sun, and endure the ceremony until they slump from exhaustion. The real meaning behind the Sun Dance ritual has to do with personal sacrifice for the nation. It is a highly symbolic statement for a Plains Indian to make. What is the pledger doing during the Sun Dance? What is the religious significance of his (or her) act? Where does the Sun Dance take place? In what sort of symbolic structure? When are Sun Dances held? Are these still held today? Can non-Indians attend these like they can powwows? Why are images of the buffalo so prevalent in this Sun-oriented ceremony? Why did the U.S. government outlaw the Sun Dance? This is one of the most interesting Plains ceremonies, especially for the Lakota.
Suggested resources for this topic: Erdoes, Richard. Sun Dance People. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972. Hultkrantz, Ake. Religions of the American Indians. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967. Lame Deer, John. Lame Deer Seeker of Visions. New York: Washington Square Books, 1972. McGaa, Ed. Mother Earth Spirituality. New York: HarperCollins,1990. Mails, Thomas E. Mystic Warriors of the Plains. New York: Mallard Press, 1991. Mooney, James. Ghost Dance. North Dighton, MA: World Publishing Company, 1996. Sullivan, Lawrence E., ed. Native American Religions. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1987. Underhill, Ruth M. Red Man's Religion. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1965.
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