Sky dancer

The people dance for different reasons and we will give a brief discription of some dances here.

Sundance

The most sacred of all dances is the Sundance. We gather once a year either in late June or early July for this ceremony depending on the full moon. In the history books they called it the thirst dance or the medicine dance. I won't go into a lot of details about this sacred ceremony. I must say I have a lot of respect for those that host the Sundance and those of our people who join in prayer for community and all of God's creation.

During the Sundance we give thanks to God and all that he created for the benefit of mankind. We give thanks to the sun the moon and the earth itself who work in harmony to keep the cycle of life going. The whole of God's creation is put together so perfectly it's hard to believe some think it happened by chance.

Through out the year we all take from the earth what we need to nourish ourselves. Things such as the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Things such as the animals, the edible plants and berries, and the medicinal plants used to cure and help ourselves with. People ask for help from God and his helpers for assistance when we are sick or when a family member is sick and for this blessing a pledge is made to sacrifice and give thanks at the Sundance for the healing that is granted.

For all these blessings we give thanks to God, the creator of all things. As humans all we really own is ourselves therefore it is all we have to offer to God. So we give ourselves to him mind, body and spirit and renew ourselves in this way each year.

People that have pledged to dance prepare themselves through out the year for the Sundance. They fast, going without food and water and attend the sweat lodges to clean and purify themselves spiritually. The sweatlodge is where we work on ourselves spiritually and seek the guidance of God and his helpers.

The Sundance is a four day ceremony, to fast and pray for the entire four days is a great accomplishment for anyone. While anyone can dance at this ceremony only a chosen few can host the Sundance. It's a lot of work to reach this level of understanding and there are many rules that need to be followed so this is not something just anyone can do. Even those who attend to suport a relative have rules they must follow.

This is only a short explanation of this sacred event to give a better idea to those who might wonder what it's all about. There is certainly more involved to this and many things have been left out but if you have any more questions I would encourage you to seek your answers from the elders who are more qualified to answer such questions.