Native American Ritual Dancing Essay -- Native Americans Rituals Tradi

inseparable American Ritual Dancing It has often been tell that the North American Indians dance out their religions (Vecsey 51). There were twain actually important dances for the Sioux race, the lie trip the light fantastic and the Ghost trip the light fantastic toe. Both dances show the temper of Native American spirituality. The Ghost Dance and the Sun Dance were two very different dances, however both promote a moxie of comm symmetry. The Sun Dance was the most spectacular and important religious ceremonial of the Plains Indians of 19th-century North America (Lawrence 1). The Sun Dance became a time of renewal and thanksgiving for Native Americans. Everyone had a role to play either in the preparation leading up to the dance, or within the dance itself. The full(a) tribe was expected to attend the ceremony. There were also some amicable aspects to the dance, such as powwow dancing in the afternoon and evening. The Sun Dance was an important ceremo ny, which was held once a year. Turner states that ritual stresses unity of (the) theme, and that is exactly what was done in the Sun Dance. Different tribes held the ceremony at different times of the year. Generally, The Sun Dance was performed in either the ripe spring or the early summer, when all the bands of the tribe were reunited after the spend (Dance). The Sioux tribes celebrated the Sun Dance ceremony for four days. early(a) tribes ar reported to extend the ceremony over eight days. This dance, alike(p) other Indian rituals and ceremonies is not rehearsed. There are many edible that need to take place in order to prepare for the ceremony. In the week prior to the dance, the Sun Dance chief arrives early to roofy up his campsite and oversee the raising of the ceremonial tipi that the dancers outfit and prepare in (McGaa 85). The Sun Dance chief is said to be the most respected holy man with in the tribe. The men of the tribe then join in the preparations for the d ance by construct travail lodges, which are used in the ceremony. They also collect other necessities, which are needed for the dance. The first day before the Sun Dance is a very significant day. In the early morning hours a group of men known for their eminence in their tribe were chosen to bet for a (cottonwood) tree with a fork in the top (Dance). Along with this select group went a chosen woman. She took the first pearly at the tree. She then held a con... ...ight%20News/Native_American_Beliefs.htmHultkrantz, Ake. Belief and Worship in Native North America. Ed Christopher Vecsey. NewYork Syracuse University Press, 1981.- - - . Native Religions of North America The agency of Visions and Fertility. New York Harper & Row, 1987.Irwin, Lee, ed.Native American Spirituality. nor-east The University of Nebraska Press, 2000.Kehoe, Alice Beck. The Ghost Dance Ethnohistory and Revitalization. Chicago Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc, 1989.Lawrence, Elizabeth Atwood. Sun Dance. 2 Feb. 2002 http//www.crystalinks.com/sundance.htmlMassacre At Wounded Knee, 1890 1998. 5 March 02 http//www.ibiscom.comMcGaa, Ed. Mother Earth Spirituality Native American Paths to ameliorate Ourselves and Our World. New York HarperSanFrancisco, 1990.Miller, David. Ghost Dance. New York Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1959.Mooney, James. The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890. London University of Nebraska Press, 1991.Neihardt, John G. The Sun Dance. 28 Jan 2002http//www.wayne.esu1.k12.ne.us/neihardt/sun.htmlVoget, Fred W. The Shoshoni-Crown Sun Dance. New York University of Oklahoma Press, 1984.