Table of Contents
The origin of the name ‘Sioux’
provoked my interest in finding out more about their most important religious
event called Sun Dance. Also, having read about the porcupines' 'moon dance' described in a fictional story in The Grumbling Warehouse, my interest grew more in understanding the Sun Dance ceremony. The Sioux people or otherwise referred to as the People
of the Seven Council Fires: Wahpekute, Sistonwan, Ihanktown, Ihanktowana,
Tetonwan, Wahpetonwan, and Mdewankanton constitute the people generally
described as Native Americans.
How did the name Sioux come about? The French merchants in search
of fur in Northern Wisconsin lakes and Minnesota were prevented by the Dakota
people from advancing further west. The French merchants wanted to find out who
the Dakota people were from Ojibwe. Perhaps, due to the difference in language,
Ojibwe demonstrated with his hands the way a snake moves followed by the term
“natowessiwak.” For Ojibwe, he meant that the Dakota people are the “people who
live around Mississippi, the snake-like river.” But the interpreter understood
the demonstration as meaning “the snake people.” After that, the Dakota people
were known as the “nadouessioux” otherwise the “little snakes.” Later, it was
shortened to Sioux.
Before the description of the Sioux’s
Sun Dance ceremony, examining who the Sioux are may help in understanding the
meaning of their Sun Dance and its efficacies.
Who are the Sioux?
The Sioux lived in the Great
Plains covering an expanse of land that constitute today’s North Dakota, South
Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Nebraska. They were the first dwellers
and perhaps owners of those lands, hence can be categorised as the aboriginals.
As the aboriginals, terms like
Lakota, Dakota and Nakota can be used in place of Sioux to describe them. When
the Europeans began to make incursions into the Americas, and in particular,
North America, the natives already had their way of life, culture and beliefs
that guided and guarded them. The three main Sioux nations are:
Lakota
The Lakota, otherwise known as
Teton are considered the largest and known for their bravery. They are
considered people of valour and fought to protect and preserve their lands from
the European settlers.
Dakota
The Dakota, otherwise known as
Santee, notably was used to the land. Hence, they loved fishing, hunting, and
farming.
Nakota
The Nakota is made up of two
primary tribes: Yankton and Yanktonai. It is said that the Nakota people broke
away from the Dakota and occupy the plains of South Dakota. Their way of life
is like the Dakota people’s.
It can be said that the Sioux
are generous people. They are tolerant, honest, trustworthy, diligent, and
steadfast, hence their ability to welcome the European settlers.
Sun Dance Ceremony
The Sioux people delight in the
Sun Dance ceremony because it propitiates and heals both the people and their
lands. In the ceremony, the people gather and pray for themselves and their
community.
A lot goes into the
preparation of the ceremony, time, effort, sacrifices, and different
contributions by the people. It is claimed that preparation for Sun Dance
begins at least, a year in advance by the leaders or groups of organizers. It
takes a lot of time because of the nature of the activities and some religious attributes.
Among the activities that bear a serious religious undertone are:
- The strenuous physical and spiritual dances signify the mortifying of body and spirit for the benefit of the community. For example, the men or young adult males can be seen dancing around a pole while tied to it with a rope made from stiff untanned leather pierced through the skin of their chests.
- They also engage in many days of fasting and praying under any conditions as part of chastening themselves to the greater glory of their people. Before the ceremony, the people fast, abstaining from water and food before joining in the dance.
- At the ceremony, they sing traditional songs, dance, and beat local drums while a sacred fire burns. They blow a ceremonial pipe as they pray.
All these activities and
events demand a lot of effort, time, mortification and self-surrendering.
Sun Dance – The Prohibition and Liberation
After North American tribes
were conquered by the Europeans and instituted central governments of Canadian
and the United States respectively, these countries tried to legally integrate Native
Americans into most European cultures by enacting restrictive laws that
prevented the observance of indigenous cultures. Sun Dance fell into the
category of one of those indigenous cultures that were being repressed or subdued.
But that was not meant to last
hence, article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:
“All human beings are born
free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and
conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
Because the United States and Canada
are part of this treaty and members of the United Nations resulted in the lifting
of the laws that were meant to suppress the indigenous cultures of Native Americans.
In 1951, Canada lifted its prohibition of fully practising the Sun Dance and
the United States Congress passed a law of the American Indian Religious
Freedom Act in 1978 that protects basic civil liberties, as well as protects
and preserves the religious rights and cultures and practices of Native
Americans.
Protecting
Sun Dance from Evil Influencers
In recent years, Sun Dance is
being protected by Native Americans from outsiders who are exploiting the
people’s spirituality for things mundane or profane. Some individuals are
copying or using the Sun Dance and other Lakota ceremonies for evil practices
and hence damaging the rich cultural heritage of the people. In 1993, during
their Lakota Summit number 5, the three nations of Lakota, Dakota and Nakota strongly
condemned the unconscionable desecration of their traditions.
For reasons that people
attending the Sun Dance ceremonies might be coming with different and unknown
intentions, and to prevent further desecration of their cultural practices,
non-indigenous people are asked to stop attending the Sun Dance ceremony. The 19th-Generation
Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe of the Lakota advised non-indigenous
people to refrain from attending the ceremony, but they can pray to support the
ceremony. Only indigenous people can now approach the altar.
Conclusion
The Sioux people are variously
understood as comprising mainly three major groups: Lakota, Dakota and Nakota
who speak the same language but with different dialects. In Canada and the United
States, they are known as Native Americans. There’s an observation about the
prohibition of practising Sun Dance in Canada and the United States at one
point and the abrogation of that same law which leads to a new law that gives Native
Americans the freedom to continue their traditional and cultural practices. Latterly,
for Native Americans to protect what is theirs from corrosion and abuse, they not
only condemned those who desecrate the Sun Dance and other cultural ceremonies,
but they also asked non-indigenous people to stop approaching their religious
altars.
Sources
“Article 1,” Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, United Nations
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
(Accessed 25/02/2023)
Britannica, T. Editors of
Encyclopaedia (2022, November 4). Sioux. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sioux
(Accessed 15/02/2023)
“Sioux Native Americans: Their
History, Culture, and Traditions” (August 01, 2021) Native Hope.
https://blog.nativehope.org/sioux-native-americans-their-history-culture-and-traditions
(accessed 20/02/2023)
“Lakota Declaration of War,” The
People’s paths, by Valerie Taliman
http://www.thepeoplespaths.net/articles/warlakot.htm
(Accessed 05/02/2023)
“The Selling of Indian Culture
Protection of Ceremonies O-mini-c'i-ya-pi,” New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans,
Mitakuye Oyasin, http://www.newagefraud.org/olh3.html (Accessed 05/02/2023)
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