O, Wakan Tanka, be merciful to me that my People may live.

It is for this that I am sacrificing myself.



The Sun Dance was held every year in June (the moon of fattening) or July (moon of cherries ripening) when the moon was full. It was first revealed in a vision to a Lakota named Kablaya. Wakan Tanka told him that his People had become lazy in their prayers, so he sent them a new way of praying-the Sun Dance. In a Sun Dance, dancers offer their bodies as a sacrifice on behalf of all the people. Through their sacrifice, the people gain strength and understanding.



In the old days, a large tipi was built and several ritual objects gathered or made. One of these was a round rawhide circle, representing the sun. It was painted red, with a smaller blue circle in the center, which represented Wakan Tanka. Many singers came to sing the sacred songs, and a drum (its roundness representing the universe, its steady beat the pulse of the heart) was brought.



Central to the ceremony was a cottonwood tree, a "rustling" tree, which was placed at the center of the tipi. It represented an enemy who has been attacked and conquered. A group of people went out to find the cottonwood, and when they did, a sacred Pipe was smoked. One person was selected to make the first cut on the tree. This symbolized counting coup on the tree, or enemy. Others then helped cut it down, but it was not allowed to touch the ground. The tree was carried back to the dance place and put into the earth at the center of what became the sweat lodge. Then all of the ritual objects and the tree were purified with the smoke of sweetgrass.



A sweat lodge was built around the tree and the chosen dancers entered it and were purified in an Inipi. The Pipe was smoked and sacred songs were sung.

One of them was:



The Sun, the Light of the world.

I hear him coming.

I see his face as he comes.

He makes the beings on earth happy

And they rejoice.

O, Wakan Tanka, I offer to You this world of Light.

Black Elk's, The Sacred Pipe.



Black Elk

Wreaths of sage were placed on each dancer's head. Then each described what she or he would sacrifice. The sacrifice was either pieces of flesh or piercing of the flesh. Flesh represents ignorance, so the tearing or cutting of the flesh represented freeing the body from the bonds of ignorance.



On the final day of the Sun Dance, some dancers had their flesh pierced, and rawhide thongs were threaded through the flesh and tied to the tree. Wreaths of sage were placed on each dancer's head and around their wrists and ankles. As they danced, they blew eagle bone whistles. As singing and drumming continued throughout; they danced until the thongs break free. Other offered pieces of flesh to Wakan Tanka, to the Earth or the four powers of the four directions.



When the dance was done, the dancers went into the sweat lodge and smoked a Pipe. Then all returned to the tipi and a feast was held.



Note:

Counting Coup was a way to prove bravery by touching, not killing, the enemy. It could be done with either the hand or a special coup stick. The first coup on an enemy had the highest status, then the second, and so on. Acts of coup earned rewards of feathers or special face painted markings.

The word coup is a French word meaning "a hit or blow."