Sundancing: The Great Sioux Piercing RitualAs reported by one Sun Dance participant in the book "On the third day of the dance, Titus and I were pierced. ...I lay down on the buffalo hide and the dancers faced me, blowing their whistles and dancing while I prayed with the Peace Pipe. Titus and I will both pierce as long as we are alive and the Indian language and culture are alive. When Titus was cut, I helped him up and then put a stick through his skin to hold the rope. Titus danced and pulled on the rope until the stick broke loose.... I pulled for quite awhile before mine broke too, and the flesh offering was finished...." |
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Almighty altar Black Elk Blackfeather Brulé buffalo skull bundle Bushotter camp circuit cloth color dancers Delbert Densmore Eagle Feather earth east feet flags flesh offerings Fools Crow Frances Densmore Frank Fools Crow George Eagle Elk ground healing ceremony held hole holy Indian Intercessor Jesse White July Keeper leader live lodge male pledgers medicine medicine men moved Mystery Circle non-Indian Oglala Old Man Four painted participants Peace Pipe pierced Pine Ridge Pine Ridge Reservation pipe rack pledgers facing pledgers rested prayed prayers Preparations Tipi pulled rawhide red power religion rocks ropes Rosebud Reservation Sacred Pipe sacred pole Sacred Tree sage side singers skewer skin smoke songs South Dakota spectators Spirit stick Sun Dance Sun Pole sweatlodge sweet grass Teton Sioux things tied Titus Smith touch the Tree tribe vision quest Wakan-Tanka whistles White women Yellow Hawk Yuwipi
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Page 23 - It is certainly the greatest nation of Indians ever yet found. Not above two thousand of them were ever armed with fire-arms, the rest depending entirely on bows and arrows and darts, which they use with, more skill than any other Indian nation in ]STorth America.