CHAPTER XIX.
The Sun Dance; Preparations; Its Religious Significance; and Purpose; How it was Conducted, etc.
It may not be amiss to insert here a description of what was known to the various Indian tribes as the Sun Dance. Each nation, people, or tribe in past history has had some ceremony, symbolic in its nature, by which honors and dignities were conferred upon those who sough honor and preferment. Nor has this custom been confined to any particular class, for all have, at different times, indulged in the practice, nor was it without its influence and effect upon those who sought advancement. The Knights of the Middle Ages, when in the act of receiving the symbols of their office and vocation, were compelled to submit themselves to some kind of ordeal by which they manifested their fitness to wear the honors they sought. So, too, it was with the denizens of the plains, as the following narrative from unimpeachable authority will illustrate. Just as in the days of old, the ceremony was partly religious in its development, so, too, the children of the plains invested the conferring of honors and rights to preferment with religious ceremony and physical tests.
The Sun Dance, as practiced by the Cheyenne tribe of Indians, dates back to time immemorial. In the performance of it, the Indian makes a profession of faith in the Supreme Being, and at the same time subjects those who engage in it, to a physical test that is sufficient to try the heart and soul of even the most valiant. The first step in the proceedings of this semi-religious festival, is to select the proper location for the celebration of it. Weeks, and perhaps months in advance, some pow-wow is held at which they make the selection of the place in which they wish to hold their festival. Usually some well-known camping ground is chosen on account of the abundance of fuel and water, both of which were necessary for the proper conduct of the ceremony, for it was essential that there should be means at hand for preparing the final feast, as well as an abundant supply of water for the multitudes assembled from the different districts for the purpose of watering their stock, as well as, affording bathing facilities to such a vast number.
For several days prior to the actual enactment of the ceremony, Indians would begin to assemble, straggling in from long distances, bringing with them the greater part a their household belongings. North, south, east, and west sent their contingents. Whole families with their teepees, ponies, and dogs, assembled from all parts of the reservations or the plains to participate in the festivities or to be merely on-lookers hoping in their mere presence to receive some benediction from the Great Spirit whom they assembled to worship. Long before the arrival of these scattered bands, the Medicine Man was on the scene to give his attention to whatever preparations were required for the occasion. He usually selected some central point wherein to erect his place of worship. In this chosen spot he was to enact the two-fold role of High Priest and Medicine Man, to minister to their spiritual and corporal necessities.
Many days elapsed before the arrival of the final contingent, and the intervening time had to be employed as best they could. This gave those who had already arrived on the scene, an opportunity of visiting their relations and friends, whom they had not met, perhaps since the preceding Sun Dance. The older folks were content to while away the passing hours in social converse, whilst the young engaged in feats of skill, contesting in games peculiar to the tribe. It was quite evident that they were supremely happy in their childish amusements, and enjoyed them as thoroughly as their white contemporaries found pleasure and enjoyment in their more up-to-date and scientific play toys. One thing particularly noticeable in all their endeavors was the spirit of prompt obedience to parental authority. The control that the Indian parent exercises over his child is marvelous, and in all my intercourse with the children of the plains, I have never known of a parent chastizing his child in a cruel or harsh manner. It is a thing unheard of, that a child ever raised a hand or uttered an unfilial expression of contempt towards his parents. I believe that if an Indian child were to emulate the example of many white children, whom I have known not only to treat their parents with contempt, but even go so far as to treat them contumeliously, the Indian father would be so staggered by such an outbreak and disregard for the proprieties of his position, that it would require a council of chiefs to decide upon the proper mode of dealing with the case, as it would lack all precedent. The little redskin is attentive to the wants of his parents, and at all times exercises a continual watchfulness over their wants to forestall any command to fulfill some duty. Nor do the parents fill the childish mind with tales of goblins and hobgoblins to excite terror in his little heart. Even the customary punishment of locking the little child up in some dark corner, is lacking, for there is no need of it. Obedience to authority is part of the nature of the Indian child and it comes so easy for him to render it that it never becomes irksome.
When the last stragglers have arrived, and the interchange of social courtesies is fulfilled, the large central teepee, or ampitheatre is erected and ready for occupancy. In the center of this teepee is placed a large pole much the same as the old-time May pole used by the people of the Middle Ages on the occasion of their annual celebrations, but in this case the purpose was very much different, as will be seen later on in this narrative.
During the time the rank and file of the Indians were enjoying their intercourse, the young men who were candidates for honors in the trials of endurance, were busying themselves plaiting their hair and painting their bodies. They decorated their faces and other portions of the body with every conceivable kind of animal and reptile that human ingenuity could invent, as taste or custom suggested. Some of the productions were very artistic, and some were rather grotesque, but the tout-ensemble served the purpose for which the work was intended. They were no novices in the art of extracting colors from the plants and shrubs that grew in abundance on the plains, and at the same time had developed the art of applying them to the human body for decorative purposes. The paints were not indelible, consequently they could be easily removed and another application made as circumstances required. At times, the renewal of the decoration took place as many as four or five times a day.