Sacred Texts Native American Plains Index Previous Next
They should then go in procession on the Sun Trail to the Dance Lodge and enter it. There the Superior should prepare the Fetish of the Sun Dance, making it of four times four wands of chokecherry wood and enclosing in it a wisp of sage, one of sweetgrass, and a tuft of shed buffalo hair. He may also enclose in it such trinkets or ornaments as the people give for that purpose. When this bundle is securely bound, the Superior, assisted by such Shamans as he may select, should, with the aid of his Fetish and by proper ceremony, impart to it the potency of the Buffalo God so that when it is elevated the Buffalo God will prevail in the camp.
Then he should securely bind this Fetish to one fork of the Sacred Pole. When he has done this, he should prepare the banner of the Shamans, making it of some red material that will wave. It should be four arms' length long and four hands' breadth wide, with a wand at one end to keep it spread. This end of the banner should be securely fastened to the fork of the Sacred Pole other than that to which the Fetish is bound. The Fetish and banner should be so securely fastened that they will not be loosened by blows or shooting with arrows.
While the Superior is preparing the Fetish and banner, men whose hands are painted red should prepare the Sacred Pole for erection by tying to it thongs with which to pull it erect. Then a heyoka to whom the Winged God has granted a communication should loosely tie to each fork of the Sacred Pole the black images of a man and a buffalo, so that when the pole is erect they will be above the Fetish and the banner, and so that they can be brought down by blows or shooting with arrows.
Then at the command of the Superior the men with red hands should lift the Sacred Pole to about one fourth the distance to the perpendicular and pause, holding it there while the herald proclaims that the Sacred Pole is going up. The people should assemble about the Dance Lodge, men and women grouped apart. At the command of the Superior the men with red hands should lift the pole half way to the perpendicular and pause. During this pause those who wish to do so should make offerings to the Earth by placing the articles offered in the hole at the Sacred Spot. When these offerings are made the Superior should again command the red-handed men to lift the pole and they should raise it to about three-fourths of perpendicular and there pause. Then the herald should proclaim that the Gods elevated on the Sacred Pole must prevail in the camp. Then the Superior should command the men to raise the Sacred Pole erect and they should lift and pull it so with its butt in the hole at the Sacred Spot. When the pole
is erect the digger should replace the dirt taken from the hole and tamp it about the pole so that it will stand firmly when bearing the weight of a struggling man.
Then the people may shout the names of Iya and Gnaski and protest that these Gods prevail in the camp. Immediately, men and women commingle and then follows a period of license when they banter each other and jest of sexual things. At that time a man or a woman may be familiar with one of the opposite sex in a manner that would be an indignity at other times, and the ribald merriment may become boisterous.
When the Superior sees fit, he should command the herald to proclaim that the escort and the warriors come and dance the war dance and drive the obscene Gods from the camp. Those thus called should equip themselves as if for battle and come into the Dance Lodge. There they should dance the war dance on the uncovered space, hooting the obscene Gods hung on the Sacred Pole and shooting and throwing and striking at them until they fall. When these obscene Gods fall, the warriors should strike and trample them as they dance the victory dance and the women should shout their approval and ululate for joy. The Superior should quickly make an incense of buffalo chips on the altar, to appease the elevated Fetish and when the chips have burned to coals he should scorch the fallen images on these coals and thereby destroy their potency for evil. Then he should lean the dried buffalo penis against the Sacred Pole with a pipe beside it, thus making effective the potency of the Fetish to maintain decency in the camp. He should then sprinkle a covering of cedar leaves and twigs over the altar, for these are potent to ward against the anti-natural conduct of the Winged God and of the heyoka. The warriors should continue to dance the victory dance, stamping and striking uneven places on the uncovered space until it is made sufficiently level to dance upon easily.
In the meantime, the Mentors and attendants should prepare the Dance Lodge for the forms of the Sun Dance that their Candidates are to dance. For those who are to dance the second form, the buffalo heads should be placed beside the Sacred Pole; for those to dance the third form, the stakes should be fixed upright firmly in the ground of the uncovered space; for those to dance the fourth form, the thongs should be fixed to the Sacred Pole, and for those to dance the fourth form actually suspended, the thongs should be passed through the fork of the Sacred Pole.
When the warriors stop dancing they should leave the Dance Lodge. Then the musicians should bring a dance drum and fix it on its supports not far from the entrance on the covered space at the left of the Dance Lodge, and they should place four or eight rattles beside the drum. The attendants should bring the dried buffalo hide with the hair on and the
buffalo tails attached to handles, and place them next to the drum toward the honor place in the lodge. The mothers who intend to have their babes' ears pierced should make a bed of sage for each babe, placing them at the inner edge of the covered space, between the articles already placed and the uncovered space.
When these things are done, the Dance Lodge is prepared for the Sun Dance and all should go from it and none enter it until after the Candidates enter to dance. In the meantime, the women should prepare the feast of the Shamans and when all come from the Dance Lodge it should be served, first to the Shamans, who should sit near the council lodge and then to the people, who should sit about the Shamans. During this feast the Shamans may intone addresses to the Gods, or either of Them, but all others should eat in silence. As the Sun is almost disappearing from sight the Shamans should first offer smoke to the Four Winds and then to the Sun and invoke His approbation of what has been done and what is to be done and the people should respond by shouting, "Nunwe," which means, "May it be so."
At dusk all the people should go to their tipis and remain quietly there until the morrow. When it is dark the Superior and Mentors should go in procession to drive away the evil beings, as they did on the previous night. Then they should visit the Candidates to give them the last aid and instructions they will receive in the Sacred Lodge. This will complete the formalities of the third holy day.