By enacting the hunt, the dancers seek to invoke a sympathetic magic by which the correct completion of the ritual ensures the successful completion of the hunt. In fact, they believe there is no difference - the hunting dance and the hunt itself are the same spiritual event seen from two different temporal angles. Among many of the planting societies the dance rituals are also said to dissolve space and time. They allow the dancers to re-enter the sacred reality that existed before the beginning of their society. In that reality the dancers re-enact the magical events by which their divine ancestors created their people and way of life.
Dance is the most important language the people know.
It is a magical language of power. It is the language of the spirits. It is the language nature understands. It is the language in which are told the myths and stories that provide the people with the correct way to make sense out of their experience. To celebrate birth and marriage, to initiate the young into adulthood, to initiate the adults into the sacred mysteries, to prepare for war, to celebrate victory or lament defeat, to heal the sick, to help the dying on their journey into the land of the dead, to maintain the life of the community on the proper path, traditional peoples sing their songs and dance their dances.