Comment on Lawrence Eric S. Greene Miami-Dade Community College Lawrence's detailed account of the ways in which other species have been incorporated into the Sun Dance raises an array of questions and research possibilities not only about the ceremony itself, but about the analysis of non Western cultures from a Western perspective. The world of the Plains people is the experience of the Great Mystery who the Lakota call Wankan Tanka. Throughout the year, buffalo traveled in bands of cows and calves led by the older cows. During the rut, smaller bands joined together with the bulls in enormous herds which stretched across the plains. During the buffalo's rut, many Plains tribes gathered together for the Sun Dance.
Woman bears, that is true.
She also destroys. That is true. And she participated in the killing and butchering of mother buffalo and their young. Horses made it easier to chase, corral and kill buffalo. However, accompanying this prosperity was the threatening presence of white invaders, especially from the east, who pushed eastern tribes westward onto the Plains.