The Washington herald., 1913-11-16
Federal Administration Finds
Such Ceremonials 0bjec-
tionable = Choral Drama
Is Filled with Interesting
Symbolism.

| Never again the sun dance The Fed
eral government has decided not to per
NIT In future this most important Of all
the eeremonials Of the Plains tribes. IT
contends that such performances have a
! tendency to ''retard the moral and ma
terial welfare Of the Indians.
Besides, the tortures. self-infiicted upon
the performers. which were a conspicu-
GUS feature of the dance, are deemed OBJ
jectionable. The method commonly
adopted was to attach the free end of a
RATA to a skewer, thrust through the
! loose skin OF the breast-the other end
being fastened to the center-pole OF the
medicine lodge" in which the religious
stage-play was enacted-and then to
caper about until the rope tore itself
loose. Another mode was to drag around
one or more buffalo skulls by RATA, the
other end OF which was skewered
through the back Of the dancer.
This sort of thing lacks attractiveness
from an outsiders standpoint. Neverthe-
less, In a way, the prohibition OF the
ceremonial gives cause for regret. 1t was
decidedly the most picturesque OF all our
aboriginal theatricals, the torture being
only an incidental feature which might
| have been cut out. and Its symbolism
was poetic and even beautiful.
II Is summer solstice ceremony, and
the object of IL Is to overcome certain
hostile cosmic forces. The principal
theme Is an attack upon the sun by the
dancers, who defeat the solar god by
their medicine" and compel the "thun-
derbird' to allow the rain to fall. In the
fork at the top of the center pole of the
medicine lodge is an arrangement OF
sticks and straw, adorned with various
powerful fetiches. which is supposed to
be the nest of the thunderbird.
Center Pole the sun.
The center pole represents the sun-the
great mystery" or ''man above The
medicine lodge is the earth, the home Of
man. On one side of it is an altar, which
is the "spring of fertilization" The
circle In which the performers sit when
not dancing represents the constellation
Corona Borealis, frequently spoken OF
by the Plains tribes as the camp circle
OF the gods" in the sky
The tepee of secret preparation. placed
at some distance from the medicine lodge,
stands for the sacred mountain to which
the originator of the ceremony repaired
in distress on an emergent occasion. In
the ritual OF the ceremony IL Is related
that once upon a time. in a period Of
a female companion and encountered a
god, learned the ceremony. returned to
the tribe. caused the ceremony to be per-
formed, and thus brought relief and a
boundless food supply through the ap-
pearance of the buffalo-an animal up to
that time non-existent.
Into the thunderbird's nest is thrust a
digging-stick, symbolic OF that used by
the woman, who, in a weIl-known abo-
II,
suit Of a porcupine, and later gave birth
to the Sun Boy.
Formerly II was supposed by ethnologi-
cal students that the thunderbird was
the eagle. But now the fact Is fairly
well established that the original Of this
fowl Of supernatural attributes was none
other than the condor. This species of
vulture, largest of all flying birds, Is
found today only among the lofty peaks
of the Andes, and in the high mountains
which extend that chain, the backbone of
te continent. through Central America.
But there is no question of the fact that
in earlier times the condor ranged along
the Rockies as far north as the Columbia
River. in Oregon. and even nowadays an
occasional wandering specimen Is seen in
the remote Southwest of the United
States.
4 Religious Drama.
The sun dance is a ceremonial peculiar
to the Plains tribes-the Cheyenne
Arapaho, Cree. Pawnee, Kiowa, and
others. 1t is a religious drama, largely
choral, the dancing being accompanied
by singing. Formerly ii was held once
a year, and the objects OF the incidental
tortures was to propitiate the gods,
other evils. Among different tribes its
details varied The Kiowas. for ex-
ample. did not practice tortures, and
regarded the shedding or appearance Of
blood at any time during the performance
as an i'll omen
On the other hand, among the
Cheyennes the tortures were most severe.
Sometimes a small piece of flesh was cut
from the shoulder of the dancer and Of
fered with tobacco seeds at the foot of
the center pole. as a mode Of seeking
special fsvors from the divinities. The
Cheyennes are said, anciently, to have
suspended from the center pole, alive,
an enemy captured in war.
The ceremony begins with secret rites
in the tepee of preparation. which are
supposed to represent the ritual origin
ally performed on the sacred mountain.
For this purpose the priests, or mystery
men," assemble in the tepee, where they
smoke. pray, and prepare various OBJ
Jects which are to be used on the altar
or worn by the dancers during the subse-
quent performance
Meanwhile the medicine lodge Is built
The finding of the sacred tree in the
forest, and cutting II down and setting
IL up as center pole. is an elaborate
ceremony in itself. No sooner is the pole
set up than the warriors, fully armed,
beth themselves and their ponies re-
splendent with paint. charge upon IL at
full speed, firing guns and whooping, and
each man striking the pole with his
weapon.
The medicine lodge when completed is
circular in form and anywhere from
sixty TO one hundred feet In diameter. Ii
has only one opening, which Is always
on the east side. When il Is finished
and ready, the mystery men, abandon
the tepee and take up their quarters in
the lodge during the rest OF the cere-
mony. which, from. the beginning Of the
secret preparations to the end OF the
afair, lasts for eight days. The lodge
Is then dedicated with elaborate rites:
the warrior societies parade, and the
chiefs slgnailze the bravery OF certain
young men by specially designating them
BY name
Decorutioa of Altar.
Next morning the altar is set up
a cleared circle Of earth. with a buffalo
skull In the center, and sometimes a
sand painting"-sands OF different
colors. suitably arranged, taking the
place Of pigments I'm this curious form
of aboriginal art Green hushes and