Spiritual Traditions

The Sun Dance is the greatest religious ceremony of the Plains Indians. The Sun Dance was held every summer, when the grass was high and the game plentiful, in order to bring new life to the tribe. The people would come together in one big camp for worship and socializing. They would gather in a big circle that opened to the East, bringing their sacred objects--the Buffalo Hat and Four Arrows--for good health, long lives, and plenty to eat.

Prayer of a Cheyenne Sun Dance Woman

Great Spirit One above
Grandmother Spirit below
We thank you for life and for each new day.We thank you for our children and for the old ones.
We pray that you bless each Cheyenne with strength, good-heartedness, a clear mind, and long life.
We pray that all Cheyennes remember their sacred connection to each other and bring blessings of health, beauty, and goodness to themselves and all life.

Ghost Dance Years

A Paiute Indian had a vision that he was to teach all the Indians: He saw that all the Indian people who had died were living in a big village of their own and that their village was coming back in the direction of the living people on earth. During the Sun Dance, which lasted for long periods in a big circle until the dancers began to fall down, dancers said they could see dead relatives and friends they had not seen in years. They wore certain ornaments - shirts with the sun on one side and the moon on the other, or sometimes eagles or other animals. These shirts were believed to turn bullets away.