Native Circles are Life
Spirituality and dance in the Native culture is a tradition that is associated with social aspects of life that tightly connect to the people. The correlation with dance and religion are intertwined as the way to pray for weather, unity, healing, and restoration of life. The Ghost Dance and the Sun Dance are religious ceremonies to reunite and reconnect Native Indians with earth and spirit integrating their belief system in a powerful ritual dance ceremony.
Britannica, Ghost Dance.
The Ghost Dance was a religious movement that originated in 1870 from a Native American, named Wovoka. He was a Paiute prophet that had a vision of a revival of what was stolen from the land of his people. Though the religion was mixed with Christian beliefs due to the invasion of white settlements, Wovoka used his discovery the eclipse and the sun to rebirth him as a spiritual leader. The Ghost dance was for the regeneration of the earth, to connect with the ancestors for the renewal of the buffalo and to live in freedom again.
The Sun Dance original took place before the Ghost Dance and is truly an example of testing the mental and physical strength of people. This emotional dance took place for several days and is a ritual prayer dance asking for help from the Great Spirits. A piercing of the body takes place as a sacrifice of the body to connect with the spirit. “The Sun Dance is customarily held outside and performed in a large circle called the Mystery Circle or Hoop.” Moving History/Dancing Cultures. (P. 118). Both of these dances really represent what is known as the Circle of Life.
Works Cited: Dils, A. & Albright, A. C. Moving History/Dancing Cultures. Wesleyan University Press. (2001). Hassell, J. Ghost Dance Wounded Knee. July 20, 2009. YouTube. https://youtu.be/7PQj-NHp83A Oyasin, M. Indigenous Religious Traditions. Ghost Dance and Sun Dance. http://sites.coloradocollege.edu/indigenoustraditions/6-•-independent-projects/ghost-dance-and-sun-dance/ Thereelindian. The Sundance Ceremony. YouTube. (September 14, 2013). Colorado College
