What Was The Sun Dance?

The sun dance was the supreme ceremony in Plains Indian culture. Focusing on fertility and the sun. The sun dance ended in an agonizing climax, when young men offered their flesh to the spirits in an ordeal of torture and amputation. During the Mandan sun dance (o-kee-pa), tribal members would impersonate animal spirits whose favour the tribe sought. Then two young men would be hung from rawhide ropes attached to pegs skewered under their flesh while staring at the sun. Buffalo skulls would be attached to their legs to increase the weight and older warriors would prod them. Most men fainted within 20 minutes. When they regained consciousness, they dragged themselves to the masked warrior who chopped off one or two fingers. As a final test, the mutilated young men would to run a circle outside the medicine lodge. Those who best withstood the pain were candidates for future leadership.