Participants are usually expected to arrive at least four days prior to the Sundance taking place. This time is meant to be a cleansing, and purifying period. As a Sundancer you are going to be stepping into the sacred sundance circle, and physiologically and psychologically you need to slow down and tune into the spiritual vibration of the ceremony. During this time you are getting your mind ready, and thinking about what’s important in your life. It is during this time that many participants get their materials ready.
The materials consist of four hundred and five tobacco ties, which carry a significant meaning, one that will be explained in more detail in later posts. Also, you will be making tobacco flags. The colors of the Medicine wheel are black, red, yellow, and white, and each color will be represented by a corresponding flag of the same color. There will also be a blue, as well as green flag which will represent the earth and sky. As Lakota people we are taught from a very young age to show respect to the land, each other and the creator, these tobacco ties represent that and prayers.
You will also be making your garments, which will include a sundance skirt for men, and a sundance robe and or shawl for women. These garments are usually made throughout the year, but many people put their finishing touches on them during this time. The men use an eagle wing fan, which aids in smudging, and adding comfort to the overheating body. The men also adorn an eagle bone whistle, which will deserve its own explanation and lesson at a later time. Women will usually wear a ribbon dress, and or shawl, and medallion. In the sacred sundance circle we wear sage anklets, bracelets, and a crown which are all woven to fit you. They help purify your body, and raise the spiritual vibration levels of your body while you are dancing and praying in the circle. Sage is an integral part of our ceremonies, and we consider it a purifier, as well as medicine. We burn sage to smudge(smoke purification) ourselves and our environment, or things we will be using in our ceremonies. This sage is usually picked on the way to sundance, or as a group you will go out and look for it during the four day purification process.
The making of the tobacco ties, garments, and sage bands is usually a sacred and happy time spent with relatives, preparing for the coming days of the sacred dance. During these four days the women are usually seen preparing meals and tending to the families, whilst the men are constructing the circle harbor which will encompass the sundancers, and provide comfort and shade for the supporters, and singers. Flag poles are erected in the two entrances, which are east and west, representing the rising and setting of the sun. During these four purification days the sundance participants will be going into the inipi or sweat lodge. They will be praying for a good and successful sundance, cleansing their bodies, and preparing their minds for the days to come. The people will also be preparing their sacred Chanupa's or pipes to be used in the entirety of the sundance. The Chanupa is the main element used in all sacred ceremonies, and will be elaborated on at a later time due to its importance, and of which explanation will take considerable time.
The day before the beginning of the sundance is the tree day, meaning the people go to acquire the tree that will be the center of the sundance ceremony, or at the center of the circle, as the sun is to our solar system. This cottonwood tree is usually chosen before hand by the medicine man. The people all gather at its location, which is usually remote and requires a walk through much terrain. The time spent getting this living cotton wood entity is meant to be a journey, ceremony, and lesson in its self. When the people gather around the tree, it is prayed upon by the spiritual leaders with the sacred Chanupa, and blessed by a virgin who will be an integral part of the ceremony as a whole.
After giving thanks to the tree for it giving its life for our ceremony, the sacred tree is cut down. We do not allow the tree to touch the ground, because it is sacred now, and has become a part of the ceremony. The tree is carried by the people all the way back to the sundance circle. Like I said this journey is part of the ceremony, and is a declaration of prayer and commitment to the creator and the people. On occasion we have carried the tree which is very large and heavy, distances of over ten miles.
After we arrive the tree is prayed upon again, and then placed in the middle of the sundance circle.
There will be many different ceremonies taking place that are a part of the sundance, including a blessing of the children and elders, a healing ceremony, and a few others, leading up to the piercing ceremonies which will conclude the sundance. Over the course of these four days, no food or water will be consumed. Many dancers will dance until they lose consciousness, and through suffering will discover deeper parts of them selves they didn’t know existed. It is a mystical experience, one that I hold close to my heart and will be happy to share in a later blog.
