jonathan Gilbert

history

10-17-2013

lawson 

             In indian culture, dance played a significant role. Nowadays we dance to express ourselves, cut lose and have a good time. while the indians also did this, they took it to a deeper level. Dance in native american society was used for spiritual ceremonies, religious gatherings and also, just to break out and have some fun with the rest of the community. some of the most significant dances were the buffalo dance, ghost dance and the sun dance. 

              In native american culture buffalo were used for just about everything. Buffalo skins were used for tents and clothes and tons of other things, buffalo meat was used for food and the fur on buffalo was also used for clothes. With all these uses for buffalo many were hunted and killed, since so many were killed sometimes they wouldn't come back. Because of their many uses for the buffalo indians respected them. Indians would sometimes leave the land they had lived in, just to let the buffalo come back and repopulate the area. Before they did this indians would have a ceremony were they would preform the buffalo dance. A dance dedicated to the buffalo in an attempt to bring them back to the area. By making a dance for the buffalo it really shows how the native americans loved and respected the buffalo and how much they depended on it. 

              The native americans also had a dance for a spiritual ceremony. The ghost dance was used to reunite the living spirits with those who had passed on hint the name "ghost dance". But it wasn't made to be spooky, in fact, kids would dance along also, the whole community would dance until they dropped. literally, some people would pass out from dancing too much. Native americans beliefs in that this dance was one of the ways they could communicate with relatives that had died and warriors who were killed and battle. With this sounding very serious and spiritually deep, it actually wasn't. This was one of the more informal, laid back dances, as in who could join the dance. The dance was for anyone, if you felt you wanted to. 

                The sun dance was a little bit different. Yes it was a spiritual dance but, this one dance also had some religious purposes in it. The sun dance was a religious ceremony practiced by multiple native american tribes near canada, it was designed to be a thank you to the gods for blessing them in either their crops or just in family matters. Of all the dances I've talked about, the sun dance played the most significant role in their society. Preparation alone took months. Tribes had to come together, a place had to be set up, food had to be cooked and dancers had to be selected. 

                In native american culture dancing's role not only was used for fun but it was also used for ceremonies, you can see how the use of dancing changes with each society. For the native americans it brought them together as a community, it also helped them connect with spirits with buffalo and also with their gods. Dance was either used for celebration, communication and also, just saying thanks. native americans also didn't see dancing as, well, just dancing. It became more than just an activity to do with friends and your family, it really became a job for most. Such as the people who were choosen to be pierced in the sun dance, sometimes it was a chance to talk to a loved one who you had not seen in quite sometime.

sources

http://www.ani-kutani.com/nativeamericanfacts/native_american_dance.html

- i used this link to find different types of indian dances. mainly the sun dance, from this source i learned the purposes of the sun dance and how it played a religious purpose in their culture.

http://www.indians.org/articles/powwow.html 

- i used this link to get a general idea of native american dancing. this link also gave facts about the powwows and the history behind them.
http://www.powwows.com/category/articles/powwow/dancing/
- in this link i found how powwows look like modern day and if they have changed at all. i learned that the purposes have changed but the traditions have not.
i also used this link to get different types of native american dances
http://www.native-americans-online.com/native-american-sun-dance.htm
- i used this link to research the sun dance and its purposes. i found the history of the sun dance and its purposes and what happened to the dancers.