The Sun Dance of the Blackfoot IndiansWissler, Clark
Religion
The Sun Dance of the Blackfoot Indians
Wissler, Clark
Siksika Indians; Sun dance
Then the Sun gave Scar Face a buckskin suit decorated with porcupine
quills. On the breast and back of the shirt were quill-worked
rosettes representing the sun; the side seams of the leggings and
sleeves were covered with strips of quillwork three or four inches
wide. In addition, the sleeves and leggings bore hair fringes
representing the scalps of cranes killed by Scar Face. The Sun also
gave Scar Face a bow with a lock of hair fastened to one end, a
whistle made of a hollow reed, a bladder, and the robe worn by Scar
Face. To represent the scalping, the Sun painted the upper part
black. The whistle and the bladder were to be used on the woman who
had refused Scar Face. The bow too, is a reminder of the killing of
the cranes and is still used in the sun dance lodge. The Sun gave
Scar Face a circle of creeping juniper which the women that build
the lodge (the sun dance or medicine lodge) are to wear on their
heads.
The Sun told Scar Face of the sun dance, the lodge, and the
sweathouse, and added, "When you return to your people and wish to
make an offering to me, you must first build a sweathouse and there
make your offerings. Then I will hear your prayers and accept them.
You may also make offerings to me in the sun dance lodge." He
covered Scar Face's face with the "seventh" or red paint, drew a
black circle around his face and a black dot on the bridge of his
nose, and a streak of black around each wrist. He said to Scar Face,
"This is the way the people must paint when they make offerings to
me in the sun dance lodge. For the victory or scalp dance they must
paint their faces black." The Sun also gave him a necklace, in the
center of which were strung two small shells and a pendent lock of
hair, flanked on either side by four beads. This is the necklace
worn by the husband of the woman owning the natoas. The Sun's lodge
was made of white buffalo robes and some the color of beaver skins.
The door of the Sun's lodge faced the east. For this reason, tipis
were always turned so the doors faced east. Now Scar Face decided to
return to the place where Spider waited.
The narrative then proceeds in the usual way, except that the hero
calls all the men of the camp to take revenge on the young woman
after which he by magic turns her into a cripple.
THE BLOOD AND NORTH BLACKFOOT.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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