INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



Of all the ceremonies of the Plains Indians that of the so-called 

 "Sun Dance" is probably the most famous, but the least understood. 

 On account of the large number of tribes which performed the Sun 

 Dance, the wide distribution of these tribes, and the popularity of the 

 Sun Dance itself, it has probably been witnessed by more people than 

 has any other ceremony of the Indians of the United States. The 

 amount of misconception which prevails concerning the ceremony, 

 however, is very great, and there ex'isted for many years, especially 

 on the part of the United States Indian Office and its agents, a feeling 

 of hostility toward the Sun Dance. The character of this hostility, as 

 well as the ignorance of the true meaning of the ceremony, may be 

 seen from the following citations, taken almost at random from the 

 Agents' letters printed in the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of 

 Indian Affairs: 



"The traditional 'sun dance,' with its attendant tortures, in which 

 the cruel ordeal through which the candidate who aspires to be a 

 'brave' must pass, is still practiced among the Indians." Jacob 

 Kauffman, Agent Fort Berthold, Annual Report, 1880, p. 33. 



"No 'sun dance' (the most barbarous of all Indian dances) was 

 held or attempted this year." W. Parkhurst, Agent Lower Brule, 

 Annual Report, 1882, p. 32. 



"Dancing is diminishing, and the heathenish annual ceremony, 

 termed 'the sun dance,' will, I trust, from the way it is losing ground, 

 be soon a thing of the past." V. T. McGillicuddy, Agent Pine Ridge, 

 Annual Report, 1882, p. 39. 



"The barbarous festival known as the 'sun dance' has lost 

 ground." James G. Wright, Agent Rosebud, Annual Report, 1883, 



P- 43- 



"They have also made great progress in abandoning many of their 

 old customs, noticeably that of the sun dance, which for the first time 

 in the history of the Ogalala Sioux and Northern Cheyennes was not 

 held. The abandonment of such a barbarous, demoralizing ceremony, 

 antagonistic to civilization and progress " V. T. McGilli- 

 cuddy, Agent Pine Ridge, Annual Report, 1884, p. 37. 



"The aboriginal and barbarous festival of the sun dance " 



James G. Wright, Agent Rosebud, Annual Report, 1886, p. 32. 



Notwithstanding the importance as well as the popular nature of 



