3 Introductory Note. 



the Sun Dance as a spectacle, it has received but scant attention at 

 the hands of ethnologists, and apart from Catlin's interesting account 

 of the ceremony among the Mandans, Bushotter's brief statement of 

 the Sioux Sun Dance, quoted by Dorsey, and Miss Fletcher's brief 

 notice of the ceremony of the Oglala Sioux, there is very little infor- 

 mation in print on the subject. 



As to the number of tribes which performed this ceremony in 

 former times, I have not been able to learn. It is known, however, 

 that the ceremony was held by nearly all the Plains tribes of the Siouan 

 stock, excepting the Winnebago and the Osage. Among tribes of the 

 Algonquian stock it seems to have been confined to the Blackfeet, 

 Cheyenne, and Arapaho. It has also long been one of the most impor- 

 tant ceremonies of the Kiowa, and was formerly given by the Pawnee. 

 It is also performed by the Shoshoni of the Wind River Reservation 

 of Wyoming, and the Utes of Utah. So far as I am able to learn, the 

 ceremony has never been given by any of the tribes of the Caddoan 

 stock, except the Pawnee. 



From this general statement as to the tribes which performed the 

 dance, it will be readily seen that it is essentially a ceremony of the 

 Plains Indians. This accounts for the fact that the ceremony is not 

 performed by the Osage or by the Winnebago, who, properly speaking, 

 are not Plains Indians. The majority of the tribes ceased the per- 

 formance of the Sun Dance ceremony between 1885 and 1890, although 

 a few of the more conservative tribes still retain the ceremony when 

 its performance is not prohibited by force. 



For reasons which may be seen in later pages of this paper, the 

 Sun Dance is given up only with the greatest reluctance by a tribe. 

 Of course several tribes have progressed to such an extent that they 

 no longer believe in the religion of their ancestors, and with such, the 

 Sun Dance died a natural death. With the more conservative tribes, 

 however, such as the Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ponca, it 

 seems that the Sun Dance, unless prohibited by force, will survive for 

 several years. That the time is soon coming, however, when the cere- 

 mony will be no longer given by any tribe, there is no doubt. 



It is owing largely to the liberal spirit of Major Stouch, United 

 States Indian Agent at Darlington, that the Cheyenne and Arapaho 

 were permitted to perform the ceremony in 1901. I had been informed 

 by letter that the Cheyenne ceremony was to be performed in June, 

 and visited Oklahoma for the purpose of witnessing it. Upon my 

 arrival at the agency, however, I found it had been postponed. I 

 again visited the reservation in August, when the ceremony was per- 

 formed. I learned at that time that an Arapaho by the name of 



