104 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



of the earth and brought the people the paints of the lodge. Thus the exceed- 

 ingly simple altar may be said to consist of the fireplace, or sun, the buffalo, and 

 finally of the sage, which is symbolic of the people. [Dorsey, 1905, pp. 87-88.) 



This interpretation of Sim dance symbolism, though it reveals many 

 important Ponca concepts, faUs to assign any overall symbolism to 

 the rites. Nor could any of my informants do this, even those who 

 had taken part in the dance. The true symbolism of the dance, it 

 seems, has been lost by the Ponca and must be sought among other 

 tribes which practiced the rites. Perhaps the most logical of the 

 many interpretations of the Prairie-Plains Sun dance is that offered 

 by the Assiniboin, Plains-Ojibwa, and Plains-Cree, Northern Plains 

 groups whose performance of the dance is very similar to that of the 

 Ponca. Their Sun dance is performed to call the thunderbird to 

 bring rain for growing crops and to provide grass for the buffalo (or 

 today, cattle). To induce this rainmaker to stop and "rest" in their 

 territory a "nest" is provided for him in the fork of the Sun dance 

 pole. The dancers are dressed to represent baby thunderbirds (i.e, 

 naked and without plumage) and their piping on eagle-bone whistles 

 imitates the constant chirping of nestliags. 



There is much to be said for this interpretation. In addition to 

 explaining the symbolism of the thunderbird's nest, the dancer's 

 "naked" costume, and the whistle blowing, it also accounts for the 

 use of wUlow (a tree which grows near, and is associated with, water) 

 for the center pole and the performers' abstention from food and drink 

 during the ceremony (i.e., they are waiting for the "mother" thunder- 

 bird to come and feed them). Perhaps the Ponca once held similar 

 beliefs which have been lost through the passage of time, or, more 

 likely, the Ponca adopted the form of the ceremony, without the 

 underlying symbolism, from some other tribe, possibly the Dakota. 

 In this connection it should be noted that the Omaha never performed 

 the dance. 



A recent Southern Ponca interpretation of the dance's meaning, 

 interesting as an example of religious syncretism, was offered by WBB: 



In the Sun dance the dancers imitate Our Lord when he was crucified. They 

 dress in the same way he dressed, with just a wrapping around the waist. Instead 

 of the crown of thorns we have wreaths of sage, because we are Indians. We 

 pierce our bodies just like He was pierced when they nailed Him to the cross. 

 The horsehair collars we sometimes wear [necklaces and bandoliers made of long 

 red horsehair fringes] represent the blood flowing from the wounds in Our Lord's 

 body. 



G. A. Dorsey (1905, p. 88), in comparing the Ponca Sun dance with 

 that of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, notes a few points of difference. 

 In general, these hold true for other Plains tribes as well. He men- 

 tions that imlike the Cheyenne and Arapaho performances, the Ponca 

 Sun dance was an annual affair, not dependent upon the vow or 

 pledge of an individual. Neither did the dancers vow to dance or do 



