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Wi wanyang wacipi....The Sun Dance
The sun dance is called Wi wanyang wacipi (from wi, 'sun', wanyang, 'to gaze', and wacipi, 'they dance'; hence, "sun-gazing dance"). This is the only calendrical ritual, performed in the summer, usually in June or July. During this time the numerous tiyošpayes assemble for the common buffalo hunt, and while they are gathered, certain men who have pledged to dance the sun dance fulfill their vows by praying for the welfare of the entire tribe and by undertaking various forms of sacrifice. The sun dance site is chosen by mutual consent of the tiyošpaye leaders, the sodalities, and the akicita. The performance of the sun dance and related ceremonies, however, is under the supervision of the sacred persons, from whom one is selected as sun dance leader. After the camp circle has been established and preparations for the sun dance completed, the ritual itself begins and continues over a four-day period. On the first day a place in the center of the camp circle is selected where a hole will be dug and the sacred pole (can wakan) erected. A scout is sent out to find a suitable cottonwood tree (wagacan), which will later be captured by warriors who regard it as an enemy to be subdued. While the scout is away from camp, as many men as possible are selected to begin constructin of the sacred lodge (iyohanziglepi, 'shade'), which is built around the center hole. The lodge is constructed of two rows of forked ash posts which form concentric circles with an opening to the east. These poles are joined with saplings, and pine trees and brush are laid across them to form a shaded area where spectators will watch the Sun Dance and participants will occasionally rest. The diameter of the completed lodge is approximately twenty-five yards. A person is selected to dig the hole for the sacred pole. Dirt removed from the hole is formed into a square patch of earth to the west of the pole. The digger is then instructed to follow the sun dance leader, who walks from the center hole to the east, stopping every four paces. At each place, the digger hammers a wooden stake into the ground. The sun dance leader continues pacing until sixteen stakes have been hammered in, and the sixteenth stake marks the location of the sacred tipi (tipi wakan), where the sun dancers will receive their instructions and stay for the duration of the sun dance. The floor of the sacred tipi is lined with sage (pejiĥota); an altar (owank wakan) is constructed from mellowed earth at the west side; and a buffalo skull whose orbital and nasal orifices are plugged with sage is placed so that it faces west. During the ceremonies in the sacred tipi, prayers will be offered so that the buffalo spirit prevails and the people will be ensured of food over the coming year. Offerings of tobacco (canli wapaĥte) are attached to the sixteen stakes by the sun dancers, and no one may pass through the line of stakes, which represents the path of the sun. A sweat lodge is constructed on the north side of the sacred tipi where the participants and their paraphernalia will be purified before the ritual begins. On the second day the scout returns to camp announcing that he has found an enemy, and a large party of warriors and their female kin ride out to the place where the enemy has been discovered. It is normally located west of camp in such a place that the warriors must cross a small stream to reach it. Once the stream has been crossed and proper prayers intoned to the spirits of the water, the scout points out the cottonwood tree and the warriors rush it, counting coup on it. The sun dance leader then offers the pipe to the tree, touching the stem of his pipe to the trunk in four directions, moving around it sunwise from west to south. Brave warriors then begin to fell the tree, each striking it with an ax four times from each direction. When the tree is ready to fall, virgins are selected to fell the tree in such a way that it falls to the south. As the tree falls, there is a great shout and war songs are sung.  The tree is carefully trimmed and peeled except for the forked branches at the top. Then begins the procession carrying the tree back to the camp. Special carrying sticks approximately two feet long are used to carry the tree so that human hands will not touch it. The sticks are slid under the tree, and twenty to forty men on either side bear it along on the sticks. The procession stops to rest four times along the way, and on the fourth time, men who wish to compete for honors line up to race to the center hole in the sun dance lodge. The first to reach it will be entitled to carry a special banner. On the third day the sacred pole is painted red on four sides of the trunk, at the base, and at the tip of the branches. Cherry branches are then secured at the fork of the sacred pole to form a cross, which is regarded as the nest of the Thunderbird. Rawhide effigies of a man and a buffalo are suspended from the crosspiece, and a banner of calfskin painted red is similarly tied in place. Other kinds of offerings such as tobacco or small bags of tallow may also be attached to the sacred pole. At the appointed time, the sun dance leader directs selected men to raise the pole, placing the butt end into the hole into which also offerings of buffalo fat and tallow have been placed. This is done in such a way that the pole is raised in four attempts, a quarter of the way each time with brief intervals in between during which the men rest. On the fourth time the pole is slid into the hole and earth is packed around it so that it stands firm. This action is described as canpaslatapi, 'to erect a pole by pushing', a term also used synonymously for sacred pole.  Once the pole is in place, the warrior societies dress in their finest clothes and prepare for the owank onast wacipi, 'ground-flattening dance'. They load their guns and when the singing begins they dance to the west, firing their guns into the air. They dance back to the sacred pole and fire their guns at the effigies of the man and buffalo, each trying to hit them. The dance is repeated toward each of the remaining directions so that at the end of the dance, a flattened area in the form of a cross has been stamped into the earth. There is great rejoicing over the killing of the man and buffalo effigies, for this represents future success in hunting and victory in war. after the dance, men and women mount their horses and there is a great parade around the camp circle (uucita, 'parade'). Sexual restrictions are temporarily lifted and the young men and women leave the camp circle and head for the seclusion of the outlying prairie.
During the first three days those men who have pledged to sacrifice themselves in the sun dance meet with their mentors and the sun dance leader for instructions. Each may pledge to dance in one of four ways: wiwayang wacipi, 'gazing at the sun', wicapaĥlokapi, 'pierced', okaške wacipi, 'suspended', or ptepa yuslohanpi, 'dragging buffalo skulls'. In the first form of the dance, the dancer gazes at the sun from dawn to dusk. In the second, both his breasts are pierced by a sacred person, wooden skewers are inserted, and the skewers are attached to two rawhide ropes, which are tied about halfway up the sacred pole. In the third form, the dancer's breasts and the flesh over his scapulae is pierced, wooden skewers are inserted, and he is suspended between four posts, approximately one foot off the ground. In the fourth form, the flesh over the dancer's scapulae is pierced,wooden skewers are inserted, and thongs are attached to one or more buffalo skulls which he will be required to drag around the dance area. In the last three forms, the dancers must sacrifice themselves until the flesh has torn through. If they suffer for a long time, their comrades, female kin, or even children may assist them by adding their weight, pulling back against the rawhide ropes. Children may be encouraged to ride on the buffalo skulls to expedite the release. On the fourth day, before each prepares for his ordeal, the dancers, led by the sun dance leader, who carries the buffalo skull, leave the sacred tipi, walkong along the south side of the sixteen offering stakes. They circle the sun dance lodge four times sunwise, and then enter the lodge. They are all barefoot and wear white deerskin kilts around their waists. Wreathes of sage are placed upon their heads and around their wrists. Suspended from their necks are rawhide disks which represent the sunflower. They hold eagle-bone whistles (šiyotanka) tipped with eagle down (wacihin) in their mouths. As the opening song of the sun dance starts, they bob up and down in a line, blowing on their whistles in time with the drum. During the course of this introductory dance they face each of the four directions. The dancers may not eat or drink during their ordeal. To test their courage and stamina, an assistant of the sun dance leader holds a paunch of water in front of them as they dance and spills it casually on the ground. Occasionally the dancers may rest, but only after two of them have been selected by the sun dance leader to approach the singers with pipes. They dance up to the singers, holding the pipes in front of them while the head singer kneels in front of them. He stretches out his hands as if to take the pipe, but each time the dancers dance away from him. After he has feigned at the pipe three times, he accepts it on the fourth and the singers immediately stop singing and smoke the pipe. The dancers then retire underneath the shade until the singers have finished smoking, at which time the sun dance leader begins the dancing again.  When it is time to begin the ordeal, a buffalo robe is spread on the west side of the pole, and each dancer in turn lies on the robe. The sun dance leader makes the proper incisions with a steel awl (tainšpa) and his assistants tie the rawhide ropes to the skewers. During this period, other people may offer bits of flesh from their arms to Wakantanka. Men and women so desining file up to the buffalo robe, and the sun dance leader or one of his assistants cut half-inch pieces of flesh from their arms. Women whose children have been sick over the winter may have their children's ears pierced at this time as a fulfillment of a vow. The piercing of ears is an act which incorporates children into the tribe, and is particularly auspicious during a sun dance, when the child forms a symbolic bond between himself and the pierced dancers.
After all the dancers have been freed from their ordeal, the sun dance is over. The men, however, are imbued with sacred power as a result of their ordeal and communication with Wakantanka, and they may invest some of their power in the sick by placing their hands on them. As the tribal camp circle breaks up, the ritual paraphernalia is given away, but the sun dance lodge and the sacred pole are left intact until they deteriorate from exposure to the elements and thus return to Mother Earth.
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