American Indian Dance Rituals

American Indian Dance

Ceremonial dance of American Indians is often referred to as a religion, although most American Indians would argue is more of a practice of their spirituality and well being. They embrace ceremonies as a way to help overcome the difficulties of life, such as, marriage, death, war, and weather. The rituals unite in community and give recognition to their ancestor and nature. Therefore, American Indians have created and practiced their own diverse types of dance thru movement, costumes, and beliefs.
The most widely publicized American Indian dance is the Hopi tribe's "Snake Dance." Each year the tribe performs this ceremonial dance on their final day of worship; which is usually around late August. During which, the dancers
However, this is unique because, both women and men were allowed to participate. Women are rarely allowed to participate in Native American ceremonies. The rain dance attire is large headdress that contains goat hair, clothing with different designs, and turquoise jewelry. The specific turquoise and goat feathers symbolize wind and rain. Men would wear their hair down, women wore their hair in a special tribal wrap on the sides of their head. Indian men also wore masks with a turquoise strip that stretches from ear to ear across the face. The women's mask is similar, but instead of a turquoise stripe, it is white and they do not have the rectangle pattern on the bottom, or the horsehair. The men would also have their bodies painted with tribal symbols and wear special beads and turquoise moccasins. The women wore a black dress and no parts of their bodies were shown, except their bare feet. Also, over the dress is a bright colored shawl, with one black and one white over that. They are then ready to perform the rain dance in hopes of bringing the rain. The pattern for the dance was zigzag, rather than most ceremonial dances which are often circles. The steps were very intricate. One small part to the dance was when the women would cross the space six times, then circle counterclockwise, holding hands and leaping with a stamp from right to left. The music was mainly to
It is practice for a prayer for life, world renewal and giving thanks. The ritual for the participant represents a quest for spiritual power, purification, a communion, or at least attempted communion. The start of the ritual is the tree cutting and raising, which takes place the day before the dance. The tree is ceremoniously decorated before being placed in the hole of the center of the sun dance arena (McGaa). There is no rehearsal for the sun dance because it's an annual thanksgiving to the Great Spirit and to all the powers between the breathing ones. A woman will open the ritual as she dances full circle around the tree, and rejoins the rest of the dancers who then may enter the arena. As they dance, they must stop in each direction east, south, west, and north. A holy tribe member addresses the crowd to the way of the Sun Dance; the tribal morals and values. The dancers are then summoned to present their pipes and that is the end of the first part. The participants then rest for the night. For the next three days traditional powwow and fancy dancing take place in the arena. Fancy dance is a fast paced, colorful, highly energetic dance, often including tricks and very athletic movements. This has twirls and can be danced more freely. Each day the audience increases in numbers from hundreds to thousands. Piercing is the next part of