Sun Dance Collection

The Wild Bunch
Members of The Wild Bunch in Fort Worth, Texas: sitting (l to r): Harry A Longabaugh, alias the Sundance Kid, Ben Kilpatrick, alias the Tall Texan, Robert Leroy Parker

Porcupine-Cheyenne, c1910. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
Porcupine-Cheyenne, c1910. Porcupine, a Cheyenne man, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing right, wearing a wreath of cottonwood leaves on his head

Priests passing before the pipe-Cheyenne, c1910. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
Priests passing before the pipe-Cheyenne, c1910. Group of Cheyenne people, most seated in a semicircle during sun dance ceremony, woman in foreground is holding pipe, buffalo skull in foreground

For strength and visions-Apsaroke, c1908. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
For strength and visions-Apsaroke, c1908. Photograph shows an Apsaroke man, leaning back slightly, with strips of leather attached to his chest and tethered to a pole secured by rocks

Sun dance in progress-Cheyenne, c1910. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
Sun dance in progress-Cheyenne, c1910

Offering pipe to the skull-Cheyenne, c1910. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
Offering pipe to the skull-Cheyenne, c1910. Woman offering pipe to buffalo skull, during sun dance ceremony

Gray Dawn-Cheyenne, c1910. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
Gray Dawn-Cheyenne, c1910. Sun dance lodge with Cheyenne people standing inside

Offering the pipe to the Earth-Cheyenne, c1910. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
Offering the pipe to the Earth-Cheyenne, c1910. Cheyenne woman holding pipe close to earth, during the sun dance ceremony

Before the final journey-Cheyenne, c1910. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
Before the final journey-Cheyenne, c1910. Cheyenne people gathered in open area, for Sun Dance ceremony; several tents and hills in background

Chiefs in the Sun Dance parade-Cheyenne, c1927. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
Chiefs in the Sun Dance parade-Cheyenne, c1927. Several Cheyenne chiefs on horseback in a row in an open field

Sun dance pledgers-Cheyenne, c1910. Creator: Edward Sheriff Curtis
Sun dance pledgers-Cheyenne, c1910. Two young men in ceremonial paint

Scenes of Plains Indian Life, c. 1880 (pigment on elkhide)
5848722 Scenes of Plains Indian Life, c.1880 (pigment on elkhide) by Cotsiogo or Cosiogo (Cadzi Cody) (1866-1912); 172.7x200.7 cm; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN

Un Examen De Medecine Chez Les Peaux-Rouges (engraving)
2783396 Un Examen De Medecine Chez Les Peaux-Rouges (engraving) by French School, (19th century); Private Collection; (add.info.: Un Examen De Medecine Chez Les Peaux-Rouges)

The Sun-Dance (colour litho)
980600 The Sun-Dance (colour litho) by American School, (19th century) (after); Private Collection; (add.info.: The Sun-Dance. An illustration for A Study of Siouan Cults by James Owen Dorsey)

Moose skin by North American Shoshone Indian, showing Buffalo hunt, 20th century. Artist: Katsikodi
Painting on Moose skin by North American Shoshone Indian, 20th century, showing buffalo hunt. Centre: Shoshoni perform Sun Dance

Papua New Guinea Southern Highlands Sun Dance
New Guinea man in the Wabia Village of the Tari Valley area of the Southern Highlands. He is part of a group preparing to perform a "Sun Dance" to help the ill

Sun Dance Blackfeet Indians Tribe Native Americans
The ordeal in the Sun Dance among the Blackfeet Indians. After a work by American artist Frederic Sackrider Remington, 1861 - 1909

The sundance was practiced by most tribes of the Great Plains, Plateau and Great Basin areas. Some of the men participating in the self mutilation would drag bison skulls tied to skewers implanted

Harry Longabaugh, alias Sundance Kid, three-quarter length portrait. Date 1901

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Sun Dance: A Tradition of Strength, Visions, and Sacrifice among the Plains Indians as Depicted by Edward S. Curtis The Wild Bunch of the American West may have captured the imagination of filmgoers, but a different kind of wildness and brotherhood unfolded during the Sun Dance ceremonies of the Porcupine-Cheyenne, Apsaroke, and other Plains tribes. Edward S. Curtis captured these moments in his iconic photographs taken between 1908 and 1910. In these images, we witness the priests preparing for the dance, offering pipes to the earth and the dead, and the pledgers undergoing the painful yet transformative experience. The Sun Dance was more than just a religious ritual; it was a test of endurance, a time for seeking visions, and a communal bonding experience. As the sun began to rise on a new day, the Cheyenne people gathered for the Sun Dance parade, with their chiefs leading the way. The Sun Dance was a reminder of their connection to the land, their ancestors, and the natural world. Scenes of Plains Indian Life, painted on elkhide, offer a glimpse into the daily life of these communities, providing context to the Sun Dance and its significance within the larger cultural context of the Plains tribes.