The Plains cultures, like most of the Native cultures on the American continent, distinguished usually two main seasonal periods: a winter and a summer one, both signaled by climactic and environmental marks which varied from one area or group to another. Thus, among the Blackfoot, according to Wissler, the year ended traditionally in winter and was divided in two seasons: summer and winter, each comprising a certain number of lunar cycles (Wissler 1911). Also among the Crow, Lowie reported a division of the year in two seasons: one from the beginning of spring to the falling of the first snow, the other from the first snowfall until the melting of ice, announcing the new spring (Lowie 1912).
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Painted deer skin, belonging to an old Pawnee sacred bundle, illustrating the starred sky, in which several constellations are recognizable, among them the Pleiades, which were utilized as seasonal marking for the horticultural works (Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago)
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The passing of time, the movement of the seasons and the incessant transformation of the universe were accompanied among the Plains peoples by a series of ritual celebrations, marking the various key moments of this travel through time and space. It is probable that, with the collapse of the traditional socio-economic system and the institution of reservations, the very memory of a ceremonial system thousands of years old could have been rapidly disintegrated and obfuscated. However, many significant indications remain of its existence. The Blackfoot and the Lakota have retained the idea of a cosmos in which the cycles of the world above and the rhythms of the human world were strictly intertwined and correlated. The ceremonial cycle of the Blackfoot comprised four important seasonal steps: the first thunder in spring opened the ceremonies niinaimsskahkoyinnimaan (the Sacred Pipes or Medicine Pipes); in summer was held the Sun Dance (aakokatssin, “circle encampment”), when the Saskatoon berries were ripen, a shrub also called service berry (Amelanchier alnifolia); the ritual called All-Smoke Ceremony (kanotsisissin) was performed in midwinter, when the nights were longer, around the solstice; at last, when the ice on the rivers began to melt, anticipating the arrival of spring, the ritual of the Sacred Beaver Bundle (ksisskstakyomopisstaan) was celebrated. “These ceremonies are the collective consciousness of siksikaitsitapi [Blackfoot], which places them at the centre of their universe. During these ceremonies we acknowledge and give thanks to our alliances for another cycle. We ask for continued protection, prosperity, long life, growth and strength” (Bastien 2004: 113).
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Cheyenne Sun Dance Lodge, the ceremony which signaled the climax of the summer season (Photo E. S. Curtis, 1911)
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A phase in the construction of the Sun Dance Lodge among the Arapaho. It is recognizable the center pole, made by a cottonwood tree, on top of which a bundle of boughs has been put, to symbolize the Thunder Bird nest (Photo James Mooney, 1893)
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For the Lakota, the period of the celebration of the Sun Dance was signaled, among other marks, by the constellation of the Hand (nape), formed by the belt and sword of Orion. “Years ago, nape had its heliacal setting a short time before midsummer. This was the period when summer solstice occurred in Matotipila, “The Bear’s Lodge”, a Lakota constellation consisting of eight stars around Gemini” (Goodman 1992: 219). The “Bear’s Lodge” was found also on the earth: this was the name of a rocky hill known as Devils Tower, in Wyoming, which was associated in several traditions with the origin of the Sun Dance.
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Celestial map showing the constellations known by the Lakota and important for their scheduling of seasonal activities. At the center of the Great Hoop a big animal (presumably a buffalo) appears. Its head is formed by the Pleiades, while the ribs are identified with the three stars of the Orion Belt (illustration from Goodman, 1992) |
Animals