sun dance, ceremony typical of the Plains Indians of North America. The ceremony was performed in the summer and lasted from two to eight days. Some of the ceremony was secret. Smoking, fasting, and other rites were part of the ceremony. Penance through self-torture was practiced to achieve communion with the forces of the universe. Among some Native Americans, a bison skull was pulled around the lodge by means of a thong and peg inserted through the skin of the participant's chest. Missionaries and the U.S. and Canadian governments prohibited the ceremony.

Most important religious ritual of the Plains Indians of North America. Ordinarily held by each tribe once a year in early summer, it is simultaneously an opportunity to reaffirm basic beliefs about the universe and the supernatural through rituals and a highly sacred event through which personal sacrifice is undertaken for the general well-being of the community and the individual. The ritual originated long ago and has been widely adopted by indigenous Plains peoples from Saskatchewan, Can., to Texas, U.S. The central rite involves male supplicants who, in order to fulfill a vow, to seek spiritual energy and insight, and for the health of the community, pledge to dance for several days without stopping for food, drink, or sleep, their ordeal ending in exhaustion. Among some tribes, piercing and sun gazing are practiced.

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