|
|
An encampment was set up at the Pipestone National Monument the week of July 23 for the American Indian Movement’s annual Sundance at the site. The ceremony included four days of fasting, prayer and dancing. K. Kuphal
The American Indian Movement (AIM) held its annual Sundance at Pipestone National Monument the week of July 23. Participants fasted, danced and prayed for four days, including during an excessive heat warning on Thursday, July 27.
AIM Director Lisa Bellanger described the Sundance as a spiritual gathering and one of the ceremonies that was given to the people 19 generations ago by the Buffalo Calf Woman, who also gave them the sacred pipe. She said Sundances are held all over the Lakota and Dakota territories and that one is held at Pipestone National Monument because that’s where the sacred stone is found.
It’s not clear how many people attended the Sundance this year, but Bellanger said Tuesday afternoon, July 25, before the ceremony began, that people had come from Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Nebraska primarily, but also Washington, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Canada.
Attendees accessed the area where the Sundance was held via a trail through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) land north of the Monument land. A trail from 121st Street leads to a wide open space where tents and an outdoor kitchen and dining area were set up. Up a footpath from there is where the ceremony takes place each year.
In that area, tepees, sweat lodges and the arbor were set up. The arbor is a circular structure made of wood with a tree in the center that was cut down and brought to the site on Wednesday, July 26.
Some who participate in Sundances choose to be pierced and tethered to the tree in the center of the arbor. Bellanger said men and women of any age can choose to do so. The late Clyde Bellecourt, who started the Sundance at Pipestone National Monument over 30 years ago, said in 2019 that it represented connectedness to the earth. Bellanger compared the act to the sacrifice that women go through during the pains of childbirth.
“Some people will be pierced and stay out there for the entire four days,” she said.
Others rest and take breaks in the shade and in the tepees set up at the site, which is fenced off during the ceremony, separating those who participate from the outside world.
“Once we go in that area, that’s it,” Bellanger said. “Only the fire keepers can talk to us. Some of us are allowed to talk to the drum, but it’s like you’re put into a bubble. Once we’re in that bubble together, we strengthen as a family and a community, so people share why they’re dancing then or they ask for prayers from everybody. We might have a circle in the evening and talk about special requests.”
Bellanger said most of the people who attend the Sundance each year are there to support family members and friends who are dancing, and stay outside the fenced area. Some bring prayer requests or offerings and some bring food for the kitchen to help support the ceremony.
“We say that however you are involved, whether it’s dropping off wood or dropping off food, you receive that healing by helping,” Bellanger said. “You receive the same healing as the dancers.”
Bellanger said she has seen miracles happen during Sundances. When she was a teenager, her mother had to have a major surgery. Bellanger had planned to go to a Sundance, but when she found out about the surgery, she wanted to stay with her mother.
“She said, ‘No, you have to go because you can do more for me there than just sitting home,’ so I went,” Bellanger said.
People at the Sundance prayed for her mother. When she called her mother when the ceremony was over, she learned that her mother had made it through the surgery and was recovering in a manner she described as “miraculous.”
“For me, as a teenager, I learned right there the power of the ceremony,” Bellanger said.
She said she’s participated in the Sundance at Pipestone National Monument for many years and is just one of the people who help organize the ceremony each year. Others help specifically with the kitchen, the dancers, the fire and other aspects.
“It’s a team,” she said.
People are welcome to observe the annual ceremony each year, but are asked to follow guidelines such as not to eat or drink near the arbor out of respect for those who are fasting, and not to take any photos. AIM has people at the entrance to the road through the USFWS land who can answer questions and Pipestone National Monument staff members can also provide information.
“We welcome people to come and to come with an open mind,” Bellanger said.