The basic concept of the sun dance, the seeking of spiritual help through dancing, fasting, and self-torture, was very old, and each tribe staging a sun dance followed a common pattern, but there was considerable diversity in the accompanying activities.
In early summer, when the buffalo bulls were fat again, the scattered bands of a tribe would assemble at a location where there was good water, plenty of pasture, and some timber. A tall, slim tree with a fork near the top was chosen for the center pole of the ceremonial sun lodge, and was cut down by some special person, such as a noted warrior or a chaste woman. Once the tree fell, it was attacked by all the warriors as though it were a fallen enemy, each man striking it with a weapon as the branches were broken off. Then the pole was carried to the lodge site, and a bundle of brush and a buffalo hide were lashed to the fork before the pole was raised. The lodge was then constructed with rafters extending from the center pole to posts marking the outer wall. Near the base of the pole a cleared space decorated with buffalo skulls was used as an altar.
Each man volunteering for the sun dance had a skewer thrust through the skin and muscle of each breast, with thongs from the skewers fastened high on the center pole. The dancer then leaned back, keeping the thong taut, his dance step consisting of raising himself on his toes and settling down again until he fainted or the skewers tore loose. This self-torture was the central part of an elaborate ceremony lasting several days. The skulls, thongs, buffalo hide, and the feathers of the war eagle were the only animal parts used in the ceremony, although the bundle of brush in the fork of the center pole symbolized an eagle's nest.
In the northern plains a special dance was developed to call the buffalo herds to the hunting grounds near the villages. The Mandan dance was the most elaborate of these, requiring three days for the complete ceremony. The old men of the tribe sat in a group in the middle of the dancing place and were offered honors while many hunters disguised as buffalo circled around and were pursued by other hunters. Each disguised hunter wore on his head a mask made by tanning an entire buffalo head, keeping the horns and hair intact. About fifteen hunters danced at a time. George Catlin, who visited the Mandans in the 1830's, described the scene:
When one becomes fatigued of the exercise, he signifies it by bending quite forward, and sinking his body towards the ground; when another draws a bow upon him and hits him with a blunt arrow, and he falls like a buffalois seized by the bystanders, who drag him out of the ring by the heels, brandishing their knives about him; and having gone through the motions of skinning and cutting him up, they let him off, and his place is at once supplied by another, who dances into the ring with his mask on; and by this taking of places, the scene is easily kept up night and day, until the desired effect has been produced, that of "making the buffalo come."
The Hidatsa, living just to the north and west of the Mandans, had a similar dance, held in a large ceremonial lodge. Six old men were chosen to represent buffalo bulls; they carried sticks ornamented with bells obtained from white traders and hooves from buffalo calves, sang special songs, and imitated the bellowing of the bulls. Dishes of boiled corn and beans were passed around, and each tasted the food. Then empty dishes were passed around, and each man pretended to taste the buffalo meat that would be served on these dishes if the magic dance brought a herd within range of the hunters.
Among the Blackfeet, the person initiating the mystic rites to attract buffalo had to own a "buffalo stone," a small brown stone three or four inches long naturally shaped like a buffalo. A few of these were found over the years in the gravel beds of streams in the Blackfoot country and were treasured family heirlooms.
The owner of a buffalo stone invited a number of hunters who were believed to be especially favored by the Sun to come to his lodge for the rites, which did not include dancing by a large group; following a successful hunt the hunters did sing and dance in thankfulness for the help the Sun had given them. A successful buffalo caller was always sought to join the group in the lodge for the preliminary rites.
During the larger part of each year the Plains tribes wandered in small bands, each going its separate way, although two or more bands might join forces at any time for visiting or a big hunt. When a band was by itself, the people usually behaved quite well, needing no more than social pressure from their relatives and friends to keep their conduct at a satisfactory level. But when the bands gathered in the early summer for the sun dance or for a great communal buffalo hunt, it was sometimes difficult to keep order among the 2,000 or 3,000 people in the camp. The most serious problem was the supervising of the hunters lest a few go out at the wrong time and stampede the buffalo herd into distant pastures before the communal hunt could be staged. One man, a respected chief, was put in charge of all the camp, and he made the hunting rules from day to day. These were announced each day to the whole camp, and were enforced by a designated body of young men, in some tribes called the dog soldiers.
The pattern for this type of control, like the pattern for the sun dance, had been developed by some of the woodland tribes long before they moved out onto the plains, and was used for various situations. Once in the open country such restrictions were needed less often than when the tribe lived in the large communal houses. In some tribes the dog soldiers were used only for special circumstances in the hunting of the buffalo, but in other tribes they had several functions.
An early account of the hunting control was recorded by Louis Hennepin, who was camping at the time near the upper Mississippi River. The year was 1680.
Fifteen or sixteen savages came into the middle of the place where they were, with their great clubs in their hands. The first thing they did was to overset the cabin of those that had invited us. Then they took away all their victuals and what bears oil they could find in the bladders, or elsewhere, with which they rubbed themselves all over from head to foot…. We knew not what these savages were at first, but it appear'd they were some of those that we had left above the Falls of St. Anthony. One of them, who called himself my uncle, told me that those who had given us victuals, had done basely to go and forestal the others in the chase; and that according to the laws and customs of their country, 'twas lawful for them to plunder them, since they had been the cause that the Bulls were all run away, before the nation could get together, which was a great injury to the publick; for when they are all met, they make a great slaughter amongst the Bulls; for they surround them on every side, that 'tis impossible for them to escape.
David Thompson, a trader among the Blackfeet for the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1790's, found that they had much the same kind of camp police:
The same evening a Chief walked through the camp informing them that as the bisons were too far off for the hunting party they had given orders to the Soldiers to allow no person to hunt until further notice. Such an order is sure to find some tents ill provided. While we were there, hunting was forbidden on this account. Two tents which had gambled away their things, even to dried provisions, had to steal a march on the Soldiers under pretense of looking after their horses; but finding they did not return were watched. In the evening of the second day they approached the camp, with their horses loaded with meat which the Soldiers seized, and the owners quickly gave up; the former distributed the meat to the tents that had many women and children, and left nothing to the owners; but those that had received the meat, in the night sent them a portion of it. Not a murmur was heard, every one said they had acted right.