Eating buffalo meet was therefore consider to be eating energy from the Sun.ĭuring a traditional 4-day Lakota dance called, "The Sun Dance", correctly translated to mean, "Dancing in the Circle of Light", a large tree is placed in the center of a circular arbor. Each of those sites correlated with a specific constellation in the Sun's path thus fulfilling one of the Lakota's strongest beliefs that "what is above is also below". This belief is in part due to the fact that the buffalo's migratory pattern around the Black Hills, followed by the Lakota, coincided with sacred sites where traditional Lakota Sun-related ceremonies were held each year. The Lakota believed the buffalo to be "the embodiment of solar power". This ceremony symbolically begins the season of renewal.ĥ. It is at Harney Peak, found in the center of the Black Hills, that they hike to the top, conduct a pipe ceremony and 'welcome back the thunders'. For instance, during the spring equinox when the Sun is in the "Dried Red Willow" constellation (The Big Dipper), the Lakota know it is time to travel to Harney Peak. In the book, "Lakota Star Knowledge" by Ronald Goodman, you can learn why the Lakota consider the buffalo to be the embodiment of solar power and how the tipi symbolizes living inside the sun.Īs the Sun travels along and annual path though specific constellations in the sky, its location alerts the Lakota to perform particular ceremonies and when to travel to specific sites found in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Much of their culture has been directly influenced and shaped by centuries of solar observation. The Lakota strongly believe that there is a powerful connection between the Sun and the Earth. The triangle on the bottom symbolizes earth sites. The inverted triangle on top symbolizes the stars and/or the Sun.
The Lakota Symbol for Sun-Earth Connection
#ANCIENT PLUMB BOB PORTABLE#
These resemble elaborate compass roses used by mariners, and would be handy and portable for making solar shadow time measurements, if a stick with a plumb-bob (an arrowhead, say) were placed upright in the center of the pattern."ģ. There are painted hides usually identified in museums as "star maps" or "feather circles". The angle of direction and length of the sun's noon shadow can be determined, and provides a simple way to identify these 4 key days that mark the earth's seasons. "The Lakota were nomadic and didn't always camp at the same spots. Come learn through the Circle of Light Where the Four Winds Meet." Come sit with me within the Tee-chee-ka, where we touch the ground and look out to the stars. Come into my classroom," he invites us, "Leave your square buildings, and come walk with to the sacred mountain. "We once hunted for buffalo, we now hunt for knowledge. The skies above mirror what is below, in constellations that hold the history and the knowledge of the people in their shining shapes.
His voice evokes the image of the Lakota people moving with the seasonal migration of the buffalo, people of the Sun, in a great circle centered at the Black Hills of South Dakota. Behind him is a backdrop of the night sky filled with stars. "He is seated cross-legged upon a buffalo robe, the aroma of burning sweetgrass filling the room.
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