Pow-wow on Standing Rock

After observing part of the Lakota Sundance Ceremony at Felix Kidder's farmstead, our family, together with Gunnar and Feli Vik, hustled to the pow-wow grounds just south of Fort Yates. We got there just in time for the Grand Entrance. It was Sunday evening, the time when dancers from across the nation engaged in the final dance competition. I'm unsure of the tribes represented but know they came from such places as California, Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska, and New Mexico. As the photos show, it was quite a feast for the eyes.

The girls in the center wear jingle dresses. The metal cone-shaped pieces are made from lids of chewing tobacco cans.

This dancer holds sacred eagle feathers in his left hand. The eagle is revered because it soars closest to Great Grandfather (Wakantanka or God)

Dancers of all ages participated

No one was left out of the Grand Entrance

Some of the dancers imitated birds

Dancing in hot weather will drive a hard thirst. It was in the mid-90s at the time.

A young jingle dancer

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