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The Lakota,
like other Native American peoples, had names for the lunar months and
the stars and constellations.
Lakota Month Names summarizes the various names used for the lunar
months. Some of these sources are difficult to access.
Lakota Star Names summarizes
both contemporary star names (given by Goodman) and traditional star
names compiled by Buechel.
Milky Way And Fallen Star,
from: James LaPointe, Legends of the Lakota , Indian
Historian Press, San Francisco, 1976, ISBN 0-913436-26-7.
"The Sun-Dance of the Sioux ," Frederick
Schwatka, Century Magazine , New York, 1889-1890 Volume 39, pp.
753-759.
In June of 1875, a great Sun Dance was held near
the present airport for city of Chadron, Nebraska. Fortunately,
Lieutenant
Frederick Schwatka, an Army officer, observed this dance. His
flowery
language, very politically incorrect today, was typical of that
era. The
Oglala at the Agency near Fort Robinson, 20 miles to the southwest,
joined forces with the Brulé from the Spotted Tail Agency, about
20 miles to the northeast on Beaver Creek. The Full Moon was on 18 June
1875, three days before the solstice.
An hour before sunrise , Venus, the Morning Star and brightest
celestial object that morning, was a mere 8° above the
east-northeast horizon. Saturn, brighter than any nearby star,
was 32° above the southern horizon. Mars, hovering on the
southwest horizon, was probably too low to be seen. Schwatka reports a
sun watching practice that is
similar to native American groups in the southwest. In the works
of Edward Curtis, there is a photo
of a Lakota man that he titles "Invocation". We might surmise
this is similar to what Schwatka observed. Schwatka participated in the
Battle of the Rosebud and he is mentioned in the diaries of John Bourke.
The Sun-Dance of the Sioux , George W.
Hill, 1875. Hill was an officer with the 22nd United
States Infantry at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory. Fort Sully was
located
near Pierre, the present capitol of South Dakota. Hill probably
observed this Sun Dance in 1866 around May 29 when the moon was full.
(Darcy Paige, "George W. Hill's Account of the Sioux Sun Dance of
1866." Plains Anthropologist , 24, 1979, pp. 99-112.)
This is my transcription of a copy in the archives of the North
Dakota Historical Society.
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