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While the Star Blanket has replaced the Buffalo robe as a gift of honour; the tradition of generosity and blessing remains. To give a Star Blanket is to show utmost respect, honour, and admiration. To receive a Star Blanket indicates that the giver holds you in very high esteem for your generosity and accomplishments.Jan

The Star Quilt

Star quilts are given to mark important life events, like graduation.

For the Lakota (Sioux) people, the star quilt — wičháȟpi owíŋža — represents honor and generosity.

Design

The pattern is made of small diamonds pieced together in eight sections. These sections join together to create the eight-point star.

The pattern of the star quilt is inspired by the Morning Star. The Morning Star is the last and brightest star in the eastern horizon before dawn. It was believed the Morning Star represented the way the spirits came to earth and served as a link between the living and those who have passed.

Historically, star patterns were created with plant dyes and adorned buffalo hides and tipis. When missionaries arrived in the mid-to-late 1800's, they introduced textiles and sewing to Native American women and the star quilt was born.

Presentation

The star quilt’s tradition of honor grew as the quilts were draped around the shoulders of Lakota warriors and hunters when they returned from battle, a successful hunt, or at the start of Haŋblečeya — Vision Quests. It was also presented at funerals to honor loved ones on their final journey.

Today, star quilts are one of the most valued gifts of the Lakota (Sioux) people and are still draped over the shoulders of the recipient to symbolize protection on their journey through life.

Star quilts may be used:

• As banners in schools for graduations and other school functions
• As altar cloths in churches or placed on top of sweat lodges
• To mark momentous life events such as a wedding or a child’s birth
• As a gesture of sympathy to a family honoring the passing of a loved one

Generosity is an important virtue among the beliefs and traditions of the Lakota (Sioux) people. The image of a star quilt serves as a reminder of the significance and honor that comes from giving to others.

Learn more about star quilts in this video from South Dakota Public Broadcasting!

Sun Dance

Article byRené R. Gadacz

Published OnlineFebruary 7, 2006Last EditedNovember 12, 2015

The Sun Dance is an annual Plains Aboriginal cultural ceremony performed in honour of the sun, during which participants prove bravery by overcoming pain.

Sun Dance

(photo by Trueman, courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-14106)

Among the Blackfoot, circa 1908 (photo by Trueman, courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-14106).

The Sun Dance is an annual Plains Aboriginal cultural ceremony performed in honour of the sun, during which participants prove bravery by overcoming pain. The ceremony took place at midsummer when bands and tribes congregated at a predetermined location. The Sun Dance was forbidden under the Indian Act of 1885, but this ban was generally ignored and dropped from the Act in 1951. Some communities continue to celebrate the ceremony today.

History

The ceremony was arranged by a shaman, either as a request for supernatural aid or in response to a vision. Among the Siksika (Blackfoot) and Tsuut'ina (Sarcee), women took the initiative. Following four days of preliminary ritual, the Sun Dance lasted another four days focus on erecting the sacred dance pole and sacred lodge. On the final day different versions of the same dance took place. The Sun-Gaze Dances symbolized capture, torture, captivity and escape, and involved self-torture. Dancers enjoyed prestige from that time on. The Sun Dance was an emotional experience and an opportunity to renew kinship ties, arrange marriages and exchange property.

Banning the Sun Dance

The Indian Act of 1885 banned a number of traditional Aboriginal ceremonies, dances and festivals, including the Sun Dance. While some communities continued to perform the ceremony in secrecy, others upheld the prohibition in fear of government persecution. In 1951, amendments to the Indian Act no longer prohibited celebration of the Sun Dance.

Circle of the Sun

In the late 1950s, filmmaker Colin Low was permitted to film the Kainai (Blood) Nation in Alberta as they celebrated the Sun Dance. This was the first time that the Sun Dance was captured on film. In 1960, the National Film Board of Canada released Low’s film, Circle of the Sun, which explored the band’s connection to their culture and to the environment. It also showed the difficulties of the younger generation in connecting to their heritage and finding their place in the world.

The Sun Dance Today

Some Aboriginal societies continue to perform the Sun Dance. In 2007, World Council of Elders, a non-profit organization, established the International Sundance, which gathers Indigenous communities (primarily from across Canada, the United States and Australia) to perform the sacred ceremony.