Ceremonies and Dance of the Plains Tribes
Tribal Ceremonies. In addition to the above ceremonial practices, there are a number of procedures deserving special mention. Most tribes had a series of ceremonies for calling the buffalo and inducing them to enter the pound or to permit themselves to be easily taken by the hunters. These have not been satisfactorily investigated but seem to have varied a great deal probably because this function was usually delegated to a few tribal shamans each of whom exercised his own special formulae. The Crow, the Blackfoot, and perhaps a few other tribes had elaborate tobacco planting ceremonies. The Pawnee formerly sacrificed … Read more