The_Horse_Dance

The Horse Dance The Horse Dance The horse dance started out with a crier sent around in the morning who told the people to camp in a circle at a certain place. The people did this, in the middle of the Circle Bear Sings and Black Road set a sacred tepee of bison hide, and on it they painted pictures from Black Elks vision. On the West side hey painted a bow and a cup of water, on the north, white geese and the herb, on the east, the daybreak star and the pipe, on the south, the flowering stick and the nations hoop. They also painted horses, elk, and bison. Then over the door of the sacred tepee, they painted the flaming rainbow. For this ritual Black Elk was told not to eat anything until the horse dance was over. There were four black horses to represent the West, four white horses for the north, four sorrels for the east, four buckskins for the south. For all these young riders had been chosen. And Black Elk got a bay horse to ride on, as it was in his vision. Four of the most beautiful girls black, painted, white, horse, elk, west, lightning, east, riders, red, horses, four, sacred, earth, tepee, streaks, south, pipe, over, north, people, paint, nation, hey-a-a-hey, grandfathers, gave, father, dance, vision, stick, started, star, songs, sang