O, Wakan Tanka, be merciful to me that my People may live. It is for this that I am sacrificing myself.
The Sun Dance was held every year in June (the moon of fattening) or July (moon of cherries ripening) when the moon was full. It was first revealed in a vision to a Lakota named Kablaya. Wakan Tanka told him that his People had become lazy in their prayers, so he sent them a new way of praying--the Sun Dance.
In a Sun Dance, dancers offer their bodies as a sacrifice on behalf of all the people. Through their sacrifice, the people gain strength and understanding.
In the old days, a large tipi was built and several ritual objects gathered or made. One of these is a round rawhide circle, representing the sun. It is painted red, with a smaller blue circle in the center, which is Wakan Tanka. Many singers came to sing the sacred songs, and a drum (its roundness representing the universe, its steady beat the pulse of the heart) was brought.
Central to the ceremony is a cottonwood tree, a "rustling" tree, which is placed at the center of the tipi. It represents an enemy who has been attacked and conquered. A group of people go out to find the cottonwood, and when they do, a sacred Pipe is smoked. One person is selected to make the first cut on the tree. This symbolizes counting coup on the tree, or enemy. Others then help cut it down, but it is not allowed to touch the ground. The tree is carried back to the dance place and put into the earth at the center of what will be a sweat lodge. Then all of the ritual objects and the tree are purified with the smoke of sweetgrass.
A sweat lodge is built around the tree and the chosen dancers enter it and are purified in an Inipi. The Pipe is smoked and sacred songs are sung. One of them is:
The Sun, the Light of the world.
I hear him coming.
I see his face as he comes.
He makes the beings on earth happy
And they rejoice.
O, Wakan Tanka, I offer to You this world of Light.-- Black Elk's The Sacred Pipe. Wreaths of sage are placed on each dancer's head. Then each describes what s/he will sacrifice. The sacrifice is either pieces of flesh or piercing of the flesh. Flesh represents ignorance, so the tearing or cutting of the flesh is the freeing of the body from the bonds of ignorance.
On the final day of the Sun Dance, some dancers have their flesh pierced, and rawhide thongs are threaded through the flesh and tied to the tree. Wreaths of sage are placed on each dancer's head and around their writst and ankles. As they dance, they blow eagle bone whistles. The singing and drum continue throughout, and they dance until the thongs break free. Others offer pieces of flesh to Wakan Tanka or to the Earth or the four powers of the four directions.
When the dance is done, the dancers go into the sweat lodge and smoke a Pipe. Then all return to the tipi and a feast is held.
Counting Coup was a way to prove bravery by touching, not killing, the enemy. It could be done with either the hand or a special coup stick. The first coup on an enemy had the highest status, then the second, and so on. Acts of coup earned rewards of feathers or special face painted markings. (The word coup is a French word meaning "a hit or blow.")