The Long Day

by Seth McFarland

 

June 21 marked the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, and a day traditionally celebrated by many cultures. The Plains cultures marked the day with the Sun Dance. The religious ceremony brought communities together for healing, and was often a grueling event marked with personal sacrifices and fasting. 

 

The ceremonies were distinct and practiced by tribes both in the United States and Canada in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Sun Dance was a prohibited ceremony by the governments of both countries. The prohibition of the practice was allowed in the mid-twentieth century.