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Sun Dancing: A Spiritual Journey on the Red Road
A powerful story of one man's redemption through the Lakota Sun Dance ceremony.
• Written by the only white man to be confirmed as a Sundance Chief by traditional Lakota elders.
• Includes forewords by prominent Lakota spiritual leaders Leonard Crow Dog, Charles Chipps, Mary Thunder, and Jamie Sams.
The Sun Dance is the largest and most important ceremony in the Lakota spiritual tradition, the one that ensures the life of the people for another year. In 1988 Michael Hull was extended an invitation to join in a Sun Dance by Lakota elder Leonard Crow Dog-- a controversial action because Hull is white. This was the beginning of a spiritual journey that increasingly interwove the life of the author with the people, process, and elements of Lakota spirituality. On this journey on the Red Road, Michael Hull confronted firsthand the transformational power of Lakota spiritual practice and the deep ambivalence many Indians had about opening their ceremonies to a white man.
Sun Dancing presents a profound look at the elements of traditional Lakota ceremonial practice and the ways in which ceremony is regarded as life-giving by the Lakota. Through his commitment to following the Red Road, Michael Hull gradually won acceptance in a community that has rejected other attempts by white America to absorb its spiritual practices, leading to the extraordinary step of his confirmation as a Sun Dance Chief by Leonard Crow Dog and other Lakota spiritual leaders.
• Written by the only white man to be confirmed as a Sundance Chief by traditional Lakota elders.
• Includes forewords by prominent Lakota spiritual leaders Leonard Crow Dog, Charles Chipps, Mary Thunder, and Jamie Sams.
The Sun Dance is the largest and most important ceremony in the Lakota spiritual tradition, the one that ensures the life of the people for another year. In 1988 Michael Hull was extended an invitation to join in a Sun Dance by Lakota elder Leonard Crow Dog-- a controversial action because Hull is white. This was the beginning of a spiritual journey that increasingly interwove the life of the author with the people, process, and elements of Lakota spirituality. On this journey on the Red Road, Michael Hull confronted firsthand the transformational power of Lakota spiritual practice and the deep ambivalence many Indians had about opening their ceremonies to a white man.
Sun Dancing presents a profound look at the elements of traditional Lakota ceremonial practice and the ways in which ceremony is regarded as life-giving by the Lakota. Through his commitment to following the Red Road, Michael Hull gradually won acceptance in a community that has rejected other attempts by white America to absorb its spiritual practices, leading to the extraordinary step of his confirmation as a Sun Dance Chief by Leonard Crow Dog and other Lakota spiritual leaders.
- GenresNative American
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2000
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November 3, 2014
True to it's title, the book tells about the Spiritual Journey of Michael Hull as a white person finding his path along the Red Road. Eventually he becomes a Sun Dancer and then a Sun Dance leader in the traditions of the Lakota. If you are seriously interested to know about Indian ways and want to know more about the revival of some ceremonial practices this book adds flesh and substance to that desire. Not for the faint of heart, but rewarding.
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