The short answer
The Sun Dance is a ceremony of Plains nations. It is not a general Apache ceremony, and most Apache groups did not hold it. The Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero and Jicarilla ceremonial traditions developed in the Southwest and southern mountains and have their own forms. The one important exception to keep in mind is the Plains Apache, the nation formerly called Kiowa Apache, who lived on the Southern Plains in close association with the Kiowa. Even there, the record needs careful reading.
What the Sun Dance was
The term “Sun Dance” is an English label applied to a number of related ceremonies among Plains peoples, including the Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Kiowa and others. They typically took place in summer, brought large numbers of relatives together, and involved prayer, fasting, song and a structure built for the occasion. Beyond this broad outline, the details differed from nation to nation, and each nation used its own name and understood the ceremony in its own way. Because it was sacred, and because later laws sought to suppress it, this article does not go further into its content. The history of the ban and the later revival is covered in the companion article on the Sun Dance ban and revival.
The Plains Apache connection
The Plains Apache were a small nation who, by the time of well-documented history, lived on the Southern Plains and were closely allied with the Kiowa. They spoke an Apachean language, and their ties to the Kiowa were long-standing and strong enough that outsiders used the name Kiowa Apache for them. How they got that name is covered in the account of why the Plains Apache were called Kiowa Apache.
Sources describe Plains Apache people as taking part in Kiowa Sun Dance gatherings, with a recognized place in the camp circle. Beyond that general statement, specifics vary by source, and this article does not claim more. Apache oral traditions about the ceremony are the Plains Apache’s own to share. The Kiowa Sun Dance is generally said to have ceased to be held openly in the late 1880s, a period when buffalo had vanished from the Southern Plains and federal restrictions were tightening.
It is helpful to see this as part of broader Plains Apache life. The Eastern Apache peoples, in this case Plains Apache, Lipan, Mescalero and Jicarilla, each experienced the Plains in different ways, shaped in part by the horse economy of the Southern Plains. Having contact with a Plains ceremony does not make it the nation’s only ceremony, nor does it make the practice universal among Apache groups.
Why most Apache groups did not hold it
Several reasons are given in the scholarly literature, though readers should treat them as general explanations rather than certainties:
- Different homelands and economies. The Sun Dance is closely linked with Plains life and large summer gatherings. Western Apache and Chiricahua groups lived in mountain and desert country in smaller local groups, with a seasonal round suited to that setting.
- Different ceremonial traditions. The Southwestern Apache nations had their own ceremonies, including girls’ coming-of-age observances, Mountain Spirit dances and healing ceremonies. These are discussed at a public level in the overview of Apache healing ceremonies.
- Different histories of contact. Contact patterns with neighbors varied, and ceremonial borrowing happened in some places and not in others.
Some popular pages claim the Sun Dance as an Apache tradition in general. That repeats a common mix-up, and the discussion of Sun Dance and Apache in other parts of this site tries to correct it.
Comparing without ranking
Comparing ceremonies is useful only if it respects each. The Plains Sun Dance is a gathering of a whole nation or several bands, usually in summer. Many Apache ceremonies are tied to a person or family, such as a girl’s coming of age or a healing event, with the wider community attending and helping. There are overlaps in broad themes, such as prayer, endurance, song and gathering, because these are common in human ceremony, but they do not make the ceremonies the same. Calling an Apache event a “sun dance” for convenience erases its own name and meaning.
What to do with this information
If you read that a particular Apache nation performs a Sun Dance, check the claim against that nation’s own official sources. If you plan to visit any public Native event, follow the host nation’s rules, which may restrict photography, recording and attendance. Do not assume that practices of one nation can be witnessed or imitated in another.
This site is independent and speaks for no tribe or nation. For current information, rely on the official websites of the Plains Apache and the other Apache nations.