Abstract
AS man advances in the scale of culture he loses his dependence on Nature. The dweller in a modern city relies chiefly on artificial means for his pleasure and comfort, but the American Indian realised that his whole success depended on his co-operation with natural forces. He studied his surroundings and evolved a system of reasoning by which he attempted to explain them. A thoughtful Sioux Indian said to the writer: “When we see the changes of day and night, the sun, moon, and stars in the sky, and the changing seasons upon the earth, with their ripening fruits, anyone must realise that it is the work of someone more powerful than man. Greatest of all is the sun, without which we could not live. The birds and the beasts, the trees and the rocks, are the work of some great power.” l Having recognised a creative power with the sun as its most important manifestation, it was a natural step in native logic to regard the sun with a reverence that is best expressed by the word “worship.”
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DENSMORE, F. The Sun Dance of the Teton Sioux . Nature 104, 437–440 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/104437c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/104437c0