What is "sun dance"

n. a ceremonial dance performed by Amerindians at the summer solstice

The Sun Dance is a ceremony practiced by some indigenous people of America and Canada, primarily those of the Plains cultures. It usually involves the community gathering together to pray for healing. Individuals make personal sacrifices on behalf of the community.

After European colonization of the Americas, and with the formation of the Canadian and United States governments, both countries passed laws intended to suppress Native cultures and encourage assimilation to majority-European culture. They banned Indigenous ceremonies and, in many schools and other areas, prohibited Indigenous people from speaking their native languages. In some cases they were not allowed to visit sacred sites when these had been excluded from the territory of reservations.

The Sun Dance was one of the prohibited ceremonies, as was the potlatch of the Pacific Northwest peoples. Canada lifted its prohibition against practice of the full ceremony in 1951. But in the United States, Indigenous peoples were not allowed to openly practice the Sun Dance or other sacred ceremonies until the late 1970s, after they gained renewed sovereignty and civil rights following a period of high activism, including legal challenges to the government. Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) in 1978, which was enacted to protect basic civil liberties, and to protect and preserve the traditional religious rights and cultural practices of American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians.

"Sun Dance" is a song by Tomahawk from their 2007 album, Anonymous. It is the ninth song on the album and it was released as a digital download single in iTunes. The song is influenced by traditional tribal songs that were sung by Native Americans during the Sun Dance celebration. The B-side, "El Tecolote", is an instrumental piece. Unlike most of the album tracks of Anonymous, which incorporate hard rock or experimental elements into their interpretation, "El Tecolote" seems to be a straightforward rendition of the source material.

Sun Dance's lyrics feature only a chorus and chanting. The main body of the song that includes the chanting is very low and creepy, whereas the chorus is heavy metal, featuring distorted vocals, similar to the style of Mr. Bungle, one of Mike Patton's other bands.

El Tecolote is a small town on the Mexican coast, and the song is thought to represent the atmosphere of that place.

The single cover does not feature the name Sun Dance; however, it does mimic an old Wild West wanted poster, stating the band, their names, and a reward of 10,000,000 dollars.