ABSTRACT
Public rituals on the Plains often involved nearly all tribe members at once as participants or spectators. Reconstruction of the ritual and its underlying ideology is important, not only for understanding the Cheyennes, but because the Massaum contains many symbolic elements that reappear in other Plains group rituals, including the Sun Dance. Of all the large-scale rituals on the Plains, the Sun Dance is the one that is most widespread and that has lasted the longest in the period of recorded history. The Ghost Dance and peyote religions may have offered complete alternatives for some Sun Dance worshippers. Organized religion can be an effective medium for forming and expressing ethnic identity. The rituals in the chapter describes Indian people values regard as characteristic of Native ethnicity, such as generosity, personal and communal responsibility, respect for fellow humans, and a cooperative relationship with nature. Group rituals are important as religious exercises and social gatherings.
