James Trosper on Year-Round Sun Dance Responsibilities

James Trosper emphasizes the importance for Sun Dance participants to maintain other spiritual practices beyond the Sun Dance itself. In the Sun Dance religion of various Plains tribes, the Sun Dance rite itself must be both preceded and followed by other contributory practices for full spiritual effectiveness. This clip is from Disc 1, in the section “Conversations With Native Elders,” on the DVD “Native Spirit and The Sun Dance Way” (World Wisdom, 2007). James Trosper is a respected voice on traditional Plains Indian spirituality. He is Medicine Man and Sun Dance chief of the Shoshone Tribe in Fort Washakie, Wyoming. He is a direct descendant of the great Eastern Shoshone chief, Washakie. Mr. Trosper has traveled throughout America, assisting in the continuation of American Indian religious traditions, and explaining the Sun Dance religion of the Plains and Indian spirituality to Indian and white audiences for many years.