In honor of Native American Heritage Month, I am reposting parts of an Easter-themed
article by Rich Avery titled "Good Friday – Jesus the Greatest Sun Dancer." The article (and the accompanying video by Pastor Larry Salway) offer an interesting contextualized view of Jesus and the
Sun Dance, a ritual ceremony performed by Native American Plains Nations. Avery writes:
Most Native North American people groups have a story of how their people were created, and this story has been passed down orally for hundreds or thousands of years.
And many have a story of a Messiah-like figure who will sacrifice himself in order to deliver or bring greater enlightenment to their people. But few make the connection to Jesus Christ as both their Creator and Messiah.
The Lakota, and other nations of the Plains, have a ritual called the Sun Dance, where men will punish or sacrifice themselves by piercing their body or tearing their flesh in order to hopefully bring about a closer connection to Creator – not only for themselves but for their entire community.
