Routledge Cosmology and Moral Community in the Lakota Sun Dance

Explore the depths of Lakota tradition with this scholarly study from the Vitality of Indigenous Religions series. Published by Routledge, this book offers a deep analysis of the Lakota Sun Dance, the most important ceremony within their culture. By examining James R. Walker's 1917 monograph through Indigenous methodologies, the text provides a new perspective on how this communal ritual complex builds moral community. Readers will gain a better understanding of Lakota worldview by studying the ceremony through the lenses of metaphysics, cosmology, ontology, and ethics. The author uses Walker's primary source to place the Sun Dance within its nineteenth-century context, presenting it as a cosmic ethical drama. This work is an essential resource for students and researchers interested in anthropology, sociology, and the study of Indigenous religious practices.