Shortly after Europeans arrived in North America, they began a concerted effort to stamp out Native American culture. There were exceptions, of course, but as European settlements pushed up against native ones, it was the natives who were forced to give way. Traditional ceremonies such as the Sun Dance, practiced by many Plains tribes, and the Potlatch, practiced by tribes in the Pacific Northwest, were banned in the late 1800s. Indians who continued to practice these banned rituals were sometimes killed. In one of the most infamous incidents, Sioux who had been practicing the Ghost Dance were massacred at Wounded Knee. Over the years many of the bans were lifted, and in recent years there has been a renewed interest in traditional Indian spiritual practices by Native and other Americans alike. One of the exponents of this resurgence is Fred Wahpepah, from the Kickapoo and the Sac and Fox tribes in Oklahoma. Wahpepah, through the Seven Circles Foundation, has led hundreds of ceremonies throughout the United States. By conducting sweat lodge ceremonies, pipe ceremonies, and vision quests, he has brought traditional Native American culture to thousands of people. This photograph, taken in the late spring of 2010 during a full moon, shows a gathering held in northern California to celebrate Wahpepah’s 80th birthday.
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