Category Archives: Sundance ceremony

Sundance ceremony

The Drum

The “Drum” is the heartbeat for the Sundance ceremony.

We believe “The Drum” is about Unity, Focus, Support, Joy and Mystery.

  • Unity in that we all choose to act together – providing a clear, strong and singular heartbeat for dancers
  • Focus in that we pay attention to each other, the energy and our role within the Sundance ceremony
  • Support in that we choose to give to those who are dancing (through the drumming and singing) so that they are nourished, strengthened and held safely during the dance
  • Joy in that we are an expression of the “Earths” (Papatuanuku, Gaia, Mother Earth…) heartbeat
  • Mystery

More background to the ‘Drum’ in relation to our Sundance, can be found by clicking here.

Sundance ceremony

Sundance Protocols

The Sundance is a sacred ceremony from the White Buffalo Calf Pipe tradition of the Lakota people. Our Founding Dance Chief in Aotearoa/New Zealand, the late Chief Whitecloud (Patrick Hendrickson). Sundance is a ceremony where people come together to heal and bring renewal to the people and the land. It is a prayer for life. As it is a sacred ceremony belonging to the Indigenous people of North America and Canada therefore active respect needs to given to things around the “Dance”.

Protocols to respect the ceremony can be found here.

Sundance ceremony

Patrick Hendrickson (WhiteCloud)

Whitecloud was a native from North America; and a member of the Anishnabe tribe. He lived much of his life on a reserve (White Earth Reserve) where he learned from a diverse perspective of a native growing up in a changing world for the native people. His guidance and experience in a ceremonial life, as well as a strong instruction of the native philosophy of land and life helped him stay within his culture and survive. This would be of great help to him in later years.
Whitecloud is a Sundancer and Pipe Carrier; he is a practitioner of many healing ceremonies taught to him by his elders and colleagues over a 50-year span. Whitecloud also facilitated Sundances in Canada and New Zealand (Aotearoa) along with all the related ceremonies, Purification Lodges, Vision Quest, and one to one sessions.

Patrick Hendrickson (WhiteCloud): Bio