Round hall diagram of Riverside--90 feet in diameter

drawing by James Turning Bear

Dancing provides a good example of the misinterpretation the white explorer and the missionary gave tto Indian culture when the contact with it began. Always associating dancing with secular practices, or more particularly with Satanic influence, the white man looked upon the Indian dance with contempt. To these early whites, dancing was a sin--here again, the Indian under the influence of Satan was merely reveling in debauchery. To Christianize the Indian meant that dancing had to stop and the missionaries were not slow in putting pressure upon the United States Government to adopt such steps. Consequently, throughout the settlement of the West, and at the time when the Federal government was imposing more and more restrictions upon the Indian, dancing fell into bad repute. Finally, in 1882 an all-out ban on dancing occurred. Dancing and religion to the Indian were one.

Round Hall in Riverside

Religion at Fort Peck

To offset the restrictions and regulations of dancing, gatherings or "celebrations" were planned around "white man holidays." The dances were held in large dance halls which were located in Ft Kipp, Riverside, Chelsea, Oswego. The dance halls of Riverside, Chelsea, Oswego were round. The largest of the dance halls was Riverside, (90 feet in diameter).

Sundancing took place in three locations in the Riverside District:

1. Two mile hill--North on flat land
Two men were struck by lightning at the last sundance held in 1935.

2. North of old Catholic church location across from old Indian highway--Riverside

Sundance in Riverside in 1935

3. Southwest of old dancehall in Riverside

Click here to see Riverside District

Government pressures Sioux to abandon traditional ways