TheBuffalo Dance, orBison Dance, is an annual dancefestival of many North AmericanPlains Natives, including theMandan,Sioux,Cheyenne,Pawnee, andOmaha, among others. The festival traditionally coincided with the return of thebuffalo herds, and included a feast and a dance with a number of men wearing buffalo and otheranimal skins.^[1]

As the buffalo, orbison, was so central to society, it was important to assure the return of the herd and an abundance of food and resources.^[2]

A short, 16-second, black-and-white silent 1894 filmBuffalo Dance shows people performing the dance. It is notable for being one of the earliest films made featuring Native Americans.

The Buffalo Dance can also refer to section of larger ceremonies and dances, such as theSun Dance.^[3] In some societies it was also a dance more associated with curing the ill, calling on the spirit of the buffalo.^[2]

• Laubin, Reginald and Gladys.Indian Dances of North America: Their Importance to Indian Life.University of Oklahoma Press, 1977.
• Spence, Lewis.Myths of the North American Indians.Gramercy Books, 1994. New York.ISBN 0-517-10158-0.
• Stands In Timber, John and Liberty, Margot.Cheyenne MemoriesUniversity of Nebraska Press, 1972.ISBN 0-8032-5751-1
• Walker, J. R."The Sun Dance and Other Ceremonies of the Oglala Division of the Teton Dakota".Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume 16, Part 2.American Museum of Natural History, 1916. New York.
• Wissler, Clark."Societies of the Plains Indians".Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume 11. American Museum of Natural History, 1916. New York.

• Native American ritual dances
• Indigenous culture of the Great Plains
• Bison in culture