Shoshone Victory Dance

The Crow/Shoshone Victory Dance, also called the Large Telling of Deeds Dance, is an ancient dance whose origins are not precisely clear. The Shoshone in the current version of the dance after Red Bear successfully avenged a Shoshone attack called the Annihilation of Red Lodge. During the Shoshone attack many elders were killed, while the children were taken captive by their attackers. Red Bear led a large war party who tracked down the Shoshone near present day Thermopolis, Wyoming. He successfully avenged the earlier Shoshone raid and returned the children to their parents. Upon their victorious returns, Chief Sits in the Middle of the Land called for the dance to occur and the first Warrior’s Homecoming took place.

As the women emulated the charges of their enemies, men jokingly called them Shoshone and as result this nickname stuck to this day. During the dance three dance patterns take place each of which signify a martial conflict. Finally, the pipe is given to the warrior who then recite their successful deeds during the recent conflict. For a fuller description of the dance proper see Instructional on the Large Telling of Deeds Dance: Also Known as the Shoshone Dance by Dale Old Horn and available in the Little Big Horn College Archives.