I first saw it years ago as a fascinated youngster. Wide open with awe and surprise, I couldn’t release my eyes from the glow of the old tv in our living room and what was going on in there. An English fella, called Horse, had come back to his adopted family in America, a Sioux tribe, and was now enduring through a ceremony called the Sun Dance. They had pierced his skin with sharpened sticks on the slight folds of his chest and then attached them to a rope which was tied to a center pole in the ceremony lodge. He and the others in the ceremony would dance and blow a whistle while pulling on the ropes until the sticks would rip through their skin releasing them. It took days. I was so intrigued by that scene that is has stuck with me all my life.

On July 4th, I stopped in at Yellowstone Perk in Billings to see some friends and to witness an updated version of what Horse did so many years ago. The event, Skindependence, is a gathering of tattoo artists and friends from far and near to celebrate what they love. It was a full day of tattooing, piercing, music, food, and what I consider to be along the lines of the Sundance Ceremony,,,suspensions. All day people took turns getting pierced by large hooks and then after walking a short distance to a big calming tree, they were fastened to lines and pulled up from the earth, suspending for how long they felt. For some it took only moments to be lifted and for others it took longer. I can’t describe to you in the slightest what if feels like to suspend for any length of time but I can tell you by watching their faces that it takes a strength and will from within. I even secretly wondered if I had the courage to do it.

I spent the entire day at the Perk watching, listening and talking with friends and I know that next year I’ll be back. Everyone was so cool and welcoming.

Thanks to Wade and Adam for allowing me close access and for inviting me to be there. Check out bodymod.org for more info on this event and others.