Dancing Bear Festival

Celebrated in Cahokia during the three days surrounding the Spring Equinox, the Dancing Bears Festival is a time for unmarried adults to display their suitability as potential partners through elaborate costumes, dances, cooking, and singing. Large gatherings are held where open individuals sit in circles, and those seeking partners perform for them. People from all over the Free Lands come to celebrate, some seeking romance or casual connections, while others search for partners interested in relocating to smaller communities. The grandest dance occurs on the last day. The event also features performances of How the Moon Got Its Dents, bustling markets showcasing local technology and crafts, exotic drinks served by Yawpon houses, and contests with prizes for archery, hunting, sun-wing and foot races, martial arts, and cooking.

During the Nibaathanka everyday life in Cahokia remained mostly unchanged, though dwindling festival attendance diminished the community's spirit. When the climate improved, a resurgence of cultural unity culminated in an extravagant celebration known as the “biggest horniest artsiest Dancing Bear,” symbolizing the growing cohesion among the tribes of the Free Lands.

How the Moon Got It's Dents

Coyote loved to play ball with all the animals. They would play all day long until the very last twilight, and the dark night would settle under the low, low moon. Coyote would cry and cry to keep playing, but they couldn't see the ball in the dark. So, Coyote sat and waited and wished that there was a way to see the ball at night. Suddenly, he stared up at the moon. Coyote had an idea. Deep in the forest, Coyote began to climb the tallest tree until he reached the very top. When the moon passed by, Coyote leaped from the top of the tree and grabbed it. He cackled in his cleverness. Now, the animals could play ball at night. He woke them all up, and in their amazement, they began to play, kicking the ball around, laughing, and delighting. Soon, the Great Spirit woke up. She was startled when she didn't see the sun's rays or the moon's glow. She searched for the moon until she stumbled upon the clearing where Coyote and the animals were playing ball. "Coyote," the Great Spirit said, "you took the moon from the sky. The day cannot come until the moon is put away. Give it to me that I can make it right." And Coyote cried but did as the Great Spirit asked. The Great Spirit wasted no time and placed the moon back into the sky, so very high that even she would have trouble getting it down. But to this day, you can still see the marks from their game on the surface of the moon, all the kicks the animals gave. What a great game it must have been, for in the lonely night, you can still hear Coyote cry for the moon to sink low again.