Four days and nights without food or water, dancing all day in the hot sun until there is no moisture in your system, and suffering to the point of emotional, spiritual, and physical pain, so that your people may live. The Sundancer takes on that suffering for the People, so the poor, the weak, and the children will be free from such pain. Finally, on the fourth day of the Sundance, the Sundancer will offer the only thing that belongs to him; his own flesh and blood so that his people may live in a good and sacred way. We make offerings of material things; cloth, tobacco, and food. These things already belong to the spirits. The only thing that truly belongs to us is our flesh. A sundancer dances for the spiritual continuance and strength of his people.