With the reverence afforded a sacred being, Oglala men fell a specially chosen cottonwood tree and carry it to the center of a sun dance circle. Erected in the earth, the tree will become the focus of a days long spiritual ceremony. Sun dances and other traditional ceremonies have undergone a resurgence since the 1970s.

Scars on Lyle LeBeaux's chest are from sacred piercings during sun dance ceremonies. Le Beaux belongs to the Thunder Valley community, a group of traditional-minded Oglala Lakota who live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Remains of clothing donations from churches in Colorado in Oglala, S.D.

C. J. Shot, 3, bathes among dishes. The Oglala concept of tiospaye—the unity of the extended family—means that homes are often overcrowded, especially with the severe housing shortage on the reservation. In 2008, when this photograph was made, 22 people lived in the three-bedroom house. "These houses aren't who we are," says Oglala activist Alex White Plume.

Bareback riders Carey Rouillard (left) and Travis New Holy stop for a neighborly chat in Evergreen, S.D. Oglala have a traditional reverence for the horse, which they call sunka wakan, or sacred dog.

After intense communication with the spirits, participants emerge from a steaming inipi, or purification (sweat) lodge. This ceremony was held by Rick Two Dogs, a medicine man descended from American Horse.

Horse races and traditional Native American games held near Manderson, S.D., to commemorate the anniversary of Little Bighorn and the defeat of Gen. George Custer.

A passenger barely has room for the journey home in a car loaded with used clothing donated by a Colorado-based Native American charity.

In a basement in Manderson, S.D