Many, many years ago, the Aniyunwiya, or Cherokee people, believed that all of the pain and illness experienced by the human people were inflicted on them by the animal people.  The plant people were friends and allies of the human people and provided, and were used, in curing sick and hurt people.

But the best way was to prevent it by properly honoring the spirits of the animals that would be killed by the hunting parties.  Major illnesses were believed to be caused by not properly honoring the animal spirits.

One time a group of warriors were deep in the woods hunting for food
when they came across a clearing with several rabbits eating and
scurrying about.  The hunters crouched down in the bushes so as to
not be seen while taking up aim with their bows on the rabbits.

But before they knew it, the small clearing started filling with rabbits. 
They were coming from all directions and seemed to be all hanging
around the edges of the clearing, kind of forming a circle of rabbits.
There must have been hundreds of rabbits jumping around in the
clearing at this point.

Then all of a sudden, a big rabbit jumped from the woods right into the
middle of the clearing.  Not a single one of the hunters had ever seen
a rabbit that big.  They were so surprised that they just stayed there
watching.

The big rabbit seemed to look right over at them with a knowing look.
The rabbit then turned around and started thumping his foot and if
you’ve ever seen a rabbit’s foot you’d know they have big feet!
And the rabbit went: 
boom-boom-boom, bam-bam-bam
and then moved around a little and then started thumping his big old
foot again:
boom-boom-boom, bam-bam-bam

Then as quickly as it started, it was over.  The rabbits, all at once
jumped out of the clearing and into the woods.  The hunters didn’t
know what had just happened, but felt so strongly about it that they
immediately made their way back home.

When they got back to their village the head warrior  immediately
went to the to his mother’s mother, his grandmother, one of the
wisest women in the village.  He told her about what he and the
others had seen.

And she said “How did the big rabbit move?”
and the warrior moved like he remembered the rabbit moving.

And then she said “And how did he thump his foot?”
and the warrior thumped his foot just as the big rabbit did
and when he was finished the woman said “I know what happened.”

 His grand mother said, “What you saw was the Rabbit Chief
and the rabbits were his clan.  We all walk the circle of life
and he was showing you how to honor his people’s spirits for
what they provide to the human people.”

And so the Rabbit Dance is the hunter’s way of honoring the spirits
of the rabbit people for the food, tools, and clothing that they
provide for the Aniyunwiya.