Ghost Dance: Encyclopedia II - Ghost Dance - History

Ghost Dance - History

The movement began with the sounds of a baby crying late at night and its mother dancing around to quiet the child down back in 1852. The child, Wovoka, claimed that in his dream, he was taken into the spirit world and saw all Native Americans being taken up into the sky and the Earth opening up to swallow all Whites and to revert back to its natural state. The Native Americans, along with their ancestors, were put back upon the earth to live in peace. He also claimed that he was shown that by dancing the round-dance continuously, the dream would become a reality and the participants would enjoy the new Earth.

His teachings followed a previous Paiute tradition predicting a Paiute renaissance, his message varied somewhat, and it contained much Christian doctrine. He told his followers that since Jesus was upon the earth already, they should dance the dance and that — although he did not know if the resurrection would be in the winter or the spring — it would be soon. He also told them to remain peaceful and keep the reason for the dance secret from the Whites.

Wovoka's message spread quickly to other Native American peoples and soon many of them were fully dedicated to the movement. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agents grew disturbed when they became aware that so many peoples were coming together and participating in a new and unknown event.

When the dance spread to the Lakota, the BIA agents became very alarmed. They claimed that the Lakota developed a militaristic approach to the dance and began making 'ghost shirts' they said would protect them from bullets. They also spoke openly about why they were dancing. The BIA agent in charge of the Lakotas eventually sent the tribal police to arrest Sitting Bull, a leader respected among the Lakotas, to force him to stop the dance. In the struggle that followed, Sitting Bull was killed along with a number of policemen. A small detachment of cavalry eventually rescued the remaining policemen. Following the killing of Sitting Bull, the United States sent the Seventh Cavalry to "disarm the Lakota and take control". During the events that followed, many Lakota were killed and several soldiers died. The Lakota allege that this was a massacre rather than a battle, and that the soldiers fired on them without provocation.

When it became apparent that ghost shirts did not protect their wearers from bullets and the expected resurrection of the dead had not occurred, most believers quit the Ghost Dance. Wovoka was disturbed by the death threats and disappointed with the many reinterpretations of his vision. He gave up his public speaking. He remained well-respected among his followers and continued his religious activities. He traveled and received visitors until the end of his life in 1932. There are still members of the religious movement today.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki