GHOST DANCE
Posted by Daughter of Blackhawk on December 13, 2010 at 11:19pm in THE NATIVE AMERICAN
Jack Wilson, the prophet formerly known as Wovoka, was believed to have a
vision during a solar eclipse on January 1, 1889. It was reportedly not his
first time experiencing a vision directly from God; but as a young adult, he
claimed that he was then better equipped, spiritually, to handle this message.
Jack had received training from an experienced holy man under his parents'
guidance after they realized that he was having difficulty interpreting his
previous visions. Jack was also training to be a "weather doctor", following in
his father's footsteps. He was known throughout Mason Valley as a gifted and
blessed young leader. Preaching a message of universal love, he often presided
over circle dances, which symbolized the sun's heavenly path across the
sky.
Anthropologist James Mooney conducted an interview with Wilson in
1892. Mooney confirmed that his message matched that given to his fellow
aboriginal Americans.[5] This study compared letters between tribes. Wilson said
he stood before God in heaven and had seen many of his ancestors engaged in
their favorite pastimes. God showed Wilson a beautiful land filled with wild
game and instructed him to return home to tell his people that they must love
each other, not fight, and live in peace with the whites. God also stated that
the people must work, not steal or lie, and that they must not engage in the old
practices of war or the traditional self-mutilation practices connected with
mourning the dead. God said that if his people abided by these rules, they would
be united with their friends and family in the other world.
In God's
presence, there would be no sickness, disease, or old age. Wilson was given the
Ghost Dance and commanded to take it back to his people. He preached that if the
five-day dance was performed in the proper intervals, the performers would
secure their happiness and hasten the reunion of the living and deceased. Wilson
said that God gave him powers over the weather and that he would be the deputy
in charge of affairs in the western United States, leaving current President
Harrison as God's deputy in the East. Jack claims that he was then told to
return home and preach God's message.[5]
Jack Wilson claimed to have left
the presence of God convinced that if every Indian in the West danced the new
dance to "hasten the event", all evil in the world would be swept away, leaving
a renewed Earth filled with food, love, and faith. Quickly accepted by his
Paiute brethren, the new religion was termed "Dance In A Circle". Because the
first European contact with the practice came by way of the Sioux, their
expression Spirit Dance was adopted as a descriptive title for all such
practices. This was subsequently translated as "Ghost Dance".[5]
Through Native Americans and some Anglo-Americans, Wilson's message spread
across much of the western portion of the United States. Early in the religious
movement, many tribes sent members to investigate the self-proclaimed prophet,
while other communities sent delegates only to be cordial. Regardless of their
motivations, many left believers and returned to their homeland preaching his message. 
Spotted Elk lies dead after the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)While
most followers of the Ghost Dance understood Wovoka's role as being that of a
teacher of pacifism and peace, others did not.
An elaboration of the
Ghost Dance concept was the development of Ghost Shirts, which were special
garments which warriors could wear. They were rumored to repel bullets through
spiritual power. It is uncertain where this belief originated. Scholars believe
that in 1890 chief Kicking Bear introduced the concept to his people, the Lakota
Sioux.[6]
The Lakota interpretation drew from their traditional idea of a
"renewed Earth" in which "all evil is washed away". This Lakota interpretation
included the removal of all Anglo-Americans from their lands. In contrast,
Wilson's version encouraged harmonious co-existence with European
Americans.
In February 1890, the United States government broke a Lakota
treaty by adjusting the Great Sioux Reservation of South Dakota (an area that
formerly encompassed the majority of the state) and breaking it up into five
smaller reservations.[7] The government was accommodating white homesteaders
from the eastern United States; in addition, it intended to "break up tribal
relationships" and "conform Indians to the white man's ways, peaceably if they
will, or forcibly if they must."[8] On the reduced reservations, the government
allocated family units on 320-acre (1.3 km2) plots for individual households.
The Lakota were expected to farm and raise livestock, and they were encouraged
to send their children to boarding schools. With the goal of assimilation, the
schools taught English and Christianity, as well as European-American cultural
practices. Generally, they forbade inclusion of Native American traditional
culture and language.
To help support the Sioux during the period of
transition, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was to supplement the Sioux with
food and to hire white farmers as teachers for the people. The farming plan
failed to take into account the difficulty which Sioux farmers would have in
trying to cultivate crops in the semi-arid region of South Dakota. By the end of
the 1890 growing season, a time of intense heat and low rainfall, it was clear
that the land was unable to produce substantial agricultural yields.
Unfortunately, this was also the time when the government's patience with
supporting the so-called "lazy Indians" ran out. They cut rations for the Sioux
in half. With the bison having been virtually eradicated a few years earlier,
the Sioux were at risk for starvation.
The people turned to the Ghost
Dance ritual, which frightened the supervising agents of the BIA. Kicking Bear
was forced to leave Standing Rock, but when the dances continued unabated, Agent
McLaughlin asked for more troops. He claimed the Hunkpapa spiritual leader
Sitting Bull was the real leader of the movement. A former agent, Valentine
McGillycuddy, saw nothing extraordinary in the dances and ridiculed the panic
that seemed to have overcome the agencies, saying: "The coming of the troops has
frightened the Indians. If the Seventh-Day Adventists prepare the ascension
robes for the Second Coming of the Savior, the United States Army is not put in
motion to prevent them. Why should not the Indians have the same privilege? If
the troops remain, trouble is sure to come."[9]
Nonetheless, thousands of
additional U.S. Army troops were deployed to the reservation. On December 15,
1890, Sitting Bull was arrested for failing to stop his people from practicing
the Ghost Dance.[10] During the incident, one of Sitting Bull's men, Catch the
Bear, fired at Lieutenant "Bull Head," striking his right side. He instantly
wheeled and shot Sitting Bull, hitting him in the left side, between the tenth
and eleventh ribs [[1]]; this exchange resulted in deaths on both sides,
including that of Sitting Bull.
Big Foot, also known as Spotted Elk, was
a Miniconjou leader on the U.S. Army's list of trouble-making Indians. He was
stopped while en route to convene with the remaining Sioux chiefs. U.S. Army
officers forced him to relocate with his people to a small camp close to the
Pine Ridge Agency. Here the soldiers could more closely watch the old chief.
That evening, December 28, the small band of Sioux erected their tipis on the
banks of Wounded Knee Creek. The following day, during an attempt by the
officers to collect weapons from the band, one young, deaf Sioux warrior refused
to relinquish his arms. A struggle followed in which somebody's weapon
discharged into the air. One U.S. officer gave the command to open fire, and the
Sioux responded by taking up previously confiscated weapons; the U.S. forces
responded with carbine firearms and several rapid-fire light-artillery
(Hotchkiss) guns mounted on the overlooking hill. When the fighting had
concluded, 25 U.S. soldiers lay dead, many killed by friendly fire. Amongst the
153 dead Sioux, most were women and children.[11] Following the massacre, chief
Kicking Bear officially surrendered his weapon to General Nelson A.
Miles.
Outrage in the eastern United States emerged as the public learned
about the events that had transpired. The U.S. government had insisted on
numerous occasions that the Native American had already been successfully
pacified. Many Americans felt the U.S. Army actions were harsh; some related the
massacre at Wounded Knee Creek to the "ungentlemanly act of kicking a man when
he is already down." Public uproar played a role in the reinstatement of the
previous treaty's terms, including full rations and more monetary compensation
for lands taken away.
Twenty US soldiers received Medals of Honor for
their actions. These awards have never been revoked.