Ghost Dance Religion


The Ghost Dance Religion started in the 1860'2 by Tavibo but slowly faded out. It was revived though by Wovoka, the son of Tavibo, in the 1880's. It was practiced widely among Native Americans until the whites stopped it in 1890 at wounded Knee.
Ghost Dance prophecy
Wovoka was a Paiute. He prophesied the end of white expansion westward and the return of land to the Native Americans. He was referred to as Christ, and he said he had come to prepare the Indians for salvation. Tribe representatives from all over came to Nevada to meet him and learn the Ghost Dance.
A tribe dancing the Ghost Dance as they were taught by Wovoka
Wovoka fell asleep during the day on an eclipse and had a vision. He said he saw god with all the fallen Warriors and last women and children. He wrote about it in a letter called "The Messiah Letter," written below.
"...don't tell no white man. Juesses was on ground, he just like cloud. Every body is alive again, I dont know when they will [be] here, may be this fall or spring. Every body never get sick, be young again (if young fellow no sick any more) work for white men never trouble with him until you leave, when it shake the earth dont be afraid no harm any body You make dance for six (wks) night , and put you foot [food?] in dance to eat for everybody and wash in the water. that is all to tell, I am in to you. and you will received a good words from him sometime, Dont tell lie."
Tribe dancing the six weeks as said in letter.
He also said white men and bad Indians would drown in a big flood. He promised the apocalypse. He said that all of their suffering came from sin.

In 1890 James Mooney went to study Cherokee in the Oklahoma terr. He sent many letters back to the Bureau and drew many picture of the dance. It had been snowing very hard and it was impossible to dance. He was invited to pray to stop the snow so they could dance again.
Photo above was taken by James Mooney when he was studying the Cherokee.
"The ground was covered deeply with snow, witch stopped the dancing for several weeks." He also said, "Sunday I counted at one time 139 dancers with 26 others inside the circle-some in a manic frenzy, some in spasms and others stretched out on the ground stiff and unconscious
Above and to the right are pictures draw by Mooney
Photo taken by Mooney of the Ghost Dance
How to Dance the Ghost Dance
The "Ghost Dance Prophet" was the dance leader. When he is ready he walks out the dance place. There will be a tree or a symbol of a tree there decorated with religious offerings. The leader faces inward. The other leaders come and they join hands to form a small circle.
The Picture to the left is of Short Bull. He was on of the main leaders of the Ghost Dance Religion. In this picture he is wearing the traditional Indian out fit, worn during the Ghost Dance among the Arapaho Indian tribes.
They then sign the opening song once. They raise their voices to full strength and repeat. This time they slowly circle counter-clockwise, shuffling in a side-step.

The tempo of the dance would gradually increase. People would come, one after another and join the circle, looking toward the sun, until 50-500 men, women , and children were in the dance.
This ritual was danced for 5 successive days. Big Foot's band danced until they collapsed.
Photo of Ghost Dance (taken by Mooney on his trip)
Not all tribes did like Big Foot, many tribes had rest periods. At intervals between songs, especially when there are trances, the dancers will unclasp hands and sit. They would smoke or talk for a few minutes. The leaders would sometimes say short sermons of addresses. When someone woke up from a trance. the leader would ask them to describe it and relate to it. Then it was sung by the group. This was done mostly in the afternoons until dark. It was taught on all Sioux reservations and many others.

The clothing worn during the dance differed greatly from tribe to tribe. The Arapaho and Cheyenne danced in full Indian dress (buck skin, paint, and feathers.) There were several tribes that wore shirts with a turtle, to bring soil for the world's creation, and birds, to be messengers to the spirit world.
The Sioux performed the ritual wearing ghost shirts that they thought would protect them from bullets. The women discarded belts with silver on them because metal came from the white men. Some tribes though, liked to wear hats made by whites.
Cheyenne dress	Ghost dance dress (tribe unknown)	Dress wore during dance (tribe unknown)	Lakota Ghost Dance Shirt
Ghost Dance Shirt		Ghost Dance Shirt
Ghost Dance Shirt (tribe unknown)	Ghost Dance Shirt	Ghost Dance Shirt	Ghost Dance Shirt thought to be bullet proof
The songs that were sung expressed their desire to see those that died. Each tribe had its own. Here is one the Lakota sang called "Song of Hope" The whole world is coming A nation is coming, a nation is coming The Eagle has brought the message to the tribe The father say so , the father say so Over the whole earth they are coming The buffalo are coming, the buffalo are coming The crow has brought the message to the tribe The father says so, the father says so.
Here is another song that was sung by the Lakota. It has many of the same words from the song above. It was also sang during the dance. Verily, I have given you my strength: say the father, say the father: The shirt will cause you to live: say the father, say the father

Slowly the dance began to change. The message at first was to be peaceful but it slowly changed to make the Indians Invincible. Sitting Bull doubted the religion at the very beginning. He worried that more people would die. Kicking Bear though, said that if they wore Ghost shirts, bullets would not hurt them. This idea lead to his death.
Picture of Indians having visions
The government wanted to put a stop to it but didn't know how. They had already banned it but still the Indians danced. It didn't make much sense for them to want to stop it anyway. The religion promoted Christianity, and peace with whites. It met all to goal the government was trying to reach. Still the government decided to stop it once and for all at Wounded Knee. They killed hundreds of Native Americans there that were practicing the Ghost Dance. The religion abruptly came to and end.
Lacey N. Deiter 8th Grade 2001 American History Rossville Junior High		Bibliography