ghostdance of 6 The Ghost Dance religion was given to Wovoka of the Paiute tribe in a vision. In this visionhe rose to heaven and saw all the members of the Indian race who had died partaking in the traditional lifestyle. He was told by God to tell his people that they must be good and love one another, have no quarreling and live in peace with the whites. If they adhered to these instructions, the Indian race would one day be united with their friends and relatives who had died and they would live in a perfect land where they could live as they once did in peace, happiness, and safety, free from the white man. Wovoka was given the ghost dance as a means of keeping his people content and quickening the reunion (qtd. in Lesser 53-4). Wovoka was told in his vision that the people must dance for five nights and four days every six weeks. The dead and living would be united sometime in the fall of 1890 or the spring of 1891 (Wovoka's Messiah Letter n. pg.) To see the complete Messiah Letter click here. Wovoka The Sioux nation was declining at this time due to shortage of food and continued loss of land to the U.S. government. Some Sioux adopted the Ghost Dance religion, with a few modifications, as a way of resisting the rule of the government and defending their way of life. Although Wovoka s doctrine spoke of peace, the Sioux's dancers were prepared to defend their sacred gatherings by a use of force, a practice uncommon during the reservation period. Final victory over the U.S. was an act of faith, but one for which believers were willing to die (Capeci and Knight 593). The Sioux believed that God would wipe the whites from the face of the earth, and would then resurrect all the dead Indians, bring back the buffalo and other game, and restore the supremacy of the aboriginal race. He had before come to the whites, but they had rejected him. He was now the God of the Indians (Mooney 64). The Ghost Dance doctrine gave hope, of one day living in a perfect society free from the white race, to a dying people. They hoped that one day their dreams would be realized. Sioux reservation life had taken the lives of one third of the population. The Indians food supply was limited due to white settlers killing the buffalo and Congress's decision to cut back food supplies to the reservations. The government, in an attempt to assimilate the Indians into American culture, tried to stop the Sioux Indians from performing their sacred rituals and ceremonies causing tension and unrest between the two peoples. The Indians were also angered by the white settlers who were moving into the plains and turning their way of life upside down (Capeci and Knight 587). At this time the American government was not keeping its promises to the Indians. These and other factors led the Sioux to adopt the Ghost Dance as a means of rebelling against their current predicament. These Indians embraced their newfound religion (Capeci and Knight 589) which was a blend of Christianity and their traditional religion (Norris 37) as a way of fighting back against their oppressors and the disintegration of their traditional lifestyle. The Ghost Dance promised that the old ways would be restored and that the white race would be annihilated. Lieutenant Marion P. Maus Mr. Frederick Remington and General Miles, commander of the Division of the Missouri, visited with the leaders of the Ghost Dance at the reservations. In an article written by Lieutenant Maus, he quotes Red Cloud as saying: "If it [the story of the Messiah and Ghost Dance] was true, it would spread all over the world...but if it was not true, it would melt away like the snow under the hot sun." Maus described the dance:
of 6 ghostdance This sacred dance is probably in honor of the dead braves, who will soon return to life, and many undoubtedly believe they may appear at any moment. Arranged in a circle, about three hundred of them alternately a man and a woman, they go round and round ever in the same direction, while the air is filled with a dirge-like chant graveyard significance. Now and then one falls down exhausted in a death-like swoon, and is rapidly carried away, while his place is filled. In this swoon, it is claimed, the Indian sees and communes with the Messiah, and learns his wishes, and what is to come to pass. To View Maus's Complete Work Click Here. The Ghost Dancers wore special Ghost Dance shirts with sacred symbols. The Native Red Cloud Americans believed that these shirts were bulletproof and that the soldiers bullets would not penetrate them. More Pictures of the Ghost Dance After speaking with Red Cloud, Miles tried to calm Royer s fears, telling him he believed that the ghost Dance would eventually diminish (Ostler 233). But when given power, Miles attitude toward the dance changed. Royer s pleas were answered when Miles was given orders on November 14, 1890, to use whatever actions were needed to stop an outbreak of the Lakota Indians (Mooney 235). It was under the authority of these orders that Miles undertook the most massive mobilization of the United States armed force in over two decades (Ostler 234). Over the next few weeks, troops were sent to the Sioux reservation area in order to overawe the Indians. They were hoping that the Indians would be alarmed by the amount of troops present and surrender. At first many of the Ghost Dance leaders did surrender. Siting Bull, a prominent Lakota chiefs and a firm believer in the Ghost Dance, was seen as a mischief maker by the government On December 15, 1890, Indian police killed Sitting Bull, after resisting arrest. After their leader was killed the Lakota band retreated from the Standing Rock Reservation, fearing their own lives would be taken (Ostler 245).
ghostdance of 6 Sitting Bull To View the Full Account of Sitting Bull's Death Two hundred soldiers were guarding another chief, Big Foot, and his group of Indians. Big Foot feared that these soldiers were going to kill his people and so he decided that they should flee from this area to the Pine Ridge Reservation. They escaped, but on December 29, 1890, while leading his people to the reservation, Big Foot's group was met by armed troops at Wounded Knee Creek (Ostler 245). General Miles told General Brooke and his troops when they met Big Foot and his band that they should round up the whole body of them, disarm and keep them all under close guard (Ostler 245). General Brooke told the Seventh Cavalry to disarm Big Foot's band, take every precaution to prevent the escape of any; [and] if they fought to destroy them (qtd. in Ostler 246). What happened next would stay in the minds of the Lakota for years to come. There isn't consensus as to how the shooting started, but most accounts suggest that as soldier wrestled with a Lakota man for his gun, a gun went off, and sparked the Wounded Knee massacre. After this first shot was fired, the army sent out a barrage of gunfire. In a letter written by General Miles to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs about the Wounded Knee Massacre, he says: "Not only the warriors but the sick Chief Big Foot, and a large number of women and children who tried to escape by running and scattering over the prairie were hunted down and killed." In the aftermath over 300 Lakota men, women, and children lay dead. Twenty-Seven Medals of Honor were given to the soldiers who partook in the murder of the Lakota people and their dreams at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890. To General Miles Statement on the "Sioux Outbreak" of 1890 To Three Noted Chiefs of the Sioux To Ghost Dance Ballad Some people argue that the white settlers were alarmed by the Ghost Dance and that the call for troops was in response to their demands and petitions. Newspapers of the time reveal the contrary. There are no reports of settler alarm until after troops were sent to rectify the situation. The Chadron Democrat, of Chadron, Nebraska, reported on November 20, 1890, that "leaders of the new religion...[had become] insolent and defy the authority of the agent" (Lesser 222). Not until settlers heard reports like this did they become alarmed. In papers of John M. Thayer, governor of Nebraska, and Arthur C. Mellette, governor of South Dakota, there are no petitions or letters of demand until after November 20, 1890. "The settlers were not alarmed about the Lakota Ghost Dance--that is, not until the coming ot the soldiers gave them reason to become aroused and fearful" (Ostler 224). This shows that the white settlers were not responsible for the demand that troops be sent to suppress the Ghost Dance. To View Clips from Newspapers, Telegrams, and Journals
of 6 ghostdance Reservation agents played a key role in the Ghost Dance outbreak. In 1886 the administration of reservation agent officials changed, and 50 out of 58 agents were replaced. Many of the men who were removed had experience and were knowledgeable of reservation management. Their positions were often filled by people with little or no experience, who often received their jobs as a reward for political favors that they had done (Mooney 90). This shift of control lead to problems at the reservations. Had there been an experienced agency officer in charge at the Pine Ridge Reservation, then the Lakota Ghost Dance "outbreak" and the Wounded Knee massacre that precipitated it may not have taken place and may not have lead to further distrust of the American government by the Native Americans. It is important to say that with a complex issues, such as that of the Ghost Dance, that the effect of one man may seem trivial. But when one looks at the issue, one can see it is like a snowball effect, and can trace the Wounded Knee massacre back to inexperience at the reservations. Of the four Sioux reservations, the agents on three of them had similar reports of considerable excitement and some disaffection among the Indians, but not an immediate threat or serious outcome. The agents had heard talk of a possible outbreak but did not request government intervention (Ostler 225). Daniel F. Royer, the agent in charge at the Pine Ridge Reservation, had a different opinion. On November 15, 1890 Royer sent a telegram to the Office of Indian Affairs saying, Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy. I have fully informed you that employees and government property at this agency have no protection, and are at the mercy of these dancers. Why delay further investigation. We need protection and we need it now (Ostler 226). Royer sent many requests such as this for troops and the snowball begins. Royer was a physician, given the job of Indian agent as a gift for his service to the South Dakota Republican Party. He had no experience with Indians and more importantly with running a reservation. While the agents on three of the reservations reported that there was some commotion on their reservations, they were prepared to handle the situation without the intervention of troops. Royer, being inexperienced did not know how to handle the situation and felt that troops should be brought in to rectify the situation. With an strong, experienced person who knew about the Indians and reservation management, there may not have been an outbreak at Pine Ridge Reservation and the Indians possibly could have been kept under control until Congress sent relief (Mooney 73). V. T. McGillycuddy, who had experience in dealing with Indians and in running a reservation, was the Indian agent in charge of the Pine Ridge Reservation for seven years, from 1879 to 1886. In a letter written by McGillycuddy to General Colby, the commanding officer of the Nebraska state troops during the outbreak, McGillycuddy said that over the course of his time with the Lakota Sioux there was never once a soldier on the reservation, and he believed that the situation at Pine Ridge did not require troops. McGillycuddy said that under his jurisdiction the Indians were allowed to rule themselves on the reservation and he established an element of friendship with and among them in a balance of power between the Indians and the agency officials (Mooney 77). McGillycuddy says that when his Democratic successor came in, he revamped the governing system, taking away the balance between the two peoples. In doing so he ended the atmosphere that had been maintained for the past seven years. He asserts that: "If my successor had been other than an ammeter, or had knowledge or experience in the inside Indian politics of an Indian tribe, he would have known that if the element he was endeavoring to relegate to the rear had not been the balance of power, I could not for seven years have held out against the mob element which he now sought to put in power" (Mooney 77). McGillycuddy s successor took away some of the Indians power hoping to have better control over the Indians. But, what this actually did was put the Indians against him and make them dissatisfied. McGillycuddy goes on to say that Daniel F. Royer replaced this man in October 1890. He said that Royer was: "A gentleman totally ignorant of Indians and there peculiarities; a gentleman with not a qualification in his make-up calculated to fit him for the position of agent at one of the largest and most difficult agencies in the service to manage; a man selected solely as a reward for political services" (qtd. in Mooney 78). Royer had trouble with the reservation inhabitants due to the breakdown of communication between the previous agency officials and Indians (Mooney 79). This inability to understand the Indians and his lack of experience caused him problems. Having only lived among the Indians for a month, he magnified the extent of the Ghost Dance ritual, pleading for troops, when in actuality an Indian agency official, such as he was, should have been able to handle the situation.
ghostdance It is important to note that the army had previously tried to attain the power of running the Indian reservations. The army believed that the unsubjugated Indian tribes still retained their warlike traditions and that civilized agents could only manage tribes once they had become civilized, but until then it would be necessary to have military agents. The Army thought they were the only ones capable of handling the Indians (Ostler 228). They contended that most civilian agents were at best ignorant and inexperienced and at worst ignorant, inexperienced, and corrupt (Mooney 229). In the end the Indian Bureau won the conflict, but by a slim margin. In 1890, the army still felt they were more capable of handling the reservations and wanted control over them. Royer's continued pleas for troops gave the military the opportunity they needed to assert their power. So when Miles was given orders on November 14, 1890, to use whatever actions were needed to stop an outbreak of the Lakota Indians (Mooney 235), he now had the chance to show that the military was more apt to handle the situation on the reservations, than the agency officials. They believed that bringing in troops would be enough to scare the Native Americans into submission, but by doing this they greatly increased the possibility of a violent outcome. "As a general principle the army acted according to its interests" (Ostler 247). When the troops met the Indians at Wounded Knee Creek, they wanted to show there power over Big Foot and his people. The Indians were tired, hungry, and scared. They were seeking protection, not a conflict, but what took place was the Wounded Knee Massacre. The Battle Site of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 6
of 6 ghostdance I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people s dream died there. It was a beautiful dream... The nation s hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead. Black Elk The Wounded Knee Massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and also the Indians' hope of ever again living as they once had. "The mass graves at Wounded Knee became a symbol to us [the Lakota nation] to never forget and never to trust again" (Sapa n. pg.). To View A Slide Show To Words on Wounded Knee To Spirituality Home Page