New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-29
THE GHOST-DANCE CRAZE
DISCUSSION OF THE FOLKLORE SOCIETY.
ArTRIBUTINa 1T IN PART TO THE CONVERSION
OF INDIANS TO cHRIsTIANITY-orHER
PAPERS READ.

OF INDIANS TO cHRIsTIANrTy-orHER
PAPERS READ.
The American Folklore Society began yesterday to
Aold It's second annual meeting. There was q large
attendance of members, who by the courtesy OF Seth
Low the president OF Columbia College, met at the
college, in room Is Of Hamilton Hall. There were
three sessions for business and the reading OF papers
Al II q. m, after hours prelimnais executive con-
,crcnce by the council. DIR. Daniel O. 8,mton, presi
s.,t Of the society took the chair Professor John
: Sevs,arrv. president Of ire New-Yolk Academy Of
sciences dcnse.ed ap address NJ welcome. In II he
sad t,sf n record of folk made, half the
po,sesc Of civilization would be written The council
nrcscatcd to the society an encouraging report.
feature Of great interest IN the MOI ming session
WAS the discussion Of the Indian ,ghostdance craze
Alice c. Fletcher, who introduced the subject has
the advantages Of an experience derived from per-
anal association with the Neg PeYces Indians In
Dakota she has been for several years close stu
dent of Indian traditions and keen observer of the
customs OF the red men. She said that the, present
craze took rise in the neighborhood 81 the Cheyenne
River. between six and seven years ago 1t began
with the nominal conversion TO Christianity Of an
Indian who became very enthusiastic. He had visions
and told them to his fellows who infected BY his
enthusiasm and began also TO see visions. "a
The original convert had vision Of the good old
tmes- of Indian history. The seer beted a great
herd Of buffalo in the vision and saw his ancestors
come from the spirit land. A path opened from the
Indian village to luminous place. Along the path
4 form advanced. 1t neither that Of an Indian
nor Of white man. because its face not so red as
that Of on Indian nor so fair as white man. Around
TIE mysterious form a robe. which concealed the
Asure 1t called aloud TO the Indians my Indian
eh1drenn Then, throwing aside the mantle, IL pro
claimed itself as the Christian Messiah, and showed
The marks of the nails of the cross in its flesh
The apparition talked with the Indians, and ex-
planned that the white had rejected him, and that
he had come to the red men.
sBehod what the white men did to me-" said he, as
he pointed to the scars of the erucfxion. 81 come
low to my Indian children, whom the white men have
oppressed and despised."
Then this Messiah communed further with the In
dams and told them that all their former glory would
return to them and that their dead forefathers were
ralying around them from the spirit land.
The vison-seeing Indians returned TO their village
and related what they had seen and heard There
was as a result great religious revival and during
period Of six years the visions and their
seQuent revivals required, spreading from Indian
tribe another. Finally men began to impersonate
the figure in the visions The impOstors gave
such advice and uttered such sayings-diferent In
spirit the pacific of the real vision Messiah
that they bred trouble, and the Indians from the
Cheyenne River down into Indian Territory were
aroused. The Cheyennes particularly affected
By the Messiah craze They made pilgrmages to the
places where the converts the vision, in order
that they might meet the Messiah. The true vision
Saviour did not counsel the OF arms against the
white men, All over the Indian lands spread the
Of second coming OF the Christ and it affected the
Christian as well the pagan Indians. At a late
date the began TO manifest itself by dances and
the Indian politicians took advantage of the situation
to ask for larer rations from the Government. The
outcome OF the Messiah would be difficult to
speculate on. The rising Of the Indians to shake of
The white mans yoke is an anciept idea.
Dr. Franz Boas said that such as the Messiah
craze have happened before. There was widespread
craze Of this sort among the natives of the West OF
Greenland about the beginning Of this century, and
caused much excitement prophecies appeared
who z concerted an entire settlement. The "Dsnc-
ing Disease" which happened in Europe during the
Middle Ages was similar phenomenon. "revela-
tom came TO an Individual and the infection Of the
Dancing Disease" ran from Aix+a-Chapele to
Italy. Something similar is now going on in siberia,
where the natives have vision seeing OBSTACLES.
Professor Daniel s. Martin said that there was
strong tendency among oppressed races toward suoh
excitcments or crazes the Indian one. Shortly
before the beginning Of the Civil War In the United
States tho negroes I'm part OF Kentucky became pos
sessed by an idea that General Fremont was coming
with his soldiers o. Christmas night to set them all
free. Nhio mis- was raging there was HOOD
in the Kentucky River, and the possessed negroes
announced that General Fremont and his men were
lying concealed below the swollen water, secretly
awaiting tn, proper hour for the deliverance
Professor ubert Leighton Rawson said he remem
bored distinctly the existence Of similar crazes among
the Arabian BedOuins. travelled through that coun
try he said forty years ago, and many stories Of
visions and revelations told to me- The central
idea desire the part of the Bedouins TO rid
themselves of the depressing dominant race In 1861
went from St. Paul 10 Hudson's Bay and then
heard Of similar revelations and visions from the In
dams, relating 10 a great delverer."
The chairman held that it was wrong to attribute
the Indian Messiah TO the influence OF Christian
teaching. 1t old idea, he said the idea of a
supernatural deliverer.
1.-THE Rev. Mr.. Anthony, an Indian of the Delaware
tribe he added told that the word Lenape
used the native name of the tribe, and generally
translated at the true man. had es0teric sig
InfcsDce. the man will come and that
this idea was in every Delaware Indians mind
when he engaged in the medicine dance 1t is not IN
likely that this idea was in Montezuma's mind
when he asked Cortez if he the who had
come for the deiverance of the Aztecs."
In the morning and afternoon sessions papers were
read BY DR.. Franz BOas Sc The Dissemination OF
Tales Among the Natives Of North America; by A. F.
Chamberlain on "Naniboiu among the ojebways and
Misslssagasp; by Stewart Culin "Chi!drens Street
Games In Brooklyn; by Professor otis I. Mason
The Natural History Of Folk Lore by Louis Vossion
Professor Daniel s. Martin on The survival of super
stitons Among the Enlightened
DR.. Martin spoke scornfaly of the Unlueky Friday
and the Thirteen Superstition" among Others Yet
by a curious coincidence his number on the prnted
programme was Thirteen, and 1t was on FRIDAY. ana
lie was not able to finish reading his paper because
the chairman called Time - ~,x,.
In the evening, by invitation of the Newfork
Academy Of sciences Joint meeting o. the roHLEre
society and of the acsdemy was held W ha VIII Dr.
Brnton In the chair. George +. kunz, the well
known gem expert exhibited rare ana cosby cVne e
ton Of precious stones ornaments charms, etc. IRON
many countries. illustrative Of folk A. lore; Among i
them were a fragment taken from the JADE toWD,
stone Of Tamerlane the celebrated Tartar prince ana
tonqueror Of Persia, India and Egypt, ana mace
head Of white Jade, believed on good authority TO
have belonged % the great Persian co1Susr9r NadlF
Shah, and obtained by him In ms loot OF
India with other jewels OF the treasures
OF the Kings and Moguls Of Delhi: ..-
Dr. H. Darlington Bolton described Some BavaTlan
Pastimcss with the aid Of stereopticon pictures VIII
lam Wells Newell the. secretary OF the society dis
cssed The Practice If ConJurng NOxious Animals as
Surviving In the Folklore Of New-England' Dr. John
s. Newberry talked about some exceedingly ancient
human bones and skulls fonnd In Belgium, and L. j.
Vance read entertaining and instructive paper on
: The OWNING Rod
The following officers OF the American Folk Lore
rtAAny