The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-21

confused idea of the white mans theology.
On growing UP he married and continued
to work for MIR. Wilson. but attracted no
special notice until nearly thirty years OF
age, when he announced revelation that
has made him famous among the tribes or
the West.
WOVOKA'S REVELATION.
Wovoka and his doctrines have been the
subject of ignorant Misrepresentation, and
Notwithstanding all that has been written
concerning him, no one until Mr.. Mooney
ever undertook TO find the man himself and
learn from his own lips what he really
taught. He describes him as a young man.
a dark full-blood. compactly built and taller
than the Piute generally. being nearly six
feet in height. He was well dressed in
white mans clothes, with a brOad-brimmed
white felt hat, common in the West. Sc
cured with beaded ribbon under the chin.
He shook hands on meeting ana arranged
Tor an interview the next day. In MS
narrative he informed Mr.. Mooney that he
mad received his great revelation about Two
years ago. On this occasion tine sun died
twas eclipsed) and he tel asleep IN the
daytime and was taken to the other world.
Here he saw God, with all the people lndC
had died long ago engaged IN their old
time sports and occupations, all happy ana
forever young. After showing him all God
told him he must go back and tell his peo-
pie they must be good and love one an
other, have no quarreiing and live in peace
with the whites; they must work and not
lie or steal; that they must put away all
the old practices that SaVored of war; that
If they faithfully Obeyed His instructions
they would at last be reunited with their
friends in the other world, where there
would be no more death or sickness or old
age
lie was then given the dance which he
was commanded to take back TO his people.
He returned TO earth and began to preach
as directed, convincing the people by eXer-
cising the wonderful powers that had been
Cri1rn 70 i'm al ina al GJ-
biiity for the ghost shirt which formed so
important a part of the dance costume
among the Sioux, and said there were no
frances In the dance as performed among
his people His uncle stated that Wovoka
had five songs for making it rain, the first
of which brings on mist or cloud, the
second a snowfall, the third shower and
a fourth a hard rain or storm, while when
he sings the fifth song the weather again
becomes clear
Mr. Mooney took his picture and obtained
from WOVOla as souvenirs to bring back
and show his Indian friends in Indian Ter
ritory blanket of rabbit skins, some pinon
nuts, some tail feathers of the magpie and
some of the sacred red paint endowed With
most miraculous powers, which plays an
important part in the ritual OF the ghost
dance religion.
On returning to Cheyenne and Arapaho
and comparing notes with some of their re-
cent delegates to Wovoka, Mr.. Mooney
states that he discovered something Of
Wovoka's hypnotic methods, and incident
ally learned how much of miracle depends
on the mental receptivity of the observer.
Tall Bull one of the Cheyenne delegates
and captain of the Indian police, said be-
fore leaving they asked Wovoka to give
some proof of his supernatural powers. Ac-
cordinglY he had ranged them in front of
him, with his sombrero between and his
eagle feathers in his hand. Then with a
quick movement he had put his hand in his
empty hat and drawn out from it some
thing black" Tall Bull would not admit
that anything more had happened. Black
Coyote, one of the Arapaho delegates and
ole LOT F1oi
dent but with a different sequel and told
how when the Messiah had waved his
feathers over his hat and withdrew his
hand Black Coyote looked into the hat
and there saw the whole world"
THE MILLENNIUM.
The great underlying principle of the
ghost dance doctrine is that the time will
come when the whole Indian race, living or
dead, will be reunited upon a regenerated
earth, to live a life of aboriginal happiness,
forever free from death, disease and mis-
cry On this each tribe has built struc-
ture from it's own mythology. All this is
to be brought about, not through war, but
by an overruling spiritual power. Some
apostles here even declared that all race
distinctions are to be obterated and the
whites are to participate with the Indians
in the coming felicity. Different dates are
assigned to the coming of this millennium.
From the Cheyenne and Arapaho delegates
Mr.. Mooney obtained a letter containing a
message or statement of doctrine delivered
to them by WOVoka in 1891 and written
down on the spot by one of the Arapaho
delegates, Casper Edison, young man who
had acquired some English education at
the government Indian school at Carlisle.
Mr.. Mooney highly extols the moral code
inculcated as pure and comprehensive in it's
simplicity, and states that the prophet has
given these people a better religion than
they ever had before, taught them precepts
which, if faithfully carried out, will bring
them in better accord with their white
neighbOrs, and has prepared the way for
their final Characterization.
He has traced the progress of the doc
trine through the various tribes in the Uni
ted States and gives an approximate state
ment as to the area of the dance and the
number of Indians involved According to
the latest official reports, there are about
146,OO0 Indians west of the Mississippi river,
exclusive of the five civilized nations in the
Indian Territory. Probably all these tribes
heard of the new doctrine, but only part
took an active interest in it. Some thirty
to thirty-tive tribes, more or less con-
cerned, have an aggregate population of
900 souls A number were practically
unanimous in accepting the new doctrine,
notably the Piute Shoshoni, Arapaho,
Cheyenne, Caddo and Pawnee, while of
others, as the Comanche, only small
half of the $4,000 Sioux took an active part
in it, 1t may be safely said, however, that
the doctrine and ceremony of the ghost
dance found more adherentS among our
tribes than any similar religious movement
within the historic movement except pos
sibly the crusade led by the Shawano
prophet in 1905. Among most of these tribes
the movement is already extinct having
died a natural death, excepting in the case
of the Sioux. The Sioux probably discOn-
tnued the dance before the final surrender,
as the subsequent events convinced even
the most fanciful believers that their eX-
pectations of invulnerable ability and SUI
pernatural assistance were deceptive.
The Piutes were yet dancing a year ago,
and as their dream has received no such
rude awakening as among the Sioux, they
are probably still patiently awaiting the
great deliverance in spite of repeated post
ponements, although the frenzied earnest
ness of the early period has long abated.
The Kiowas have recently taken up the
dance again and are dancing as relgiously
as ever under the leadership of the old men,
although the progressive element in the
tribe is strongly OPPOSED to it.
Among the other Tribes in Oklahoma the
ghost dance has become part of the tribal
life and is still performed at frequent in
tervals. although the feverish expectation
of few years ago has now settled down
into something closely approaching the
Christian hope of q reunion with departed
friends In a happier world at some time in
the unknown future. AS to Wovoka. the
great Messiah, when last heard from he
was on exhibition as one of the attractions
at the midwinter fair in San Francisco.