The sea coast echo., 1898-01-08
INDIAN GHOST DANCING.
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HAVE STUD.
led THE SUBJECT.

The Ceremony Part of Religious Re-
viyal Among the He'd Skins Prepa-
ration for the Coming of the Indian
Millennium Description OF the Dance.
The chronological bureau has issued
its fourteenth annual report, one vol
ume of which is devoted entirely to
the eyer-interesting ghost dance and
its accompanying features.
The ghost dancing Of the Indians is
supposed by most persons to have
originated among the Northwestern
tribes between 1889 and 1898, and to
have been the cause OF the terrible
Indian war which was ended by the
defeat Of the Indians at Pine Ridge,
but as Mr.. James Mooney, the author
of this report, takes pains to show,
the ghost dancing religion is an old
institution, had it's origin in the dis
satisfaction of the Indians with the
encroachments of the whites, and has
been practiced by The savages at vari-
ous times on the western continent.
Ghost dancing rs name bestowed
upon this form of religion by the
whites; with the Indiansitis n prepa-
ration for new state of the worlds
affairs, religious revival, in which
the participants purify themselves and
make ready for the coming of the In
dian Messiah and the advent of the
Indian millennium.
The Indian millennium is to be
brought about by supernatural means
to which, however, men will contribute
n share, by prayer, fasting and certain
religious rites, among which dancing,
gyrations of various kinds and mystic
observances constitute the principal
portion. The date for the general
change Of affairs and the regeneration
of the world is usually left indeter-
inmate, for the Indian prophets are
shrewd and do not care to take the
risk of fixing definite time for the
fulfillment of their predictions, though
the date is commonly given at the
spring of the year when nature awakes
from its winters sleep. The idea of
general resurrection of all the In
dian dead is prominent. When the
great day comes, "irhe dead are all
arisen and the spirit hosts are advanc-
ing and have already arrived ut the
boundaries of this earth led forward
by the regenerator in shape of cloud
like indistinctness. The spirit-cap-
tain of the dead is always represented
under this shadowy semblance. The
great change will be ushered in by
trembling Of the earth, at which the
faithful are exhorted to feel no alarm.
The hope held out is the same that has
inspired the Christian for nineteen
centuries--a happy immortality in per-
petual youth"
The dance itself is comparatively q
simple matter. "The dance commonly
begins about the middle of the after
noon or later, after sundown. When
it begins in the afternoon there is
always an intermission of an hour or
two for supper. The announcement
is made by the criers, old men who
assume this Office apparently by tacit
understanding, who go about the camp
shouting in loud voice to the people
to prepare for the dance. The pre-
liminary painting and dressing is
usually n work Of about two hours.
When all is ready the leaders walk out
to the dance place, aud, facing inward,
Join hands, so as TO form a small circle.
Then, without moving from their
places, they sing the opening song,
according TO previous agreement, in
soft undertone. Having sung it
through once, they raise their voices
to their full strength and repeat it,
this time slowly circling around in the
dance. The step is different from that
of most other Indian dances, but very
simple.
The doctrine that the world is worn
out, and that the time for it's renewal
is near at hand is an essential part of
the ','aching of the ghost dance. The
number of these cycles of destruction
was yariously stated among different
tribes, but, perhaps the most prophetic
form of the myth was found among
the WinnebaSoes, who, forty years
ago, held that the tenth generation of
their people was near its close, and
that at the end of the thirteenth the
red race would be destroyed. By
prayers and ceremonies they were then
endeavoring to placate their angry
gods and put farther away the doom
that seemed rapidly closing in on
them. Philadelphia Times.