Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-26
ORIGIN OF GHOST DANCING
THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH IT'S
UNDERLYING IDEA.
Circumstances That Led the North
American Indian to Adopt This
Curious Custom.

which led to fierce battlings with the
whites in the years gone by, has died out.
Such was the unanimous opinion of the
ranchmen and former Indian fighters who
| were among the delegates to the recent Ne
braska republican state convention. Among
these delegates was one who was neither
a ranchman nor an old Indian fighter, and
yet he knows more perhaps Of the history
Of the senseless craze that lured to death
| many of the braves Of the northwest tribes
| than does any of the ranchmen. This man
| is Gen. L. w. Colby, for.five years briga-
der general of the Nebraska militia. but
now a lawyer of Beatrice. 1t was Colby
who led the state militia to the frontier In
the winter of 1s9O-91, when ghost dancing
was at its worst. and his connection with
that campaign prompted him to investigate
the reasons for the Indian outbreak and
| the basis of the queer illusions that pre-
vailed in the tribes.
Ghost dancing, according to Gen. Colby,
was nothing more nor less than an adapta-
| ton of the frenzy dances of the whirling
dervishes of Turkey and Egypt, an exercise
undertaken for the purpose of placing the
physical being in a state of exaltation
wherein the spirit gains intimate commun-
| ion with the dead and with the Messiah.
| 1t is a curious fact, attested by the better
educated Indians that this idea OF an In
dian Messiah was an adoption of the Chris
tian idea of the Savior, doubtless traceable
| to the teachings of the early missionaries.
has been among the traditions of the In
dams of North America almost from the
beginning of their contact with the whites,
| and when the failure of crops in 1889 and
| 1890 left the Indians without the subsst-
ence upon which they depended-the gov
eminent failing to furnish all of the sup
| plies demanded - their minds naturally
turned to thoughts of the Messiah's advent.
In the summer of 1890 the idea became
widespread and was followed soon after by
the announcement that the Messiah had
I,<
shones. the Sioux. principally Brules the
Cheyennes and the Arapahoes journeyed
| into the desert of Nevada and there claim
ed to have seen the Indian Christ. When
| they returned they told to great tribal
| meetings what they had seen-a man with
head bowed in sorrow and with scars on
wrists, feet and face. He told them of his
coming to redeem the whittier race from
sin and suffering. of the cruelty that race
had practiced upon him. of his crucifixion
suffering and death He instructed them in
morality and taught them certain religious
| dances and songs. the ghost dance among
them. The medicine man told them that
| they had been punished by the white races
| for evil deeds done by their forbears but
that their time of travail was about ended
| They said that he had told them that all
| the dead Indians should return to life
that the great herds of buffalo. antelope.
elk ard wild horses were to be reincar-
nated that hereafter the white man would
be unable to manufacture gunpowder or
! bullets that would penetrate the dress they
were to assume; that he would cover the
| earth with thirty feet of additional soil,
well sodded and timbered. under which the
whites would be sufocated, and that any
white men who escaped would be turned
| into small fishes in the rivers of the land
| All that asked of the Indians was that
| they believe and organize.
These medicine men described the Christ
as man of forty years of age. They said
| he gave them certain signs wherewith to
work miracles and these they had tested
/ and found effective. One chief professed to
| have seen and talked with his son, killed
years before in war
| The men and women began to make holy
shirts and dresses. White muslin was used.
| Blue and yellow stripes were placed on the
| back and front. On many were rude pic
lures. some of eagles and some of buffalo
| Eagle feathers were worn on the shoulders.
| sleeves and head. Nothing made of metal
was permitted except guns. First a man
stood In the circle of dancers, then wo-
man, until large circle formed. They
danced round and round till one by one,
| the dancers grew tired and dizzy. They fell
| to the ground and foamed at the mouth,
| then lay as dead. When they returned to
| consciousness they told of wonderful things
| they had seen and heard. The song they
| sang while dancing was in the nature OF
| chant with some variations from mono
| tone. Emphasis was given at about every
| second beat of common time. The refrain
| was at times a wall. which. once heard. the
old-timers say. was never forgotten. AT
times the song would be an incoherent dis
| connected conversation between the Great
Spirit and the ghost dancer. supposed to
| take place after the latter, having tainted
| from exhaustion and mental excitement,
had mounted upon wings and entered into
the realms of the sun.
Twenty miles from the Pine Ridge agen-
| cy about 1000 Indians gathered. many OF
them belonging to the band of the famous
old medicine man. Sitting Bull They De-
| ieved the Indian millennium would come
| with the next spring when the new grass
parts of the country. They herded the In
dams into the agencies. and pursued the
wandering bands of fanatics into the Bad
Lands. and there proved to them that their
ghost shirt was only painted muslin and In
capab BILE of turning the bullet of the white
man. The ghost dance was held Tor SIX
| days and nights at the beginning OF every
new moon, by command of the Messiah
Month after month in 1880 the dance was
kept up.
BY the influence of the agents and the
Indian police. backed by the soldiers. all of
the Indians except the Sioux were brought
| under control The Sioux were numerous
and defiant. They refused to quit dancing
and treated the agents orders with con-
tempt. The collision came at Wounded
Knee creek on December %. Several COM
panies of soldiers had surprised and cap
tured Big Foot's band. the leaders in the
deviltry of the times They were lined up
while a search Of their tepeeS was made for
arms This proved fruitless and personal
search was ordered. The first detachment
of searchers was shot down by the Indians,
who had their guns concealed beneath their
blankets and ghost shirts There were 40
bucks and 80 women and children in the
band The signal for hostilittes was given
by the medicine man grabbing handful of
earth and fiinging 1t above his head. The
soldiers were of Clusters old command and
soon rallied The Indians retreated to their
tepees after they had lost fifty-two men.
Before the battle ended ZIG Indians, includ-
Ing Big Foot and sixty seventy women
and children, hiding in the tepees. were
killed. The soldiers had twenty-five killed
This demonstration of the worthlessness
of the ghost shirt as armor had powerful
effect upon the other dancing Indians, and
they sullenly submitted. after weeks of pro-
test The ghost dance belief died hard,
however. So alluringly did the Messiah
idea present the future to the simple-mind-
ed braves that they were loath to give it
up. The following year ghost dancing was
again started but was soon stopped by the
Indian police. Periodically since then have
the followers of the craze sought to revive
this dance, but each time 1t was sternly re-
pressed. The end came last year when
only a score of believers in all the Sioux
could be got together. Then. and then only.
was 1t finally abandoned.
A JerObOam.