The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1900-06-23
THE SIOUX GHOST DANCE

THE SIOUX G
Indians Give Up Looking for
a Messiah.
Ghost dancing among the Sioux In
dians. which led to- such fierce battles
with the whites in years gone by, has
died out and the noble red man no
longer looks for the coming of a Mes
siah who would bring dead Indians to
life, reincarnate the buffalo and deer
and enectually dispose of the white
population Of the earth. Ghost dane
ing, according to one who has made
this custom a study, is nothing more
nor less than an adaptation of the
. frenzy dances of the . whirling der
. wishes Of Turkey and Bgypt, an exer-
else undertaken for. the purpose of
placing the physical being in a state
of e~xaftation wherein the spirit gains
intimate communion with the dead
and with the Messiah. 1t Is a curious
TACT, attested by the better. educated
Indians, that the idea of an Indian
Messiah was an adoption OF the Chris
xlan idea OF the Savior. doubtless trace
ito the teachings Of the early mis-
prizes. The expected advent of an
n Jan Messiah has been among the
ditions of the Indians of North Am
ca almost from the bsg1nning Of
their contact with the whites. and
arhen- the failure 0f crops in 1889 and
1890 left the indians without the sub
ssistenceA1p0 which they depended
the government failed to furnish all
of the supplies demanded-their minds
naturally turned to the thoughts of the
Messiah's advent.
In the summer of 1890 the idea be-
came widespread and was followed
soon after by the announcement that
the Messiah had actually come. Twen-'
ty miles from the Pine Ridge agency
about 1000 Indians gathered, many of
them belonging to the band of the
famous old medicine man, Sitting Bull.
They believed the Indian millennium
would come with the next spring,
when the new grass appeared. Sol
diers were hurried from all parts of
the country. They herded the Indians
into their agencies and pursued the
wandering bands of fanatics into the
Band Lands, and there proved to them
that their ghost shirt was only painted
muslin and incapable of turning the
bullet of the white man. The ghost
dance was held for six days and
nights at the beginning of every new
moon, by command of the Messiah.
Month after month in 1890 the dance
was kept up. BY the influence of the
agents and .the Indian police. backed
by the soldiers. all of the Indians, ex-
cept the Sioux. were brought under
control. The Sioux were numerous
and defiant. They refused to quit
dancing and treated the agents or
,.ders with contempt. The collision
came. at Wounded Knee creek on Dec.
3D. Several companies OF soldiers had
surprised and captured Big Foot's
\band, the leaders of the deviltry of
khe times. They were lined up while
search Of their tepees was made for
arms. This proved fruitless and a per-
,sonal search was ordered. The first
detachment Of >searchers was shot
down by the Indians. who had their
aguns concealed beneath their blankets
and ghost shirts. There were 40
bucks and $50 women and children in
,the band. The signal for hostilities
was given by the medicine man grab
bling a handful of earth and Ringing it
above his head. The soldiers were Of
Clusters old command and DOE raj
lied. The Indians .retreated to their
.tepees after they had lost So men. Be-
fore the battle 3ended ZIG Indians, in
GLIDING Big Foot and 60 OF 20 women
and children. hiding in the tepees,
were killed. The soldiers had Is kill
ed. The demonstration of the worth
lessness of the ghost shirt as armor
had "a powerful effect upon the other
dancing Indians, and they sullenly
submitted after weeks of protest. The
ghost dance belief died hard. however.
so alluringly did the Messiah idea
present the future to the simple
minded braves that they were. loath to
give 1T up. The following year ghost
dancing was again started, but was
soon stopped,by the Indian police. Pc
riodically since then have the follow
Eers Of the craze sought to revive this
Sdance, but each time 1t was sternly re-
pressed. The end came last year, when
only q score of the believers in all
the Sioux could be got together. Then
and then only was it finally aban-
sdoned.
A New Party.
ess often finds difaculty in en-
her young friends; Here Z