The Washington herald., 1912-04-21

vada, on the lat day OF January lsoS
At that time Novoka was IN with q
fever. and his vision was presumably
incidental 10 dellrium. IL 10 not true,
as was alleged. that ne declared himself
the Christ, though by many OF his roi-
lowers he was supposed to be omnis-
cient, knowing all languages, and able
10 render himself invineible 10 the white
man, Delegates sent TO visit MIN by the
, Sioux, the Cheyennes. ana other tribes
returned with statements 70 the efIect
that ne could make animals tsiK and
distant objects appear close at hand. lie
conJured up before their eyes a vision
OF the spirit world, so that when they
looked they beheld the ocean. and be-
yond II q land on which they saw ~aIi
the nations OF Indians coming home .
Dancing as a form Of religious ceTe-
mony dates back from beyond the DAY
when the daughter Of Saul looked
through the window and saw King Davic
leaping and dancing before the Lord. "
As for the ghost dance (says Mooney.
with its scenes OF intense excitement.
spasmodic action. and physical exhaus-
tion even to Inconsistencies. such man
ifestations have always accompanied ra-
ligious upheavals among primitive peo-
Piles. and are by no means unknown
among ourselves"
Among the different tribes that ac-
cepted the new faith, various beliefs
were entertained as TO the character Of
the expected cataclysm. The medicine
men OF the Shoshones declared that a
great sleep would come upon the Indians.
who would awaken to immortality on a
new earth The idea. as promulgated
among the Cheyennes and the Arapahos.
was that the new earth, with all the
resurrected dead from the beginning and
with the buffalo. elk. and other game
on II, would come from the west and
slide over the surface of the present
earth. blotting out the latter. Yet an
other notion was that q wall Of fire
would drive the whites across the great
water to their original and proper coun-
try. but the Indians would not be hurt.
Among the powerful and warlike Sioux
of the Dakotas. already restless under
both old and recent grievances. and
brought to the edge Of starvation by a
reduction Of government rations. the
doctrine speedily assumed a hostile mean
ing. The first definite news Of the faith
was brought by delegates who crossed
the mountains TO visit the Messiah in the
fall Of 1889, returning In the spring OF
1880. On their report, the dance was at
once inaugurated. James Mclaughlin,
Indian agent at Standing Rock. in a let
ter TO the War Department, October Il,
1880. wrote that the Sioux. under the in
huCuCe OF Dull were kTGdlly
cited over the near approach Of a pre-
dicted millennium, or return of the
ghosts when the white man would be
annihilated and the Indian again be made
supreme.
The decimated ranks OF the aborigines
were to be REINFORCED by all the Indians
who had ever died. and these spirits,
already on their way to reinhabit the
earth. we're driving before them. as they
u =
fne ponies. The great spirit, who had
long deserted his red children. was now
once more with them, and against the
whites, and the white mans gun powder
would no longer have power to drive a
bullet through the skin OF an Indian.
Ghost shirts were worn by all be-
levers. They were OF buckskin. with
eagle feathers attached to them, and
sometimes adorned with designs repre-
sending the sun, moon. stars. and SYM
bolic animals. The fringe OF these gar
ments was painted with sacred red paint.
They were supposed to be lnpenetrable
to bullets or weapons OF any kind. A
woman picked up on the feld of the
massacre at Wounded Knee said, refer
ring to the shirt she wore: Yes, take
1t OF. They told me a bullet would not
90 through. Now l don't want it any
more"
The Cheyennes and sioux.
In the spring Of 1900 there was wild ex-
citement among the CheyCnnes in Mon
tana, and the Sioux of the Dakotas. The
dancing Of the ghost dance went on with
all the enthusiasm and abandon Of a
revival" 1t began with fasting and
publication. The bodies of the partici-
pants were painted by the medicine men
with the sacred red paint. There was
shooting OF arrows to the four points
OF the compass, and the faithful danced
about in circles with Joined hands, chant
ing songs. Frenzies. frances and recitals
OF visions brought the religious orgy
TO a climax.
It should be Understood that the Sioux
were then. as they are to-day, the larg-
est and strongest tribe OF Indians in the
United States, numbering about 5000.
Anciently they held the headwaters of
the Mississippi, but were driven into the
prairie region two centuries ago by the
Chippewas, who had obtained firearms
from the French. Coming out on the
buffalo plains, they acquired possession
Of the horse, and, being soon enabled TO
resume the offensive, made themselves
undisputed masters of an immense terri
tory, extending from Minnesota to the
Rocky Mountains, and from the Yellow
stone to the platte. With millions Of
buffalo to furnish an unlimited food sup
ply, and thousands OF ponies, the Sioux
up to 1855 were the richest, the proudest.
and. perhaps, the widest OF all the
tribes Of the plains.
But the white man was fiercer and
more powerful than they. A few years
saw a striking change in their condition.
Robbed of their territory, deprived Of the
buffalo. and reduced to practical subjec-
tion, they found themselves obliged TO
depend upon government rations for their
while restricted to the mar
row limits OF a reservation. All of this,
OF course, could not come about without
resistance on their part, and of the losing
fight which they fought the Custer mas
sacre was an incident. Failure Of their
crops in an arid country, disease attack
ing their cattle. epidemics of measles and
whooping cough which destroyed their
children wholesale. reduction OF the ra-
tons allowed by the government, and
the unjust Withholding by Congress of
money due in payment for their lands
all these and other wrongs had rendered
them fairly desperate.
The largest of the Sioux agencies was
At Pine Ridge. where 5000 OF the widest
and most warlike OF the tribe were gath
cred. under control of the celebrated
Chief Red Cloud. This locality and
Rock. where Sitting Bull was
the leader, were the two principal cen
ters OF excitement In the spring Of 1890.
Things got worse and worse until, in
Of that year. the government
sent troops. under Gen. Nelson A.
Miles, to prevent an outbreak. The In
dian agents recommended certain ar
rests, especially that OF Sitting Bull.