El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-20

w TASt1lNGION, April -V--An eX-
NJ hibit representing the Sioux
indians. newly placed on view
| at the National museum, is largely
] composed of relics from the socalled
! battle" of Wounded Knee-the most
disgra ceful episode, bar none, IN the
I history of the country. 1t was a mas
/ sacre pure and simple. in which Wom-
{ en- and children were shot down Witn
{ machine guns-thOSe OF them VINO
! escaped the first wholesale slaughter
being pursued for miles by the SOL
/ diers and ruthlessly killed. many OF
them mothers with infants IN their
arms Finally, and TO cap the climax,
the wounded Of both sexes and all
ages were allowed TO remain without
succOr for three days, and to freeze TO
/ death in a blizzard that followed the
tragedy
The exhibit in question, which in
Guides several Of the ghost SHIRTS
worn by the Sioux at that period IN
the notion that these garments would
render them invulnerable TO the WhlJe
mans rifle bullets, has for one Of its
features a lifelike figure Of young
suuaw wearing a buckskin garment
" hiCh is pierced by several nOIes- AHes
certainly look like bullet holes, and
II they are such, one of the bullets
must have passed iircctly through tue
Wearer's heart
Bodies Tossed Into Trench.
When the field of. the massacre was
cleaned up. an of the indian dead, in
Guiding about 100 men and i20 women
and children Figures from oTT1cial re-
pCrt) were thrown like cOroWOod into
one big trench for burial Many nad
been stripped by the whites who want
sd the ghost shirts and otner articles OF
apparel fOr relics Even the IIEAntS ana
not escape such 7espcilmcn-- As one
OF the burial party wrote It WIS a
thing to melt the heart Of any one. Il
not OF stone, 10 sec those little chill
dren. with bodies shot to pieces
thrown naked into the pit
The war department made an inVes-
tigatiOn, administering a coat Of
WhiteWash 20 those concerned, ana
nobody was ever punished All OF
which shows what truly CIVILIZED
nation we are. But. in order to under
stand how the tragedy came about II
is necessary to grasp the circum-
stances which led up TO It Also, one
should realize that the troops were
themselves overcome by panic fear
which, beyond any other emotion
whatsoever. renders men ferOcious
and blOOdthirsty. They had not for
gotten the wiping out Of custer ana
his command by the Sioux
Ghost Dance Starts Trouble.
The ghost dance began the whole
trouble. But this. TO start with, needs
explanation, for notions as TO the char
scter and reason why OF the Shost
dance have been many and commonly
erroneous. Summed up IN a word, IL
was a ceremonial connected with 4
new reli giOn. spreading among the IN
dams in 1889 and later, which prom
ised the Wiping of the white people
off of the earth and the return OF al
the tribes of dead abOriglnes, together
with the buffalo and other game-the
whole of North America TO be thence
forth the exclusive property and happy
hunting ground Of the red man.
The excitement, which started among
the Piutes. and was later taken up
with enthusiasm by the Sioux, pore
much OF the chara cter of what we call
r--T h T~r ernTr=
ton of a Messiah. James Mooney. an
expert Of the government bureau OF
ernnOlOgy, went to see him and talked
with him. He was a full blood Piute
named WOvOka, and otherwise called
in the indian tongue Big Rambling
Belly. To the whites he was known
as Jack Wilson. and he worked IS a
labOrer on q ranch in shut in valley
among the ruggedest mountains Of Ne
vada- He was tall, mild hammered,
and dwelt in modest hat with a wife
and two children
The Revelation.
He told very simply Of a revelation
which had been made to him rom On
high The sun died (was eclipsedJ, and
falling asleep in the daytime, he was
taken Up to the other world. There he
saw God, with all the indians Who had
died long ago, engaged in their old
time sports and OccupattOns-al lappy
and forever young. God told him TO tell
his people TO be good and love one an
other, and TO abandon war Also, He
gave him the description Of a dance,
by the performance of which happi-
ness would be secured, and bestowed
upon him control over the elements so
that he could make IL rain or snow,
or be dry, at viii.
ThereupOn WOvoka returned to the
earth and began to preach. convincing
the people by the exercise Of the Won
derful powers conferred upon him. He
asked an emplOye of the local indian
agency 10 draw up and forward to
81 = q so ct . HfaT
supernatural claims, with a PROPOSE
ton TO take up his residence on the
reservation. and, in return for a small
regular stipend. to keep the people Of
Nevada informed of all the latest news
from heaven, and to furnish rain when
ever wanted
There is no doubt that the man fully
believed in his own claims. There was
an eclipse OF the sun. observable in Ne
Tada, on the first day Of January. 1889.
At that time WOvOka was i'll with a
fever, and his vision was presumably
incidental to dellrium- 1t is not true.
as was alleged, that he declared HIM
self the Christ. though by many Of HIS
followers he was supposed 10 be Oun-
niscient, knowing all languages, and
able to render himself invisible TO- the
white man. Delegates sent to visit him
by the Sioux. the Cheyennes, and 9TH
er tribes returned with statements to
the effect that he could make animals
talk and distant objects appear close
at hand He COnjured up before their I
evee q vision Of the spirit world. so
that when they looked they beheld the |
ocean and beyond II a land on which |
they saw all the nations Of indians
coming home"
Dancing as a form Of religious cere- 1
nonv dat1s back from bavnnd the day /
when the daughter of Saul looked /
through the window and saw king Da- |
vfd dancing before the Lord" As for 4
lie ghost dance (says Mooney. with |
'ts scenes of intense excitement. spas /
nOdic action, and physical exhaustion 1
even to Inconsistencies, such mani !
fcstations have always accOmps MED I
upheavals among primitive /
Peoples. and are by no means unknown 4
among ourselves
Among the different tribes that ac-
cepted the new faith3 various beliefs 4
were entertained as 10 the character /
Of the expected cataclysm. The medi- |
cine men Of the ShCBshOnes declared /
that a great sleep would come upon
the indians who would awe ken n M /;
mortality on q new earth The idea. as
promulgated among the Cheyennes and
was that the new earth.
with all the resurrected dead from the
beginning and With the buffalo, elk,
and other game on IL would come from
The west and slidei over the surface
Of the present earth, blOtting out Of