The Ghost-dance religion and the Sioux outbreak of 1890 : $b Fourteenth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, part 2.Mooney, James
Religion
The Ghost-dance religion and the Sioux outbreak of 1890 : $b Fourteenth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, part 2.
Mooney, James
Dakota Indians -- Wars, 1890-1891; Ghost dance
When about 20 years of age, he married, and continued to work for Mr
Wilson. He had given the dance to his people about four years before,
but had received his great revelation about two years previously. On
this occasion “the sun died” (was eclipsed) and he fell asleep in the
daytime and was taken up to the other world. Here he saw God, with all
the people who had died long ago engaged in their oldtime sports and
occupations, all happy and forever young. It was a pleasant land and
full of game. After showing him all, God told him he must go back
and tell his people they must be good and love one another, have no
quarreling, and live in peace with the whites; that they must work,
and not lie or steal; that they must put away all the old practices
that savored of war; that if they faithfully obeyed his instructions
they would at last be reunited with their friends in this other world,
where there would be no more death or sickness or old age. He was then
given the dance which he was commanded to bring back to his people.
By performing this dance at intervals, for five consecutive days each
time, they would secure this happiness to themselves and hasten the
event. Finally God gave him control over the elements so that he could
make it rain or snow or be dry at will, and appointed him his deputy
to take charge of affairs in the west, while “Governor Harrison” would
attend to matters in the east, and he, God, would look after the
world above. He then returned to earth and began to preach as he was
directed, convincing the people by exercising the wonderful powers that
had been given him.
In 1890 Josephus, a Paiute informant, thus described to the scout
Chapman the occasion of Wovoka’s first inspiration: “About three years
ago Jack Wilson took his family and went into the mountains to cut
wood for Mr Dave Wilson. One day while at work he heard a great noise
which appeared to be above him on the mountain. He laid down his ax
and started to go in the direction of the noise, when he fell down
dead, and God came and took him to heaven.” Afterward on one or two
other occasions “God came and took him to heaven again.” Wovoka also
told Chapman that he had then been preaching to the Indians about
three years. In our conversation he said nothing about a mysterious
noise, and stated that it was about two years since he had visited
heaven and received his great revelation, but that it was about four
years since he had first taught the dance to his people. The fact that
he has different revelations from time to time would account for the
discrepancy of statement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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