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
Valuable light in regard to the Sioux version of the doctrine is
obtained from the sermon delivered at Red Leaf camp, on Pine Ridge
reservation, October 31, 1890, by Short Bull, one of those who had been
selected to visit the messiah, and who afterward became one of the
prime leaders in the dance:
My friends and relations: I will soon start this thing in running
order. I have told you that this would come to pass in two seasons,
but since the whites are interfering so much, I will advance the
time from what my father above told me to do, so the time will be
shorter. Therefore you must not be afraid of anything. Some of my
relations have no ears, so I will have them blown away.
Now, there will be a tree sprout up, and there all the members of
our religion and the tribe must gather together. That will be the
place where we will see our dead relations. But before this time
we must dance the balance of this moon, at the end of which time
the earth will shiver very hard. Whenever this thing occurs, I
will start the wind to blow. We are the ones who will then see our
fathers, mothers, and everybody. We, the tribe of Indians, are the
ones who are living a sacred life. God, our father himself, has
told and commanded and shown me to do these things.
Our father in heaven has placed a mark at each point of the four
winds. First, a clay pipe, which lies at the setting of the sun and
represents the Sioux tribe. Second, there is a holy arrow lying
at the north, which represents the Cheyenne tribe. Third, at the
rising of the sun there lies hail, representing the Arapaho tribe.
Fourth, there lies a pipe and nice feather at the south, which
represents the Crow tribe. My father has shown me these things,
therefore we must continue this dance. If the soldiers surround you
four deep, three of you, on whom I have put holy shirts, will sing
a song, which I have taught you, around them, when some of them
will drop dead. Then the rest will start to run, but their horses
will sink into the earth. The riders will jump from their horses,
but they will sink into the earth also. Then you can do as you
desire with them. Now, you must know this, that all the soldiers
and that race will be dead. There will be only five thousand of
them left living on the earth. My friends and relations, this is
straight and true.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account