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
The Fish-eaters near Pyramid lake told me that Christ had appeared
on earth again. They said Christ knew he was coming; that eleven
of his children were also coming from a far land. It appeared that
Christ had sent for me to go there, and that was why unconsciously
I took my journey. It had been foreordained. Christ had summoned
myself and others from all heathen tribes, from two to three or
four from each of fifteen or sixteen different tribes. There were
more different languages than I ever heard before and I did not
understand any of them. They told me when I got there that my great
father was there also, but did not know who he was. The people
assembled called a council, and the chief’s son went to see the
Great Father [messiah], who sent word to us to remain fourteen days
in that camp and that he would come to see us. He sent me a small
package of something white to eat that I did not know the name of.
There were a great many people in the council, and this white food
was divided among them. The food was a big white nut. Then I went
to the agency at Walker lake and they told us Christ would be there
in two days. At the end of two days, on the third morning, hundreds
of people gathered at this place. They cleared off a place near the
agency in the form of a circus ring and we all gathered there. This
space was perfectly cleared of grass, etc. We waited there till
late in the evening anxious to see Christ. Just before sundown I
saw a great many people, mostly Indians, coming dressed in white
men’s clothes. The Christ was with them. They all formed in this
ring around it. They put up sheets all around the circle, as they
had no tents. Just after dark some of the Indians told me that
the Christ [Father] was arrived. I looked around to find him, and
finally saw him sitting on one side of the ring. They all started
toward him to see him. They made a big fire to throw light on him.
I never looked around, but went forward, and when I saw him I bent
my head. I had always thought the Great Father was a white man, but
this man looked like an Indian. He sat there a long time and nobody
went up to speak to him. He sat with his head bowed all the time.
After awhile he rose and said he was very glad to see his children.
“I have sent for you and am glad to see you. I am going to talk to
you after awhile about your relatives who are dead and gone. My
children, I want you to listen to all I have to say to you. I will
teach you, too, how to dance a dance, and I want you to dance it.
Get ready for your dance and then, when the dance is over, I will
talk to you.” He was dressed in a white coat with stripes. The rest
of his dress was a white man’s except that he had on a pair of
moccasins. Then he commenced our dance, everybody joining in, the
Christ singing while we danced. We danced till late in the night,
when he told us we had danced enough.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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