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
Q. Are we going to die when the dead ones come back?—A. No; we will
be just the same as we are today.
Q. Did the visitor say that there is any white men in the other
world?—A. No; no white people.
Q. If there is no white people in the other world, where did they
get their provisions and clothing?—A. In the other world, the
messenger tells us that they have depended altogether for their
food on the flesh of buffalo and other wild game; also, they were
all clad in skins of wild animals.
Q. Did the Rosebud agency Indians believe the new messiah, or the
son of the Great Spirit?—A. Yes.
Q. How do they show that they have a belief in the new messiah?—A.
They show themselves by praying to the father by looking up to
heaven, and call him “father,” just the same as you would in a
church.
Q. Have you ever been in a church?—A. No.
Q. Do you faithfully believe in the new messiah?—A. I did not in
the first place, but as I became more acquainted with the doctrines
of the new messiah that I really believe in him.
Q. How many people at Rosebud, in your opinion, believe this new
messiah?—A. Nearly every one.
Q. Did you not the Rosebud people prepare to attack the white
people this summer? While I was at Pine Ridge agency this summer
the Oglalla Sioux Indians say they will resist against the
government if the latter should try to put a stop to the messiah
question. Did your folks at Rosebud say the same thing?—A. Yes.
Q. Are they still preparing and thinking to attack the white people
should the government send our soldiers with orders to put a stop
to your new business of the messiah?—A. I do not know, but I think
that the Wojaji band at Rosebud agency will do some harm at any
time.
Q. You do not mean to say that the Rosebud Indians will try and
cause an outbreak?—A. That seems to be the case.
Q. You said something about the “son of the Great Spirit,” or “the
father.” What do you mean by the son of the Great Spirit?—A. This
father, as he is called, said himself that he is the son of the
Great Spirit.
Q. Have you talked to or with any Indian at White Swan about
the new messiah, his laws and doctrines, or have you referred
this to anyone while there?—A. I have told a few of them. I did
not voluntarily express my wish for them to know and follow the
doctrines of the new messiah.
Q. Yes, but you have explained the matter to the Indians, did you
not?—A. Yes, I have.
Q. Do the Yankton Indians at White Swan believe in your teaching of
the new messiah?—A. I did not intend to teach them, but as I have
been questioned on the subject, that I have said something about it.
Q. Did any of them believe in you?—A. Some have already believed
it, and some of them did not believe it.
Q. Those that have believed in you must be better men than the
others, are they not?—A. I do not know.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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