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
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 in a circle around him. 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.... 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; then he told us we had danced enough.
The next morning after breakfast was over, we went into the circle
and spread canvas over it on the ground, the Christ standing in
the midst of us. He told us he was going away that day, but would
be back the next morning and talk to us.... He had no beard or
whiskers, but very heavy eyebrows. He was a good-looking man. We
were crowded up very close. We had been told that nobody was to
talk, and that even if we whispered the Christ would know it.... He
would talk to us all day.
That evening we all assembled again to see him depart. When we were
assembled he began to sing, and he commenced to tremble all over
violently for a while and then sat down. We danced all that night,
the Christ lying down beside us apparently dead.
The next morning when we went to eat breakfast, the Christ was with
us. After breakfast four heralds went around and called out that
the Christ was back with us and wanted to talk with us. The circle
was prepared again. The people assembled, and Christ came among us
and sat down. (_G. D., 9._)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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