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
Concerning the Walapai we have positive information. In September,
1890, the commanding officer at Fort Whipple was informed that a Paiute
from southern Utah was among the Walapai, inciting them to dance for
the purpose of causing hurricanes and storms to destroy the whites and
such Indians as would not participate in the dances. It was stated also
that these dances had then been going on for several months and were
participated in by a large portion of the tribe, and that each dance
lasted four or five nights in succession. On investigation it appeared
that this Paiute was one of a party who had come down and inaugurated
the Ghost dance among the Walapai the preceding year. (_G. D., 17._)
We find an account of the Walapai Ghost dance in a local paper a year
later. The article states that all the songs were in the language of
the Paiute, from whom the doctrine had originally come. The Walapai
version of the doctrine has been already noted. The dance itself, and
the step, as here described, are essentially the same as among other
tribes. Each dance lasted five nights, and on the last night was kept
up until daylight. Just before daylight on the morning of the last
night the medicine men ascended a small butte, where they met and
talked with the expected god, and on coming down again delivered his
message to the people. The dance was held at irregular intervals,
according to the instructions received on the butte by the medicine-men.
The dance place was a circular piece of ground a hundred feet in
diameter, inclosed by a fence of poles and bushes, and surrounded by
high mountain walls of granite, which reflected the light from half a
dozen fires blazing within the circle. The dancers, to the number of
200, clad in white robes with fancy trimmings, their faces and hair
painted white in various decorative designs, moved slowly around in
a circle, keeping time with a wild chant, while 200 more stood or
crouched around the fires, awaiting their turn to participate. The
dancers faced toward the center, each holding the hands of the ones
next to him and joining in the chant in unison. The dust issued in
clouds from beneath their feet, and with the dust and exertion together
the performers were soon exhausted and dropped out, when others took
their places. After each circuit they rested a few minutes and then
started round again. At each circuit a different chant was sung, and
thus the dance continued until midnight, when, with a loud clapping
of hands, it ended, and the people separated and went to their homes.
Throughout the performance two or three chiefs or medicine-men were
constantly going about on the outside of the circle to preserve order
and reprimand any merriment, one of them explaining to the visitors
that, as this was a religious ceremony, due solemnity must be observed.
(_J. F. L., 2._)
+Chapter XII+
THE GHOST DANCE EAST OF THE ROCKIES—AMONG THE SIOUX
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