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
In 1889 the Ogalala heard that the son of God had come upon earth
in the west. They said the Messiah was there, but he had come to
help the Indians and not the whites, and it made the Indians happy
to hear this.—_George Sword._
They signed away a valuable portion of their reservation, and it
is now occupied by white people, for which they have received
nothing. They understood that ample provision would be made for
their support; instead, their supplies have been reduced and much
of the time they have been living on half and two-thirds rations.
Their crops, as well as the crops of white people, for two years
have been almost a total failure. The disaffection is widespread,
especially among the Sioux, while the Cheyennes have been on the
verge of starvation and were forced to commit depredations to
sustain life. These facts are beyond question, and the evidence is
positive and sustained by thousands of witnesses.—_General Miles._
Among the tribes east of the mountains and north of Oklahoma, it
appears from official documents in the Indian Office and from other
obtainable information that the Ghost dance and the doctrine, if known
at all, were never accepted by the Blackfeet of Montana; the Ojibwa of
Turtle mountain and Devils lake in North Dakota, or by the rest of the
tribe farther to the east in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; the
Omaha, Winnebago, and Ponka in Nebraska; the small band of Sauk and
Fox in Iowa; the still smaller band of Sauk and Fox, the Potawatomi,
Kickapoo, Iowa, and Ojibwa in northeastern Kansas; or by the Sioux
of Devils lake in North Dakota, Lake Traverse (Sisseton agency) and
Flandreau in South Dakota, and Santee agency in Nebraska. All or most
of these Sioux belong to the Santee or eastern division of the tribe,
and have long been under civilizing influences. According to official
statements the dance was not taken up by any of the Sioux of Crow Creek
or Yankton agencies in South Dakota, but they were certainly more or
less affected by it, as they knew all about it and are in constant
communication with the wilder bands of Sioux which were concerned in
the outbreak. I was informed by the Omaha and Winnebago in 1891 that
they had been told of the new messiah by visiting Sioux from Pine
Ridge agency in April, 1890, and later on by other Sioux from Yankton
agency, but had put no faith in the story, and had never organized a
Ghost dance. According to the agent in charge, the Crow of Montana
were not affected. This, if true, is remarkable, in view of the fact
that the Crow are a large tribe and comparatively primitive, and have
living near them the wildest of the Ghost-dancing tribes, the northern
Cheyenne especially occupying practically the same reservation. It is
possible that their experience in the Sword-bearer affair in 1887,
already mentioned, had a tendency to weaken their faith in later
prophets. Dr George Bird Grinnell, a competent authority, states, in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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