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 implicit obedience and respect which the followers of Tecumseh
pay to him is really astonishing, and more than any other
circumstance bespeaks him one of those uncommon geniuses which
spring up occasionally to produce revolutions and overturn the
established order of things. If it were not for the vicinity of the
United States, he would perhaps be the founder of an empire that
would rival in glory Mexico or Peru. No difficulties deter him. For
four years he has been in constant motion. You see him to-day on
the Wabash, and in a short time hear of him on the shores of Lake
Erie or Michigan or on the banks of the Mississippi, and wherever
he goes he makes an impression favorable to his purposes. He is now
upon the last round, to put a finishing stroke to his work. I hope,
however, before his return that that part of the fabric which he
considered complete will be demolished, and even its foundations
rooted up. (_Drake, Tecumseh, 5._)
On this trip Tecumtha went as far as Florida and engaged the Seminole
for his confederacy. Then, retracing his steps into Alabama, he came
to the ancient Creek town of Tukabachi, on the Tallapoosa, near the
present site of Montgomery. What happened here is best told in the
words of McKenney and Hall, who derived their information from Indians
at the same town a few years later:
He made his way to the lodge of the chief called the Big Warrior.
He explained his object, delivered his war talk, presented a bundle
of sticks, gave a piece of wampum and a war hatchet—all which the
Big Warrior took—when Tecumthé, reading the spirit and intentions
of the Big Warrior, looked him in the eye, and, pointing his finger
toward his face, said: “Your blood is white. You have taken my
talk, and the sticks, and the wampum, and the hatchet, but you
do not mean to fight. I know the reason. You do not believe the
Great Spirit has sent me. You shall know. I leave Tuckhabatchee
directly, and shall go straight to Detroit. When I arrive there, I
will stamp on the ground with my foot and shake down every house
in Tuckhabatchee.” So saying, he turned and left the Big Warrior
in utter amazement at both his manner and his threat, and pursued
his journey. The Indians were struck no less with his conduct than
was the Big Warrior, and began to dread the arrival of the day
when the threatened calamity would befall them. They met often and
talked over this matter, and counted the days carefully to know the
day when Tecumthé would reach Detroit. The morning they had fixed
upon as the day of his arrival at last came. A mighty rumbling was
heard—the Indians all ran out of their houses—the earth began to
shake; when at last, sure enough, every house in Tuckhabatchee was
shaken down. The exclamation was in every mouth, “Tecumthé has got
to Detroit!” The effect was electric. The message he had delivered
to the Big Warrior was believed, and many of the Indians took their
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account