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Native American Ghost Dance Overview[1][edit]
Geography: By the end of the nineteenth century, due to a series of forced removals and brutal massacres at the hands of white settlers, the native American population has drastically decreased.
Who were the leaders of the movements?[1][edit]
Europeans wanted Native Americans to assimilate into their cultures. However, some tribal leaders attempted to preserve their sovereignty and build new traditions. The most significant of these was the Ghost Dance, created by Wovoka, a shaman of the Northern Paiute tribe.
Which group emerged in power at the end?[1][edit]
The Europeans emerged in power by mass killing called the Wounded Knee. It happened during which soldiers of the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment indiscriminately slaughtered hundreds of Sioux men, women, and children, marked the definitive end of Indian resistance to the encroachments of white settlers.
Timeline of events[2][edit]
1) During a solar eclipse on January 1, 1889, Wovoka, a shaman of the Northern Paiute tribe, had a vision. Claiming that God had appeared to him in the guise of a Native American and had revealed to him a bountiful land of love and peace, Wovoka founded a spiritual movement called the Ghost Dance
This was an action when Native Americans started Ghost Dance for religious reasons due to their prediction of meaning of solar eclipse.
2) Although the Battle of the Little Bighorn marked the beginning of the end of the Indian Wars, Wovoka and his Ghost Dance triggered one last wave of resistance to the encroachments of white settlers and their way of life. Chief Sitting Bull, who had led the Sioux to victory over the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, embraced the Ghost Dance and helped facilitate its spread throughout the Sioux Reservation. On December 15, 1890, police officers who feared that Sitting Bull was about to flee the reservation with adherents of the Ghost Dance shot and killed Sitting Bull.
This was an action that the ghost dance had triggered the police officers and that led to the death of Sitting Bull
3) A mere two weeks later, on December 29, 1890, the US 7th Cavalry Regiment surrounded an encampment of Sioux Indians near Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. While attempting to disarm the Sioux, a shot was fired and a scuffle ensued. The US army soldiers opened fire on the Sioux, indiscriminately massacring hundreds of men, women, and children. The few Sioux survivors of the battle fled. In the aftermath of the massacre, an official Army inquiry not only exonerated the 7th Cavalry, but awarded Medals of Honor to twenty soldiers. US public opinion of the massacre was generally favorable.
This was an aftermath of the Ghost Dace that triggered the US army soldiers to massacre the Native Americans .
4) After Wounded Knee, the remaining Indian tribes were either subdued or forcibly assimilated into mainstream white US society. Estimates of the pre-European contact native population range widely, from a low of 2 million to a high of 18 million. By 1900, the native population had been reduced to approximately 237,000 individuals.
This was an result of the Ghost Dance, the remaining Indians that had not died during the massacre was forced to assimilate into US society.
5) Since then, the Native American population has recovered from the nadir of 1900. As of the 2010 US Census report, 2.9 million individuals identified as American Indian or Alaska Native.
This was a result, in the recent years, Native American population had steady grew since they had been living peacefully without wars and killings anymore.
Motivation of European's Imperialism[3][4][edit]
1) Europeans wanted to conquer the lands of Native Americans as theirs since there are a lot of natural resources.
2) As white settlers pushed ever westward, guided by the ideology of Manifest Destiny, they forced Native Americans off of their ancestral lands and onto reservations.
3) On December 15, 1890, police officers who feared that Sitting Bull was about to flee the reservation with adherents of the Ghost Dance shot and killed Sitting Bull.
4) While many European Americans were alarmed by the Ghost Dance and saw it as a militant and warlike movement
Top motivation for imperialism:
"Guided by the ideology of Manifest Destiny",
"Fear caused by the Ghost Dance and a potential warlike movement"
The Europeans were conquering lands in America because they wanted to accomplish their ideology of Manifest Destiny so they have to keep imperialism. Adding on, the Europeans think Native American will start revolting them and gain power over time. However, the Ghost Dance meant something very opposite, it is an emergence of a peaceful, resistance movement based on Indian Beliefs. At the end, it results in tragedy of Bloody Massacre because Europeans were feared of the uprising of people who they wanted to take over -- killed them.
Assertion of Agency[5][edit]
What did the oppressed group do in order to regain their agency? How was it implemented?
The Native Americans thought that by practicing Ghost Dance, they could live peacefully. In 1890, the ghost dance had become widespread among the western tribes. The dances became well-attended rituals, generally taking place over a span of four nights and the morning of the fifth day. Among the Sioux, who were led by the legendary Sitting Bull, the dance became extremely popular. The belief took hold that someone wearing a shirt that was worn during the ghost dance would become invulnerable to any injury. Rumors of the ghost dance began to instill fear among white settlers in South Dakota, in the region of the Indian reservation at Pine Ridge. Word began to spread that the Lakota Sioux were finding a fairly dangerous message in Wovoka's visions. His talk of a new age without whites began to be seen as a call to eliminate the white settlers from the region. And part of Wovoka's vision was that the various tribes would all unite. So the ghost dancers began to be seen as a dangerous movement that could lead to widespread attacks on white settlers across the entire West. However, they did not have much to fight back the European settlers because their military power was not strong enough compare to the Europeans.
What were the short term and long term impacts of this movement?[2][edit]
Short Term Effect: That dance also prophesied positive changes to come to the lives of Native Americans. They had their heart together and being able to practice their religion. The earlier ghost dance spread through Nevada and California, but when the prophecies did not come true, the beliefs and accompanying dance rituals were abandoned.
Long term effect: However, Wovoka's teachings based on his visions took hold throughout early 1889. His idea quickly spread along travel routes, and became widely known among the western tribes. At the time, the Native American population was demoralized. The nomadic way of life had been curtailed by the U.S. government, forcing the tribes onto reservations. Wovoka's preaching seemed to offer some hope.
How did it shape the groups identity moving forward?[2][edit]
How did it shape the groups identity moving forward?
The ghost dance took a place at the end of a long chapter in American history, as it seemed to mark the end of Native American resistance to white rule.
- ^ a b c "Wounded Knee Massacre & The Ghost Dance (article)". Khan Academy. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
- ^ a b c expert, Robert McNamara History Expert Robert J. McNamara is a history; editor, former magazine journalist He was Amazon com's first-ever history; York, has bylines in New; Tribune, the Chicago; McNamara, other national outlets our editorial process Robert. "How a Native American Ritual Dance Became a Symbol of Defiance". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
{{cite web}}:|last2=has generic name (help) - ^ "Native American History: Ghost Dance". Prairie Edge Trading Co. & Galleries. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
- ^ "Ghost Dance", Wikipedia, 2020-03-27, retrieved 2020-03-28
- ^ Hall, Stephanie (2017-11-17). "James Mooney Recordings of American Indian Ghost Dance Songs, 1894 | Folklife Today". blogs.loc.gov. Retrieved 2020-03-28.