Who practiced the Ghost Dance?

Because the ghost dance emphasized traditional ways, many earlier dances were revived at that time. In September 1890 some three thousand Indians, virtually all of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Wichita, Caddo, and Apache tribes, gathered on the South Canadian River and danced every night for two weeks.

What caused the Ghost Dance?

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.

What was the Ghost Dance and why was it feared?

The Ghost Dance was associated with Wovoka’s prophecy of an end to colonial expansion while preaching goals of clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation by Native Americans. Practice of the Ghost Dance movement was believed to have contributed to Lakota resistance to assimilation under the Dawes Act.

When was the Ghost Dance banned?

Congress bans all Native dancing and ceremonies, including the Sun Dance, Ghost Dance, potlatches, and the practices of medicine persons.

Whats the meaning of the Ghost Dance?

Definition of Ghost Dance : a group dance of a late 19th century American Indian messianic cult believed to promote the return of the dead and the restoration of traditional ways of life.

Why is it called Ghost Dance?

Wovoka also reported that God had provided instructions for ensuring these events: Indians were to accept American colonial hegemony, remain peaceful, and profess their faith in the resurrection of the dead (or ghosts) by taking part in a ritual dance, the so-called Ghost Dance.

How did the whites feel about the Ghost Dance?

As the 1890s began, the emergence of the ghost dance movement was viewed by white Americans as a credible threat. The American public was, by that time, used to the idea that Native Americans had been pacified, moved onto reservations, and essentially converted to living in the style of white farmers or settlers.

How did the ghost dance end?

The 1870 Ghost Dance Scholars interpret the end of the dance as a result of the US government forcing tribes to stop, responding to the fears of those white settlers who saw it as a threat and tribes losing interest as the prophecies were not coming to pass.