The Ghost Dance Essay

The Ghost Dance was a religion or movement that combined Christianity and traditional Indian religion elements that served as a nonviolent form of resistance for Indians in the late nineteenth century. At the time, conditions were bad on Indian reservations and Native Americans needed something to give them hope or something to look forward too. So they created and turned to the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance movement all began with a dream in 1889 by a Paiute shaman named Wovoka. In his

Nanissáanah was the religious movement that many Native Americans tribes participated in during the 1890s. It’s most commonly known as Ghost Dance. It had its beginnings around Nevada in 1870 but would later reemerged by the masses of different tribes towards the late 1880s. The dance, if done properly was to reunite the living with spirits of the dead. The spirits would fight to help their brothers and sisters regain their land and prosperity from white men who thought that the land was theirs to

The Ghost Dance: Intention vs. Result I. Introduction The Ghost Dance was a tradition that originated in the late 1800’s, this dance was a spiritual movement performed by Native Americans on reservations who were in search of hope in a time of need; however the results weren’t what they expected. II. Body 1.) What is the Ghost Dance? A.) The ghost dance was originated by a Northern Paiute Indian named Wovoka (Jack Wilson in English), who insisted they were sent to earth to prepare Indians for their

Americans to transform the Natives’ culture and civilize them through white education and living on reservations. However, the Natives preserved their cultures, tribal identities, and even developed self-sustaining economic practices. First, The Ghost Dance Movement was a revival of Native beliefs that further helped them regain hope through religion. Specifically, it was a religion of the late 1880s and early 1890s that combined elements of Christianity and traditional Native American religion. It

The Ghost Dance was a sign of hope for the Native American that they truly believed in. The fact that many of them would dance till unconscious shows the determination and faith that the Native Americans had in the hope of being free once again. Not many citizens in this day and age have faith as strong as the Native Americans; which, can be quite disheartening at times. It is infuriating how the government treated civil, non-threatening, cooperative human beings known as Native Americans. In fact

The American government felt threatened by the Ghost Dance and the prophecies that the Indians believed. F. Royer, a Pine Ridge Reservation agent sent a telegraph to Washington that said “Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy. We need protection and we need it now” (Elder). He wanted to leaders arrested and believed that their safety may be at risk. The government sent troops, but a former Indian agent advised the troops to leave as the he did not want trouble to come (Phillips)

religious views have similarities that one can correlate to the Native Americans and their practices in the West during the 19th century. After reading two primary sources, James Mooney’s The Ghost Dance Religion (Porcupine’s Account of the Messiah in the Appendix) and Mrs. Z. A. Parker’s description of a Ghost Dance on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1890, it is logical to conclude that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the American Indians in the 1800s both were yearning for freedom

culture is forced upon American Indians. While some resist and this makes them cling even tighter to their native culture, others seem to be persuaded by these influences. In particular, there are solid references to this in both Ohiyesa’s “The Ghost Dance War” as well as in Mary Rowlandson’s capture narrative, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God. However, both texts seem to have a different opinion on those American Indians who become ‘westernized’, be it through cultural convention or through religious

Ghost Dances In 1973, Christopher Bruce heard about the murders going on in the small villages and towns of Chile on the orders of the government; just to show off their power, and how they were not afraid to use it. Bruce found out as a result of a letter received from a widow of a Chilean folk singer who had been murdered. He was asked to do work for the Chilean Human Rights Committee. The dance first premiered in 1988, the costume designer being Belinda Scarlett and the music being by Incantation

American Indians ‘dance out’ their religions” (Vecsey 51). There were two very important dances for the Sioux tribe, the Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance. Both dances show the nature of Native American spirituality. The Ghost Dance and the Sun Dance were two very different dances, however both promote a sense of community. “The Sun Dance was the most spectacular and important religious ceremony of the Plains Indians of 19th-century North America” (Lawrence 1). The Sun Dance became a time of