Ghost Dance—Oglala Lakota (Sioux) defy the US government by ghost dancing at Pine Ridge in 1890

GHOST DANCE

Posted by Jon King on Dec 04, 2008

Tagged with: conspiracy, crazy horse, ghost dance, ghosts, little big horn, native american, prophecy, sitting bull, wounded knee

The Ghost Dance is a Native American prophecy invoking the ghosts of the ancestors. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse both danced the Ghost Dance, but for a different reason…

Ghost Dance And The Battle of The Bighorn

In 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in what was then Montana Territory, Native American Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led a combined Sioux-Cheyenne assault on the US 7th Cavalry, killing over 700 soldiers in the process, including the fabled General Custer.

It was a deed for which the Plains Indians would pay dearly—a year later Crazy Horse would be dead, leaving Sitting Bull alone to lead the failing Indian rebellion against the invasion of white Euro-American settlers.

But not all was lost. Enter Paiute shaman and prophet, Wovoka, who during an eclipse of the sun and suffering from a life-threatening fever, received a vision of what would become known as the Ghost Dance.

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Effectively a peace dance and prayer ritual adopted by many Indian tribes towards the end of the 19th century, the Ghost Dance was designed to invoke the spirits or ‘ghosts’ of the Indian ancestors in an attempt to restore the traditional Native American way of life.

But although Wovoka intended this as a means of creating harmony with the settlers, Sitting Bull interpreted the message differently, whipping up Indian fervour by using the Dance as an act of provocation and a prophecy that predicted a time when Native Tribes would reclaim the land stolen from them.

This angered the US government to such an extent that in 1890 they outlawed the Ghost Dance altogether.

Ghost Dance And The Battle Of Wounded Knee

ghost_dance_sitting_bull Sitting Bull, however (pictured left) refused to order his people to stop dancing, and in consequence was arrested and killed, an act that led two weeks later to the infamous massacre at Wounded Knee, where 153 Sioux Indians, mostly women and children, were needlessly slaughtered by the US Army.

But the Indian spirit was not slaughtered with them. The Ghost Dance continues to this day, and to some large extent the hopes of many Native Americans remain pinned to the prophecy that spawned it.

In short, the prophecy states that the ghosts of the ancestors will one day rise again and restore peace, harmony, justice and equality on earth, regardless of race or creed. And frankly, I have to say I’m up for some of that.

How about you? We’d certainly love to see your Ghost Dance videos, and any other related stories or videos you may want to share.

But be careful, they say the ghosts of the ancestors are already rising up, one by one, in the cities, on the streets…

Are you prepared for the ancestors’ return…?

images: public domain