Ghost Dance of 1890
The Ghost Dance of 1890 most often brings to mind Wounded Knee, the brutal attack on the Lakota Sioux at the Pine Ridge reservation which resulted in the slaughter of nearly 200 people including women and children. Horrific photographs of the injured that had been left to die in the ensuing blizzard, frozen, at the moment of their death and which have now been burned into the minds of our mass consciousness are yet another thought that is conjured up upon the mention of this now immortal dance. The massacre is known well but the Ghost Dance is little more than a tag or afterthought attached to it with little knowledge of the origins and meanings which it holds. The Ghost Dance is an extraordinary example of the human spirit, perseverance and the ability to adapt. It was a spectacular movement which desperately attempted to reclaim a culture in decline, a culture that was quickly being lost to disease, starvation and genocide. It provided hope; it promoted unification and a common goal. It encouraged Native Americans of all tribes to unite in a common identity with an end goal of survival. The Ghost Dance propelled a new culture into existence that integrated and made sense of the new beliefs introduced by invading, relentless Christian settlers. Yet it still enabled the Native Americans to hold onto to their traditional ways and beliefs, allowing future descendants to have a link with the past. It was a beacon of hope that shined out from an ominous probability which promised the disappearance of their legacies.
In discussing the Ghost Dance it is impossible to not mention its function as that of a revitalization movement or how these movements have been a reoccurring theme throughout human history. These revitalization movements are a natural response in populations which find themselves at odds with the way their culture is currently functioning or not functioning. The movement then becomes a way in which a group can restore...