Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Ghost Dance On Western Wednesday...!

One of the ceremonial dances feared most by the white settlers was the ghost dance.

The dance was a little like a curse being acted out in the form of a dance, and was considered to be very spiritual to the Native Americans.

The Ghost Dance



Photo credit: Legends Of America

In 1870, the Ghost Dance, a Native American religious movement, was believed to restore tribal life. Supposedly, the buffalo would return to the Plains, the dead would rise, and all white men would vanish from the land. The movement was enthusiastically received by Native Americans, specifically the Lakota, and spread to California and Oregon over the years.

As word of the ritual reached neighboring white communities, officials felt threatened by the ceremonies, believing that the Lakota intended to start a war. The US government dispatched the army to stop the dancing and apprehend key leaders such as Sitting Bull and Big Foot.

Sitting Bull was killed as police attempted to arrest him. Two weeks later, members of the 7th Cavalry killed Big Foot and 145 of his followers in the Wounded Knee Massacre. The Ghost Dance died out among the Lakota, and historians believe that this atrocity signified the beginning of the end in the West’s Indian Wars.

The advance of white settlers into the lands of the West marked the ending of many Native American religious ceremonies, sad to say.

Coffee out on the patio this morning...

4 comments:

Chickenmom said...

Sad how they were treated. We could have learned so much from them.

linda m said...

It makes me so sad to even think about how we treated the Native American people. We were invading their land and instead of trying to get along with them we slaughtered them. They had so much to offer and their ceremonies were and still are so beautiful. :(

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
We should have done a better job of treating them like people, I think.
Thanks for stopping by today!


Hey Linda...
We have never tried too hard to get along, for the most part. As an invader, we just wanted to force our way of life on others.
Thanks for coming over today!

JO said...

And it still is going on to this day, I'm sick over what is going on right now! Those NATIVE AMERICANS are still having their lands taken away.

Patio is good it has been raining here since last night due to the huricane off the Mexico border