Changing Sioux Life and Acceptance of the Ghost Dance

The 1880’s were a time of great flux for the Sioux nation. The reverberations of treaties from decades preceding were magnified during this time and the implementation of new agreements and policies proved to dramatically disrupt their way of life. Furthermore the decade was a time of extreme weather, making adoption of new agriculture practices impractical if not impossible. The Sioux’s position was the worst of all Indians in the country at the time and it is because of their unparalleled hardship as experienced through shifts in their relationship to the land, execution of treaty and agreement terms and social interventions by the US government, as well as their predisposition to the belief structures presented in the Ghost Dance that they chose to absorb its doctrine to a greater extent than their neighboring tribes at the end of the decade.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PRIMARY SOURCES—BOOKS

Mooney, James. The Ghost-dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890. Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press, 1991.

Mooney visited Wovoka and the Sioux after the Massacre at Wounded Knee to get their account of the Ghost Dance and the incident. He provides a Sioux account of their first encounter with the Ghost Dance and Wovoka and uses first person accounts of individuals interactions with Wovoka and Indian Agent’s perception of the Ghost Dance and management of the Sioux reservation.

Neihardt, John G. Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux. Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press, 1932

Black Elk, a Lakota Medicine Man, talks of the relationship between the Sioux and the Wasichus (white people) during the time preceding his introduction to the Ghost Dance and following it. He speaks about the problems he saw plaguing his people and the various causes to which he attributed them.

PRIMARY SOURCES—ARTICLES

“Our Great Indian War.” Milwaukee Journal, December 26, 1890.

This article talks of the repeated abuse of Indians and Sioux, and deception of the government in their numerous interactions with this tribe over the decades preceding the Massacre at Wounded Knee and adoption of the Ghost Dance.

“Government’s Duty.” Atlanta Constitution, December 24, 1890.

This short article talks about the policies of the government that allowed for systematic mistreatment and abuse of the Sioux over time.

“An Indian Massacre.” New York Times, December 31, 1890.

This journalist discusses the mismanagement of Sioux resources and annuities.

SECONDARY SOURCES

Burt, V. Elizabeth. The Progressive Era: Primary Documents on Events from 1890-1914. Westport and London: Greenwood Press, 2004.

Burt presents a survey of press reception to the conflicts between the US Government and the Sioux, as well as US Indian policies prior to and after the Massacre at Wounded Knee. Additionally she offers interpretation of the trends she sees in the press and highlights the themes presented. Many of the articles discussed the mismanagement of annuities and resources and the problems with forcing the Sioux onto reservations with land unfit to farm.

Hittman, Michael, Wovoka and the Ghost Dance. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1990.

Describes the founding of the Ghost Dance, includes conversations with Wovoka and his account of why it was time for his religion to become a movement.

Johnson, W. Fletcher. Life of Sitting Bull and the History of the Indian War of 1890-91. Edgewood Publishing Company, 1891.

The author reflects on the life of Sitting Bull, a Sioux Medicine Man. He also looks at the Ghost Dance and its impact as well as the condition of the Sioux.

Kehoe, Alice Beck, The Ghost Dance: Ethnohistoy and Revitalization. Long Grove: Waveland Press Inc, 2006.

Kehoe looks at the effect of the Ghost Dance on Indians after Wounded Knee and the various policies by the government that put the Sioux in their disparaging condition. She also lists many of the ways the US government deceived and lied to the Sioux in the 1870’s and 1880’s..

Laubin, Reginald and Gladys. Indian Dances of North America. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1977

The Laubin’s describe the Ghost Dance itself and why the Sioux were particularly available to receiving its message by detailing their living conditions prior to their acceptance of the dance, specifically looking at the condition of the land they inhabited and the prevalence of hunger and disease on the reservation.

Utley, Robert M. The Last Days of the Sioux Nation. Yale University Press 1963

Utley provides a general overview of the events leading up to the Wounded Knee as well as a very detailed account of Sioux culture prior to and during its reception of the Ghost Dance. Over numerous chapters he looks at the condition of life for the Sioux in their heyday and then chronicles their slow decline throughout the 1880’s.