The ghost dance of the Native American tribes and the events that are linked to it mark the end of the war period between Native Americans and European immigrants. Until today, this dance carries a lot of cultural values and holds a lot of relevance for the ancestors of Native Americans. It is a good example for all of us of why it is important to preserve peace and respect other cultures and traditions.

Furthermore, the ghost dance can be seen as a religious and social cult of crisis. It was created because of the battles that took place between Native Americans and the U.S. military. It started with the enactment of a law by the US government that announced that the Lakota tribe (a Native American tribe) was banned from then on from significant lands. The area, which was closely located near Little Bighorn, Montana, was originally an established hunting territory for them.

This development of events led to the rage of a lot of Native American tribe members, especially young warriors. The tribes were forced back into the reservations by military forces. Another measure by the military that was used to weaken the power of their enemies was to limit their meal rations. This action had disastrous consequences for the Native Americans. They needed these rations since the harvest was really bad and there were no buffalos because of the territory restrictions. All this led to hunger and misery among the indigenous people.

On January 1st, 1889, a solar eclipse took place, and during it, Wovoka, a religious leader and shaman of the Northern Paiute tribe, had a vision. Not only did he see that the hostile intruders would get defeated and expelled from their ancestral territories, but also that the buffalos would return, which would promise them survival. But the most significant part of his vision was that the warriors who died in past battles would rise from the dead and come back to life. He felt called to announce this in order to fulfill the vision and to start the new age, which should be the age of the Native Americans.

When he shared his supernatural insight with the other tribe members, they gained hope and got ready to fight in what would be the final battle for them. The image that Wovoka shared with them increased their strength, courage, and confidence, so they prepared for the upcoming battle. They collected their battle power by dancing the ghost dance while wearing ghost shirts during it. They believed that the shirts would prevent them from getting hit by a bullet. The rhythmic hitting of drums accompanied the ghost dance. The dancers, men and women, took each other by the hand and formed a dance circle. This ceremonial act was performed for multiple days until the dancers started to lose consciousness and reached a state similar to a trance. Over-exhaustion caused a dreamlike state, so they created a connection with their dead tribe members and ancestors that prophesied to them that they would return to life and banish the intruders of the lands with the help of gigantic battle armies.

The military and the government feared the potential riot that could be caused by the Native Americans, so they reached for their weapons and struck down the opposing forces. Hundreds of indigenous people got murdered, including children, since the military was numerically superior and they had more advanced weapons, for instance, a rapid-fire cannon. After this disastrous series of events on the river “Wounded Knee”, the resistance of the Native Americans was broken, and they admitted defeat. It went down in history as the “Wounded Knee Massacre”.

https://www.planet-wissen.de/kultur/voelker/indigene_voelker_nordamerikas/pwiewoundedknee100.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wovoka
https://www.wilder-westen-web.de/rdi002.htm
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geistertanz