members of an
American Indian religious movement in the western United
States, called
Ghost Dance. The
religion, based on the belief that the white
man would disappear and
dead ancestors and buffalo would
return to
life, centered on the
ghost dance. The dancers chanted and wore
special shirts, called
ghost shirts, decorated with
sacred symbols, such as
stars,
eagles and moons, believing they were protected from
enemy bullets.
North American Indians of the southwestern United
States and
California, who, during the latter half of the nineteenth century, engaged in
religious dances (
ghost dances) in the
hope of invoking a
return of their former lands and
prosperity.
n. members of an
American Indian religious movement in the western United
States, called
Ghost Dance. The
religion first appeared in 1869, died down and again appeared in 1889 when an
Indian named Wovoka (ca. 1856-1932) had a vision and began
telling what he had seen. Regarded as a
messiah, he told the
Indians that the white
man would disappear and that
dead ancestors and
game animals (namely buffalo which had been wiped out by the white
man), would
return to
life. The
religion spread rapidly to nearly all tribes across the Great Plains.
Indians forced onto reservations and afflicted with hunger and disease adopted the
religion, which represented
hope for the
return of traditional
ways and
rehabilitation of their
culture. It centered around what was called a
ghost dance where
Indians would dance and chant to prepare for the new age. The dancers wore
special shirts, called
ghost shirts, decorated with
sacred symbols, such as
stars,
eagles and moons, and which they believed would protect them from
enemy bullets. White officials on the
Indian reservations regarded the
Ghost Dance as a threat to their
authority and decided to arrest the
Sioux chief,
Sitting Bull, a famous
Indian thought to be the focus of the
religious movement among the tribes.
Sitting Bull's
resistance to arrest ended in his fatal
shooting. Not long after this
incident, further struggle
culminated in the massacre of around nearly 200
Indians by US soldiers,
following which popularity of the
religion declined.