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Ghost Dance
Following the Great Sioux War of 1876, the United States had annexed large amounts of land previously owned by the Lakota. The United States had established reservations, where the Lakota now lived. By this time the Lakota way of life had been nearly completely destroyed. The millions of buffalo that once roamed the plains in massive herds had been reduced to near extinction. The Black Hills, which were sacred to the Lakota, had been taken by the Americans. Even their own religion started to decline, as Christian missionaries began converting some of the people of the reservations. As a result, the Ghost Dance was quickly accepted by the Lakota, which provided them with hope for a return to their own way of life.
The way that the Ghost Dance was performed varied from tribe to tribe, but the basis of the dance is from Northern Paiute tradition. Most dances are performed as a round dance where dancers form a circle. Depending on the tribe, the dance would be performed around a central pole, or around an individual who leads the ceremony from the center of the circle. Others outside the circle would often sing and play drums, and the dancers would often to the beat of the drum. Other tribes would perform the dance as a slow shuffle in a circle to the beat of a single drum. The Lakota wore Ghost Dance shirts for the ceremony. The Lakota believed these shirts to have spiritual powers, and some even believed that the shirts had the power to repel bullets.
The Ghost Dance is often associated with Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. As the Ghost Dance movement spread throughout the plains, many American settlers were scared by the dance. Many believed that it was the prelude to an attack. In order to help quell the Ghost Dance movement, U.S Officials decided to take some Lakota Chiefs into custody. the famous Sitting Bull would be one to be arrested. When Native American police officers arrived at Sitting Bull's house to arrest him, Sitting Bull refused. A struggle ensued, and resulted in the death of Sitting Bull. The Lakota at the village were enraged, but also were afraid of being attacked, and so fled to join Chief Spotted Elk's group. Spotted Elks' band then left for the Pine Ridge Reservation to seek shelter, as it was the middle of winter. On December 28, 1890, Spotted Elk's band had been stopped on their way to the Pine Ridge Reservation by a detachment of the 7th Cavalry Regiment. The next day, on December 29 1890, the U.S troops demanded the band to hand over their weapons. At this point, accounts of what happened differ. Some say that Black Coyote, a deaf Lakota man, refused to give up his rifle as he did not understand the order. A struggle ensued, and some say that Black Coyote fired on the soldiers, while others say the gun went off accidentally. Regardless of what happened, when the U.S soldiers heard the gunshot, they opened fired on the Lakota band. The U.S troops numbered around 500, while there were only around 350 Lakota, mostly women and children. The number of people that died is disputed but anywhere from 100-300 Lakota were killed, mostly women and children and nearly all unarmed. Chief Spotted Elk was among those killed. Twenty five U.S troops were killed, most were likely killed from friendly fire. Following the battle 20 U.S troops were awarded the Medal of Honor. The Massacre at Wounded Knee is often seen as the event that marks the end of Native American resistance to the westward expansion of the United States.
Following the Wounded Knee Massacre the participation in the Ghost Dance movement saw a dramatic decline. Many feared they would be attacked if they performed the dance. Like many Native Practices the Ghost Dance was banned by the U.S government. However, like most Native American religious practices, the Ghost Dance did not completely die out. Like other traditions the Ghost Dance continued to be practiced in secret. Today the dance is almost always performed in small private ceremonies not open to non-Native Americans. In 1973 during the Wounded Knee Incident, Lakota men and women practiced the Ghost Dance on the cite where the massacre had taken place.