What Tribes Did the Ghost Dance?

The Paiute started the Ghost Dance and almost all other Indian tribes copied it from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to northern Texas. It eventually spread to California. This included all of the tribes living in the Interior Basin.

The Ghost Dance incorporated a religious movement that started in 1889 with the Paiute Indians that lived in Nevada. Wovoka was the leader of the movement which taught clean living, honesty, and peace. He also prophesied an end to the white man’s expansion onto Indian lands.

Other tribes soon learned the Ghost Dance and assimilated it into existing rituals of their tribe. The Sioux took it to a militant level and thought the dance would make them invincible to the white man’s bullets. The government Indian agents saw this new religion as a threat, especially since some thought Wovoka to be a Messiah, and asked for more troops. 

The leader of the Sioux, Sitting Bull, was arrested in December of 1890 for not stopping the dance. During his arrest, an Indian fired upon a soldier, and fighting ensued. There were deaths on both sides, including Sitting Bull. Two weeks later, a group of Sioux erected tepees by Wounded Knee Creek. The U.S. forces tried to collect their weapons and one warrior refused. They struggled, and the weapon was discharged. The U.S. forces opened fire, and 153 Sioux were killed, mostly women and children. Public outrage led to the reinstatement of the treaty with the Sioux with full rations and payment for lands that were taken.

So, this means most of the tribes living in the interior of the United States did the Ghost Dance, from California to the Missouri River, and from Canada to Texas. What, however, was the actual history of the Ghost Dance.  

History of the Ghost Dance

The Paiute prophet was named Wovoka and also called Jack Wilson. He had already had training as a shaman and a weather doctor. He had presided over circle dances and taught universal love. He had also been influenced by the Mormons, Presbyterians, and the Indian Shaker Church. This is how he explains his vision that occurred during a solar eclipse on January 1, 1889. 

He stood before God and saw many ancestors.  God told him to tell the people that they needed to love each other, not fight, and live in peace with the white man. He was given the formula for the Ghost Dance and was to take it to his people. By doing this five day dance, the people would be happy and have a reunion with their ancestors. God also gave Wovoka power over the weather.

Wovoka felt that if every Indian did the Ghost Dance, evil would be gone and the earth renewed. 

Ghost Dance Movements

This is how most tribes did the Ghost Dance. It was like a circle dance, but was unlike other Indian dances. Instead of having fast steps and drumming, it consisted of slow shuffling movements that followed the course of the sun and was accompanied by singing and chanting. It lasted four to five days and included woman and men, who faced the center of the circle. The dance movements showed the rejection of the white man’s civilization and preached unity among all the Indians and a revival of old customs.