learning this, I told the Indians that it was my intention to give
them all a big feast and have a general holiday on Christmas, but
that I would not give them anything if they intended to dance. I
told them they could play all of their usual games, in fact, have
a good time, but that dancing was forbidden. I showed them how
continued dancing at various Sioux agencies had ended in soldiers
being sent to stop them. I stated the case as clearly as I could;
the Indians debated it two days, and then reported that while they
hoped their dead friends would come back, and believed that dancing
would help to bring them, yet they were friends of the government,
and friends of the whites, and my friends, and would not hold any
more resurrection dances without my consent. Up to this date they
have kept their word. I have no hope of breaking up their dances
altogether, but I have strong hopes of controlling them. (_G. D.,
14._)
The Bannock and Shoshoni of Fort Hall reservation in Idaho have served
as the chief medium of the doctrine between the tribes west of the
mountains and those of the plains. Situated almost on the summit of the
great divide, they are within easy reach of the Paiute to the west,
among whom the dance originated, and whose language the Bannock speak,
while at no great distance to the east, on Wind River reservation in
Wyoming, the remaining Shoshoni are confederated with the Arapaho,
who have been from the first the great apostles of the doctrine among
the prairie tribes. There is constant visiting back and forth between
the tribes of these two reservations, while the four railroads coming
in at Fort Hall, together with the fact of its close proximity to the
main line of the Union Pacific, tend still more to make it a focus
and halting point for Indian travel. Almost every delegation from the
tribes east of the mountains stopped at this agency to obtain the
latest news from the messiah and to procure interpreters from among
the Bannock to accompany them to Nevada. In a letter of November 26,
1890, to the Indian Commissioner, the agent in charge states that
during the preceding spring and summer his Indians had been visited
by representatives from about a dozen different reservations. In
regard to the dance and the doctrine at Fort Hall, he also says that
the extermination and resurrection business was not a new thing with
his tribes by any means, but had been quite a craze with them every
few years for the last twenty years or more, only varying a little
according to the whim of particular medicine-men. (_G. D., 15._) This
may have referred to the doctrine already mentioned as having been
taught by Tävibo.
Early in 1889 a Bannock from Fort Hall visited the Shoshoni and Arapaho
of Wind River reservation in Wyoming and brought them the first
knowledge of the new religion. He had just returned from a visit to
the Paiute country, where he said he had met messengers who had told
him that the dead people were coming back, and who had commanded him
to go and tell all the tribes. “And so,” said the Shoshoni, “he came
here and told us all about it.” Accordingly, in the summer of that
year a delegation of five Shoshoni, headed by Täbinshi, with Nakash
(“Sage”), an Arapaho, visited the messiah of Mason valley, traveling
most of the way by railroad and occupying several days in the journey.
They attended a Ghost dance, which, according to their accounts, was a
very large one, and after dancing all night were told by the messiah
that they would meet all their dead in two years from that time at the
turning of the leaves, i. e., in the autumn of 1891. They were urged
to dance frequently, “because the dance moves the dead.” One of the
Shoshoni delegates understood the Bannock and Paiute language and
interpreted for the rest. The information was probably conveyed by the
Shoshoni to the Arapaho through the medium of the sign language.
In accord with the report of the delegates, on their return home the
Shoshoni and Arapaho at once began to dance. A year later, in the fall
of 1890, a dense smoke from forest fires in the mountains drifted
down and obscured the air in the lower country to such an extent that
horses were lost in the haze. This was regarded by the Indians as an
indication of the approach of the great change, and the dance was
continued with increased fervor, but at last the atmosphere began to
clear and the phenomenon ended as it had begun—in smoke. The dance
was kept up, however, without abatement for another year, until the
predicted time had come and gone, when the Shoshoni—who seem to share
the skeptical nature of their southern kinsmen, the Comanche—concluded
that they had been deceived, and abandoned the dance. The Arapaho, who
have greater faith in the unseen things of the spirit world, kept it
up, and were still dancing when I visited them in the summer of 1892. A
part of the Arapaho, headed by their chief, Black Coal, and encouraged
by the Catholic missionaries, had steadily opposed the dance from the
first. After considerable discussion of the matter it was decided, on
Black Coal’s proposition, to send another delegation to the messiah,
under the guidance of Yellow Eagle, a graduate of a government Indian
school, to learn as to the truth or falsity of the new doctrine. They
returned early in 1891 and reported against the movement. Their report
confirmed the doubters in their skepticism, but produced little effect
on the rest of the tribe.
When I visited Wind River reservation in Wyoming in June, 1892, the
agent in charge informed me that there was no Ghost dancing on his
reservation; that he had explained how foolish it was and had strictly
forbidden it, and that in consequence the Indians had abandoned
it. However, he expressed interest in my investigation, and as the
Arapaho, with whom I had most to do, were then camped in a body a
few miles up in the mountains cutting wood, he very kindly furnished
a conveyance and camping outfit, with two of the agency employees—a
clerk and an interpreter—to take me out. It appeared afterward that the
escort had received instructions of their own before starting. Having
reached the camp and set up our tent, the Arapaho soon came around to
get acquainted, over a pipe and a cup of coffee; but, in answer to
questions put by one of my companions, a white man, who assumed the
burden of the conversation, it seemed that the Indians had lost all
interest in the dance. In fact, some of them were so ignorant on the
subject that they wanted to know what it meant.
After trying in vain to convince me that it was useless to waste time
further with the Indians, the clerk started back again after supper,
satisfied that that part of the country was safe so far as the Ghost
dance was concerned. By this time it was dark, and the Indians invited
the interpreter and myself to come over to a tipi about half a mile
away, where we could meet all the old men. We started, and had gone but
a short distance when we heard from a neighboring hill the familiar
measured cadence of the ghost songs. On turning with a questioning
look to my interpreter—who was himself a half-blood—he quietly said:
“Yes; they are dancing the Ghost dance. That’s something I have never
reported, and I never will. It is their religion and they have a right
to it.” Not wishing to be an accomplice in crime, I did not go over to
the dance; but it is needless to state that the old men in the tipi
that night, and for several successive nights thereafter, knew all
about the songs and ceremonies of the new religion. As already stated,
the Shoshoni had really lost faith and abandoned the dance.
Among the Shoshoni the dance was performed around a small cedar
tree, planted in the ground for that purpose. Unlike the Sioux, they
hung nothing on this tree. The men did not clasp each other’s hands,
but held on to their blankets instead; but a woman standing between
two men took hold of their hands. There was no preliminary medicine
ceremony. The dance took place usually in the morning, and at its close
the performers shook their blankets in the air, as among the Paiute
and other tribes, before dispersing. However novel may have been the
doctrine, the Shoshoni claim that the Ghost dance itself as performed
by them was a revival of an old dance which they had had fully fifty
years before.
The selection of the cedar in this connection is in agreement with the
general Indian idea, which has always ascribed a mystic sacredness to
that tree, from its never-dying green, which renders it so conspicuous
a feature of the desert landscape; from the aromatic fragrance of its
twigs, which are burned as incense in sacred ceremonies; from the
durability and fine texture of its wood, which makes it peculiarly
appropriate for tipi poles and lance shafts; and from the dark-red
color of its heart, which seems as though dyed in blood. In Cherokee
myth the cedar was originally a pole, to the top of which they fastened
the fresh scalps of their enemies, and the wood was thus stained by the
blood that trickled slowly down along it to the ground. The Kiowa also
selected a cedar for the center of their Ghost-dance circle.
We go back now to the southern tribes west of the mountains. Some time
in the winter of 1889–90 Paiute runners brought to the powerful tribe
of the Navaho, living in northern New Mexico and Arizona, the news of
the near advent of the messiah and the resurrection of the dead. They
preached and prophesied for a considerable time, but the Navaho were
skeptical, laughed at the prophets, and paid but little attention to
the prophesies. (_Matthews, 1._) According to the official report for
1892, these Indians, numbering somewhat over 16,000 souls, have, in
round numbers, 9,000 cattle, 119,000 horses, and 1,600,000 sheep and
goats; and, as suggested by Dr Matthews, the authority on that tribe,
it may be that, being rich in herds and wealth of silver, they felt
no special need of a redeemer. While with the Navaho in the winter
of 1892–93 I made inquiry in various parts of their wide-extended
territory, but could not learn that the Ghost dance had ever been
performed among them, and it evident that in their case the doctrinal
seed had fallen on barren ground.
[Illustration: +Fig. 70+—Navaho Indians.]
Before visiting the tribe, I had written for information to Mr A. M.
Stephen, of Keams Cañon, Arizona, since deceased, who had studied the
Navaho and Hopi for years and spoke the Navaho language fluently. I
quote from him on the subject. It may be noted that Keams Cañon is
about 125 miles northwest of Fort Wingate, the point from which Dr
Matthews writes, and nearer by that much to the Paiute, Cohonino, and
Walapai, all of whom have accepted the new religion. Mr Stephen states
that some time in February or March, 1890, he first heard rumors among
the Navaho that “the old men long dead” had returned to some foreign
tribes in the north or east, the vague far away. The intelligence was
brought to the Navaho either by the Ute or Paiute, or both. The rumor
grew and the idea became commonly current among the Navaho that the
mythic heroes were to return and that under their direction they were
to expel American and Mexican and restrict the Zuñi and Hopi close to
their villages, and, in fact, to reestablish their old domain from San
Francisco mountains to Santa Fé. (_Stephen, 1._) On November 22, 1891,
he further writes:
While out this last time I camped over night with some Navajo
friends, and over a pipe brought up the messiah topic. This family
belongs to the Bitter-Water gens, and this is the gist of what I
got from them: A Pah-ute came to a family of their gens living
near Navajo mountain and told them that _Na′-Keh-tkla-ĭ_ was to
return from the under world and bring back all the Tinneh (Navajo)
he had killed. _Na′-keh-tkla-ĭ_ (i. e., “foreigner with white foot
sole”) in the long ago had a puma and a bear. These were his pets.
He would call puma from the east and bear from the west, and just
before dawn they met in the center. Thus they met four times. On
the fourth meeting puma reached back with his forepaw and plucked
his mane, tossing the hair aloft, and for every hair a Tinneh died.
This fatal sorcery continued for a long time, and great numbers
were killed. Now, the Pah-ute said, this sorcerer was to return,
and would call his pets, and they would come east and west, and
following their trail would be all the people whose death they
had caused. These Navajo said they had heard of other Pah-ute
prophecies a year or more ago, all to the effect that long dead
people were to return alive from the under world. These resurrected
ones were also to bring back the departed game, and the Tinneh
would again dominate the region. But, said my informant, _datsaigi
yelti_, “it is worthless talk.” (_Stephen, 2._)
In connection with hypnotism as seen in the Ghost dance, Dr Matthews
states that in one curious Navaho ceremony he has several times seen
the patient hypnotized or pretend to be hypnotized by a character
dressed in evergreens. The occurrence of the hypnotic trance is
regarded as a sign that the ceremony has been effective. If the trance
does not occur, some other ceremony must be tried. (_Matthews, 2._)
West of the Navaho in northeastern Arizona live the Hopi, or Moki,
a Pueblo tribe occupying several villages on the tops of nearly
inaccessible mesas. In July, 1891, four of these Indians, while on
a visit to the Cohonino, living farther to the west, first heard of
the new doctrine and witnessed a Ghost dance, as will be described
hereafter. They brought back the news to their people, but it made
no impression on them and the matter was soon forgotten. (_Stephen,
3._) In this connection Mr Stephen states, in response to a letter of
inquiry, that although he does not recollect any Hopi myth concerning
rejuvenation of the world and reunion with the resurrected dead on
this earth, yet the doctrine of a reunion with the revivified dead in
the under world is a commonly accepted belief of the Hopi. They have
also a curious myth of a fair-hair god and a fair-skin people who
came up from the under world with the Hopi, and who then left them
with a promise to return. This suggests the idea of a messiah, but Mr
Stephen has not yet been able to get the myth in its entirety. He does
not think it derived from any corrupt source, however, through Spanish
or other missionaries, as the allusions are all of archaic tendency.
(_Stephen, 4._)
[Illustration: +Fig. 71+—Vista in the Hopi pueblo of Walpi.]
The Cohonino or Havasupai are a small tribe occupying the canyon of
Cataract creek, an affluent of the Colorado, in northern Arizona,
about 120 miles west of the Hopi, with whom they have a considerable
trade in buckskins and mesquite bread. They probably obtained the
doctrine and the dance directly from the Paiute to the northward.
Our only knowledge of the Cohonino dance is derived through Hopi
informants, and as the two tribes speak languages radically different
the ideas conveyed were neither complete nor definite, but it is
evident that the general doctrine was the same, although the dance
differed in some respects from that of the other tribes.
We quote again from Stephen’s letter of November 22, 1891:
During a quiet interval, in one of the kivas I found the Hopi who
brought the tidings of the resurrection to his people. His name
is Pütci and his story is very meager and confused. He went on a
customary trading visit to the Cojonino in their home at Cataract
creek, and I could not determine just when. The chief of the
Cojonino is named Navajo, and when Pütci got there, Navajo had but
lately returned from a visit to the westward. He had been with
the Walapai, the Mohave, and perhaps still farther west, and had
been gone nearly three months. He told his people a vague mystic
story that he had heard during his travels, to the effect that the
long-time dead people of the Antelope, Deer, and Rabbit [Antelope,
Deer, etc., are probably Cohonino gentes—J. M.] were to come
back and live in their former haunts; that they had reached to a
place where were the people of the Puma, the Wolf, and the Bear;
that this meeting delayed the coming, but eventually all these
people would appear, and in the sequence here related. Pütci was
accompanied by three other Hopi, and they said they did not very
well understand this strange story. While they were stopping in
Cataract cañon a one-night dance was held by the Cojonino, at which
these Hopi were present. During the night a long pole, having the
tail of an eagle fastened to the end, was brought out and securely
planted in the ground, and the dancers were told by their shamans
that anyone who could climb this pole and put his mouth on the tail
would see his dead mother (maternal ancestor). One man succeeded
in climbing it and laid his mouth on the feathers, and then fell
to the bottom in a state of collapse. They deemed him dead, but
before dawn he recovered and then said that he had seen his dead
mother and several other dead ancestors, who told him they were
all on their way back. The Hopi on their return home related these
marvels, but apparently it made little impression, and it was only
with difficulty I could gather the above meager details.
Through the kindness of Mr Thomas V. Keam, trader for the Hopi and
Navaho, we get a revision of Pütci’s story. Pütci states that in July,
1891, he with three other Hopi went on a visit to the Cohonino to
trade for buckskins. When they arrived in the vicinity of the Cohonino
camp, they were met by one of the tribe, who informed the visitors
that all the Indians were engaged in a very important ceremony, and
that before they could enter the camp they must wash their bodies and
paint them with white clay. Accordingly, when this had been done,
they were escorted to the camp and introduced to the principal chief
and headmen, all of whom they found engaged in washing their heads,
decorating themselves, and preparing for the ceremony, which took place
on a clear space near the camp late in the afternoon. Here a very tall
straight pole had been securely fastened upright in the ground. At the
top were tied two eagle-tail feathers. A circle was formed around this
pole by the Indians, and, after dancing around it until almost dark,
one of the men climbed the pole to the top, and remained there until
exhausted, when he would slide to the ground, clinging insensible to
the pole. After remaining in this state for some time, the medicine-men
resuscitated him. On recovery he stood up and told them he had been
into another world, where he saw all the old men who had died long ago,
and among them his own people. They told him they would all come back
in time and bring the deer, the antelope, and all other good things
they had when they dwelt on this earth. This ceremony lasted four days,
including the cleansing and decorating of the dancers and the climbing
of the pole, with an account of what had been seen by the Indian during
the time he was in an apparently lifeless state. Each day the ceremony
was attended by the whole tribe. (_Keam, 1._) Resuscitation by the
medicine-men, as here mentioned, is something unknown among the prairie
tribes, where the unconscious subject is allowed to lie undisturbed on
the ground until the senses return in the natural way.
Beyond the Cohonino, and extending for about 200 miles along Colorado
river on the Arizona side, are the associated tribes of Mohave,
Walapai, and Chemehuevi, numbering in all about 2,800 souls, of whom
only about one-third are on a reservation. The Chemehuevi, being
a branch of the Paiute and in constant communication with them,
undoubtedly had the dance and the doctrine. The Mohave also have much
to do with the Paiute, the two tribes interchanging visits and mutually
borrowing songs and games. They sent delegates to the messiah and
in all probability took up the Ghost dance, in spite of the agent’s
statement to the contrary. As only 660 of more than 2,000 Mohave are
reported as being on the reservation, the agent may have a good reason
for not keeping fully informed in regard to them.
Concerning the Walapai we have positive information. In September,
1890, the commanding officer at Fort Whipple was informed that a Paiute
from southern Utah was among the Walapai, inciting them to dance for
the purpose of causing hurricanes and storms to destroy the whites and
such Indians as would not participate in the dances. It was stated also
that these dances had then been going on for several months and were
participated in by a large portion of the tribe, and that each dance
lasted four or five nights in succession. On investigation it appeared
that this Paiute was one of a party who had come down and inaugurated
the Ghost dance among the Walapai the preceding year. (_G. D., 17._)
We find an account of the Walapai Ghost dance in a local paper a year
later. The article states that all the songs were in the language of
the Paiute, from whom the doctrine had originally come. The Walapai
version of the doctrine has been already noted. The dance itself, and
the step, as here described, are essentially the same as among other
tribes. Each dance lasted five nights, and on the last night was kept
up until daylight. Just before daylight on the morning of the last
night the medicine men ascended a small butte, where they met and
talked with the expected god, and on coming down again delivered his
message to the people. The dance was held at irregular intervals,
according to the instructions received on the butte by the medicine-men.
The dance place was a circular piece of ground a hundred feet in
diameter, inclosed by a fence of poles and bushes, and surrounded by
high mountain walls of granite, which reflected the light from half a
dozen fires blazing within the circle. The dancers, to the number of
200, clad in white robes with fancy trimmings, their faces and hair
painted white in various decorative designs, moved slowly around in
a circle, keeping time with a wild chant, while 200 more stood or
crouched around the fires, awaiting their turn to participate. The
dancers faced toward the center, each holding the hands of the ones
next to him and joining in the chant in unison. The dust issued in
clouds from beneath their feet, and with the dust and exertion together
the performers were soon exhausted and dropped out, when others took
their places. After each circuit they rested a few minutes and then
started round again. At each circuit a different chant was sung, and
thus the dance continued until midnight, when, with a loud clapping
of hands, it ended, and the people separated and went to their homes.
Throughout the performance two or three chiefs or medicine-men were
constantly going about on the outside of the circle to preserve order
and reprimand any merriment, one of them explaining to the visitors
that, as this was a religious ceremony, due solemnity must be observed.
(_J. F. L., 2._)
+Chapter XII+
THE GHOST DANCE EAST OF THE ROCKIES—AMONG THE SIOUX
In 1889 the Ogalala heard that the son of God had come upon earth
in the west. They said the Messiah was there, but he had come to
help the Indians and not the whites, and it made the Indians happy
to hear this.—_George Sword._
They signed away a valuable portion of their reservation, and it
is now occupied by white people, for which they have received
nothing. They understood that ample provision would be made for
their support; instead, their supplies have been reduced and much
of the time they have been living on half and two-thirds rations.
Their crops, as well as the crops of white people, for two years
have been almost a total failure. The disaffection is widespread,
especially among the Sioux, while the Cheyennes have been on the
verge of starvation and were forced to commit depredations to
sustain life. These facts are beyond question, and the evidence is
positive and sustained by thousands of witnesses.—_General Miles._