Wovoka ghost dance
- •
The Ghost Dance Religion
Summary
Two North American Indian ceremonial dances, known today as the Ghost Dance of 1870 and the Ghost Dance of 1890, spread from tribe to tribe in the western United States and Canada in the late 19th century. Both began among the Paiutes of the Great Basin, initiated by individual men from their visions. The first was started by Wodzibob and, twenty years later, a new version of the dance was dreamed by Wovoka. These intertribal movements were alike in that the basis of the dance itself was the Paiute Round Dance and the doctrine of the ceremonies included the return of the dead. While the Ghost Dance of 1870 spread among the tribes of the Great Basin and California, the later movement also traveled east of the Rocky Mountains to the tribes of the Plains. The Ghost Dance of 1890 is the most widely remembered because it led to the massacre of Big Foot’s band of the Lakota at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in December 1890, which was widely publicized in newspapers and articles in the eastern United States. On the Plains, the Ghost Dance of 1890 was on
- •
Ghost Dance - Religious and Spiritual Dance
Since the dawn of modern history, dancing has always been in close contact with religious movements. This tight bond was nowhere as close as it was during the years when numerous American Indian tribes started practicing the religious “Ghost Dance” routine, originally used as a religious and spiritual dance that was supposed to signify the prophecy of end of the suffering of Native American folk, the end of the domination of the white settlers from Europe and restoration of the world to the natural state. The height of the popularity of Ghost Dance happened during the last years of 19th century during which the plight of Native American tribes reached its height with numerous European diseases decimated the tenth of their entire population, devastation of buffalo herds damaged their ability to gather food and aggressive expansion of European settlers caused military conflict that forced many tribes to leave their homelands. After the initial popularity of Ghost Dance which has spread to all corners of North America by early 1900s, many
- •
Wodziwob
Religious leader and medicine man (died c. 1872)
Wodziwob (died c. 1872) was a Paiuteprophet and medicine man who is believed to have led the first Ghost Dance ceremonies, in what is now Nevada, sometime around 1869.
Vision, prophecy, and dances
In 1869, when living in the Walker Lake Valley of Nevada, Wodziwob had a series of visions while on a mountain.
The first vision proclaimed that "within a few moons there was to be a great upheaval or earthquake... [during which] the improvements of the whites-all their houses, their goods, stores, etc.-would remain, but the whites would be swallowed up, while the Indians would be saved and permitted to enjoy the earth and all the fullness thereof, including anything left by the wicked whites".[1] The prediction of this selective earthquake was met with skepticism.[by whom?]
After a second trip to the mountain, Wodziwob received a new prophecy that stated that all peoples would be swallowed by the earthquakes, and after a few days the Native Americans would return to the world, now a parad
Copyright ©oakvibe.pages.dev 2025