Chapter X 1 1 



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. 

 Tin \ said the Messiah was there, hut be had come to help the Indians and nut tin' 

 whites, and it made the Indians happy to bear 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 

 ( 'be vi 'nnes have been on the verge of star vat inn and were forced to emu nut depreda- 

 tions tn sustain life. These facts are beyond question, and the evidence is positive 

 and sustained by thousands of witnesses. — General Miles. 



Among the tribes east of the mountains and north of Oklahoma, it 

 appears from official documents in the Indian Office and from other 

 obtainable information that the Ghost dance and the doctrine, it' known 

 at all. were never accepted by the Blackfeet of Montana; the Ojibwa 

 of Turtle mountain and Devils lake in North Dakota, or by the rest 

 of the tribe farther to the east in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan; 

 the Omaha, Winnebago, and Ponka in Nebraska; the small band of 

 Sauk and Fox in Iowa; the still smaller band of Sauk and Fox, the 

 T'otawatomt, Kickapoo, Iowa, and Ojibwa in northeastern Kansas; 

 or by the Sioux of Devils hike in North Dakota, Lake Traverse (Sis- 

 seton agency) and Flandreau in South Dakota, and Santee agency in 

 Nebraska. All or most of these Sioux belong to the Santee or eastern 

 division of the tribe, and have long been under civilizing influences. 

 According to official statements the dance was not taken up by any of 

 the Sioux of Crow Creek or Yankton agencies in South Dakota, but 

 they were certainly more or less affected by it, as they knew all about 

 ii and are in constant communication with the wilder bands of Sioux 

 which were concerned in the outbreak. 1 was informed by the Omaha 

 and Winnebago in 1891 that they had been told of the new messiah by 

 visiting Sioux from Pine Ridge agency in April, 1890, and later on by 

 other Sioux from Yankton agency, but had put no faith in the story, 

 and hail never organized a Ghost dance. According to the agent in 

 charge, the Crow of Montana were not affected. This, if true, is 

 remarkable, in view of the tact that the Crow are a large tribe and 

 comparatively primitive, and have living near them the wildest of the 

 Ghost-dancing tribes, the northern Cheyenne especially occupying 

 practically the same reservation. It is possible thai their experience 

 in the Sword-bearer affair in 1887, already mentioned, had a tendency 

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