820 THE GHOST-DANCE RELIGION [bih. &nn. 14 



position to get accurate knowledge of the extent ami nature of the 

 excitement. It may be remarked here that, under present conditions, 

 when the various tribes are isolated upon widely separated reservations, 

 tlir Ghost dance could never have become so widespread, aud would 

 probably have died out within a. year of its inception, had it not been 

 lor the efficient aid it received from the returned pupils of various 

 eastern government schools, who conducted the sacred correspondence 

 for their friends at the different agencies, acted as interpreters for the 

 delegates to the messiah, and in various ways assumed the leadership 

 and conduct of the dance. 



In the fall of 1889, at a council held at Pine Ridge by Red (loud, 

 Young Man Afraid, Little Wound, American Horse, and other Sioux 

 chiefs, a delegation was appointed to visit the western agencies to learn 

 more about the new messiah. The delegates chosen were Good Thun- 

 der, Flat Iron, Yellow Breast, and Broken Arm, from Tine Ridge; 

 Short Bull and another from Rosebud, and Kicking Bear from Cheyeun • 

 River agency. They started on their journey to the west, and soon began 

 to write from Wyoming. Utah, and beyond the mountains, confirming 

 all that had been said of the advent of a redeemer. They were gone 

 all winter, and their return in the spring of LS90 aroused an intense 

 excitement among the Sioux, who had been anxiously awaiting their 

 report. All the delegates agreed that there was a man near the base 

 of the Sierras who said that he was the son of God, who had once been 

 killed by the whites, and who bore on his body the scars of the crucifix- 

 ion. He had now returned to punish the whites for their wickedness, 

 especially for their injustice toward the Indians. With the coming of 

 the next spring (1891) he would wipe the whites from the face of the 

 earth, and would then resurrect all the dead Indians, bring back the 

 buffalo and other game, and restore the supremacy of the aboriginal 

 race. lie had before come to the whites, but they had rejected him. 

 He was now the God of the Indians, and they must pray to him and call 

 him "father,'' and prepare for his awful coming. Selwyn's account of 

 this delegation, which was accompanied by representatives of several 

 other tribes, including Porcupine the Cheyenne, and Sitting Bull the 

 Arapaho, agrees with the statements of the Arapaho as given in chapter 

 xiv. 'three of the Sioux delegates found their way to Umatilla reser- 

 vation in Oregon and remained there several days discussing the new 

 doctrine, i Comr., 30 — Dorchester, 529.) 



The delegates made their report at Pine Ridge in April, 1890. A 

 council was at once called to discuss the matter, but Sehvyn informed 

 the agent, Colonel Gallagher, who had Good Thunder and two others 

 arrested and imprisoned. They were held in confinement two days, 

 but refused to talk when questioned. The intended council was not 

 held, but soon afterward Kicking Hear returned from a visit to the 

 northern Arapaho in Wyoming with the news that those Indians 

 were already dancing, and could see and talk with their dead relatives 



