moonev] HYPNOTISM IN THE DANCE 899 



wkk-h they would be able to make songs for themselves. Tie said no 

 more, but dismissed them to their tipis, wondering what this miracle 

 could be. On the next night he appeared wearing a wide-brim hat 

 with a single eagle feather, the same hat in which he is generally seen. 

 Nearly all of the two tribes of Cheyenne and Arapaho were present, 

 and probably GOO or 800 were in the dance circle at one time. Nothing 

 unusual occurred for several hours until the dancers had gradually 

 worked themselves up to a high state of excitement, when Sitting Bull 

 stepped into the circle, and going up close in front of a young Arapaho 

 woman, he began to make hypnotic passes before her face with the 

 eagle feather. In a few seconds she became rigid and then fell to the 

 ground unconscious. Sitting Bull then turned his attention to another 

 and another, and the same thing happened to each in turn until nearly 

 a hundred were stretched out on the ground at once. As usual in the 

 trances some lay thus for a long time, and others recovered sooner, but 

 none were disturbed, as Sitting Bull told the dancers that these were 

 now beholding happy visions of the spirit world. When next they 

 came together those who had been in the trance related their experiences 

 in the other world, how they had met and talked with their departed 

 friends and joined in their oldtime amusements. Many of them 

 embodied their visions in songs, which were sung that night and after- 

 ward in the dance, and from that time the Ghost dance was naturalized 

 in the south and developed rapidly along new lines. Each succeeding 

 dance resulted in other visions and new songs, and from time to time 

 other hypnotists arose, until almost every camp had its own. 



About this time a commission arrived to treat with the Cheyenne 

 and Arapaho for the sale of their reservation. The Indians were 

 much divided in opinion, the great majority opposing any sale what- 

 soever, even of their claim in the Cherokee strip, which they believed 

 was all that the agreement was intended to cover. "While the debate 

 was in progress Left Hand, chief of the Arapaho, went to Sitting 

 Bull and asked his opinion on the matter. Sitting Bull advised him 

 to sell for what they could get, as they had need of the money, and 

 in a short time the messiah would come and restore the land to them. 

 On this advice Left Hand signed the agreement, in the face of threats 

 from those opposed to it, and his example was followed by nearly all of 

 his tribe. This incident shows how thoroughly Sitting Bull and the 

 other Arapaho believed in the new doctrine. In view of the misery 

 that has come on these tribes from the sale of their reservation, it is 

 sad to think that they could have so deceived themselves by false 

 hopes of divine interposition. A large party of the Cheyenne refused 

 to have anything to do with the sale or to countenance the transaction 

 by accepting their share of the purchase money, even after the whites 

 had taken possession of the lands. 



The troubles in the Sioux country now began to attract public atten- 

 tion, and there was suggestion of military interference. The news- 



