900 tup: ghost-dance religion [eth.ann.u 



paper liar has reached an abnormal development in Oklahoma, and 

 dispatches from Guthrie, El Reno, and Oklahoma City were filled 

 with vivid accounts of war dances, scalping parties, and imminent out- 

 breaks, mingled with frantic appeals for troops. A specimen dispatch 

 stated that a thousand Kickapoo were dancing, whereas in fact the 

 whole tribe numbers only 325, very few of whom were in any way con 

 cerned with the Ghost dance. Indian Commissioner Morgan was at this 

 time (November, 1S90) on a tour of inspection among the western tribes 

 of Oklahoma, and satisfied himself that all such sensational reports 

 were false, and that there was no danger to he apprehended from the 

 dance. (G. />., 55.) At the same time the War I >epartmeut commis- 

 sioned Lieutenant (now Captain) H. L. Scott, of the Seventh cavalry, 

 then and now stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to investigate the mean- 

 ing of the excitement and the possibility of an outbreak. Captain 

 Scott was eminently fitted for the work by his intimate acquaintance 

 with the Indians and his perfect knowledge of the sign language. In 

 the course of December, 1890, and January and February, 1891, he vis- 

 ited the various camps of the western tribes of the territory, attended 

 a number of dances, and talked with the leaders. His reports on the 

 Ghost dance are most valuable, and confirmed the War Department in 

 its previous opinion that no danger was to be apprehended, and that 

 the true policy was one of noninterference. 



The dance constantly gathered strength among the Arapaho and 

 Cheyenne, in spite of the failure of the first prediction, and spread 

 rapidly to the neighboring tribes, Sitting Bull himself being the high 

 priest and chief propagandist. The adverse report brought back by 

 A'piatan, the Kiowa, in the spring of 1891 had no effect outside of his 

 own tribe. In the early part of that year the Arapaho and Cheyenne 

 sent a delegation, including one woman, to visit the messiah in Nevada 

 and bring back the latest news from heaven. They were gone a consid- 

 erable time and returned with some of the sacred medicine paint given 

 them by Wovoka, after having taken part with the Faiute in a Ghost 

 dance under his leadership at the regular dance ground near Mason 

 valley. Tall Bull, captain of the Cheyenne police, was one of this party, 

 and Arnold Woolworth, a Carlisle student, acted as interpreter. 



In August, 1891, another delegation went out, consisting of Flack 

 Coyote, Little Raven, Fed Wolf, (riant Lett Hand, and Casper Edson 

 (Arapaho). and Black Sharp Nose and Standing Bull (Cheyenne). 

 Grant Left Hand and Casper Edson, Carlisle students, acted as inter- 

 preters, wrote down the words of the messiah, and delivered his message 

 to their people on their return. This message, as written down at the 

 time by ' Jasper Edson, is given in the preceding chapter on the doctrine 

 of the Ghost dance. In accord with the messiah's instructions the two 

 tribes now changed their manner of dancing from frequent small dances 

 at each camp at irregular intervals to larger dances participated in by 

 several camps together at regular intervals of six weeks, each dance 



