MOONKYj 



THE SIOUX GHOST DANCE 91' 



remained in the circle, and set up the most fearful, heart-piercing \v:iils I over 

 heard — crying, moaning, groaning, and shrieking oul their grief, and naming over 

 their departed friends and relatives, at the same time taking up handfuls of ■lust at 

 their feet, washing their hands in it, and throwing it over their brads. Finally, they 



raised tl • eyes to heaven, their hands clasped high above their heads, and stood 



straight and perfectly still, invoking tin- power of tin- Great Spirit to allow them to 

 see ami talk with their people who had died. This ceremony lasted about fifteen 

 minutes, when they all sat down where they were and listened to another address, 

 which 1 did not understand, hut which 1 afterwards learned were words of encour- 

 agement and assurance of the coming messiah. 



When they arose again, they enlarged the circle by facing toward the center, tak- 

 ing hold of hands, and moving around in the manner of school children in their play 



of " n lie's eye." And now the most intense excitement began. They would go as 



fast as they eon hi, their hands moving from side to side, their bodies swaying, their 

 arms, w ith hands gripped tightly in their neighbors', swinging back and forth witli 

 all their might. If one, more weak and trail, came near tailing, lie, would be jerked 

 ii]. and into position until tired nature gave way. The ground had been worked and 

 worn by many feet, until the tine. Hour-like dust lay light and loose to the depth of 

 two or three inches. The wind, which had increased, would sometimes take it up, 

 enveloping the dancers ami hiding them from view. In tin- ring were men, women, 

 and children; the strong and the robust, the weak consumptive, and those mar to 

 death's door. They believed those who were sick would be cured by joining in the 

 dance and losing consciousness. From the beginning they chanted, to a monotonous 



turn', the words — 



Father, I come ; 



Mother, I come; 



Brother, 1 come ; 



Father, give us hark our arrows. 



All of which they would repeat over anil over again until first one and then 

 another would break from the ring and stagger away and fall down. One woman 

 fell a few feet from me. She came toward us, her hair Hying ov.-r her face, which 

 was purple, looking as if the blood would hurst through : her hands anil arms mov- 

 ing wildly; every breath a pant and a groan; and she fell on her back, and went 

 down like a log. I stepped up to her as she la\ there motionless, but with every 

 muscle twitching and quivering, she seemed to he perfectly unconscious. Some 

 of the men and a few of the women would run, stepping high and pawing the air 

 in a frightful manner. Some told me afterwards that they had a sensation as if the 

 ground were rising toward them and would strike them in the face. Others would 

 drop where tiny stood. One woman fell directly into the ring, and her husband 

 stepped out and stood over her to prevent them from trampling upon her. No one 

 ever disturbed those who fell or took any notice of them except to keep the crowd 

 away. 



They kept up dancing until fully 100 persons were lying unconscious. Then they 

 stopped and seated themselves in a circle, and as each one recovered from his trance 

 he was brought to the center of the ring to relate his experience. Each told his 

 story to the medicine-man and he shouted it to the crowd. Not one in ten claimed 

 that Ic saw anything. I asked one Indian— a tall, strong fellow, straight as an 

 arrow — what his experience was. lie said he saw an eagle coining toward him. It 

 flew round and round, drawing nearer and nearer until he put out his hand to take 

 it, when it was gone. I asked him what he thought of it. " Big lie." he replii d 

 I found by talking to them that not one in twenty believed it. After resting tor a 

 time they would go through the same performance, perhaps three times a day. 

 They practiced fasting, and every morning those who joined in the dame were 

 obliged to immerse themselves in the creek. (Comr.,44.) 



