926 THE GHOST-DANCE RELIGION [eth.ahk.14 



stop, but as soon as the woman falls the medicineman gives his atten- 

 tion to another subject among the dancers. The first one may lie 

 unconscious for ten or twenty minutes or sometimes for hours, but no 

 one noes near to disturb her, as her soul is now communing with the 

 spirit world. At last consciousness gradually returns. A violent tremor 

 seizes her body as in the beginning of the fit. A low moan comes from 

 her lips, and she sits up and looks about her like one awaking from 

 sleep. Her whole form trembles violently, but at last she rises to her 

 feet and staggers away from the dancers, who open the circle to let 

 her pass. All the phenomena of recovery, except rigidity, occur in 

 direct reverse of those which precede unconsciousness. 



Sometimes before falling the hypnotized subject runs wildly around 

 the circle or out over the prairie, or goes through various crazy evolu- 

 tions like those of a lunatic. On one occasion — but only once — I have 

 seen the medicine-man point his finger almost in the face of the hypno- 

 tized subject, and then withdrawing his finger describe with it a large 

 circle about the tipis. The subject followed the direction indicated, 

 sometimes being hidden from view by the crowd, and finally returned, 

 with his eyes still fixed and staring, to the place where the medicine- 

 man was standing. There is frequently a good deal of humbug mixed 

 with these performances, some evidently pretending to be hypnotized 

 in order to attract notice or to bring about such a condition from force 

 of imitation, but the greater portion is unquestionably genuine and 

 beyond the control of the subjects. In many instances the. hypnotized 

 person spins around tor minutes at a time like a dervish, or whirls the 

 arms with apparently impossible speed, or assumes and retains until 

 the final fall most uncomfortable positions which it would be impossible 

 to keep for any length of time under normal conditions. Frequently a 

 number of persons arc within the ring at once, in all the various stages 

 of hypnotism. The proportion of women thus affected is about three 

 times that of men. 



THE AREA COVERED BY THE DANCE 



It is impossible to give more than an approximate statement as to 

 the area of the Ghost dance and the messiah doctrine and the number 

 of Indians involved. According to the latest official report, there are 

 about 1 Hi. 000 Indians west of Missouri river, exclusive of the five 

 civilized nations in Indian Territory. Probably all these tribes heard of 

 the new doctrine, but only a part took any active interest in it. Gener- 

 ally speaking, it was never taken up by the greal tribe of the "Navaho, 

 by any of the Pueblos except the Taos, or by any of the numerous tribes 

 of the Columbia region. The thirty or thirty-five tribes more or less 

 concerned with the dance have an aggregate population of about (ill, (Mil) 

 souls. A number of these were practically unanimous in their accept- 

 ance of I he new doctrine, notably the Paiute, Shoshoni. Arapaho, < 'hey- 

 enne, Caddo, and Pawnee, while of others, as the Comanche, only a 



