122 INDIANS 01 l ill. PL UNB 



mand of Colonel Forsyth on Wounded Knee Creek, in 

 which th iiiy-onc soldiers and one hundred twenty-eight 



Indians were killed. In a short time after this decisive 



engagement, practically all the [ndians laid down their 



arms and abandoned the ghost dance religion. It is 

 probable, however, that some of the ceremonies con- 

 nected with the ghost dance religion are performed even 

 to this day, since several of the leaders are still living. 



Practically all of the typical tribe- p. 19) took up 

 the new beliefs about the same time but no where else 

 did the excitement lead to violence. Among the 

 ( lieyenne, Arapaho, and Gros Ventre, the ceremonies 

 still exist in a modified form, apparently combined with 

 the Omaha or grass dance (p. 123 . 



Peyote Worship. There are curious ceremonie> 

 connected with the eating or administering of the (hied 

 fruit of a small cactus (Ankahnium or Laphophora), 

 native of the lower Rio Grande and Mexico. The name 

 "mescal" is wrongly applied to this fruit by many 

 white observers. Long ago, these ceremonies seem to 

 have been known to the Kiowa and Comanche of the 

 Plains and widely distributed in the Southwest and 

 Mexico. The rites begin in the evening and continue 

 until the following dawn, and are restricted to men. 

 There is a definite ritual, a small drum and rattle of 

 special form being essential. Within the last tew years, 

 this worship has become general among the Arapaho. 

 Cheyenne, Omaha. Dakota, and Kiowa, and threaten- 

 to supplant all other native ceremonies. It is even 

 found among the Winnebago, Sauk and Fox, and 



