William T. Selwyn and Kuwapi: “It Is the New Messiah”

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William T. Selwyn and Kuwapi: “It Is the New Messiah”
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Abstract

In 1890 the U.S. government was concerned about a new religious movement circulating among Native Americans. This new religion, the Ghost Dance, called for Indigenous peoples across the United States to join in celebrating a vision of the world in which the buffalo and deceased ancestors would come back, land would be returned, Native Americans would not get sick or die, and all white people would be abolished if only practitioners lived right and danced the ritualistic Ghost Dance that Kuwapi describes in this passage. The Ghost Dance movement started in Nevada with a Paiute man named Wovoka (1856–1932), who received a vision from God with a message of revitalization for Indian peoples across the nation. News of Wovoka’s vision spread quickly. The message resonated particularly strongly with the Lakota, who were living on reservations in South Dakota and had engaged in years of resistance against the forces of the U.S. government to take their homeland, including their sacred Black Hills. While some remained skeptical, many Lakota embraced the Ghost Dance religion, including influential leaders such as Short Bull and Black Elk.

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