Hello, I'm a historian with a focus on cultural and social movements. Let's delve into the topic of the Ghost Dance.

The Ghost Dance was a religious and cultural movement among Native American tribes in the late 19th century, which aimed to renew the world and bring about a new era where Native Americans could live free of the influence and control of white settlers. The movement was characterized by a specific dance, the Ghost Dance, which was believed to have spiritual powers that could bring about this transformation.

The dance itself involved participants dressing in ghost shirts, which were believed to protect them from bullets, and performing a circular dance while singing songs that told of the coming change. The movement was peaceful in nature but was misinterpreted by non-Native Americans as a sign of potential rebellion or uprising.

The climax of the Ghost Dance movement was the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, where U.S. troops killed hundreds of Lakota Sioux people, many of whom were followers of the Ghost Dance. The event marked a tragic end to the movement and a significant loss for the Native American community.

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The Ghost Dance originated among the Paiute Indians around 1870. However, the tide of the movement came in 1889 with a Paiute shaman Wovoka (Jack Wilson). Wovoka had a vision during a sun eclipse in 1889. In this vision he saw the second coming of Christ and received warning about the evils of white man.read more >>