CHAPTER IX. THE SIOUX AND THE MESSIAH CRAZE
The Sioux is one of our most famous Indian nations. As the Iroquois activities two centuries ago placed them in the forerank of American aborigines, so the Sioux from the days of Lewis and Clark down to the present have been much in evidence. They are primarily a strong, hearty race possessed of dominant spirit. Their reservations at Standing Rock, Rosebud, Pine Ridge, etc., contain most of the 28,000 natives of this stock. Reference to Major Powell’s linguistic map will acquaint readers with the enormous extent of territory they once occupied. The Commissioner’s map of 1913 shows that these people today own a small fraction of their original holdings.
The general progress of the Sioux, the famous men that they have produced, I have covered in the chapters treating of Education, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, etc.
They were known to the army officers as Horse Indians, and to many others as Plains Indians. The horse was to the Sioux what the birch bark canoe was to the Ojibwa or the Penobscot. In early days their habitat was almost entirely confined to the Great Plains, the foothills of the Black Hills and the Missouri River. They were in Minnesota at an early period, but were driven westward and southward by the Ojibwa. The older Ojibwa claim that the Sioux frequently surprised hunting parties of these woods Indians, and that whenever the Ojibwa were caught out on the plain by the Sioux, they were invariably defeated with great loss. The Ojibwa therefore resorted to the strategy of luring the Sioux into the woods. Where this was possible, the expert woodcraft of the Ojibwa came into play and they generally defeated their enemies with heavy slaughter.
1850 to 1868 found the Sioux supremacy on the Great Plains unquestioned. With the coming of the railroad, and steamboat navigation on the Missouri, and the great influx of white traders, their powers declined as I have indicated in some detail on other pages.
The story of the Brulé, Miniconjou, Oglala, Teton and other divisions, so far as history is concerned, is pretty much the same. The buffalo was their chief support, in fact their very life was bound up in this animal. The wild horse was a later acquisition. In order to understand them thoroughly, the past fifty years, we should study in detail the life of Red Cloud, that of Sitting Bull, and in addition the Messiah craze, as previously mentioned.
The contrast between the Pine Ridge of today and that of 1890 is almost beyond belief. In 1890, one of the strangest ceremonies imaginable was in full swing. In 1909, when I visited Pine Ridge, exactly nineteen years later, I found the Sioux working upon their allotments, farming, digging irrigation ditches, and doing their best toward “taking the white man’s road.” On the plains where once clustered the tipis of the Ghost dancers were the large, modern brick buildings of the Oglala school, a most successful institution where young men and women are trained in the arts. Certainly the progress of these Indians is more than surprising—it is remarkable. And it is chiefly due to the fact that they have had as their Superintendent or Agent a man who is in sympathy with them and who has not been replaced through political influence. Major John R. Brennan has supervised the famous old fighting Oglala Sioux for more than fifteen years.
The progress of these Indians is, as I have said, creditable, but they are still poor, there is much suffering, and the increase in stock has not been as large as desired. Farming operations continue on a large scale, but the soil is more suited to grazing than farming, although the Indians do the best they can under the circumstances.
All of the Sioux have so far progressed, that it is unthinkable that any fanaticism such as the Ghost dance will again overtake them. It is quite safe to predict that since all of their children have been educated and nearly all of the Sioux of every reservation have been allotted land in severalty, they will continue to progress, and if the ravages of tuberculosis are stayed, a large number of the descendants of the full-bloods will survive and become useful citizens.
These Indians, after the surrender of Sitting Bull, were not much in the public eye until occurred the famous Ghost dance, or Messiah craze, and that being the chief event since the Custer fight we must needs devote considerable space to it.
On several occasions during the past two centuries, in this country, Indian shamans, or priests, have prophesied the coming of an Indian Messiah. We shall at some future time consider this interesting subject in detail, but within the period embraced in this book, that peculiar craze which swept throughout the West and the South during the year 1890, and known as the Ghost Dance, is the chief religious event.
Mr. James Mooney of the Bureau of Ethnology, published a very comprehensive monograph, in 1896, entitled “The Ghost Dance Religion”, in the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. I shall draw the information presented in this chapter partly from Mr. Mooney’s account, but more especially from my own investigation made in the winter of 1890 at Pine Ridge reservation, South Dakota, where among the Oglala Sioux the Messiah craze reached its culmination.
The music of the Oglala dances was taken down at the time by Mr. George E. Bartlett (Husté) and myself. Our work was not copyrighted, and soon found its way into various publications, and after being harmonized, our music was soon in general use. It is no more than fair to say that as I lay no claim to special skill as an ethnologist, Mr. Mooney, having more training and experience in such studies, was able to present the songs and their translations more accurately. I believe, in my original articles published in the Illustrated American of New York in January and February, 1891, some of the Sioux word-syllables were not properly spaced, a number of accent marks omitted, and there were a few minor errors. But in the main the account as published was correct, although it was a “popular”, rather than a technical paper.
I did not investigate the Messiah in the West, although the new religion was inaugurated by him. The Sioux told me a great deal concerning him. He was known to them as Johnson, whereas Mooney gives as his proper name, Wovoka. In November, 1891, a year after the trouble at Pine Ridge, Mr. Mooney set out for Pine Ridge, where he spent considerable time, and then visited Walker Lake reservation in Nevada, where Wovoka (Johnson) lived. Here he obtained at first hand the information concerning the origin of the Messiah religion, and has presented us with a very valuable and interesting account.
As in the case of all Messiahs or prophets, Wovoka was a dreamer. He inherited the spirit of prophecy, for his father before him was known as a prophet. The young man at the time of Mooney’s visit, had never wandered beyond the valley wherein he resided—a small area, some thirty miles in length. Wovoka belonged to the Paiute, and his religion may be summed up in this statement which Mooney records.
“When the sun died, I went up to heaven and saw God and all the people who had died a long time ago. God told me to come back and tell my people they must be good and love one another, and not fight, or steal, or lie. He gave me this dance to give to my people.”
If the missionaries and Government employees had seized upon the beautiful sentiment uttered in this remarkable paragraph, the new religion might have been turned to good account. Instead of that, as we shall see presently, an Agent utterly ignorant of Indians, saw in this sacred ceremony nothing beyond a “war dance” and he sent for troops—the very worst possible thing he could have done.
Mooney spent many days conversing with this interesting person, Wovoka, who told him that he had given to his people this dance about two years previously. He seems to have talked very freely with Mr. Mooney, permitting him to take his photograph, and when Mooney left, the prophet gave him as souvenirs to exhibit to his friends, a blanket of rabbit skins, sacred paint endowed with miraculous powers and which plays an important part in the ritual of the Ghost dance religion, and other trinkets.
In Oklahoma Mooney met with the Cheyennes and Arapahoes and they gave him a written statement of the doctrine of Wovoka, which he was permitted to take to Washington to convince the authorities, “that there was nothing bad or hostile in the new religion.”
Mooney traveled many months West and South and his excellent report is evidence that he studied every phase of the dance. My work was confined to Pine Ridge where I studied the dance while it was in progress. There it appeared in all its purity; there the white people made of it a “warlike” demonstration; there stupidity and ignorance transformed a peaceful, religious ceremony into a bloody tragedy—Wounded Knee.
I employed three interpreters: the Weasel (Itonkasan,) George Bartlett (Husté), and a Frenchman, whose name I do not recall.
Doctor Charles A. Eastman, the Sioux, some years after my account was published, informed me that it was correct, and he was present before, during and after the trouble at Pine Ridge, and knew all the actors intimately.
Summing up Mr. Mooney’s conclusions in a few words, the Messiah craze of 1890 was a mixture of Christianity and Indian religion.
In a nutshell, the Messiah craze conformed to the sentiments of Jesus Christ. It was not expressed in His language, but the frequent repetitions of such sentiments as “you must not fight”, and, “do injury to no one”; “give up the bad white man’s ways”; “live as brothers as you did before the Whites came”; “Dance faithfully to the Great Spirit”; “Father and Mother are talking”; etc., indicate a belief in the better things of life and of the hereafter. Instead of hostility, peace was proclaimed; instead of avarice, the communistic life was advocated.
There was only one discontented element, or discordant note, and that was the stand taken by Sitting Bull and a few other Indians, who seized upon this craze to further their own personal aims. Major McLaughlin has commented in full on Sitting Bull’s attitude in his book, pages 183–220. And while I do not entirely agree with him, it is beyond question that Sitting Bull sought to gain through the Messiah craze. To a certain extent he advocated armed resistance, but the dominating desire in his mind, a careful review of events would indicate, was that Sitting Bull desired above all things to see the Indians restored to their old-time domination. Like the others, he prayed for the return of the buffalo, without which “the good old days” would be impossible. He probably believed that volcanic action (“wave of mud”, as the Oglala called it) would sweep across the country, destroy the Whites and leave the red men happy possessors of the Plains and countless herds of bison, elk and deer. That was the belief of many of the Indians, and so expressed by them during the Ghost dance.
The Ghost dance, or Messiah craze, was seized upon by all these Sioux as a means of salvation out of their troubles. We must remember that these Indians had lived but a few years on the reservation at Pine Ridge. In 1876, only fourteen years before, they killed Custer and wiped out several companies of the Seventh Cavalry. They had made some progress, but they were still ration Indians, and the cutting down of the supply of beef, etc., hundreds of thousands pounds, before the Indians had become self-supporting, caused widespread suffering.
It is not necessary to repeat the troubles of the Sioux here. I have referred to some of the treaties, Indian cause for dissatisfaction, in other pages of this book. In the spring of 1889, so I was informed at Pine Ridge, Congress passed an act authorizing the purchase of a large tract of land from these people. Honorable Charles Foster, ex-Governor of Ohio, and several other gentlemen were appointed a committee to negotiate with the Indians. According to the Indians’ version, many councils were held and a great deal of discussion ensued. Sometimes the debates were rather strenuous and they all related to purchase of lands—to the further curtailing of the Sioux reservation—the same old story. An intelligent educated Indian summed up their cause as follows:—
“The lands secured by the treaty were divided into three classes. All tracts selected for farming or grazing purposes within a period of three years from February 15, 1890, were to be sold at $1.25 per acre. Those purchased during the two years following were valued at seventy-five cents per acre. The portions remaining unsold after the expiration of five years could be bought for fifty cents per acre. The money received from the sale of the land was to be placed in the United States Treasury, subject to interest, which was to be paid to the Indians at regular intervals.
“Any Sioux whom his Agent considered qualified for supporting himself was to be allowed to select for his own use a tract of land, the area of which was determined by the number of members in his family. Farming implements and utensils, oxen or horses, seed, etc., and fifty dollars in cash were also to be given him. Notices to acquaint the Sioux with this proposition were posted in conspicuous places in the agency buildings, and every inducement was offered the people to take the land in severalty. So far, about one hundred at Rosebud, a smaller number at Standing Rock, and some two hundred at Pine Ridge have made applications to the Agents for allotments.
MODERN SIOUX CABIN AND SUMMER TENT. PINE RIDGE, 1909
“Inquiries were made of many of the leading men on the reservation as to why more persons did not avail themselves of the Government’s liberal offer and become self-supporting. The Indians’ answers and their reasons for not taking up land in severalty convinced all questioners not already prejudiced that under the present condition of affairs it would be impossible to interest more than a small percentage of the nation in agriculture.”[[16]]
Some of the Indians’ statements may be denied in Washington. The Indians have always maintained that many things are told them by Commissioners which are never carried into effect. I am quite aware that only the written recommendations are acted upon. That is, the report of a Commission may be quite different from the Indians’ ideas or understandings of the councils and the debates. Politicians will cultivate the good will of Indians just as they cultivate voters. The politician frankly admits: “a platform is made to get in on.” The failure to keep these promises, and the difference between the actual performance and the words so freely uttered in the presence of the Indians, caused much dissatisfaction and paved the way for the Messiah craze.
Another serious cause for complaint occurred after the Messiah craze started. Doctor Royer sent out the Indian police and brought in all the friendly Indians, in order to differentiate them from the “hostiles.” That is, he compelled all Indians who were not dancing, and those who were lukewarm toward the Messiah doctrine, to move to the agency and live in tents and canvas tipis under his direct supervision. When I reached Pine Ridge, these tents extended in little groups, here and there, for two miles. As most of the Indians lived in log cabins, this foolish order worked great hardship. Many of them lost stock, their cabins were broken into, and they were compelled to seek support from the Government. Royer was forced to issue a great quantity of rations. As the younger children, for the most part, were accustomed to living in the log houses referred to, this change in winter to life in the open was responsible for a heavy increase of diphtheria and other diseases.
The Indians bitterly complained and began to say they thought the Government had deliberately set about destroying the Pine Ridge Sioux.
As a result of the mismanagement, the ignorance, the suffering, and the presence of the troops, the progress of the Pine Ridge Sioux was delayed many years, and much of the advancement of the previous ten years was forever lost. The only redeeming feature at Pine Ridge, in my opinion, was the appointment of Major John R. Brennan as Agent. He took charge shortly after the military domination ended and after years of labor managed to inspire confidence in the Oglalas.
The succeeding pages describe the dance ceremonies as related to me at Pine Ridge in November and December, 1890. I have left much of the narrative in the present tense, as written then.
The Indians located in the Dakotas have been in the habit of visiting the Utes and Arapahoes every summer for the purpose of trading. They also hunted game en route. While the Sioux are unable to converse with these tribes, means of communication is possible through the medium of the sign-language, which was well understood by all Plains Indians. Most of the older Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé are able to use it at present.
GOVERNMENT SCHOOL BUILDINGS; ON SITE OF “HOSTILES’ CAMP” OF 1890. PINE RIDGE, 1909
Keeps-the-Battle (Kicizapi Tawa) told me a few days ago that it was during the visit of the Pine Ridge Sioux last July that he first heard of the coming of the new Messiah. He related the following story:
“Scarcely had my people reached the Ute village when we heard of a white preacher whom the Utes held in the highest esteem, who told a beautiful dream or vision of the coming of a great and good red man. This strange person was to set aright the wrongs of my people; he could restore to us our game and hunting grounds, was so powerful that every wish or word he gave utterance to became fulfilled.
“His teaching had a strange effect upon the Utes, and, in obedience to the commands of this man, they began a Messiah dance.”
Keeps-the-Battle further said that, immediately upon the arrival of the hunting-party at Pine Ridge, a small dance was held in imitation of the ones they had seen while among the Utes, but that until the medicine men began to superintend the ceremonies nothing unusual occurred. The dances were held every few days until the middle of August. Then, with scarcely any warning, a wild and general desire took possession of a large part of the nation to welcome the expected Messiah the moment he set foot upon earth. Mr. H. G. Galagher was then Agent, and, fearing that the enthusiasm of the Sioux under his charge might terminate in an outbreak, he visited White Bird’s camp accompanied by fourteen Indian police. As he approached the village, twenty warriors sprang out of the brush and, drawing their Winchesters, called upon him to halt. They would not permit him to advance, and compelled the party to turn about and retrace its footsteps to the agency.
The news of this bold action spread like wildfire through the country, and being heralded and exaggerated by the daily press, caused many an uneasy and timid settler to prepare to remove to the nearest point upon the railroad.
The news of the failure of the agent to stop the Messiah dance was carried by couriers to the Indians at Rosebud and Standing Rock reservations, and the more susceptible persons became infatuated with the new craze. Meetings and dances were arranged at points distant from the agency posts, in order that no employee might interfere. Of course, both the Sioux and the Whites were much excited. The former were ready and willing to throw off forever the odious yoke of oppression; the latter, fearful for the safety of their homes and families.
The white people became frantic from fear, houses were barricaded and all Indians viewed with suspicion. A sensational press magnified events, and settlers accused many friendly Indians, who had joined the dance for no other purpose than worship, of hostile intentions. This accusation, coupled with the arrival of some four or five times as many troops as were necessary to subdue the small number of lodgers which later fled into the borders of the Bad Lands, had the effect of turning the more timid toward the agency, while the braver middle-aged and young men fled to the northward.
SIOUX FARMING. WHITE CLAY CREEK, PINE RIDGE, 1909
But to return to the mission of Agent Galagher last summer. It is quite natural to suppose that the Agent was not a little frightened at his reception near “White Bird’s” camp, and, as subsequent events would seem to indicate, he feared to assert his authority and compel the Sioux to discontinue their dance. He hoped that in time the craze would die out without interference on his part. But instead of ceasing, the number participating increased, and really things began to assume a very threatening aspect. Then came the change of Agents and Dr. D. F. Royer, of Alpina, South Dakota, succeeded Mr. Galagher. Royer was not the man for so trying a post, and as both the Agents were political appointees, trouble was certain to follow. And no sooner did Indians begin to dance than Royer bombarded Washington with requests for troops. He sent a letter or telegram every day.
The dancers were not slow to take advantage of Galagher’s or Royer’s non-interference, and a report gained wide circulation to the effect that their Agent was afraid to command the police to arrest the principals in the dance. The medicine men and Indians of the same stamp as the late Sitting Bull, addressed the young men somewhat after the following manner:
“Do you not see that the Whites on the reservation are afraid of you? Why do you pray to great Wakantanka to send the Saviour on earth when the remedy lies in your own hands? Be men, not children. You have a perfect right to dance upon your own reservation as much as you please, and you should exercise the rights, even if you find it necessary to use your guns. Be brave, and the good and great Wakantanka will aid your arms. Be cowards, and he will be ashamed of you.”
Now let us consider the Messiah craze as it appeared in its purity.
In nearly all religious beliefs the candidate for admission to the church or body of worshippers is compelled to pass through certain ceremonies. In our own day we maintain certain practices which have nothing whatever to do with one’s salvation, but which have been handed down both by tradition and historical record, and on this account are sacredly preserved.
There do not appear to have been any special preparations on the part of the candidates. The sweat-lodge was in frequent use, and many Indians purified themselves. The sweat-bath was common among the Sioux in 1889–1890. But during the Messiah craze its use became widespread, and the dancers thought it prepared them, or purified them, for the dance. The pipe is also smoked during the sweat. When the young men issue from their bath the perspiration is fairly streaming from every pore. If it is not cold weather they plunge into a pool in the creek nearby, but if it is chilly they wrap blankets about their bodies. None of the Whites and half-breeds who have witnessed these things ever saw a Sioux rub himself after issuing from the bath.
The largest camp of the dancers prior to the departure for the North was located upon Wounded Knee creek. Other camps of considerable extent existed upon White Clay creek, four miles from the agency headquarters, upon Porcupine and Medicine Root streams. No Water’s camp became, later, the general rendezvous.
The shamans took the dance under their charge. One of them seemed to be “high priest,” or at least controlled the affair. Three or four assistants served, and had power to stop or start the dance.
NO WATER’S CAMP OF GHOST DANCERS, 1890
A. Council Lodge. B. No Water’s Tipi
Sketch by Husté, Pine Ridge.