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Wovoka
Founder of the Ghost Dance
American Indians from different tribes traveled to learn from Wovoka. He had self-inflicted stigmata on hands and feet which made others believe that he was a new messiah for the American Indians. -
Wodziwob starts Round Dance movement
1869 in Nevada, Wodzowob, a Northern Paiute, had a vision of God and was told that if American Indians performed, what he called a round dance, white people would disappear from their land, Indians would return from the dead, and animals that they hunted would return. -
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Round Dance Movement (pre-Ghost Dance)
The movement spread through Nevada, parts of California, and Oregon but declined when results didn't happen. -
Wodziwob Dies
Shortly after creating the new religious movement Wodziwob died. -
Lakota Sioux adoted the Ghost Dance Movement
Many Lakota bands sent tribesmen to learn the Ghost Dance from Wovoka. They came back teaching that performing Ghost Dance ceremonies would bring back dead Indians, return buffalo herds, and remove the white settlers, which would restore the Indian way of life. This gave hope to the Lakotas because they were suffering from the poor conditions on the reservations. The Lakotas added white robes with tribal symbols to their ceremonies, which were believed to make them bullet-proof. -
Wovoka revived the movement
Wovoka , whose father, Tavibo, had assisted Wodziwob. Wovoka had been influenced Christianity. During a solar eclipse he had a vision of dying, speaking with God in heaven, and being told to teach the new dance and tell the message. The message was, if the American Indians coexisted peacefully, had good work ethics, and performed ceremonial dances and songs, then they would be reunited with the dead and white settlers would disappear. -
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Wovoka's Ghost Dance Movement Spread
Ghost Dance found acceptance and spread among the Plains tribes as far east as the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas -
Ghost Dancers labeled as Troublemakers
Daniel F. Royer new head of the Pine Ridge Agency, arrived at his. Many Lakota on that reservation had become passionate Ghost Dancers. Royer didn't like it and was afraid of the religion. Royer listed Ghost Dancers as "troublemakers" in his report to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. -
Sitting Bull Killed
In November the U.S. Army arrived on Lakota reservations with the goal of stopping the rise of the Ghost Dance. Many of Sitting Bull's 250 followers were Ghost Dancers, although he was not a Ghost Dancer. Sitting Bull wouldn't let the U.S. government stop his people from having there Ghost Dance ceremonies. The reservation’s agent, decided to arrest Sitting Bull for this. They were to peacefully remove Sitting Bull, but he didn't comply. Nine tribal leaders were killed including Sitting Bull. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
The massacre of approximately 200 Lakota Indians by U.S. Army troops in South Dakota. Lakotas practicing Ghost Dance were making the U.S. Goverment worried that there would be an uprising. Troops were sent in to round up the indians to force them to stop practicing Ghost Dance Movement. As punishment they were to all be disarmed. During the search for additional weapons a shot was fired and within minutes most of the Lakota indians were killed, men, women, and children. -
End of Ghost Dance Movement
As American Indians' conditions changed, the Ghost Dance became obsolete, it continued into the 20th century in different forms in a few tribes still. The Ghost Dance Movement reshaped some of the traditional belief system based on healing and psychic transformation powers of the shaman, or medicine man and aided more Christianization and adaption to the white culture.