Ghost Dance Argumentative Essay

The Wounded Knee Massacre was a battle between the Sioux Indians and the whites. The battle was the last major massacre between the Native Americans and the United States Army. The showdown killed over 100 Native Americans, declaring the U.S. as “victorious”. One thing that I found interesting about the origination of the Ghost Dance is that it came from a man’s (Wovoka) dream during the Solar Eclipse. He dreamt that he was taken into the spirit world and saw all Native Americans being taken to the sky and the Earth swallowing the whites.

Sitting Bull was the leader of the Lakota tribe in the 19th century. He built a large followings, and his native people knew he wouldn’t surrender or compromise with anyone. Sitting Bull refused to move his people to the whites reservation,

Today December 29, 1890 tensions rose high between the Sioux chief Big Foot and a force of US troops at Wounded Knee Creek. The Sioux Tribe has been struggling for a long time since the way of life they’ve always known was destroyed. Seeking to regain their glory, the Sioux traveled to Nevada to meet the self-proclaimed Messiah Wovoka. Wovoka prophesied that the dead would soon enough join the living and the Ghost Dance was performed to catalyze the event. This dance has spread throughout the reservations of Dakota instilling fear to the white troops.

As a result, The Native American culture was devastated

Eventually the US government was able to contain the Indian tribes but wanted to transform them into Americans. They began a process called Americanization which was simply to teach the Indians the ‘white’ ways. There would be preachers and teachers going to reservations very frequently attempting to convert the Indians into Christians and to create schools for children so they learn to be civilized. With all the preachers and teachers commuting daily trying to change the ways of the Indians lives it still didn 't stop them from practicing their religious beliefs. For example, the Indian tribes would have a ritual dance called the Sun Dance, which was done very often.

Indians have always had their things taken from them by whites. However, the U.S. Government may have gone too far on this one. After being taken from their original lands and put on small reservations, some Indians have been wanting all whites to suffer. These people of the Sioux tribe were called Ghost Dancers. They believed if they did a certain dance, their gods would destroy the U.S. and similar establishments.

In her book, Andersson quotes a New York Times article on the death of Sitting Bull that ended with a comment that said Indian police made a “good Indian out of him.” This plays on the proverb that the only good Indian is a dead one. This was a harsh and unsympathetic thing to say about a deceased man but it shows the views of whites towards Native Americans, especially those Native Americans who were considered “plotters” or troublemakers. This type of insensitivity was common in most newspapers; however, some did attempt to run more pro-native stories. Those that did often looked for the reasons behind why the Ghost Dance had taken roots and often pinned blame on the federal government for pushing natives to such desperation.

Life of a teenage Indian was hard being forced to leave. We were ran out of our land by men with guns. When we left we said goodbye to the mountains. We were put on a trail in winter many of us did not survive. This trail was taking us from are homes in Georgia to Kansas.

The reservation agents had feared the Ghost dance because they saw it as a threat. So they sent Lakota Policemen to bring in sitting bull to try to stop the movement. The policemen broke into Sitting Bulls cabin and dragged him out. His followers swarmed around him ready to protect him. In the gun fight that followed one of the policemen shot and killed Sitting Bull

The Effects of the Transcontinental Railroad: Native Americans, Society, and Economy The Transcontinental Railroad had a drastic effects on many aspects of life during the 1860s, including society, the economy, and the Native Americans’ way of life. These are just a few of the ways the Transcontinental Railroad changed the world. Native Americans were forced to relocate, society had a new outlook on life, and the economy had been boosted almost incalculably.

By the time Whites realized not all Natives would be willing to assimilate they confined them to reservations (which would later be opened to white settlement) where they lost all rights to be free. They were forced to live on rations which starved many Native Americans. They were forced to give up their religion and their language. They were forced to give up their lives all because white people wanted more

Native American Indians was discriminated just like other nonwhites, the New Deal relief program by the Government did not benefit them as well. American Indians were the victim of violence their land was stolen from them many was killed the surviving Native Americans were denied equality before the law and often treated as wards of the state, and placed in reservations and force to learn Americans traditions and values. Their tribal land was lost to government sales. It was not until the 1930s laws stop America from forcing American Indians to practice their culture. The law gave tribes increasing tribal economic and political

The Ghost Dance began to spread across the Plains, but certain tribes were more likely than others to participate in this ceremony. Thornton has examined the spread of the Ghost Dance, and he concludes that size of a tribe is an important factor in whether or not the dance was adopted (93). He asserts that this is because smaller tribes felt more threatened by the incoming Europeans and the population declines that resulted from disease and life on reservations; the promise of the return of lost relatives would increase the size of the tribes and help the Native Americans continue their lives and traditions (Thornton 92-93). This claim reflects the idea that the Ghost Dance provided hope during a grim time. It was an opportunity for native people to reclaim their lives and civilization.

In life, adversity can be a positive or negative, but by definition, adversity means hardship or struggle. Everyone has faced adversity at one point or another, good or bad. Through American history and still today, everyone has faced adversity. Certain groups of people have faced more adversity than others because they have been oppressed due to race and religion, among other things. Adversity breaks one down until they can be broken no more, and although adversity has a negative connotation, overcoming adversity can make one stronger, turning it into a positive.

Are Ghost real? Most people believe that after someone dies their spirits are still around but some call it ghost. There can be many reasons why a spirit still stays in earth after that person dies there has been discoveries that spirits stay because they didn’t complete what that person wanted to do before he or she died. Although some people believe ghost don’t exist there has been physical evidence and historical documentations about this.