Sioux Ghost Dance Research Paper

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Why did the massacre of the buffalo herds precipitate the end of life for the Plains tribes as they knew it? The massacre of the buffalo herds abruptly changed the lives of the Plains tribes because the buffalo was their greatest resource. Not only was it their main food source, it provided the Indians with clothing, shelter, tools, medicine, blankets, etc. The very existence of the Native Americans relied heavily on the buffalo. So much that their religions were focused on the buffalo. They even moved around with the buffalo so they can be close to their most crucial necessity. John Fire Lame Deer demonstrated the relationship the Indians had with the buffalo perfectly when he said, “The buffalo gave us everything we needed. Without it we…show more content…
This massacre was different from others because it was done by non-military peoples. The U.S. Government was not behind this attack. There was said to be only 2 men among the dead, so that meant the ones killed were women and children. That’s saying that their intentions were to kill off the population of that tribe in its entirety. Why was the Sioux Ghost Dance considered to be a form of rebellion? The Ghost Dance was the relationship between righteous behavior and pending salvation. This salvation was welcomed by a ritual dance and moral conduct. Some of the rules of this moral conduct were: “Do not hurt or do harm to anyone. Do not fight. Do what is right, always. Treat one another justly. Cleanse the body often. Remain peaceful. Be truthful. Abstain from alcohol. Do not refuse to work for the whites and do not many any trouble with them”. (u-s-history) The white man saw the Ghost Dance as a religious movement. They thought the Ghost Dance was the beginning of an uprising among the Indians. However, that wasn’t the intent of the Natives. To them, it was an effort to renew their traditional culture, and because Indian religions were illegal, they had to keep the Ghost Dance away from non-Indians.
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