eBook - ePub
The Ghost-Dance Religion and Wounded Knee
James Mooney
This is a test
Share book
- 576 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Ghost-Dance Religion and Wounded Knee
James Mooney
Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations
About This Book
Immediately following the massacre of Wounded Knee (December 29, 1890), the well-known anthropologist James Mooney, under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology and the Smithsonian, investigated the incident. His interest was primarily in the Indian background to the uprising. Admitting that the Indians had been generally overpowered by the Whites, what led the Indians to think they stood a chance against White arms? His answer was astonishing: the Ghost-Dance Religion.
Investigating every Indian uprising from Pontiac to the 1980s, every Indian resistance to aggression, every incident of importance, Mooney discovered a cultural pattern: a messianic religion that permeated leaders and warriors from Tecumseh and his brother The Prophet on up to the Plains tribes that revived the Ghost-Dance in the 1880s and 90s. The message was: abandon the ways of the Whites; go back to Indian ways; an Indian messiah is coming; the Indian dead are to be resurrected — indeed, some have already returned; and the Whites are to be killed by the Spirits.
Mooney made an exhaustive study of this cult, the rise of its latest version, diffusion to the Plains, and its relevance to the medicine man Sitting Bull and others. Citing many primary documents as well as anthropological data he gathered himself, Mooney gives an extremely detailed, thorough account of the cult; its songs and dances, ceremonies, and its social impact.
This work has always been considered one of the great classics of American anthropology, a book that not only offers an account of a very interesting cultural phenomenon, but also throws light on many events in Indian-White relations that are otherwise dark. Its data have never been superseded and the book remains a work of primary importance in Native American studies.
Investigating every Indian uprising from Pontiac to the 1980s, every Indian resistance to aggression, every incident of importance, Mooney discovered a cultural pattern: a messianic religion that permeated leaders and warriors from Tecumseh and his brother The Prophet on up to the Plains tribes that revived the Ghost-Dance in the 1880s and 90s. The message was: abandon the ways of the Whites; go back to Indian ways; an Indian messiah is coming; the Indian dead are to be resurrected — indeed, some have already returned; and the Whites are to be killed by the Spirits.
Mooney made an exhaustive study of this cult, the rise of its latest version, diffusion to the Plains, and its relevance to the medicine man Sitting Bull and others. Citing many primary documents as well as anthropological data he gathered himself, Mooney gives an extremely detailed, thorough account of the cult; its songs and dances, ceremonies, and its social impact.
This work has always been considered one of the great classics of American anthropology, a book that not only offers an account of a very interesting cultural phenomenon, but also throws light on many events in Indian-White relations that are otherwise dark. Its data have never been superseded and the book remains a work of primary importance in Native American studies.
Frequently asked questions
How do I cancel my subscription?
Can/how do I download books?
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
What is the difference between the pricing plans?
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlegoâs features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan youâll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
What is Perlego?
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weâve got you covered! Learn more here.
Do you support text-to-speech?
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Is The Ghost-Dance Religion and Wounded Knee an online PDF/ePUB?
Yes, you can access The Ghost-Dance Religion and Wounded Knee by James Mooney in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & North American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
THE SONGS
INTRODUCTORY
The Ghost-dance songs are of the utmost importance in connection with the study of the messiah religion, as we find embodied in them much of the doctrine itself, with more of the special tribal mythologies, together with such innumerable references to old-time customs, ceremonies, and modes of life long since obsolete as make up a regular symposium of aboriginal thought and practice. There is no limit to the number of these songs, as every trance at every dance produces a new one, the trance subject after regaining consciousness embodying his experience in the spirit world in the form of a song, which is sung at the next dance and succeeding performances until superseded by other songs originating in the same way. Thus, a single dance may easily result in twenty or thirty new songs. While songs are thus born and die, certain ones which appeal especially to the Indian heart, on account of their mythology, pathos, or peculiar sweetness, live and are perpetuated. There are also with each tribe certain songs which are a regular part of the ceremonial, as the opening song and the closing song, which are repeated at every dance. Of these the closing song is the most important and permanent. In some cases certain songs constitute a regular series, detailing the experiences of the same person in successive trance visions. First in importance, for number, richness of reference, beauty of sentiment, and rhythm of language, are the songs of the Arapaho.
THE ARAPAHO
TRIBAL SYNONYMY
ĂhyĂ€âto-Kiowa name; meaning unknown; the Kiowa call the wild plum by the same name.
Anoâs-anyotskanoâKichai name.
ĂrĂ€âp hoâpopular name; derivation uncertain; but, perhaps, as Dunbar suggests, from the Pawnee word tirapihu or larap hu, âhe buys or trades,â in allusion to the Arapaho having formerly been the trading medium between the Pawnee, Osage, and others on the north, and the Kiowa, Comanche, and others to the south west (Grinnell letter).
ĂrĂ€p kataâCrow name, from word Arapaho.
B tid âKiowa Apache name.
DetsekaâyaaâCaddo name, âdog eaters.â
HitĂ€niwoâ vâCheyenne name, âcloud men.â
InĂ»n-inaâproper tribal name, âour people,â or âpeople of our kind.â
Kaninahoic or Kanin âvishâOjibwa name; meaning unknown.
Komseâka-Kâiñahyupâformer Kiowa name; âmen of the worn-out leggings;â from komscâ, âsmoky, soiled, worn out;â kati, âleggings;â kâiñalyup, âmen.â
Maqpiâ toâSioux name, âblue cloud,â i.e., clear sky; reason unknown.
Ni dârhariâs-kĂ»rikiw âs-hĂ»skiâWichita name.
SaniâtiâkaâPawnee name, from the Comanche name.
SĂ€r t kaâComanche and Shoshoni name, âdog eaters,â in allusion to their special liking for dog flesh.
Sar tikaâWichita name, from the Comanche name.
TRIBAL SIGNS
Southern Arapaho, ârub noses;...