Ghost Dance - Native American - Power Drums - Spirit Pride

Fast paced, heart pounding beat. Ghost Dance by Apurimac III Nature Spirit Pride and beautiful art photos by J.D. Challenger, Frank Howell, and Howard Terpning.

The Ghost Dance was an attempt of a group of North American Indian tribes to further separate themselves from the white man and the religious doctrines they were forcing upon the tribal peoples. Among the Sioux and Arapaho, the Ghost Dance was one of the central rituals of a new religious movement that focused on the restoration of the past, as opposed to a salvation in a new future. The movement was active within limited tribes and mirrored other attempts by previous Indians to escape the civilization of the white man. The earlier movements included the Good Message of the Iroquois and the Dreamers of the Columbia River tribes. All of these movements had similar features including a rejection of the white mans civilization, especially alcohol, weapons and technology. In addition, the movements preached unity among tribes, even those that were once enemies and a revival of Indian customs that were threatened by the civilization of European peoples.

The despair and nostalgia associated with the Ghost Dance reflects that period from which the movement evolved. Plains tribes faced losing their freedom and being overtaken of their homes, their beliefs and their existence. The Ghost Dance was a resurrection of the dead, a bringing back of the customs and way of life that the Indians were trying to hold onto.

The prophet who began the movement of the Ghost Dance was Wovoka, a member of the Paiute Tribe. He was descended of a family of prophets and Shamans. Known as a medicine man, it was said that during an eclipse of the sun and while suffering from a high fever, he had a vision which inspired the development of the movement known as the Ghost Dance. The vision embodied the beliefs that inspired the followers of the movement including that the white man would disappear from the Earth after a natural catastrophe and that the Indian dead would return bringing with them the old way of life that would then last forever.

To bring these and the other beliefs into effect, the Indians had to practice the customs of the Ghost Dance movement and to renounce alcohol and farming and end mourning, since the resurrection would be coming soon. The most important practice to ensure the effectiveness of the movement was the dance itself.

The dance was unlike other Indian dances with fast steps and loud drumming. The Ghost Dance consisted of slow shuffling movements following the course of the sun. It would be performed for four or five days and was accompanied by singing and chanting, but no drumming or other musical instruments. In addition, both men and women participated in the dance, unlike others in which men were the main dancers, singers and musicians.

The first dance was held by Wovoka around 1889. Word spread quickly and the Ghost Dance was accepted by the Utes, Bannocks and Shoshone tribes. Eventually, the Plains tribes also adopted the Ghost Dance movement and the peaceful message of hope was spreading and uplifting many Indians. While adapting the movement, many tribes added specific customs and rituals to the Dance that reflected their tribes individuality. The Sioux added two specific elements including the use of hypnosis to bring about trances and aid in the communication with the dead, and a ghost shirt. Made of buckskin or cloth, the shirt was said to make the wearer immune to bullets, a weapon of death known initially only to the white man.

A famous Sioux warrior, Sitting Bull, adopted the Ghost Dance into his way of life. He was a respected leader, medicine man and warrior. His following of this movement alarmed the military and Indian Agencies. In 1890, just a few months after presiding at his first Ghost Dance, Sitting Bull was killed. His followers fled and joined the band of Kicking Bear, one of the first to practice with Wovoka. Donning their ghost shirts and with their beliefs firm in their hearts, the followers of the Ghost Dance were rounded up at Wounded Knee creek and killed while resisting arrest. Among those killed were women and children wearing their ghost shirts, which did not stop the bullets of the Indian Agencies or the Military.

The Ghost Dance continued to be danced in more southern tribes, but the end of the movement really came with the deaths at Wounded Knee. The hopes of the Indians also ended at that massacre. Many of Wovokas ideas and concepts were adopted by Peyote cults and can even be found in practice today. Indian tribes did not survive the push of the white man. Broken up and with broken dreams, the tribes were shuffled onto reservations and lost many of their customs and rituals. The Ghost Dance was one of those customs lost, but never forgotten. Resurrected from the past, the Ghost Dance and other tribal beliefs are brought to life everyday in the education of our nation.

Category:

Music

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[tigereyzz1993]

your "noise", is my peace.

the day ppl think outside the box and realize there is NO box in the real world, its not about 1, its all, we are one. ya'll make it so hard. hehe embrace the power in this song wow. (my apologies to all fellow native americans,deep admiration and love to you all)

peace, love n light, jkovert

TigerEyes

[MrFamiliaayala]

peace b w u.

blessings

m.ayala

comanche estraviado

[RyanHL]

I grew up listening to the music from this CD. Its one of the things that helped me be eclectic in my taste in music

[dinotrophy]

how can u forgot the killings of 65 million native american so easy , the white race still killings other races around the world, my admiration for native americans

[jkovert]

@tigereyzz1993 but it's ridiculous

[chocoholicSISTA263]

if i ever made a movie this would be one of my soundtracks. XD

[wendellbravo666]

i am one of you

[crazymonkeybutt87]

This song makes even me well up with pride and a sense of honor of those and whats around me. I'm not even Native American, I come from my grand home or Ireland. Even after so many years, we all still have so much to learn from the Native Americans that our minds cant even fathom their knowledge. But, all we as people of this beautiful earth need to do is keep all senses open and ready for new experiences. That's what my heart tells me when I listen to this song.

-Tony James McMillan

[MsAKSfan]

Love this... and the art work included in the video. Outstanding!  thanks to my dear friend, Peter, for finding it for me.... ;)

[SuperUla11]

Każdy człowiek, nawet najskromniejszy, zostawia ślad po sobie. Nie da się więc człowieka zamknąć w granicach jego narodzin i śmierci; jego życie zahacza o przeszłość i sięga w przyszłość.

- Antoni Kępiński

Beautiful video and music ...

[wolfthatlimps]

mother will renew itself........hold on ....we are in this together...anyone in time of need.I will share

[KaosKrusher]

@thesonnyboy017 yeah but I'mafraid that they will realize it (IF they finally realize it) too late :/

"Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find money cannot be eaten" but it might then be too late ...

unless the Warriors of the Rainbow comes