The Souix Nation Essay Research Paper On — страница 3

practiced by the Sioux that was supposed to bring about change and hope that were not dependent upon the promises of the white man. It was very popular at the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations that had very harsh winters which caused many of the Sioux to starve. In March of 1890, the messiah came to the Sioux, his name was Wovoka and he said that the ghosts would return in the spring of 1891 and bring herds of buffalo and game the white man had destroyed. He taught them the religion and many Sioux became passionate about what the messiah said. They started the ghost dances on the reservations much to the surprise of the government agents and they quickly spread faster than the agents could handle. The whites soon began to cut the rations of food on the reservations, so Sioux

were torn between the whites who had no intention of helping them or joining the craze. It was on a Sioux reservation that the first ghost shirts were worn. These were thought to protect the wearer from the white man?s bullets. By August of 1890 the ghost dancers on the Pine Ridge reservation were no longer just dancing but armed as well. Sitting Bull claimed himself leader of the ghost dancers on Standing Rock Reservation and once again unwilling to talk to the government. On December 15, 1890 Sitting Bull was killed after a dispute broke out when he was to be arrested due to his influence in the Ghost Dance movement. With his death, there was only one ghost dance band remaining, Big Foot?s. It was on its way to the Pine Ridge agency. It was met by troops from Major Whitside at

Wounded Knee and surrendered quietly. Colonel Forsyth was dispatched and took over as the senior officer by nightfall. On the morning of December 29,1890 the Sioux were ordered to form a line outside their tents. There was then confusion a Sioux shot went off and the surrounded Sioux were massacred. This took place less then eighteen miles from the Pine Ridge Agency, where Big Foot and his ghost dancers were headed to surrender. Soon after this there were some attempted retaliation from the Sioux that were unsuccessful. On January 15, 1891 the entire Sioux nation surrendered and the Ghost Dance uprising was finished. With this we see the real end of the Sioux resistance, but not after tragedy, success and understanding about how to deal with all Native Americans, something that

the United States government has failed to do time and time again. The government needs to look back on past failures such as the Sioux in order to fix similar problems that occur to this day. Bibliography Belden, George. The White Chief. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1974. Hyde, George. A Sioux Chronicle. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956. Macgregor, Gordon. Warriors Without Weapons. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1946. Manizone, Joseph. I am Looking to the North for My Life? Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1991. Standing Bear, Luther. My People the Sioux. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1928. U.S. House of Represetatives. Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 Utlety, Robert. The Last Days of the Sioux Nation. New Haven: Yale University Press 1963.