American History Hit: "What Was The Ghost Dance?"

Host: Don Wildman
Guest: Gregory Smoke, Professor of History at the University of Utah
Date: December 11, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Don Wildman explores the history, meaning, and legacy of the Ghost Dance movement with Native American history expert Gregory Smoke. The conversation uncovers how the Ghost Dance emerged as a hope-filled spiritual and social response to the pressures of colonization, and how it continues to echo in Native cultures today. Rather than being the "last chapter" of Native resistance, Smoke argues, the Ghost Dance represents both an ending and a beginning—a powerful act of cultural resilience.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Historical Context: Conquest and Assimilation

• Post-war Conflicts and Federal Policies

  • The late 19th century saw the collapse of tribal societies, particularly in the West—Apache, Shoshone, Lakota, and others. (04:31)
  • U.S. policy moved from military conquest to forced assimilation, funnelling Native people onto reservations via:
    • Indian Removal Act (1830)
    • Indian Appropriations Act (1851)
    • Dawes Act/General Allotment Act (1887)
    • Boarding schools (e.g., Carlisle, 1879)
  • These were intended to make Native identity "disappear" through forced lifestyle changes, cultural erasure, and breaking up communal land. (08:12)

• Describing Policy as Genocide

  • "Arguably it is [genocide]. If we define genocide as making a group...disappear as a distinguishable group. Absolutely." —Gregory Smoke (09:30)

What Was the Ghost Dance?

• Origins and Early Movements

  • The 1890 Ghost Dance was not the first; similar prophetic and millennial movements go back to at least the 18th century (e.g., Tenskwatawa, Shawnee prophet). (13:26)
  • Both the 1870 and 1890 Ghost Dance movements began in western Nevada among Paiute people. (14:09)

• Meanings and Misunderstandings

  • The term "Ghost Dance" is non-Native; Native participants called it things like "spirit dance" or "everybody dragging," referencing the style of the ceremony. (14:13)
  • Core belief: By performing the ceremony, participants could be reunited with lost loved ones on a renewed earth—a vision of resurrection and return to a golden age. (15:27, 15:29)
  • Incorporation of Christian imagery was present, especially in the 1890 movement, which was more "redemptive" and forward-looking. (15:34)

Rituals, Adaptability, and Spread

• Ceremony Characteristics

  • Ghost Dance was based on a traditional round dance—counterclockwise, hand-holding, singing without drums. (21:41)
  • Dances could last days; participants might collapse from exhaustion and have visions, sometimes leading to new songs and rituals. (25:12)

• Ghost Shirts and Symbols

  • Ghost shirts (made bulletproof by spiritual power) became a distinctive feature, especially among the Lakota, but this element was not universal. (26:29)
  • Media sensationalized them as signs of fanatic militancy, which inflamed non-Native fears. (27:09)

• Flexibility and Pan-Indian Identity

  • Ghost Dance was adapted by at least 30 Native nations by late 1890, each blending it with their own symbols and rituals—demonstrating the resilience and adaptability of Native religions. (28:29)
  • It became a "pan-Indian" movement, crossing tribal lines and fostering a shared identity. (29:23)

Perceptions & Backlash

• Non-Native Fears and Government Response

  • Reports about the Ghost Dance generated nationwide panic, leading the U.S. government to send a third of its army to "prevent unrest" on the Plains. (31:10, 37:14)
  • The press largely mischaracterized the movement as violent or subversive, highlighting false or exaggerated stories. (33:08)
    • Example: Newspaper claim—"If the soldiers surround you, four deep...some of them will drop dead." (33:08)
  • Sitting Bull, a household name, was wrongly portrayed as central to the uprising and was later killed during a botched arrest. (32:39, 38:39)

• Misunderstood as Violent

  • Despite its pacifist message—"Do always right. Do not hurt anyone." (20:36)—the Ghost Dance was perceived as a militant threat.
  • Gregory Smoke highlights this disconnect: "The popular mind [and military] didn't understand it as pacifist." (33:08)

The Tragedy at Wounded Knee

• Events Leading Up to the Massacre
  • After Sitting Bull's killing, the leader Bigfoot led a group south toward Pine Ridge for safety. Intercepted by the 7th Cavalry, they encamped at Wounded Knee Creek. (38:07–39:55)
  • U.S. troops attempted to disarm the camp; violence broke out and the soldiers opened fire, killing between 200–300 Lakota, mainly women, children, and elderly. (40:06)
    • "The 7th Cavalry is around them on three sides and fires directly into the village." —Gregory Smoke (40:11)
  • The incident became a defining, traumatic endnote in both Native and national memory. (42:05)

Aftermath and Enduring Legacy

• Survival and Transformation

  • The Ghost Dance did not die at Wounded Knee; it continued (and continues) in various forms on reservations, such as Fort Hall, Idaho. (43:06)
  • Elements of the Ghost Dance entered other spiritual movements, including the modern Sun Dance and the "new tidings" religion among Canadian Sioux. (43:06–44:20)
  • It resurged in moments of Native activism, like the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee. (44:19)

• Resilience of Native Cultures

  • The Ghost Dance, and Native spirituality more broadly, are reinterpreted today as acts of enduring resilience and sources of communal strength—not as vanishing relics. (45:36)
  • "Any approach to Native history has to incorporate diversity... The Ghost Dance is a modern religion and forward-looking in the sense that it speaks to all Native people, to the shared American Indian identity." —Gregory Smoke (45:36)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Erasure as Policy
  • "All of this was meant to transform Native people and make them disappear as tribes and as a group in American society." —Gregory Smoke (10:43)
• On Genocide and Cultural Destruction
  • "Arguably it is [genocide]. If we define genocide as making a group...disappear as a distinguishable group. Absolutely." —Gregory Smoke (09:30)
• On the Pacifism of the Movement
  • "Grandfather says when your friends die, you must not cry. You must not hurt anybody or do harm to anyone. You must not fight. Do always right... Do not refuse to work for the whites and do not make any trouble with them until you leave them." —Wovoka’s Messiah Letter, as recounted by Gregory Smoke (20:36)
• Public Fear and Misinformation
  • "That's not the way the military understood it. That's not the way it was reported in the press." —Gregory Smoke (33:08)
• On Cultural Resilience
  • "The Ghost Dance is a modern religion and forward-looking in the sense that it speaks to all Native people, to the shared American Indian identity." —Gregory Smoke (45:36)

Important Timestamps

• Historical Context and Policies: 04:31–12:22
• Ghost Dance Origins and Meaning: 13:13–16:28
• Ceremonies, Ghost Shirts, Symbolism: 21:41–27:12
• Spread and Adaptability Across Tribes: 28:29–29:23
• Public Perception and Crisis: 31:00–33:08
• Lead Up to Wounded Knee: 38:07–40:24
• Wounded Knee Massacre Described: 40:03–41:53
• Legacy and Survival: 43:06–45:36

Final Reflection

Don Wildman and Gregory Smoke illuminate the Ghost Dance as far more than a footnote in the story of Native America—it was, and remains, a potent symbol of survival, adaptation, and hope. The episode offers a nuanced look at U.S. Indian policy, the miscommunication and fear fueling tragedy, and the tenacity of Native spiritual traditions that carry forward into the present.