The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890 (Hardcover)

by James Mooney (Author), Raymond J. DeMallie (Introduction)
Key Phrases: unmeaning exclamation, awl game, small tribe speaking, Sitting Bull, Pine Ridge, Big Foot (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Responding to the rapid spread of the Ghost Dance among tribes of the western United States in the early 1890s, James Mooney set out to describe and understand the phenomenon. He visited Wovoka, the Ghost Dance prophet, at his home in Nevada and traced the progress of the Ghost Dance from place to place, describing the ritual and recording the distinctive song lyrics of seven separate tribes. His classic work (first published in 1896 and here reprinted in its entirety for the first time) includes succinct cultural and historical introductions to each of those tribal groups and depicts the Ghost Dance among the Sioux, the fears it raised of an Indian outbreak, and the military occupation of the Sioux reservations culminating in the tragedy at Wounded Knee. Seeking to demonstrate that the Ghost Dance was a legitimate religious movement, Mooney prefaced his study with a historical survey of comparable millenarian movements among other American Indian groups.

In addition to his work on the Ghost Dance, James Mooney is best remembered for his extraordinarily detailed studies of the Cherokee Indians of the Southeast and the Kiowa and other tribes of the southern plains, and for his advocacy of American Indian religious freedom.

About the Author

Raymond J. DeMallie, director of the American Indian Studies Research Institute and a professor of anthropology at Indiana University, has edited James R. Walker's Lakota Society (1982) andThe Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt (1984), both published by the University of Nebraska Press.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 531 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (November 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803231555
• ISBN-13: 978-0803231559
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,173,956 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Native American History Book , September 11, 2005

By	Mr. R. W. Pratt (Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890 (Hardcover)

This is one of the best, if not THE best, book about what led to the Great Sioux uprising that ultimately caused the destruction of the Great Sioux Nation, the U.S. government banishment to current abysmal reservations and their descent into depression and humiliation, widespread alcoholism and drug addiction and ultimately near genocide. Well documented, well written and comprehensive details of Wavoka's vision and subsequent dissemination of the Ghost Dance, adopted by many Native American tribes, which caused great fear in official Washington as well as the general western white population.

4 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting, though not clearly objective, August 18, 2000

By	J. Hale "johnny negotiable" (Juneau, AK USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890 (Paperback)

Mooney's study is often fascinating, although one has to wonder how objective and disinterested someone can be who refers to his subject as "this pathetic cult."