1/12/2010:
The unofficial surrender of the Dakota Sioux Ghost Dance participants to the U.S. military occurred on this date in 1891. Although the official surrender would not occur until January 16, the majority of the more than 4,000 Native Americans had moved to the Lakota Agency and "expressed their desire for peace" on January 12.
The Ghost Dance began on January 1, 1889, the day that became known among the Paiute tribe of western Nevada as "the day that the sun died." Wovoka, a great prophet among the Paiute, experienced a spirit vision on that day while ill from a violent fever, in which he was told that he would become God's prophet to Native Americans. A solar eclipse occurred just as Wovoka slipped into unconsciousness. Wovoka was told during his vision to preach a new religion, foretelling several prophecies. Chief among these was that all Native Americans, including the deceased, would be "...reunited with a regenerated earth and would live without disease, death, and sorrow." To many tribes, this meant the return of the buffalo and an end to the oppression of the white man. The new teachings centered on the performance of a traditional circle dance; this dance went by many different names, but among the Dakota tribes, it was known as the Ghost Dance.
Wovoka's message became extremely popular among many tribes, especially since there was so much suffering during these years. Tribes sent delegations of elders to hear Wovoka's teachings. The Oglala Lakota of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota sent Good Thunder, Short Bull, and Kicking Bear, who returned to relate the words of Wovoka.
The Paiute prophet had ordered the Lakota to conduct a Ghost Dance for five days, with each participant performing the exact same movements. Suffering particular hardship under severe restrictions, the Lakota emphasized the more military aspects of the Ghost Dance, despite its original intentions of peace. They believed that whoever wore the traditional clothing of the dance, called Ghost Shirts, would be immune to the bullets of the white man, and that God would punish the white man by exterminating them from the earth.
Unfortunately, the Ghost Dance was perceived as a threat to U.S. Army soldiers stationed in the Dakotas. In December of 1890, several skirmishes resulted from this misunderstanding, including the most famous, the [podcast]/media/dakotadatebook/2010/jan/12.mp3[/podcast]. Although it began as a peaceful reaction to their unfortunate circumstances, the violence that erupted from the Ghost Dance only led to further sanctioning of most Native American tribes.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_Knee_Massacre
http://themustardseed.wordpress.com/2006/11/17/the-lakota-ghost-dance-ritualized-rebellion-against-colonial-rule/
Mooney, James. The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890, Vol. 14. 1896: Bureau of American Ethnology.