Ghost Dance Movement in The United States 
    

Painting of the Ghost Dance
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-6/apush-american-west/a/ghost-dance-and-wounded-knee

       The Ghost Dance was a ceremony that was practiced by all Native Americans in the United States during the years of 1870-1890. The ceremony reunited the living with the dead, creating a unity between all Native Americans. There was a considerable amount of work that was put into the ceremony. Over the course of five days hundreds of tents were placed in a large circle, with a pine tree placed in the center. (Lesser 231) The pine tree was covered in in feathers, birds and offerings that they were offering to the dead. All of the members of the tribe came to the ceremony dressed in cotton cloth, they believed that this cloth was able to protect them from the bullets of the Whites. Now the ceremony is able to begin, they chanted, danced and prayed for several hours. This stood out from other Native American dances because there was no drums or other musical instruments, it was only special songs. (Maryland State Archives) The songs included information about how Native American life would be restored and go back to how it had been in the past. After a brief resting period from dancing and singing the Native Americans would continue this cycle. They would dance and chant three times a day for five days. This dance was a fairly controversial topic in the United States at this time. The Native Americans felt threatened by the US government because of all the relocating that was taking place. The Native Americans were not being placed in the nice areas of the United States, they were taken out of the nice areas because the colonist wanted the good land, ect. 

This is a ghost dance shirt
https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/88545

     The conflict between the Native Americans and the United States government only grew from there. The US government believed that they were vertically superior to the Native Americans. Because of the superiority that was felt by the government this ceremony was then banned, no longer being allowed be preformed.Creating conflict that resulted in conflict, also know as Wounded Knee. Because of the severity of Wounded Knee Native Americans put a halt to the religious practice.  

     The Ghost Dance positively influenced the Pawnee because it revitalized traditional Pawnee dances and songs. The Pawnee added the ancient guessing hand game. (Lesser 160) This game was part of a series of games practiced during the Ghost Dance ceremony.

Lesser, Alexander
Analysis of The Ghost Dance Hand Game, 1933
This is an itinerary that was kept by the Pawnee. 

      

        This plays into the politics of death and freedom of religion because the Untied States government took away the Native Americans right to practice there cultural death rituals. This effected their ideological view of their religion. This is something that to this day is very controversial because that is taking away Native Americans fundamental right to the freedom of religion. This ceremony all stared because the government started to relocated Native Americans making them feel threatened. This is also controversial because the government was attempting to take away their culture and assimilate them. These are all things at leaded to the downfall of the Native American culture. 

          For more information check out this video listed above.

                                      Sources 
"The Penn Museum." Penn Museum. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Antrolopogy, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. 

Lesser, Alexander. The Pawnee ghost dance hand game: ghost dance revival and ethnic identity. Lincoln: U of Nebraska Press, 1996. Print.

Mohrbacher, B.C. 1996. The whole world is coming: the 1890 ghost dance movement as utopia. Utopian Studies, 7 (1), 75-85.

"The Tragedy of Wounded Knee (The Ghost Dance)." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Jan. 2011. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.

"The Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee." Khan Academy. Khan Academy, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2017.

Wenger, T. (2011). Indian dances and the politics of religious freedom, 1870-1930. Journal of the American Academy of Relgion. 79 (4), 850-878.

Status and Burial

     Death practices and other ceremonies vary depending on what rank and position the member of the tribe held. There are four distinct bands in the Pawnee tribe; they are Chaui, Kitkehahki, Pitahauerat, and Skidu. Chaui is the highest-ranking band and the leading tribe (The Pawnee Indians and their Culture). The membership of the tribe is based on matrilineal kinship ties (Pawnee: 2016). This means they are inherited through their mother's side.

Sacred red ointment is reserved for individuals of importance.(https://anthropologylover.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/face31-pawnee.jpg)

     The bodies of the deceased were buried within hours of the death. Families hire priests to prepare the dead for burial. Holy ointment is spread on the corpse and if the member was of high status, or died due to old age, it would be a special red ointment. Red ointment signifies the body was "taken care of on earth" and it also makes the body look healthy. If an individual does not have the red substance it is said they are not going to the "land of the spirits" (Echo-Hawk 1992:78-79).


     Tribes used to paint the corpse's face as well. The symbols and designs painted on the dead's face has a specific meaning given to that person (Echo-Hawk 1992: 79). With the faces being different, anthropologists can separate the individuals according to the status they held by looking at the individual's face. This can help identify where that member is on the horizontal and vertical status scale between the other member of the tribe. Anthropologists can also separate them if they had a red ointment on corpse's body or not. The belongings of the individual that died would be inherited normally by the oldest son. The women in the society were not allowed to have land and were viewed as lesser (Pawnee:2016). The horizontal difference between man and women, where men would have all the power and women would not hold any higher rank in the tribe.
     Anthropologists can also determine the ranking of the individual based on their clothing they are buried in. The dead are buried in their best dress clothing items and then are wrapped in a bison or buffalo robe before being buried (Pawnee - Religion and Expressive Culture). It is common for the dead to be visited by the tribe before being buried. In Western cultures this part of the burial process and can be closely related to a wake. The higher the individual's rank, the more public visitations that individual will reserve. The mourners will touch the corpse and believe in receiving a blessing from the dead after touching the body from head to toe (Echo-Hawk 1992: 93).

This is an example of the buffalo robe that could be worn for burial.(http://americanhistory.si.edu/buffalo/about-hides.html)

     Rank plays a key role in the preparations for Pawnee burials. The individual's rank in the tribe will determine how the funeral is arranged and why funerals may differ from one another. Final destinations of the soul were determined based on whether a person died a 'good' death or a disgraceful death. The ultimate goal is for the soul to ascend the heavens and become a star (Pawnee: 2016). 

                                                                     Works Cited 

Echo-Hawk, R. C. (1992). Pawnee Mortuary Traditions. American Indian Culture and Research Journal,16(2), 77-99.

Pawnee. (n.d.). Retrieved February, 2017, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/north-american-indigenous-peoples/pawnee

Pawnee - Religion and Expressive Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved 2017, from http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Pawnee-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html

Pawnee Indian Fact Sheet. (2016). Retrieved 2017, from http://www.bigorrin.org/pawnee_kids.htm

The Pawnee Indians and their Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved 2017, from http://www.native-net.org/tribes/pawnee-indians.html