1 gen 1890 anni - The Ghost Dance

Descrizione:

An attempt at a religious and cultural revival among Native American Nations of the Western United States, the Ghost Dance would become infamous for the moral panic and subsequent crackdown it inspired.

Spread by the Prophet Wovoka after receiving a prophetic vision, and subsequently began the movement it was said that the ceremony could help bring happiness, restore the dead to life and an end to the colonial expansion of the US government.

The Lakota people, whose rations were halved by the US government and were on the verge of starvation, turned to the Ghost Dance and soon panic would set in among American settlers and authorities. While some ridiculed the panic, notable Valentine McGillycuddy who continually advocated for improved relations between the US government and the native population, the panic did not abate.

The ageing Sitting Bull was considered wrongly to be one possible influence in the movement, and was shot dead during an attempted arrest. Days later, one of the worst massacres in American history would be committed by the US Army.

At Wounded Knee Creek in what is now South Dakota, a band of Sioux would be set upon by a US Army detachment. After a failed attempt to forcibly disarm a deaf Amerindian, a firefight began between armed Amerindians and US Army soldiers. With little cover and few weapons, the Amerindians were soon wiped out and in the chaos American canons tore apart many unarmed women and children throughout the camp, as well as likely killing their own men. This would be described by one US general as "the most abominable criminal military blunder and a horrible massacre of women and children".

Despite the fact that the vast majority of Sioux present were civilians and those who fought did so out of self-defence, it would be propogandised by the American Government as a victorious battle, with 19 medals of honour being given to cover up its true nature.

In 1990 Congress would express "Deep regret" for the massacre.

"scuffle occurred between one deaf warrior who had a rifle in his hand and two soldiers. The rifle was discharged and a battle occurred, not only the warriors but the sick Chief Spotted Elk, and a large number of women and children who tried to escape by running and scattering over the prairie were hunted down and killed."
- General Nelson A. Miles, who visited the aftermath and criticised the action. He would later advocate for reparations to be given to survivors of the massacre.

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