Question

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Who was Wavoka, and what was the Ghost Dance movement in general? What were the goals of the ceremonies and the movement as a whole?

Why do you think Wovoka and his Ghost Dance became so popular among Indian tribes in the Southwest?

Describe the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Answer 1

Wavoka was a religious leader who founded the second episode of the Ghost Dance movement. The Ghost Dance movement was a spiritual movement that came about because of multiple visions of an elder, Wodziwob. The vision were about the renewal of Earth and help for the Paiute people as promised by their ancestors. Wavoka's prophecy of an end to white expansion was associated to the ghost dance and its goals were to promote clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation by the Indians and thats why it became so popular.

The Wounded Knee Massacre was a domestic massacre of around 300 Lakota people, by the US Army. It was passed off as a battle but was really a tragic and avoidable massacre. The Wounded Knee Massacre marked the end of Indian resistance to the encroachment of white settlers.

Answer 2

Wounded Knee Massacre, (December 29, 1890), the slaughter of approximately 150–300 Lakota Indians by United States Army troops in the area of Wounded Knee Creek in southwestern South Dakota. The massacre was the climax of the U.S. Army’s late 19th-century efforts to repress the Plains Indians.