Familiar Pattern

The Ghost Dance (also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a religious movement which was incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems.... more

by Charles Stuart

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Price

$999

Dimensions

57.000 x 76.000 cm.

Title

Familiar Pattern

Artist

Charles Stuart

Medium

Painting - Oil On Paper

Description

The Ghost Dance (also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a religious movement which was incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. The traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, the circle dance, has been used by many Native Americans since prehistoric times. In accordance with the prophet Jack Wilson (Wovoka)'s teachings, it was first practiced for the Ghost Dance among the Nevada Paiute in 1889. The practice swept throughout much of the American West, quickly reaching areas of California and Oklahoma. As the Ghost Dance spread from its original source, Native American tribes synthesized selective aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs. This process often created change in both the society that integrated it and the ritual.

The chief figure in the movement was the prophet of peace, Jack Wilson, known as Wovoka among the Paiute. He prophesied a peaceful end to white American expansion while preaching goals of clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation by Native Americans. Practice of the Ghost Dance movement was believed to have contributed to Lakota resistance. In the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, US Army forces killed at least 153 Lakota Sioux.[1] The Sioux variation on the Ghost Dance tended towards millenarianism, an innovation that distinguished the Sioux interpretation from Jack Wilson's original teachings. The Caddo Nation still practices the Ghost Dance today.[2]

Uploaded

November 3rd, 2010