Sioux Ghost Dance Spirit Staff

By the late 1800's, Native Americans were already dispirited, hungry and dying. their mood was ripe for a new message of hope. Wovoka, the bearer of the message, received a vision while delirously ill during an eclipse of the sun on January 1, 1889. In Wovoka's own words:----- 
"When the sun died, I went to heaven and saw God and all the people who died a long time ago. God told me to come back and tell my people to be good and love one another, and don't fight, lie or steal. He gave me the dance to give my people." 

Because it was to help raise the dead, the ritual was soon known as the GHOST DANCE. The existing world was ending. It would be destroyed by a great flood. Spirits of dead and living Indians would inhabit the new world. To prepare for this day Indians all over America were to live correctly and above all must gather daily to practice the GHOST DANCE. Word of the new prophet raced like wildfire through the Native American communities of the west. Soon tribes from Southern California, the Dakotas and Oklahoma were practicing the dance. Although Wovoka's message was that of peace, it became distorted as it spread by word of mouth to other tribes. On the great plains, the spiritual revival took a warlike turn. The Sioux interpreted Wovoka's vision to mean that the slaughtered herds of buffalo would return to the prairies and the white settlers would be swept away. Large numbers of Sioux began gathering for GHOST DANCE sessions, many of them dressed in special shirts painted with images that were believed to make them bulletproof. Fearing an uprising, Indian agents contacted federal troops. At "Wounded Knee" soldiers were attempting to disarm a group of Sioux dancers when, on that icy morning in 1890, a single shot rang out. 

In the ensuing melee, the U.S. Cavalry, Custer's old unit, slaughtered 300 Sioux, most of them women and children. The Wounded Knee massacre put an end to the GHOST DANCE in Sioux territory. Although the movement died out, Wovoka, it's prophet, remained a respected and powerful shaman until his death in 1932........ 

Sioux Ghost Dance Spirit Staff....This very powerful piece is created from immature iron wood and adorned with young buffalo caps, oil tanned leather, dyed horse hair and feathers. The overall length is approximately 56 inches. 
*** Please note: Each staff in the picture is being sold separately.