The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890

by James Mooney

Trade Paperback. Native American History. Illustrations throughout the book. James Mooney was sent by the Bureau of American Ethnology to investigate this politically controversial religious movement, and produced a report that still stands as a model of careful observation an intelligently sympathetic interpretation.

Genres: History, Anthropology, Religion, Nonfiction, Native American

380 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1965

About the author

James Mooney (James^Mooney) was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. He did major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as those on the Great Plains. His most notable works were his ethnographic studies of the Ghost Dance after Sitting Bull's death in 1890, a widespread 19th-century religious movement among various Native American culture groups, and the Cherokee: The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (1891), and Myths of the Cherokee (1900), all published by the US Bureau of American Ethnology. Artifacts from Mooney are in the collections of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution and the Department of Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History. Papers and photographs from Mooney are in the collections of the National Anthropological Archives, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution

Reviews

[Jessie F · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a ethnography of the Ghost Dance religion in the American West. It is one of the very earliest pieces of ethnographic writing but never received the credit it deserved, largely because of the Irish heritage and lower-class economic background of its author. The Ghost-Dance Religion remains a powerful text today, easily the most fascinating, thorough and engaging ethnography I have ever read (and I majored in anthropology!). Although the book is non-fiction, if you are interested in religion, human nature, history, culture, community, globalization or change, you will find it an enjoyable and profoundly moving read.

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Multiple times I’ve put this book down to exclaim, “wow”.

The beauty found in Mooney’s ultimately academic prose is remarkable, he’s a man superbly educated in the classical sense, knowing his history, myth, strong knowledge of all the world’s religions and civilizations - it’s this kind of man we sent out west to gather actual facts and eye-witness accounts.

He’s an extremely sympathetic and understanding friend and witness to the Native American people of the west.

[Ernest Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed documentation of and important part of American history.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkable first hand account of indigenous response to white colonization. Inspite of, or perhaps because Mooney was not an anthropologist, his ethnographic account focus on the contingencies between Sioux and white society and starkly portray's the power relations and techniques of domination to which the ghost dance responds.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember this as one of the most moving accounts I had ever read about a culture's desparate, and finally unsuccessful, attempt to cling to their identity through religion. It has always been my counter-example for people who claim government documents are "boring."

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little dated but good work.

[Sam Sidders · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Mooney single-handedly allowed my capstone to exist. Thanks dawg.