Demalallie's Interpretation Of The Ghost Dance

In the past, scholars have portrayed the Ghost Dance as a reaction to the social and political dissatisfaction of the Indian tribes. Scholars have also westernized the Ghost Dance by describing the dance with Christian undertones. Scholars also gave the Ghost Dance a militant-type tone for the Sioux. DeMallie considers the portrayal of the Ghost Dance as a problem because he believed that the “standard historical view” gives a narrow perspective of the Ghost Dance. Caused by the historical view of the Ghost Dance, DeMallie believed that many historians interpreted the significant Ghost differently. The Ghost Dance is seen as a Lakota reaction to the land loss and famine occurring in the tribe during that time. However, DeMallie argues that the Lakota dance needs to be seen as part of the tribal culture of the time. Even though the dance was “borrowed from outside sources,” the Indian tribes viewed the dance as a religious ritual.
To me, I believe that past scholars created a stereotyped view of the Ghost Dance. Scholars made the Ghost Dance into a narrative that fit the weak and fanatic portrayals of the Lakota tribe. However, DeMallie’s interpretation of the Ghost Dance allows readers to know that the Ghost Dance held a large religious significance to the Lakota
DeMallie’s interpretation also allows readers to view the Lakota’s perspective during the era of assimilation. The author’s interpretation dismisses the past scholars’ interpretations that pinned the Lakota tribe as either “uncomprehending children” or as having the same political and social agenda as white men. I believe that the Ghost Dance gave the Lakota tribe a means of self-defense from the increasing assimilation from Americans. The Ghost Dance was a way for the Lakota and other Indian tribes that practiced the Ghost Dance to retain their religion and Indian culture during the era of