It starts here…..

The year is 1540, The pueblo Indians in Present Day New Mexico were being subjected to wave after wave of Spanish soldier, missionaries and settlers.  In the winter of 1540-41, The Tiguex war was fought by Váquez de Coronado against the twelve to thirteen pueblos if the Tiwa Indians, destroying relations between the two. What was he looking for? Gold and other riches in the area. What was the Laramie treaty of 1868 was about? Gold. It seems sad that many of the wars, killing of innocent tribes were all about gold. Sad considering it was something many Indian tribes cared nothing about. All they ever wanted was their homes, food and their land. It always started out the same, Invaders looking something they want, not need and here we go, conquering forces either chase off or imprison the local tribes to do their bidding. In this case, it even went as for to hobble the men of the tribes be cutting off one foot!  Váquez de Coronado had a distinct advantage due to the fact he already had over 350 armed men, a large number of spouses, slaves, and servants, and as many as 2,000 Mexican Indian allies, mostly warriors from Aztec, Purépecha, and other tribes from central and western Mexico. The expedition also brought thousands of livestock, including horses, mules, sheep, cattle, and perhaps pigs. This gives the Spanish expedition, a nearly un-defeatble status. 

Abuses were rampant during this time as tribal women were raped, the resources they had stockpiled were ravaged by the Spaniard soldiers. (Perhaps this is where Custer learned his skills.) There are many other similarities as well. To keep the Pueblo Tribe under control, The Spanish Priests also banned “all dancing”  But as it is written in the BAE book, 14^th Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology  written by James Mooney- 1892-1893

The great revolt of the Pueblo Indians in August, 1680, was one of the first determined efforts made by the natives on the northern continent to throw off the yoke of a foreign oppressor. The Pueblo tribes along the Rio Grande and farther to the west, a gentle, peaceful race, had early welcomed the coining of the Spaniards, with their soldiers and priests, as friends who would protect them against the wild marauding tribes about them and teach them the mysteries of a greater •• medicine ' than belonged to their own kachinas. The hop.- soon faded into bitter disappointment.

“The soldiers, while rough and overbearing toward their 

brown-skin allies, were vet unable to protect them from the inroads to their enemies. The priests prohibited their dances and simple amusements, yet all their ringing of bells and chanting of hymns availed not to bring more rain on the crops or to turn aside the vengeful Apache. •• What have we gained by all this?" said the Pueblos one to another; "not peace and not happiness, for these new rulers will not protect us from our enemies, and take from us all the enjoyments we once knew. The pear was ripe. Pope, a medicine-man of the Tewa, had come back from a pilgrimage to the far north, where he claimed to have visited the magic lagoon of Shipapu, whence his people traced their origin and to which the souls of their dead returned after leaving this life. By these ancestral spirits he had been endowed with occult powers and commanded to go back and rouse the Pueblos to concerted effort for deliverance from the foreign yoke of the strangers. Wonderful beings were these spirit messengers. 

Swift as light and impalpable as thought, they passed under the earth from the magic lake to the secret subterranean chamber of the oracle and stood before him as shapes of fire, and spoke, telling him to prepare the strings of yucca knots and send them with tin- message to all the Pueblos far and 

near, so that in every village the chiefs might untie one knot from the string each day, and know when they came to the last knot that then was the time to strike. 

They even had their own version of Little Big Horn. 

“From the Pecos, across the Rio Grande to Zufii and the far-distant Hopi mesas, every Pueblo village accepted the yucca string and began secret preparation for the rising. The time chosen was the new moon of August, 1680, but, through a partial discovery of the plot, the explosion was precipitated on the 10th. So sudden and complete was the surprise that many Spaniards in the Pueblo country, priests, soldiers, and civilians, were killed, and the survivors, after holding out for a time under Governor Otermin at Santa Fe, fled to El Paso, and in October there remained not a single Spaniard in all New Mexico.” 

{Bandelier, 1 <i, lb.) 

Despite their bitter disappointment, the southern nations continued to cherish the hope of a coming redeemer, who now assumed the character of a terrible avenger of their wrongs, and the white-skin conqueror has had bloody occasion to remember that his silent peon, as he toils by blue Chapala or sits amid the ruins of his former grandeur in the dark forests of Yucatan, yet waits ever and always the coming of the day which shall break the power of the alien Spaniard and restore to their inheritance the children of Anahuac and Mayapan. In Peru the natives refused to believe that the last of the Incas had perished a wanderer in the forests of the eastern Cordilleras. For more than two centuries they cherished the tradition that he had only retired to another kingdom beyond the mountains, from which he would return in his own good time to sweep their haughty oppressors from the laud. 

In 1781 the slumbering hope found expression in a terrible insurrection under the leadership of the mestizo Condorcanqui, a descendant of the ancient royal family, who boldly proclaimed himself the long lost Tupac Amaru, child of the sun and Inca of Peru. With mad enthusiasm the Quichua highlanders hailed him as their destined deliverer and rightful sovereign, and binding around his forehead the imperial fillet of the Incas, he advanced at the head of an immense army to the walls of Cuzco, declaring his purpose to blot, out the very memory of the white man and reestablish the Indian empire in the City of the Sun. Inspired by the hope of vengeance on the conqueror, even boys became leaders of their people, and it was only alter a bloody struggle of two years' duration that the Spaniards were able to regain the mastery and consigned the captive Inca, with all his family, to an ignominious and barbarous death. Even then so great was the feeling of veneration which he had inspired in the breasts of the Indians that "notwithstanding their fear of the Spaniards, and though they were surrounded by soldiers of the victorious army, they prostrated them selves at the sight of the last of the children of the sun. as lie passed along the streets to the place of execution."

The cycle of imprisonment essentially began here. The same steps and planning to colonize-even civilize the Pueblo. Their uprising is no more surprising or unexpected that it was in 1890,  So why did they continue to try the same methods knowing the outcome, and challenges? It is said the definition of insane is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. Was the Government insane?  This is way more than Manifest destiny. 

They knew to conquer and take what they wanted meant one thing, Take control of any tribe that stood in their way. They used their Christian belief of bearing witness to God to force them to bear the burden of their greed. When that did not work, they systematically attacked, and even allowed other tribes to attack a weakened tribe, only to come in and mop up the mess they created. Arms and weapons were given to rival tribes, in order for them to gain the upper had. What tribe got the weapons depended on the mood and what they wanted to take from the losing tribe. In the case of the Sioux, It was the black Hills, A bankrupt country with bankrupt morals, set their sights on gold and riches. It is no different today. We have the Sioux and so many tribes living in a forced prison state. (We call them reservations), and when we want something, we just force it. Like the XL pipeline. And more than likely it will continue. As we continue this journey together. I will do my best to find the truth, but it is up to you to form your own opinion and ideals on what in my heart and mind can only be described as “One of he great failures in mankind” 

     It has been said that history is written by the victorious. That may be true, only if the battle is over. In the case of the Ghost Dance, I think it is just beginning. because it is not about the dance at all, but a belief. A belief that truth and honor will win out over greed, lies and deceit. It is about people trying to shun and refuse the Manifest Destiny of the Government. If it is true the "The meek shall inherit the earth", then oppressed tribes in our continent will prevail. If you're thinking of just the tribes, and cultures in our country, guess again. Canadian tribes are oppressed as well. That's may not be news to you. But what if you knew that many of the supporters of the Ghost Dance can not travel from Canada to here, nor can many of the supporters of the dance here cannot travel to Canada. Why is that? 


     Well, it is simple. After the massacre on December 29th, 1890 at wounded knee, the Ghost Dance was Outlawed. Any attempt to revitalize the dance was met with extreme prejudice and even violence. It took until 1970 when Leonard Crow Dog revived the practice as part of the Red Power movement. It was watched under the watchful eyes of the government, and may have even led to the Incident at Wounded in 1973. So the Government once again clamped down on Wounded Knee, and it quite obvious if you spend anytime there. But let's not get ahead ourselves.... Yet. The Ghost Dance of December 1890 had so many undercurrents. The Murder of Sitting Bull 2 weeks earlier, plus the sting of Little Big Horn Still fresh in many of the troops mind. The need to end this possible uprising in any manner possible. Now add in a severe winter blizzard in full swing. And the man in charge general Nelson Miles, an aggressive Indian hating soldier at the helm. His fear was evident before the massacre. His anger over the loss at Little Bighorn evident in his actions at the Ft Laramie Treaty of 1868, forcing the agreement between the United States and the Oglala, Miniconjou, and Brulé bands of Lakota people, Yanktonai Dakota and Arapaho Nation, following the failure of the first Fort Laramie treaty, signed in 1851. The treaty failed because of the discovery of gold in the Black hills, and a bankrupt nation, wanted that gold at any cost. There were several battles, and many of them were won by the local tribes, and the ones the lost, created so many casualties on the white man side, the victories were hollow. General Miles was determined to win at any cost. He proved that nine years later at Wounded Knee.

Gen. Miles

The Indians have become so bold in their frenzy that they declare that if the soldiers attempt to take away their chiefs, as has been proposed, they will cut the soldiers’ ears off and kill them. Every officer on the ground views the situation as very critical. They know that from 6,000 to 8,000 Indians are likely to swoop down upon them at any moment. ‘If this happens,’ one officer said, ‘nothing but a miracle could save us from Custer’s fate. I hope to God that reinforcements will come before the red devils make their break.

It is obvious that plans were already in place to end this movement at any cost. Unfortunately, it was at the cost of unarmed lives. They even made sure to claim a scapegoat to the fight. A medicine man no less. The left the bodies in the snow for 2-3 days, trying to figure out what or how to best dispose of the bodies. They settled on the mass grave, located to the north of the massacre, the same place they had placed the 4 Hotchkiss guns. The very same guns they used to kill. 

    Mass graves are nothing new to he United States, In fact in 2018, Sugar-Land Texas discovered a mass grave that may have as many as 15,000 bodies of slaves. The disposition of the site is still unclear, as they may be bodies under homes, and various locations around the city. USA today did a great story on it here. 

    As we travel the history of the Ghost Dance together, you will discover that history does indeed repeat itself in many ways. From the actual steps governments take to conquer and vanquish what the believe to be threats, to the media's response to the acts as well. If it doesn't worry you or scare you, It should. The Indian wars set a precedence of behavior in our country and the worries of the conquering men worried about what to do about the tribes date back to the 1700s. 

    I am by no means an expert on this subject, and learn something new all the time. And as I begin to post more blogs, I will also try and post links, and tell you what books I have read, and how you too can purchase them. I hope you will take the time to not only read the blogs, and the Facebook Page, but leave a response or reply. Your opinion matters! The series will start soon, and we will be going back to August 1680! 210 years before Wounded Knee! The first document sign of revolt, oppression. The lies, deceit, and treachery against the tribes begins.