Picture (Left) : Lakota/Sioux Ghost Dance
While viewing the images from this week’s assignment, I found myself coming back to the picture of Sitting Bull & Buffalo Bill. Everyone knows the story of Sitting Bull’s victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn. My perception of Buffalo Bill was strictly as a showman. After skimming the surface thru Wikipedia, I learned that Buffalo Bill was also an American soldier. So why in the world are these two pictured together deep in peaceful interaction? As it turns out, Sitting Bull fled to Canada after his victory over Custer. He later returned to America and surrendered to American authorities. Then at some point, he joins Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show??!!
I continued skimming on the internet (sorry, Dr. Kulbaga…I intend to do more than Wikipedia searches) and started reading about this peace movement lead by prophet Jack Wilson, formerly known as Wovoka before adopting an American name. There was mention of a ghost dance, which ultimately lead to Sitting Bull’s shooting death at the hands of reservation police.
So basically, I’ve got the battle at Little Big Horn, a prophet, a ghost dance….I’m in! If approved, I would like to turn this into my presentation assignment. At what point in the frontier movement (Turner’s definition) did the battle at Little Big Horn take place? How did his appearances at Buffalo Bill’s shows not start a riot? I assume he was vilified, giving everyone an opportunity to boo and hiss, but I’ll find out. I’m particularly fascinated by Lakota Sioux and their attempt to draw from spiritual intervention and protection from the bullets of the American soldier. Did other tribes take the same approach during our westward expansion? I’m also interested in seeing how the French and Indian war (against England) played into everything, although it might have ended before American westward expansion really got going…. But again, I’ll find out. All I know from the French and Indian war is that my wife and daughter have watched the film, Last of the Mohicans about 20 times.
While reading more about the Ghost Dance I ended up hitting a link to the Wounded Knee Museum. There are some fairly powerful and haunting images there. Take a quick look if you have the time. Here’s the link to the site: http://www.woundedkneemuseum.org/main_menu.html
Sorry for the rambling. Who knew at age 43 I would get excited about this stuff again?
I continued skimming on the internet (sorry, Dr. Kulbaga…I intend to do more than Wikipedia searches) and started reading about this peace movement lead by prophet Jack Wilson, formerly known as Wovoka before adopting an American name. There was mention of a ghost dance, which ultimately lead to Sitting Bull’s shooting death at the hands of reservation police.
So basically, I’ve got the battle at Little Big Horn, a prophet, a ghost dance….I’m in! If approved, I would like to turn this into my presentation assignment. At what point in the frontier movement (Turner’s definition) did the battle at Little Big Horn take place? How did his appearances at Buffalo Bill’s shows not start a riot? I assume he was vilified, giving everyone an opportunity to boo and hiss, but I’ll find out. I’m particularly fascinated by Lakota Sioux and their attempt to draw from spiritual intervention and protection from the bullets of the American soldier. Did other tribes take the same approach during our westward expansion? I’m also interested in seeing how the French and Indian war (against England) played into everything, although it might have ended before American westward expansion really got going…. But again, I’ll find out. All I know from the French and Indian war is that my wife and daughter have watched the film, Last of the Mohicans about 20 times.
While reading more about the Ghost Dance I ended up hitting a link to the Wounded Knee Museum. There are some fairly powerful and haunting images there. Take a quick look if you have the time. Here’s the link to the site: http://www.woundedkneemuseum.org/main_menu.html
Sorry for the rambling. Who knew at age 43 I would get excited about this stuff again?
Matt--I do think you could incorporate a lot of this into your Research Presentation. You'll have to focus at least partly on the "Memory and Myth at the Buffalo Bill Museum" essay, but you could do research into these other things as part of the background you give us, and/or you could work it into the "creative element" by acting it out (or having other students act it out).
ReplyDeleteSounds fascinating! :)