Ghost Dance Anthropology

In her book, Andersson quotes a New York Times article on the death of Sitting Bull that ended with a comment that said Indian police made a “good Indian out of him.” This plays on the proverb that the only good Indian is a dead one. This was a harsh and unsympathetic thing to say about a deceased man but it shows the views of whites towards Native Americans, especially those Native Americans who were considered “plotters” or troublemakers. This type of insensitivity was common in most newspapers; however, some did attempt to run more pro-native stories. Those that did often looked for the reasons behind why the Ghost Dance had taken roots and often pinned blame on the federal government for pushing natives to such desperation. Though these pro-Indian articles were few and far between leading up to the events of Wounded Knee they

Rarely were the two groups ever on what could be considered good terms. However, after Wounded Knee and the end of the Indian Wars meaningful steps toward a lasting peace began to be made on both sides. These steps were often inspired by the various sources of media available at the time. These media outlets were the precedents for how whites would begin to feel about natives. Though often the press could be criticized for publishing rumors over facts it was the only option for whites in the east to acquire knowledge of the happenings of Indian territory. The stories, whether fact or rumor, shaped the way in which whites thought about Native Americans at the time. When the stories were unsympathetic and focused on natives as savages then the white public likely felt the same. However, after the atrocities of Wounded Knee, the media showed natives in a different way that inspired the public to gain sympathy for the suffering natives. Wounded Knee provided an “almost universal example of the tragedies faced by Natives at the hands of the white