essay
The Cherokee Ghost Dance movement of 1811-1813
Cherokee ghost dance : essays on the Southeastern Indians, 1789-1861 • [Macon, Ga.] • Published In 1984 • Pages: 111-151
By: McLoughlin, William Gerald, Conser, Walter H., McLoughlin, Virginia Duffy.
Abstract
This essay attempts to coordinate the few documentary accounts that are available concerning the Cherokee movement known as the 'Ghost Dance' and to match them with models that A .F .C. Wallace, Peter Worsley, and Kenelm Burridge have devised to delineate such movements. The accounts presented here vary greatly both in their details and in the interpretations they place on the movement. Although the Cherokee Ghost Dance movement was clearly a traditionalist revival resulting from the grave psychosocial stress of the years 1789-1810, it can also be seen as a celebration of the Cherokee victory over the efforts to remove them from their homeland in 1808-1810. From this victory they achieved a new sense of unity and national pride. In addition the rumors of war in the West, natural catastrophes such as earthquakes and the wondrous sign of the comet of 1811, all contributed to this many-sided movement (pp. 111-112).
- HRAF PubDate
- 2000
- Region
- North America
- Sub Region
- Eastern Woodlands
- Document Type
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Historian
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- Analyst
- John Beierle ; 2006
- Field Date
- no date
- Coverage Date
- 1811-1813
- Coverage Place
- North Carolina, United States
- Notes
- by William G. McLoughlin with Walter H. Conser, Jr. and Virginia Duffy McLoughlin
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCN
- 84014880
- LCSH
- Cherokee Indians