I need help on my Social homework!!?

Question

1. what was the purpose of the Ghost Dance?

2. why was the Ghost Dance important?

3. why do you think the Ghost Dance attracted so many Native americans?

Answer 1

From Wiki:  Noted in historical accounts as the Ghost Dance of 1890, the Ghost Dance was a religious movement incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. The traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, the circle dance, has been used by many Native Americans since pre-historic times, but was first performed in accordance with Jack Wilson's teachings among the Nevada Paiute in 1889. The practice swept throughout much of the American West, quickly reaching areas of California and Oklahoma. As the Ghost Dance spread from its original source, Native American tribes synthesized selective aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs, often creating change in both the society that integrated it and the ritual itself.

At the core of the movement was the prophet of peace Jack Wilson, known as Wovoka among the Paiute, who prophesied a peaceful end to white American expansion while preaching messages of clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation. Perhaps the best known facet of the Ghost Dance movement is the role it reportedly played in instigating the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890, which resulted in the deaths of at least 153 Lakota Sioux.[1] The Sioux variation on the Ghost Dance tended towards millenarianism, an innovation which distinguished the Sioux interpretation from Jack Wilson's original teachings.

Answer 2

1. The "Ghost Dance" is a traditional dance of the Paiute people of Nevada.  In our language it is called Na'a Nuga or Father Dance.  Its original purpose is prayer.  Wovoka, AKA Jack Wilson, popularized the dance among other American Indian tribes with the purposes of 1)removing the settlers from our lands, 2)returning of our old ones from the other side, and 3)returning our traditional food sources including, most notably, the buffalo.

2. The Ghost Dance IS (not was) important because it brings our native people together for a common cause.

3. As a Paiute person, I think the Ghost Dance attracted people of other tribes because it was a way for tribal people to work together to pray for the extinction of the settlers as it was the settlers who ruined our traditional way of life.  It was also a way for us to grieve the loss of our loved ones by praying for their return.  Na'a Nuga is a powerful dance and people of many nations still participate in these ceremonies today.