If you order your research paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on anthropology. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality anthropology paper right on time.
Out staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in anthropology, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your anthropology paper at affordable prices!
The Lakota Culture with relations to the Ghost Dance
Introduction
The Plains Indians lived in the Great Plains, where they were recognized to be brave warriors, skilled hunter and horsemen. The Plains Indians were well-known for the importance of buffalo to their survival, religious ceremonies, the use of tepees, and their war customs. The buffalos were important to them because it provided for food, shelter, and warm clothing. The Plains Indians were divided into four basic cultures, Dakota, Cheyenne, Sioux, and the Comanche.
In this paper I will talk about the traditional background of the Lakota Sioux. I will also talk about what the Ghost Dance was and how it led Native Americans of the Plains to try and seek out Jack Wilson's (Wovoka's) message.I will make mention of the artifacts I observed at the American Museum of Natural History.
Order Custom anthropology paper
Body
The Lakota Sioux-
The Lakota Sioux Indians migrated from Minnesota in the 1700s to the South Dakota areas. The Lakota controlled over 80 million acres of the Great Plains. They were strong and ambitious in hunting for the bison's that lurked in their territory. They did not have a written language that they could be individualized by so they used drawings on bison hides to represent themselves. The Bison tepee shown in the museum showed how they would make their shelters very compact in order to assemble them and disassemble them whenever they needed to do so.
The United States government decided to push for many treaties with the Lakota because white settlers wanted to expand more to the west. It has been said that the government made 500 treaties with the Native Americans. 70 were never ratified, and the 0 that were ratified were then broken over time. The Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1868 established the Great Sioux Reservation, giving tribes the occupied lands from the Missouri River west to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. In order to make the Lakota's sign the treaties the government along with hunters, settlers, prospectors, and soldiers poured into the Plains and drove away as well as killed many buffalo's. Since there was no buffalo for them to hunt, they were forced to sign the treaties in order to receive food and clothes from the government annually.
The Lakota were now dependent on the government in order to survive. During the gold rush, the Lakota began losing their land slowly at the hands of U.S soldiers and miners. On June 5, 1876, at the Battle of Little Bighorn they devastated Custers force, killing Custer and his 00 troops.General Custer wanted to destroy the Lakota because he wanted to become rich through mining for the gold and the only thing stopping him was the Lakota Sioux. Surprisingly, because of Sitting Bulls knowledge of what General Custer was going to do, he warned the Lakota and prepared them for war against the troops.
The Lakota's victory was not a big success because it brought to a lot of devastation. Congress began to cut rations and take more land from the Lakota. In the 180, the Lakota chief Big Foot was surrounded by troops at Wounded Knee. He was supposed to be arrested but upon inspection of guns by the soldiers in the camps of the Lakota an incident happened which killed 15 Lakota Sioux and 6 women and children. A man who was a part of the round up done by the soldiers lifted a hidden rifle in the air and it by accident went off. Due to this, soldiers began firing at every Lakota and soon enough, many of them were dead including Big Foot and his daughter. Due to the death of their leader, they decided to surrender to the government and bring back peace and not war to the rest of the Native Americans.
The Native Americans have faced great problems since then to the present day. Chemical dependency, alcoholism, poverty, hopelessness and despair, and dysfunctional families are problems that they currently face.
Ghost Dance-
In the 1th century when the Indians were confined to reservations, they were in a state of hopelessness and anguish. They adopted a religious ceremony known as the Ghost Dance. In January 188, a Paiute Indian, Jack Wilson (Wovoka) had a revelation during a total eclipse of the sun. It was the beginning of a religious movement that would become known as the Ghost Dance. It was this dance that the Indians believed would reunite them with friends and relatives in the ghost world. As the movement spread from tribe to tribe, it soon took on proportions beyond its original intent and desperate Indians began dancing and singing the songs that would cause the world to open up and swallow all other people while the Indians and their friends would remain on this land, which would return to its beautiful and natural state. The Ghost Dance became a threat to the white settlers and soon because of it war began.
Wovoka was the son of Tavibo (leader of the Paiute Community and Weather doctor). He developed a reputation of a weather doctor like his father and led his Indian community in circle dances that symbolized living through circle of days. During the dances Wovoka would sing about life and preach about faith in universal love. The Ghost Dance became the dance that Jack practiced. The message that Jack received was that people should live clean honest lives and as a reward would be resurrected into heaven. The Ghost Dance showed unity, symbolized hope for the future, assistance in the present, and honor to dead Indians.
As a whole, The Ghost Dance was an attempt of a group of North American Indian tribes to further separate themselves from the white men. Plains tribes faced losing their freedom and being thrown out of their homes, their beliefs and their existence. The Ghost Dance was a resurrection of the dead, a bringing back of the customs and way of life that the Indians were trying to hold onto.
Artifacts
Upon visiting the museum I saw many artifacts that I liked and really became interested into why they were used? When they were used? And by who were they used?
The Arapaho who were a lot like the Lakota. The Arapaho who lived along the Platte and Arkansas rivers during the 1th century were as nomadic and buffalo dependant as the Lakota.Their similar artifacts were
• The armband- For the Lakota the armband was embroiled with red and black porcupine quills. Feathers hung at the bottom attached to knit red branches.For the Arapaho the armband was white with a knot at the bottom and it was only worn by Red-stand.
• The pipe- For the Lakota the pipe was claylike with feathers and a mark on the side of it. An Indian carved it after having a vision of it in a Ghost Dance. For the Arapaho the pipe was claylike as well and it was used only in the ceremonies of the Horn society.
• The Drum- For the Lakota the drum was a tan color with a few black marks on the side of it. It was painted red originally to symbolize the sun. The large marks represented the buffalo horn. For the Arapaho it was a yellow colored exterior with a picture of a reptile in the middle. It was used in Blackfoot ceremonies.
• The Whistle-for the Lakota it was a wooden stick with a green knot at the bottom with feather hanging up top. The sounds of the whistle represented thunder. For the Arapaho it was a wooden stick with white and gray feathers and a knot on the bottom. It belonged to the highest officer of the Crazy society.
Conclusion
Through it all I began to understand a lot about the Plains Indians in particular the Lakota Indians. The Museum at first was a burden because I felt it would be boring, but once I arrived I began to enjoy observing each artifact and became curious as to how they made each artifact. The Lakota Indians as a tribe were a very interesting and dominant force to be reckoned with. They were able to overcome many obstacles that stood before them and still were able to survive up to today.
I truly believe that what the U.S government did to the Native Americans was wrong and they should be compensated for it today. Although you can't erase the past, you can improve the future and show the Native Americans that you (government) were wrong. America is supposed to be a place where diversity is welcomed and not stopped or prevented in order to become richer or more powerful. The gold rush is what brought to the destruction and death of many Native American tribes.
Please note that this sample paper on anthropology is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on anthropology, we are here to assist you.Your persuasive essayon anthropology will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.
Order your authentic assignment and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!
