z Perces were wiped out and Chief Joseph was said to have died of a broken heart shortly after.(Brown, 330) The Sioux began performing a sacred Indian ritual called the Ghost Dance. This dance gave the Indians hope that the white man would go away, the near-extinct buffalo would return and Indian life would be peaceful as it once was. This dance was the idea of Wovoka, a Paiute Messiah. (Brown, 416) After many battles between the Sioux and the white men, many Sioux tribes had been forced onto an anvil-shaped block, 35,000 square miles, of Dakota land, which was declared worthless by U.S. surveyors. (Brown, 416) This dance was their only hope. In July 1881, Sitting bull was forced to bring his people to the remaining Sioux on this reservation. He could run no more; his supplies were gone and his people were dying. Sitting Bull was held prisoner at Fort Randall. (Utley and Washburn, 338) There were six different Sioux tribes on this land. Under Newton Edmunds and Samuel Hinman, another treaty was made with the Indians in which the Indians unknowingly ceded 14,000 square miles of their land back to the U.S. Government in return for cows and bulls. (Brown, 429)After this betrayal, the dancing was vigorous. By November, 1890, all other activities came to a halt. (Brown, 43...
