The Ghost Dance started in the year 1888, when Wavoka, a Piaute Indian had a vision. This prophecy, given to him during an eclipse was the beginning of what came to be known as the Ghost Dance Movement. The doctrine Wavoka preached was a simple one: There would come a time when the whole Indian Race would be reunited upon a regenerated earth. The people were told that they must not fight or do harm to others and they must live a good life always. The buffalo would return and all people would live in peace, free of death, disease, and misery.

The Lakota, hearing of the prophet and the dance, which would bring life back as it once was, sent a delegation of four to Nevada. Their names were, Good Thunder, Cloud Horse, Yellow Knife, and Short Bull. They returned with medicine, instructions for the dance and hope for their people.

Men and Women danced side by side in a circle. They wore shirts or dresses, usually painted by their medicine men, with symbols representing their connection to Earth and Sky. No metal or jewelry was to be worn. Feathers were the only adornments and it was believed that the Ghost Dance clothing would protect them from bullets and other weapons of the white man while they danced.

On December 29, 1890, only two short years later, the movement came to an abrupt end when Big Foot's Band of Lakota - mostly women and children - were slaughtered. Left dead and dying in their camp on Wounded Knee Creek, in South Dakota. The memory lives on in the minds and hearts of the Native People. The U.S. government outlawed the dance and made it a capitol offence to perform it. Today people will not talk about or admit that the Ghost Dance is still in existence.