A broad range of perspectives from natives and nonnatives makes this book the most complete account and analysis of the Lakota ghost dance ever published. A revitalization movement that swept across native communities of the West in the late 1880s, the ghost dance took firm hold among the Lakotas, perplexed and alarmed government agents, sparked the intervention of the US Army and culminated in the massacre of hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee in December 1890.

Although the Lakota ghost dance has been the subject of much previous historical study, the views of Lakota participants have not been fully explored, in part because they have been available only in the Lakota language. Moreover, emphasis has been placed on the event as a shared historical incident, rather than as a dynamic meeting ground of multiple groups with differing perspectives. In The Lakota Ghost Dance of 1890, Rani-Henrik Andersson uses, for the first time, some accounts translated from Lakota.

This book presents the Indian accounts, together with the views and observations of Indian agents, the US Army, missionaries, the mainstream press, and the Congress. This comprehensive, complex, and compelling study not only collects these diverse viewpoints but also explores and analyzes the political, cultural, and economic linkages among them.

The book is published by University of Nebraska Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

Praise for the book:

"This is a landmark book on the Lakota ghost dance and Wounded Knee." (Choice)

"Will become a primary reference text on the subject, accessible to scholars and popular readers alike." (Great Plains Quarterly)

"Highly recommended for all those wishing to learn more about this exceedingly important chapter in Native American–white relations." (Journal of American History)