The Ghost Shirt

     In the archives of the Montour Falls Library is a Ghost Shirt from the 1890s.  It was part of a  religion begun by Wovoka, a Paiute Indian.  The religion taught that if one wore a Ghost Shirt and performed the Ghost Dance while firmly believing in its power, then the ghosts of past Native Americans would return, the bullets of the whites could not kill them, the buffalo would return, the Native Americans would gain their land back, and the white people would vanish. The U.S. military feared the religion would promote uprisings among the Native Americans, and took steps to discourage Ghost Dances.  The massacre that occurred at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in 1890 was a direct result of that effort to curtail the practice.  When Chief Big Foot and his band left one reservation to travel to another, with the purpose of performing a Ghost Dance, the 7th Cavalry (Custer's old unit) intercepted them and planned to escort them back to a reservation.  The group encamped along Wounded Knee Creek.  The soldiers disarmed the Indians, and later began a search for any weapons they had missed.  During that search, a gunshot was fired.  The soldiers responded indiscriminately with lethal effect, killing many men, women, and children.  Those who fled were pursued and shot in the back was they ran.  What was called the Battle of Wounded Knee was really a massacre of defenseless people.  The massacre also killed the religion of the Ghost Dance.
     On the Ghost Shirt from the Montour Falls Library (shown below) are symbols that look like Nazi swastikas.  They are actually a Native American symbol that represents the "whirling log of life," which represents well-being and good luck.  In the 1930s and 1940s, Native Americans were discouraged from using the symbol in artistic expressions, but it is seeing a revival today.