The ghost-dance religion and the Sioux outbreak of 1890

James Mooney's work examines the Ghost Dance movement among Native American tribes and the resulting Sioux outbreak at Wounded Knee in 1890.

The book provides firsthand ethnographic detail, accounts of visions, and the social context that led to the tragic confrontation.

Mooney analyzes the movement as an expression of hope and a desire for redemption amid severe oppression.

His account situates the Ghost Dance within broader themes of millenarian movements and cultural responses to colonization.

The work remains a key historical source for understanding Native American religious movements of the era.