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How did the Ghost Dance movement spread from the Great Basin to the Plains?

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A dancer in a bright pink shawl with fringe, wearing traditional regalia adorned with blue and black accents, performs at an outdoor cultural event. — Native American November is the traditional time of harvest, gathering, and celebration in Native communities.

The second Ghost Dance movement, which originated in the Great Basin with the Paiute prophet Wovoka, spread to the Plains through the travel of individuals from many different tribes who journeyed to learn directly from him.12

Wovoka, a spiritual leader based in Nevada, gained a widespread reputation as a messiah after reporting a vision in 1889 that promised the return of ancestors, the restoration of the buffalo, and the departure of white colonizers. As news of his prophecies and the associated ritual dance reached other regions, representatives from various tribes traveled to his location to receive his teachings.12

Upon returning to their own communities, these individuals promulgated the movement’s songs, ceremonies, and millennial message. The belief system spread rapidly through reservation communities, eventually reaching as far as the Missouri River and the Canadian border. While Wovoka’s original message emphasized peace, the movement’s tenets were often reinterpreted as they moved across space, becoming a source of hope and, in some militant contexts, a perceived promise of resistance against American hegemony.321