Ghost Dances were peaceful

Ghost DanceNoted in historical accounts as the Ghost Dance of 1890, the Ghost Dance was a religious movement incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. The traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, the circle dance, has been used by many Native Americans since pre-historic times, but was first performed in accordance with Jack Wilson's teachings among the Nevada Paiute in 1889. The practice swept throughout much of the American West, quickly reaching areas of California and Oklahoma. As the Ghost Dance spread from its original source, Native American tribes synthesized selective aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs, often creating change in both the society that integrated it and the ritual itself.

At the core of the movement was the prophet of peace Jack Wilson, known as Wovoka among the Paiute, who prophesied a peaceful end to white American expansion while preaching messages of clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation. Perhaps the best known facet of the Ghost Dance movement is the role it reportedly played in instigating the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890, which resulted in the deaths of at least 153 Lakota Sioux. The Sioux variation on the Ghost Dance tended towards millenarianism, an innovation which distinguished the Sioux interpretation from Jack Wilson's original teachings.Comment:  As far as I know, the dances themselves were always peaceful. The only thing "violent" about them was the message some people inferred from a few Lakota dancers. The white man's retribution, which culminated in Wounded Knee, was totally out of proportion to the so-called threat.

This posting is relevant because critics sometimes use the fear of Ghost Dancers to excuse the white man's genocidal acts against Indians. In general, and not surprisingly, these fears were unjustified. If there hadn't been Ghost Dances, Americans would've found another reason to round up and imprison the Indians in their way.