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people would become so exhausted that they collapsed on the ground. The visions of the ghosts of dead ancestors usually occurred during these collapses from exhaustion.
When U.S. government officials heard about the new dance, many of them became alarmed. They feared that the excitement created by the dance would lead to an uprising. But the Indians themselves viewed the dance as a substitute for an uprising, since it was supposed to miraculously transform the world without any fighting. However, because the Indians had been attacked so many times in the past, they felt a need to protect themselves until the dance could produce its final effects. Somehow a belief arose that a specially-designed cloth garment called a "ghost shirt" had a supernatural power to stop bullets. During the last months of 1890, many Indian men began wearing these "ghost shirts" to protect themselves in case they were attacked.
The desperate situation of the Indians had been brought about by the destruction of the great buffalo herds. White people had wiped out the herds because the buffaloes were the natives' main source of food. The strategy worked so well that many Indian tribes were soon facing starvation. With no other alternative, most tribes finally agreed to live on reservations in return for promises of food and other provisions. The government wanted the Indians confined to reservations so that white people could have most of the land. But many government officials were greedy, corrupt, uncaring, or incompetent, and the promised provisions often never reached the reservations.
In December of 1890 some U.S. officials began to suspect that the Sioux Indians in the Dakota Territory were planning an uprising. When these officials learned that some of the Sioux were preparing to perform the Ghost Dance, a unit of the U.S. Cavalry was sent to monitor their activities. The Indians resented the presence of the soldiers, and fighting soon broke out, with each side later accusing the other of starting it. During the fight, the "ghost shirts" didn't stop any bullets, and many Indians were killed. After this defeat, Indians everywhere began to lose faith in the Ghost Dance, and in most areas performances soon ceased.
