The Ghost Shirt

The Ghost Shirt is a shirt that is believed to have been worn by a Sioux warrior killed in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. The shirt is plain cotton, has raven, owl, and eagle feathers hanging from the neck, and is pierced in several places with bullet holes. There are slight brown stains of blood, but it cannot be confirmed that the shirt originated from the massacre. Ghost Dance shirts are said to be objects of power to the wearer, and sacred to American Indians. The Lakota Sioux were the only tribe to believe that the ghost shirt clothing would protect them from the bullets of the white man.[1]

This article is about one particular shirt. For more general use of the term, see Ghost shirt.

In 1891 the shirt was brought to Glasgow with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Traveling Show at Dennistoun. A year later it was given to Kelvingrove Museum by George C. Crager, a member of the show.[2][3] The shirt was displayed at the museum from 1892 until 1999.

A four-year campaign led by Marcella Le Beau, secretary of The Wounded Knee Association and great-granddaughter of one of the survivors of Wounded Knee, sought the shirt's return to the Lakota people. In November 1998 Glasgow City Council voted to return it after the city residents supported the move. In a gesture of good will, the Ghost Dance Shirt was replaced by another made in 1998 by Marcella Le Beau herself. She said, "This will bring about a sense of closure to a sad and horrible event. Now healing can begin." The Lakota leaders said that the shirt will be displayed at one of the Reservations once a new museum is built.[4][2][5][6][7][8] After repatriation ceremonies, the shirt was stored at the Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society.[9] A celebration was held at Eagle Butte on August 1, 2009 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the return of this Ghost Dance shirt.[10] In 2018, Marcella Le Beau expressed her desire for the shirt to be moved to the Cultural Center of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe at Eagle Butte.[11]

See also

References
  1. Everything 2
  2. "Sioux set to reclaim ghost shirt". BBC News. 30 November 1998. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  3. "A History of the WorldObject : Ghost Dance Shirt". BBC. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  4. "Memorandum submitted by Glasgow City Council". London, England: Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport, House of Commons. 16 June 2000 [Submitted April 2000]. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  5. "Ghost shirt dances back". BBC News. 2 August 1999. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  6. "Sioux to be given 'ghost shirt'". The Independent. 20 November 1998. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  7. "Ghost Shirt". South Dakota Magazine. September 1999. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012 – via Fr Stan's Notes.
  8. Seenan, Gerard (18 November 1998). "Sioux want warrior shirt from museum". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012.
  9. Maddra, Sam. "Glasgow's Ghost Dance Shirt". Andrew Hook Centre for American Studies. University of Glasgow. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.
  10. Kent, Jim (6 August 2009). "Anniversary of return of Ghost Dance Shirt". South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  11. Kent, Jim (6 December 2018). "Anniversary of Return of Ghost Dance Shirt". Lakota Times. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
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