Wovoka essays

Wovoka essays In the late 1880's, the Native American people were a nation in trouble. These people suffered through the Trail of Tears, starvation, and illness. Throughout all this, they managed to grasp something that they could believe in. Unfortunately, this something resulted in mass murder. Since the white man first set foot on these shores, the Native American population has had to endure gross atrocities. It started with the upheaval from their land, pushed out west. This lead to what is now known as the Trail of Tears. A large group of Indians were forced to march from Fort Defiance to their new home on reservations out west. They were forced to make this march in the middle of winter and lost one-third of the people by the time they reached their new home. The Government, in order for the Indians to agree to relocate, promised that the reservations where they were to live would receive food and supplies. Unfortunately, corrupt Indian agents made their plight worse. Because the white man had systematically wiped out the buffalo, their main source of food, the Indians had to rely on the Government for their survival. The Indian agents, whose job it was to distribute the food and supplies, gave the people rotten food or no food at all. They sold the inventory and pocketed the money. Soon after, the Indian population began to starve and fall ill due to the lack of medical supplies. Finally, there was a glimmer of hope. A young Indian named Wovoka had a vision that the Native American people would emerge from their trying times to a paradise on Earth. He began to speak of God and the coming of Christ, traditionally Christian beliefs. But he went a step further and spoke of the white man disappearing or being integrated into the Indian population. This concerned various Indian agents, who saw Indians traveling from far away to hear this messiah figure speak. Their concerns grew mor...