We Shall Live Again: The 1870 and 1890 Ghost Dance Movements as Demographic Revitalization Contributor(s): Thornton, Russell (Author) |
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ISBN: 0511752733 ISBN-13: 9780511752735 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $140.25 Product Type: Open Ebook - Other Formats Published: August 2010 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Religion | Psychology Of Religion - Social Science | Sociology Of Religion - Social Science | Demography |
Dewey: 304.608 |
Series: American Sociological Association Rose Monographs |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: This study of the 1870 and 1890 Ghost Dance movements among North American Indians offers an innovative theory about why these movements arose when they did. Emphasizing the demographic situation of American Indians prior to the movements, Professor Thornton argues that the Ghost Dances were deliberate efforts to accomplish a demographic revitalization of American Indians following their virtual collapse. By joining the movements, he contends, tribes sought to assure survival by increasing their numbers through returning the dead to life. Thornton supports this thesis empirically by closely examining the historical context of the two movements and by assessing tribal participation in them, revealing particularly how population size and decline influenced participation among and within American Indian tribes. He also considers American Indian population change after the Ghost Dance periods and shows that participation in the movements actually did lead the way to a demographic recovery for certain tribes. |