GHOST DANCE 1974

By Robert Robideau

It was June the 9 that we pulled up to Crow Dogs front gate. We were greeted by Henry Crow Dog, a very fine and humble elder who smiled, showing his teeth, when he recognized the group. He came up to the lead car and said, “Welcome nephews, go in and camp wherever you would like to. After you have finished setting up your camp come over to the house, I need help moving things to set up a outside kitchen for the people that will be here for the ceremony.” We assured him that we would return to help him as soon as we completed setting up our camp site.
There were only a few people at Crow Dogs, but a lot of dogs. One dog in particular, one big St. Bernard, that was covered with mange that smelled very bad. I found out later that the skins on the reservation treated mange with motor oil. This big dog’s name was Clumsy, he was Leonard Crow Dog’s dog, and it was reputed to have very special powers. But I never saw any evidence of the dogs powers while I had been there.
That evening the spokesperson for our group went to Henry Crow Dog and asked if he would conduct a sweat lodge ceremony. He told us that he would if we would build the fire and heat the rocks. While the fire was going we cleaned the sweat lodge and laid new cedar boughs and sage on the ground inside. About eighteen of us, men and women, crawled inside this small sweat lodge, we were cheek to cheek. Henry conducted a very humble and gentle ceremony. When we finished we went back to the Little White river, that ran through the property in the back, and jumped into the cool water enjoying the exuberating feeling of it. There were a lot of Yuwipi ceremonies, peyote meetings and sweats that began after our arrival.
Our Northwest AIM group always pulled security for Crow Dog’s Sundance except for those that were dancing. The first night on security was pretty uneventful, pretty quite. We had taken it upon ourselves to begin security soon after arriving, as we had always done in the past. Knowing that there would be large numbers of people coming we wanted to be prepared for gate security and any disruptive elements that might pass by the Sundance grounds. We assigned ourselves to four man squads. A main gate squad and a roving patrol squad that would patrol the grounds and perimeter of Crow Dog’s property. We had no radio communication equipment, all we could count on was hearing a shot in the event of trouble. So most of security carried guns of one kind or another. Rebuilding the main arbor, and making it bigger consumed many days of work on the part of Northwest AIM and others who came early to camp out and help.
Meetings were held regarding the Sundance. One issue that was raised was the use of firearms on the property and it was a controversial issue with the Crow Dog family. Henry didn't feel that firearms were the correct way in which to handle the kind of threats that were going on during Sundance. He and his son Leonard had a number of disagreements, but they had never took it into a public forum like this before. Northwest AIM put away their guns this year of Sundance.
Security was 24 hours a day because there had been some drive by shooting incidents by the goons at the beginning of the sun dance preparations during the end of July. A lot of activity by the feds and tribal government was reported. The Feds began appearing frequently around Crow Dogs, two feds were caught spying on the sun dance from the top of a hill and chased off by a roving patrol group of AIM security. These two feds came back with BIA police and demanded that the AIM members who had chased them off be turned over to them. In order to avoid problems for the Sundance a group identifying themselves as the ones who had chased the two feds off came foreword. The feds claimed they were not the ones and make further demands for the individuals but told that the one’s who had come foreword were the ones who had chased them off. We turned our backs on the police and walked away and that was the end of it.

The following morning someone came up and said that Leonard Crow Dog wanted to speak with us. Everyone waited around in a group until Crow Dog came up to us and directed us toward the main gate and than across the road. He said he was going to show us something and wanted to also talk to us about some special things. We followed him down the road crossing over Iron Shell Bridge and at that point we cut over toward the west and came to a dirt road that lead us up to a very small pasture, which lay beneath the hills that were covered with cedar trees.
I noticed right away that there was a burial ground in front of us because it had markers. He lead us further to until coming to a burial spot, than began speaking to us: "Good mourning, my relations, I am happy to see you and I thank you for coming to help us. The reason I bring you to this area here is because here is a man who is laying here in my land. I buried him here and he walked all the way to Wounded Knee where he gave up his life. His name is Clearwater. And so, I must ask you. Are you here to die? because everywhere that I go I tell myself, 'Do I want to die here? And this is where Frank Clear Water wanted to die in the Indian Nations. So he asked me to bury him here in the Indian Nations. So I ask you that seriously and sincerely are you ready to die for what you believe? For what we believe? If you are there are a lot of places here we can bury you because some people are going to die. Some are going to get hurt. Some are going to leave us. And if you choose to leave us you may do it and there will be no disgrace. It is just not your time to live for what you are preparing to die for."
No one said a thing, we just stood looking at Crow Dog and checked our own insides out. I asked myself seriously if I wanted to die in this place and I said to myself , “Ya this is a good place to die." Far better than some mortuary in the cities where they want to cut your body up and take everything out and flush it down the toilet. And than stuff you with Styrofoam and put you in a little expensive plastic box and expensive cement lined hole.
The seriousness of Crow Dogs words were disrupted by one of the men who spoke of performing a marriage ceremony and asked Crow Dog if he would do this.
About this time Mary Crow Dog, Leonard's wife, a small woman with long brown hair, fair brown skin and very quite demeanor manner about her came up to the group and went to the person who had asked about marriage. She shook his hand and than stepped over and stood by Leonard. Leonard spoke up, "This would be a movement marriage. A marriage in which there can be no divorce, because in our language there is no word for divorce. You would have to stand on the top of this man's grave, over this warriors grave and take the sacred vows of marriage."
We left Frank Clear Waters' grave and walked back to the camp where we broke up into work groups. Steve Robideau told us that he was leaving for White River to pick up Leonard Peltier. When they returned Leonard started talking to us about the police and how he had to hide out and how glad he was to get out of White River because some woman had been on his case. He asked how many people from the west coast had come who the women were. He said that Uncle Leonard, referring to Crow Dog, would be happy to see all of us together. Peltier was just one of the brothers who had been under some kind of pressure from the police and was hiding out. Like some of the rest us who had come to the Sundance he was out to enjoy life. Leonard, like most of our group, had always had a very great sense of humor and good laughter.
That day Leonard came in I made my way up to the gate and there was a four man squad from our group on duty. One of the men was my cousin, Jim Robideau, who said, "You look like you need some sleep cuz."
"Ya, I need some sleep."
"Here take my blanket." He said, and handed me the blanket that he had wrapped around his body. I took it gladly and laid down with it next to the fire and fell to sleep almost immediately.
I awoke the next mourning with the sound of different voices and knew that people on security had changed. I rolled over and got up. I stumbled over to the main kitchen, that we had put up behind Henry Crow Dog's house. I ate Oat meal, fry bread and drank coffee then strolled over to our camp. People were beginning to raise from their beds, stumbling toward the kitchen for coffee. I was still sitting with a new cup of coffee when Leonard Crow Dog came over and said, "We are going to Ghost Dance here, those of you who want to dance raise your hands." Many in our group raised their hands. Leonard Crow Dog continued, "Alright, tonight there is going to be ceremony at my mothers house. It is going to be a peyote ceremony, and it is going to be a good one. So I would like to see some of you there."
Jim Robideau, who had been standing by the fire drinking coffee with the rest of us, spoke up, "I would like to see all members of the group take a sweat for the ceremony." I was reluctant about sweating with women, but I felt that I should respect the Lakota ways. That evening I went over to the sweat lodge area. Leonard Crow Dog was there with everyone else and they were about to enter. When I saw that there were more women going in amongst the his group, I decided to stay outside and handle the rocks and water. When the ceremony concluded and everyone was out, Crow Dog told us to go to his house because he had something to give to each one us. So after everyone had finished dressing we walked over to his house. He began pulling out bitter-root and giving each one of us a peace. When he had come to the last person, he said, "Use this before you go to the peyote meeting. It will help clean your body and don't drink water...you know...that way…that way you won't have to go to the toilet." I took the bitter-root and put it into my pocket. Crow Dog turned and called for is wife, Mary to bring him other medicine. She came out with another large paper bag and inside were eagle feathers. Leonard took out a handful of them and said to Nacho, "Here, give them out." Everyone eagerly accepted a feather.
That evening we all went to Henry’s house for the Peyote meeting. As I walked through the door I saw the people sitting on the floor, a circle of Indians from many tribes. Leonard began the meeting with prayers and than peyote soup was passed around to each one of us . The prayer songs where being sung with the steady beat of the water drum and sound of the gourd rattle. The peyote soup continued to be passed from one to the next as each spoke their prayers, asking for whatever we thought grandfather and grandmother spirit of the peyote could help us with in our struggles.
There are two forms of the Native American Church that are practiced. One is called, "Cross fire," Christ is the central figure in this mixture of Indian and white Christianity. The other is "Half Moon fire" that pre-dates the first. The Crow Dogs are Half Moon peyote practitioners. Although the two ways are different both groups will cross over to meet and pray with each other. Traditional Indians will not argue about religion of any kind. And even in a half-moon fire meeting you will hear the song called "Jesus, Light of the World.”
The man that sat next to Leonard Crow Dog was Philip Eagle Bear, a Brule too. He was a large heavy set man, very dark in complexion. To me he seemed like a very humble person. He was the Cedar man. During the meeting, while fanning himself with an eagle feather, he began to speak about the old ways of the peyote. While he was speaking I noticed that some of the men in the circle were not sitting up straight and neither were some of the women. Philip Eagle Bear, continued, "When I was a young man, a road man told me that it was improper to stretch out. Men and women should be sitting up straight so that when the peyote spirit comes around he will not find you sleeping or napping. If you are, he will pass you by because he will think that he is not wanted. " The group straightened up and adjusted themselves properly.
It was early morning when the meeting broke-up and we went back to our camps to get ready for the Ghost Dance. The traditional clothing that Leonard Crow Dog had asked everyone to wear could be made from buck skin or cotton, but it had to have a thunder bird and symbols of the universe on it. One man had a tee-shirt with the thunder bird on the back and other symbols exemplifying the creation of the universe.
From our camps participants made their way back to Leonard Crow Dogs house and assembled out side. By than the sun was coming up in the eastern horizon. Henry Crow Dog stepped out of the house dressed in a painted buck skin shirt, pants and moccasins. His face was painted and he wore a buffalo head dress. Leonard Crow Dog had an eagle head tied to the back of his head and held a shield depicting two arrows and two bullets. From here, Henry Crow Dog at the head of us began to sing Ghost dance songs and the man behind began to drum. He lead them in single file to the east and crossed the river over some logs that lay across it. They made their way up the hill until they came to a small area that flattened out that was mid way from the top of the hill. Phillip Eagle Bear, was standing waiting for them by a large milk can with a ladle in his hand. As each one of them reached him, he handed out the ladle to drank the peyote tea.
They were guided into a large circle and told not to set down on the ground. Henry Crow Dog prepared a fire next to the sweat lodge. There was a small teepee that had been set up the day before. Henry than walked to the center of the circle of men and women and spoke a long time about the Ghost Dance and why it was being held. He instructed everyone what to do. Than Leonard Crow Dog stepped from the circle and walked to the center. He stood for a moment and than said, "There are going to be four men that are going to be the heads of security for our red nation. These men are: Leroy Kings, [a Dine who was known to be loose and disruptive. He had been escorted from Big Mountain behind accusations of child molestation in 1978. Jim Robideau, who had taken the holy road of peyote road man, Frank Black Horse, who had been arrested in Alberta, Canada with Leonard Peltier had never been seen again. Eddie White Water, an Oglala, who we were told to watch out for because he was a peeking-tom. Than Leonard told the dancers to take each others hand and begin dancing in a circle. The dance of the sacred hoop.
Just about everyone from the Northwest AIM was dancing with the exception of Ron Buffalo, Richard Robideau and I whom were on security on a hill above them responsible for preventing interference of the Ghost Dancers.
Dancers from the Northwest were Joe Stuntz, who was murdered by the FBI a year later during the Oglala fire fight. The others was Leonard Peltier and Nacho Wolf Soldier. The majority of the Ghost dancers were from other red nations. There were a few Lakota’s that danced.
During the Ghost Dance at Crow Dogs another ceremony was underway at Green Grass, on the Cheyenne River reservation. It was during this period that my wife Andrea and I, now considered to be members of Lakota AIM, went to Green Grass to a special meeting with Russell Means, Dennis Banks, and Vernon Bellecourt. It was a special ceremony being led by Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the keeper of the sacred calf pipe bundle, to bring unity to the red nations. The sacred calf pipe bundle was brought out but not unwrapped during a sweat that took place after having our meeting with Arvol. It had been a humbling experience for me.
Toward the evening of the first day the Ghost dancers came to a halt and all of them filed back down the same way they had come and then broke up after crossing the little white river. At camp they took off their ceremonial clothing and prepared themselves for a sweat.
Just prior to going to the sweat lodge, there was a rumor circulating amongst the Ghost Dancers that there was a camera crew at Crow Dogs and this crew had been given permission to film the dance ceremony. We were told that they would begin in the mourning. That evening the dancers confronted Leonard Crow Dog about it. He said, "Yes, because the way things are going, what is happening to Indian people now, some of the things in our ceremonies are not going to survive. We need to record them so that our future generations will know that the red man was here”. Leonard Crow Dog had explained too that our job in life was to share the great spirit with non-Indian people so that they could be educated about the Indian way of life. He had said that it is important that white people lead a happier life. He felt that the education white people received from Indian people could help them to stop their destruction of mother earth.

We could not accept this explanation . In the end many of our northwest AIM dancers dropped out, still disagreeing with the filming because some of us felt that although it was okay to share our ways with all people it was not acceptable to film and sell our religious ways.

It was it was just too much of a contradiction to our struggle to maintain respect for Native American religious practices. So Leonard was told that this idea was not liked or supported. The following morning Nacho left camp to escort the ghost dancers to the river where he joined Ron, Richard and I on security.
I noticed that not all of the people who had danced on the first day where in the circle. And I saw that there were new people in the circle. Leonard Peltier had dropped out of the dance too. The disturbance of the camera crew effected a lot of those that remained in the dance. Northwest decided that they would not support filming of any sort of ceremonies.
Soon after arriving at Crow Dogs , Jim Robideau got beat up pretty badly by Russ Means and his group. Jim had stopped at a bar in White River when he saw an AIM car outside. It was Means and some members from his group that were drinking. An argument occurred and than a fight. Jim remembers that he had gone with Mary to find Leonard Crow Dog to sober him up for the up coming ceremonies. They found him drinking with Russell Means and other members of his group. An argument ensued that led to a fight with Means and the rest jumped on Jim. When Jim returned to camp, Northwest AIM jumped in cars and a van. We drove back to the bar, but Means and his group had split. The group looked all over the reservation but never did find them. Figured that they all ran to Rapid City to finish out their drinking party.
That evening Henry Crow Dog, for some reason, was trying to take the front gate's securities' guns away from them. But they escaped him and stayed out of his sight the rest of the night. Then Leonard Crow Dog came back from some place, ran into a ditch just in front of the security gate. We knew that Leonard and his wife were drunk. Shortly after they had gotten into their house we heard a lot of screaming and yelling. Than he stepped back out of the house and started screaming and cussing at the top of his voice at all of the people in camp. Waking up the whole camp.
The next evening Leonard Crow Dog pulled us aside to tell us that there were these two Indians who had recently raped a relative of his and he wanted them dealt with. So, no choice, four cars of us went over to the individuals home which was located in the government housing . The housing project only had two roads leading in and out of it so we had two cars block off those while the rest continued into the housing on foot to one of the houses, but he was not at home. The people that were at his home were not going to help him and gave us directions to the other individuals home who had been involved in the rape too.
Leonard Peltier went into the front door and Jim Robideau went into the back door. They kicked the doors open while everyone else surrounded the house and covered it with weapons pointed. Leonard had a 12 gage shotgun when he went through the front door. The skin was still in bed when they pulled him outside and told him to lay face down on the street. Crow Dog began talking to him, asking him why he and his friend had raped his relative, but the skin lay quietly not say anything. Crow Dog told someone to get his clothing, but would not allow him to have his shoes. He was tied up on the spot and than we took him back to Crow Dogs, where we tied him to a tree and placed a 24 hour guard on him. Leonard Crow Dog kept him for two days before finally releasing him. I never heard of this man again, but it would be my good guess from the punishment he received from Crow Dog and many of us at camp that he never attempted to rape another Indian woman on the Rosebud.

Sundance 1974
People began arriving a week before the Sundance was set to begin. It was the first year that a whole group of Chicano people from Denver, Colorado came. The women really stood out, Rocky Holgin and Betty would return year after year. The women arrived in their high heals, short shorts, and halter tops. Everyone at Crow Dogs Paradise just freaked out when they saw them and there was a real racist sentiment amongst the older people that came out in their comments and conversations. I remember Grandma Crow Dog talking about, "those Mexicans, what are they doing here anyway." That attitude fell away really fast though because as soon as people really began to see that those Chicano people were Indian people like themselves, than it was cool.
Most of us were really burned out on cooking and these Chicano women volunteered to cook dinner the first evening and it was Rocky Holgin that lead them. They cooked some great chili beans and tortillas. The men enjoyed a real delicious feast because they had been eating commodities all summer. The old people thought it was outrageously good too. At the disappointment of Leonard Crow Dog, the women discarded their short shorts and high heals for dresses and other more modest attire.
People had expressed to Leonard Crow Dog that they wanted to have a pow wow during the evening hours. Though he didn't believe in that sort of thing during Sun Dance, he gave in to the pressure of the people. But he didn't feel real good about it because he felt that it was not appropriate, commenting, "All those city Indians dancing around."
A lot of other people wanted to put up stands to sell things and Leonard Crow Dog said he didn't want it, but respected the needs of people. He finally said, "It will be good for my kids to see how the city Indians did things." Henry Crow Dog on the other hand enjoyed the Pow Wow scene.
A large group of city Indians came from Los Angeles, California and they became concerned about sanitation and the food. We just couldn't feed all of the hundreds of people who came to the sun dance. This group was not used to reservation life and had no understanding that commodities were one of the main sources of their diet.
Anna Mae and her husband Nogeshik Aquash came. While Nogeeshik took the kids fishing Anna Mae cooked and helped the other women with the kitchen duties. They stayed for two days.
Glyde Bellecourt complained to others leaders that Northwest security would not follow his orders. But what did they expect from our bunch of AIM‘sters, we never did take to anyone’s orders, let alone yield to the barks of outside leaders . We had been tutored well in the urban ghettos, taught to respect no one that did not show us respect. Each one of us were a sovereignty unto ourselves.
It was early afternoon when all the sun dancers were called to assemble at the ceremonial arbor where Chief Eagle Feather, a traditional sun dance leader and Principle Chief among the Sicaju Lakota announced in a firm and deep voice, "It is time now. It is time to go and bring back the Big One. [The sacred sun dance tree.] I have been doing this every year for many years and always it is the same. But today is different. Today my son will touch the tree a free man. And not having to do all of this in secret, as I have been doing since 1954. You see, the United States government denied us our freedom of religion for many years; and among the things forbidden to us as caretakers of the land, was to Sundance. So it was that Henry Crow Dog, Fools Crow, Lame Deer, young Leonard Crow Dog and myself had to sneak around to do the Lords' work. So at this time, I would like to acknowledge all of you younger men and women, who are pledged to defend this way. I would like to thank AIM especially. So we better move on to the 'Big One' now. Take it down, bring it back and have it up before sundown. That is the Lakota way. That is the creators' law."
With this announcement they leaped into their cars, vans, pick-ups and roared out of the Paradise, going southeast, crossing Iron Shell Bridge, toward Grass Mountain. I rode in a Chevy, with Jim Robideau, that was being driven to death by Leonard Peltier, who with one black leather gloved hand on the steering wheel would twist his head just about all the way around to the back seat where I was sitting to inquire about the chastity of certain ladies from the Northwest AIM. As the car began to head for the ditch he jerked the wheel back onto the pavement and his head came back around to continue his inquiries. Now and than Leonard would look at me and accuse me of lying because I would not meet his eyes when I answered. But then again, neither would you if a manic like Leonard had your life in his hands. All you would do and think about is that place on the road where you could leap out without busting your ass. Jim just sat and said nothing, now and than, just as we both thought we were about to crash, he would break out in that cackling laughter, peculiar to madmen and just as quickly...return to his solitude. What the hell, he had already found his Holy Road. I was still a lost child.
We all survived the ordeal of Leonard’s' driving. Everyone had pulled off the main road and onto a narrow trial that lead us into a large grove of cotton woods. The tree was enormously tall and thick at the base. I could not imagine how they were going to carry it back, some long miles to the sundance arbor. Nacho said, "Just thinking about it awakened my back pains and caused me to recollect that since I had not eaten for several days maybe I was naturally exempt."
Standing around the tree, were some hundred and fifty men, women and children. A group of drummers were off to one side. I saw Nacho's face grew into a big smile as he slowly moved next to a pretty women who was dressed in buckskin, leggings, beaded handbag, shawl draped over her shoulders and genuine with spirit. Leonard and Jim both turned and stared at him as if he were some kind of snake about to pounce on a meal. Nacho seeing their glaring eyes, didn’t move, just grew a big deliberate lecherous smile.
The drummers sounded their drums, then began to sing the pipe song. The sun dancers lined themselves up behind the virgin girl who stood before the tree with a new ax in her hand; the principle chiefs and medicine men stood beside her as she stepped foreword and took the first bite of wood away from the trees' trunk. Then the rest of the dancers, in each their turn, took the ax and chopped until the old tree came to it final rest on the ground.
Taking the tree back to the Paradise on that hot, dusty summer afternoon proved to be a difficult task. Under no circumstances could it touch the ground. There was no rest for the dancers as they walked the miles, with security in the lead stopping traffic and warning on lookers not to step in front of the tree. After, what seemed forever, the Sun Dancers arrived back to the arbor, where a hole had been dug in the center of the ceremonial ground and ceremoniously prepared to receive the tree. Crow Dog had placed food and medicine inside the hole, than the tree was laid in. Crow Dog sang ancient songs as he placed tobacco and other sacred offerings. Tobacco ties, raw hide cut out images of the buffalo, life of the nation; a man with a large penis, fertility of the nation. and a turtle, long life, were tied to the branches. Then ribbons, red, yellow, white, black, blue and green were also tied to its branches. Finally the ropes of each Sun Dancer were tied and as the sun starting its final descent below the hills to the west the tree was raised up into the hole.
Nacho who had been working real hard over his eagle bone whistle, having some difficulty setting the tree gum in it, Selo Black Crow, a medicine man and member of AIM told him that he was not using the correct sap. Selo told him that in hot weather tree sap had a tendency to harden fast, so he had to work fast. He went on to tell Nacho that he would have to locate a cedar tree, then peel a small amount from the bark then inlay it just inside the hole closest to mouth side of the eagle bone. Nacho like the rest of us in AIM were city boys that had since joining AIM taken pride in becoming Sun Dancers. We felt privileged to have received an opportunity to learn Lakota religious ceremonies from the many medicine men that shared their knowledge with us; and grateful to become participants of age old practices.
Early the following day the dancers were being lead into the sun dance arbor through the eastern gate. There were four assistants helping Leonard Crow Dog, Chief Eagle Feather, Chief Frank Fools Crow and Rod Skinandore. Leonard was dressed very simple, he had on a cotton lavender skirt with ribbon colors that had been stitched on the lower hem. His crown was made from prairie sage, eagle feathers, one had been placed in each side of the crown sticking straight up. He wore wristlets and anklets of sage on both wrist and ankles. His general appearance of dress was equal to all the other dancers before him.
It was sometime toward noon when the dancers pointed up at the sky over their heads an eagle had flown in and was circling. Another eagle flew in, joining the first and than another and finally a fourth joined the other three that still flew overhead souring ever higher above the arbor in a circle. Jerry Roy, an Ojibway, drag eighteen green buffalo skulls inside the circle of dancers whose whistles mimicked the high pitched screams of the eagles overhead .
Copy right. 1979 by Robert Robideau
All rights reserved