Kicking Bear
Kicking Bear was an Oglala Sioux who became a prominent figure among Native American leaders after marrying into the Miniconjou band and assuming the role of chief. He played significant roles in key battles such as the Little Bighorn and Rosebud and was involved in the Black Hills War of 1876-1877. Kicking Bear is also recognized as a medicine man and a key proponent of Wovoka's Ghost Dance religion, which emerged as a spiritual movement among Native Americans during a time of great upheaval. This belief system conveyed a message of unity and hope, asserting that a messianic figure, Christ as Wovoka, would restore the earth to its original state for Native peoples, allowing them to live in harmony and abundance.
To prepare for this spiritual revival, adherents engaged in rituals that included meditation, prayer, chanting, and the distinctive Ghost Dance, which was believed to invoke supernatural protection and transformation. In anticipation of possible violence from white settlers, Kicking Bear suggested that wearing special ghost shirts would protect dancers from bullets. However, the tragic events at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890, marked a devastating end to the Ghost Dance movement and represented a significant moment in Native American history. Kicking Bear's life and actions reflect the complex dynamics of resistance, spirituality, and cultural identity during a tumultuous period.
Subject Terms
Kicking Bear
- Born: c. 1846
- Birthplace: Unknown
- Died: May 28, 1904
- Place of death: Near Manderson, South Dakota
Tribal affiliation: Oglala, Miniconjou Sioux
Significance: Kicking Bear became an apostle of Wovoka and claimed that wearing Ghost Dance shirts would protect the wearers from bullets shot by white men
Born an Oglala, Kicking Bear married into the Miniconjou band and became a chief. He fought in the battles of the Little Bighorn and Rosebud, and in the Black Hills War of 1876-1877. He was a medicine man and is best known as an apostle of Wovoka’s Ghost Dance religion. The message of this messianic religion included the idea that God made earth and all people on it; He sent Christ to teach, but white men treated him badly, so He returned to Heaven. Christ, now an Indian (Wovoka), reappeared to let all living and dead Indians inherit the earth. The earth would be filled with grasses, game, and buffalo herds; Indians would live in harmony, avoiding alcohol and the ways of whites. Preparatory rituals included meditation, prayers, chanting, and dancing the Ghost Dance, which would levitate the Indians into space while a great flood drowned all the whites.
Anticipating negative reactions by whites to the Ghost Dance, Kicking Bear claimed that wearing special ghost shirts would stop bullets. Throughout the Plains, Indians wearing ghost shirts danced, the whites attacked, and the shirts did not stop the bullets. The Ghost Dance religion essentially died on December 29, 1890, with the massacre at Wounded Knee.