The Ghost Dance War: A Story of Hope, Fear, and the Road to the Massacre at Wounded Knee

by Ward McLendon

A narrative account of the Ghost Dance movement and the escalating tension that led to the massacre at Wounded Knee. Ward McLendon blends eyewitness accounts, historical records, and cultural context to reveal the human stories behind one of the most tragic chapters in American history.

A peaceful ceremony. A nation in fear. A tragedy born from misunderstanding.

In the winter of 1890, the Ghost Dance swept across the Plains. For the Lakota, it was a sacred prayer for renewal after decades of starvation, broken treaties, and the suppression of traditional life. To the United States government, it looked like the spark of an uprising.

The Ghost Dance War reveals how a spiritual movement rooted in hope was transformed into a national crisis—driven by fear, political pressure, and profound cultural ignorance.

Through vivid narrative history, the book

Wovoka’s vision in Nevada and the spread of his peaceful prophecy

The diverse ways tribes interpreted the Ghost Dance as grief, ceremony, and survival

The federal panic fueled by newspapers, agency reports, and policy failures

The killing of Sitting Bull, which turned fear into open crisis

Big Foot’s desperate flight toward Pine Ridge in the bitter winter

The encirclement of an unarmed Miniconjou band by the U.S. Army

The massacre at Wounded Knee, where misunderstanding became catastrophe

Drawing from firsthand testimonies, Indigenous oral histories, and modern scholarship, this book reframes the Ghost Dance not as a rebellion, but as a coherent religious revival emerging from profound historical trauma.

Clear, compelling, and meticulously researched, The Ghost Dance War offers a new understanding of one of America’s most tragic and misinterpreted events. It restores human complexity to the people who danced for hope—and reveals how fear can turn spiritual movements into flashpoints for violence.

Perfect for readers of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Empire of the Summer Moon, and The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, this is a definitive narrative history of the winter of 1890—and the lessons it still holds today.

246 pages, Paperback

Published November 23, 2025

Reviews

[S Dorsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book reframes the Ghost Dance as a spiritual movement of hope rather than rebellion, which completely shifts how you see what led to Wounded Knee. Drawing from Indigenous oral histories and eyewitness accounts gives depth beyond typical historical narratives. The progression from Wovoka's peaceful vision to federal panic to massacre shows how fear and cultural ignorance created catastrophe. The research is thorough and the writing makes complex historical events clear and compelling.

Some sections get dense with names and dates that can be hard to track. However, the focus on human stories rather than just political history makes the tragedy feel personal and urgent. Important read for understanding how spiritual movements get twisted into threats and how misunderstanding leads to violence that echoes through generations.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a thoroughly researched book about how the American military's fear and misunderstanding about a dance that brought hope to the Plains Indians caused the massacre at Wounded Knee in South Dakota, as well as the government's efforts to cover it up. The author tells the story in a biographical style combined with characteristics of storytelling, which makes the narrative interesting for those who pick up this book but may not be interested in history. I learned a lot more about the background and aftermath of this horrible event.

[Viktoriia Visser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d learned the basics of Wounded Knee in school, but this went way deeper and actually sticks with you as stories personal and impactful, it made it feel painfully human instead of just another tragic date in history to memorize. Reading about the Ghost Dance as something rooted in hope, it helped me to see it in a different light than before. It's written nicely, and the storytelling pulls you in like a novel, but knowing it’s all real makes it so much more than a novel. It’s a powerful, eye-opening part of history beyond the surface that needs to be taught at school this way.