English translation of the original mantra...
I circle around [x 2] Ninaa'niahuna (Ninaä´niahu´na) [x 2]
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Live Recording of the Arapaho Ghost Dance [English Version]
(a modern adaptation by The Dances of Universal Peace)
Books about the Ghost Dance Movement: UK & Europe Canada USA
Learn to Drum & Dance this Chant at the Cambridgeshire Drumming Circle
This vibrant, energising, circle dance, often called "We Circle Around" derives from the Arapaho Sioux Ghost-Dance Uprising - A 19th century Spirited Revival Religion led by 'Wovoka'. The Ghost Dance movement arose at a time when the Native American Tribes of North America, after prolonged contact with the "White Man" immigrants, were losing touch with their traditions, their ancestors and their close connection with nature. They were falling into alcohol addiction, crime and the breakdown of family and community structure ("soul-loss").This dance derived from that uplifting tradition and affirms that we are not just human individuals living in a material world, but also part of a bigger community of spirited beings who are deeply connected to the earth and also capable of flying beyond the limitations of the material world on an exhilarating flight of free spirit. We respect and enjoy the boundaries (limits) of our earthly life experience and the co-creative experience of community life, but we are not limited by these resources. You can read more about the historical origin of this dance in "The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890" (Details: UK & Europe Canada USA)
Native American Paiute tribe medicine man Wovoka (Jack Wilson) had a vision that if the tribes would dance and sing, their spirits would rise again to Greatness. The Ghost Dance Religion spread like wildfire through the tribes including the Great Plains Indians. The United States government became afraid of the power of this movement and in 1890 their military panicked and massacred many innocent Lakota Indian people in the battle of Wounded Knee. In turn, the tribal warriors were over-excited by a claim that their ghost dance costumes were impregnable to the soldiers bullets.
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Ghost Dance Images & Song
Historic images & film accompanied by the song Ghost Dance by Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble from their recording "Music for the Native Americans"
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