Sioux Ghost Dance
About Sioux Ghost Dance
Sioux dancers from Buffalo Bill's Wild West, in war paint and war costume, perform a Ghost Dance in one shot inside the Black Maria.
Cast & crew
More about Sioux Ghost Dance
William K. L. Dickson directed. William Heise photographed. The AFI Catalog dates the shooting to 24 September 1894, while Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West was in New York, and the release to October 1894. The Edison length is 40 feet. Edison reissued it in 1898 as Ghost Dance. The Edison catalog said: "One of the most peculiar customs of the Sioux Tribe is here shown, the dancers being genuine Sioux Indians, in full war paint and war costumes."
Themes
Background
Cody's Wild West was playing New York when Dickson brought Sioux performers from the show to West Orange for the Kinetoscope.
Making
Heise photographed the dancers against the Black Maria's black interior on 24 September 1894. The company was in the New York area with Cody's show.
Look
William Heise shot the dance in one setup inside the Black Maria, full figure, against the studio's dark walls.
Preservation
The 1894 Edison subject survives. It was reissued in 1898 as Ghost Dance. The original release length is 40 feet.
Notes
- Buffalo Dance was shot in the Black Maria on the same day. That film names dancers Hair Coat, Last Horse, and Parts His Hair, with drummers Pine and Strong Talker.
- The 1898 reissue title is Ghost Dance.
- AFI pairs it with Indian War Council, another 1894 Edison subject.
- Charles Musser writes that this film and Buffalo Dance, shot the same day, are the first appearance of American Indians before a motion-picture camera.
Scenes
- The dancers, in war paint and costume, perform the Ghost Dance in a single Black Maria shot.
