The Ghost Dance movement, which originated with the Paiute prophet Wovoka in Nevada, spread rapidly among Native American tribes in the late 1880s. The prophecy promised a return of the buffalo, the disappearance of white settlers, and the resurrection of the dead through a ceremonial dance. The U.S. government, fearing an uprising, sent troops to suppress the movement, leading to the massacre at Wounded Knee in South Dakota in 1890.

The Ghost Dance prophecy has been immortalized in American poetry and literature, becoming a powerful symbol of Native American resistance and cultural loss. Poets like John G. Neihardt and later Native American writers have explored the movement's tragic end, turning it into a potent metaphor for the clash between indigenous spirituality and colonial expansion.