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Rh one will be young again. Do not refuse to work for the whites and do not make any trouble with them, until you leave them. When the earth shakes at the coming of the new world, do not be afraid; it will not hurt you. I want you to dance every six weeks. Make a feast at the dance and have food that every one may eat, then bathe in the water. That is all. You will receive good words from me sometime. Do not tell lies."

Short Bull announced that he had been made the special representative of the Messiah among the Dakotas; that the Messiah himself would appear among them in two seasons; that is, about the autumn of 1891. He at once began to instruct the Indians in the dance, and was fertile in inventing new ceremonies. One of these was the use of the sweat house, in which the Indians were treated for purification. The excitement rapidly increased among the Sioux, and in a short time the majority of them gave up almost all their time to the dance and other religious ceremonies. It was several months, however, before the matter seriously attracted the attention of the white authorities. While the dancing was chiefly confined to Pine Ridge, there was some dancing at Rosebud and in Big Foot's and Hump's camps on the Cheyenne River, and in Sitting Bull's camp on Grand River.

During the autumn of 1890 the dancing began to attract the attention of the agents and other white authorities, and mistaken stories of its meaning were interpreted to them. The agents thought it wise to break up the dancing, and to do this placed some of the leaders, including Short Bull, under arrest. These leaders were released in a short time,