Watch Sioux Ghost Dance

"Buffalo Bill" Cody and members of his Wild West traveled from Ambrose Park in Brooklyn to appear before Thomas Edison's camera. In this short, the Sioux Indians performed "in full war paint and war costumes," according to Edison catalogs. These films were taken for Franck Maguire and Joseph Baucus, who controlled the exhibition rights for the kinetoscope in Europe. Cody and his Wild West would leave for a European tour in early October and these films were undoubtedly seen as a way to promote his show. Unfortunately, the surviving elements of the SIOUX GHOST DANCE are quite dark and difficult to see.