Don Wildman

And that speaks to the cultural mixing that's happening at this point, enforced or not.

It is a reality for different reasons.

So we're talking about a redemptive ritual.

Is ritual the right word for it?

The redemption they're looking for is a return to, I suppose, the pre-contact age, right?

That's the, to go back to that time.

And they will be assisted in this through the ancestors coming back and making themselves present in life.

And it's a pacifist message as well.

It's not about war.

It's not making war, right?

I want to be clear on what distinguishes this from traditional dances, which of course we've all seen and have some understanding of.

This is a unique ceremony.

In what regards?

Is it what they wear or how they dance or what's the difference?

In my notes, I have ghost shirts, which are worn.

I'm sure they weren't called that, but the actual performance looks different, right?

Smithsonian Institution, so on.

Right.

And through this ritual, which, as you say, could last for days, and involve, in one case in Nevada, what became Nevada, a thousand Shoshones dancing all night.

I mean, these are massive gatherings in some cases.