millenarianism
possible political and social change, the pre-millenarians have a vision of
the world getting worst until the advent of Christ.
Grounded in Christian expectations, millenarian movements devel-
oped in indigenous religions after their contact with Western cultures.
These encounters are associated with disastrous events, such as detribal-
ization, conquest of a country and people, destruction of indigenous cul-
tures by white Europeans, collective deportations, or natural catastrophes.
Any of these situations cause extreme distress, existential precariousness,
and crisis. Thus millenarianism arises as an answer to a need for renewal,
purification, and cultural catharsis. There are a wide variety of cults
encompassed within the concept of millenarianism: nativistic move-
ments, revivalistic movements, messianic movements, prophetic cults,
cargo cults, and introversionist movements.
Nativistic movements stress the value of indigenous cultural ele-
ments and attempt to revive or perpetuate selected aspects of their cul-
ture. The Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya from 1952–1956 is a good
example of this type in which political freedom is framed in traditional
Kikkuyu moral and religious values, where the land serves a twofold
symbolic function: it represents the living society and the historical
identity of the people living on the land. Nativistic movements are
similar to revivalistic movements, which represent an attempt to rein-
state former customs and ways of life, and seek to stir religious faith
among those who are indifferent. The Ghost Dance Religion of Native
American Indians of 1870 and 1890 is an excellent example of this
type. The movement anticipated the return of a Great Spirit to earth
with the spirits of the dead ancestors, a great cataclysm would shake
the earth, and white men would vanish, although their buildings and
goods would remain for the Indians. These events produce an earthly
paradise, but only the ancestors of those who believe would return to
earth. The arrival of this event can be hastened with participation in a
ritual dance in which the circle is open to allow for the entrance of
ancestors. The 1890 Ghost Dance owes its origin to John Wilson, an
adopted Indian known as Wovoka, who preaches a message of peace. A
major innovation is the wearing of ghost shirts believed to possess
supernatural powers and to be impervious to bullets. During the process
of diffusion, Wovoka’s peaceful message gets lost, and the movement
ends in tragedy when Sitting Bull attempts to use the movement for his
own restoration to power. He and many of his followers die at Wounded
Knee Creek with many wearing the ghost shirts intended to make them
invincible.
Messianic and prophetic movements form around a central figure and
they sometimes overlap. A good example is The Church of Jesus Christ