The Wasp — 1891 — page 89: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon mocks the Ghost Dance movement, a Native American religious practice that spread in the 1890s. The title suggests the dancers have left their reservation, likely implying they've brought their practices to white society. The sequence depicts men (apparently white) experiencing the Ghost Dance ritual in stages: "The Ghost Dance" (top), "The Vision" (middle), and "Recovery" and "On the Way Home" (bottom). The dialogue references "Binsky" and "Lesh," suggesting ethnic stereotypes. The satire ridicules both the Ghost Dance itself and white men who participate in or are affected by it, treating the religious practice as laughable delusion. The cartoon reflects late-19th-century American attitudes dismissing Native American spirituality as superstition worthy of mockery.