Mormon Dance

A JOURNEY ALONG THE CROW’S ROAD — THE GHOST DANCE RELIGION AND THE PROPHET WOVOKA

Section 2 Choir Practice Chapter 2

By law the highest man-made point in Salt Lake City is the peak of the Mormon Temple. Perched atop the highest spire of the temple is a statue of the winged angel Moroni, trumpet at his lips. From his perch atop the temple, Moroni can overlook the entire city and report to God on the progress of the great state of Desseret — the paradise on earth established by the fiery patriarch Brigham Young. Moroni holds his trumpet at the ready.

As a young boy growing up in Vermont, the original prophet of the Church of Latter Day Saints, Joseph Smith, was fascinated by the stories of the Mound Builders, the great nations of the Adena and Hopewell, who built Serpent Mound, Cahokia, and other magnificent vanished cities. Years later Smith’s mother would write of her child, “During our evening conversations Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined. He would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent, their dress, mode of travelling, and the animals upon which they rode, their cities, their buildings, with every particular; their mode of warfare and also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them.”