Epidemic and deprivation were widespread among Native American tribes in the nineteenth century. The Ghost Dance asserted that Native Americans were God's chosen people, attempting to restore Native American pride, dignity, power, and autonomy. The 1870 Ghost Dance was a combination of a curing rite (curing for diseases and to bring a "lost soul" back to its body) and an increase rite (to increase food). With enough time and performance, land, loved ones, and game would return to the people and cure them of their ills.