On this date in 1890, between 150 and 300 Lakota Sioux people were killed at the massacre near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Earlier that fall, native folks began hosting ritual Ghost Dances to celebrate and bring back the native way of life. The Ghost Dance ritual spread through native communities in the Dakotas revitalizing native culture, but terrifying White officials known as Indian Agents. White officials unsuccessfully attempted to outlaw the Ghost Dance. A desperate Indian Agent at Pine Ridge wired his superiors in Washington, “Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy….We need protection and we need it now.”
The military attacked on the morning of December 29th with a force of over 500 soldiers. By the end of the brutal and unnecessary violence, hundreds of Indian lives were lost including the Lakotan Chief Big Foot.
The massacre is often considered the “last showdown” between the United States and the native people of the American frontier.
In 1973, Wounded Knee once again became the site of injustice when the American Indian Movement occupied the historical Lakota land which resulted in a 70+ day standoff with the Federal government. In the end, nearly 1200 Indian activists were arrested, and the incident began the FBI and BIA instigated “Reign of Terror.” During the three years following Wounded Knee, 64 tribal members were unsolved murder victims, 300 harassed and beaten, and 562 arrests were made, and of these arrests only 15 people were convicted of any crime. A large price to pay for a movement to live as a free people on the land of one’s ancestors.
On the anniversary of the original massacre, we can remind ourselves to learn the history of the native peoples of the land on which we live. One great place to start is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. Buy it at a local bookseller near you! You can also watch the PBS Documentary We Shall Remain which includes a program about the 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation.
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That you very much, Meredith Fenton, for this sensitive and heartfelt remembrance.
Ashe’ and Many Blessings
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i like this blog….
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[...] is the massacre of between 150-300 Lakota Sioux (mostly women, children and the elderly) at Wounded Knee, on December 29th, 1890. The massacre occurred in response to the spread of the Ghost Dance, a [...]