Wounded Knee Massacre from the HBO film

On this day in 1890, in the final chapter of America's long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Throughout 1890, the U.S. government worried about the increasing influence at Pine Ridge of the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which taught that Indians had been defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered the gods by abandoning their traditional customs. Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the world anew and destroy all non-believers, including non-Indians. On December 15, 1890, reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief, who they mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing the tensions at Pine Ridge. On December 29, the U.S. Army's 7th cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under the Sioux Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons. As that was happening, a fight broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired, although it's unclear from which side. A brutal massacre followed, in which it's estimated almost 150 Indians were killed (some historians put this number at twice as high), nearly half of them women and children. The cavalry lost 25 men. The conflict at Wounded Knee was originally referred to as a battle, but in reality it was a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by heavily armed troops, it's unlikely that Big Foot's band would have intentionally started a fight. Some historians speculate that the soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were deliberately taking revenge for the regiment's defeat at Little Bighorn in 1876. Whatever the motives, the massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the last major confrontation in America's deadly war against the Plains Indians. Conflict came to Wounded Knee again in February 1973 when it was the site of a 71-day occupation by the activist group AIM (American Indian Movement) and its supporters, who were protesting the U.S. government's mistreatment of Native Americans.  During the standoff, two Indians were killed, one federal marshal was seriously wounded and numerous people were arrested.

Wounded Knee Massacre

This is the climax of the movie 'Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee' from HBO. It is based on the classic book by Dee brown of the same name. I highly recommend both this movie and especially the book for anyone curious about Native American history.

The soldiers of the American military opened fire on defenseless and peaceful Native American Lakota (Sioux) men, women, and children massacring 300 of them, and forcing 150 to flee their homes. Many of those who fled later died of hypothermia in the cold.

In 1876, frustrated by the refusal of the Lakota to give up the Black Hills, the government ordered the Lakota confined to their reservation; Indians found off the reservation were to be returned by force. By 1889, the situation on the reservations was getting desperate. After reducing their land area, the U.S. failed to honor its promise to increase the amount of food and other necessities for the Lakota...

On December 28, Chief Big Foot of the Miniconjojou Sioux nation, and 350 of his followers were intercepted by James W. Forsyth and a squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment as they camped along Wounded Knee Creek. The Indians were on their way to the Pine Ridge Reservation...

At daybreak on December 29, 1890, Colonel Forsyth ordered the surrender of weapons and the immediate removal and transportation of the Indians from the "zone of military operations" to awaiting trains. Angered by the demands of the troops, Yellow Bird (tribal medicine man) began dancing and urged his people to put on their sacred shirts and defy the demands of the troops. At that moment Black Coyote, a young warrior, raised his gun in protest, shouting that he had paid money for his weapon and was not going to just give it to anyone.

Forsyth's troops surrounded Black Coyote to disarm him and a struggle ensued. During the struggle Black Coyote's firearm rang out. With the sounding of gun shots, the troops began shooting at the Indians, many of whom were unarmed...

Specific details of what triggered the fight are debated. According to historian Robert Utley, a medicine man called Yellow Bird began to perform the Ghost Dance, reiterating his assertion to the Lakota that the ghost shirts were bulletproof. As tension mounted, Black Coyote refused to give up his rifle. He was deaf and had not understood the order. Another Indian said: "Black Coyote is deaf." (He did not speak English). When the soldier refused to heed his warning, he said "Stop! He cannot hear your orders!" At that moment, two soldiers seized Black Coyote from behind, and in the struggle (it is believed but not necessarily accurate that), his rifle discharged. At the same moment, Yellow Bird threw some dust into the air, and approximately five young Lakota men with concealed weapons threw aside their blankets and pointed their rifles at Troop K of the 7th. The Lakota opened fire on the soldiers and did damage; however, a massive volley was returned back at the tribe.

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The Diversity Room :

Next up is the Magnificent Seven

The Diversity Room :

Next up is the Magnificent Seven

The Diversity Room :

Next up is the Magnificent Seven

The Diversity Room :

Next up is the Magnificent Seven

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