Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee, unincorporated community in South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Wounded Knee was the site of two conflicts between the local Native American population and the United States government. In the late 1880s the Sioux began practicing a religion taught by Wovoka, a Paiute prophet who promised that performing the ritual ghost dance would result in the return of native lands, the rise of dead ancestors, the disappearance of the whites, and a future of eternal peace and prosperity. Nearby white settlers, frightened by the rituals, called for federal intervention. The U.S. Army believed Chief Sitting Bull to be the instigator of an impending rebellion, and he was arrested in December 1890. As he was being led away over the objections of his supporters, a gunfight erupted. Thirteen people, including Sitting Bull, were killed. His followers then fled, some to the camp of Chief Big Foot. The 7th Cavalry pursued the Sioux to an encampment near Wounded Knee Creek. On December 29, 1890, a shot was fired within the camp and the army began shooting. Accounts of the precise events and the death toll vary considerably but it is likely that the soldiers killed between 150 and 370 Sioux men, women, and children, the great majority of whom were unarmed bystanders. Thirty-one U.S. soldiers were killed in action, many of them from fire by their own troops.

The second incident started on February 27, 1973, when armed supporters of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and held Wounded Knee, demanding a U.S. Senate investigation of Native American problems. Federal law enforcement officers were sent to the site, and during gunfire exchanges, two Native Americans were killed and several people on both sides were injured. The siege ended 71 days later, when the Native Americans were promised that negotiations concerning their grievances would be considered. After one meeting with White House representatives and a promise of a second one, the Native Americans were informed that their treaty grievances should be referred to Congress. No further meetings took place.