Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) The Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) was a deadly confrontation between elements of the United States Army and Lakota Sioux individuals on the Pine Ridge in South Dakota on December 29, 1890. It followed mounting tensions around the Ghost Dance movement, the detention of Sitting Bull, and the transfer of Lakota bands under the Oglala Sioux leader Big Foot (Spotted Elk), culminating in a chaotic disarmament that left many dead and wounded. The event marked a decisive and controversial episode in the late Indian Wars and shaped subsequent federal Indian policy, memorialization, and legal debates.

Background

In the late 1880s and 1890s, the Lakota Sioux faced pressures from settlers associated with the Homestead Act, railroad expansion by companies such as the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and assimilation policies promoted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and officials like Richard Henry Pratt. Following the Battle of Little Bighorn, tensions remained high between Lakota leaders — including Sitting Bull, Chief Red Cloud, and Crazy Horse — and representatives of the United States. The spread of the spiritual Ghost Dance movement, carried by followers of the prophet Wovoka and encouraged by figures such as Kicking Bear and Short Bull, alarmed regional authorities including General Nelson A. Miles and Department of War commanders. The death of Sitting Bull during an arrest by Indian Police on the Standing Rock Reservation precipitated flight by bands to the Pine Ridge where Big Foot (Spotted Elk) sought refuge with Chief Red Cloud’s people and with agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs like John R. Banister already operating in the area. The Department of Interior and the U.S. Army coordinated actions amid conflicting reports from Fort Yates, Fort Randall, and Fort Meade.

Events of December 29, 1890

On December 28–29, 1890, troops from the 7th Cavalry Regiment under officers including Lieutenant Colonel James W. Forsyth and subordinate commanders such as Captain Winfield Scott Edgerly and Captain Myles Keogh moved to disarm Big Foot’s band near Wounded Knee Creek. The encampment’s population included families associated with Miniconjou, Hunkpapa, and Itazipco Lakota subdivisions as well as mixed members affiliated with Crazy Horse’s followers. During a staged disarmament, tensions rose as a weapon was detected; sources variously name a deaf Lakota man or a contested pistol as the flashpoint. The resulting volley by marksmanship from Hotchkiss guns and infantry carbines, as well as efforts by Non-Commissioned Officers and enlisted troopers, produced a rapid slaughter exacerbated by freezing weather, poor battlefield control, and the presence of women and children. Federal Indian agents and civilian Indian police were present; eyewitness testimony later included accounts from Noah C. Wheeler, Ely S. Parker’s contemporaries, and reporters affiliated with newspapers such as the New York Herald and Chicago Tribune.

Casualties and Immediate Aftermath

Contemporaneous military reports issued by officers including Forsyth and later positions held by Nelson A. Miles listed varying casualty counts. Lakota fatalities included men, women, and children, with injured evacuated toward Pine Ridge Agency facilities and burial on nearby ground. The Red Cloud Agency and Pine Ridge Agency personnel provided immediate care while humanitarian figures like E. A. Brackett and missionary staff attempted assistance. The United States Army suffered killed and wounded among enlisted troopers and officers; some soldiers received Medal of Honor awards for actions during the engagement, a point that later provoked controversy. Survivors were detained at the agency and processed through Bureau of Indian Affairs channels; many lost winter supplies and lodgings, accelerating destitution among Oglala and Miniconjou families.

Investigations and Legal Responses

In the months after December 1890, inquiries involved military courts of inquiry, statements by Army officers, and political scrutiny from members of Congress such as Senator Henry M. Teller and Representative Thomas J. Geary. The Department of War convened investigations that produced reports criticized by activists including Helen Hunt Jackson’s contemporaries and later historians linked to the American Indian Movement. Media coverage by national papers and magazines prompted debate in the United States Senate and House of Representatives about policy toward Plains tribes and the conduct of troops. Legal actions included petitions to the Department of the Interior, litigation concerning restitution of property, and challenges to the awarding of Medal of Honor decorations, a process revisited in the late 20th and early 21st centuries by tribal leaders, members of Congress, and advocacy groups such as the National Congress of American Indians.

Legacy and Historical Interpretations

The massacre entered American memory as a symbol in debates over the end of the Indian Wars, federal Indian policy exemplified by the Dawes Act era, and indigenous resistance to assimilation including movements tied to Pan-Indianism and later the American Indian Movement (AIM). Monuments, memorials, and annual commemorations at Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark sites on Pine Ridge Reservation have prompted scholarship by historians such as Ellen D. Schwartz and Dee Brown and reinterpretation by public historians at institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and tribal cultural centers. The event influenced literature, film, and art referencing figures and events tied to the Plains—works alongside histories of Little Bighorn and biographies of leaders like Sitting Bull and Red Cloud. Legal and ethical debates over the Medal of Honor awards, federal acknowledgment of wrongdoing, and repatriation of remains under NAGPRA frameworks continue to involve descendants, tribes such as the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Sicangu Lakota Nation, and scholars of indigenous rights and military history.

Category:1890 in the United States Category:Native American history Category:Oglala Lakota