Picture this: it’s a freezing morning on December 29, 1890, at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Chief Big Foot’s band of 350 Lakota men, women, and children are surrounded by 500 heavily armed U.S. soldiers equipped with four rapid-fire Hotchkiss guns. What begins as a routine disarmament procedure will, within minutes, explode into a massacre that kills over 250 Native Americans – including at least 200 women and children. By the time the shooting stops, the snow will be stained red with blood, and the 400-year struggle between Native Americans and European settlers will effectively be over.
The Massacre at Wounded Knee wasn’t just the end of a single tragic day – it was the brutal conclusion of the American Indian Wars, the death knell of the Plains Indian way of life, and a symbol of how completely the U.S. government had betrayed its promises to Native peoples. This wasn’t a battle between warriors but a slaughter of families, and it marked one of the darkest chapters in American history.
To understand the horror of Wounded Knee, we must first understand the desperate situation that led the Lakota there. By 1890, the once-mighty Plains tribes had been crushed by decades of warfare, disease, and systematic destruction of their way of life. The buffalo herds that had sustained Plains culture for centuries were nearly extinct, deliberately exterminated by the U.S. government as a strategy to starve the tribes into submission.
The Lakota, who had once roamed freely across millions of acres of the Great Plains, were confined to reservations where they struggled to survive on inadequate government rations. The Dawes Act of 1887 had further reduced their land holdings by breaking up tribal lands and forcing individual ownership, while corrupt Indian agents often sold supplies meant for the reservations or provided spoiled food that caused starvation and disease.
The winter of 1890 was particularly harsh for the Lakota. Crops had failed, promised government rations were reduced or didn’t arrive, and diseases like influenza and whooping cough were ravaging the reservations. Children were dying of malnutrition and preventable diseases while their parents watched helplessly, unable to provide for them using traditional methods that had been outlawed.
Into this desperation came a new spiritual movement that offered hope: the Ghost Dance. Founded by a Paiute holy man named Wovoka (also called Jack Wilson), the Ghost Dance promised that if Native Americans performed specific rituals and lived according to certain principles, the white settlers would disappear, the buffalo would return, and the spirits of dead Native Americans would come back to life.
The Ghost Dance wasn’t a war dance or a call to violence – it was a peaceful spiritual movement that promised salvation through prayer and ritual. Wovoka preached non-violence and told his followers to live in peace with white people while waiting for the supernatural transformation he prophesied. However, the movement’s promise that white people would disappear terrified government officials and settlers.
The Ghost Dance spread rapidly through the western reservations in 1889 and 1890, bringing hope to desperate Native communities. On Lakota reservations, the movement took on additional elements, including the belief that special “ghost shirts” would protect dancers from bullets. This addition may have reflected the Lakota’s more militant history and their recent memories of successful resistance.
Government officials and Indian agents became increasingly alarmed as the Ghost Dance movement grew. They misunderstood the spiritual nature of the movement and interpreted it as preparation for war. Reports from the reservations described large gatherings of dancing Native Americans and spoke of a “messiah craze” that was making the tribes “uncontrollable.”
The media contributed to the hysteria by publishing sensationalized accounts of the Ghost Dance that portrayed it as a war dance and predicted imminent Indian uprisings. Newspapers described the movement as “savage fanaticism” and called for military intervention to prevent massacres of white settlers. These reports were largely based on fear and misunderstanding rather than actual observation of Ghost Dance ceremonies.
The situation escalated when Indian Agent James McLaughlin at Standing Rock Reservation decided that Sitting Bull, the famous Lakota leader, was the source of the Ghost Dance “trouble.” McLaughlin ordered Sitting Bull’s arrest, even though the aging chief was not a leader of the movement and had been living peacefully on the reservation for years.
On December 15, 1890, Indian police surrounded Sitting Bull’s cabin to arrest him. A confrontation erupted when Sitting Bull’s supporters tried to prevent his arrest, and in the ensuing fight, Sitting Bull and seven of his followers were killed along with six Indian policemen. The death of the famous chief sent shockwaves through the Lakota community and increased tensions throughout the region.
Following Sitting Bull’s death, Chief Big Foot and his band of about 350 Miniconjou and Hunkpapa Lakota left their reservation, apparently planning to seek refuge at Pine Ridge Reservation where the situation seemed calmer. Big Foot himself was ill with pneumonia and sought to avoid conflict, but military officials interpreted the movement as hostile and ordered his capture.
On December 28, 1890, the 7th Cavalry Regiment intercepted Big Foot’s band near Wounded Knee Creek. The 7th Cavalry was the same unit that had been decimated by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, and many of the soldiers were eager for revenge against the Lakota.
Colonel James Forsyth, commanding the 7th Cavalry, ordered Big Foot’s band to camp at Wounded Knee Creek for the night. The colonel positioned his 500 soldiers around the camp and placed four rapid-fire Hotchkiss guns on a hill overlooking the camp site. The Lakota were effectively surrounded and outnumbered, with no means of escape.
The next morning, December 29, Colonel Forsyth ordered the disarmament of Big Foot’s band. The sick chief was brought out on a stretcher while his people were ordered to hand over their weapons. The men were separated from the women and children and told to sit in a council circle while soldiers searched their tipis and persons for hidden weapons.
The situation was tense as soldiers conducted increasingly intrusive searches. Many Lakota had paid high prices for their weapons and were reluctant to surrender them. Some weapons were hidden because they were needed for hunting and family protection. The soldiers, meanwhile, were nervous and expecting trouble.
The spark that ignited the massacre came when a young Lakota man named Black Coyote, who was deaf and reportedly didn’t understand the commands being given to him, refused to surrender his rifle. As soldiers struggled to disarm him, the weapon discharged into the air. This single shot triggered an immediate and devastating response from the surrounding soldiers.
The soldiers opened fire on the council circle where the Lakota men were sitting, killing many instantly. The Hotchkiss guns on the hill began firing explosive shells into the camp, targeting the tipis where women and children were taking shelter. Within minutes, the organized disarmament had become a massacre.
Many Lakota tried to flee, but they were pursued and shot down by soldiers who had been positioned to prevent escape. Women carrying children were shot as they ran. Elderly people who couldn’t move quickly were killed where they stood. Some soldiers chased fleeing Lakota for miles, killing them far from the original camp site.
The Hotchkiss guns were particularly devastating, firing explosive shells that could kill multiple people with each round. These weapons had been designed for warfare against enemy armies, but at Wounded Knee they were used against families trying to escape. The guns continued firing even after organized resistance had ended.
Some Lakota warriors fought back with whatever weapons they could find, including some hidden guns and knives. However, their resistance was brief and largely ineffective against the overwhelming firepower arrayed against them. Most of the fighting was soldiers shooting unarmed or lightly armed Lakota who were trying to escape or protect their families.
The killing continued for several hours as soldiers pursued fleeing survivors across the frozen landscape. Bodies were found up to three miles from the original camp site, indicating the extent of the pursuit. Many of those killed far from the camp were women and children who posed no threat to the soldiers.
When the shooting finally stopped, the scene was horrific. Bodies lay scattered across the snow-covered ground, many frozen in the positions where they had fallen. Chief Big Foot’s body was found twisted in the snow, a haunting image that would become symbolic of the massacre. Wounded survivors, including babies who had been nursing when the shooting started, were found among the dead.
The official Army count listed 25 soldiers killed and 39 wounded, with most of these casualties likely caused by friendly fire in the confusion of the massacre. The Lakota casualties were much higher: 153 dead according to the Army count, but this figure was widely considered to be an undercount. Lakota sources and later investigations suggest that over 250 people died, with perhaps as many as 300 killed.
The fact that at least 200 of the dead were women and children reveals the true nature of what happened at Wounded Knee. This wasn’t a battle between opposing forces but a massacre of families. Babies, elderly people, and pregnant women were among the victims, demonstrating that soldiers were shooting indiscriminately at fleeing civilians.
The immediate aftermath of the massacre was marked by attempts to justify what had happened. Military officials claimed that the soldiers had been fired upon first and were defending themselves. They portrayed the event as a battle rather than a massacre and recommended several soldiers for Medals of Honor for their actions.
However, civilian witnesses and surviving Lakota told a different story. They described soldiers shooting unarmed people, pursuing fleeing women and children, and continuing to fire long after any threat had ended. These accounts painted a picture of a deliberate massacre rather than a defensive action.
The bodies of the Lakota victims were left on the frozen ground for several days while a blizzard covered them with snow. When burial details finally arrived, they found the corpses frozen in grotesque positions. The dead were buried in a mass grave without ceremony or individual identification, adding final insult to the tragedy.
News of the massacre reached the outside world quickly, and reactions were mixed. Many Americans accepted the Army’s version that portrayed Wounded Knee as a necessary military action against hostile Indians. However, some newspapers and reformers criticized the action as excessive and unnecessary.
The massacre effectively ended the Ghost Dance movement and the last hopes of Plains tribes for supernatural deliverance from their oppression. The spiritual movement that had promised salvation through peaceful prayer had led instead to slaughter. Many survivors lost faith not only in the Ghost Dance but in any possibility of justice or fair treatment from the U.S. government.
Wounded Knee also marked the official end of the American Indian Wars. The Secretary of War announced that the Indian Wars were over, and the frontier was considered closed. The massacre demonstrated the complete military defeat of Native American resistance and the U.S. government’s willingness to use overwhelming force against even non-combatant populations.
The long-term consequences of Wounded Knee extended far beyond the immediate casualties. The massacre became a symbol of betrayal and genocide that would influence Native American attitudes toward the U.S. government for generations. It represented the final crushing of Plains Indian independence and the completion of the conquest that had begun with European colonization.
The legal aftermath of Wounded Knee was disappointing for those seeking justice. Although a military investigation criticized Colonel Forsyth’s handling of the situation, he was eventually exonerated and resumed his command. No soldiers were court-martialed for the massacre, and several received medals for their actions.
The awarding of 20 Medals of Honor to soldiers who participated in the massacre remains controversial today. These medals, the highest military decoration in the United States, were given for actions that many consider war crimes. Efforts to revoke these medals have been unsuccessful, but they remain a source of pain for Native American communities.
The site of the massacre became sacred ground for the Lakota and other Native American tribes. The mass grave where the victims were buried became a place of pilgrimage and remembrance. In 1890, a small church was built near the site, and it became a focal point for commemoration of the massacre.
In the 20th century, Wounded Knee continued to be significant for Native American rights movements. In 1973, members of the American Indian Movement occupied the site for 71 days to protest government policies and call attention to ongoing injustices against Native Americans. This occupation brought renewed attention to the historical massacre and its continuing relevance.
Modern historians and scholars have reexamined the Wounded Knee massacre as part of broader efforts to understand the true history of Native American-U.S. government relations. These studies have confirmed that the event was indeed a massacre rather than a battle and have documented the systematic nature of the violence against non-combatants.
The massacre has been recognized by some as genocide under international law, as it involved the deliberate targeting of a specific ethnic group including women and children. The event fits the legal definition of genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
Wounded Knee has become a powerful symbol in discussions about historical trauma and its ongoing effects on Native American communities. The massacre represents not just historical violence but the systematic destruction of Native cultures, languages, and ways of life that continued through policies like forced boarding schools and cultural suppression.
Contemporary Native American activists and educators use the memory of Wounded Knee to illustrate the importance of understanding accurate history and recognizing the ongoing effects of historical trauma. The massacre serves as a reminder of what can happen when fear, prejudice, and military power combine against vulnerable populations.
The environmental and cultural destruction that preceded the massacre – including the extermination of the buffalo and the confinement of tribes to reservations – provides context for understanding how Native communities became so desperate that they embraced movements like the Ghost Dance. The massacre was the culmination of decades of systematic oppression.
Today, efforts continue to ensure that the true story of Wounded Knee is told and remembered. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and interpretive programs help visitors understand what happened there and why it remains significant for American history.
The Wounded Knee massacre stands as one of the darkest moments in American history, a tragedy that revealed the extent to which the U.S. government was willing to go to complete its conquest of Native peoples. The blood spilled on that frozen ground in 1890 marked not just the end of the Indian Wars but the near-complete destruction of a way of life that had existed on the American continent for thousands of years.
The victims of Wounded Knee – the men, women, and children who died in the snow on December 29, 1890 – deserve to be remembered not as hostile Indians who threatened American settlers but as human beings who were fighting for their survival, their families, and their way of life. Their deaths marked the end of an era and the beginning of a long struggle for Native American rights and recognition that continues today.
The massacre at Wounded Knee reminds us that the American story includes not just triumph and progress but also tragedy and injustice. In remembering what happened at that frozen creek in South Dakota, we honor not only the victims but also our responsibility to ensure that such tragedies are never repeated. The ghosts of Wounded Knee still call for justice, and their voices must not be forgotten.
