The Massacre at Wounded Knee

628 Words2 Pages

The massacre at Wounded Knee occurred on December 29, 1890, on the Pine Ridge

Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota. It was an unfair, unlawful event that

happened between the American Indians and the United States of America’s government.

There were many factors that led up to this discriminating incidence. More than three hundred

Indians were killed or greatly injured during this battle. This battle was the last between the

American Indians and the government, and therefore, it changed the history that we know

The quarrel between the Sioux Indians and the United States government had been

going on for a while before the actual clash. On December 15, 1890, the famous medicine man

named “Sitting Bull” was shot and killed while the soldiers were trying to arrest him. He was

mistakenly believed to be a Ghost Dancer, and they killed him. The 7th

by Colonel James W. Forsyth. An argument started with a deaf Sioux named Black Coyote. The

United States wanted his rifle. He refused and was killed by the army men. The Sioux Indians

got very angry and started shooting. They fought for two hours, but eventually fell short of

ammunition. Both sides went into the battle with 900 rounds of ammunition.

The Ghost Dance movement was a religious program that involved the Native

Americans. Many Indians thought that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and stopped practicing

the ways of white men, the gods would create a new world and would extinguish all non-

Indians. The Ghost Dance involved men and women who could chant, pray, and dance. The

Ghost Dance also believed that the Indians had been set to live on reservations because they

“angered the gods” by not following in their traditional customs.

Govern...

... middle of paper ...

... Wounded Knee, 1890. N.p., n.d. Web. 31

Jan. 2014.

Works Cited

Boyer, Paul. "War in the West." American Nation. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 438-39. Print.

"Massacre At Wounded Knee, 1890." Massacre At Wounded Knee, 1890. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan.

2014.

"Who Killed Sitting Bull? The Story of His Capture and Death as Told by Ann."

Bismarck Daily Tribune [Bismarck] n.d.: n. pag. Newsbank. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.

K12&p_theme=ahnp_k12&p_nbid=U51D49EGMTM5MjA1NDA2Ny4xNTQ5ODE6MTo3On

JlaWNoZXI&p_queryname=export&p_action=search&f_forcedaction=export&p_text_export-

0=116E6BD92B9C9CA0&p_field_export-0=document_id>.

"Wounded Knee." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.

"The Wounded Knee Massacre - December 1890." The Wounded Knee Massacre - December

1890. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.

Open Document