Wounded Knee is a village on the Pine Ridge Reservation, a Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Wounded Knee was the site of two famous events in Native American history. The first was a massacre of Lakota Sioux by United States Army troops in 1890. The second was the seizure of the village in 1973 by an armed group that included members of the American Indian Movement (AIM).
The 1890 massacre.
On Dec. 28, 1890, a band of about 350 Lakota Sioux sought by the Army surrendered near Wounded Knee Creek. The band, consisting of about 120 men and 230 women and children, were followers of the Ghost Dance religion. The religion taught that God would restore the world to the way it was before whites arrived. Army leaders feared the religion would lead to an uprising. About 470 troops surrounded the Lakota band. As the troops began to disarm the band the next day, someone fired a shot. It is not known whether the shot came from a Lakota or a soldier. The troops then fired on the Lakota with rifles and powerful, rapid-shooting Hotchkiss guns. The Lakota warriors fought back but were greatly outgunned. Some experts estimate that up to 300 Lakota were killed in the massacre or died later from wounds. The dead included many unarmed women and children. Twenty-five soldiers were killed, most of them by Army cross fire. The incident is known as the Massacre of Wounded Knee or the Battle of Wounded Knee. It was the last armed conflict between the Sioux and the Army.
The 1973 incident
involved about 200 armed Sioux. They occupied Wounded Knee in part to protest federal policies toward Indians. The occupation also resulted from a dispute over tribal leadership that broke out among the Oglala Lakota. The occupiers demanded the return of lands taken in violation of treaty agreements. During the occupation, several gunfights took place between the occupiers and federal authorities. The occupation lasted 71 days and led to 2 deaths and over 300 arrests.
