The Massacre of Wounded Knee

Introduction

Though, Wounded Knee was notable because it ended years of Indian Wars eventually the conduct of the battle itself came under examination. On December 29, 1890, the Seventh Cavalry clashed with a small band of Miniconjou Sioux along Wounded Knee Creek. The Army officially claimed the nearly 300 Sioux men, women and children died after soldiers returned fire in self-defense. The Army was satisfied, with this conclusion, but after the fight came under scrutiny, it gradually came to be recognized as a massacre. Today, weak arguments remain that Wounded Knee was a tragedy that fell short of a massacre because the soldiers were defending themselves (Calloway, pp. 96-99). Today, eyewitness accounts have established that Wounded Knee was a massacre, even to authors who, apparently concerned about political correctness, would not use that word: massacre.

Wounded Knee did not occur in a battlefield vacuum where two enemies suddenly meet in combat. For years, the ghosts of the Wounded Knee massacre had no voice, and the mass graves were ignored except for the oral tradition of the Sioux. The killing of unarmed men, women, and children was justified as collateral damage. It is now accepted that Wounded Knee was a massacre.

Background of the Event: The Ghost Dance

At the heart of the Wounded Knee massacre, is the Ghost Dance. Say it aloud—just two words: “Ghost Dance!” What ominous words! The meaning for the Lakota was so different from for the Euro-Americans. The Ghost Dance, intended to summon a rebirth, brought the Seventh Cavalry to Wounded Knee during the hostile winter of 1890. Whites misunderstood it and, somehow, peaceful dancing and swooning into a dream world brought on a massacre at Wounded Knee (Raphael, pp. 15-22).

It was 1889, and the Ghost Dance came from a fever-driven vision of a Paiute shaman, Wovoka, who tried to live in two worlds: one being the white man's Christian world and the other being Native Americans' spirit world (Raphael, pp. 15-22). Although it mixed two worlds, the message was clear and direct: live a clean and honest life. Wovoka was known as the Christ, messiah, prophet, Jack Wilson, and Jocko Wilson. There is not much information about Wovoka's childhood, but there is considerable speculation.

Wovoka announced he had been to “heaven,” the land of the dead and received instruction directly from God. During the Mooney interview with Wovoka, he learned that Wovoka “fell asleep in the daytime and was taken up to the other world. There, he saw God, with all the people who had died long ago (Kehoe, pp.69-72).” God told Wovoka to return and tell his people “they must do good and love one another, have no quarreling, and live in peace with the whites.” During this visit, Wovoka received the dance, which was to be performed continuously for five consecutive days and four nights. Wovoka also received control over the weather.

Wovoka now had a formidable repertoire of powers to reinforce his prestige as the prophet of the Ghost Dance. Among the documented beliefs about ...