Essential Question(s):1. What was the ghost dance?2. Who was Big Foot?3. What happened at Wounded Knee?

Wounded Knee Massacre

The Lakota

1890, the U.S. broke a Lakota treaty and continued to make their reservation smaller Done to accommodate settlers

from the east

The Lakota People Forced to farm instead of hunt Children were sent to schools

that forbade Native American culture and language

1870s: Gold! Miners moved onto Lakota

land Lakota were confined to their

reservation

The Ghost Dance

A form of circle or spirit dancing

A religious ceremony by which participants believe: Dead relatives would return All whites/settlers would

perish The buffalo would return

But in the case of the Lakota, it was also a dance precipitating war

Soon, U.S. officials outlawed it in all Native American tribes

Big Foot

Upon the death of Sitting Bull his followers fled to Big Foot

He renounced the Ghost Dance and the war against ‘white settlers’

Nervous U.S. officials ordered Big Foot and his followers to a nearby fort

But Big Foot became ill and instead went to seek shelter at a nearby Reservation

Big Foot’s and his followers were intercepted by the 7th Cavalry

The Cavalry placed four Hotchkiss guns in position around the camp Soldiers = 500 Indians = 350

Wounded Knee Massacre

It occurred in December 1890

The 7th Cavalry had been ordered to disarm the Lakota Were the last Lakota to surrender

During the process of disarmament, a deaf tribesman refused the to give up his rifle This set off a violent chain of

events

When it was over, more than 300 Lakota men, women and children were dead

Was the last armed conflict of the Indian Wars

The Aftermath

American public reaction at the time was favorable

Twenty Medals of Honor were awarded for the action

Today some Native Americans are seeking the recall of what they say are “Medals of Dis-Honor”

An Overview

500 Nations:Wounded Knee