US History

The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)

Native Americans

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Wounded Knee Massacre.

An affidavit from US Indian agents about supply delivery to families at the Pine Ridge Agency, December 31, 1889. 

State of South Dakota } se

Shannon County }
 
We the undersigned do solemnly swear that the issue made to Indians by  H. D. Gallagher U.S. Indian at Pine Ridge Agency South Dakota during the second Quarter 1890 as farm “2” to abstract “d” was made up “Vouchers Numbered from 1 to 15” and issued to the heads of families that the supplies actually did reach and were properly distributed to the heads of families. Heads of Consolidation and Bands receipting for same. It being impracticable and impossible at this Agency for the heads of families to receipt for supplies as it would necessitate the Indians remaining permanently at the issue Building.
 
Geo. O. Griffin Issue Clerk

R. O. Pugh Transportation Master
 
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 31st day of December 1889.

H. D. Gallagher

U.S. Indian Agent
 
I certify on honor that the facts set forth in the foregoing Affidavit are true and correct.

H. D. Gallagher

U.S. Indian Agent

s


A photograph of Lakota in Ghost Dance regalia, ca. 1880. 

A memorandum from James McLaughlin, Indian Agent at Pine Ridge Agency, regarding the reasons for the Ghost Dance uprising, November 6, 1890. 

Correspondence from officers at the Pine Ridge Agency cautioning against military response to ghost dancing, November 24, 1890. 

Rm 24 Mc S 93 Paid Govt

Pine Ridge Agcy SF 422 Nov 24 [1890]

Chicago 24 Via Rushville
 
Major General Comdg the army is of opinion that the ghost dances should not be disturbed for the present nor anything be done to precipitate a conflict and that when the troops are all concentrated Ready for action it can be Better—
 
[page two]
 
judged of the measures that—may be necessary and advisable—This opinion has been already anticipated by the Divn Commander In his instructions previously sent to you by command of Major Genl Miles.
 
R. Williams

Asst Adjt Genl


A telegram from Pine Ridge Agency reporting on the response to Sitting Bull’s death, December 20, 1890.

Dec. 20 1890

8 P.M
 
To Pioneer Deadwood J. D.
 
Expedition friendlies after Badland hostiles [sic] Just departing. Wild scene. Squaws death chant heard in every direction. Think hostiles [sic] may be brought in. Troops and Pine Ridge Indians impatient at long delay; civilians indignant. Leave for home tomorrow. B

A photograph of the Rose Bud and Lakota “war dance” at Pine Ridge, December 25, 1890. 

An 1891 illustration by Frederic Remington depicting the “the opening of the fight at Wounded Knee.” 

A photograph of the Seventh Cavalry at Pine Ridge returning from the fighting at Wounded Knee. 

A photograph of a civilian burial party loading the frozen bodies of fallen Lakota on carts and moving them to mass graves. 

A photograph of officers and civilians unloading the frozen bodies of Lakota men, women and children into a mass grave at Wounded Knee. 

A US Army situation report about conditions at Wounded Knee in the aftermath of the massacre, 1891. 

To: General L. W. Colby

[Banksville. ?]
 
The satisfactory condition of affairs of yesterday is confirmed this morning as for the directions given the Indians by General Miles has been complied with and they have manifested willingness to further comply with the law and regulations and given evidences
 
[page two]
 
of their desire that perma-nent fence may be established other assurances are con-firmed by the Chiefs who are now having a long talk with the General and Col Pierce the General has informed me again that there is no necessity of delaying troops But as
 
[page three]
 
the troops are still here my advice is for you to use your own discretion if you wish to hold the [thirteen?] com-panies will  [?] you faster.
 
W Henry


An excerpt from a report from an inspection of government schools on Pine Ridge Reservation, May 1891.

A patch created by the American Indian Movement to commemorate events at Wounded Knee in 1890 and 1973. 

A news story about life on the Pine Ridge Reservation during the occupation of Wounded Knee, September 1973.

A speech by American Indian Movement activist Dennis Banks on the first anniversary of the Wounded Knee occupation, February 27, 1974.

Questions

1. Consider the sources in this set. What perspectives on the events at Wounded Knee do they share? Which perspectives are missing? How has the absence of these perspectives shaped the history we tell about these events?
2. Examine the correspondence and photographs that document Lakota activities on Pine Ridge leading up to Wounded Knee. What issues and fears does the correspondence show? What do the Lakota appear to be doing? How do both connect to the events that will follow at Wounded Knee? Cite specific evidence to support your ideas.
3. Closely read the illustration of “[the opening of the fight at Wounded Knee](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-wounded-knee-massacre/sources/749).” What biases does the artist have? How are these biases manifest in his art? How does this compare and contrast with other accounts of what happened?
4. The [image of civilians burying Lakota dead in a mass grave](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-wounded-knee-massacre/sources/752) is one of the most famous photographs of Wounded Knee. How has the photographer staged this photograph? What does this staging tell us about the relationships between the photograph’s subjects and the photographer? About the relationships among the photograph’s subjects?
5. Using the photographs of events after Wounded Knee, explain how conditions impacted these events. Cite evidence from the photographs to support your claims.
6. According to the [situation report](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-wounded-knee-massacre/sources/753) and the [school inspection report](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/the-wounded-knee-massacre/sources/754), what were conditions like on Pine Ridge in the aftermath of Wounded Knee? What impact did the massacre have?
7. Using the sources about the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation, compare this event to other civil rights protests. What role does the history of Wounded Knee play in this event?  	

Activity

1. After acknowledging the absence of documents that address Lakota perspectives on the massacre at Wounded Knee, ask students as a class to brainstorm questions they would ask if they could be time-traveling reporters. What information from Lakota perspectives do we need to make sense of the events leading up to the massacre? During? After? Whom would it be important to interview for a well-rounded view of Lakota experiences at Wounded Knee?
2. Ask students to use the items in this set to create a timeline of the events at Wounded Knee. Where do the documents fit? How does their place on the timeline help us make meaning from them?
3. Ask students to write an essay that explores the connection between the events at Wounded Knee in 1890 and in 1973, citing the sources in the set as evidence and using additional independent research as well. What is the historical relationship between the two? Who are the players and how do they change between the events? What are the grievances that create tension? How are tensions resolved? How are these events remembered?


Teaching Guide: Exploring the Wounded Knee Massacre

Resources

1. [Lakota Accounts of the Massacre at Wounded Knee](https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/wklakota.htm), PBS. 
2. [Wounded Knee Massacre](http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.war.056), Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, Plains Humanities Alliance. 
3. [Occupy Wounded Knee: A 71-Day Siege and a Forgotten Civil Rights Movement](http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/occupy-wounded-knee-a-71-day-siege-and-a-forgotten-civil-rights-movement/263998/), The Atlantic. 
4. [We Shall Remain, Episode 5: Wounded Knee](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opbxnuw0Dw0), American Experience, PBS. 

Overview

By the end of the nineteenth century, the US government had permanently transformed Native American life across the United States through broken treaties, bison hunting to near-extinction, and reservation containment. Native Americans were also deleteriously affected by government agents, assimilationist educational and religious programs, and military conflict. At the end of the nineteenth century, tribes across reservations practiced the “Ghost Dance” ritual, which called a new Messiah to bring back ancestors, show new hunting grounds, and remove white settlers from their lands. As ghost dancing spread, it compounded tensions between Native Americans and US government officials. After the death of Sitting Bull, a Lakota holy man, at the hands of the US military, a band of Lakota fled the Standing Rock Agency and made for the Pine Ridge Agency to seek protection. En route, they were stopped near the Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, and forcibly disarmed by the Seventh Cavalry, who came with an arsenal of weapons and a thirst for action. 

The disarming turned quickly to a massacre, as the US Army slaughtered ninety Lakota men and two hundred women and children. After three days of blizzard, the Army buried the frozen corpses of the Lakota slain in mass graves. Although there was conflict within the army about the actions of Colonel James W. Forsyth, who led the Seventh Cavalry and was responsible for the massacre, many soldiers at Wounded Knee were honored for their bravery. In 1973, Wounded Knee was again the site of conflict as residents on Pine Ridge and members of the American Indian Movement occupied the village to protest their treatment on the reservation by local officials and the Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as to shed light on the history of US government atrocities committed against Native American communities. This primary source set uses documents, photographs, government records, and news reporting to explore the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee and its historical impact.

English

The Wounded Knee Massacre

wounded-knee-massacre_02_caa8a579fd61cd23388d3ee4d7c9e567.jpg

Courtesy of Brigham Young University - Harold B. Lee Library via Mountain West Digital Library.

Savage, C. R., “Sioux Indians in Ghost Dance regalia,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/caa8a579fd61cd23388d3ee4d7c9e567.

A photograph of Lakota in Ghost Dance regalia, ca. 1880.

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Tips for Students

Item 2 of 15 in the Primary Source Set The Wounded Knee Massacre