Wounded Knee Massacre Essay Example

Wounded Knee Massacre Essay â€Å"Wounded Knee Massacre† Melinda Belcher May 2, 2010 In 1848 a series of gold and silver discoveries signaled the first serious interest by white settlers in the arid and semiarid lands beyond the Mississippi, where many Indian nations had been forced to migrate. To open more land, federal officials introduced in 1851 a policy of â€Å"concentration. † Tribes were pressured into signing treaties limiting the boundaries of their hunting grounds to â€Å"reservations† The Sioux tribe was limited to the Dakotas. The treaties that claimed the Indians provisions would not follow through; land hungry pioneers broke promises of the government by squatting on Indian lands and then demanded federal protection. The government in turn forced more restrictions on the Indians. This cycle of broken promises was repeated until a full-scale war between whites and Indians raged in the west. (U. S. A Narrative History, 2009) By the mid-1880’s there were some 180 reservations in the west, containing approximately 240,000 American Indians. Among the last to be confined were the Sioux, who fought fiercely to keep their freedom. Nevertheless, a treaty in 1889 created six small reservations in the Dakotas: Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Lower Brule, and Standing Rock. The Sioux tribe suffered crop failures in the summers of 1889 and 1890. White settlers were killing all the bison, plus epidemic of sickness, brought bitterness and poverty to the Sioux, who were ripe for any vision promising them relief. (U. S. A Narrative History, 2009) (Stanley I. Kutler, 2003) In 1890 a religious revival spread when word came from the Nevada desert that a humble Paiute named Wovoka had received revelations from the Great Spirit. We will write a custom essay sample on Wounded Knee Massacre specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Wounded Knee Massacre specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Wounded Knee Massacre specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Wovoka preached that if his followers adopted his mystical rituals and lived together in love and harmony, the Indian dead would rise, whites would be driven from the land, and game would be thick again. As the rituals spread, alarmed settlers called the shuffling and chanting the â€Å"Ghost Dance†. Soon delegates from many tribes traveled to visit Wovoka, several Sioux among them. Prominent were Chief Kicking Bear and his brother-in-law, Short Bull; enamored of the Ghost Dance, they brought the new religion to Rosebud, Pine Ridge, and Standing Rock. (U. S. A Narrative History, 2009) (Stanley I. Kutler, 2003) Although the Ghost Dance was performed peacefully by most tribes, among the Sioux it became a rallying cry against the whites. Kicking Bear and Short Bull argued that their people had to assist the Great Spirit in regaining their freedom. A holy shirt was invented, a â€Å"ghost shirt† painted with sacred, magic symbols. It was believed that not even bullets could harm a person wearing such a shirt. The Ghost Dance dominated life on the Sioux reservations, greatly disturbing the government agents. There was little or no understanding of the ritual’s meaning, and agitated agents and military officers were alarmed at what they perceived to be a â€Å"war dance†. (Stanley I. Kutler, 2003) (U. S. A Narrative History, 2009) In December of 1890 in Standing Rock, the army had suspicions of a Sioux holy man and staunch champion to be behind the Ghost Dance frenzy. The man they suspected was Sitting Bull, the army attempted to arrest Sitting Bull, during the arrest Sitting Bull was killed. His death increased tensions between Indians and soldiers. Hundreds of Sioux fled Standing Rock, many seeking refuge with Chief Red Cloud at Pine Ridge or with Chief Big Foot (also known as Spotted Elk) at Cheyenne River. Both chiefs were traditionalists, though Big Foot had been the earliest in accepting the Ghost Dance. Trying to preserve peace, Red Cloud invited Big Foot and his band to Pine Ridge, a move heartily desired army and the Indian Bureau as well. (Stanley I. Kutler, 2003) Big Foot led his people toward Pine Ridge, setting out on December 23, 1890. Their movements were tracked by the army, fearful of treachery. On December 28, only 20 miles from Pine Ridge, a squadron of Seventh Cavalry, Custer’s former command, intercepted the band. Big Foot, ill with pneumonia, persuaded Major Samuel M. Whiteside, in command, that he and his people would come peacefully. That night Indians and soldiers camped together beside Wounded Knee Creek. Accounts list 350 Indians, 230 of them women and children, while the Seventh Cavalry counted 500 men. (Stanley I. Kutler, 2003) On the day of December 29, 1890, Colonel James W. Forsyth took command, he ordered his men surround the Indian camp; Hotchkiss guns were posted overlooking the whole camp. Forsyth ordered Big Foot and other leaders to confer with him. He announced that he wanted to disarm all the Indians and he would be sending soldiers into the tipis, searching for weapons. Yellow Bird, a medicine man urged resistance, assuring his people they could not be harmed while wearing their ghost shirts. Black Coyote, said by some Indian witnesses to be deaf, refused to surrender his Winchester rifle; in the struggle, the gun went off. Both sides began firing, and indiscriminate killing followed. Most of the Indians had been unarmed at the time of the attack. Firing fifty rounds a minute, the Hotchkiss guns devastated the Indian camp. Women and children were slaughtered along with the men, few escaping. The fighting lasted less an hour, but Big Foot and more than half of his people were dead. The army’s loses were only around twenty-five, Surviving Indians were loaded into wagons and taken to Pine Ridge, while some were admitted to a military hospital most were taken to the floors of a Episcopal church. (Stanley I. Kutler, 2003) The nationwide reaction to the Wounded Knee massacre was split; some people praised the soldiers, others condemned them. In actuality, neither side seems to have plotted the battle or been able to foretell the tragedy. Mutual fear and suspicion were among the underlying causes of the event. Sioux holy man Black Elk was at Pine Ridge when the massacre occurred. After the fighting ended, he went to Wounded Knee. When he saw the many corpses, he recognized in them the â€Å"killing of a dream. † It was the end of Indian armed resistance to the United States as well as the end of the Ghost Dance and its promise of a new world. (Stanley I. Kutler, 2003) Bibliography James Davidson, B. D. (2009). U. S. A Narrative History. New York: McGraw Hill Comapanies Inc. Stanley I. Kutler, E. (2003). Dictionary of American History, Third Edition. New York: The Gale Group, Inc.