South Dakota is a wonderful state to explore, especially for history lovers. Working in this area allowed me to visit the Lakota Nation, specifically the Pine Ridge Reservation. I went to the reservation because the event of the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred here. This was the hardest post to write due to the tragic events that took place on December 29, 1890. I want to say that I am in no way qualified to tell anyone exactly what caused this event. I only know what I’ve researched and I had heard about this event all my life. It’s more complicated than what I can tell you. Many little events lead up to this one tragic day. There were 150 to 300 Lakato men, women, and children that were massacred by US Army Troops and they were buried in a mass grave. From the few Lakota natives, that I have talked to, differ on what happened from the red sign you see in a couple of pictures. From all that I have learned, the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry became spooked over local tribes performing a dance called the Ghost Dance. This dance was performed as a way for the natives to commune with the spirits of the elders that had passed on. Look up the Ghost Dance. It’s worth the time to learn about it because there is more to this dance than I can tell you here. The U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry didn’t understand the meaning of this dance and feared that the Ghost Dance would create an up rising among the tribes and attacks on white settlers would begin. Wounded Knee Massacre was a way to quail any resistance to lands being invaded by white settlers. This conflict was the last major attack on the native americans and it broke any resistance they had left to living life on the reservation. The soldiers that participated in the massacre were later awarded the medal of honor.
In the pictures, you will see one Lakota man and his grandson that I talked with while I was there. The man’s name is Tom Hollow Horn and I cannot remember his grandson’s name. Tom is a retired teacher and still today, he teaches the Lakota language online.
The pictures of the land were very hard to edit because the camera just doesn’t render the image as the human eye does. The land is beautiful. I have only touched the tip of the iceberg in the post but it’s my hope that many of you will go on to research this time in American history and maybe visit it with your family so it’s not forgotten.
The town is called Wounded Knee. There is not anything much that surrounds this area. The picture with the benches is where this tragedy actually took place and the mass grave is on the hill. The Wounded Knee Massacre and the mass grave is on the National Historical Registry.
