A small town in South Dakota, Wounded Knee was the site of two conflicts between Native Americans and United States officials. The 1890 massacre of Sioux Indians known as the battle of Wounded Knee completed the federal government's conquest of the Native Americans. The incident known as the second battle of Wounded Knee took place in 1973.

Background

Clashes between the Sioux and non-Indian settlers had taken place in the decades leading up to the 1890 battle. After gold was discovered in California in 1848, settlers invaded Sioux territory on their way west. In 1868 the United States government agreed to a treaty that gave the Sioux sole possession of a reservation at Pine Ridge in South Dakota. When gold was found in the Black Hills of South Dakota in the 1870s, however, thousands of miners ignored the treaty and entered Sioux land. This led to serious clashes in 1876.

Battle of Wounded Knee

By the late 1880s the size of the Sioux reservation had been greatly reduced. In addition, the buffalo (bison) that the Indians depended on for food were becoming extinct. Near starvation, some of the Sioux turned to the teachings of a Paiute leader named Wovoka. He promised that the whites would disappear and the buffalo would return if certain ceremonies and dances were performed.

These ceremonies, known as the Ghost Dance, alarmed the settlers. Government agents arrested Sioux leaders, and the United States Army stopped the Ghost Dance movement. The Sioux leader Sitting Bull was killed while being arrested.

A few hundred Sioux then left their reservation with the idea of hiding in the Badlands, a harsh and rugged area in South Dakota. On the night of December 28, 1890, however, they surrendered quietly to United States troops. They camped overnight near Wounded Knee Creek. The next day, as the soldiers took away the Indians' weapons, a scuffle broke out. A shot was fired and a soldier fell.

The soldiers then fired at the Indians. The only weapons the Sioux had were clubs and knives. The soldiers chased the fleeing Indians, and some were killed miles from the camp. More than 200 Sioux died in the massacre, including many women and children. About 30 soldiers also were killed during the fighting.

Second battle of Wounded Knee

More than 80 years later, on February 27, 1973, some 200 members of a group called the American Indian Movement took control of Wounded Knee by force. They refused to leave until the United States government met their demands. They wanted a change in tribal leaders, a review of all treaties between the United States and Native American tribes, and a government investigation into the treatment of Native Americans.

Federal officers surrounded the protestors. The standoff continued for more than two months. It ended only when the Native Americans were assured that their complaints would be discussed. On May 8 the Native Americans surrendered their arms and left Wounded Knee. Two Indians had been killed and one officer had been seriously wounded in the standoff, which became known as the second battle of Wounded Knee.