The Wounded Knee Massacre, 1890
What sort of situation were Indians on reservations facing by the 1890s?
An increasingly bad one - their rations were cut, the crops failed due to a drought in 1890 and they felt despair at the loss of their lands and way of life
When did the police move in to arrest Sitting Bull at Pine Ridge?
1890
Who was Sitting Bull?
A Hunkpapa Indian, who was a holy man who lived on the Standing Rock Reservation
What happened to the Indians who fled?
As they fled, they were slowed down by the snow and the US Army caught up with them. They were taken to Wounded Knee Creek , where the army began to disarm them.
What did a Sioux Indian claim about the Ghost Dance?
He claimed to have had a vision telling him that if Plains Indians rejected white ways and danced the Ghost Dance, the Great Spirit would bring all the dead Plains Indians back, and a great flood would carry away the white people.
What happened when the police moved in to arrest Sitting Bull at Pine Ridge?
He was shot and killed in the struggle
What happened as a result of what had happened to Sitting Bull?
His followers fled the reservation and joined Big Foot's band of Indians
The Massacre
In the confusion, Indians started the Ghost Dance and a shot was fired, leading to the US Army opening fire on the Indians. Within 10 minutes, 250 Indians (men, women and children) were dead and 25 US soldiers had been killed.
What was the Massacre the end of?
Indian resistance to the whites
Impact of what happened at Wounded Knee - symbol
It became a symbol of Indian oppression by the whites
Impact of what happened at Wounded Knee - the Ghost Dance
It ended the Ghost Dance. The white American public was happy it was over, and even praised the soldiers for their actions.
Impact of what happened at Wounded Knee - resistance
It was the last clash between the Sioux and the US Army - it ended the resistance of the Sioux tribes
Linking the Ghost Dance to the Dawes Act
Practice of the Ghost Dance movement was believed to have contributed to Lakota resistance to assimilation under the Dawes Act.
What was one Indian response to the bad situation?
The Ghost Dance
What worried President Harrison? So, what did he do?
The Ghost Dance spread rapidly through the reservations. He ordered the army in to the reservations to stop them.
Impact of what happened at Wounded Knee - white views
The massacre confirmed white views that they needed to exterminate 'hostile' Indians
Why did the police move in to arrest Sitting Bull at Pine Ridge?
They believed he was planning to lead the Ghost Dance dancers into a rebellion
