Siege of Wounded Knee 1973

Through my week of research I picked the topic of the siege of Wounded Knee in 1973. Wounded Knee was an originally symbolic location because it was where the massacre of 1890 happened. At the time in 1890, Indian Sioux were a part of the “Ghost dance movement”. This is where Indians believed that their gods would create a new world and destroy all non-Indians. The whites at the time felt uncomfortable by this because some believed that maybe the gods would bring bad fortune upon them. Sitting Bull was the famous Sioux chief who was in charge during all of this. The whites decided to move in and stop the ghost dancing and to arrest Sitting Bull along with all the other Indians there. However, while in the process of stopping this and arresting Sitting Bull they actually killed him. This caused the tension to raise even higher and the Indians to become upset. The “battle” started off by someone who fired a shot (however it’s unknown as to whether it was a white or an Indian) Over 150 Indians died, half of which were women and children; the whites lost very few men.  Many people refer to the this event as a battle but it was actually a massacre of Indians which is why it’s more commonly known as “The Massacre at Wounded Knee”

Bearing the Dead at Wounded Knee (1890)

The massacre in 1890 is known for marking the end of fighting between whites and Indians, but there was one last major event. In 1973 a group of young whites murdered a Sioux member named Yellow Thunder. The young men who were involved in the incident were sentenced to prison, so this was looked at as a small victory for some Sioux Indians but others were very upset. Dick Wilson (Sioux tribal chairman) involved himself with the young whites of this event which put him at a high stake. The Indians formed a group called the American Indian Movement (also known as AIM) and they were basically out to get him. Because of this he retreated into tribal headquarters at Pine Ridge, where he was under the protection of federal Marshals. There was high security at the headquarters and the Indians wouldn’t be able to get in so instead they formed a 200 car caravan to occupy the symbolic location of Wounded Knee. There they protested and camped out in memory of Yellow Thunder and soon Wilson had to do something about it; he begins to round about U.S. Marshals, Chief Deputies, and officers to all head down to Wounded Knee. In interviews with Sioux members that survived this event they all talked about how many of them knew they were going to die that night. The Indians were all equipped with high power weapons such as Ak-47’s and shotguns which a member had gotten from a Vietnam veteran. So even though many knew their death was going to come, they were all very well prepared. Wilson along with the help of many officers set up roadblocks and such things within miles of the location to assure victory and no escape. The first day of the actual siege at Wounded Knee began on February 27, 1973. For 71 days and nights the Indians held the historical location and exchanged shots with the marshals. Finally on May 8, 1973 the AIM surrendered, and Wilson was assured safety. This has been the last tragic event in Wounded Knee and hopefully there won’t be any more to come. After the siege for a few years there was many backfires in different events between the AIM and the federal government but there has been no recent encounters that I read about.

Victory For U.S. Marshals at Wounded Knee (1973)

Hopefully there will be no more “battles” or massacres between Indians and whites as all it leads to is people dead. All it leaves behind is another story about a tragic event that happened either because of a group of persons beliefs, or young people doing stupid things. While I hope that no more events like these occur, it was very interesting reading about the siege at Wounded Knee.

Click here to watch video with Interviews from Wounded Knee 1973

History Channel
Nolan Chart
U.S. Marshals Service