ABOUT MEIntroduction The wounded knee massacre took place on December 29, 1890 where 250-300 mostly innocent Lakota Native Americans, made up of women and children, were killed in South Dakota. Leading up to this event, different Native American movements started to protest the strong effort of the U.S government to assimilate Native American communities. One of these protests was the Ghost Dance. The U.S government deemed this dance as a threat against the ability to assimilate Native Americans, and sent troops to put down this mostly peaceful movement. Many different encounters between the dancers in the Great Plain area and the U.S Army put fear in many Native Americans. By the time the military made its way to Miniconjou near Wounded Knee creek many Native Americans wanted to defend themselves. Led by Col. James. W Forsyth, the U.S Army demanded the Native Americans at Wounded Knee hand over their weapons. The leader of the Native American tribe, Big Foot, gave in to their demands by giving up the tribe’s guns. When the army checked the camp, they saw many weapons remained. Many Native Americans were upset over this search and in their anger a gun accidentally fired. This one moment led to panic by the American troops and they started to shoot and kill the Native Americans. Women and children trying to run away were caught in the fire and were mercilessly killed. Almost no survivors were left and the bodies of these Native American people were then buried naked in the ground by the site where they were killed. None of the soldiers were punished, instead they were rewarded for their actions with medals from the government. After, many Native Americans found their struggle with colonizers to be futile and a majority gave in to assimilation. This incident can be seen as a significant turning point in relations between the government and the Native American people.
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