Wounded Knee

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Site on the Oglala Sioux Reservation, South Dakota, USA, of a confrontation between the US Army and American Indians on 29 December 1890; the last ‘battle’ of the Plains Wars. On 15 December the Hunkpapa Sioux chief Sitting Bull had been killed, supposedly resisting arrest for involvement in the Ghost Dance movement. The remaining Hunkpapa fled with a group of Miniconjou Sioux led by Big Foot, but were captured by the 7th Cavalry. A shot fired during their disarmament led to the gunning down of Big Foot and over 150 Sioux, half of whom were women and children.

For American Indians Wounded Knee has become a symbol of US government oppression. In 1973 the militant American Indian Movement chose the site of Wounded Knee to stage a siege from 27 February to 8 May, in which they held hostages and demanded a government investigation of the Indian treaties.

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