Let us recognize tomorrow, December 29th as a day of Memorial for the Lakota People who perished at the Wounded Knee Massacre, one hundred and twenty one years ago, on a bitter cold day in the winter of 1890.
All over this North American continent that we call Turtle Island, we call upon everyone, everywhere at the far reaches of the four directions to study, to learn, to reflect upon, and to share the true knowledge of this unfortunately typical event in the historical relationship between the United States Government and the Indian Nations.
The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment, commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside, intercepted Chief Big Foot's band of Miniconjou Lakotas and 38 Hunkpapa Lakotas who were fleeing to the Pine Ridge Reservation to seek shelter with Chief Red Cloud right after the murder of their esteemed Chief Sitting Bull. Near Porcupine Butte, they were rounded up and escorted at gunpoint five miles west to Wounded Knee Creek where they made camp.
Later in the night, the rest of the 7th Cavalry Regiment arrived, led by Colonel James Forsyth, and surrounded the encampment, supported by the latest in 19th century high-tech weaponry - four Hotchkiss revolving cannons. 14 years earlier, in 1876, the 7th Cavalry had been completely devastated by thousands of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors in the Battle of the Greasy Grass, when it attempted to attack what its commander at that time, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer mistakenly believed was a small, relatively defenseless Indian camp on the banks of the Little Big Horn River in southeastern Montana.
Custer had hoped to surprise and make quick work of the Lakotas, as he had done with the women, children and elders asleep in Chief Black Kettle's Southern Cheyenne camp on the Washita River in Oklahoma Territory early one morning in 1868. Unfortunately for he and his 7th Cavalry, they had inadvertently stumbled upon and swatted at an enormous hive of angry, well trained, battle tested warriors, who weren't feeling like having their loved ones slaughtered by the blue-coated U.S. Army soldiers that day.
Some years later in 1890, the soldiers of the reconstituted 7th Cavalry no doubt suspected that some of those same Lakota warriors, or their family members, were likely among the people, huddled in the frozen camp at Wounded Knee that December night.
On the morning of the 29th, the troops went down into the camp to disarm the Lakotas. It was said that during this process, a deaf Lakota man named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his expensive rifle to the blue coats because he had paid a lot for it. A scuffle that broke out over Black Coyote's rifle escalated, and then a shot was fired which resulted in the 7th Cavalry opening fire indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women and children, as well as some of their own fellow troopers. Those few Lakota warriors who still had weapons began shooting back at the attacking troopers, who quickly suppressed the Lakota fire. The surviving Lakotas fled, but U.S. cavalrymen pursued and killed many of them who were unarmed.
By the time the shooting ceased, at least 150 Lakota men, women and children had been killed, and 51 wounded (4 men, 47 women and children, some of whom died later); some estimates placed the number of dead at 300. Twenty-five troopers also died, and thirty-nine were wounded (6 of the wounded would also die). It is believed that many were the victims of friendly fire, as the shooting took place at close range in chaotic conditions.
The massacre was considered the last "battle" in the 30-year-long U.S. "Indian Wars."
The story of the Massacre at Wounded Knee is relevant to events unfolding today. Within it lies a lesson that is important to understand about the lack of value placed on human life when it is perceived to stand between the greedy and the gold.
Custer had led a gold seeking expedition into the Black Hills, the most holy place of the Lakota people in 1874, unilaterally violating the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Once he announced that a jackpot of the yellow metal that made white men crazy had been found, white men poured unrestrained onto Indian land, completely disregarding the treaty. They even built towns like the infamous and lawless Deadwood, South Dakota. The government's response was not to stop or punish these criminals but to further remove the Lakotas from their sacred Black Hills.
Custer died as a direct result of attempting to carry out avaricious U.S. policies, which called for forcibly removing The People from the resources beneath their sacred lands. In a horrific case of 19th century "Shock and Awe" type misplaced vengeance, the innocent ones paid with their lives at Wounded Knee.
The Massacre at Wounded Knee happened long ago, but we will never forget it. We will always remember the ones killed there. Afraid of Bear, Young Afraid of Bear, Bear Cuts Body, Big Skirt, Bird Shakes, Black Coyote, Blue American, Brown Turtle, Charge At Them, Chase In Winter, Courage Bear, Crazy Bear, Ghost Horse, He Crow, He Eagle, High Hawk, Horn Cloud, Sherman Horn Cloud, William Horn Cloud, Kills Seneca, Lodge Skin Knopkin, Little Water, Living Bear, Long Bull, Wolf Skin Necklace, No Ears, Pass Water in Horn, Picked Horses, Pretty Hawk, Red Eagle, Red Fish, Red Horn, Scabbard Knife, Scatters Them, Shading Bear, Shoots the Bear, Small Side Bear, Spotted Thunder, Strong Fox, Swift Bird, Tooth Its Hole, Weasel Bear, White American, Wounded Hand, Yellow Robe and their beloved Chief Big Foot are only some of the people who perished that day. Their names are inscribed on the memorial marker at the mass grave in the cemetery at Wounded Knee. There are many more buried there, but only a few of their names are recorded.
Today we honor The People who still survive all across this Turtle Island, despite the deliberate attempt to erase their very existence. But The People yet continue to thrive and walk upon the Earth and tell their stories. They still live and love, and laugh and cry. They sing and dance, and drum and pray. They still create new life, and still go to join the ancestors in the Spirit World. They pass on the sacred pipe and the sacred hoop, and revive and carry forth the traditions of the old ways of the last truly free people to dwell in this country, to our future generations. For all of this we are thankful. That's all.
All my relations.
The late great Lakota singer/songwriter Buddy Red Bow tells this story of a survivor of Wounded Knee:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6ZIpuGzl9k
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