BY: Autumn Hefty, Sarah Burrier, Richie Cucura, and Alyssa Tufano Wounded Knee Massacre BY: Autumn Hefty, Sarah Burrier, Richie Cucura, and Alyssa Tufano

What Happened? Wounded Knee, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota, was the site of two conflicts between North American Indians and representatives of the U.S. government. An 1890 massacre left some 150 Native Americans dead, in what was the final clash between federal troops and the Sioux

December 29th 1890 Near Wounded Knee Creek, on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, In South Dakota, USA. This was the last Battle Of the American Indian War. The Seventh Calvary was trying to overtake a group of 350 Sioux (Who were cold and starving)

Reasons for conflict among the natives, settlers, & government On December 29, the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under Big Foot, a Lakota Sioux chief, near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons. In the heat of the moment A fight broke out between a soldier and an Indian, and a shot was fired. Because of this a brutal massacre followed On December 15, 1890, reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief, who they mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing the tensions at Pine Ridge.

◦Reasons for conflict among the natives, settlers, & government. Conflict between the natives and settlers - Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the world anew and destroy all non-believers, including non-Indians The Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which taught that Indians had been defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered the gods by abandoning their traditional customs.

Major Players in the massacre The Seventh Calvary The Sioux Major Samuel M. Whitside Colonel James W. Forsyth 500 well-armed cavalry troops carried out the slaughter Local Chief Big Foot 40 White soldiers and more than 300 of the Indians including women and children died

Impact on Western Settlement Some of the Indians moved off the land and tried to adapt to the American Way of life American Citizenship was granted to Native Americans who accepted 160 acres of land Once land was distributed to Native Americans, any surplus was sold to white settlers with the profits of those sales went to the Native American Schools

Relationship Between the U.S. and Government The American Indian Movement was founded in 1968 to stop police harassment of the Natives Native Americans were then forced onto reservations by soldiers Natives did not trust the U.S. Government at all The Government felt that they needed to contain the Native Americans

The End !