Army Memo about the Ghost Dance

During the late 1800s, a new religious movement called the Ghost Dance had arisen and spread throughout Sioux Country in the Plains. It began with a Paiute holy man named Wavoka, who had a vision of a world in which ancestors would come back from the dead, along with the buffalo, and life would return to what it was like before European arrival. Wavoka taught that frequent performance of a circle dance, that came to be called the Ghost Dance, would hasten the process.

Many White settlers who lived near reservations were scared of this new movement and dance, and incorrectly characterized it as a war dance when they saw people congregating. The Government Indian agent in charge of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota requested additional military protection and the Army sent large numbers of troops.

After Chief Sitting Bull was killed by police at Standing Rock Reservation on December 15, 1890, tensions rose considerably. Chief Big Foot led a large group, including many of Sitting Bull’s followers, from Standing Rock to Pine Ridge because they were concerned about the increased military presence there.

The group was intercepted by the Seventh Cavalry. They surrendered and were escorted to Wounded Knee Creek, where they were detained under force. As their weapons were being confiscated the next day, a gun was fired and the soldiers began shooting. Hundreds of men, women, and children, many unarmed, were killed on December 29, 1890. This came to be known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.