James McLaughlin, the Indian Agent at the Pine Ridge Agency (Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota), sent this memo explaining the reason for the Ghost Dance uprising. The document, written before the battle at Wounded Knee, details fraud and abuse in the rationing system – such as the weighting of scales in order to distribute less food.
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 Pine Ridge Agency 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. This unplanned encounter at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, led to the death of over 140 men, women, and children, many of whom were unarmed. It came to be known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.
