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In
1890 word spread from the west that a Paiute holy man had seen a vision.
This vision told that all Indians should dance, sing and pray. This
dance would give the Indians a view of a joyous new world where the dead
would rise up to greet their living friends. Some Arapaho had been to
see this Holy Man, Wovoka by name, and they brought back news to the
reservations of his vision.
Wovoka
Two Lakota, Kicking Bear and Short Bull interpreted the vision
differently. They said that if the Sioux were to dance the dead would rise
up and help them destroy their enemies. The buffalo would return and
everything would return to how it once was. They also introduced the
wearing of Ghost Shirts that they said would stop white man’s bullets.
Kicking Bear
Short Bull
Many Sioux took to dancing the Ghost Dance. They would dance for hours at
a time, dancing themselves into a frenzy, hoping to bring back their dead
warriors to rid the country of the white man. Miles ordered soldiers to
the agencies and they split apart those who danced from those who did not.
 
Ghost Dance dress and Two
Ghost Shirts
 
Original Photograph and
artist's impression of the Ghost Dance
Sitting Bull was actually a late follower of the Ghost Dance. He did not
really believe in its powers at all but he eventually took to it as he was
in danger of losing his followers if he did not embrace it. However, as
the dancing grew in intensity Miles ordered that all chiefs taking part in
the dancing should be arrested. The agent at Standing Rock, James
McLaughlin recommended that Sitting Bull be arrested not by soldiers,
which would inflame him, but by his own people, the Indian Police.
Sitting
Bull
At dawn on 15th December 1890 Lieutenant Bull Head and about 40
Indian policemen went to the cabin of Sitting Bull, surrounded it and
arrested the chief. Sitting Bull at first went peacefully but seeing a
crowd outside watching, he called for help. Catch the Bear, an old enemy
of Bull Head, shot the lieutenant dead. Before he fell however Bull Head
shot his gun into Sitting Bull’s body. Another officer, Red Tomahawk
shot his gun into Sitting Bull’s head. The police then stood their
ground, fighting off the followers of Sitting Bull who attacked them. They
were relived by a squadron of the 8th cavalry.
Red Tomahawk
Six Indian policemen died and the same number of Indians, including
Sitting Bull, died on the other side. Miles moved in more troops to
contain the cult but surprisingly the expected uprising never materialised.
It remained generally peaceful. However, many Sioux tried to get off the
agency. They were scared the same thing would happen to them as had
happened to Sitting Bull. Most of these bands did not get far but a few
escaped into the Badlands.
The
largest group to escape was mostly Minniconjou with about forty Hunkpapas.
This group was led by Big Foot, also known as Spotted Elk. They tried to
make their way to the Brule and Oglala on the Pine Ridge agency where they
thought they would be safer.
Big
Foot (or Spotted Elk)
One of the forces sent out to stop their flight was the
Seventh Cavalry, Custer’s old outfit. They caught up with the freezing
band and Big Foot consented to being escorted by Colonel James Forsyth to
Pine Ridge. He was unaware that Miles had given the order for Big Foot’s
people to be disarmed and put on a railroad car bound for Omaha.
They camped at Wounded Knee Creek (Cankpe Opi Wakpala) on 28th December.
Big Foot's People. Many
were to be killed shortly after this was taken.
When the Sioux encampment rose on the morning of 29th December
1890 they were surprised to find that Forsyth had surrounded them with 500
troops and four rapid fire Hotchkiss cannons. As the Sioux women broke up
camp Forsyth lined up the 120 men and ordered them to hand in their
weapons. When only a few weapons (mostly old, broken ones) were handed in
he ordered a search of the tipis and more weapons and ammunition was
found. Next he ordered a body search of every man and woman there to find
any weapons hidden in clothing or blankets. The Sioux were angered by this
humiliation.
A Holy Man, Yellow Bird, reminded the warriors about the
Ghost Shirts they were wearing. These would protect them from the bullets
of the soldiers. A few warriors threw off their blankets to reveal rifles.
A single warrior and a soldier got into a scuffle and the soldier fired
his gun. At this the other soldiers opened fire into the encampment. The
small arms fire was deadly at this range but the Hotchkiss guns did the
most damage. Over 150 Sioux lay dead on the ground; many more were
wounded. Women and children who tried to run away were shot down as they
ran.
Soldiers with Hotchkiss
Guns after Wounded Knee
Forsyth lost 25 officers and men killed with 39 injured, many of these
probably from their own rifles fired across the circle and the wild firing
of the Hotchkiss guns.
Big
Foot and Yellow Bird were among the dead.
Big
Foot in death
Above - Pictures of the
dead at Wounded Knee and burial in a mass grave.
The public was horrified by Wounded Knee and Miles saw it as a stupendous
blunder by Forsyth. He relieved him of his command and ordered a court of
Inquiry. Forsyth was found guilty of incompetence and irresponsible
disobedience of orders. He was relieved of duty. This decision was later
overturned by the Secretary of War.
After
Wounded Knee, Miles took a more ‘hands off’ approach to those Indians
still off the reservation. He followed them and guided them but never came
into contact to enable a situation to arise. Eventually the last of the
free Sioux returned to the reservation. The last one to surrender was
Kicking Bird on 15th January 1891.
The
Sioux and Cheyenne Wars were over.
1)
The nomadic hunter/gatherer lifestyle of the Plains Indian meant
that they could not stay in large groups for long. There was strength in
numbers but these numbers could not be sustained.
2)
The Indians relied heavily on the buffalo for everything – food,
shelter, clothing etc. Whereas there had been millions of buffalo on the
plains these numbers were rapidly decreasing. The railroad cut off their
usual migratory routes and white hunters were destroying more buffalo in a
day than the average band of Indians did in a year. Without the buffalo to
sustain them the Indians were starving.
3)
Although the battle at Little Bighorn had been a great victory the
government and army grew more determined to end the menace of “Wild
Indians” on the plains. The Indians had a lot of supporters back in the
east but their voices were not heard after the outrage at Little Bighorn.
4)
The Indians were never united totally and continued to fight
amongst themselves. Those tribes such as the Pawnee, Crow and Shoshone who
had always been enemies of the Sioux and Cheyenne were allied to the white
man and their warriors acted as scouts. In several fights the scouts had
actually been the deciding factor, taking the first brunt of the attack.
It became worse when the cavalry used Sioux and Cheyenne scouts from the
agencies against their own people.
5)
The death of Crazy Horse was a big blow to the Lakota. It has often
been said that he was just biding his time, getting ready to fight again
when his people were strong. Crazy Horse was tired of fighting. He knew
that there would never be enough food available for the free lifestyle
again. That is why he surrendered. He was promised a reservation for
himself and his people away from the current agencies. When he surrendered
he gave his word that he would live in peace. He would never have broken
his word. He never got his reservation, becoming a victim of a whispering
campaign against him, both by white and those Lakota who had been Agency
Indians for a long time.
6)
Remember that every treaty signed between white man and Sioux had
been broken, over 200 of them. None had ever been broken by the Sioux.
7)
Although a warrior would keep fighting until the end if he had to,
his main priority was to look after the helpless ones. The women, children
and old folk were cold and hungry, therefore the warriors had to take them
to the agencies.
8)
Not only was the army determined to round up the Indians they also
had better weapons to enable them to do so.
9)
The rivalry between certain generals (for instance Crook and Miles)
meant that they were pushing their troops all the time to gain glory and
prestige for themselves.
10)
The Americans had laid claim to their country. Manifest Destiny had
decreed that the land was theirs. They were not going to let a few hundred
“savages” stand in
their
way. At first the plains were called The Great American Desert because it
was thought that the soil was poor and would only support grass. Only when
it was found that the soil was actually very good for farming did the
American’s really push for the land.
11)
Once on the reservation the Indians were encouraged to become farmers and
tend the land for themselves. Although historically, the Sioux and
Cheyenne had been farmers when they lived in the east this was now a
strange concept to the new generations who had been raised on the plains
as hunters. They found it hard to adapt.
12)
The children were taken away from their families and sent to school. Here
they were taught how to become versions of the white man. They would have
their hair cut short, be banned from practising any of their own rites or
religious practices, and generally estranged from their families. They
were not even allowed to talk their own language. Changing the children
meant that the next generation would not be as troublesome as their
parents.
Crazy
Horse, The strange man of the Oglalas – Mari Sandoz
Bury
My Heart At Wounded Knee – Dee Brown
My
People the Sioux – Luther Standing Bear
A
Sioux Chronicle – George E. Hyde
Stone
Song – Win Blevins
The
Last Warpath – Will Henry
Cheyenne
Autumn – Mari Sandoz
The
Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge – Joe Starita
All
of the above will give you an insight into life after Little Bighorn. Most
will tell you about agency life. They will all make you think.
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