Wounded Knee Research Paper

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The Wounded Knee Massacre, officially known as The Wounded Knee Battle, occurred on December 29, 1890, in the Lakota Reservation. It was the last major killing of Native Americans. The conflict was between the United States 7th cavalry and the Lakota Tribe, but the Lakota did nothing to provoke the fight. Years before this, the Americans continued to steal the Lakotas land hunt the bison to extinction. The Americans were encroaching on their land for gold. The treaty promises that protested the Lakota were constantly broken by Americans. A prophet of the Paiute tribe had a vision that Jesus had come back to Earth as a native american, and lead the midwestern tribes to better hunting grounds and rid the world of white men. This would be fulfilled by…show more content…
On the order of Col. Forsyth, the cavalry set up 4 rapid fire guns around the base, and demanded the Indians confiscate their guns. One soldier was trying to disarm a deaf indian. He kept fighting the indian for his rifle, in the process the rifle was accidently discharged. At the same time, another indian threw dust in the air and 5 other indians wearing the ghost shirts believed to be bulletproof started firing at the cavalry.The cavalry opened fire on all the indians. Since most of the indians didn’t have a place to hide, they either tried to fight their way out by grabbing guns from the confiscation pile, or by running away. Those who ran away (all of those who ran were unarmed) were gunned down, and half of the indian men were killed before they had a chance to fire a shot. 300 indians were killed, and 51 were wounded. Also, the rapid fire guns caused crossfire which resulted in 25 american deaths. A day later some of the surviving Lakota attacked the 7th cavalry. The natives were defeated in the battle that ensued. This last battle marked the end of major armed conflict between natives and

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