Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
One hundred and twenty-one years ago, more than 140 Lakota men, women and children
were killed during the Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota. Below is an excerpt
from
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
by Dee
Brown. First published in 1970, the book has sold more than 5 million copies and is
credited for challenging the mythology that surrounds "Manifest Destiny" and the American
West:
Had it not been for the sustaining force of the Ghost Dance religion, the
Sioux in their grief and anger over the assassination of Sitting Bull might
have risen up against the guns of the soldiers. So prevalent was their belief
that the white men would soon disappear and that with the next greening
of the grass their dead relatives and friends would return, they made no
retaliations. By the hundreds, however, the leaderless Hunkpapas fled from
Standing Rock, seeking refuge in one of the Ghost Dance camps or with
the last of the great chiefs, Red Cloud, at Pine Ridge. In the Moon When
the Deer Shed Their Horns (December 17) about a hundred of these
fleeing Hunkpapas reached Big Foots Minneconjou camp near Cherry
Creek. That same day the War Department issued orders for the arrest and
imprisonment of Big Foot. He was on the list of ―fomenters of
disturbances.‖
As soon as Big Foot learned that Sitting Bull had been killed, he started his
people toward Pine Ridge, hoping that Red Cloud could protect them from
the soldiers. En route, he fell ill of pneumonia, and when hemorrhaging
began, he had to travel in a wagon. On December 28, as they neared
Porcupine Creek, the Minneconjous sighted four troops of cavalry
approaching. Big Foot immediately ordered a white flag run up over his
wagon. About two o’clock in the afternoon he raised up from his blankets
to greet Major Samuel Whiteside, Seventh U.S. Cavalry. Big Foot’s blankets
were stained with blood from his lungs, and as he talked in a hoarse
whisper with Whiteside, red drops fell from his nose and froze in the bitter
cold.
Whiteside told Big Foot that he had orders to take him to a cavalry camp
on Wounded Knee Creek. The Minneconjou chief replied that he was going
in that direction; he was taking his people to Pine Ridge for safety.
Turning to his half-breed scout, John Shangreau, Major Whitside ordered
him to begin disarming Big Foot’s band.
―Look here, Major,‖ Shangreau replied, ―if you do that, there is liable to be
a fight here; and if there is, you will kill all of those women and children
and the men will get away from you.‖
Whitside insisted that his orders were to capture Big Foot’s Indians and
disarm and dismount them.
"We’d better take them to camp and then take their horses from them and
their guns,‖ Shangreau declared.
―All right,‖ Whitside agreed. ―You tell Big Foot to move down to camp at Wounded Knee.‖
The major glanced at the ailing chief, and then gave an order for his Army ambulance to be brought forward. The
ambulance would be warmer and would give Big Foot an easier ride than the jolting springless wagon. After the chief was
transferred to the ambulance, Whitside formed a column for the march to Wounded Knee Creek. Two troops of cavalry
took the lead, the ambulance and wagons following, the Indians herded into a compact group behind them, with the
other two cavalry troops and a battery of two Hotchkiss guns bringing up the rear.
There was no hope on earth, and God seemed to
have forgotten us. Some said they saw the Son of
God; others did not see Him. If He had come,
He would do some great things as He had done
before. We doubted it because we had seen
neither Him nor His works.
The people did not know; they did not care. They
snatched at the hope. They screamed like crazy
men to Him for mercy. They caught at the
promise they heard He had made.
The white men were frightened and called for
soldiers. We had begged for life, and the white
men thought we wanted theirs. We heard that
soldiers were coming. We did not fear. We hoped
that we could tell them our troubles and get help.
A white man said the soldiers meant to kill us.
We did not believe it, but some were frightened
and ran away to the Badlands.
- Red Cloud
