HOMELAND - The Reservation: The Postwar Years

Broadcast Schedule


			The Early Years Indian Wars Postwar Years 20th century

Pine Ridge Reservation: Postwar Years
In 1876, after the forced surrender of Indian war chiefs to the United States military, the Great Sioux Reservation was reduced in size and the Black Hills - a great Sioux hunting ground - were given over to the United States in defiance of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The defeated Native people endured continuing hardships as the U.S. sent their children to eastern boarding schools to become "civilized" and further seized their lands through the allotment policies of the Dawes Act.

Mrs. American Horse, Lakota women and children, 1891 (John C. H. Grabill, Denver Public Library, Western History Collection)

Land Allocation
The 1887 Dawes Act determined that each Indian family should be allotted a parcel of land, and those lands not allotted to a particular family could then be leased to white settlers. The allotment policies served not only to reduce the size of Indian lands, but also to sever community ties that were so crucial to tribal culture. The U.S. wanted Indians to assimilate by adopting the white man's way of living.

In 1888, Red Cloud, in an effort to keep Oglala children from being sent to eastern schools, invited the Jesuits to establish a school on the reservation land. His struggles to keep Lakota culture alive while remaining within the demands of the conquering nation earned him the reputation as a great leader, although some criticized him for his compromises. He stood firm against the Dawes Act, recognizing it as a travesty for his people and encouraging other chiefs not to sign. Nevertheless, the Dawes Act was finally enacted into law in 1889.

Not all the war chiefs were willing to work within U.S. policies. Sitting Bull and his followers fled to Canada, and Crazy Horse ignored the 1876 order to remain on reservation lands, continuing to hunt and camp in the unceded territories. Both leaders were killed after the wars had officially ended and they had returned to reservation land - Sitting Bull for allowing his people to participate in the Ghost Dance and Crazy Horse out of fear that he might once again turn "hostile." Red Cloud lived until he was 90 years old.

Massacre at Wounded Knee

Frozen body of Spotted Elk at Wounded Knee (Denver Public Library, Western History Collection)

Soldiers at Wounded Knee

Soldiers with Hotchkiss guns used at Wounded Knee (John C. H. Grabill, Denver Public Library, Western History Collection)

Burial at wounded knee

Burial of the dead at Wounded Knee (Denver Public Library, Western History Collection)

One of the most notorious actions by the U.S. government in its conflict with the Indians is the massacre of over 300 Indian men, women and children at Wounded Knee Creek, located in what is now the Pine Ridge Reservation. In December 1890, Chief Spotted Elk - also known as Big Foot - was returning from the Ghost Dance, a ritual to bring back dead loved ones and restore land to Native peoples. The U.S. government feared the Ghost Dance, because the gathering of such a large group of Natives posed a threat to their tenuous control of the region.

When Spotted Elk decided to avoid Standing Rock, where Sitting Bull had recently been killed, he brought his Miniconjou people to camp for the night at Wounded Knee Creek. The next morning, U.S. soldiers patrolling the area searched and disarmed the Indians, stacking the weapons on the ground. The military had already set up Hotchkiss guns on the hills surrounding the Indian camp. While accounts of the events vary, most agree that a shot was fired in a scuffle over a weapon and a soldier killed - presumably accidentally. All at once, the soldiers began firing on the unarmed Miniconjou. Some Indians grabbed their weapons back in an attempt to defend themselves, but their rifles were no match for the large military weapons. When the smoke cleared, over 150 bodies - including women and children - lay dead in their tracks, with more crawling off to later die from their injuries.

The soldiers fled the scene, returning after four days and a heavy snowfall to bury the bodies. Some received medals of honor for their bravery. A memorial was later erected to the innocent Native people slain in the final "battle" of the Indian Wars.

For further information, see the Timeline.