Ghost Dance War

Mass grave for the dead Lakota after the massacre at Wounded Knee Creek.

Date	December 29, 1890 – January 15, 1891
Location	South Dakota
Result	United States victory

Belligerents

United States

Miniconjou Lakota
Hunkpapa Lakota

Commanders and leaders

James W. Forsyth

Spotted Elk †
Kicking Bear

Casualties and losses

~25-50 killed
39 wounded

~300 killed
51 wounded

Native American losses include civilian casualties.

The Ghost Dance War was an armed conflict in the United States between the Lakota Sioux and the United States government from 1890 until 1891. It involved the Wounded Knee Massacre wherein the 7th Cavalry massacred around 300 Lakota Sioux, including women, children, and other noncombatants, at Wounded Knee on 29 December 1890. The Ghost Dance War ended when Sioux leader Kicking Bear surrendered on 15 January 1891.

In an effort to remind the nation of this incident, and the historic government program against Native Americans, the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied the Pine Ridge Reservation near Wounded Knee in protest against the federal government on 27 February 1973. A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the AIM ensued. The militants surrendered on 8 May.

The Ghost Dance was a Native American religious movement that occurred in the late 1800s, often practiced by the Sioux Natives. It consisted of a circle dance, invented by the Native leader Wovoka, or better known by his white name, Jack Wilson. Wilson was convinced that God talked to him and told him directly that by practicing the Ghost Dance, the white man would leave and the Native American ancestors would come back to live in peace with the remaining Native Americans for the rest of eternity. This religion quickly spread throughout the entire west and Native American tribes. This dance was given this name by white settlers who were frightened by this spiritual dance, saying that it had a ghostly aura around it, hence the name. This started the push to bring US troops into the Dakotas where the Sioux were most prominent and where the Ghost Dance was being practiced the most.

In the winter of 1890, the Sioux Natives had been upset over a series of treaty violations in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 by the US involving land divisions among tribes in South Dakota and the US running railroads through the reservation. There was also dispute around the Black Hills land where gold was found in 1862. There were a series of battles over this but the most well known of them was the Wounded Knee Massacre. The Sioux had encamped themselves at Wounded Knee Creek and were handing over their weapons to US troops. One deaf Native did not give up his weapon due to the US troops not knowing how to communicate with the deaf Native, there was a struggle, and someone's gun discharged in the air. One of the US commanders heard this and ordered his troops to open fire. The commanders called in reinforcement from the Hotchkiss cannons that were previously placed on the adjacent ridge. These cannons mowed down whatever the bullets could hit. By the time the smoke had cleared, almost 300 dead Natives (mostly women and children), 25 dead and 45 injured US troops lay on the ground, most of which was due to friendly fire. The Natives who had escaped the conflict were then hunted down and killed by the remaining US troops. As this was happening, a blizzard came in and prevented the US troops or the other Natives from the Pine Ridge Reservation from retrieving the dead. This resulted in frozen dead bodies strewn across Wounded Knee Creek for the next 3 days. There was a public uproar when word of the gunfire reached the Eastern US and the Government reestablished the treaty they had broken with the Sioux to avoid any further public backlash. The Cheyenne were allies to the Sioux.

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