Wounded Knee Massacre: South Dakota's Tragic History

On December 29, 1890, U.S. troops massacred hundreds of Lakota Sioux men, women, and children at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation. It culminated decades of treaty violations, forced assimilation, and land theft.

Background: The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty guaranteed the Black Hills to the Lakota. Gold discovery brought miners; the U.S. seized the land. By 1890, the Ghost Dance movement sparked fear of uprising. Troops surrounded a Lakota camp, demanded surrender, then opened fire with Hotchkiss guns.

The massacre remains a symbol of injustice; the site is a National Historic Landmark. In 1990, Congress expressed "deep regret."