Bury My Heart at Wounded KneeThe Indians were being confined to crowed reservations that were poorly run, had scarce game, alcohol was plentiful, the soil was poor, and the ancient religious practices were prohibited.
The Indians were not happy that they had been kicked off there land and were now forced to live on a reservation. The Indians then began to Ghost Dance a form of religion it is said that if the Indians were to do this trance like dance the country would be cleansed of white intruders. Also dead ancestors and slaughtered buffalo would return and the old ways would be reborn in a fruitful land. Once the Bureau of Indian affairs noticed what was going on they began to fear this new religion would lead to warfare. The white peoplewere scared that this new dance was a war dance. They called for army protection.
Army was called in to try to curbed this new religion before it could start a war. The Sioux band tougher led by Little Big Foot. They were heading to Pine RidgeReservation in South Dakota, when the army stopped them and held them at gun pointovernight. Big Foot’s group contained about 300 people two-thirds of them were women and children.
While the soldiers numbered around 500 and were armed with automatic weapons. The next morning when the army began to disarm the Indians a shot rang out then the gun fire began leaving about 200 Indians dead in the snow. Thirty soldiers were also killed in the massacre. The soldiers that lost there lives were most likely killed by their own men in friendly fire. Wounded Knee is said to have been the last battle of the war but it was not so much a battle as it was a massacre. It was in fact the last exchange of fire between the army and the Sioux.
There are not many positive things that came out of the war. Only that the war was finally over and the blood shed could stop. Some negative things are that in this battle most of the casualties were unarmed women and children. Another negative thing is that this battle was over a religion.
The right to practice a religion is a fundamental right given to all people by the constitution of the Untied Sates.
