WOUNDED KNEE: A MASSACRE OF TRUTH
The primary cause of the events leading up to the
massacre
at Wounded Knee was a series of unfortunate misunderstandings
between the
Lakota nation and the dominating United States government. Only decades later, did the United States government as
well as
dozen of historians recognize the ongoing miscommunication and
inaccurate
portrayal of the Ghost Dance religion and its followers.
The purpose of this research paper is to
accurately investigate the causes of the spiritual movement that led to
the
misunderstandings of Wounded Knee,
the actual
events of the massacre, and its aftermath as well as effects on
contemporary
Native Americans.
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PRIMARY SOURCES—BOOKS
- DeSersa, Aaron Jr.; DeSersa, Clifton; DeSersa, Esther
Black Elk; Pourier, Olivia Black Elk. Black
Elk Lives: Conversations with the Black Elk Family. University
of Nebraks Press: Lincoln
and London,
2000.
The descendents of Black Elk speak of
their Grandfather, his
legacy, and the affect his life and role in wounded knee have on them.
They
give an intimate and etailed account of life on the pine Ridge
Reservation
including the religious belief, economic status, and political theories
of the
Indians on the reservation.
- <>Neihardt, John G. Black
Elk Speaks. William Morrow & Company, 1932.
Written after a series of interviews with the
legendary
Black Elk himself, John Neihardt’s account of the famous medicine man’s
life
and workings is acclaimed as an inspiration to generations of modern
Indians as
well as Americans who search to understand their history.
It is Black Elk’s final attempt to pass on
the reality of his life as an Oglala Indian.
PRIMARY
SOURCES—WEBSITES
<>
Copy of a statement made by General
Nelson A.
Miles, the Secretary of War for 1891, primarily concerned with the
sources of
Indian dissatisfaction. Copy of reports
forwarded by Brigadier-General Ruger on
behalf of the commanding officer at Fort Yates, North Dakota,
December 1890; refers to Indian dissidence at Standing Rock. Copies of telegrams sent by General Miles as
field dispatches dated December 19, 1890.
Letter from General Nelson Miles to the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs (1917) concerning the events at Wounded
Knee
<>
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SECONDARY
SOURCES—BOOKS
- <>Brown, Dee Alexander. Bury
My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian history of the American West.
Henry
holt and Company, LLC. New
York
1970.
<>
A chronology of the American
governments methodical destruction of American Indian culture, Dee
Brown’s
well-documented Bury My Heart at Wounded
Knee examines the history preceding Wounded
Knee,
the actual event, and its aftermath.
<>
- Carter, John E; Jensen, Richard E; Paul, R Eli. Eyewitness
at Wounded Knee. University of Nebraska Press:
Lincoln &Lincoln, 1991.
Contains
143 photographs printed
before and immediately after the Pine Ridge massacre, publishing the
work of
two photographers actually present at the event. A
compilation of photographic history, Eyewitness analyzes
the accuracies and
fallacies of the press as well as each side of the story, both military
and
Indian.
- Deloria, Cadwalader. The
Aggressions of Civilization: Federal Indian Policy since the 1880s.
A compilation of scholarly essays
written about the various
effects American policy had on the livelihood of the American Indian, The Aggressions of Civilization provides
an in-depth analysis on the insensitive and self-concerned policies
created by
generations of white reformers dating back to the early 1880s.
- Ed Meyer, John M. American
Indians and U.S.
Politics. Praeger Publishers, 2002.
Written as a classroom
supplement, American Indians and U.S.
Politics is a compilation of articles touching on various American
politics
and their effects on Native American life through the course of
history.
- Parman, Donald L. Indians
and the American West in the Twentieth Century. Indiana University
Press, 1994.
<>A comprehensive study of
American Indians and their relationship
with the United
States
government in the Twentieth Century. Tackles
issues such as the dissolving of the Five Civilized Tribes, the
assimilation of
Indians after removal, the effects of the World War I and II as well as
the
depression on the Indian economy, and modern issues Indians face today.
- <>Prucha, Francis Paul. American
Indian Policy in Crisis: Christian Reformers and the Indian, 1865-1900.
University of Oklahoma
Press: Norman,
1976.<>
<>Details the developement of
U.S.
policy regarding American Indians in the later portion of the
nineteenth century. Focused mainly on the "humanitarian" efforts
of Chrisitan Americans to reform the Indian from a heathen lifestyle.
Analyzes themilitary force used and the lack of proper governement
regaulation and efficient administration in dealing with Native
Americans.
<>
- <>Seymour, Forrest W. Sitanka:
The Full Story of Wounded Knee.
Christopher Publishing House, 1981.
<>An account of the event of
Wounded
Knee as well as those preceeding and following it. Claimed to be told
from an unbiased opinion "not as the United States Army record tell it,
and not altogether as the aggrieved Indian survivors remember it a half
century later, but reconstructed as truthfully in main outline as can
be pieced together form both these souces and numerous others."
- Smith, Paul Chaat; Warrior, Robert Allen. Like a
Hurricane: The Indian Movement from
Alcatraz to Wounded Knee. The New
Press, New York,
1996.
Written by to American Indians, Like a Hurricane gives an account of
Indian strategy in opposition to various United States’ Policies and
the
effects of such opposition, analyzing both failure and success.
- Utley, Robert M. The
Last Days of the Sioux Nation. Yale University
Press 1963
One of the most comprehensive
examinations of the misunderstood religious movement that led up to the
and
massacre at Wounded Knee, Utley’s Last
Days of the Sioux Nation is a non-partisan account of the series
of
miscommunications and dangerous assumptions that led to the disaster of
Wounded
Knee.
<>
SECONDARY SOURCES—ESSAYS
<>
- <>Hoover,
Herbert T. ed
Edmunds, David. “Sitting Bull.” American
Indian Leaders: Studies in Diversity. University of Nebraska Press, 1980
An essay written by Hoover, concerning
the life of one of the most famous Ghost Dance leaders, Sitting Bull.
Details his interactions with the governement in the events preceeding
Wounded Knee.
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Shaunlee Salyers