On this day of December 29th, 1890, near the Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation, over 200 men, women, and children were unalived by the 7th Cavalry commanded by Colonel James W. Forsyth. After Lala Sitting Bull's unaliving on Dec. 15, 1890, many Hunkpapa fled Standing Rock and later joined Chief Spotted Elk (Big Foot) and his Mniconjou band at the Cheyenne River Reservation. Together, they sought to seek shelter with Chief Red Cloud on the Pine Ridge Reservation. They were intercepted by a detachment of the 7th Cavalry. They did not make it to join Chief Red Cloud. Theories and stories have been in circulation since the incident, One such story states that while attempting to "disarm" the camp, a lone shot was fired which caused the 7th Cavalry to open fire on the camp. Hotchkiss guns and standard military munitions were used. As our relatives fled that morning, they were pursued and unalived as well. Those unalived were left to the elements for a blizzard set in over night in the early morning hours of the 30th. Many lay out in the cold dying from their wounds. On January 1, 3 days and 2 nights of laying out in the blizzard, 11 were rescued and saved by Dr. Charles Eastman. Civilians were paid 2$ a body to bury them. They dug a huge trench and buried them in a mass grave, throwing the bodies in the grave then jumping on them to push them down. Proud Soldiers and civilians took pictures with our unalive relatives like you would after killing a trophy. They knowingly buried one person alive. 4 days later, January 3 1891, the Aberdeen Pioneer, writer Frank Baum, the author of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, justified the massacre, “The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extirmination [sic] of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth. In this lies future safety for our settlers and the soldiers who are under incompetent commands. Otherwise, we may expect future years to be as full of trouble with the redskins as those have been in the past.” The mass grave and the site is now a National Historic Landmark. The Sioux Depredations Act in 1891 was passed by Congress to compensate the victims but the Lakota were never compensated-the only ones compensated were the Churches and non-Native innocent bystanders in the area. After this atrocity, 20 medals of honor were given to the “brave” soldiers. These medals have never been rescinded. The massacre is still considered a battle by the United States and still claim it as a victory. Colonel Forsyth, the man in charge that day not only got cleared of any charges but would eventually be promoted. The investigation that was done by his superior Miles was dismissed and pushed under the rug. Never forget. ❤️ December 29, 1890. I suggest that you read more into this. Look at their photos. I tried to add the photos last year but the tok flagged me so I made this post PG as possible.
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