Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee :: essays research papers

Bury My Heart at Wounded KneeThe Indians were being confined to crowed reservations that were poorly run, had just 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 accordingly began to Ghost Dance a form of religion it is express that if the Indians were to do this trance like dance the coun deform would be cleansed of white intruders. Also all in(p) 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 spill 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 forces 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&8217s group contained about 300 people two-thirds of them were women and children. While the soldiers numbered around 500 and were armed with automatonlike 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 hold out 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.