Big Foot
Miniconjou Sioux
Topics covered in this document:
Introduction
As the leader of the Miniconjou band of Sioux, Big Foot (????-1890)
haunts our history books. His photo, taken after the senseless massacre
at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890 shows his fallen, frozen
corpse sprawled in a snow bank.
He seems to have died trying to raise himself, as if trying to warn
his people.
Ghost Dance
Big Foot and his people lived on the Cheyenne River Reservation
in present-day South Dakota and were among the most enthusiastic
believers in the Ghost Dance ceremony.
Lakota Needed a Messiah
Following the final break-up of their great Reservation in 1889,
the Lakota desperately wanted to believe in a messiah who would deliver
them from their hunger and misery. The Ghost Dance ceremony, which
celebrated just such a messianic renewal, swept rapidly through the
encampments of the Oglala people. See the biography of Wovoka for further details about the
Ghost Dance.
Indian Agents Feared Ghost Dance
The local Indian Agents saw the Ghost Dance differently, often
reacting with alarm. In many cases, Army troops were called in to
forcibly suppress the dancers and to "restore order."
Sitting Bull Promotes Ghost Dance
The problem was that Sitting
Bull was suspected of encouraging the Ghost Dance at the Standing
Rock Reservation in order to provoke an uprising.
In the military frenzy to curtail Sitting Bull's activities, the
Indian police who were sent to arrest the aging holy man ended up
killing him instead (with a bayonnet in the back).
Fearful of a bloodbath of reprisal, many of Sitting Bull's band fled
south, where they were taken in by Big Foot's band.
Wounded Knee
Wanting to avoid any possibility of further violence, Big Foot led
his people farther south ... toward the Pine Ridge Reservation, hoping
to find safety there. Increasingly ill with pneumonia, he camped near
Wounded Knee Creek, surrounded on all sides by angry soldiers patrolling
the plains for roving bands.
On December 28, 1890, the Army caught up with Big Foot's band and
proceeded to set up several large Hotchkiss guns on a hill above the
camp.
Army Confiscates Indian Guns
Early the next morning, under a white flag in the Indian camp, the
Army began confiscating the band's weapons. No one knows for sure how it
happened, but one of the Indian guns went off -- accidently or
otherwise -- while it was being stacked.
All Hell Breaks Loose
Suddenly all hell broke loose as the repeating Hotchkiss guns opened
fire. Within minutes, the bullet-riddled bodies of some 370 Lakota men,
women and children lay dead, many of them cut down in their tracks as
they sought shelter against the creek bank.
Slaughter of Women and Children
In their blood lust, the soldiers even pursued fleeing women and
children, shooting some as far as two miles away.
One Indian witness recalled:
A mother was shot down with her infant; the child, not knowing that its
mother was dead, was still nursing ... and after most of them had been
killed, a cry was made that all those who were not killed or wounded
should come forth and they would be safe. Little boys ... came out of
their places of refuge, and as soon as they came in sight, a number of
soldiers surrounded them and butchered them there.
Big Foot was among the first to be slaughtered. His frozen corpse lay
untouched for three days ... until it was unceremoniously dumped into a
mass grave.
Civilized or Savage?
Sadly, the massacre at Wounded Knee was done by so called "civilized"
people. I don't know ... this particular event makes them sound far more
savage than any of the warriors they feared. But alas, cruelty seems to
be an inherent part of human nature.
What Next?
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Have a pleasant day!
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