Wounded Knee 1973:
Buried Shame or Lost Legend
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In 1890, three hundred men, women, and children of the Sioux
nation were butchered along the creek called Wounded Knee. This 'battle'
marks the end of the Indian conflicts of the nineteenth century. At
Wounded Knee, peaceful Sioux conducting a religious rite, the Ghost Dance,
were killed by the Seventh Cavalry. The Ghost Dance was feared as a
signal for a great Indian uprising. This great Indian uprising was
actually the beginnings of a peaceful religion based on love and very
similar to and possibly heavily influenced by Christianity. In 1973, Indians of many tribes gathered at the same spot, Wounded Knee to protest the treatment of the Oglala Sioux by both their own puppet government set up by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and the Federal government which both perpetuated and supported unfair treatment of the Oglala by this regime. Members of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (Oscro) and the American Indian Movement (AIM), both organizations founded on the legacy of peaceful protest where possible, assembled at Wounded Knee. These protesters were surrounded, fired upon, and later imprisoned for exercising First Amendment rights available to all citizens of the United States. Of course, the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to Indians and therefore, technically, they do not possess these rights. The siege of Wounded Knee lasted seventy-one days. Two Indians were killed and many seriously wounded. One Federal marshal was seriously wounded. The Federal marshals, FBI agents, and Army personel surrounding Wounded Knee fired thousands of rounds of ammunition. The Indians had but few rifles, let alone ammunition. The siege was one sided from the beginning and yet the overwhelming urge of anyone who reads accounts of this event is to cheer the Indians on. No one person can be readily identified with Wounded Knee. Many prominent Indian protesters were there including Russell Means, Dennis Banks, and others. The greatly respected Sioux medicine men Frank Fool's Crow and Leonard Crow Dog were also there. In addition, many names which are less well known also can be listed in connection with the siege. Mary Crow Dog gave birth to her first child during the siege. Annie Mae Aquash a militant greatly feared by the government participated in the siege. Sid Mills a Northwest Coast Indian activist also took part. Many Vietnam veterans aided the Indians to counteract the greater technology and power the Federal government could bring to bear. Two names that can also be associated with Wounded Knee are Frank Clearwater and Buddy Lamont. These two Indians gave their lives for a cause they believed in. It would be impossible to give a complete picture of the siege in such a short paper. I will attempt to show the vast difference in approach to the siege. The Indians never wished to resort to violence and only did so after extreme provocation. The Federal Government on the other hand, as discussed in Rex Weyler's book The Blood of the Land, possibly tried to force a confrontation so as to destroy Indian movements. I will attempt to give a brief sketch of what happened. The year 1973 had been a bad year for the Sioux. During protests in Rapid City, South Dakota, (called by the SIoux the most racist city in America), a Sioux by the name of Badheart Bull had been stabbed to death by a white man. When AIM members attempted to attend the trial and demonstrate outside the courthouse where the trial was being held, a riot ensued in which the South Dakota police broke up the riot using violent means. However, in nearby Pine Ridge, a Sioux reservation, there was a more serious situation. For many years, Dicky Wilson the tribal chairman had abused his authority and used dictator-style goon squads to enforce his rule and destroy those who opposed him. In addition, the Federal government supported his authority and looked the other way in key situations. Dennis Banks, a leader of AIM, in his trial concerning Wounded Knee gave the following testimony:
"the government allowed the chairman, who was under the impeachment hearing to preside over his own impeachment hearing, that they called this meeting [at Calico a few days before the siege of Wounded Knee] because the president [Wilson] declared himself innocent and immediately fired the vice-president for the tribe, who had taken a stand to oppose his actions" (Weyler 75). Of the twenty member tribal council, eleven members were at the meeting at Calico. This meeting directly led to Wounded Knee. There was much discussion of whether or not to take a stand and if so where. As Mary Crow Dog said, "As I remember, it was the older women . . . who first pronounced the magic words 'Wounded Knee'" (Crow Dog 124). From the idea of the older women arose "A fifty-four car caravan" which "proceeded to Wounded Knee, arriving there at 7:30 P.M. [Feb. 28, 1973]" (Weyler 76). So began one of the greatest moments in Indian history. When the caravan arrived they "seized control of the small village, established an armed security perimeter and held eleven hostages including Clive and Agnes Gildersleeve, white owners of the Wounded Knee trading post from which weapons and supplies were confiscated" (Weyler 76). Mary Crow Dog reported that there weapons were "mostly small-bore .22s and old hunting rifles. We had only one automatic weapon, an AK-47 that one Oklahoma boy had brought back from Vietnam as a souvenir" (Crow Dog 126-127). On February 28, the Federal marshals surrounding Wounded Knee obtained two armored personel carriers (APCs) from the South Dakota National Guard. The Indians sent a note to the Federal officials stating that "'The only two options open to the United States of America are: 1. they wipe out the old people, women, children, and men by shooting and attacking us. 2. they negotiate our demands'" (Weyler 78). This note also asked that "Senators William Fullbright, Edward Kennedy, and James Abourezk [of South Dakota] convene senate committees to conduct hearings on Indian treaty rights, investigate the Department of the Interior and BIA [Bureau of Indian Affairs] practices and procedures, and to investigate all SIoux reservations in South Dakota" (Weyler 78). The Attourney General of the United States sent a memo to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's agents on the scene which requested that "all individuals [be] prosecuted. there is to be no amnesty or bonds set . . . prosecute everyone for any crimes possible" (Weyler 81). These are completely different ways of approaching this crisis. One demands that investigations be conducted and that rights be respected. The other abrogates all rights of the individuals involved. However, Indians are not citizens of the United States after all. The Army was involved covertly with this operation and supplied the following munitions: "17 APCs, 130000 rounds of M-16 ammunition, 41000 rounds of M-1 ammunition, 24000 flares, 12 M-79 grenade launchers, 600 cases of C-S gas, 100 rounds of M-40 high explosive rounds, as well as helicopters, Phantom jets, and personel" (Weyler 81). This was in direct violation of an order which forbade the deployment of military personel against civilian populations without Presidential proclamation. (Possibly this reminds us of Kent State) In any case, the AIM protesters seem to have been heavily out-gunned as well as out-scrupled. The situation of the hostages was settled when "most of the hostages chose to stay with the protesters and the ones who wanted to leave were released" (Weyler 82). There were many such turn-abouts. Vietnam veterans helped to drop supplies to the besieged protesters. One woman Gray Fox covered several men while they got under cover. White doctors bowed to the authority of Leonard Crow Dog when it came to medical emergencies. And this is but a small list of such turn-abouts. The siege was long and hard on all. Food, ammunition, and medical supplies were short for the protesters. In addition, other activities went on inside the perimeter other than shooting. Leonard Crow Dog revived the GHost Dance as a means of lifting the morale of the occupants of Wounded Knee. This act carried a great deal of symbolic meaning for the Sioux. However, even more mundane things happened. As Mary Crow Dog said, “WOunded Knee last seventy-one long days. These days were not all passed performing heroic deeds or putting up media shows for the reporters. most of the time was spent in boredom, just trying to stay warm and finding something to eat. WOunded Knee was a place one got scared in occasionally, a place in which people made love, got married Indian style, gave birth, and died.” (Crow Dog 130-131). This is the way many survivors talk of other similar experiences. This experience however has been lost to many of us. Unfortunately, for many reasons, this incident in U.S. history has been glossed over. Until a recent class, I had never heard of this event. WIth the recent similar situations in Waco Texas, Ruby Ridge Idaho, and the current Freed Men crisis in Montana, one would think that the government would learn. The people besieged at Wounded Knee were mostly imprisoned or at least harassed. Mary Crow Dog was taken from her young son and forced to spend a few days in jail. Many of the AIM leaders were imprisoned either directly or indirectly due to their involvement with Wounded Knee. This sort of behavior is not becoming of a government that wishes to impress the world with its values and ideas. Such things are deplored in Bosnia and in Africa. On March 12, 1973, Wounded Knee declaired itself, "a sovereign territory of the independent Oglala Nation. Anybody of good will, Indian or white, could become a citizen" (Crow Dog 140). This country even appointed a delegation to the United Nations. According to the For Laramie treaty of 1868, the Oglala SIoux were an independent nation. Of Course, due to concerns for railroads and gold the treaty was unilaterally abrogated by the U.S. However, this treaty is technically, like so many others broken by our great country, still in effect. It saddens me to think that I live in the "Land of the Free." For when people exercising the right to assembly are shot at and starved into submission, it makes me question whether or not my constitutional rights will be violated if I choose to exert them. But, of course, the Indians are not covered by the Fourteenth Amendment. I forgot.
Works Cited
Anonymous. "Birth of a Nation." Newsweek: March 26, 1973, 81: 22.
Anonymous. "Guerilla Theater." Newsweek: April 9, 1973, 81: 38.
Anonymous. "Not with a Bang . . . " Newsweek: May 21, 1973, 81: 31-
32.
Anonymous. "Raid At Wounded Knee; Sioux Protesters." Time: March
12, 1973, 101: 21.
Anonymous. "Death at Wounded Knee." Time: May 7, 1973, 101: 23.
Anonymous. "Behind A Modern Day Indian Uprising: Sioux Militancy."
U.S. News: March 12, 1973, 74: 36.
Crow Dog, Mary. Lakota Woman. New York: Doubleday and Co., 1990.
Lyman, Stanley David. Wounded Knee 1973: A Personal Account. Lincoln,
Nebraska: U.P. Nebraska, 1991.
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