#NativeAmericans Ride to Remember #WoundedKneeMassacre

by Cecily Hilleary, December 21, 2018

WASHINGTON — "Dozens of #Lakota and other #NativeAmericanAllies are about to converge on #Bridger, South Dakota, for a pilgrimage they've made every December for the last 32 years: a 300-kilometer journey on horseback, retracing the historic journey, of a Lakota chief and 350 of his followers, that ended in a massacre.

"#AlexWhitePlume, a former president of the #OglalaSioux on the #PineRidge Reservation, is a founding member of the ride, which he organized in 1986 on the advice of his uncle, a spiritual interpreter.

"'My uncle said that we had to do some grieving over the historic #genocide of our people," said White Plume. 'As Lakota, our whole purpose is to be pure from trauma, ill feelings, guilt. But the historic genocide weighed so heavily on us that we couldn't think past it.'

"His uncle told him they had to bring back the grieving ritual, which Lakota no longer practiced. And to do that, White Plume needed to go back to the place where the Lakota's collective grief began.

Massacre at Wounded Knee

"In mid-December 1890, acting on government orders, tribal police arrested and killed Hunkpapa Lakota leader #SittingBull outside of his cabin on the #StandingRock reservation. His death came at a time when the government was on edge, worrying that #PlainsTribes were plotting rebellion against the abysmal conditions on reservations.

"Fearing for his people's safety, Sitting Bull's ally, #Minneconjou Lakota leader Spotted Elk (dubbed "Big Foot" by the cavalry for the size of his shoes), fled south to the Pine Ridge Reservation with about 350 Lakota, most of them women and children.

"The Army intercepted the travelers, who submitted peacefully and made camp along Wounded Knee Creek in Pine Ridge. On the morning of December 29, the Army began a search for weapons. A shot rang out — who fired and why is still not clear.

"The #USArmy opened a barrage of rifle, pistol and revolving cannon fire.

"Spotted Elk was among the first to fall, and 30 minutes later, as many as 300 Lakota lay dead — adults, children, and even infants. It wasn't until three days later that Army contractors gathered the dead and buried them in a #MassGrave at the rate of $2 per body.

"The massacre marked the end of the #IndianWars, ushering in an era of subjugation, forced assimilation and broken treaties..."

Read more:
https://www.voanews.com/a/native-americans-ride-to-remember-wounded-knee-massacre/4707716.html

#Genocide
#NativeAmericanHistory #NeverForgetWoundedKneee #WoundedKneeMassacre