Wounded Knee Massacre
...ls began opening fire with their Hotchkiss guns. The troops hit many innocent women and children who came pouring out of their teepees when they heard the shots. The guns started many of the teepees on fire and tribe members ran trying to escape. On New Year’s Day of 1889, A Paiute rancher named Wovoka, described his dream which became the Native American Ghost Dance religion. According to “http://www.viewzone.com/wovoka.html” In his dream he conversed with God who promised a new world set aside for the Native Indians. “The wildlife of the region which was nearly depleted by white settlers would be replenished. The white settlers would vanish and the Native dead would be resurrected and reunited with their living ancestors. Suffering, starvation, pain and disease would be wiped away forever. The followers of this religion didn’t believe in fighting, cruelty, stealing, war, or lying. Followers of the faith were required to learn a dance. The Ghost Dance took on a militaristic aspect. It was the Sioux Indian tribe that began to wear new traditional loose white clothing, known as Ghost Shirts were to be worn to deflect bullets fired by white soldiers or settlers. Reports were sent from the District of Colombia that the army would be sent to control any possible uprising by these Indian tribes due to the fear of the white American citizens in the area of South Dakota, especially near the Badlands of South Dakota. Sitting Bull, leader of the Sioux Indian tribe, was arrested on December 14, 1890 for visiting the Pine Ridge Agency at Standing Rock. Blame was put on Sitting Bull, the chief medicine man of the Lakota people. He was apathetic to the Ghost Dance and only allowed its introduction at Pine Ridge with great caution. During the arrest, Sitting Bull had protested the charges and he shouted to his ...