On December 29, 1890, hundreds of U.S. troops surrounded a Lakota camp and opened fire, killing more than 250 Indigenous men, women, and children in a violent massacre.

In the late 19th century, the U.S. Government began forcefully relocating Native Americans onto reservations, where they were dependent on the government for food and clothing. In response, some Native American people embraced a religion called Ghost Dance, which promoted the belief that by adhering to ancestral traditions and rituals, Native Americans would be returned to a pre-European state of freedom. The Ghost Dance performance and religion frightened the U.S. federal government, and sensationalist newspapers across the country stoked fears about an uprising by Native Americans.

In December 1890, Lakota Chief Sitting Bull—who led his people during years of resistance to U.S. government policies—was killed by Indian Agency Police on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation as authorities attempted to arrest him for his involvement in the Ghost Dance movement.

Shortly after Sitting Bull’s killing, several hundred Lakota fled in hopes of reaching the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and finding a peaceful resolution. On December 29, 1890, in the morning, 500 troops of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment surrounded the Lakota band where they had made camp at Wounded Knee Creek. The troops entered the camp to disarm them, and during a brief scuffle between a soldier and a Lakota man who refused to surrender his weapon, the rifle fired, alarming the rest of the troops. The U.S. soldiers began firing on the Lakota, many of whom tried to flee the assault. The attack left more than 250 Lakota dead; over half of those killed were women, children, and elderly tribal members, and most of the dead were unarmed.