Early American Musings

Today, we drove through the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and stopped at the Wounded Knee Memorial. The memorial site was small, and apart from a sign in the car park, there was little to indicate to passersby that this was the site of an important event in American history.

Entering the town of Pine Ridge, there was a marked cultural shift from the small Nebraska towns we had previously been passing through. There were groups of young people, nearly all Native American, gathered at street corners and people walking and cycling, something we hadn’t seen much outside larger towns and cities. A few dogs were roaming the streets. Many of the homes looked relatively impoverished, and all seemed small; almost every other home was a trailer home. Many of them looked like scrapyards with collections of old cars and machinery rusting outside.  At one point, a cluster of homes up a dirt track, surrounded by rusting vehicles, reminded me of a South African township. This was rural poverty, unlike anything we had seen in West Virginia or Kentucky. While some of the public buildings, schools, and clinics were modern and looked state-of-the-art, it was clear that many people lived close to or below the poverty line.

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was officially established by the United States government in 1889 as part of partition of the Great Sioux Reservation. This Great Sioux Reservation had been established at the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868, and the US government had promised the lands to the Sioux Nation in perpetuity. But then gold had been discovered in the Black Hills, and the government rewrote the treaty. Then came the Dawes Act of 1887, where tribal lands, instead of being allocated communally, were divided into allotments allocated to individual families. The rationale was that it was much easier to persuade an individual family to sell their land than it was to persuade an entire people. In 1889, the Great Sioux Reservation was subdivided into several smaller reservations, including Pine Ridge, which became the new home for the Oglala band of the Lakota Sioux.

Then, on December 29, 1890, came the Wounded Knee Massacre. Tensions between the United States government and the Sioux had been escalating as more and more Sioux men began to participate in the ghost dance–a spiritual movement promising the restoration of Native lands and the disappearance of white settlers. When Lakota police officers were ordered to arrest Chief Sitting Bull in mid-December 1890, shots were fired, and Sitting Bull was killed. A few days later, a large band of Miniconjou Lakota led by Chief Big Foot appeared heading towards Pine Ridge, seeking refuge. Fearing the intentions of the group, the 7th Cavalry was sent to intercept them and caught up with the group—composed mainly of elderly men, women, and children—outside Wounded Knee. The Cavalry had orders to disarm the group, but as they were doing this, a shot went off, prompting the soldiers to open fire, and 250-300 Lakota were massacred.  Wounded Knee is often used as a marker for the end of the Indian Wars and the end of Native Resistance. For the Lakota people, the massacre marked a nadir of their struggle for autonomy and survival. It also became a touchstone for future generations of Native activists seeking justice and historical recognition.

The legacy of this history is evident in the twenty-first century. Today, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation continues to face significant social and economic challenges. With a population of between 20,000 to 40,000, depending on estimates, the reservation is one of the poorest areas in the United States. Unemployment rates are around 50%, and per capita income remains well below the national average. There are numerous health problems, with high rates of diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, and suicide. Life expectancy on Pine Ridge is significantly lower than the national average—comparable in some respects to developing nations.
There is a significant shortage of housing, resulting in many families living in overcrowded or substandard conditions. Finally, deficiencies in infrastructure, such as limited access to clean water, reliable electricity, and internet connectivity, further restrict opportunities for development.

Despite all the visible signs of poverty, there are also many indications of cultural revival. We saw many institutions such as Oglala Lakota College, tribal courts, and health clinics, most newly constructed, all demonstrating a commitment to self-determination. Cultural practices—including powwows, Lakota language programmes, and traditional ceremonies—have all seen a resurgence in popularity. As we travelled through Pine Ridge, we observed numerous small cultural and arts centers, clearly showcasing the thriving Lakota culture in the area.

I wish I had had the chance to spend more time in Pine Ridge and to engage with some of the Lakota people. Although I have studied a great deal of early Native American history, I have had very few opportunities to discuss and explore Native American perspectives on their history.  This is certainly something I should try and do.