Spotted Elk

As chief, Spotted Elk (who later became known by the name of “Big Foot” or Sitȟáŋka), was considered a great man of peace. He was best known among his people for his political and diplomatic successes. He was skilled at settling mass quarrels and was often in great demand among other Teton bands.

During the 1870s, Spotted Elk and his brother Touch the Clouds (Lakota:Maȟpíya Ičáȟtagya) allied their bands against the US Army, together with Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake) and Crazy Horse (Lakota:Tȟašúŋke Witkó) . Spotted Elk saw no major action during the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. However, his tribe – the Miniconjou, Lakota Sioux – suffered during the war, after which they surrendered.

Following the Sioux Wars, the government placed the Miniconjou on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, South Dakota. Spotted Elk encouraged adaptation to reservation life, by way of developing sustainable agriculture and building schools for Lakota children. He was amongst the first American Indians to raise corn in accordance with government standards. Spotted Elk also advocated a peaceful attitude toward white settlers.

Due to poor living conditions on the reservations, the Lakota struggled greatly to survive. In some cases, Indian agents were corrupt, undertaking fraud and stealing Lakota supplies/annuities. By 1889 they were in despair, and looked for change.

The radical solution came in the form of the Ghost Dance movement, a new religion initiated by Paiute prophet Wovoka. Spotted Elk and the Lakota became among the most enthusiastic believers in the “Ghost Dance” ceremony when it arrived among them, in the spring of 1890. Although governmental reservation rules outlawed the practice of the religion, the movement swept like wildfire through the camps and local Indian agents reacted with alarm. Some agents successfully suppressed the dancers, while others called for federal troops to restore order.

After ( 1890-12-15)15 December 1890, when Sitting Bull was killed on Standing Rock Reservation, his followers fled for refuge at the camp of his former-ally and half-brother, Chief Spotted Elk. Fearing arrest and government reprisals against his band, Spotted Elk led his band south to the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, at the invitation of Chief Red Cloud (Lakota: Maȟpíya Lúta). Red Cloud hoped that his fellow chief could help make peace. Seeking safety, flying a white flag and with no intention of fighting, Spotted Elk contracted pneumonia on the journey to Pine Ridge.

On December 28, 1890, Maj. Samuel M. Whitside's battalion of the 7th Cavalry intercepted the Lakota. Ill with pneumonia, Spotted Elk surrendered peacefully, with his band; the cavalry took them into custody, escorting them to a campsite near Wounded Knee Creek, Pine Ridge, where they were to set camp. The site was already established with a store and several log houses.

The night before the massacre, Col. James W. Forsyth arrived at Wounded Knee Creek and ordered his men to position four Hotchkiss cannons around the area in which the Lakota had been forced to camp.

On the morning of December 29, 1890, Forsyth's soldiers entered the camp and demanded that the Lakota give up their weapons. In the ensuing confrontation, a firearm was discharged. It was later believed to have been by a deaf man, Black Coyote, who presumably did not hear the command to put down his rifle. A large gun fight quickly ensued. The US forces killed more than 250 Lakota, mostly non-combatants (women and children) and Spotted Elk was among those killed.