1976 “Frankly, I was shocked and struck by disbelief at the Army report that said the Wounded Knee incident in 1890 was not a massacre,” Vernon Bellecourt said.
Minority achievements lacking
equal recognition in textbooks
U.S. Army is Accused Of Trying
To Whitewash Indian Massacre
At Wounded Knee, 85 Years Ago
1976 Jan 1 The Cumberland News
Pierre, SD – A national coordinator of the American Indian Movement said this week the US Army is using a “hypocritical, false report” to try to justify the deaths of 146 Sioux Indian men, women and children at Wounded Knee, SD, 85 years ago.
“Frankly, I was shocked and struck by disbelief at the Army report that said the Wounded Knee incident in 1890 was not a massacre,” Vernon Bellecourt said.
The Army report released concluded that it is unfair and inaccurate to describe the incident on the Pine Ridge Reservation as a massacre.
Historians view Wounded Knee as the last fighting of the long Indian wars of the 19th century. It culminated efforts by the Army to force Indians, including a group led by a chief named Big Foot, to return to the reservation.
The study said cavalrymen did not engage in “deliberate, intentional shooting of helpless persons” and it added, “Contrary to popular conception of the Wounded Knee episode, the civilian authorities and the Army showed great restraint and compassion in the events leading up to the encounter.”
The report, based on a on a study by Army historians of official records and private publications, was given to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee is studying a bill by Sen. James Abourezk, D-SD, giving to the descendants of the nearly 150 Indians killed and at least 33 Indians injured at Wounded Knee $3,000 per family. The report opposed the payments.
“I just can’t believe that the Army would try 85 years later to stop those payments,” said Bellecourt, reached at national AIM headquarters in Mahnomen, Minn.
“What would be wrong with an attempt to rectify the injustices done in 1890, particularly during this Bicentennial years?”
Vine Deloria Sr, a Sioux clergyman in Pierre, SD, said he had talked with several people who were at the Wounded Knee clash.
“One thing is sure. It was a massacre, pure and simple. It’s fantastic to try to whitewash it now,” he said.
Robert P. Burnette, tribal chairman of the Rosebud SD, Sioux Indian tribe, who announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination, and he will bring a witness to the Judiciary committee’s hearings Jan 20, who was at Wounded Knee in 1890.
“The witness can testify that… those people were surrounded and had been stripped of their weapons,” said Burnette, author of a book called “The Road to Wounded Knee.”
The Army study contends that it was an Indian who fired the first shot of the battle.
“It didn’t matter who shot first,” said Abourezk. “The Army had chased the Indians all across the state, had them surrounded and was threatening them.”
1976 Feb 20, Newport Navalog
To Whitewash Indian Massacre
At Wounded Knee, 85 Years Ago
1976 Jan 1 The Cumberland News
Pierre, SD – A national coordinator of the American Indian Movement said this week the US Army is using a “hypocritical, false report” to try to justify the deaths of 146 Sioux Indian men, women and children at Wounded Knee, SD, 85 years ago.
“Frankly, I was shocked and struck by disbelief at the Army report that said the Wounded Knee incident in 1890 was not a massacre,” Vernon Bellecourt said.
The Army report released concluded that it is unfair and inaccurate to describe the incident on the Pine Ridge Reservation as a massacre.
Historians view Wounded Knee as the last fighting of the long Indian wars of the 19th century. It culminated efforts by the Army to force Indians, including a group led by a chief named Big Foot, to return to the reservation.
The study said cavalrymen did not engage in “deliberate, intentional shooting of helpless persons” and it added, “Contrary to popular conception of the Wounded Knee episode, the civilian authorities and the Army showed great restraint and compassion in the events leading up to the encounter.”
The report, based on a on a study by Army historians of official records and private publications, was given to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee is studying a bill by Sen. James Abourezk, D-SD, giving to the descendants of the nearly 150 Indians killed and at least 33 Indians injured at Wounded Knee $3,000 per family. The report opposed the payments.
“I just can’t believe that the Army would try 85 years later to stop those payments,” said Bellecourt, reached at national AIM headquarters in Mahnomen, Minn.
“What would be wrong with an attempt to rectify the injustices done in 1890, particularly during this Bicentennial years?”
Vine Deloria Sr, a Sioux clergyman in Pierre, SD, said he had talked with several people who were at the Wounded Knee clash.
“One thing is sure. It was a massacre, pure and simple. It’s fantastic to try to whitewash it now,” he said.
Robert P. Burnette, tribal chairman of the Rosebud SD, Sioux Indian tribe, who announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination, and he will bring a witness to the Judiciary committee’s hearings Jan 20, who was at Wounded Knee in 1890.
“The witness can testify that… those people were surrounded and had been stripped of their weapons,” said Burnette, author of a book called “The Road to Wounded Knee.”
The Army study contends that it was an Indian who fired the first shot of the battle.
“It didn’t matter who shot first,” said Abourezk. “The Army had chased the Indians all across the state, had them surrounded and was threatening them.”
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| 1976 Jan 1 The Cumberland News |
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