Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD

Place: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD
Weather: Mostly Sunny, 66/91F
Route: From Keystone, SD 78 miles southeast on SD-40 E and BIA Hwy 41.

Significance: The Pine Ridge Reservation was originally part of the Great Sioux Reservation set aside in the Fort Laramie Treaty in 1868.  The Pine Ridge Reservation, mostly in its current size, was made in 1889.  That same year a new movement started - called the Ghost Dance - started by a Native American prophet, Wovoka in present day Nevada. His vision was that by doing a type of "circle dance" that all evil could be swept away, leaving only love and faith in the world. The dance was meant to be a reunion of the living and the dead - which led to it's name.
In the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation the meaning of the dance was modified - in that by washing away evil - that must include the invading European Americans.  The dances frightened the U.S. forces - as they believed it was preparation for a new war.  In the neighboring Standing Rock reservation, Sitting Bull was arrested for not stopping his people from practicing the Ghost Dance. During his arrest there was a skirmish and he was shot and killed. A Lakota chief Spotted Elk left Standing Rock to go speak with leaders at Pine Ridge. On his way he was intercepted by the U.S. Army, who forced his followers to give up their weapons. One of his followers refused and during a struggle his weapon fired - the army then started firing indiscriminately. Some of the Native Americans were able to get back their weapons and defend themselves - but it soon became a massacre. 151 Native Americans, over half women and children were killed in what would be known as the Wounded Knee massacre.
The current state of life on the reservation is that 97% of inhabitants live below the national poverty line - it is one of the poorest areas in the U.S..

Website: National Historic Site of Wounded Knee.

Image:

Wounded Knee Memorial (from roadsideamerica.com)