Wounded Knee, 1890 and today: a special resource study for planning alternatives

Abstract

One hundred years after the 1890 massacre of Lakota Indians by the United States Army at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, the U.S. National Park Service undertook a special resource study to examine options for commemorating the tragic event and preserving the site. Authorized by Congress, the study evaluated strategies ranging from establishing a national historic site or memorial to a national tribal park. This paper calls attention to the bi-cultural interactions of the multi-disciplinary study team with various Lakota groups to gather data and develop alternatives. It emphasizes the importance of establishing and maintaining trust with the Lakota groups through ethnographic interviewing, small-group meetings, and frequent other ongoing communications. Absolute honesty between all groups was essential to a successful outcome of the study, which is not to imply that any of the report's options will be adopted.