On December 29, 1890, the systemic starvation and cultural collapse of the Lakota Sioux culminated in the tragic Wounded Knee Massacre. In a desperate spiritual response to broken treaties and the near-extinction of the buffalo, the Lakota turned to the peaceful Ghost Dance revitalization movement, which was quickly weaponized by anxious settlers and the U.S. government as a prelude to an uprising. Seeking political optics to reassure white voters, President Benjamin Harrison authorized deploying nearly one-third of the U.S. Army to South Dakota. When the Seventh Cavalry attempted to disarm Chief Spotted Elk's band—consisting of roughly 350 people, more than 200 of whom were women and children—at Wounded Knee Creek, a kinetic moment of miscommunication involving a deaf Lakota named Black Coyote sparked an immediate, point-blank firefight. Utilizi ...