Today in 1890, December 29, our relatives were gunned down by hotchkiss guns trying to flee after their guns were taken away. Pregnant women were killed, children, women, and men were all killed. Young boys hiding out were coaxed out from a bush after the shooting thinking they
were safe then were killed. A mother with a baby still nursing was killed while trying to touch the flag of truce that Uŋpȟáŋ Glešká put up in camp. Over 150 died right there, estimated that around 300 died, many crawling away and dying. 25 soldiers died, most from their own
howitzer’s and guns. The army went shortly after and gathered up many of the wounded and brought them to the barracks but they were full and sat out in an uncovered wagon during a cold December night until the Episcopal Church was opened.
The pews were removed and straw was laid down, the wounded were moved to the church. The banner in the church still hanging from Christmas services read, “Peace on Earth. Good will toward men.” It was 4 days after Christmas.
A blizzard set in over night in the early morning hours of the 30th. Many lay out in the cold dying from their wounds. On January 1, 3 days and 2 nights of laying out in the blizzard, 11 were rescued and saved by Dr. Charles Eastman.
Civilians were paid 2$ a body to bury them. They dug a huge trench and buried them in a mass grave, throwing the bodies in the grave then jumping on them to push them down. Proud Soldiers and civilians took pictures with our dead relatives like you would after killing a trophy.
They knowingly buried one person alive. 4 days later, January 3 1891, the Aberdeen Pioneer, writer Frank Baum, the author of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, justified the massacre,
“The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extirmination [sic] of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures
from the face of the earth. In this lies future safety for our settlers and the soldiers who are under incompetent commands. Otherwise, we may expect future years to be as full of trouble with the redskins as those have been in the past.”
The Sioux Depredations Act in 1891 was passed by Congress to compensate the victims but the Lakota were never compensated-the only ones compensated were the Churches and non-Native innocent bystanders in the area. After this atrocity, 20 medals of honor were given
to the “brave” soldiers. These medals have never been rescinded. The massacre is still considered a battle by the United States and still claim it as a victory. Colonel Forsyth, the man in charge that day not only got cleared of any charges but would eventually be promoted.
The investigation that was done by his superior Miles was dismissed and pushed under the rug.
My Grandmother, Iteskala, White Face, survived and fled to Standing Rock and would meet and marry my Grandfather.
My Grandmother, Iteskala, White Face, survived and fled to Standing Rock and would meet and marry my Grandfather.
When the wind would blow from the south, she would face it and cry for her relatives.
