The main difference between the wounded knee protest and other protests during the civil rights era was that it took a long time. The Oglala protesters had seized and occupied the town of wounded knee, South Dakota, for seventy-one days. According to Wishart (2006), the story began in October when Daniel Royer assumed responsibility as an agent at Pine Ridge. There was no lasting solution up until 29 th December 1890 when the protest turned into a massacre. During this time, the town was cordoned off by government officials, and when the protesters could not acquire food due to the 1890 drought, they depended on the federal government for food (Wishart, 2006).
The actions of the native American protesters were justified. Native Americans had been experiencing racism for centuries. All their attempts to seek equality and justice through law had not been successful. The government had not honoured the treaties that had been agreed upon before. The wounded knee occupation was an act of desperation to force the government into acting upon these treaties. However, during this time, all the government did only made things worse. According to Wishart (2006), the selection of Daniel Royer as an agent was a wrong move. Royer did not know much about native Americans and even irrationally afraid of them (Wishart, 2006). That resulted in the channelling of false information to the government about the native Americans.
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From Geronimo’s time all through to wounded knee, the main issue of native Americans has to do with their traditional way of life and the injustices from European Americans. According to Wishart (2006), native Americans at wounded knee started a religion, Ghost Dance, to reconnect with their roots. The response of the government has always been hostile. It does not respect or support the beliefs of people.
