Big Foot (tribal chief)
Big Foot, also known as Sitanka, was a prominent leader of the Miniconjou Sioux during a pivotal and tragic period in Native American history. Born around 1825, he assumed leadership of his band following his father's death in 1874 and was notable for his early adoption of farming practices after the Sioux Wars. By 1889, the socio-economic conditions for the Sioux had deteriorated significantly, marked by failed crops and increasing threats from the U.S. government to seize their land. In this environment, the Ghost Dance movement, led by the prophet Wovoka, emerged as a source of hope for many Sioux, despite it inciting fear among white settlers.
The tension escalated following a call from the citizens of Chadron, Nebraska, for the disarmament of the Sioux, which set off a tragic sequence of events. This culminated in the infamous massacre at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, where Big Foot's band was attacked by the U.S. Seventh Cavalry. Although Big Foot was suffering from pneumonia at the time, he and many of his people were caught in the crossfire, resulting in the deaths of nearly two hundred Sioux and about twenty-five soldiers. The exact number of casualties remains debated, but the event is now a significant and sorrowful chapter in the history of U.S.-Native American relations.
Big Foot (tribal chief)
- Born: c. 1825
- Birthplace: Place unknown
- Died: December 29, 1890
- Place of death: South Dakota
Category: Tribal chief
Tribal affiliation: Minneconjou Sioux
Significance: Big Foot was the leader of the band of nearly two hundred men, women, and children who were killed by the U.S. Seventh Cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, on December 29, 1890
Big Foot is primarily remembered as a central figure in the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee Creek. Born around 1825, he became a tribal leader upon the death of his father in 1874. Shortly after the Sioux wars of 1876, he began farming and was one of the first Sioux to raise corn. In the year 1889, however, conditions for the Sioux became nearly intolerable, with failed crops and threats from the U.S. government to take over much of the remaining Sioux land. Into this situation came the hope offered by the Ghost Dance of the prophet Wovoka. The Ghost Dance was among the things that struck fear into white settlers in the area.
A resolution by the citizens of Chadron, Nebraska, in November, 1890, requested that the secretary of war order all Sioux in the area be disarmed and deprived of their horses (Chadron is on the border with South Dakota). The Sioux people of the Pine Ridge, Rosebud, and Standing Rock reservations frequently visited the town. The suggestion of the Chadron citizens’ committee initiated a chain of events that included the murder of Sitting Bull by reservation police, the flight of his people to Big Foot’s camp, and the tragic massacre of Sioux under the leadership of Big Foot by the U.S. Seventh Cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, on December 29, 1890.
Many have tried to decipher what happened that day. Most accounts agree that Big Foot was dying of pneumonia. One thing is certain: In the confusion of the military chain guard that surrounded the Sioux council that day, military gunfire took the lives of nearly two hundred Sioux men, women, and children. Twenty-five soldiers died as well—many of whom fell in the crossfire, killed by comrades. The inscribed monument erected at Wounded Knee Cemetery by survivor Joseph Horn Cloud bears the names of 185 Indian people killed that day. Other estimates, however, have placed the number at three hundred or higher.