Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

The Dawes Act is passed in 1887, aiming to break up communal Native lands into individual allotments. It promotes assimilation by turning tribal members into private landowners and citizens. Over its 47-year span, about 90 million acres of treaty land were lost, and roughly 90,000 Native Americans became landless.

The Dawes Commission is formed to develop an allotment plan for the Sioux, breaking up the Great Sioux Reservation to satisfy American land demands while preserving some land for Sioux use. The plan puts tribal leaders in a difficult position and faces staunch resistance from Sitting Bull and others.

Sitting Bull emerges as a leading opponent to the Dawes plan, challenging federal efforts to reorganize tribal lands. His leadership complicates the government's attempt to implement the allotments on the reservations.

Eastman and his wife Elaine Goodale work to improve life on the reservation, advocating reform and better conditions for Native peoples. Their dedication highlights tensions between assimilation policies and Native self-determination.

Senator Dawes asks Eastman to help persuade the recalcitrant tribal leaders to accept the Dawes framework. Eastman is included as a mediator in the effort to sway communities toward allotment and assimilation.

After witnessing the harsh conditions on the Sioux reservation, Eastman refuses to participate in pressuring tribes to abandon their ways. He questions the morality of policies that undermine Native cultures and livelihoods.

Wovoka's Ghost Dance movement spreads hope among Plains peoples, offering a vision of renewal and deliverance from white oppression. The revival heightens anxiety in U.S. authorities who fear upheaval on the reservations.

Sitting Bull is assassinated during a volatile period as federal policies press for change. His death removes a central figure for Sioux resistance and alters the momentum of the opposition.

The massacre at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, claims nearly 200 Lakota men, women, and children. It marks a brutal end to the Ghost Dance era and a turning point in U.S. Native policy.

From 1893 onward, the Dawes Commission advances its plan to break up the Great Sioux Reservation into individual allotments. The process is contested by tribal leaders and communities who fear loss of land, culture, and sovereignty.

Over the decades, the Dawes Act results in the transfer of vast tracts of land away from Native ownership. About 90 million acres disappear, and around 90,000 Native Americans become landless as titles pass to non-Native settlers.

Across the nation, assimilation policies reshape Native American life by prioritizing private land ownership over communal living. The disruption of traditional structures weakens tribal cohesion and cultural practices for generations.