We Were All Wounded At Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee (Lakota: Čaŋkpé Opí) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 382 at the 2010 census.

The town is named for the Wounded Knee Creek which runs through the region. The bones and heart of the Sioux chief Crazy Horse were reputedly buried along this creek by his family following his death in 1877. The town lies within the Pine Ridge Reservation, territory of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux).

History

On December 29, 1890, in the same area, in an incident known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, the United States 7th Cavalry killed more than 300 men, women and children who were being relocated to the Sioux reservation at Pine Ridge.

In 1973, during the Wounded Knee incident, the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied the Pine Ridge Reservation near Wounded Knee in protest against the federal government and its policies related to Native Americans. They began the occupation on February 27. A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the AIM ensued. The group members surrendered on May 8.

In 1973, Redbone released the politically oriented "We Were All Wounded at Wounded Knee", recalling the massacre of Lakota Sioux Indians by the 7th Cavalry Regiment in 1890. The song ends with the subtly altered sentence "We were all wounded 'by' Wounded Knee". It charted in several European countries and reached the No. 1 position in The Netherlands but did not chart in the U.S. where it was initially withheld from release due to lyrical controversy and then banned by several radio stations due to its confrontation of a sore subject.