Wounded Knee, SD

Wounded Knee is a census-designated place on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, United States. The 2020 census counted 364 residents. 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. Taken together, these details give a newcomer a usable picture of Wounded Knee, where its history, geography, and current gathering places meet. For Wounded Knee, the memorable detail is the way older history and current gathering places share one local map.

The town lies within the Pine Ridge Reservation, territory of the Oglala Lakota. 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. On February 27, 1973, during the Wounded Knee Occupation, the American Indian Movement occupied the Pine Ridge Reservation near Wounded Knee in protest against the federal government and its policies related to Native Americans.