wafflesatnoon.com » Hoaxes & Rumors » Was There an 1890 School Shooting Worse than Sandy Hook?
Was There an 1890 School Shooting Worse than Sandy Hook?
A heavily-shared graphic claims that the deadliest school shooting was not Sandy Hook, but one that occurred in 1890 when 290 Indians were killed. Today we’ll take a look at this claim.
The claim is misleading. There was a massacre in 1890 but it did not occur at a school.
Let’s first take a look at what is being claimed:
Sandy Hook the deadliest school shooting in U.S. History…?
I think not. In 1890 the U.S. Government shot and killed over 290 UNARMED Indians at school, including over 200 women and children. How quickly we forget history.
They gave up their guns, too. Remember that!
Based on the assertions made above, we can only assume that this refers to the Wounded Knee Massacre, which occurred in the final days of 1890.
Wounded Knee
The following synopsis of the Wounded Knee Massacre comes from u-s-history.com.
On December 28, 14 days after the brutal shooting of Sitting Bull, the U.S. Army sought to disarm and relocate the Lakota people, who failed to stop their Ghost Dance.
The U.S. authorities ordered the arrest of another Lakota chief, Big Foot. Big Foot’s band, which consisted mostly of women who had lost their husbands and other male relatives in battles with Custer, Miles and Crook, had danced until they collapsed, hoping to guarantee the return of their dead warriors. Big Foot and about 350 Lakota marched to Pine Ridge Reservation to seek protection from the military. At Pine Ridge they surrendered on December 28, 1890, and were escorted to Wounded Knee by the military, where they established a camp at Wounded Knee Creek.
The following morning, December 29, 1890, the military ordered all Indian weapons to be relinquished and burned. A medicine man advocated armed resistance telling the other Indians that their Ghost Dance shirts were bulletproof.
A shot was fired by an unidentified gunman.
On the frozen plains at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation, government troops opened fire on the mostly unarmed Lakota people, and massacred 290 Sioux men, women and children, including many trying to flee, in a matter of minutes. Thirty-three soldiers died, most from friendly fire, 20 Medals of Honor were presented to surviving soldiers.
Let’s take a look at the individual claims presented in the graphic, which as of this writing has nearly 50,000 shares on Facebook.
Claims
- 290 Indians Killed: TRUE. The actual number varies, but 290 is a figure sometimes used.
- Indians were unarmed: MOSTLY TRUE. A few Lakota warriors had guns, but most of the Indians were unarmed.
- Indians killed at school: FALSE. This event did not take place at a school.
- Over 200 women and children killed: TRUE
- They gave up their guns: MIXED. They were ordered to relinquish their weapons after surrendering. It is suggested that a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote refused to give up his rifle, which led to shots being fired and the escalation of the event.
Bottom Line
The Wounded Knee Massacre was a terrible tragedy in which nearly 300 mostly-unarmed Indians were killed. To categorize it as a school shooting, however, is completely without merit.
For a comprehensive list of school shootings in the U.S. see this Wikipedia article.
Read more articles related to gun control rumors and hoaxes here.
Sources:
- Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970. Print.
- Gitlin, Marty. Wounded Knee Massacre. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC, Santa Barbara. 2011. Print
- Wikipedia contributors. “Wounded Knee Massacre.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.
Filed under: Hoaxes & Rumors · Tags: Gun Control
tolowa indians….
the burnt ranch massacre …
yontocket is a word for school house…the ranch was where a celebration was taking place……
https://eee.uci.edu/clients/tcthorne/anthro/gouldburntranch.html
The first killing took place at Burnt Ranch, three miles south of the mouth of the Smith River, at the rancheria called Yahnk-tah-kut,
a name perpetuated by the district school house name.
Here a large number of Indians were caught during a ceremonial dance and ruthlessly slaughtered. The Indians say this was the first killing…
he Yontoket Massacre or Burnt Ranch Massacre was an 1853 massacre of Tolowa people at the village of Yontocket (Tolowa: yan’-daa-k’vt [1]), California. One Tolowa man said that more than 450 people were killed in the attack. The massacre was conducted by a “company” organized by American citizens of Crescent City.
At the time of the attack, the Tolowa had been engaged in a prayer ceremony. After the initial massacre, a Tolowa man reported that those responsible for the attack started a bonfire, in which they burned sacred ceremonial clothing and feathers, as well as babies, some of them still living. Little or no loss of life was reported on the American side.[2]
On Wednesday night, the third annual Candlelight Vigil honoring the Tolowa Dee-ni’ (people) killed at Yan’-daa-kivt (Yontocket) in the 19th century attempted to move past the pain by acknowledging the massacre.
The vigil offered a time to reflect on the more than 450 Tolowa killed in 1853 by white settlers pushing into the area, but it’s also a time to give thanks to the surviving ancestors who kept the Tolowa people in existence.
Yontocket was the name of the ranchera. It seems to be implied that the schoolhouse (and the modern town) were named in memorium of the event.
It also occured in 1853, not 1890, and had much to do with racism and ethnic tension and virtually nothing to do with a school.
You should read the articles you link to.
Boy, you sure have rewritten the account of the Wounded Knee Massacre. Where did you get your facts?
From the sources cited in the article. Which facts do you believe are wrong?
The ones that don’t say “the gubmint’s a comin’ fer yer guns!” facts. Pay them no mind.
Philip Wells was a mixed-blood Sioux who served as an interpreter for the Army. He later recounted what he saw that Monday morning:
“I was interpreting for General Forsyth (Forsyth was actually a colonel) just before the battle of Wounded Knee, December 29, 1890. The captured Indians had been ordered to give up their arms, but Big Foot replied that his people had no arms. Forsyth said to me, ‘Tell Big Foot he says the Indians have no arms, yet yesterday they were well armed when they surrendered. He is deceiving me. Tell him he need have no fear in giving up his arms, as I wish to treat him kindly.’ Big Foot replied, ‘They have no guns, except such as you have found.’ Forsyth declared, ‘You are lying to me in return for my kindness.’
During this time a medicine man, gaudily dressed and fantastically painted, executed the maneuvers of the ghost dance, raising and throwing dust into the air. He exclaimed ‘Ha! Ha!’ as he did so, meaning he was about to do something terrible, and said, ‘I have lived long enough,’ meaning he would fight until he died. Turning to the young warriors who were squatted together, he said ‘Do not fear, but let your hearts be strong. Many soldiers are about us and have many bullets, but I am assured their bullets cannot penetrate us. The prairie is large, and their bullets will fly over the prairies and will not come toward us. If they do come toward us, they will float away like dust in the air.’ I turned to Major Whitside and said, ‘That man is making mischief,’ and repeated what he had said. Whitside replied, ‘Go direct to Colonel Forsyth and tell him about it,’ which I did.
Artist Frederdick Remington recreated
the opening moments of the massacre
based on soldiers’ recollections
Forsyth and I went to the circle of warriors where he told me to tell the medicine man to sit down and keep quiet, but he paid no attention to the order. Forsyth repeated the order. Big Foot’s brother-in-law answered, ‘He will sit down when he gets around the circle.’ When the medicine man came to the end of the circle, he squatted down. A cavalry sergeant exclaimed, ‘There goes an Indian with a gun under his blanket!’ Forsyth ordered him to take the gun from the Indian, which he did. Whitside then said to me, ‘Tell the Indians it is necessary that they be searched one at a time.’ The young warriors paid no attention to what I told them. I heard someone on my left exclaim, ‘Look out! Look out!’ I saw five or six young warriors cast off their blankets and pull guns out from under them and brandish them in the air. One of the warriors shot into the soldiers, who were ordered to fire into the Indians. I looked in the direction of the medicine man. He or some other medicine man approached to within three or four feet of me with a long cheese knife, ground to a sharp point and raised to stab me. He stabbed me during the melee and nearly cut off my nose. I held him off until I could swing my rifle to hit him, which I did. I shot and killed him in self-defense.
Troop ‘K’ was drawn up between the tents of the women and children and the main body of the Indians, who had been summoned to deliver their arms. The Indians began firing into ‘Troop K’ to gain the canyon of Wounded Knee creek. In doing so they exposed their women and children to their own fire. Captain Wallace was killed at this time while standing in front of his troops. A bullet, striking him in the forehead, plowed away the top of his head. I started to pull off my nose, which was hung by the skin, but Lieutenant Guy Preston shouted, ‘My God Man! Don’t do that! That can be saved.’ He then led me away from the scene of the trouble.”
Such a terrible story, but valuable information. Thanks for posting.
You can not rewrite history like you wish. Some of the tails have snuck through and were taught from those long passed.Coming to find out what’s family taught and “education” taught are vasty different.
Citing and agreeing with various written histories is not an attempt to re-write history.
was it worse? YES!!! it was.
But… was it a SCHOOL shooting? No.
In another time this could have been cosidered an act of genocide . Everything the Souix lived for had been stolen in the name of ( MONEY ) . Why shouldn’t they act the way did ? The US has been built on the bodies of the innocent !
Good work remaining neutral Waffles. Great information and points on the site from both readers and yourself. This illustrates the problem with history; it’s written with perspective and is often clouded by agenda on all sides and from many angles and unfortunately used sorely.
I agree Ben. There are many sides to one story. Who is right or wrong will not matter when blood is shed and people are dead. Only the ghosts remain to tell a story that will never be truly told.
One thing we should keep in mind is what defines a school. A school is a place, location in which children are taught. Many cultures did not have defined walls of a “school house”. I have been researching this ever since I posted it. The “Wounded Knee” massacre is the most infamous and that is probably why whomever created this photo chose this information. However, from the beginning of the Ghost Wars, Sioux Wars, and Indian Wars -I have counted over 10 shootings that involved mostly women and children. Through everything we have learned about Native American civilization, I can believe that before the Native American Boarding schools were created, they were taught in a group by women and elder men of the tribe. A circle of pupils being taught by elders is still a school.
Thanks for your comment. It’s quite a stretch to label this as a “school” when these people were at this location – against their will – for only about 24 hours before the incident occurred.
This is very true. A good point to ponder. Same goes for when churches began. So take head of stories once told for fools run deep when mouths behold.
heed
even early dos anyone rember the america holowcost on the inden how in the namen of god the setler kill for sport an sic thair dog on the inden becouse thay where then human to them
Well, that is interesting. Must look into this one. Anyone know anything about this?
The above claims are not being seen threw the eyes of native people. What most people dont understand is that back then Reservations were schools. Our people were put there to learen to be white and to forget theyre way of life. My great grandmother was raised on a reservation and would get beat for speacking her on languge. The point is unarmed wemon and children were killld. The same as in sandyhook. Resevations back then were like consintration camps. Today on reservations not much has changed except the Us armed forces dont come kill us unarmed and unprovoked.So untill you have lived on a reservation and grew up the way most of us do I would suggest you not judge. Also the masacure of 290 people in the us by the us is the biggest tragady. But the biggest injustice is the refusle of the us to addmit this happened. Reservations are just the us wasy back then to teach our people to be more like they wanted.
There is no disputing that it happened or that it was a terrible tragedy. Referring to it as a school shooting is sole point of contention here. It didn’t even occur where these people lived, but at a remote location occupied for a single day before the events unfolded. We have found no history that refers to the tragedy taking place at a school.
This is a reservation.
These are UNARMED women and children.
A reservation was intended to teach Indians to act white.
Definition of a school is where children are taught.
My grandfather was an Illini as a child he was kidnapped by a german couple anf hidden after then lt.custer 1st killed their hunting party, then the Elders, Women and children in camp.
So, again, what is inaccurate about the statement that this was a school shooting. I see all the revisionist history that it was somehow the Indians fault, it was not, the boundary agreed to by treaty is about 17 miles west of the Indiana state border in ILLINOIS. So this killing was not only a school shooting and attempted genocide it was a CLEAR violation of a treaty .
What’s odd is that people seem to assume because the “school” angle is disputed, that somehow there is a case being made here to dispute of the entire tragedy. Of course it was unjustified. Of course it was a violation of the treaty. Of course it was NOT the fault of the Native Americans.
But a SCHOOL? There are absolutely no histories which describe the location as a school. It was a temporary location that existed for 24 hours before the massacre. If you have sources that describe this as a school shooting, please cite them. In fact, the “school” angle is much more of a revisionist history than anything, as this article is agreeing with history that it was not at a school.
It’s also kind of odd to describe the forceful “teaching” of someone in order to oppress their culture a “school.”
The killer in sandyhook was mentialy ill. Now were the us troops mential ill? What the us did to our native people is the same thig Hittler did to the Jews. I feel bad for the familys @ sandyhook but our people have been masacured by our own goverment. As for the reservations it is the goverments politicly correct term for consintration camp. Go take a look @ the reservations in the us and see for your self.
The key point that every one is concentrating on is ‘school’, I agree with an above post, the natives, like the military, like prisoners, can make a ‘school’, just about anywhere. To pass information, to educate, to organize one can say it is or was a teaching place. Our textbook definition of school and theirs is lost in translation. They were taught under the skies, not in dark classrooms. Don’t think for one second that this can be equally compared, but we did kill a lot of Natives needlessly. Too bad because they had so much to teach us about fighting, medicine, hunting, survival, and religion. The school shootings are done by crazy people that want to become infamous. The US military showed excessive force, today this would be a crime and you would do the time. Lethal force on unharmed civilians…disgusting. I’m a 17 yr veteran, and married to a Native. Perhaps this is my reconciliation for all the harm we have done these beautiful people.
Oh, but you will see this once again rest assured. It will be a sad sad day at that.
The defining quality of a school is the concentration of children and those who are looking after their development. The reason I don’t think it’s a stretch to use the term here is because the purpose is to compare similar tragedies. These are similar tragedies based on the victim demographics (as opposed to a conventional battle which is mostly men). What makes them shocking is the number of –children–. Also, the photo blurs these lines for the purpose of reminding how much more horrible the incident cited was, and ultimately how easy it is to massacre many people who are unarmed.
We have found no written history of the event which refers to the location as a school. The mere concentration of children in an area should not automatically qualify the location as a school, otherwise a Justin Bieber concert or slumber party or Disneyland may also be considered “schools.”
And you are correct that the photo does take liberties to make a point regarding unarmed victims of massacres, especially children.
This is the saddest excuse for a debate that I have ever seen. No it was not a school, period. Try reading Dee Brown’s “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” or Roger Di Silvestro’s “In the Shadow of Wounded Knee”.
How is Dee Brown, a novelist and non Indian relevant.
How is Roger Di Silvestro, a manifest destiny proponent and non Indian relevant.
Treaty line is in ILLINOIS west of treaty line is Indian territory.
Undeniably the Dakotas are west of that line.
So if the U.S. had not violated their own treaty this could not have happened.
Even if it was not a school, which it was, it is still an example of the U.S. violating any and all treaties with the American Indians at will,
It was not a school from the view of a European settler, but everyday life would have been a teaching experience for the children of the Lakota at that time. The children in essence were learning what was expected of them in the event of the loss of their family friends and loved ones in battle. Just because they weren’t in a school house doesn’t mean they weren’t being taught. All the education we provide our public service officials and military doesn’t occur in a classroom why would you suppose that a group of people living in a pre-industrial
society more than 120 years ago would be held to such a standard. If you can say that soldiers exemplified personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty by shooting at 290 mostly unarmed civilians and one another then certainly children watching a cultural ceremony could be considered to be at a school function. Just because everyone at school isn’t learning doesn’t mean they aren’t at school, if you look at some of the things happening at schools in our nation from our “Educators” you can’t even call it teaching or education, it’s more like indoctrination or proselytization.
Thank you for your comment.
Perhaps if this occurred where these people lived, a case could be made. This certainly wasn’t everyday life, however, being held at a temporary and remote location surrounded by Hotchkiss guns. I do not believe the soldiers exemplified valor beyond the call of duty.
Hmm, I am in agreement with waffles. While I understand the viewpoint you are trying to make, that would technically be the case for absolutely any place where children are at. A family being massacred in their home does not make it a school shooting, even though the point of a home is to teach children how to live their lives and to teach them family values. Even if the children were homeschooled, it would still not be considered a school shooting. It would still be a tragedy (as all massacres are) but it would not fall under the category of a school shooting.
Many of you seem incapable of grasping an incredibly basic concept here… did this massacre occur? YES. Is the OP disputing that it transpired? NO. Were the Natives on their Reservation? NO. Were the Natives in a school? NO.
So, if this DID NOT happen on a Res, and DID NOT happen at a school, then that very clearly means it is NOT A SCHOOL SHOOTING since, by definition, a shooting must take place at a school in order for it to be classified as a “school shooting”.
The great thing about facts is that they’re true regardless of if you believe them… or, apparently, possess capable brain function to process them…
Wounded Knee is on the reservation,period.
nice try – but since the entirety of the United States Government, including the US Military, was involved in suppressing and exterminating all of the various indigenous American populations for several decades (and arguably, continues that effort until present),
THIS DOES NOT COUNT.
SPONSORED ACTS OF GENOCIDE do not equate with MENTALLY UNSTABLE INDIVIDUAL PREDATORS.
One is the act of an unstable, usually heavily armed individual. The other is an ACT OF OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT POLICY.
If anyone commenting here actually believes for one moment that they can individually withstand THE EFFORTS OF ENTIRE US GOVERNMENT ‘DISARMING’ THEM, IN ANY FORM OR CAPACITY, AT ANY TIME, well – just guess again. And good luck with that.
nomatter death is not and never will be an answer unless God takes the life the end
Were they not “home schooled”?
Bottom line: Giving up any part of our constitution especially the 1st and 2nd amendments is just pure stupidity… More gun legislation would not have prevented the insanity that revolved around Sand Hook, nor any other crime where criminals and sick minds do evil.
I will keep my tools such as guns that will defend my family and I against evil, no Government or law can do that for you.
Just say no to the socialist agenda, the domestic enemies within our borders and those sitting in elected chairs who comitt treason daily.
From my cold dead hand socialist.
that event was and still is an atrocious cruelty against our fellow man and a very sad day in our history.
Well stated Glenn…
All have to say is there is something bigger is on the horizon. There’s a reason why they are wanting to disarm us. All I have to say history can and will repeat it’s self again. I’m just saying wake up and get a full understanding on where everything is leading to. The fearless leader is hell bent to change our lifes and take our rights away. Look at Michelle Obama hating on fat people, trying to band Mc Donalds drive-thrus so that people would get up off their fat asses and go in and get there food. Banning big gulps from 7-11 in New York mayor Bloomberg supports this and it happened. Look no one should ever have that right to tell anyone what they can and can’t do. Adolf Hitler did the same thing, people were blinded by his charm and character,just like people are blinded by Obama. Just keep in mind that the constitution was put there for a reason and we are falling under a dictato
Waffles is casting pearls before swine here. I have to remind myself to never read the comments sections in newspapers and blogs. They are a sewar. All the mouth-breathers show up and engage in some of the most pathetic attempts at obfuscation to deny facts that stare them right in the face. It’s a shame, Waffles, but that’s the way it is. You just can’t reach some people. They are too far gone.
I would just like to inform you that the natives were pushed into school. It was not their school, it what the white man forcing them to learn their ways and their culture. Those were the types of schools back then, so to say that was not a school is being ignorant. Learn your history before you post such and offensive post.
They weren’t in a school of any kind, their’s or the white man’s. They were in a temporary location for 24 hours, surrounded by guns. You call that a school? What is offensive about agreeing with virtually every history written about the event?