Over 300 unarmed Lakota were killed that day, their bodies left to freeze in the snow for 3 days. Of this number 69 were children, 133 women, and 39 elders.
After the shooting ended the wounded were piled into wagons and taken to a church which was used as a makeshift hospital. It was 4 days after Christmas and the sactuary was still decorated with Christmas greenry. A banner hanging at the front of the church ironically proclaimed "Pease on Earth, Goodwill to Men".
On New Year's Day a government burial detail arrived to bury the remaining victims. The bodies were stripped of valuables and dropped into a mass grave. Chief Big Foot was scalped, the scalp sent as a trophy to the Seventh Cavalry's museum in Massachusetts. There it remained over the protests of Chief Bigfoot's family until the summer of 2000.
The soldiers who carried out this gruesome massacre were awarded Congressional Medals of Honor which remain to this day.
Below are some pictures of the actual massacre.
The church where the wounded were taken
Burial in the mass grave
Site of the mass grave and the memorial marker
The site of the mass grave today
The Names Listed on the Monument at Wounded Knee
Mr. High Hawk
Mr. Shading Bear
Long Bull
White American
Spotted Thunder
Shoots the Bear
Picked Horses
Bear cuts Body
Chase in Winter
Black Coyote
Ghost Horse
Living Bear
Afraid of Bear
Young Afraid of Bear
Yellow Robe
Wounded Hand
Red Eagle
Pretty Hawk
Wm. Horn Cloud
Sherman Horn Cloud
Scatters Them
Red Fish
Swift Bird
He Crow
Little Water
Strong Fox
Tooth its Hole
Red Horn
He Eagle
No Ears
Wolf Skin Necklace
Lodge Skin Knopkin
Charge at Them
Weasee Bear
Bird Shakes
Big Skirt
Brown Turtle
Blue American
Pass Water in Horn
Scabbard Knife
Small Side Bear
Kills Seneca
You can sign an online petition to recind the medals of honor awarded to the U.S. Soldiers by clicking here.
