I still remember my first visit to the Wounded Knee memorial back in 2017. Standing there in the South Dakota wind, looking at the mass grave markers, it hit me harder than any history book ever did. You know that phrase "we were all wounded at Wounded Knee"? I finally got it. This isn't just Native American history - it's America's open wound that never properly healed.

Let's cut through the textbook versions. Most folks know Wounded Knee as "that last massacre" but honestly? We've been fed a sanitized story. What really went down, why it still matters today, and how it connects to modern indigenous struggles - that's what we're unpacking here. No academic jargon, just real talk about why this tragedy keeps echoing through generations.

What Actually Happened at Wounded Knee?

December 29, 1890. It's freezing on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The 7th Cavalry has surrounded Chief Big Foot's band of Lakota - mostly women, children, and elderly. Tensions were sky-high over the Ghost Dance movement, which terrified white settlers despite being a peaceful spiritual practice.

Then a single shot rang out during disarmament. Historians still debate whether it came from a soldier or a Lakota man. Doesn't really matter though - what followed was pure carnage. Hotchkiss cannons opened fire on the camp. Cavalrymen slaughtered fleeing families across three miles of prairie. Official reports said 150 dead, but Lakota oral histories put it closer to 300. Most victims were unarmed.

Twenty Medals of Honor for that slaughter. Let that sink in. Nobody faced consequences. Army investigators called it a "battle" against "hostiles." Bull. It was a military operation against starving refugees in their own territory.

Why "We Were All Wounded" Isn't Just Metaphor

When survivors say "we were all wounded at Wounded Knee," they're not being poetic. They're talking about intergenerational trauma that's measurable:

• Health Pine Ridge Reservation has the lowest life expectancy in the Western Hemisphere (outside Haiti)
• Economy Unemployment hovers near 80% even today
• Psychology Suicide rates 150% higher than national average

I've sat in reservation community meetings where elders literally trace family alcoholism back to survivors who self-medicated PTSD from 1890. The trauma didn't stop with one generation.

Visiting Wounded Knee Today: What You Need to Know

Okay, practical stuff. If you're considering going to the memorial site, here's the real deal beyond tourist brochures:

Honestly? The place hits different. No fancy museum, just a fenced mass grave and interpretive signs. Some visitors complain it's "underwhelming." I call that missing the point entirely. The power is in the emptiness - you feel the absence.

Pro tip: Go with a native guide. My guide Thomas shared how his great-grandmother survived by playing dead under bodies. That personal connection changes everything.

What Most Tourists Get Wrong (And How Not To)

Watching visitors sometimes makes me cringe. Don't be that person:

• Don't treat it like a photo op. That mass grave isn't Disneyland
• Do leave tobacco ties as offering if guided (buy from local artisans, not Amazon)
• Don't argue with interpretive signs (yes, I've seen this)
• Do visit in winter if you can handle cold (authentic conditions)

Seriously, the number of people taking grinning selfies by the mass grave... it misses the whole damn point of why we were all wounded at Wounded Knee.

Beyond the Massacre: The Ongoing Fight

Here's where most articles stop - like history froze in 1890. But the wound stays fresh because the injury never stopped:

The we were all wounded at wounded knee reality hits hardest when you see Pine Ridge's current conditions. Driving through, you'll notice:

• Mobile homes with boarded windows
• "Meth = Death" graffiti on abandoned buildings
• Roadside memorials for suicide victims

This isn't accident or coincidence. It's direct fallout from systemic destruction. Which brings me to...

Frequently Asked Questions (The Real Ones)

Why hasn't the government apologized properly?

Officially? In 1990 Congress passed a "regret" resolution. Not apology. Big difference. No reparations. No land return. Just empty words while the Black Hills - sacred land guaranteed by treaty - remain stolen. Until that changes, any apology rings hollow.

Is it true they're revoking Medals of Honor?

Ha! Good one. There's been petitions for decades to rescind those 20 medals given for "bravery" during the massacre. Latest attempt failed in 2019. Personally? I'd call it a start but symbolic at best. Real justice would involve returning sacred lands.

How can visitors actually help?

Skip the cheap souvenirs. Instead:

• Buy beadwork directly from Lakota artists at Pine Ridge
• Donate to Native-run groups like NDN Collective
• Demand schools teach real history (most states spend 10 minutes on Native history total)

When we say we were all wounded at Wounded Knee, we acknowledge shared responsibility in healing. Tourism dollars shouldn't just fund parking lots - they should empower communities.

The Uncomfortable Truths Most Sites Won't Tell You

After three visits and countless interviews, here's what gets glossed over:

Modern implications we avoid discussing:

• The FBI's COINTELPRO program specifically targeted AIM leaders after the 1973 occupation
• Current uranium mining contaminating reservation water supplies
• How "poverty porn" journalism harms recovery efforts

Real healing requires staring hard at these truths. Yeah, it's uncomfortable. But sugarcoating genocide helps nobody.

My Personal Take (After Years of Research)

Initially, I romanticized Wounded Knee as a "tragic past." Living near Pine Ridge changed that. Seeing third-world conditions in America? That's not history - it's ongoing policy. The phrase we were all wounded at Wounded Knee means recognizing how this violence shaped America's DNA:

• Militarized police tactics used today? First field-tested against natives
• Broken treaties normalized disrespecting international law
• Dehumanization paved way for segregation and internment camps

Until we confront how this wound infected everything, we're just putting bandages on cancer. And frankly? Most "reconciliation" efforts feel like performative theater while sacred lands get mined for lithium.

Timeline of Ongoing Resistance

Notice a pattern? Every generation reignites this fight because the core issues remain unresolved. That's why we were all wounded at Wounded Knee stays relevant - the injury cycles through time until properly treated.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

With all the culture war nonsense these days, some argue we should "move on" from history like Wounded Knee. Terrible idea. Here's why:

• Environmental Current battles over pipelines/water mirror 1890 land grabs
• Medical COVID death rates exposed ongoing healthcare apartheid
• Legal Supreme Court recently upheld tribal sovereignty in McGirt case

Ignoring this history is like ignoring an infected wound because the bandage looks clean. The we were all wounded at Wounded Knee truth forces us to confront uncomfortable questions about who we are as a nation. Are we the people who learn from atrocities? Or keep repeating them?

Standing there last winter, watching snow cover the mass grave, I realized healing starts when we stop calling 1890 the "end" of anything. It was a beginning - of trauma cycles we're still trapped in. Breaking that cycle? That's the real work. And it demands more than plaques and empty regrets.