Ghost Dance War The Ghost Dance War was an armed conflict in the United States which occurred between Native Americans and the United States government from 1890 until 1891 . It involved the Wounded Knee Massacre wherein the 7th Cavalry massacred 153 Lakota Sioux , including women , children , and other noncombatants , at Wounded Knee on 29 December 1890 . It ended when Sioux leader Kicking Bear surrendered on 15 January 1891 . In an effort to remind the nation of this incident , and the historic government program against Native Americans , the American Indian Movement ( AIM ) occupied the Pine Ridge Reservation near Wounded Knee in protest against the federal government on 27 February 1973 . A 71 - day standoff between federal authorities and the AIM ensued . The militants surrendered on 8 May . Ghost Dance . The Ghost Dance was a Native American religious movement that occurred in the late 1800s , often practiced by the Sioux Indians . It often consisted of a circle dance , invented by the Indian leader Wovoka , or better known by his white name Jack Wilson . Wilson was convinced that God talked to him and told him directly that by practicing the Ghost Dance , they would wash the evil out of their lives and they would be impervious to disease , famine , and old age . This religion quickly spread throughout the entire west and Native American tribes . This dance was given this name by white settlers who were frightened by this spiritual dance , saying that it had a ghostly aura around it , hence the name . This started the push to bring US troops into the Dakotas where the Sioux were most prominent and where the Ghost Dance was being practiced the most . War . In the winter of 1890 , the Sioux Indians had been upset over a series of treaty violations by the US involving land divisions among tribes in South Dakota . There were a series of battles over this but the biggest and most important one was the Wounded Knee Massacre . The Sioux had encamped themselves at Wounded Knee Creek and were handing over their weapons to US troops . One deaf Indian refused to give up his weapon , there was a struggle , and someone ' s gun discharged in the air . One of the US commanders heard this and ordered his troops to open fire . What remained when the shooting stopped was 153 dead Indians ( mostly women and children ) and 25 dead US troops most of which was due to friendly fire . There was a public uproar when word of this reached the Eastern US and the Government reestablished the treaty they had broken with the Sioux to avoid any further public backlash . the Cheyanne were allies to the Sioux Aftermath . After the Wounded Knee Massacre , there were several other small skirmishes involving the Sioux and the US Government , but the most part hostilities ceased , although tensions are still high to this day . Much to the dismay of Native Americans , twenty US troops were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions on that day . Native Americans were outraged about this at the time , and have pushed to get these medals rescinded , but nothing has been done to this point . In more recent years , there was a takeover of the Wounded Knee Memorial by militant protesters . There was a standoff between these protesters for several months , but they ended up surrendering peacefully .