When Robert F. Kennedy Went To The Wounded Knee Monument
When Robert F. Kennedy Went to the Wounded Knee Monument on April 16, 1968.
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While they were at the Billy Mills Hall, George McGovern told Kennedy that the Wounded Knee monument was nearby and was the most important site for Plains Indians. It was at this site on December 29, 1890, that federal troops massacred hundreds of Lakota men, women and children. Kennedy insisted on going despite McGovern’s concern that were they already behind schedule and had an evening rally in Rapid City. The hearings were suspended early and Kennedy asked the other witnesses to place their statements in the official record.
When he arrived at Wounded Knee, Kennedy demanded to see the small monument marking the mass grave where troops had unceremoniously dumped over one hundred frozen Lakota corpses three days after the massacre. At a time when giddy tourists bought postcards featuring pictures of the contorted corpses at a gift shop nearby, Kennedy’s demeanor was sober. “I should have brought flowers,” he muttered.
His visit to Pine Ridge and Wounded Knee could not benefit him much politically, and moreover he went well out of his way to stand at this spot. Kennedy visited because he wanted to understand the injustices leveled against the Lakota and all Native American peoples since contact. He wanted to witness their suffering firsthand. He visited because he cared. Kennedy bowed his head at Wounded Knee to strengthen and reaffirm his promise, to himself as much as to God, to be a tireless champion of the poor and oppressed.
(Photo from: The McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service)
