Wounded Knee is American Indians’ Gettysburg: Interior Dept Should Declare Eminent Domain
“Ever since the property at Wounded Knee was put up for sale, American Indians across America have wondered aloud how a place such as Wounded Knee that is so iconic to Native people could even be up for sale.
Wounded Knee is to American Indians what Gettysburg is Americans.
It is estimated that as high as 300 Lakota men, women and children were massacred by the US 7th Calvary Regiment near Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on a wintry day four days after Christmas Day in 1890.
Now, adding insult to injury, a private individual named, James A. Czywczynski, of Rapid City, who purchased the land in 1968 attempting to sell the land for $3.9 million that has a taxable value of $6,600.
The actual 40 acres is where a trading post was operated by Clive and Agnes Gildersleeve, who bought the parcel of property in 1930. The Gildersleeves sold the property to James A. Czywczynski in 1968. During the siege of Wounded Knee, the trading post was burned to the ground. The land has not had a structure on it since 1973.”
Rickert, Levi. Native News Network 9 May 2013.