The end of the Ghost Dance War is usually dated January 15, 1891, when Lakota Ghost-Dancing leader Kicking Bear decided to meet with US officials.

However, the US government continued to use the threat of violence to suppress the Ghost Dance at the Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, and Standing Rock reservations.

It was initiated by the Paiute religious leader Wovoka, after a vision in which Wovoka said Wakan Tanka (Lakota orthography: Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka, usually translated as Great Spirit) spoke to him and told him directly that the ghost of Native American ancestors would come back to live in peace with the remaining Native Americans for the rest of eternity, and that by practicing the ghost dances would hasten the arrival of these events.

The Sioux also believed that a series of devastating natural disasters would occur, which would wipe out all white people while Native Americans would be protected.

At the same time, the religion was also preached by Short Bull to the Brulé at Rosebud and embraced by Spotted Elk at Cheyenne River, and by Red Cloud at Pine Ridge.

[9] Mellette appointed Day "aide-de-camp" responsible for the "[Black] Hills campaign" and asked him to coordinate with the mayor of Rapid City.

[9] By January 1891, following Wounded Knee, the militia under Day had expanded to some 200 men who "patrolled Cheyenne River as a screen for the Black Hills settlements.

[8] In the winter of 1890, the Lakota had been beset by a series of violations of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 by the US involving land divisions among tribes in South Dakota.

Reports from the 8th Cavalry show that between April and August 1890, the relationship between the soldiers and the Lakota was cordial and that the band was "peaceably disposed and have committed no depredations on the settlers of Meade County".

The plan called for the arrest to take place at dawn on December 15 and advised the use of a light spring wagon to facilitate removal before his followers could rally.

However, his interpreter convinced him that this would lead to a shootout and advised him to instead take the band to make camp at nearby Wounded Knee and disarm them the next day instead.

[citation needed] Much to the dismay of many Native Americans, twenty US troops were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions at Wounded Knee.

The American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied the Pine Ridge Reservation near Wounded Knee in protest against the federal government from February 27 through May 8, 1973.