The Indian version of the Wounded Knee Massacre was spoken by multiple Indians, including Turning Hawk, Captain Sword, Spotted Horse, and American Horse. In the Indians versions, the Indians recalled how the killings conducted by the whites were near indiscriminate, from men to women, from school children to infants, which makes the reader feel more sympathetic for the Indian’s side. In American Horse’s statement, he mentions that, “Right near the flag of truce a mother was shot down with her infant; the child not knowing that its mother was dead was still nursing, and that especially was a very sad sight. The women as they were fleeing with their babes were killed together, shot right through, and the women who were very heavy with child were …show more content…
Miles viewed the event as an inevitable event as a result of the government’s negligence. He gives off ten reasons, or more accurately failures, of the government, like stating the failure to issue supplies or failure to provide dwelling houses, which can cause the reader to think that the government was the cause for the Indians turning hostile. But if one looked closer, you’ll realize that Miles doesn’t really talk much about what happened during the Wounded Knee Massacre but rather he chooses to state who was responsible for why it happened. This could possibly be a case of redirecting blame, as the Indian’s version clearly mention indiscriminate killing, which Mile’s account almost completely void of. This source can be trying to direct the reader to the problems of the government rather than the problems of the massacre to try to make the reader believe it wasn’t entirely the white’s fault that this event happened. These accounts, from McGillycuddy and Mile on the sides of the whites to the Indians, can range greatly depending on what they are trying to convey to their audience, which is why primary sources, although very informative, have to be read with caution as the speaker can lead you to think their way and stopping you from forming your own