Spotted Elk

Who was Spotted Elk?

Spotted Elk, also known as 'Big Foot, was the name of a chief of the Miniconjou, Lakota Sioux. He was a son of Miniconjou chief Lone Horn and became a chief upon his father's death. He was a highly renowned chief with skills in war and negotiations. A United States Army soldier, at Fort Bennett, coined the derogatory nickname Big Foot – not to be confused with Oglala Big Foot. In 1890, he was killed by the US Army at Wounded Knee Creek, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, USA with at least 150 members of his tribe, in what became known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.