Porcupine Butte is a mountain summit located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...

 in Shannon County

Shannon County, South Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,466 people, 2,785 households, and 2,353 families residing in the county. The population density was 6 people per square mile . There were 3,123 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile...

, South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

. Porcupine Butte is 3,665 feet (1,117.09 meters) above sea level; Latitude

Latitude

In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

 43.179989
Longitude

Longitude

Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....

: -102.323493. The nearest municipality to Porcupine Butte is Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee, South Dakota

Wounded Knee is a census-designated place in Shannon County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 382 at the 2010 census....

, 2.3 miles away. KILI Radio, 90.1 FM maintains their broadcast facilities at Porcupine Butte, with the transmit tower located on the butte

Butte

A butte is a conspicuous isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; it is smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table landform tables. In some regions, such as the north central and northwestern United States, the word is used for any hill...

. There is also a fire watchtower located at the top of the butte. BIA

BIA

- Acronym :* Bureau of Indian Affairs, a US government agency* Board of Immigration Appeals, a US government agency* The IATA airport code for Bastia - Poretta Airport, or, informally:** Baghdad International Airport...

 Highway 27, also known as Big Foot Trail passes by the butte.

It was near Porcupine Butte, on December 28, 1890 that Spotted Elks's

Spotted Elk

Spotted Elk , , was the name of a chief of the Miniconjou Lakota Sioux. He was a son of chief One Horn and became a chief upon the death of his father. He was a highly renowned chief with skills in war and negotiations...

 band of Miniconjou

Miniconjou

The Miniconjou are a Native American people constituting a subdivision of the Lakota Sioux, who formerly inhabited an area from the Black Hills in South Dakota to the Platte River. The contemporary population lives mostly in west-central South Dakota...

, Lakota and members of the Hunkpapa

Hunkpapa

The Hunkpapa are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota Sioux tribe. The name Húŋkpapȟa is a Sioux word meaning "Head of the Circle"...

,Lakota band who joined them on their way to join Red Cloud

Red Cloud

Red Cloud , was a war leader and the head Chief of the Oglala Lakota . His reign was from 1868 to 1909...

 at Pine Ridge, were intercepted by a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment. They were escorted 5 miles west where they made camp and were surrounded by the rest of the 7th. Cavalry. On the following day December, 29, the Wounded Knee Massacre

Wounded Knee Massacre

The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...

would take place resulting in numerous deaths including many women and children.