What influenced the armed standoff between two rival native american tribes in Wounded Knee, South Dakota

The greatest influence was the Ghost Dance. A Spiritual Dance that was thought to make the dancer immune to bullets. The Native Americans believed that they had been defeated and forced onto the reservations due to angering the gods and had abandoned their traditions and ways.

The other influence was the gold on the lands where the tribes had been placed. The land, originally thought to be worthless, was found to possibly contain gold making it priceless.