Wounded Knee Hamlet and creek in southwestern South Dakota, the site of two conflicts between the Sioux Indians and the U.S. government. In 1890 the Sioux had been inspired by the Ghost Dance movement to take up arms and reclaim their heritage, but federal military intervention quelled the rebellion. On December 29 a young brave became involved in a scuffle while surrendering, and a trooper was killed. Soldiers fired at the Indians, killing more than 200 men, women, and children. Thirty sol¬ diers also died. The so-called Battle of Wounded Knee is regarded as the final episode in the conquest of the North American Indian. In 1973 some 200 members of the American Indian Movement took the reservation ham¬ let by force, declared it an independent nation, and vowed to stay until the government agreed to address Indian grievances; a siege by federal marshals ended when the Indians surrendered in exchange for a promise of negotiations.
Wovoka \wo-'vo-k9\ (b. 18587, Utah Territory, U.S.—d. October 1932, Walker River Indian Reservation, Nev.) Paiute religious leader. In 1889 Wovoka announced that during a trance God had told him that his peo¬ ple’s ancestors would rise from the dead, buffalo would return to the plains, and the white man would vanish if the people would perform a ritual dance. The Ghost Dance cult arose and quickly spread to other tribes, notably the militant Sioux, and Wovoka was worshiped as a new messiah. After the Wounded Knee massacre, Wovoka’s following dissi¬ pated and the movement died out.
Wozniak, Stephen G(ary) (b. Aug. 11, 1950, San Jose, Calif., U.S.) U.S. computer engineer. He designed electronic devices and games while still in his teens. In the 1970s he worked for Hewlett-Packard. In 1976 he and Steven Jobs founded Apple Computer, Inc. Badly injured in a 1981 plane crash, he took a leave from Apple, but he returned to work on the revolutionary Macintosh computer. He left Apple for good in 1985, the year he was awarded the National Medal of Technology. He has since taught in elementary school.
WPA in full Works Progress Administration later ( 1939-43) Work Projects Administration U.S. work program for the unem¬ ployed. Created in 1935 under the New Deal, it aimed to stimulate the economy during the Great Depression and preserve the skills and self- respect of unemployed persons by providing them useful work. During its existence, it employed 8.5 million people in the construction of 650,000 mi (1,046,000 km) of roads, 125,000 public buildings, 75,000 bridges, 8,000 parks, and 800 airports. The WPA also administered the WPA Federal Art Project, the Theater Project, and the Writers’ Project, which provided jobs for unemployed artists, actors, and writers. In 1943, with the virtual elimination of unemployment by the wartime economy, the WPA was terminated.
WPA Federal Art Project Extensive visual-arts project, part of the Works Progress Administration established by Franklin D. Roosevelt dur¬ ing the Great Depression. It employed artists with a wide range of expe¬
rience and styles and had great influence on subsequent U.S. movements. At its peak in 1936, it provided work for more than 5,000 artists from relief rolls. Over the eight years of its existence, its employees produced 2,566 murals, more than 100,000 easel paintings, about 17,700 sculptures, and nearly 300,000 fine prints. The project also developed an audience by establishing more than 100 community art centres and galleries in regions where art was generally unknown. The total federal investment was about $35 million. It was the first major attempt at U.S. government patronage of the visual arts.
Wrangel, Pyotr (Nikolayevich), Baron (b. Aug. 27,1878, Novo- Aleksandrovsk, Lith., Russian Empire—d. April 25, 1928, Brussels, Belg.) Russian general who led the anti-BoLSHEViK forces in the Russian Civil War. A member of an old German baronial family, he served in the Russian imperial guards and commanded a Cossack division in World War I. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he joined the anti-Bolshevik “White” forces of Anton Denikin. After capturing Tsaritsyn (now Volgo¬ grad) in 1919, he became commander of the Whites in April 1920 and tried to rally support from the peasants and Cossacks. He launched an offensive in Ukraine in June, but by November the Red Army had defeated the Whites and forced them to retreat to the Crimea. After evacuating his troops to Constantinople, he lived in exile in western Europe.
Wrangel Island Island, northeastern Russia. Located in the Arctic Ocean, it is crossed by the 180th meridian. It has an area of some 2,800 sq mi (7,300 sq km). Although it reaches an altitude of 3,596 ft (1,096 m) at Sovetskaya Mountain, there are no glaciers. The Russian explorer Ferdinand P. Wrangel, for whom the island was later named, determined its location from accounts of Siberian natives but did not land there dur¬ ing his mapping of the Siberian coast in the early 1820s. Russian fur trad¬ ers subsequently visited the island, and it was sighted by U.S. vessels in 1867 and 1881. Survivors of a sunken Canadian ship reached Wrangel in 1914, and the leader of the expedition created an international incident in the early 1920s when he claimed Wrangel for Canada without authoriza¬ tion. The Soviet Union then annexed the island, and permanent occupa¬ tion began in 1926. Wrangel Island State Reserve, established in 1976, occupies 1,730,000 ac (700,000 ha).
Wrangell Mountains Range, southern Alaska, U.S. It extends south for about 100 mi (160 km) from the Copper River to the Saint Elias Mountains near the Yukon border. Many peaks exceed 10,000 ft (3,000 m); the highest are Mount Blackburn (16,390 ft [4,990 m]). Mount Bona (16,500 ft [5,029 m]), and Mount Sanford (16,237 ft [4,950 m]). Most of the summits are extinct volcanoes. Snowfields drain into glaciers as long as 45 mi (72 km). The range forms a major part of Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park.
Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park National park, southeastern Alaska, U.S. Proclaimed a national monument in 1978, the area under¬ went boundary and name changes in 1980. The largest park in the U.S. national park system, it has an area of 12,318,000 ac (4,987,000 ha). At the convergence of the Chugach, Wrangell, and Saint Elias mountain ranges, it includes the largest assemblage of glaciers and the greatest col¬ lection of peaks above 16,000 ft (4,880 m) on the continent.
wrasse \'ras\ Any of some 300 species (family Labridae) of slender, often brilliantly coloured, fishes, found worldwide in tropical and tem¬ perate seas, often on coral reefs. Species range from 2 in. (5 cm) to 7 ft (2 m) long. Wrasses have thick lips, large scales, long fins, and large, often protruding, canine teeth. Most eat invertebrates; some species, called cleaner wrasses, pick off and eat the external parasites of larger fishes. The tautaug ( Tautoga onitis) is an edible species.
wren Any of 59 species (family Troglodytidae) of chunky songbirds, found in the Western Hemisphere. One species, Troglodytes troglodytes, has spread to the Old World; typical of the family, it is about 4 in. (10 cm) long and dark-barred brown, with a short, slightly downcurved bill, short rounded wings, and short cocked tail. Common throughout the West¬ ern Hemisphere is the house wren. The largest U.S. species (8 in., or 20 cm, long) is the cactus wren of southwestern deserts. Wrens hunt insects in marshes, rocky wastes, or shrubbery, revealing their presence by chat¬ ter and loud song. They nest in holes, in thickets, or on ledges.