Last stand are the words used to describe Custer and his troops as they battled the combined might of the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It has been glamorized by Hollywood as an epic of heroics by Custer and his men in a fight where they were numerically outnumbered. They were also strategically outclassed by the leadership of supposedly ignorant Indians.
I bring this up today because on Saturday, June 25, 2005, will herald the 129th anniversary of the defeat of Custer and the demise of a once proud and vibrant culture. That this defeat of American military might clearly demonstrated that the Indians were serious in keeping the white man out of the Sacred Black Hills, that the Natives called the Center of the Earth was apparent. That they would do everything in their power to curtail the whites desires to exploit this Sacred site became the battle cry of the Nations in 1876.
More after the fold
Crossposted at European Tribune
Custer in his extraordinary arrogance, had been told to wait for the two other cavalry detachments that were under the leadership of General Philip Sheridan. Custer not known for his patience or his willingness to keep his ego in check, disobeyed his orders and the rest my friends is history.
In many Native communities, today is a National Day of Celebration, no there are no parades, speeches, or brouhaha to celebrate this vaunted victory over the oppressors of the Native peoples. There is a whisper of pride, the glimpse of knowing that our ancestors fought the good fight and defeated for an instant the demise of their culture. The Irony here is that this defeat of the American Army, occurred during the Centennial of the founding of the United States of American. There was much consternation and a demand that the Indians responsible for the slaughter of these soldiers needed to be brought to justice.
I am providing a few links for you to revisit the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the site where the end of a way life occurred because of a victory by the Native Americans to preserve their cultural right to live their lives. I hope that come Saturday, you will stop, listen to the wind, feel the sun upon your face and remember the culture that was lost that day. But also remember that a fiercely proud people are working to gain the rights that many of us take for granted each day of our lives.
Some of these sites have links to help set up an Indian Memorial on the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, please contribute if you can to help establish this important Memorial.
Some of the links may appear repetitive, but they will provide some distinctive analysis of what actually happened that day.
http://www.nps.gov/libi/indmem.htm
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/custer.htm
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/six/bighorn.htm
http://www.mohicanpress.com/battles/ba04002.html
http://www.mohicanpress.com/battles/ba04001.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6979/bighorn.html
photographs of the area
I hope this diary will give you some insight into the way the victors control the history.
Talk about eerie parallels to the present
This Article in the Billings gazette includes some new information about the battle itself, and how 24 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors who had taken a suicide vow turned the tide of battle and won the day for the tribal forces.
Taking a sacred vow, so special that it was kept secret until recently, 24 young warriors took a vow to die in the next battle.
During the fight they lead a charge straight into Custer’s lines that stampeded the Cavalry’s horses, broke the US lines and allowed the warriors behind them to close and engage in hand to hand combat. After that the battle was over and Custer’s troops were destroyed.
I wonder if one of these warriors would recognize a kindred spirit in the suicide bombers of the middle east?
Thanks for the links and we will make a contribution today.
History is written by the victors – unless you are a nation of color has been my experience. My husband and I have read many of the Little Big Horn histories and are always amazed at the discrepancies between the ‘White’ version and the First Nation histories.
Just so I’m clear…June 25th is the day of celebration? (not today 06/21)
That is correct, it is really more of a silent celebration. I used to work with an Ottawa Medicine Man, who told me about the Native American National Holiday on June 25th of each year. It was snark I always thought until he convinced me that indeed on many reservations and Native communities they do celebrate in some small way this great victory over the oppressors.
I would love it if you could do more diaries about various Native American stories from different tribes. I know many of the ones for the southeast -which places are sacred, which stories belonged to my ancestors etc. But I know very little about other tribes especially out west.
When I was little some inter-tribal hatred still existed around here- even if it was in the smallest degree and I was discouraged from learning about other tribes. But I think it’s important to get along with other tribes and to learn from them especially since my family has lost so much of it’s heritage
BTW In my family Custer was always considered an arrogant sh*t head 🙂
was for some of us our first hint that Custer was suspect, and our first glimpse of reality from an ostensibly Native point of view. (And yes, I’ve met enough people of different cultures to appreciate that even a sympathetic Hollywood portrayal is light-years from reality.)
I recently saw the movie on cable and still get chills from the words of the storyteller “Once there was a human being….” It came out a year after my first brief girlfriend relationship with a Hawaiian native who’d given me something new to think about the historic sailors and whalers that were an interest of mine at the time.
Thanks for the diary and the links. I’m sending pointers to a number of acquaintences.
I beleive that one day, there will be another celebration, and it will not be silent, and the Human Beings will be heard proudly.
I do not beleive it will be as long as this one has been silent.
I am fairly confident this is Sitting Bull, I took this off a click art disk I have last night and when I saw your diary I went to check if it was and could not get the program to work but, I am pretty sure the caption to the pic was SB….