The Slaughter at Wounded Knee by Ginger Simpson #wounded knee #history

Last month I shared how the Ghost Dance originated and as a result, Sitting Bull was killed.  Now I'm progressing to what happened in the aftermath of the Ghost Dance...The slaughter at Wounded Knee:

Rumors flew through all the reservations in Dakota around September 1890, that in reprisal to the Ghost Dance, the government would take action.  Of course, fear spread like wildfire, that the government would erase any future the Sioux had, so those 400 or so left of Sitting Bull's followers fled,  seeking shelter and aide under Chief Big Foot at the Cheyenne River Reservation.  Very few of the original number reached their destination because the remaining were intercepted and convinced to surrender to the authorities.

Those who made it safely to Chief Big Foot  found themselves trapped by the Cavalry, who didn't move to attack until they received orders.  The fear the Lakota felt now spread to Big Foot's people and during the night on December 23, 1890, around 350 total, including the Chief, left the village.

The soldiers, along with their small arms arsenal followed, and on December 28th, the renegades gave up and made camp at a place called Wounded Knee.  When the army demanded the tribe surrender their weapons, the Indians refused and a scuffle ensued,  What was a peaceful encampment turned into a nightmare.

The Indians stood firm, but since the combatants were not equally armed, they didn't stand a chance.  The proverbial 'heat of battle' led many of the cavalry on a killing spree, cutting down defenseless women, the babes in their arms and old men, women and children as they tried to flee.

The death count:  25 soldiers (many killed by friendly fire.) 39 wounded.
at least 153 Indians died, but some claim as many as 300.

The military dead were buried with full honors, but a civilian crew was hired to dig a common grave and dump all the bodies of the deceased Indians into it.

Quoting one civilian worker:  "It was a thing to melt the heart of a man, if it was of stone, to see those little children, with their bodies shot to pieces, thrown naked into the pit."

The massacre at Wounded Knee remains the day the Plains Indians' resistance ended, however, the slaughter serves as a symbol of how the whites treated those with red skin.



Note from Ginger:  I have paraphrased this from my favorite research source, America's Fascinating Indian Heritage from Reader's Digest.  How sad that we learned nothing from this experience.

How The Ghost Dance Originated by Ginger Simpson

While researching history, I've turned again to my wonderful "America's Fascinating Indian Heritage" published by Reader's Digest.  I cannot tell you how many times I have counted on this historical guide to help me get my facts straight...and to learn.

In 1881, Sitting Bull and his Sioux tribe surrendered to the U.S., closing the history of the plains Indians as we know it.  All plains Indians were confined to reservations in the Dakotas,  to lands so dry and unyielding, that even experienced farmer's would encounter problems working the soil.  The people were expected to survive on supplies rationed by the government to supplement what they grew, but sadly, the food they received was as scarce as the yield they garnered from the tilled soil.

Land-hungry white men took advantage of the starving Indians and tried to buy their plots for as little as 50 cents per acre, and certain government agencies pressured the red man to consent to sell off the excess real estate. Caught in the middle of greed and hunger, the tribe sustained themselves with memories of the old days.

Far away, a Paiute prophet, Wavoka had a vision that spread and gave a new hope to the desparity.  The Ghost Dance would bring a new dawn and a time when the white man would disappear.  The dead would be resurrected and all Indian existence would change, living forever and hunting the new herds of buffalo that would reappear.

In preparation, The Ghost Dance had to be performed, a simple ceremony consisting of dancing and chanting, often resulting in a frenzy where participants often fell into a semi-conscious state and saw visions of the coming of the new world.  A Ghost Dance shirt, thought to make the wearer safe from the white man's bullets, was adopted, and because so many wore such shirts, the garments may have been the reason the ritual was considered a war dance.

Despite mistreatment at the hands of the whites and the undertones of the Dance, no antiwhite feelings were expressed and the message of the cult was one of peace, but fear mongering among the white officials on the reservation and spreading of gossip pointed a finger at Sitting Bull, who was thought to be the focus of the ceremony.

  Forty-three Indian police were ordered to arrest him, and descended upon his cabin.  He fought against the injustice due to what has been said to be taunts from old women to resist the whites once again. Shots were fired and at the end, fourteen people, including Sitting Bull lay dead.  More next month of the aftermath known as the Slaughter at Wounded Knee.

Note from Ginger:  All information pertaining to the Ghost Dance is attributed to Reader's Digest.  I have paraphrased to share this event with you.

Sitting Bull - One of the Greats by Susan Horsnell

SITTING BULL

This month I thought we would take a look at one of the most famous Sioux Indians - Sitting Bull and one of the most famous battles in which he led his people.

Sitting Bull was born c. 1831 at Grand River, Dakota Territory. He was named Jumping Badger. His father was Jumping Bull and his mother, Her Holy Door.

When Jumping Badger was fourteen years old he accompanied a group of Lakota warriors (which included his father and his uncle - Four Horns) in a raiding party to take horses from a camp of Crow warriors. Jumping Badger displayed bravery by riding forward and counting coup on one of the surprised Crow, which was witnessed by the other mounted Lakota. Upon returning to camp his father gave a celebratory feast at which he conferred his own name upon his son. The name, Tȟatȟaŋka Iyotȟaŋka (Tatanka Iyotake), which in the Lakota language means "Buffalo Bull Sits Down", would later be abbreviated to "Sitting Bull". Thereafter, Sitting Bull's father was known as Jumping Bull. At this ceremony before the entire band, Sitting Bull's father presented his son with an eagle feather to wear in his hair, a warrior's horse, and a hardened buffalo hide shield to mark his son's passage into manhood as a Lakota warrior.

During the Dakota War of 1862, in which Sitting Bull's people were not involved, several bands of eastern Dakota people killed an estimated 300 to 800 settlers and soldiers in south-central Minnesota in response to poor treatment by the government and in an effort to drive the whites away. Despite being embroiled in the American Civil War, the United States Army retaliated in 1863 and 1864, even against bands which had not been involved in the hostilities. In 1864, two brigades of about 2200 soldiers under Brigadier General Alfred Sully attacked a village. The defenders were led by Sitting Bull, Gall and Inkpaduta. The Lakota and Dakota were driven out, but skirmishing continued into August.

In September, Sitting Bull and about 100 Hunkpapa Lakota came across a small party near what is now Marmarth, North Dakota. They had been left behind by a wagon train commanded by Captain James L. Fisk to effect some repairs to an overturned wagon. When he led an attack, Sitting Bull was shot in the left hip by a soldier. The bullet exited out through the small of his back, and the wound was not serious.

Battle of the Little Bighorn

The area in which the Battle of Little Bighorn took place.

During the period 1868–1876, Sitting Bull developed into the most important of Native American chiefs. After the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) and the creation of the Great Sioux Reservation, many traditional Sioux warriors, such as Red Cloud of the Oglala and Spotted Tail of the Brulé, moved to reside permanently on the reservations. They were largely dependent for subsistence on the US Indian agencies. Many other chiefs, including members of Sitting Bull's Hunkpapa band such as Gall, at times lived temporarily at the agencies. They needed the supplies at a time when white encroachment and the depletion of buffalo herds reduced their resources and challenged Native American independence.

In 1875, the Northern Cheyenne, Hunkpapa, Oglala, Sans Arc, and Minneconjou camped together for a Sun Dance, with both the Cheyenne medicine man White Bull or Ice and Sitting Bull in association. This ceremonial alliance preceded their fighting together in 1876. Sitting Bull had a major revelation.

At the climactic moment, "Sitting Bull intoned, 'The Great Spirit has given our enemies to us. We are to destroy them. We do not know who they are. They may be soldiers.' Ice too observed, 'No one then knew who the enemy were – of what tribe.'...They were soon to find out."(Utley 1992: 122–24)

Sitting Bull's refusal to adopt any dependence on the white man meant that at times he and his small band of warriors lived isolated on the Plains. When Native Americans were threatened by the United States, numerous members from various Sioux bands and other tribes, such as the North Cheyenne, came to Sitting Bull's camp. His reputation for "strong medicine" developed as he continued to evade the European Americans.

After the January 1st ultimatum of 1876, when the US Army began to track down as hostiles those Sioux and others living off the reservation, Native Americans gathered at Sitting Bull's camp. The chief took an active role in encouraging this "unity camp". He sent scouts to the reservations to recruit warriors, and told the Hunkpapa to share supplies with those Native Americans who joined them. An example of his generosity was Sitting Bull's taking care of Wooden Leg's Northern Cheyenne tribe. They had been impoverished by Captain Reynold's March 17, 1876 attack and fled to Sitting Bull's camp for safety.

The Hunkpapa chief provided resources to sustain the new recruits. Over the course of the first half of 1876, Sitting Bull's camp continually expanded, as natives joined him for safety in numbers. His leadership had attracted warriors and families, creating an extensive village estimated at more than 10,000 people. Lt. Col. Custer came across this large camp on June 25, 1876. Sitting Bull did not take a direct military role in the ensuing battle; instead he acted as a spiritual chief. A week prior to the attack, he had performed the Sun Dance, in which he fasted and sacrificed over 100 pieces of flesh from his arms.

Custer’s 7th Cavalry advance party attacked Cheyenne and Lakota tribes at their camp on the Little Big Horn River (known as the Greasy Grass River to the Lakota) on June 25, 1876. The U.S. Army did not realize how large the camp was. More than 2,000 Native American warriors had left their reservations to follow Sitting Bull. Inspired by a vision of Sitting Bull’s, in which he saw U.S. soldiers being killed as they entered the tribe’s camp, the Cheyenne and Lakota fought back. Custer's badly outnumbered troops lost ground quickly and were forced to retreat. The tribes led a counter-attack against the soldiers on a nearby ridge, ultimately annihilating them.

The Native Americans' victory celebrations were short-lived. Public shock and outrage at Custer's death and defeat, and the government's knowledge about the remaining Sioux, led them to assign thousands more soldiers to the area. Over the next year, the new American military forces pursued the Lakota, forcing many of the Native Americans to surrender. Sitting Bull refused to surrender and in May 1877 led his band across the border into the North-West Territories, Canada. He remained in exile for four years near Wood Mountain, refusing a pardon and the chance to return. When crossing the border into Canadian territory, Sitting Bull was met by the Mounties of the region. During this meeting, James Morrow Walsh, commander of the North-West Mounted Police, explained to Sitting Bull that the Lakota were now on British soil and must obey British law. Walsh emphasized that he enforced the law equally and that every person in the territory had a right to justice. Walsh became an advocate for Sitting Bull and the two became good friends for the remainder of their lives.

While in Canada, Sitting Bull also met with chief Crowfoot, who was a chief of the Blackfeet, long-time powerful enemies of the Lakota and Cheyenne. Sitting Bull wished to make peace with the Blackfeet Nation and Crowfoot. As an advocate for peace himself, Crowfoot eagerly accepted the tobacco peace offering. Sitting Bull was so impressed by the Blackfeet chief that he named one of his sons after him. Sitting Bull and his men stayed in Canada for 4 years. Due to the smaller size of the buffalo herds in Canada, Sitting Bull and his men found it difficult to find enough food to feed his people, who were starving and exhausted. Sitting Bull’s presence in the country led to increased tensions between the Canadian and the United States governments. Before Sitting Bull left Canada, he may have visited Walsh for a final time and left a ceremonial headdress as a memento.

He became a Holy man and Tribal Chief of the Hunkpapa, Lakota.

Around 5:30 a.m. on December 15, 39 police officers and four volunteers approached Sitting Bull's house. They surrounded the house, knocked and entered. Lt. Bull Head told Sitting Bull that he was under arrest and led him outside. Sitting Bull and his wife noisily stalled for time, the camp awakened and men converged at the house of their chief. As Lt. Bullhead ordered Sitting Bull to mount a horse, he said the Indian Affairs agent needed to see the chief, and then he could return to his house. When Sitting Bull refused to comply, the police used force on him. The Sioux in the village were enraged. Catch-the-Bear, a Lakota, shouldered his rifle and shot Lt. Bullhead, who reacted by firing his revolver into the chest of Sitting Bull. Another police officer, Red Tomahawk, shot Sitting Bull in the head, and the chief dropped to the ground. He died between 12 and 1 p.m.

A close-quarters fight erupted, and within minutes several men were dead. The Lakota killed six policemen immediately and two more died shortly after the fight, including Lt. Bullhead. The police killed Sitting Bull and seven of his supporters at the site, along with two horses.

Sitting Bull's body was taken to Fort Yates, where it was placed in a coffin (made by the Army carpenter) and buried.  A monument was installed to mark his burial site after his remains were reportedly taken to South Dakota.

Sitting Bull Monument

 

In 1953 Lakota family members exhumed what they believed to be the chief's remains, transporting them for reinterment near Mobridge, South Dakota, his birthplace. A monument to him was erected there.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this small snippet about Sitting Bull and I look forward to bringing you another interesting tidbit next month.

Sue

Susan Horsnell
Western Historical Romance Author
Rone Award Nominee 2014
Rone Award Nominee 2015
Finalist Laramie Awards 2015
                           
Website:             http://horsnells.wix.com/susan--1

Blog:                   http://susanhorsnell.com

Facebook:          https://www.facebook.com/westernlovin

Lakota Woman - Posted by Ginger Simpson

Last month, I posted a letter I'd received from an expert on American Indians.  He suggested that if I wanted to get into the true spirit of the Sioux, I should order Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog.  I got the book and have been reading it to aid my writing and boost my research about the Lakota people.  I've been so moved by the story, I want to share the very beginning of the book.  Although this scene is not written about the same era which I elect to share in my novels, the content definitely has the hook that makes you want to read more...plus I'm getting a real feel of what the Indians have gone through at the hands of our government and the treatment they've received at the hands of the white people who call themselves Christians.  Let me introduce, Mary Crow Dog  (her married name):

I am Mary Brave Bird.  After I had my baby during the siege of Wounded Knee, they gave me a special name--Ohtika Win, Brave Woman, and fastened an eagle plume in my hair, singing brave-heart songs for me.  I am a woman of the Red Nation--A Sioux woman.  That is not easy.

I had my baby during a firefight, with the bullets crashing through one wall and coming out through the other.  When my newborn son was only a day old and the marshals were really upon us, I wrapped him up in a blanket and ran for it.  We had to hit the dirt a couple of times and I shielded the baby with my body, praying.  "It's all right if I die, but please let him live."

When I came out of Wounded Knee, I was was not even healed up, but they put me in jail at Pine Ridge and took my son away.  I could not nurse.  My breasts swelled up and grew hard as rocks, hurting badly.  In 1975, the feds put the muzzles of their M-16s against my heard, threatening to blow me away  Its hard being an Indian Woman.

My best friend was Annie Mae Aquash, a young, strong-hearted woman from the Micmac Tribe with beautiful children. It is not always wise for an Indian woman to come on too strong.  Anne Mae was found dead in the snow at the bottom of a ravine on the Pine Ridge Reservation.  The police said she had died of exposure, but there was a 38-caliber slug in her head.  The FBI cut off her hands and sent them to Washington for fingerprint identification, hands that had helped my baby come into the world.

My sister-in-law, Delphine, a good woman who had lived a hard life, was also found dead in the snow, the tears frozen on her face.  A drunken man had beaten her, breaking one of her arms and legs, leaving her helpless in a blizzard to die.

My sister, Barbara, went to the government hospital in Rosebud to have her baby, and when she came out of anesthesia found she had been sterilized against her will.  The baby lived only for two hours, and she had wanted so much to have children.  No, it isn't easy.

When I was a small girl at the St. Francis Boarding School, the Catholic sisters would take buggy whips to us for what they called "disobedience."  At age ten, I could drink and hold a pint of whiskey.  At age twelve, the nuns beat me for "being too free with my body."  All I had been doing was holding hands with a boy.  At age fifteen, I was raped.  If you plan to be born, make sure you are born white and male.

It is not the big, dramatic things so much that get us down, but just being Indian, trying to hang on to our way of life, language, and values while being surrounded by an alien, more powerful culture.  It is being an iyeska, a half-blood, being looked down upon by whites and full-bloods alike.   It is being a backwoods girl living in a city, having to rip off stores to survive.  Most of all, it is being a woman.

Among Plains tribes, some men think that all a woman is good for is to crawl into the sack with them and mind the children.  It compensates for what white society has done to them.  They were famous warriors and hunters once, but the buffalo is gone and there is not much rep in putting a can of spam or an occasional rabbit on the table.

As for being warriors, the only way some man an count coup nowadays is knocking out another skin's teeth during a barroom fight.  In the old days, a man made a name for himself by being generous and wise, but now he has nothing to be generous with, no jobs, no money and as far as our traditional wisdom is concerned, our men are being told by the white missionaries, teachers and employers that it is merely savage superstition they should get rid of it they want to make it in this world.  Men are forced to live away from their children so they can get Aid to Dependent Children.  So, some warriors come home drunk and beat up their old ladies in order to work off their frustrations.  I know where they are coming from.  I feel sorry for the, but I feel even sorrier for their women.

Skipping ahead a little...

The Brule, like all Sioux, were a horse people, fierce riders and raiders, great warriors.  Between 1870 and 1880, all Sioux were driven into reservations, fenced in and forced to give up everything that had given meaning to their life--their horses, their hunting, their arms, everything.  But under the long snows of despair, the little spark of our ancient beliefs and pride kept glowing, just barely sometimes, waiting for a warm wind to blow that spark into a flame again.

Skipping again...just to the conditions in which Mary lived with her grandparents:

The old couple raised us way out on the prairie near He-Dog in a sort of homemade shack.  We had no electricity, no heating system, no plumbing.  We got our water from the river.  Some of the things which even poor white or black ghetto people take for granted, we did not even know existed.  We knew little about the outside world, having no radio and no TV.  Maybe that was a blessing.

****

Wow....I can't wait to read more of this book...in fact by the time this blog is published, I will probably have finished it, but I wanted to whet your appetite.  I'm thinking that Yellow Moon (my current WIP) is going to take on a whole new meaning after this.  My current beginning chapters are way off base, according to the expert, and if anything, I want to get my historical facts right.

Maybe next month, I'll share more from Mary's story.  I think you might like that.  Right?

Sioux Children #historical #western #American Indians

The following three major bands comprises the Great Sioux Nation:

Lakota - (Seven bands)
Oglala
Sicangu
Hunkpapa
Miniconjous
Sihasapa
Itazipacola

Dakota or Santee - (Four Bands)
Mdeakantonwon
Wahpeton
Wahpekute
Sisseton

Nakota or Yankton - (Three Bands)
Yankton
Upper Yankton
Lower Yankton

I've long had a fascination for the Sioux, specially the Lakota, and I've enjoyed learning how ritualistic the tribes are/were. In today's post, I'm going to share some facts concerning their children.:

BIRTH:
A time of celebration and showing thankfulness to the family.  Based upon the legend of the White Buffalo Woman, once a Sioux woman gave birth, she fulfilled her role to be fruitful and multiply.  At sometime during a woman's pregnancy, usually a grandmother or the mother, created twin turtle or lizard pouches, one to hold the baby's umbilical cord and the other to serve as a decoy.  Since both animals were considered "hardy, it stood to reason that using their image would serve to protect the child.  The true pouch was hidden in the child's cradleboard until the little one grew old enough to walk, and then worn around the neck.  At a certain point possession of the pouch reverted to the mother.

Winkte

Four days after birth, everyone in the village was invited to a feast to celebrate naming of the baby.  Contrary to rumors I've heard (mainly in a joke), children were usually named after their oldest living grandparent or a deceased grandparent held in high esteem.  Additional children were usually named by the father to herald a specific deed he had accomplished or maybe a dream he'd had.  In the case of boys, they were usually two names, one which was never spoken aloud.  The "secret" name was acquired from a "winkte" which surprisingly to me, was a male Indian who dressed like and possessed all the quilling and sewing skills of a woman.  If Lesbianism existed, it was less obvious than the role the transvestite played, and being a "winkte" was considered God-Like and thusly a name offered by that person would protect the child from harm.

Modern-day babies benefit from the colostrum from their mother's breasts, but in the case of the Sioux, and old woman called, sucking woman, or a ten-year-old girl was summoned to remove the first milk for three or four days in order to prevent the infant from having diarrhea.  Instead, babies were fed berry juices and soups through a nipple fashioned from an animal bladder.

Sioux mother and child

A child's first year was mainly spent bundled in a cradleboard.  Cattail down or buffalo chips (depending upon the season) were packed in the bundle to absorb the urine.  Feces were removed, but the bundling not necessary changed each time.  The mother assumed the care of the child, often assisted by another female member of the tribe (grandmother, sister, older sibling), and if the infant as female, the old sibling assumed responsibility from the beginning.  If the child was a male, her participation was limited to feeding and watching over the baby.

Although children remained securely confined for the majority of their infant-time, from the ages of four to seven, they were naked most of the time.  By the age of seven, more modesty was required, but the children were asked, not told what to do and physical violence was never used.

Setting up Camp

As the child grew, he/she received instructions from many of the family oriented Sioux tribe and were rarely disciplined and the Sioux revered their children.  Games played by the boy children were extremely physical and geared toward preparing the child for battle, and when a boy was old enough to sit a horse, he was given his own colt and instructions on the care of the animal by his father.  Girls talents, on the other hand, were not fostered by the father-son type relationship, rather gathered  from rules of conduct demanded of female Sioux.  Cooking, washing clothing, gathering wood, berry picking and keeping the home straightened were primary tasks, but later, young women were taught the art of quilling, scraping and drying hides and learned how to construct and relocate tepees.

Women were required to show kindness to all men and animals, be loving, achieving, and eat apart from the men.   The left side of the lodge was designated as the female's side, and she was required to speak only in the female language which consisted of words not much unlike Spanish where ending letters signify gender.  (Example:  hermano/hermana = brother/sister).  Most importantly, female children were geared to behave modestly and care for themselves and their family.

Next month:  More on tribal behavior.

Facts presented here were garned from reading "the Sioux" by Royal B. Hassrick and America's Fascinating Indian Heritage by Reader's Digest.  All images were secured from bing.com

Destiny's Bride, my latest release from Books We Love, in which I show the heroine's experience at witnessing the birth of a child as directed by Rainwoman, the old medicine woman:

Here's an excerpt from

The area inside was large and spacious. Cecile stood riveted against the wall and watched with eyes wide. To see a group of women assisting in the birth made the experience impersonal…and a tad intimidating.  Maybe she hadn’t become as immodest as she thought.  Her thoughts were drawn to the expectant mother by a low moan.

Raven Wing squatted over a small trough lined with a square of deerskin and grasped a stick driven into the ground to help maintain her balance while she gave in to the bearing down pains. With each contraction, one of the women pushed on Raven Wing’s abdomen to hasten the baby’s arrival.

Cecile wondered how long the woman had been in labor. Raven Wing’s face contorted with pain yet she never yelled or cried out despite her apparent anguish.  Having never witnessed a child’s birth before, Cecile became frightened and inched toward the door.

Rain Woman noticed and waggled a winger at her. “You must stay and watch so when your time comes you know what to expect.”

“Okay, Old Mother,” Cecile relented. “I will stay.” But she thought of a thousand things she’d rather be doing.

Finally, after lots of pushing and straining, Raven Wing’s blood-covered baby slipped out into the trough. The new mother fell back onto a bed of buffalo robes, totally spent and panting for breath. Rain Woman stepped in and cut and tied the umbilical cord then cleared the baby’s nose and mouth. The newborn boy immediately cried, flailing tiny arms in the air.

All my books are available at http://www.amazon.com/author/gingersimpson

Festivals - Then and Now by Ginger Simpson

Photo courtesy of www.howstuffworks.com 

Anyone like county fairs?  Carnivals?  Amusement parks?  I think most of us looked forward to all of these events when we were children, and maybe even as adults.  I shudder when I think about some of the ritualistic festivities that the plains Indians, especially, the Sioux, excitedly anticipated...events such as The Sun Dance.  Believe it or not, this twelve-day event ended in a ritual ceremony to celebrate the Great Spirt or Wakan Tanka as their God was called.

Imagine girding yourself for a ride on a roller coaster  or being brave enough to try something even scarier.  At Disneyland, even It's a Small World scares me, but then I'm a wimp.   I've already been stuck in a dark 'fun-house' when our watercraft bumped against the wall and stayed there.  Turned out, it wasn't quite so fun, but then I digress.

  Moving back to the topic at hand...picture yourself as a Sioux warrior, eager to show your bravery and endurance through a ritual of self-mutilation and torture.  Quite a contrast isn't it?  The Summer Sun Dance was a yearly get-together enjoyed by most of the plains Indians, the Sioux included.  For twelve days devoted to the Sun Dance  tribes gathered at an appointed area and communed with the Great Spirit and one another.  Although the gala wasn't a given, it was rare for a Sun Dance to be missed.

For the first eight days, Women socialized, children played, courtships began, and the men sat and swapped stories while Shamans of the tribes picked assistants for the last sacred four days of the ritual.

 On the first of the four final days, a brave from the masses located a forked-top cottonwood tree of proper dimensions.  This tree served as the centerpiece of the ceremony around which volunteers would spend the last day dancing.

On the second of the last four days, appointed women went in search of the selected tree, but for three times pretended not to find it.  Of course, since everything sacred was performed in "fours", their last try was a success.

The third of the last four days was spent painting the tree in four different colors...one for each of the four sacred directions.  With a buffalo cutout atop the "pole", it was raised and the men performed a war dance while shooting arrows at the mock buffalo.

Photo courtesy of www.crystalinks.com

The fourth and final day began at dawn with the Shamans preparing the dancers for their parts in the dance.  Some had volunteered to merely dance around the pole as long as they could, while others were tethered to the pole by having skewers implanted through flaps in their chest skin and danced through the pain which they believed enhanced their communion with their Great Spirit.  The dancing continued until the last of those attached to the tree broke free.

All of these festivities were performed inside a special lodge where an audience gathered and witnessed the dance.  The resounding of eagle-bone whistles filled the air, as the dances blew throughout their dancing ordeal.

Why a cottonwood you ask?  To the Sioux, the leaf resembled a tepee, and the buffalo provided almost everything the tribal Indians needed to survive.  There were many other rituals that took place during the Sun Dance, including a Buffalo Dance and the piercing of the ears of the children.  The ear piercing was considered an initiation to the faith of the Sioux customs.  Oh, what a boring life we lead in comparison, but as for me...I love to dance, but I'd skip right over the skewing part.  If I get scared on "It's a Small World," you can bet I'd never survive the first tinge of pain.  *smile*

Cover by Michelle Lee

Since Destiny's Bride is on Amazon now, I'd like to share an excerpt, dealing with the Sun Dance:

EXCERPT:

With the changing of the seasons came time to move back to the plains.  Cecile gathered their belongings to secure to a contraption Singing Sparrow and other women would help her build.  They called it a travois and from the description, sounded like a buckboard without the wheels and seat. She couldn’t fathom making anything, let alone this travois thing, but her mother-in-law assured her it wasn’t as difficult as it sounded.  Once the tepee was disassembled, the long support poles would provide the structure.  Even taking apart their lodge posed an overwhelming task. Try as she might, Cecile couldn’t understand the need to move from this place she loved.

“Lone Eagle, I don’t understand why we have to leave here. This is our home. The mountains give us safety that wide open land doesn’t provide.”

“Green Eyes, I know you have come to feel secure and happy in this place, but we must go where the herds of buffalo graze.  The fruit, grains, fish and other food we need are there, as well.”

“Why? You’ve done well on your hunts here. Deer are plentiful.”

“Yes, our hunting has been good, but there is more to our survival than food. The buffalo provides far more than meat. Nothing is wasted when a kill is made. What we don’t eat, we use for coverings for the lodges, blankets, robes, cooking utensils, sinew for our bows… too many things to count.”

“I had no idea. How many will you slay to make all of those things?”

“The Sioux respect every living thing and never take an animal’s life needlessly. We will kill only what we need to survive.”

“When does the buffalo hunt take place?”

“When we are settled on the plains, many tribes will join us in celebration of the Sun Dance. Afterwards, we will hunt together.”

Cecile’s thoughts were suddenly filled with the remembrance of Rain Woman’s description of a buffalo hunt. Daring braves dart in and out of the charging herd, forcing the buffalo into a circle. Other braves wait to shoot until the animals are close enough. Once they’ve slain a sufficient amount, the women are expected to help butcher.

When Rain Woman first told the story, Cecile couldn’t imagine handling the entrails of a dead animal. So far she managed to escape butchering anything, but she supposed the deer hides she’d been scraping were good preparation for what was to come.

“What is the Sun Dance?” There was still so much she didn’t know.

“During the twelve-day celebration, tribes gather to honor the Great Spirit. We dance to thank him for his many blessings. Many braves will participate. Their bodies will be painted in symbols and colors, and they will go without food and water.   Those like me who have already participated in communing with Wakan Tanka will only fast and dance, while others will have their chests pierced with skewers and hang from the sacred Sun Dance pole until their skin breaks free.  It is during this time those men will receive direction from the Great Spirit.

Lone Eagle bore the scars on his body to prove his day of the dance, and by the way his chest puffed with pride while describing the festivities, he'd been a worthy participant. She couldn’t imagine what would drive someone to go through such a test, and her body shivered at the thought of hanging from a pole by her skin. “Isn’t there more to the Sun Dance than that?”

“Of course,” Lone Eagle continued. “The ceremony is an opportunity to visit with those from the other tribes who we see only once a year. Just think of the new friends you will make. The Sun Dance is a festive time enjoyed and revered by the entire tribe.”

 Thinking ahead to summer proved difficult. Cecile’s mind meandered back to the move and the changes coming in her life. She worried about being responsible for reconstructing their lodge in their new camp, but then reasoned that with help anything was possible. She counted all the things she’d already learned. Laundry was among them, and she had even more to do now because of the baby.

“Before we leave, I will wash our clothing one more time.” 

“While you tend to that, I will go check with my father to see when we are going to leave.”  Lone Eagle left before she had a chance to inquire about him watching the baby.

You can find Destiny's Bride with all my other works at http://www.amazon.com/author/gingersimpson

My thanks to Books We Love for giving this story another chance in an improved format.

Aside from the excerpt, all Information for the article provided by America's Fascinating Indian Heritage published by Reader's Digest.

Crazy Horse and the Sioux - Were they bullied?

I, Ginger Simpson, love the history channel, and of course when a recent presentation dealt with the history of Crazy Horse of the Sioux, I was glued to the screen.  I'm sharing portions of that program with you to demonstrate that bullying has been around for ages, and no matter what we do, it's highly unlikely we'll every be able to stop it.

Back in the 1840s, the waving grasses, flowing streams, and distant hills of the Dakota plains were considered sacred.  Only those children of the red man's Great Spirit wandered them without fear.  They lived simply until conflict with the white man began, but until then, the peaceful and harmonious ways of the Sioux tribe were the custom during the time Crazy Horse was born to become a great leader of his people..

Near Rapid Creek, South Dakota, the Sioux dominated the plains, consisting of several bands, with Crazy Horse being from the Ogalala Lakota.. Their size and strength gave them control of the largest territory, protecting their lands from the neighboring Crow, Irikara, Araphoe and Shoshone.  Over the years, by driving back these intruders as a reminder to whom the land belonged,  the Sioux eventually became the most powerful and numerous band along the northern plains.

It's reported that during his vision quest, Crazy Horse received instruction that led to the way in which he lived his life.  For four days he fasted in solitude to open his mind and body to the Great Spirit's word. The young warrior was shown a future in which he would avoid adornment, seek simplicity and go into battle without fear. The arms of his people would protect him.  Although he rode closest to the soldiers, he was never wounded.  His people assumed he possessed special characteristics and spiritual medicine that protected him.

Despite his mysterious aura and self-imposed separation from people, he soon became the second most powerful leader; the first being Sitting Bull.  Although there is very little documenting the life of Crazy Horse, oral history from his ancestors tell how he stood out at a very early age. More fair-skinned than his brotherhood, and having curly brown hair, his black eyes hardly maintained eye contact. He seemed shy and withdrawn, but never remiss in defending his homeland.  His story has been long a legend among the people but other information about him was written by the whites and showed prejudice rather than recognition as a truly talented and admired warrior. Despite the abundance of photographs taken of other chiefs and tribal members, either through an aversion to photography or his shyness, no pictures of this legendary warrior exist..

White American Society began moving onto the Sioux land in the 1850s, and shortly after, life changed.. With interest drawn by the abundant herds of animals moving along the impinging trails, the occasional pilfering of a cow or horse resulted in complaints being lodged with the armies who occupied the many forts built along the traveled paths to protect the white settlers. The Sioux assumed the infantry would disregard the infrequent theft reports and engaged in trade with some of the whites. These types of offenses were handled by Indian Agents with great success.  Although the practice of interacting with the whites introduced the Sioux to many new things, it also brought to them diseases previously unknown to them, making them wary of these intruders to their land.  The Sioux were also wrong in their assumptions about the army and their treaties..

The first dispute along the Great Platte Road resulted because of one lone cow  It was 1854, and the sick and lame animal wandered from a Mormon wagon train into Conquering Bear's camp at a time when Crazy Horse was there.  Approximately 4,000 Brule and Ogalala Sioux camped peacefully, according to their treaty of 1851, when Lt. Hugh Fleming and a small garrison consulted with the chief about the return of the animal.  The owner demanded $25.00 instead of a replacement cow or horse taken from the Chief's own personal herd.  Lt. Fleming demanded the brave who killed the cow be delivered to the fort, but the Chief refused.  The slayer of the animal was a visiting Miniconjou, and the Chief did not want to appear inhospitable..

Upon the reports of the refusal of cooperation, Second Lt. John Grattan led a detachment into the Indian camp.  As a recent graduate of West Point and inexperienced with dealing with the Sioux's ability, Grattan's determination to carry out his job led to Chief Conquering Bear being shot in the back, whereupon the Sioux dispensed with the twenty-nine men who started the fracas.  At the time, the Indian Agent was in the process of returning to the area with the required re-compensation.

It was this ridiculous argument that resulted in General William S. Harney, leading a garrison of 600 men to teach the Lakota a lesson.  He found the Indians peacefully camped and unaware of the pending attack, slaughtering over eighty men, women and children.  During this time, Crazy Horse was away from camp, training a pony, and upon his return once again witnessed the brutality of the paleface he now considered enemy.

So, could things have played out differently?  I think so, but we'll never know because there are always going to be those who need to flex their muscles and prove something to the world.. General William Harney was known to have a mean streak, and his actions later earned him the title of "The Butcher."  His saying "By God, I'm for battle, no peace," proved his intentions.  I'm ashamed to say he was from Tennessee.  We can be like the Sioux an continue to fight for what we believe is right, but will we be anymore successful?