#plains indian war horse

[beyondtheadobe]

[prairie-tales]

Horse warfare between Lakota and other Plains Indians and the U.S. Cavalry during the Battle of Little Bighorn , 1876.

Artist name and date??

Notes:

In 1876, General Custer and members of several Plains Indian tribes, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, battled in eastern Montana in what would become known as Custer's Last Stand.

The only survivor was a horse.

[liberty1776]

Custer vs. Crazy Horse | Part 3 | Horse-Lords of the Plains

I have a close friend that has been that has spent many years working with the Lakota people. This is me wearing a Lakota war bonnet and carbine he lent me as references for a paining I did for him, The carbine was used by a Lakota warrior at The Battle of the Little Big Horn.

This is the painting I did for my friends organization, The Warriors of The Lakota that is dedicated to helping the Lakota People, the founder of the organization first saw Lakota people when he was a boy at a Buffalo Bill Wild west show, he is the excited boy in the audience in my painting. 

Below is the Crazy Horse Monument I visited in 2015 when I visited the Lakota reservation in South Dakota. I met several Lakota chiefs. And helped with an art camp for the reservation kids. Most of the kids stayed home on the anniversary of the Custer fight, that they still celebrate as a great victory.

[whencyclopedia]

Cheyenne

The Cheyenne are a North American Native nation, originally from the Great Lakes region, who migrated to modern-day Minnesota and then to areas in North Dakota and further southwest. They are associated with the Plains Indians culture and, after mastering the horse, became one of the most powerful nations of the American West.

Initially hunter-gatherers, the Cheyenne adopted agriculture and lived in permanent dwellings, raising crops that included wild rice. Some of the Cheyenne's defining characteristics are given by scholar Michael G. Johnson:

they lived in fixed villages, practiced agriculture, and made pottery, but lost these arts after being driven out onto the Plains to become nomadic bison hunters. They became one of the focal points of the Plains culture, characterized by tipi dwelling, development of age-graded male societies, geometrical art, and the development of the ceremonial world renewal complex, the Sun Dance. (118)

After their migration from the Great Lakes region, caused by the influx of other Native peoples into the area, they abandoned permanent settlements for a nomadic lifestyle, adopted the teepee (tipi) as housing, and followed the buffalo, which, like with other Plains Indians nations, was their primary food source. At first, they used dogs as pack animals to move their villages, but, after they mastered the horse in the 17th century, horses became their central mode of transportation as well as a status symbol of wealth and power.

They spoke (and still speak) the Cheyenne language which belongs to the Algonquian language group and allied themselves with the Arapaho, another Algonquian-speaking nation, in the early 19th century. The Cheyenne and Arapaho have continued their relationship up through the present day.

They hold to an animistic religious belief that all life is sacred, imbued with a spirit, and interconnected. Religious rituals include the Sun Dance, which is said to have been given to them by their great prophet Sweet Medicine, who also instituted formal government, societal structure, and the original four military societies that would become increasingly important in the wars of the 19th century fought against Euro-American expansion across their lands and the genocidal policies of the US government.

Conflicts with the US Army, the mass slaughter of the buffalo by white hunters to eliminate their food source, and the introduction of European diseases greatly reduced the number of Cheyenne throughout the 19th century, during which they were forced onto reservations as more of their land was taken by white settlers. Today the majority of the Northern Cheyenne live on the reservation in Montana while most of the Southern Cheyenne live on the reservations in Oklahoma.

Name & Nation

The name they are most commonly known by was given by the Sioux. Scholar Adele Nozedar comments:

The name Cheyenne was, for a while, believed to be derived from the French word for "dog" which is chien, since this people had a noted society of Dog Soldiers. However, the name is actually a Sioux word meaning "people of different speech." The Cheyenne name for themselves, Tsistsistas, means "beautiful people." (93)

The meaning of Tsistsistas has actually been translated in several ways, including "the people", "like-minded people", and "like-hearted people." They called their homelands Tsiihistano, meaning "home of the people," which, at the height of Cheyenne power, stretched from Montana to Texas and their economy depended on the great herds of bison, which they hunted across these lands seasonally.

The Cheyenne nation, originally of three groups, expanded to ten prior to the 19th century, including:

Heviqs-nipahis

Hevhaitanio

Masikota

Omisis

Sutaio

Wotapio

Oivimana

Hisiometanio

Ogtoguna

Honowa

These ten make up "the people" of the Cheyenne nation, who are represented by delegates to the governing body known as the Council of Forty-Four, but there are other bands who are also considered Cheyenne. Further, the nation is divided into the people known as Northern Cheyenne and Southern Cheyenne.

Continue reading...

[3rdeyeblaque]

On Dec 15th, we venerate Elevated Ancestor & Saint Tataηka Íyotake aka Chief Sitting Bull on the 133rd anniversary of his passing 🕊 [for our Hoodoos of First Nations descent]

Sitting Bull, of the Hunkpapa Lakota, was a fierce political leader & holy man known to be a great father, husband, & friend to all. Under him, all the Lakota bands united for survival in the Northern Plains, as he spearheaded their resistance against European invasion. He was known for his legendary courage, unyielding defiance toward U.S. military power, & contemptuous of the many broken U.S. political promises.

Tatáŋka Íyotake was born to a prominent family of chiefs on the Grand River in present-day South Dakota at a place called, "Many Caches" - known for its abundant food storage pits. He was given his name, which described a buffalo bull sitting intractably on his haunches. This, he would grow live up to.

As a young man, Tatáŋka Íyotake joined two prominent groups within his community. He became a distinguished member of the Silent Eaters (a group concerned with tribal welfare) & leader of the Strong Heart Warrior Society. At 14, he joined his father & uncles on a raid against the Crow. Here, he first encountered White soldiers as the U.S. Army had mounted a broad campaign in retaliation for the Santee Rebellion in Minnesota, enchanting the Lakota had no affiliation with. That following year, in 1816, Tatáŋka Íyotake fought U.S. troops again at the Battle of Killdeer Mountain. Later, in 1865, he led a siege against the newly established Fort Rice in North Dakota. Widely respected for his bravery & insight, in 1868, Tatáŋka Íyotake became Head Chief of Lakota Nation.

By 1874, the stage for war between Sitting Bull & the US Army was set once an expedition led by General George Armstrong Custer confirmed gold had been discovered in the Dakota Territory’s the Black Hills, an area sacred to the Lakota bands. This land was decreed off-limits to white settlement by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Despite this ban, prospectors began a rush to the Black Hills. Once U.S. government efforts to purchase the Black Hills failed, the Fort Laramie Treaty was dismissed. The commissioner of Indian Affairs decreed that all Lakota not settled on reservations by January 31, 1876, would be considered hostile.

Rightfully so, Sitting Bull and his people held their ground. In March, 3 lines of federal troops invaded the area. Sitting Bull summoned the Lakota and their allies, the Cheyenne, & Arapaho to his camp on Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory. There, he led them in the sundance ritual, offering prayers to Wakáŋ Táŋka (Great Spirit). Sitting Bull slashed his arms 100 times in sacrifice for his people. During this ceremony, he shared that he'd had a vision. He saw soldiers falling into the Lakota camp like grasshoppers falling from the sky.

Inspired by this vision, the Oglala Lakota leader, War Chief Crazy Horse, set out for battle with a band of 500 warriors at the Battle of the Rosebud. To celebrate this victory, the Lakota moved their camp to the valley of the Little Bighorn River. They were joined by 3,000 more Native warriors who had abandoned the reservations to follow Sitting Bull.

On June 25th, the U.S. 7th Cavalry launched their attack under George Armstrong Custer. They rushed the Indian encampment as if in fulfillment of Sitting Bull’s vision. Yet they were severely outnumbered & thus defeated. White outrage at this military catastrophe spurred thousands more cavalrymen to the area. Over the next year, they relentlessly pursued the Lakota bands.

Though many were forced into surrender, Sitting Bull remained defiant. In May 1877, he led his band to Canada, beyond the reach of the U.S. Army. When a U.S. General traveled north to audaciously offer him a pardon in exchange for settling on a reservation, Sitting Bull angrily dismissed him.

Four years later, in the wake of European invaders driving the Buffalo to near instinction, Sitting Bull found it nearly impossible to feed his people. So, he moved south to face surrender. On July 19, 1881, Sitting Bull’s young son handed his father’s rifle to the U.S. commanding officer of Fort Buford in Montana. Through this action, Sitting Bull hoped to teach his son “that he had become a friend of the Americans.” He also said, “I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle.” He asked for the right to cross back & forth into Canada whenever he wished & for a reservation of his own on the Little Missouri River near the Black Hills. Instead, he was sent to Standing Rock Reservation. His warm reception there raised Army fears about a fresh uprising. So, Sitting Bull and his people were taken further down the Missouri River to Fort Randall. They were held as prisoners of war for nearly 2 more years.

Finally, on May 10, 1883, Sitting Bull rejoined his tribe at Standing Rock. The Indian Agent in charge of the reservation was determined to deny him any special privileges. And so, Sitting Bull was forced to work in the plantation fields. Yet when a delegation of U.S. Senators came to discuss opening part of the reservation to Whitea, he spoke forcefully, though futilely, against it.

In 1885, Sitting Bull was allowed to leave the reservation to join Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. He earned $50 a week for riding once around the arena. Sitting Bull also named his price for his autograph & picture. Unable to tolerate White society any longer, he stayed with the show for 4 months.

Returning to Standing Rock, Sitting Bull lived in a cabin near his birthplace on the Grand River; still rejecting the seeds of the colonialism - Christianity & giving up the traditional ways of life - as the reservation’s rules required. He did, however, send his children to a Christian school because he believed the next generation of Lakota would need the education of their oppressors to survive in the new world.

Here, he had another vision. He saw a meadowlark on a hillock beside him say,“Your own people, Lakotas, will kill you.” Nearly 5 years later, this vision would come to fruition.

In the fall of 1890, a Minŋecoŋjou Lakota named Kicking Bear came to Sitting Bull with news of the Ghost Dance, a ceremony that promised to rid the land of colonizers & restore the Indian way of life. Lakota had already adopted the ceremony at the Pine Ridge & Rosebud Reservations, and Indian Agents there had already called for troops to bring the growing movement under control.

At Standing Rock, the authorities feared Sitting Bull, still revered as a powerful spiritual leader, would join the Ghost Dancers as well. They sent 43 Lakota police officers to seize him. Before dawn on December 15th1890, the officers burst into Sitting Bull’s cabin & dragged him outside, where his followers were gathering to protect him. In the gunfight that followed, one of the Lakota police officers shot Sitting Bull in the head.

Today, Sitting Bull rests close to his birthplace near Mobridge, South Dakota. A granite shaft marks his grave.

"They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and their refuse." - Sitting Bull.

We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his inspirational leadership, fearless figuring spirit, power in prayer, & his deep faith in Great Spirit.

Offering suggestions: a smoking pipe with tobacco, Lakota music, bison meat served with wild potatoes & prairie turnips

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️

[oklahomahistory]

No-Win Situation

No-Win Situation  If the Natives’ differences with white American culture and history caused problems for them, however, so did their herculean attempts to remedy that problem by acculturating themselves to the swelling United States. Large segments of several prominent southeastern Indian tribes attempted to master the ways of European and American culture, just as early American leaders such as George Washington encouraged them to do. These five tribes—the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles-gained the sobriquet of the “Five Civilized Tribes" due to their strong acceptance of most of the key tenets. of an American civilization that, by most objective measurements, was succeeding, growing, and thriving far beyond their own. These tenets included its Christian religion, classical Western educational system, social culture, political institutions, and agrarian and other business practices. Famed Oklahoma historian Angie Debo cited the usefulness of the Five Civilized Tribes designation “to distinguish them from their wild neighbors of the plains.” Historian Arrell M. Gibson contrasted the powerful impact of one tribe’s mounting mixed-blood population-birthed of enterprising white fathers (Scots, Scots-Irish, Irish, English, French, etc.) and Indian mothers—with full bloods who retained old ways and associations: The mixed-bloods (among the tribes), more like their fathers than their mothers, came to adopt an advanced way of living. They developed vast estates, ranches, and businesses in the Cherokee Nation, and became slaveholders. The full bloods continued to live in log cabins, cultivated only a subsistence patch of food crops, raised horses, excelled in the old tribal crafts of hunting, fishing, a life close to nature, and now and then joined a war party for a raid on the encroaching American settlements. But many of those American settlers, including Georgians furious over the federal government’s failure to uphold its end of the Compact of 1802, feared that the Cherokees were growing too “civilized.” Why? The Georgians envisioned a large permanent-and sovereign-Indian enclave in the northwest corner of the state. They also worried that Cherokee roads, tolls, and ferries operating beyond the constraints of Georgian laws and regulations would hamper commerce with other states. Also, the tribal chiefs’ reluctance to improve the nation’s roads angered Georgian leaders. Plus, as earlier mentioned, the federal government had assured the state of the soon departure of the Cherokees. Unfortunately, the tribe itself had no part in that agreement, so they had no intention of fulfilling it. The Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles faced similar indifference or hostility to their efforts at “civilizing.” Whether practicing the old ways or the new, the realization grew among the tribes that they could not win if they remained east of the Mississippi River, no matter what course they pursued. Arkansas Territory in its original form and with two sections split off to form Indian Territory. Read the entire Oklahoma story in John J. Dwyer’s The Oklahomans: The Story of Oklahoma and Its People volume 1 of a 2-part series on the 46th state and the people who make this state very special.

[jiskblr]

I just finished binging The Gods are Bastards and I highly recommend it. It's set in a 'late Old West'/industrial fantasy world where the 'age of adventures' is widely considered to have ended a century ago. It follows the eight-person Class of 1182 at the Unseen University at Last Rock, an invitation-only college headed by the greatest archmage ever to live (possibly excluding dragons), Professor Arachne Tellwyrn, absolute bitch and Enlightenment philosopher. School field trips include "this town is falling apart with internecine violence, fix it" and "the werewolves around this slightly-cursed city are howling every night, figured out why and fix it". This is normal at the ULR.

The world has a bunch of interesting religious and physical peculiarities keeping the magic embedded into the world pretty thoroughly. Like the frontier that the Old West covered is not just plains occupied by Indians, it's the Golden Sea, a literally-trackless, unmappable infinite prairie where the only reliable directions are "uphill is further in, downhill is further out", and no way to predict where along the frontier you'll pop out. Even time warps; at one point the Class of 1182 meet and fight a smilodon. (A similar thing happens in the forested Deep Wild, where lives Naiya the elder goddess of nature.) There's still natives - the plains elves live primarily within or around the edges of the Golden Sea, and have a native-like culture. And an army of horse nomads once escaped into it and raided the entire frontier for a decade before they got worn down by attrition.

The main cast, Class of 1182:

Trissiny Avelea: Hand of Avei, i.e. the world's sole paladin of the goddess of justice, war, and feminism. Orphan raised by the Avenist church, intelligent and extensively educated in war and law, but initially very sheltered. Spends most of the story expanding her range, learning to think along other lines, use other methods of problem-solving than combat, and inhabit other perspectives. (She was 13 before anyone reassured her that being heterosexual wasn't a mental disorder.)

Princess Zaruda Carmelita Xingyu Sameera Meredith Punaji, "Ruda" to everyone at school. Princess and presumptive heir to the pirate kingdom of Punaji. Like her entire family, cursed "to drink and never be drunk", meaning she's the only student exempt from ULR's dry campus. Incredibly stereotypical, except when she chooses not to be. Extremely competent politician and swordfighter, but least scary member of her class.

Teal Falconer: heiress to Falconer Industries, manufacturers of the best and most common enchanted carriages (her father is essentially Henry Ford). Host to the archdemon Vadrieny, youngest of the daughters of Elilial, goddess of cunning and Hell, and sole survivor. Teal is a butch lesbian bard, an extremely committed pacifist, and managed to prevent herself and Vadrieny exploding when she was possessed by the power of love and acceptance. Vadrieny nonetheless lost all her memories.

Shaeine nur Ashaele d’zin Awarrion: youngest daughter of the drow Matriarch of House Awarrion, which produces the diplomats for the city of Tar'naris, a drow city which recently allied with the Tiraan Empire. Shaeine is a priestess of the 'upper-tunnel' drow goddess Themynra, goddess of judgment, and a trained diplomat like all her family. (As opposed to Scyllith, elder goddess of light, beauty, and cruelty, creator of Hell, who the 'lower-tunnel' drow worship and Themynra's worshipers keep bottled up away from the surface.)

Juniper: dryad, youngest of Naiya's daughters. Extremely hot, extremely dangerous, extremely difficult to kill, and even more extremely unwise to kill, because Naiya would take issue with her murderer and everyone else within about a half-mile. Knows almost nothing about civilization except how it tastes (kinda like pork), but she's here to learn. By the end of her freshman year, she has let more sexual partners live than all other dryads put together. Complete sweetheart.

Fross: pixie, the tiny, completely inexhaustible granddaughters of Naiya. Probably the smartest pixie to ever live, due to her wild talent that allowed her to eat fey energy and turn it into intellect and arcane energy instead of just enhancing her fey gifts. Absolutely fascinated by civilization and has read everything she could find about how it works before the first day of classes. Also a complete sweetheart.

Tobias Caine: Hand of Omnu, paladin of the god of life, the sun, and agriculture. Skilled in Sun Style martial arts, a philosophically-pacifist Omnist style; also skilled in being the mom friend. Like Triss, orphan raised by his church, but his temple was in the big city so he's a lot less isolated. Quietly gay, which is probably frustrating since the only other guy in his year is his brother in all but name.

Gabriel Arquin: half-hethelax demon, which means he could be thrown off a mountain and he wouldn't even sprain an ankle. Pathologically bad at thinking before he speaks, at least initially. Nice guy once he starts to cool off his hothead. Gets a major promotion at the end of freshman year which I won't spoil.

Non-Students:

Eserite Bishop Antonio Darling: Currently the representative to the Universal Church of the Pantheon from the church of Eserion, god of thieves and subtlety. Formerly Boss 'Sweet', head of the Thieves' Guild. Everybody's friend and model believer in Eserite theology, whose first dictum is "all systems are corrupt". Handed over High Priest duties to Boss 'Tricks' and became Bishop instead to pursue some personal political and covert agendas.

Professor Arachne Tellwyrn: archmage of archmages, absolute asshole, professor of history, political science, and philosophy. Philosophically opposed to having chill but will sometimes attempt it for practical reasons. Doesn't know where she was born, and interrogated every extant god about it before she settled down to found the University. Committed deicide once; everyone agrees that he fucking had it coming.

Joseph P. Jenkins: The Sarasio Kid, greatest wandslinger in the world. Walking stereotype of a polite, well-mannered roving hero. Never misses. Almost never loses a hand of poker. High-functioning autistic savant who literally perceives the entire world as data and can compute all the math required for impossibly-good trick shots in his head instantly.

Also featuring: Zanzayed the Blue, notorious fop and wastrel of a dragon, who has a three-millennium feud with Arachne which is almost indistinguishable from a close friendship. Avenist Bishop Basra Syrinx, expert duelist, fantastic political operator, and complete sociopath. Archpope Justinian of the Universal Church, who apparently sincerely desires to elevate all of humanity (and probably other sapients) to divinity and yet is among the most contemptibly hateable pieces of shit ever to grace the page. Principia Locke, tag 'Keys', inscrutable con-artist and possibly the best thief in the world. Jenny Everywhere, world-shifting adventurer and favored employee of Vesk the god of bards. (And unlike all her other open-source appearances, actually well-used by the story.) Brother Ingvar, Huntsman of Shaath, unwilling prophet. Duchess Ravana Madouri, who coup'd her father and brother at the age of 17 and successfully framed them for the treason they had committed but concealed.

[lurkingintheforest]

Crowley's Ridge rises 250 feet above the surrounding territory and runs from southern Missouri into Northeast Arkansas for 200 some miles. It sits in the alluvial plain of an ancient channel of the Mississippi River. It bears the name of it's first permanent white settler, Benjamin Crowley, who came to the ridge in 1821, but only by way of a consequence of the infamous New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812. Crowley held a land grant for land further north in Missouri, for his service in the War of 1812, but upon arriving he found that the original plot was submerged by the earthquakes. Upon reaching the ridge, Crowley announced to his family, "This will be okay". The ridge, ranging between one and 12 miles in width, was a wild territory with bear, wolves and catamounts (mountain lions). It was also used as refuge by local Native American tribes when the Mississippi River flooded. The Quapaw tribe used it for an encampment during hunts, and Crowley did not interfere with their use of the ridge after his land grant was transferred to the ridge.

The first night that Crowley and his family stayed in their new log cabin, his favorite horse was severely mauled by a bear. This area was also where the Arkansas Wild Man was first seen and described for decades, often assumed to also be refugees from the New Madrid earthquakes, which numbered over 10,000 in 2 years. The assumption was that some residents fled the unnerving destruction and became feral. Later these tales have been assumed to be of a Bigfoot creature. Crowley's Ridge was also the scene of large numbers of Native Americans traversing west to Indian Territory, including the Trail of Tears. It is also the site of a number of hauntings.

Sources:

https://www.arkansas.com/native-american-history-heritage/history/prehistoric

https://ualrexhibits.org/trailoftears/slides/crowleys-ridge/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowley%27s_Ridge

https://www.arkansas.com/articles/exploring-crowleys-ridge

© Dark Ozarks 2022, 2023

#darkozarks #ozarksnoir #noir #noeasyanswers #mysteries #creepy #folklore #thathappened #mystery #thathappenedhere #history #legend #arkansas #ozarks #theozarks #storytelling #podcast

[boricuacherry-blog]

Comanche warriors had for centuries taken female captives, of all and any race, and fathered children by them who were raised as Comanches. The kidnapping of a blue-eyed, nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker in 1836 would mark the start of the white man's forty-year war with the Comanches, in which Quanah Parker [Cynthia's half-breed son] would become a key figure.

The only borderland where white civilization met hostile Plains Indians was in Texas. Oklahoma was pure Indian territory, where beaten tribes were forcibly relocated, often right on top of warlike plains tribes. The Parkers' land was like the tip of a blunt finger of Anglo civilization jutting out into the last stronghold of untamed Indians in America. In 1836 it was a very dangerous place. There had been recent Comanche raids in the area: a caravan of settlers had been attacked and two women kidnapped; a month later a family had been attacked on the Guadalupe River; two men killed and a woman and her two children taken captive. She had somehow escaped, and later wandered battered, bleeding, and nearly naked into a camp full of astonished Rangers in the middle of the night. As it was, the Parkers were easy prey. They were too new to the western frontier. When a large band of Indians rode up to the fort at ten o'clock in the morning, seventeen-year-old Rachel Parker guessed incorrectly, and perhaps wistfully, that they were "Tawakonis, Caddoes, Keechis, Wacos," and other sedentary bands of central Texas - but they soon realized they had made a disastrous error in leaving themselves so exposed. Had they fully understood whom they were confronting - mostly Comanches, but also some Kiowas, their frequent running mates [and the only other tribe that hunted on horseback] - they might have anticipated the horrors that were about to descend on them.

What happened next is one of the most famous events in the history of the American frontier, as the start of the longest and most brutal of all the wars between Americans and a single Indian tribe.

[Warning: edited descriptions of disturbing violence]

Rachel Parker and her sister watched in horror as the Indians surrounded her uncle and impaled him on their lances, and then [tortured], while probably still alive. This all happened very quickly. Rachel, attempting to run with her fourteen-month old son, was soon caught, and she would write, "a large sulky Indian picked up a hoe and knocked me down." She fainted, and when she came to was being dragged by her long red hair, bleeding profusely from her head wound. Meanwhile three of her relatives were stripped naked and scalped, while her granny was [sexually assaulted] and left for dead, although she would miraculously survive. Two women and three children were taken captive. Two of those children would become household names on the western frontier. The logic of Comanche raids was straightforward: All the men were killed, and any men who were captured alive were tortured to death as a matter of course, some more slowly than others; the captive women were gang-raped. Some were killed, some were tortured. But a portion of them, particularly if they were young, would be spared. Babies were invariably killed, while preadolescents were often adopted by Comanches or other tribes, or sold and ransomed back to the whites for horses, weapons, or food.

-S.C. Gwynne, Empire of the Summer Moon

[zerogate]

[P]ractices for invoking a sensed presence exist in many cultures around the world, from the Shamanic traditions of the Plains Indians to the ancient Greeks, from Christian mystics to Indian yogis and Western occult practitioners. With all these traditions, people have set out deliberately to invoke the company of an unseen presence. It is actually possible to “train the human mind to experience the supernatural.” This capacity can be evoked intentionally, and, as the desert monks discovered, angels can be summoned.

A famous example involves Crazy Horse, the Lakota warrior who led five hundred braves to defeat Major-General George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Crazy Horse had a vision, likely in 1860–1861, which gave him the strength and confidence to fight for his people, a people who were herded into crowded reservations, who suffered disease and were made to give up their traditional way of life.

Crazy Horse followed the usual practice—going for days without food or water, alone—when he experienced a spiritual presence. He looked at a blade of long grass, which, when he studied it closely, revealed a path down to a small lake. He followed the path into the water and then “A man on horseback came out of the lake and talked with him.” The being gave Crazy Horse advice, which he adhered to throughout his life, telling him not to wear a war bonnet, not to paint his face as was the practice of Lakota warriors, but to instead rub dirt from a gopher hole on himself and to wear straws of grass in his hair. The being also “told him he would never be killed by a bullet, but his death would come by being held and stabbed; as he actually was.” This was oddly comforting to Crazy Horse, who emerged from the experience renewed and strengthened. At age twenty, he found the encounter with the “man from the lake” had transformed him into his people’s most fierce warrior.

Lakota elder John Fire described the impact of such experiences, saying the vision “is not a dream; it is very real. It hits you sharp and clear like an electric shock…. You are wide awake and, suddenly, there is a person standing next to you who you know can’t be there at all … yet you are not dreaming; your eyes are open.”

--  John Geiger, The Angel Effect

[beyondtheadobe]

[mancalledhoss]

Bull Chief, Crow: (1825 -1914). As young man he was part of war-parties and always returned home without honor. He believed it was unnecessary to fast in order to be successful in battle, therefore opted not to fast. Being unsuccessful after returning from battle after battle, Bull Chief decided to climb Cloud Peak, which is the highest peak of the Bullhorn Mountains in Wyoming. Bull Chief stayed up on Cloud Peak and fasted for four days and four nights, but still had no vision. Seeing that his current attempts were failing, and all of the other men in his tribe counting coup he again decided to try something new. For this attempt, he went up to the head of Red Lodge Creek to fast for four days and for four nights in blinding snow.  He had a vision - Saw his own lodge and a splendid bay horse standing in front of it. It was not explained as to what this vision meant, but thereafter Bull Chief began to do remarkably well in battles. Shortly after the vision, Bull Chief was able to get his first honor and started counting coupe frequently. Counting coup is the highest honor for winning intertribal wars between Plains Indians. It is one of the traditional ways of showing bravery in the face of an enemy and involves intimidating him, and, it is hoped, persuading him to admit defeat, without having to kill him.

[bensdesignerhut]

Western Beauty

Western wear is a category of men's and women's clothing which derives its unique style from the clothes worn in the 19th century Wild West. It ranges from accurate historical reproductions of American frontier clothing, to the stylized garments popularized by Western film and television or singing cowboys such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers in the 1940s and 1950s. It continues to be a fashion choice in the West and Southwestern United States, as well as people associated with country music or Western lifestyles, for example the various Western or Regional Mexican music styles. Western wear typically incorporates one or more of the following, Western shirts with pearl snap fasteners and vaquero design accents, blue jeans, cowboy hat, a leather belt, and cowboy boots.

Hat

Lawman Bat Masterson wearing a bowler hat. In the early days of the Old West, it was the bowler hat rather than the slouch hat, centercrease (derived from the army regulation Hardee hat), or sombrero that was the most popular among cowboys as it was less likely to blow out off in the wind.The hats worn by Mexican rancheros and vaqueros inspired the modern day cowboy hats.By the 1870s, however, the Stetson had become the most popular cowboy hat due to its use by the Union Cavalry as an alternative to the regulation blue kepi.

Stampede strings were installed to prevent the hat from being blown off when riding at speed. These long strings were usually made from leather or horsehair. Typically, the string was run half-way around the crown of a cowboy hat, and then through a hole on each side with its ends knotted and then secured under the chin or around the back of the head keeping the hat in place in windy conditions or when riding a horse.

The tall white ten gallon hats traditionally worn by movie cowboys were of little use for the historical gunslinger as they made him an easy target, hence the preference of lawmen like Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson for low-crowned black hats.

Originally part of the traditional Plains Indian clothing, coonskin caps were frequently worn by mountain men like Davy Crockett for their warmth and durability. These were revived in the 1950s following the release of a popular Disney movie starring Fess Parker.

Shirt

1950s style Western shirt with snap fastenings of the type popularized by singing cowboys A Western shirt is a traditional item of Western wear characterized by a stylized yoke on the front and on the back. It is generally constructed of chambray, denim or tartan fabric with long sleeves, and in modern form is sometimes seen with snap pockets, patches made from bandana fabric, and fringe. The "Wild West" era was during the late Victorian era, hence the direct similarity of fashion.

A Western dress shirt is often elaborately decorated with piping, embroidered roses and a contrasting yoke. In the 1950s these were frequently worn by movie cowboys like Roy Rogers or Clayton Moore's Lone Ranger. Derived from the elaborate Mexican vaquero costumes like the guayabera, these were worn at rodeos so the cowboy could be easily identifiable. Buffalo Bill was known to wear them with a buckskin fringe jacket during his Wild West shows and they were fashionable for teenagers in the 1970s and late 2000s.

Another common type of Western shirt is the shield-front shirt worn by many US Cavalry troopers during the American Civil War but originally derived from a red shirt issued to prewar firefighters. The cavalry shirt was made of blue wool with yellow piping and brass buttons and was invented by the flamboyant George Armstrong Custer. In recent times this shield-front shirt was popularised by John Wayne in Fort Apache and was also worn by rockabilly musicians like the Stray Cats.

In 1946, Papa Jack Wilde put snap buttons on the front, and pocket flaps on the Western shirt, and established Rockmount Ranch Wear.

Coat When a jacket is required there is a wide choice available for both linedancers and historical re-enactors. Cowboy coats originated from charro suits and were passed down to the vaqueros who later introduced it to the american cowboys. These include frock coats, ponchos popularised by Clint Eastwood's Spaghetti Westerns, short Mexican jackets with silver embroidery, fringe jackets popular among outlaw country, southern rock and 1980s heavy metal bands, and duster coats derived from originals worn in the Wild West. More modern interpretations include leather waistcoats inspired by the biker subculture and jackets with a design imitating the piebald color of a cow. Women may wear bolero jackets derived from the Civil War era zouave uniforms, shawls, denim jackets in a color matching their skirt or dress, or a fringe jacket like Annie Oakley.

For more formal occasions inhabitants of the West might opt for a suit with "smile" pockets, piping and a yoke similar to that on the Western shirts. This can take the form of an Ike jacket, leisure suit or three-button sportcoat. Country and Western singer Johnny Cash was known to wear an all-black Western suit, in contrast to the elaborate Nudie suits worn by stars like Elvis Presley and Porter Wagoner.The most elaborate western wear is the custom work created by rodeo tailors such as Nudie Cohn and Manuel, which is characterized by elaborate embroidery and rhinestone decoration. This type of western wear, popularized by country music performers, is the origin of the phrase rhinestone cowboy.

Trousers

Cowboy wearing leather chaps at a rodeo

A Texas tuxedo comprising a denim jacket, boots and jeans. In the early days of the Wild West trousers were made out of wool. In summer canvas was sometimes used. This changed during the Gold Rush of the 1840s when denim overalls became popular among miners for their cheapness and breathability. Levi Strauss improved the design by adding copper rivets and by the 1870s this design was adopted by ranchers and cowboys. The original Levi's jeans were soon followed by other makers including Wrangler jeans and Lee Cooper. These were frequently accessorised with kippy belts featuring metal conchos and large belt buckles.

Leather chaps were often worn to protect the cowboy's legs from cactus spines and prevent the fabric from wearing out.Two common types include the skintight shotgun chaps and wide batwing chaps. The latter were sometimes made from hides retaining their hair (known as "woolies") rather than tanned leather. They appeared on the Great Plains somewhere around 1887.

Women wore knee-length prairie skirts,red or blue gingham dresses or suede fringed skirts derived from Native American dress. Saloon girls wore short red dresses with corsets, garter belts and stockings.After World War II, many women, returning to the home after working in the fields or factories while the men were overseas, began to wear jeans like the men.

Neckwear

Working cowboy wearing a bandana or "wild rag," 1880s During the Victorian era, gentlemen would wear silk cravats or neckties to add color to their otherwise sober black or grey attire. These continued to be worn by respectable Westerners until the early 20th century. Following the Civil War it became common practice among working class veterans to loosely tie a bandana around their necks to absorb sweat and keep the dust out of their faces. This practise originated in the Mexican War era regular army when troops threw away the hated leather stocks (a type of collar issued to soldiers) and replaced them with cheap paisley kerchiefs.

Another well-known Western accessory, the bolo tie, was a pioneer invention reputedly made from an expensive hatband. This was a favorite for gamblers and was quickly adopted by Mexican charros, together with the slim "Kentucky" style bowtie commonly seen on stereotypical Southern gentlemen like Colonel Sandersor Boss Hogg. In modern times it serves as formal wear in many western states, notably Montana, New Mexico

[whencyclopedia]

Great Sioux War

The Great Sioux War (also given as the Black Hills War, 1876-1877) was a military conflict between the allied forces of the Lakota Sioux/Northern Cheyenne and the US government over the territory of the Black Hills and, more widely, US policies of westward expansion and the appropriation of Native American lands.

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 had established the Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills, and promised this land to the Sioux in perpetuity. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, the treaty was ignored by the US government, leading to the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1876. The Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho responded with armed resistance in raids on wagon trains, skirmishes, and five major battles fought between March 1876 and January 1877:

Battle of Powder River (Reynolds Battle) – 17 March 1876

Battle of the Rosebud (Battle Where the Girl Saved Her Brother) – 17 June 1876

Battle of the Little Bighorn (Battle of the Greasy Grass) – 25-26 June 1876

Battle of Slim Buttes – 9-10 September 1876

Battle of Wolf Mountain (Battle of Belly Butte) – 8 January 1877

In between these, were so-called minor engagements with casualties on both sides but, after June 1876, greater losses for the Sioux and Cheyenne. The final armed conflict of the Great Sioux War was the Battle of Muddy Creek (the Lame Deer Fight, 7-8 May 1877), by which time the Sioux war chief Crazy Horse (l. c. 1840-1877) had already surrendered and the chief Sitting Bull (l. c. 1837-1890) and Sioux war chief Gall (l.c. 1840-1894) and others had fled to the region of modern-day Canada. Although the war was over by May 1877, ending in a victory for the US military, some bands of Sioux and Cheyenne continued to struggle against reservation life until the Wounded Knee Massacre of 29 December 1890 broke their resistance.

Background

Although the first armed conflict between the Plains Indians and Euro-Americans was in 1823, problems between the Sioux and the US military began on 19 August 1854 with the Grattan Fight (Grattan Massacre), when 2nd Lieutenant John L. Grattan led his command of 30 soldiers to the camp of Chief Conquering Bear (l. c. 1800-1854) to demand the surrender of a man they claimed had stolen a cow from a Mormon wagon train.

Conquering Bear refused to surrender anyone, offering compensation instead, and, as the negotiations broke down, Grattan's men fired on the Sioux, mortally wounding Conquering Bear, and the Sioux warriors retaliated, killing Grattan and all of his command. The US military responded with campaigns against the Sioux in the First Sioux War of 1854-1856, which also included actions against their allies, the Cheyenne and Arapaho.

Tensions escalated after the opening of the Bozeman Trail in 1863, the establishment of forts to protect white settlers using the trail, and the Sand Creek Massacre of 29 November 1864. Red Cloud's War (1866-1868) was launched in response to the construction of these forts and the policies of the US government, concluding with the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which established the Great Sioux Reservation (modern-day South Dakota and parts of North Dakota and Nebraska), including the Black Hills – a site sacred to the Sioux – which was promised to them for "as long as the grass should grow and the rivers flow."

When Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer (l. 1839-1876) discovered gold in the Black Hills in 1874, the Fort Laramie treaty was broken as over 15,000 white settlers and miners streamed into the region during the Black Hills Gold Rush of 1876. The US government offered to purchase the Black Hills, but the Sioux would not sell. More settlers arrived, the government ignored Sioux demands that the 1868 treaty be honored, and the Great Sioux War began in March of that year, with the Reynolds campaign on the Powder River.

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[3rdeyeblaque]

On September 6th, we venerate Ancestor Tašhúŋka Witkó aka "Crazy Horse" on the 146th anniversary of his passing 🕊

[for our Hoodoos of First Nations descent]

Crazy Horse was the legendary Oglala Lakota Warrior who spearheaded the war against invading colonizers sweeping the land & recognized as a great leader committed to preserving the traditions and values of the Lakota ways of life.

Tašhúŋka Witkó was born into war; at a time when the European colonizer threat was growing, encroaching on sacred land & driving friction between Indian communities. Even as a boy, the warrior spirit was strong in him. He raided horses from Crow Nation at age 13. Once he came of age, he took up initiation through Vision Questing. Tašhúŋka Witkó fasted alone in the wilderness for four days and nights seeking guidance from Great Spirit. What he received from this monumental moment would chart his course through life as the greatest warrior his People had ever known. He earned his reputation among the Lakota, not only by skill, but also by his fierce determination to preserve the traditions of his people. He was known for refusing to be photographed, leading with the traditional belief that by doing so would capture an essence of his soul.

By his mid-teens, Tašhúŋka Witkó (by then Crazy Horse) was already a full-fledged warrior; known for his staggering bravery and prowess on the battlefield. He rode into battle with a hawk feather in his hair, a rock behind his ear, & a lightning bolt slashed across his face. The ancestral mysticism and rituals that went into preparing him for battle is what blessed him with the power & protection to succeed.

He led his first war party in Oglala Chief Red Cloud's war against the European colonizers invading lands Wyoming from 1865-1868. He met U.S. forces in open battle for the first time in 1876 after he became a resistance leader against the Lakota being forced onto reservations. He led a band of Lakota Warriors alongside Sitting Bull, the Cheynne, & other neighboring Tribes in counterattack in the Battle of Little Bighorn against Custer’s 7th U.S. Cavalry Battalion. Custer, 9 of his officers, & 280 soldiers, all lay dead in his wake. From then on, the U.S. Gov. targeted the Northern Plains tribes who resisted its encroachment. After a year of forcing the displacement of many Indigenous communities, slaughtering the Buffalo population, and driving their starvation into surrender, eventually the same fate fell upon the Olglala Band of Lakota Nation. In 1877, under a truce flag, Crazy Horse traveled to Fort Robinson to negotiate terms of mutual surrender.

Negotiations with U.S. Military leaders broke down, allegedly as a result of the translator's incorrectly translationof what Crazy Horse said, which spurred them to quickly imprison Crazy Horse. Once he realized their scheme, Crazy Horse broke free & drew his knife. A infantry guard made a successful lunge with a bayonet and mortally wounded him. Crazy Horse succumbed to his wound shortly thereafter once it became infected. After his death, his parents buried him at an undisclosed location near Wounded Knee, South Dakota. There he rests among with the Ancestors he venerate so deeply.

"[ “Where are your lands now?”] “My lands are where my dead lie buried.” - Crazy Horse's response to a U.S. Cavalry man's taunts at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his unbridled warrior spirit, his leadership, prowess, & for being a beacon of light leading all Indigenous American descendants back to our traditional ways of life.

Offering suggestions: prayers toward his elevation, libations of water, offerings of tobacco, & Oglala Lakota songs/prayers

‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️

[oklahomahistory]

No-Win Situation

No-Win Situation  If the Natives’ differences with white American culture and history caused problems for them, however, so did their herculean attempts to remedy that problem by acculturating themselves to the swelling United States. Large segments of several prominent southeastern Indian tribes attempted to master the ways of European and American culture, just as early American leaders such as George Washington encouraged them to do. These five tribes—the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles-gained the sobriquet of the “Five Civilized Tribes" due to their strong acceptance of most of the key tenets. of an American civilization that, by most objective measurements, was succeeding, growing, and thriving far beyond their own. These tenets included its Christian religion, classical Western educational system, social culture, political institutions, and agrarian and other business practices. Famed Oklahoma historian Angie Debo cited the usefulness of the Five Civilized Tribes designation “to distinguish them from their wild neighbors of the plains.” Historian Arrell M. Gibson contrasted the powerful impact of one tribe’s mounting mixed-blood population-birthed of enterprising white fathers (Scots, Scots-Irish, Irish, English, French, etc.) and Indian mothers—with full bloods who retained old ways and associations: The mixed-bloods (among the tribes), more like their fathers than their mothers, came to adopt an advanced way of living. They developed vast estates, ranches, and businesses in the Cherokee Nation, and became slaveholders. The full bloods continued to live in log cabins, cultivated only a subsistence patch of food crops, raised horses, excelled in the old tribal crafts of hunting, fishing, a life close to nature, and now and then joined a war party for a raid on the encroaching American settlements. But many of those American settlers, including Georgians furious over the federal government’s failure to uphold its end of the Compact of 1802, feared that the Cherokees were growing too “civilized.” Why? The Georgians envisioned a large permanent-and sovereign-Indian enclave in the northwest corner of the state. They also worried that Cherokee roads, tolls, and ferries operating beyond the constraints of Georgian laws and regulations would hamper commerce with other states. Also, the tribal chiefs’ reluctance to improve the nation’s roads angered Georgian leaders. Plus, as earlier mentioned, the federal government had assured the state of the soon departure of the Cherokees. Unfortunately, the tribe itself had no part in that agreement, so they had no intention of fulfilling it. The Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles faced similar indifference or hostility to their efforts at “civilizing.” Whether practicing the old ways or the new, the realization grew among the tribes that they could not win if they remained east of the Mississippi River, no matter what course they pursued. Arkansas Territory in its original form and with two sections split off to form Indian Territory. Read the entire Oklahoma story in John J. Dwyer’s The Oklahomans: The Story of Oklahoma and Its People volume 1 of a 2-part series on the 46th state and the people who make this state very special.