Bull fighters Marshall Herman and Jonah Red Cherries give a cowboy time to escape after he is tossed by a bull.

The ‘brotherhood’ of bull fighters
By Clara Caufield
Native Sun News Correspondent
www.nsweekly.com

LAME DEER, Mont. –– After the last round at the Indian National Finals (INFR) in Las Vegas, November, 2015, Marshall Herman, a young Sioux bull fighter, 23, emerged from the coliseum, met by his mother Melissa Byrne, who noticed tears on his cheeks.

“What is wrong?” she asked in alarm, assuming he may have been injured during the dangerous duty of protecting his fellow Indian bull riders.

“I’m just happy,” Herman said. “My brother and mentor Jonah Red Cherries, Northern Cheyenne, just gave me his cleats and jersey, encouraging me to go on. I will hang those items on my bedroom wall, never take them down and look at them every day for inspiration.”

Red Cherries, near 40, was recognized at the 2015 INFR as one of the top Indian bull fighters in the Great Plains region, previously selected to perform at many INFR finals.

This past year, he decided to hang up his cleats, forego his face paint, retiring from the physically demanding profession.

Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: The ‘brotherhood’ of bull fighters

(Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com)

Copyright permission Native Sun News