Native Sun News Today: Horse riders make annual return to Little Big Horn

Wednesday, July 10, 2019  

Battle of the Little Big Horn (Crow Agency, Montana) -- On June 25, 1876, thousands of tribal warriors, all horseback, filled the valley of the Little Big Horn (Greasy Grass, as the Cheyenne say), relying upon the "Spirit Dogs", as the Sioux call horses, to carry them into battle with the 7th Calvary. Those warriors were regarded by their foes as the "greatest light horsemen" in the world.

And, on June 25, 2019, many of their descendants once again filled that valley, carried by beloved and faithful four-footed steeds, to celebrate and acknowledge a proud accomplishment of those ancestral horsemen.

After defeat, the tribal horsemen eschewed the Battle for many decades, decidedly unwelcome. However, in recent years, (about 27) Indian horseback riders (men, women and children) have returned to ride the Greasy Grass.

In 2019, the 143rd anniversary of the Battle, hundreds of tribal horseback riders arrived: the Oglala Lakota Little Big Horn Riders; the Northern Cheyenne Morning Star Riders; the Cheyenne River Sioux, who rode with the Northern Cheyenne and for the second year, the Arapaho riders, under the direction of Al Sage, Wind River Reservation also rode with the Lakota, planning to make that an annual event with expanded participation, having the same objective of teaching the young ones.

In addition to celebrating that old victory by parading through the Battlefield grounds, the riders conduct a wild and colorful ‘charge’ of Last Stand Hill, have prayer ceremonies and celebrate, the contemporary riders passing tribal culture, tradition and values to the younger generation. Many of the riders are young: teenagers, grade school children and even toddlers, encouraged by their seniors to ever remember history and take that lesson on to learn a good way of life. One for example, Wicahpi (Star), Mel Lone Hill’s granddaughter, age 14, has been riding since a toddler, first in the arms of her mother, under the loving eye of her Grandfather Mel.

The Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge, under the guidance and encouragement of Mel Lone Hill, a rancher, horseman and former Tribal Vice-President, did the first Memorial ride in the early 1990’s. It was an undertaking of hope for people of modest circumstances. They trailer horses and riders from Pine Ridge to Ashland, Montana, still a hundred miles plus to the Battlefield, a four-day ride, crossing the Northern Cheyenne reservation where they have been welcomed and feasted since the beginning.

In the meantime, as Geneva, Mel’s widow, laughed, they started the ride has another tradition: many blown-out tires and vehicle breakdowns both to and fro. Yet, somehow they manage to get through that.

In 1992, Jenny Parker was serving one of her many terms on the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council, representing the Ashland District, where the Sioux would first arrive. In late June, she raced into the Tribal President’s office.

“We need some money!” she announced. “Sioux are coming, riding to the Greasy Grass. They have women, children and will camp with us. We need to feed them, our allies, friends and relatives. Remember how they saved the Cheyenne so many times?”

Jenny, like many Cheyenne, proudly carries a strain of Lakota blood.

A formidable Cheyenne lady, Jenny gets things done. Thus, a check to feed the visitors was cut from the tribal treasury. It was not nearly enough to feed 60 riders breakfast, lunch and supper for four days, so she wheedled a donation from the local grocery store and called upon other good-hearted Cheyenne, who provided camping spots for the Sioux riders and their horses (requiring good grass and water) and fed all of the visitors very well.

Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com

Copyright permission Native Sun News Today