How did Oyate—The People come to live in the Black Hills?Borders are defined through battles. Like all nations in the world, borders secured during battles define them. Some, however, are lost and gained through deceit and outright theft. This short excerpt is from Tears Of Sorrow–A Free Nation Lost.
“What makes them look so dark?”
“As you get closer you notice that it’s the pines, so thick and heavy with shadow, they take on the appearance of being black. It’s a beautiful place, a sacred place.” He reached forward to pull the remnants of sage weed from his horse’s mane, running his fingers to remove the tangle.
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A meeting is held between the two men and the Great Chief refuses to surrender his people and move to reservation land. Colonel Miles views the chief's decision as stubborn defiance and steps up his campaign against the people.  Photo from the Library Of Congress In 1877, under increased pressure from Colonel Miles and the U.S. military, Sitting Bull, who had been consistently on the move with his people, leads them into Canada. Settling in a place called Wood Mountain, they once again find the free life they love, with buffalo to hunt without fear of attack by the U.S. Army.
In the latter part of 1879 things changed for them. The buffalo no longer ranged that far north because the U.S. Army set fires to keep them south of the border. With knowledge of the state the Indians were in, the U.S. Government offered amnesty and food to the Sioux. Emissaries for the United States government began to cause discord by telling the young Lakota that the Indians were enjoying reservation life in the United States. There, food was distributed and they were allowed to hunt with primitive weapons. Both appealed to the young, and discord began to grow. Through the dance, the dead will rise. The buffalo will return and the land will be free of white involvement.1877
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| Walker River, Nevada A Northern Paiute Medicine Man named, Wodziwob—Gray Hair, was into his third day entirely alone on a high plateau in Nevada when something spectacular occurred. The Paiute people, like most Indian cultures, believed the Great Spirit worked through dreams that often revealed the future. Unconvinced whether it was a vision or a dream, and not particularly concerned with how it came to him, he believed he saw the future. He saw himself in another world where he was told that a golden age for the Indian was at hand. For the vision to become a reality certain things needed to occur; songs, chants, and prayers were required while performing a circle dance during times of no sun—nighttime. The result would be that Indian tribal life would soon return, the dead would come back to life, and the animals the Indians had traditionally hunted—the buffalo—would be restored. | When his prophecies remained unfulfilled, Wodziwob sought new visions, which also remained unfulfilled. The dance he championed was practiced for a time, but when his predictions failed to materialize the dance was abandoned by the Northern Paiute. Around 1870, another Northern Paiute named Tävibo had prophesied that white people would disappear from the earth and the dead would return to life as it was before the white man came. With claims that he could communicate with the dead, Tävibo taught his followers a ceremonial dance that had them dance in a circle for extended periods while singing. If their mind was strong and their dance sincere, the changes he prophesied would be brought to fruition. Coming: My next post will introduce Wovoka and an outline of the part he played in bringing the Ghost Dance to the Lakota people. |
To learn more about the falsehoods used by the U.S. Government to steal Lakota land and their inability to destroy a resilient people, get your copies of The Thirty-Ninth Man–A Novel of the 1862 Uprising and the concluding history in Tears Of Sorrow-A Free Nation Lost click here. Both books weave fictional characters through a tapestry of historical facts.
After all Dakota land was taken and the Dakota were abolished from the state of Minnesota, every treaty signed with the Santee was nullified.
Treaty at Prairie Du Chien, signed August 19, 1825 1825 – A treaty is signed in Michigan Territory with the Sioux, Chippewa, and others, allegedly, to introduce map boundaries to native tribes and to establish the idea of land ownership to lessen inter-tribal wars.
It was the first step in the process of identifying land parcels for ownership by native people. It
set the stage for the U.S. Government to set future reservation boundaries, and to identify future parcels to be ceded (sold for money and promised goods).
The same strategy was used time and again as white settlement moved further into Indian land. In 1851, the tactic had spread westward into Dakota Territory with the signing of the Horse Creek Treaty/Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, when lines on a map divided land in similar fashion. That same year, map marking in Minnesota Territory had advanced to the point of ceding nearly all Dakota controlled land to the U.S. Government and establishing a strip of land 10-miles wide, 130-miles long on each side of the Minnesota River for the Dakota to control. To read more, access The Thirty-Ninth Man, click here.
Commitment, Servitude, and Honor may best describe them.
But, it is their beliefs and approach, which makes each unique.
William Fetterman's entire command was defeated here. Although each man’s reaction to the white incursion on their tribal lands differed significantly, research has led me to believe that the three qualities listed above were the common links between the three men and likely shared by the leaders of all great native nations.
Their focus was on Oyate-The People. Every action they took held that focus as its basis. Each man showed his commitment to protect and nurture the people. The most important thing in their minds was to serve the people with unbreakable honor and commitment. Not surprisingly, they differed greatly in personalities and what each viewed as the best tactic for protecting the people and the land they controlled. At times their characters seemed at odds, but by the people, each was viewed with utmost respect, for each carried the day with what became recognized as their unique gift to the people.
Their focus was on Oyate-The People. Every action they took held that focus as its basis. Each man showed his commitment to protect and nurture the people. The most important thing in their minds was to serve the people with unbreakable honor and commitment. Not surprisingly, they differed greatly in personalities and what each viewed as the best tactic for protecting the people and the land they controlled. At times their characters seemed at odds, but by the people, each was viewed with utmost respect, for each carried the day with what became recognized as their unique gift to the people.
The problem is, the trail crosses through prime buffalo land guaranteed to the Sioux Nation, and they will fight to protect it.
Montana was awarded Territory status on May 26, 1864. In so doing, the U.S. Congress moved the territory’s western boundary deeper into Idaho Territory. The Idaho gold fields discovered in 1863 were now in Montana Territory and there had been a new strike in Emigrant Gulch in the southwest corner. Those hoping to strike it rich were streaming into the area.
There were multiple trails used by the miners to access the gold fields in the west. The primary route to the now Montana gold fields was to follow the Oregon Trail west to Fort Hall, in Oregon Territory, then turn straight north into the heart of the strike.
As all the pathways West, it flowed directly through Indian land, some identified as reservation land, other non-ceded land used for centuries by the Crow, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and Sioux nations.
There were multiple trails used by the miners to access the gold fields in the west. The primary route to the now Montana gold fields was to follow the Oregon Trail west to Fort Hall, in Oregon Territory, then turn straight north into the heart of the strike.
As all the pathways West, it flowed directly through Indian land, some identified as reservation land, other non-ceded land used for centuries by the Crow, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and Sioux nations.
Thank you for visiting my website and following my blog— Digging Deeper, for stories behind my writings.
Here I will be sharing insights into the writing life and particularly the many discoveries made while researching material, much of which is absent in the storylines of my books.
While research is vital to historical fiction, the majority of it is peripheral to the story, yet often essential to set the stage for bringing the reader into the action. While my first novel, The Thirty-Ninth Man, spoke of the disastrous treaty system and how it was used to control and eventually defeat the native population, the sequel novel, Tears Of Sorrow, focuses on personalities and characteristics of real people as they deal with historically accurate situations.
Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse were each revered by the people, yet they differed significantly in their outlooks, in fact in some circumstances, almost opposites when dealing with white expansion. One thing they all shared was a deep love and commitment to Oyate - The People.
While research is vital to historical fiction, the majority of it is peripheral to the story, yet often essential to set the stage for bringing the reader into the action. While my first novel, The Thirty-Ninth Man, spoke of the disastrous treaty system and how it was used to control and eventually defeat the native population, the sequel novel, Tears Of Sorrow, focuses on personalities and characteristics of real people as they deal with historically accurate situations.
Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse were each revered by the people, yet they differed significantly in their outlooks, in fact in some circumstances, almost opposites when dealing with white expansion. One thing they all shared was a deep love and commitment to Oyate - The People.
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At seventy-six, I’m at the beginning of a new chapter in a life filled with blessings from above, adventure, love of family, and kinships reaching into the heavens and to God himself. —AND— I love to tell a story.
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