In 1974, I met this Cheyenne elder, “Two Moons”, in the Minneapolis VA hospital. We were both recovering from surgery. When he mentioned he was from Lame Deer, Montana, I jokingly asked if he had fought Custer?
No, he said, I was in WWII. My Grampa fought Ol George A. Custer. Most people mistakenly believe it was the Dakota (Sioux)- they got the glory- while the Cheyenne did the fighting as the saying goes.
Anyhoo, Ol' Two Moons invited me to the Victory Dance in June '76. It was the 100 year anniversary since they had defeated George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry at the “Greasy Grass”, or as it's commonly called, Custer's Last Stand at the Little Big Horn. They knew that reinforcements that Custer was supposed to wait for were near, so this huge gathering of Cheyenne and Dakota broke camp and scattered. They knew the ol “Long Knives'' were gonna be pissed off! The Victory Dance would have to wait.
So, 100 years later, we loaded the Ol' Dodge Maxi Van, tied our 20 foot TIPI poles to the roof, offered asima
(tobacco) for our journey, and drove off to the Little Big Horn. There were 12 of us- mostly Dakota and a couple of Ojibway. 16 hours and 800 miles later, we arrived at the Little Big Horn. The hill and road to the top were packed with tourists - school buses full of “Blue Eyes”, some dressed in 1860s Cavalry uniforms (they were called “Reenactors”).
We humped up the hill to listen to the Cheyenne and Crow- they had joined forces to defeat the energy companies who had planned to build a dozen coal-fired generators around Coalstrip. They planned to sell electricity downline, only one generator had been completed. The Cheyenne and Crow- once enemies- had successfully “Siouxed” to stop this ripoff of their land, water and air. They had also gotten the U.S. Government to issue a class-A environmental certificate, which means these Co.s cannot use Montana's mining laws to steal the minerals. The mining Co.s put this law in back before Montana became a state. Any property that is found to have minerals underground belong to the mining co. The law is the Mineral Rights Law- minerals found on your property are the mining co.s and they do not have to pay you any more than what the land is worth. Now Git.
After the blah-blah (all politicians sound alike), we followed “Two-Moons” to his ranch where we sang, danced, and ate buffalo. It was June 1976, the bi-centennial year. I saw the First Vietnam Veterans Honob Guard of Cheyenne Warriors. They were Airborne Veterans of the 82nd AA, 101st Airborne Division, and the 173d Airborne Brigade. Seeing these troopers in their Class A uniforms, jump boots and their hair in braids, they carried AR-15s and the Cheyenne “war bundle” leading the veterans and dancers in the “Victory Dance” around the drum and joining them- all Veterans were invited to dance- I remember the PRIDE I felt. Proud of being a Anishinaabe Ogichidaa, Marine Vietnam combat veteran. I thought of all my relatives- grandfather, uncles, cousins, friends- who had fought in this country's wars. That was the day I got my pride back! It was the anniversary of Custer's defeat!!
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