Historic Little Bighorn gathering aims to inspire Native youth, wake the spirit

On May 8, organizers called Clayton Waditaka to the front of the conference room at the Wind River Casino & Hotel to honor him as a relative and acknowledge the long trip his family made to participate in planning the Greasy Grass victory activities landing in about six weeks. For nearly a week, from June 22-27, the allied tribes of the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho will camp in southeastern Montana for a celebration symbolizing the unity and perseverance of the tribes in the 21st century.

“Wopila, and welcome to the circle,” Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out told Waditaka. The Oglala president has taken an active role with others to ensure the allied tribes have properly planned their roles when they gather to camp on several land areas designated for participants.

One of the main tipi campsites will be on Real Bird family land, which lies adjacent to the Greasy Grass battlefield site. The largest camping area will be located south of the battlefield on about 200 acres held by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

The historic resistance of 150 years ago was led by the Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull, who is the subject of a recent documentary by the same name. Sicangu actor Michael Spears, who plays the famous Hunkpapa leader, told the Riverton planners and organizers that the film relied on Lakota oral tradition and the participation of Native historians and Hunkpapa elders, resulting in Native narrative control of the documentary.

Spears said events like the upcoming anniversary allow everyone to understand the purpose of the battle, “where they're fighting for the men and the women, the kids to live, to not be colonized, to still be Lakota, to still have an identity.”

Leading up to the battle, the village of the Teton Sioux and their allies was attacked by the 7th Cavalry led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. For more than a century, allied tribes have kept the story of their rout of the U.S. military. In commemoration of that day, tens of thousands of Natives are expected to camp and celebrate near the battlefield in Crow Agency, Montana.

Star Comes Out told the Riverton audience that plans for the event are not set in stone and that the organizers were still accepting ideas. At present, there are two stages for speakers: one at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Park Service sitet and one on Real Bird land, where the Crow family hosts an annual reenactment. Three battle reenactments are scheduled for June 26-28.

Meanwhile, during the May 7-8 meeting hosted by the Northern Arapaho of the Wind River Indian Reservation, organizers hammered out dozens of details related to the upcoming anniversary, including logistics on camping sites, parking, security, speaker agenda, waste management, communication operations, youth activities and about seven long-distance horse rides leading to Montana.

More volunteers are needed for food preparation. So far, no one has signed up for the food-meal committee. It is expected there will be at least two main cook camps while each band also plans to cook for their respective camps.

Organizers plan to have at least two more in-person planning meetings between now and June, likely at Standing Rock and in Billings, Montana. In addition, Zoom calls are expected to take place every Friday until events start in June.

“It’s really beautiful we’re all coming together,” said Christopher Eagle Bear, a Little Big Horn event organizer from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. “It’s a catalyst for a movement.” He sees the moment as more than people coming together; he sees the door opening to “wake up the spirit” of Native people.

Spears said,“It's always a privilege to come to events like this where changemakers come. And that's what's happening. Across Indian Country there's always plenty of work to be done and a lot of creative ideas and solutions that are yet to be discovered.”

While most of the Little Bighorn organizers are located in South Dakota, which the majority of the Oceti Sakowin population calls home with nine Indian reservations, other allies exist in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Oklahoma and seven Dakota reserves in Canada.

“I give you a thank you from the bottom of my heart, me and my wife,” Clayton Waditaka told all who honored him with a song and blanket. He said he was grateful and humbled at the invitation to join planning sessions. He expects to attend the final planning meetings before arriving with fellow Dakota relatives from Canada to the Little Bighorn battle site.