The Battle of the Little Big Horn (June 25, 1876) is popularly known as Custer’s Last Stand in reference to General George Armstrong Custer, the commander of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry, who was killed and whose forces were defeated in this attack. He had presidential ambitions, and one of his reasons for conducting this battle was the hope of a dramatic victory that would put him in the public eye. To this end, he engaged a newspaper reporter to accompany him. Custer committed at least two great wrongs in this battle: Not only was he participating in what became a genocidal mission, quelling hostile Indians for the U.S. Government, but, without adequate information, he led his own men into a battle that they could not possibly survive, purely to further his personal ambitions.
It is estimated that as many as 12,000 Indians, of whom 4,000 were warriors, gathered near the Little Big Horn River, in what is now Montana, to meet with Sitting Bull. The encampment included Lakota bands (Oglalas, Brules, Sans Arcs, Minneconjous, and Hunkpapas) as well as Cheyenne and Blackfeet. The Sioux had a reputation as warriors, and this chapter gives us a glimpse of some of their practices, including war cries, horsemanship, and scalping. This chapter clarifies the position that women held in battle, which was to encourage the warriors and later to carry off the spoils of war. The Sioux, thinking of the helpless people at home that they were defending, willingly faced death in battle.
Black Elk’s account also reveals how the cavalry attack, which occurred while the Indians were swimming and eating, surprised the Indians. The seven Indian camps were ranged along the west bank of the Little Big Horn River. Shortly after 3 p.m., General Marcus Reno attacked the south end of the Indian encampment from the east; within the hour, Custer advanced from the north to attack the camps on the north end. By 4:40 p.m., the defeated cavalry troops were forced into retreat.
The Battle of Little Big Horn dominates this chapter, but recognizing that Black Elk’s first participation in a healing ceremony is recorded here as well is important. In his development as a tribal healer, that event is significant. Although the Indians will suffer further losses as the whites retaliate for their defeat at Little Big Horn, Black Elk seems to be advancing in his journey to claim the powers granted in his vision.
