ssbba
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Post by ssbba on Jul 21, 2008 6:12:48 GMT -6
I have just acquired a copy of "Chief Flying Hawk's Tales".
Flying Hawk tells us that he was the brother of Kicking Bear. He also says that Crazy Horse was his cousin and best friend.
He gives a fairly detailed acount of his own involvement, as well as that of Crazy Horse and Kicking Bear, at the Little Bighorn.
Particularly as I am very interested in tracing the career of Kicking Bear, I'd be interested to know if this work is generally regarded as authentic. I know that there are some pretty dubious publications around.
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tatanka
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Post by tatanka on Jul 21, 2008 6:23:30 GMT -6
Kicking Bear the Minniconjou?
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Post by biggordie on Jul 21, 2008 13:05:30 GMT -6
ssbba:
I would guess that you will get differing opinions on the question of authenticity. Accounts can be both authentic and inaccurate. I believe that this account IS authentic, but it has been so long since I read it, and I do not have a copy, that I cannot comment upon its accuracy. Others might disagree.
If you're principally interested in Kicking Bear, you might want to check out our "sister" forum at www. American-Tribes.com. You'll find many experts on First Nations peoples and individuals over there, on a forum that is devoted to the subject of NDN culture, history and heritage.
Welcome aboard. Thanks for the reminder about Flying Hawk.
Gordie
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ssbba
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Post by ssbba on Jul 23, 2008 3:30:05 GMT -6
Thanks for the quick replies, Tatanka and Gordie!
Tatanka - Yes, Kicking Bear the Minneconjou band chief, originally an Oglalla, who was heavily involved in the ghost dance movement, and after a spell of imprisonment in Fort Sheridan ended up in Glasgow, Scotland, with Buffalo Bill.
Gordie - thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
Regards,
Tom
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Post by grahamew on Jul 23, 2008 5:29:20 GMT -6
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tatanka
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Post by tatanka on Jul 23, 2008 6:33:36 GMT -6
Kicking Bear, Mato Wanartaka, was born an Oglala around 1853. He was the son of Black Fox and Wood Pecker. He married Woodpecker Woman, daughter of Big Foot of the Minneconjou. The dowry was paid in horses he had stolen from the Crows. With his marriage to a chiefs'daughter he became a band leader of the Minneconjou. He played a prominent part in the Custer fight along with others such as Crazy Horse, Lame Deer and White Bull. In 1891 he became involved with the Ghost Dance, which so alarmed white officials that Indian police were ordered to escort him from Standing Rock. After Wounded Knee in 1890 he was arrested and imprisoned at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. In 1891 his sentence was commuted provided he joined Buffalo Bills' Wild West show. After a year long tour of Europe, which he found a humiliating experience, he returned to Pine Ridge to care for his family. He died on May 28, 1904, at the age of 51.
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tatanka
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Post by tatanka on Jul 25, 2008 11:57:35 GMT -6
There is an interesting postcript to the above message in that the Smithsonian in DC has an exhibit of a "Sioux warrior". What is really interesting is that the figure has the "life mask" of Kicking Bear. It was taken using gelatine as a cast when Kicking Bear visited Washington in the 1890s and is a replica of his features. The exhibit was originally dressed in Kicking Bears' own buckskin shirt and leggings. However, the clothes started to deteriorate and had to be put into storage. It was then they changed the name of the exhibit. So now one of the last great fighting men of the Lakota is simply tagged "Sioux Warrior".
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Post by biggordie on Jul 25, 2008 17:23:21 GMT -6
WOW!!
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ssbba
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Post by ssbba on Jul 27, 2008 8:13:02 GMT -6
Gordie, I have read on a number of web sites that Kicking Bear found his time with Buffalo Bill "humiliating". Can you possibly tell me the primary source for this particular piece of information? I have been after it for a while, but have never found it. I have a stack of information on Kicking Bear on the 1891 - 92 season, and most of it went into my book on Buffalo Bill's Wild West in Scotland, which was published last November. During the winter season which the Wild West spent in Glasgow, Scotland, it appeared just next to Whitehill School, which, some decades later, my late mother attended. So you will appreciate that this has become something of a personal obsession for me. You might like to check out my Buffalo Bill in Scotland site at: www.tnais.com/bbis/
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tatanka
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Post by tatanka on Jul 27, 2008 10:06:00 GMT -6
I don't know about "primary sources" but I can guess the reason he found the whole experience humiliating. He joined the show under duress, it was either that or imprisonment. Every act portrayed the Indians as villains. Like most Lakota warriors who had lived the old free way of life he would be a very proud man and to be portrayed as a villain in this circus would undoubtedly humiliate him. It is interesting to note that when he returned to Pine Ridge nothing more was really heard of him.
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Post by biggordie on Jul 27, 2008 11:19:13 GMT -6
ssbba:
I'm not primarily a student of Lakota culture and history, and have no idea where the portrayal of the "humiliating" might have come from. tataka's post sound s like gold to me, but I have no idea as to a primary source for the comment. Did you try on the other forum I recommended? There are a whole raft of very knowledgeable people over there.
Gordie
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ssbba
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Post by ssbba on Jul 28, 2008 5:06:56 GMT -6
Yes, thanks Gordie,
I took a look at the site you recommended.
There was an entry for Flying Hawk, but the info was taken straight from his book, with no discussion of its reliability. There was also some limited information about Kicking Bear, but nothing that takes me any further forward. Do you know how I could contact Crzhrs? He says that Kicking Bear often spoke highly of Crazy Horse, and I'd like to ask his source for this.
As already stated, I hold considerable information on Kicking Bear's time with Buffalo Bill on the 1891 - 92 tour. I'm no beginner at this.
I don't doubt that Kicking Bear did indeed find his experiences with the Wild West "humiliating". But the information that he actually said as much is knocking about in various places on the net, and I'd love to know if there is an archive source for this that I have missed.
Another story I found on a web site was that Kicking Bear popped up in Montana c. 1898 as a Presbyterian missionary of all things. This information was taken from an article written for The Smithsonian magazine some years ago. I succeeded in contacting the author of the original article, but he told me that he had written it so long ago that he now holds neither record not recollection of his sources.
I'm sure that a lot of regular posters will identify with my frustrations.
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tatanka
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Post by tatanka on Jul 28, 2008 8:34:38 GMT -6
He was indeed a missionary for a time but he eventually rejected that to return to his traditional values.
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tatanka
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Post by tatanka on Jul 28, 2008 9:29:17 GMT -6
I don't believe for a minute that he became "christianized". I think it suited him at the time. He was Lakota thru and thru, also a medicine man. I doubt he would turn his back on a lifetime of tradition, even tho others did. As for him speaking highly of Crazy Horse, there's no surprise there. Most of those who knew him spoke highly of him. He and Kicking Bear were related and often fought together. He knew Crazy Horses' courage.
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Post by biggordie on Jul 28, 2008 10:57:36 GMT -6
ssbba:
To contact anyone on this forum, click on their moniker, which will lead you to their profile, and you can then send them a Personal Message [PM, in the vernacular].
Gordie
PS I'm guessing that you are resident in Scotland. If so, I will be visiting your fair country [again] next year, and will hope to make your acquaintance, if possible, during my trip.
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