Post by zoinks on Feb 26, 2013 11:18:25 GMT -6
(I am not experienced in Native American subjects, so please forgive me if I appear ignorant!)
I am curious about the origins of an Indian war club that has been displayed in my parents basement for the past 15 years, and I am wondering if anyone can offer any insight. This war club has been accepted as a donation to a museum in South Dakota and it will be delivered in the Spring when the snow thaws. After reading the story about this club, I can't help but think that this item could be traced back to a family or tribe. The donation is firm, but maybe there is a group of people who might like to know that something lost has been found?
Here is our story and the story behind the club:
About 15 years ago my parent's friend, Lucille, was going to the nursing home, and she gave my father some special family items for safe keeping. This friend was always interested in Native American subjects because her father grew up in the Dakota Territory in the 1880's-1890's. (Their family was in Minnesota by the 1900 census.) One of the items was an Indian war club. It has been many years since their friend has died, and my parents felt that the club should go back to South Dakota, so they got some advice, and found a good home for the club and a few other items too. Only then did they pull out the file of documents they received from Lucille. This file included a story written by Lucille's father about growing up in Gettysburg, SD. It appears to be a factual story, including 30 double spaced typed pages. Here it describes how the family came to have this club.
The story includes lots of details about how Lucille's grandfather ran a general store and traded with ranchers and the Indians living on the Reservation across the Missouri River from Gettysburg, SD. He was also a horseman. On page 14, it reads:
"There was one old Chief who became a special friend of Dad's, and who was something of a mystery. This Chief, though wrinkled and grey, was tall and athletic, and had a bright sharp look. Dad met him on his very first visit to the reservation. They were talking in Sioux, about the Chief's pony and suddenly the Chief noticed the Masonic emblem Dad was wearing and he challenged my father in the Masonic manner.
"Dad was so surprised he couldn't answer at once, but when he did the old Chief came right back one step higher. This kept up, the Chief doing the challenging until Dad could go no higher and he told the Chief it was out of reach. The old man shook his head and held his hand a few feet from the ground, smiled, and said, "You just a little one." They met and traded horses often after that but never again did the Chief speak any English or refer in any way to Masonry, though there can be no doubt that this old Sioux Chief was a Mason. The last time my Dad saw this man the Chief gave him a beautiful war club, still treasured by my family. He told my Dad he wished him to have it, that he had carried it in the Custer Fight. Dad speculated often about this man, was he an Indian who had been educated in white schools and returned to his people, or was he a white man who had turned against his own and had lived so long among the Indians and had been accepted by them, so now he was more Indian that white. We never knew what became of him. Dad asked many times but the people on the reservation couldn't or wouldn't tell him, though it was evident he was respected and revered among them."
Is that enough information to place or identify this Sioux Chief who was also a Mason, living across the river from Gettysburg, SD, on a reservation probably between 1888-1898, based on other information in the family history, and who fought in the "Custer Fight"?
I've just really been moved by the story and history, and I'm curious if the info can be traced to a known person, family, or tribe.
Thank you!
Minnesota house wife, mother, and daughter
I am curious about the origins of an Indian war club that has been displayed in my parents basement for the past 15 years, and I am wondering if anyone can offer any insight. This war club has been accepted as a donation to a museum in South Dakota and it will be delivered in the Spring when the snow thaws. After reading the story about this club, I can't help but think that this item could be traced back to a family or tribe. The donation is firm, but maybe there is a group of people who might like to know that something lost has been found?
Here is our story and the story behind the club:
About 15 years ago my parent's friend, Lucille, was going to the nursing home, and she gave my father some special family items for safe keeping. This friend was always interested in Native American subjects because her father grew up in the Dakota Territory in the 1880's-1890's. (Their family was in Minnesota by the 1900 census.) One of the items was an Indian war club. It has been many years since their friend has died, and my parents felt that the club should go back to South Dakota, so they got some advice, and found a good home for the club and a few other items too. Only then did they pull out the file of documents they received from Lucille. This file included a story written by Lucille's father about growing up in Gettysburg, SD. It appears to be a factual story, including 30 double spaced typed pages. Here it describes how the family came to have this club.
The story includes lots of details about how Lucille's grandfather ran a general store and traded with ranchers and the Indians living on the Reservation across the Missouri River from Gettysburg, SD. He was also a horseman. On page 14, it reads:
"There was one old Chief who became a special friend of Dad's, and who was something of a mystery. This Chief, though wrinkled and grey, was tall and athletic, and had a bright sharp look. Dad met him on his very first visit to the reservation. They were talking in Sioux, about the Chief's pony and suddenly the Chief noticed the Masonic emblem Dad was wearing and he challenged my father in the Masonic manner.
"Dad was so surprised he couldn't answer at once, but when he did the old Chief came right back one step higher. This kept up, the Chief doing the challenging until Dad could go no higher and he told the Chief it was out of reach. The old man shook his head and held his hand a few feet from the ground, smiled, and said, "You just a little one." They met and traded horses often after that but never again did the Chief speak any English or refer in any way to Masonry, though there can be no doubt that this old Sioux Chief was a Mason. The last time my Dad saw this man the Chief gave him a beautiful war club, still treasured by my family. He told my Dad he wished him to have it, that he had carried it in the Custer Fight. Dad speculated often about this man, was he an Indian who had been educated in white schools and returned to his people, or was he a white man who had turned against his own and had lived so long among the Indians and had been accepted by them, so now he was more Indian that white. We never knew what became of him. Dad asked many times but the people on the reservation couldn't or wouldn't tell him, though it was evident he was respected and revered among them."
Is that enough information to place or identify this Sioux Chief who was also a Mason, living across the river from Gettysburg, SD, on a reservation probably between 1888-1898, based on other information in the family history, and who fought in the "Custer Fight"?
I've just really been moved by the story and history, and I'm curious if the info can be traced to a known person, family, or tribe.
Thank you!
Minnesota house wife, mother, and daughter
