Native Americans

A woman from New York was driving through a remote part of Arizona when her car broke down. An American Indian on horseback came along and offered her a ride to a nearby town.
She climbed up behind him on the horse and they rode off. The ride was uneventful, except that every few minutes the Indian would let out a Ye-e-e-e-h-a-a-a-a!' so loud that it echoed from the surrounding hills and canyon walls.
When they arrived in town, he let her off at the local service station, yelled one final 'Ye-e-e-e-h-a-a-a-a!' and rode off.
"What did you do to get that Indian so excited?" asked the service-station attendant. "Nothing," the woman answered "I merely sat behind him on the horse, put my arms around his waist, and held onto the saddle horn so I wouldn't fall off."
"Lady," the attendant said, "Indians don't use saddles."

Fool Thunder and family. Hunkpapa Lakota. 1880 ❤
The Hunkpapa (Lakota: Húŋkpapȟa) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name Húŋkpapȟa is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as Honkpapa). By tradition, the Húŋkpapȟa set up their lodges at the entryway to the circle of the Great Council when the Sioux met in convocation. They speak Lakȟóta, one of the three dialects of the Sioux language.
Seven hundred and fifty mounted Yankton, Yanktonai and Lakota joined six companies of the Sixth Infantry and 80 fur trappers in an attack on an Arikara Indian village at Grand River (now South Dakota) in August 1823, named the Arikara War. Members of the Lakota, a part of them "Ankpapat", were the first Native Americans to fight in the American Indian Wars alongside US forces west of the Missouri.
They may have formed as a tribe within the Lakota relatively recently, as the first mention of the Hunkpapa in European-American historical records was from a treaty of 1825.
By signing the 1825 treaty, the Hunkpapa and the United States committed themselves to keep up the "friendship which has heretofore existed". With their x-mark, the chiefs also recognized the supremacy of the United States. It is not certain whether they really understood the text in the document. The US representatives gave a medal to Little White Bear, who they understood was the principal Hunkpapa chief; they did not realize how decentralized Native American authority was.
With the Indian Vaccination Act of 1832, the United States assumed responsibility for the inoculation of the Indians against smallpox. Some visiting Hunkpapa may have benefitted from Dr. M. Martin's vaccination of about 900 southern Lakota (no divisions named) at the head of Medicine Creek that autumn. When smallpox struck in 1837, it hit the Hunkpapa as the northernmost Lakota division. The loss, however, may have been fewer than one hundred people.Overall, the Hunkpapa seem to have suffered less from new diseases than many other tribes did.
The boundaries for the Lakota Indian territory were defined in the general peace treaty negotiated near Fort Laramie in the summer of 1851. Leaders of eight different tribes, often at odds with each other and each claiming large territories, signed the treaty. The United States was a ninth party to it. The Crow Indian territory included a tract of land north of the Yellowstone, while the Little Bighorn River ran through the heartland of the Crow country (now Montana). The treaty defines the land of the Arikara, the Hidatsa and the Mandan as a mutual area north of Heart River, partly encircled by the Missouri (now North Dakota).
Soon enough the Hunkpapa and other Sioux attacked the Arikara and the two other so-called village tribes, just as they had done in the past. By 1854, these three smallpox-devastated tribes called for protection from the U.S. Army, and they would repeatedly do so almost to the end of inter-tribal warfare. Eventually the Hunkpapa and other Lakota took control of the three tribes' area north of Heart River, forcing the village people to live in Like a Fishhook Village outside their treaty land. The Lakota were largely in control of the occupied area to 1876–1877.
The United States Army General Warren estimated the population of the Hunkpapa Lakota at about 2920 in 1855. He described their territory as ranging "from the Big Cheyenne up to the Yellowstone, and west to the Black Hills. He states that they formerly intermarried extensively with the Cheyenne." He noted that they raided settlers along the Platte River In addition to dealing with warfare, they suffered considerable losses due to contact with Europeans and contracting of Eurasian infectious diseases to which they had no immunity.
The Hunkpapa gave some of their remote relatives among the Santee Sioux armed support during a large-scale battle near Killdeer Mountain in 1864 with U.S. troops led by General A. Sully.
The Great Sioux Reservation was established with a new treaty in 1868. The Lakota agreed to the construction of "any railroad" outside their reservation. The United States recognized that "the country north of the North Platte River and east of the summits of the Big Horn Mountains" was unsold or unceded Indian territory. These hunting grounds in the south and in the west of the new Lakota domain were used mainly by the Sicangu (Brule-Sioux) and the Oglala, living nearby.
The "free bands" of Hunkpapa favored campsites outside the unsold areas. They took a leading part in the westward enlargement of the range used by the Lakota in the late 1860s and the early 1870s at the expense of other tribes. In search for buffalo, Lakota regularly occupied the eastern part of the Crow Indian Reservation as far west as the Bighorn River, sometimes even raiding the Crow Agency, as they did in 1873. The Lakota pressed the Crow Indians to the point

"If only our eyes saw souls instead of bodies, how different our ideals of beauty would be."

-Unknown
Trail of tears

Billy Mills, also known as Tamakhóčhe Theȟíla, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, has become a symbol of Native American excellence and perseverance.
Born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Mills faced numerous challenges growing up. Poverty, racism, and health issues were constant obstacles. However, he refused to let these hurdles define him. Instead, he worked hard to excel in both academics and athletics.
Mills became a standout athlete in high school and went on to attend the University of Kansas on a track scholarship. Despite facing discrimination and cultural misunderstandings, he persevered and eventually became a two-time NCAA champion.
At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Mills was considered a long shot to win the 10,000 meters. He was up against world-record holders and seasoned veterans, but Mills remained focused and determined. In an incredible upset, he surged ahead in the final stretch and crossed the finish line in first place, setting a new Olympic record.
Mills' victory was not just a win for himself, but for his entire community. He became a hero to Native Americans around the country, inspiring them to believe in their own capabilities and pursue their dreams.
In recognition of his accomplishments, Mills has been awarded numerous honors, including induction into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. In 2023, he was presented with an Eagle Feather at Lake Andes School, a prestigious honor in Native American culture.
Today, Mills continues to inspire others through his advocacy work and motivational speeches. He reminds us that with hard work, determination, and a strong support system, anyone can overcome adversity and achieve greatness.
By John Gonzalez

(Born 1863-Died December 18, 1923)
a.k.a. George Jackson and Buffalo Sundown,
Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn (meaning “Earth Left by the Setting Sun”), also spelled We-ah-te-nato-ots-ha (meaning “Blanket of the Sun”)
Jackson Sundown, a nephew of Chief Joseph, was with him on the flight of the Nez Perce in 1877. He was the first native American to win a World Championship Bronc Rider title in 1916, at the age of 53, more than twice the age of the other competitors who made it to the final round. He is also the oldest person to ever win a rodeo world championship title. He was posthumously inducted into the Pendleton Round-Up Hall of Fame in 1972, into the National Cowboys of Color Museum and Hall of Fame in 1983, and the American Indian Athletes Hall of Fame in 1994.
Historical accounts of his life cite that Sundown, at a young age, displayed the traits of an athlete, riding his Appaloosa pony from the time he could walk. At age 14, his knack for handling horses earned him the privilege of caring for his tribes’ horses and herding them when they moved camp during the turbulent 1877 Nez Perce War. On Aug. 9, 1877, the daring young Sundown displayed his stealth when his people were ambushed by the forces of the U.S. cavalry at Big Hole in southwestern Montana territory where they suffered many casualties, including women and children. Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn, although badly burned, outwitted the enemy and survived by hiding under a buffalo robe after they had torched his mother’s teepee where he had been sleeping. Another legendary account of Sundown’s bravery was when the Nez Perce, en route to Sitting Bulls camp in Canada, stopped to rest near Snake Creek in the Bear Paw Mountains just 40 miles south of the Canadian border. Unbeknownst to the Nez Perce, Brigadier General Nelson H. Miles had been dispatched to find and intercept them. Combined U.S. forces made an early morning surprise attack on the Nez Perce and after a three day stand-off, the war weary Chief Joseph surrendered and declared he would “fight no more forever.” Sundown, again displaying his prowess as a renegade Nez Perce warrior, escaped, although being wounded, “by clinging to the side of his horse so that it appeared riderless.” Despite having no blankets or food, he and a small band of survivors made their way to Sitting Bull’s camp in Canada. Sundown is said to have lived in hiding with Sitting Bull and those that defeated General George Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn as a war criminal for two years.

PHOTO FROM FORT LARAMIE TREATY SIGNING. (left to right) Spotted Tail, Morningstar aka Dull Knife, Old Man Afraid of His Horse, Lone Horn, Whistling Elk, Pipe, and Slow Bull. We have two grandfathers in this photo. Seated second to the far left is Morningstar aka Dull Knife, the Cheyenne head man. In American archives he is identified as Roman Nose. In reality we told the Americans that Dull Knife was visiting many tipis during our time there so we kiddingly referred to him as "a roaming nose" but the Americans took it literally and now the American records has him recorded as Roman Nose. Seated in the center is Lone Horn, Crazy Horse's maternal uncle. Lone Horn submitted a proposal for an agency apart from Spotted Tail's and Red Cloud's agency. It encompassed the graves of all our family's relatives inside the agency (today they call the agencies reservations) and was adopted by Crazy Horse to be the template of the Crazy Horse Agency which encompassed the Black Hills also. The American military granted him this agency but before it was implemented, Crazy Horse was assassinated with a soldier's bayonet. The agreement for the Crazy horse Agency still sits in Washington DC as a classified document. Stories about Lone Horn and Dull Knife are included in our oral history book "Crazy Horse the Lakota Warrior's Life and Legacy"

Wes Studi's has had one long enjoyable acting career. He was raised in Nofire Hollow Oklahoma, speaking Cherokee only until he started school. At 17 he joined the National Guard and later went to Vietnam. After his discharge, Studi became politically active in American Indian affairs. He participated in Wounded Knee at Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973. Wes is known for his roles as a fierce Native American warrior, such as the Pawnee warrior in Dances with Wolves. In the Last of the Mohicans he plays the Huron named Magua, which was his first major part. Soon after he got the lead role in Geronimo: An American Legend. He was in Skinwalkers, The Lone Ranger, and The Horse Whisperer. He played the Indian out in the desert in The Doors movie, and he was also in Avatar. Studi also plays bass and he and his wife are in a band called Firecat of Discord. Wes Studi also serves as honorary chair of the national endowment campaign, of the Indigenous Language Institute that's working to save Native Languages. He and his family live in Santa Fe New Mexico, and Wes has been in several other movies, TV shows and movies, and mini series. He also received an Academy Honorary Award, becoming the first Native American and the second North American Indigenous person to be honored by the Academy, the first was Buffy Sainte-Marie!

Cheyenne "Plenty Bird" in frame for sweat lodge near Mission, Tongue River. Late 1800s. Montana. Photo by L.A. Huffman. Source - Montana Historical Society.

Big Turkey. Lakota. 1912. Photo by F.W. Glasier & Co. Source - Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Tipi at sunset. Blackfoot camp. Early 1900s. Glass lantern slide by Walter McClintock. Source -Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Elwyn FineArt writes:

‘’I started this painting last year 2021, I title this Fierce war paint, I had fun painting one here.. soo many mistakes and redos.. I hope this painting is a inspiration to everyone..’’

❤ Native Americans ❤

Daughters of a Navajo silversmith. ca. 1930-1940. Photo by Frasher's Fotos.

Please 👍 if you love this photo

Wes Studi's has had one long enjoyable acting career. He was raised in Nofire Hollow Oklahoma, speaking Cherokee only until he started school. At 17 he joined the National Guard and later went to Vietnam. After his discharge, Studi became politically active in American Indian affairs. He participated in Wounded Knee at Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973. Wes is known for his roles as a fierce Native American warrior, such as the Pawnee warrior in Dances with Wolves. In the Last of the Mohicans he plays the Huron named Magua, which was his first major part. Soon after he got the lead role in Geronimo: An American Legend. He was in Skinwalkers, The Lone Ranger, and The Horse Whisperer. He played the Indian out in the desert in The Doors movie, and he was also in Avatar. Studi also plays bass and he and his wife are in a band called Firecat of Discord. Wes Studi also serves as honorary chair of the national endowment campaign, of the Indigenous Language Institute that's working to save Native Languages. He and his family live in Santa Fe New Mexico, and Wes has been in several other movies, TV shows and movies, and mini series. He also received an Academy Honorary Award, becoming the first Native American and the second North American Indigenous person to be honored by the Academy, the first was Buffy Sainte-Marie, a First Nations Canadian Indigenous musician.

On this day in 1979, Jay Silverheels, best known for his role as Tonto in the long-running The Lone Ranger, became the first Native American actor to be represented on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a star.

February 17th, 1909, Geronimo dies of pneumonia at age 80, while still a captive of war at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The great Apache Resistance leader leaning against a tree.
~ "We are vanishing from the earth, yet I cannot think we are useless or Usen would not have created us. He created all tribes of men and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each. For each tribe of men Usen created He also made a home. In the land created for any particular tribe He placed whatever would be best for the welfare of that tribe. When Usen created the Apaches He also created their homes in the West. He gave to them such grain, fruits, and game as they needed to eat. To restore their health when disease attacked them He made many different herbs to grow. He taught them where to find these herbs, and how to prepare them for medicine. He gave them a pleasant climate and all they needed for clothing and shelter was at hand. Thus it was in the beginning: the Apaches and their homes each created for the other by Usen himself. When they are taken from these homes they sicken and die.
How long will it be until it is said, there are no Apaches?" ~ Geronimo, 1906.
Geronimo often spoke of his desire for his people's eventual return to their ancestral homelands in Arizona. Tragically, his life ended at Fort Sill, Oklahoma far away from the beloved lands he had been forcefully taken from and imprisoned by the United States Government for defending. ~ Bedonkohe Apache leader Geronimo [Goyaałé], Mescalero-Chiricahua.

There is an ancient Indian saying that something lives only as long as the last person who remembers it. My people have come to trust memory over history. Memory, like fire, is radiant and immutable while history serves only those who seek to control it, those who douse the flame of memory in order to put out the dangerous fire of truth. Beware these men for they are dangerous themselves and unwise. Their false history is written in the blood of those who might remember and of those who seek the truth.

~ Floyd ‘Red Crow’ Westerman (Dakota Sioux) actor, activist, singer

THE EAGLE, Roland W. Reed, 1913. Three Piegan, Montana Blackfeet, posed in Glacier National Park in northwest Montana. Roland W. Reed's heroic compositions paid tribute to earlier times. His romantic images displayed technical brilliance in lighting, focus, and form. Reed and other pictorialists helped establish photography as a fine art, worthy of display in museums.
Roland Reed started his photographic career in 1893 with Daniel Dutro in Havre, Montana. The first book about Reed was published in 2012: "Alone with the Past: The Life and Photographic Art of Roland W. Reed.” If using a PC, click image to enlarge.

When an elder passes they take all their knowledge of life, sacred teachings, songs, language, culture. Volumes of history, family geanology, stories are all gone. Be safe with this sickness coming its not going to get better until it gets worse. Call and check on them. Make sure they have food to eat, necessities they need. Cherish them. I miss my unci more then anything and i would give anything to spend another day with her. We have many unci and kaka here with us. Protect them the best you can.

We Native Americans have lost our history, our land and our culture! And it's the least discussed genocides in the history of the world! It's not fair that many stories of native american historical and cultural landmarks are not taught in schools and are slowly being forgotten!
so that! Hope those who read this post can share it with all your friends and relatives so that we can all learn more information from this post!

Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was an Indigenous Canadian actor and athlete. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television series The Lone Ranger.

Iron Tail, Oglala Lakota. His image was used on the Indian Head Nickel.

GERONIMO
On this day, February 17th, 1909 Geronimo dies of pneumonia at age 80, while still a captive of war at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.~ This rare cabinet card Image shows the great Apache Resistance leader . photographed by William E. Irwin, Chickasha, Indian Territory with inscription in period script on the cards reverse, "Jeronamo (sic), from the Apache tribe, now in captivity at Ft. Sill.”~ "We are vanishing from the earth, yet I cannot think we are useless or Usen would not have created us. He created all tribes of men and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each. For each tribe of men Usen created He also made a home. In the land created for any particular tribe He placed whatever would be best for the welfare of that tribe. When Usen created the Apaches He also created their homes in the West. He gave to them such grain, fruits, and game as they needed to eat. To restore their health when disease attacked them He made many different herbs to grow. He taught them where to find these herbs, and how to prepare them for medicine. He gave them a pleasant climate and all they needed for clothing and shelter was at hand. Thus it was in the beginning: the Apaches and their homes each created for the other by Usen himself. When they are taken from these homes they sicken and die.How long will it be until it is said, there are no Apaches?" ~ Geronimo, 1906.Geronimo often spoke of his desire for his people's eventual return to their ancestral homelands in Arizona. Tragically, his life ended at Fort Sill, Oklahoma far away from the beloved lands he had been forcefully taken from and imprisoned by the United States Government for defending. ~ Bedonkohe Apache leader Geronimo [Goyaałé], Mescalero-Chiricahua.

𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗺𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗴
No, that is not a wolf cub that this sweet little Native American girl is holding. She is holding on to her Canadian Eskimo Dog, also known as a "Native American Dog." The dogs look similar to that of a husky, but share features with the Alaskan Malamutes, Greenland dogs, and even the small chihuahua.
Their ancestor was the Eurasian Grey Wolf, who were brought to North America with the those who migrated across the Beringian Land Bridge over 9,000 years ago. These dogs were used as watch dogs, sled dogs and companions

SEALED WITH A KISS:

Courtesy~Flickr

Ojibwe Woman, Ponemah, Minnesota, Photograph taken by Roland W. Reed c.1908.

"Talo na aguyapi wicakupo."
It means "give them meat and bread" but it means more then just offering food. Long time ago when times were tough and meat was scarce and people travelled on horse or buggy long way to get around to visit. They camped few days or weeks to visit. People would bring together these things and feed each other. With this came long stories, laughter, songs, ceremonies and good medicine. Bonds were made between people and families that last generations.
Remember to feed your relatives that come to visit and appreciate the beautiful interactions that follow.

Sacagawea
May c. 1788 – December 20, 1812 or April 9, 1884)was a Lemhi Shoshone woman who, in her teens, helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition in achieving their chartered mission objectives by exploring the Louisiana Territory. Sacagawea traveled with the expedition thousands of miles from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean, helping to establish cultural contacts with Native American people and contributing to the expedition's knowledge of natural history in different regions.
Reliable historical information about Sacagawea is very limited. She was born c. 1788 into the Agaidika ('Salmon Eater', aka Lemhi Shoshone) tribe near present-day Salmon, Lemhi County, Idaho. This is near the continental divide at the present-day Idaho-Montana border.
In 1800, when she was about 12 years old, Sacagawea and several other children were taken captive by a group of Hidatsa in a raid that resulted in the deaths of several Shoshone: four men, four women, and several boys. She was held captive at a Hidatsa village near present-day Washburn, North Dakota.
At about age 13, she was sold into a non-consensual marriage to Toussaint Charbonneau, a Quebecois trapper. He had also bought another young Shoshone girl, known as Otter Woman, for a wife. Charbonneau was variously reported to have purchased both girls from the Hidatsa, or to have won Sacagawea while gambling.
The National American Woman Suffrage Association of the early 20th century adopted her as a symbol of women's worth and independence, erecting several statues and plaques in her memory, and doing much to recount her accomplishments

Navajo (Diné) mother tying her daughter's hair using brush. (1920s?). Source - University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center.

Beautiful Native American Art ❤
Artist: Karen Noles, 1947