Story perspectives

1,000+ Tribes Unite for Little Bighorn 150th Celebration

6/27/2026

Center

Tribes Unite

More than 1,000 members of 19 tribes gathered in Montana, setting aside historic rivalries to mark the battle’s 150th anniversary.
Native American groups commemorated the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn at Little Bighorn Monument in Montana with rides and reenactments.
Elders led songs, drumming, oral-history; youth rode horseback to honor ancestors High Wolf and Crazy Horse.
Oglala Sioux President Frank Star Comes Out said gathering shows unity and urges treaty honor.

Right

Custer Remembered

The author recalls a 1969 Boy Scout trip to the Custer Battlefield and notes early Hollywood films glorified Custer.
More than 1,000 members of 19 tribes gathered in Montana to commemorate the battle’s 150th anniversary.
Custer was court-martialed after Civil War for ordering his soldiers’ execution and suspended a year.
The 1868 attack saw Custer strike village, killing hundred women and children and taking hostages.

Blindspot

Center coverage emphasised tribal unity and cultural preservation, highlighting Northern Cheyenne horsemanship, language revitalisation, tribal flags and tipis erected at the reenactment.
Right coverage did not include those cultural and unity details, focusing instead on Custer’s actions and historical policy decisions.

History

Historical Context

Red Cloud’s 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie gave the Lakota the Black Hills and a large reservation, but the 1874 gold rush prompted U.S. seizure, sparking the Great Sioux War of 1876 and a 1980 Supreme Court award of over $1 billion for the lost lands. Today, more than 1,000 members of 19 tribes gathered at Little Bighorn, honoring leaders such as Crazy Horse.

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Tribes Unite

More than 1,000 members of 19 tribes gathered in Montana, setting aside historic rivalries to mark the battle’s 150th anniversary.
Native American groups commemorated the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn at Little Bighorn Monument in Montana with rides and reenactments.
Elders led songs, drumming, oral-history; youth rode horseback to honor ancestors High Wolf and Crazy Horse.
Oglala Sioux President Frank Star Comes Out said gathering shows unity and urges treaty honor.

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