Post by Beth on May 9, 2016 2:49:50 GMT
source Also contains photo of the shirt.
Memories of Dull Knife
Bloomville man preserving Native legacy
May 7, 2016
A local Native American man has ties to a historic event of national significance.
Clifford Eaglefeathers of Bloomville recently shared stories of his Cheyenne tribal background with members of the DAR Abigail Harper Chapter in Stamford.
Eaglefeathers told of being raised by his grandmother, Julian, on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana and said that, through his grandmother’s lineage, he is the great-great-grandson of Morning Star, also known as Dull Knife, the legendary leader of disbanded survivors of Little Big Horn.
As a child, Eaglefeathers was sent to a U.S. government boarding school where, he said, corporal punishment was the methodology used to teach English to youngsters who didn’t understand a word from the teacher nor students of other tribes. Catholic High School years, he said, brought his spirituality into conflict with Native beliefs and practices.
Eaglefeathers and his wife, the late Dr. Karyl Hunt Eaglefeathers, worked together to document the sacred language of the Cheyenne and also to raise awareness of historical crafts and customs. On April 21, examples of beading, traditional leather clothing and historical family photos were displayed at the home of Stamford DAR member Theresa Vamosy. And this summer, Eaglefeathers will mark the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Little Big Horn and subsequent events with a special presentation.
Eaglefeathers said he and his wife found a woman’s dress made from Cavalry jackets on exhibit in Spokane, Washington, years ago. An Empire College instructor of Native American Cultural Studies and Cheyenne Language, Eaglefeathers will teach an online course on Little Big Horn, discussing the dress and other significant artifacts, as part of Empire State College’s May and June session.
According to the college’s course catalog, “The dress holds special meaning since one of Custer’s favored strategies was to capture women, children, disabled and elderly and use them as hostages/human shields to gain a military advantage. Little is known of this dress, since Cheyenne elders determined that the battle should not be spoken of for 100 years. However, it was handed down from woman to woman and is currently at the Northwest Indian Museum in Washington. The dress will be presented at Little Bighorn Battlefield on the Crow Reservation through the efforts of Cheyenne tribal member Cliff Eaglefeathers. It will be shown June 25-26, 2016, the 140th anniversary of the battle.”
The Battle of Little Big Horn, also known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” began with an attack by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s Army regiment against an encampment of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians on the Little Bighorn River in what is now Montana. Custer famously lost the battle (and his life), and more than 250 of his men died in the battle.
After Little Big Horn, the decimated Northern Cheyenne tribe traveled to the Red Fork of the Powder River, 26 miles from present-day Kaycee, Wyoming. Exactly five months after Little Big Horn, soldiers attacked in what is called the Dull Knife Battle of 1877. Then, following orders from Washington, the fewer than 200 Northern Cheyenne made their way to Oklahoma only to find insufficient government rations and no game to hunt.
Tribal women persuaded Dull Knife to return north. Challenged at Fort Robinson in Northern Nebraska and ordered to return to Oklahoma Indian Territory, the group of 148 refugees were jailed for their refusal. On Jan. 9, 1878, Dull Knife and the cold and unfed prisoners broke out and returned to their homelands in Montana.
On July 15, Eaglefeathers will assist unveiling a monument at Fort Robinson in remembrance.
Memories of Dull Knife
Bloomville man preserving Native legacy
May 7, 2016
A local Native American man has ties to a historic event of national significance.
Clifford Eaglefeathers of Bloomville recently shared stories of his Cheyenne tribal background with members of the DAR Abigail Harper Chapter in Stamford.
Eaglefeathers told of being raised by his grandmother, Julian, on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana and said that, through his grandmother’s lineage, he is the great-great-grandson of Morning Star, also known as Dull Knife, the legendary leader of disbanded survivors of Little Big Horn.
As a child, Eaglefeathers was sent to a U.S. government boarding school where, he said, corporal punishment was the methodology used to teach English to youngsters who didn’t understand a word from the teacher nor students of other tribes. Catholic High School years, he said, brought his spirituality into conflict with Native beliefs and practices.
Eaglefeathers and his wife, the late Dr. Karyl Hunt Eaglefeathers, worked together to document the sacred language of the Cheyenne and also to raise awareness of historical crafts and customs. On April 21, examples of beading, traditional leather clothing and historical family photos were displayed at the home of Stamford DAR member Theresa Vamosy. And this summer, Eaglefeathers will mark the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Little Big Horn and subsequent events with a special presentation.
Eaglefeathers said he and his wife found a woman’s dress made from Cavalry jackets on exhibit in Spokane, Washington, years ago. An Empire College instructor of Native American Cultural Studies and Cheyenne Language, Eaglefeathers will teach an online course on Little Big Horn, discussing the dress and other significant artifacts, as part of Empire State College’s May and June session.
According to the college’s course catalog, “The dress holds special meaning since one of Custer’s favored strategies was to capture women, children, disabled and elderly and use them as hostages/human shields to gain a military advantage. Little is known of this dress, since Cheyenne elders determined that the battle should not be spoken of for 100 years. However, it was handed down from woman to woman and is currently at the Northwest Indian Museum in Washington. The dress will be presented at Little Bighorn Battlefield on the Crow Reservation through the efforts of Cheyenne tribal member Cliff Eaglefeathers. It will be shown June 25-26, 2016, the 140th anniversary of the battle.”
The Battle of Little Big Horn, also known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” began with an attack by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s Army regiment against an encampment of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians on the Little Bighorn River in what is now Montana. Custer famously lost the battle (and his life), and more than 250 of his men died in the battle.
After Little Big Horn, the decimated Northern Cheyenne tribe traveled to the Red Fork of the Powder River, 26 miles from present-day Kaycee, Wyoming. Exactly five months after Little Big Horn, soldiers attacked in what is called the Dull Knife Battle of 1877. Then, following orders from Washington, the fewer than 200 Northern Cheyenne made their way to Oklahoma only to find insufficient government rations and no game to hunt.
Tribal women persuaded Dull Knife to return north. Challenged at Fort Robinson in Northern Nebraska and ordered to return to Oklahoma Indian Territory, the group of 148 refugees were jailed for their refusal. On Jan. 9, 1878, Dull Knife and the cold and unfed prisoners broke out and returned to their homelands in Montana.
On July 15, Eaglefeathers will assist unveiling a monument at Fort Robinson in remembrance.