Greasy Grass -Little Big Horn 1876

Salve,
yesterday, June 25, 2011, there was the 135th anniversary of the battle of Little Big Horn that is the best recognized battle between the Native inhabitants of the Americas (Native Americans, American Indians - that  includes all Native peoples, even those from down south of the US-Mexican border :) ) - and the European colonizers of their Homeland. In this case, the war was fought by the members of various bands of the Lakota Sioux and their Cheyenne and Arapaho allies against the US Army, the instant battle was fought between the mounted Plains warriors and US  7th Cavalry regiment  led by the Civil War hero Armstrong Custer.
There are two heroes that come to my mind when recalling the battle - Crazy Horse  and Sitting Bull

here Sitting Bull, in his own drawing done circa 1881, more of his art here collections.si.edu Sitting+Bull+drawing

And in this drawing by Amos Bad Heart Bull these two principal leaders of the Oglala Lakotas and their allies during the war of 1876-77 drawn together

Warriors, who took part in the battle, drew their own recollections of this conflict, in form of ledger books drawings or single sheet drawings, collectively known as ledger art. One of the most famous was the Amos Bad Heart Bull ledger art, the original lost now, bu the photographs of the original drawings were published by Szwedzicki and then in 1967 by the University of Nebraska Press as Pictographic History of the Oglala Sioux by Amos Bad Bull Heart  In 1999 Herman Viola published Little Big Horn Remembered, Untold Indian Story of Custer's Last Stand  that included numerous Indian warriors drawings showing the battle and Plains Indians combat lore  -   . Recently, in 2003, there was a book published in Spokane title ''For All to See: The Little Bighorn Battle in Plains Indian Art'' by Sandra L. Brizée-Bowen, having been a compilation of art draw by the Plains Indians on the subject (I am waiting for this book from my interlibrary loan :) ), and last year another book has been published - Rubbing Out Long Hair Pehin Hanska Kasota: The American Indian Story of the Little Big Horn in Art and Word by Rodney G. Thomas, here a review www.custerbattlefield.org Rubbing Out review.

I mustn't forget the fine little book, size wise, published by Osprey, where late Richard hook wrote and illustrated the Indian warriors of the Little Big Horn -  ospreypublishing Hook Little Big Horn . I must recommend books by Richard M. Hardorff – author of “ Lakota recollections of the Custer fight: new sources of Indian-military history” (U. of Nebraska 1997),''Cheyenne memories of the Custer fight'' (U. of Nebraska Press, 1998), ''Hokahey! A good day to die!: the Indian casualties of the Custer fight'' (U. of Nebraska 1999), ''Indian views of the Custer fight: a source book'' ( U. of Oklahoma 2005)

Cheyenne warrior and artist Wooden Leg  story of the battle wooden_leg_little_big_horn

 Fine article on the Half Moon Ledger with images booktryst.com rt-of-war-lakota-style here a very interesting side story, the return of tribal artifacts to the tribal museums and burial grounds under wiki/Native_American_Graves_Protection_and_Repatriation_Act , as may be the case with this ledger as it was allegedly taken from the funerary lodge.
Interesting blog article here, in the context of American Indian, artists and Little Big Horn   danielduford.blogspot.com 
Obviously one interested in the Plains warrior art must visit this awesome site, already listed on my blog,  plainsledgerart.org