A Short, Important Story

~ beetleypete

Wise words from a long-dead Native American that still ring true today.

Filosofa's Word

I found this very short true story on the Jon S. Randal Peace Page.  It is a story that is well worth the retelling, for it is a story of immense importance and wisdom, one that should be remembered for all time, for in many ways, no matter how the world changes, some things never change.

He just wanted to dance one last time, he was old, and he wanted to celebrate the heritage that was being taken away from him. To many Native American tribes, the dance, known as the Ghost Dance, would allow Native people to return to the lands taken away from them and bring peace, prosperity, and unity to Indian peoples throughout the region.

But, the white man feared him, they feared his dance, they feared what they could not understand. So, on December 15, 1890, they came to arrest the 59-year-old chief, Sitting Bull …

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22 thoughts on “A Short, Important Story”

  1. Sitting Bull was the wise one. I am ashamed at how we treated Indians. I just finished reading aloud Little House on the Prairie to my students, and I embraced the neighbor’s words, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian”, because it opened the door for me to drop the book and talk with children about how terribly wrong that is. I hope Sitting Bull is smiling down on me.

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  3. I grew up in Oklahoma. My oldest friend and professional bass player’s last name is Six(killer). I grew up working side by side with “Injuns”. My mother was part Cherokee, and an Honorary Kiowa Keeper of the Grandmother Bags. I was probably 6 the first time I saw Geronimo’s jail cell at Fort Sill. Two of the greatest tragedies of the modern world are the treatment of Women and American Indians. However, as some will tell you, the Indians are getting even. Women?
    “You cannot wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.” – Navajo

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  8. The book Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee” tells the story. I found it deeply sad. It was many years later that I actually went to Wounded Knee. I was with other people so I could not do what I would have. I would have sat remembering those people and mourning for everything that we threw away when we stole their land.

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