And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Tribe lauds re-creation of Cheyenne
Outbreak cabin
BY JODI RAVE Lincoln Journal Star
http://www.journalstar.com/stories/neb/sto1
Daily prayers have helped heal wounds among Northern
Cheyenne whose relatives were gunned down in northwest
Nebraska 120 years ago, say living descendants.
"The people here forgive the government for doing wrong to
our people," said Lone Bear, a Northern Cheyenne
councilman. His relative, Strong Left Hand, helped
orchestrate a deadly escape from Fort Robinson, where 149
tribal members were imprisoned in a log cabin.
The cabin burned down 19 years after soldiers shot more
than half the fleeing Northern Cheyenne men, women and
children trying to escape to their Montana homelands 400
miles away.
Today, Northern Cheyenne tribal members embrace a
lawmaker's request to rebuild the Cheyenne Outbreak log
cabin, destroyed in March 1898.
Money is also being requested to rebuild barracks once used
by the black soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments.
The men, who helped fight Indians, were known as the
Buffalo Soldiers.
Sen. Bob Wickersham of Harrison has introduced two bills --
LB663 and LB664 -- that would provide $150,000 to rebuild
the Cheyenne barracks and $500,000 for the Buffalo Soldiers
barracks.
Both measures are scheduled for a hearing before the
Appropriations Committee on March 16.
Fort Robinson was used as a military post between 1874 to
1948. Reconstruction would shed light on two groups often
overlooked in history, say those involved with the proposed
project.
"Neither have gotten the attention or recognition they
deserve," said Lawrence Sommer, director of the Nebraska
State Historical Society. "There are a lot of people who
should know this history that don't." The Historical Society
and the state Game and Parks Commission both agreed to
match funds within two years if the bills are approved.
"We felt confidant we could easily do that," Sommer said.
"There are a large number of people who have great interest
in the Indian War period. They've expressed leadership in
helping us raise the money. The interest goes well beyond
Nebraska borders." Talk of rebuilding the barracks is not
new. During the late 1980s, plans were been drawn and fort
officials had contractor estimates.
"Since this is the 125th anniversary (of the fort), this is a
good time to be looking at the issue," Sommer said.
Wickersham, who was raised about 10 miles from the old
military fort, described it as a "wonderful historic place" of
interest for native people, those who settled the region and
military historians.
"There were two significant events that happened in the
period of Fort Robinson," said Tom Buecker, curator of the
Fort Robinson Museum. "One was the killing of Crazy
Horse, and the second was the Cheyenne Outbreak." The
Buffalo Soldier barracks would be built of brick.
"Basically, we'll build them to look like they did on the
outside," said Jim Lemmon superintendent at Fort Robinson.
Tentative plans, however, call for turning the inside into
motel or conference rooms, Lemmon said.
The Cheyenne barracks -- built for cavalry soldiers in 1874 --
would be an unheated, 90-by-45-foot log cabin.
There was no heat on the cold Jan. 9, 1879, night the
Northern Cheyenne made their break for freedom after going
without food or water for five days.
"Can you imagine any set of circumstances to leave barracks
where you were relatively warm and sheltered, to go out at
night in snow, cold and wind so you could be shot at and
pursued?" Wickersham asked. "Those people had a very
deep conviction that they had to pursue. They absolutely
didn't want to be confined to a reservation." The Northern
Cheyenne's plight began after Lt. Col. George Armstrong's
loss at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, when they were
rounded up and marched to Fort Reno, Okla.
After a year of starvation, disease and death, the tribe's two
chiefs --Dull Knife and Little Wolf -- said it was time to go
home. They decided to walk from Oklahoma to Montana.
The chiefs led 300 Northern Cheyenne in two groups. Little
Wolf made it to Montana. Chief Dull Knife -- who led mainly
the young, sick and elderly -- was caught in Nebraska's
Sandhills and sent to Fort Robinson.
"We talk about the dysfunction and statistics on the
reservation today," said Phillip Whiteman Jr., who helped
organize a reenactment of the Cheyenne breakout in January.
"But for personal healing and recovery, we need to create
awareness for our people." "We're Americans," he said. "We
love our country. We love this land. But for us guys to move
forward we have to go to the past.
"One hundred-twenty years later we've finally came out into
the open to heal without the government trying to suppress
us. When they re-create that building, they'll re-create
awareness. Maybe something good will come out of this."
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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