The Native Warrior at the Battle of the Little Bighorn Research Paper

The Native Warrior at the Battle of the Little Bighorn - Research Paper Example You had to deal with the enemy and anyone from the east coast was considered an enemy. Our life in the northern plains was simple. What mattered to us most was our nomadic lifestyle which we cherished like any other person would cherish their culture. It meant a lot to us because everything we did was aimed at protecting our culture as well as our livelihood. The plains we lived in mattered the most to us and we saw this as home and any disturbance was seen as a threat to the survival of our culture as well as our people. It all began when our leaders, forced by the U.S administration of the time, agreed to the terms of a treaty which was meant to create a large reservation system. This meant that we were going to give up our nomadic life and culture as we were forced into reservation and boundaries that ensued meant that we could only operate from certain regions. This was because of the many conflicts that arose due to our culture and the interaction we were having with settlers and many of the rail road surveyors. As a warrior, I was used to the nomadic lifestyle and moving from this to a more stationary life was not something that was interesting to me. I, therefore, joined many of the other warriors and leader who rejected this treaty. There was no way we could be forced into the reservation system and wait on the government subsidies.... Tension began to grow in early 1875 when Custer came over into the already established reservation system. His aim was to map the area ad to locate a suitable place which was to be used in the construction of a military post. He also came to conduct an exploration of the natural resources in the area. Luckily for him, he stumbled upon gold deposits. Word went round about this and we all came to know about the gold deposits in our land. Immediately, a proposition was made by the US government of buying the land and this was rejected by the Lakota leaders. I remember tension growing in the Black hills as there were lots of people who had come as a result of the news about the gold.iv Things became even tougher when the commissioner of Indian affairs demanded that people return to the reservation system. This was rejected by many of the people. This is where our lives took a different turn. I came to realize later that the matter was forwarded to the army. As the US Calvary planned on a ttacking us, we were also planning on retaliatory attacks with our crude weapons. A group of over 1500 warriors was already stationed to counter the threat that was eminent from the US army. Many of our leaders had information concerning the plans that were underway of attacking us.v The aim of attacking us was to force us to return to the great Sioux Reservation. We were considered hostile and thus the army was seen as the only strategy that could be used to get us to cooperate. I learnt from others that about 879 men were being prepared most of who were the 7th cavalry. I was not worried and this is because of our great number which gave me hope and confidence that we would win any battle that could ensue. Our people moved to the plains in