George Little Wound

[Dietmar]

Kingsley asked me to gather some portraits of George Little Wound, son of Oglala Chief Little Wound.
Here they are:



Chief Little Wound & wife & son George Little Wound


George Little Wound


George Little Wound by F.A. Rinehart


George Little Wound by Herman Heyn


George Little Wound by Herman Heyn


George Little Wound, age 57

[kingsleybray]

Any dating on the last image, Dietmar? I have an unpublished winter count in which under 1930 it records that George Little Wound, Spotted Crow, and Afraid of Hawk went to Washington on tribal business. It reads like the last oldtime Oglala tribal delegation, before the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act. Could this photo fir that visit?

[Dietmar]

The photo was taken in May 1928 by Leslie Jones, according to this site:

search.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:5x21v936x

[kingsleybray]

When Little Wound died on July 8, 1901, chieftainship was still a real issue on the Pine Ridge reservation. His oldest surviving son was George Little Wound, then about thirty-five years old. (According to a family winter count a bunch of Little Wound's children all died in 1860, I presume from sickness). A decade older than George was his brother-in-law Charles Turning Hawk, one of the sons of old Bad Wound. Charles was married to Little Wound's daughter Philomena.

I don't know if there was any tension or ill-will between the brothers-in-law. What seems clear is the extent to which Turning Hawk proactively sought the chieftainship. By 1907 he was President of the Oglala tribal council. From Oglala historian Wilmer Mesteth I recently learned that in the early 20th century Turning Hawk became the recognized chief of several communities in the Medicine Root District of the reservation. These were the True Kiyaksa (Kiyaksa Hcaka), the Potato Creek community, and the Red Water community. His elder brother Young Bad Wound was the chief of their father's tiyoshpaye, the Tashnahecha.

Both George and Charles lived into the 1930s, and continued as prominent leaders in the Medicine Root District. What was interesting to me was how similar this story is to tribal politics pre-reservation.

[Darrell W. BrownBull.Sr]

Hau My name is Darrell BrownBull,Sr. I am a great grand son of Charles and Philomena My Mom is Vera Turning Hawk who is Daughter of Hobart and Gertrude ( Holy Elk) Turning Hawk . Hobart was only son to Charles and Philomena. .

[kingsleybray]

Darrell, thanks so much for this detail on your family. According to the 1890 Pine Ridge census the Charles Turning Hawk family that year looked like this:

Charles Turning Hawk age 32 [born c. 1857-58]
Philomene (wife) age 26 [born c. 1863-64]
Obed (son) age 4 [born c. 1885-86]
White Man Comes Out, Wasicu glenanpa (mother-in-law), age 58 [born c. 1831-32]

I am guessing that the son with the name given as "Obed" is Hobart Turning Hawk, your maternal grandfather. White Man Comes Out must have been the older wife of Little Wound, and she was living in her daughter's household (at least as far as the census procedures went) in 1890. Little Wound's younger wife, Comes Flying, lived in his household.

The name Brown Bull was often translated Yellow Bull. Your paternal ancestors are listed also in the Kunhinyan Band, Medicine Root Dist, as were the Little Wounds and Turning Hawks. The older Yellow Bull was age 61, born c. 1828-29. I believe he was a son of old Bull Bear, a brother of Little Wound's. There is a younger Yellow Bull in a separate household, age 31 (born c. 1858-59). Hope this is of interest, I can post more information if you like.

I was visiting in Kyle for a few days in September, I wish we could have met up. All the best for Christmas and the New Year - Kingsley Bray

[Darrell W. BrownBull.Sr]

Obed was a brother to Hobart this is true according to my mother Yellow Bull is my great grandfather According to my Father (Jerome Brown Bull). My Grand father decided to change his last name to Brown Bull . His was Thompson His brothers and sisters all go by Yellow Bull and are buried here in Kyle.

[Darrell W. BrownBull.Sr]

We don't think that Yellow Bull was related to Bull Bear . My Grandmother said Yellow Bull is buried at Wounded Knee. Yellow Bull's wife was named Stands Inside. My Father's Mother was Lena Glenn. Daughter to John Glenn and Rosie Marshell.

[kingsleybray]

Here is the 1890 census for Yellow Bull the elder:

Yellow Bull (Tatanka gi) age 61 [born c. 1828-29]
Stand in side (Taninyan najin), wife, age 38 [born c. 1851-52]
Flies with, son, age 22 [born c. 1867-68]
Wicu, son, age 15 [born c. 1874-75]
Saves Lives, daughter, age 12 [born c. 1877-78]
Her pretty haired Horse, daughter, age 9 [born c. 1880-81]
No Name, daughter, age 3 [born c. 1886-87]

Note that Yellow Bull's wife's Lakota name actually translates into English as Stands In Sight.

I'll come back later with the statement by Lawrence Bull Bear (died 1932) about how he understood the connection between his family and the Yellow Bull/Brown Bulls.

[kingsleybray]

Darrel, Lawrence Bull Bear (died 1931) stated to the anthropologist Scudder Mekeel that "Thompson Brown Bull was the eldest son of Self-Met". Lawrence said that Self-Met was a brother of Bull Bear, the chief killed in 1841. He gave the Lakota name of Self-Met as Iye-itcila. I'm sorry I forgot to post this information earlier.

[kingsleybray]

from kimkkarns


A document from Pine Ridge listing:
"Deaths Occurring Between the Dates of Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1936" - states the following:
George Little Wound passed on: 8/15/1936

Read more: amertribes.proboards.com/posts/recent#ixzz3KdL3yrg6

So George Little Wound's dates should be 1865/66-1936.

[sueb]

Hi,

I'm SO confused! PLEASE HELP. Here's what I understand:

White Swan was the younger brother of Stone Knife. Either Stone Knife or White Swan was the father of Iron Hatchet, Crazy Dog, Self-Met, and Bull Bear (1790 or 1774 - 1841).

Bull Bear I had Bull Bear II (Whirlwind)died 1898, Cutfoot, Left Hand Crazy Bull, Spotted Eagle, and Little Wound (Taopi) born 1798 or 1830 (HIS gravestone says 1830-1901) OR Bull Bear II, Thunder Bull, Little Chief, Spotted Eagle, Little Wound (Taopi) and a daughter???

Then Chief Little Wound had (with Tells Lies b 1832) George Little Wound b. 1830 or 1853 or 1867, and Annie Little Wound (1830, 1854 or 1876 and her name might be Jennie).

Chief Little Wound had the following wives and kids: Grease with Andrew and James; All Dirt with Emma; White Man Comes Out/Comes Out Flying with Hand, Scares Away, and Leader; Tells Lies with Jennie, Joseph, and James; and three extra kids...George, White Man, and Spotted Bear.

You see my confusion. Can anyone straighten me out?!!

THANKS

[kingsleybray]

Bull Bear was born in 1783 according to an unpublished winter count.

His son Little Wound was born in 1828, according to Little Wound's own statement.

Marcell Bull Bear believes that White Swan was the biological father of Bull Bear. Other informed Oglala people believe that Stone Knife was the father. I think everyone acknowledges that Stone Knife and White Swan were brothers -- and as such, Bull Bear would have addressed them both as his ate, or 'father' in the Lakota sense.

The younger Bull Bear, was born about 1825, maybe a little before. He is not the same man as Whirlwind.

You have some interesting information here about Little Wound's wives and children. I don't know for sure how to straighten those names out!

Read more: amertribes.proboards.com/conversation/7925#ixzz5WDOYaNrM

[Deleted]

Kingsley, it seems that George Little Wound was caught between two ages. As Blue Horse once said about the old-time Lakota in the G-string being superseded by the young people coming up to whom the spirits would not come. George seems to be old-school in dress and manner and probably knew the language of the shamans from his father, one of the informants of James Riley Walker. Did anyone pick his brain like was done to Black Elk and was he wi-cha-sha wa-kan?