Post by Dietmar on Jan 16, 2011 7:57:32 GMT -5
Gregor again has comiled some information on a Lakota leader, Two Strike:
Two Strike
(abt. 1820 – 1913)
Numpkahpa
Two Strike was a Brulé chief of the Hinhan Sunwapa band, named after named after the akicita society whose leader was Two Strike. His name is an honorary name for a well-known heroic deed in a battle with the Ute. This name was earned, when he knocked two Utes off their horse with a single blow of his war club (Nomkahpa, means "Knocks Two Off").
Two Strike figured prominently in the history of the Brules in the late 19th century. According to a Charles Eastman account Two Strike was born near the Republican River - in what would become Nebraska - about 1832; other sources say he was born about 1820, what seems to be the most likely birthdate. His father was a Brulé chief. It is believed that the mother of Two Strike was a Mnikowozu or a Hunkpapa, connected with Sitting Bull´s band. Eastman reported that Two Strike had early recollections of white traders who visited their camp and made „his father crazy“ (meaning he got drunk). This experience made a deep impression on him and he always refused the white mans „mini wakan“ (mysterious water / Alcohol). Eastman also passed down some information on his physical appearance and his character. Accordingly Two Strike was not very tall, but very „supple and alert in motion … agile as an antelope“. He had a „wily and shrewd intellect … a high sense of duty and honor“ and being „modest and shy“ as a young man.
(Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains,
by Charles A. Eastman)
Two Strike played an important role in raids on the Union Pacific Railroad before and during Red Cloud's War (1866-1868). After the Sand Creek Massacre in November 1864 and Custer’s attack on Black Kettle's village on the Washita River in November 1868 Two Strike and his Brulés (and Whistlers Oglalas) repeatedly allied with the Cheyennes. The allied forces burned down farmhouses, stole livestock and attacked teamsters. They even derailed a train on the tracks of the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
Henry T. Williams reported 1877 in his book „The Pacific Tourist“ that Two Strikes and a „cut off“ Sioux band attacked Elm Creek Station (near todays Elm Creek, Nebraska) on April 16, 1868. Five whites were killed that day.
(The Pacific Tourist - Williams' Illustrated Trancontinental Guide of Travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, 1877“ by Henry T Williams, page 36)
After the Fort Laramie Treaty Two Strikes stayed intransigent, but accepted the treaty stipulations.
Two Strike and his band were present when the 5th U.S. Cavalry and 50 Pawnee scouts under Colonel Eugene A. Carr made a surprise attack on Tall Bull’s Southern Cheyennes at the Battle of Summit Springs on July 11, 1869. Tall Bull of the Southern Cheyenne - along with 51 members of the combined Lakota-Cheyenne encampment - was killed. 17 women and children were taken prisoner by Carr. The rest of the Lakota and Cheyenne managed to escape. But Two Strike wouldn’t forget the Pawnees.
Four years later, on August 5, 1873 Two Strikes was one of the principal chiefs of a combined Oglala und Brulé war party – the last major intertribal war. A thousand braves attacked a group of 350 Pawnee that had left their reservation in Nebraska to hunt buffalo in an area which was claimed by the Lakota. More than 70 Pawnee were killed in the battle which occurred in and along a canyon in present day Hitchcock County, Nebraska. The canyon was subsequently named Massacre Canyon.
During the 1870s Two Strike allied with Spotted Tail and tried to insulate his people from the Euro-American invasion and its negative impacts. After Custer’s demise at the Little Bighorn the U.S. government required the cession of „surplus“ Sioux land. In 1888 and 1889 different delegations to and from Washington negotiated this issue. Finally the Sioux gave in and signed a land cession „agreement“. But Two Strike stayed firm. He never signed this infamous and gouged agreement.
At the end of the 1880s, Two Strike became a silent supporter of the Ghost Dance movement. A month before the massacre at Wounded Knee, however, Two Strike heeded whites' advice to give up the dance and its promised delivery from Euro-American domination. But after the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890 Two Strike led his people on an angry rampage to the Stronghold in the Badlands. After negotiations Two Strike's people surrendered with 184 lodges on January 15, 1891 and camped at the Catholic Mission at Pine Ridge. A month after „Wounded Knee“ Two Strike attended a Sioux delegation to Washington, D.C. The object of the negotiations with the Interior Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs was an improvement of the living condition on the Sioux reservations. As always they were released with empty promises.
After the turn of the century, Two Strike lived quietly at the later Two Strike community on the Rosebud Reservation. Married to at last three wives Two Strike had still two wives in 1910.
The three known wives of Two Strike were
1. Bear Heart (an Oglala woman)
2. Standing or Her Good Horse ((an Oglala woman) – sisters?
3. Brown Eyes (born abt. 1824), a Brulé related to the Black Crow family
Their children were:
daughter: Takes-Pity-On-Them (born 1848), married to John Grass!
daughter: Good Whirlwind (born 1848)
daughter: Brown Woman (born 1851)
son: Little Hawk (born 1855), aka Joseph Little Hawk
son: Plenty Pipe (born 1858)
son: Two Charger (born 1862)
son: Arthur Two Strike (1865 - 1909), married to Maggie “Blue Eyes” Metcalf (1899 - 1937)
daughter: Black Spotted Horse (born 1872)
According to the Ring Bull Winter Count (Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, St. Francis, SD) for the years 1913/14 („Nunb kahpa kte“) Two Strike died on November 21, 1913 (other sources say 1915).
Compiled by Gregor
Thanks again, Gregor!!
Two Strike
(abt. 1820 – 1913)
Numpkahpa
Two Strike was a Brulé chief of the Hinhan Sunwapa band, named after named after the akicita society whose leader was Two Strike. His name is an honorary name for a well-known heroic deed in a battle with the Ute. This name was earned, when he knocked two Utes off their horse with a single blow of his war club (Nomkahpa, means "Knocks Two Off").
Two Strike figured prominently in the history of the Brules in the late 19th century. According to a Charles Eastman account Two Strike was born near the Republican River - in what would become Nebraska - about 1832; other sources say he was born about 1820, what seems to be the most likely birthdate. His father was a Brulé chief. It is believed that the mother of Two Strike was a Mnikowozu or a Hunkpapa, connected with Sitting Bull´s band. Eastman reported that Two Strike had early recollections of white traders who visited their camp and made „his father crazy“ (meaning he got drunk). This experience made a deep impression on him and he always refused the white mans „mini wakan“ (mysterious water / Alcohol). Eastman also passed down some information on his physical appearance and his character. Accordingly Two Strike was not very tall, but very „supple and alert in motion … agile as an antelope“. He had a „wily and shrewd intellect … a high sense of duty and honor“ and being „modest and shy“ as a young man.
(Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains,
by Charles A. Eastman)
Two Strike played an important role in raids on the Union Pacific Railroad before and during Red Cloud's War (1866-1868). After the Sand Creek Massacre in November 1864 and Custer’s attack on Black Kettle's village on the Washita River in November 1868 Two Strike and his Brulés (and Whistlers Oglalas) repeatedly allied with the Cheyennes. The allied forces burned down farmhouses, stole livestock and attacked teamsters. They even derailed a train on the tracks of the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
Henry T. Williams reported 1877 in his book „The Pacific Tourist“ that Two Strikes and a „cut off“ Sioux band attacked Elm Creek Station (near todays Elm Creek, Nebraska) on April 16, 1868. Five whites were killed that day.
(The Pacific Tourist - Williams' Illustrated Trancontinental Guide of Travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, 1877“ by Henry T Williams, page 36)
After the Fort Laramie Treaty Two Strikes stayed intransigent, but accepted the treaty stipulations.
Two Strike and his band were present when the 5th U.S. Cavalry and 50 Pawnee scouts under Colonel Eugene A. Carr made a surprise attack on Tall Bull’s Southern Cheyennes at the Battle of Summit Springs on July 11, 1869. Tall Bull of the Southern Cheyenne - along with 51 members of the combined Lakota-Cheyenne encampment - was killed. 17 women and children were taken prisoner by Carr. The rest of the Lakota and Cheyenne managed to escape. But Two Strike wouldn’t forget the Pawnees.
Four years later, on August 5, 1873 Two Strikes was one of the principal chiefs of a combined Oglala und Brulé war party – the last major intertribal war. A thousand braves attacked a group of 350 Pawnee that had left their reservation in Nebraska to hunt buffalo in an area which was claimed by the Lakota. More than 70 Pawnee were killed in the battle which occurred in and along a canyon in present day Hitchcock County, Nebraska. The canyon was subsequently named Massacre Canyon.
During the 1870s Two Strike allied with Spotted Tail and tried to insulate his people from the Euro-American invasion and its negative impacts. After Custer’s demise at the Little Bighorn the U.S. government required the cession of „surplus“ Sioux land. In 1888 and 1889 different delegations to and from Washington negotiated this issue. Finally the Sioux gave in and signed a land cession „agreement“. But Two Strike stayed firm. He never signed this infamous and gouged agreement.
At the end of the 1880s, Two Strike became a silent supporter of the Ghost Dance movement. A month before the massacre at Wounded Knee, however, Two Strike heeded whites' advice to give up the dance and its promised delivery from Euro-American domination. But after the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890 Two Strike led his people on an angry rampage to the Stronghold in the Badlands. After negotiations Two Strike's people surrendered with 184 lodges on January 15, 1891 and camped at the Catholic Mission at Pine Ridge. A month after „Wounded Knee“ Two Strike attended a Sioux delegation to Washington, D.C. The object of the negotiations with the Interior Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs was an improvement of the living condition on the Sioux reservations. As always they were released with empty promises.
After the turn of the century, Two Strike lived quietly at the later Two Strike community on the Rosebud Reservation. Married to at last three wives Two Strike had still two wives in 1910.
The three known wives of Two Strike were
1. Bear Heart (an Oglala woman)
2. Standing or Her Good Horse ((an Oglala woman) – sisters?
3. Brown Eyes (born abt. 1824), a Brulé related to the Black Crow family
Their children were:
daughter: Takes-Pity-On-Them (born 1848), married to John Grass!
daughter: Good Whirlwind (born 1848)
daughter: Brown Woman (born 1851)
son: Little Hawk (born 1855), aka Joseph Little Hawk
son: Plenty Pipe (born 1858)
son: Two Charger (born 1862)
son: Arthur Two Strike (1865 - 1909), married to Maggie “Blue Eyes” Metcalf (1899 - 1937)
daughter: Black Spotted Horse (born 1872)
According to the Ring Bull Winter Count (Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, St. Francis, SD) for the years 1913/14 („Nunb kahpa kte“) Two Strike died on November 21, 1913 (other sources say 1915).
Compiled by Gregor
Thanks again, Gregor!!