"It made my heart bad. After that, I killed my enemies with the hatchet.”
— Lakota leader Gall, upon finding out his family had been killed
“If we’ve got to die, let’s die here like men."
— Lieutenant Luther Hare
"We were terribly alone on that dangerous hilltop. We were a million miles from nowhere. And death was all around us.”
— Charles Windolph
“Only Earth and the Heavens last long, Uncle. If we four can stop the soldiers from taking our camp, our lives will matter little.”
— Bobtail Horse
“Hokahey, brother! This life will not last forever”
— White Bull addressing Crazy Horse
“I am a Fox. I am supposed to die.
If there is anything difficult,
If there is anything dangerous,
It is mine to do.”
— Kit Fox warrior society song
To the Lakota people, the Black Hills of South Dakota were—and still are—‘the heart of everything that is.’ To the United States, they were a goldmine, and Manifest Destiny’s next target. It was for the Black Hills that the Lakota went to war against the United States for the last time.
In this episode: