150 Years After Little Bighorn, Descendants Shape a New Legacy
On June 25, 1876, along the banks of the Little Bighorn River in southeastern Montana, a coalition of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors defeated the 7th U.S. Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, killing all 210 soldiers in his immediate command. One hundred and fifty years later, as the nation prepares to commemorate the battle on June 25–27, 2026, the conflict is no longer being fought with rifles and cavalry charges — but over memory, identity, and whose story gets told.
For the descendants of both Custer and Sitting Bull, the anniversary is deeply personal. As The New York Times reports, relatives on both sides continue to grapple with how this historic clash shapes their family legacies. The National Park Service expects up to 10,000 visitors per day at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, where three days of commemoration will feature tribal leaders, historians, descendant presentations, and cultural demonstrations.
A Battle of Two Names, Two Narratives
The federal monument calls it the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The Lakota call it Pezi Sla — Greasy Grass — named for the heavy morning dew that left moccasins and horse bellies slick. This dual naming encapsulates a deeper contest over historical memory that has only intensified with time.
As Buffalo’s Fire notes in a comprehensive retrospective, the battle was not a spontaneous clash but the culmination of years of broken treaties. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie had guaranteed the Lakota “absolute and undisturbed use and occupation” of the Black Hills — Paha Sapa, or “the heart of everything that is.” When Custer confirmed the presence of gold there in 1874, white prospectors flooded into treaty land, and the U.S. government, rather than removing them as the treaty required, attempted to buy the land. When Sitting Bull and other leaders refused to sell, the government issued an impossible winter ultimatum in January 1876: report to reservation agencies or be treated as hostile.
Tribal Commemorations: A Movement of People
While the National Park Service hosts its official commemoration, tribal organizers are planning a separate, larger gathering that reflects the battle’s enduring significance for Native communities. According to the National Park Service, 19 tribes are recognized as consulting tribes connected to the battle’s history.
Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out has described the expected gathering as a “movement of people” — not a memorial service, but an assertion of continued presence. Tribal organizers expect approximately 1,000 horse riders and 500 motorcyclists for commemorative rides, including the Pezishla Woksuya Memorial Ride led by Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the 19th Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe. The ride will cover 360 miles from the Cheyenne River Reservation to the battlefield.
The Real Bird family has offered 300 acres of their land adjacent to the Little Bighorn River for a Native encampment, where they will host an annual battle reenactment that centers the Indigenous perspective. A new interpretive sign bearing the header “Thus Far and No Farther” will be dedicated on June 24 on private land between the Reno Battlefield and the Custer Battlefield, marking where four Cheyenne and five Lakota warriors first engaged Custer’s troops.
Bringing the Cheyenne Story Forward
For the Northern Cheyenne, the anniversary carries particular weight. As Eugene Little Coyote, assistant to Tribal Vice President Ernest Littlemouth Sr., told the Northern Broadcasting System, “It’s one of the most important pieces of our history and tribal identity. It represents resisting the taking of our land and our way of life.”
Little Coyote emphasized that the Cheyenne role in the battle has often been overlooked. “The Cheyenne role in the battle has been buried for various reasons, and we want to bring that part of the story forward,” he said. Educating younger generations is a central goal: “A lot of our youth may not know about this history. We want them to feel proud of being Northern Cheyenne and understand the strength that comes from our culture and our ancestors.”
The $1.5 Billion That Remains Uncollected
The battle’s legacy extends far beyond the anniversary. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians that the 1877 seizure of the Black Hills was an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth Amendment, awarding $17.1 million plus interest. That award, now held in a U.S. Interior Department account, has grown to more than $1.5 billion. It remains uncollected.
The Lakota have refused the money for over 40 years on principle: the Black Hills are not for sale. As Buffalo’s Fire explains, Paha Sapa is a sacred homeland whose spiritual and cultural value cannot be replaced by any financial settlement. This refusal has become the most prominent legal precedent for the broader “Land Back” movement seeking the restoration of Indigenous territorial control.
A Descendant Confirmed by Science
Sitting Bull’s lineage has been publicly reaffirmed in modern times. In 2021, a DNA analysis using a hair sample from Sitting Bull himself confirmed that Ernie LaPointe is his great-grandson. As BBC News reported, the study was led by Eske Willerslev of the University of Cambridge and took 14 years to perfect. LaPointe, who had long faced questions about his ancestry, told Reuters: “I feel this DNA research is another way of identifying my lineal relationship to my great-grandfather.”
The Crow Scouts: A Nuanced History
Among the most misunderstood aspects of the battle is the role of the approximately 40 Crow and Arikara men who served as scouts with the 7th Cavalry. Their motivations were strategic rather than ideological: the Crow had spent decades in conflict with the Lakota over territory that the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie had assigned to them. By allying with the U.S. Army, they secured military protection and reservation terms far better than those who chose total war. For the descendants of those scouts, their ancestors’ service is not a source of shame but a warrior tradition that preserved their people’s homelands.
What to Watch For
As the 150th anniversary unfolds, several questions remain open. Will the $1.5 billion Black Hills settlement ever be collected or returned? How will the National Park Service balance competing historical narratives in its official programming? And what long-term impact will this anniversary have on the “Land Back” movement?
What is clear is that the riders arriving at the battlefield on June 24 will not be arriving as the descendants of a defeated people. As Buffalo’s Fire put it, they will be arriving as the heirs to a victory — one that took place on their land, against an army that came to take it, 150 years ago on the Greasy Grass.