Moving Robe, courageous woman surrounded by braves.
Moving Robe, also known as Walking Blanket
Moving Robe was a young Hunkpapa Sioux woman, born in 1854 on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in what is now South Dakota. She fought at The Battle of Little Big Horn against General George Custer and the U.S. Cavalry. Her “American name” was Mary Crawler.
Moving Robes woman joined the braves to take on General Custer. Spoiler alert: the Indians won. At least - this time.
She was 23 years old on June 25, 1876 and she was with the women of the tribe digging up wild turnips, when they were warned to run for the hills; the soldiers were coming. The soldiers were shooting at the tipis, attacking the village.
Her father, Crawler, told her that her brother had been killed, so she sang the death song for her brother, One Hawk.
“(Then) I ran to a nearby thicket and got my black horse. I painted my face crimson and braided my hair. I was mourning. I was a woman but not afraid,” Moving Robe said.
She saw her father prepare to go into battle and she joined him. She rode with the braves and Chief Rain in the Face was heard to say, ”Behold, among us is a young woman. Let no young man ride behind her garment.” (“Man up, guys! A woman is leading you into battle!”)
There has always been the question as to who actually killed Custer. According to author and historian David Humphreys Miller, Fast Eagle said he helped Moving Robe to kill Custer. Custer was 36 years old.
The cavalry that was sent to punish the Sioux was, instead, defeated that day. But over 60 Indians were also killed in that battle.
That night the tribe did not perform a victory dance. They needed to mourn their dead.
“The Standing Rock Family Information Survey notes that in 1923 at age 70, Moving Robe Woman was living alone in a one room log house with a connected barn on the Grand River west of Bullhead, South Dakota. The survey also noted that she owned 18 horses and 23 cattle.[3] “Moving Robe Woman lived to age 81, dying in 1935 on the same reservation where she was born.”
Sources:
Custer’s Fall - The Indian Side of the Story by David Humphreys Miller
100 Voices from the Little Bighorn: Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Arikara and American eye-witness accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Annotated)
100 Voices: Moving Robe’s Tale of Little Big Horn by Bruce Brown (Author), White Cow Bull (Narrator), Pretty Shield (Narrator), Peter Thompson (Narrator), Sitting Bull (Narrator), Edward Godfrey (Narrator), Wooden Leg (Narrator), Rain In The Face (Narrator), Fred Goldin (Narrator)
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_Robe_Woman#Battle_of_Little_Big_Horn
by Bruce Brown(Author), White Cow Bull(Narrator), Pretty Shield(Narrator), Peter Thompson(Narrator), Sitting Bull(Narrator), Edward Godfrey(Narrator), Wooden Leg(Narrator), Rain In The Face(Narrator), Fred Goldin(Narrator)
