Sept 17th: Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana After leaving Devils Tower, we arrived at the battlefield about an hour before it closed. We started by driving a road through the battlefield that had numbered stops, unfolding the story of the battle in the exact locations of major events. It was a heavy experience, with gravestones marking the places men had fallen. (Their bodies had later been moved to a mass grave marked by a monument at Last Stand Hill, where Custer also fell.) The visitor center was small, but managed to cover many perspectives of the battle. We were surprised to learn that almost half of the U.S. 7th Cavalry were immigrants, and that Custer had foolishly led them into a battle of terrible odds, due to his belief in his invincibility. (He had also undergone a sacred ritual with the Cheyenne Indians in the 1860s, making a commitment to never harm them again. A promise that was clearly broken.) For years, the battlefield was a monument to Custer's heroics, but time has rightfully changed the story you'll find visiting the National Monument. The Native American perspective wasn't even added until the 90s, but it was finally done so through the addition of the Indian Memorial. We were struck by its sacredness, the wisdom of the Native American leaders both then and now, and the call for unity of all backgrounds of people to heal the earth: "The battle was fought because the United States wanted the Black Hills and its natural resources...Ta Sunke Witko was a man who prayed with the Sacred Pipe, played with the children and listened to the elders. He saw that all living things were higher than him because he knew that mankind had the power of choice to do right or wrong, good or bad. Our grandfathers told us that all mankind were created equal, and they represent the earth man with no skin color. In order to heal our grandmother earth we must unify through peace." https://www.instagram.com/p/BoKw6CPhayG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1b9wdtkkj5mzj
