Little Bighorn Memorial

A VISION REALIZED ON THE 145TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE

- C. LEE NOYES

The Little Bighorn Battlefield Indian Memorial was dedicated on June 25, 2003, and rededicated on June 25, 2014, with the addition of interpretive panels representing all Native tribal combatants and scouts that participated in the June 25-26, 1876 battle.-NPS.gov

The Indian Memorial at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana was created to honor and recognize those American Indians who died to preserve their traditional way of life at the 1876 battle, as well as to provide a better understanding of the causes and consequences of what is popularly known as “Custer’s Last Stand.”

The long-delayed effort to provide a balanced interpretation of this historic clash represents a notable departure from the previous focus of the National Park Service (NPS) on Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and the U.S. Army’s side of the story. Since the battlefield’s inception as a national cemetery in 1879, retired NPS historian Jerome A. Greene notes, the U.S. government had “viewed the Indians largely as faceless people without historical investment in the struggle that had occurred there, even though the short-term aftermath had proved cataclysmic to their traditional existence.” Thus, a major reassessment of the historical treatment of Native Americans at the battlefield was long overdue.

Congress mandated the memorial in the 1991 legislation that changed the name of Custer Battlefield National Monument, emphasizing that there was no commemoration of those Native Americans “who gave their lives defending their families and traditional lifestyle.” Public Law 102-201 also required that it be located “in the vicinity of the 7th U.S. Cavalry Monument.” It did not, however, provide public funding.