Crow Agency in Big Horn County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Peace Through Unity
Little Bighorn Battlefield
Indian descendants of participants in the Battle of the Little Bighorn helped form the vision of the Indian Memorial. The “Peace Through Unity” theme was conceived by the late Enos Poor Bear, Sr. and Austin Two Moons. Together, they were an inspiration for others and instrumental in providing their wisdom, guidance, and prayers toward the important goal of an Indian Memorial at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
The seeds for peace and reconciliation were sewn earlier in 1926, during the Semi-Centennial observance of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, when former adversaries, including General Edward S. Godfrey, 7th Cavalry, and White Bull, nephew of Sitting Bull, both veterans of the battle, gathered on the battlefield, shook hands, exchanged gifts, and symbolically buried the hatchet.
On June 25, 1985, Austin Two Moons started the annual Prayer for World Peace event. Over the years the sacred ceremony (which is open to the public) has become an important tradition at the battlefield. After Austin’s death in 1994, the ceremony was passed to Donlin Many Bad Horses, Northern Cheyenne elder, who now carries on the important prayer ceremony annually on June 25.
Before me Peaceful
Behind me Peaceful
Over me Peaceful
Under me Peaceful
All around me Peaceful
American Indian Prayer
“We want peace on earth, and that’s what I have strived for . . . I’ve prayed here every June 25th; every summer for the future of our young . . . I don’t want no war here again in the United States. I need your help . . . . to get your minds and your hearts together. Pray together. Ask the creator for peace throughout the country and throughout the world.”
“Forty years ago I fought Custer . . . until all were dead . . . . I was then the enemy of the whiteman. Now I am the friend and brother, living under the flag of our country.”
“The hatchet has been with the Red race, the symbol of war. We now unite in the ceremony of burying the hatchet, holding it a covenant of our common citizenship and everlasting peace.”
“If this memorial is to serve its purpose, it must not only be a tribute to the dead; it must contain a message for the living . . . . power through unity . . . . ”
“Give them now the flowering stick that they may flourish, and the sacred pipe that they may know the power that is peace.”
Erected by National Patk Service.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Native Americans • Wars, US Indian. A significant historical month for this entry is June 1886.
Location. 45° 34.25′ N, 107° 25.684′ W. Marker is in Crow Agency, Montana, in Big Horn County. Marker is on Little Bighorn Battlefield Road, on the right when traveling north. Marker is located on the Little Bighorn Battlefield, near Last Stand Hill. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Crow Agency MT 59022, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Indian Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); 1984 Archeological Survey (within shouting distance of this marker); Little Bighorn Indian Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); Wooden Leg Hill (within shouting distance of this marker); Seventh Cavalry Horse Cemetery (within shouting distance of this marker); Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (within shouting distance of this marker); Companies C & E (within shouting distance of this marker); Memorial Markers (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Crow Agency.
More about this marker. Photographs of Austin Two Moons and Enos Poor Bear appear on the marker. Also present is a photograph depicting “Gen. Godfrey and White Bull shak[ing] hands and bury[ing] the hatchet, [at the] Semi-Centennial Observance, June 25, 1926.”
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on August 7, 2015, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 691 times since then and 36 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on August 7, 2015, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.