The Lakota Tatanka-Iyotanka (Sitting Bull) surrendered to the U.S. Army on this date 128 years ago (1881).
This from a fine, brief biographical essay at AmericanHeritage.com:
On the morning of July 20, in front of American and Canadian soldiers and a Minnesota newspaperman, Sitting Bull had his eight-year-old son, Crow Foot, hand [Major] Brotherton his Winchester rifle. “I surrender this rifle to you through my young son,” said the chief, “whom I [thereby] desire to teach . . . that he has become a friend of the Americans. . . . I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle. This boy has given it to you, and he now wants to know how he is going to make a living.”
From what I’ve seen of the Lakota Nation (after living next door and interacting with many of its people), most of them are still waiting for an answer to Crow Foot’s question as to how he is [they are] going to make a living.
There’s a grim state of extreme poverty and chronic hopelessness looming heavily in the Heartland of America. It brings great shame to our nation that we took so much from them, and we gave so little of value in return. It’s been 128 years, and still we deny them the quality of life we stole away. (Yes, some manage to rise above it, but I believe they are in the minority.)