Wrapping Up with Battlefield Rose and on to Sitting Bull

October is half over in a flash, but a lovely flash, as we just enjoyed a serious Indian Summer and mid-month Lake Mishigama swim. Our rescheduled, final 2026 Meditation + Mindfulness 101 class was a hit, with my new friend Ronnie in the house and Victoria venturing up from South Bend. Victoria declared that she wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but was glad she had the courage to sign up and come, learned a lot and hopes of return for a longer retreat. On that note, our final, longer, Noble Silence Meditation Retreat (NMSR) Weekend wraps up next week, and we’re preparing now for one of our final Ceremonial Retreat Weekends of 2026. I noted, too, that our eastern Montana video road trip with Olivia Rose Williamson began about a month ago, and is also due now for a final, commendable close.

I do absolutely, on a very personal note, relish this final video, about a half-hour into our time together. It was then I realized how Rose was so very much the real deal. If you’re obsessed with LIBI history, pointing out where Custer spilt up with Captain Frederick William Benteen is huge. But then we laugh, we both whistle, and we call Little Big Dog — RoZie’s latest moniker — back to the car. We’ll be doing our level best to uphold living the traditional Ceremonial way of spiritual purification this weekend. There’s one more write-up coming, discussing what sent us West in the first place, and granting our great Battle of The Greasy Grass guide the props she so very much deserves. Then it’s on to exploring WWSBD? What Would Sitting Bull Do?

October and Kingdoms Rise and Kingdoms Fall but You Go On... And On...

I hope everyone has enjoyed our time with Battlefield Rose. We have one more post after this one to close out our exploration of the Little Big Horn Battlefield (LIBI), a personal ode to the inspiration behind our journey, and then we’ll move into some equally inspiring new stories brought back from the American West. We also need to take a brief commercial break and acknowledge the incredible Ceremonies we ran in September — including our first successful Hanbleceya Vision Quest, Hanble in Lakota meaning “a dream or vision” Ceya meaning “to cry”, a profound journey of self-discovery, that we’ll offer again next May, & soon speak of.

Upcoming is our rescheduled, final 2026 Signature Meditation + Mindfulness 101 class this Saturday. We’ll be back in our monthly purification Ceremony in mid-October, possibly the loviest, most peaceful time of year to visit. And then we’ll close out the month just before the retrograde with our Fall Noble Silence Meditation Retreat Weekend. November holds a fun, new Native American study with WWSBD? What Would Sitting Bull Do? and a our first ( turkey cutting knife) stab at offering some form of a traditional Ceremonial Thanksgiving weekend.

For now, let’s turn it over for a final take to Olivia Rose Williamson, Crow Tribal Member and incredible, theatrical, scholar and guide of the LIBI. In this super short, closing :20 clip, Rose dramatically points out exactly how much trouble the 7th Cavalry was headed for, as the Crows knew it, but unfortunately “Custer didn’t listen” (ha ha ha). Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, 267 US Army personnel and close to 100 Native American Warriors RIP.

"Last Chance to Live as Indians! Last Chance Traditional Life!"

IMG4616-2 – The first little video below, is my favorite mini Battlefield Rose film of them all. This is after we’ve cruised way out on the plains, as she points out the places where the collective force of tribal people and warriors of The Battle of the Greasy Grass begin to build. “Last time we’re going to live as Indians! Last time the traditional life!” You can feel the Spirit of all of it. Aho Matakuye O’yasin! (All My Relations!)

The next video, despite its brevity, is my second fav. It open with Rose’s infamous pointing finger, and when she states, “Over a twenty-year span of every battle site, I could take you to every battle site…” that finger becomes a barrage of pointy arrow fingers. So cool. At the same time she’s pointing out how The Greasy Grass camp grew, she’s also spotlighting the deception of the U.S. governments’ “federal numbers.”

The others highlight pre-LIBI history, the Cheyenne stealing General George Crook’s horses and sending him back to the forts that Winter. I’m obsessed with all this history currently, and especially figures like Two Stars, the name the natives gave General Cook. He wore a massive, untamed full beard, typical of 1876, which sat squarely in the Gilded age, the peak era for elaborate and heavy facial hair. Cook’s wild, wolf-like mane had the Apaches dubbing him Nantan Lupan, a respectful name translating to “Grey Wolf”. I was shocked to learn the Hostiles took down Two Stars at Last Stand Hill, as he died beside Custer, along with 266 other U.S. 7th Cavalry men, his “never-ending campaign until they’re done,” ending with him being done.

The final video is Rose at her best, pointing out Montana mountain ranges and laughing at :27 “You were sleeping at the bottom of the Bear Tooths and now you’re looking at the Wolf Tooths! Awesome!” Awesome indeed, setting the scene for the June 17th, 1876 Battle of the Rosebud just a week prior. I love how she describes Crook playing early morning cards, the soldiers “if they’re literate” writing letters to their sweethearts, and then the skirmish and the stories that follows. “And they’re sitting there talking about the old days when they used to fight,” as she finally draws attention to the fact that some government workers and Indian fighters found compassion for their enemies.  

I’m thinking there’s one more solid Rose post remaining as we approach the final battlefield. Then we’ll move on to our trip to Fort Buford, southwest of Williston, North Dakota, on July 19th, 2026, the very place where Sitting Bull came in from Canada and turned in his rifle, July 19th, 1881, along with a more in-depth look at the great Hunkpapa Lakota leader and Chief. Toksha