THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN - AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT TOLD IN INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE

Oct 13, 2026

Told through Indian sign language, this account recounts the Battle of the Little Bighorn as described by Sioux Chief Red Horse five years after the conflict. It presents how Plains Indians communicated with gestures in a largely oral culture, explaining key sign meanings and giving examples of everyday concepts rendered by hand movements. The narrative frames Red Horse’s eyewitness perspective and the cultural beliefs embedded in the sign system, including training, shared comprehension, and expressive detail.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages68

Reading Time1 h 45 min

AccessFree to download

The Battle of the Little Bighorn

An Eyewitness Account Told in Indian Sign Language

Indian Sign Language

# THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT TOLD IN INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE 5.” SIOUX SCOUT TOLD ME TO HURRY TO COUNCILTEPEE.BUT WE COULD NOT TALK.WE SAWWHITE-MAN-SOLDIERS MOVING ON TRAIL.STRAIGHTWAY WE RAN OUT OF COUNCIL TEPEEIN ALL DIRECTIONS.THEN WE SIOUX MOUNTEDHORSES AND TOOK GUNS TO FIGHT WHITE-MANSOLDIERS. And thus began the Battle of the Little Big-horn in june,1876,in which General George A.Custer and his men of the 7th Cavalry werewiped out.It has been called the single mostimportant indian victory over whites in thehistory of Plains warfare. The story has been told often enough bywhites.Now we have the story from a Siouxwarrior who was there.Five years after thebattle Chief Red Horse,employing the signlanguage perfected by the nomadic PlainsIndians,described what he saw and did onthat famous day.His account was taken downby an army surgeon and is reproduced hereby the author As graphic as a reenactment,the chief'sstory reaches across a century of silence tomake the plight of the embattled Sioux comealive again. Chief Red HorseTells About Custer Chief Red HotseTells AboutCuster # THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIGHORNAN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT TOLD IN INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE Jessie Brewer McGaw The material used in this book—the Indian sign language and descriptions of the signs,as well asChief Red Horse's drawings of the Battle of the Little Bighorn—have been used with thepermission of the Smithsonian Institution,Washington,D.C. Copyright ◎1981 by Jessie Brewer MeGaw All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or byany means,electronic or mechanical,including photocopy,recording,or any information storageand retrieval system now known or to be invented,without permission in writing from thepublisher,except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a reviewwritten for inclusion in a magazine,newspaper,or broadcast. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data McGaw,Jessie Brewer. Chief Red Horse tells about Custer. Based on diagrams and detailed descriptions of Red Horse's report as recorded by Dr.Charles E.McChesney,acting assistant surgeon of the U.S.Army. Summary:Relates the account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn told five years later by SiouxChief Red Horse,who fought in the conflict. 1.Little Big Horn,Battle of the,1876—Juvenile literature.2.Custer,George Armstrong,1839-1876—Juvenile literature.3.Indians of North America-Sign language—Juvenileliterature.4.Red Horse,Chief—Juvenile literature.[1.Little Big Horn,Battle of the,1876. 2.Custer,George Armstrong,1839-1876.3.Indians of North America—Sign language. 4.Red Horse,Chief]I.Red Horse,Chief.I.McChesney,Charles E.III.Title.E83.876.M37 973.8'2 81-1392ISBN 0-525-66713-X AACR2 TO NANCY AND ROB The whites have power given them by Great Spirit to read and write.He gave us power to talk with our hands and arms,write with pictures,and send messages with mirror,blanket,pony far-away,smoke,fire arrows,and flint.—Sioux Chief Iron Hawk ## INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE The Plains Indians had no newspaper or even awritten language.However,five years afterGeneral George A.Custer and all his personal com-mand were killed in the famous battle of the LittleBighorn,on June 25,1876,the red man's side of thestory was told in hand and arm gestures by SiouxChief Red Horse,who fought in the battle. Fortunately,Dr.Charles E.McChesney,actingassistant surgeon of the United States Army,wrotedown this story-without-words of Red Horse.Hisdiagrams and detailed descriptions of the signs are thebasis for Chief Red Horse Tells About Custer. Indian sign language was the first language gener-ally understood in North America.History recordsthat Columbus and other early explorers used signs incommunicating with the native American Indians.The Plains Indians made greater use of signs than other tribes because they were not agricultural peo-ple with permanent settlements.Th

FAQs

How is the Battle of the Little Bighorn account presented in this book?

It is presented as an eyewitness account told in Indian sign language, with descriptions and drawings that preserve the meaning of the signs.

Who is the main Sioux eyewitness described in the text?

The text centers on Sioux Chief Red Horse, who fought in the battle and later described what he saw and did.

What does the book explain about Plains Indian sign language?

It explains that Plains Indians used hand and arm gestures as a widely understood communication system, describing how signs express ideas and giving examples such as signals for see, listen, walk or run, and white man.

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by Rainbow Cat