Exploring Questions of Identity:
The Battle of Little Big Horn

Discussion Questions and Activities: Heroes and Myths

• Custer was considered a hero by most white Americans at the time of the battle in 1876 because it was interpreted as a struggle of a small band of soldiers against a large enemy force. Custer was also fairly well known to the public from his role in the Civil War 11 years before. Custer's widow, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, directed the tone of the ongoing debate about the military capabilities of her ambitious husband -- who also had a weakness for gambling and women -- and established him as a hero, family man, and moral inspiration for American children. Her three books inspired a reverence for white middle-class women as wives and mothers while depicting Native American Indian women mainly as beasts of burden. What images of women and Native American Indians do we get from these interpretations of the battle? How do Custer's books influence the stereotypes of women and Native Americans today?
• In 1876, the American public needed a hero. The celebration of the centennial of the founding of the United States displayed exciting technological advances. The country was in an economic depression. President Grant's office was corrupt and contributed to the pressure to wage war as a means of stealing Native American Indian lands (as indicated by the many treaties made and broken by the U.S. Government). Given this frame of reference, how would non-Natives have received reports of the battle? What contemporary news events do you recall that might be similar? Develop news reports on the Battle of Little Big Horn as if they were on TV, news radio, a news magazine or newspaper. Based on the varying accounts that you have read, what criteria would you suggest for fair and objective news reporting?
• Non-Indian artists have also depicted the Battle of Little Big Horn, creating Custer's last stand by giving visual form to the myth of the heroic general. Three European American artistic conventions show Custer and his soldiers as mythic heroes: (1) close-ups of the faces of white soldiers showing their emotions at the prospect of defeat; (2) Custer standing at the peak of a heroic triangle; (3) the closing in around Custer and his men of a circle of Indians. In these works the struggle of Custer is the struggle of European American civilization and Custer is a martyr for progress. Find these conventions in other European and European American artworks. What artistic conventions are shown in the Battle of Little Big Horn by Kicking Bear? Does Kicking Bear focus on an individual hero? Produce an artwork showing the same event in a contemporary style. As the artist, what similarities and differences do you notice in your reaction to the visual representations of this event? How does your work reflect you as a person and an individual who is part of a larger group?
• Although the Lakota defeated Custer's forces at the Battle of Little Big Horn, their victory was short-lived. Research the subsequent history of the Lakota people. All people in the United States have a heritage of triumph and defeat. What are some examples from your own cultural background? How have these been shown in artwork, in movies, in songs? Create a work (rap, poem, song, artwork, photograph, video) that tells others about these joys and sadnesses.