Dog soldier

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The Dog-Soldiers were a warrior society of the Cheyenne Tribe and several other tribes such as the Arapaho .They were noted as both highly aggressive and effective combatants. One tradition states that in battle they would "pin" themselves to a "chosen" piece of ground, through an unusually long breech-clout "rear-apron", by use of one of three "Sacred Arrows" they would constantly carry into battle. Every Native American tribe had warrior societies, including names such as "Fox Soldiers", "Red Shields" and more.

In the late 1860s, the Dog Soldiers were crucial in Cheyenne resistance to American expansion. Led by war hero Roman Nose, the Dog Soldiers refused to sign treaties that limited their hunting grounds and restricted them to a reservation south of the Arkansas River. They attempted to hold their traditional lands at Smoky Hill, but the campaigns of General Philip Sheridan foiled these efforts; most notably, after the Battle of Beecher's Island, many Dog Soldiers were forced to retreat south of the Arkansas River. In the spring of 1867, they returned north with the intention of joining Red Cloud in Powder River country. They were attacked by General Eugene Carr, however, and instead began raiding settlements on Smoky Hill in revenge. Eventually, the Dog Soldiers fled west into Colorado, under the guidance of Chief Tall Bull. They were attacked by a force composed of Pawnee mercenaries and American cavalry; almost everyone, including Tall Bull, died in the attack near Summit Springs.

Today the Dog Soldiers are making a comeback of the society in areas such as the Wind River Reservation

[edit] References

• Broome, Jeff Dog Soldier Justice: The Ordeal of Susanna Alderdice in the Kansas Indian War, Lincoln, Kansas: Lincoln County Historical Society, 2003. ISBN 0-9742546-1-4
• Brown, Dee Alexander Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: an Indian history of the American West, New York : H. Holt, 2001. ISBN 0-8050-6634-9

[edit] the modern dog soldier

The displacement indigenous peoples of north America has left most if not all native American family hierarchy's and relationship values in a state of constant ruin. After the introduction of drugs and alcohol and the inevitable culture shock dealt to the native Americans of the past and present, most of the society therein created after the submission of the native peoples believed that those people would never rise to their former state again. However most recently, it is more and more evident that the long slumber of the native people of north America is at an end. While the supernatural and superstitious ways of the North American Indian has in many ways been described as "savage" and "primitive," it is clear that the internal and deeper meaning of the culture, which revolves around the endless circular cycle of giving and taking, and the balance that such a cycle requires, and also the weight that that cycle places on every living thing on the whole of the planet earth. While traditional western society reaches the height of its decadence the culture that was seemingly "pushed" out of the way to make "room" for western values and technology will inevitably crumble from the inside out, or from the lack of foundation that it has allowed itself, ironically the missing elements of western society remain well hidden in the native doctrine and culture. The modern dog soldier's are the very "rare" native peoples of the present who combat not the people who invaded their lands, as it was always the belief of the native Americans that the land was never "theirs" but "for all who would walk on it, but combat the almost cancerous elements of western society and culture that are a seemingly outright affront to the culture of the indigenous people of North America .

While it seems that modern dog soldiers are rare, it is clear that these vigilantes are a direct result of the robust nature and culture of the native people of North America.