Overview
- The multi-day commemoration began Thursday and drew thousands of visitors to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, with long lines, packed parking and afternoon storms slowing entry.
- About 200 riders completed the 37th annual Little Bighorn Ride to All Nations camp at Crow Agency, and hundreds more traveled from reservations and distant states to join ceremonies.
- The National Park Service partnered with Tribal nations to stage scheduled events including a youth run, sunrise pipe ceremony, an Entry of Nations flag ceremony and daily reenactments through the weekend.
- Reenactments and horsemanship follow Northern Cheyenne oral choreography and emphasize language transmission, youth participation and the continuity of tribal cultural skills.
- Organizers and attendees framed the anniversary in historical context by noting the 1876 allied Native victory over Custer’s 7th Cavalry and the later federal campaigns and dispossession that followed, using the commemoration to preserve and retell tribal histories.