Cowboys and Indians Grieve Too

By Jerry J. Brown

Montana is full of cowboys and Indians. How then do the two cultures sociologically respond to death and the funeral (memorial) ceremony?

COWBOYS –
Death’s inevitability is regarded with stoicism.
Wrenching, violent death is frequent given the ranch environment i.e. horses, cattle, bison and the daily animal/human encounters
The relative isolation and distance factors that impact upon Montana ranchers seem to draw the people closer vis-à-vis the bonds of camaraderie and similar work endeavors i.e. cattle, horses, sheep, etc. Hence, the death of a neighboring rancher, friend or acquaintance demands a response.

Funerals in the early frontier days were an integral part of the cowboy’s ethic and ideology. People were moved to pay their respects and when words of sympathy failed to flow, just being there with Stetson-in-hand and a touch, tear and smile said it all.

INDIANS –

“Hoka Hey!” Today is a good day to die. (Sioux Indian war cry)

The American Plains Indians revered their ancestors for the indignities and oppression they endured for over 150 years.

Even today, the lives of chiefs and warriors long ago deceased are honored in ceremonies of prayer, music and dancing.

Plains Indians (Crow, Lakota, Cheyenne et al) used to place their dead on tree scaffolds surrounded by their personal possessions.

The Crow people will always keep the beliefs and spiritual meaning of the old ways for we die as we have lived…with dignity and honor.
Sitting Bull asked his people to mourn for the ‘white soldiers’ killed in the battle of Little Big Horn, June 25, 1876.

No one must die alone and their bodies left unknown in unmarked graves in strange, faraway places – everyone must be remembered, honored and placed for timeless revisiting.” (Captain Frederick Benteen, 1879, 3 years after the Battle of the Little Big Horn)

On June 25, 1876, Half Yellowface, Arikara Scout for Custer, solemnly proclaimed to Mitch Bouyer, one of Custer’s men, “You and I are going home today – by a trail that is strange to both of us.”

And so they died.

Epilogue: Yes. Cowboys and Indians do indeed believe in the sociological values of THE FUNERAL.