Encouraging Bear, also known as Horn Chips (

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: *Lakota, Iowa *Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County *Lakota ...

: ''Ptehé Wóptuȟ’a'' (in Standard Lakota Orthography)), was a noted

Oglala Lakota The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota people, Dakota, make up the Sioux, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority ...

medicine man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and ceremo ...

, and the spiritual advisor to

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...

. Horn Chips was born in 1824 near Ft. Teton. He was orphaned as a young child and raised by his grandmother. Later he was adopted by the uncle of Crazy Horse. Chips and Crazy Horse were raised together. He is said to have had the gift of prophecy, being able to change the weather, and find lost objects and missing people. He is also acknowledged as the man who saved traditional Lakota religion from extinction and trained a number of successors. Chips was present when Crazy Horse was killed. When the soldier jerked the bayonet from Crazy Horse's body, he hit Chips in the shoulder with the butt and dislocated his shoulder. Chips buried Crazy Horse, and he was the only person who knew the body's location. Horn Chips contributed to the popularity of a Lakota healing ceremony called

yuwipi Yuwipi is a traditional Lakota healing ceremony. During the ceremony the healer is tied up with a special blanket and ropes, and the healer and their supporters pray and sing for the healing of the person who has asked for the ceremony. The ceremony ...

. He was interviewed about Crazy Horse in 1907.{{Cite book, last=Hardorff, first=Richard G., url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9z3-nyIxH4C&q=%22encouraging+bear%22&pg=PA74, title=The Death of Crazy Horse: A Tragic Episode in Lakota History, date=2001-01-01, publisher=U of Nebraska Press, isbn=978-0-8032-7325-2, language=en Chips, who had a wife and four children, reportedly renounced his faith for Catholicism shortly before his death in 1913 or 1916.

References

*Hirschfelder, Arlene, and Molin, Paulette. ''Encyclopedia of Native American Religions: An Introduction''. (New York: Facts on File, 1992) Lakota people Religious figures of the indigenous peoples of North America American animists