Black Moon ''Wi Sapa'' (c. 1821–March 1, 1893) was a

Miniconjou The Miniconjou (Lakota: Mnikowoju, Hokwoju – ‘Plants by the Water’) are a Native American people constituting a subdivision of the Lakota people, who formerly inhabited an area in western present-day South Dakota from the Black Hills i ...

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 ...

headman with the northern Lakota during the nineteenth century, not to be confused with the

Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...

leader by the same name.

Biography

Virtually nothing is known of Black Moon's early years. He had risen to a position of influence among his tribe by 1869 when he was present at the appointment of

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...

as head war leader of the Lakota. By the time of the

Great Sioux War The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred in 1876 and 1877 in an alliance of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne against the United States. The cause of the war was the ...

of 1876-77, this fifty-five-year-old headman was leader of a small

band that chose to remain away from the

Cheyenne River Agency The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was created by the United States in 1889 by breaking up the Great Sioux Reservation, following the attrition of the Lakota in a series of wars in the 1870s. The reservation covers almost all of Dewey ...

. Black Moon is listed as one of the

leaders who had joined the northern village by the early summer of 1876 and was present at the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

. He and his family fled to Canada in 1877, joining Sitting Bull near Wood Mountain. When majority of the northern Lakota elected to surrender in 1880-81, Black Moon decided to remain in Canada, as did

No Neck No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles: English language * ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses) * A determiner in noun phrases Alphanumeric symbols * No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script * No symbol, displayed � ...

and a

Brulé The Brulé are one of the seven branches or bands (sometimes called "sub-tribes") of the Teton (Titonwan) Lakota American Indian people. They are known as Sičhą́ǧu Oyáte (in Lakȟóta) —Sicangu Oyate—, ''Sicangu Lakota, o''r "Burnt ...

named Black Bull. He and his family lived near Moose Jaw and Willow Bunch and established relationships with Canadians in the region. Black Moon's daughter, Mary, married a corporal in the Royal Mounted Police stationed at nearby

Fort Walsh Fort Walsh is a National Historic Sites of Canada, National Historic Site of Canada that was a North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) fort and the site of the Cypress Hills Massacre. Administered by Parks Canada, it forms a constituent part of Cypress ...

. Black Moon finally departed Canada for the U.S. in the spring of 1889 with eleven lodges. Intercepted by soldiers, they were allowed to continue on to the

Standing Rock Agency The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaksa ...

two weeks later. Black Moon and his family were transferred to the

in October 1890. Part of his family traveled with Big Foot when he fled the agency during the

Ghost Dance The Ghost Dance ( Caddo: Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilso ...

troubles. According to Dickson, "Black Moon's wife, daughter and son were killed" at Wounded Knee; and "another son and other family members were wounded." Afterwards, survivor Alice War Bonnet Charging Cloud reported seeing Black Moon with his brothers, Iron Horn and Wood Pile, at Pine Ridge, according to her son, William War Bonnet. Black Moon lived the remainder of his life along Cherry Creek on the Cheyenne River Reservation.

References

* Ephriam D. Dickson III, "Black Moon: The Minnecoujou Leader," ''Little Big Horn Associates Newsletter'', vol. 60 no. 10 (December 2006) pp. 4–5. {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Moon (Person) Lakota leaders Native American people of the Indian Wars Miniconjou people