The History of Our Tiospaye

Our Heritage

The Afraid of Bear – American Horse Tiospaye is Oglala Sioux, one of seven Lakota tribes that are part of the Great Sioux Nation. For generations, our people inhabited Paha Sapa, land now known as the Black Hills of South Dakota. When the Black Hills were taken by the United States government, our people were moved to the Pine Ridge Reservation. 

Like indigenous people across North America, many of us were educated in Christian boarding schools and forbidden by law from practicing our religion, learning about our culture, and speaking our native language. We believe that our cultural heritage and the knowledge held by our ancestors is vital to our future as a people, as is reconnecting with our ancestral land.

George Sword

Our Tiospaye’s earliest known ancestor, George Sword (Mila Wakan, or Mysterious Knife) was born in 1847. The younger brother of Afraid of Bear (who was killed on Pine Ridge by the US Army in revenge for Custer’s defeat at Little Big Horn), Sword assumed many names and roles over the course of his life. His mother named him Growing Bear, at age 18 he was named Wato Kincon (He Who Takes Revenge on Them), and he took the name of Sword after his brother’s death. 

Sword was also designated as a Shirt Wearer when he was 18 years old, tasked with looking after the welfare of his people and serving as a councillor to other tribal leaders. Sword, American Horse, and Crazy Horse were among the last named Shirt Wearers of the Oglala Lakota. In 1879, at age 32, Sword was appointed captain of the first all-indian police force at Pine Ridge, a position he held for 16 years. 

During this time, Sword made the unprecedented decision to share everything he knew about his people with James Walker, a physician on Pine Ridge who later became one of the foremost scholars of Lakota tradition. Sword understood that as tribal elders died they took their knowledge and ceremonial practices with them, and he believed this knowledge needed to be shared and preserved so it could bring benefit and healing to future generations. Sword also encouraged other Lakota leaders to share their oral histories with Walker. Over many hours, Walker captured pages of testimony from Sword and his contemporaries, and the resulting Walker Collection, now held by the Colorado Museum of History, remains an important source of information on Lakota history, language, and ceremonies. 

Following in the footsteps of George Sword, we are working to broaden the community of people who know and practice Lakota culture and to create a House of Knowledge to document and share the history, ceremonies, and traditions of the Oglala Sioux. 

Read the booklet Voices of Oglala Ancestors | Ceremony for more information about George Sword and a glimpse of what he conveyed to Walker about Oglala ceremony.