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The Battle of the Little Bighorn

Standing Bear/ Mató Nájin Minneconjou Lakota/Teton Sioux
ca. 1920
Not on view
On June 25, 1876, a combined force of Cheyenne and Lakota warriors destroyed the command of U.S. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. His troops had attacked their village of camp circles stretching along the Little Bighorn River in what is now Montana. Sixteen-year-old Steven Standing Bear took part in the battle and observed the chaos depicted here. He created this sweeping representation more than forty years later, combining six conflict episodes into one scene with highly detailed individual warriors and soldiers. Although members of Custer’s troops are known to have worn buckskin jackets, Standing Bear depicted only one figure in the fringed, pale-yellow garment (at center), surely intended to represent Custer himself.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Battle of the Little Bighorn
  • Artist: Standing Bear/ Mató Nájin (Minneconjou Lakota/Teton Sioux, 1859–1933)
  • Date: ca. 1920
  • Geography: Made in Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, United States
  • Culture: Minneconjou Lakota/ Teton Sioux, Native American
  • Medium: Pencil, ink, and watercolor on muslin
  • Dimensions: 36 in. × 8 ft. 9 1/2 in. (91.4 × 268 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Gift of Valerie-Charles Diker Fund, 2017
  • Object Number: 2017.718.2
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Standing Bear/ Mató Nájin - The Battle of the Little Bighorn - Minneconjou Lakota/ Teton Sioux, Native American - The Metropolitan Museum of Art