Bears Belly

Bears Belly is an American folk hero just as much as he is an Indian one and is equal to George Armstrong Custer. His life tells the story of the Indian struggle for survival in a time and place where disease, war, and nature constantly challenged that same life within its boundaries. His is just one story in the archives of Indian history, which conveys a wide array of narratives and accounts of Indian life in the days of American settler encroachment.

Over the course of several posts, we will walk together through Bears Belly’s story of survival and fight for Arikara independence. We’ll see triumphs and failures, contradictions and double-dealing, and hope and life. Most of all, we’ll understand the time and people involved in the forming of this nation. And hopefully, we’ll gain a better picture of ourselves in the process.

Chapter One

1.0 Introduction

Bears Belly: The War Drums Are Stilled

Bears Belly’s story of his fight for the Arikara is just as important to American history as George Armstrong Custer’s story because it tells the Indian version of the tale that Custer’s life told for the settler side.

DRAGSWOLFSteve Dragswolf

1.1 To Wipe Away Their Tears

To Wipe Away Their Tears: Bears Belly

Bears Belly and Libbie Custer died around the same time. Their deaths celebrated and marked different things for different people in America.

DRAGSWOLFSteve Dragswolf

1.2 Arikara Creation Story Part One

Arikara Origins - Bears Belly

Understanding the Arikara story of creation will help us to understand Bears Belly and the Arikara in their time.

DRAGSWOLFSteve Dragswolf

1.3 Sickness and Death

Sickness and Death: Bears Belly

This is a continuation of the Arikara creation story told at Bears Belly’s funeral, revealing the formation of life as well as sickness & death.

DRAGSWOLFSteve Dragswolf

1.4 We Are All Related

We Are All Related: Bears Belly

💡This is the continuation of the series on Bears Belly. Read the previous entry here. Find the table of contents here. Silence blanketed the ceremony until one woman began to wail loudly inside the lodge once the Kúnúh medicine man told the creation story, ending with Sickness and Death’s

DRAGSWOLFSteve Dragswolf

Chapter 2

2.1 A Different World

A Different World: Bears Belly

💡This article is a continuation of Bears Belly’s story. You can read the previous entry here. Much had changed over the centuries since life sprung from Mother’s womb to when Bears Belly sprung from his mother’s womb. People were divided and largely disrespected life. Nearly everyone was fighting

DRAGSWOLFSteve Dragswolf