| Mato was Lakota. Join: Native Americans Project Discuss: native_americans |
Mato Ite "Bear Face," who was later in life known as Leo Bear Face, was the son of Mato Ite "Bear Face" and Sota Winyan "Smoke Woman". Smoke Woman was a Sihasapa "Blackfeet" Sioux.
Bear Face's family group (Tiwahe) were leaders in the Che-okhba, or Droopy Penis band, of the Hunkpapa tribe, which was part of the larger group called Lakota, part of the Sioux confederation. Bear Face, the father was a chief, as well as three of his sons Bear Face, Iron Horn and Rain in the Face. Bear Face's other known brothers were Red Thunder, Shave Head and Little Bear.[1]
Mato Ite was born in 1830, when the winter was so cold that meat could not be cured. The tribe hunted near Bear Butte (South Dakota) that fall. They built scaffolds, piled the meat atop the scaffolds, covered it with hides and there it remained frozen until spring.[1]
Bear Face married about 1864[2] or about 1870,[3] Oyegiwin "Brown Tracks" later known as Annie Bear Face. The 1910 census reports that he was married twice.[2] They had seven children.[2][3]
1866. He and Rain in the Face were part of the raid against Fort Totten in North Dakota.[1] There is an error in this statement, Fort Totten was not established until 1867. So this raid was probably on another fort or at a different time. Fort Totten was built to protect the whites from Indian raids.
Note: Several sources for Rain in the Face quote this date of the raid as summer of 1866. [Possibly this occurred before the actual fort was built. Quote: "Raid against Fort Totten near Devils Lake in eastern North Dakota, in the summer of 1866."[4] "
Fetterman's Fight |
Dec 21, 1866.[5] Mato Ite was with the group that attacked near Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming.[1] The Fetterman Fight, also called the Fetterman Massacre or Battle of the Hundred Slain, was a battle between the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians and soldiers of the United States Army. The entire command, 81 men, serving under Captain William J. Fetterman were killed by the Indians. The worst military disaster ever suffered by the U.S. Army on the Great Plains, it was a victory for the Indians and caused the withdrawal of U. S. forces.[5] Almost every band of the Sioux nation was represented during this battle.[1]
Mato Ite was part of the many battles during this time.[1]
June 1876. Red Cloud's War culminated in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Mato Ite and other members of the Hunkpapa fought in this battle, called by the Indians the Battle of the Greasy Grass.[1][6]
October 1876. He and Long Feather were asked by the Army to convince the bands who had not yet signed the peace treaty to surrender. A meeting was arranged between Sitting Bull and General Miles on the Yellowstone River in the fall of 1876. Chief Bear Face, Chief Crow Feather and Chief Charging Thunder, all from different bands, carried the white flag of peace. These Chiefs wanted peace, and would have negotiated that peace, except for treacherous maneuvers by the soldiers. "While Sitting Bull and General Miles were having a conference, it was discovered by Crazy Horse (who was in the rear) that the soldiers, who were armed with pistols, had broken the straight line ranks and were gradually forming a skirmish line in a half circle around the Indians."[1] Sitting Bull ordered his men to also form a skirmish line. After words were exchanged on both sides, Sitting Bull and his Indians left. Within minutes cannons were shooting towards the Indian camps, killing women and children. Sitting Bull eventually went to Canada.[1]
Bear Face and his family settled at Kenel on Bear Face Creek, on the Standing Rock Reservation.[1]
He was recognized as a band leader.[1]
Bear Face became a Roman Catholic, and took the name Leo Bear Face. When he died in 1915 he was buried in th Catholic graveyard in Kenel, South Dakota.[1]
Children:
Read about the Great Race which created the red track around the Black Hills, pictured in the NASA photo used as a background.
See also:
Categories: Lakota | Cheokhba | Lakota Chiefs | Battle of the Little Bighorn | Collaborative Profile of the Week