White Cow

[Ben Framed]

The accounts of White Cow and his part played in the battle of The Little Big Horn.

https://youtu.be/qi8ox0ryiTc?si=tI08278porNfCvMg

[Michael Bush]

I see him called "White Cow",  "White Cow Bull", "White Bull"  Usually he's listed with his first name "Joseph White Bull" or "Joseph White Cow Bull".  I don't know how they arrive at the "Cow" in his name since his name is "Tatanka Ska" which just means "white buffalo" while implying a bull.  "White Bull" would be the simplest most correct translation unless you want to be more specific and make it "White Buffalo Bull" since Tatanka is never cattle but always buffalo.

[Ben Framed]

The posting of the story was the main intent. The particular Interviewer/Painter (in this version) called his name as such. White Cow Bull.  Yet the interviewer is long gone, so is the Interviewee, who first handly relayed this happening, and the story is still told.

Thanks for your questioning and explanation of this warriors name, do have an opinion on the meat and potatoes of the interview/story itself?

[Michael Bush]

Being Lakota, I just found the name intriguing.  I never watch videos from here.  They never work.

[Ben Framed]

Being Lakota, I just found the name intriguing.  I never watch videos from here.  They never work.

That?s too bad.  Perhaps others might enjoy the recount of the history, (in video form), of this Warrior, Custer, and Custers Lakota Wife and Son, and how these tie in with the battle of The Little Big Horn, as it was told and recorded from White Cow Bull to the interviewer.

You may also be interested to know more about this warrior, including how he actually received his name as he disclosed such to the interviewer.  (Which had nothing to do with a Buffalo in this case)
**As he recounted to me, the name had been earned when at 14 years old, he felled a stray longhorn bull with a single arrow.**

I presume the added word >cow< was placed intently so there would be no question or confusion that it was a bull of the cattle breed for whom he was named, and not that of a buffalo bull or even a bull elk for that matter; Therefore heading off any confusion by those who may not know; as Paul Harvey might say, **the rest of the story**, 

[Michael Bush]

Then the listing of his Lakota ame is wrong.  His name Tatanka Ska would be specific to buffalo and imply a bull.  I researched the name because I couldn't picture it in Lakota when I only had "White Cow".  In the old way (before cattle were common) it probably would have been Pte Ska. (White Cow) with buffalo implied and cow implied.  Actual white cow specifically would be Pte Win Ska, but one would assume that to be a woman's name because of the Win.  After cattle become common a buffalo cow became Pte Win Yelo, which means a REAL cow, which would come out Pte Win Yelo Ska for white buffalo cow, but again, a Win in a name implies that it is the name of a woman.  Tatanka is the whole nation of the buffalo with the implication that as an individual it is a bull.  Pte literally means meat, but is also used to refer to a cow or a buffalo.  If he shot a bull that was cattle, that would be hard to put in a name without being ambiguous and it would NOT be what they list as his Lakota name.

All of these old stories are fascinating.  They are also often controversial.  Most of the eye witnesses to the battle of the Little Bighorn, say they didn't recognize George Armstrong Custer because he cut his hair.  They did recognize his brother, Thomas Custer.  Three months before Little Big Horn, Rain in the Face was arrested by Tom Custer and Rain in the Face promised Tom Custer that the next time he saw Tom, he would kill him and eat his heart.  At Little Big Horn that is exactly what Rain in the Face did.

[Michael Bush]

Longfellow even wrote a poem about it though he didn't specify Tom's name and instead implies G.A. Custer:

The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In that desolate land and lone,
Where the Big Horn and Yellowstone
  Roar down their mountain path,
By their fires the Sioux Chiefs
Muttered their woes and griefs
  And the menace of their wrath.

"Revenge!" cried Rain-in-the-Face,
"Revenge upon all the race
  Of the White Chief with yellow hair!"
And the mountains dark and high
From their crags re-echoed the cry
  Of his anger and despair.

In the meadow, spreading wide
By woodland and river-side
  The Indian village stood;
All was silent as a dream,
Save the rushing of the stream
  And the blue-jay in the wood.

In his war paint and his beads,
Like a bison among the reeds,
  In ambush the Sitting Bull
Lay with three thousand braves
Crouched in the clefts and caves,
Savage, unmerciful!

Into the fatal snare
The White Chief with yellow hair
  And his three hundred men
Dashed headlong, sword in hand;
But of that gallant band
  Not one returned again.

The sudden darkness of death
Overwhelmed them like the breath
  And smoke of a furnace fire:
By the river's bank, and between
The rocks of the ravine,
  They lay in their bloody attire.

But the foemen fled in the night,
And Rain-in-the-Face, in his flight,
  Uplifted high in air
As a ghastly trophy, bore
The brave heart, that beat no more,
  Of the White Chief with yellow hair.

Whose was the right and the wrong?
Sing it, O funeral song,
  With a voice that is full of tears,
And say that our broken faith
Wrought all this ruin and scathe,
  In the Year of a Hundred Years.

[Ben Framed]

>Then the listing of his Lakota ame is wrong.  His name Tatanka Ska would be specific to buffalo and imply a bull.  I researched the name because I couldn't picture it in Lakota when I only had "White Cow".  In the old way (before cattle were common) it probably would have been Pte Ska. (White Cow) with buffalo implied and cow implied.  Actual white cow specifically would be Pte Win Ska, but one would assume that to be a woman's name because of the Win.  After cattle become common a buffalo cow became Pte Win Yelo, which means a REAL cow, which would come out Pte Win Yelo Ska for white buffalo cow, but again, a Win in a name implies that it is the name of a woman.  Tatanka is the whole nation of the buffalo with the implication that as an individual it is a bull.  Pte literally means meat, but is also used to refer to a cow or a buffalo.  If he shot a bull that was cattle, that would be hard to put in a name without being ambiguous and it would NOT be what they list as his Lakota name.



I appreciate your in-depth knowledge of the Lakota language.
All I know is what was recorded in his personal interview, including the direct quote recorded from White Cow Bull >himself< of his explanation of how he >earned< his name. He after all should know. As I politely said before, it is the valuable historical information he disclosed in the interview which was the intent. I hope that intent is not lost.

Perhaps you can get the record straight at the next Lakota Historical Meeting?
In the mean time I do hope others here enjoy the accounts of White Cow Bull and the first hand history he so graciously shared. I for one enjoyed his recollections.

[animal]

M Bush ...
The account Ben posted is a narrated version of this 1937 account of an interview. In it, they give his name as "Ptebloka Ska" and say it was from him felling a stray longhorn bull with a single arrow when he was 14 years old. (and that the name confusion came from a bad translation) Does that make sense?
here's a print version of the video Ben posted.

https://astonisher.com/white-cow-bulls-story-of-the-battle-of-the-little-bighorn/

Personally, I've learned towards the theory that Custer tried to escape and when he realized that he couldn't, shot himself while still on horseback. Which theory do you lean towards?

[Ben Framed]

Thanks animal for the good report! Being Lakota, I don?t blame Mr. Bush one bit for wanting to have the record straight. As being 19/32 Cherokee (on record) I would feel the same way.  Hopefully your post will help shed more light on the name situation.
Again thanks animal. I too, would like to hear Michaels opinion of the accounts of white Cow Bull.

[animal]

didn't add much ... just a link to what amounts to a transcript of the video you posted.
anyway, I'm always interested in what he has to say. 

[Michael Bush]

"Ptebloka Ska"

When I looked it up online, I was expecting something like that, though it's always ambigious, that would be the closest I've seen.  Pte is meat or cow.  Bloka is male.  Ska is white.  So Pteblocka Ska would be close to "White Cow Bull".  Part of the issue is that there is no real Lakota word for cattle.  So Pte (meaning meat) morphed into cattle or buffalo while Pte win yelo would be real cow, meaning buffalo.

I went down this path because usually when I hear an English version of a Lakota name, I know what the name would be in Lakota.  In this case I couldn't picture it.

[Ben Framed]

Animal
here's a print version of the video Ben posted.

https://astonisher.com/white-cow-bulls-story-of-the-battle-of-the-little-bighorn/

Thanks animal. I enjoyed reading the account more than listening to the video!