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Rosalie Thinder

Rosalie Thunder

Rosalie Little Thunder


 California Standard 5.1 Students describe the major pre-Columbian settlements, including the cliff dwellers and pueblo people of the desert Southwest, the American Indians of the Pacific Northwest, the nomadic nations of the Great Plains, and the woodland peoples east of the Mississippi River.   California Standard 5.1.3 Explain their varied economies and systems of government. 

Rosalie Little Thunder is a member of the Lakota people. As a young girl in South Dakota, Rosalie's grandparents taught her to be responsible for the well-being of the Lakota people.

buffaloLittle Thunder wanted her people to be safe and healthy. A company wanted to build a large hog farm near her home. She fought the big company in court but lost. Little Thunder did not give up her fight and eventually the farm shut down.

Little Thunder now works to protect the buffalo herds of Yellowstone National Park. Little Thunder led Native Americans in a protest against ranchers who kill stray buffalo. The group walked 500 miles from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Yellowstone Park.

 

Explore History

Rosalie Little Thunder is not the first great leader of the Lakota. Years before, Crazy Horse was a strong leader of the Lakota. He fought to save the culture and the traditions of his people.

The Big Picture

Why do Native Americans fight so hard to save the buffalo? Native peoples like the Lakota believe they are descendents of the buffalo. They see the killing of the buffalo as an attack on Native American culture.

Primary Sources

Read a news article about Rosalie Little Thunder's actions after the killing of 1,000 buffalo from Yellowstone National Park.