Skip to main content

Blissful Blindness Unless…Lesson from a Cheyenne Warrior by Mark Hatmaker

 


The Wisdom of the Stoics, Plains Warriors, and experienced Frontiersmen all agree on many points. Let us look at one facet of agreement and perhaps learn a little bit [or a lot] from the Cheyenne Warrior, Little Wolf.

·        Little Wolf had long experience in battle both with other tribes [notably the Sioux] and many engagements with the “Vehoe” [“spiders” aka “White Folk.”]

·        Little Wolf, although a warrior, was noted for his equanimity, his compassion, or best expressed as his keen-eyed perspective. That is, he only responded to that which required a response, and in that response, sought the appropriate measure.

·        Charles “Ohiyesa” Eastman, the noted mixed-blood Lakota physician knew Little Wolf in his later years and offered that it was Little Wolf’s compassionate nature that made him such an effective war chief.

·        Noted naturalist, George Bird Grinnell, said this of Little Wolf: “I knew old Little Wolf almost intimately. Toward the end of his life…[I] used to pass him my pipe to smoke. I consider him the greatest Indian I have ever known.”-From a 1925 letter to a friend.

·        Lieutenant William P. “Philo” Clark of the 2nd Cavalry had more than a few tussles with Little Wolf. He even captured him on an occasion which led to him getting to know Little Wolf from their time together at Fort Robinson. Clark wound up growing to greatly respect and admire Little Wolf’s character and they became friends and Clark employed his expertise as a scout and become one of his greatest advocates.

·        Lest we think Little Wolf was nothing but a softie, the warrior knew when to turn it up a notch for battle. Fellow Cheyenne warrior Tangle Hair says this of Little Wolf’s battlefield demeanor in the Battle of Punished Woman’s Fork..

·        “He did not seem like a human being; he seemed like an animal---a bear. He seemed without fear.”

·        Little Wolf was so esteemed by his tribe that he became head man of the Elkhorn Scrapers. [A military society within the Cheyenne.]

·        He was also elected Sweet Medicine chief.

·        This is an exceptionally high honor. Among his duties was “to be above anger,” “to think of the people first.”

·        Little Wolf’s character was already one to honor the role as Sweet Medicine chief, but he also sought to be more scrupulous about his equanimity.

·        He stated, “Only danger that threatens the people can anger me now.”

·        Many of us hear such admonitions and nod in agreement, but we fail to realize that we often keep this vigilance in too ready a state. That is, “I’m ready for when shit hits the man, Man!” often bleeds into “I overreact when gnat shit spatters the windshield of life.”  That is, we “Go Red” for “threats/annoyances” below the stated level of reaction-worthiness.



·      Many of us are often so “ready to defend” that we defend, well, things that require nothing of us. We fight for the political ambitions of distant strangers. We raise our voices for the “honor” of opinions that will be re-named, re-shuffled and forgotten with the next news-cycle. We war with words and digital fist shakes as if we were on an actual battlefield instead of clutching an inanimate smartphone the size of a child’s toy.

·        Little Wolf on perspective. “If a dog lifts his leg to my lodge, I will not see it.”

·        Now that…that is the essence of a Warrior’s equanimity.

·        Not to ignore annoyances.

·        Not to be “tolerant” of those who simply disagree with you.

·        To ignore and to tolerate one must also acknowledge annoyance and something “to be tolerated.”

·        Both are weak sisters to Little Wolf’s wisdom.

·        His advice to truly being invulnerable to that which does not rate is to be blind to it.

·        A noble, worthy and lofty goal.

·        To us all being as blind as Little Wolf and impervious to all the standard plaints and whines of the world…

·        And fearsome as Bears when such resources are truly needed!

For all things pragmatically Rough ‘n’ Tumble see here.

[Excerpted from the upcoming book “The Frontier Stoic: Life Lessons from Folks Who Lived a Life.” For techniques, tactics, and strategies of Rough and Tumble Combat, Old-School Boxing, Mean-Ass Wrestling, Street-Ready Frontier Scrapping & Indigenous Ability culled from the historical record see the RAW Subscription Service.  http://www.extremeselfprotection.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Apache Running by Mark Hatmaker

Of the many Native American tribes of the southwest United States and Mexico the various bands of Apache carry a reputation for fierceness, resourcefulness, and an almost superhuman stamina. The name “Apache” is perhaps a misnomer as it refers to several different tribes that are loosely and collectively referred to as Apache, which is actually a variant of a Zuni word Apachu that this pueblo tribe applied to the collective bands. Apachu in Zuni translates roughly to “enemy” which is a telling detail that shines a light on the warrior nature of these collective tribes.             Among the various Apache tribes you will find the Kiowa, Mescalero, Jicarilla, Chiricahua (or “Cherry-Cows” as early Texas settlers called them), and the Lipan. These bands sustained themselves by conducting raids on the various settled pueblo tribes, Mexican villages, and the encroaching American settlers. These American settlers were often immig...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Empirical Fighter: Rules for the Serious Combatant by Mark Hatmaker

  Part 1: Gear Idealized or World Ready? 1/A: Specificity of Fitness/Preparation If you’ve been in the training game for any length of time likely you have witnessed or been the subject of the following realization. You’ve trained HARD for the past 90 days, say, put in sprint work and have worked up to your fastest 5K. Your handy-dandy App says your VO2 Max is looking shipshape. You go to the lake, beach, local swimmin’ hole with your buddies and one says “ Race you to the other side!” You, with your newfound fleet-of-foot promotion to Captain Cardio, say, “ Hell, yeah!” You hit the river and cut that water like Buster Crabbe in “ Tarzan the Fearless ” with your overhand stroke….for the first 50 yards, then this thought hits as the lungs begin to gasp for air, “ Am a I gonna die in the middle of this river?” This experiment can be repeated across many domains of physical endeavor. ·         The man with the newfound Personal Reco...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Original Roadwork by Mark Hatmaker

  Mr. Muldoon Roadwork. That word, to the combat athlete, conjures images of pre-dawn runs, breath fogging the morning air and, to many, a drudgery that must be endured. Boxers, wrestlers, kickboxers the world over use roadwork as a wind builder, a leg conditioner, and a grit tester. The great Joe Frazier observed… “ You can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned, and you're down to the reflexes you developed in training. That's where roadwork shows - the training you did in the dark of the mornin' will show when you're under the bright lights .” Roadwork has been used as a tool since man began pitting himself against others of his species in organized combat. But…today’s question . Has it always been the sweat-soaked old school gray sweat suit pounding out miles on dark roads or, was it something subtler, and, remarkably slower? And if it was, why did we transition to what, and I repeat myself,...
Post a Comment
Read more