Born in Sharpsburg, Illinois, in 1881, acclaimed “Prairie Poet of America”  and UNL professor John G. Neihardt spent his early adulthood in Bancroft, Nebraska, near the Omaha Reservation. During that time, he became interested in the Westward Expansion and the subsequent displacement of Indigenous people during the American Indian/ Frontier Wars.  As a lyrical poet, Neihardt spent 30 years composing a two-volume series of epic poems (songs), known as The Cycle of the West. Volume 1, The Mountain Men, focuses on the first non-native people to explore the West. While Volume 2, The Twilight of the Sioux, depicts the colonization of the American West from 1822 to 1890, through its poems, “The Song of the Indian Wars” and “The Song of the Messiah”, ending at the Wounded Knee Massacre. 

The Song of the Indian Wars 

Following the last push of the Plains tribes to drive out colonizers from the land between the Missouri and the Pacific, this is a tale of battle and warriors. We follow Chief Red Cloud as the Bozeman War makes its way through the Great Plains. Written less than a century after the events, Neihardt pulls from primary sources, interviewing and taking the perspective of veterans, both white and Native American into his sprawling account. 

The Song of the Messiah 

In the second song, we find the Plains tribes in low morale and destitution until there was a revival of hope brought about by the guidance of a spiritual leader and Paiute prophet Wovoka. Following his instructions in “The Messiah Letter”, the Ghost Dance Movement of 1890 combined old and new teachings to call upon the spirit world to restore peace and the earth to its uncolonized state. The movement grew as thousands danced unceasingly until the American army, scared of their power, burst into deadly action. Written only 35 years after the massacre, Neihardt invokes Christian iconography throughout this song, describing the massacre as the “crucifixion of a people”, with Wovoka as the messiah figure, and Wounded Knee as a new Golgotha.

“How can I know that I know anything?
The coming of the grasses in the spring-
Is it not strange so wonderful a tale
Is really true? Did mornings ever fail, 
Or sleeping Earth forget the time to grow?
How do the generations come and go?
They are, and are not. I am half afraid
To think of what strange wonders all is made!
And shall I doubt another if I see?”

John G. NEihardt

Twilight of the Sioux is a masterpiece in poetry and prose. But it’s also an important history lesson in the latter half of Native American Heritage Month. It’s fascinating to read an artistic account of the American Frontier Wars, penned by a contemporary only a few dozen years later. Wanting to write on the human condition, especially the social and emotional change of coming into adulthood, Neihardt found that America was also in a world of change and growth, describing it as a “strange new world that is being born in agony”. Though there are no specific discussion questions regarding this title for Book Club Groups, Twilight of the Sioux is considered an educational staple, filled with opportunities to learn and discuss the history of Westward Expansion and Neihardt’s particular writing style.

Even though this tale ended in bloodshed, Neihardt knew the story wasn’t over, believing that “All spiritual truths triumph in this world through apparent defeat” (x). He had faith in the continued spirit of the Native American people and their perseverance after the end of the American Frontier Wars. Today, the Nebraska Library Commission sits on the ancestral land of the Pawnee and Otoe-Missouria, and despite the systemic and brutal erasure of their lives and homeland, Native Americans were and still are stewards of this land; with Indigenous lead movements today like The Water Protector Legal Collective, NDN Collective, and a continued push for sovereignty. 

Related Listening:

• Introduction to A Cycle of the West – an interview with John Neihardt
• Wovoka – Redbone
• We Were All Wounded At Wounded Knee – Redbone

If you’re interested in requesting Twilight of the Sioux or your book club, you can find the Request Form here. There are 9 copies. (A librarian must request items)

Neihardt, John G. Twilight of the Sioux. Macmillan Company. 1948