Welcome to Spotted Elk Tiospaye Online:   A Message from Calvin Spotted Elk
 

I want to personally welcome you to Spotted Elk Tiospaye Online, where Michelle and I, along with many descendants, are working to restore and reclaim a history that was nearly erased after the Wounded Knee Massacre. I shake your hand in greeting. Thank you for taking the time to visit and witness our journey through photos, videos, and writings.

For me, this work is deeply personal. It began with a sense of responsibility—to our ancestors, to our language, and to our descendants. I come from a people who lived in full harmony with the land, who spoke a sacred language shaped by generations of wisdom and experience. Our way of life was rooted in Wicozani, a balance of body, mind, spirit, and community. This wasn’t just a philosophy - it was a lived reality. My mission is to help protect what remains, rebuild what was damaged, and ensure our legacy continues with truth and dignity.
 

Over the past two centuries, a steady wave of settlers entered Lakota lands, driven by a hunger for territory, gold, and control. With them came broken promises, military force, and government policies aimed at dismantling our traditional Lakota way of life. Despite resistance and immense courage, our people were forcibly confined to reservations - lands far smaller than what was guaranteed by treaty. It was all illegal and to this day, we have not received justice.  It was a deliberate effort by some, at that time in history, to weaken our sovereignty and erase our connection to the land.
 

Two of the most devastating blows we’ve faced are the loss of our land and the deliberate dismantling of our language - along with the replacement of our true history with distorted versions. Language is more than communication; it carries our stories, our spiritual teachings, and our collective memory. Through boarding schools, forced assimilation, and federal policy, our language was beaten down, punished, and nearly silenced. Now, as our fluent elders pass on, we face an urgent choice: let it fade, or stand together to protect it. We choose to protect it - with care, with respect, and with determination.
 

This project is one of the last lines of defense in the effort to preserve our language, reclaim our heritage, and correct the historical record. We are not just rebuilding documents—we are rebuilding identity, dignity, and truth for future generations.
 

Our ancestors, including Chief Spotted Elk (Upan Glešká), his father Chief One Horn, and She Elk Voice Walking, signed the Treaty of 1868, affirming Lakota sovereignty over our homeland. That treaty, passed by Congress and signed by the President, was violated just eight years later when gold was discovered in the Black Hills. The promises were broken. In 1890, Chief Spotted Elk and over 250 of our relatives were massacred at Wounded Knee while seeking peace.

Now, more than 130 years later, we continue the work they began.
 

We are:

Preserving and teaching the Lakota language in our dialect.

Documenting family trees, probate records, and sharing oral histories with descendants.

Collecting, organizing, and digitizing historical documents and photographs.

Advocating for the rescinding of the Medals of Honor awarded for the massacre at Wounded Knee.

Working toward a proper and accurate memorial that honors every individual who died, survived, or carried the memory forward.

Correcting the confusion between Chief Spotted Elk and another man called "Big Foot," who has been misrepresented as our grandfather in books, documentaries, and photographs.
 

This is a grassroots, family-led effort built over decades of unpaid work. It has taken sacrifice, resilience, and lover - and we are not finished.
 

That same leadership that Spotted Elk and his first cousin Crazy Horse embodied lived on through his son—my great-grandfather, Richard Spotted Elk - who continued to serve as a guiding presence among our people as he traveled around the country and into Canada. My grandfather, Richard "Dick" Spotted Elk, had been the Head Minneconjou Warrior in his younger days. He was celebrated by our people but thought to be troublesome by some non-Natives at the time. He eventually made his home with his second wife in Oglala territory. He was a respected and capable leader whose strength and perseverance helped carry our family forward. That leadership was passed down again to his son, Jasper Spotted Elk Sr., and then to my father, Jasper Spotted Elk Jr.
 

I made a promise to my father to correct any misinformation about our family and to honor their legacy as truthfully and respectfully as possible. We continue to research with care, knowing how easily our history has been misunderstood or misused when taken out of context. Not everything can or should be shared publicly, but we carry our ancestors' teachings with us as we move forward.
 

We invite you to walk with us, support this mission, and help ensure that the truth—and the legacy—live on. Also, while you are here, please feel free to browse our FAQs and our art and beadwork. The gallery showing past works is still being built, but it gives you an idea of our craft.
 

With respect,

Calvin Spotted Elk
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