Our Documented Timeline
 

A documented account of events affecting lineal descendants of Chief Spotted Elk (Unpán Glešká)
 

This timeline includes two kinds of information:
 

 ✓  Verified record — documents, court filings, official correspondence, enrollment/probate records, media reports, dated messages and 🗣️ Personal testimony - family memory and eyewitness accounts. These are identified as such and included to briefly explain lived impact as a result of the actions by those claiming to be descendants, who are not.
 

Where lineage claims are relevant, this page links to a separate evidence review:
→ Not Lineal Descendants of Spotted Elk (Records & Contradictions)
 

Prior to 2011 — Background and context
 

 ✓ Wounded Knee Survivors Associations existed for decades prior to museum discoveries. Descendants and elders met regularly; many first-generation elders were still alive in the 1980s–1990s.
 

🗣️ Calvin Spotted Elk, Jasper Spotted Elk, Richard Spotted Elk, and other relatives attended survivor meetings and spoke directly with other descendants.
 

 ✓  Late 1930s compensation efforts included travel to Washington by James Pipe on Head and Dewey Beard. A book later compiled from these efforts became a frequently cited source in public narratives.

 ✓ That book refers to “Big Foot,” contributing to confusion between Chief Spotted Elk (Minneconjou, killed 1890) and a different Oglala individual also called Big Foot who died years later.

→ See Proof Page: Name confusion
 

 ✓  Calvin and Jasper’s family possessed certified probate records, enrollment correspondence, and early-1900s documentation establishing lineal descent from Chief Spotted Elk, including a rare Individual History Card.

🗣️ Oral history from elders and survivor groups consistently described several families later claiming descent as orphans raised within Spotted Elk’s band, not lineal grandchildren.

→ See Proof Page: Orphan status vs lineal descent
 

1984–1985 — Early museum awareness
 

🗣️ Belva HollowHorn and Marie Not Help Him (Wounded Knee Survivors Associations) informed descendants that college students had located ancestral belongings in a museum collection and notified the tribe.
 

🗣️ Elders emphasized that survivor associations already existed and descendants were known at that time.

1993–1994 — Barre, Massachusetts: early documentation and claims.  At that time the Barre Library was known as the Woods Memorial Library.
 

 ✓ Descendants traveled to Barre, Massachusetts, documented with photographs, and filed a claim for several items.

 ✓  Experts were present measuring and comparing items with historic images; a report was compiled.

 ✓ Meetings occurred with:

Richard “Rick” Wood (Virginia),

Steve Johnson (PA) and Rick Davis,

Jon Peters (Slow Turtle), MA Commissioner of Indian Affairs,

Audrey Stevens (curator, Henry Woods Memorial Library),

John P. Cirelli (Board President),

Gloria Castriotti (Board member).
 

 ✓  Descendants viewed some items, prayed and smudged, smoked a pipe, and photographed what was shown. Later reports included items not viewed at the time.
 

🗣️ Upon returning, elders reported that Leonard Little Finger and Francis He Crow had submitted a competing claim.
 

🗣️ Elders expressed doubts about their status as lineal descendants and asked them to present supporting documents in meetings.
 

 ✓  To date, public documentation from that group has relied primarily on self-reported family trees, with multiple versions circulating and significant omissions, particularly maternal lineage.

→ See Proof Page: Multiple trees and missing links
 

🗣️ Elders named in survivor circles described these families as orphans raised in the band and requested documentary proof of lineal descent.
 

2000 — Destruction of hair and public narrative
 

 ✓ A lock of hair attributed to Chief Spotted Elk was returned to Leonard Little Finger, Richard Broken Nose, and Francis He Crow, and was later publicly stated by them to have been destroyed/burned. It was sent out via NPR Radio to 450 stations, nation-wide.
 

 ✓  The incident was also covered by other national media and documentary outlets.
 

🗣️ Descendants state this action occurred against a judge’s order, deprived lineal descendants of legal and spiritual rights, and set a precedent for unilateral control by the family of those now working in tribal government.  At the time, Richard Spotted Elk, Calvin's older brother, was killed in a Hit and Run incident and the family was in deep mourning and trying to figure out howthey would bury him.  No one was ever charged for the devastating loss of Richard.  Shortly after, Jasper was also hit by a car but survived, with an injured leg.  Shortly after that Jasper passed away up at the veteran's hospital and Calvin went into a lengthy period of mourning.

 

 ✓ Survivors Associations repeatedly requested documentation of lineage from those presenting themselves as lineal descendants; documents were not produced to the associations’ satisfaction. Public reliance instead remained on a book/secondary narrative written long after Wounded Knee and containing known misinformation.
 

🗣️ Descendants describe this as a major harm: loss of cultural and legal rights to preserve/test/handle belongings, and a precedent for unilateral control.

 

 ✓  Despite repeated requests from Survivors Associations, no probate-era documentation establishing lineal descent was produced publicly by those controlling the narrative.
 

 ✓  Public reliance instead remained on a secondary book and retrospective accounts.

→ See Proof Page: Probate records vs secondary narratives
 

2011–2012 — Court action and closure of estate
 

 ✓  Descendants petitioned the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court regarding the administration of the estate associated with “Chief Bigfoot.” asking for it to be closed because of the exploitation of their grandfather.
 

 ✓  Concerns also included exclusion of verified lineal descendants and failure to perform administrator duties.

 ✓  The estate was closed due to failure to adhere to duties.
 

🗣️ Descendants report missing documents, reliance on disputed testimony, and statements attributed to judicial conversations as factors that undermined confidence in the process.
 

🗣️ At this time, descendants gathered family trees from known survivor lines; these showed consistent information across families, distinct from the public claims.

→ See Proof Page: Administration obtained using incomplete lineage
 

2022 — Repatriation announcements and renewed exclusion
 

 ✓ July 17, 2022: Media coverage highlighted Native efforts to recover items looted from bodies at Wounded Knee.

 ✓  Around November 2022, descendants learned the Barre Library Association would return sacred belongings.

 ✓  Descendants contacted tribal leadership seeking inclusion; travel was self-funded through community support.

 ✓  A planned meeting at Oglala Lakota College was denied; descendants were told no meetings would occur until December 29.
 

🗣️ Descendants describe this as continued exclusion of lineal descendants from decision-making.
 

2023 — Planned burning, emergency action, and MOU
 

 ✓  December 2023: Descendants learned belongings were planned to be burned.

 ✓  An urgent letter was sent to Cheyenne River, Standing Rock, Pine Ridge, and Rosebud tribal leadership and TCPOs.

 ✓ December 21, 2023: Emergency legal action was initiated under severe time constraints (holiday closures, difficulty securing counsel).

 ✓  December 28, 2023:

First Calvin and then multiple other families filed emergency actions.

Cheyenne River and Standing Rock issued releases opposing the burning of these sacred ancestral belongings.

An inter-tribal MOU/covenant provided the legal basis to halt destruction.

 ✓ December 29, 2023: A ceremony proceeded without burning, due to the MOU.
 

🗣️ Descendants describe extreme distress, last-minute information, and lack of transparent communication throughout this period.
 

2024–Present — Ongoing meetings and public claims
 

 ✓  Regular meetings began with descendants from Standing Rock and Cheyenne River (“Strengthening the People”).

🗣️ Participation from Pine Ridge representatives was limited; meetings were described as short-notice, with Zoom participants often unable to speak.
 

🗣️ February 2024: An intimidation incident involving an elder from Standing Rock was reported at a meeting; security and ceremonial whip man were present. but did not see it.
 

 ✓  Public claims of lineal descent by certain individuals continue despite probate-era documentation held by the Spotted Elk lineal family and despite documented contradictions.  Now there is evidence in addition to probates that is primary source and sworn testimony. that will show they cannot be descendants of Spotted Elk.  In addition, there is even more primary source evidence that shows Calvin is a direct descendant.  
 

🗣️ Descendants continue to seek direct dialogue, correction of the public record, and inclusion in decisions affecting ancestral belongings.
 

Certain individuals and families have long publicly presented as grandchildren or lineal descendants of Chief Spotted Elk but are not supported as such by probate-era documentation.
 

These individuals are consistently described in community testimony and record context as orphans raised within the band, not lineal descendants.
 

The same contradictory testimony was used to assert kinship to another described as "valuable estate", despite earlier sworn records identifying different parentage. This parentage further shows they are not lineal descendants of Spotted Elk.
 

These lineage claims materially  affected estate administration, museum repatriation, and public narrative, to the exclusion of verified lineal descendants.

 

Related Evidence

📎 Media Gallery: Documents, letters, court filings, photographs (by year)

📎 Probate & Enrollment Records: Early-1900s certified documents

📎 Court Orders & Petitions: 2011–2012; 2023 emergency filings

📎 News Coverage: 2000; 2022–2023
 

→ For detailed analysis of lineage claims and contradictions, see:

Not Lineal Descendants of Spotted Elk — Records & Contradictions