page_title: Flying Hawk
section_title: Final days and death
hierarchical_section_title: Flying Hawk / Final days and death
caption_attribution_description: English: Home of Felix Flying Hawk, Manderson, South Dakota
context_page_description: Flying Hawk was an Oglala Lakota warrior, historian, educator and philosopher. Flying Hawk's life chronicles the history of the Oglala Lakota people through the 19th and early 20th centuries, as he fought to deflect the worst effects of white rule; educate his people and preserve sacred Oglala Lakota land and heritage. Chief Flying Hawk was a combatant in Red Cloud's War and in nearly all of the fights with the U.S. Army during the Great Sioux War of 1876. He fought alongside his first cousin Crazy Horse and his brothers Kicking Bear and Black Fox II in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876, and was present at the death of Crazy Horse in 1877 and the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. Chief Flying Hawk was one of the five warrior cousins who sacrificed blood and flesh for Crazy Horse at the Last Sun Dance of 1877. Chief Flying Hawk was the author of his commentaries and accounts of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Crazy Horse and the Wounded Knee Massacre, and of Native American warriors and statesmen from who fought to protect their families, defend the invasion of their lands and preserve their culture.
context_section_description: Chief Flying Hawk and his family did not enjoy the benefits of white men. His son Felix Flying Hawk, and later his grandson David Flying Hawk, had been cheated and jailed by the white man for stealing their own horses. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, his family and friends, had been assassinated. He had been placed on public exhibition as a specimen of the vanishing race to escape the poverty and constraints an Indian reservation. "He stroked his breast to show that he was poorly dressed. He was still wearing a coat and vest which had been given to him by the host on a previous visit. He said that if he had what was due him from the Government he could dress like other people, and have plenty to eat all the time, much of the time he was hungry and could not buy medicine or go to the doctor when sick." On March 5, 1929, at age seventy-five, Flying Hawk made his last visit to The Wigwam in Du Bois, Pennsylvania. He had been traveling with the circus, and the pony riding, war dances and inclement weather were weighing on his health. The Wigwam was good medicine.  At The Wigwam he would could have fresh air, good food, rest and home comforts. Chief Flying Hawk died at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, December 24, 1931, at the age of 77 in want. He had written that during the previous winter of 1930-31 his little band was saved from starvation only through contributions from Gutzon Borglum and the American Red Cross. Sadly, it was rumored that Chief Flying Hawk died of starvation.
caption: Chief Flying Hawk and his family did not enjoy the benefits of white men. Home of Felix Flying Hawk, Manderson, South Dakota
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