Calvin Spotted Elk

I am Hakela, which means "the last one" a name given to me by my father Jasper Spotted Elk, Jr. My English name is Calvin. Until recently I was the last of my family. My mother was killed when I was 16 months old so I never knew her. My older brother and father have also both passed into the spirit world. As far as I am aware I am the last remaining direct full blood lineal descendant of Chief Spotted Elk who carries the name. Chief Spotted Elk was also known as Bigfoot by non-Lakota people and later by our own. He was the Mni kala wohjzhu (Minneconjou) chief of the people who were killed at Wounded Knee in 1890. I have my probate papers to show who I am. There are others who claim to be descendants and they have been very public about it but they have not proven to be who they claim so please don't be misled by things you may see in newspapers or books or other other media. If what happened in 1890 interests you, please take the time to do proper research. There was a lot of misleading information out here about the descendants which I am in the process of correcting. I have worked helping the elderly for the past 12 years on Pine Ridge Cheyenne River and Rosebud. I helped to cut wood in the winters and till gardens in the summers for those who requested our help. Now I am living out here in the West, working on telling our family story because there has been a lot of confusion between my ancestor and another man named "Bigfoot". I am also working on bringing together the families of whose names were forgotten. It is my hope that by finding these families from all three reservations, we will be able to bring the truth out and mend the sacred hoop. I believe that only then will healing truly begin. As I have already mentioned, I am the great great grandson of Chief Spotted Elk (known by U.S. soldiers as "Bigfoot") of Wounded Knee. This name, although it has been used many places was not a name that honored my great great grandfather. It was a name given to him at Ft. Bennett used by those who were disrespecting him at the time. Unfortunately that name stuck with him throughout history and many people have not realized that his true name was Spotted Elk. In Lakota he was Unpan Gleshka which means Spotted Elk. He and my other two grandpas signed the 1868 Ft. Laramie treaty, a peace treaty with provisions reserving our sacred Black Hills for our purposes, but to date, this treaty has not been honored. I never knew my grandfather but my father, Jasper, told me and my brother stories when we were growing up. I promised my father I would do my best to correct history and honor my ancestors and this is why I have set up this place on the internet. I am ik che ya wi cha sha. This means a common man. You won't hear me claim to be a chief or a medicine man or anyone of great importance but I feel it is important to tell our story especially because of what happened to my great great grandfather and what has happened to our people as a result of confusion. I have begun a list of people from my grandfather's band at Cheyenne River Agency. This is list is a work in progress. There are several lists that were put together by various people documenting what happened. I discovered that there were errors and felt like a list of names wasn't enough. After I finish with our people from Cheyenne River, I will add the rest. If you are a descendant and have something to contribute, photos, stories, etc. let me know and check out the document as it evolves at the following link: http://issuu.com/spottedelk/docs/honoring?viewMode=presentation