Long Trip Home Body Of Sioux Chief Long Wolf Finally Rests With Family

The body of Long Wolf, a Sioux chief who died 105 years ago in London while traveling with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, was buried atop a windswept hill in his ancestral land Sunday.

“I’m very glad my grandfather is home. I feel very good now,” said Jessie Black Feather, 87, Long Wolf’s closest living descendant.

Long Wolf died of pneumonia in London in 1892. He was buried with 17-month-old Star, also known as White Star, who died when she fell from a horse during a London performance.

Jessie Black Feather’s mother was 12 when Long Wolf died. Her mother returned to the United States, but the body remained in England. Later, a British woman found a book that mentioned Long Wolf’s life and burial. She tracked down his relatives, who had the body exhumed last week and flown to South Dakota.

On Sunday, family members and others gathered at two tepees at Wolf Creek, in the southwest corner of the state along the Nebraska border, for the start of about two hours of ceremonies. The coffin was in one of the tepees, surrounded by flowers. Several people spoke during a ceremony that included Christian gospel music.

Then as a strong west wind blew, mourners followed the casket up a steep hill to the grave at the Wolf Creek church’s cemetery, stopping four times to acknowledge the four directions. Traditional Lakota songs and prayers preceded the burial.

Seven of the nine pallbearers were powwow dancers who wore their traditional dance regalia. The other two were chiefs bedecked in feather bonnets.

The original casket had disintegrated, so a replica of the original solid oak casket was built, holding the remains of both Long Wolf and Star. A plaque on top said, “June 11, 1892, 59 years old.”

An Oglala Sioux spiritual leader, Wilmer Mesteth, presided. Mesteth, who had gone to England for the exhumation, said he understood the need to return the body.

“We were there just a few days and I longed to come home. That’s not our home. It’s so different,” Mesteth said.

Tom Shortbull, president of Oglala Lakota College, said most funerals are sad, but Sunday’s was different. “Today we can celebrate for the Black Feather family, who have worked so long for this.

“Many (Indians) went to Europe to perform. Many came back. But Long Wolf and White Star did not. This is a great day for them to come back.”

Shortbull said his grandfather also performed in one of the Wild West Shows.