John Grass, Matȟó Watȟákpe or Charging Bear (c. 1836–May 10, 1918) was a chief of the Sihasapa (Blackfeet) band of

Lakota people The Lakota (; or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people. Also known as the Teton Sioux (from ), they are one of the three prominent subcultures of the Sioux people, with the Eastern Dakota (Santee) and Western D ...

during the 1870s through 1890s.Merkel, Diane and Dietmar Schulte-Möhring
"John Grass."
''American Tribes.'' 2009 (retrieved 3 Aug 2010) He fought at the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. In the summer of 1873, he led his men of the Sihasapa and Oglala/ Brule against the

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

in Nebraska near the Republican River, killing between 75 and 100 Pawnee men with mostly women and children, although the estimates of dead ranged at 156. The incident was named The Battle of Massacre Canyon.

Background

Grass was known as Charging Bear in his youth. He was born near Grand River in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

in 1836. Both his father, Used as a Shield, and grandfather, Sicola (Bare Foot), were important Sihasapa leaders. When he was three years old, Grass was baptized at a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

mission by Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Jesuit Father. Grass married three sisters, including Cecilia Walking Shield in a Lakota ceremony in 1867, and in 1894 he and Cecilia renewed their marriage vows in a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

ceremony. Some sources say Grass had four children; others give a larger number but many died at a young age. One son was named Own's Spotted, and one daughter was named Theresa Grass-Cross. John Grass attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census ...

, where he learned to read and speak English fluently. He utilized his knowledge of the English language on behalf of his people, when engaged in negotiations with the United States government.

Military and diplomatic career

In the 1850s and 1860s, Grass participated in battles against tribal enemies. He was a member of the White Horse Riders Society. From the late 1870s until his death, Grass served as chief justice of the Court of Indian Offenses for the

Standing Rock Agency The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota controls the Standing Rock Reservation (), which straddles the border between North Dakota, North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa Lakota, Hunkp ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. Together with his friend

Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...

warrior Gall, Grass advocated for formal education and agricultural lifestyles for his tribe as a means of survival. He fought the US government's efforts to take more Lakota lands, and in 1888 led a widespread resistance to Pratt Commission's attempt to break up the

Great Sioux Reservation The Great Sioux Reservation was an Indian reservation created by the United States through treaty with the Sioux, principally the Lakota, who dominated the territory before its establishment. In the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, the reservation ...

; however, the land was sold under the Crooks Commission's oversight in 1889. The US government failed to honor its treaty and statutory obligations, and in 1902 Grass led a delegation to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to convey Lakota grievances to the federal government.

Death

John Grass died on May 10, 1918, at his home near Fort Yates, North Dakota, on the Standing Rock Reservation.

Legacy

Grass led his warriors at the 1873 battle of Massacre Canyon in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, in which a Lakota war party attacked a group of

on a buffalo hunt. A monument commemorating the event, one of the last large battles between Native American tribes in the United States, was placed near the site of the canyon. Carved upon the 35-foot granite obelisk is the face of John Grass, slightly higher and opposite the carving of Ruling His Son's face, a Pawnee chief also at the battle that day.''Nebraska: A Guide to the Cornhusker State'', by the Federal Writers Project, p. 379 During the time of the Ghost Dance movement and the

Wounded Knee Massacre The Wounded Knee Massacre, also known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, involved nearly three hundred Lakota people killed by soldiers of the United States Army. More than 250 people of the Lakota were killed and 51 wounded (4 men and 47 women a ...

, Grass advocated peace with the United States, which did not earn him the respect of many Hunkpapa leaders. Chief White Bull described Grass as: "A good talker... not a thinker or a smart man... could always say yes but never no."

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grass, John Native American people of the Indian Wars Lakota leaders 19th-century Native American leaders Carlisle Indian Industrial School alumni People from South Dakota Native American Roman Catholics 1830s births 1918 deaths People from Sioux County, North Dakota Catholics from North Dakota Sihasapa 20th-century Native American people