Big Elk, also known as Ontopanga (1770–1846/1853), was a principal chief of the Omaha tribe for many years on the upper Missouri River. He is notable for his oration delivered at the funeral of Black Buffalo in 1813.
Big Elk led his people during a time of increasing changes, with threats from Sioux warfare, disease and European-American encroachment. He created alliances to protect his people and prepare for a future which he thought depended on a closer relationship with the United States. He was willing to exchange land for the promise of protection for his people but was often disappointed by the failures of the US government.
Read more about Big Elk: History, Marriage and Family
Famous quotes containing the word big:
“It seemed like this was one big Prozac nation, one big mess of malaise. Perhaps the next time half a million people gather for a protest march on the White House green it will not be for abortion rights or gay liberation, but because we’re all so bummed out.”
—Elizabeth Wurtzel, U.S. author. Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America, p. 298, Houghton Mifflin (1994)