An action spectacle built around true story of female warriors who waged wars in the early 1900s with no weapons and no armor.
The battle of Little Bighorn, a pivotal moment in the American West, has been described by western scholars and historians as “the most important battle in the history of the west”. Yet the actual battle took place in a time when women as warriors were rare.
Women as warriors? Even in the West? The very idea seems absurd. Yet in reality, women have held prominent roles in wars all across the globe.
Little Bighorn is an American documentary which tells the story of the most important battle in the history of the west. It was fought between the United States against the Sioux in Montana in 1876.
The battle was significant because its outcome was crucial to the final defeat of the Sioux. But it was also significant because it was the first time women had fought in a battle.
The documentary features interviews with the participants, their descendants and other descendants of the Sioux. These include:
Louise Marley, one of the most famous of all the Little Bighorn participants, whose story was told in the documentary (a story which was told several times and in various genres). Louise Marley was born a slave in Texas. In 1865, when she was 15, she travelled alone to Montana with a mission: help the Union fight the Indian threat. In 1877, Louise Marley was recognized as a famous war leader who had fought by herself against her own people in the war over their land.
Louise Marley’s son, David Marley, gave a moving testimony about her life as a slave, but told the story of his mother in the telling of her life in the documentary as well.
Ethel, Louise’s sister. Ethel Marley has been called the “First Lady of the Indian Wars”. She had been raised a slave and had spent much of her life fighting Indian raids. But she was also a nurse for soldiers who were wounded in the Indian wars. She was a brave and fierce fighter herself.
The “First Lady of the Indian Wars” Ethel Marley.
Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, interviewed Louise Marley and her daughter, Clara,