Three full buffalo, part of the Bear Butte State Park herd, enjoy a pleasant fall day on the grassy plain south of the famous mountain. (Steve McEnroe/Rapid City Journal)

The first week of summer has different significance for different people. Among Native Americans, it’s a time of balance.

On the one hand, there’s the anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It was the greatest victory by this country’s indigenous people over forces of the invading armies – and invading is precisely what they were.

I’ve always had sympathy for those European immigrants who, in search of any job they could get, found themselves wearing a U.S. Army uniform staring down hundreds of Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho. Bad move.

But the reality is that these warriors were merely fighting to protect their homelands, their women, children and way of life. And wouldn’t you if any of those anticipated invading armies we’ve been sending troops to keep in their foreign lands since 1946 ever made it to our shores?

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