Federal Government Flags Little Bighorn Exhibits as Non-Compliant

Montanans don’t necessarily see eye to eye about everything. That’s basically our state motto. But here’s one thing that, at least for many of us, we can generally agree on: you don’t screw around with history just because people find it uncomfortable.

And right now, it’s happening at one of the most significant historic sites in the entire state.

The Northern Cheyenne tribe is protesting what they see as a federal whitewashing of history at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument said that “Indians are among our nation’s heroes, a source of pride and historical significance,” and asked whether the administration would want to remove markers for other sites in the nation’s history where American heroes fought and died.

Little Bighorn Is More Than a Battlefield

For many visitors, the Little Bighorn is a well-known pit stop and nothing more: Custer, cavalry, history class flashbacks, then off to the gift shop.

But for Montana tribes, this is hallowed ground. It’s where their forebears battled, survived, and helped write the story of the West in a way most history books used to conveniently make it a footnote.

And that story isn’t going away.

The Problem With “Non-Compliant” History

Federal officials flagged two exhibits at the battlefield as “non-compliant” with an effort to ensure historical displays are not derogatory, KTVQ reported.

That should set off alarms for anyone who values Montana history.

When the government starts describing parts of history as something that isn’t just uncomfortable, but “damaging” and in need of removal, editing, or sanitizing, we’re no longer talking about education. We’re talking about control.

And erasing the past doesn’t make it disappear. It just makes us dumber.

Native Heritage Is Important to All of Us in Montana

This isn’t only a tribal issue. This is a Montana issue.

Native American culture is woven into this state. Our rivers, mountains, towns, and valleys didn’t get their names from nowhere. Their history is not a footnote; it’s the foundation.

Trying to erase Native markers at the Little Bighorn is like removing the bones from a skeleton and still calling it a body.

Let the Truth Stay Where It Belongs

Little Bighorn should tell the full story. Not a comfortable story. Not the “tourist brochure” story. The real one.

Because if you can rewrite history at the Little Bighorn, you can rewrite it anywhere.

And every Montanan should be disturbed by that.