[2] An 1879 newspaper account relayed a story of Húŋkpapȟa chief Running Antelope using the phrase to save trapper Fred Gerard ("Girard" in the account) from being executed on the orders of Sitting Bull, stating that: In the presence of fourteen hundred Indians he mounted a little knoll and electrified the camp with the exclamation: "This is a good day to die.
[3]In "Campaigns of General Custer in the North-west, and the Final Surrender of Sitting Bull" published in 1881, author Judson Elliott Walker relates an account from Low Dog, as told to Captain Howe of the Standing Rock Agency: "I [Low Dog] called to my men: 'This is a good day to die; follow me'".
[4] In "Black Elk Speaks" published in 1932, recounting the Battle of the Little Bighorn described the warriors under Crazy Horse: "off toward the west and north they were yelling 'Hokahey!'
It is likely neither Low Dog nor Crazy Horse ever said "Today is a good day to die", which is the English bastardization of a common Oceti Sakowin battle-cry, "Nake nula wauŋ welo!"
Dennis Banks cofounded the American Indian Movement and a documentary about him is also called A Good Day to Die.
[6] Regarding the war cry "today is a good day to die", most presume the now-popular statement refers to patriotic sentiment.
That's why it's important to begin each day fresh, and not let past problems or present distractions cloud how God wants us to live".