Kicking Bear was one of the five warrior cousins who sacrificed blood and flesh for Crazy Horse at the Last Sun Dance of 1877.

He reportedly came to regret becoming involved with the movement, after seeing the problems with the government it caused the tribes that participated and later said "Who would have thought that dancing could make such trouble?"

In March 1896, Kicking Bear traveled to Washington, D.C. as one of three Sioux delegates taking grievances to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

He made his feelings known about the drunken behavior of traders on the reservation, and asked that Native Americans have more ability to make their own decisions.

The mask was to be used as the face of a Sioux warrior to be displayed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.