The name implies a tribute of great esteem on the part of the Indian for the man who bore it, the meaning of Tasunka-Kokipapi indicating one whose capacity in battle was such that the mere sight of his horses inspired fear in his enemies.

[6] The brutality of the Sand Creek Massacre on 29 November 1864 brought war to the South Platte River Valley, as the Cheyenne, Lakota, and Arapaho retaliated for the attack on a peaceful village of mostly women, children, and old men.

On 7 January 1865, a combined force of 1000 warriors attacked the stagecoach station at Julesburg, Colorado, and they continued raiding throughout the South Platte region for several weeks.

[7] The U.S. Army's construction of forts along the Bozeman Trail beginning in 1866 to protect settlers infuriated the Lakota and Cheyenne, as they refused to accept the white presence in their prime hunting grounds.

[10] It appears that both Tasunka Kokipapi and his father signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868 which ended Red Cloud's War, but they had no intention of leaving their Powder River hunting grounds to permanently settle on the Great Sioux Reservation, at least initially.

While Tasunka Kokipapi maintained friendly relations with the whites and Federal government, he remained a staunch supporter of Lakota rights, repeatedly asking for compensation for the loss of the Black Hills, buffalo, and other game.

As the government began attempts to break up the Great Sioux Reservation in the 1880s, Tasunka Kokipapi reconciled with Red Cloud and ceased his cooperation with the Pine Ridge agents.

During the latter 1880s, the two Oglala leaders, together with Little Wound and the revered old Hunkpatila chief, Old Man Afraid of His Horse, now aged 81, led the opposition to Congressional efforts to take a large swath of Lakota land and sell it to white settlers.

Although Tasunka Kokipapi was a realist and knew that the whites had destroyed the buffalo and now surrounded the Oglala, he lamented upon his people's misery as they became increasingly hungry and desperate.

[14]Extreme desperation and disillusionment always forms a fertile environment for the spread of evangelical religious movements, and the Ghost Dance promises of reuniting with dead loved ones, resurrection of the buffalo, and unity among Indians throughout the region now held special appeal to the Lakota.

Perhaps sensing the unrest and wanting no part in it, during the latter months of 1890, Tasunka Kokipapi took his band and left the reservation on an extended hunt and planned visit to the Crows in Wyoming.

As a result, he played no role during the killing of Sitting Bull, the brutal slaying of Spotted Elk's band at the Wounded Knee Massacre, or the subsequent departure of the Ghost Dancers to their stronghold in the Badlands.

Finished with his hunt, upon learning of the massacre of the Lakota and of General Miles' request, Tasunka Kokipapi agreed to postpone his visit and return to Pine Ridge.

Tasunka Kokipapi twice went to the hostile camp, and on 14 January 1891, he escorted Ghost Dance leaders Little Wound, Two Strike, Little Hawk, Crow Dog, and Kicking Bear to meet with General Miles, and tensions soon dissipated.

[17] On 7 January 1891, a young Sicangu Lakota, Plenty Horse, shot and killed Lt. Edward W. Casey while the officer scouted the "hostile" camp movements.