A good day to die (or today is a good day to die) is a phrase historically associated with certain Native American cultures, although it appears to mischaracterize the historical sources, and its actual origin is unclear.
The phrase has since been used in other cultural contexts. For example, in the Star Trek franchise, it occurs several times as a Klingon saying, with Star Trek writer Marc Okrand proposing several ways to say the phrase in the Klingon language. [1] Starship Troopers 3: Marauder also features a patriotic song called by the phrase. In another example, Jun Guevaru from the anime Baki Hanma always says the phrase before a fight. The film A Good Day to Die Hard also appropriates the phrase in its title.
In 1849 the phrase was reported to have been said by Willbur Fisk, a Methodist minister who had actively proselytized among Native Americans and helped secure a translation of the Bible into Mohawk, twelve days before his death (in 1839): "In the morning he asked Mrs. Frisk what day it was. On ascertaining, he observed, 'This would be a good day to die'". [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. Who will die with me?" The grand courage of the chief and his thrilling eloquence broke the solid phalanx of warriors. In squads they came over and gathered close around the fearless insurgent. The rebellion was a success. To avoid a doubtful civil war Sitting Bull concluded to spare the lives of his prisoners. [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!' like a big wind roaring, and making the tremolo; and you could hear eagle bone whistles screaming". "Hokahey" is simply an exclamation to draw attention, similar to a coach saying, "Let's do it!" 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!" ("nake nula waung"). This phrase means, "I am ready for whatever comes". It was meant to show the warriors were not afraid of the battle or dying in it.
Native American Activist Dennis Banks quoted the phrase during a speech Custer, South Dakota in 1973 against judicial proceedings that had resulted in reduced charges for a white man to a second degree offense for killing a Native American man. Dennis Banks cofounded the American Indian Movement and a documentary about him is also called A Good Day to Die . [5]
Another author describes it as the ending of a Lakota prayer. [6]
Regarding the war cry "today is a good day to die", most presume the now-popular statement refers to patriotic sentiment. That is, warriors should always be willing to die while proudly defending their families and home territory. Indeed, such was probably at the heart of the phrase when skirmishing the cavalry. An unsolicited interpretation offered by an Ottawa woman, however, carried a different meaning. "We Indians have an expression 'today is a good day to die'. It means that we should be ready to die on any given day. We should always be prepared to die, and have no regrets. 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". [7]
The 1998 film Smoke Signals plays with this concept:
Hence, the film self-consciously references other westerns, most notably Little Big Man, with its line "It's a good day to die" refigured in three different ways in Smoke Signals: "Sometimes it's a good day to die and sometimes it's a good day to play basketball", "It's a good day to be indigenous", and "Sometimes it's a good day to die and sometimes it's a good day to have breakfast". [8]
The Klingon language is the constructed language spoken by a fictional alien race called the Klingons, in the Star Trek universe.
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle, which resulted in the defeat of U.S. forces, was the most significant action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It took place on June 25–26, 1876, along the Little Bighorn River in the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana Territory.
Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. Sitting Bull was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation during an attempt to arrest him at a time when authorities feared that he would join the Ghost Dance movement.
Kahless "The Unforgettable" is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. He was portrayed in Star Trek: The Original Series by Robert Herron and in Star Trek: The Next Generation by Kevin Conway; and is the titular character in the Star Trek novel Kahless by Michael Jan Freeman. Kahless is an important religious and historical figure to the Klingon race and has been studied in explorations of the philosophy within the setting of Star Trek.
Dennis Banks was a Native American activist, teacher, and author. He was a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement, which he co-founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1968 to represent urban Indians. He was a pre-eminent spokesman for Native Americans. His protests won government concessions and created national attention and sympathy for the oppression and deplorable endemic social and economic conditions for Native Americans.
Gall, Lakota Phizí, was an important military leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He spent four years in exile in Canada with Sitting Bull's people, after the wars ended and surrendered in 1881 to live on the Standing Rock Reservation. He would eventually advocate for the assimilation of his people to reservation life and served as a tribal judge in his later years.
Klingon culture is a set of customs and practices of Klingons depicted in the fictional Star Trek universe. The fictional Klingon society is based on Klingon traditions and conventions, as well as a constructed language named Klingon. Klingons were created by Gene L. Coon.
Isaiah Dorman was an interpreter for the United States Army during the Indian Wars. He perished at the Battle of Little Bighorn, the only black man killed in the fight.
The Klingon scripts are fictional alphabetic scripts used in the Star Trek movies and television shows to write the Klingon language.
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred in 1876 and 1877 in an alliance of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne against the United States. The cause of the war was the desire of the US government to obtain ownership of the Black Hills. Gold had been discovered in the Black Hills, settlers began to encroach onto Native American lands, and the Sioux and the Cheyenne refused to cede ownership. Traditionally, American military and historians place the Lakota at the center of the story, especially because of their numbers, but some Native Americans believe the Cheyenne were the primary target of the American campaign.
The Battle of Honsinger Bluff was a conflict between the United States Army and the Sioux people on August 4, 1873 along the Yellowstone River near present-day Miles City, Montana. This was U.S. territory acquired from the Crows in 1868. The main combatants were units of the U.S. 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, and Native Americans from the village of the Hunkpapa medicine man, Sitting Bull, many of whom would clash with Custer again approximately three years later at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in the Crow Indian Reservation.
The Klingons are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise Star Trek.
One Bull, sometimes given as Lone Bull, later known as Henry Oscar One Bull, was a Lakota Sioux man best known for being the nephew and adopted son of Sitting Bull. He fought at Battle of the Little Bighorn and, in his later years, provided interviews about his life as a warrior.
Flying Hawk, also known as Moses Flying Hawk, was an Oglala Lakota warrior, historian, educator and philosopher. Flying Hawk's life chronicles the history of the Oglala Lakota people through the 19th and early 20th centuries, as he fought to deflect the worst effects of white rule; educate his people and preserve sacred Oglala Lakota land and heritage.
Low Dog (c. 1846–1894) was an Oglala Lakota chief who fought with Sitting Bull at the Little Bighorn.
The Great Sioux Massacre is a 1965 American Western war film directed by Sidney Salkow in CinemaScope using extensive action sequences from Salkow's 1954 Sitting Bull. In a fictionalized form, it depicts Custer's descent from a defender of the Indians from Federal interference to an incompetent warmonger, and the Indians as his victims, and covers events leading up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn and Custer's Last Stand.
Frank Waln or Oyate Teca Obmani is a Sicangu Lakota rapper and activist. His first solo album, Born Ready, was released in 2017, followed by The Bridge the same year. He has been awarded three Native American Music Awards and received five nominations, both individually and with his group Nake Nula Waun.
Wesley Bad Heart Bull was a Native American man whose murder at the hands of Darld Schmitz was the catalyst for leading to the events later known as the Wounded Knee incident.
The Battle of Pease Bottom, also called the Battle of the Bighorn River was a conflict between the United States Army and the Sioux on August 11, 1873, along the Yellowstone River opposite the mouth of the Bighorn River near present-day Custer, Montana. The main combatants were units of the 7th U.S. Cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, and Native Americans from the village of the Hunkpapa medicine man, Sitting Bull, many of whom would clash with Custer again approximately three years later at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in the Crow Indian Reservation.
The Klingon Way: A Warrior's Guide is a 1996 book by the linguist Marc Okrand that was published by Pocket Books. The Klingon Way is a collection of proverbs and sayings in the constructed language of Klingon, ascribed to the Klingon race and Klingon culture in the fictional Star Trek universe. Okrand first began constructing the Klingon language in the 1980s when he was hired to produce Klingon dialogue for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, going on to publish The Klingon Dictionary. The Klingon Way expanded the Klingon lexicon, and was followed by Klingon for the Galactic Traveler.