# Spotted Tail — A Cycle of the West character guide

> Spotted Tail in A Cycle of the West by John G. Neihardt.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Spotted Tail Arose

**First appearance:** 0027-ii-red-cloud

## Snapshot

A Brulé Lakota chief who counsels peace and rides to the council with a thousand of his people at his back.

## Who they are

Spotted Tail arrives at the Soldier's Town with a thousand Brulés, a leader whose willingness to treat with the whites places him at odds with the bull-lunged Ogalalas who howl down every concession. His pragmatism is not surrender but a hard reckoning with the narrowing of his people's world, and the poem grants him the dignity of a man who chooses survival over a glorious death. He matters because his faction represents one of the two great roads the Lakota must walk, and because his camp later becomes the uneasy refuge of a hunted man.

## Relationships

### [Crazy Horse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/crazy_horse)

_rivalry_

Crazy Horse and Spotted Tail are rivals within Lakota leadership, representing different strategies toward white encroachment.

### [Crazy Horse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/crazy_horse)

_rivalry_

Crazy Horse and Spotted Tail are rivals within Lakota leadership, representing different strategies toward white encroachment.

## In the story

### [The Song of the Indian Wars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-the-indian-wars)

Mentioned as a beggar chief fattened by a hated hand, contrasted with the defiant warriors who prefer battle to submission.

### [II: Red Cloud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/ii-red-cloud)

A Brulé warrior and seer, remembered for his past heroism and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his people; speaks with droll wisdom and a sense of futility.

### [III: The Council on the Powder](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iii-the-council-on-the-powder)

Listed as a wise leader among the gathered chiefs.

### [VII: Beecher's Island](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/vii-beecher-s-island)

Spotted Tail is swayed by the peace offer, believing the promise that the country will be closed to whites.

### [X: The Sun Dance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/x-the-sun-dance)

Contrasted as a 'beggar chief' who is fattened by the hated hand.

### [XIII: The Twilight](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/xiii-the-twilight)

The 'lover of the Whites,' well-fed, urges Crazy Horse to surrender, listing the overwhelming forces arrayed against him.

### [XIV: The Death of Crazy Horse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/xiv-the-death-of-crazy-horse)

Crazy Horse is found in his camp after vanishing.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/spotted_tail
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters