John Woodenlegs was an author, educator, and the tribal president of the Northern Cheyenne from 1955 to 1968. In 1975, he founded Chief Dull Knife College

Chief Dull Knife College

Chief Dull Knife College is a small, open-admission, Native American tribal community college and land grant institution. It is located on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Lame Deer, Montana, USA. Current enrollment is 141 students. More than half of its graduates move on to four-year...

, a community college

Community college

A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...

 located in Lame Deer, Montana

Lame Deer, Montana

Lame Deer is a census-designated place in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,018 at the 2000 census. Lame Deer is part of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and the home of the Chief Dull Knife College. Lame Deer is the starting location of the movie Powwow...

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Woodenlegs was the grandson of Wooden Leg

Wooden Leg

Wooden Leg was a Northern Cheyenne warrior who fought against Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.-Biography:...

, who fought against General George A. Custer’s troops at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. During his life, Woodenlegs also worked as a cowboy, road worker, coal miner and rancher. He was also the first American Indian

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 to receive an honorary degree from the University of Montana.

Whitney Smith

Whitney Smith

Whitney Smith is a professional vexillologist, i.e., scholar of flags. The term vexillology, which he coined in his 1958 article Flags of the Arab World, refers to the scholarly analysis of all aspects of flags. In 1961, Smith and colleague Gerhard Grahl cofounded The Flag Bulletin, the world's...

, a U.S. vexillologist, credits Woodenlegs with having designed the flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

 of the Northern Cheyenne, which was approved for display in 1964. In 1967, Woodenlegs was the sole American Indian member of the National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty convened by President Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...

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A quote from Woodenlegs appears in Going Rogue by Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin

Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...

, though she mistakenly attributes it to basketball coach John Wooden

John Wooden

John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...

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