Marcellus Red Tomahawk after a meeting with President Herbert Hoover at the White House in 1929. Image from Library of Congress
An image based on the likeness of Marcellus Red Tomahawk, a Lakota man who shot and killed Sitting Bull, is being removed from highway signs in North Dakota. The symbol has been in use since 1923, The Fargo Forum reports. But it's being phased out over the next several years in favor of an outline of the state borders. "We know there is some sensitivity surrounding that,” Jamie Olson, a spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation, told the paper, adding that Tomahawk's descendants were informed of the change. “We know that has been a hot topic, and it certainly played a part in our conversations when we began that process." Tomahawk was a scout for the U.S. military and later served as a federal police officer when he was among those went to arrest Sitting Bull on December 15, 1890. He and another officer shot the Lakota leader in an incident that occurred on the North Dakota portion of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The North Dakota Highway Patrol continues to use a likeness of Tomahawk as its official logo and has no plans to get rid of the symbol, The Forum reported. Get the Story:
Red Tomahawk image disappearing from North Dakota highway signs (The Fargo Forum 7/17) An Opinion:
Port: Again, we erase ND history by getting rid of Native American icons (The Fargo Forum 7/17)
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