User:DanDavidCook/Harry Charger (Lakota Chief)

Orrie Harry Charger, Sr. (Wa'Anataan) (March 28, 1930 - August 25, 2015) was a Lakota tribal chief and a member of the tribe’s Sans Arc band. He was a community leader, author and member of the Fool Soldiers, a group created to liberate white women and children who were held captive by other tribes. He was known for his political activism, his participation in and leadership of Sun Dances (a Native American ceremony), and as the spiritual advisor for the Lakota tribe in South Dakota.

Early Life
Charger was born in Promise, S.D., on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, the grandson of Martin Charger, a Lakota chief. He was raised by his grandparents after his mother died when he was six years old. As a boy he had a vision that he would be a leader among his people. A descendent of the legendary Lakota Chief Charger, he was given Chief Charger's boyhood name, Zintkala Ska, as a boy. Later he received his name Wa'Anataan.

He was sent to boarding schools twice during his youth. Eventually, he returned to LaPlant and attended the Cheyenne River Boarding School. He did well in academics and sports. He enjoyed participating in boxing, football, basketball, and track. He earned a state high school championship medal in the one mile race. Harry also received his first experience working with electricity at the CRBS.

Later life and career
Charger worked most of his life as an electrician, a job that took him outside of South Dakota. He spent considerable time in Oregon as a result of his work, and while there, he was active in Native American organizations. A recovering alcoholic, he counseled those with substance abuse issues. In Oregon he was a part of the Native American Rehabilitation Association. He also served in the military.

He was considered an expert in tribal affairs and tribal sovereignty, co-authoring an often-referenced treatise on the subject. He was the author of the book, Seven Rites of Lakota, which discussed Lakota traditions, and he was referenced in other books on tribal culture and affairs.

Charger was bonneted three times as a Naca (chief) by members of his clan in Cheyenne River. He was a spiritual leader and healer who attended and oversaw many Sun Dances, including the Healing Mother Earth and Sun Dance on his family property on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was a leader of the Fool Soldiers, a group of Lakota men who trace their roots to tribe members whose responsibility was to rescue white women and children who were captives held by other tribes. Their role continues to be the protection of others in the tribe, particularly women and children.

He was among the Lakota who spoke of the Star Nation, visitors from other planets who came to earth to teach and learn. Dr. Richard Boylan, a behavioral scientist, retired university instructor, certified clinical hypnotherapist, and researcher into Star Visitor-Human encounters, attended a 10-day Star Knowledge Conference and Sun Dance on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota in 1996. At the conference, convoked by Lakota (Sioux) spiritual leader Standing Elk (Laurance Zephier), Boylan said Charger was among those who spoke about their experiences with the Star Nation. Charger also shared other legends from the Lakota oral tradition, including that of the White Buffalo Calf Woman.

Charger was married twice. He had seven children by his first wife, Marie Middletent, and one by his second, Cynthia Ferguson.