Famous “Yellowstone” actor Moses J. Brings Plenty still remembers the stories about how his uncle Howard Hunter, Sr., won the saddle bronc competition at Cheyenne Frontier Days in the 1970s on a horse named Frontier Airlines.
Hunter was a real-life hero to Brings Plenty, and there were many stories told about him when he was growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
His family didn’t have running water or electricity, but they had wealth of another kind to pass along.
That wealth was just as shiny as the kerosene lanterns the stories were told by in Brings Plenty’s young eyes.
That’s because they weren’t just stories about his heroes, they were stories about the kind of man he wanted to grow up to be one day.
“Howard Hunter senior was a great hero of mine as a kid, a living hero of mine,” he told Cowboy State Daily while waiting for the Cheyenne Frontier Days parade to begin. “My father is a hero of mine. My grandfathers, my grandmothers, and my mothers. I mean the list goes on and on. I had many, many great representatives of what diversity is, what humanity is and what courage and strength (are).”
Cheyenne Frontier Days figured large in the stories told on the reservation. And not just the tale about his uncle winning the saddle bronc competition, but there were also tales of legendary figures like Lane Frost, too.
“It is the most prestigious rodeo in the world, and, for me, in my personal opinion, one of the greatest,” he said.
Ultimately, those stories are what brought the A-lister back for the second year in a row to Cheyenne Frontier Days, this time to serve in a more prominent role as the parade’s grand marshal, and to lead a prayer song on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I’m really excited to get to share a little bit of (the prayer song) with everyone,” he said. “I’m sure, years ago, back in the day, there were Lakota people singing here as well. So, we’re going to bring that back, and I thank the (Cheyenne Frontier Days) board for giving me that opportunity to do so.”
Moses J. Brings Plenty talks with John and Connie Contos before the Cheyenne Frontier Days Parade. John is serving as General Chairman of Cheyenne Frontier Days. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Moses J. Brings Plenty atop a horse named Louie, right before the Cheyenne Frontier Days parade. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
"Yellowstone" actor, Moses J. Brings Plenty shakes the hands of all the Cheyenne Frontier Days Dandies before the parade begins. Brings Plenty came back to CFD this year to serve as the parade's Grand Marshal. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Following In Other Footsteps
Brings Plenty isn’t the first Lakotan to have a prominent role supporting Cheyenne Frontier Days.
There have been many, among them Cheyenne Frontier Days legend, the late Princess Blue Water, whose real name is Rose Nelson Ecoffey. She brought American Indians to the Cheyenne Frontier Days Indian Village for decades.
Last year, Brings Plenty toured the CFD Old West Museum and made a point of taking in the exhibit that honors Princess Blue Water and her lifelong efforts to keep her culture vibrant, as well as build bridges between her culture and that of others.
That’s a goal that’s long been important to Brings Plenty as well, and it’s why he has not only acted in but served as a consultant for several famous television shows like “Yellowstone,” and “1923,” as well as movies like, “Revenant,” and “Hell on Wheels,” to help ensure American Indian cultures are accurately portrayed, from regalia to language, history and ceremonies.
Brings Plenty prefers the term “American Indians” to Native Americans.
“The reason being is because no treaties were made with Native Americans or indigenous people,” he explained. “They’re simply made with American Indian people. So, I try to stick true to that label, to protect those treaties. And not every tribe in the country is a treaty tribe, but mine is, so I have to protect the treaties by embracing that label.”
Continuing the collaboration with Cheyenne Frontier Days that his Lakota ancestors began remains important, Brings Plenty believes.
“Lakota people have always been involved in Cheyenne Frontier Days,” he said. “We’ve always been present. “(It’s important) to continue building that bridge for cultural diversity, where all of us are hand in hand. We’re all sons and daughters of God. And so when we can walk in that manner, in that way, that’s what makes God happy. That’s what makes God smile.”
Why Rodeo Will Never Die
Rodeo, Brings Plenty added, has long been part of American Indian culture.
“It’s a tradition. And it’s still very much a part of today’s society,” he said. “That will never change, because without tradition and without cowboys and cowgirls — you know, we have to eat. Rodeo is an opportunity for them to show their talents, and this is a legendary rodeo. So that is why so many people choose to come to Cheyenne Frontier Days.”
Standing next to a horse named Louie, who he was about to ride in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parade, Brings Plenty had some thoughts on the importance of horses to both his people and mankind.
He is among those who believe American Indian horses predated the Spaniards.
“We have songs, ceremonies that are specifically for the horse, that are thousands and thousands of years old,” he said. “So we always had horses.”
Horses, Brings Plenty added, are just “good medicine” for mankind.
“They’re not a tool,” he said, patting his horse a little as he said those words. “They’re your working partner.”
The best cowboys, whether American or Indian cowboys, treat their horses as an extension of themselves, like an arm or a leg.
“Horses have always been a good medicine,” Brings Plenty said. “In our language, we call them, I don’t know how to spell it, but I’m going to say, Shun-ko-wakan, which means a holy dog, because, originally, they were about the size of a dog, and God gave them a gift that made them bigger to carry us. That’s just a brief version of the creation story.”
Sharing such stories, Brings Plenty said, is part of being the change that he wants to see in the world, as well as being part of the story he wants to tell others.
“We’ve got to step up and be compassionate,” he said. “We’ve got to be conscious, we’ve got to be patient, and we’ve got to be true to the creator of all creation.”
That’s part of a dream that many great leaders have shared in America.
“I have a dream, the same dream that many people have shared for many centuries,” Brings Plenty said. “That dream is of my people, and that is for all of us, all people, to stand underneath the sacred tree of life together.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
