A few dismissed it as legend.

The scholarly consensus that has emerged since then is nuanced.

Buffalo Calf Road Woman’s role at the Rosebud is considered well-attested.

Her presence at the Little Bighorn is considered highly probable given the community’s consistent testimony.

The specific claim about striking Custer cannot be corroborated externally and should be presented as oral tradition rather than established fact — but oral tradition is not the same as fiction, and this specific tradition comes from a community with deep historical knowledge of the events in question.

This nuanced position — taking the tradition seriously without overstating what can be proven — is the position this article has attempted to occupy throughout.

It is the position that good historical practice requires when dealing with evidence from communities whose testimony has been systematically excluded from the mainstream record.