Information about Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull (Sioux: Tatanka Iyotake or Tatanka Iyotanka or Ta-Tanka I-Yotank, first named Slon-he, Slow), (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man. He is notable in American and Native American history in large part for his major victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn against Custer’s 7th Cavalry, where his premonition of defeating them became reality. Even today, his name is synonymous with Native American culture, and he is considered to be one of the most famous Native Americans in history.

Tribal leader

The Battle of Killdeer Mountain struck a significant blow against Native American resistance, and many chiefs gave up the fight and went to reservations. Sitting Bull refused to surrender and rose to be a tribal leader, leading his warriors in a siege against the newly-constructed Fort Rice in present-day North Dakota. This action won him respect among the tribe, and he became head chief of the Lakota nation in c. 1868. During this period, white settlers, miners, farmers, missionaries, railroad workers, and military personnel began to expand the United States, and Native Americans were increasingly being forced from their tribal lands. Sitting Bull, who was a medicine man, began to work toward uniting his people against this invasion. Like many tribal leaders, Sitting Bull first attempted to make peace and trade with the whites. However, many of the men the Lakota encountered would trick them into accepting poor deals for their lands and produce, which created resentment amongst the tribes. After the discovery of gold in 1876 in the Black Hills, his people were driven from their reservation in the area, a place that the Sioux considered holy. Sitting Bull took up arms against the whites and refused to be transported to the Indian territory.

Victory at Little Big Horn and the aftermath

For more details on this topic, see Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, a decorated Union veteran of the Civil War, was an ambitious military officer with presidential hopes.

In addition to his Civil War exploits, which included commands in several of the war's most famous battles such as Gettysburg, his presence at Lee's surrender at Appomattox (during which he was awarded the actual table upon which the surrender documents had been signed in recognition of his gallantry) and a notable incident during the Union's Grand Review of the Armies had made Custer a household name by the time he joined the Indian Wars. He earned considerable fame among Native Americans and his fame among whites grew ever larger as the result of a series of controversial battles and early dawn attacks against Indian camps. The battles' results, usually reported to readers on the East Coast as great victories, included the slaughtering of many women and children.

On June 25, 1876, Custer’s 7th Cavalry advance party of General Alfred Howe Terry’s column attacked Indian tribes at their camp on the Little Big Horn River expecting a similar victory. The U.S. army did not realize that before the battle began, more than 3,000 Native Americans had left their reservations to follow Sitting Bull. The attacking Sioux, inspired by a vision of Sitting Bull’s, in which he saw U.S. soldiers being killed as they entered the tribe’s camp, fought back.

Custer's badly-outnumbered troops lost ground quickly and were forced to retreat, as they began to realize the true numbers of the Native American force. The tribes then led a counter-attack against the soldiers on a nearby ridge, ultimately annihilating the soldiers.

The victory placed Sitting Bull among the great Native American leaders such as fellow Little Big Horn veteran Crazy Horse and Apache freedom fighter Geronimo. But the Native Americans' celebrations were short lived, as public outrage at the military catastrophe and Custer's death and its heightened wariness of the remaining Native Americans brought thousands more cavalrymen to the area. Over the next year, the new forces relentlessly pursued the Lakota, forcing many of the Indians to surrender. Sitting Bull refused to surrender and in May 1877 led his band across the border into Canada, where he remained in exile for many years, refusing a pardon and the chance to return.

Surrender

Hunger and cold eventually forced Sitting Bull, his family, and a few remaining warriors to surrender on July 19, 1881. Sitting Bull had his son hand his rifle to the commanding officer of Fort Buford, telling the soldiers they had come to regard them and the white race as friends.

Two weeks later, Sitting Bull and his band were transferred to Fort Yates, the military post located adjacent to the Standing Rock Agency. Arriving with 185 people, his band was kept separate from the other Hunkpapa gathered at the agency. Army officials remained concerned that the famed Hunkpapa chief would use his influence to stir up trouble among the recently surrendered northern bands and consequently, they decided to transfer him and his band to Fort Randall to be held as prisoners of war. Again loaded on a steamboat, Sitting Bull's band, totaling 172 people, were sent downriver to Fort Randall where they spent the next 20 months. He was finally allowed to return to the Standing Rock Agency with his band, arriving in May 1883.

Fame

In 1885, Sitting Bull was allowed to leave the reservation to join Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show. He was rumored to earn about US$50 a week for riding once around the arena, where he was a popular attraction. Often asked to address the audience, he frequently cursed them in his native tongue to the wild applause of his listeners. Sitting Bull only stayed with the show for four months before returning home. During that time, he had become somewhat of a celebrity and a romanticized freedom fighter. He earned a small fortune by charging for his autograph and picture. It is rumored that Sitting Bull also once shook hands with President Grover Cleveland. Although it is unknown if this was true, the Native American took this as evidence that he was still regarded as a great chief.

In his trips throughout the country, Sitting Bull realized that his former enemies were not limited to the small military and settler communities he had encountered in his homelands, but were in fact a large and highly-advanced society. He realized that the Native Americans would be overwhelmed if they continued to fight.

Death

Back at Standing Rock, Sitting Bull became interested in the Ghost Dance movement. Although it has never been proven that he joined, he allowed others in the tribe to do so. The movement's followers believed performing the ghost dance would make them impervious to the bullets fired by white soldiers. The authorities feared Sitting Bull, as a popular spiritual leader, would give more credibility to the movement and decided to arrest him. Pre-empting the army, 43 Indian police attempted to arrest him on December 15, 1890, at the Standing Rock Agency. However, his followers were still loyal and fought to prevent the arrest, fearing that the army meant to kill Sitting Bull. Shots were fired and Sitting Bull, who was hit in the head, and his son Crow Foot were both killed.

Sitting Bull's body was taken by the Indian police to Fort Yates, North Dakota, and buried in the military cemetery. His surviving wives, Four Robes and Seen By Her Nation along with their children fled to the community of Red Shirt Table in the Badlands, South Dakota after being detained at Fort Yates. The Lakota claim that his remains were transported in 1953 to Mobridge, South Dakota, where a granite shaft marks his grave. To this day it remains a mystery between the two spots of where Sitting Bull is truly buried.

Sitting Bull is still remembered among the Lakota not only as an inspirational leader and fearless warrior, but as a loving father, a gifted singer, and as a man always affable and friendly toward others, whose deep religious faith gave him prophetic insight and lent special power to his prayers.

Following his death, his cabin on the Grand River was taken to Chicago to become part of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition.

His nephew was Chief White Bull.

Notes

References

• Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. Owl Books (1970).
• DeWall, Robb The Saga of Sitting Bull's Bones: The Unusual Story Behind Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski's Memorial to Chief Sitting Bull. Korczak's Heritage, 1984
• Newson, T. M. 1827-1893. (Thomas McLean). Thrilling scenes among the Indians. With a graphic description of Custer's last fight with Sitting Bull. Chicago and New York: Belford, Clarke and Co., 1884. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History. Newson
• Reno, Marcus A., 1835-1889, (Marcus Albert). The official record of a court of inquiry convened at Chicago, Illinois, January 13, 1879, by the President of the United States upon the request of Major Marcus A. Reno, 7th U.S. Cavalry, to investigate his conduct at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25-26, 1876. Pacific Palisades, Calif.: 1951. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History. Reno
• Utley, Robert M. The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull. 1st ed. New York: Henry Holt and Company Inc., 1993.
• Sifakis, Stewart Who's Who In The Civil War New York: New York Facts on File Publishing, 1988
• Urwin, Gregory Custer Victorious: The Civil War Battles of General George Armstrong Custer Reprint Edition, University of Nebraska Press, 1990
• Matson, William "The Authorized Biography of Sitting Bull By His Great Grandson Part One: The Making of A Leader" DVD Documentary on Sitting Bull's life as told by his great grandson, Ernie LaPointe from his family's oral history. Reelcontact.com, 2007.
• Ferry, John Sitting Bull: A Stone in My Heart. 83-minute DVD film biography told extensively in his own words, 2006. Lillimar Pictures, www.sittingbullfilm.com.

External links

• Tatanka Iyotaka Biography by Stanley L. Klos
• Follow Sitting Bull's journey to his new resting place at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument''
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• The Sitting Bull Monument Foundation in Mobridge South Dakota, dedicated to restoring the legacy of Sitting Bull''
• Yahoo News Article regarding the contoversy over The Sitting Bull Monument Foundations plans. (June 16,2007)''
• http://www.sittingbullfilm.com. The official website for a documentary film biography of Chief Sitting Bull.