   #copyright

Sitting Bull

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Historical figures

   Portrait of Sitting Bull taken in 1885 by D. F. Barry
   Enlarge
   Portrait of Sitting Bull taken in 1885 by D. F. Barry

   Sitting Bull ( Sioux: Tatanka Iyotake or Tatanka Iyotanka or Ta-Tanka
   I-Yotank, first named Hunkesni, Slow), ( c. 1831 – December 15, 1890)
   was a Hunkpapa Lakota chief and holy man who has become notable in the
   history of Native Americans and the USA, primarily because he was one
   of the few members of his race to be part of a major victory against
   the American army when his premonition of defeating them at the battle
   of Little Big Horn became reality.

Early life

   Little is known of the early life of Sitting Bull, his birth date and
   place is the subject of conjecture mainly to his people’s lack of a
   written history. So much of what is known about the man comes after he
   came to the attention of the white US military. Sitting Bull was given
   the name Tatanka-Iyotanka at his birth, which describes a buffalo bull
   sitting intractably on its haunches. This when translated into English
   became known as Sitting Bull, and although not his real name, it would
   be the one he would reach world-wide fame towards the end of his life
   time. He was born around 1831 on the Grand River in present-day South
   Dakota, at a place the Lakota called Many Caches as it was used for
   food storages pits for the tribe to see out the winter. As a young man,
   perhaps only about 14, he joined in a raid on the Crow Nation, and saw
   his first encounter with American soldiers in June 1863, when the army
   mounted a broad campaign in retaliation for the Santee Rebellion in
   Minnesota, in which Sitting Bull’s people played no part.

   The following year it was likely he was involved when his tribe clashed
   with U.S. troops at the Battle of Killdeer Mountain. The battle was a
   decisive victory for the army and left the Native Americans badly
   beaten, mainly because of the artillery used by the army, which
   devastated the Sioux.

Tribal Leader

   Image:SITTINGBULL1.gif
   Sitting Bull
   Image:SITTINGBULL2.gif
   Sitting Bull

   The Battle of Killdeer Mountain had struck a hammer blow against Native
   American resistance and many chiefs gave up the fight and went to
   reservations. During this time 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 huge respect amongst the tribe and he became head chief of the
   Lakota nation in about 1868. This was at a time when white settlers,
   miners, farmers, missionaries, railroad workers and military personal
   all began to expand the United States the Native Americans were
   increasingly being forced from their own tribal lands. Sitting Bull as
   a medicine man, a witch doctor for the Native Americans, began to work
   to unite his people against this invasion. Like many tribal leaders
   Sitting Bull attempted to make peace and trade with the whites at
   first, but many of the men they encountered would trick them into poor
   deals for their lands and produce, creating resentment amongst the
   tribes. When his people were driven from their reservation in the Black
   Hills, still considered holy by the Native Americans, after the
   discovery of gold in 1876, he took up arms against the whites and
   refused to be transported to the Indian territory.

Victory at Little Big Horn and the aftermath

   The battlefield today.
   Enlarge
   The battlefield today.

   On June 25, 1876, the tribe fought, defeated and massacred the 7th
   Cavalry under the command of brigadier general George Armstrong Custer.
   Custer’s advance party, of General Alfred Howe Terry ’s column,
   attacked the tribes at their camp on the Little Big Horn River. The
   Native Americans, after being inspired by a vision of Sitting Bull’s
   where he saw U.S soldiers being killed as they entered the tribe’s
   camp, fought back. Before the battle more than 3000 Native Americans,
   many more than the army thought, had left the reservations they had
   been forced on to or bribed to go to so they could follow Sitting Bull.
   Custer's badly outnumbered troops lost ground quickly and were forced
   to retreat as they realized the true numbers of the Native American
   force and, as if in fulfillment of Sitting Bull’s vision, were quickly
   driven out by the tribes. The tribes then led a counter-attack against
   the Soldiers on a nearby ridge, where they were wiped out, despite
   fighting fiercely against overwhelming odds.

   The victory placed Sitting Bull among the great Native America leaders
   along with fellow Little Big Horn veteran Crazy Horse and Apache
   freedom fighter Geronimo. But, the Native Americans' celebrations were
   short lived as following the battle a public outrage at the military
   catastrophe, and the death of the popular Custer, brought thousands
   more cavalrymen to the area, and over the next year they relentlessly
   pursued the Lakota forcing many to surrender. Sitting Bull refused to
   surrender and in May 1877 he led his band across the border into
   Canada, where he would remain in exile for a number of years refusing a
   pardon and the chance to return.

Surrender

   Hunger and cold eventually did drive Sitting Bull, his family and a few
   remaining warriors to surrender on July 19, 1881, he had his son hand
   his rifle to the commanding officer of Fort Buford in, Montana, telling
   the soldiers they had come to regard them and the white race as
   friends. He hoped to be returned to the Standing Rock Agency
   reservation, but was tricked again by the army who, most likely fearing
   his popularity amongst his own people and increasing notoriety amongst
   the whites back on the east coast especially in Boston and New York,
   kept him a prisoner for two years. Then in 1885, and he returned to
   close to his native lands.

Fame

   A handbill for Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of
   the World, from 1899 long after Sitting Bull had quit the show.
   Enlarge
   A handbill for Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of
   the World, from 1899 long after Sitting Bull had quit the show.

   In 1885, the year he returned to his people's reservation, Sitting Bull
   was allowed to leave the reservation to join Buffalo Bill’s Wild West
   show. He was rumoured to earn about $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. He also earned a small fortune for the time
   by charging whatever he wanted for his autograph and picture. He was
   able to do this as during his lifetime he became some what of a
   celebrity and a romanticised freedom fighter, in the vein of Che
   Guevara, although of course many decades before the South American was
   born. He stayed with the show only four months, after wanting to return
   to his own lands, though he did manage to shake hands with President
   Grover Cleveland, which he took as evidence that he was still regarded
   as a great chief. In his trips around the country he realised that the
   whites were not the small military and settler community he had
   encountered in his homelands, but were in fact a huge and highly
   advanced society. He then knew it was inevitable the Native American’s
   would be overwhelmed if they continued to fight.

Death

   Image:CAPTURESITTINGBULL.jpg
   An exaggerated lithograph showing the death of Sitting Bull by Kurz &
   Allison, 1891.
   Sitting Bull Monument, Fort Yates, North Dakota.
   Enlarge
   Sitting Bull Monument, Fort Yates, North Dakota.

   Back at Standing Rock Sitting Bull became interested in the Ghost Dance
   movement, although it has never been shown he joined it, he certainly
   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 creditability 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 fearing the army
   meant to kill Sitting Bull a fight broke out as they tried to prevent
   the arrest. 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. Later in 1953, it is claimed by Native Americans,
   his remains were transported to Mobridge in South Dakota where a
   granite shaft marks his grave. He is still remembered among the Lakota
   not only as an inspirational leader and fearless warrior but as a
   loving father, a gifted singer, a man always affable and friendly
   toward others, whose deep religious faith gave him prophetic insight
   and lent special power to his prayers.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitting_Bull"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
