Sitting Bull
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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 chief and holy man. He is notable in American and Native American history in large part for his major victory at the Battle of Little Big Horn against the 7th Cavalry, where his premonition of defeating them became reality.
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[edit] Early life
Sitting Bull was born around 1831 near the Grand River in present-day South Dakota; the Lakota called his birthplace "Many Caches" because it was used for food storage pits to ensure the tribe's survival throughout winter. He was given the birth name Tatanka-Iyotanka (Sioux language: Thathą́ka Íyotaka, literally, "buffalo-bull sit-down"),[1] which translates to Sitting Bull. Early on he was known in his tribe for his excellent singing voice.
Sitting Bull's first encounter with American soldiers occurred in June 1863, when the army mounted a broad campaign in retaliation for the Santee Rebellion in Minnesota, in which the Lakota had played no part. The following year, 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 Sioux badly beaten, largely because of the Army artillery's devastating effects.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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, an ambitious military officer with presidential hopes, had earned considerable fame among Native Americans and whites for 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 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.
[edit] 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. He hoped to return to the Standing Rock Agency reservation but was imprisoned for two years by the army, which was fearful of Sitting Bull's influence and notoriety among his own people and, increasingly, among whites on the East, especially in Boston and New York. He was eventually allowed to return to the reservation and his own people.
[edit] 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. Sitting Bull also once shook hands with President Grover Cleveland, which the Native American took 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.
[edit] 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. The Lakota claim that his remains were transported in 1953 to Mobridge, South Dakota, where a granite shaft marks his grave. 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.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names in the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 449
[edit] References
- Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
- 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.
