Who Was Sitting Bull?
Born in 1831 near the Grand River in what is now South Dakota, the man who would later earn the name Sitting Bull was called Jumping Badger. Fifty-nine years later, living on an Indian reservation and not far from where he’d been born, Sitting Bull was murdered by government agents fearful that he would embrace the Ghost Dance and encourage his people to reject white ways.
Sitting Bull’s parents were members of the Hunkpapa band of the Lakota Sioux. As a youngster, Jumping Badger was nicknamed Hunkesni, or Slow, and this was not a criticism, for those who knew him recognized his thoughtful, deliberate and careful ways. Later he was given the name Tatanka-Iyotanka, or Sitting Bull, translated as a buffalo bull sitting intractably on its haunches, and suggesting he was a man who was difficult to move. It was a name he lived up to through his entire life.
Sitting Bull’s father and two uncles were Sioux chiefs, and the young man soon demonstrated the leadership and bravery that were fundamental aspects of his lineage. At the age of ten he killed his first buffalo, and when he was just 14, he counted his first coup in a skirmish with Crow warriors. His reward was a white eagle feather, a prize he wore proudly. A year later, during a battle against the Flathead, Slow intentionally rode his horse along the enemy line, exposing himself to bullets and arrows and suffering a foot wound. For his battle injury and bravery he was rewarded a red feather.
Possessing the prestigious white and red feathers, Slow entered the venerated warrior society of the Lakota Sioux, and soon after he gained membership to the prestigious Kit Fox and Strong Heart societies. As a member of the Strong Heart he became a sash bearer, a designation of the especially courageous. In battle, sash bearers would stake themselves to the ground and fight any and all adversaries in that one place until the battle concluded or until they were killed.
Wise, Generous, Brave
Sitting Bull’s first action against invading soldiers of the U.S. Army came in 1863. About five years later he was head chief of the Lakota people. As chief, he was widely respected for his wisdom, generosity and bravery. Many times he danced the Sun Dance, and his visions often proved prophetic.
Sitting Bull had witnessed treaty signings between the Indian people and the United States government. He understood that the whites casually violated the terms of these agreements. Despite the existence of a treaty -the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty- prohibiting white settlement in the Black Hills, gold seekers were streaming into that area by the mid-1870s. This led to a series of bloody battles between Indians and the US Army, including the Battle of Little Bighorn. The campaign against the Sioux and other tribes intensified after this battle and the surrender of various chiefs and tribes followed.
In 1877, seeking to avoid reservation life and wanting to retain traditional ways, Sitting Bull led his followers to Canada. Starvation set in and after four years, the chief and his people returned to the United States. For two years Sitting Bull was held as a prisoner of war before being allowed to join his people at Standing Rock Agency, in North and South Dakota. Starting in 1885, he toured with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, returning to the reservation in 1889. By that year many Native Americans had found renewed hope in evicting the whites from their lands and resurrecting traditional ways because of a new religion called the Ghost Dance. Worried that Sitting Bull would embrace the new religion and inspire other Sioux to also do so, federal agents sought to arrest him. Sioux warriors attempted to intervene and in the struggle, Sitting Bull was shot and killed.
He was buried at Fort Yates, North Dakota, and his remains were relocated to near Mobridge, South Dakota in 1953.
