#sittingbull

[littlefeather-wolf]

[whencyclopedia]

Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotanka, l. c. 1837-1890) was a Hunkpapa Sioux holy man, warrior, leader, and symbol of traditional Sioux values and resistance to the United States' expansionist policies. He is among the best-known Native American chiefs of the 19th century and remains as famous today as he was when he led his people.

He is widely known for his part in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876 and his later celebrity as a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, but, for the Sioux, Sitting Bull is celebrated as the embodiment of the four cardinal virtues of his people: courage, fortitude, generosity, and wisdom. He is also recognized for his refusal to abandon the traditions of his people and his efforts to preserve their culture. Although famous as a holy man, prophet, war chief, and hunter, Sitting Bull was also a poet and composer, as well-known among his people for his rapport with wild animals and herbal knowledge as for his leadership.

He was killed while resisting arrest at the Standing Rock Agency Reservation in South Dakota on 15 December 1890 and was buried at Fort Yates in North Dakota. His remains were exhumed by family members in the 1950s and interred at Mobridge, South Dakota, near where he was thought to have been born. Debate continues over whether these remains are those of Sitting Bull, and historians also offer differing views on his legacy. His reputation as a great leader of his people, however, is unchallenged as he continues to be recognized as a symbol of Native American pride, honor, and traditional values, as well as for his stand against injustice.

Youth & Name

Little is known of Sitting Bull's life before the age of 14. His date of birth, given as 1831, 1832, 1834, or 1837, is debated, as was his birthplace until fairly recently. He is now understood to have been born on the Yellowstone River (known to the Sioux as Elk River) in modern-day Montana and was named Jumping Badger (Hoka Psice). He quickly earned the nickname Slow (Hunkesni), owing, according to scholar Robert. M. Utley, to "his willful and deliberate ways" (6). His father was Chief Sitting Bull of the Hunkpapa Sioux, and his mother was Her-Holy-Door from a respectable Hunkpapa family. He had two sisters and a half-brother but would later adopt others as his brothers, and these are sometimes mistakenly referenced as biological siblings.

Chief Sitting Bull taught his son to ride, hunt, and shoot expertly before the boy was ten years old. Young Slow was an excellent shot with bow and arrow and became so closely associated with horses that his peers joked how he even walked as though he were on horseback. When he was 14, he joined a war party against the Crow and "counted coup" against a Crow warrior, knocking him from his horse where he was then killed by another of the party. For this act of courage – defeating an enemy without killing him – Chief Sitting Bull gave his name to his son and assumed the name Jumping Bull. "Sitting Bull" – Tatanka Iyotanka (literally "Buffalo Who Sits Down") – fit the youth's personality as, "according to fellow tribesmen, suggested an animal possessed of great endurance, his build much admired by the people, and when brought to bay, planted immovably on his haunches to fight on to the death" (Utley, 15).

Later acquaintances and writers would claim the name was given him due to his stubbornness or, according to Sioux writer and physician Charles A. Eastman, that he was given the name after forcing a buffalo calf to sit down. The name was actually given in accordance with the tradition whereby a father passed his own name to his son when the boy was recognized as attaining manhood.

Between the ages of 14 and 20, Sitting Bull led his own war parties, and his name became famous among his enemies as a formidable warrior. Utley describes him at around the age of 20:

A heavy, muscular frame, a big chest, and a large head, he impressed people as short and stocky, although he stood only two inches under six feet. His dark hair, often braided on one side with otter fur and allowed to hang loose on the other, reached his shoulders. A severe part over the center of the scalp glistened with a heavy streak of crimson paint. A low forehead surmounted piercing eyes, a flat nose, and thin lips. Although dexterous afoot and superbly agile mounted, he appeared to some as awkward and even clumsy. (19-20)

Around 1857, in a clash with an Assiniboine band, Sitting Bull spared a 13-year-old boy whom he later adopted as a younger brother. When Sitting Bull's father was killed in battle with the Crow in 1859, the boy took the name Jumping Bull and would remain by Sitting Bull's side for the rest of his life.

Continue reading...

[thewriterkb]

Buffalo Skulls, 1892 - The American Army, alongside military assisted hunters, rapidly and deliberately destroyed the Buffalo as a Scorched Earth tactic against the Native Americans, from 30-60mil animals to only 300 in 1884. LtCol. Dodge concisely put it as: “Every Buffalo Dead is an Indian Gone!”

No man did more to seal the fate of the American buffalo than General Sherman. Sherman was a celebrated veteran from the civil war, who learned some valuable lessons in the concept of Total War that he would later employ to solve the so called “Indian Problem”. His strategies relied on the belief that his Army “must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of war”. While controlling the great plains, he witnessed how dependent the Native Americas were on the Buffalo for their physical and cultural subsistence.

The Army was left feeling frustrated as the Native Americans were far swifter with their nomadic way of living, meaning they could easily relocate during attacks. This meant that the Army, who were more bogged down with supplies, could never deal any fatal blows. The buffalo, of course, were a far more accessible target. This was exaggerated due to the nature of the animal as when one buffalo is killed, others rally around it for defence, meaning a party with guns and ammunition can slaughter hundreds of the beasts.

The Army themselves had been targeting Buffalo, but when a tannery in Pennsylvania learned how to convert buffalo hide into commercial leather, the hide hunters then targeted the animals in droves for their skin. The Army outfitted these hide hunters with transport, weapons, protection, and supplies in order to assist in the killing. Customarily, the animals would be killed for their tongues, hides and sometimes humps, while leaving the rest of the animal to rot on the plains.

A bill to protect the buffalo was introduced in 1875, which was quickly vetoed by Ulysses S. Grant.

Years later in Sherman’s memoirs, he wrote a particularly callus passage applauding the slaughter, saying “in so short a time replaced the wild buffaloes by more numerous herds of tame cattle, and by substituting for the useless Indians the intelligent owners of productive farms and cattle-ranches”.

The effect on the Native Americans cannot be overstated, and it paralyzed most of the tribes. As put by Crow Leader, Chief Plenty Coups: "When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground, and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened. There was little singing anywhere."

For More: https://youtu.be/TjCglblxZp0

[toylocodesign]

Native American

[kamala-laxman]

Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! Sitting Bull

[goodbearblind]

“Solo quando l'ultimo fiume sarà prosciugato, quando l'ultimo albero sarà abbattuto, quando l'ultimo animale sarà ucciso, solo allora capirete che il denaro non si mangia." (Capo Toro Seduto dei Sioux Lakota) . . #toroseduto #sittingbull https://www.instagram.com/p/CWXc_a2tcTx/?utm_medium=tumblr

[patrickdebana]

1890...Wounded Knee. Sitting Bull said: Bury me at Wounded Knee. (Just saw a documentary that broke my heart). Real life...what a story. And not always nice to end. Peace and understanding to the world.🙏🙏🌹 #nativeamerican #native #nativepride #firstnation #firstnationspeople #sittingbull #woundedknee #woundedkneemassacre1890 #memorial #neverforget #peace #peaceofmind #peaceandlove #understanding #respect #burymyheartatwoundedknee #america #canada #arte @artefr @arte.tv @arte @patrickdebana_dance #powwow #oneday #iwillbethere (at Wounded Knee, South Dakota) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTNn6eVI6Se/?utm_medium=tumblr

[remembernativeamericans]

Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children. - Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota