Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull had several wives as per the customs of his tribe, the notable ones being Light Hair, Four Robes, Snow-on-Her, Seen-by-her-Nation, and Scarlet Woman. He fathered many children and also adopted several others.

The Native Americans began spreading the Ghost Dance religious movement in 1889 which was aimed at annihilating the white people and reclaiming the Native American way of life. The U.S. authorities became concerned about Sitting Bull’s involvement in the movement and sent Indian police to arrest the chief. The police entered his home on December 15, 1890, and tried to arrest him. Sitting Bull was shot dead in the gunfight that followed.

On September 14, 1989, the United States Postal Service released a Great Americans series 28¢ postage stamp featuring a likeness of Sitting Bull.

Sitting Bull was born in Dakota Territory around 1831 to Jumping Bull (father) and Her-Holy-Door (mother) into the Hunkpapa division of the Teton Sioux. He was named Jumping Badger at birth and was conferred the name of Sitting Bull as a teenager.

He grew up to be a skilled warrior and a brave young man. He accompanied a group of Lakota warriors as a 14 year old as a part of a raiding party to take horses from a camp of Crow warriors. He displayed great valor during the raid despite his young age, and a ceremony was held after the successful raid to mark the boy’s passage into manhood as a Lakota warrior.

As a young man, he was chosen as leader of the Strong Heart Society of warriors, and later became involved with the Silent Eaters, a select group concerned with tribal welfare. As a tribal leader he helped extend the Sioux hunting grounds.

He fought against the United States army for the first time in June 1863, and again fought against them the following year at the Battle of Killdeer Mountain.

He proved himself to be a very courageous warrior and led an attack on the newly built Fort Rice in what is now called North Dakota in 1865. The very next year, he was made the principal chief of the northern hunting Sioux, with Crazy Horse, leader of the Oglala Sioux, as his vice-chief.

An intelligent and fearless leader, he was much respected and appointed the principal chief of the entire Sioux nation around the year 1867. After years of conflicts with the U.S. army, the Sioux finally accepted the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie from the U.S. government in 1868 which guaranteed the Sioux a reservation in what is now southwestern South Dakota.

However, gold was discovered in the Black Hills in the mid-1870s, and the white men violated the clauses in the treaty by invading lands guaranteed to the natives. The Sioux resisted the whites’ advance into their land which angered the U.S. government which declared war on any native tribes that prevented it from taking over the land.

Sitting Bull was greatly agitated by this betrayal by the U.S. government and developed a deep distrust towards the white men. He led a successful battle against the American forces in 1876 fighting against General George Armstrong Custer in what became known as the Battle at Little Bighorn, wiping out the American general and all his men.

Sitting bull is best remembered for the courage and valor he displayed in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, one of the major conflicts in the Great Sioux War of 1876 which was fought between the Sioux tribes and the United States. The tribes achieved an overwhelming victory in the battle by defeating the U.S. 7th Cavalry led by George Armstrong Custer.