Sitting
Bull - background
Sitting Bull, or Tatanka Iyotanka as he was called in his own language, was a
Hunkpapa Lakota chief, medicine man, family father and politician. He was
probably born in 1831 on the Grand River in present-day South Dakota.
In approximately 1867 he became the first principal chief of the entire Lakota
nation because he was widely respected for his bravery and insight.
Together with Crazy Horse he led the people who killed or wounded more than half
of Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer’s 7th US Cavalry Regiment
near Montana Territory’s Little Big Horn River on June 25, 1876.
When many warriors were fighting at the 1876 Battle of the Little Big Horn he
did not take part in it. Chiefs did not direct movements of warriors, but
Sitting Bull was well-known as a wise and powerful leader who wanted to be free
to roam and hunt buffalo. They accused him of being a slayer even though he was
not there. His men were able to defend their area by killing the invaders quite
fast and they never left what was supposed to be their own property.
After this victory the Amerindians were pursued by the army, so Sitting Bull led
some of his followers across the border to Canada in 1877 because it was safe
there. In 1878 he meets with the US Commission and refuses to leave Canada. He
came back to USA in 1881, finding it
impossible to feed his people where the buffalo was almost extinct. On July 19,
1881, he had his young son hand his rifle to the commanding officer of Fort
Buford in Montana, explaining that in this way he hoped to teach the boy “that
he has become a friend of the Americans.” Yet at the same time, Sitting Bull
said, “I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to
surrender my rifle.” Instead he was sent to Standing Rock Reservation, and
when his reception there raised fears that he might inspire a fresh uprising,
sent further down the Missouri River to Fort Randall where he and his followers
were held for nearly two years as prisoners of war.
When
Sitting Bull returned to the reservation in 1889 he heard from a Miniconjou
Lakota named Kicking Bear about the Ghost Dance. This was a ceremony that
promised to remove the white people and restore the Indians’ way of life.
Lakota had already adopted the ceremony at the Pine Ridge and Rosebud
Reservations, and Indian agents there had already called for troops to bring the
growing movement under control. At Standing Rock, the authorities feared that
Sitting Bull, still revered as a spiritual leader, would join the Ghost Dancers
as well, and they sent 43 Lakota policemen to bring him in. Before dawn on
December 15, 1890, the policemen burst into Sitting Bull’s cabin and dragged
him outside where his followers were gathering to protect him. In the gunfight
that followed, one of the Lakota policemen shot him dead.
Thesis:
Sitting
Bull for Lakota is similar to
Martin Luther King for African Americans
Both Sitting Bull and
Martin Luther King were men who never used violence to get through what they
wished for. They were both politicians as well as religious leaders for the weak
groups of people they stood up for. Sitting Bull was a leader with a tremendous
power who had an extensive following behind him and that was the fact with
Martin Luther King too.
1.
a) When the Montgomery civil rights activist Rosa Parks
“demonstrated” against the segregation on buses by refusing to move from her
place and was put in jail for it, things started to happen. The black residents
launched a bus boycott and King was chosen to be the president of the Montgomery
Improvement Association. King became popular among the blacks all over the
States as a result of his exceptional oratorical skills and personal courage.
His house was even bombed while they were trying to make him and other boycott
leaders to give up. (Martin LK: Biography)
b)
Sitting
Bull became the first principal chief of the entire Lakota nation in
approximately 1867 because he was widely respected for his bravery and insight.
A short period after this, peace was made with the US government although
Sitting Bull refused to attend the peace conference or sign the treaty.
(Sahlman)
He
was always considered a great speaker and he knew how to put the words together
to gain influence. His bravery is not to be forgotten either. He won many
battles as a warrior and helped people while others did not dare to.
The
fact that Sitting Bull regarded himself as predestined to minister to and better
the condition of his people was disclosed in his first interview with a
journalist:
“The
God Almighty (or Wakantanka as he said in his own language) must have told me at
that time that I would be the man to be the judge of all other Indians – a big
man, to decide for them in all their ways”. (Utley, 27)
His
people were his obsession. He did not ignore or neglect individuals, who
continued to rejoice in his kindness, generosity and compassion. But he usually
employed his talents for the welfare of all the people. Robert Higheagle, who
lived in his camp, observed the following: “Sitting Bull’s work was not for
individuals, but for the whole tribe and therefore he did not cure the sick nor
advise individuals.” He accepted everyone and was truly positive and
open-hearted. (Utley, 27)
2.
Sitting Bull and Martin Luther King were both shot to death because they
were important persons for the developing of “weak races” in the “white
man’s society”. The question is if they were right about having their
non-violent attitudes?
a)
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, when he was about to assist a garbage
workers’ strike in Memphis, but he remained a controversial symbol of the
African-American civil rights struggle. He was revered by many because of his
martyrdom on behalf of the non-violence. Yet other people condemned him for his
militancy and insurgent views. (ML King: Biography)
b)
On
December 15, 1890, 43 Lakota policemen came to bring Sitting Bull in. His
followers were there to protect him, but in the gunfight that followed one of
the policemen shot him dead. The plan was to send him to prison, but when his
warriors tried to rescue him they chose to kill him. (New Perspectives)
Sitting
Bull was buried at Fort Yates in North Dakota and in 1953 his remains were moved
to Mobridge, South Dakota, where a granite shaft marks his grave. He was
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 powers to his prayers. (New perspectives)
Martin
Luther King could make people accept new ideas without making them feel
primitive or stupid. He never accused anyone personally. He believed in what he
said and showed it.
Sitting
Bull showed that they were civilized persons so that the white people would not
consider them as being worse. Indians as well as African Americans never really
had a chance to fight back. Because of worse weapons and “stupidity” in the
first case and in the other case because of people’s deep-rooted, low thoughts
of the people they had brought there to work for free. Many of them were even
killed and they were not appreciated in the way they should have been.
Bibliography/List
of references:
Books
MacQueen,
Donald S. American Social Studies – A University Primer. Lund:
Studentlitteratur, 1997.
Malm,
Einar. Sitting Bull och kampen om Vilda Västern. Solna: Tryckindustri AB, 1961.
O’Callaghan,
Bryn. An Illustrated History of the USA. England: Longman Group UK Limited,
1990.
Utley,
Robert M., The Lance & the Shield – The Life and Times of Sitting Bull.
Great Britain: Pimlico, 1998.
Bra Böckers
lexikon. 20 vols. Höganäs: Bokförlaget Bra Böcker AB, 1980.
World Wide Web Sites
Anderson, Ian. Sitting Bull and the Mounties. Article from Wild West.
http://www.thehistorynet.com/WildWest/articles/1998/0298_text.htm
Chief
Sitting Bull
Chief
Sitting Bull. Virtualology, 2000.
Martin
Luther King. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project
http://www.stanford.edu/group/king/index.htm
New
Perspectives of the West. The West Film Project and WETA, 2001.
www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sittingbull.htm
Roesch
Wagner, Sally. Sitting Bull In Memory. Daughters of Dakota II: Stories from the
Attic. Carmichael, CA: Sky Carrier Press, 1990, p. 166.
http://www.dickshovel.com/sittingbull.html
Sahlman,
Rachel. Sitting Bull. Spectrum Home and School Magazine. 1996?
http://www.incwell.com/Biographies/SittingBull.html
Sitting
Bull. From the book Black Elk Speaks.
http://jbtank.com/indians/sittingbull.html