Essay about Review over the Paradox of Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull once quoted, “If I agree to dispose of any part of our land to the white people I would feel guilty of taking food away from our children's mouths, and I do not wish to be that mean” ( "Sitting Bull Quotes ). Sitting Bull was a kind and compassionate man that had admiration for the Lakota tribe and the tribe's land, and was also known to have led the Lakota tribe to safety during the many years of defiance against the new American policies. Recognized and admired by the Lakota tribe, Sitting Bull was one of the most famous Native American Chiefs who was known for his bravery to bring fair treatment to his people.

Many other military events occurred, such as the Indian raiding parties. One Indian raiding party killed all of the white settlers at Indian Creek while the raiding party was scavenging supplies in the area for the band, which was running low on food. Militiamen in the Battle of Pecatonica, in which the raiding party was defeated, attacked another Sauk raiding party. There was then the Battle of Wisconsin Heights. In this battle, sixty Sauk warriors held off the militia while the Indian non-combatants escaped to safety across the river. An old Indian chieftain hid in a tree after the battle and attempted to negotiate surrender, but the militia could not understand what he was trying to say, ignored him, and continued to pursue the fleeing Indians. Many events like this happened, where the Sauk attempted to surrender, whether by a white flag or verbally, but the US troops and militiamen misinterpreted them or did not care and continued to battle and pursue the Indians (Wyman and Hagan).

The Lakota and Northern Cheyenne Indians along with a few other defiant tribes, joined forces under the Lakota holy man, Sitting Bull, in an active resistance to U.S. expansion (Gregory, 2016). In 1876, federal troops were dispatched to force the noncompliant Indians onto their reservations and to pacify the Great Plains (Powers, 2010).

The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Massacre at Wounded Knee were both significant and terrible events that took place in American history during the 1800’s. These two eyewitness documents provide information and details about two important Indian battles against American troops. These events occurred 14 years apart but both were the result of the Sioux Indians being unsatisfied with their freedom taken from them.

In the south of central Montana during 1876 on June 25th and 26th, a battle happened known as the Battle of Little Bighorn or also known as “Custer’s Last Stand”. The Native American Tribes that were involved was the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. They were battling against the 7th regiment of the US Cavalry which was led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. In the year of 1868 Lakota leaders agreed to a treaty known as Fort Laramie Treaty which was suppose to give the Lakota leaders a large reservation for their tribes. But in accepting the treaty they also accepted giving up their nomadic lifestyles and agreed to a more stationary livelihood in the reservation. Some leaders like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse did not agree

Around the 1960s Sitting Bull was named chief and around that time gold was found in the on the Sioux land area called the black the Black Hills. The government found out about his gold and they wanted to buy the the land to land for the gold. The Sioux did not want to sell their land, this caused the government to send out soldiers and fight for the land.

Once the Sioux figured out that they now had a chance to push the Ponca’s out of Indian Territory, that’s just what they did. They took their crops, horses, and gave many threats towards them. The third most famous war called the Great Sioux war began in 1876. Although the U.S. government had won the war, it still didn’t mean they would stop pleasing the Sioux. The U.S. government gave what was left of the Ponca land to the Sioux. The treaty they made with the Ponca’s was completely broken. They cheated the Ponca Indians, and they were furious. In January 1877, Edward C. Kemble asked the Ponca’s to let him speak during church service. He told them that the government had given their fields and farm to the Sioux for a greater purpose. He also told them that they be getting new virgin lands in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). By this time the there only 738 Ponca Indians in the tribe, which meant they were not much of a force to the federal government.

Before the arrival of white people to the continent, Native Americans still engaged in war between the various different tribes. Their reasons for fighting each other were drastically different than the reasons they had when fighting non-Indians. Some Native American battles were fought for revenge. The most common cause of war between Native American groups was probably to defend or enlarge tribal territory. Later, their conflicts with white people were fought for trying to prevent the theft of their land, or in raids for food and supplies they were denied. There have been many famous clashes between Indians and the United States government. On November 4th 1791, In what is considered the worst ever defeat administered by Indians to U. S. troops more than 600 soldiers were killed by a force of mostly Shawnees and other Indians. The cause of the conflict was settlers moving into the Indian’s land in large numbers, ignoring Indians rights and demanding military protection if the Indians opposed them. This kind of situation was the cause for many of the largest fights with Native Americans, for example the battle of little big horn (otherwise known as Custer’s last stand) in which Indians that were ready for the arrival of the Calvary killed every soldier under General Custer’s command. A battle which United States

The U.S. army wouldn’t be able to find us from this place. If the U.S. army did find us, then we were ready to fight. I went towards Crazy horse and he told me to be aware for any suspicious problems. I wasn't worried, after all we should a person watching if somebody wanted to attack us. If that Sioux member spotted a U.S. troop member, he would give us a signal. Going back to my hut, I heard the signal. I reached my gun and told everyone to find cover. I immediately went running to Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse and told them that the troops were coming for us. Some people stayed to fight and some went back to their huts. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull told us when the soldiers are on an open area we would ambush them. We noticed that one group of soldiers wanted to go up a hill or high ground. We had surrounded them, but they still didn’t see us. Custer and his troops were outnumbered by about 2,000 Sioux and he only had about 264 soldiers. This was clearly our advantage to win this battle with 2,000 Sioux members. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse gave the signal to shoot them, bullets were fired rapidly. Shooting at the soldiers killing more than 200 soldiers. Sitting Bull noticed that General Custer was there to fight against us. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse wanted to kill him. General Custer and 264 men were all killed by us the Sioux. Blood and dead U.S. soldiers on the ground. The majority of us survive the shootout, but none of the U.S. soldiers survive. It was our first major win against the United States. All of the Sioux started to celebrate, we were all happy and thought that everything was going to start to be better. We ambushed surrounded them, making it our first victory. A few months later the battle was called the battle of little bighorn and some people stated that it was Custer’s Last Stand. This battle made Native Americans happy because it

Just two weeks after the death of the Lakota leader Sitting Bull, US troops would surround more than three hundred Sioux Indians and there leader Big Foot there was no escape. Colonel James W. Forsyth and his troops took up positions on the ridges around the Indians camp he then told the Indians that the US was their friend but he wanted them to turn over their

The real drama started in 1831 when the Trail of Tears started. The Americans were forcing Natives to go to certain location to stay. Many of the Natives on the way died or got really sick.The settlers at first thought the Native were good people to trade with. Then the settlers started to take their land so the Natives stopped trading with them. The settlers had no respect for the Natives they just took their land and didn’t feel bad about it. But, this led to battle between the two. One of many battles was the Black Hawk War. The Sauk war chief known as “Black Hawk” had some problems with American and so they had a battle. There were 6000+ American militiamen and only 500 Indian Warriors plus helpers for both sides. The American only lost 77 and the Natives lost 450-600 total men that includes helpers. The Americans must really have wanted to win because they sent way too many people they had them 6000 men to 500 men. They did that just to show them that they are better and that they could whoop them in a

When whites first came to America, they tried to control the Indians. Whites soon realized that they could not control the Natives. This led to the Whites giving the Indians rights, but the Army ignored the rights the Natives had been given. As part of the Treaty of Fort Laramie or The Horse Creek treaty, 1851, the Native tribes were to be paid an annual annuity for granting the traveling immigrants a safe passage and staying within their tribal territories (Barrett 1). With an increase in foot travel along the trails leading to California for the gold rush, tensions were running high in the Native tribes (Cubbison 1). While the Natives were peaceful with the immigrants, their trust in The Army was failing. The soliders at Fort Laramie were

In 1868 the “Treaty of Fort Laramie” was signed, It was an agreement between many Native American nations and the United States guaranteeing the Lakota ownership of the Black Hills. However it didn’t take long for the treaty to be violated. In 1876 migrant workers seeking gold crossed over the reservation borders which led to the “Black Hills War”.

The fighters of the battle at little bighorn were of the Lakota Sioux tribes , Northern Cheyenne indians, and Arapaho indian tribes, battling men of the 7th Regiment of the U.S. Cavalry. Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known to some as Custer’s Last Stand, (which happened on June 25, 1876), happened at the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory, U.S., between troops led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and Northern Plains Lakota or Western Sioux and Northern Cheyenne) Indians led by Sitting Bull. Custer and all the men under his immediate command were slain. There were about 50 known deaths among Sitting Bull’s followers.Although the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868),was in effect, had guaranteed the Lakota and Dakota

The Sioux war was fought over gold that the U.S. government found in the mountains occupied by the Sioux Indians, and it ended with the Indians being forced to live on reservations. In 1861, settlers wanted land that Indians occupied, so that led them to move them to the Sand Creek reservation. The local whites in the area ended up massacring 400 Indians that were under protective custody. Apparently even the Indians that were supposed to be protected by treaties were not safe from the wrath of the U.S. government. The Song “One Tin Soldier” by Coven describes the discovery of gold in the Black Hills and shows just how far the United States would go to gain wealth at the expense of the Indians. The Natives wanted to live in peace, but the whites wanted the treasure that was buried there. “Now the valley cried in anger, mount your horses, draw your sword. And they killed the mountain people, so they won their just reward.” This describes the situation that was faced when the whites found a valuable resource on Indian territory. The whites usually bought out the Indians and when they couldn’t they killed them and got what they wanted. Among the most famous of the men who massacred Indians for the benefit of the whites was General Custer. He had no problem with massacring women and children to help the government gain money. However, the whites were not always successful in pushing the Indians around. In the Battle of Little Bighorn, General