Social Studies: A Brief Biography Of Sitting Bull

Of course, as soon as rumors that the Black Hills contained gold began to circulate, this promise became as empty as any others made by the 'Great White Father' to native peoples. And on May 17th 1876, the breaking of this treaty precipitated the crushing defeat of the 7th Calvary at the hands of the Sioux nation led by the defiant, "You need not bring any guides; you can find me easily. I will not run away" , Sitting Bull (Cooke 136) in the Battle of Little Bighorn (Cooke 133-151). But this battle, though a victory over the Anglo invaders, was temporary and short-lived. By September 5, 1877 Crazy Horse was dead, Sitting Bull was in exile in Canada and "…in all the Great Plains, from Canada south, there was no longer a free tribe or a "wild" Indian. It had not taken long; in 1840 the boundary of the permanent Indian Country had been completed and the Great Plains were to belong forever to Indians. A mere thirty-seven years later every solemn promise had been broken and no bit of ground large enough to be buried in remained to any Indian that could not--and probably would--be arbitrarily taken from him without warning" (Andrist 300). The Westward expansion was on, and the push to break up and the sell the Great Sioux Reservation was supported by a "westward-pushing railroad [and] promoters eager for cheap land to be sold at high profits to immigrants"

Economic. A major economic recession coincided with the discovery of gold in the Black Hills. Attempts by the government to buy back the land failed, and many Indians left their reservations and headed for the Black Hills, where a new and charismatic leader, Sitting Bull, emerged to unite a coalition of Sioux and Cheyenne (Batten, 2012).

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).

On July 21, 1861, two armies, one confederate and the other Union, prepared for the first major land battle of the Civil War. In 1861 Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President.

The westward expansion forced Native Americans to become more like “white men”. They had to change their way of life so the peace would more likely to be kept. One chief known by Sitting Bull was told to be more like the whites. In document 4, Perspectives from the Chiefs, there is a quote from Sitting Bull about becoming more like a white man. Chief Sitting Bull stated, “If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have done so in the first place.” ( Doc 4) Sitting Bull then told the critics he was made the way he is because there is a reason for it. He wasn’t going to accept American culture because he would be denying his destiny as the person the Great Spirit made him to be. In the end of the quote he uses American religion to

The First Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas, was the first major battle of the Civil War. It took place in Virginia near the city of Manassas on July 21, 1861. The Confederate Army won the battle with the retreat of the Union Army back to Washington.

Sitting Bull was great leader and a great warrior. He was recognized for many things including the Battle of Little Big Horn and the leader of Strong Hearts, He was the Sash Wearer. He spent much of his life taking care of his tribe and all Native Americans. Sitting Bull is the greatest Sioux chief and one of the greatest Native American chiefs ever.

Department of Interior). They soon established towns and settlements that began finding larger quantities of gold and further fueling the gold rush. Although the Black Hills Gold Rush started in 1874 after the Custer Expedition, it didn’t reach its peak until 1875-1876 when larger deposits of gold were found. The constantly growing presence of miners and settlers that had flocked to the Black Hills attacked the Sioux way of life and they were either driven away from their lands in order to find new resources or to be relocated onto

By 1876, gold had been discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The gold was found on Sioux land, and this region was considered sacred to the Lakota Sioux Indians. The he land was to be protected and respected by the United States Army, because of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 18681, but the Army could not keep miners off the Sioux ground, which led to the increase of Sioux grievances towards the Americans; some grievances that are still taken offense to today. These battles and negotiations soon were known at the Great Sioux War of 1876.

Andy Warhol’s 2-D silkscreen print, Sitting Bull, is a very popular and controversial print from his series Cowboys and Indians. The print is representational, based on an original archival photo of the Sioux Chief, Sitting Bull. In the original photograph and print, the Chief is posing for a headshot photo, with a calm facial expression and stance. In the print, the artist chose to make the chief’s skin light blue, his dress bright red, his hair dark blue, and his shape is outlined in yellow, white and blue. As for most of Warhol’s Pop style pieces, the photo was redesigned by the artist to be printed in vivid colors and showcases a lightly colored outline of his body and shape, giving the original photo a modern touch. The artist’s work was printed using the silkscreen printing process on a 36 inch by 36 inch Lenox Museum Board paper (Sitting Bull 376, 2016). Sitting Bull is great representation of the artist’s style. Andy Warhol was a very successful illustrator and designer in New York City, where he and other artists developed the concept of Pop art, the style in which he is famous for, and the style he chose to recreate Sitting Bull (Andy Warhol Biography, 2016). Pop art is a modern style of art in which the subject matter is commonplace objects and people of everyday life, seeking to elevate the culture of the time and straying away from traditional themes such as mythology or religion. Warhol was a pioneer of contemporary art and really had a great impact on the

Crazy Horse was brutally murdered and the Sioux surrendered (“Battle”). In 1890 the government learned that the Native Americans were doing the Ghost Dance (Cayton 265). The Ghost Dance was a ritual in which people join hands and twirled in a circle (Cayton 265). When the government saw the Ghost Dance, they thought the Native Americans were crazy and trying to rebel, so they tried to arrest Sitting Bull (Cayton 265). In this conflict that came to be known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, soldiers killed Sitting Bull, 120 men, and 230 women and children (Cayton 265). These battles pushed Native Americans onto reservations and took away their basic human rights.

Freedom, throughout time has changed in many forms and ways depending on the skin-tone and race of one another. After the war with the British for American independence, Native Americans suffered from the post war effects due to the fact that many people will be colonizing into America. Many Native Americans will be negatively affected by this because of how they live their lives. Many will see the Native Americans as “savages” because of their style of eating, way of sleeping, their language and etc. In the “Speech at Fort Randall”, a speech by Sitting Bull, reflects on the meaning of freedom for his people. Bull argues that everyone has a different way of living and that people should just accept the fact that everyone has their own preference

Waking up early in Spring with the rain fragrance in the air, the sticky humidity perspiring on my skin, and the grey clouds looming in the sky, always takes me back to the day my best friend PJ and I had to wrestle and capture a two-ton rodeo bull during a thunderstorm.

Charlie seems to be losing his adrenaline and feeling the pain from his missing leg.

Stepping into the arena, I shiver. Silence in a place that usually has screaming crowds, is always a bit eerie. I bend down and grab a handful of dirt. Letting it slip through my fingers, I say my silent prayer. A ritual I’ve had since my first ever event with The Bull Riders six years ago when I was only twenty-one years old. I’m not religious or anything, but when you’re about to get on the back of a bull that weighs just short of a tonne I figure a prayer to whatever God is above couldn’t hurt.