Sitting Bull was a medicine man, or holy man, of the Hunkpapa Lakota (Sioux), who were being driven from their land in the Black Hills. He took up arms against the white man, refusing to be transported to the Indian Territory. Under his leadership as a war chief, the Lakota tribes united in their struggle for survival on the northern plains.
Sitting Bull was born on the Grand River in present-day South Dakota in 1831. His father bore the name Sitting Bull, and his mother was named Her-Holy-Door. When he was born, his parents named him Jumping Badger.
As a little boy, Jumping Badger, there was nothing remarkable to set him apart from other children of his tribe. His nickname was Hunkesi, meaning, “Slow,” because he never hurried and did everything with care.
At an early age, however, the boy distinguished himself as a leader. On his first hunt at the age of 10, Jumping Badger killed his first buffalo. He gave the meat away to elders who were unable to hunt for themselves.
Following the hunt, Jumping Badger set out on his first vision quest. When the lad was just 14, his father gave him a coup stick, a slender wand with which he could gain prestige by touching or striking an enemy in battle. He joined his first war party against the Crow, anxious for a chance to prove himself at that tender age.
Jumping Badger struck his first Crow warrior with his coup stick, thus earning a coveted measure of bravery in combat. His father was so filled with pride at his son’s early victory, that he gave the name Sitting Bull (Tatanka-Iyotanka) to his son as part of the ceremonies celebrating his elevation to warrior status. His new name suggested a stubborn buffalo bull planted unmovable on his haunches. The Indians thought of the buffalo as a headstrong, stubborn creature that was afraid of nothing, a creature that had great endurance, courage and strength. Those were fighting virtues that people saw in Sitting Bull.
To this day he is arguably the most revered of all Native American Chiefs in recorded history.
When gold was discovered on Sioux land, the U.S. government tabled a treaty with the tribe and allowed settlers to rush into Sioux territory. To make matters worse for the tribe, the government declared war on any Sioux who tried to prevent prospectors from taking over the land.
Chief Sitting Bull refused to abide by the conditions, vowing to protect his land as well as his people. During a Sun Dance Ceremony on the Little Bighorn River, it is said Sitting Bull danced for 36 hours straight and had a vision of his people defeating the American army. He shared the vision with his people.
Sitting Bull Quote: I am here by the will of the Great Spirit, and by his will I am chief.
Loss of the Black Hills
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Ridge_Indian_Reservation
In 1874 George Armstrong Custer led the U.S. Army Black Hills Expedition, which set out on July 2 from Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory, with orders to travel to the previously uncharted Black Hills of South Dakota. Its mission was to look for suitable locations for a fort, find a route to the southwest, and to investigate the potential for gold mining. His discovery of gold was made public and miners began migrating there illegally.
“Custer’s florid descriptions of the mineral and timber resources of the Black Hills, and the land’s suitability for grazing and cultivation … received wide circulation, and had the effect of creating an intense popular demand for the ‘opening’ of the Hills for settlement.” Initially the U.S. military tried to turn away trespassing miners and settlers. Eventually President Grant, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of War, “decided that the military should make no further resistance to the occupation of the Black Hills by miners.” These orders were to be enforced “quietly”, and the President’s decision was to remain “confidential.”
As more settlers and gold miners invaded the Black Hills, the Government determined it had to acquire the land from the Sioux, and appointed a commission to negotiate the purchase.[6] The negotiations failed, as the Sioux resisted giving up what they considered sacred land. The U.S. resorted to military force. They declared the Sioux Indians “hostile” for failing to obey an order to return from an off-reservation hunting expedition by a specific date, but in the dead of winter, overland travel was impossible.
The consequent military expedition to remove the Sioux from the Black Hills included an attack on a major encampment of several bands on the Little Bighorn River. Led by General Custer, the attack ended in the overwhelming victory of chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse over the 7th Cavalry Regiment, a conflict often called Custer’s Last Stand.
In 1876 the U.S. Congress decided to open up the Black Hills to development and break up the Great Sioux Reservation. In 1877, it passed an act to make 7.7 million acres (31,000 km2) of the Black Hills available for sale to homesteaders and private interests. In 1889 Congress divided the remaining area of Great Sioux Reservation into five separate reservations and defined the boundaries of each in its Act of March 2, 1889, 25 Stat. 888.
Indigenous Peoples Issues and Resources
https://www.facebook.com/indigenouspeoplesissues
On This Day: In 1883 Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man Sitting Bull gave a speech in Bismarck, North Dakota on the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Sitting Bull told the Whites and dignitaries that they were liars and thieves for stealing the land and not abiding by the treaties. The interpreter, instead of relaying Sitting Bull’s words, changed the speech. All the while, as he delivered his speech, Sitting Bull looked directly at the Secretary of State, Ulysses S. Grant, as well as the governors and the bankers. On that day, with his speech, Sitting Bull made the White men into fools. As a result, Sitting Bull received a standing ovation and was encouraged to give more speeches.
Sitting Bull’s Great Grandson Tells Oral History
A Talk with Sitting Bull’s Great Great Grandson
This song is so beautiful, just had to post.
http://youtu.be/icHujjDX51c
Native American Ceremonies in June at Devils Tower
June
Devils Tower is an 867-foot-tall rock formation located in northeast Wyoming. For centuries, it has been the sacred site of Native American religious and cultural ceremonies. These include vision quests, sweat-lodge rites, prayer offerings, pipe ceremonies and the group ritual known as the Sun Dance. The Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, Eastern Shoshone, Crow and Kiowa are among more than 20 Native American tribes that honor Devils Tower as a holy place and a vital cultural resource. In more recent times, Devils Tower also has become a popular site for tourists and for rock climbers.
June is an especially active and significant month for Native American ceremonies at Devils Tower because of the occurrence of the summer solstice. On June 21, various tribes hold private and sacred services at the tower’s base. As a result, in 1995 the U.S. National Park Service, which maintains the tower as a national monument, asked climbers to refrain voluntarily from visiting during June in order not to disrupt religious ceremonies. In 1996, the Park Service also banned guided tours during June. Though these moves were controversial, with at least one law suit filed in response, many climbers respect the voluntary ban. Park officials have noted a decrease of up to 85 percent of normal climbing activity in June.
CONTACTS:
Devils Tower National Monument
P.O. Box 10
Devils Tower, WY 82714
307-467-5283; fax: 307-467-5350
http://www.nps.gov/archive/deto/home.htm
Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary, Fourth Edition. © 2010 by Omnigraphics, Inc.
https://twitter.com/carolmaewy/status/374774394532265984
Wow!
Thank you for this. I’d love to view this place.
My son got married at Joyner’s point. Is was small but beautiful wedding.
I’ll bet so.
:)
It is so nice. The walk around it is beautiful and only about a mile. There is also a longer one around it,at a lower level. If I remember right it’s five miles. It’s even more beautiful. My only beef is that you can’t bring dogs on a leash. You can if they’re trained for the handicap.
Thought this was interesting too. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. When I was in high school they were always competitive in the “State B” basketball team. My parents took me and my brother when we were young to high school basketball games. When we got older it was our high school games we went too. Don’t think I missed any. Later when we moved to Wyoming the local high school played them before they started playing conferance games. They were well coached and very good sportsman. It might have been a religious high school, but I’m not sure. The coach wore a priests clothing. He had very long black hair. If it was it was Jesuit. The Badlands were not liked by the tribes. On the page I’m posting a link too calls them Oglala Lakota. They were becoming extinct until drastic help was given. It was from alcohol poising to babies by mothers. Thank God they are oing better. My niece has one child that was fathered by a man on the reservation. She’s not doing so well for herself. It sad. Her Dad was afraid they would take her kids from her. I think she has three children by three different fathers. The whites can be trashy too. Anyway here’s the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Ridge_Indian_Reservation
I found a post on the Battle, or Custer last Stand. If you go to this battlefield you can see just how the battle played out. It’s eery. There are markers where every soldier died. Also a History building that told how it happened and the life of the soldiers. Also about the Natives too.
http://www.nps.gov/libi/historyculture/sitting-bull.htm
Yahtc
Thank you for all the information on Sitting Bull and Native American History. We appreciate all your hard work in researching and sharing with us.
YW, SouthernGirl2.
It was your article that motivated me to learn more about Sitting Bull.
“Henrietta Lacks’ Genes and All of Yours?”
by Robert Klitzman, MD
Posted: 09/02/2013 6:20 pm
excerpt:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-klitzman-md/gene-sequencing_b_3845410.html
I bought the ebook when 3Chicas post about her. I mentioned to my doctor because they all seen to ask what have you been doing, so I told her. She only knew in general about the story and didn’t realize they weren’t using her real name. She took down the name of book, etc. and was anxious to read it.
Today’s blog is packed with info. Thanks so much everyone.
C-Span “1989 – American Indian Activist Russell Means testifies at Senate”
Among other things
At timestamp 16:10 Russel Means wanted
One can only wonder what is happening in South Dakota today with the oil and uranium exploration that is going on there.
uploaded by JohnFitzamH2020
Wounded Knee Massacre
Here is the WHITE Indian Agent’s account of Sitting Bull’s death.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI0Jfdkq4z8
Uploaded on Jan 3, 2007 by Ahwahneechee
I am a non-interventionist by nature. But I am not the President of the United States, who isn’t also called The Leader of the Free World for nothing. Those against the President, who have been trying to find anything that they can to discredit him with since January 20, 2009 thought they finally had something. The GOP was going to sit on the sidelines, and if the President had taken unilateral action and it went poorly,they were going to try and use this as an excuse for which to impeach the President. The MSM would have gone along with it. The President IS the smartest person in the room. So now he hss told the Congress to do their job,requesting a vote. Hard to impeach the President, when you’ve taken an on the record vote for the same issue. I do not believe for one moment that the emos care two shyts about dead Syrians. They are only a means by which to insult the President.
Sitting Bull was quite an intense looking man!
BWA HA HA HA
Texas High School Football: A&M Consolidated vs Copperas Cove. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj67yQNwu7s …
CherokeePhoenix.org
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court on April 16 heard oral arguments in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, a case involving a Cherokee Nation citizen fighting for custody of his biological child by invoking the federal Indian Child Welfare Act.
CN citizen Dusten Brown is fighting to keep his daughter Veronica and is utilizing the ICWA to ensure she remains at the family’s home in Oklahoma.
In 2009, Brown’s former fiancé, a non-Native Hispanic woman, made arrangements for their daughter to be adopted without Brown’s consent. The adopting couple, Matt and Melanie Capobianco of South Carolina, is also non-Native.
Brown, who served a year in Iraq in the U.S. Army, was prepared to sign custodial rights to the child’s biological mother, but not his parental rights. When he learned of the biological mother’s plan to give up the child, he immediately filed to stop the adoption. Citing ICWA guidelines, Veronica was reunited with her Cherokee family and biological father in Oklahoma.
When Veronica was 2, the South Carolina Appellate Court ruled ICWA trumped South Carolina state law. According to a later South Carolina Supreme Court ruling, the Brown family has a “deeply embedded relationship” with its heritage.
The ICWA was enacted in 1978 when Native American children were being removed from their homes and typically placed with non-Native adoptive or foster parents. It gives tribal sovereign governments and their citizens a voice in Native child protection and ensures children remain connected to their ancestry and traditions.
The Obama administration, 18 states, multiple tribal nations, current and former members of Congress and children’s welfare groups all supported the Brown family and the ICWA with legal briefs.
Continue reading here:
Oral Arguments
[wpvideo O5gn4g5R]
How can this be? Ignoring Indian Child welfare Act? NO MORE exploiting Native American children.
White folks in America have their own set of laws an rules.
GIVE Veronica back to her BIOLOGICAL father and follow the Indian Child Welfare ACT!!!
x2
that child should be with her biological father
Hey SG. While working in SD 2 weeks ago, I came across alot of reports of (state sanctioned) Sioux children being removed from homes to white people just to collect them checks. Glad to see PBO fighting for ICWA.
Rally takes place outside state Capitol in the ‘Baby Veronica’ adoption case
http://kfor.com/2013/08/19/rally-takes-place-outside-state-capitol-in-the-baby-veronica-adoption-case/
Protesters rally at the state Capitol this morning in connection with the ‘Baby Veronica’ adoption case.
The group is showing support for the child’s biological father, Dusten Brown, and is upset in a court’s decision to not allow the Indian Child welfare Act to play a role in this case.
The adoptive parents, Matt and Melanie Capobianco are from South Carolina.
Baby Veronica lived with them for 27 months before South Carolina courts gave biological father, Dusten Brown, custody.
Soon after, the U.S Supreme Court ordered South Carolina to reconsider the case and state courts gave custody back to the adoptive parents, but Brown still has his biological daughter.
All parties were in two courtrooms last Friday but a judge put a gag order on the case so the results of those proceedings has not been made public.
Give baby Veronica BACK to her biological father. We have an Indian Child welfare Act for a reason. America has caused enough suffering and pain upon Native Americans by going into their homes and removing their children. Stop It! Enough already!
Trayvon Martin’s father leads FAMU football team onto Citrus Bowl field before opener
Tracy Martin says it felt good to spend time with Rattlers before MEAC/SWAC Challenge
Video: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/os-trayvon-martins-father-leads-famu-football-team-20130901,0,4118210.story
South Dakota commits shocking genocide against Native Americans
…..According to a recent report by the Indian Child Welfare Act directors in South Dakota, 740 Lakota children are removed to foster care each year and 90 percent are placed in white homes and institutions….without any notification to the child’s relatives….
South Dakota receives $79,000 from the federal government per year per child for every Native youngster it removes, but provides only $9,000 to a white foster home. The remaining $70,000 is deposited in state coffers.
American Indian youths have a suicide rate that is….six times higher for those living in non-Indian homes.
– See more at: http://thepoliticalpragmatic.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-snowden-snowjob.html#sthash.iZFBaral.dpuf
This has always been the goal of some whites, to seperate and destroy families Blacks during slavery and of Native Americans. Then paint them as the OTHER, when the Native Americans are thre ORIGINAL Americans. Thus the term “NATIVE.”
Yes and we would be so much further ahead as a prosperous society if we hadn’t done that.
What was done to Native Americans were an atrocity. It all came from ignorance, hatred and greed.
It was heinous.
So cruel. And we can’t change it. It’s the most saddest thing ever.
:'( We can only do things like we did at Devils Tower and give them respect now. Stop SD greed.
I have a photo of my daddy that I’ve carried in my wallet for 25 years. I wanted to keep it close to me at all times.The Native American blood comes from him. He has that look with very prominent features. He could do anything a VET could do to treat sick animals.. including surgery.
Really, I never knew that about you SG. Yes, the cut of their jaw is very prominent. Do you know any family history? I was working on ancestry.com. My daughter-in-law is part Cherokee and Chipiwaa. She doesn’t know any family background. When I was younger we went to Pipestone, MN. Every year they put on the play Hiawatha. It’s a beautiful story when you see it at sundown by a small river or creek. Replying on this app is kind of hard because I can’t leave and get links. But I can reply quicker. I’m so slow at ancestry, it’s pathetic. I have been emailing my cousin back and forth. I used to think I was as white as they come, but I had my DNA done at Ancestry.com. I’m a little Persian, Turkish and from the Caucasus. I guess being from the Caucasus makes me Caucasian. ;) I have one distant match, but haven’t caught up with her yet. My guess it is because of Lawrence of Arabia or the Vikings. Not much is said how many lands the Vikings invaded. They were brutal to everybody, including each other. They went at least as far as Armenia. So were the English. That is why I’m slow at research. I get caught up in the individual stories.
I have an antidote on TOD. It is on “The President likes Food”. It’s about a National Corn picking Contest. I was little. Or skinny. I’m kind of tall now. If you’re a Democrat, you might enjoy it. I was born and raised on. Family Homestead near Sioux Falls, SD.
Sorry if I’ve bored you with all this.
I’m enjoying reading about your ancestry. I know very little about my great grandmother except for the stories passed down to me from my dad.
HOLD UP!!!
They get SEVENTY-NINE THOUSAND TO STEAL A NATIVE CHILD?
WHAT-THE-FUCK?
Fucking Maddening isn’t it.
This is so heinous!
And, they keep $70,000???
That’s what it says. . . WTF!
SMH
Great website for camping and hiking with nice photos:
http://www.outdoorafro.com
from this outdoor website:
The MSM meme for the week= PBO is weak on Syria. Covering for the GOP & DEMS who down’t want to go on record with their veiws on strike on Syria.
The argument the non-interventionsts must make
SmartyPants
President Obama has made his argument for military intervention in Syria in response to their use of chemical weapons. And he has once again said that he welcomes the debate.
It is now time for those who oppose this military intervention to make their case. I’ll tell you what won’t work: suggesting this is just like what Bush/Cheney did when they lied us into an invasion of Iraq. Rather than looking for an excuse to invade another country, we all know that President Obama has fought off advice to engage in Syria – even when it came from his closest national security advisors. This large-scale use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime is what finally changed his mind. But even more importantly, President Obama is not talking about invading Syria – he’s talking about an action that would be limited in scope and duration – with no boots on the ground. An argument against the President’s proposal has to take that into account.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.ie/2013/09/the-argument-non-interventionsts-must.html
Good Morning, Everyone. SG2, I’m looking forward to this week’s look at Native American Chiefs.
Sitting Bull: “I am here by the will of the Great Spirit, and by his will I am chief.”
Love it, Sitting Bull knew who he and his people ARE. From the cloth of the one Great Spirit. He didn’t have it twisted.
AMEN!
Who is surfing the waves this Labor Day? Here is a trailer to an African American documentary on Black Surfing:
by Mary Mills – January 26, 2011
http://www.liquidsaltmag.com/2011/01/andrea-kabwasa/
Good Morning Everyone
By: Janell Ross | Posted: September 1, 2013 at 12:19 AM
http://www.theroot.com/views/state-black-worker-primer
Lakota Voices – Arlette Loud Hawk
Great video. thanks Yahtc.
Good Morning. Thank you so much for the great article. Love the photos too. When we go to the Black Hills, I can feel their spirit and realize why it is their holy land. We think the Black Hills are so beautiful; Especially the drive through Spearfish Canyon. That is not far from where the large gold mine was.
Morning, CarolMae!
I’d love to visit the Black Hills. Maybe sometime in my life I might get there.
We take the 8 hour drive to the Black Hills at least once a year. The Bad Lands are a sight to see and feel too.
And if you do travel to South Dakota, just once, everyone should visit Mount Rushmore! I can already see PBO’s head up there. LOL
When I drove to New Mexico in the early 90s, I could see and feel the Spirit of the region. Most of America’s landscape where the Native Americans lived and thrived before being overtaken by whites still carry the spirit.
YOU CAN NEVER KILL SPIRIT.
Yes!!!!!!!!!!!
Sure hope you have the chance. It’s not as majestic as the Rockies. Parts of it are in WY, probably a little known fact. It’s about a ninety mile drive for us to go through Spearfish Canyon. We like to go about Oct. 2 because of the changing colors of Aspen and Sumac. Devils Tower is in WY. In June it is closed to climbers. I’m not sure how much else is closed to the public in June. I’d have to google that. That is because the Native Americans have worked for that right. It is a Holy place for them. It’s another beautiful drive and walk around the Tower.
I get goosebumps from reading the way you and Ametia describe the beauty and Spirit. I pray I might have a chance to see this with my own eyes before I leave this world.
I will Pray for it too Southern Girl.
“Old Man and the River: Senator’s Fight for Montana Waterway”
Douglas H. Chadwick in Montana
Published September 1, 2013
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/09/130901-north-fork-montana-flathead-baucus-river-wilderness-mining-glacier-park/
Also:
“Uranium Mining Poisons Native Americans”
by Jeff Gerritsen
25 February 2009
http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/336/65/
Climate change ‘driving spread of crop pests’
By Rebecca Morelle – 1 September 2013
Science reporter, BBC World Service
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23899019
The Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868
(from Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_Laramie_(1868)
“The Federal Government and the Lakota Sioux”
http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/sed741/lakota.html
Good Morning Everyone!
SG2,
Thank you so much for your wonderful article informing us about the life of Sitting Bull! Great job!
Also, I appreciate very much your excellent photo gallery!
Posted on Youtube by Henry Smith as a promotional video for of the Lakota Sioux Dance Theater
Edited by Kristoffe Brodeur
LOVES IT, Yahtc! Thank you for this.
Thank you, Yahtc! I have a passion for Native American history, music and their culture. I have some Native American blood from my great grandmother.
Do you know what tribe?
Choctaw.