Sitting Bull and the Sioux Indian's

Sitting Bull was one of the Sioux Indian's greatest leaders of all time. He had all the qualities that made him a great leader and role model to all of his tribe members. He showed courage, strength and perseverance throughout his entire life until the day he died.  

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When our class was first exposed to this project I had honestly no idea who or what topic I would choose to right about. After a few minutes I decided to just choose one of the people listed on the sheet Mrs. Lawson handed out. So, I, thinking that he had a cool name, choose Sitting Bull to do my research and essay on. While researching him, I never thought I would become so interested in his life and everything that he did. I also did not think he would be as interesting as he turned out to be. Sitting Bull, also known as Tatanka- Iyotanka, according to PBS, was born in 1831 on the Grand River in which in today's time is located in South Dakota. Tatanka- Iyontanka stands for a "wild buffalo bull sitting up on it's haunches", PBS informed me. Sitting Bull was born in a place that the Lakota tribe knew as "Many Catches" due to the number of food storage pits they had. As I kept on reading on the PBS website, I then discovered that Sitting Bull's leadership skills started at an early age when he became the leader of Strong Heart Warrior Society. Not much later, PBS stated, Sitting Bull was found going to his first battle at just the age of FOURTEEN. That really threw me for a loop, I could not imagine going to battle at such a young age, let alone now! PBS also stated that he had his first encounter with real American soldiers in June of 1863. He must have been terrified! My research on PBS continued on leading me to find that he led a siege against the US soldiers at Fort Rice in 1865 and just 3 years later he was crowned head chief of the Lakota. With just the little research I had done, I realized that this man must have been an amazing leader. Later, while still on the PBS website, it informed me that in March of 1876 Sitting Bull led the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes in a sun dance. This famous sun dance, PBS explained, was a way for the people to offer prayers to their great spirit Wakan Tanka. According to PBS, during the sun dance the tribal members slashed Sitting Bull's arms one hundred times as a way to show sacrifice. After reading that I was in complete and utter shock. Having your arms slashed one hundred times does not sound very fun to me! Within the next few sentences, PBS told about the vision that Sitting Bull had after the Sundance; "soldiers falling into the Lakota camp as if grasshoppers were falling from the sky" was what PBS said Sitting Bull saw in his dream. Lastly, in May 1877 he led his tribe into Canada to escape the US soldiers, PBS described. With only have looked at one website, I already knew loads of information about a man I had never heard of until my US History class this year. 

After I thought I had received enough information from PBS, I continued on my search of Sitting Bull and all the great things he accomplished in his lifetime. My search led me to Sitting Bull  which gave me the facts that I had been looking for. Sitting Bull gave me background information on Sitting Bull's father and mother whom were named Jumping Bull and Her-Holy-Door. This website also told me something I never expected, Sitting Bull had children. He had two daughters named Many Horses and Walks looking, a son named Crow Foot and an adopted son named One Bull. This really caught me off guard because I had assumed that he had no children nor much of a family. Reading on, I found more facts that led to my thoughts about him being a great and powerful leader. "Tatanka- Iyotaka was a man of clear vision and pure motivation", according to Sitting Bull . He was said to have given money to white, hungry people whom he didn't even know. Seeing that most of the white, US people hated Indians at that time, it took a lot of pure goodness for him to do something nice for people that might not respect him. 

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When I felt satisfied with the information I had on Sitting Bull himself, I thought it might be a good idea for me to research and find out about the tribes he came from and what he did for them. This led me to Big Orrin which was by far one of the most helpful websites I had visited and clearly stated that Sitting Bull was a member of the Sioux Indians. Big Orrin answered all of the questions I had been longing to know the answers to. They are as follows; women wore long, deerskin and elk skin dresses while men wore breed cloths, leggings as well as buckskin shirts. Both men and women wore moccasins and buffalo-hide robes, but only when the weather got bad. Within the Sioux Indians, the women were in charge of the home in which they cooked, cleaned and even BUILT their families homes all by themselves. Next, Big Orrin went on about how the Sioux men were in charge of hunting, feeding and defending their families, which was very important. They also talked about how only men could become chiefs of the Sioux Indians but both genders led story telling, music, artwork and medicine. Most of the Sioux, according to Big Orrin,  lived in large tents made of buffalo which were known as teepees. A whole entire Sioux Vinnage could be packed up and ready to move to a different spot within one hour due to the fact that the teepees were so easy to take down and put back up. 

The definition of a leader is the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. This being exactly what Sitting Bull did in the years that he was alive. According to History , Sitting Bull is remembered for his resistance against white domination. Also, according to Sitting Bull,  when he was alive he was "considered to be one of the most influential leaders on the prairie". Sitting Bull  also said how in today's time, Sitting Bull is highly recognizable in the Indian world. Sitting Bull died December 15, 1890 when he was shot by an Indian police. He is buried in Mobridge, South Dakota, stated Sitting Bull.  Lastly, my Google search led me to Sioux Me. This website also said that Sitting Bull was said to be the last Sioux that surrendered to the US government. 

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PBS

• Found info on Sitting Bull's life and introduced me to his accomplishments. This was one of the best sites that I used and was extremely helpful. 

Sitting Bull   

• Gave me information on his family and life. Pretty helpful

History    

• Only found a few facts here, not very helpful with my research.

Sioux Me       

• Got information about his death and how it happened from this okay cite.

Big Orrin    

• Extremely helpful with my research, had exactly what I was looking for. Gave me info on the tribe that Sitting Bull belonged to and their background.