Sitting Bull, Chief and Warrior of the Sioux People: His Life in a Nutshell for Young Readers

Sitting Bull was a great chief and warrior of the Sioux people. From an early age, he showed that he was a brave hunter and leader. As the white man entered the land of the Sioux people, he did everything to protect his people and their land. Today, he is remembered and respected not only for his courageous acts, but also for his kindness.

Birth of Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull was born in 1830 in the state of South Dakota. When he was born, he was given the name Slow. His father was Returns Again, a great warrior and his mother was Mixed Day who worked hard taking care of her son and family. His people were called the "Hunkpapa" which means "Those Who Camp by the Entrance". Slow liked to watch the warriors on their horses and wanted to become a warrior when he grew up. He learned how to hunt the buffalo at a young age and killed his first buffalo when he was ten years old.

When he was fourteen, he followed the warriors as they were fighting the Crow tribe. His father let him join the warriors and gave him a coup for counting coup. The Sioux people counted coup by riding up next to an enemy and striking him with a coup stick. The Sioux believed that this was a better way of showing bravery instead of killing the enemy.

Slow counted coup when he was only fourteen years old. He was given the name Sitting Bull by his father for his bravery. He was no longer called Slow.

Sun Dance of Sitting Bull

The Sun Dance is the Sioux's most important ceremony. This ritual showed their bravery. To become a man, Sitting Bull had to do the Sun Dance with the other warriors. A pole was painted red, green, and yellow. Then ropes were attached to it. The men were then painted red and blue. Two places were cut in his back so that sticks could be poked through them. These sticks were attached to the ropes on the pole. Sitting Bull and the other warriors began dancing and staring at the sun. This ritual was done for Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit who controlled everything.

Intruders

White people began moving into the land of the Sioux and wanted to move them out of their land and onto reservations. The U.S. government began killing the Indian people and taking their land. This was a very sad time for all Indian people.

Sitting Bull was chosen as the chief of many tribes since he had shown his bravery and kindness. The Sioux and the white people fought for many years and many people were killed. Finally, a treaty was signed by the white people that gave the Indians a place of their own. But before long, the white man wanted this land too.

Sitting Bull did not want his people to be put in reservations so he tried to talk with the white people, but they still wanted the land. Some of the Indian tribes joined together and chose Sitting Bull as their chief. To protect their land they were forced to fight against the white people. But, Sitting Bull was not happy about killing the white people and was afraid of what would happen to the Sioux people.

Surrender and the Wild West Show

Sitting Bull surrendered to the white people because he was tired of all of the fighting. He joined the Wild West Show with Buffalo Bill and acted out the fights that happened between the Indian and white people.

He didn't keep the money from doing these shows with Buffalo Bill. Instead, he gave the money to the children who would come to watch the shows. Sitting Bull decided to stop doing the shows because they were not helping the Sioux people. He felt that they were causing more hatred between the white people and the Indians.

Death of Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull's people had been put on a reservation. After he quit the Wild West show, he found out that the United States government was taking more land from the Indian people. Many Indians died because they had no food. A religion called the Ghost Dance started after an Indian had a vision that the dead Indians would come back to the earth and things would go back to the way they were before the white man came.

The United States government heard about the Ghost Dance and arrested Sitting Bull again because they were afraid the Indians would come together and be difficult to keep on the reservation. Forty three Indian policemen showed up at Sitting Bull's cabin to arrest him. Many of the Sioux people were outside watching Sitting Bull as they arrested him. The policemen punched and hit Sitting Bull.

A Sioux Indian named Catch-the- Bear was upset about Sitting Bull being arrested so he used a rifle to shoot one of the policemen. As the policeman fell to the ground, he shot Sitting Bull in the back. At the same time, another policeman shot Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull, the great chief and warrior, was gone. After Sitting Bull's death, many more white people moved onto his people's land. The Sioux people's lives were changed forever, but the legacy of Sitting Bull was never forgotten.

Sources:

Vestal, Stanley (1989). Sitting Bull: Champion of the Sioux. OK: University of Oklahoma
Press.