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Christopher Columbus
The chief of the Teton Sioux tribe, Sitting Bull was a living symbol of resistance to the United States for most of his life. In the 1860s, outraged by the cruelty and aggression of white settlers in the western United States, Sitting Bull led raids on American soldiers and succeeded in killing or capturing many of them. Sitting Bull was an important strategist during the Battle of the Little Bighorn, during which Native American warriors defeated U.S. troops led by General George Armstrong Custer. However, Sitting Bull spent the next decade exiled in Canada. When his people began to starve, he returned to the U.S. and became a fixture of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Toward the end of his life, Sitting Bull was arrested because of his association with the Ghost Dance Movement, and—supposedly in a scuffle with the police—he was shot and killed.
Sitting Bull Quotes in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
The Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee quotes below are all either spoken by Sitting Bull or refer to Sitting Bull. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3 Quotes
Truly, he thought, that nation of white men is like a spring freshet that overruns its banks and destroys all who are in its path. Soon they would take the buffalo country unless the hearts of the Indians were strong enough to hold it. He resolved that he would fight to hold it. His name was Tatanka Yotanka, the Sitting Bull.
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Chapter 18 Quotes
"Indians!" Sitting Bull shouted. "There are no Indians left but me!"
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Sitting Bull Character Timeline in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
The timeline below shows where the character Sitting Bull appears in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: “Their Manners are Decorous and Praiseworthy”
...Civil War of the 1860s, the Sioux tribe of the Great Plains underwent major changes. Sitting Bull , the leader of the Teton Sioux, joined forces with Crazy Horse, the chief of...
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Chapter 3: Little Crow’s War
...Native American population, and would soon come for his own tribe. The chief’s name was Sitting Bull .
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Chapter 5: Powder River Invasion
Around the same time, a leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux, Sitting Bull , was leading his own warriors along the Powder River. He’d vowed to fight to...
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...Nose felt he was ready to lead an attack on the U.S. He joined with Sitting Bull and other chiefs in organizing an ambush on the enemy columns. During the ambush, the...
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Chapter 8: The Rise and Fall of Donehogawa
...began working closely with white administrators to set up additional trading posts and government agencies. Sitting Bull believed that the U.S. government had put “bad medicine over Red Cloud’s eyes.” But in...
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Chapter 12: The War for the Black Hills
...to gravitate away from Red Cloud, a more moderate leader, and toward the more bellicose Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
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...the American military massacred Plains Indians in retaliation for the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Sitting Bull led his remaining followers across the country to escape the U.S. military. Sitting Bull “wanted...
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Chapter 13: The Flight of the Nez Percés
Young Joseph and his remaining followers fled to Canada and united with Sitting Bull . In Canada, Young Joseph’s people died of dysentery and other diseases. Joseph visited the...
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Chapter 18: Dance of the Ghosts
In the late 1870s, Sitting Bull was still free in Canada. This was dangerous for the government, since Sitting Bull was...
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Meanwhile, the Canadian government refused to give aid of any kind to Sitting Bull ’s followers, many of whom were starving. Finally, in 1881, Sitting Bull and his followers...
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At the time that Sitting Bull returned to the U.S., the Sioux were in danger of losing much of their territory...
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In 1882, Sitting Bull was released from jail and brought before government commissioners to testify on the state of...
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In the following months, Sitting Bull began a long speaking tour, during which he traveled across the country, denouncing the treachery...
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...then it would be void, and the Senate wouldn’t be able to pass its bill. Sitting Bull was able to mobilize his people and convince them to turn down the new treaty....
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...that he’d spoken directly to Jesus Christ, who appeared to him as a Native American. Sitting Bull was skeptical of the Ghost Dance movement, but he allowed his Sioux followers to practice...
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...Washington, D.C., the religion was interpreted as a challenge to the U.S.’s authority, partly because Sitting Bull was known to support it. The government sent troops to arrest Sitting Bull. Ghost Dancers...
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Chapter 19: Wounded Knee
Immediately following the death of Sitting Bull , the Sioux people were tempted to rise up and attack the U.S. troops who’d...
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A Sioux leader named Big Foot began to lead Sitting Bull ’s remaining followers. The government issued a warrant for Big Foot’s arrest. However, Big Foot...
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