What is so special about Sitting Bull? What did he do to contribute to American history?

To begin to answer these questions, we have to realize who Sitting Bull was. He was from a privileged family of the Hunkpapa (Sioux) tribe. He was never known for a great invention nor discovery, but he did however, stand up for what he believed in. Sitting Bull was an Indian chief who led his people during years of resistance to United States government policies. 1. Did American nationalism have to come at the expense of cultural diversity? Americans often think that cultural conformity comes at the expense of cultural diversity; however, it must be recognized that cultural conformity does directly affect the lives of people. Because America is such a young nation, nationalism was built upon the idea of cultural conformity and cultural diversity. 2. Why does the author consider Sitting Bull to be a seminal figure in American history? In the 1850s, the need for change began to arise. The Sioux nation and the Americans seemed to have a very stressed relationship. Americans began to handle situations by either demanding land by treaties, or invading the Siouxs land. With all the conflict occurring, leadership was on a rise also. Nevertheless, the more Sitting Bull tried to unify the Lakota nation; it was extremely difficult to create a strong central authority. However, it was a necessity to build a central authority to even begin to fight and survive the American raids. With conflict being apparent, Sitting Bull became a leading figure who opposed cultural conformity. While the destruction of a people and their identity was prominent, Sitting Bull came to represent the progress of American belief. He continued to believe that his way of life, his religion, and his perception of reality, were right for the Lakota people.

3. (A) Describe the Sioux nation in 1850. (B) What factors contributed to its decline twenty years later? (A) As 1850 rolled around, Americans had come up the Missouri River with steamboats. As more and more settlers headed north, demands for different items rose. America fur trading was increasing. Exchanges between the Indians that lived along the river and the Americans occurred frequently. As goods were being traded, so were diseases. The men upon the steamboats were spreading viruses among the tribes leading to terrible losses. Although some of the Sioux tribes had been vaccinated, the farther north tribes were, the more of an impact the diseases had upon them. Nevertheless, Indians kept trading. An estimated 100,000 pelts were being taken each year. With such a large number of animals dying at the hands of men, the overkilling of buffalo began to become apparent. Traders often brought whiskey with them, which was a common cause of disorder among the Indians. Pioneers also began to settle north. The first pioneers moved along the Oregon Trail. Because a large number of people traveled along the Oregon Trail, the wild game was drastically affected. Because of this, Indians began to demand compensation for losses. Clashes and conflict began to accelerate among Indians and Americans. (B) The Lakota nation began to decline drastically throughout the 1850s-1870s because of disease, overkilling of animals, Americans temptations, and westward expansion were all factors that led to the downfall of the Lakota nation. 4. (A) Describe the growing factionalism within the Lakota nation. (B) When does it first appear? (C) What role did Red Cloud play in the factional splits that occurred in the late 1860s and 1870s? (A) As more and more settlers began to settle the northwest, the Indians began to become the minority. When men with extreme racist

views came into positions of power, trouble began to brew for the Indian leaders and the Lakota nation. (B) The first event to show the growth of factionalism occurred at the annuity distribution at Fort Laramie on August 18, 1854. A group of Mormon immigrants were camped near the fort during summer. A scrawny cow had wondered away from their camp into a local Lakota village. There, an Indian came across the cow, slaughtered it, and offered a feast to his people. When word spread about the incident, Americans decided to punish the Indians, and attacked their village. (C) As more military leaders turned to racism, the Indians band together to fight against them. Red Cloud convinced a number of Brules, Sans Arcs, and even Hunkpapas to join in the fighting. Red Cloud became a major leader during the factionalism movement of the mid-1800s. He stood for what he believed in, and fought for it also. 5. (A) To what degree did the policies of the federal government have an impact on Sitting Bull and his quest for leadership? (B) To what degree was he swayed by the vacillation between a peace policy, with reservation annuities, and a war policy, such as that advocated by Custer and others? (A) While government policies were important during the time Sitting Bull began to become a leader, the Indians held different beliefs. Sitting Bull began to become respected as a man of knowledge, ability, and generosity among his people. Nevertheless, Sitting Bulls dislike towards the Americans and agency loafers began to grow. The policies did not have a large impact on Sitting Bulls rise to power because he opposed most of them. (B) Sitting Bull was not swayed by the vacillation of peace policies, reservation annuities, or war policy. He believed that opposition to these things sharpened the Lakota sense of nationhood by defining the cultural values of his people.

6. How did leadership evolve in Lakota or Sioux society of the nineteenth century? Because the Lakota people were such a young tribe, sociopolitical formation was in a constant state of flux. However, Indian ancestors developed a series of overlapping political networks solidified by kinship relationships. There were hereditary chiefs whom typically decided local issues. Sioux kinship networks functioned upon the collection of families within the tribe. Tiospayeslodge groups, and wicotipiclosely related kinwere different kinds of collections of families. There were also war chiefs who emerged from male societies. Nevertheless, there was competition between the war and hereditary chiefs for leading positions. Sitting Bull was among a wicotipi whom he was leader of. It consisted of several men that were at the center of opposition to American aggressiveness. Although the tribes typically consisted of the smaller groups, all Sioux men knew that they could unite to fight for a common cause. 7. (A) How did religion play a role in Sitting Bulls rise to power? (B) How much of Sitting Bulls influence with his people was based upon his religious background? (A) In a hunting sense, Sitting Bull possessed a spiritual relationship with the animals. He typically talked with them. He was able to kill three or four animals in a days hunt. On two occasions Sitting Bull claimed to have talked with animals. He came to respect the wisdom that the animals gave to him. Because the society he lived in was built upon warfare and hunting, Sitting Bull began to rise as a leader. (B) While growing up, Sitting Bull was surrounded by religious instances. For example, while participating in his first buffalo hunt, his elders painted him and his horse the sacred color of red which signified life. He soon became one of the greatest hunters among his people.

8. (A) Was it coincidental that the sun dance, in which Sitting Bull often participated, should occur at the same time that Colonel George Armstrong Custer appeared? (B) To what degree did the sun dance help Sitting Bull in his quest to put the Sioux nation back together again? (A) The hunting bands began to come together in early June, as the trees began to bud and the grass grew. They danced and waited to hear word about their future from Wakantanka. Before the dance however, Sitting Bull prayed for food, strength, and for the deliverance of the now united nation. When Sitting Bull was participating in the sun dance, he had a vision, he saw white men [soldiers] on horseback descending to the earth upon the Indian village. Nevertheless, the coincidence of the vision during the dance, and Custers raid is monumental. During the battle, the Indians were prepared and only lost a dozen and had many wounded, while Custers men had fifty causalities. (B) Because Sitting Bull was praying and having visions, he was able to inform his tribe of what was going to occur. All in all, the visions helped Sitting Bull in his attempt to unite the Sioux nation because they came together for a single causefighting the Americans. 9. (A) How did Sitting Bulls vision reflect what really happened at Little Big Horn? (B) Did the vision give Sitting Bull more influence than before? (A) With the vision, Sitting Bull knew the white men would attack. The vision had come true. Reno and his men surprised the tribe. Chaos broke loose. Women and children were running around madly. Nevertheless, the war chiefs and men sprang into action to battle back. The largest battle occurred just south of Sitting Bulls camp circle. There was a tremendous amount of casualties. One fourth of Renos army had died. If Reno and his army would have made it to the camp where the women and children were, the outcome

of the battle would have been completely different. As women, children, and men were scurrying north to escape the battle, battles in the lowlands were occurring. Custers troops tried unsuccessfully to cross the river because a group of Indians attacked. The Lakota and Cheyenne Indians outfought the soldiers at every turn. It was estimated that ten soldiers fell for every Indian there was. As the small Indian groups surrounded the remaining soldiers, they gave up. As silence fell over the battlefield, the Indians pillaged the dead bodies and took the now stray horses. That night they celebrated and mourned the victory. Sitting Bulls vision had saved the tribe. Wakantanka had saved them. (B) With the vision, Sitting Bull was ready. Although the American soldiers surprisingly struck, Sitting Bull had courage that Wakantanka would save the tribe. 10. Similar to the paradox inherent in Lakota sociopolitical organization, how was the defeat of Custer in and of itself a paradoxical event? It shocked the nation when they heard Sitting Bull defeated Custer and his army. The first reports that Custer was forced to retreat came from a steamboat that raced east. Hordes of newspapers began to beg for information about the battle. The number of hostiles that the brave Custer had faced began to become exaggerated. The number ranged anywhere from ten thousand to forty thousand Indians. This began to become a paradox that there were twenty Indians to one man of Custers armybeing completely untrue. 11. (A) After Sitting Bull fled to Canada, how was he treated? To what degree was the presence of Sioux warriors on Canadian soil an embarrassment? (C) Describe the role of the Canadian mounted police in dealing with these people? (D) Why did they eventually become sympathetic? (A) After arriving in Canada, Sitting Bull was treated sympathetically as long as they stopped the fighting. They mainly

treated him with respect. (B) Because the Lakotas had so much economic despair, Canadians viewed this as an embarrassment. It caused a national incident of whether the Americans could attack Sitting Bull and his people in Canada, or if they had to abide by the boundaries. (C) The Canadian mounted police were to guard the Indians; however, they chose not to take their weapons away, even though American officials advised it. (D) The Canadians become sympathetic towards the Lakotas because of their pathetic situation when they arrived in Canada, and their willingness to accept Canadian terms. 12. (A) Why did Sitting Bull surrender and face certain incarceration? (B) To what degree did his stint in Buffalo Bills Wild West Show change his views on life in general? (A) Hunger was beginning to become a constant problem for him and his tribe, winters were harsh, and the Indians had to flee. Although Sitting Bull had many attempts to preserve the vestiges of Lakota nationhood, he ended up surrendering. (B) In being in Buffalo Bills Wild West Show, he experienced life in a different sense. He realized that educating children was not as bad as he believed. 13. (A) What issues did the Lakota people and the Hunkpapa leader Sitting Bull face when located on the Standing Rock Reservation? (B) How did government administrators treat the now defeated Sioux? (A) Sitting Bull and the last of his two hundred followers surrendered to the American military. They were moved to the Standing Rock Agency. When they first arrived, a military band was playing while soldiers stood with their bayonets fixed. The army was all there. Sitting Bull was confined to a small plain. They sat and ate government rations under careful guard. Sitting Bull began to realize in late July and August that the military was not going to allow him to see his people. (B) Just when Sitting Bull thought he would be reunited with

his wicotipi, the government issued him and the remaining people living with him to move to Fort Randall. They believed he would make trouble because he still held strong views of sovereignty. For the next two years, Sitting Bull was a virtual prisoner. The people whom the government put in charge of the Indians typically preferred the Indians whom converted to Christianity and worked hard. Although the Sioux had surrendered, officials still feared Sitting Bull and his strong beliefs. The government kept him and his followers under their strict inclinations. 14. What did Sitting Bull mean when he said that children who return from white schools return neither white nor Indian? Sitting Bull believed that the Indian children who were sent there were treated horribly; therefore, he said he did not want to put any children through that. He did not believe anything was done for them. The children, in his mind, learned from their ancestors and parents. The children when educated seemed to give up the old ways. 15. (A) Did the federal government, and the Indian agents who worked for them, overreact with regard to the ghost dance? (B) Could the dance have been allowed to simply burn itself out? (A) Sitting Bull strongly believed that Lakotas should remain Lakotas in both their religious and political practices. The Ghost Dance ensured eternity to the Lakota people. Each dancer wore a ghost shirt covered with various designs. The skull of a buffalo was also on the shirt, which represent the animals return. Natural phenomena such as rain and the sun were depicted in various ways. Every shirt also had black eagle feathers on the shoulders supposedly to lift the Indian above the ground when the flood came. In October, the ghost dance had reached an all-time high of people who were coming and going, several hundred people to be exact. The dance began

to spread to other locales near Sitting Bulls village. Sitting Bull was said to see the new religion all the way to the end. Nevertheless, McLaughlin saw the movement in a different sense. He thought it disturbed his tranquility and strongly affected the civilization plan. Conflict over land, growing cultural schisms, political jealousies, as well as the upheaval of the ghost dance were all reasons why McLaughlin believed he needed to act quickly. Therefore, the government stepped in and stopped the movement. If government intervention was not taken, the movement could have turned all their progress of moving Indians to reservations, back to square one. They spent countless hours trying to convert the Indians to Christianity, that if the ghost dance survived, the Indians would convert back to their ancestors beliefs. (B) The ghost dance was such a large movement in the Lakota nation. Because times were changing, and most of the Indians were being bribed into Christianity, the ghost dance offered a mix of both backgrounds and religions. If government intervention had not taken place, the ghost dance would still be occurring today. It would not have burned itself out because most Lakotas held strong in their beliefs, and would not bend for anyone. Throughout his life, Sitting Bull became a hero to his people. He was historically significant because he was one of the first leaders who stood for what he believed in until the end, fought for his beliefs until death, and left a spiritual legacy for his people. This book was very enjoyable because it offered a different view of the Lakota nation and their journey in the 19th century.