America\'s Military Adversaries. From Colonial Times to the Present

lorn Hope? Simcoe and the Defense of Upper

Canada.” Canadian Historical Review53 (1972):

148–178; Simcoe, John G. A History of the Opera-

tions of a Partisan Corps Called the Queen’s

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Journal.Toronto: Baxter, 1962; Van Steen, Marcus.

Governor Simcoe and His Lady.Toronto: Hodder

and Stoughton, 1968.

SITTINGBULL

Sitting Bull

(ca. 1832–December 15, 1890)
Sioux War Chief, Shaman

P

erhaps the best-
known Native Am-
erican warrior, Sit-
ting Bull was an
implacable enemy of
white encroachment and
assimilation. His skill in
uniting the various Plains
tribes led to the Great
Sioux War of 1876 and
the defeat of George A.
Custer at Little Bighorn.
Even when it was clear
that his people could not
prevail in a conflict with
whites, Sitting Bull re-
fused to abandon his tra-
ditional way of life. He lit-
erally preferred to die
rather than change.
Sitting Bull (Tatanka
Iyotake) was born around
1832 along the Grand
River in South Dakota into the Hunkpapa
Sioux nation. His father, a war chief of the
same name, christened his son Hunkesni
(Slow) on account of his deliberate manner-
isms, but the youngster became renowned for
physical prowess. He killed his first buffalo at
the age of 10, and by 14 he was involved in
raids against neighboring Crow Indians,
counting many coups, or personal acts of
bravery, against them. About 1856, Sitting Bull
adopted his father’s name and became head
of the Strong Heart’s lodge, an elite warrior

society, on account of his

skill in battle. He was

also highly regarded for

his spirituality and the

great number of visions

he experienced. By this

time the tide of white set-

tler expansion began in-

truding on the Hunkpapa

hunting grounds. In 1864,

Sitting Bull skirmished

with the U.S. Army as a

result of Little Crow’s up-

rising in Minnesota, and

he first came into contact

with representatives of

the American govern-

ment. Sitting Bull, a gen-

erous man, treated his

erstwhile enemies cor-

dially but made clear his

determination to preserve

the traditional Sioux

hunting grounds and his way of life. It was a

theme he endlessly repeated over the next

three decades.

By 1866, Sitting Bull had become one of the

principal war chiefs of the Lakota and Oglala

Sioux, in league with his talented subordinate

Crazy Horse. He did not participate in Chief

Red Cloud’s victorious war along the Boze-

man Trail in 1868, but Sitting Bull did accept

the conditions of the Treaty of Fort Laramie,

which removed white influence and reserved

the Black Hills region of South Dakota for the

Sitting Bull

National Archives