biography
| name: |
Sitting Bull
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originally Tatanka Iyotake
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (c.1831–90)
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| biography:
| Hunkpapa Sioux leader and medicine man, born on the Grand River in South Dakota, USA. Even as a youth he was known among the Sioux as a warrior, and by 1856 he headed the Strong Heart warrior society and became chief of the northern hunting Sioux (1866). Bitterly opposed to white encroachment, he made peace with the US government (1868) when it guaranteed him a large reservation free of white settlers. Following the discovery of gold in the Black Hills (1874), he joined with the Arapaho and Cheyenne to fight against the invaders. Although head of the war council, he remained in the encampment and performed a rite while his warriors defeated Colonel George Custer's men at the Little Bighorn (1876). He and his followers attempted to move to Canada, but the Canadian government refused to accept them, and they returned to the USA (1881). After serving a two-year imprisonment, he travelled with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (1885–6). He was arrested for supporting the Ghost Dance movement, and killed by Indian policemen just prior to the battle of Wounded Knee. |
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