Famous Native Americans
The Sioux lived on the wide plains of the Dakota Country. The Sioux hunted buffalo. All parts of the buffalo were used. The Sioux ate the meat.
They used the hides for tepees, clothes, shields, and drums. Buffalo bones were used for cups, dishes, tools, and toys. The ribs were used to make sleds. Even the buffalo chips were used as fuel.
Sitting Bull belonged to a warrior society called the Strong Hearts. During one battle with the Crow, Sitting Bull was badly wounded, but he continued to fight. The Strong Hearts made Sitting Bull their chief after he showed his bravery during the battle. Later, Sitting Bull became Chief of the Hunkpapa.
The white settlers were traveling across the Sioux territory to the south and east, ruining the hunting grounds. Many Sioux traveled north to get away from the white settlers. Sitting Bull shared food, clothing, and tepees with these people. The white settlers began to travel north across the Hunkpapa territory. In 1867, the Sioux Nation gathered together and decided to pick one chief to lead them all. They chose Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull was given a beautiful chief’s headdress of black and white eagle feathers. Each feather stood for a brave deed done by the best warriors.
Sitting Bull just wanted the white settlers to leave his people alone. In 1868, in Laramie, the white settlers made a treaty giving the Black Hills to the Sioux. The territory went north on the Platte River and east of the Big Horn Mountains. Sitting Bull felt the treaty was great. The Sioux could now live in peace.
Just six years after the treaty was signed, gold was discovered in the Black Hills. Miners swarmed into the Sioux territory. Many Sioux gathered in the camp of Sitting Bull. They danced the Sun Dance for many days. Sitting Bull danced until he had to be carried to his tepee. Sitting Bull dreamed the soldiers were falling from the sky into the Sioux camp. In the dream, he saw the Sioux win. His dream came true when General George Crook came into the Rosebud Valley with a thousand men. The soldiers were defeated.
Sitting Bull then moved the Sioux to the valley of the Little Bighorn River. Eight days later, the soldiers attacked at Little Bighorn. The battle was led by Colonel Custer. In a very short time, Colonel George A. Custer and all his men were dead.
After the battle of Little Bighorn, the Sioux could not find enough food. The chiefs met, but they could not agree on a plan. Some wanted to stay and fight, and others wanted to move. The Sioux scattered. Sitting Bull led the Hunkpapa north to Canada. The Hunkpapa did not like Canada. They were poor and hungry.
In 1878, messengers came to Canada promising the government in Washington would give the Sioux peace, food, and a reservation. With his people starving, Sitting Bull rode to Fort Buford in North Dakota to surrender. Sitting Bull was held prisoner by the government for two years. What was left of the Hunkpapa was sent to Standing Rock Reservation.
James McLaughlin was a government agent sent to help the Sioux. McLaughlin did little to help the hungry and cold Sioux. In 1885, McLaughlin sent Sitting Bull to travel with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Many people wanted to see the old chief. When Sitting Bull returned to the reservation, he found the conditions had grown worse.
Wovoka was a Paiute who had a dream that all the dead warriors would rise up and the buffalo would return. The white settlers would leave the Native land, and the Native people could return to their old way of life. The Native people started to believe in Wovoka’s dream. They started dancing the Ghost Dance, which was to make the dream come true. The white settlers were afraid of the Ghost Dance.
In December of 1890, when the white settlers thought the Native people might attack, McLaughlin sent a party of Native soldiers to bring Sitting Bull back dead or alive. Fourteen Native people were killed that night. One of them was Sitting Bull. After Sitting Bull’s death, the Ghost Dances stopped. More and more white settlers moved into the Native territory. The Native way of life was gone forever.
