In 1890 newspaper headlines read “Custer’s murderer is dead”. The papers tell of the killing of the man who stood in the way of civilisation. Such is the legend of Sitting Bull: the great chief who defied the US authorities and led the American Indians in the biggest massacre of US soldiers throughout the fight for the west.
But this is just one of the myths that have built up around the Battle of Little Bighorn. The battle wasn’t part of an American Indian offensive, but a response to aggression from the US Government. Custer’s men lost thanks to the greater Indian firepower and their guerrilla tactics. Most extraordinary of all, Sitting Bull didn’t murder Custer…he didn’t even take part in the battle. He stayed with the women and children, guiding them to safety.
Doug Scott - Served more than 30 years working for the National Park Service
Retired from National Park Service after more than 30 years of with the Department of the Interior, his last position was as Great Plains Team Leader, Park Programs, Midwest Archeological Center, U.S. National Park Service, Lincoln, NE. Doug specializes in nineteenth century military sites archeology and forensic archeology, and is particularly noted for his expertise in battlefield archeology and firearms identification having worked on more than 40 battlefield sites. He was awarded the Department of the Interior's Distinguished Service Award in 2002 for his innovative research in battlefield archeology that started with his work at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
Ernie Lapointe - Great grandson of Sitting Bull Tatanka Iyotake
ERNIE LAPOINTE is the great grandson of Tatanka Iyotake (Sitting Bull). The traditional family stories (oral history) of his grant-grandfather were told to him by his mother, Angelique Spotted Horse LaPointe, from the age of 5. He recently wrote his oral history in the book ‘Sitting Bull: His Life and Legacy’.
Tim Lehman - M.A. and Ph.D. in American History
Tim Lehman graduated from Earlham College (Richmond, IN) in 1978 and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in American History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1990 he moved to Rocky Mountain College where he has been teaching a wide variety of courses in American, Western, and Environmental History. He is the author of two books, Public Values, Private Lands: American Farmland Preservation Policy, 1933-1985 (University of North Carolina Press, 1995) and Bloodshed at Little Bighorn: Sitting Bull, Custer, and the Destinies of Nations (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010). He has also published articles and numerous reviews in professional and popular journals.
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies.
General Custer
Was defeated by Sitting Bull in the battle of little bighorn
Sitting Bull was born on the Grand River in present-day South Dakota in 1831. His father bore the name Sitting Bull, and his mother was named Her-Holy-Door. When he was born, his parents named him Jumping Badger.
Sitting Bull acquired the nick name "Hunkesi", meaning "slow" because he never hurried and tackled everything with care.
Sitting Bull's courage was legendary. Once, in 1872, during a battle with soldiers protecting railroad workers on the Yellowstone River, Sitting Bull led four other warriors out between the lines, sat calmly sharing a pipe with them as bullets buzzed around, carefully reamed the pipe out when they were finished, and then casually walked away.
After participating in the Sun Dance Ceremony, Sitting Bull had a vision in which he saw his people victorious over the white soldiers who had been sent to protect the gold prospectors. Weeks later general Custer with the regiment of the seventh Calvary invaded the native's land. Precisely as Sitting Bull had seen in his vision, every white soldier was killed that day at Big Horn along with a few Native Americans. Following the success of the battle, Sitting Bull and his followers headed for Canada.
During his lifetime Sitting Bull mastered the sacred Lakota mysteries. He bacame as shaman and medicine man, and rose to eminence as a Holy Man.
Please advise via e-mail when the Sitting Bull Documentary will show in the USA. Also the Birth of Christ craddatz40@comcast.net 2011-07-06 ...
By craddatz. 2011-06-10reply