WEBVTT - Sitting Bull: Warrior, Leader, Symbol

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<v Speaker 1>It's not hard to be hated. You could say, criticize

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<v Speaker 1>a beloved or powerful person that will earn you the

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<v Speaker 1>ire of many. If it's a person who's really high up,

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<v Speaker 1>you could even end up behind bars or dead. Or

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<v Speaker 1>you can earn that hate by simply being born with

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<v Speaker 1>a darker shade of skin. People all over the world

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<v Speaker 1>and all throughout history have been detested for that. But

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<v Speaker 1>some people, some people draw angry mobs with pitchforks just

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<v Speaker 1>for standing for what they believe in. A lot of

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<v Speaker 1>these people had big ideas and grand schemes. Others let

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<v Speaker 1>very small acts of resistance, but all of them were

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<v Speaker 1>bold enough to challenge what society told them was right.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm your host, Eve steff Code. This is Unpopular a

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<v Speaker 1>podcast about the people in history who did not let

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<v Speaker 1>the threat of persecution keep them from speaking truth to power.

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<v Speaker 1>It's kind of the thing to talk about who's the

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<v Speaker 1>bad guy right now? I mean, call out culture is

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<v Speaker 1>in full effect. We may have reached peatrol, but they're

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<v Speaker 1>still out there typing and typoing away. Celebrities who have

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<v Speaker 1>been denounced for their misdeeds are still getting a bunch

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<v Speaker 1>of attention in media and need I even mentioned US politics.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to build the wall, the Wader patrol ice.

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<v Speaker 1>They all want the wall, but we have some bad

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<v Speaker 1>ambres here and we're gonna get them out. I'll let

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<v Speaker 1>you decide who these bad folks are. Anyway, It is

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<v Speaker 1>kindest or to cool, to be the nonconformists, to be

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<v Speaker 1>the opposition, to have an opinion that no one else has,

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<v Speaker 1>to proudly avoid the last se of groupthink. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>people are really into being refreshingly different right now and

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<v Speaker 1>talking about just how different they are as they wave

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<v Speaker 1>goodbye to the bandwagon everybody else is riding away on.

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<v Speaker 1>But if we're being honest here, a lot of that

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<v Speaker 1>objection can be superficial. After all, it's a good way

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<v Speaker 1>to get attention, to stroke the ego. Okay, let's be real.

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<v Speaker 1>That could be heard earlier. That was from the current

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<v Speaker 1>president of the United States, and he got to that

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<v Speaker 1>position partly because people saw him as someone who's outside

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<v Speaker 1>of the establishment, someone knew, someone who spoke the words

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<v Speaker 1>that so many wanted to say but couldn't say, someone

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<v Speaker 1>who could disrupt the machine and bring change they so

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<v Speaker 1>desperately needed. Now, whether that's true is a different conversation.

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<v Speaker 1>The point is somewhere there will always be an accepted

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<v Speaker 1>state that someone will turn upside down for better or

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<v Speaker 1>for worse. That's why when people meaningfully reject established systems

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<v Speaker 1>and norms, knowing that backlash can be dark, but hoping

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<v Speaker 1>the outcome could be worth it, it says something. I

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<v Speaker 1>know everyone has an opinion, and yes, people can be

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<v Speaker 1>super vocal about their opinions, thoughts, or ideas and just

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<v Speaker 1>be strong and wrong. Lucky for you, I'm not here

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about those people. Unfortunately for all of us,

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<v Speaker 1>the arc of history helps us separate the loudmouth quacks

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<v Speaker 1>from the people whose descent was actually productive. The reality is,

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<v Speaker 1>even though it's not hard to be hate did, it

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<v Speaker 1>is hard to be the person who's at the receiving

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<v Speaker 1>end of that hate. It takes sacrifice encourage to follow

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<v Speaker 1>through when you're advocating for a cause that you know

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<v Speaker 1>will put you at odds with others. Some people in

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<v Speaker 1>history they dared to go against the current and a

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<v Speaker 1>sea that threatened to drown them. They questioned the status

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<v Speaker 1>quo even when they had targets on their back, and

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<v Speaker 1>they left a mark on the world, or at least

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<v Speaker 1>they are little piece of it. When the fight is

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<v Speaker 1>one worth fighting, it can pay to be unpopular. The

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<v Speaker 1>response maybe fear, a version, ridicule, but hey, nobody can

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<v Speaker 1>be loved by everyone anyway. Every week will bring you

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<v Speaker 1>the story of a person or group who railed against

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<v Speaker 1>the established order of things. This is a show where

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<v Speaker 1>people in the minority speak the loud and outcasts are

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<v Speaker 1>decidedly in in. Today's person of the Hour is tataka

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<v Speaker 1>Io Take, also known as Sitting Bull. I wish it

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<v Speaker 1>to be remembered that I was the last man of

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<v Speaker 1>my tribe to surrender my rifle. That's what hunk Papua

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<v Speaker 1>Lakota chief Sitting Bull said after his son handed his

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<v Speaker 1>father's gun over to a commanding officer in eight one.

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<v Speaker 1>Throughout his life, Sitting Bull stuck to his goods. He

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<v Speaker 1>fought with passion and resolve. He was committed to resisting

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<v Speaker 1>the influence and dominance of white people and preserving the

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<v Speaker 1>Lacoda lifestyle and land. When we look back at the

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<v Speaker 1>life of Sitting Bull, we see him as this larger

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<v Speaker 1>than life, heroic character who championed Native American rights. But

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<v Speaker 1>it turns out time a close sister of distance can

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<v Speaker 1>also make the heart grow fonder. The thing is, while

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<v Speaker 1>he was a much respected and loved chief to the

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<v Speaker 1>people he fought for, he was a public enemy. The

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<v Speaker 1>new America he found himself in wasn't a friendly one.

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<v Speaker 1>Whites were generally hostile to the Native people's ways of life,

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<v Speaker 1>impartial to assimilation, and sitting bowl wasn't planning on going

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<v Speaker 1>down that easy. He was an agitator, so in their

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<v Speaker 1>eyes he was a problem. Imaginative for a moment. Living

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<v Speaker 1>on a land that feeds you, provides you in your

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<v Speaker 1>family's shelter, and gives you clothing. You your parents, your

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<v Speaker 1>parents parents have grown up there, tended to the land,

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<v Speaker 1>built up communities and traditions there, learned the land and

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<v Speaker 1>learn to love it like another family member. It is

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<v Speaker 1>your home, and you and your ancestors have made many

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<v Speaker 1>memories there. Stories of things that happened on that land

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<v Speaker 1>have been passed down through generations. It is your home,

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<v Speaker 1>the place you know best. Now imagine that being forcefully

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<v Speaker 1>taken away in the name of manifest destiny and misguided

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<v Speaker 1>views on assimilation. US President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian

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<v Speaker 1>Removal Act in eighteen thirty, which gave the President the

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<v Speaker 1>authority to grant lands west of the Mississippi River in

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<v Speaker 1>exchange for tribal lands within US boundaries. That led to

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<v Speaker 1>the trail of tears, forced relocations of Native people's that

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<v Speaker 1>was a lot more brutal and protracted than the name

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<v Speaker 1>lets on. The Suppression of Indigenous people's rituals and beliefs

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<v Speaker 1>was a constant throughout nineteenth and twentieth century relations between

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S Government and tribes. Tribal ceremonies were banned,

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<v Speaker 1>Native children were forced to attend boarding schools, use anglicized names,

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<v Speaker 1>and where non native outfits. Basically, Indigenous peoples and their

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<v Speaker 1>cultures were unwanted in the very place that they had

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<v Speaker 1>grown up, and immigrants would do whatever it took to

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<v Speaker 1>get rid of them. That isn't to say that Native

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<v Speaker 1>Americans were hopeless, defenseless victims of a tyrannical federal government

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<v Speaker 1>and a monolithic white population. Some tribes agreed to see

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<v Speaker 1>their land and made no effort to resist the federal government.

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<v Speaker 1>We know conflict is never that black and white, even

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<v Speaker 1>though movies can make it look that easy. The quirky

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<v Speaker 1>but treacherous villain tries to foil the hero with increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>convoluted plans and expository monologues along the way, and at

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<v Speaker 1>the end the good guy triumphs. But no, in real life,

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<v Speaker 1>there ain't no story that's as simple as good versus

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<v Speaker 1>evil were only one and can prevail in this story.

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<v Speaker 1>The story of Sitting Bull, Defender of the Northern Plains

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<v Speaker 1>Native Americans, is one that begins in tragedy and ends

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<v Speaker 1>in tragedy. Sitting Bull was born around eighteen thirty one.

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<v Speaker 1>According to Sitting Bull's great grandson, he was born on

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<v Speaker 1>the Yellowstone River south of Miles City, Montana, though it's

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<v Speaker 1>been said by others that he was born in what

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<v Speaker 1>would become the Dakota Territory. His father was a warrior

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<v Speaker 1>named Jumping Bull, and his mother's name was her Holy Door.

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<v Speaker 1>The hunt Papas were one of seven branches of the

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<v Speaker 1>Lakota who lived west of the Missouri River. Let me

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<v Speaker 1>just pause here to say that the term sue is

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<v Speaker 1>widely used to describe an alliance of several tribes of

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<v Speaker 1>Northern Plains indigenous peoples, but the term isn't except it

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<v Speaker 1>by all the people it describes. Many of these people

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<v Speaker 1>preferred to refer to themselves as Lakota or Dakota, because

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<v Speaker 1>the label Sue is a derogatory name that enemies gave them,

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<v Speaker 1>so here we'll stick with saying Lakota and Dakota. At

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<v Speaker 1>the time of Sitting Bull's birth, hostilities between the US

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<v Speaker 1>government and Native Americans were already at a high point.

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<v Speaker 1>The government was already lustily looking at rich Native lands

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<v Speaker 1>and sending people west. Tribes were already resisting American strong arming,

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<v Speaker 1>and the government was already attempting to civilize Native Americans.

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<v Speaker 1>All that's to say US and Native American relations weren't

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<v Speaker 1>exactly in the best place. Okay, they were terrible in

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<v Speaker 1>getting more hostile, and that's the climate. Sitting Bull, or

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<v Speaker 1>Jumping Badger, as he was first named, was born into

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<v Speaker 1>Sitting Bulls nickname as a child was slow because of

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<v Speaker 1>how measured his demeanor was, but it didn't take long

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<v Speaker 1>for him to earn the name most people know him by.

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<v Speaker 1>The Plans Natives were bison hunters. They used the hides

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<v Speaker 1>for tepee covers, clothing, and blankets, the meat for food,

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<v Speaker 1>and the bones for tools and utensils. So when he

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<v Speaker 1>was just ten years old, Sitting Bull killed his first

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<v Speaker 1>bison and when he was fourteen, he counted coup or

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<v Speaker 1>struck a rival Crow warrior by forcing him off his

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<v Speaker 1>horse with acoustick, which was a stick that warriors used

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<v Speaker 1>in battle to touch enemies without killing them and show

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<v Speaker 1>their courage. It was after this brave moment when his

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<v Speaker 1>father gave him the name that would embody his headstrong

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<v Speaker 1>and persistent character for the rest of his life, Tatanka

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<v Speaker 1>e o Take, which described a bison bull that's sitting down,

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<v Speaker 1>and so the story goes. Sitting Bull became a warrior.

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<v Speaker 1>He got into the Strong Heart Warrior society, which fought

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<v Speaker 1>enemies of the Lakota people, and by the time he

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<v Speaker 1>was twenty five, he became a leader. Throughout his youth,

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<v Speaker 1>he went to war with rival tribes like the Crows,

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<v Speaker 1>Hadatza flat his shashone and man dance. Once, when he

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<v Speaker 1>was in battle with the Crows during a horse dealing

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<v Speaker 1>raid in eighteen fifty six, Sitting Bull was shot in

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<v Speaker 1>his left foot. He walked with a limp for the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of his life, but he had killed the offending crow,

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<v Speaker 1>so he was praised for his courage. He would also

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<v Speaker 1>go on to become a member of the Silent eaters,

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<v Speaker 1>an exclusive group that discussed tribal welfare, and when his

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<v Speaker 1>father was killed by a crow warrior in eighteen fifty eight,

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<v Speaker 1>Sitting Bull exacted revenge by mutile lating the killer's body.

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<v Speaker 1>Sitting Bowl even adopted Arrival, a Sinna boy and boy

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<v Speaker 1>that he caught in battle as his brother. The accounts

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<v Speaker 1>of young Sitting Bowls bravery and his exploits seemed never ending,

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<v Speaker 1>but as Sitting Bowl got older, the fight that defined

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<v Speaker 1>his plucky and obstinate warrior spirit was the one against

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<v Speaker 1>encroaching white men that threatened their ways of life and

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<v Speaker 1>lives themselves. Because not many white people traveled through where

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<v Speaker 1>Sitting Bowl lived, it wasn't until the early eighteen sixties

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<v Speaker 1>when Sitting Bowl at his first serious run in with them.

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<v Speaker 1>The Santee Dakota that lived on reservations in Minnesota grew

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<v Speaker 1>tired of their mistreatment and rebelled by killing and wounding

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<v Speaker 1>soldiers and other white people and taking women hostage. US

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<v Speaker 1>troops quilled the uprising, but the US retaliated by sending

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<v Speaker 1>Generals Henry Hastings, Sibley and Alfred Sully to attack Lakota camps.

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<v Speaker 1>Sibley's expedition went into hunk Papa territory, and Sitting Bull

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<v Speaker 1>helped fight, even though he hadn't been part of the rebellion.

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<v Speaker 1>In July eighteen sixty four, Sully launched an attack on

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<v Speaker 1>the Lakota and Dakota at Kildeer Mountain as part of

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<v Speaker 1>the retaliation, and Sitting Bull helped lead the defense. And

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<v Speaker 1>from there he fought many more battles against the US,

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<v Speaker 1>including the War on Powder River and attacks on Fort Rice.

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<v Speaker 1>Between all those battles of Indigenous people versus white people,

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<v Speaker 1>Sitting Bull made the decision to never bow to white

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<v Speaker 1>men who wanted them to assimilate our give up their

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<v Speaker 1>freedom and land, and that was the resolve he had

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<v Speaker 1>as he led his people. The extent of Sitting Bulls

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<v Speaker 1>authority over individual tribes has been called into question, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's been said that around eighteen six eight, Sitting Bull

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<v Speaker 1>became the head chief of the entire Lacoda nation thanks

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<v Speaker 1>to his leadership in resistance to US forces. Either way,

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<v Speaker 1>Sitting Bulls reputation as a warrior leader and medicine man

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<v Speaker 1>preceded him, and he managed to unite the Western Northern

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<v Speaker 1>Plains tribes in their fight against American westward expansion and

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<v Speaker 1>cultural dominance. In sitting Bulls, opposition would only grow stronger.

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<v Speaker 1>We'll be back after this quick break. For more than

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<v Speaker 1>two months, France's Yellow Fest protesters have been on the

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<v Speaker 1>streets and gry over the cost of living and a

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<v Speaker 1>political system and president they say ignores the poorest. Friday's

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<v Speaker 1>prayers in Sudan ended with cause for more protests demanding

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<v Speaker 1>the resignation of president. Dominant issue mccaby is long gone,

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<v Speaker 1>but in Bobwe's anguish is getting only worse. The second

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<v Speaker 1>time in six months, the government dealt with demonstrations by

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<v Speaker 1>deputing truths we need our pay checks. Across the country,

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<v Speaker 1>increasingly desperate federal workers stage protests against the shutdown. People

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<v Speaker 1>have been using protest as a way to get what

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<v Speaker 1>they want for centuries. Time has proven that if a

0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:33.120
<v Speaker 1>person or group is unhappy with something, they will fight

0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:37.680
<v Speaker 1>back an attempt to change it. Protests has caused compromise,

0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:42.480
<v Speaker 1>It's caused death, and it's caused change. People who have

0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:46.120
<v Speaker 1>used their voices to reject laws, people, and conventions have

0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:50.040
<v Speaker 1>risked their lives in service of causes. They believe we're right.

0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:56.600
<v Speaker 1>But that's the thing each side operates under the notion

0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:01.760
<v Speaker 1>that what they believe is right. Otherwise there would be

0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:05.600
<v Speaker 1>no left versus right, no old guard versus new guard,

0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:10.359
<v Speaker 1>no black versus white. If we make decisions based on

0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:15.560
<v Speaker 1>our personal ethics, education, and opinions, then those things will

0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.920
<v Speaker 1>guide which position we take on political and social issues,

0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:24.359
<v Speaker 1>and we're going to believe what we believe until our knowledge, morals,

0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:28.120
<v Speaker 1>or opinions change. That's why one person can be completely

0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:30.800
<v Speaker 1>gung ho about the fact that Earth is spherical and

0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.359
<v Speaker 1>another can be like, the Earth is flat. Changed my mind,

0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:35.920
<v Speaker 1>my reality, my senses tell me that the Earth is

0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:40.080
<v Speaker 1>flacking stationary. After all, we were sure the Earth was

0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:44.000
<v Speaker 1>flat back in the day until we weren't. Anyway, it's

0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.480
<v Speaker 1>so easy to get caught up in who is on

0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:50.880
<v Speaker 1>which side, who should be condemned, and who should be praised,

0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:55.840
<v Speaker 1>especially since we have the Internet at our fingertips. Gone

0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:59.479
<v Speaker 1>are the days when people can say, hey, wait, I'm

0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:03.240
<v Speaker 1>pretty where the earth is round and escape The criticism

0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:08.120
<v Speaker 1>of the entire world's peanut gallery discent is amplified now,

0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:12.600
<v Speaker 1>and considering the number of social media comments I've seen

0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:18.080
<v Speaker 1>sarcastically dismissing people as edgy for having unorthodox opinions. They

0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:22.080
<v Speaker 1>seem like we kind of have a discent fatigue. That

0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:26.000
<v Speaker 1>fatigue shows up in Americans who are tired of social

0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:29.360
<v Speaker 1>justice warriors. You can see it in Americans who are

0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:34.880
<v Speaker 1>tired of people denying the legitimacy of Trump's presidency. And

0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.360
<v Speaker 1>then there are those who are tired of political correctness.

0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:43.520
<v Speaker 1>And that fatigue even shows up in people tired of

0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:48.040
<v Speaker 1>others who decry the mainstream media as fake news. I

0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:50.159
<v Speaker 1>know that we really want to hate the fact that

0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.480
<v Speaker 1>everybody has opinions and can share those opinions with the

0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:58.560
<v Speaker 1>world easily and become I really dislike this word, but influencers.

0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:04.000
<v Speaker 1>But people's informed, dissenting opinions have gotten us out of

0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:08.720
<v Speaker 1>messes and into better places. And we don't get to

0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:14.560
<v Speaker 1>have productive opposition without some nonsense here and there. People

0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:18.040
<v Speaker 1>like Sitting Bull, who hold fast to their resistance of

0:19:18.080 --> 0:19:21.560
<v Speaker 1>the status quo and take one for the team helped

0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:28.000
<v Speaker 1>the world go round because it's not flat. Well, this

0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:40.239
<v Speaker 1>is awkward. The latter half of Sitting Bull's life was

0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:44.919
<v Speaker 1>full of conflict with the US. American forces were powerful

0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:49.680
<v Speaker 1>and their ability to organize was great, but Sitting Bull

0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:53.280
<v Speaker 1>and all the other Native Americans who wanted to resist

0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:57.360
<v Speaker 1>the influence of white people were tenacious and determined to

0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:03.520
<v Speaker 1>ensure the survival of their people. Two. When Sitting Bull

0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:07.520
<v Speaker 1>was a prisoner of war at Fort Randall, he told

0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:13.240
<v Speaker 1>James Creelman the following in an interview. This land belongs

0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:16.400
<v Speaker 1>to us, for the Great Spirit gave it to us.

0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:20.120
<v Speaker 1>When he put us here, we were free to come

0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:23.840
<v Speaker 1>and go and to live in our own way. But

0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.880
<v Speaker 1>white men, who belonged to another land have come upon

0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.840
<v Speaker 1>us and are forcing us to live according to their ideas.

0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:36.840
<v Speaker 1>That is an injustice. We have never dreamed of making

0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:41.639
<v Speaker 1>white men live as we live. White men like to

0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:46.240
<v Speaker 1>dig in the ground for their food. My people preferred

0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:50.240
<v Speaker 1>to hunt the buffalo as their fathers did. White men

0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.960
<v Speaker 1>like to stay in one place. My people want to

0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:57.720
<v Speaker 1>move their teps here and there to the different hunting grounds.

0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:02.000
<v Speaker 1>The life of white man and is slavery. They are

0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:06.640
<v Speaker 1>prisoners in towns are farms. The life my people want

0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:11.199
<v Speaker 1>is a life of freedom. I have seen nothing that

0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:15.560
<v Speaker 1>a white man has houses or railways, are clothing or food.

0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:18.760
<v Speaker 1>That is as good as the right to move in

0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:23.640
<v Speaker 1>the open country and live in our own fashion. Why

0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:28.560
<v Speaker 1>has our blood been shed by your soldiers? And Sitting

0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:33.040
<v Speaker 1>Bool would go on to say this, we marched across

0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:36.320
<v Speaker 1>the lines of our reservation, and the soldiers followed us.

0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:41.520
<v Speaker 1>They attacked our village, and we kill them all. What

0:21:41.560 --> 0:21:45.640
<v Speaker 1>would you do if your home was attacked? You would

0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:49.800
<v Speaker 1>stand up like a brave man and defend it. That

0:21:50.000 --> 0:22:03.520
<v Speaker 1>is our story I have spoken. We'll be right back, okay.

0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:18.040
<v Speaker 1>After the Civil War ended in eighteen sixty five, white

0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:23.280
<v Speaker 1>settlement and expansion was booming again. Gold was discovered in Montana.

0:22:24.440 --> 0:22:28.360
<v Speaker 1>Advances in agricultural machinery brought more people looking to make

0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:31.919
<v Speaker 1>a book off farming to the west, and the first

0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:37.239
<v Speaker 1>transcontinental railroad was completed in eighteen sixty nine, creating a

0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:41.919
<v Speaker 1>stream of passengers headed west. That meant that white people

0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:45.760
<v Speaker 1>were headed towards hunk Papa land, and that influx of

0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:48.840
<v Speaker 1>people was a huge threat to the lives of Lakota

0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:52.840
<v Speaker 1>since there were nomadic and relied on the bison for sustenance.

0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:57.679
<v Speaker 1>Even the bison were targeted by US forces since they

0:22:57.720 --> 0:23:03.280
<v Speaker 1>were a source of Native American survival. Even though they

0:23:03.280 --> 0:23:06.439
<v Speaker 1>were up against a lot, Sitting Bowl still tried to

0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:10.760
<v Speaker 1>get tribes to fight together against whites. The Lakota attacked

0:23:10.880 --> 0:23:16.240
<v Speaker 1>railroad surveyors and soldiers, committed massacres, and raided forts. The

0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:20.040
<v Speaker 1>tribe's resistance was putting a lot of pressure on US forces.

0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:24.119
<v Speaker 1>Seeing how much war and uprising there was in the West,

0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:28.120
<v Speaker 1>the federal government drew up the Treaty of Fort Laramie

0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:33.399
<v Speaker 1>in eighteen sixty eight. The treaty established what was called

0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:37.640
<v Speaker 1>the Great Sioux Reservation, including an area called the Black

0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:42.119
<v Speaker 1>Hills that would be designated exclusively for those Native people

0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:46.399
<v Speaker 1>who agreed to it. It also said that the U

0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:48.800
<v Speaker 1>s would abandon forts it had set up along the

0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:52.959
<v Speaker 1>Bowsman Trail, which had become a point of conflict between

0:23:52.960 --> 0:23:57.960
<v Speaker 1>the US and Native Americans. Spoiler alert Sitting Bowl never

0:23:58.000 --> 0:24:01.960
<v Speaker 1>signed a treaty, but the starry eyed hope for this

0:24:02.040 --> 0:24:07.000
<v Speaker 1>treaty was peace and the late eighteen sixties in early

0:24:07.040 --> 0:24:12.240
<v Speaker 1>eighteen seventies where the era of President Ulysses Grant's Peace Policy,

0:24:12.320 --> 0:24:15.640
<v Speaker 1>which attempted to get rid of corrupt Indian Bureau agents.

0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:21.520
<v Speaker 1>There was a moment of relative silence, but it definitely

0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:26.640
<v Speaker 1>wasn't all peaceful. The government was still after the natives

0:24:26.640 --> 0:24:31.480
<v Speaker 1>way of life. The US instituted agricultural training on reservations,

0:24:31.840 --> 0:24:36.320
<v Speaker 1>and established schools and churches intended to convert Native Americans

0:24:36.320 --> 0:24:43.199
<v Speaker 1>to Christianity. So the word peace is probably a euphemism,

0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:47.399
<v Speaker 1>but that faux piece didn't last too long anyway. In

0:24:47.480 --> 0:24:52.600
<v Speaker 1>eighteen seventy four, General George Armstrong Custer lent an expedition

0:24:52.720 --> 0:24:57.240
<v Speaker 1>looking for gold into the Black Hills, and even though

0:24:57.280 --> 0:25:00.760
<v Speaker 1>that land was a no go for prospectors because of

0:25:00.760 --> 0:25:05.639
<v Speaker 1>the Laramie Treaty, they went for it anyway. The Lakota people,

0:25:05.720 --> 0:25:09.760
<v Speaker 1>of course, weren't having it, and Sitting Bull helped unite

0:25:09.760 --> 0:25:12.639
<v Speaker 1>the branches of the Lakota to face the army and

0:25:12.720 --> 0:25:22.920
<v Speaker 1>reservation agents. Sitting Bowl was also a respected medicine man,

0:25:23.800 --> 0:25:27.520
<v Speaker 1>so when he underwent the Sun Dance, a religious ceremony

0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:30.440
<v Speaker 1>that's done for the welfare of the people, and had

0:25:30.440 --> 0:25:34.960
<v Speaker 1>a vision of a victory, people believed him. When custer

0:25:35.160 --> 0:25:39.320
<v Speaker 1>seventh Cavalry rolled into the Lakota encampment on a mission,

0:25:39.800 --> 0:25:45.320
<v Speaker 1>the Natives emerged victorious, but Americans were really upset about

0:25:45.320 --> 0:25:48.720
<v Speaker 1>the defeat, and the Lakota people who had linked up

0:25:48.760 --> 0:25:52.040
<v Speaker 1>to fight custers troops suffered a lot of losses to

0:25:52.160 --> 0:25:56.439
<v Speaker 1>persist in cavalrymen, so Sitting Bowl and the anti treaty

0:25:56.520 --> 0:26:02.520
<v Speaker 1>natives who hadn't surrendered flat to Canada. M That didn't

0:26:02.560 --> 0:26:07.440
<v Speaker 1>go so well either. Sitting Bowl was losing people's allegiance

0:26:08.119 --> 0:26:10.960
<v Speaker 1>as they had a hard time finding food in Canada,

0:26:12.400 --> 0:26:17.160
<v Speaker 1>and one after five years in Canada, Sitting Bowl went

0:26:17.200 --> 0:26:20.919
<v Speaker 1>back to America with less than three hundred of his followers.

0:26:22.160 --> 0:26:25.520
<v Speaker 1>When he got back, he handed in his rifle, then

0:26:25.720 --> 0:26:30.040
<v Speaker 1>was sent to Standing Rock Reservation, then Fort Randall, where

0:26:30.080 --> 0:26:33.000
<v Speaker 1>he was held as a prisoner of war for almost

0:26:33.160 --> 0:26:47.720
<v Speaker 1>two years. Even though he had surrendered, he was still

0:26:47.760 --> 0:26:53.840
<v Speaker 1>steadfast in his resistance to white assimilation, and he remained

0:26:53.880 --> 0:26:58.320
<v Speaker 1>that way until he died. Near the end of his life,

0:26:59.240 --> 0:27:02.520
<v Speaker 1>he joined in on the Ghost Stands, a ceremony that

0:27:02.600 --> 0:27:05.919
<v Speaker 1>was spreading through Native American tribes that was supposed to

0:27:05.920 --> 0:27:09.680
<v Speaker 1>put an end to white people's oppression of Indigenous peoples

0:27:09.720 --> 0:27:14.040
<v Speaker 1>and bring about a new leader. But the dance brought

0:27:14.040 --> 0:27:19.399
<v Speaker 1>about Sitting Bulls demise. Americans were afraid that the Ghost

0:27:19.480 --> 0:27:23.520
<v Speaker 1>Dance was really a call to political action, and Sitting Bull,

0:27:24.359 --> 0:27:27.760
<v Speaker 1>as fearsome as he was, could in no way be

0:27:27.840 --> 0:27:34.280
<v Speaker 1>a part of that. On December ninety, police tried to

0:27:34.400 --> 0:27:38.040
<v Speaker 1>arrest Sitting Bull fearing his involvement in the Ghost Dance.

0:27:39.560 --> 0:27:43.160
<v Speaker 1>In the scuffle that ensued, one of the Lakota policemen

0:27:43.280 --> 0:27:52.720
<v Speaker 1>shot and killed Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull was all about

0:27:52.760 --> 0:27:55.320
<v Speaker 1>the preservation of his people in their way of life,

0:27:56.720 --> 0:27:59.840
<v Speaker 1>but white people were able to suppress Native traditions and

0:28:00.080 --> 0:28:04.720
<v Speaker 1>languages in a major way. That doesn't mean that Sitting

0:28:04.720 --> 0:28:09.119
<v Speaker 1>Bowls efforts were for not. Sitting Bulls legacy as a

0:28:09.119 --> 0:28:12.840
<v Speaker 1>defender of the Lakota people lives on, and he has

0:28:12.880 --> 0:28:16.920
<v Speaker 1>achieved a sort of legendary status in Native American, American

0:28:17.000 --> 0:28:21.760
<v Speaker 1>and world history. It's unfair to say just because he

0:28:21.800 --> 0:28:23.960
<v Speaker 1>didn't when the war he was fighting, and it was

0:28:24.000 --> 0:28:28.720
<v Speaker 1>a war that Sitting Bulls efforts were meaningless. Sitting Bowl

0:28:28.920 --> 0:28:32.640
<v Speaker 1>was resilient. He was an enemy of many people throughout

0:28:32.680 --> 0:28:36.520
<v Speaker 1>his life because of his commitment to protecting Native American lives.

0:28:38.280 --> 0:28:40.400
<v Speaker 1>It would have been easy for him to choose the

0:28:40.440 --> 0:28:49.920
<v Speaker 1>path of least resistance. Instead, he chose to disrupt. It

0:28:50.080 --> 0:28:54.080
<v Speaker 1>is not hard to be hated, but if you are

0:28:54.200 --> 0:28:59.200
<v Speaker 1>going to be, at least make it worthwhile. Sitting Bulls

0:28:59.240 --> 0:29:04.360
<v Speaker 1>resolve despite all the backlash and losses he faced is

0:29:04.360 --> 0:29:09.240
<v Speaker 1>a good reminder that sometimes a fight just takes serious doggedness.

0:29:11.000 --> 0:29:16.160
<v Speaker 1>Sitting Bull helped keep Native people in traditions alive, and

0:29:16.240 --> 0:29:20.080
<v Speaker 1>he inspired tons of people to resist, to honor their heritage,

0:29:20.880 --> 0:29:25.920
<v Speaker 1>and to be brave. Sitting Bull was hunted and feared

0:29:25.920 --> 0:29:30.520
<v Speaker 1>for his defiance, but it was his defiance that made

0:29:30.600 --> 0:29:39.840
<v Speaker 1>him the bold leader we remember him as today. Andrew

0:29:39.880 --> 0:29:44.360
<v Speaker 1>Howard is our producer. Holly Fry and Christopher Hasiotis are

0:29:44.440 --> 0:29:49.000
<v Speaker 1>executive producers. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts,

0:29:49.360 --> 0:29:52.920
<v Speaker 1>the I Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:29:56.600 --> 0:30:09.760
<v Speaker 1>We'll be back next week with another episode of Unpopular

0:30:00.320 --> 0:30:00.360
<v Speaker 1>k