The Life and Times of Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Museum für Völkerkunde, Wien
The Sioux and the Lakota
The Sioux were not a tightly knit society but a loose alliance of seven nations, known as the ‘Seven Council Fires’. The name ‘Sioux’ comes from neighbouring peoples, who called these enemies small snakes.
The Sioux peoples speak three different dialects: Dakhóta, Nakhóta, and Lakhóta. The speakers of these dialects understand each other. The Lakota nation speak Lakhóta and are also knows as Teton, ‘dwellers on the plains’.
The Lakota belonged to the larger ‘alliance’ of the Sioux nations. At a more local level, they called their camp wicóthi, a place where people live. The basic unit of the Lakota community was the thiyóšpaye, the extended family or lodge group. A smaller unit was the family unit, including a man and his wives and children. In addition to the family unit, the thiyóšpaye included many close relatives – dozens of people or even a hundred.
Each thiyóšpaye had a head man or chief. Several thiyóšpaye formed a band, which then formed a ‘tribe’. There were seven Lakota tribes: the Hunkpapas, Oglalas, Minneconjous, Brulés, Sans Arcs, Two Kettles, and Black Feet. Sitting Bull was a Hunkpapa.
Historisches Museum, Bern
Sitting Bull’s family tree
Sitting Bull came from a very important family. Many of its members had become chiefs of the Hunkpapa Lakota. Sitting Bull also had a good chance of advancing in his ‘political career’.
Through his marriages, Sitting Bull obtained the support of other influential men in his tribe. They included his brothers-in-law Makes Room, Gray Eagle, and Spotted Horn Bull, the brothers of the Indian chief’s fourth and fifth wives. Sitting Bull’s closest confidantes were his adopted sons Little Assiniboine and One Bull.
In winter 1867–68, Sitting Bull was also chosen as the chief of the Lakota who remained outside reservations. However, not all of the Lakota acknowledged his position.
Jack S. Blanton, Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
