White Bull (

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples Place names In the United States: *Lakota, Iowa *Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County *Lakota ...

: Tȟatȟáŋka Ská) (April 1849 – June 21, 1947) was the nephew of

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...

, and a famous warrior in his own right. White Bull participated in the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

on June 25, 1876.

Early life

Born in the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, White Bull came from a prominent Sioux family. He was the son of Makes Room, a

Miniconjou The Miniconjou (Lakota: Mnikowoju, Hokwoju – ‘Plants by the Water’) are a Native American people constituting a subdivision of the Lakota people, who formerly inhabited an area in western present-day South Dakota from the Black Hills i ...

chief and the brother of

One Bull One Bull (Lakota: ''Tȟatȟáŋka Waŋžíla'' in Standard Lakota Orthography), later known as Henry Oscar One Bull (–1947), was a Lakota Sioux man best known for being the nephew and adopted son of Sitting Bull. He fought at Battle of the L ...

. After the battle, White Bull joined his uncle,

Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...

Sioux leader

, while fleeing to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Also, young Chief Solomon "Smoke" and Chief No Neck (

: Tȟahú Waníče) (these two chiefs were the sons of the old Chief Smoke 1774–1864), fled with White Bull and Sitting Bull and their bands to Canada.

Little Bighorn

For years it was rumored that White Bull boasted of killing Lt. Col.

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

at the infamous battle. However, others who knew White Bull claim that he never made that statement but instead admitted to struggling with Custer.The Man Who Killed Custer "Stanley Vestal" American Heritage Magazine February 1957 Volume 8, Issue 2
/ref> White Bull surrendered to government troops in 1876. He eventually became a chief, replacing his father Chief Makes Room upon his death. He acted as a judge of the Court of Indian Offenses, and was a proponent of

land claims in the Black Hills. White Bull died in

in 1947. White Bull's relationship to his uncle made him an important contributor to

Stanley Vestal Stanley Vestal (August 15, 1887 – December 25, 1957) was an American writer, poet, biographer, and historian, perhaps best known for his books on the American Old West, including ''Sitting Bull, Champion of the Sioux''. Biography Vestal was bo ...

's biography of Sitting Bull.

Popular culture

White Bull, played by

Sal Mineo Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer, and director. He is best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), which earned him a nomination f ...

, was used as a character in the 1958

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

adventure film ''

Tonka Tonka is an American producer of toy trucks. The company is known for making steel toy models of construction type trucks and machinery. Maisto International, which makes diecast vehicles, acquired the rights to use the Tonka name in a line of ...

''.

References

External links

Sioux History in Pictures (The White Bull Manuscript)
at The University of North Dakota
The Man Who Killed Custer
''American Heritage Magazine'' {{DEFAULTSORT:White Bull 1849 births 1947 deaths People from South Dakota Lakota leaders People of the Great Sioux War of 1876 Miniconjou people

Early life

Little Bighorn

Popular culture

References

Further reading

External links