White Bull (
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 ...
, 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, No ...
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 ...
in
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...
, White Bull came from a prominent Sioux family. He was the son of Makes Room, a
Miniconjou chief and the brother of
One Bull. After the battle, White Bull joined his uncle,
Hunkpapa Sioux leader
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 ...
, 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 to ...
. Also, young Chief Solomon "Smoke" and Chief No Neck (
Lakota: 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 Lakota land claims in the Black Hills. White Bull died in South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...
in 1947.
White Bull's relationship to his uncle made him an important contributor to Stanley Vestal's biography of Sitting Bull.
Popular culture
White Bull, played by Sal Mineo, 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
Further reading
*Stanley Vestal, ''Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull'' (University of Nebraska Press
The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Unive ...
, First Bison Book printing, 1984)
*''The Warrior Who Killed Custer: The Personal Narrative of Chief Joseph White Bull''. Translated and Edited By James H. Howard. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1968.
*''Lakota Warrior: A Personal Narrative''. Edited by James H. Howard. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998.
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