Sitting Bull
If the U.S. Government chased you from your home, what would you do? If you were told you need to live on a restricted land within a confined area or face death what would you? If you had hundreds of other people affected by your decisions, what would you do? Sitting Bull, famously known as the great warrior chief of the Lakota Sioux Tribe, was in this situation. He had to make decisions with hundreds of his Lakota Sioux member’s lives at stake. This essay will capture Sitting Bull’s use of Inspirational Motivation and his Conceptual Approach to Team Building as a visionary leader. In addition, this essay will prove why Sitting Bull was an ethical leader by explaining his use of Resiliency, the Four Pillars of Fitness and
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Finally, this essay will give you my perspective on how I relate to the tough decisions he had to make on behalf of his Sioux Tribe.
Visionary Leader
Sitting Bull was a Visionary Leader as evidenced by his decision-making during the war with American Forces in the 1870s. During this period, the discovery of gold in the Black Hills resulted in a rush of Americans to this land. The land was sacred to the Native Americans and protected by the U.S. government signed Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The U.S. government tried to purchase the land from the Native American Indians but the Indians would not sell. Frustrated with this decision, the U.S. government tabled the treaty and considered Native American Indians not settled on a reservation hostile. This set the stage for war between the Native American Indians protecting their homeland and the U.S. Army trying to take it over. According to pbs.org, in March of 1876, three columns of federal troops moved into the area. Sitting Bull called upon the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes
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According to pbs.org, on 25 June 1876, General George Custer’s Seventh Cavalry of 200 plus men attacked approximately 3,500 Indians in the Valley of Little Big Horn. Sitting Bull’s warriors destroyed the severely outnumbered American Forces. According to biography.com, the defeat was an embarrassment to the U.S. government and the Army doubled down its efforts to wrest control of the territory from Native American tribes. At this point, Sitting Bull had to make a tough decision. He could have the Sioux Nation stand their ground and fight the American forces, which would result in certain death, surrender and move on to a reservation living a life of restrictions, or move north into Canada where the American forces could not reach his people. Sitting Bull showed Resiliency in his defeat to the U.S. Government. With that Resiliency, Sitting Bull used three of the Four Pillars of Fitness to think clearly (Thomas N. Barnes Center, 2014a). He was Mentally Fit, still making conscious decisions during hard times. He was Socially Fit, even after defeat by the U.S. Army his people still followed him. Lastly, he was Spiritually Fit, still believing in his God and the plan his God had for him and his people. This clear mindedness helped Sitting Bull
But as Sitting Bull, Runs the Enemy, and many other Lakota and Cheyenne realized that day, he came frighteningly close to winning the most spectacular victory of his career.” Philbrick
Custer split his troops into three groups, with Captain Frederick Benteen going south, Major Reno crossing the Little Bighorn River to attack, and Custer’s troops would head North up stream. Custer decided to attack, and he was very quickly surrounded, resulting in all of his troops being killed, including him. The Battle of Little Bighorn was an embarrassing loss for the United States. This loss caused the government to strengthen the army which led them to a defeat of the Lakota Indians. Americans had a hard time believing that Custer, a great general, would have been killed by a group of Indians.
These actions caused the Indians to take over the fort. On the other hand, Crazy Horse was great at bring the tribes together. In 1876, Crazy Horse led the resistance against the War department. He gathered 1200 Oglala and Cheyenne, meanwhile, the American soldiers were moving up the Rosebud Cheek .
In the early 1800's, the U.S Government would use treaties towards Indians to remove them from their tribal lands. Though, Sitting Bull, Chief of the Lakota Sioux tribe, refused all treaties from the Americans and instead fought bravely for his land. Sitting Bull, or Tatanka-Iyontanka spelled in Standard Lakota Orthography, was widely known for his strong heart for his nation. In many Native American's eyes, he was a fearless leader with much courage and strength, thus earning his name "Sitting Bull." Although, Sitting Bull was not always thought as a brave leader, he slowly gained his respect.
During the Great Sioux War of 1876 which was also known as The Black Hills War there were a series of battles fought between 1876 and 1877. The most prominent battle of the war was The Battle of Little Big Horn commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand. This battle was fought between June 25 and June 26, 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory. The Battle of Little Big Horn was fought between members of the Lakota, Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The foremost leader of the Indian tribes was Hunkpapa Sioux Chief Sitting Bull.
The difference in the two accounts is the prelude to the battle. According to Lakota Chief Red Horse, he with many Sioux Indians were only moving across the land in attempts to find a place to settle. When they did settle next to the Little Bighorn River, there were many Native Americans with them ten different tribes and eleven including themselves. The account from the military standpoint was the Sioux, and Cheyenne were hostile over the Black Hills and was corresponding with Sitting Bull. From the event of the Sioux Nation on the move, the U.S. Calvary dispatched three units to attack.
“The attack was led by volunteer soldiers from California, and it was one of the first and largest massacres of Native peoples west of the Mississippi River” (History of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes). A year later, “[i]n 1864 the government attempted to confine the tribes to a reservation with the Treaty of Soda Springs, but it failed to gain ratification” (History of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes) Springs, but it failed to gain ratification” (History of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes). Now the Bannock tribe has a reservation and bit of the land they once
The 1870s, the time after the Civil War, was a decade of imperialism, great invention, reconstruction, labor unions and strikes, and the Sioux Wars. Especially The battle of the little Bighorn, was a crushing defeat for the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army under George Armstrong Custer. The 700 men strong 7th Cavalry Regiment were defeated by the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, which were leaded by several important war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, Sitting Bull. The reason of the Sioux Wars, and so also of the battle of the little Bighorn, was that the Native Americans fight for their land. The Battle of Little Bighorn was a training point in the relation between America and Native America because
First off he had to build a bullring in his yard. He had to raise bulls and so on and so forth, but that was the easiest of all his struggles. Once he got everything set up he needed actual people to participate in the bullfights, so he paid people to come from California, Boston, and even Portugal. Now that was tricky but then it got worse.
A leader’s breaking point in battle is often when he surrenders. In this moving speech, Black Hawk reaches his breaking point. In 1832, Black Hawk had no choice but to surrender, and in his speech he detailed the history of lies and betrayals. Black Hawk uses his last strength of power to inspire his people to keep on fighting. In his speech, Black Hawk evokes emotion to unite the Indians and a shift in point of view to imply that now it’s their time to fight the battle.
Sitting Bull was considered a great leader and helped shape the way we treat Indians today. Throughout the 1800s the U.S. Government fought against many Indian tribes because of the rich land that promised gold. Sitting Bull and many others “set aside their differences in the face of intolerable abuse by the U.S. Government” (www.californiaindianeducation.org). Sitting Bull fought in wars and united with other tribes to protect his land.
Class, One reason for the defeat of the Plains Indians was the decline of the buffalo herds, due to the killing by white hunters. The buffalo was one of the most sacred things to the Native Americans, but was their main source of supplies, because they used every part of the buffalo to help them. Second are the former Indian lands being settled by homesteaders, because this reduced the ability of tribes to migrate freely through the plains. This also did not allow the Indians to hunt for more buffalo herds. Lastly was the hostile encounter with the US Army which provided a few victories for the Indian population although Sitting Bull and the Indians fought stunning battles such as the defeat of the US Calvary at Little Big Horn, in the end
Because Custer failed to communicate the scouts’ warnings, his men unknowingly facing an adversary nearly three times their size. This failure to create shared understanding significantly contributed to the sweeping defeat Custer’s battalion suffered at Little
It was a time when white men wanted to claim everything. They wanted to let Native Americans know they had all the fire power to do as they pleased. Sitting Bull did not agree to this IRA because in his speech he said loved the freedom to go where his people pleased, to hunt wherever, and set up teepees where they chose to set up home base. It was this act that led to Sitting Bull’s important speech. The additional information I knew prior to reading Sitting Bull’s speech is everything I had learned in high school about Native American history.
In 1867, he led a failed attempt against the Southern Cheyenne Indians that resulted in his court martial and suspension for a year for not being present during the movement. General Phillip Sheridan, though, came to Custer’s defense and he was eventually reinstated. Custer once again made the army proud with his attack on Black Kettle’s band in 1868 at the Washita river. George was then sent to the Black Hills and participated in several battles with the Lakota Indians between 1873 and 1876. Upon discovering the valuable resource of gold in the Black Hills, the government appointed Custer, along with Generals John Gibbon and George Crook, to remove the Lakota Indians.