Sitting Bull: Origin of a Legend - Native American History - Part 1 - Extra History

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📜 Sitting Bull, the Origin of a Legend: Native American History - Sitting Bull was a Lakota War Chief and a man whose foresight and determination made him a symbol of indigenous resistance. As the US government pressured tribes to sign treaties, promising lands and provisions, Sitting Bull chose a different path. In this episode, you'll dive into the Dakota War of 1864, where he strategically led his followers through ambushes and retreats in the rugged Badlands. Setting the stage for the conflicts that would follow and his steadfast resistance against the encroaching tide of settlers.
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Miss an episode in our Sitting Bull Series?
Part 1 - • Sitting Bull: Origin o...
Part 2 - • Sitting Bull: No Reser...
Part 3 - • Sitting Bull: Battle o...
Part 4 - • The Murder of Sitting ...
Series Wrap-up & Recommended Reading / Lies Episode - • Sitting Bull - LIES - ...
Thanks for the high-quality conversations & for following our community guidelines here: bit.ly/ECFansRNice
Artist: Nick DeWitt I Writer: Robert Rath I Researcher: A. Siso I Showrunner & Narrator: Matthew Krol I Video Editor: Devon House Creative I Audio Editor: Clean Waves I Studio Director: Geoffry Zatkin I Social Media: Kat Rider I ♪ Music by Demetori: bit.ly/1EQA5N7 I ♪ "The Real Dracula" by Tiffany Roman
#ExtraHistory #NativeAmerican #History

[@extrahistory]

Watch Sitting Bull #2 on Nebula RIGHT NOW: bit.ly/SittingBullPart2 OR Check out "Knowing Better - Geronimo: Indian Removal" here: bit.ly/GeronimoOnNebula and "Step Back History - Reclamation of Native Lands" here: bit.ly/NativeLandsonNebula

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

You guys always make My day 😊😊😊😊❤❤❤❤

[@TheMilitantMazdakite]

The Great Spirit is the Dakota's name for Ahura Mazda.

[@Tungsten100]

Cool vid

[@carterreed2624]

hey can y'all do a series on the Seminole Wars

[@nuagor]

Walpole, is that you?

[@RazSofer-xh3qs]

American Army seeing Sitting Bull: “He’s just sitting there… MENACINGLY!!!”

[@glass_block]

Literally 🗿

[@BradleyRock]

“You think I am a fool, but you are a greater fool than I am.”-Sitting Bull

[@glass_block]

@@BradleyRock .

[@glass_block]

@@BradleyRock GAH DAMN

[@LangThoughts]

*Thathanka Iyotake

[@MatoEntertainment]

I'm Lakota, it's so hard to find people who aren't disrespectful when retelling history. You did a great job thank you!

[@extrahistory]

Thank you so much for taking the time to watch!

[@jennifervan75]

Native American and indigenous stories should be shared. They are so interesting and we shouldn't be forgotten

[@shagituz]

Someone get them their pin

[@Wasserkaktus]

They are far more diverse than Europeans and their history/prehistory is characterized by mass movement and change: The Lakota themselves alone probably originated in the Lower Mississippi, a very far cry from where the U.S. finally met them in the Great Plains.

[@user-wi9se5ll3j]

Let me tell you this the second we stopped fighting we already forgotten ourselves.

[@sarahluchies1076]

I want to hear the whole story of the Siksika nation, a group in southern Alberta (Canada) who has their own independant nation set up. They make their own laws, have their own communities, and get paid to have highways running through the area, though they set the speed limits. Anyone who isn't first nations isn't allowed to live there, with few exceptions. It's a really interesting place.

[@Detah_]

Sadly a lot of accounts are either biased European accounts of what happened or oral traditions died out

[@xiphoid2011]

I'm a Chinese student who came to study in America in the midwest. And this was taught to me during schooI, and the teacher even taching us that the unfaire treatment of American Indians was a shameful page in the American hsitory. I was pleasantly surpised to see America is willing to teach about its past wrongs and make some amends, something I was extensively taught in China that America doesn''t do.

[@darknessproductions2119]

Sadly most of the time america does lie and try to ignore its history of genocide. It certainly isn't taught properly in schools and the native people here are still oppressed and abused here horribly. Extra history is doing good by teaching the history that the rulers of this country want forgotten

[@rayray80234]

It varies by state & school district. Where I live in Georgia, a friend of mine used to be a volunteer tutor for high school students. She quit b/c she couldn't stomach that their history book painted the Trail of Tears as a "willing relocation" of the Native Americans & made no mention of the death, disease, & agony they endured. Sadly, there's a lot of our history that goes unmentioned or is glossed over

[@ShanRenxin]

We are getting better about acknowledging our troubles past and present, but sadly this doesn’t take place everywhere in the US, especially for elementary schools. Still, I’m glad you got to see and hear a more complete and accurate account of our history!

[@Settistudios]

@@ShanRenxinto be fair, elementary kids are- well- kids, they shouldn’t be taught gore and sadness and pain at least until 6th grade, maybe 5t

[@rawdrywall8212]

@@Settistudios That's usually how it is. I remember elementary school we we're still aware of residential schools in Canada; and didn't truly learn it in detail until middle school, and especially high school.

[@marinamoraes6174]

Damn, Sitting Bull was truly a badass

[@noahjohnson935]

He was an inspiring individual.

[@LangThoughts]

*Thathanka Iyotake

[@maxleroux]

Fun Fact: Sitting Bull's headdress is on display at Royal Ontario Museum in the Daphne Cockwell Gallery dedicated to First Peoples art & culture. I've seen it with my own eyes. 🧐

[@jordanbrown3109]

I'm Canadian but I'm curious why the headdress is here. Why not in Rapid City?

[@maxleroux]

@@jordanbrown3109 That is a good question. I don't remember what the plaque below it said, but it might be a leftover from the time Sitting Bull an his people spent time across the boarder here in Canada. 🤔

[@lanasinapayen3354]

I wonder what his people think of this. It would probably be better on their own land, with them to decide whether to exhibit it in a museum or not.

[@maxleroux]

@@lanasinapayen3354 Another good question. I think I may have unintentionally opened a huge can of worms here. No getting them back in now.

[@Yoraeryu]

​@@lanasinapayen3354there's a new law passed recently in the US that indigenous artifacts need to be returned to their people within a few years, i think. some progress there, at least!

[@Sephyrulz]

As someone born in Montana, this man is a hero of his people. It is quite interesting, in a way… the site of Little Big Horn now sits within the Crow reservation in southern Montana. A highway runs through the reservation now, and it’s… not the most uplifting of drives. And there is a road sign just towards the northern end of the reservation, and it points to an exit that leads to the battleground. But if you continue past it headed north, just less then a half mile or so outside of the reservation… is a massive, immense truck stop… that the tribe sees no money from. Quite visually stunning, and mentally disturbing.

[@alejandromiguel2442]

Guys, you have no idea how much it genuinely means to not just myself, but just about every single Native American, that you guys are not just telling our stories and history, but how important this is that our history is finally being described from a NON-BIAS STANCE. From the bottom of my heart, and everyone else amung us here that watches these videos, Thank you Extra History Crew

[@KokosNaSnehu2]

What you mean is people are finally starting to put a spin on history to make you feel better.

[@neilhannan5112]

If Hollywood would a Native American Central Story the story of this man is perfect but they would screw it like Napoleon 2023 😂

[@Whoyouwishyouwere]

Hollywood can't do anything right.

[@briannamcdaniel266]

@@Whoyouwishyouwere And yet some people say Hollywood makes the best movies...

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

It highly depends on WHO makes it! Not all writers, directors, and actors are the same. You sound like a fool if you assume "Hollywood" is some monolithic thing that does everything the same. Most directors and writers probably don't care enough about historical accuracy to make it right, but not all of them are like that.

[@Whoyouwishyouwere]

​@@briannamcdaniel266Been a long time since that was the case

[@robertostefanowicz9749]

Starring jenna ortega as sitting bull

[@Brandonbrooks412]

We finally get a series about Sitting Bull!! thank you extra history 🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

"Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children." -- Sitting Bull

[@raythunder8619]

He is one of my favorite historical leaders, and it's a shame no one talks about him. Thanks for making a video about him!

[@loke6664]

Agreed. I think the reason he isn't talked about so much is that first he was seen as a villain due to popular media and later, Custer's incompetence at Little bighorn overshadowed him. Sitting Bull was a lot more then a single battle where the US cavalry had a humiliating defeat but people are happy with connecting past leaders to a single battle and skip the rest about them. Everyone knew Wilhelm the Conqueror won the battle of Hastings in 1066 but that is also all they know about him. I blame the school system and not just in America but Europe as well.

[@andyjay729]

Speaking of transitions, the Lakota actually started out not on the prairies but in the forests of present-day Minnesota and Wisconsin (the name "Minnesota" actually comes from their language, meaning "cloudy water"). In about the 1600s they were pushed out into the prairies by the Cree.

[@tomcurl8034]

I had long known sitting bull to be a bad ass, but this shows that he was a bad ass from a very early age

[@jeremy1860]

It's always remarkable how the introduction of new animals can change a people or environment 😊

[@briannamcdaniel266]

As I have a little bit of Native American in me, you don't know how overjoyed I am to see this! 👏🏾😊 ETA: Whoever did the art knocked it out of the park!

[@extrahistory]

That was the talented Nick DeWitt!

[@briannamcdaniel266]

@@extrahistory Send him and the rest of the artists my highest compliments! ♥️

[@timesnewlogan2032]

I am SO freaking excited for this one! Sitting Bull has always been one of my favorites, ever since we read "A Boy Named Slow" in fifth grade.

[@LangThoughts]

*Thathanka Iyotake

[@Elora445]

@@LangThoughts Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake

[@instantimagination8163]

"We are not yet conquered." -Chief Dragging Canoe

[@theterriblesensei1205]

Even if I'm not an American, Native American History is always a very welcoming story for me. Please have more on this EC!!

[@diddlesdoodles156]

Growing up in the Lakota Culture, I loved this video, and it's pretty accurate from the constant history of this culture that has been driven into our heads growing up here

[@BradleyRock]

“You think I am a fool, but you are a greater fool than I am”.-Sitting Bull

[@mcintoshpc]

Just a quick note on the use of the lever action Henry Rifle in this video (which looks pretty good by the way, good job Nick) *Technically,* you probably shouldn’t show US troops using them at this time, I think the cavalry was still using some variety of Spencer carbine at this point, but that’s a really minor detail and this isn’t a series about the US cavalry. What I think is more interesting is that, by the time of the Battle of Greasy Grass/Little Bighorn, the US was issuing single shot rifles, but the Indigenous peoples had a couple hundred repeating rifles of various models kicking around, Henries included. They also had some muzzleloaders, so in aggregate I don’t know how much of a difference the repeaters made, but it’s a cool little detail that I think helps to deconstruct notions of “primitive” Indigenous peoples, taking a technological step forward that the US Army was unwilling to because of the perceived logistical challenge of supplying enough ammunition to keep repeaters running.

[@shaolinshoppe]

Forgive me for nitpicking your nitpick but “perceived” logistics change? 🤔

[@codysing1223]

I will share one of our stories, of the Comanche and our people, how our name came to be. Mowatt is the English name for our band, the name means "no hand" and represents the sacrifice of our ancestor. Saving a bear cub from a terrible fate, he lost one of his hands... Forever after becoming "no hand" and respected for his sacrifice.

[@user-cm5of7ip1s]

This series is incredible, I have never heard of Sitting Bull and this is so cool!!!!!

[@Quokkacapybar]

Honestly, same dude

[@spindlispider3519]

YESSSS❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ IVE BEEN WAITING FOR YALL TO TALK ABOUT NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY LESSSS GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[@jackdools4744]

History? They never wrote anything down lol

[@JLS639]

Saw this and part 2 on Nebula. Sitting Bull is already amazing and we haven't even gotten to the parts of his life he is best known for. Really enjoying this

[@ryjitarose5590]

Sitting Bull mentioned 🗣 They should really make a movie about my GOAT

[@ShanRenxin]

Sitting Bull is here let’s goooooo! I hope we get a series about Standing Bear too!

[@A.Hanson]

I would love an expansion of this series. Focusing not on one man but on the broader indian wars. Everyone knows about Custer's fall at Little Big Horn and probably about the Battle of Wounded Knee but a history of the broader conflict would be interesting.

[@VultureWarrior]

Sitting Bull truly was one of the most badass people in American history.

[@hecksnekinc.2750]

Yesterday, I drove passed Fort Leavanworth where Sitting Bull was eventually imprisoned. They brought in a bison at the time of his imprisonment due to the animal being part of Lakota religion. They still have bison wandering in a pasture outside the penitentiary, (though now it's five instead of one). Just something kinda neat

[@xscignorethestuffinquotes7487]

Sitting Bull is such an inspiration. As an indigenous myself, he fills my spirit

[@jackdools4744]

Lmao

[@KokosNaSnehu2]

lol we all know what fills your spirit at the reservation

[@TristanOlea-Rivera]

Finally extra history will cover this legend of the man I hope you do a series on Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce one day as well

[@robbietaylor8935]

Oh my days yes a Sitting Bull series amazing

[@LangThoughts]

*a Thathanka Iyotake series.

[@user-tz5xe2xt6v]

Love ❤️from Fort Belknap, home of the Aaniiih Nakoda Nation

[@extrahistory]

[@FilthyCasualYT]

I wanted to take my girlfriend somewhere nice for Valentine's Day, and we found this great Native American restaurant. I called later, asking if I could book a table.The man on the other end said "Sorry, we don't do reservations."

[@codysing1223]

Ten bears is my direct ancestor, hoping we eventually cover the Comanche and their last stand against the United States.

[@The_ultimate_MAdaMe]

Finally!! Thank you for making a video over this topic!

[@greendalf123]

I love reading about tribal societies. Native American history is among the best of them all.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Amazing start to another great series! You guys are the Best 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤😊😊😊

[@Shiroya_Rumika]

Finally, a Native American history!

[@takuramushonga8584]

My favorite part of the week😍Thank u EC Crew

[@hasaansobaan5374]

Omg I am SO excited for this series!!

[@Lucid-and-KayKay]

Omg this video is so good! Thank you extra history for showing us this!

[@DavidAguilar-wo6ho]

Im glad you guys decided to make a series on Sittinf Bill and the Sioux wars! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content guys! Always look forward to it 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@noahjohnson935]

Sitting Bull is a man who inspires me, despite the fact I am a descendant of the colonizers he resisted. Honorable, brave, and clever. The First Nations of the United States are a group fascinating cultures and peoples who stood in the face of adversity and deserved so much more respect. The United States broke over 360 treaties with the various nations and tribes and moving forward I hope we on the American continent can make good agreements that last and are good for everyone.

[@pun5925]

[@prestonjones1653]

According to one treaty the Cherokee, my people, are supposed to have a voting representative in the House and Senate (just one in each, not like a State would have) Still hasn't happened.

[@mynameisdominichughes3142]

Oh no we colonized them ahhh, it's definitely not like sitting bulls trident wasn't already being colonized by the cree

[@noahjohnson935]

@@prestonjones1653 because the Cherokee Nation was removed from land that *"conveniently"* had gold under it and pushed to the "Great American Desert" as the Plains used to be called.

[@noahjohnson935]

@@mynameisdominichughes3142 The Cree didn't commit Wounded Knee.

[@delicioushotpockets4393]

So happy you guys are finally doing sitting bull!! It means a lot to me that y’all are doing Native American history :] keep it up! :DD

[@jimmyyu2184]

Oh, this is going to be good... I'm gonna love this series!!

[@JoeyTheSchmoey]

I learned I’m related to Sitting Bull not too long ago, now every time I see a video on him I feel a little more special.

[@gamebawesome]

Funnily enough, I was just reading about Sitting Bull. What amazing timing

[@thekrillsterex628]

I love this! This is so different than usual history that we get!

[@cometmoon4485]

Amazing to see Native American stories!

[@vittoriolepporio122]

I grew up in southern Manitoba, where we are fed stories of the Lakota and the Metis as if it’s all you can eat pasta, and even then there is a disconnect between many of the natives and their history. Maybe some day this will be shown to help people learn

[@cosmedelustrac5842]

Thank you for covering this story ! I love native american history (and am neither american nor a person living on the american continent)!

[@yosoyhellokitty]

I've been watching this account since I was 7, so it's so exciting to see how far along yall have come!

[@extrahistory]

Thanks so much for all the years of watching!

[@yosoyhellokitty]

@@extrahistory 8 years of history!!

[@kamdensteiner5151]

Just found this channel one week ago and I absolutely love it!.

[@extrahistory]

Welcome to the channel!

[@iain-duncan]

Love learning about native tribes. So many have fascinating social structures that are often far more advanced than you'd expect given Technological level. Prime example is the Iroquois

[@user-wx8ic2iv3d]

I'm so happy native/indigenous stories are being shared, sadly they're mostly ignored and can cause a lack of history being known Personally, on my grandfather's side (cherokee and comanche) sadly alot of history is lost due to my great grandparents being secretive and even having to change their names to European names to be safe(r) I've just very glad more people are hearing these stories. Feel dumb I'm so excited over this lol

[@KokosNaSnehu2]

Pro tip: If you want your history to be remembered, learn to write. Kinda late now though.

[@ryanlafleur3806]

Love this! In your series on Native History you should mention Louis Riel and Poundmaker!

[@analoren4745]

Man, it's wild how much the story of the Lakota resonates today even in other parts of the world.

[@gunpowdergelatine6358]

I drove through Northern America, and we stoped at that sight acedently, little did we know every other place we went to around that area including Mount Rushmore all related back to that battle

[@Ikirus]

Somehow I never heard of him before Thanks for the video

[@Logan-vq2bt]

“Malcom X never lived to see the government the hated fall, but that government made him a stamp. That’s the best you can hope for if you never give up - your enemies will teach your corpse to dance.”

[@The_Great_Letter_E]

Would love to see a video series like this on Tecumseh!

[@carlsoll]

9:43 Gosh *KnowingBetters* work is amazing.

[@LangThoughts]

I'm a linguistics major who's been researching Lakhota/Dakota, and Wakhan Thanka, which you translate as "The Great Spirit", seems, based on texts written by actual Lakhota, to be more accurately rendered "The Great Powerful Mysterious One". There actually seems to be some Lakhota that see the translation "Great Spirit" as offensive, seeing it as being more derived from a translation of Anishinaabe and other Algonquian people's concept of "Gitchi Manitu", and prefer to leave it untranslated, with a note saying "Great Spirit but more complicated then that implies".

[@Rok_of_itza]

Do more Native American history

[@BoyNamedSue4]

Sitting Bull and Chief Jospeh are two of the most interesting historical characters IMO. To be actively celebrated by the nation they were at war with is something that just does not happen.

[@Rhejdns]

I've always wanted a series about the indian wars thats so cool

[@caydenr2848]

They should do one on the Glanton gang.

[@user-gi8pk9uc7q]

Sitting Bull was AWESOME!

[@NickTheShark_]

Thanks for telling this story from a South Dakotan

[@katethekookie13]

hahah! I just checked your channel and this was posted 4-5 minutes ago!? never been this early before... can't wait to watch this 💖💖

[@extrahistory]

[@brago.gameplays]

Wooo boy, this is going to be a good one

[@Noony_toons]

I learn more about history from this channel then I do in school

[@Thesiouxempirepodcast]

Oh man. South Dakota history on Extra Credits? I’m in heaven!

[@troyAZB]

As a kid who grew up celebrating the quasi-mythical tale of Paul Revere’s night ride, hearing “the blue coats were coming” was remarkably jarring.

[@kingtunip6386]

The Lakota have the right to defend themselves

[@TheOriginalJphyper]

Back in Boy Scouts, the summer camp we went to had various camp sites for the various troops to choose from. My troop always chose Sitting Bull. Though we were proud of the namesake, we were also teenage boys, which means the camp inevitably got another nickname anyway. We called it "Sitting Duck" due to it being located at the edge of a cliff overlooking the waterfront. Any storm that passed through would inevitably hit us before any of the other camps.

[@kart_kid4832]

Even though I don’t like learning history, I enjoy watching your videos!

[@extrahistory]

Thank you! We're always trying to bring our love of history to the masses.

[@jamesbrison8389]

Thank you for sharing this! I’ve always enjoyed your videos and now even more can’t wait for the next one! I’m Southern Cheyenne from Oklahoma.

[@extrahistory]

[@Rpic551]

The timing of this is perfect i have a big asignment about the native americans

[@extrahistory]

Yes!

[@justinblachek6603]

The first time I've heard of brain tanning it was such a cool concept and it works so well you can use it for a lot of different things and it won't dissolve into would like other tanning processes

[@AndrewJohnson-oy8oj]

Giving us the cultural context of what his name meant changed my understanding completely.

[@cindystevenson6248]

You make history fun

[@patrickhilltopper3707]

I’m looking forward to how extra history is going to cover the fetterman fight in red clouds war.

[@user-uf1hr3wq9k]

cant wait

[@dude55man]

NGL it feels like with each series the videos become more and more just ads for various things rather then what the episode is about. Be it Nebula or whoever is sponsoring that video. I understand y'all need to make a living and that's the best way to do it but good lord

[@tashacooper1753]

I hope you cover the modoc war too

[@decofrogs4875]

The inglorious nickname of Slow

[@KA1TOMAS4HAG1]

NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY🔥🔥🔥❗️❗️

[@slithbackle]

The US army didn't use lever action rifles instead they used trapdoor Springfields.

[@mqnwbevrcyxuzilopkajshdgf]

neat, nice vid

[@Luca_P23]

Extra history I love u guys I have too ask when will u do a episode on Jugoslavija war it changed the life of my family and freinds

[@DrDoom-ph4gi]

Great video, and I hate to nitpick, but 1:58 Montana only has two n’s.

[@drkiz96]

Hey, was Montana ever spelled "Montanna?" or was that a spelling mistake?

[@bigj1905]

Quick Note: The U.S. hunting of the Buffalo was so devastating that the population went from tens of millions in the late 1700’s to a few hundred by the early 1900’s. Some historians also argue that the killing of the Buffalo was not just for amusement or for the tongue and skulls (which could be used for fertilizer and trophies), but also as a way to force starvation on not Native Tribes and force them onto reservations while ‘mostly’ keeping their hands clean.

[@Yatagurusu]

Isnt there a famous phrase of "kill every buffalo you can, every buffalo killed is one less Indian" or something like that. Even if that quote is fabricated, it was fabricated at that time, so the sentiment was in the air.

[@Elora445]

In fact, based on what I have read - starvation was the major reason. As in, forcing the Native Tribes that usually hunted buffalo to starve. Government being assholes as usual.

[@Montananmooselover]

I’m a Montana and I just gotta say going to the battle field is pretty interesting and you can tell how dumb they were cause they got sent out in groups of two instead of grouping up till the end.

[@riverofpaint4826]

Will you be covering Wounded Knee?