Who they were
A respected war leader and spiritual figure, Sitting Bull united Lakota and allied bands against encroachment on their lands and the buffalo herds. He refused to move onto a reservation.
What they did
His leadership inspired the coalition that defeated Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. He later took his people to Canada before returning to surrender in 1881.
Legacy
Sitting Bull was killed by reservation police in 1890, shortly before the Wounded Knee massacre. He remains an enduring symbol of Lakota sovereignty and Indigenous resistance.