Named originally "Jumping Badger, by his father, a famous Teton Dakota warrior, the great medicine man and warrior was renamed by his father "Tatanka Yotanka", or "Sitting Bull", for his bravery. He was a member of the Strong Heart warrior society and the Silent Eaters, a group that ensured the welfare of the tribe. Before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he participated in a Sun Dance ceremony where he famously danced for 36 hours straight, making 50 sacrificial cuts on each arm before falling into a trance. He had a vision of U.S. soldiers falling like grasshoppers from the sky, a sign of defeat. I paint him basically unadorned, to convey the power of his presence.
Named originally "Jumping Badger, by his father, a famous Teton Dakota warrior, the great medicine man and warrior was renamed by his father "Tatanka Yotanka", or "Sitting Bull", for his bravery. He was a member of the Strong Heart warrior society and the Silent Eaters, a group that ensured the welfare of the tribe. Before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he participated in a Sun Dance ceremony where he famously danced for 36 hours straight, making 50 sacrificial cuts on each arm before falling into a trance. He had a vision of U.S. soldiers falling like grasshoppers from the sky, a sign of defeat. I paint him basically unadorned, to convey the power of his presence.