Tatanka Yotanka, which meant 'Sitting Bull' in English, was a leader of the Sioux. He was born in 1831 and died in 1890. Sitting Bull was born in the region of the Grand River in present-day South Dakota. With the leadership of sitting Bull the Sioux were able to keep from being forced to live on reservations. On June 25th and 26th, 1876, at the Battle of Little Bighorn, the Sioux nnihilated a punitive expedition commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Quickly afterward, Sitting Bull and his people fled to Canada. Recieving a promise of Amnesty in 1881 he returned to United States territory. Sitting Bull was tricked and put in prison for two years and then settled on a reservation. He still continued to be hostile to settlers.
In 1885 Sitting Bull was allowed to leave the reservation to tour with the Wild West show of Buffalo Bill. There is speculation that permission was given because the Native American police wanted Sitting Bull off the reservation to prevent him from creating problems. The tense situation among the Sioux was aggravated by followers of the Native American messiah Wovoka, who promised the defeat of the whites. Wovoka introduced the ghost dance which was supposed to help the Native Americans get there lands back. The ghost dance gave the Sioux hope. The army feared an uprising and believed that Sitting Bull was the leading instigator. Sitting Bull was arrested on December 15th, 1890. While he was being srrested his followers had a gunfight that killed Sitting Bull and 12 more men.