Access Instantly Sitting Bull: Lakota Warrior And Defender Of His People Illustrated By S.D. Nelson Displayed As Visual Format

with his book on Red Cloud, Nelson, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, places texts and drawings over a background of old ledgers like the ones that the frontier forts would have used.
In a note at the end of the book I learned that the forts and trading posts used to give old ledgers to the Native Americans for drawing in, which is why there are colored pencil drawings in the book interspersed with photos and quotes.
Sitting Bull was quite the opposite of Red Cloud in that, while Red Cloud tried to make peace with the white men, Sitting Bull was defiant and rebellious.
In the end, though, he had to give in and live on a reservation with the rest of his people.
He toured for a summer with Buffalo Bill in his Wild West show, but, sadly, died at the hands of his own people.
The prejudice of the white men of the time and their unabashed breaking of treaties is shameful to read about.
At the end of the book Nelson provides a timeline of Lakota history and further information about the Lakota and their way of life.
Readers will feel as if they have been back in time after reading this book, Highly recommended, along with Nelson's biographies of Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Black Elk, Nelson has written and illustrated a remarkable biography of this famous Sioux warrior, He writes as if he is Sitting Bull himself, from his early years, all the way through the Indian wars, treaties, victory at Little Bighorn, escape to Canada, surrender to the U.
S. Army, traveling in Buffalo Bills Wild West show, to his death by Sioux who were reservation police, Included in the story are many photographs from the period,

An interesting aspect about this book is Nelsons depiction of the story being written on ledger book paper.
Nelson explains that Indians forced onto reservations were given used/completed ledger books to use for writing or drawing.
So this story seems as if we are reading Sitting Bulls exact words that he wrote on ledger paper.


Nelson includes some very interesting quotes from SB, Lakota sayings, and U, S. Army generals. They make you think about the history of conquest and conflict that occurred as America was being settled.
The illustrations are simply beautiful in pastels, outlined in black, At the end a timeline of the Sioux people is included from the lates to the lateth C, and an interesting authors note which

explains Sioux tribe makeup, beliefs, and the culture class that occurred when Europeans starting settling the land and moving west.


NOTE: This review will appear on my library's book review social media channel in the future.
This book is written in the imagined voice of Sitting Bull, born in, who was a member of one of seven Lakota tribes, known by nonNatives as the Sioux.
Sitting Bull was one of the greatest Lakota/Souix warriors, resisting for over twentyfive years the efforts of the U.
S. Government to move the tribes to reservations where the land was less desirable so the whites could have the better land especially in the Black Hills and also not have to worry about retribution by the Native Americans.


As the author writes:

“The wasichus white men were looking for the yellow metal that made their hearts crazy with greed.
Gold! It didnt matter that the gold was on Lakota land, Wasichus began to arrive in huge numbers, ”

The army also announced that those who refused to give up the land would be considered “hostile Indians.
”

Sitting Bull, trained from childhood to be a warrior, was at the battles of Killdeer Mountain and the Little Bighorn.
Along with Crazy Horse, he became the last of the Lakota/Sioux to hold out against the U.
S. Government. He said in: “A warrior I have been, Now it is all over, A hard time I have, ”

His tragic story is told with passion, and in a way that will be understandable to young readers.
He also tells about his own death inat the Standing Rock Reservation, when many Native Americans were engaging in the religious ritual known as “The Ghost Dance.
” It was a rite involving drums, dancing, and prayer, and made the whites very nervous, They feared the dance was just a precursor to an Indian uprising, They killed Sitting Bull, as well as his son and six members of his band who were trying to defend him.
The Ghost Dance was also the “excuse” for themassacre by the U, S. Army of mostly old men, women, and children, at Wounded Knee on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.


Historical quotes are periodically offset from the text, not only by Sitting Bull, but by others important to his life and times, such as this infamousvow from General William Tecumseh Sherman:

“We must act with vindictive earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women, and children.
”

The illustrations, by the author, are done in ink and colored pencil in the style called Ledger Book Art.
When Natives were forced onto reservations, the only paper they could get was in the form of bound ledger books no longer of use to the white man.
The Plains Indians used the books to create the art they previously painted on buffalo robes, tipis, etc.
The bound books of lined paper were turned into beautiful testimonials to Native life and memory,

There are also a number of reproductions of historical photos included in the book,

At the back of the book, there is an extensively annotated time line and Authors Note, a select bibliography, and index.


Evaluation: This excellent combination of biography and history tells a riveting and tragic story.
Such books as these can enhance the ability of young people to see the plight of others from different races and religions, and would make an invaluable addition to any classroom.
The intended audience is ages, but I myself found it to read like a pageturner, Telling the story in the voice of Sitting Bull helped add immediacy and emotional heft to the story.


The book also serves as a correction to the omission from contemporary history of the mass murders of Native Americans and arguably of course the rightful owners of the land by the American Government.

Biography of Sitting Bull for grades, Told in the first person by Sitting Bull, the text traces his life from birth to death, Nelson creates art using colored pencil placed digitally on ledger paper his modern version of ledger art as well as historic photographs.
Includes an extensive time line, author's note, endnotes, bibliography, and index, Beautiful art and a strong nonfiction work that gives context to the American Indian Wars of theth Century.
Filled with lovely ledgerart images as well as archival photos, this beautifully designed book follows the life and times of Sitting Bull, the last great warrior and chief of the Lakota/Sioux.
Because of his courage and leadership abilities, he was even given the title of war chief, a distinction never given to anyone before.
The book covers his early years as well as his attempts to keep the white intruders from taking over his people's land.
It also describes his involvement at the Battle of Killdeer Mountain and the Battle of Little Bighorn as well as his eventual surrender and betrayal by others of his own tribe.
Because the author has chosen to tell Sitting Bull's story from the first person point of view, readers are thrust immediately into his world and sensibilities and find it quite easy to empathize with the plight of this man and his people.
His surprise and disappointment at his betrayal and the untrustworthiness of white men near the end of the book is just as palpable as is his respect for the first buffalo that he killed.
The inclusion of a map depicting the geographic territory being described here and back matter providing additional information and offering a timeline for perspective are helpful additions to a heartbreaking story that needs to be remembered for all time.
.