I Can See You - by Paddy Summerfield c. 1986

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

From Monday this week . . . another hero [SITTING BULL - Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake]


On this day, 15 December 1890, Hunkpapa Lakota leader Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (Sitting Bull) was killed by US government Indian police in the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota.

Indian agent James McLauchlan had sent 39 officers and four volunteers to arrest
, fearing the growth of the spiritual ghost dance movement, which foresaw an end to white expansionism.

Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake refused to cooperate with police, so they used force on him which outraged the crowd which had gathered, one of whom shot a policeman.

Police retaliated by shooting Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake in the chest and head, killing him. A battle then erupted leaving seven additional villagers dead, and eight police officers.



Drawing by Andy Swapp 2012

Learn more about Indigenous genocide and resistance in the Americas in this book: 500 years of Indigenous Resistance - Working Class History

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