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Secondary sourcePainting1873

Sitting Bull by Julian Scott

Julian Scott · 1873

An 1873 oil painting by Julian Scott offering an early artistic imagining of Sitting Bull, held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

This early painting imagines Sitting Bull's appearance years before any confirmed photograph of him existed.

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Oil painting of a man with long dark braids wearing a wide-brimmed light hat, a fringed tan buckskin jacket, and a red shirt. He faces forward with a stern expression against a muted, brownish background.
Julian Scott, Sitting Bull, 1873. Smithsonian American Art Museum.

About this source

What it is

This is an oil painting made by artist Julian Scott in 1873. It depicts a man with long dark braids, wearing a wide-brimmed light hat, a fringed tan buckskin jacket, and a red shirt, facing forward with a stern expression against a muted background. It is identified as a portrait of Sitting Bull and is held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Why it matters

Painted in 1873, years before Sitting Bull's surrender and before any confirmed photograph of him existed, this painting is an early artistic imagining rather than a direct likeness made from life. It shows how non-Native artists pictured Sitting Bull based on secondhand descriptions or imagination, before photography made his actual appearance widely known.

Look closer

  • Since this was painted in 1873, how might the artist have known what Sitting Bull looked like?
  • What details in the clothing and expression seem based on real knowledge versus imagination?
  • How does comparing this painting to a photograph of Sitting Bull change how much you trust it as a source?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Handwritten manuscript page on lined paper, titled 'Articles of a Treaty' in ornate script, with an opening paragraph naming United States commissioners and Sioux Nation delegates, followed by 'Article I' below. The page is aged and yellowed with visible tears along the top and bottom edges.Document

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Fort Laramie Treaty

29 April 1868

Colored reproduction card labeled 'Chief Sitting Bull Sioux' showing a man in profile with long braids, two feathers in his hair, a red neckerchief, and a beaded vest with geometric and floral designs.Photograph

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Sitting Bull Portrait by William Notman

William Notman · 1885

Sepia-toned studio portrait of a man with a long braided hair, wearing a light patterned shirt and a feather headdress, looking directly at the camera with a serious expression against a plain backdrop.Photograph

Primary source

Chief Sitting Bull

David F. Barry · 1884

Black and white studio photograph of two men standing in front of a painted forest backdrop. On the left, a older man in a long feathered war bonnet and fringed, beaded buckskin clothing holds a rifle. On the right, a man in a wide-brimmed hat, embroidered jacket, and tall boots rests a hand on his chest.Photograph

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Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill

Wm. Notman & Son · 1885

Scanned page of the 1887 Act titled 'An Act to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations', headed 'Forty-Ninth Congress of the United States of America; At the Second Session', with handwritten marks and a 'Public No. 105' stamp.Document

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Dawes Act

Henry Dawes · 8 February 1887

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