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Primary sourcePhotograph1885

Sitting Bull (Tatonka-I-Yatanka), Hunkpapa Sioux, 1885

1885

A photographic portrait of Sitting Bull from 1885, showing him in profile wearing a large feathered headdress and beaded vest.

A portrait photograph of Sitting Bull himself, taken late in his life.

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Black-and-white side profile photograph of an elderly Native American man wearing a large feathered headdress with ribbon trailers, a beaded vest, and a light shirt, hands clasped at his waist. Catalog number 85728 is printed at lower left.
Sitting Bull (Tatonka-I-Yatanka), Hunkpapa Sioux, photograph, 1885.

About this source

What it is

This black-and-white photograph, dated 1885, shows a side profile portrait of Sitting Bull, an elderly Hunkpapa Sioux man, wearing a large feathered headdress with ribbon trailers and a beaded vest. The record does not clearly identify who took the photograph.

Why it matters

By 1885 Sitting Bull was one of the most recognized Native American leaders in the United States, having resisted U.S. military campaigns and later lived at Standing Rock Agency. Photographs like this one helped shape his public image during his own lifetime, even though we don't know exactly who made it or why.

Look closer

  • What does his pose and dress suggest about how he wanted to be seen, or how the photographer wanted him seen?
  • Why might the photographer's identity be unknown, and does that change how we should read the image?
  • What questions would you want answered about when and why this photo was taken?

This photograph 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

Primary source

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

Primary source

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

Primary source

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

Primary source

Dawes Act

Henry Dawes · 8 February 1887

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