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Secondary sourceBook1891

Sitting Bull's Message from Spirit Life

Kate R. Stiles · 1891

A 1891 spiritualist pamphlet claiming to channel words from Sitting Bull after his death; not actually written by him.

This pamphlet falsely claims to channel Sitting Bull's voice after death, showing how his name was used by others.

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About this source

What it is

This is a short printed pamphlet published in Boston in 1891, the year after Sitting Bull's death. It is attributed to "Sitting Bull, Chief of the Sioux" but was actually produced by Kate R. Stiles, a spiritualist medium who claimed to receive messages from the dead.

Why it matters

The pamphlet shows how, after his death, Sitting Bull's name and image were used by others for their own purposes — in this case the growing American Spiritualist movement. It tells us more about Kate Stiles and her audience than about Sitting Bull himself, since it is not his own words.

Look closer

  • Why might a spiritualist choose Sitting Bull's name for this message?
  • What does the author's own note reveal about doubts people had, even at the time?
  • How is this source different from a letter or speech actually written by Sitting Bull?

This book 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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